Meant to update this last Friday! Sorry for the lateness!

Thanks, as usual, to all my loyal reviewers: Boris Yeltin, Luvs2read, Guest, orangiethefox, and guest!

Luvs2Read: In Betty's defense, she sorta thought this whole event was just a big crazy dream lol. And, as it was, she was being attacked and a gigantic wolf was right in front of her, so logic wasn't at the forefront of her mind!

Guest: Bughead will be coming soonish. We're still barely into the second episode, and as it is, I'm pushing up their timeline, so no fear! Archie is just a good ole human :) The Blossoms? As far as YOU know right now, human ;) Thought I'd keep an eye peeled for clues because nothing is truly as it seems.

Betty gaped at him for a second, "It's Betty Cooper, that's my name, first off-,"

"Funny, that's what you argue? Fuck, maybe you're going into shock." The boy rubbed his chin, examining her. He got right up in her face, looking into her eyes with a sort of examination that didn't seem right for a kid his age to be so...well, knowledgeable. She slapped his hand away, ignoring the fact he was pretty much naked, even with a towel still. She threw a second towel at him and he smirked at her, but wrapped it around his shoulders. Better.

"-Second, did you just say witch? And did you sort of just quote Harry Potter?"

"I've always wanted to say that. 'Yer a wizard, Harry.' 'Cept, male magic folk are warlocks,and I didn't know your name, but kudos for getting that." He grinned, nodding.

"I'm dreaming, oh, wow, I must be dreaming." Betty mumbled.

"Sorry, you're not." He said, sitting down, "Hey, got anything to eat? I did just save your ass, so…."

"Feed the wolf boy? Of course, why not." Betty whispered to herself, rolling her eyes. So, this was for sure a dream. She was certain. But yeah, Betty could be nice in a dream. Because of this, she made the pair of them sandwiches since the loaf was pretty beaten up now and it would be better to use it all. The loaf she'd thrown at those...things.

"Wolf Boy has a name. It's Sweet Pea," He said, outstretching his palm to her, half covered in Peanut Butter.

"What kind of a stupid name is that?" She couldn't help but ask.

"A nickname, but no one- and I mean no one- calls me by my real name, Jordan." He replied.

"Not even your mother?" She asked sarcastically. Sweet Pea paused, swallowing.

"If I had one, not even then. And, when she was alive, she usually called me more colorful and less PG names." He said with a hint of an edge. Betty immediately felt her face flush.

"Oh my god...I'm so sorry...I didn't mean…" She fumbled. Sweet Pea gave a casual shrug.

"It's cool. I mean, my new family is much better, so may she not Rest In Peace." He said, seemingly more okay with it than Betty thought he should be.

Her phone beeped next to her, and Betty groaned, seeing the name of what looked like 'Archie' flash up on the screen. She pointedly turned it off and stood up. Sweet Pea frowned at the state of her body, all covered in little bite marks and bleeding onto the tile. She seemed to really notice it for the first time and winced as she put her weight on her left leg.

"You should get cleaned up, some bandages and- woah!" Sweet Pea jumped up as Betty stumbled, her eyes rolling into the back of her head and she dropped like a deadweight. Sweet Pea caught her just in time, moments before her head hit the concrete.

"Damn it all," He said, his cover becoming precariously unwrapped as he hoisted Betty's unconscious figure better into his arms. Okay, so option one, which is what he was going for; lug her body inside and at least put her in her bed, because it seemed her parents weren't home but probably would be soon and a missing girl would be very concerning. Maybe leave his number, not in a creepy 'call me' sort of way, but just in case she was still confused in the morning, which likely she would be.

Didn't her mom tell her all about this? Then again, if her father was the one carrying the genetics, and let's say it was all men in the family for years, then yeah no one would be able to tell her about this. In fact, Betty was the first witch he'd heard about in this part of the state for, well, a long time. Last witch had apparently died out like thirty years before he was even born.

Just as Sweet Pea was steadying Betty to carry her inside, his fingers brushed her flesh. It was icy cold, which did not bode well for her. He glanced down to see her nose bleeding, despite the fact she was still completely out of it. Even slapping her gently did nothing to wake her.

Well, taking her inside was out. Someone needed to stay with her and a half-naked teenage boy would probably send whoever her father was after him with a shotgun.

Option two; when it doubt, go to where he knew he had potions and magic and shit to help.

He laid her down on the grass and shifted, and then cautiously nudged her up onto his back. He wished she was awake so she could cling to his fur, but she seemed utterly dead.

Yeah, not a great first experience with magic.

FP was waiting up for him and Sweet Pea took her straight to his trailer. He shifted as soon as he was in sight of the alpha.

"She just freaking collapsed, boss, and she's super cold and her nose is bleeding and, shit, is she dying?" He asked, freaking out about this probably more than eh should have been, since he'd known this girl for all of like an hour and most of it had been spent saving her. The realization that fire killed the shadow shrieks had been a good one, but he still had done most of the work and had a healing slice on his leg to show for it.

FP lifted her up and carried her inside.

"Her name's-,"

"Elizabeth Cooper, yes."

Inside, Sweet Pea pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from a bin by the door, gaping at FP, "You know her?"

"She used to play with my son as kids. Her, Jughead, and Archie Andrews were rather inseparable."

Archie; the boy on the screen, likely the boy who she'd had a row with tonight. Sweet Pea filed this away for later and shook out the thoughts.

"Paternal magic?"

"Yep."

"But she's so...old." Sweet Pea ran a hand over his face. He knew magic well enough to know that witches usually inherited their powers at their first period; something about women hood and the cycles of the moon and the earth and yuck like that. Unless this girl was way behind, and it didn't look like it, then something was off.

FP sniffed, "Can't you smell it? Someone's had her on suppressants since she was supposed to get them. She'll live, but it's not healthy to bottle magic up. I'm surprised she didn't murder someone tonight accidentally. She didn't, did she?" FP asked after a moment.

"Not to my knowledge. Zapped all the lights off in her house, but other than that…" Sweet Pea gave a deep shrug.

FP put her on the couch, covering her with a blanket. He grabbed some magic ointment and began carefully putting on the cuts that were visible. he had a deep and worried expression on his face.

"You knew she was a witch? Did you know she was going to manifest tonight? That why you sent me over to monitor it? That woulda been super helpful before, to know, because maybe I could have helped her through it or-,"

"I didn't know." FP's voice was curt, "I was following where the magic seemed to be coming from, same as you could see. I could feel it, but I didn't know it would be her." He said, looking deeply disturbed.

"Hey, I mean, it's probably been hidden for ages. Not your fault it wasn't in your little book," Sweet Pea rubbed his arms uneasily, not liking the expression on FP's face.

"Take me through the night." FP said firmly. Sweet Pea sighed, exhaling to FP how he'd been doing rounds when he felt the force of her powers manifesting nearly knock him off his feet and how all the lights in one house had just bursted into darkness all of a sudden. He talked about how there had been stumbling inside the house after about ten minutes of stillness, and how he'd watched her burst out of the house with a shadow shriek clawing at her, and how it was evolving far too quickly for safety.

"A shadow shriek?" FP jerked his head up.

"Yeah. Where the hell they came from, I can't say. I was going to go look in her house to figure it out, but she sorta flopped like this and...she'll be fine, right?"

FP looked up, and gave a tired smile, "Get some sleep, little wolf. Go crash in my bed. You did good tonight. Her body probably just overworked itself. She'll be alright."

Sweet Pea rolled on the balls of his feet, "Okay, but...what about her parents?"

"I'll talk care of it. Just get some rest." FP said, shooing him to the bedroom. Sweet Pea was so dead tired that when he stumbled to FP's room, it hardly took more than a second for him to fall into a deep slumber. In fact, he completely slept through Saturday, which wasn't unusual for him or any magic folk after a particularly strenuous event, and the next time he- and Betty- awoke, it was Monday morning.

XXxxXX

Betty was floating. She felt warm and full of an energy she hadn't felt before yesterday. It ticked her like blades of grass against her ankles, a gentle reminder that it was there, although not overpowering. Her bones felt saturated with something, but they settled into her skin seamlessly. The fire in her flesh had subsided to a nice, quiet hum like sitting next to a wood-burning fire on a snowy day.

She yawned, opening her eyes to a very unfamiliar place.

She shot up, gasping. Where was she?

"Morning, Betty. Now, don't freak out, but it's Monday morning."

She spun around, noticing she was still in her party dress. Now that she was awake, she also ached all over and under her nose was crusty. She rubbed her palm across it and it came back with copper dust, which meant her nose had been bleeding.

"Mr. Jones," Her eyes bugged out and she held her head. Oh, Lordy, what had she done last night. And the night before that. How did she miss an entire day? Holy crap, she was in deep shit. She began to hyperventilate.

"Hey, hey, calm down. You're fine. Your body just needed a day to rest, to heal. I know this must be a bit...unexpected. And remember what I told you before, call me FP. Please." He said, the warm smile that Betty recalled from her childhood putting her to ease. She felt a little better, but her mind still raced a thousand miles trying to figure out how she could have slept a whole twenty four or so hours and it would be peachy, even normal?

There was banging in the other end of the trailer. Maybe after Archie had rejected her, and she did vividly remember that, she'd gone to her other oldest friend, Jughead, and she'd crashed here for the night. Maybe they'd done something stupid like jump into the lake from High Point, which after Jason's drowning was totally a bad idea, and they'd gotten hurt. Maybe FP meant that it was emotional, this healing, and she would be all right now with Archie and Veronica and everything.

Nope, she still felt bitter about the whole affair.

"Jughead?" She called cautiously.

A mop of black hair appeared from the tiny hallway, but it sure as hell wasn't her friend, "Sorry to disappoint. FP's fresh out of moody Hemingway's this morning."

Betty blinked at him.

Then, everything came rushing back.

She inhaled sharply, her palms slapping her her mouth and nose, "Oh, holy...it wasn't a dream. That wasn't a dream. You...you were a wolf." She murmured in shock, "And I'm a...you said I'm a…"

"Witch." Sweet Pea hauled himself onto the countertop, "Want a banana?" He asked, reaching behind him. As she turned she saw he was wearing a familiar leather jacket, one that her mother had pounded into her head to associate with danger. But, FP was always nice and Sweet Pea had saved her last night. She remembered feeling really, really dizzy and her vision clouding. Faintly, the last thing she recalled was him lunging for her before she hit the ground.

"You're just a kid, though." Betty blurted. Sweet Pea's eyebrows furrowed in confusion until he saw that her eyes were trained on his jacket. He gave a bark of laughter.

"I'm sixteen, nearly seventeen. And, the Pack's not so bad, our bark is worse than our bite." He winked. FP groaned from the corner.

"Pack...you're...you're all like Sweet Pea?" She swung to FP.

"Werewolves." Sweet Pea added nonchalantly, peeling his breakfast.

"This can be a little overwhelming, I know." FP held up his hands, "So...hear us out."

"I…I can't! Oh my god, I wasn't home last night. Mom's going to kill me! And the house, I-,"

"I took care of it. Blood is cleaned up, light bulbs replaced, the whole works." FP interrupted, "And your mother thinks you spent the night at Veronica's."

"Veronica, as in the vam-," Sweet Pea started, but FP sent him a look to silence him. Betty didn't hear his question, which was probably for the best, as she was just trying to wade through the information she already had, and it was like a pit of quicksand.

"Betty, can you tell me exactly what happened last night?" FP asked.

Betty frowned, adjusting herself on the couch so she was sitting on it normally, clutching the pillow to her chest.

She told the story much in the same way Sweet Pea had told FP last night, although with more detail. She was fuzzy on a lot of the smaller things, or she didn't know what she was seeing to properly elaborate. FP took it all in, and Betty noticed he looked...well, he looked concerned. It was the same look he got when Archie did something stupid like break a leg by trying to zipline between trailers or when Jughead had accidentally sent a baseball through the window of a nicer house. It was the look that there was a problem, a riddle, to be solved by there was no easy answer in sight.

"What was that thing that attacked me?" Betty asked when she finished, picking at the fraying blanket.

"Shadow shrieks. I think they came through the sink, since water is a conductor of magic. I mean, it's dark magic, bu it's magic all the same. They don't just pop out of of nowhere, however." FP began delicately.

"Yeah, someone sicc'd them on you." Sweet Pea added, "But who knows who it was. Coulda been a witch in Tokyo doing it for all we know."

"But unlikely," FP added at Betty's terrified expression, "The way to call a shriek is by making a portal, usually with blood rituals. So, someone has your blood and when you cut your hand, you activated it. Someone was just waiting for it to open."

"Who?"

FP gave a slow shake of his head, "I can't say. I mean, who do you know that has your blood?"

Betty gave him a helpless look.

"Is it going to happen again?" She whimpered softly, scared.

"Well, I don't think so…" FP began cautiously, "And if they do, it seems like you know how to beat them."

Betty was silent for a second, "So what now?" She said, inhaling, "I'm a witch and…?"

"You learn your craft, just like any other skill." FP said softly, "In reality, your life doesn't have to change."

Sweet Pea snorted but Betty was pretty sure he tried to cover it up with a cough. She doubted FP's comment too, but winced at Sweet Pea's verification that things had just gotten very, very different.

"Okay, practice. Like, will my mom teach me, then?"

"Uh, your mom's not a witch. Your father would have been, but it's a female inherited trait." FP said.

"So, what, then? I put out an ad on Craigslist? Witchy Tutor wanted?" Betty wasn't usually so sarcastic, but if they were going to talk about semi-impossible things, Betty was going to treat this like some really elaborate joke. Even if she could feel, deep down, it wasn't.

"Doubtful. There hasn't been a witch around these parts for like fifty years." Sweet Pea scratched his head.

"So, I'm left with nothing, then," Betty pouted, slouching her shoulders.

"Eh, there's an old saying that when a witch needs a teacher, someone always appears." Sweet Pea said. Betty looked to FP, but he was examining Sweet Pea with a glint in his eye that Betty couldn't read.

"Mr. Jo...I mean, FP?" She asked.

"What? Oh, yes, don't worry too much about it. No one's asking you to fly tonight or rearrange the cosmos." He said with a hint of mirth, "Just think of this like...like you just picked up an instrument. But, be careful with emotions. Magic is highly tied to that, and you'll have more outbursts like last night if you don't keep it in check." He advised. Betty gave a serious nod, taking what he said to heart.

"If you ever need anything, you can come to any of us, any Serpent. We're all in tune with magic and no one would ever turn you away. You're one of us now, Betty." FP said with a soft smile.

"A...serpent?" She asked uneasily.

"Not quite, but inhuman." FP said, "You are a completely different form than you were yesterday. It's a different class of living and, frankly, we like witches, despite their short supply. I think you'll become a favorite fast among us."

Betty gnawed on her lip, "Thanks, I think?"

"Now, get to school. Still have that perfect attendance record, don't you?" FP asked, grinning. Betty gave a soft smile, chuckling to herself, "There's some clothes right there, from a female Serpent. It's not your style, but it's better than going in a dress." FP said, nodding to her left. Betty grasped the pile of Toni's things and went to the bathroom. She left not long after, but not before giving a quiet 'thank you' to both the men there.

XXxxXX

Sweet Pea whistled as soon as she left, checking his own watch.

"Sucks, eh? I mean, she needs someone to guide her." Sweet Pea said with a full mouth, "Not just because I want her to make cool potions for me, but because clearly someone has a grudge to settle with her. It's probably inherited, like a blood war, isn't it? Crappy to be thrust into something your ancestors did." Sweet Pea rambled.

"Sweet Pea," FP cut him off, voice eerily even, "How would you like to not go to school today?" He asked.

"What, seriously, boss? Uh, fuck yeah." Sweet Pea said, fist pumping, "Need me doing more rounds? Stalking Mommy Vamp? Anything." He said, finally feeling like FP was recognizing his worth outside of school.

"Just relax here," FP said, "I have some stuff to take care of, something to check on, but I might need something of you later." He said.

Sweet Pea deflated a little, but nodded, "Yeah, no totally cool. I'll just watch Netflix. I'm behind on 'Orange is the New Black' anyway. It'll be nice to just relax."

FP rolled his eyes, clearly not believing Sweet Pea.

"Stay here, kid. Or, within the area. If you want to shift, don't go far."

"You got it." Sweet Pea shoved his hands in his pockets, "You're gunna tell me what's up later, right?"

"It wouldn't be my first choice," FP grimaced, "But with the way things are going, I don't think I'll have a choice. Luckily, I know I can trust you with whatever I need." He said.

"No doubt, no doubt." Sweet Pea agreed. FP left without another word, leaving Sweet Pea to think about everything had had happened in the last summer alone and wondering why, now, all of a sudden things were getting so freaking tangled and complicated?

However, Sweet Pea knew he couldn't get FP to tell him anything FP didn't want to tell him.

So he'd wait.

He was doing a lot of waiting lately.

XXxxXX

As Betty called an Uber she tugged on the pair of tight fitting black jeans and the flannel shirt FP had given her. It was exactly not her style, but it was clean and not her fancy dress, so Betty couldn't complain. She almost thought of sending the Uber back to her house to pick up her backpack, but with Jason's disappearance and the teacher's attempts to help the children through this difficult time, there hadn't really been any homework given out. Betty could manage a day without it.

In the car, she checked her phone and her messages.

Archie had left her about six voicemails and a lot of unanswered text messages, but Betty ignored those. Looking at his name hurt, a hollow ache in the deep darkness of her soul. She knew her mother would tell her to cut off contact with him forever.

They'd been friends since they were six...was that really what she wanted to do?

Begrudgingly, she realized that no, she didn't. She'd been rejected romantically. Clearly, Archie wasn't put off as he'd tried to reach her over the weekend. Could she manage to just be his friend? Well, Betty was sure as hell going to try.

Veronica had sent a long winded apology, something that looked more like a letter from the 1800s than a text message, and for all that it was worth...it did seem sincere. Betty read it, but wasn't sure what she was going to do about her.

Jughead had sent her a message, asking if she was alright, saying he'd heard about what had happened with Archie at Cheryl's. Betty winced inwardly, not wanting all of their dirty laundry spread out, but she supposed that if it had happened at Cheryl's (and, it did) everyone would know. She expected more buzz about it, more teasing, but she was about to learn that something else much more interesting was currently catching the school's attention.

Someone had texted her mother, as Betty, and told her that she was spending the night and day at Veronica's and probably wouldn't be back until very late Saturday night. While her mother might have thrown a fit about it any other day, her mother had texted back that the scandal of the century had happened and her and Betty's father would be tied up in late nights for weeks to come.

After that, Betty caught up on the scandal all the way to school. That Kevin (who had been attempting to get it on with Moose) had found Jason's body. That he hadn't drown, he'd been shot. That it was a murder investigation now. It all made Betty feel sick to her stomach.

And then, there was everything else to deal with.

She was a witch.

In the car, she rolled the word on her tongue, trying it out. Did she believe it? Did she want to believe it?

Her phone buzzed. Betty lifted her forehead from the window, looking at it, expecting it to be Archie...again.

Instead, it was an unfamiliar number.

?: The Magic Club is a pretty secretive thing, so don't go around blabbing to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that you can levitate a feather now.

She was fairly sure this was Sweet Pea. She was...undecided how she felt about him.

Her phone buzzed as he sent her a couple more messages.

?: Ie; Don't tell Jughead. He's not a wolf yet. Doesn't know about us, let's keep it that way.

?: Or Veronica either.

?: Or Archie.

?: That gay sheriff's son, though, you can tell. He's human, but he knows shit. So.

?: Just keep it on the DL.

?: Just assume the average person does not know, capiche?

?: This is SP, BTW.

Just as Betty was changing his contact, since he seemed intent on texting her, which was a little baffling to her, he sent a final message.

SWEET PEA: Don't blow out the lights in the school. Keep your emotions level :)

Using a smiley face at the end of his messages felt far too casual, but it also seemed like a thing that he would do.

Betty stared at the list with a pout, because as it was right now- besides Kevin- the only people she could talk to about this was a group of thugs that were all werewolves. Great.

She felt bad for even thinking that. Thugs was a little harsh. Sweet Pea had saved her and FP had kept her safe in his trailer over the weekend. She shuddered to think where she would have been had no one been around when those things attacked.

Dead. She would have been dead, she realized.

She thanked the Uber driver and entered the school. The first pair of people she saw were Archie and Jughead, talking at Archie's locker. Whatever Jughead had been in the middle of saying, Archie saw Betty and left the conversation, practically sprinting up to her.

"Betty? Are you okay. You didn't answer a single message this weekend and my dad said that your house blew a fuse this weekend but there was glass everywhere and-," Archie's concern was strangely cute.

"I'm fine. I just needed some time. I blew a fuse by trying to use my hairdryer, TV, and straightener all at once." She fibbed, "Look, let's just pretend that this weekend between us didn't happen. I still want you to be my best friend, that is, if you want that too." She said, reaching out for his hand in a platonic way.

Relief washed across Archie's face.

"Of course. Betty, I don't think I could lose you. You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. I was a real ass, that's on me."

"What are you wearing?" Jughead broke in, having caught up to them.

Archie blinked, looking at Betty, as though he hadn't noticed her change in appearance. He scratched his head when he did register it, looking at Betty with a look on his face that Betty couldn't decipher.

"Uhm," Betty drew up a blank.

"You don't know a Toni Topaz, do you?" Jughead continued, "Because I swear to god I've seen her wear that exact outfit."

"Who's that?" Betty tilted her head.

Jughead opened his mouth, "Nevermind." he mumbled, "Whatever the case, new look or just for a day, you look nice."

Archie nodded in agreement, although she doubted he would have offered up the compliment on his own.

Still, it warmed Betty's cheeks.

"Thanks. I've just had a strange weekend and I'm glad I can count on you two. Have you made up yet?" She asked, knowing all about their infamous 4th of July fallout.

"Well, that's to be determined," Jughead said sharply. Archie was looking at the floor, almost guiltily.

From across the hall, Kevin was waving frantically to her.

"Uh, I'm being summoned. I'll talk to you later, both of you, okay?" Betty said, patting Archie's hand one more time and shooting Jughead a tight grin- but all she could think about how his father was a werewolf- and beelined for Kevin.

It was eating her up inside. She had to tell him.

She tugged him to an empty classroom.

"So you're clearly alive! After Jason, and you didn't answer your messages...Elizabeth Cooper, you gave me a heart attack. I nearly sent my dad out to find you."

"I know, I know," Betty pinched the bridge of her nose, "Are you okay? You know, finding Jason?" She asked delicately.

Kevin snorted, "The worse was having to explain to my dad what I was doing with Moose down there." He said, "Seeing dead things comes with the territory of being the sheriff's son, on occasion."

"And with the supernatural stuff in this town too?" Betty asked.

For a second, Kevin just blinked at her. It was too quiet of a reaction, and that's when she knew.

Kevin laughed, "Supernatural? I mean, I think maybe they filmed a part of the show here, like ten years ago, but-,"

"Kevin, I just…" Betty decided to face this head on, "Look, I know. Witches and werewolves and the Serpents being a Pack and all that stuff. I know."

There was a moment where Kevin just looked at her, as if he expected that she was trying to trap him in some large lie.

"I'm a witch, apparently," She added, "I got attacked by something called a 'Shadow Shriek' this week-upgh." Betty was cut off as Kevin pressed his hand over her mouth.

"This isn't something to be talking about here, with all the nosy ears." He said, eyes sliding to the hallway outside, "First rule of Magic Club is don't talk about Magic Club."

"So I've been told," Betty said dryly, prying his hands off, "But we do need to talk about this. Kevin, I'm climbing up the walls with questions and confusion and just all of it! No one told me I might accidentally blow my light bulbs up or have to fight off something out to get me or that I would sleep for over 24 hours."

"Calm, Betty, it's okay. I mean, I've known for three years and after awhile, it just seems boring. I promise. Obvs, you're different because you're actually magical and I'm just me, but nothing exciting happens other than the lone werewolf sighting, and people usually just think it's a huge bear or something."

"Okay, I mean, I guess you'd know but...really, can we talk about this seriously some other time?"

Kevin grinned, "Of course. You'll have to tell me all about it. I know of witches and my dad knew a few, but to actually have one for a best friend? We're going to get into so much trouble together."

For the first time, Betty felt a wee bit excited about her new powers.

Kevin checked his watch and grimaced, "I forgot to tell you. You've been called to the office. I was going to take you there, but Cheryl wants to talk to me about this weekend. Joy."

"Oh, good luck," Betty winced, "I mean, I do feel bad for her." She added after a second.

"Sort of how like you feel bad when you kill a spider. Like, you know you should feel bad, but you're mostly just glad."

"No, I actually feel bad," Betty frowned, hitting Kevin's arm, "She just lost her twin. He was murdered. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone."

Kevin inhaled, placing both of his hands on her shoulders, "You are too good of a person, Betty Cooper. Never lose that."

XXxxXX

Betty found Veronica waiting in the office, along with a big bouquet of yellow flowers. She seemed nervous, biting her nails and looking out the window, and Betty saw that at least some part of Veronica truly did feel awful about this weekend.

Archie was hot, she'd be surprised if Veronica didn't like him.

And, if she was going to forgive Archie, it would be bad of her to not equally forgive Veronica. Plus, she figured in a week, Veronica's friendship would wane and she wouldn't have to get into some ugly fight about it all.

"The yellow is for friendship," Veronica began softly as Betty read the card. Veronica could have gotten Betty red roses and she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. It was a nice gesture, "I also had Magnolia cupcakes flown in from New York. Because, as my mom likes to say, "There's no wrong the right cupcake can't fix" Veronica laughed a little to herself, almost as though she was thinking through that there were things that couldn't be fixed by cupcakes, but it was such a mother thing to say, "Also I...I've booked us for hers-and-hers mani-pedis at Chez Salon. Blowouts too. I am so, so, sorry Betty. I don't know what happened to me that night. It was such a basic bitch move. It was like I was…"

Veronica pressed her lips together, thinking hard. It almost seemed like she was fighting back tears, which may have seemed like an over-exaggeration, but Betty knew about fighting one's darkside.

"It was the person I don't want to be anymore. Trust me." Veronica finally finished.

Betty rubbed a flower between her thumb and forefinger, smiling.

"Let's take this to my locker?" She asked, because the office lady was already listening in to this conversation and Betty did not want her hearing the next bit.

Veronica brightened, grabbing the vase.

"I forgive you," Betty began with. She did. She didn't want to hold onto anger, half because she was afraid how her powers would manifest and half because it just wasn't a good way to live, "But I do have a favor to ask…"

"Anything. You want a shopping spree? We can go to New York. We could go to Milan too, if that's where you wanted to go." Veronica said brightly.

"Uh, good to know, but it's smaller. Just...if my mom or any one comes asking, I was at your place this whole weekend, okay?"

Veronica tilted her head, "So, all things were made right with Archiekins, then?" She asked with a saucy smile.

"Not quite," Betty winced.

Veronica dipped her head in, so that the pair were very close, "Another boy? A secret weekend getaway? Oh, do tell!"

Betty thought about telling her the truth; no, I came into my witch powers this weekend and was attacked by weird shadow things and it nearly killed me but a werewolf saved me and I was sleeping it off. However, even if she could tell Veronica, she doubted Veronica would believe her.

So, Betty told a little white lie, just because Veronica looked so excited.

"Yeah, I mean, I didn't plan it. He's from the South Side. I ended up spending the whole weekend with him. Didn't even have time to think about Archie. I'm not over him, but I'm not looking to get with him anymore."

All of that was completely true. Veronica was looking at Betty with a hilarious expression, like someone watching their favorite soap opera at the best part when a huge secret was about to be revealed.

"My mom would freak if she knew, so I told her-,"

"Oh, mon cherie! You don't have to say anything more to me about it. I will take this secret to my grave," She said, crossing her heart.

Betty's phone buzzed again.

"Is that your mystery lover?"

Betty held back a snort, but did see it was Sweet Pea's number. He had texted her 'Helpful Hint #3' along with a long explanation of something Betty didn't have time to read right now. He'd been sending them to her all morning. While she appreciated the effort, wasn't he supposed to be in school too?

"Yeah that's him. He just can't get enough of me." She said, deadpanned, but Veronica seemed so enthralled she completely missed it.

"You, Betty Cooper, are totally not what I expected! Is he dashing? Brave? Hot as hell?" She trilled, "I'm a little jelly, tbh."

"Don't be. It's just a one time thing." True; Betty had no plans to see Sweet Pea again, "I mean, brave...yeah. Dashing, sure? Hot as hell…" Betty paused. Because this was never going to get back to him, she allowed herself a truth with a friend, "You bet."

Veronica's laugh was almost an inhuman pitch.

Notes!

-I'll be using texting quite a bit in the story, so I'm trying to set down how I want to do it. It's a '?' for the first couple, because it's Betty's POV and she's not sure it's Sweet Pea. I feel like SP is the type of person who would send a message without really finishing his thoughts, thus it's reflected in the text. I might make manips of the text messages, because there is something to it being seen visually, especially because SP uses a lot of emojies which do not translate well to writing haha. Would y'all be interested in seeing that?

-I can't remember if Jughead knew Toni at all or not before s2. HOWEVER since his father is FP and the Serpents do hang around and live at Sunnyside, I feel like he at least knows everyone (like Sweet Pea) in passing. Enough to recognize that it's clearly Toni's style on Betty

-I decided to forego the fighting with Veronica, or Betty just sorta pretending to be nice. I think in the wake of it all, Betty realizes there's bigger things to worry about than a fight about a boy, such as being a witch. I just also didn't like how childish it was. And I know, they are children, but still.

Halloween is in two days! What are you all going as? Or, what is your go-to Halloween song?