Archie's POV

*One Hour Before The Black Hood On Betty Attack*

"Ronnie, you really don't have to come over. I'm going to spend some time with my dad working on my car. I really haven't seen him much since he started this whole campaign for mayor of Riverdale. " I said as I hung up on my girlfriend. I walked over to my bedroom window and stared across the street into Betty's. She was picking out something to wear, dancing around her room in a towel. I guessed she was going on a date with Jughead. She and he hadn't really spent much time together since we lost Midge during our school play of Carrie: The Musical. That was a rough night for both the North and South Side, considering how everyone tried to pin her murder on Fangz, one of the  South Side Serpents. That caused a lot of tension between Betty and Jughead. Not because she believed Fangz was the murderer but because she knew he wasn't. The fact that Betty was so loyal to a fault to Jug...it scared him. No one has ever put trust into him before or believed in him the way Betty had. He just wasn't used to the idea of companionship after his mom left him and his dad..and FP spent the next year behind bars it was just Jug...until Betty came along. Betty was everything to this boy who had nothing, and he would do anything to keep her safe...right?

Betty and I hadn't really spent much time together at all either honestly. If she wasn't working on the paper at school, she was trying to spend time..no matter how little she had with Jughead or her mom. I debated about going over and seeing her, just to catch up because she and I rarely got to hang out alone anymore...if ever.  When she and Jughead went through a rough patch after he was officially initiated into the Serpents couple months ago, they broke up. Betty was going through a lot at that time, receiving calls from the Black Hood himself. Veronica and I were starting to struggle at the same time as well. After her ex-boyfriend Nick St. Clair came back into town, I started to see this side to Ronnie that I didn't necessarily like. I leaned on Betty for support and one night during a Black Hood stake out...we kissed. Sure it was mainly the Black Hood that brought us together, but I felt something. Something I started to realize I didn't feel with Ronnie. When Jug and Betty got back together not long after our kiss,  I realized how much that something I felt for her was going to become a problem.  Anyway back to reality, right as I was about to walk over to Betty's house, Veronica's driver dropped her off in front of mine. V wasn't the type of girl who took no for an answer.

"I know you said not to come Archie-kins, but I wanted to watch you and your dad work on the car. The only thing my dad and I have ever done together is a scheme..spend some serious money on things we both don't need. The scheming you see clearly backfired on me...but a little shopping never hurt anyone." Veronica laughed it off. But I could tell she was scared, scared of what her father was capable of and all secrets she knew he was keeping from her. That's when I realized there was just no way I was going to be able to see Betty tonight. I mean V is my girlfriend...I have a duty to be there for her before anyone else.

*Present Day*

A couple hours later Ronnie and I received a frantic call from Jughead that Betty was in critical condition in the hospital, she had been attacked by the Black Hood in her own home. Just across the street from me. Jughead kept asking if I saw anyone sneak into the house from my window. But Ronnie and I were in my bed doing the only thing we ever did these days. Which may have cost Betty her life. I could barely breathe on that drive to the hospital. I sprinted through the automatic doors leaving Veronica to trail behind me.  The second I spotted Jughead in the waiting room, I began drilling him with questions and yelling at him. I couldn't help it, I just lost control.

"Jughead how deep was the stab wound? How much was she bleeding? How the hell did she make it all the way to the South Side on foot?! How could you leave her alone in her house at night! You know what's been going on Jug! You know the Black Hood's been calling Betty! It was only a matter of time before her life was on the line next! What kind of boyfriend are you?!" I yelled at him as if I was actually the worried boyfriend. Veronica took note of my irrational behavior, I was just waiting for her to call me out on it at this point.

"Archie, calm down Jug will see her soon. She's going to be okay. She's Betty Cooper, of course, she will be." Veronica assured me in a seemingly annoyed tone.

"Look her mom just got here, I'm going to go talk to her and probably go see Betty right after...hopefully." Jughead said as he got up and walked over to the ER entrance.

"Archie....your Betty crush is showing again." Cheryl mocked me as Veronica walked away to call her dad to update him on her hereabouts and Betty's condition.

"Shhh, Cheryl stop it! I am one of her best friends! I have the right to be concerned about her well being." I said.

"Um, Arch...Jughead carried her lifeless body into this hospital and he's been calmer than you were when you sprinted in here yelling at him." Toni argued back with me.

"See! We all see it." Cheryl said pointing to the rest of the serpents who were nodding their heads in agreement. "You just better hope Jughead doesn't." She warned me.

"Don't worry we won't say anything to the King, but I don't recommend touching the queen. We'll have no choice but to tell him then." Sweet Pea threatened me.

"Queen?" I asked.

"Yeah after this legendary escape Betty pulled off she's officially part of the Serpents. Jughead's going to tell her. We made her a jacket and everything." Toni said.

"She's not one of you though. " I argued back. "She's from the North Side." I continued remembering how Jughead joining the Serpents was the reason him and Betty broke up the first time. But once they got back together things changed Betty wasn't against Jug's legacy anymore. She wanted to become apart of it.

"Yes, she is. But her mom Alice was royalty back when she and FP were young, she was a South Side native and one of the first queens." Sweet Pea said.

"No, she'll never say yes. " I said right as Jughead came back out.

"She isn't being asked. She did the Serpent dance at the White Worm. Archie you remember? You were there at FP's retirement party. She's technically already one of us. But after this, she officially earned her snakeskin." Toni said.

"Alright good news, she's going to be okay. She has stitches going all the way up her side. She didn't lose a substantial amount of blood thanks to Cheryl and Toni.  She's also officially decided where she wants her serpent tattoo." Jughead's hands shook as he spoke with a smile. He could finally take a deep breath out. While I held mine and my tongue. I was not about to let Betty do this. This was just me being her friend...her best friend and nothing more though. Veronica would most definitely back me up on this one.