THAT WEEKEND, EVERYTHING WENT TO SHIT. Betty and Marla had crossed one too many lines Saturday night in bed seeing what the other was made of and spending Sunday morning cuddled up with each other, breathing in the other's scent.

It was just so wrong how shameless the two were being, not giving a shit that Betty was cheating on Jughead and she wasn't even batting an eye at the obscenity of it. Or so one thought.

     Marla didn't know what to think of it. Sure, she would've loved to be with Betty and go out with her and do more of what they had just done, but this wasn't the way that she had hoped it would go.

On the surface, it looked like she had no moral compass and she didn't care about her own emotions and well-being. But on the inside, she felt this pang of guilt that gnawed at her stomach for what she did hours prior. She believed that she wasn't one to cheat, no matter how poor her outlook on life was.

     She unraveled herself from Betty, who gave her a confused look. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Don't wanna smell like this when I get home or else my is gonna kill me. She's got the nose of a bloodhound," Marla explained. "Might wanna change the sheets."

     Before Betty could respond, Marla was on her way to the bathroom to take a shower. After digging through Betty's cabinets, she found a washcloth and a towel and set them on the rack beside the bath. Getting in, she stepped into the steady stream of water and began to wet her hair.

     She wasn't far into soaping up until a hand reached into the shower and shut the water off. "What the — " Marla started but the curtain was pulled back a bit and her mouth was covered by Betty's hand. "Jughead's here," she interrupted. "Eyes up, Cooper," Marla brought Betty's eyes back up to look at her, "what is he doing here?"

     Betty shrugged. "G and G business, probably. He asked why my shower was running and I told him that I was warming the water up."

     "So you thought it wise to shut it off?" Marla rose an eyebrow at her and Betty rolled her eyes. "Look. Just dry off and stay. Here."

     "Woof," Marla responded sarcastically but Betty didn't hear because she was already leaving. Marla did get out and dry herself off and then sat on the toilet until she was given the all-clear. It was about another five minutes when Betty walked into the bathroom again.

     "So what's the verdict?" asked Marla. "I told him," Betty blurted at her. "I told him that I was cheating on him."

"How'd he take it?"

Betty shrugged. "He was heartbroken, of course. But there was a twist. He told me that he and Archie hooked up in Toledo. Something about feeling distant from me and lonelier lately. Apparently Archie felt the same way and boom."

Marla sighed and got up off the toilet to get dressed. "Wh–where are you going?" Betty asked as she walked past her. "I'm getting dressed," she answered.

"Don't you at least want to stay a little longer? My mom won't be back for a while so we have the house to ourselves for a bit."

"I'd love to, but I should probably get going." Marla buttoned her jeans and pulled on her t-shirt. "The homework never stops coming and if I slow down, I'm gonna drown in it." She walked past Betty and went down the stairs. Betty followed, asking, "Why are you leaving so soon?"

"I," Marla started and then sighed. "I just have a lot of stuff to get through and I really can't waste another minute."

     "Then do it over here. Please. Won't you stay?" Betty asked. "Because I really like you, Mars."

     Marla sighed again, frustrated because she didn't know how she wanted to phrase her response. "I don't know how to say it so I'm just rip the band-aid right off: I can't give you the answer you want right now because this isn't the way I wanted to be with you. Sure, it was fun in the loosest of terms but it was also mentally draining for me. I didn't — I couldn't — enjoy most of it because of the nagging voice in my head saying that it was all so wrong.

"No matter how emotionally spent I may appear to be, I will never be able to bring myself to cheat on someone. Ever. Now I know that this isn't what you wanted to hear at ten a.m. on a Sunday morning, but I just can't do it anymore."

Betty stood still on the stairs, letting everything Marla just said sink in. She had just told Marla she liked her and this was the response she got? One part of her completely understood that the way she was reacting was so unreasonably selfish but her life was currently spiraling with all that was happening to and around her so damn her for being selfish.

     "I'm gonna go," Marla said finally after a moment of tantalizing silence. "How are you gonna get home?" Betty asked, so very close to crying.

     "I'll find a bus stop or something."

     "I'll drop you off. Just let me go get my keys." Betty walked back up the stairs before Marla could respond.

"Home sweet home," Betty said solemnly as she stopped the car in front of Marla's house.

Marla laid her head against the headrest and looked at Betty. "Don't."

"What?"

"Don't use that voice. It's not gonna work. If you truly felt guilty about what just happened, you wouldn't use that tone to try and coerce me."

     Betty turned to face Marla. "I'm not trying to coerce you into doing anything. I'm actually just upset because the girl I like just told me that she didn't want to be with me."

     "Because it started out as an affair! You cheated on Jughead with me! How do you not feel bad about that?" Marla retorted, searching Betty's eyes for an answer. "It's because you never really liked him. Did you?" 

     "I honestly did like Jughead when I started dating him and then I got to know you and. . .what I had with Jughead just kind of. . .fizzled out. I'm not blaming you for my not liking Jughead anymore, I just. . .I don't know. I think I found someone better for me."

     Marla did her best not to blush at that because she was still mad, but her cheeks were burning and it's been a while since she received that sort of affection from someone she liked. "I'm flattered but I'm gonna need some time to think and regroup before we can try and make something out of. . .all of this."

     Betty nodded in understanding. Marla opened the door to get out of the car, but Betty stopped her. "Just one more kiss before you go?"

Marla sighed; it was the least she could do. She turned around and pressed a kiss to Betty's mouth before getting out of the car and walking up the steps to her house.