I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be
And satisfaction feels like a distant memory
And I can't help myself
All I wanna ever say is, "Are you mine?"

Amethyst was rudely woken up the next morning by a phone ringing. Betty woke up with a start from the chair she was sleeping on, and Amethyst flew out of the arms she was asleep in and landed with a thud on the ground.

Amethyst groaned as she lifted her head up, her sleep filled eyes looking up towards Betty to see what she was doing. Amethyst turned over so she was lying on her back as Betty quickly grabbed her phone and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

Jughead peaked over the couch and down at Amethyst, who stared up at him in return.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Never been better," Amethyst replied, before sitting up and rubbing her neck. "God, my neck hurts."

"Same here," Jughead groaned.

"We fell asleep!" Betty said. "How did we fall asleep?"

"We were exhausted," Jughead responded. "It's not easy being us."

"Oh, my god, she's gonna kill me," Betty quickly said, looking at the caller ID on her phone.

"Who is?" Amethyst tiredly asked.

"My mom," Betty responded.

Amethyst's eyes suddenly widened and she leapt up off of the ground. "Marcus is going to kill me. Oh, my god," she quickly said, searching the floor for her phone.

"Relax, Buttercup," Jughead told her calmly, closing his eyes again. "I called your brother when you fell asleep and told him that you'd be staying with me."

Amethyst instantly sighed in relief before leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on Jughead's lips.

Jughead opened his eyes and frowned. "I thought you didn't like my morning breath," he said.

Amethyst shrugged. "I actually don't mind it. I just like to not give you the satisfaction of kissing me just as you wake up."

Jughead rose an eyebrow. "Really?"

Amethyst hummed and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

"I have to go," Betty quickly said, packing up some of her stuff in her bag. "My mom will kill me. I have to go."

"Okay," Amethyst said. "See you later?"

"Yeah. Bye, guys," Betty said before leaving the trailer.

Amethyst hummed. "I wish I was a morning person."

"Same here," Jughead groaned before standing up. "I'm gonna make us coffee and toast. You still like honey on yours?"

"Better believe it," she replied.

Jughead walked towards the kitchen, and Amethyst noticed the mess of books sitting in front of her. She moved forward and began to go through them, putting them in a pile as she went. Amethyst paused when she noticed a pile of books that Jughead didn't borrow from the library.

"I think Betty left some of her books here," Amethyst spoke up.

Amethyst picked one up, skimming through it which contained many different cipher theories. She placed it down on a seperate pile and began to pick up one book at a time when a small piece of paper flew out of one of Betty's notebooks. Amethyst frowned lightly as she placed the notebook down on the pile and then picked up the paper. She unfolded the piece of paper and then began to read what was written on it.

Betty,
Your words at the Jubilee inspired me. The town's sinners must show their contrition. If not, there will be more suffering and bloodshed. Enclosed is a cipher. It details where I will punish the next sinner. It is a test. Only you may solve it, Betty.

Amethyst stared at the letter with her mouth agape, not having known that the Black Hood had contacted Betty and given her such a big weight to carry.

"How much stuff did she leave?" Jughead called out after he finished making the coffee's. Amethyst didn't reply. She continued to stare down at the letter, feeling sick in her stomach at what Betty must be going through. "Buttercup?" Jughead asked again, walking over to her. "What's that?" He asked, noticing the piece of paper in her hands.

Amethyst just numbly handed him it, and Jughead took it out of her hands and began to read it. Once he finished, Jughead mumbled and small, "Holy shit."

"No wonder why Betty has been so eager to finish breaking the cipher," Amethyst said, before getting onto her feet. "We-we need to go see her. She can't be alone when the Black Hood knows where she is."

"Okay, we can take my dad's truck," Jughead said.

Amethyst and Jughead quickly sprayed themselves with deodorant, grabbed their toast and coffee and then hurried out of the trailer and to the truck.

•

Amethyst impatiently tapped her foot on the ground as she waited for someone to answer the door. She tugged at the jacket she was wearing over yesterday's clothing, a jacket Jughead had sitting in FP's truck just in case him or Amethyst had forgotten theirs. Betty opened it up, considering her parents had gone to the town hall meeting, with a frown.

"What're you guys doing here?" She asked.

"Can we come inside? It's freezing out here," Jughead said.

"Yeah, sure." Betty opened her door up wider and Amethyst and Jughead quickly hurried inside.

"So, what's up?" Betty asked.

"When you left this morning, you forgot some of your books. Your notebooks," Jughead told her, reaching into his bag to take them out.

"I wasn't actually snooping this time around. I was just sorting the many books that were scattered on the ground, when it just fell out," Amethyst told Betty. Jughead gave Betty her books, before she frowned at Amethyst.

"What did?" Betty asked.

Amethyst reached into her pocket and pulled out the note Betty got from the Black Hood. "Your letter from the Hood," Amethyst told her. Betty snatched the letter out of her hands and turned away.

"Why haven't you told anyone about this?" Jughead asked her.

"I did. I told Kevin," Betty responded, calmly.

"But why didn't you just tell us, Bets?" Amethyst desperately asked her. "I thought we told each other everything."

"You didn't tell me that you were hanging with the Serpents at school," Betty said.

"It's not like we had any other choice," Amethyst told her. "Other kids were threatening us and the Serpents provide protection against those people."

"The Ghoulies?" Betty asked. "Are they the ones that caused you the motorbike accident as well?"

Amethyst pursed her lips. "Yeah, they did," Jughead told her

"But who we hang out at school, doesn't nearly impact our lives as much as a letter from the Black Hood — a serial killer, no less," Amethyst said. "So, why haven't you told your parents or the Sheriff or us?"

"Because of what it says, Amethyst!" Betty exclaimed. "Because of what he wrote. That I....inspired him. I inspired all of this madness."

"Betty, people won't blame you for this," Amethyst told her, walking up to the girl. "People aren't going to blame you for what this lunatic is doing."

"Not people," Betty shook her head. "Just one person."

"Archie?" Jughead asked.

Betty pursed her lips and nodded as she looked down as if she had something to be guilty about and sat down on her sofa. Amethyst sat down besides Betty and wrapped a comforting arm around her as Jughead sat opposite then.

"For what? For writing a speech that this lunatic has twisted around in order to mess with you, and mess with the town?" Jughead asked her. "Yeah, Archie's definitely shook, but he knows who the bad guys are and you're not one of the bad guys."

"You're Betty Cooper," Amethyst smiled. "You're Nancy Drew. You figure out everything in this town."

Betty's head snapped towards Amethyst before she stood up. "Oh, my god," she gasped.

Amethyst frowned. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, in his letter, the Black Hood said that I am the only one who could solve the cipher. Like he created it specifically for me. Maybe using one of my touchstones," Betty told them.

"I was so hell bent on solving it too," Amethyst mumbled.

"If I'm right, I think I know how to decode this," Betty told them, absolutely sure this time around.

Jughead nodded. "Let's go then."

•

Jughead had driven them to the Riverdale Public Library in FP's truck. Betty led the way through the library in search of a book, with Amethyst looking around nervously as she felt as if someone was watching them.

"When I was a kid, I used to check out this book obsessively," Betty said, pulling out the 'Nancy Drew Secret Code' book.

Amethyst frowned. "I was addicted to the first and second Harry Potter books when I was younger."

Betty opened up the book and flipped it to the page covered in cipher codes. "That's it!" Betty said, before hurrying towards a table. She pulled out the cipher the Black Hood gave her and got out a pen, marking off the code using the Nancy Drew book. Amethyst and Jughead watched from beside her, amazed at how fast Betty was solving it.

"Oh, my god," Betty sighed. ""I will strike next where it all began"," she read from the cracked code.

Amethyst opened her mouth to respond before Jughead said, "Your speech. The town hall. Come on."

Betty collected her stuff up in record speed before the three ran out of the building.

"Was I the only one who thought that he meant Sweetwater River?" Amethyst questioned as they ran towards the truck, but neither of the other two teenagers responded.

•

Amethyst, Jughead and Betty all hurried out of the car and ran towards the hall, not caring that the rain above them was absolutely saturating their clothes.

Betty stormed into the town hall first. "Everyone needs to leave right now!" She ordered.

"The Black Hood's coming here!" Jughead told them. "He said this is his next target."

"Or he could be at Sweetwater River, but nobody listens to me," Amethyst said quietly, more to herself.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean the Black Hood's coming here?" Alice Cooper asked them.

"Betty solved the cipher code and it said that he would be coming here for his next target," Amethyst told her, but much louder so that everyone could hear.

"What?" Alice asked.

The lights all suddenly went out and all of the electricity in the building powered down.

Amethyst nervously grabbed onto Jughead's hand.

"Everyone, stay calms and in your seats. We'll sort this out," Mayor McCoy ordered.

When no one made any move of leaving the building, Betty ran over towards the fire alarm and pulled it. The siren blared throughout the hall, and Amethyst and Jughead went to follow the retreating crowd, when their forearms were grabbed onto by Alice Cooper and Demarcus.

Amethyst frowned. "Demi, what're you doing here?"

"The same reason as everyone else," he replied. "To keep my family safe."

"You two! Elizabeth!" Betty turned around and quickly hurried over to the group. "We will all be having a talk about this back at our home," Alice told them. "Let's go."

•

Amethyst, Jughead and Betty all sat in front of Demarcus, Sheriff Keller, Mayor McCoy and Alice and Hal Cooper. Alice had her arms crossed in front of her, staring down her daughter.

"Well, Elizabeth? We're waiting," Alice told her.

Betty sighed and reached into her bag, pulling out the note. "This is from the Black Hood. It came with the cipher." She handed the note to Sheriff Keller, who opened it up.

"So, you've been keeping this from us?" Sheriff Keller asked.

Alice snatched the note out of his hands to read it herself. "Oh, my god, Betty," she said quietly.

"Betty had a good reason to not show any of you the letter," Amethyst told them, coming to the defence of her best friend. "Betty thought that because the Hood wrote down that she inspired him, that everyone would just turn it around and blame everything on her. When he just twisted up her speech entirely."

Betty smiled lightly at Amethyst in appreciation. "Next time he tries to contact you in any way, please tell us. We only want to protect you," Alice told Betty, as well as the other two teenagers. "Because you two are associated with my daughter, he might try to reach out for you, too."

Amethyst nodded and looked down at the ring situated on her middle finger.

"I better take these two home," Demarcus told them. "We're all pretty shaken over recent events, so what I think we need is a good nights sleep."

Amethyst sighed deeply and nodded before standing up with Jughead. She turned to Betty. "Expect a call from me when I get back to the cabin," she told her.

Betty smiled lightly and nodded. "I'll appreciate that, thank you."

Amethyst smiled lightly at all of the adults in the room before walking out after Demarcus and Jughead. However, Amethyst stopped Jughead before they exited the house.

"Juggy, do you mind staying with us tonight?" Amethyst asked him. Jughead frowned. "I don't want you to be alone after everything that has happened."

Jughead smiled and wrapped an arm around the girl he loved. " Of course, Buttercup. I would be honoured."

"I will be making sure that your bedroom door will be kept open all night," Demarcus told the two teenagers. "I don't trust you two sleeping in the same bed alone now that you've confessed your undying love for each other."

Amethyst rolled her eyes and shoved her Brother. "Demi, I'm about two seconds away from falling asleep," she told him. "I can barely stay awake, let alone actually have sex at this time."

Jughead cleared his throat with a cough as Demarcus accusingly looked at him. "Yeah. Yeah, she's right," he told him. "Nothing."

"Hmm," Demarcus hummed, before turning around and making his way to the truck, Amethyst and Jughead following after him.

•
I love this gif like

"SURPRISE BITCh"