"I guess we are over"

Archibald Andrews was terrified of Alice Cooper as she gripped his wrist with her cold fingers. He had never before seen such horror and pain in her eyes. Knowing that Betty meant a lot to her, she was her only daughter after all, Archie wasn't surprised.

"Where are they?" She asked instantly, referring to the fact that she just found out her perfect daughter Betty had been dating none other than Jughead Jones. He was the town's worst criminal's son, and Alice was not the kind of mother to overlook that "tiny" detail.

"I don't know," Archie shrugged, he knew she wouldn't believe his answer. he had to do better, "believe me, Mrs. Cooper, if I did know where they are I'd march there myself and beat that Jughead Jones senseless."

This Alice Cooper could accept as an answer, she saw the hatred in Archie's eyes, even he himself didn't quite know how angry he was. Smiling, Alice Cooper already had a proposition she knew Archie could not say no to. "I propose we find them, you and me. You get your bride back, I get my daughter back. Everybody wins, well except for Jughead, but we can't let a criminal win, now can we?"

To say no would be like to disobey the self proclaimed queen of Riverdale. The sound of Betty being his bride did not appeal to Archie at all, but it was the two families longest tradition, and he was not about to break it. He shook the hand Alice stretched out for him, that way agreeing with her and making the deal.

Fred Andrews stood on the top step of his staircase, which led to the basement. He was about to walk into his kitchen when he noticed the confrontation of his son by Alice Cooper. Fred didn't think to intervene, their words made him curious. He sighed as he watched Alice walk out of his house. He liked the Coopers, but as of late, they've been acting peculiar. Fred knew Alice and Hal had something against FP Jones, but Fred himself didn't. The business of Riverdale royalties was not his.

Without saying a word, he waited for a couple of seconds and walked into his kitchen, he tried to not make any eye contact with his son. He didn't want anything to do with whatever Alice was plotting. Riverdale was run by criminals, that was for sure, but they were not the South Side Serpents like many thought.

The day was slowly turning into night, darkness sneaking up on the sun and dragging it down, until the sun fights for another day to come. With the night, the low life's of the earth came out of their hiding spots to plague the streets of Riverdale with their long fingers that could get anyone who dared step out of line. They dinned in fancy restaurants, wore expensive jewelry, and made speeches in the town hall.

"What if we ran away?" Jughead asked, looking at the setting sun next to Sweet Water river.

Betty laughed, "where would we even go!?"

"Literally anywhere," he moved his arm from underneath her head. They were both lying down on a blanket, enjoying the silence after a short picnic. Jughead sat up, and Betty plopped her elbows up, to see him better.

To her the idea sounded absurd, she had a perfect life here, why would she want to get rid of that, "Jughead, it's not as bad as you think, my parents will get used to you and-"

"Betty, are you even hearing yourself? Your parents will never get used to me. I know why you don't want to leave, I'm a replacement, something to keep you entertained when Archie is otherwise occupied." He spat out, throwing his leather Serpents jacket on.

Betty shrugged, "what are you talking about?"

"When Archie wants you, you'll go running to him, because Betty despite what you say, you know you'll always love him. I'm just a runt from the wrong side of the tracks, you're the perfect girl next door," his voice was getting louder until he cracked.

Not believing her ears, Betty shook her head, "Jughead, you're my boyfriend."

"Until Archie wants to date you, right? Because that's always the vibe I'm getting," he stood up and walked to the edge of the river.

Following him, Betty put on her pink sweater, "whatever gave you that impression?" Not even all the romantic atmosphere could help them now.

Jughead smiled, "admit it Betty, it's true."

"I don't even know, I don't know anything," she sighed, turning away from him. Betty marched to the blanket where all their food was. She put on her heels, and looked back at him, "so, I guess this is over?" She asked, but got no reply. Instead Jughead looked down at the river and Betty felt a sting in her eyes as tears rolled down.

She started walking, but Jughead caught up with her, "don't be stupid, you're not walking all the way back to Riverdale, the least I could do is give you a lift home."

Complying, Betty got into his car. They didn't talk the entire ride back to her house, both glancing at each other at times. She wanted to desperately asking him if he even cared, he wanted her to tell him that he was the only one and he had nothing to worry about. But, neither of them had the courage or brains to say so. At one point he naturally reached to hold her hand, but she didn't give him hers. The silence in the car was killing both of them. Finally, they got to Betty's street. He parked the car a few blocks away from her house. Betty quickly got out of the car and followed the familiar road back home. Her tears were dry and she didn't feel like crying anymore, she was drained. The boy she thought was the sweetest person in the universe just broke her heart. What pain and conflict miscommunication can cause.

Fred was sitting on his porch, enjoying the cool air after a long day of work. He saw Betty walking towards her house, they were neighbors after all. He didn't want to say anything to her, but his mind kept forcing him to, Fred jumped off his chair and walked toward Betty.

"Betty," he said and she looked up at him, "I need to talk to you."

She quickly smiled at him, "good evening Mr. Andrews."

"Yeah skip the formalities, look kid, I don't know what trouble you got into with your parents, but," he almost didn't want to say it, "don't come home tonight alright, I know how obsessive and crazy your mother can be."

She nodded her head, "I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Andrews I am perfectly fine," she kept on walking.

"Jughead Jones, I know about him. In fact a lot more people than you think know," this made her stop and turn to face him, "you might think it's none of my business, and you're right, it's not. I know FP, I know his son, I knew him way before this South Side Serpents stuff, he's a good man. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him, or to you Betty. There are things you don't know about your parents, you need to run, you need to get out of here."

Betty sighed, "respectfully, Mr. Andrews, you don't know anything about me or Jughead. Jughead Jones is a coward who uses girls to get what he wants and then he just leaves them. Whatever you think you know about FP is also not true, he's just a gang leader, that's it." She turned back around and marched to her house.

"You don't know him Betty, if you think that's all Jughead is," she heard FP say before she turned into the front yard of her house.

The porch light was still on, the entire house was dark except for one room, the living room. Through the window she could see her father watching tv and her mother sitting next to him, reading the newspaper. Betty walked in. She was quickly greeted by smiles, her mother hugged her and fixed her hair.

"where have you been, Betty, not with that Jones boy I hope?" She asked, as if already knowing the answer.

Betty hated lying, she was not good at it, "no, of course not. I was studying with Veronica."

"Good, studying is good," her father said, still watching the game that was on tv.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm really tired." Betty walked toward the staircase.

Alice nodded her head, "of course, of course." She watched her daughter go upstairs without taking her eyes off her, studying her every move.

Betty didn't have a lock on her door, but she pushed the desk chair up to the handle, Fred's words made her cautious. Falling down on the bed, she wished the night would never had happened. Her phone made a vibrating noise, and she pulled it out of her pocket, a part of her hoping it was Jughead.

To her astonishment, it was Archie. "Hey, I hope you're not busy Betty. I really need to talk to you. Riverdale park at 1 am?" Archie knew she would do anything for him. And he was right when he received a "yes" from her.

A/N: I know I know I haven't updated in 50000 years, but I've kinda been avoiding this chapter and also dealing with some personal troubles XD But finally! I finished it, please don't kill me XD