Bughead Oneshots

'tis the damn season

Betty forced her suitcase closed and pushed it to the corner of her room. She took her glass of wine from the floor along with her computer, moving to sit on her bed. "You're actually coming home this time?" Polly asked.

"I come home all the time," Betty countered quickly. "I may miss my flight a few times, but I always make it there before Christmas."

"And then you're gone half the time you're there," Polly sneered, examining her nails. Sometimes Betty wasn't sure why she put up with her older sister.

"I have a hard time dealing with mom, you know that," she whispered softly, already feeling like the weak youngest child without even having to leave her own home. "I would rather stay in a hotel anyway. I have more privacy that way, and I have people I come to see when I'm home, too. I don't just have you guys."

"Why don't you ever bring one of your L.A. 'friends' home with you?"

Betty furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?" she questioned, opening a side tab. What the hell are tabloids saying now?

"All those guys you hang around, why don't you ever bring one of them home?" she snapped rudely, raising a brow.

Betty sighed. "They're busy with their families, and they're just friends."

"Mm-hm," Polly hummed, clearing her throat. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. I don't want to take away your beauty sleep. Love you."

"Love you, too," she mumbled, putting on a tiny smile as she ended the call. She bit her lip and swallowed the lump in her throat. Polly was always jealous of Betty, her whole family was jealous of her. She couldn't help that she had managed to become an actress. It's not her fault, really.

She had moved to L.A. to be with her dad originally after desperately needing to get away from her mom, and then singing just sort of followed. Everything fell into her lap, none of it was planned. But her dad had been her biggest supporter, he always showed up to interviews on talk shows and movie premieres and boasted about her on social media (along with Polly and Charles).

When he passed away, people became cruel again. They forced her into these boxes and ideals. Her mother was never her biggest fan and often said she used acting as an excuse to get closer with guys who would 'normally never give her the light of day'. And Polly viewed her as another prissy rich girl who flaunted her money. Charles on the other hand was a lot like their dad, even if he wasn't around much. Although, for every drop and premiere and shoot she got a call, voicemail, text, gift, and flowers from him stating how utterly proud of her he was.

She was grateful for the life she had and she tried to show that to her family as much as she could. She wasn't spoiled, she was simply lucky—or at least that was what she was told. She still lived a normal life and did normal things. She lived like a human being and still fangirled over Taylor Swift and Dylan O'Brien. Just because she lived like them, did not mean she was their equal, she was far from it.

With all of the time she had spent in L.A., she had only made one true friend over the course of 5 years. Veronica Lodge, a girl from New York who swooped in and took 18-year-old Betty under her wing with grace in the corridors of their college. They were inseparable since and watched each other's careers boom from there. Veronica took a fashion design route and was a sole creator of most of Betty's most notable red carpet looks—all of which she genuinely felt comfortable in, and ones that didn't force her to suck in all the breath she could get before getting zipped up tight.

Every part of her being wishes she could take Veronica with her to Riverdale. Veronica was her safety blanket, her everything, her rock, her person. She was far more mature than her even though their birthdays were merely days apart and always knew what to do in every situation. Betty dragged her everywhere she could, and when she wasn't there in person, she was almost always on Betty's phone either through FaceTime or a phone call. Going to Riverdale without her every year killed her but she couldn't let her family meet her. They quite literally ruin everything they touch.