You Make Me A Believer

Last Thing's Last

Still unsure of what he was feeling, Archie went with Jughead and Betty to Pop's. He laughed and talked with them, but all the while he was also watching them. 

That confusion he was feeling earlier was back, and he did his best to understand what was going on in his mind. 

"What's up?" 

He didn't even know Betty and Jughead stopped talking until they were both looking at him. 

"What?" he asked.

"Are you okay? What's the matter?" Betty asked him.

"I just-" he started. "I don't know. I'm not sure."

"Is it about the Blossoms? My Dad?" Jughead offered. 

Archie shook his head, not sure how to answer their questions. 

With them sat as close to each other and smiles on their faces, he got the chance to get a good look at his best friends. 

They were happy, all right. If he was being honest, he'd never seen any of them as happy as they were at that moment. 

With everything that's happened in their lives, Betty and Jughead both deserved all the happiness in the world.

"Is this still about you and Veronica?" Betty asked. "Like I told you both, Archie, it's fine with me. I'm with Jughead, we're happy. I'm happy." She turned to Jughead and Jughead smiled at her.

"You're not, like, planning on stealing my girlfriend, right, man?" he asked Archie with a smile. He was obviously playing around but at that moment, Archie realized the extent of safety his best friends felt with one another.

"Dude, no," Archie said quickly.

Jughead laughs and Betty rolls her eyes.

"Cool," Jughead said. "'Cause it's not like I'm ever letting her out of my sight." Betty smiled and leaned back against Jughead's chest. "I'll never deserve her, but I'll take what I can get."

Archie took a good look at Betty. She looked so happy and content, and different from the girl who asked him if he could imagine them being a couple.

His eyes moved over to Jughead, and he imagined himself in his friend's position, feeling content with the girl of his dreams in his arms. But when he moved his eyes to Betty, it wasn't Betty he saw.

It was Veronica. 

Him and Veronica in his arms. 

He'd never seen Jughead be that expressive towards anyone, but did Archie also ever feel what he felt for Veronica? No. Not even during summer when he was all about Geraldine Grundy, Veronica made him feel things. Things he couldn't explain. 

He imagined it then. 

Veronica sitting with him in the booth, chatting with Jughead and Betty. Veronica, being sarcastic and saying whatever was in her mind, no matter what it was. 

He tried to imagine him with Betty, but he couldn't. Sure, he already knew he would always love her, since she's his best friend, but only Ronnie made him feel like he wanted to be with her all the time. He wanted to kiss her, hold her close, be with her.

He knew it then. Archie wanted to be with Veronica.

He wanted the kind of safety Jughead and Betty had with each other, only, he wanted to feel it with Veronica. 

He remembered how ruined she felt when she thought her Dad had something to do with the murder of Jason Blossom. How he wanted to comfort her. How when she thought everything she thought to be true was a lie, he wanted to be there for her. Because he knew she would be there for her as well.

And what he told him the other night, how them not ever meeting each other would be a tragedy of epic proportions, he knew it to be true. 

"Archie," Betty said, reaching over the table to touch his arm. "You okay?"

"What was it you said earlier?" Jughead asked with a small smirk on his face. "Why couldn't the raven-haired beauty join us this evening?"

He was going to answer, but Jughead's smile told him he knew what was going on.

"I have to go," Archie said, getting up from his seat. 

Betty raised an eyebrow and looked at Jughead, and then at Archie.

"What's going on?" she asked. 

"We'll wait for you here, man," Jughead told Archie with a knowing smile. 

"Wait, where's he going?" Archie heard Betty ask Jughead.