Matches ♕ Bughead

♕ | Chapter Twenty-Five

chapter twenty-five: search party

♕betty♕

THE FOUR of us put our brains together like the Scooby Gang and thought out a logical area in which Polly could have gone. We got a map and labeled out the area, pin pointing all the different places Polly would have wanted to go. Knowing Polly, she most likely wanted out of that hell hole, which means she didn't want to be followed.

The Sisters of Quiet Mercy was located North, while the getaway car was located South. Between that was all road and houses, making it too hard to escape without being noticed. That ruled us to believe she had escaped through Eversgreen forest.

By the early afternoon, the four of us had put a search party together involving my parents and even the some students from school like Reggie. It's not an ideal group, but for now we all have one goal in mind; find Polly and return her to safety.

We trudge through the dewy forest, our breath visible in front of us. It's not until the sun begins to dominantly shine through the tress that I'm able to feel my feet again. Thankfully the gloves I'm wearing hide my injured hand, protecting it from the eyes of my parents. Although, I haven't really spoken to them considering they're all too busy acting like the leaders of this search party, taking the lead and shouting orders. It's not like Jughead and I organized the whole thing.

To get away from all the drama, six of us including Kevin and Valerie split off, making our way to the edge of the stream. We call Polly's name, all our voices echoing through the empty forest. We've been doing this for about ten minutes, and although it hasn't been that long, I'm starting to loose faith that we'll find her.

"Hey," A voice calls from behind me.

I glance back and see Archie jogging up to my side, walking at a faster pace with me. "Are you alright?" He asks, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans.

"Once we find Polly I will be." I sigh, failing to look him in the eye. I can't seem to do that just yet.

He stays silent, the only noise being the crunch of branches and squeaks of wet leaves under our boots. "Betty I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." He suddenly says, causing my breath to catch in my throat. "I'm sorry I haven't been there for you, that you had to go through this thing with your sister alone." He frowns, acting like that's the only thing he has to apologize for.

"I wasn't alone." I say, glancing back at the group behind us, laying eyes on Jughead as he holds a giant map, pointing to it with Kevin by his side. His face is so serious, so focused that I find a smile creep onto my lips without even thinking. He's put so much of himself into helping me, more than everyone else has. Sure everyone else has their own problems, as I'm sure Jughead does too, but out of all my friends he's been the only one to stick by my side unconditionally, never failing to support me. There's something within me that I've been scared to explore, that knows something greater has become of us. I can't shake this small feeling within my chest whenever I look at him. I don't know when it happened, but it did. I can't help but think all this time we've spent together means something greater. I just can't seem to comprehend what exactly that is yet.