Steady Breaths

L i g h t, D a r k

Betty's POV
I'm greeted by a painfully bright light seeping through my eyelids, great it's morning. God last night was a mess. I thought adoption was reasonable, I thought that Jughead dint want us to parent the baby, but now he seems all for the idea of raising it. So I guess that means we're fighting at the moment. I feel like life has just been putting this weight on my shoulders, like I haven't been able to think straight, or take a moment to breathe.

To just breathe.

I feel like my life is falling apart. Ever since the black hood, hell, ever since Jason Blossom died I just haven't had a normal life. Everything was set right out infront of me, I was so close to dating Archie, I had perfect grades, I was apart of every co-curricular, my life was perfect. Now I'm just a pregnant teenager whose father is a murderer-

Oh no. Morning sickness.
I run to my ensuite and pray that it goes by quickly, that I won't be standing here for hours throwing up any previously consumed meals. I hear a knock on my bedroom door.
"Not-now-mom" I saw between gags. I hear the door open, well so much for privacy.

"Oh Betty." I hear a comforting voice, it sounds coated in sympathy. But it wasn't my mothers...or Polly's, nor Jughead's, not even Veronica's voice.
"Archie?" I say looking up for a moment, but my stomach doesn't allow such a break.
I feel Archie instantly pace over to me and pull my hair back, brushing it out of my face. With his free hand he rubs my back in a comforting manner, he repeats; "it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay Betty."

Once I'm finally done throwing up, I flush the toilet and lean against the wall.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." I suddenly burst out crying.
I feel a pair of strong arms lift me up as I sob, Archie places me on the sink bench and begins to wet a towel, he then gently wipes my mouth, he then cleans the cloth, placing soap on it, he then rubs it over my face, allowing the cool dampness to calm me. He places the the wet cloth down and grabs a tissue from the box nearby, he wipes my tears away, without saying a word.
"W-wh-What are y-you doing he-here Arch" I ask between uncontrollable sobs.
"I stopped by to ask you something, but don't you worry about that okay, just take deep breaths, in and out, in and out"
He begins breathing slowly in and out as a demonstration, I attempt to match my breath to his.
In and out. In and out.

I feel humiliated. I've known Archie since preschool. We've done everything together. I've told him all my secrets, and he's told me all of his, we've shared our ups and downs, we've gone through our young lives together. He's seen me at my best, but never would I let him see me at my worst, my most vulnerable. I've always been scared that he'll leave, leave in fear that I'm crazy, or too emotional. Yet here I was, sobbing a mess, when he was right infront of me.

He grabs a near by glass and fills it with water.
"Here drinking water will help" he kindly hands me the glass, keeping his hold on it as I take a sip, as though I was too weak to lift it.
"Thank you" is all I manage to mumble in shame, a few tears slipping down my face.
"It's hard isn't it?"
I nod, more tears pouring down my face.
He says nothing more, he simply wraps his arms around me, holding me closer than I've ever been held, his grip was firm but at the same time gentle, it was like lying in a media of Daisy's, or like walking slowly into the water at the beach, allowing the endless blue to swallow you.
I let my tears soak his shirt, he stays still, except for his hand, which is running up and down my back in a loving, comforting manner.
I pull back, and look at his deep brown eyes.
"I love you Archie."
He nods and gives me a small accepting smile.
"I love you too Betty."

I rarely say those words to anyone these days. But it felt right. I did love Archie. A lot. He has always been there for me. He's my best friend, my partner in crime. I love him for that. For being there for me in my moment of weakness. For being a shoulder to lean on. For making me laugh, no matter how dark it gets. I love him like the brother that I never found.

He helps me down from the sink by lifting me once more, he walks me over to my bed, and gently places me down.
"Get some sleep Betty, I'll see you later okay?" He half whispers, shutting the curtains. Blocking the light that has so suddenly bought me to life once more for another day.

We say nothing more, he simply smiles and leaves, carefully shutting the door behind him, leaving me with tear stained cheeks and a small smile growing on my face.

A/N thank you so much for reading! As always I love reading you comments to leave one please! I always feel like the show have forgotten about Archie and Betty's friendship so I thought I'd let that be the focus of this chapter! Yes Varchie and Bughead shoppers no need to freak out the 'I love you's' were in a friend way! As always thanks for reading and stay tuned for more! Xxx