Steady Breaths

C h i l d r e n

Betty's POV
Archie arrived back at the group with a chuffed look on his face.
"Considering your girlfriend is in hospital you look happy" Kevin comedically welcomes him back to the group.
"It was great to just see her...anyways who's next?"
"Can I go?" I ask way too quickly, everyone laughing slightly.
"Yeah of corse" Jughead ushered me to go.
I hope my V is okay. I enter her room and give her a warm smile.
"Oh Veronica I'm so glad to see you" I sigh as I pace towards her bed and grab her hand.
"Thanks B" she quietly smiles. It's hard to see her in so much pain, I can't stand it, I just want her to be alright.
"I know what your thinking 'oh Veronica you just always have to steal the attention don't you' well trust me Betty I wasn't doing it for attention, in fact I was rather annoyed that you stumble upon me before I..." she stopped mid sentence and took a moment. "Before I jumped"

The room fell silent. I found that it had been doing that a lot recently. Usually there's always something to talk about. First it was Jason, then it was the black hood...now there is still so much to talk about, just no one wants to talk anymore. We all just want it to go away, and Veronica must've figured suicide was a way of just ending it all. I know she feels selfish, and she's acting like she's committed a crime, but she doesn't deserve to think that way.
"V, I don't think you're selfish. My pregnancy is...a story of the past. I mean everything has been moving so quickly and everyone's been focusing on me and my baby, that we all forgot about you...I am so sorry. It's like suddenly I forgot that your dad was ruining people's lives, just because finally mine was being ruined by something else. I should've checked in, or asked-"
"And I would've said I was okay." Veronica cuts me off softly. Huh...I didn't think of it that way. In fact, we did ask her how she was, I mean in passing convocation, when we'd meet up after school I would always ask 'how are you' and she would always respond with a smile 'I'm alright' and we'd then move on to talk about something else. I should've asked more...I should've been there.

"You were there for me whenever I needed you throughout the pregnancy, always there supporting, giving those comforting hugs, and warm smiles. You never failed to make every worry just disappear, I should've realised that you were under so much pressure to the point where you felt like death was the only answer" I place my hand over hers and give her a smile, just to provide some comfort.

"You know Betty, I've always known you were perfect" she sweetly says. "That one with good grades and an amazing life. I always knew that I would never compare to you, you're just too pure, so kind to everyone. I always knew that I was a failure compared to you. And now I'm such a fail that I can't even kill myself successfully" she looks down, a tear slipping down her face.
"And I've never been so grateful in my life that you messed up" I smiled, making her lift her head.
"Really?" She asked.
"Really."

We smiled for a moment longer, before a doctor suddenly entered.
"Hi Veronica, how are you feeling?" He asks softly.
"Better since seeing my friends"
"Well your mother hasn't arrived yet, and she probably won't be here any time soon, but there is an adult who is willing to sign you out, but he may just be some random man...uh do you know a Fred Andrews?" He asked, looking at a sticky note with Fred's name on it.
"Yeah, he's my boyfriends dad" Veronica politely answered.
"Well, he bought you some clothes, so I'll allow you to get changed before you are discharged." He handed Veronica a bag before exiting.

"Well let's see what fashion sense Mr Andrews has" Veronica says as she opens the bag.
"Jeans, okay. Wow considerate enough to bring a bra. A shirt okay. And a hoodie...which looks 10 sizes too big" Veronica examines the hoodie for a moment, giggling lightly after just a moment.

She quickly got changed, as she took hospital gown off I could see bruises and scratches, a mortifying sight considering the fact that the small smile on her face hid her pain so well...I could relate to that. Having to just tell people I was fine when really I was in excruciating pain.
"They're from the river," Veronica, now half dressed catches me staring, "I don't know exactly what happened, there must've been rocks or sticks at the river bed or something..."
"Do you remember anything about...jumping?" I try to select my words carefully, not wanting to hurt her. She sighed and sat back down on her bed, looking down with furrowed brows, probably trying to recall anything.
"No...I mean I remember I was just sitting at home, my mom had gone to visit dad. I just felt so...alone. And not because the house was empty, just because I felt like my world was just crashing down, but everyone kept on smiling and acting normal. I suppose that's how you felt when you found out about the baby, the only difference is that I couldn't handle my stress. So I wrote a list of reasons why or why not to kill myself and the why list won. I then remember that Jason Blossom for some reason popped into my head, how he had been found at sweetwater river, over a week after being put there. I figured that'd be a good place to start. So I just walked to the bridge, enjoying everything for the last time, seeing Pops, feeling the breeze in my hair, watching people walk past with smiles on their faces. The rest is a bit of a blur really. You showed up and I couldn't hear you, I mean I knew you were yelling but for some reason all I could hear was my heartbeat. Then when Jug and Archie showed up I just...jumped. I don't remember anything other than hitting the water, like it as cement, and then I blacked out...how did I end up here?" She asks, a confused look coming across her delicate face.

"Archie dove in, dragged you ashore while we called the authorities...and yeah they took care of you. You had some major internal bleeding V, so you were in surgery for what felt like forever" I admit, making her face palm.
"I'm so stupid, you guys shouldn't have had to go through all that-"
"You shouldn't have put yourself through that" I cut her off, grabbing her hand to comfort her.
She smiles, a small smile, at me.

"Veronica" the doctor entered the room, distracting me from my thoughts. He was followed closely by Jughead and Archie, who look liked that had both seen a ghost. They both seemed nervous and unsure.

Jughead's POV
Earlier
"You two, we need to speak" the doctor approached us with such certainty that I almost knew we were in trouble. Archie looked at me with worry, and confusion, I returned the stare. We stood up and followed the doctor to a small hidden room, presumably his office. He gestures for us to take a seat. I just stare at Toni and Cheryl, joined by Kevin, all sitting down. What the hell are they doing here. We never said anything to them about Veronica.
They all looked so worried and confused, I could relate.
"What are you guys doing here?" I ask in a whisper as I take a seat.
"I wish I knew" Toni whispers back.
"Shhh" the doctor hushed is and Toni immediately jumped in her chair, then sat up right.
"Now children you are probably wondering why you are here."

I felt like I was 10 again. Children, is that all we were in this town? Just reckless innocent children who couldn't handle things on their own. We've been through enough haven't we. I mean I'd happily accept the title of awkward teen over children.

"Over the past few months you've all suffered from such deep trauma"
Have we? Have we really? I mean sure life kind of sucks at the moment, and nothing seems to be going right, but how bad can it be? Oh wait, we're here because Veronica tried to kill herself. Maybe it is bad. I guess we've all just become numb to it.
"We see you lot in particular in here often, we know about all your cases and we-"
"Who is 'we'" Archie boldly asks, not bold with confidence, just the fact that he's speaking against someone who seems nice at first but now seems a little more suspicious, is pretty impressive.
"I can't say. But we know who you are Mr Andrews" I watched Archie cringe at the formality of his name.
"We have...selected, you all for a trial we are hosting. You will be sent to the institute immediately..." his voice fades as thoughts swarm my mind.
Institute? What does he mean by that. And what does he mean by trail. What about Dad? Jellybean and Mom...
"...Your families have been told..." well there's the answer to my question. Wait but Dad wouldn't just let that happen, he wouldn't just sit around not caring would he?
"I know you kids probably have a lot of questions but trust us, we are going to make everything better"

Better. Ha. What a joke. This doesn't get better, it never gets easier. That's not how it works, even so there's not much to fix. We're all coping enough to keep us alive. And how would isolating us from the rest of the world do anything to help us anyways. Is this doctor some sort of stalker who is going to murder us.
"What about Betty..."I whisper, more so to myself.
"And Veronica" Archie adds, also in a whisper, hoping no one hears.
"Those two will be joining you" the doctor startles us.
"Now if you will all follow me, and don't think to misbehave. Or the institute will have to handle that." The doctors words echoed in my mind. We follow him to Veronica's room, I could feel my palms sweating, this is so sudden, so strange, I don't know how to react. He opens the door, we follow closely behind. Veronica and Betty are both swept with confusion.
"Ladies, let's talk."

A/N okay so you have to trust me with this whole institute thing, I'm going a little off script with this but it came to mind and I thought it would be cool. No it's not supernatural, fear not for those of you who oppose to the idea, but it is different so I hope that you'll give it a go and keep reading! Thanks for all your love and support xx