The Many Sides Of Betty Cooper {Bughead}

The First Visit

POV Betty

When I woke up I was covered in people. For a minute, I didn't remember what had happened and just relaxed while I listened to my friends soft snores. Then it all came rushing back. Within seconds, I was having a panic attack. I sat up struggling to breath.

"Ow" Arch said as I sat up and pushed him off.

"Betts? What's wrong?" Jug asked waking up.

"Oh shit. V wake up!" C said loudly.

"Everyone back up off her" C said.

"I've got it" V said and she jumped up to stand in front of me.

"Don't touch her for a minute" C said to Jug as he tried to reach for me. V moved a bit closer to me and looked in my eyes.

"Hey, Betts. It's okay. You're okay. I'm going to hold your hand, okay?" I nodded and she gently held my hand.

"Good. Feel my hand? Concentrate on that." I did that and felt myself calm a bit.

"Okay, now look at my hand. Concentrate on that." she suggested and I did for a few moments. Then I brought her hand to my face and smelled the back of her hand. It smelled like V, cinnamon and vanilla and safety. I took a deep breath and kissed her hand.

I looked at her and she smiled.

"I'm going to hug you, okay?" I nodded and she hugged me softly.

"Thanks, V. I'm so sorry"

She shook her head and said, "No don't be sorry. You did nothing wrong."

C came into view and softly said, "Can I join this hug?" I smiled and nodded. She sat next to me and hugged us both.

After a few minutes we separated and the rest of our friends looked confused except for Kevin.

"I have to pee" V said and I replied "Me too"

"Let's go and wash our faces too. Is it okay if Kevin explains while we are gone, B?" C asked and I nodded. We left the room.

POV Jughead

We all looked at Kevin after they left and he sighed.

"Betty gets panic attacks. Sometimes they are really bad. That was a mild one. Every panic attack is different but V is really good at talking her through them. One trick that we've learned is to have her concentrate on the different senses. Touch, sight, smell, hear and taste. It doesn't always work but it usually at least helps some. Another thing we've learned is to not touch her and definitely don't grab her or hold her. She needs to feel in control or it will get much worse."

"How long has she been having them?" Arch asked

Kevin shrugged. "She only told me about them a year ago but she had some after her dad died. They got worse after Malachi though. C was the only one who knew and then later, V of course. They are the only ones who seem to help her with them. I tried once and made it so much worse. I learned to just step back and let them handle it"

"How often does she have them?" I asked.

Kevin said, "It's hard to say, she hides them if she can. I know that she used to have them all the time but it's gotten better. She used to practically live here or at C's because she would get them in the middle of the night after waking up from a night terror but she doesn't seem to get those as often either."

I am heartbroken. She's been dealing with this all that time. How is she going to deal with this Ghoulie situation when she's still working through the last time Malachi had his hands on her? I looked around and realized that we were all thinking the same thing.