Resilience | Sweet Pea.

62 - Bizarrodale

"You kissed him on the cheek, Nova. It's not the end of the world." Betty chuckles.

I sit on Betty's bed, after telling her what happened with Sweet pea. I'd spoken to Archie, who, as I thought, was just freaking out a bit, or so he says. It's hard to adjust after all he's been through which is understandable, and even more to why we need this beach trip.

"It's weird, Betty! What if he freaks out?" I whine.

"It's Sweet pea, and It's you, Nov. He's not going to care." Betty says.

"Ugh, you're probably right, but I can't believe I just let myself get so caught up..." I tell her, flopping backwards on the bed.

"You miss him." She states.

"Yeah." I sigh.

"Then tell him that!" Betty lectures me.

"No!" I hiss. "It's not that easy, Betty."

"You don't want to get close to him because if you do you'll feel guilty about not telling him about the baby, right?" Betty says, I look up at her, wondering how she read me so well.

"How do you keep doing that?" I groan.

"You have to tell him eventually." She says.

"I know." I sigh. "I will..."

"It'll hurt him more the longer you wait." She hums.

"Shut up." I groan.

"Alright, you fucking sad sack, I need your help." Betty says, obviously sensing I'm over the lectures.

"What's up?" I ask.

"I'm going to see my dad today." She says.

"What?!" I hiss. "Why?"

"My mom forged his signature, that's how she stole my money." Betty explains. "I need him to sign a form, confirming he didn't sign it."

"Right." I say, furrowing my eyebrows. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"It is if you're with me." Betty says, looking at me hopefully.

"Y- You want me to come with you?" I ask, she nods.

"Please?" She asks.

I look at her, I hadn't seen her father since long before his arrest, but knowing he tried to kill Fred not once, but twice really unsettles me, as it should. I take a deep breath. I need to do this, for Betty.

"Okay, B. I'll come with you."

*

"Are you sure about this, Betty?" I ask Betty as we stand outside the door of the cell room, where Hal Cooper remains in high security lockdown.

"I just wanna go to college, Nov." She sighs.

"I know." I say, patting her shoulder. "Let's get this done."

The two of us walk in, and I shove my hands in the pockets of my serpent jacket, trying to keep a poker face as Betty hesitantly confronts her father.

"It's good to see you, Betty. I'm disappointed it took so long." Hal says, before looking behind her, at me. "Glad to see you still keep your guard dog around."

I nod in response.

"Let's skip the small talk." Betty says, pulling the paper from her pocket and showing it to him. "Is this your signature?"

Hal walks forward, almost leaning against the glass.

"No." He states, Betty folds the paper and puts it back in her bag. "What is that?"