CHILDHOOD LOVERS: ARCHIE, BETTY, JUGHEAD

Chapter 6

"M..my...mom" Betty said, shakily. "I don't think I can live with her anymore" she told them. "Why honey? What happened?" FP said, crouching in front of the broken girl. Betty looked up at the four men in the room, she could trust them with her life, so she told them everything. She explained how it all started when her dad went to prison, and how Alice would snap at her and yell and shout, picking on Betty for everything she did, blowing up at her as soon as she walked through the door and belittling her, every single day. She explained how she felt so depressed and how if it wasn't for her boyfriends, she wasn't sure if she'd still be there. And then, she explained about how sometimes, Alice would get so angry, she would hit Betty, slap her or throw her against the wall, take away her phone and lock her in the room, and only opening it again the next day, to hand Betty some makeup to cover up her bruises. After spilling all her darkest secrets, she looked up to see the others shocked, angry and sad expressions. "Baby..." jug choked. "You should have told us, we could have got you out of there sooner" he said, squeezing her tight. "We love you so much betts, so so much, and we hate you had to go through that" Archie said, joining in on the hug. They say there like that, for a moment until Fred started talking. "You don't have to stay there okay honey?" He said. "We'll go and get your stuff and tell Alice that you're not staying there anymore" he said, but Betty's eyes widened In fear. "No! She...she'll be angry" she said, frantically shaking her head. "Hey, hey. It's okay darling, you're safe okay?" FP said. "You can come and stay with me and jug at the trailer, so you're not right next door to your mother" he said. "And you can stay here anytime you want" Fred added and Betty felt so overwhelmed, she burst out crying. "Hey, Shh baby, we've got you" jug said, rocking her lightly. "We'll leave you guys for a bit" Fred said. "Baby. Why don't you head to my room, and we'll be there in a minute" Archie said and Betty nodded, letting Archie help her up as she descended the stairs. "We're going to speak to Alice" Fred told the boys. "And grab bettys stuff, make sure she's okay" FP said, Before the two men left the house. "Come on arch, lets go look after our girl" jug said.

When the boys got into Archie's room, Betty was curled up in his bed, her eyes watery and bloodshot. "Oh betts..." Archie sighed, as they both laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. "We're so sorry baby" jug whispered. "But you're safe now, and you don't have to worry anymore" he said and Archie nodded. "We promise you're going to be okay, but for now, get some rest" Archie said, taking her hair out of the ponytail, and stroking it as she slowly fell asleep. They boys waited a while with her, until she was sound asleep, Before carefully climbing out of bed and heading downstairs. They made coffee and sat at the counter, until their dads came back. Around half an hour later, Fred and FP came back, with boxes of Bettys stuff. "How did it go?" Archie asked, as the boys helped with the boxes. "Alice Cooper is a real piece of work" FP growled. "But we told her that we'd go to Sheriff Keller and show him the physical evidence of her abuse to Betty" he said. "And then we started packing Betty's things go" Fred added. "We have some more boxes, it took a while to pack up, her whole rooms empty" FP exclaimed. "Thank you" "thanks dad" they both said. All four of them, spent the next ten minutes, bringing all the boxes in. "God, I knew Alice was a bitch and we could tell Betty was upset but I didn't think it was this bad" jughead sighed. "She's good at hiding things" Archie said, squeezing his boyfriends hand. "Well we know now, and all we can do is be there for her" Fred said.

A few hours later, Betty woke up and trudged downstairs, where she found her boyfriends in the kitchen, cooking dinner. "Hey" she said and the boys spun around at the sound of her voice. "Hi baby, how you feeling?" Jug asked, his arms wrapping around her. "Better" she whispered into his chest. "What are you making?" She asked, pulling away and walking over to where Archie was stirring something in a pot. "Mac and cheese" Archie grinned; Betty's go to comfort meal. "Smells good" she smiled and pecked his cheek before sitting at the counter with jughead. "Where's your dads?" She asked, noting they weren't around. "They went out to give us some space" jug informed her. "They also went to get your stuff" he said, and it was only then Betty noticed boxes of her stuff, littering the hallway. "They did?" She whispered. "We wanted you to have your stuff betts" Archie said. "So this is really happening then, I don't have to go back home" she said, letting the tears fall. "Never baby, that wasn't your home. Home is with us" jug said, pulling her into his side and kissing her. "Are you sure you won't mind living with me?" Betty asked jughead. "I can always find somewhere else" she added. "Betts, we won't have you living anywhere else" Archie said. "He's right" jug said. "You are coming home with me and dad and you're going to be safe and happy, and Archie can stay Over whenever he likes just like always okay?" he said. "And you can stay here, but I don't think it will do you good to be right next door to your mom" Archie exclaimed. "But... what if you get bored of me?" Betty asked, and the boys could see the anxiety radiating off her. "What do you mean?" Archie asked. "Living with me everyday, you'll see me at my worst, when I have no makeup on, my meltdowns over homework and~" Betty rambled but jughead cut her off. "None is that matters baby. We love you and we don't care about any of that" he assured her. "Okay" Betty sighed, taking a deep breath. "I love you guys so much" she said.