Dynasty || Betty Cooper [1] [COMPLETED]

||TWENTY - FALLING APART||

Tatum's POV

"My parents are unbelievable, Tay." Betty tells me in the Blue and Gold room the next day. "Polly is locked up in that house like a character out of Jane Eyre and what are they doing? Changing each other's login accounts and throwing bricks through windows."

"I wish I'd seen that." I comment. Betty sends me a hurtful look. "Okay, I'm sorry. It's not funny."

"It's like you know how in a time of crisis, people either come together or fall apart? It feels like we're falling apart." Betty begins to sob. "And the way things are going, pretty soon, the Coopers? We're not gonna exist anymore. And there's nothing I can do to stop that."

"Betty, don't do that. Don't give up." I say, and put a comforting hand on her arm. "Your family is definitely splintering right now, but it won't fall apart because of you. Because your holding them together. You're so much stronger than all of the white noise. You're stronger that your mother. You're stronger than your father. You're holding this family together. So don't. Don't let go."

"I won't." She says, and I pull her into a tight hug.

"It's gonna be okay, Betty. You'll get through this. We'll get through this." I comfort.

-----

I'm standing with Betty and Veronica at Ronnie's locker, when Kevin comes running up to us.

"Oh, my God. Did you hear?" Kevin asks. We all look at him, and he addresses Veronica. "Remember when you went swooping in to save Ethel because you thought she might be suicidal?"

Oh, my God. Did Ethel kill herself?

"Oh, no. She--? She didn't--?" Veronica stutters.

"No, but her dad did." Kevin says. "He accidentally swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills. He's going to be okay, but..."

Veronica walks away, crying. Betty and I follow her, and when we get there, she's crying on the floor. 

We both kneel down next to her and pull her into a group hug. 

"Veronica, it's not your fault, okay?" I soothe.

"Okay." She nods. But, I know, she doesn't really mean that. She honestly thinks it's her fault.

We go to the hospital later that day. And, Veronica brings a bouquet of flowers. We go into the lobby, and then Ethel and her mom come over to us.

"Betty. Veronica. Tatum. Hey." Ethel greets. Her face is wet with tears, and her eyes glossed over. "Mom, these are my friends. This is Betty, this is Veronica and this is Tatum." She points to each of us in turn.

"Mrs. Muggs. Ethel. Um... We heard what happened, and we wanted to leave these flowers with you." Veronica says, and passes the flowers to Ethel.

"That's very kind. Thank you." Mrs. Muggs thanks.

"Please, don't. Don't thank me." Veronica says.

"We're just so glad Mr. Muggs is going to be okay." Betty says. "And, we'll see you at school, Ethel?"

We turn around and start to leave, and Veronica stops. She's thinking she needs to tell them. She doesn't.

"You don't need to do this, Ronnie." I say. She turns around and takes a step closer to the two.

"Ethel. Mrs. Muggs. There's something I need to tell you." Veronica starts. She pauses. "My name is Veronica Lodge. My father is--"

"Hiram Lodge." Mrs. Muggs interrupts. "Hmm. And you're showing your face here?"

"Mom, she's my friend." Ethel defends her. Thank you, Ethel.

"She's not your friend, honey." Mrs. Muggs argues. "Her father is a criminal. He's the reason Dad did this to himself. "

"Ronnie. Is this true?" Ethel asks. She looks really sad at this fact.

"Yes." Veronica starts to cry. "And I am so sorry. I wish I could do something."

"'Sorry' isn't good enough." Mrs. Muggs says. "You wanna do something? Tell the truth. Your father is ruining lives. He deserves to sit behind bars for the rest of his miserable life." She takes Ethel away from us, and Veronica stays still.

If we weren't in a hospital, and her husband didn't just try to kill himself, I would've said something. But, I decided to just comfort Veronica instead.

-----

Betty calls me, and tells me that Polly was only at the Blossoms to spy on them. She sounds so happy. Which makes me feel happy.

She takes me with her to tell her mom. We open the door to the house, and see Alice drinking, sitting at the table.

"Mom." Betty starts. "Archie just called. He talked to Polly. She's safe. She's okay, Mom. She didn't choose the Blossoms over us. She's actually there to spy on them."

Alice smiles, then sobs, and she rubs her tears away.

"You know, when I went after this story..." Alice begins, then pauses. "...I thought, in the back of my mind, what if this is it? What if this is finally the time she doesn't come back?"

"She will, Mom." Betty says. She goes over and sits in the chair next to her mom. "But right now, she's our woman on the inside. We're going to write this story." She turns to me.

"Come write with us. At the Blue and Gold." I say.

"Heh. The school newspaper?" Alice questions.

"Yeah, that's what we are. But I'm pretty sure that our annual operating budget is bigger than the Register's." I answer. 

She nods, then takes Betty's hand. Betty is smiling widely. And, because of this, I feel a lot happier than I have in a long time.

-----

The next day, at school, Archie brings Betty, Jughead and I into the Blue and Gold room, to tell us about something.

"At the banquet, I heard Mr and Mrs. Blossom talking." Archie explains. "It sounded like Clifford Blossom was responsible for sending Veronica's dad to jail."

"Oh, my God." Betty and I say at the same time.

"If Clifford sent Hiram Lodge to jail, tore apart his family, then maybe Hiram was trying to do the same thing to him?" Betty says. I stand up, and write 'Hiram Lodge' on a note card.

"Yeah, by going after what the Blossoms value most." Jughead says. "Their family."

"Their legacy." I add. "That's a motive." I go over to our murder board, and pin up the new note card.

"Our next question is... Who's gonna tell Veronica?" I question.