Dynasty || Betty Cooper [1] [COMPLETED]

||TWENTY-SEVEN - SCARE||

Tatum's POV

I had one of the biggest scares of my life on that river. When that ice gave way.

I scream as I fall into the water. It's freezing cold water overlaps my body instantly. The current starts to move me body away from the hole.

Then, I see a hand go into the water in front of me. I grab it, and soon I'm being pulled out onto the riverbank. 

"Oh, my God." Betty says, and hugs me tightly. "I was so scared." 

"Are you okay?" Veronica asks me.

"I'm fine." I say, catching my breath. 

"Good. Because you're the only one that can legally drive us home." Jughead says.

-----

I drive everyone home, and Veronica and I take Cheryl back to the Pembrooke. Betty insists on coming with us, because she doesn't want to leave me. Which, I find really cute.

Cheryl and I sit in front of the fireplace, covered in all our blankets. I'm mainly wearing the duvet cover from my bed, but Cheryl is wearing a lot more, because, well, she almost died.

Betty sits next to me with her arm around me, refusing to leave my side. Veronica comes back over and hands Cheryl and I both a cup of hot chocolate.

"What is she doing here?" Mom asks, obviously talking about Cheryl. Veronica goes over to Mom and explains the situation.

"I'll just warm up and go home." Cheryl says.

Veronica soon leaves us alone with Mom, and goes to get her ride to the jubilee. 

"I'll give you a ride home, come on." I say to Betty, and try and get up.

"No." She says, pulling me back so she can hug me again. "Can we just stay like this for a little longer?"

"No offense, but you need to get changed before the jubilee, and if we don't leave soon, we'll be late." I say.

"Fine." She groans. I try to stand up again, but she stops me again.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I need to check if you're warm enough." Betty tells me, and kisses me on the lips. "Yeah, you're good."

She stands up, and I pull her down this time.

"No, I think you need to do it again." I say. She rolls her eyes at me, but still kisses me one last time.

-----

(A/N Outfit for Jubilee)

After dropping Betty off at her house, and saying goodbye, I go to my room at my dad's, where my outfit for the Jubilee is.

After getting changed, I drive to the Jubilee. I find my dad with a space saved next to him for me. I go over there, and take the seat.

"Hey Dad." I smile.

"I heard what happened. Are you okay?" He asks.

"I'm fine." I reassure. Dad gives me a quick hug, and then it starts.

"Welcome, one and all, to Riverdale's 75th Anniversary Jubilee Celebration!" Mayor McCoy announces, and everyone begins to clap. "I couldn't be any more thrilled to introduce my daughter, Josie, and her Pussycats, as they perform alongside our local hero, Archie Andrews."

They come onto the stage, and I cheer especially loud for my brother. Veronica is singing too, so I cheer for her.

"Hi. Hi everyone," Josie addresses. "We're switching up things tonight. We are singing a song, that my boy, Archie Andrews wrote. So..."

They start singing one of his songs, and it's extremely good. Then, the song ends, and everyone cheers.

We then watch as Betty goes onto the stage to begin her speech. I send her a smile as her eyes lock on me. She smiles back, then addresses everyone.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to thank, Mayor McCoy for inviting me to speak on this historic day. 75 years of Riverdale." she begins with. "But what is Riverdale? It's the people, right? You, me, our friends, our neighbours. Riverdale is Archie Andrews."

Some of Archie's friends cheer a bit.

"Kevin Keller is Riverdale. Tatum Lodge, she's Riverdale." Betty continues. She looks over at me, and I blow her a kiss, smiling widely."Veronica Lodge, she's Riverdale. But you know who's also Riverdale? FP Jones. Who we were so quick to blame for Jason's murder." At this, the audience started chattering amongst themselves.

"Jughead Jones is Riverdale. The very soul of Riverdale. Without him, we may never have found out what happened to Jason. And yet how do we thank him?" Betty continues to address. "By banishing him. Which is what we do when the truth gets too ugly in Riverdale. Truth being that, Clifford Blossom was also Riverdale. Riverdale's at a crossroads.

"If we don't face reality of who, and what we are, if we keep lying to ourselves and keeping secrets from each other, then what happened to Jason could happen again. Or God forbid, something even worse. Riverdale must do better. We must do better."

Everyone is silent for a second. I then stand up, and start clapping loudly for her. She smiles at me. Kevin follows suit, standing up and clapping. Then, Jughead does from the back of the room.

Soon, everyone is clapping for her.

Then, the Jubilee ends, and everyone starts to file out of the hall.

"I'll see you at home, later, Dad, okay?" I say to my dad. He nods, and then walks out of the hall. I go up to the stage, where Betty is.

She's standing in the wings, maybe waiting for me, maybe not. I smile at her as I walk over to her, and then I kiss her.

"Your speech was great." I tell her, and she smiles.

"Thanks, Tay." She says. 

"Veronica and Archie wanna go to Pop's, do you want to go?" I ask her.

"Sure." She answers, still smiling. She takes my hand, and we walk out of the hall. God, I love this girl. Love? Who am I kidding? She's the most amazing girl I've ever met. She's smart, beautiful, kind, and the hottest girl I've ever met. Yeah, I do love her.

-----

We sit in a booth at Pop's, across from Veronica and Archie, and we all have milkshakes in our hands.

"To Archie Andrews, who saved the cheerleader and saved the town." Veronica says.

"You know what? Actually, I think that was Betty's speech." Archie argues, and he and Betty share a smile.

"Hear, hear to Betty Cooper." Veronica corrects.

"Cheers." She say, and we clink our glasses together.

A/N One chapter left :(