Lost (in Your Emerald Eyes)

T W E N T Y - T W O

Beast tapped his foot against the cold granite floor, inhaling the contents of his cigarette with a deep snarl on his face. His left hand that was rested on his knee was fisted, knuckles barely having any color to them as he anxiously anticipated the men's arrival.

The two trotted into the lounge with sneers on their faces just a couple of minutes later. Wordlessly, the tiny man stood, accepting the expensive phone one of them was holding out. Exchanging a few glances with his most loyal workers, he concentrated back on the screen.

A yellow folder stood there with the name ELIZABETH COOPER (JONES).

Snorting at the name, he double-tapped on it, shocked by the number of pictures and Word documents it contained.

An hour later, his lips were curled upward in an unkind way. Maybe this would get the younger Jones killed if he came alone. Because, after all, nobody would ever support his relationship with that girl.

They had just hit a jackpot.

Betty was lying on the old shitty mattress in the treehouse. Her feet were kicked up on the wall, ankles crossed, rested on the hole in the wall that she and Archie had named a window, years ago. Hands holding the book, lips curled upward as she read her favorite part of it, the girl hummed quietly, whispering out the words.

She didn't notice anyone approaching or watching her until she heard the familiar voice.

"Hi, kiddo."

Her feet disappeared from the window as she bookmarked the right page, and with a smile, appeared at the entrance of the treehouse, looking down toward the ladder she had carried there just this morning.

"Hi, Mr. Andrews."

Fred chuckled at the name, having quick flashbacks of Betty always greeting him in the exact same position when she was five, ten, and even fifteen years old. "Hey. What's up?"

With a simple shrug, the girl rested her chin on her hands, lying on her stomach. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good..." The man observed her for a moment before arching his brows. "Wanna talk about it?"

A breathy chuckle escaped from the girl's lips as she turned her head away. "Nothing's up."

"You sure about that? Because the Betty Cooper I know, only spends her free time at the treehouse when her parents are fighting or she needs to think and clear her head. And since the car is gone, I think we both know what the reason is."

The blonde rolled her eyes at the man who was like her second father, inwardly glad he had noticed since her dad never did anymore. "I'm just thinking."

"About what? It's summer."

Giggling at the statement, Betty watched him intently, wondering if she should tell him or not, almost certain he wouldn't judge. "So, there's this boy..."

"Oh?" The man had watched his favorite little girl in the world pining after his son for years. When Archie had broken his heart a few years back, he remembered her crying, sometimes even at his living room when the boy wasn't home, and not once had he ever heard about another guy she had genuinely had her eyes on. The news came as a surprise, but he was truly genuinely glad.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, his son didn't deserve this girl, and he hoped it wasn't another football player like Trev or Archie who wouldn't understand what a great person she was.

Betty bit her lip softly, watching the man's reaction. "So, basically, I don't think my parents would approve of him, because, well, they're the Coopers... And so, we can't hang out in public because the news would get to them within minutes." She sighed, shaking her head. "It's really stressing me out, y'know, but I guess that's what you get for having Alice Cooper as your mom."