Chapter Text
You’re a whore Betty. You know it, Cheryl knows it, and now the whole world and Veronica knows it too.
Betty was pacing in the bedroom, tears still flowing freely now that she was alone. Thankfully she couldn’t cut her palms anymore due to the bandages blocking the path of her nails, but boy did she want to. Anything to distract her from the thoughts swirling in her mind.
You don’t deserve Veronica. Veronica probably doesn’t want you anymore anyway. Who’d want a soulmate as broken and vile as you? Surely Veronica is downstairs thinking up a way to kindly tell you to get the fuck out of her house.
The thought of Veronica not wanting her anymore tore a sob of hurt from Betty, and she shook her head to try to clear away the thoughts.
No. No, Veronica loves me. She makes me feel so safe, so warm and happy. The way she smiles at me for every little thing I do. She loves me, maybe she can forgive me for this.
In the very back of Betty’s mind, the logical side of her pointed out that she really hadn’t done anything that needed forgiveness, she hadn’t actually done anything wrong, but that voice was squashed down and out voted by the thoughts of self deprecation swirling at the forefront of her mind. This was her fault, she could’ve tried harder to stop Cheryl, she should’ve stood up for herself and demanded Cheryl treat her better. If she had, Veronica wouldn’t be stuck with such a fuck up of a soulmate.
That thought alone was enough to drive her crazy. The thought that maybe she’d robbed Veronica of a worthier soulmate. One who didn’t come with all this baggage and drama. One who wouldn’t need to be woken up in the middle of the night from nightmares. One who didn’t have a crazy ex spreading sex tapes around.
She must hate you for that. Hate you for depriving her of some wonderful soulmate. Instead she’s stuck with you. A worthless, vile, broken, coward. She must absolutely loathe you.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Merely entertaining the idea that Veronica secretly couldn’t stand her sent Betty spiraling into a panic attack. She began to breathe more rapidly, the room spinning slightly and things becoming more disoriented in her vision. Things continued to get foggier and less focused until she shot her hand out to grasp at Veronica’s vanity, knocking over a bottle of perfume and shattering it in her efforts to steady herself. Black spots were swarming in her vision, and she barely noticed Veronica burst into the room after hearing the bottle break.
“Betty? Betty, what’s wrong?!” She exclaimed, panic lacing her voice as she rushed over just as Betty fell to her knees, gasping for air. Veronica instantly grasped Betty’s arms and pulled her closer. She placed Betty’s hand on her chest so that she could feel Veronica’s heartbeat. “Breathe with me Betty. It’s okay, just breathe with me. Everything is going to be fine.”
Trembling, Betty nodded, trying desperately to focus on Veronica’s heartbeat and to sync her breathing with hers.
After a few minutes, it worked, and Betty was slowly able to breathe again, though visibly exhausted from the strain on her body. She sunk into Veronica’s embrace, still catching her breath slightly, and tried her hardest to smile up at Veronica. She was greeted with a look of genuine concern on Veronica’s point.
“What was that all about B?” She asked gently, taking Betty’s hand in her own and rubbing soothing circles into the top of it. “What triggered that?” She rephrased, not wanting to sound accusatory. Seeing Betty like that, so distraught and vulnerable, that was just another punch to the gut in an evening when Veronica’s already been knocked down.
Betty blushed instantly and sheepishly looked away. “I was worried that… I mean I just feel like…” She started, stumbling over her words before sighing and beginning again. “You deserve so much better than me Veronica. You deserve someone that you don’t have to worry about, someone that you don’t have to rush in a save from panic attacks.” She gestured to their current situation as proof. “How do you not hate me? I’ve taken away your chance of having a normal soulmate. A normal life. Now you’re… stuck with me.” She finished with a whimper, and refused to meet Veronica’s gaze.
If she had, she would’ve seen silent tears streaming down Veronica’s face once more. After a moment of silence, Betty slowly looked up, fearing the worse, only to have her lips captured as Veronica kissed her passionately. She eagerly reciprocated the kiss, a sigh of content escaping her as she did. She sat up slightly and wrapped her arms around Veronica.
Once they both broke away for air, Veronica was staring at her with an intensity that almost made her nervous:
”Elizabeth Cooper, I love you with all of my heart. You are my soulmate because you are who I’m meant to be with, understand me? You. You’re not taking anything away from me mi amor, you are everything I’ve ever wanted, ever needed. I could never, and would never hate you. You, Betty, are the love of my life.”
Betty choked on a sob once more, but this time out of happiness and relief. She nodded and moved to kiss Veronica again, before simply resting her forehead against hers.
“I love you too, V.” She whispered, before stifling a yawn. She was physically and emotionally exhausted from the day, and well aware of it, but had no intentions of leaving Veronica’s embrace. Veronica noticed this, and laughed softly.
“You should get some rest mi amor. I’ll have Smithers order some dinner and wake you when it’s time to eat.” She whispered, delivering a quick kiss to Betty’s forehead before standing slowly much to Betty’s protest.
She glared at her playfully, opening her mouth to argue before another yawn overcame her and she pouted cutely. “Fine.” She muttered in defeat, climbing into the bed. As soon as she laid down sleep was tugging at her, eyes fighting to stay open. “Thank you Veronica. For everything.” She murmured, and Veronica smiled at her as she turned off the light and stepped into the hall.
That smile faded from her lips as soon as she stepped into the hall. There was no way in hell Cheryl was going to get away with this. That was a promise. But first things had to come first, and right now Veronica’s main focus was getting that video down off the internet.
Cheryl was exactly where Veronica thought she would be, proudly sitting in middle of Pop’s, laying in wait. She’d known that Veronica or Betty would show up at Pop’s sooner or later, it was their spot after all, and she was ready to see the effect of her actions. She hadn’t been ready to see Veronica without Betty though, hadn’t realized that Veronica could tell her plan. She certainly wasn’t ready for Veronica barging right up to her table and slamming her fist down with a bang loud enough to startle everyone in the diner.
“Take it down Cheryl.” She seethed, fury in her eyes. “Take that video down. Off Twitter, off your computer, scrap it off the face of this Earth or you’ll have even more hell to pay than you already do.” It was clear Veronica’s threat made Cheryl the slightest bit uncomfortable, as she shifted in her seat, but seeing Veronica this mad, this affected by her actions, it fueled her all the same.
“Now why would I do that?” Cheryl practically purred, smirking at Veronica. “You should really be thanking me, Ronnie dear. I was merely letting you know that Betty isn’t as pure as you think she is. She’s not the perfect girl next door, she’s been around the block before, that’s for sure. Although I do have to admit, she’s a pretty good lay. Very responsive.”
By the time she finished Veronica was shaking with rage. “You raped her Cheryl. This isn’t her fault, she didn’t want any of this. You did all of this without her consent, you raped her you sick fuck now take the video down!” At this point Veronica was shouting, and there were murmurs going through the store. All the attention had Cheryl glowing. This was exactly what she wanted.
“It’s not rape if she wants it. And I think she did. Trust me, she had her fair share of orgasms during her time with me. How could she not? I’m fantastic. And Betty is really quite the screamer in bed.” Cheryl added, trying to push Veronica’s buttons, and boy was it working.
Veronica knew that it was biology that Betty’s body reacted to what Cheryl did to her, knew that it had nothing to do with want to enjoyment but was purely instinctual, but hearing Cheryl say it, hearing her use it again Betty despite Betty having no way to control it… it snapped something in her and she moved to grab Cheryl by the throat and choke the life out of her before someone caught her arm and yanked her back.
When she jerked her head back to yell at whoever dared to stop her, all anger vanished, replaced with confusion and a touch of embarrassment.
“She’s not worth it Veronica. Betty needs you, just walk away.” Polly said, looking equally as furious and disgusted with Cheryl as Veronica was, but understanding the consequences Veronica would face if she attacked Cheryl in a room full of witnesses. “C’mon Ronnie, let’s just get out of here.”
And much to Cheryl’s shock, Veronica listened to Polly, following her out of the diner and into her car even if her blood was still boiling. But Polly had reminded her that Betty needed her, and that she couldn’t protect her from behind prison bars. She maintained this composure up until the minute she was in Polly’s car, when she screamed in rage and defeat before crying on Polly’s shoulder.
Polly shushed her and she patted Veronica’s back, trying not to cry herself. “It’s okay, it’s alright. I’m going to help you take her down.”
That got Veronica’s attention, and she straightened to look Polly in the eye. “Go on…” She said softly, giving Polly her full attention.
Polly nodded and bit her lip. “I used to be pretty close friends with Cheryl’s brother, Jason. He died in a car crash about a year ago, but they’d been super close with each other. Jason wasn’t anything like Cheryl, he wasn’t manipulative or… abusive, but he was like Cheryl’s everything. The only person she could ever really count on. I know that after Jason died Cheryl started beating on Betty more often… I remember all the times Betty would come home bruised and I did nothing. I was such a horrible sister…” Polly took a deep breath in, voice shaking as she paused. “I should’ve done something then, and I’ll try my best to do something now.” She affirmed, more to herself than to Veronica before continuing. “Cheryl was always really clingy to Jason. Like, in an odd way. A lot of people in town noticed, and I’m sure it’s a sore spot for Cheryl… I don’t, I don’t condone hurting others Veronica. I don’t want to sink to her level, but she has to pay for hurting Betty, I know that, and I think this is the way to do it.”
By the time Polly had finished, Veronica was staring at her speechlessly. “So… you’re proposing that I excuse Cheryl of incest with her dead brother?” She clarified, and Polly blushed, but sheepishly nodded all the same.
”That’s about right, yeah.”
Veronica took a shaky breath, nodding in determination. “Okay then. But before we do this… I think Betty would really like to see you Polly.”
Polly bit her lip, and looked down at her lap. “I should’ve kept her safe Veronica. She’s my little sister, I should’ve protected her, or just done something! I knew she was being abused, but just like the rest of the town I just sat back and let it happen. And now this… now she has to deal with this video floating around… I don’t know if seeing me will help. I think I’ll just be a reminder of how this could’ve been stopped sooner but never was.”
Veronica took Polly’s hand and gently squeezed it. “Okay. But I know she does want you, so whenever you’re ready, the doors to the Pembrooke are always open.” She said softly, to which Polly smiled appreciatively.
“Thanks V.” She whispered. “I’ll drive you home at least. You should be with Betty. You really help her. She talked about you nonstop when you first came to town. Still does.” She said, trying to lighten the mood.
Veronica smiled brightly at that, and nodded. “Thanks Polly. For everything.”