Work Text:
You want your independence
But you won't let me let you go
You wanna test the waters
And leave it on the empty shores
But I'll take my time if you want to
And I'll give you whatever you need
And I'll wait a lifetime to give it to you
--
Betty Cooper kissed Archie Andrews just before her 18th birthday.
It replayed in his mind at the worst times; the sound of her voice matching his, the smile on her face, the familiar strawberry and cream scent of her lip gloss and he got the same feeling in his chest he did when he looked at her, like, really looked at her, like the whole world could melt away until it was just Betty and he would not care. Then it did melt away because, as usual, she seemed to be inside his head, tracking his thoughts, until they were colliding into each other, kissing, and all he could do, all he could think was finally and when Betty’s hands relaxed on the side of his face, he knew she felt it too. There was no one else in the world, just Betty and Archie.
There’s also one problem. Okay, maybe more than one.
“Please, go talk to your girlfriend. She’s driving me insane.” Jughead takes the sandwich his mom left on his dresser and throws himself on his bed. It’s so normal (Jughead barging in stealing his sandwich and pretending he doesn’t want to help with his girl problems) that Archie almost laughs. He doesn’t because he now has two problems especially if Veronica asked Jughead to check on him. Problem number one is currently making himself at home so this seems like a good time to deal with it, sort of.
“There’s nothing wrong. I just need to focus on catching up or I won’t graduate.”
The lie is so blatant that Jughead stops eating and looks at him. The books aren’t even open on his desk. He’s not making this better. Act normal, Betty said. She is going to murder me in my sleep. “That was terrible even for you.”
Archie sighs and tries again, “My mom wants me to enroll in the Naval Academy or the Army or whatever.”
“What?”
Archie tries to ignore the guilty feeling crawling in his stomach. It’s not even a lie (which, he now realizes, brings his total problem count to three. Fuck.) but it doesn’t help. His stomach has been churning for two weeks now. “Yeah, we talked about it over the weekend with a friend of hers.”
“Archie, that’s…”
“I’m seriously considering it, Jug.”
“And Veronica doesn’t know.” It’s not a question.
He watches Jughead pick up the sandwich again. Archie knows he won’t say anything else until he finishes the story (or until Jughead finishes the rest of the sandwich) but he finds that he doesn’t mind talking to him. After all of the madness of the past two years, Archie is glad to have a conversation with Jughead that doesn’t involve running from adults trying to kill him (and his feelings for Betty). It’s what he liked about being with Josie. They talked. She came to his fights, they jammed in his garage, had late night shakes at Pops. He misses her a little. He even thought about calling her after he made his decision but what would he say to her, “Hey Josie, how’s life on the road? Yeah? Sounds amazing! Me? Well, I decided to join the military to get out of Riverdale because adults might still try to kill me.”? No way. She got out. He doesn’t want to drag her back here into his mess, not even mentally. She already did enough for him.
But it’s more than that too, he misses normal. He misses Jughead’s random visits and observations that had nothing to do with murders and secrets buried in this wicked town. Not that I’m any better, he thinks, catching the pillow Jughead throws at him. “You in there Archie? What’s wrong? You look like you’re about to confess your undying love and while I’m flattered…”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He tosses the pillow back onto his bed.
Jughead holds his hands up, “And face the wrath of Veronica Lodge? No thanks.”
Right. Veronica. Problem number two – the problem being that he is now hiding two very big secrets from her and when she finds out, she will probably kill him. While he imagines Betty using her key to sneak in and smother him in his sleep, he can already see the hurt painting across Veronica’s face when she finds out and that face will be replaced by a mask, a mask he never thought would be directed towards him. It’s a different kind of death. And I deserve it, Archie thinks morosely, because I did the one thing I promised her I would never do.
“No. I’ve been avoiding her. I know she’s going to hate this.” Archie confesses, dragging himself out of his thoughts (again) to answer Jughead’s non-question.
“But why are you ‘seriously considering’ it?”
“I need to get out of here. I can’t stay in Riverdale and this is my only way out.” The words come out in a rush and it’s everything he wanted to tell Betty, if they were talking, if he was selfish enough to call. He knows he should tell Jughead everything else but…
“Archie, no, it isn’t. I promise, there are other ways…”
“No,” Archie cuts him off. He knows Jughead already has two ideas, at least, on how to avoid this but he doesn’t want to hear them. “I need to have the same conversation with Veronica and she’s going to try to convince me not to go too. I can’t do this twice.”
Jughead nods. “Fine, but you need to tell her soon.”
Archie agrees, “Pops after so you can both yell at me?”
He smiles, “If you’re trying to bribe me, it’s working but aren’t you forgetting someone?”
No. He wants to say again but he looks at the window across from Jughead instead. He’d closed the curtains when he came in earlier. He’d been trying not to think about Betty in Jughead’s presence out of some misplaced sense of decency, like ‘I’m sorry I kissed your girlfriend but I promise I won’t think of her or the kiss in your presence’ feels like the least he could do, but he knows it was even stupid to even hope for that. Jughead is not an idiot and the longer he goes without speaking to Betty or Veronica the more questions he’ll ask. “You’re the only one who knows, Jug.”
Archie catches the quick look of surprise that flies across his face before its replaced with a thoughtful one. “When was the last time that happened?”
“What?”
“Not telling Betty first.”
Oh. Right. That explains the surprised look. Archie fights the urge to sigh, to rub the back of his neck, to do anything really because Jughead is still staring him and he knows the next move he makes is important. This is an old argument, before Veronica, before Betty-and-Jughead. It’s the only argument they keep having and Archie fights another urge to end this entire conversation. Mostly because he already fucked up majorly the other night, even if Jughead doesn’t know yet. It’s weird though, Archie thinks despite himself, that he would bring this up now.
Jughead is watching him too closely for him to come up with a lie reasonable enough that he would at least accept so Archie settles on another half-truth. “Yeah, she hasn’t been that person in a while, you know? Since Veronica...” He stops. The guilt now feels like it’s somersaulting, because Jughead’s expression shifts from its natural suspicion to sympathy. Archie tries to focus on something other than Jughead’s face so the whole truth doesn’t pour all over them. Even if he said it now, he wouldn’t know how to say it, how to explain this again without completely falling apart once the words need to come out. So, he finds a truth in whatever is going on between them, and Archie hates himself even as he says it, “I don’t know how to talk to her anymore.”
The answer seems to please Jughead at least because he looks like he relaxes a little to lean on his pillows Archie didn’t even realize he’d sat up. “Jug,” he says because the sight of Jughead eating a pickle as he thinks of a way to help him out of another stupid problem is so familiar and he misses it so much, he knows he doesn’t deserve it. He fucked that up even if they never tell Jughead. Their friendship won’t be the same. It can’t be. “Don’t worry about it. I think I’ll just tell everyone at once so I can finally just deal with it.”
Jughead finishes the pickle. “Sounds like a very good idea. Actually, it sounds like something your dad would say, if you know…”
“Yeah,” Archie agrees, trying not to focus on his grief, but on the comfort in somehow knowing what his dad would say now. “Be honest and let the chips fall where they may.”
Jughead smiles and Archie smiles back. It was one of his dad’s favorite sayings and it settled so many of their fights when they were younger, when Archie couldn’t say what he meant and Jughead said too much. He tries to let himself enjoy the rest of the afternoon with his best friend because he knows they won’t be the same after the weekend.
-
Right so, Archie really did plan on sitting everyone down over the weekend to just deal with the army thing head on.
After Jughead leaves to go follow yet another lead for a story he’s working on for Blue and Gold, Archie decides to go for a run before calling Veronica or Betty. He wants to burn off some of the nervous energy but mostly he’s waiting for fate to force his hand, it worked out with Jughead, sort of, when he randomly showed up earlier. He knows he should call Veronica first but he wants, no, needs to talk to Betty too, he thinks as he tries to find his other earpiece when his fingers knock against a tiny wooden box buried in the back of the drawer. He knows what it is before he even pulls it out and he smiles despite himself.
Run forgotten, Archie puts it back and sits on the bed. Fate is quick. Problem solved; he decides to call Veronica.
He learned early on that he could never really surprise Veronica so when he shows up at the Pembrooke, she’s already worried. (Plus, he’d been kind of avoiding her for most of the week.) “Archiekins,” she takes him to the couch and looks up at him through her lashes. “what’s wrong? I was worried.”
Betty’s right, he thinks, I do love her. Always will but it’s different now. “I can tell if you had to send Jughead to check on me.” He jokes to make her smile a little.
It works. “I had to bribe him with Pops but it was worth it. Now, what happened that you decided to disappear on me for a week?”
“My mom wants me to sign up for the military.”
“What?”
He nods and he continues before he loses his nerve. “My mom has this friend in the Navy and she thinks I’d be a good fit either that or the army.”
“Archie, is this about your grades? You know you’re doing better and I can talk to your…”
“No. This is about after, Ronnie. I want to do this. I need to do this.”
“Why not the Air Force, or the Marines?” She retorts, angrily crossing her arms.
“Ronnie, I know you’re mad…”
“You don’t know because I’m not mad, I’m furious! Dios Míos, out of all things…” She pauses and takes a deep breath. He pulls her arms apart and takes her hands in his. Her lips trembles but her voice is still firm when she speaks, “No, Archie, they are going to train you to fight just to send you across the world to kill people. I told you, you have other choices. You can come live with me in Boston for one thing.”
Archie sighs. He knew this was coming. “Ronnie…”
“Or don’t you want to live with me?”
“I can’t keep taking your money.” It comes out harsher than he intended. He didn’t even mean to say it but he already made the decision and she’s not listening. He tries again, “you already said we were going our separate ways once high school was over.”
“Yes, because I assumed you wanted to stay here or go to LA and pursue music not sign up to become a sanctioned murderer.”
Archie flinches and Veronica slides closer to him, traces a finger along his jawline. “I’m sorry. I’m just…worried.”
“I know. I just…can’t keep fighting your father, Ronnie. If I stay with you, he’ll kill me.”
“No,” she starts shaking her head and moves to climb onto his lap, “Archie, my father is not like that anymore. You guys have a truce. You saw it. No one is going to take you from me.”
He holds her in place because she’ll try to convince him every way she knows how. She knows him well enough that one method is bound to work eventually, but he needs her to listen to him, “I love you, Ronnie. If you really think the truce will last forever, tell me and I’ll go with you.”
They both know it won’t. The truce could last five, ten, fifteen years but Archie already knows he will spend each year feeling like he’s on defense, walking on eggshells, around Mr. Lodge. The man tried to kill him several times and almost succeeded. He still has nightmares about it all.
“Fine, but you’re still upholding your end of the bargain.” She relaxes and tucks into his side. “You’re taking me to prom, sailor and you better come back to me in once piece, Archiekins. Our story is not over yet.”
After that conversation with Veronica and finding the box that led conversation with Veronica, he knows it’s dangerous to be alone with Betty. He promised Veronica that everything would remain the same until they graduate and go their separate ways. He owes her that much at least, so like it or not he ends up doing exactly what Betty told him to do, act normal.
-
“You’re ignoring me.” She finds him on Wednesday, hiding in the chem lab.
“No, I’m working on studying.” He points to his open books. Betty walks closer to his station with her hands folded in front of her.
“Can I?” She asks, gesturing to his practice exam. He shrugs, because she never asked before and it doesn’t occur to him to say no. She puts it aside after a few moments and he can’t even enjoy the fact that she didn’t need to correct his work because when she looks at him, she’s wringing her fingers trying not to cry.
“Betty.” He wants to comfort her but he doesn’t think he can be close to her and he’s confused a little at why she seems sad and a little upset.
“You’re ignoring me.”
“I’m not. Not really,” he tacks on at Betty’s narrowing eyes. If lying to Jughead and Veronica was hard, lying to Betty feels impossible. He tries again. “I just, I can’t, it’s hard being around you.”
“Arch…”
“You asked, Betty,” he snaps but he immediately reaches for her hand across the table. “I’m doing what you asked.”
“That means we can’t be friends?”
He shrugs, unsure where this is all going, “We’re friends, Betty. We’re back to before. I’m doing exactly what I would be doing if I had a chem exam on Friday, which I do.”
She frowns, “We used to study together.”
Archie runs one hand through his hair. “Yeah, but we haven’t studied together since junior year, before maybe.”
“That’s not true.”
He doesn’t want to argue about this, “Okay.”
“Archie.” Her voice is firm.
He looks up, “Where’s Jughead, Betty?”
She snatches her hand back, “Why? What does he have to do with this?”
“Act normal, right? Where is he?”
Betty puts her hands on the table. “Following another lead.”
“Didn’t want to join him?”
He starts tracing patterns on the back of her left hand. She leaves them both flat on the table. “No, I want to enjoy my senior year. There has to be a balance, right?”
“If anyone can find a balance, it’s you.”
“Yeah? And how’s your balance?”
He shrugs, still tracing, and not looking up. She’s staring at their hands. “No one is trying to kill me right now and baseball season starts next week. Boxing if I decide to keep going and I’m trying to catch up but it’s different for me.”
“How so?”
He hesitates and finally looks at her, “Everything you do now revolves around whatever mysteries are left here.”
Betty stands, and he grabs her left hand. “And everything before that revolved around you.”
“Betty, that not…”
“What? True?”
Archie shrugs, and drops her hand. “It isn’t but you want to be mad at me and I really do need to study.”
“That’s not fair.”
“I can’t,” he stops and looks down at his textbook. He can’t lay his feelings in front of her again, not now, not here. Not when she said that they couldn’t be together. He looks at her. “Nothing about this is fair, Betty.”
She nods, “You’re right.”
He watches her walk out and he looks back at his Chem notes before he decides to do something stupid, like go after her.
Archie tries to avoid being alone with Betty after that her which is easier now that she seems to be ignoring him too. She sends him text messages that he doesn’t answer, but in public, everything is normal: Archie-and-Veronica, Betty-and-Jughead.
Except now, he’s standing here because his fingers knocked into that stupid box again. When he looks up, he sees her open curtains and, as if she knows he’s looking, she appears at the window. He almost forgot why he was ignoring her in the first place. He picks up his phone and watches as she picks up hers. ‘Backyard?’
She reads the message but only looks up at him so he adds, ‘Please?’
His phone pings, ‘Ok.’
She’s gone when he looks up again.
-
Betty is thinking of thirty ways to kill her ex-best friend, Archie Andrews. Thirty for the number of messages and phone calls he refuses to answer. Which, she’d typed in her last message, by the way, is the exact opposite of act normal. She’s also fighting the urge to throw her phone through the window so it hits the boy next door as she drafts message number thirty-one. Thirty-one, she mutters as she hits send, march over there right now and barricade him in his room until he agrees to stop being so…frustrating. He’ll talk to her in public, if she says something, but they haven’t spoken alone since their talk in the chem lab two weeks ago. She had to hear from Jughead that he passed that stupid exam.
She glances down at her phone; he’d left her on read like she knew he would and his curtains are still closed. She frowns but focuses on her anger. For now, it’s the easiest emotion to deal with. Better. Healthier even. She knows what to do with the anger. She needs to let it out. To do that Archie needs to stop thinking whatever he’s thinking and just finish the year like normal teenagers, like best friends.
Normal. Betty laughs despite herself. She looks at the garment bag her mom brought in earlier, her prom dress, and sighs. She wanted that once, with Archie, and even knee deep in blood and secrets, even as she slowly peels away the girl next door label, she finds she still wants that. Still want to keep parts of the label. Yale, the sweaters she will never admit to her mom she loves, a normal that doesn’t involve sleeping on edge and solving mysteries just to stay alive. Funny, she thinks, feeling her anger unravel as she unzips the bag, how my normal still includes prom in a pink pretty dress. She wants to hate it because it’s everything perfect Betty Cooper wanted and perfect got her heart broken with scars on her palms and places no one else can see. She doesn’t though.
She closes the garment bag and steps back. She feels her skin getting hot, I should’ve gone with Jughead, she thinks almost absently as she sits at her desk to catch her breath. Focus, Betty. She exhales again and tries to think of the exercises, the counting, the breathing, focusing on something real. She feels the Yale acceptance letter under her fingertips, inhales again and looks at her mirror, there staring back at her reflection through his window is Archie Andrews.
-
He looks nervous. She stops for a moment to look at him rocking on his heels, like he used to when he waited for her to come outside. He could never sit still. He turns around and Betty keeps walking.
“Hey,” he says quietly.
“Hey.”
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Betty, okay? This whole thing sucks and I miss you too, but I can’t help how I feel.”
“Archie, if this what you brought me out here for, I already told you…”
“No, no. I wanted to give you something but before I do, I need to tell you something.” He sighs, “I’m going to the Army after graduation.”
Betty blinks, eyes wide, once then twice. “What?”
He nods. “I signed up already. My mom suggested it – well, she actually suggested the Navy but I didn’t want to be out at sea,” he stops. “Are you okay?”
“Why?” She looks away.
“I can’t stay here, Betty.” She nods, but doesn’t say anything else. He takes a step forward. “Say something.”
“What do you want me to say? You already made your decision.”
“Betty…”
She is not going to cry; she does not want to cry but the tears slip anyway and he’s pulling her into his embrace. Betty feels like she could live here, in his embrace, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, feeling his hands on the small of his back. He’d keep her like this too, safe, warm, for as long as she wanted, if she asked. She won’t but still, “I don’t want you to leave.”
“I know.”
“There’s something pressing into my back.”
He pulls away and rubs the back of his neck with one hand and holds out a small wooden box with the other. “Your gift.”
She narrows her eyes. “I don’t like surprises.”
“You’ll like this one, I promise.”
Betty opens the box, gasps, then closes it again. “You kept it?”
He nods, small smile on his face. “I’m a man of my word, Betty.”
She opens the box again, the tiny ring is sitting on a small piece of cloth. She touches the small red stone. Red, like his hair, she remembers. “I’m not eighteen yet.”
He laughs, “I’m not proposing.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Well,” And he’s smiling down at her, the same smile she saw from her window when she was five, across the booth at Pops, across the student lounge, in her head, in her dreams.“Telling you that I’ll wait for you Betty Cooper.”
“Archie, you’re…what?”
“Waiting. I don’t want anyone else. If it takes you three years to realize it, like I did, I’ll wait.”
Betty tries to bite down a smile. She’s looking at the ring. “And if it takes longer?”
He tilts her head up and Betty feels like she may just follow him all over the world. “Then I guess it’ll take longer.”
“But you’re leaving.”
“I’ll be waiting and I’ll be back,” he corrects, taking the ring out of the box.
“Promise?”
“Promise,” he presses the ring into her hands. “Besides, what would I do without you?”
Betty loops her arms around his neck and stands on her tip-toes, Archie tightens her hold around her. She feels it, his heartbeat racing and she smiles. “Good thing, you’ll never have to find out.”