thirteen reasons why ↣ riverdale

xii. archie andrews

"You know what's weird? I saw you, in my dreams! Like it was deja vu or something. You were on a ladder and telling me about Juliet? I don't know." Carmen revealed as she tumbled and left a trail of the smell of alcohol, Archie and Jughead assisting her.

They arrive at the Coopers and Alice went in and helped a drunken Carmen. "She, Veronica and Cheryl partied their anxiety before any of them could win the prom queen title this year."

Alice laughs and leaves the two seniors by the living room, fixing themselves. Archie went ahead and tried to listen to his tape, he was ready after all, Jughead giving him a worried look.

Archibald "Archie" Andrews, sweet red-headed jock of Riverdale. Welcome to your tape. God, haven't you noticed any pattern yet? You're like gasoline you know? When you're near something already in flames, you just make it a forest fire. You always made everything about yourself, with the music, the girls, my feelings. Yes, my feelings.

He had known that Betty will talk about his moments of self-centeredness. He knew about and so did everyone.

I kept telling myself that you'd fall in love with me when we're older and more mature but I was dead wrong. You simply broke something that was already broken. I'm confused you know? For nine years, you made it clear that you never liked me and you always saw me as your best friend. But I realized I was running after a guy who was up in his own goals that he forgot about his best friend. I know you remember that day, Andrews.

She was going to reveal one of the things Archie wanted to completely oppress from his memories. He ruined that last decent friendship he had.

AUGUST 7, 2018
SWEETWATER RIVER

"Can you raise the fairy lights higher, Jim? Like raise it 10 inches higher? I don't know." Betty commanded as she strolled around the area where Cheryl made it clear she's gonna have the greatest night in Riverdale.

Jughead left town a few days ago, leaving Betty sulking in birthday planning along with Kevin and Veronica. Betty handled the outdoor planning since the two took care of import and other essentials. She kept herself busy, only sleeping for 3 hours and avoiding rest.

As the sun fell and the moon went in, the vibe was perfect. It felt like a complete dream and it relieved Betty, knowing everything went as planned and she'll see the love of her life in a few more hours. Everyone decided to hit a quieter spot by the forest, opening the alcohol they all snuck out.

Archie didn't hold back and enjoyed the feeling of the cold beer down his throat. One drink turned into six in no time. Everybody loosing their sense of selves in the process, everyone started to make decisions that weren't appropriate. Teenagers flashing each other, jumping at the river with not an inch of clothing, and some making out. But Betty decided to be the sane one to stay sober and call the parents to tell them that they'll be staying the night.

She rewarded herself to the beauty of the sun hiding behind the curves of the mountain, the rays giving the clouds tints of orange and pink. She had her peace until a fiery red head stood next to her. " Its beautiful, isn't it?"

She was surprised to hear it from a completely drunk sixteen year old, so she nodded with a smile. He looked at her that made her remember about her years of infatuation with the jock. His chocolate brown eyes slowly captivated her but the memory of a raven-haired guy who has made her feel the greatest about herself made her control herself against temptation.

She turned her back and headed into a quieter part of the woods but the jock continued to follow her. She felt a hand pull her arm that caused her to land at Archie's chest, making her uncomfortable. He gave her a lingering look that made her confused about what she was feeling but it came to a halt when Archie planted a kiss on Betty's lips.

She'd been waiting for this, for years! But deep inside, she felt wrong about what happened. Containing herself, she quickly split herself from the red head who continued to follow her. "Betty, why are you leaving? You've been waiting me to kiss you, right?" His chuckle haunted her.

"No, Archie. You completely disgust me, you know that? I'm not a toy for you just to play. I-I'm leaving and I'm reporting all of you...to your parents!" She walked away as a drunk Archie grunted.

Tears started to fall, like a never ending waterfall. She just kissed another guy behind Jughead's back. She was disgusted by her own self. Up to her last days, she couldn't get the stench of Archie Andrews to leave her.

OCTOBER 13, 2019
NORTHHILL, RIVERDALE

"You kissed Betty when we were together?! Archie, what the hell?" Jughead raged as he heard his late girlfriend the day his best friend made a move on her.

He began to hit Archie after making him feel like a fool. "Jug, I'm sorry. I was drunk and I'm so sorry." He started to fight back as his self-defense.

The road was filled with anger, making Fred and Alice come out and aid the ongoing argument. It took a few hours to settle but they got back to where they was a day ago. They continued to listen to the tape, wishing that there was something to talk about other than the mistake of their past.

But you know, that day made me realize that I could careless about you since I have Jughead. He completed me, Arch, and I wouldn't have known that if it wasn't for that mistake. I-I just can't let myself be a fool anymore. You like Veronica and I can no longer stop it. I've grown up now. It's over.

It ended with a silence that the two guys shared, while they realize that it was already two in the morning of a Sunday. They decided to leave and freshen up, probably take a nap or two.

They had to let that mistake be in the past before it takes another one of them. It was better than to dwell and live off everyone's wrong decisions.

But a thing that Carmen mentioned popped back in Jughead's head, it was when she described he kissed Betty the first time. He climbed through her window and greeted her with Juliet.

She's the only person who had known about this gesture. How could she known about it when all her life she never met Betty.

Then, as they prepared to leave for a breakfast at Pop's, they heard a loud bang come from the door. It was Veronica, exasperated and overwhelmed as she carried a shaking news.

"My mom's private investigator just discovered a new bombshell. There's been zero records of Lorelai Carmen Smith in the past 16 years. She only popped up after a few months after Betty's death. And when they tested Betty's DNA and Carmen's, it said that it was a match between the two separate DNAs. Betty's been with us all along, guys! She's okay, we didn't lose her."