Hopelessly Devoted ➳ a.a ♡ b.c.

eight

betty jolted awake at the sound of her phone ringing. she felt strong arms around her, and a hard chest pressed against her back. betty's cheeks turned red. slowly and carefully she slipped out of archie's grip, grabbing her phone, and making her way into the connecting bathroom.

"i need a name, now." the deep voice said.

"i-i don't have one." a dry chuckle came from the phone.

"like i said, betty, no name means a special someone is getting hurt. someone you love. i vote 'A' for archie andrews."

"no, no, please. look, i'll get a name. you just need to give me a little more time." betty begged.

"i don't know, betty. do you really deserve it? you did keep talking the archie after i told you to stop."

"i'm sorry, okay. just give me a bit more time, please." he sighed

"you have two hours. if i do not have a name by then, archie andrews will die." tears filled betty's eyes.

"betty?" archie's groggy voice called from her bedroom.

she quickly wiped her eyes, and put on a smile, before walking back into the room.

"you okay?" archie asked as he noticed the worn out look on betty's face.

"i'm fine, just a little tired." she smiled sweetly at him. he noticed the phone in her hand.

"did the black hood call you?" archie sat up.

"no, not yet." betty felt guilt about lying, she really did, but she refused to drag archie into this.

"so, do we just wait for him to call you?"

"you should go home, take a shower, do whatever you need to, then come back." he spotted a hoodie he had previously left at the cooper's, and pulled it over his head.

"no, i'm staying. he could call when i leave." betty put her hand on his arm.

"arch, go home, shower, change your clothes. you can come back right after, okay?"

"fine, but don't go anywhere." he said as he walked over to betty's window.

"i wouldn't dream of it."

she shut the window after he left, and scrambled to get ready. she needed to leave, she had a deadline.
             ***
betty left her house making sure to hurry past the andrews', so archie didn't see her. the cool air felt refreshing as it blew across her skin, and through her hair which was unusually left down.

in all honesty she didn't have a plan for where she was going. it just needed to be a place where she could really think, a place where she felt safe. betty found herself in a booth at pop's 10 minutes later.

"no archie today?" pop questioned as he walked up to take betty's order.

"not today, pop. i just needed some time to myself." betty smiled at the older man.

"i get it. would you like the usual?"

"yeah pop, thanks."

"anytime, betty."

betty wracked her brain trying to think of anything she could do to avoid giving the black hood a name, but no matter how hard she thought nothing came to her.

"don't think too hard, kid. you look like you're hurting yourself." pop chuckled as he set a milkshake in front of her, "what are you thinking about?"

"nothing in particular."

"really? you look stressed about something." he gave her a worried look.

"i'm fine, really. i've just got to figure something out."

"can i give you some advice, betty?" she nodded.

"let your friends help you. you always try to figure everything out by yourself. i mean you always end up figuring it out in the end, but you figure it out much faster when you let people help. you don't need to do everything alone." he patted her shoulder before turning to leave.

"i've been hearing that a lot lately," she said under her breath before stopping the man, "pop, thank you. not just for this, but for everything you've done for me."

"it's my pleasure, miss cooper." betty thought back to the first time she ever met the man who had grown to be like a second father to her.
             ***
at just six years old her and archie had wandered away from the park. the playground was as far as their parents let them go alone. they may have crossed the boundary a bit. a little while later they found themselves at a small, unfamiliar diner.

"do you think we should go inside?" archie asked her.

"yeah, i have a good feeling about this place." betty grabbed archie's small hand, and smiled.

a bell rang as they pushed the door open. betty decided she loved this place from that very moment, from the retro interior, to the smiling man behind the counter.

the man walked over, and smiled at the two children.

"what are you two doing here? you seem a little young to be here all by yourselves." he bent down to their level.

"our parents say we're not supposed to talk to strangers." archie said shyly as he clutched onto betty's hand tighter, and moved behind her.

"you're parents taught you well." he said.

"it's okay, arch." betty said comfortingly, "we were at the park, but we got lost."

"i can call your parents. do you know their phone numbers?" the man walked over to they landline.

"i know my mommy's name, but not her phone number. it's alice cooper, and his daddy is fred andrews." betty smiled proudly.

"i can see the resemblance. you look just like your mother did when she was younger." pop chuckled.

"you know my mommy?"

"yes, since she was a teenager. i'll call her right now." pop began to dial numbers on the phone.

betty pulled archie over to a booth.

"this will be our booth now, arch." she said as they slid in next to each other.

"i like it here." archie said as he played with betty's hair, which was curled into perfect blond ringlets, absent-mindedly.

"me too." betty fiddled with archie's fingers.

"okay, kids alice is on her way to get you." pop set two milkshakes down in front of them.

"i like you, mister. what's your name?" archie asked, completely forgetting any previous shyness.

"you can call me pop. what are your names?"

"well pop, i'm betty, and that's archie."

"ah, i like those names. are you two good friends?" pop asked as the two slurped down the sugary treats.

"we're best friends." archie corrected.

pop smiled. he knew this wouldn't be the last time he saw betty and archie.
             ***
suddenly betty jumped up. she threw a 20 dollar bill on the table, and bolted out of the diner.

she knew exactly what name to give.

A/N - i have no idea what name to give so if y'all could leave some suggestions that'd be great. also sorry i switched back to lower case, i'm just really indecisive lol. and sorry i haven't updated in so long. i was just really over-whelmed with exams, and christmas.