Hopelessly Devoted ➳ a.a ♡ b.c.

nine

"me." betty said carelessly.

"what? betty, are you nuts?" archie sat on her bed watching her pace back and forth.

"it's the only option we have." she said as she faced the red headed boy.

"that's not true." he stood up.

"oh, really? then give me a better option, give me the name of someone i can just let die."

archie was silent.

"that's what i thought." she said.

"betty, this plan is going to backfire. the black hood is going to hurt you." archie began to move his hands around while he talked. something he normally did when he was exasperated.

"he won't hurt me, arch. he needs me to keep playing his sick little game. this way he won't hurt anyone else." archie gave her a concerned look.

"don't be so selfless about this, betty. you don't know that he won't hurt you. it's not 100%, and i don't want you doing this." he reached for her hand, but she pulled away.

"well it's not your decision to make, archie." she said defensively.

"this plan is insane, betty. it's going to get you hurt, or worse, and i'm not going to stand by and let that happen." he raised his voice slightly.

"then leave!" she yelled.

"why are you getting so pissed? i'm just looking out for you. giving the black hood your name isn't going to work. i know you think you've found a loophole, but you haven't. he's going to turn this around on you. stop being so stubborn!" he yelled back.

"i can look after myself. i don't need you to protect me. you treat me like a child, archie."

"well if you act like a child, i'm going to treat you like one."

"get out!" she shouted.

"not happening." his tone lowered.

"excuse me." betty scoffed.

"i'm not going to fight with you about this anymore. if you want to put yourself in danger go ahead, but i'm going to be right here the entire time making sure nothing happens to you. betty you're my best friend, i need you." he kept his voice steady and calm.

"i'm sorry." betty felt a lump in her throat as she looked at her feet, "god, i'm so fucking sorry i dragged you into this mess. you shouldn't be dealing with this."

"are you kidding? this is great. i get to spend quality time with you, and i get to talk to a crazy man. what more could i want?"

she let out a surprised laugh and stepped in his embrace.

"you're the best archie. i don't know what i would do without you."

"probably die." he snickered.

"i honestly can't argue much with that." she swallowed harshly trying to get the lump in her throat to disappear.

"we're going to be okay." archie said unsurely.

"how do you know?" betty asked quietly.

"because we always are."

"i don't know, archie. this time something just feels... different," she inhaled somberly, "dangerous."
               ***
betty felt her heart rate increase as the shrill noise rang from the phone, signifying the incoming call.

it stopped after she hesitantly selected the green button on the bottom left of the screen.

"hello?" she said quietly as she locked eyes with a worried archie, who stood next to her.

"i need a name now, your time is up." the hostile voice said. the response was more terse and malicious than normal.

"me."

"what?" the black hood scoffed.

"me, elizabeth cooper. that's the name i'm giving you."

"i'm afraid you can't-"

"no," she cut him off, "you never said i couldn't pick myself."

"fine, if that's how you want to play this game then get ready for a storm." the call ended.

betty released a deep breath.

"what does that mean? is he going to hurt you or not?" archie asked frantically.

"hey, calm down. remember what you said 'we're going to be okay.' i will be okay, arch. we will be okay."

"because we always are." he repeated.

A/N - sorry for the short ass chapter, and my long ass break. i was feeling a bit uninspired, but i'm back. the next chapter has some good shit y'all.

also credit to BarchieShipper for giving me the idea for betty to give the blackbood her own name. thx for that girlie, i had no idea what to do.