Hopelessly Devoted ➳ a.a ♡ b.c.

twenty eight

"betty." the haunting voice rang through the phone.

"what do you want?" fear had completely left her system.

"you may think you know everything, but you don't, so i'd watch my tone if i were you, elizabeth."

"i may not know everything, but i know more than you think." her voice was filled with spite.

"you think you know who i am, don't you?" a dry chuckle came from the phone.

"think?" her face shone with confidence, "i know who you are, lucas."

"lucas," the person scoffed, "i'm sorry but that's just not correct."

betty could feel her heart practically stop.

"wh-what do you mean?" her voice trembled.

"lucas acts as my eyes and ears around riverdale high, he's pretty much an errand boy. when i can't be somewhere he is and when i need something done he can do it for me, but he is not me."

"but-but, he said-, i was so sure." betty felt her hands start to shake as she dropped onto her bed.

"now i must address the issue i called about."

"what? what else could you possibly need me to do?" she sounded tired, because she was tired, tired of this sick, sadistic game.

"i'll give you a hint; it involves a certain redheaded neighbor." betty clenched her fists.

"no, you leave him out of this."

"i'm not the one who dragged him into all of this, in fact i told you to keep him out of it. you're the one who put him in danger, you didn't have to tell him anything, but elizabeth cooper only thinks about herself." the black hood chuckled.

"no, that's not how it happened-"

"that's exactly how it happened, and if you dragged him into our little game, who's the real danger to archie. i don't think you need a hint to figure this one out."

"what do i have to do?" betty asked through gritted teeth.

"cut him off, and this time i'm not giving second chances. cut him off, or i cut him open. end of discussion."

the phone call ended.

betty took a deep breath, and thought about what she'd just heard. could it be true, was betty the reason her boyfriend kept getting hurt? was she the reason bad things always happened to him, was it all her fault?

"maybe cutting him off wouldn't be such a bad thing for her to do. maybe it would protect him, maybe it would stop his pain." she thought.

but little did betty know cutting off archie would only make his pain worse.
                                        ***
betty's phone buzzed from the foot of her bed as archie's name flashed across the screen for the second time. yes, she was avoiding his calls.

she sat at the head of the bed, curled up, trying not to think about the boy just next door. guilt was pressing against her chest, making it hard to breath. she'd promised never to let anything come between them.

god, how she longed to be in the back of the old  truck, gazing up at the stars with the boy she loved next to her. all her problems were galaxies away that night. she couldn't go back there, though, not until the black hood was gone.

a noise against her window pulled her out of her thoughts. she got off her bed to inspect it, but instead of it being something small it brought her world crashing down around her.

the look in archie's eyes would haunt her dreams forever. he looked as if she'd stabbed him in the back, and in a way she did. she broke their promise.

he mouthed a few things and motioned to his phone, but set it down when he saw how red and teary betty's eyes were.

he pushed his window open, and she did the same.

"betts, are you okay?" she could tell he was concerned.

"yeah, i'm okay." her voice shook.

"no you're not, i'm coming over." he went to shut his window, but betty's voice stopped him.

"archie, don't." she looked down at her fidgeting hands.

"why? what happened? did i do something wrong?"

"god no, of course not. arch, you're perfect. it's me. i think i just need a little space from everyone right now, and i really want you to respect it." she wished he could see what her eyes were saying to him.

they were screaming at him to fight. she didn't need space, she needed him.

"what? where's this coming from? did the black hood-"

"no," she cut him off, "nothing's wrong, arch. i'm not upset with you, i just need space."

"tell me the truth, did something happen? you have to tell me betts, i can't help you if you don't. so just let me come over, and we can figure all this out. i can help-"

"archie, stop! bad things happen to everyone around me, especially you, so if you stay away from me you'll be safe. i put you in danger, i dragged you into all this shit with the black hood, and i know something bad will happen if i don't keep you out of it. we need to be apart, at least until i can figure out who's doing this." tears poured down both the teens faces.

"but it's lucas-"

"no, it's not." she cut him off.

"what?" his voice trembled.

"it's not lucas, and it's not your problem to figure out who it is. i'm sorry arch, but i can't put you in danger."

"that's not your decision to make." he repeated the words they'd both used against each other.

"the people i love get hurt, and i love you more than anyone else. i'll figure this out, i swear, but for the time being i can't be with you." she went to close her window.

"you promised nothing would come between us." archie's words felt like a punch in the stomach.

"i love you, arch." she squeezed her eyes shut as she closed the window.

she couldn't hear what was going on next door, but knowing archie's tendency to start at anger then go to sadness, she had a pretty good idea.

pictures flew off shelves, holes formed in the drywall, and screams could be heard from downstairs as archie went through his own stages of grief.

a/n - sorry for my long ass break, don't have an excuse i was just unmotivated and uninspired :(