Hopelessly Devoted ➳ a.a ♡ b.c.

thirty

betty watched as the black hood's body hit the ground. the ringing in her ear was piercing, it was so loud she couldn't hear archie run towards her. she was finally pulled out of her trance when he embraced her.

"betts, are you okay? are you hurt?" archie pulled back briefly to look her over, before engulfing her in another hug.

"i- i killed him." betty said in disbelief.

"you had to, betts. if you hadn't he would've made you kill me, or yourself. you did the right thing. now can we take off the mask, and see this bastard once and for all?"

they walked over to the limp body, hand in hand. betty looked at it unsurely, did she really want to see someone she knew laying dead on the ground?

"are you ready?" archie asked as he gripped the mask.

"yes."

a second before the mask was off betty knew who it was, she knew why the voice sounded so familiar. she could just tell.

"what the fuck." archie exhaled heavily.

"oh my god, i think i'm going to be sick." betty could taste bile in her throat.

"why would he-"

"it doesn't matter why, all that matters is that he's dead. he can't hurt anyone anymore, not you, not me, not veronica, not reggie." betty's face drained as the realization hit her.

"oh my god, reggie! he's still at pop's, we need to go."

betty grabbed archie's hand and began pulling him through the woods behind her. this time she was more aware of the roots in the ground. it was easier to navigate the forest with the sun peaking through the trees.

"hurry!" archie passed her as they broke out of the forest.

"shit." there were police cars surrounding the small diner.

the two teens ran up to the front door of the diner, but were greeted with an impasse formed by caution tape.

"archie? betty?" sheriff keller's voice called out from behind them.

"sheriff keller, where's reggie?" the two ran over to him.

"he's in surgery at the hospital, we moved him there maybe 15 minutes ago. how did y'all know he was here?"

"i was here with him. the black hood did this i- i killed him he's in the woods. but you need to know something..." betty trialed off.

"what, what is it betty?"

"the black hood is- was jughead jones."

"take me there, then you're both going to have to come down to the station with me." sheriff keller said.

"no, we need to see reggie. i have to see him." tears prickled in betty's eyes.

"look, reggie is going to be in surgery for a couple hours. so, how about right after we're done at the station i drive you two over to the hospital to visit him."

"okay, let's hurry."
                                  ***
"this is his room." betty said as she stared at the wooden door in front of her.

"okay, then what are you waiting for?" archie looked at her quizzically.

"this is my fault, all of it. i'm the reason reggie almost died. he barely made it, arch."

"it's not your fault at all, okay? it's jughead's. he did this to us. you didn't do anything, and reggie won't think so either. i pinky promise." archie reached his hand down, and intertwined their little fingers.

"lets go." betty slipped her hand completely into his before opening the door.

"reg." she croaked as she looked at the boy laying in his hospital bed, veronica clinging to his hand with happy tears in her eyes.

"coop, how'd the secret quest go?" his voice was groggy, but he managed a small, goofy smile.

"shut up, you big idiot." a wide smile graced her features as she rushed to embrace him.

betty got one arm behind his back and the other behind his neck, as she bent down to his level. reggie used as much strength as he could to weakly throw his free arm around her back.

"i'd just like to personally thank you for enlightening me on your death mission, because this one came running the second she heard i was in here." reggie wiggled his eyebrows as he nodded his head slightly towards veronica.

"just remember i can leave whenever i want," veronica shot him a playful glare before turning her attention to betty, "are you alright, betts? reggie told me everything that happened."

"i'm okay, V. i'm just glad that it's all over." betty smiled sincerely.

reggie and archie greeted eachother with a fist bump as the two girls hugged. it had been too long since the four were together.

"so who was it? i know lucas shot me, but who was the real black hood?" reggie asked after a moment.

"uh, it was jughead." betty said hesitantly, gaining shocked expressions from both dark-haired teens.

"so jughead is-"

"yeah, jughead is dead." betty cut veronica off.

the rest of the day was spent laughing in the white hospital room, telling childhood stories and cracking jokes. if you took away the fact that the four of them sat in a hospital room, you could say that they were finally back to normal.
                                  ***
"so, today was interesting, huh?" archie said as the two flopped back onto his bed.

it was late at night now, and they'd only just gotten back from the hospital. betty was already on the brink of sleep.

"yeah, definitely." betty felt archie's chest press against her back, and his arm snake around her waist.

"you sure you're okay with jughead being, ya know..." archie trailed off.

"i'm not too sure yet, but i think i will be pretty soon. as long as i have you as my best friend i think i can get through anything." betty whispered.

"i think you'll get through it even quicker since you have me as your best friend and boyfriend." archie whispered in her ear causing her to smile.

"i do, don't i." he rested his chin on her shoulder.

archie muttered an mhmm, as the two came even closer to sleep.

"how does it feel to be an average teenager again?" archie asked quietly.

"how about we figure it out tomorrow, and tonight we just enjoy each other's company and sleep. i do think it'll be pretty great though." betty suggested softly.

"i'm sure it will be, although you couldn't be average if you tried. you're too amazing for that." betty giggled softly at his words.

"i love you so much, arch." betty said in a heartwarmingly sincere tone.

"i love you with all my heart. goodnight, betts." he kissed her cheek as they both drifted off to sleep.

that night betty cooper's mind was nightmare-less, however it wasn't dreamless. not even close. her dreams were full of good things. family, her mom, veronica, kevin, cheryl, reggie, all the friends she could ever think of, and of course archie andrews.

and that's when betty knew something for sure. she was utterly, irredeemably, hopelessly devoted to archie andrews, and she always would be.

a/n - and that's a wrap. i hope y'all enjoyed reading this story as much as i enjoyed writing it. i appreciate all your reads so, so much and i love you all terribly. i've already started working on a new barchie fan fic, and i'm excited to see where it goes. however, i will always be incredibly proud of Hopelessly Devoted, and be so appreciative of all of you. thank you so much.