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barchie-is-endgame · 6 years

Text

Learning to Love

Prompt - Can you do a "what happens in Vegas " movie au prompt where they are 18 and the group sneak into a bar. They weren't on speaking terms. Drunk and stupid and get married. Money is on the line and the each person partner wants it for different reasons. The makes them stay married, and they fall in love Pleaaasse.

Warning - Very LONG fic. 16.5k words.

Betty stared out the window of the aircraft, she sighed deeply to herself. Her emotions were in turmoil, deep down she knew she should be ecstatic, she was off to Vegas after all, but the company on the vacation was putting a downer on the whole thing. Her mom had arranged the vacation in celebration of Betty getting into college even though Betty was already halfway through her first year, Betty had been excited at the prospect of time away in Vegas but unfortunately for her, her mom’s best friend had also decided to come along, bringing his son with him.

Fred Andrews and his son, Archie Andrews lived next door to Betty and her mom, Fred and Betty’s mom had been friends since high school, it was pure coincidence that they ended up living next door to each other, they’d both had this dream that Archie and Betty would become best friends like they were, the only problem was Betty couldn’t stand Archie. They had been good friends when they were younger but as Archie grew older he’d become the kind of person Betty despised, a typical clichéd airhead jock who’s only interest was sports and girls. Despite Betty’s protests to her mom she still had to endure dinner parties and family barbecues with the Andrews, knowing exactly how much he got under her skin Archie would constantly find ways to torment Betty which only added more fuel to the fire of her hatred. Betty had thought that once she left for college that would be it, no more Archie, no more fake smiles at family events, but Betty’s joy had been short-lived when she spotted Archie roaming around her college campus. Betty had brushed off the first few sightings, surely there had to be more than one redhead in the city of New York, but Betty wasn’t that lucky, one day at lunch she had been thrown over someone’s shoulders and spun around until she nearly vomited. After she was placed back on her feet she came face to face with none other than Archie, who’d kindly forgotten to mention that he’d gotten into NYU. Betty had been furious, this was supposed to be her time, she was supposed to get away from Riverdale and leave all the bullshit behind, but no, here was Archie lingering like a bad smell, she couldn’t even vacation without him tagging along. Thankfully her mother had agreed to let Betty invite a friend along, Betty’s longtime best friend Veronica had agreed to accompany her on the trip, whilst Archie’s friend Jughead had joined Archie. Hopefully, this would mean that Archie would be too busy with his friend to remember that Betty had even joined him on the trip. Arriving at the hotel Betty was exhausted, she couldn’t wait to get into her room and have a long hot shower, she’d always hated flying, all that recycled air left Betty feeling grimy. Arriving at their room Betty was annoyed to see that Archie’s room was directly next door to her and Veronica’s, rolling her eyes she let herself into the room refusing to even acknowledge Archie. After a long relaxing soak in the shower, Betty felt much better, after drying her hair she threw on a summer dress and some flats to go and join the others for lunch. As the six of them ate they discussed their plans for the holiday, they were only in Las Vegas for the weekend, this was the only weekend everyone could get together, having arrived late Saturday afternoon the plan was to do some sightseeing for the rest of the day before retiring to their rooms after dinner, her mom had booked tickets for them to see the Cirque du Soleil on Sunday so she wanted them to be well rested, they had been flying most of the morning so Betty was more than happy to have an early night.

They spent the afternoon taking in the sights that Las Vegas had to offer, they walked down the strip before visiting Fremont street where they were treated to a spectacular light display before stopping at the Bellagio Resort to watch the fountain display, by the time they made it back to their hotel Betty was exhausted. After bidding her mom goodnight Betty and Veronica retired to their rooms, Veronica headed straight to the bathroom while Betty routed through her suitcase for her pyjamas. When Veronica appeared from the bathroom, Betty looked at her confused. “Is that what you’re wearing for bed?” She questioned, Veronica was dressed in a short black sequined dress that just about covered what it needed to, Veronica laughed. “Of course not Betty, we’re not going to bed, we’re going out.” Veronica said as she walked over to the mirror with her make-up bag. “Veronica we can’t just go out, this is Vegas and we’re only eighteen, there’s not a chance we will get in anywhere.” “Ah, but that’s why I have these.” Reaching into her bag Veronica pulled out some plastic cards, riffling through them she passed one to Betty, it was an exact replica of her drivers’ license, except this one said she was twenty-one, not eighteen. “Where did you get these?” Betty asked, she honestly couldn’t tell the difference between the fake ID and hers, they were amazing. “Let’s just say I know a guy who knows a guy.” She said smugly, Betty looked down at the other fake ID’s and her face fell. “Why do you have one for Archie and Jughead?” Betty said snatching up the ID’s. “Because this was Archie’s idea, come on Betty we can’t come to Vegas and not experience the nightlife.” Betty tossed the cards back on the dresser before sitting back on the bed, she folded her arms in front of her in a strop. “Well thanks anyway but I’m not going.” “Oh yes you are, Betty Cooper.” Veronica spun round to face her. “You ran off to New York straight after graduating, we never even got to have a goodbye party, so this is your punishment. You will stop being such a prude, you will go out with me and you will enjoy every minute of it.” Veronica stated jabbing her mascara in Betty’s direction with every word. “But I don’t even have anything to wear, I packed for a sightseeing holiday, even with great fake ID’s I doubt I’m getting in anywhere wearing Khaki shorts.” Veronica smiled at her. “Don’t worry about that, I’ve got you covered.” Veronica reached into her bag and pulled out a little black number for Betty to wear, throwing it at Betty she shoved her towards the bathroom to change. Trying on the dress Betty couldn’t deny the dress was beautiful, albeit a tad short, the dress was black lace with a jersey style skirt, the top was all lace that reached up into a halter neck before draping down the back. Betty had to remove her bra as the back was sheer lace. Splitting up the dress was a chunky gold belt that wrapped around Betty’s waist. Walking out the bathroom Betty couldn’t help tugging at the bottom of the dress. “I think this is too short V.” Betty said as she checked out the dress in the full-length mirror. “Don’t be daft Betty, you look hot.” “I can’t even wear a bra with this, I may as well be naked.” Betty really didn’t feel comfortable. “Oh yeah, here.” Veronica reached into her bag before throwing a black item towards Betty. “What it this?” Betty questioned as she held the garment up. “It’s a stick on bra, stick it over your boobs and pull that cord, it will give you a killer cleavage.” Betty raised her eyebrow at Veronica, she didn’t want a killer cleavage. “It’s either that or braless.” She sang. Huffing Betty made her way into the bathroom to try on the bra, she was surprised to find that it was actually quite comfy, she decided against pulling the string all the way, she wasn’t one to stand out. After letting Veronica do her hair and makeup Betty was quite pleased with her reflection in the mirror, Veronica had left her makeup subtle yet sexy, she had layered on the eyeshadow to give her smokey eyes and the layers of mascara made her eyelashes pop. Veronica had provided Betty with a pair of heels, whilst they weren’t the highest pair she owned Betty knew she was going to struggle to walk in them. Opening their hotel door, Betty glanced down the corridor before tiptoeing to the room next door, Jughead opened the door and Betty and Veronica snuck inside. Jughead handed over two drinks to Veronica who passed one to Betty. Taking a sip Betty nearly choked. “Jesus Jug, are you trying to kill us.” The drink was more alcohol than mixer. “We didn’t bring enough soda with us, I had to make do, it’s probably best if you down it all in one.” Veronica looked down at her drink before shrugging, she tipped her glass back and drained the cup. “Jeez, that was strong.” She shuddered and turned to Betty. “Come on Betty, down the hatch.” Betty stared at her drink before sighing, bringing the drink to her lips she pinched the bridge of her nose before downing the drink, goosebumps erupted over her skin as Veronica and Jughead cheered for her. Opening the bathroom door Archie strolled into the room, he was wearing a pair of dark jeans and an off-white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he glanced around the room before looking Betty up and down. “You look great Betty, when did you grow breasts?” Archie joked, Betty shot him a dirty look before folding her arms over chest. “Ignore him Betty, your boobs have always looked hot.” Suddenly Betty wasn’t looking forward to the night, Archie always found a way to ruin any good mood Betty found herself in. Sighing she turned to Jughead. “Have you got any more of that drink?” She asked as she crossed the room to give Jughead her glass. “Sure, it’s gonna be strong though, I don’t have a lot of soda left.” “That’s fine just fill it up.” Betty was going to need a lot of alcohol if she was going to make it through this night. “So…” Archie chimed up. “Let’s see these fake ID’s.” Veronica reached into her bag and pulled out the cards and handed them over. “Wow, these are great.” “Yeah, they weren’t cheap but they are the best, if they are scanned they’ll come up.” “This is awesome.” Archie said, Betty rolled her eyes, screwing her eyes shut she knocked back the rest of her drink shuddering once again, Jughead wasn’t lying, it was much stronger than before. “Well, what are we still doing here, let’s get out there.” Betty adjusted her skirt once again before following the others out the door.

——————

After flagging a taxi down the group found themselves back at the Bellagio, but this time they weren’t there for the fountain display. Queuing up outside Hyde Bellagio Betty felt incredibly nervous, the slight buzz from the alcohol she’d consumed was doing nothing to help keep her calm. Reaching the front the bouncers carded them, just as they expected, Betty fumbled with her clutch almost dropping it before handing over her card with shaky hands, the bouncer glanced between Betty and her fake ID before nodding her through, Betty released a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding and stumbled past the bouncers and into the club. Heading straight to the bar Betty and Veronica giggled to each other, she couldn’t believe they had done this. The bar was crowded so Archie decided they should order two drinks and a round of shots each, that way they wouldn’t spend half the night queuing for drinks. after everyone had ordered Betty ended up with six multicoloured shots in front of her, Archie and Veronica had ordered double shots. “Alright, you have to slam them all, one after the other.” Archie shouted over the music, Betty blanched, she didn’t do very well with binge drinking, she’d learnt that the hard way at a frat party her first week at college, she’d got wasted and almost ended up naked in a pool. “Come on Betty, drink then we can go dancing.” Veronica shouted in her ear. “On three” Archie said as he lifted the first shot to his lips, Betty nodded and got her shot ready. “One, two, three.” Betty slammed shot after shot, she was shocked to look up and see she was the first one to finish, Archie was next while Jughead and Veronica struggled with theirs. “Nice one Betty, who knew you could drink.” Archie held his hand up to high five Betty but she just slapped his arm instead. “Shut up.” Veronica pulled on her arm to get her attention. “Down one of your drinks so we can go dance.” She shouted down Betty’s ear, Betty grabbed her glass from the bar and quickly drank her double vodka with lime and lemonade before swapping the empty glass for her full one and following Veronica towards the dance floor. After dancing their way through a bunch of songs Betty was more than feeling the effects of the alcohol, not wanting to be the first one to flake on the night she shouted to the others that she was going to grab some water and made her way towards the bar. Leaning over the bar trying to get a bartenders attention Betty felt someone place a hand on the small of her back, looking around she saw Archie standing next to her, he leaned down to talk in her ear. “You okay?” He asked her before pulling back to look at her, Betty could see in his eyes that he was also feeling the effects of the alcohol, Betty nodded at him. “Yeah, I just need some water.” She turned round to look down the bar again. “Don’t be such a lightweight Betty, let me buy you a real drink.” Betty shot him a dirty look. “I am not a lightweight.” “Prove it,” Archie said smugly. “Have a shot with me.” Betty hated the way he was looking at her, she really did not want to prove him right and wuss out by ordering water so against her better judgement she moved to the side so that he could order their drinks. “Hey, you said a shot.” Betty shouted as she glanced down at the bar, Archie had ordered six shots of some clear liquid as well as some fancy cocktail for the both of them. Archie simply shrugged his shoulders. “I can order you that water if you want.” Shooting him yet another dirty look Betty picked up the first shot, Archie picked his up and clinked the cup with Betty’s. “Cheers Betty.” She rolled her eyes before knocking back the shot. The liquid burned all the way down and Betty coughed as she slammed the glass back on the bar, Archie was already holding out the next one. “What the hell is this?” Betty said as she tried to clear her throat. “No idea, it’s strong, that’s the only reason I got it.” Archie necked the next shot and Betty followed suit, once again Archie had the next shot waiting for her, Betty shook her head. “No, no more, it’s disgusting.” Betty scrunched her face up as the after-effects of the alcohol took over. “Come on Betty, last one. You’re not going to turn me down are you, that wouldn’t be very nice seeing as I bought you this drink.” He grabbed hold of Betty’s arm and placed the shot glass in her hand. “No drink it before I make you.” “Ha, I’d love to see you try.” Archie smiled suggestively at Betty and raised his eyebrows. “I’m sure you would.” He said smugly. “Gross Archie.” Betty lifted the shot glass to her lips and braced herself before tipping the glass back. “There you go.” Archie smiled before drinking his own shot. Betty grabbed her cocktail and took a sip to try and wash the foul taste out of her mouth, she was met with a fruity punch taste, enjoying the taste Betty drank deeper and was shocked to find she’d drank the cocktail all in one, Archie laughed at her. “Thanks for the drinks, now let’s go and find our friends.” Betty said as she grabbed her bag and turned round to face the dance floor. Spinning a bit too fast the room took a while to come into focus and Betty swayed slightly on the spot. She felt Archie’s hands grab hold of her hips to steady her. “You good?” Archie breathed in her ear, Betty nodded. “I think so, let’s go.” She walked forwards in the direction that she last saw her friends, Archie’s hands moved from her waist but he kept one hand on the small of her back as he guided her through the crowd of dancing bodies, spotting Veronica Betty lurched forwards and almost fell into her best friend. “Hey,” Veronica laughed. “Where have you two been?” “Drinking,” Betty replied. “You should try one of the cocktails, they’re amazing.” Betty could hear her words slurring but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. “I will do, after you dance with me.” Veronica smiled at her before pulling her close to dance. Betty’s head was swimming and she was finding it very hard to concentrate, the lights felt incredibly bright and she could feel the music pulsing through her body, she was definitely going to regret going out in the morning.

———————

Betty groaned as the sunlight streaming through the window burned her eyes. Prying her eyes open Betty glanced around the room, her mouth tasted like vomit and she had no recollection of getting back home. Sitting up she glanced around the room, her dress and underwear had been scattered all over the floor, looking down at her body she could see she had slept naked, pulling the sheet around her she glanced over at Veronica’s bed, it didn’t look as though it had been slept in. Stretching her arms above her head Betty tried to ease the ache in her upper body, feeling a sharp pain in her left shoulder Betty flinched, reaching round she could feel some scabbing across her back, panicking thinking she’d cut herself she raced out of bed and bent down in the dresser mirror, angling her back so she could see her shoulder Betty could see it wasn’t a scratch, it looked like a tattoo. “Oh, no.” Betty reached round to try and rub the tattoo away hoping it was fake, when pain erupted from the tattoo all hopes were squashed. Moving closer to the mirror Betty tried to see what the tattoo was, it looked like a heart but it had something written inside it, moving closer Betty screamed when she realised what it was, Archie’s name was written in a fancy font right in the middle of the heart. The bathroom door was thrown open and Betty screamed once again when Archie ran out of the door with only a towel wrapped around his waist, reaching for the sheet Betty covered herself up as quickly as she could. “What the hell are you doing in my room, get out!” Betty shouted at him as she tugged the sheet closer around her body. “Betty this is my room.” Archie said smugly, Betty glanced around the room, it looked very similar to her room but as Betty looked closer she noticed that her suitcase was missing as was Veronica’s, and she could see the cups they’d used to drink from before they went out. “What am I doing in your room? How did we get home last night?” Archie shook his head as though he didn’t know either. “And what the hell is this?” Betty angled her shoulder towards Archie so he could see her tattoo. “Is this real, what the hell.” “I think it’s real, mine is anyway.” Archie angled his shoulder and Betty could see what looked like a matching tattoo. Holding the sheet tighter around her Betty shuffled forwards to check out the tattoo, sure enough, Archie had a matching heart tattoo except in the middle of his heart was Betty’s name. “Oh my god.” Betty walked backwards and dropped down on the bed. “A tattoo, why would we get a tattoo, my mom’s gonna kill me.” Betty put her head in her hands, quickly pulling her hands away Betty put her hands in front of her, sitting on her ring finger was what looked like a large plastic ring normally found in gumball machines. “What the hell is that?” Betty questioned. “Oh yeah, if you thought the tattoo was bad you’re gonna flip at this.” Archie walked over to the bedside table and grabbed a piece of paper before handing it to Betty. Betty struggled to read whatever was written on it, the words were swimming on the page. “What is this?” Betty questioned shaking the paper in Archie’s direction. “That my little wifey is our marriage license.” Betty stared at Archie as she tried to comprehend what he’d just said. “That’s not even funny Archie, seriously what is it?” “I’m not laughing Betty, it’s real, we got married last night.” Betty’s face fell, she pulled the document up to her face and tried to make sense of the writing, she could see her and Archie’s name and her signature at the bottom. Betty threw the paper to the side, standing up she started pacing the room. “This can’t be real, this is some kind of sick joke, we can’t be married.” Betty said with a nervous laugh. “Oh no.” Betty’s stomach lurched as the reality of the situation sunk in. Racing towards the bathroom she dashed past Archie and slammed the door in his face, only just making it Betty emptied her stomach into the toilet bowl. After having a quick shower Betty wrapped herself in a towel and opened the bathroom door, Archie was lay on the bed flicking through the channels on the tv. Trying to maintain as much dignity as possible Betty went around the room and scooped up her dress and underwear, Archie laughed from on the bed. “Shut up okay, just shut up. Where’s my bag?” Betty asked as she looked around the room. “I have no idea, maybe Veronica has it.” Archie said as he continued to flick through the channels. “She’s next door with Jug.” Betty huffed as she tucked her clothes under her arm, there was no easy to ask what she was about to ask so she just came out with it. “Did we, you know, last night?” Betty asked hoping he understood what she meant. “I honestly have no idea Betty, we were both naked in the same bed when I woke up, so maybe, I don’t really remember much.” “Oh my god.” Betty’s head fell into her hands again, what the hell happened last night. “How can you be so calm about this Archie?” “What do you want me to do Betty, you have to admit this is pretty funny.” “No Archie it’s not even remotely funny.” Betty scolded him. “I’m going to check on Veronica, you can google where you get a quick annulment done, now.” Betty stormed out of the room slamming the door shut behind her. Standing in her towel Betty banged on her hotel room door, a very rough looking Jughead answered wrapped in a bathrobe, Betty pulled him by the arm into the hallway. “What the fuck Betty.” “Get back in your room now. I need to speak to Veronica.” Slamming the door shut behind her Betty threw her clothes onto her bed. Veronica shuffled out of the bathroom looking very worse for wear. “What the actual fuck happened last night?” Betty screamed at Veronica. “Urgh please don’t shout.” Veronica pleaded as she sat down on her bed. “My head is killing me.” “Oh your head is killing, that’s nice, I think my problem tops yours.” Betty held up her ring finger which still held the tacky plastic ring. “Nice ring,” Veronica laughed. “Is it stuck or something.” “It’s not just a ring, it’s a wedding ring. Apparently, I married Archie last night, how the hell could you let this happen.” Betty demanded. “Hey, I threw up in my purse okay, none of us were in a fit state.” “Yeah, no shit.” Betty swore. “Relax okay, you can just get an annulment, no one needs to know, what happens in Vegas and all that.” Veronica said. “Oh that’s not all, I doubt this is going to be as easy to fix.” Betty angled her shoulder to show off her tattoo. “Oh shit, did you get a tattoo?” Veronica stood up to get a closer look, she laughed when she saw Archie’s name enclosed in the heart. “Oh yeah, Archie got a matching one.” Veronica started laughing. “Why does everyone think this is funny, my mom’s gonna kill me.” “Betty you’re eighteen, you don’t even live at home anymore, your mom’s never gonna know.” Betty flopped down on her bed. “Did you and Jughead sleep in the same bed?” She questioned when she realised her bed hadn’t been slept in. Veronica gave her a smug looking smile. “Ew, you didn’t did you?” Veronica nodded. “Hey, me sleeping with Jug seems very tame compared to you marrying Archie.” Veronica said as tossed a pillow at Betty. “So did you guys, you know, consummate the marriage?” Betty threw the pillow over her face. “I don’t even know.” She sobbed into the pillow, she could hear Veronica laughing from beside her.

——————-

After getting ready Betty and Veronica made their way down to the hotel restaurant to join the others for breakfast, Betty’s mum and Archie’s dad were already seated at the table along with Archie and Jug, Veronica rushed ahead and stole the seat next to Betty’s mom leaving her with no choice but to sit next to Archie. Scowling at the back of Veronica’s head she slid into her seat.

“Morning hunny, did you sleep well?” Her mom asked her. Betty shook her head “Not really, I could really do with some coffee.” Archie reached across and filled her cup with some coffee from a jug in front of him. “Thanks.” She said to be polite. “What’s mine is yours.” As he said this Betty heard Veronica choke on her orange juice, shooting Archie a dirty look she reached over and slapped Veronica on her back. “So are you guys ready for Cirque du Soleil?” Alice asked all excited. “Oh yeah, I can’t wait.” Archie answered her. Betty nodded along with a forced smile, she was finding it hard to act normal, thoughts were running through her mind a mile a minute. “Well I’m going to grab some food from the buffet, Archie could you come help me.” Betty said as she slapped his leg and gave him a look that she hoped told him he didn’t really have a choice. “Of course dear.” Archie joked, Betty quickly glanced around the table but noticed that fortunately, no one was paying attention. Stomping over to the buffet Betty stopped at the plates. “Will you stop with all the wifey jokes.” Betty hissed as Archie came to a stop beside her. “What, it’s funny.” Archie said with a laugh. “It’s not, I don’t want my mom to find out about this.” “Are you ashamed of me Betty, am I not good enough to marry you.” Betty couldn’t tell if he was being serious. “Archie I don’t want to be married to anyone, we’re eighteen for goodness sake. Did you look up places we can get annulled?” She asked as she moved down the buffet, she was piling food on her plate but she didn’t have an appetite. “Yeah, we’re not gonna get anything done today, we’ll have to speak to a lawyer when we get back to New York, until then your stuck being my wife.” Archie threw his arm around Betty’s shoulders as he wore a smug grin, Betty’s shoulders sagged. “This is a nightmare, it has to be, I’m going to wake up in my hotel room and last night will have never happened.” “You keep wishing for that Mrs Andrews.” “Stop that.” Betty scolded. “It is not funny.” “Whatever Betty.” Letting go of her he stomped back towards the table, Betty took a second to compose herself, she plastered a fake smile on her face before heading back to the table.

——————-

Cirque du Soleil was probably amazing but Betty found she couldn’t enjoy it, she spent most of the performance worrying about what was going to happen once they got back to New York. How could she be married, and who on earth let them purchase a marriage license when they were clearly very intoxicated. After the performance finished Veronica and Jughead got a taxi back to the hotel leaving Betty and Archie some alone time with their parents. Walking down the strip Betty could only glare at the back of Archie’s head, how could he be so calm about this, he was just laughing and joking with his dad as of this was just any other day, stopping outside a casino Alice turned to Betty.

“So we know you’re both too young to gamble so Fred and I have decided that, as a graduation slash well done for getting into college gift, we will put a bet on for both of you, whatever we win will be yours.” Archie’s face lit up, he pulled out his wallet and started rattling off what he’d like to put down on the roulette table. Betty shook her head at her mom. “I’m okay thanks, I’m not really into gambling.” “Are you sure Betty, you can gamble the money anywhere, roulette, cards.” “Mom I know nothing of gambling, I’d just end up losing money.” “Just stick a dollar in a slot machine for her, you can’t visit Vegas and not gamble.” “Archie it’s fine I don’t…” Betty started before Archie cut her off. “Betty, your mom’s trying to do something nice for you, let her gamble for you.” Archie handed Alice a dollar bill. “Put that into a slot machine for her, it’s better than nothing.” Taking the money they disappeared into the casino leaving Betty and Archie stood on the strip. Betty moved over to a bench and slumped down, Archie joined her shortly after. “Don’t start please, I’m really not in the mood.” Betty said before he could say anything to her, he held his hands up defensively. “Whoa, I wasn’t going to say anything.” “I’m sure you weren’t.” Betty replied, she was really struggling with this whole situation she couldn’t understand why Archie was being so nonchalant about it all. Betty and Archie sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Alice came running from the casino with a massive grin on her face, coming to a stop in front of Betty Alice dragged her up from the bench and into a hug. “You won, Betty you won.” She squealed down Betty’s ear. “Oh cool, how much.” Betty was happy to have won, a few extra dollars was always welcome. “No Betty, you won Oh my god, you won .” Alice was ecstatic. “How much did I win? A couple of hundred?” Betty questioned, she was already spending the money in her head, she was desperate for a new laptop for college. “No Betty, you won the jackpot, you won three million dollars.” “What?” Betty questioned, she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. “I put your money in the slot machine and it hit the jackpot, you won three million dollars. Fred’s inside now sorting it all out, I better get back, Oh my god Betty.” She kissed her cheek before running back inside. Betty sank back down onto the bench, three million dollars, that couldn’t be right. “Whoa.” Betty said trying to get her head around it. “Congrats Betty, what are you gonna do with one and half million dollars.” Betty looked at him confused. “My mom said it was three million, where are you getting one and a half from?” Archie smiled at her smugly. “Well that’s your half, we’re married remember, what’s mine is yours.” He said with a grin on his face. “You have got to be kidding, my mom won that money for me.” “Yeah, with my dollar, and it was my idea to use the slot machines.” Betty reached into her pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill, she threw it at Archie. “There you go, you just made interest on that dollar.” “I don’t think so, you won that money while we’re married, that’s both of our money now.” “Archie not even you are selfish enough to do this.” Archie looked at her defiantly. “You obviously don’t know me very well then.”

———————

Arriving back home Betty had no choice but to let her mom know what had happened in Vegas. Her mom had been furious. “Sneaking into a club with fake ID, getting so drunk you can’t even remember getting married, Betty I thought I raised you better than this.” Betty had never seen her mom so disappointed, it made her feel awful. “What do I do mom, Archie’s saying he wants half of that money, it was his dollar and we are married, is he really entitled to half of it.” Betty sat on the sofa with her legs tucked under her, she felt like a child all over again. “I don’t know Betty, we’re going to have to get a lawyer, speak to him. God Betty how could you be so stupid.” Tears welled in Betty’s eyes. “I’m sorry mom.” “The cost of the lawyer will come out of your winnings, and you’ll pay for Archie’s lawyer as well, even if he isn’t entitled to any money he shouldn’t have to pay to get out of this.” Betty looked down at the sofa ashamed.

Betty’s lawyer seemed pretty confident they could get out of the marriage with minimal loss, they were going to offer Archie fifty thousand, which her lawyer said was more than he was owed, Betty had forced him to up it to half the winnings, she wanted to be out of the marriage as soon as possible and it was, after all, Archie’s money they had gambled with, Betty was starting to feel guilty about dragging him and his dad through this. Sitting in court Betty found herself feeling nervous, she wasn’t going to have to say anything, her lawyer would be doing it all for her but she still felt really uneasy. Braving a quick look at Archie she caught him smirking at her, Betty’s stomach flipped and she shot him a dirty look back before facing forwards again. Everyone rose to their feet as the judge walked in, as he sat down Betty and Archie took their seats while the lawyers remained standing, after a quick recap Betty’s lawyer pleaded their case. “Your Honour, my client was in a state of total inebriation when the wedding took place, she was in no fit state to enter into a legal marriage.” “Mmm hmm. And you,” he said as he looked over at Archie’s lawyer. “Do you have any evidence to prove they both entered this marriage knowingly. Any evidence that would show this was premeditated.” “We do, Your Honour. We have various pictures of the couple together throughout the night, always in each other’s arms.” On a tv screen in the corner flashed picture upon picture of Betty and Archie, they were both laughing in all the photos, sometimes Betty would be sat on Archie’s lap, other times he would be holding her from behind. “We also have this.” On the screen popped up an image of Archie’s love heart tattoo, Betty cringed. “This is a tattoo they got hours before they were married, according to the receipts, we believe Betty also has a matching tattoo containing Archie’s name.” The judge looked over to Betty’s lawyer for confirmation. “Is that true?” Her lawyer whispered in her ear. “Yeah, but again I have no memory of getting it.” Betty lawyer sighed. “It’s true, Your Honour.” The judge nodded his head. “We also have a video, Your Honour.” Betty’s head snapped over to Archie but he refused to look at her, turning to look at the screen Betty watched her drunken self try to place a veil on her head. “We’re getting married.” She sang into the camera. “Yeah, we are,” Archie giggled. “You’re going to be Mrs Archie Andrews. We’re going to be married forever.” “Absolutely, forever and ever.” Betty dropped her head into her hands, she had never seen this video, she didn’t even know there were videos from that night. “I’ve seen enough.” The judge interrupted. “I don’t like you.” He said looking between Betty and Archie “you and your generation and their disregard for marriage. You are destroying the sanctity of marriage, it’s meant to be about love and commitment, not about jokingly getting hitched and expecting a quick divorce. Before I even consider letting either of you out of this marriage I’m going to make sure you try everything to make it work, and I do mean everything.” Betty sat up straighter as she listened, what exactly did he mean by this. “Do either of you have your own place?” Betty was unsure whether she was supposed to answer, she looked to her lawyer who nodded his approval. “I erm, live in university halls.” “What about you?” He asked looking towards Archie. “I have a small apartment near college.” “Excellent, so here’s what’s going to happen, I’m freezing the three million dollars for the next six months and sentencing you two to six hard months of marriage, you will attend weekly marriage counselling and you will try to make this work, if you do not play ball I will lock your money up in so much litigation that neither one of you will ever see a dime of it. Congratulations you two, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The judge banged his gavel and collected his paperwork together, Betty turned to face her lawyer. “What the hell just happened?” “I’m sorry Betty, I had no idea this would happen, I guess he wanted to make an example out of you. “Can he do this, surely this can’t be legal, he can’t force us to be together, can he?” “He’s the judge, he can do whatever he wants.” Betty let her head bang against the table. “I can’t do this.” “It’s just six months, move in together, attend the marriage counselling and follow the rules, that’s the only way you get the divorce and see any of that money.” “You’ve been useless you know that. You have been absolutely no help.” Betty said turning to her lawyer, frustrated she stood up from the desk and began to make her way out of the courtroom. Archie caught up to her and threw his arm around her shoulder. “You ready to move into my lad pad wifey, I should warn you, I live in my underwear, except on laundry day, then it’s birthday suit time.” Betty shuddered, shaking his arm of her she turned to face him. “You are not going to chase me away that easily. We grew up together, I’ve seen it all before remember.” She said looking him up and down. “I can put up with you for six months for one and a half million dollars, as long as I never see you again after I’ll be happy.” Betty walked out of the courtroom and made her way back to her university dorm to pack.

———————-

After packing only the essentials Betty made her way across the city to Archie’s address, looking around the neighbourhood Betty was pleasantly surprised to see it was a nice area. Pressing the buzzer for Archie’s apartment she waited for an answer. “Hey, it’s me, open up.” She said into the buzzer. “Wifey, come on up it’s all the way at the top.” Betty rolled her eyes, this was going to be a long six months. Walking into Archie’s apartment Betty breathed a sigh of relief, the apartment wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be, she was expecting some dirty man cave but the sitting area was actually presentable. Walking into the kitchen dampened her spirits. “Have you ever washed a dish in your life?” Betty said with a look of disgust on her face. “I wash them as and when I need to.” Archie shrugged. “Oh god, is that dirty laundry?” Betty dry heaved into her hand. “You leave your dirty laundry on the kitchen top, where do you prepare your food?” “Oh, I just shove it out of the way, or order takeout.” “Disgusting, so disgusting.” Betty continued her tour of the apartment. “Oh my god” Betty screamed as she ran out of the bathroom. “That’s… there are no words, I can’t do this, oh no, I can’t.” She dry heaved into her hand again. “Seriously, it’s one thing if you like a guy, but I don’t care for you, so clean it up.” “Hey, I can live quite comfortably like this, if you can’t then there’s the door.” Betty’s shoulders sagged, Archie moved to grab something from the kitchen cupboard. “Here, these are antibacterial, so get to work.” Betty made dramatic crying noises, how could she do this, she couldn’t live with a boy, boys were messy and disgusting, there was enough evidence of that in the bathroom. Betty held her breath as she made her way into the bedroom, like the living room it wasn’t the worse place in the apartment, Archie came to stand behind her in the doorway. “It’s no king but it’s should fit the two of us quite comfortably.” Betty spun round to face him. “We are not sharing a bed, not ever.” “You didn’t seem to mind sharing a bed in Vegas.” Archie said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Ugh you are unbelievable, you can sleep on the sofa.” “No way, this is my place, why do you get the bed.” “Because it’s the gentleman thing to do, you can’t expect me to sleep on a sofa for six months.” “Oh but it’s okay for me to.” “Fine.” Betty huffed. “We’ll do alternate nights.” “Deal.” Archie smirked. Donning some rubber gloves Betty made her way through the apartment trying to get it as clean as possible, she struggled in the bathroom, having to run out every so often for fresh air, a full bottle of bleach later and the bathroom certainly wasn’t sparkling but it was definitely better. Pulling out her phone she was shocked to see it was almost one am, walking into the sitting area she spotted Archie passed out on the sofa, guess this meant she had the bed tonight. Grabbing a box of her stuff she made her way into the bedroom, stripping all the bedding she took Archie’s quilt out to him and placid it over his sleeping body. Watching him sleep she could appreciate that Archie was quite attractive when he wasn’t awake and being annoying as hell. Walking back into his bedroom she unpacked her own sheets and made the bed before flopping down, she was exhausted and needed to be up for an early class. With the stress of the day catching up with her it wasn’t long before she drifted off.

Betty had survived their first week of living together, the fact she was hardly ever in had certainly helped, she had classes to keep her busy during the day and then she’d stay as late as possible at the library before heading home. It was now time for their first ever marriage counselling session, Betty still couldn’t believe that this was happening, married and heading to marriage counselling at eighteen. Arriving at the counsellor’s office she spotted Archie sat in the waiting room, she walked in and dropped into the seat beside him. “You ready to do this?” He asked her. “What, pretend like I don’t throw up in my mouth a little every time I look at you? Yes, I’m ready.” Betty said without looking at him, she heard him laugh from beside her. The receptionist motioned for Betty and Archie to go through, Betty took a deep breath to prepare herself. Glancing around the office she noticed that it looked like a typical shrinks office, a sofa and an armchair and wall to wall of books and trinkets. Betty took a seat next to Archie who immediately threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, Betty flinched slightly before straightening up, she was trying her hardest to look as relaxed as possible. “So Archie, tell me a bit about yourself.” The woman sat in front of them was a slightly plump lady, she reminded Betty of her late grandma. “Well I grew up in a town called Riverdale, right next door to this one,” he said as he shook Betty’s shoulder with his hand. “Guess you could say it was destined for us to end up together.” He pulled Betty closer to him as she plastered on a fake smile. “I moved to New York to study music at NYU.” Betty’s head snapped to look at Archie, she had no idea he was here studying music, she just assumed he got here on a sports scholarship, she didn’t realise he was into music, while she recalled spotting a guitar when she was cleaning the apartment she had thought it was just a prop for his lad pad. “But mostly I just like to watch Betty, and listen to her, I’m a good listener, she can talk and talk and I’ll just listen and listen because that’s what a good husband does, isn’t it wifey.” Betty let out a forced giggle. “Absolutely.” She replied through gritted teeth. “I just love living with Archie, most people my age would probably hate the idea of living with a boy, most people would probably be disgusted to find dirty underwear and socks at the bottom of the freshly washed bedsheets, but not me, I love brushing my feet over them in the middle of the night, it doesn’t make me want to scrub my skin red raw, not one bit.” Betty reached down and playfully slapped Archie’s leg, letting her hand linger slightly. “Right,” Dr Cameron cast a suspicious eye over the two of them. “well I hope you both know I’m not buying one bit of this thing…” she gestured over Archie and Betty with her pen.” “You’re trying to sell me. I have to report back to the courts with my findings and they want to see proof that you’re actually working on this.” Betty sighed, this was not going to be as easy as she first thought.

—————-

“Betty, get a move on, I need to use the bathroom.” Archie shouted from outside the bathroom.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” Betty sang, she was currently in the process of neatening her hair, if she was completely honest it looked fine ages ago, she was simply taking her time to piss Archie off, last night she had come home late to find Archie having a little house party with his friends, they had stayed up till well past three in the morning and despite Betty’s pleas for them to keep it down, they had been loud and obnoxious all night. To top it off when Betty had tried to get into the kitchen she had been met with piles of take away boxes and masses of empty beer cans, Archie was passed out on the sofa with a waste bin full of vomit lay next to him. “Betty you said that an hour ago!” Betty could hear Archie becoming more and more annoyed. Good. “I’m almost done.” Betty pulled her phone out and sat down on the edge of the bath. “Dammit Betty.” Archie pounded on the door, Betty just giggled and scrolled through her phone. Figuring he’d suffered enough she unlocked the door, Archie threw Betty out of the way and sprinted into the bathroom, Betty could only laugh, served him right. “I’m going now, I’ll see you after class hunny.” She shouted out as she grabbed her bag and coat. “Fuck you.” Archie shouted back, Betty laughed once again. After finishing her classes Betty decided to forgo the late night library session, she was exhausted after having very little sleep last night so just headed home. Arriving back she spotted Archie sprawled out on the sofa playing a video game. “Do you ever go to class?” Betty asked as she hung her coat up. “Only the ones I care about.” Archie replied without looking at her, Betty rolled her eyes before heading for the bathroom, she reached in to close the door but came up empty. Spinning around she spotted why, there was no door, it had been taken off its hinges. “Where’s the door?” Betty shouted out towards Archie’s direction. “We got robbed.” Archie replied nonchalantly. “And all they took was the door.” What a crock of shit. “I know weird right.” Betty let out a frustrated scream, walking into the bedroom she slammed the door shut behind her.

“He took the door off the bathroom, I have to pee behind a sheet that I hung up, what kind of guy does that, I’m sure he doesn’t move from that sofa, like at all, it’s got ass dents in it. I just, I feel like he’s not even trying, like he doesn’t want to make this work.” Betty was currently at the marriage counsellors on her own for their one to one sessions. Betty much preferred these sessions, she didn’t feel like she had to fake her feelings. “He has these parties, I’m not even sure you could call them that, a bunch of his friends come to the apartment and they drink and are loud till all hours of the morning, he might not care about graduating college but I do.” “This is good, you’re arguing, this feels like a married couple, this is progress.” Betty shook her head, it didn’t feel like progress, it felt like one massive step backwards.

———————-

Two months in and Betty was ready to rip her hair out, she felt like she hadn’t had a decent nights sleep in ages, the apartment still lacked a bathroom door which meant Archie was free to walk in and out the bathroom, which he frequently did whilst she was showering. Betty made sure to return the favour, bursting in to brush her teeth when Archie had just gotten in the shower, turning the hot top all the way up leaving Archie screaming from the cold water. Unfortunately, Archie had got her back by deleting her English literature essay and replacing it with a porn link, Betty had emailed it to her professor. She hadn’t spoken to Archie since then, it was one thing to mess with her home life but school work was absolutely off limits. She was in the process of rewriting the essay, her professor had been kind enough to give her an extension after she claimed a virus had wiped out her computer and infected her emails. Picking her phone up from the bed as it vibrated she saw it was an unknown number. “Hello this is Jenifer calling from Dr Cameron’s office, may I please speak to Betty.” A woman on the other end of the phone asked. “Speaking.” Betty replied “Hello Betty, I can see you are down to see Dr Cameron today at four, unfortunately, she has had to cancel all appointments today, is there any chance you can do this Friday at three instead.” “Actually I have class till three on Fridays, do you have anything later?” “I can do four-thirty, is that any good?” “Yes, that’s fine.” “Excellent I’ll pencil you in, see you Friday.” Betty hung up and stared at the phone, something didn’t feel right. Routing through her bag she pulled out the card she’d taken from the counsellor’s office, ringing the number she was shocked when Dr Cameron picked up. “Cameron’s office. “Dr Cameron, this Betty, Betty Coo… I mean Andrews.” Betty still hated correcting her name to that. “Mrs Andrews, yes what can I do for you?” “Well, I just received a call from your receptionist to say our session had to be rearranged, I’m just ringing to double check that fact.” “Your session is definitely still on, and just to make you aware any absence is considered contempt of court.” “Oh, it is, well thanks for clearing that up for me.” Betty hung up, Archie was trying to get her to miss therapy, if she missed therapy then it would seem like she didn’t want to work on the marriage. That son of a bitch. Betty cleared her stuff from the bed, placing her laptop in her bag she set off for the doctor’s office, she wanted to get there before Archie, she couldn’t wait to see his face when he realised she was there. Betty arrived twenty minutes before their session and took a seat in the waiting room, not ten minutes later she watched as Archie strolled in, the smug look soon fell from his face when he spotted Betty. “Betty, you’re here early.” He said as he took a seat beside her. Betty simply smiled at him, he was still going to receive the silent treatment from her.

Arriving home from college the next day, she found the apartment empty, sitting on the sofa she spotted Archie’s guitar, in the two months of living here Betty had never once heard him play it, he must have to for his music course. Snatching up the guitar Betty left the apartment, if he wanted to mess with her work she was going to mess with his.

Returning home from the library that night Betty found Archie pacing the floor, he pounced on Betty the moment she walked through the door. “Have you seen my guitar?” He asked looking panicked. “Guitar? I didn’t even know you had a guitar.” “Fuck, I left it right here.” He said gesturing to the sofa. “You know maybe we were robbed again. Maybe the guy who stole the bathroom door struck again.” Betty walked towards the bedroom and threw her bag on the bed, she could hear Archie following her. “Betty did you take my guitar, please tell me you have it. My mom bought me that guitar before…” Betty’s stomach dropped, now she felt shitty, Archie’s mom had passed away when they were thirteen. “The door.” Betty demanded, Archie looked at her confused. “I want the bathroom door back, then you can have your guitar.” Archie gave her a dirty look before sagging his shoulders and sighing. “Deal.” He finally said. “And the late night parties with the guys, I want them to stop.” “Fine whatever.” Betty reached her hand out to shake on the deal, she watched as Archie reluctantly reached back to shake her hand. “Now where’s my guitar?.” He said as he snatched his hand back. “I put it in my dorm room. “You carried my guitar across campus?” Archie looked shocked upon hearing this. “I was careful.” Archie shook his head at her “Well come on.” He said signalling towards the door. “You want me to get it now?” Archie nodded at her, sighing she turned around and headed towards the door, she could hear Archie following her as she left the apartment. “You don’t need to come I can get it myself.” “There is no way I’m letting you touch my guitar again.” Betty rolled her eyes.

After crossing campus Betty let Archie into her dorm room, he’d made a beeline straight for his guitar which Betty had placed carefully on her bed, she watched whilst Archie had checked every inch of the guitar before sighing happily.

“I told you I was careful.” Archie finally stopped paying attention to his guitar to glance around Betty’s room. “So this is your room.” He said as he placed his guitar back onto Betty’s bed and began to nosey around. “Why don’t you have a roommate?” He asked as he stared at the empty bed on the other side of the room. “I was just never assigned one, I’m actually quite glad.” “Aw look you have pictures of me in your room.” Betty rolled her eyes. “Well, thanks to our parents, we hung out a lot as kids, you’re in a lot of my childhood pictures.” Betty walked towards Archie to take a closer look at the pictures, the one he was referring to was a family barbecue taken when they were about nine, Archie had his arms wrapped around Betty’s waist as he lifted her off her feet about to throw her in a pool, they were both laughing, Archie’s mom stood off to the side smiling at the two of them. Betty watched as Archie reached up and touched the image of his mom, Betty felt her chest constrict, losing his mom had been hard on Archie, he’d turned into the douche she’d come to hate not long after. Betty cleared her throat. “Well I think that’s enough nostalgia for one day, come on let’s go, I’m starving.” Betty moved away from the picture and made her way towards the door, throwing it open she found her path blocked, in front of her stood her ex-boyfriend, James, he stood with his hand up in a fist as though he’d just been about to knock. “Betty, hey, I thought that was you.” “James, hi, what are you doing here?” Betty asked, this was the first time since their break up that he’d tried to speak to her. “I haven’t seen you in a while, Kate said you’d moved out of the dorm.” He moved to lean casually across the doorframe. “Yeah, I’m staying with a friend for a while.” Betty didn’t know why she’d answered him, it had nothing to do with him where she was staying, not anymore. “Right, well I was thinking, maybe we could grab dinner..” “I don’t think so.” Betty cut him off, Betty wanted nothing more to do with him, talking to him now was more than he deserved. “Come on Betty, don’t be like that.” He reached out as if to touch her face but Betty moved back out of his reach, her back collided with something hard and glancing behind her she spotted Archie. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met.” Archie said from behind her, Betty cringed, she really did not want to do this now. “I’m sorry, who are you?” James asked looking Archie up and down. “I’m the friend.” Archie simply replied, Betty watched as realisation dawned on James’ face and his head snapped in Betty’s direction. “I see, well clearly that didn’t take long.” Before Betty could react James turned on his heel and stomped down the corridor and out of sight. The walk back to the apartment had been quiet, Betty had a stomp on as she angrily thought about the exchange that had happened between her and James, he had no right to judge her. Walking into the apartment Betty headed straight for the bedroom, she threw her coat angrily on the bed stomping her foot in frustration. Turning around she slammed straight into Archie’s chest, she hadn’t heard him follow her into the bedroom, he grabbed hold of the top of her arms to steady her. “Jesus Archie, you can’t just sneak up on people like that.” “Who was that guy?” Archie asked looking down at her, he still had hold of her arms and Betty seemed overly aware of how close he was standing. “My ex.” Was all Betty said, Archie furrowed his brows at her answer. “You have an ex?” Betty was offended at his question. “Yes Archie, I have had boyfriends in the past, if you can believe that.” “Why didn’t you tell him we’re married.” Betty couldn’t be sure but she could swear she heard a hint of jealousy in his voice. “Archie I don’t tell anyone we’re married, in four more months we won’t be and this will all just be a bad memory. “I see.” Archie said as he released his hold on her arms, he sounded hurt almost. “So why’d you and James split up.” He said James’ name with a hint of disgust. “That’s none of your business.” Betty said as she folded her arms in front of her. “Fine then.” Archie turned on his heel and made his way through the apartment, Betty found herself following him. “Where are you going?” She shouted after him when she realised he was heading for the front door. “To find James, I might buy him a beer or two, find out what happened between you two.” He said turning to face her. “You wouldn’t.” Betty said incredulously. “Come on Betty, we both know I would.” “Why does it bother you so much?” Betty asked him, she watched as he shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t, but I can see it bothers you.” He turned his back and started towards the door again. “He cheated on me.” Betty blurted out, Archie froze on the spot. “He cheated, there are you happy now.” She watched as his hands tightened into a fist and he slowly turned around. “He cheated?” Archie said, it came out more of a question. “Yes okay, he cheated.” Betty’s shoulders sagged. “So go ahead, make jokes about how about how I can’t keep a boyfriend, how I must be so awful to be with and no one will ever want to stay with me. I know you’re dying to.” “Betty I…” Archie quickly turned around to face her. “I lied about my roommate, I did get assigned one, we became good friends, until I walked in on them fucking in my bed.” Betty braved a look at Archie, she was sure she was going to find him smirking at her, probably on the verge of laughing, which is why she was shocked to see that he looked angry. “Son of a bitch.” Betty could only look on shocked as he turned and carried on towards the front door, Betty had expected him to laugh at her, make fun of her, she certainly hadn’t expected this. Coming to her senses she chased after him. “Archie wait, stop, you can’t do this.” Betty could hear him muttering under his breath. “That bastard.” Betty panicked, she’d worked so hard to move past this, she couldn’t let Archie run out opening old would. “What are you doing, Archie stop. Archie.” Betty’s voice broke as she shouted at him, she was on the verge of tears, she had no idea what is happening. Archie had stopped walking, he had his hand on the door handle with his back to Betty. “You can take the bathroom door back, fuck up as many of my assignments as you want, just don’t bring my past into this, please.” Betty was fully crying now, big fat tears streamed down her cheeks. Archie turned round to face her, with two big strides he stood in front of her, Betty was startled when he pulled her into a bone crushing hug, her face was crushed against his chest and her arms were pinned by her sides. “What’s happening? Are you hugging me.” Her voice sounded muffled against his shirt. “No one deserves that Betty, especially you.” “Thanks, I think.” Betty was confused, this was the most compassion Archie had shown her in years, he continued to hold her awkwardly. “Archie.” Betty said into his shirt again “Yeah.” “I can’t breathe.” “Oh, right, sorry” Archie quickly let go of her and stepped back, Betty looked up at him quizzically, was he actually being nice to her, maybe he just pitied her. “So, erm.” Archie reaches up and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand “Do you want to order a pizza for tea.” “Is that because you want pizza or is it because there are no clean dishes in the kitchen.” “A bit of both.” Archie replied smiling at her. After the pizza arrived Archie put a film on for them to watch whilst they ate, Betty found herself glancing over at Archie every now again, in the two months of living together they had never sat down to watch television, they hardly spent any time in the same room. Archie glanced over at her and she quickly looked away, smirking at the tv she felt as though she’d just been caught doing something she shouldn’t have.

Waking up the next morning Betty glanced around the room, she couldn’t remember getting into bed, she must have fallen asleep during the movie, had Archie carried her to bed? It was meant to be her turn on the sofa. Getting out of bed Betty walked into the kitchen in search of some coffee, she almost had a heart attack at the sight that greeted her. The kitchen was spotless, all the dishes had been washed and put away, there was no take away boxes or trash lying around, Betty could see the kitchen tops, walking out of the kitchen Betty also noticed that the bathroom door was back, she walked through the rest of the apartment and whilst the apartment was squeaky clean there was no sign of Archie. Frowning Betty made her way back to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee but found there was already a full hot pot waiting. As Betty was pouring herself a coffee she heard the front door open, taking her cup she made her way into the sitting room. Archie stood in the middle of the front room cradling what looked like a bag of groceries. “Okay, did I enter the twilight zone at some point last night.” “What?” Archie said with a half laugh “The apartment, it’s spotless. And did you go grocery shopping?” Betty said as she tried to peer into the bag, Archie snatched it out of her reach. “I just grabbed some essentials.” “And the apartment,” Betty raised her eyebrow at him. “I haven’t seen you clean once since I moved in.” “Yeah about that,” Archie looked at Betty sheepishly. “I erm, I’m actually very house proud. I hate mess. “So all the filth, the trash, the bathroom, that was ..” “Just to mess with you? Yeah.” Archie tried to smile at Betty. “I threw a trash the apartment party the night before you moved in.” Betty looked at him shocked. “You’re an arse.” Betty turned and headed back to the bedroom, she found herself wondering what had brought this change in Archie.

———————-

The next few weeks were bliss for Betty, there were no arguments, the apartment stayed tidy and Archie even cooked a few times, they would also spend their evenings together in the sitting room, bonding over their love of cheesy action movies. Betty was packing up her laptop when she heard the front door open, throwing her bag over her shoulder she made her way through the apartment where she spotted Archie holding a takeout bag. “Hey, I thought we could watch the next mission impossible, I’ve got Chinese.” He said holding the bag up as proof, Betty was immediately hit with the smell of mouthwatering Chinese food, her face fell. “I’m going out.” “Oh.” Archie’s face also fell, he almost looked disappointed. “I’ve got a study group with some guys from my English lit class. I shouldn’t be too long, save me some food?” Archie smiled at her and nodded, Betty gave him a quick smile before leaving. Whilst at the study group Betty found it hard to concentrate, she kept thinking about Chinese food and Archie, shaking her head she tried to pay attention. Zoning back in she realised none of the group were talking about the exam they had coming up, they were instead talking about a party that was happening not far from them. “We should go, we’re not getting any work done here. Everyone’s too exhausted, even Betty’s got her head in the clouds.” A girl with dark hair said. “Hey.” Betty frowned, it was true though. “Fuck it, why not.” Josh, one of the boys in her class piped up. Everyone around her started packing up. “You coming Betty?” He said looking at Betty. “No I think I’m just gonna head home, I’m hungry.” “No Betty,” the girl with dark hair moaned, Jenna or Jenny Betty’s wasn’t too sure of her name. “You have to come, don’t let me be the only girl.” Betty glanced around the table, she hadn’t noticed they were the only girls in the study group “Come, have one drink, please.” Betty pulled out her phone, it was coming up to nine thirty, she sighed as she relented. “Fine, one drink and then I’m going.” The party was booming when they arrived, people were milling about on the lawn of the house whilst one person threw up over the porch railing. Walking through the front door Betty was hit by the sound of thumping music, there were a lot of bodies dancing away, heading straight for the kitchen Josh handed them all a red cup from in front of a beer keg, taking a sip Betty grimaced, the beer was warm and flat. “Ew. If we’re only having one drink it is not being this beer.” Jenna or Jenny took the cup from Betty’s hand and placed it back on the table. “Let’s find something proper to drink.” Walking further into the kitchen they were greeted by a few people Betty didn’t recognise. “Jenny, Betty yes!” They both received thumbs up and high fives as they walked, Betty had no idea who they were but at least she knew Jenny’s name now. “Hey,” Jenny shouted back. “We’re after a decent drink, where’s all the good liquor.” A blonde guy jumped down from the where he was sat on the kitchen counter. “If you’re after a good drink I’ve got just the thing,” he reached in a cupboard behind him and pulled out a bottle of liquor, filling two cups a third of the way he passed one to Jenny before passing one to Betty’s, he smiled as he brushed his fingers with hers. “Top them up with soda and you’re good to go.” “Thanks man.” Jenny said before grabbing Betty’s hand and dragging her over to a drinks table, Betty sniffed at the liquid in her cup, it didn’t smell like anything she had drunk before. Topping both their cups up with cola Betty took a long drink. The liquid felt warm going down but tasted a lot better than the flat beer. “What is this?” Betty asked before taking another sip. “I’m not sure, tequila maybe.” Jenny replied. “Come on then, let’s mingle, if you’re still insistent on staying for just the one then I want to find girls I know before you leave.” “Yep still staying for just one, I’ve got leftover Chinese waiting for me.” “Lucky.” Jenny smiled before dragging Betty out of the kitchen.

————-

Betty stood outside, she couldn’t remember getting here, she turned around to look for Jenny but she was all alone.

“Jenny.” She tried to shout out but the words came out slurred, Betty heard laughter. “No Jenny here. Why don’t you come join us though, we’ll keep you company.” Betty tried to squint in the direction of the voices but her eyes wouldn’t focus, she could just make out a group of large black blobs. Betty turned back around, she could just make out the light of the house. “I want to go home.” “I’ll take you home sweetheart.” Betty hadn’t realised she’d spoken out loud, more laughter followed. Betty reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, squinting at the screen she tried to dial anyone, holding the phone to her ear she strained to listen. “Hello, I want to go home.” Betty thought she could hear someone taking but the noise seemed to be coming from everywhere, she was sure she heard someone ask about where she was. “I don’t know where I am. It’s a party, where’s Jenny?” Betty was rambling, she didn’t even know if she was talking to anyone. “Is this a frat house, I think it is. I want Chinese food and Archie.” Betty was hysterical, someone put an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, I’ll take care of you.” Betty couldn’t focus on his face “Will you take me home?” Betty just wanted to get home. “Sure I will, let’s go.” Betty was inside now, the music pulsed through her body, someone had hold of her hand, pulling her through the house, heading towards the stairs, Betty didn’t want to go upstairs, she wanted to go home. Pulling her hand back she stumbled back and hit the floor, she could hear more laughter. “Come on.” Hands were pulling at her again. “Is she okay?” She wasn’t okay but she couldn’t find her voice. “She’s about to puke, I’m taking her to the toilet before she blows chunks on the carpet.” Did she feel sick, Betty wasn’t sure. Her head was fuzzy, it was getting harder to see. Betty looked around the room, it didn’t look like a bathroom, she felt beneath her, it was soft, and bouncy, a bed. Betty let her body fall back, sleep sounded good. At the sound of a door closing Betty sat up, the room span and her stomach lurched, someone stood in front of her. “Who are you? I want to to go.” “Shh. Shh.” Hands on her shoulders guided her back, something didn’t feel right, she didn’t like this. “No, I want to go, leave me alone.”Betty tried to sit up but a pressure on her chest stopped her moving. “I can’t move, I want to go.” Betty’s head swam, somewhere far away she heard a bang, the pressure from her chest disappeared and she felt like she could breathe again, more bangs and grunts sounded from far away, Betty tried to roll over but the room was spinning too much, she started crying, she just wanted to go home. Betty was moving, her head was resting against something cold, opening her eyes she could see flashing lights moving fast. “Am I going home?” The words came out incredibly slurred. “Yes Betty, we’re going home.” “That’s good, Archie’s at home.” Betty’s eyes closed again.

————-

A persistent throb behind her eyes caused Betty to wake with a groan, she lay there as she tried to get her bearings, moving to sit up she breathed a sigh of relief to find she was in Archie’s bedroom. Panic set in as she realised she had no memory of arriving home, what had happened last night? She had been at the study group she remembered that and then they had stopped at a party, everything started to get fuzzy after that. Startled by a sound Betty glanced around and found Archie asleep in the desk chair, had he slept there all night? Betty watched as he lightly snored, he didn’t look in the slightest bit comfortable, moving the covers to the side she went to stand up but an intense wave of dizziness stopped her in her tracks.

“Whoa.” Betty placed her hands on her head. “Betty?” She heard Archie say, he sounded worried. “I feel dizzy.” Was all Betty could say. “Lie back down.” She heard the chair creak and felt Archie come to a stop next to her, Betty shook her head. “I don’t want to lie down.” Betty heard Archie walk away, removing her head from her hands she looked up as Archie walked back in with a glass of water, he handed it to her without saying a word, Betty took a small sip but it sat heavy on her stomach, shaking her head she held the glass out. “You need to drink Betty,” She shook her head, her stomach couldn’t take it. “Fine then.” Archie took the glass from her and slammed it down on the table, he dropped down on the chair with a huff. “Did you sleep on that chair?” Archie nodded without looking at her. “Why?” “Because I thought you were going to die Betty.” He snapped at her, Betty flinched. “What the fuck happened last night, you said you were going to a study session, how the fuck do you end up off your face at a frat party.” Betty cringed, she’d never seen Archie so angry. “I..I don’t know.” It wasn’t a lie, Betty couldn’t remember anything. “Do you realise the situation you put yourself in last night, if I hadn’t have found you when I did you could have been..” Archie trailed off. “There are guys out there just waiting to take advantage of wasted girls like you.” Betty looked down at her hands, she felt like a child being chastised. “How could you be so irresponsible Betty, and why would you lie to me.” “I didn’t lie,” Betty cut in. “I went to my study group, they were calling at a party on the way home, I said I’d have one, I...I don’t know what happened. I can’t remember anything.” Betty started crying, had someone really tried to take advantage of her, she couldn’t remember anything and that scared her. She felt the bed dip beside her and Archie engulfed her in a hug, Betty turned and buried her head in his chest. “What happened Archie?” She said into his chest. Betty felt Archie reach up and stroke her hair. After her cries subsided she pulled back and reached up to wipe her face. “How did you know where I was?” Betty questioned, she couldn’t remember Archie being there, was he at the party? “You rang me, do you not remember?” Betty shook her head. “You weren’t making a lot of sense, you were crying and you sounded out of it, I tried asking where you were but I don’t think you could hear me, you said something about a frat house before…” Archie trailed off, his jaw tensed and his hand clenched into a fist. “I heard a guy say they’d take care of you.” Archie added through gritted teeth, Betty’s breathing hitched. “I got in my car and just drove around campus hoping I’d find the right party.” Archie had come looking for her, he wasn’t at the party, he’d gone out to find her. “You were upstairs, in a bedroom, I could hear you shouting from outside the room.” Betty didn’t remember any of this, the whole night was just a dark void from leaving the library, Betty didn’t want to hear the rest, she felt sick to her stomach. “I got there just in time, five minutes later and…” he shook his head. “I’ll kill that bastard if I ever see him again.” Betty shifted away from Archie. “Betty?” Archie’s eyes questioned Betty’s but she couldn’t speak, her hand flew up to her mouth, she was going to be sick. Shifting to the end of the bed she moved to stand up, standing shakily her legs gave way beneath her, before she could hit the floor Archie threw his arm around her waist and straightened her up. “Are you going to be sick?” Betty furiously nodded her head as tears were filling her eyes, before she could comprehend what was happening Archie bent down and placed his other arm behind her knees and scooped her up bridal style. Quickly walking to the bathroom he dropped Betty in front of the toilet seconds before the contents of her stomach made an appearance, there wasn’t much to throw up so she spent a lot of time dry heaving. After flushing the toilet she tried shakily to stand up, Archie lifted her up gently using her underarms, had he been watching her throw up? She was too weak to be embarrassed about it. Archie held her as she brushed her teeth and carried her back to bed, after ensuring she was comfy he sat back in the chair. “So why did you sleep on the chair?” Betty found herself asking again. “Betty you were so out of it, you couldn’t walk, you were mumbling in the car, you couldn’t even hold your head up. I put you in bed and you kept making this gasping sound, I thought you were going to stop breathing. I kept asking if you’d taken something, but you couldn’t speak.” Betty shook her head, she would never take drugs. “I was so close to taking you to the emergency room. You scared me Betty. How did you let yourself get into that state.” Betty thought hard, she tried to pull anything from the night, she could remember feeling the music, tasting flat beer, but she’d drank something else, why when was only having one drink? “I only wanted one drink,” Betty said as the memory came back to her. “Jenny didn’t want to go alone so I promised one drink but that was it. We had a beer but it didn’t taste nice. Someone gave us something else to drink.” “You took a drink from a stranger?” Archie interrupted her, he sounded frustrated, Betty shook her head. “No, I watched him pour it, we were in the kitchen, I added my own soda. I don’t think I had another drink.” Betty tried to think harder to try and fill the blanks but she was just giving herself a headache, tears filled her eyes again. “I can’t remember anything.” Betty buried her head in the pillow, she felt the bed dip again. “I’m sorry Archie, I’m sorry you had to sleep in the chair.” She heard Archie laugh beside her. “What a silly thing to apologise for.” She couldn’t help it, she felt guilty about the whole night. Betty lay there silently for a while before she heard Archie’s even breathing, turning over she found Archie had fallen asleep beside her, he must have been exhausted, he can’t have caught much sleep in the tiny desk chair. As Betty watched him sleep her own eyes became heavy with tiredness, closing her eyes she breathed deeply as she drifted off.

——————-

Waking up Betty found the room was plunged in darkness, glancing over she found the bed empty, sitting up she was glad to notice there was no more dizziness. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she carefully stood up, she still felt incredibly weak but felt it was nothing a coffee and a big breakfast couldn’t solve. Walking into the bathroom Betty closed the door behind her, her bladder felt uncomfortably full, after relieving herself she stood up and turned to flush the toilet, a strong wave of vertigo hit her and she stumbled slightly, trying to steady herself she grabbed hold of the nearest thing, knocking bottles into the sink with a clatter she gripped on to the edge of the sink she closed her eyes as she waited for the dizziness to pass. “Betty.” Archie shouted through the door, she heard as he tried the handle but Betty had locked the door behind her. “Betty, are you okay.” He shouted as he banged on the door. “I’m fine.” Betty shouted, she meant for it to sound like she was fine but her voice came out all croaky. “I’m okay.” She said after clearing her throat. Glancing in the mirror she cringed at her reflection, her face looked pale and washed out and her hair was matted like it hadn’t been brushed in weeks. After quickly washing her face she tried her best to tame her hair with a brush, sighing that it was as good as it was going to get without a shower she went in search of food. Opening the door she found Archie stood just the other side. “Betty are you alright? What happened in there?” He looked her up and down before glancing into the bathroom behind her. “I’m okay, I knocked some things into the sink. I’m okay really.” Archie stared at her like he was studying her, satisfied with her answer Archie moved to the side to allow Betty to pass. Walking down the hallway Betty was hit with another wave of dizziness, it was so intense she slammed right into the wall. “Shit.” Betty cursed reaching up to rub her shoulder, she felt incredibly weak her legs were like jello. “Betty?” She heard Archie call her name but it sounded like he was underwater, she shook her head to try and clear it. “I think I need to eat something.” Was all she could say. “Come on, I’ll make you something, go sit down.” Archie grabbed her hand and led her into the lounge, her legs struggled to work, she felt like she was treading water, dropping down on the sofa Betty leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Betty.” Her eyes flew open and she found Archie’s face inches from hers. “I’ve been calling you, didn’t you hear me?” Betty shook her head slightly. “I must have dozed off.” Archie looked at her worriedly before leaning back, he gestured towards the table. “Eat something, it’s probably best to start light so I’ve just made you some toast.” Betty smiled at him before reaching out and grabbing a slice of toast. Taking a bite she had to stifle a moan, it was only toast but it was warm and buttery just the way she liked it, after her first bite her stomach rumbled embarrassingly loud, screaming out for more. “What time is it?” Betty asked, it looked as though the sun was just rising, the room was cast in a slight orange glow. “Just after ten.” Betty glanced outside, it seemed a little late for a sunrise. “In the morning?” She questioned. “No Betty, it’s nighttime, you’ve slept all day.” Betty blanched, she’d been asleep all day, she didn’t even feel that well rested. “What time… erm, what time did you come get me, last night.” Betty was curious as to what time she got back and just how much time she had lost. “Let’s see, you called me at,” Archie picked his phone up from the table and began to scroll through it. “You rang at ten past ten, I drove around for about ten minutes before…” “Wait, that can’t be right.” Betty cut him off. “Are you sure it was ten past ten?” She questioned, Archie nodded. “Positive, it’s right here.” He turned the phone round to show Betty, she didn’t even attempt to read the screen, her eyes struggled to focus. “That doesn’t make sense, we left the library at half nine.” Archie frowned at her. “Are you sure.” “Yes, I remember checking the time before we left the library, if it had been late I was just going to come home. How could I have gotten that wasted in half an hour.” It just didn’t make sense. “You didn’t.” Archie face contorted with anger. “You were spiked.” Archie’s hand slammed down on the coffee table causing Betty to jump. “I’m going to kill that bastard.” He stood up and held his hand out to Betty. “Come on.” Betty looked at him with confusion. “Where are we going?” “To the hospital, you need to get checked out.” “What! No, I’m not going to the hospital, I’m fine.” “Betty you’re not fine, you’re walking into walls for fuck’s sake. You could have been spiked with anything.” “Archie I’m fine, I just needed to eat, I feel much better now.” She wasn’t really lying, she did feel a bit better after eating. Archie stood staring at her for what felt like an eternity before his shoulders sagged. “Fine, but promise me if you start to feel worse you’ll tell me.” “I promise.” “And if you walk into another wall I’m dragging you kicking and screaming to the hospital.” “That’s fair enough.” Betty smiled at him softly hoping he’d relax a bit more, he finally sat back down beside Betty but she could feel him watching her from the corner of her eyes. Betty suggested they watch the film they were going to watch last night and Archie made Betty more toast. More than halfway through the film Betty felt her eyelids drooping, she felt exhausted which was strange given that she’d slept all day. Wanting to go to bed but not trusting her feet Betty let her drop onto Archie’s shoulder, she’d happily take the sofa tonight after all she’d taken Archie’s night in the bed and he’d slept on a desk chair. Betty startled as she felt the sofa disappear from beneath her, opening her eyes slightly she was greeted with the sight of Archie’s chest, he was carrying her to bed. Closing her eyes she let Archie place her on the bed and cover her with a blanket, she was quite happy to just drift off to sleep once again until she heard the creak of the desk chair. Opening her eyes she spotted Archie leaning back in the desk chair trying to get comfy. “Archie you don’t need to watch me, I told you I’m fine.” He jumped slightly at her voice. “It’s fine Betty, just sleep, I don’t mind.” “Archie you can’t spend another night on the chair, it cannot be comfy.” “I’m not leaving you on your own Betty, I just… last night was terrifying. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Betty’s heart ached, she could hear the fear in his voice, she felt guilty despite it not really being her fault. “Well if you’re not going to leave at least get in the bed.” Archie looked at her confused. “And where will you sleep.” “Here, I’m sure there’s enough room for both of us.” Archie looked like he was overthinking it. “Come on Archie, I’d feel terrible if I made you sleep on that chair again.” Sighing Archie stood up and walked around the bed, Betty shuffled all the way over to one side as Archie climbed in, lying there Betty could feel how tense Archie was, he was lay as stiff as a board. “Relax Archie, it’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before.” Archie released a breath before letting out a laugh, Betty felt him visibly relax. After getting comfy Betty closed her eyes and felt herself start to drift off. Teetering on the edge of unconsciousness Betty felt lips on her forehead as a brief kiss was placed upon her. “Goodnight Betty.” Archie said. So close to sleep Betty wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it or not, she didn’t have time to contemplate it before sleep took her quickly.

———————-

Things changed after that night, Betty and Archie seemed to get along much better, Archie would constantly go out of his way to make sure Betty was okay, he’d pick her up from the library and meet up with her in between classes. They’d have lunch dates where they’d reminisce about their childhood and some of the trouble they used to get in. Archie opened up about his dreams of becoming a musician and Betty learnt just how important it was to him, that’s why she was currently sneaking into the college music hall to watch his entry for his musical exam. Betty still had never heard Archie play his guitar, she looked around the music hall as she tried to catch a glimpse of him. Taking a seat right at the back of the hall she waited patiently for his turn, there were some very talented musicians in his class, some sang while others played musical instruments, Betty was anxious to hear what Archie could do. Finally strolling onto the stage Betty felt her heart start to race as she watched Archie take a seat on a stool in the middle of the stage. Betty had recently been struggling with her feelings for Archie, she found herself gazing lovingly at him whenever he did the smallest thing for her, she was sure she was falling for him, she was jolted from her thoughts as Archie cleared his throat. “I’ll be submitting an original piece, titled I’ll Try.” The assessors nodded at him and he began to strum the guitar, Betty listened intently, it felt like the whole world fell away and all that was left were Betty and Archie, suspended in time, Archie sang the words with such meaning and Betty found herself leaning forwards trying to capture every moment. And then it was over, Archie stood wordlessly and left the stage, Betty shook her head as she tried to compose herself, she hadn’t been sure what she was expecting but it hadn’t been that. Betty had originally meant to sneak home and never let Archie know that she’d seen him perform, she always assumed there was a reason he never played in front of her, but she found herself waiting near his car for him to arrive, she felt compelled to see him. Betty watched as Archie walked towards his car, he had his guitar case in one hand and his phone in the other, Betty’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she smiled as she realised he was probably texting her to say he was on his way home. “Archie.” His head shot up at the sound of her voice and his confusion gave way to a smile when he saw her. “Betty, what are you.. why are you here.” Archie opened his car door and slid the case onto the back seat. “Now don’t get mad but, I snuck in to watch you play.” Betty rushed out. “Archie that was amazing, I…” Betty couldn’t put into words what she’d just witnessed so instead she rushed forwards and threw her arms around Archie in a hug, after a few seconds Archie hugged her back. “Thanks Betty, but it wasn’t that good.” Betty pulled back to look at him whilst keeping a hold of his forearms. “Are you kidding me, Archie that was incredible, I.. well I loved it.” Archie smiled down at her. “You really thought it was good.” Betty nodded furiously, she was so proud of Archie. Looking up at Archie she smiled softly, her heart was racing so fast she could feel it pounding in her ears, her eyes darted down to Archie’s lips and back up to his eyes, without thinking Betty leaned forwards and captured Archie’s lips with her own, she let her lips linger slightly before pulling back, her eyes flew open in shock, she just kissed Archie. “Archie I’m…” Before she could apologise Archie grabbed her face and smashed his lips to hers, the kiss was furiously passionate, Betty felt her self being consumed by the kiss, reaching up she threaded her fingers into his hair and gently tugged at it, Archie gently walked them backwards and Betty’s back collided with his car, Archie’s hips pushed into her and she felt herself pushing back just trying to get closer to him, Betty’s head was swimming and her lungs were screaming out for oxygen but she was reluctant to break the kiss, afraid that this would all be over the moment they stopped. Archie was the first to pull away, he rested his forehead on hers as he tried to catch his breath, Betty’s eyes remained closed as she struggled to calm her breathing, she didn’t want to open her eyes, she was more than content to stay in this moment forever. A throat cleared behind them and Betty’s eyes flew open, Archie jumped away and turned around, sneaking a peek over his shoulder Betty could see one of Archie’s music assessors stood in front of them. “Evening Archie, I just wanted to say well done in there, you should be very proud.” Betty felt a smile come to her face, she couldn’t agree more. “Thank you professor, that means a lot.” “You’re welcome Archie, well I’m sorry for interrupting.” Betty could feel herself blushing as he glanced over at her. “Oh I’m sorry professor,” Archie stood to the side and wrapped his arm around Betty’s waist forcing her forwards a few steps. “This is my wife, Betty.” Betty’s head snapped up to Archie, he was staring at the professor with a huge smile on his face, Betty felt herself smile, she reached out to shake the professors extended hand. “Oh, wife, well its lovely to meet you Betty.” He leant in slightly “Now I know where he gets all his inspiration from.” If Betty’s cheeks weren’t red before they were flaming now. “Well I should be off, I look forward to seeing you in my class next year Archie.” Archie’s hand tensed on Betty’s waist almost making her jump. “Wait, are you saying… did I pass?” Betty could hear the excitement in his voice. “Archie, you know I can’t reveal anything until the results are posted.” He said with a sly smile before turning to walk away. “But you said… but he said see next year. Did he say see you next year?” He turned to face Betty, his face was beaming with excitement. “Yeah, I think he did.” Betty smiled at him, Archie picked her up and spun her round excitedly, Betty could do nothing but laugh, when he placed her back on her feet Betty smiled up at him. “See, what did I say? Amazing.” “Thank you Betty.” Archie stared down at Betty with admiration in his eyes. “Why are you thanking me, that was all you.” “No, my professor was right, you were my inspiration Betty, you inspired that song.” Before Betty could question what he meant he kissed her, the kiss wasn’t as passionate as the other one but it’s still managed to take her breath away. “Archie I…” “Betty do you know what tomorrow is?” Betty tried to think, she had so many exams coming up she wasn’t sure what day it was. She shook her head. “It’s six months since we got married, tomorrow’s the last day we are legally obligated to stay together.” Betty was shocked, had it really gone that quickly. “Only I don’t want it to end, Betty I can’t imagine waking up and not finding you dancing away in the kitchen as you wait for your coffee, I don’t want to give up our late night cheesy action movies. I love having you around, I love coming home to find you sprawled out on the sofa, your face buried in a mountain of books, I love our lunch dates when we talk absolute nonsense for hours on end and I, well Betty, I love you. And I want you to marry me, well stay married to me, not because you have to but because you want to.” Betty looked up at him stunned, this was a lot to take in, she had no idea Archie felt this way and if she was being honest with herself, she felt exactly the same, she loved living with Archie, she loved spending time with him, she loved him. Betty felt all of her emotions come bubbling to the surface, they seemed to get stuck in her throat and her eyes welled with tears. “I want that too.” She finally managed to say, it came out all croaky and she must have sounded so pathetic. “You do?” Archie asked, he sounded unsure. “Yes. I love you Archie.” A huge smile erupted over his face and he leant down and captured her lips with his, Betty poured every ounce of emotion she had into the kiss, hoping to show Archie exactly how she felt. Pulling back she gazed up at Archie, who knew that a drunken night in Vegas would end here.

#barchie #barchie fanfiction #barchie prompt #barchie fic #barchie-is-endgame #riverale #prompt #betty x archie #archie x betty #betty cooper #archie andrews #riverdale fanfiction

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