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To say Archie Andrews was not looking forward to graduation would be an understatement.
It had been a hard week for the redheaded boy, prom night providing an explosion in his relationship.
Everything was going well, he’d been dancing with Veronica after Cheryl and Toni had won prom queens, when Jughead had stormed up to him, Betty behind him looking forlorn with tears staining her cheeks. It appeared the mysterious voyeur had struck again because Jughead had thrusted a video tape into his chest, anger pouring from him.
“You and Betty kissed?!” he roars and Veronica detaches herself from Archie as she looks at him in shock.
“I’m sorry, what?! What are you talking about, Jughead?” Veronica asks furiously.
“Archie and Betty kissed the night of the Variety Show, it’s right here!” Jughead replies, waving the tape in the air.
“Archie, is this true?” Veronica questions, staring at him intensely.
Archie just clenches his jaw and nods, as the crowd around him all look around in surprise at the chaos that was created by a single video tape.
He doesn’t even have the chance to say anything before Veronica’s slapping him in the face, choking on a sob and running out of the gymnasium. Jughead follows soon after, leaving Betty and Archie standing guiltily, the thought that both of their relationships had just imploded fresh in their minds.
Veronica sends him a text later that night when he's back in his bed, a simple “we’re done.” and Archie’s heart aches but he knows her reaction is warranted.
Truthfully, part of him feels relieved that he’s no longer living a lie, the guilt of him and Betty’s kiss was slowly eating away at him.
He knows it’s wrong, that he should have been devoted to Veronica, and he did love her, no one could doubt him on that, but his feelings for Betty had reared their head and hit him like a freight train.
Betty also texts him that night, telling him that after an hour long argument her and Jughead had decided to end their relationship too, and Archie can’t help but wonder who this voyeur was and why he or she was hellbent on destroying their lives. He hadn’t even known there was a camera in his garage, and the thought makes him feel uneasy as he tosses and turns, trying to get to sleep after an eventful night full of heartbreak.
These thoughts are pushed to the back of his mind as his name is called, and Archie walks up to the stage, taking his diploma and holding it in the air as the students of senior year all clap and applaud. He doesn’t look at Betty, or Veronica, or even Jughead, as he makes his way off the stage and back to his seat between Sweet Pea and Fangs.
He hadn’t spoken to any member of the core four since prom, had found that Jughead had blocked his number, and Veronica had deleted him off of her social media. Betty is too scared to even look at him, her head turning away every time he tries to make eye contact between the sea of students in their caps and gowns, and Archie wonders how it all went so wrong so quickly.
He’s just finished posing for photos with his mom when Cheryl walks up to him, hand in hand with Toni, a cheery smile on their faces.
“Archie! Now that graduation is finally over, I’m here to formally invite you to an after party at Thistlehouse!” Cheryl says with a beam as Toni nods behind her.
Honestly, Archie would rather go home and wallow than go to a party, but at the look on the two girl’s faces, he caves.
“Sure, I’ll be there,” he says with a smile.
“Brilliant! Now, come along, TT, we have the rest of our peers to invite,” Cheryl says, giving Archie a wave as they leave, still hand in hand.
Archie knows that in another life he would be here holding Veronica’s hand, and taking sweet pictures together, but this wasn’t the case now, instead, he’s hit with icy glares every time he glances at her.
He goes home with his mom, and gets changed into some dark ripped jeans and a shirt, his usual party attire, and then heads off in his truck to Thistlehouse, trying to ignore his anxiety at the thought of Veronica being there, and hell, even Betty and Jughead. He’s surprised his beanie wearing ex best friend hadn’t punched him in the face already for what he’d done, and he wouldn’t put it past Jughead once he gets a few beers in him, so he makes it his mission to avoid him for as long as possible. There’s one person he doesn’t want to avoid, one person who still makes his heart race when he thinks of her, but she’s nowhere to be found as he pulls into the drive of Cheryl and Toni’s large home.
The party is in full swing when he arrives, students appearing to spill out of every crevice of the building, and he makes his way inside to find Reggie and Sweet Pea lining up shots at the kitchen counter.
“Andrews, get over here!” Reggie bellows, and Archie has no choice but to move between the two boys as they hand him a shot of vodka.
He quickly downs it, the liquid burning his throat, before he hears heels hitting the tiled floor behind him.
“Archie, so glad you made it! Fair warning, there is a lot of alcohol here tonight, so please make use of the bathrooms if you feel the need to throw up,” Cheryl says with a laugh.
“Got it, Cheryl, I’ll try not to vomit,” Archie replies with a chuckle as Cheryl nods and heads out of the room, no doubt to find her girlfriend. It was sickeningly sweet how they were always attached to each other.
He doesn’t have time to dwell on this, however, because soon enough Veronica Lodge enters the room, her stare deadly as she sees Archie, but she sighs and grabs a beer from the counter, bringing it to her lips, lips that Archie would never get to kiss again.
He downs another shot, because Reggie had noticed Veronica entering the room and given him another one, and he’s grateful that the boy is there and somewhat knows what he’s going through, having dated the girl himself.
Every thought is erased from his mind as he leaves Reggie and walks into the garden, spotting Betty in a yellow dress across the grass. He doesn’t think of how Jughead might punch him in the face, or how Veronica had slapped him, or even how Reggie was surely going to be the drunkest one here tonight. All he can think of is Betty Cooper, and how beautiful she looks, her skin glowing in the moonlight.
She spots him from a distance, and smiles shyly, tucking a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear. Archie always thought she looked stunning with her hair down.
The breath almost leaves him as he sees Betty take her dress off, leaving her in a bikini, and dives into the large pool in the garden. He gulps, and can’t help but stare as the water droplets drip down her skin as she resurfaces and pushes the hair out of her eyes.
There’s a lot of people in the pool, so it isn’t suspicious for him to be looking, and he almost wants to strip down to his boxers and jump in to join her, but he refrains, not wanting to do anything in case Jughead or Veronica could see.
Cheryl and Toni are in the pool too, though just when they got there he doesn’t know, and they seem to be in their own little world because they’re making out without caring who sees, and Archie thinks back to the time he had gone to Veronica’s cabin, how they had made out in the hot tub because Archie had felt somewhat insecure about her kiss with Jughead. It feels like a lifetime ago now, and back then he couldn’t have imagined he’d be graduating high school single, and pining for his best friend.
He’s caught off guard by someone knocking into him, and he turns in surprise as Jughead Jones stumbles forward. Archie goes to grab him to stop him from falling but Jughead shrugs his hand away with a noise of contempt.
“Don’t touch me, Andrews,” he says, his voice slightly slurred.
Archie raises his hands in defeat and mumbles an apology, and then suddenly Betty is there, wrapped in a towel after getting out of the pool.
“Leave him alone, Jug, he was only trying to look out for you,” she murmurs.
Jughead scoffs.
“Right, was he trying to look out for me when he kissed you in his garage? Was that another one of Archie Andrews’ famous heroics?”
Archie runs his hand through his hair at his words as Betty sighs beside him, and Jughead laughs humorlessly with a shake of his head and stalks away to sit on one of the chairs that had been put out, a beer bottle in his hand.
“I’m sorry about that, Arch,” Betty says softly, and Archie’s breath hitches as she puts a hand on his arm.
“It’s okay, Betty, I’ve been through worse than a few insults from Jughead Jones,” Archie replies. “Are you okay, though?”
Betty nods.
“I will be.”
They part ways after that, Betty going inside the house and Archie staying in the garden.
The night drags on, and even though there’s copious amounts of pizza and alcohol to be consumed and dancing to be done, Archie feels low, and frankly quite bored. He wasn’t in the mood to celebrate, not when his life was falling apart around him.
He goes to leave, walking past Cheryl sitting on Toni’s lap in the living room, past Reggie passed out in the hallway, and past Kevin and Fangs dancing.
Thankfully, Veronica and Jughead are nowhere to be found.
It’s only when he turns one last time and sees Betty walking up the stairs that he stops.
He pauses for a good few minutes, debating whether he should follow her, ultimately deciding that it wouldn’t do any harm, and he should really check if she was okay.
He walks up the stairs and the music fades the closer to the top he gets. He checks a few rooms, accidentally walking into what must be Cheryl and Toni’s bedroom considering the copious amount of pictures on the wall of the two of them, before he finally reaches a door at the end of the hall.
He walks in with bated breath to find Betty laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She’s back in her dress and her hair is wrapped in a towel, and Archie doesn’t think she’s ever looked more gorgeous.
“Betty? Are you okay?” he asks quietly, shutting the door behind him.
Betty looks up in surprise, but visibly relaxes when she sees who it is.
“I’m okay, Arch, I just needed a break from everything. It’s kind of overwhelming, you know? Cheryl said I could use this bedroom for as long as I needed.”
“That was nice of her,” Archie says, as he tentatively walks forward and lays down next to Betty, not daring to look at her, choosing to stare at the ceiling just like she was.
His heart pounds painfully against his chest as he feels Betty slowly interlace their fingers together, and he doesn’t move, stays frozen in place as their skin touches.
It feels right. After everything, he’s sure that there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than by Betty Cooper’s side, their hands intertwined and their shoulders brushing. It’s reminiscent of their time in the bunker, when Betty had told him it was over and his heart had shattered, but this time it was different. There was nothing keeping them apart anymore.
A few moments of silence pass, and then Betty is releasing her hand from Archie’s and turning on her side facing away from him. He takes that as his cue to leave, and he’s sad about it but he won’t stay where he’s not wanted, but Betty surprises him by reaching behind her and wrapping his arm around her waist.
Betty stays in his arms for what feels like forever but could’ve only been five minutes, before she’s taking a deep breath and says something that changes Archie’s whole world.
“I wish we were drunk,” she says, still facing the wall.
“Why?” Archie asks in confusion.
Betty turns over in his arms, hesitation on her face before she replies.
“So I could do this without it causing problems.”
Archie’s about to ask her what the hell she was talking about, but he’s cut off by the feeling of her lips on his, her hand cupping his cheek. He pulls her closer and kisses her back, his heart racing, and everything seems to just fall into place.
There’s no guys trying to screw over his gym, no relatives with sketchy pasts, no evil principals, in that moment it’s just Betty and Archie, together, their lips moving in sync with one another.
They pull away breathlessly, and stare deep into each other’s eyes, not saying anything yet, just savouring the moment as the realisation of what they’ve just done hits them.
“I think I love you, Archie Andrews,” Betty whispers against Archie’s lips.
He kisses her once more, craving the feeling of her lips against his before he replies.
“I think I love you too, Betty Cooper.”
And with those simple words, the whole world changes. Because Betty and Archie have been in love since they were eight years old, and it took some time, and fate had pulled them apart and made them stray from each other, but finally, after everything, Betty Cooper finds herself in Archie Andrews’ arms once more.