serpent ♔ juliet

There was no denying that he was right; when it came to letting anyone help her when she needed it most or letting them see the worst parts of her, she'd always fallen short. Betty felt the need to be the resilient protector for everyone but herself, and she was a fool to think that the self-proclaimed observer couldn't see right through her guise.

She didn't know she needed his reassurances until he spoke them, addressing insecurities she'd always held deep within. Part of what made his more permanent move to the South Side so scary wasn't just his safety, though that would still be paramount to anything else in her eyes. But there was a fear of losing him in other ways that Betty hadn't even admitted to herself, allowed to dwell in the possibilities though they often snuck up on her unsolicited.

Their roles were reversed; she reserved to be forthcoming with her feelings, and he the one promising that everything was going to be alright despite all that was against them. "It's so hard..." She finally confessed, her voice uncharacteristically soft and unsure of herself. "Maybe I'm just scared, talking about things.. it makes me feel open, vulnerable when I feel like I can't afford to be." Her shoulders shrugged along with her words. "There's a murderer on the loose, I can't be scared of that or else he's already won. If I'm scared about one thing... it spirals into everything."