serpent ♔ juliet

She's still slumped on the ground, hooked up to her own emergency IV, in a dress he thinks she'd look stunning in under different circumstances, like one she might have worn to prom if they hadn't hijacked the theme. He thinks she'd look stunning in a dress like the one she might have worn to prom if they hadn't hijacked the theme. Even when drenched in mud and caked in muck, she is inexhaustibly gorgeous. Betty is left looking at her own shaking hands as if she isn't actually seeing them as the harsh reality falls over her like dust over the wreckage. They've been slathered with blood that isn't her own. Realizing this is both a comfort and a nightmare.

"Jug, I don't—I don't have a home. Everything has vanished, even my family. I'm not sure what I'm meant to do." On the final lines, her voice breaks, turning into a high-pitched squeak that ebbs into tears.

Betty's entire world has come crashing down around her.

The sobs wrack her entire body, and she huddles into his arms, the trembling growing so intense that even Jughead can feel his teeth snapping. He cradles her in his arms because it's all he can think of, one hand tenderly going up and down her spine and the other threading through one of hers. He murmurs, "You're okay," into the crown of her head. "Don't worry; we've got you."

One of the EMTs eventually wraps a warm blanket around both of them—for shock, the girl says over Betty's trembling form—and Veronica walks over to grip Betty's other hand. He and Veronica share an odd connection, bound purely by their shared love for the girl between them, the one who has gone through hell and back for the sake of her own loved ones. Both of them have been through hell and back.

Betty Cooper fights for them, and tonight has just strengthened their belief that Betty Cooper is worth dying for.

Some of the turmoil eventually settles down. The ambulances and sheriff's cars go, the onlookers fade away, and it's just the two of them in a tangle of mud, blood, and silk. Betty still trembles a little, but she's so near to falling asleep that her body is settling into a strange peace. FP lowers his chin to Jughead from above. "Are you ready to take her home?"