Shame on me for the clothes on the floor Empty bottles that I left everywhere Last night's jacket couldn't keep me that warm It's lying there as lonely as I am And when my head gets heavy I turn off the lights I swear that these walls get me I'ma be fine

In this messy room I don't have to think of you There's too much for me to do I don't have to face the truth here In this messy room There's nothing for you to see In my chaos I find peace Only safe place I can be-e In this messy room

Because of how dry her mouth was and the aftermath of waking up in a cold sweat, she asked for a glass of water, which served several purposes. First, it gave her a moment alone in which she could try to collect herself and her thoughts so that she wouldn't start crying again in front of his watchful eyes. Second, it gave her a moment alone so that she could get a glass of water, which gave her a moment alone. Betty rolled into herself a bit more tightly, her shoulders tensing as she crouched over her lap and freed her hands from around the edge of the mattress so that she could wrap them over the sides of her knees. She felt the familiar tingling sensation as the blood rushed back to the tips of her fingers, which had gone white from the amount of pressure she'd exerted gripping the bed for bearing rather than allowing herself to dig familiar fingernails in the beds of the palms of her hands. She had gripped the bed for maintaining rather than allowing herself to dig her familiar fingernails into the beds of the palms of her hands.

It was progress, even if it was just the tiniest step forward on a trip that was building up to more leaps and bounds backward before she felt like she was actually getting any better. But it was progress nonetheless. Patience was essential, both toward herself and toward each other, but Betty wasn't giving herself enough time to cope with her trauma in an acceptable manner. Patience was also essential. Even though it had not been that long since she had been placed with the Sisters, she was already annoyed with them. As is the case with most things, she established expectations for herself that were far too high, making them hard to achieve. She should have been resilient enough to not allow these standards to impact her to such a profound degree. Even in her sleep, she was plagued by terrifying visions that gave the Sisters of Quiet Mercy some measure of control over her. She was embarrassed by the fact that they had triumphed in some way, that they had really succeeded in breaking her as a result of their actions.

She was unable to control the way it made her leap, which was in accordance with the promise he had made in a gentle voice. Even when she was expecting it to be him, and even when she was in the darkness and comfort of his bedroom in the trailer, her answers weren't her own. Even when she was having a nightmare about him. She took a long breath to steady herself before glancing down at the floor, unwilling to look up at him until they had another opportunity to communicate with one another. Bright eyes shot up to his, instantly filled with remorse for how fast she'd snapped at him, misinterpreting what he'd said earlier, and allowing her misguided emotions to get the better of her. Bright eyes darted up to his, filled with guilt for how quickly she snapped at him. "I know..." She confirmed it feebly, her own voice being wobbly at best as she gratefully accepted the drink with a contrived ghost of a half grin of appreciation on her face.

"I just want that everything would simply vanish. I've had enough of trying, and I've had enough of battling. " She finally admitted it while holding onto the glass with both hands in an effort to keep it stable as she took a timid drink from it. Her hands were still shaking. Betty gave a little shake of her head as she leaned down to place the glass on her knee. "Am I? Tough? I had previously assumed I was certain, but now I'm unsure. The entire time I was locked up, I tried to convince myself that I was more powerful than all of their strategies. I told myself that I was just biding my time until I could get out of there, knowing that you, Archie, and Veronica were all fighting just as hard from the other side. Perhaps I needed to convince myself of this in order to get through each day. However, as of right now, I'm not so sure." She accepted it, shrugging her shoulders and revealing muscles that were already fatigued and achy from keeping all of the strain she was experiencing inside her body.

"Perhaps they've had this in mind from the beginning. My mother, along with the sisters. It wasn't about physically being there; rather, it was about how they still managed to get into my brain even though I wasn't strong enough to combat any of it like I believed I was." She drifted off, going someplace by herself in her own thoughts, as her attention dropped to the lip of the water as she leisurely brushed her fingers over the edges of the glass. Her voice died off as she did this.