♡ reggie .

_{“ you’re not stupid, betty. ”  reggie’s voice was fiercer than it had been a moment ago, thick with emotion — usually, any displays of vulnerability made him uneasy, skin crawling with discomfort, but all this was doing was hurting. it was breaking his heart, watching betty break down over archie andrews for what must’ve been the hundredth time. made him want to march downstairs and sock the redhead right in the mouth, throw him and veronica both out of betty’s house until they learned how to respect their friends’ feelings.}

_{“ you are not stupid, and fuck him for making you feel that way — you’re gonna get over him, because he doesn’t deserve you, and he never has. you just gotta give it time. ”  he forced himself to take a deep breath, cupping her cheek with the hand he’d used to wipe away her tears. physical comfort he could do, the tactile guy that he was. straight, white teeth sunk into his bottom lip, and reggie’s exhale shook as he made up his mind. “ …I know that from experience, okay? I… I had—have it… bad, for midge. but it’s not the same feeling as before. heartbreak kinda makes you realise when it’s time to give up on someone, y’know? ”}

_{reggie was startled to find wetness clinging to his lashes, and he scrubbed at his eyes with his sleeve, sniffing hard. “ ah, jesus. look what you did, got me cryin’ all over you, cooper. ”  peculiarly, shame was absent where reggie had been sure it would be — there was something about betty cooper that set him at ease, and that was enough to disquiet him all on its own. “ …should try and get some sleep, betts. I’ll still be here when you wake up. ”}

              _{Betty would have been surprised to find the emotions taking a} toll _{on Reggie, but in her current state, all she saw when she peered up at him was the face of someone who’d taken her somewhere safe when she was hurting. Though she couldn’t} FEEL _{it now, not straightaway, the sober part of her would remember that ––– remember it and hold on to it tight.} 

“ _{Thank you for saying that,} ” _{she said, softly, as though she couldn’t quite} BELIEVE _{it yet. But that too, would take time. In the unprejudiced dark of night, she could} admit _{to herself that all her attempts in the past had never really been attempts at anything more than a passing anger towards Archie. But this? Real heartbreak? It’d be hard to} FORGET_. “ _{Yeah… I… It’s just - I keep thinking something will change and he’ll see I’m right here but,} ” _{the heel of her hand dismissively dried her damp cheeks,} “ _{I’m tired of being} RIGHT HERE. ” 

_{Archie wasn’t going to change. So maybe Betty had to.} 

_{And again, in the} detached _{darkness, she felt the enormity of that roll over her like a tide, and it was exhausting, and terrifying all at once. Her last thought before she drifted off in Reggie’s arms, was that she didn’t want to do it} ALONE_{. She might have murmured it, whispered the words into his chest.} 

_{And in the morning, when the first shafts of light began to break through the tiny slit in her curtains, when her lids began to lift tiredly, her throat parched and painfully dry, she was still in Reggie’s arms.} Huh_.