I'm Darkness || Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones [2]

The Debate

"Why didn't you tell me you were gonna bail?" Ellie questions her sister as soon as they meet on their way to school. "I could've used a warning."

"I'm sorry, I mean you disappeared, no one knew where you were." Betty tells her, a soft concern noticeable in her voice. "I think Jughead may have filled your voice-mail."

"I needed time to think things through." She sighs, sharing a glance with her sister after. "And to ignore Veronica's calls too."

"About that," Betty stops walking, which forces the other blonde to mimic her. Ellie can only wonder what is going to rip her heart to shreds this time. "when I went to take your place as Veronica's running mate the other day, Ethel spread this poster with confidential information about Veronica. Turns out, Ellie, she knew about the Southside closing down, about everything." She doesn't stop to let her sister process the information, instead she continues with a accusative tone. "She lied to us! To our faces, you trusted her and she stabbed you in the back."

Eleanor takes a deep breath, how many more times are people gonna enjoy making her bleed. How could Veronica look her in the eye – call her guardian angel – and then cut off her wings. But somehow, doesn't hurt as much as what Archie did. It could never. "Well, they are her parents. At least she has a good excuse."

"Excuse? She could've said no and walked away."

"We both know it's not that easy, B." Ellie reminds her sister, and she titles her head slightly to the side before continuing. "To walk away from our family's messes. You just can't,"

Betty can't argue with that, but as they go back to walking she speaks up. "Tell me you're not considering continuing to be her running mate though?"

"No, of course not." She shakes her head at her sister's words. "Jughead was right after all, about it looking bad – or too good for them – a Serpent running with a Lodge. So, even if Veronica hadn't lied, I was stepping down, after what happened... It's better this way."

"You may be surprised about what I'm saying next, and I'm sure Jughead would rather be the one telling you, but" Betty begins, and when Ellie faces her completely, she continues. "he's running for student body president, and I'm his running mate."

"Jughead for student body president? How long was I gone?"

Long enough for everything to implode around her, everything is getting messier by the second, and how is she supposed to deal with all that. Well, one good thing can – still – come out of all of this if Jughead does win, they don't lose Riverdale High like they lost Southside High.

Before the debate starts, Ellie manages to finally find Veronica on the backstage. She might be hurt, but she needs to let the black-haired girl know she can't count her in anymore.

"Ellie!" She rushes to her with a worried expression. "I've been calling you, I was worried." Veronica quickly notices the expression on her friend's face, and adds with a much sadder tone. "And Betty probably told you about the poster."

"Yeah she did, and I guess we both know we can't do this together anymore, V." Ellie tells her, and it hurts her that this has to be this way. "I'm a Serpent, we can't keep ignoring that. We tried to separate things, but we're in too deep."

"I'm not my Dad."

"I know you not, but he's your Dad and you stand by him, and I understand, I really do." Ellie places one hand on the black-haired girl's shoulder. "But we're hurting each other, so we can't pretend that everything is ok."

"I knew you would say that, E. So I hope you don't mind that I invited Archie to be my running mate." Veronica blurts out as her eyes drift away from her friend, and t the red-haired boy walking their way. "Speaking of which..."