Speak To Me

Something's Up

"Don't."

"What?" Betty asked her boyfriend in their regular booth at Pop's Chock-litt shop.

Jughead took hold of both of her hands. "You're doing it again." He looked down at the girl's bleeding palms. He reached for a napkin from the end of the table near the window and pressed it to the inside of her hands.

Betty sighed. "Sometimes I don't even realize that I'm doing it." She said quietly beside him.

"Doing what?" Veronica asked with a peppy grin as she and Archie joined them on the other side of the booth.

"Nothing. It's just a little habit I've developed when I'm stressed. It's okay." Betty Cooper said convincingly, pulling her hands out of Jughead's grip to squeeze the napkins herself.

"Stress?" Archie chimed in, setting down his own girlfriend's milkshake for her.

"What's going on?" Veronica wondered, back-packing off of Archie.

"Nothing. Really. I just think I'm a little overwhelmed with everything that's been going on with school and the newspaper lately."

"This is not the same Betty we all knew a few weeks ago. The one who refused to take a break from all of her schoolwork duties even when we told her to. Really. What's wrong? Spill." Ronnie let her Lodge persistence show.

Elizabeth sighed. "I'm just a little concerned about things at home."

"What's up? Is Polly okay? How are the babies?" Archie wondered.

"The babies are fine. Polly's good. No. It's just...." The blonde took a deep breath and fiddled with the napkin in her hand. "Something's going on with my parents lately." It was silent for a moment while Archie and Ronnie looked around at each other and Betty eventually noticed. "What?" She wondered. No one answered. "What?" She repeated with force.

"Um....don't take this wrong way..." Veronica sweetly chuckled. "But I kind of always feel like something's going on with your parents." Archie joined her in a small laugh.

"No. Guys, I'm serious. I'm really concerned."

"We're sorry, Betty." Archie immediately frowned.

"Really." Veronica grew serious as well. "We didn't mean to laugh...What's happening at home?"

"I mean...it really could just be nothing. I don't know. Maybe I'm just paranoid now that things are quiet and I'm just waiting for something shocking to drop itself into my lap once again. But I have a pretty strong feeling that something's up and lately...my feelings have been right."

"Well, what is it, babe?" Jug put his right arm around her shoulders, looking at her with compassion.

"They hardly speak to each other anymore. The other day Polly felt the babies kick for the first time and Mom came rushing into the living room to feel them with a smile. She was so so happy and then Polly called for Dad. The moment he stepped into the room, my mother's smile vanished and she went right back into the kitchen. Then yesterday....Dad came home from work alone and when I asked where Mom was...he said he had no clue. This morning I woke up and went downstairs for breakfast. Polly AND Dad both asked me if I knew where Mom was, because she was supposed to take Polly to her doctor's appointment, but no one could get ahold of her." Betty stopped speaking for a second as she reached over Jughead for a new napkin. "We were calling her over and over and she wouldn't answer any of our texts. Then all of a sudden she walks in with a grin as if nothing happened and she hadn't just disappeared without a word."

"Did she say where she'd been?" Archie asked.

"She told us that she just needed to go for a little drive."

"You don't believe her?" Jug wondered.

"I don't know. It was so weird." Betty responded with a look of confusion. "She didn't say a word to Dad and she just grabbed Polly and left for the appointment. What the hell could be going on?"

"Is there anything else suspicious?" Veronica took a sip of her shake.

"Yes. Very! Sometimes she comes in with a smile....and sometimes she seems like she could just break down and cry at any given moment. It's like she's been possessed by some bipolar spirit or something. I don't even know. It's starting to get really weird. Like she's two different people."

"Maybe she started seeing a Therapist." Veronica suggested with a shrug. "She could have some type of depression and whenever she sees her shrink she all of a sudden feels better."

"Okay. But what about the stuff with my dad?"

"Maybe it's something to do with your brother?" Jughead added in.

"That's possible." Betty said with uncertainty.

"Have they been fighting at all? Have you overheard them arguing at night or anything?" Veronica wondered.

"No." The concerned teen shook her head.

"I think you should just keep an open ear and try your very best not to worry until you hear or notice anything more suspicious. When did all of this start?" Jug wondered.

"About two weeks ago or so?" She guestimated.

"Yeah. I'd give it some more time before you jump to any type of conclusion." Ronnie said.

"Maybe it's just a little lover's spat." Jughead put a comforting hand on her leg.

"A two week long spat?" Archie asked.

"It happens." Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third responded.

"Yeah." Veronica squeezed her boyfriend's bicep beside her. "Once Mommy and Daddy got into a fight and they didn't talk or even look at each other for almost a month."

"Seriously?" The redhead raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. Daddy slept in the guest room until they made up." She took another sip of the chocolate shake in front of her. "Still to this day, I have no idea what their fight was about. But it must've been something pretty serious. My dad loved their Baldacchino Supreme bed...It was almost six million dollars." She drank her shake as if the other three didn't stare at her in amazement. "And for him to not sleep in it for a whole month..."

"Six million dollars for a bed?" Jughead Jones repeated.

"Mhm." The brunette nodded.

Trying to shake off the astounding price, Betty returned to their original topic. "Okay...so I guess I'll keep my eyes peeled for anything else? I hope you're right. With everything that's going on right now with Polly and the babies...I'm not sure ANY of us have the energy to deal with a divorce."

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing that serious, Betty." Jughead spoke up, hoping to comfort her as he kissed one of her hands.

"And even if it is...we'll all be here for you." Archie assured her and she gave them all a grateful smile before they changed the subject to a cheerful topic.