Chapter Four

It felt like hours since Jughead had bandaged Betty, but time had started making no sense. Any sort of clock was unusable and it was so cold, the two weren't sure if they even cared enough to look for another source a time. It would only diminish hope even more.

Betty felt Jughead's arms around her, trying to warm her up. She hadn't spoken in a long time, neither of them had. They had to save their energy.

She was sure she would've cried, but out of fear of dehydration and stressing Jughead out, the young woman restrained herself. Shakily, she reached up to touch Jughead's face. He shifted, eyes opening. A thin smile spread to his face, but the emotion couldn't reach his eyes.

"Jug," Betty whispered hoarsely.

"What?"

"We need to move." she finished. While still feeling frozen, she wasn't in as much pain as before. At least the bandages provided some extra warmth.

Jughead groaned in disagreement, his increasingly blue lips quivering before he spoke. "I know."

Pushing herself up, Betty winced at the strain that rocked her entire body. Those tears were so close to falling now. She looked up and tried blinking them away. Breath. Breath. Breath.

Her boyfriend moved as well, getting up a bit easier, though she'd be lying to herself if she said he got up easily. His left leg buckled a bit, and she caught his shaky self, barely keeping herself up. Jughead apologized weakly and she dismissed it. He wasn't in a very good state. Neither of them were.

The cold was affecting him the worst, however. "The blanket," she mumbled quietly. Anger surged through her due to her failing voice. "You need the blanket." He opened his mouth to protest, but Betty shook her head. "We're wasting warmth by just laying on it."

Suddenly, a fresh pain seared through the young woman and she clenched her eyes shut. The tears spilled down her face like rain. She couldn't take it! Leaning heavily against the cars… she wasn't even sure what… the female took a steadying breath. It ended in a sob.

Her boyfriend wrapped his arms around, and she could hear him shaking beside her. They were both crying now. They stayed that way for a while before Jughead finally pulled away. Her tears felt like they were freezing to her face.

"It's so fucking hot," Jughead hissed out.

Betty paused, looking over at him. He cracked a weak smile at her. A surge of emotion washed through her. "It really is," she joked along. Betty's words cracked at the end.

The Serpent King shook his head. "Is that the most you can say? It's scalding out here. Like, where's my AC?" Jughead reached down to pick up the blanket. His hands shook as he pulled up the plaid padding that they'd been laying on. Glass clattered on the ground at the movement. "Where's the shade?"

Fanning her face, she stumbled forward to help wrap Jughead in the blanket. He opened it up last second and pulled her inside the heat. "It's like the freaking desert, where's my ice cream?" Betty managed, holding him close.

Together, they sunk to the hard ground. The blanket was cold, and yet the heat was trapped inside, unable to escape into the frigid weather outside.

They didn't speak much more, just held each other close and imagined. Imagined it was hot out. Imagined they were safe. Imagined they would live.

Something buzzed. Betty's eyes blinked open, screaming at her to recede back into her fantasy world. Jughead was laying down, and the young woman cuddled right against him.

As the tiredness slipped away as much as possible, Betty felt her exhaustion melt into fear. They'd fallen asleep! She lightly pressed her fingers to Jughead's neck. The faint pulse made her heart swell in relief. He was alive.

"Wa-" her voice died. "W-" gone again. She couldn't talk. A new fear fluttered inside her, rising and rising until it clawed its way up her throat. Her lips felt frozen. Nimbly, she reached up and touched her lips. They were ice cold.

Think warm thoughts. Ice. Think warm thoughts! Snow. Think warm thoughts! Blizzard. Stop!

Her very own thoughts and anxieties were betraying her, not letting her lie to herself anymore, she needed to focus on the truth. What had awakened her? Betty tried to think, and eventually remembered the two buzzes before arising.

They were too prominent to be Jughead's breathing, which she could hear now clearly as she rested her head on his chest. Her skin felt icy, but something… something was different. Then it hit her all once.

When her phone had fallen from Jughead's hands, she picked it up and cradled it to her chest. It reminded her of home, even if it was dead. Dead. The buzzes. Her phone!

Pushing away from her boyfriend as carefully as she could, she pulled the phone from her bra. It was the place closest to her heart. Where home belonged. The phone's light was blinding, and it was really only then she realized how late and dark it was. Betty winced but bit her inner lip to keep herself from shying away from the light.

Shakily, she swiped left, again and again, before her finger was finally registered and the screen was switched to the dial numbers. Call 911. Jamming her finger on the nine, she felt like sobbing when nothing happened. She did it again. And again. A nine showed up as being typed. Moving to the phone, she pushed down on the one. Success. The last one typed in just as easily.

Calling them was the hardest part, the call button seemed immune to her frozen- frostbite infected- fingers. Betty felt like screaming in rage. Then it worked.

Ring…

Ring…

Ring…

"911, what's you- gency?" Relief spread through Betty and she hugged the phone to her chest.

Realization dawned on her when the person repeated her first line. Betty needed to talk! The phone could die at any moment.

"We're stuck in a snowdrift," the words came out a determined croak. "We were on our way to Riverdale. The car wrecked."

There was silence. "I'm sorry, what?"

No! Betty swallowed hard. "Our car wrecked!" she yelled into the phone. Jughead shifted, and she felt his eyes on her as she screamed the next words. "On our way to Riverdale! Help!" Betty's voice waned louder and quieter as she repeated her message over and over. "Car wrecked on way to Riverdale."

"Betty," Jughead whispered. She looked up at his face with tear-stained eyes. "The phone's dead…"

She shook her head and shoved the phone into his hands. He looked at it, blinking slowly and with some emotion she couldn't place right away. Then Jughead shook his head. "Do you see? It's alive." Betty whispered pleadingly.

Her boyfriend pulled her close, kissing her forehead. "It's dead, Betts, I'm sorry."

Could she have been just imagining it?

She would've cried. But she couldn't anymore.

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." -Mahatma Gandhi

A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I hope it was worth it! Would you like to see more Archie/Veronica POV? Every review helps! Thanks for reading!