Jughead had led Betty to the Blue and Gold, their safe haven. She had never felt like there was a place that she belonged more than that newsroom. She had never felt safer than when her and Jughead were working on articles and she was correcting all of his over usage of semicolons and laughing at his expressions. She headed straight for the couch and sat down, still locked inside of her head and the images of the news articles from her previous school. She could feel Jughead's concerned eyes on her, tracing her face, and she sighed.

"I can explain," she murmured, but he shook his head.

"I don't need you to explain. I need to know if you're okay, baby. Are you?" Jughead asked softly. She shook her head.

"No," she whispered. "I haven't been for a long time. That's why I do need to explain. I think it's time to stop running from my past – it's the only way I'll be able to start healing."

He nodded. "Then I'll listen to whatever it is you want to share. Whatever you're comfortable with."

"Well, I'm sure you have a pretty good idea based off the lockers," she sighed.

"I don't give a fuck about what was on the lockers. I only care about what you want to share with me. The other shit? That's the white noise we don't need," he replied firmly, tracing soothing circles into the back of her hand. She bit her lip as she thought over his words before nodding ever so slowly.

"Alright," she replied quietly, sitting back into the couch more comfortably as she prepared herself to open up the wounds she had tried her damnedest to stitch closed. Running a hand through her ponytail, she nodded again. "In New York, I busted a cheating ring, right?" Betty asked. Jughead nodded. "Well, the main girl who was behind it is named Ashley and, well, she made my life fucking hell. So bad to the point I had a nervous breakdown and, uh, ended up in a ward."

It was silent for a moment as Jughead processed that information and Betty's insides swirled uncomfortably as she wondered what he would have to say to that bomb she just dropped. She didn't have to wait long.

"What the fuck was her punishment for tormenting you enough to the point of that?" Jughead demanded harshly, and Betty blinked.

"You-you don't think I'm crazy?" Betty whispered, not daring to believe that. Jughead looked at her with such open sincerity that she could have basked in his look alone.

"Baby, no. I swear to God, I don't. Being admitted to a mental health ward does not mean you're crazy. Not in the slightest. It means you, most likely, were a threat to yourself as I can't see you being a threat to other people," he said earnestly. Betty chuckled.

"I was only a threat to myself," she confirmed. He frowned as he placed a kiss to the top of her head.

"And, that fucking kills me, sweetheart. You are so good; so wholesome and innocent and life just keeps dealing you shitty cards. You did nothing, absolutely fucking nothing, wrong by exposing that ring. Ashley just couldn't handle the fact that she got put in her place. If anything, I wish she had gotten arrested because fucking with someone so much their mental health is at jeopardy is a fucking crime in my book," he growled, running a hand through his hair. Betty looked at him.

"I don't know. I mean, my health was already starting to go a little sideways after dad and Pol died. My anxiety had kicked up several notches at that point. And trust me, that's saying something cause I had so much anxiety growing up," she laughed bitterly. Jughead looked at her.

"Tell me?" Jughead asked softly. She nodded after a moment.

"I was, am, scared of a lot of things. Not being good enough. Not being happy. Not being the person the world expects me to be," she shrugged, but he shook his head, rubbing her shoulder.

"Don't shrug it off, baby," he whispered. "Those are all very valid fears and you don't need to dismiss them as if they're nothing. Anxiety is a real thing. I can only imagine how much harder it got after half your family was taken from you. Then the stint at your old school. God, baby, I am so fucking sorry."

"I..," she trailed off.

"You what?" Jughead murmured, eyes a steady force on her.

"I just wish it was easy to breath each day. That I didn't feel the need to breath with the aid of a fucking razor blade. That's not normal!" Betty cried, blinking back tears of frustration. Jughead laced their fingers together.

"It may not be normal but two things. One: Normal is overrated. Two: A lot of people have trouble with self-harm. Being self-destructive is easier than getting angry at the world when the world is the one thing that deserves our anger," he said firmly. Betty traced her lip. He had a point.

"What's the school going to think of me now? What's my mom going to think? There's not a chance in hell Weatherbee won't call her once he finds out it's my arms that were displayed like some fucking freakshow at the circus," she sighed angrily. Jughead traced her eyes with his.

"Maybe it's not a bad idea that your mom knows, baby," he murmured gently, but Betty shook her head.

"She'll be so disappointed in herself. That she wasn't able to stop that. I can't have her blaming herself for my fucked-up ways," she said quietly. Jughead was quick to counter her, however.

"Or she'll want you to open up to her. Talk about the pain you're still feeling to this day. And I don't know her the way you do, obviously, but from what I do know, Mrs. C isn't going to be hard on you. Will she be upset that her daughter is hurting herself? Yes, unfortunately. But she'll still love you. She'll still want you to be honest about it, because she's your mother and you two are all you got. I mean, I'm not going anywhere until you send me away and even then, I'll go kicking and screaming, but your mother and you? You're all you got. You will be able to work through this," Jughead said.

"Promise?" Betty asked quietly.

"Baby, I fucking swear. If there's one thing I do know it's this: a good parent will go to the end of the earth to protect their child. And, as your boyfriend, let me just make it adamantly clear: you will not receive any shit from school. I won't let that happen. Even if I do have to pull my resources and get the Serpents involved," he said firmly.

"You'd let me meet them?" Betty asked in surprise. She really wanted to. To meet a side of Jughead that he was proud of, no matter how much he didn't want to be a part of the gang after high school. He nodded.

"I'd like to," he said softly.

She smiled. "Me too."

He kissed her gently. "Then, baby, let's get them involved."

Author's note: Short one. Enjoy. Xxx