Chapter 8

The trouble with secrets isn't necessarily having one. It's the internal anguish, the paranoia – the wondering: 'is someone going to find out?'. Keeping secrets causes the most stress to those who are in on them.

And sometimes, hiding secrets is purely impossible – especially when you're trying to hide things from the people you love.

Betty and Jellybean were so absorbed by Joe Exotic's escapades of polygamy and revenge on Netflix, that neither of them noticed Veronica's driver pulling up in front of the house. Nor did they see the raven-haired beauty prancing up the stairs with determined gusto. Three quick raps on the front door alerted them to their visitor, and JB enthusiastically flounced over to the door with a cheerful: "I'll get it!"

Betty expected it to be Jughead returning from his 'talk' with Archie, but her stomach clenched when she saw Veronica standing in the doorway. Great, thought Betty, she's not going to take no for an answer.

Veronica pulled Jellybean into a quick greeting hug. "JB! Your hair is looking particularly fabulous today. Did you do those braids yourself?"

JB gave Veronica her signature cheeky smile. "Betty did them this morning, actually. She was teaching me how to do them Dutch style. I'm pretty good at French braids though if you ever want to try them out."

Veronica, ever the pleasant house guest, smiled back at her friend's sister. "Maybe you should convince that brother of yours to let you do his hair. It's gotten so long I'm surprised it hasn't started growing through his beanie." They both laughed and made their way back into the loungeroom to find a tense Betty sitting up straighter on the couch.

"Hey, V, what a nice surprise." She gave her friend a big smile. It was the fakest smile Veronica had ever seen. "Me and JB were just watching that Tiger King documentary everyone was talking about on Facebook if you want to join us?"

"Actually," Veronica's smile was equally as sickeningly sweet as Betty's was. "Jellybean, would you mind terribly if I borrowed Betty for a moment? I really need some girl talk." Her smile wavered, and Betty's eyes narrowed as Veronica's eyes fill with fake tears. "It's Archie, he's acting really weird and I just need a fresh perspective from a neutral source."

If JB noticed anything was amiss between the two, she didn't comment on it. "That's okay Ronnie! We can watch the rest of this later, Betty. I wanted to try and make choc chip cookies anyway."

"Thankyou, JB. I appreciate it from the red bottoms of my Loubitons." She took Betty's hand and practically dragged her up the staircase and to her bedroom.

"Those crocodile tears aren't fooling anyone." Betty whispered harshly, and Veronica scoffed as she practically shoved her into the room.

After Betty was seated on her bed, arms crossed, and Veronica had closed the door behind her, she folded her own arms across her chest and sat down on the vanity chair. "B, you can't avoid this forever."

"I'm not avoiding anything V. And I'm not taking a pregnancy test, which is what I know you drove all the way over here for."

Veronica stood up and moved to sit next Betty. "B, come on. I'm your best friend. You can talk to me."

Betty started to feel slightly guilty but squashed the feeling. "There's nothing to talk about V. And there's nothing wrong with me, me and Jellybean made sushi on Tuesday night and it didn't agree with me. Honestly, I'm surprised no one else in the house got sick. Guess I must have a weak stomach."

Veronica frowned. "Betty, I've seen you running in and out of the school bathrooms since Tuesday morning, so don't give me that spiel." Veronica reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a notebook. "I've been taking notes of my own down, Miss Investigator, because I've been noticing something was up with you this week." She flipped open the first page, as though she was going to present Betty with a list of the facts. "It's not just the throwing up. You've been so emotional this past week. Don't think I couldn't see you holding back tears when Kevin was reading that love poem in Literature last Monday." Veronica shifted on the bed to face Betty and get a better look at the stoic expression on her face. "I won't lie, I thought you might've been upset yesterday because of the sex tape, but you really were shocked when Kevin and I came over, so I knew it wasn't that. And then Cheryl said something at lunch today when you took off that just made everything 'click' in my head."

"Cheryl noticed something was off?" Betty looked at Veronica's notebook wearily, her eyes running over the perfectly handwritten list of Betty's 'symptoms'.

Veronica flicked her hair off her shoulder. "Yes. She said something along the lines of 'My poor cousin, I hope this affliction she has wears off soon'. And so naturally, when the boys were distracted, I pressed her for more information, and she told me all about how exhausted you were on Sunday while you and Jughead were playing with the twins so her and Toni could study. She mentioned hearing you throw up in the bathroom and looking all pale and sweaty. She's quite worried about you actually. Thinks the stress of exams might be turning you bulimic and asked me to talk to you 'before it's too late'."

Betty groaned and flopped back on her bed. "Cheryl is being over the top, as per usual."

"While I do agree that she's jumping to conclusions, I don't think she's far off figuring out what I suspect is the truth, as well." Veronica reach over to hold one of Betty's hands. "You're avoiding this because you're scared Betty. Why not just get it over with, then you can put your mind at ease? I know you're stressed, but best-case scenario is you're not pregnant and we can all relax." She pulled out another object from her bag, and Betty recognised the box immediately. "I bought this a while ago when I skipped my period, but didn't end up needing to use it. Here." She put the box in Betty's hand, "Just duck into the bathroom – five minutes and this worrying will all be over."

Betty closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them Veronica wouldn't be in her room, there'd be no baby, finals would be over and she'd be in a dorm room at Yale with nothing to worry about except finishing her next essay. She let out a long breath and opened her eyes. Nope, still in her childhood bedroom with a pregnancy test in her hand.

She sat up and handed the test back to Veronica. "I don't need this V…"

"Honey, I know it's stressful. But I think you really do need to know for sure."

"No, no, I mean… I don't need it… because I took two pregnancy tests yesterday…"

That clearly shocked Veronica, and she straightened in anticipation. "And?" she asked, her eyes widening and her hand going back to take Betty's once more.

"You were right, V…"

"Oh, Betty…" she pulled her friend into a hug. "It's going to be okay, I'm here for you. Jughead's here for you. Polly's coming home tomorrow and she knows all about babies, I'm sure. You're going to be okay."

She hugged Veronica tighter. Why had she thought hiding this from her best friend was a good idea? Veronica was one of her biggest cheerleaders, and always looked on the bright side of the darkest days. "What are we going to do, V? Me and Jughead are too young to be parents. We're meant to start college in three months, what are we going to do when the baby is born? I've been working so hard to get into Yale since I was fourteen, V. And I'm finally here… and it's all just going to be ripped away from me. And what about Jughead? I can't ask him to give that up, he's been so excited, his dad is so proud of him, he's the first one in their family to graduate high school, let alone go to college. I can't ask him to give that all up, he deserves it, he's going to take his writing so far. And what about my mom? She's going to go absolutely insane when she finds out I'm pregnant." It was something Betty was almost certain of, knowing how her mother felt about teen pregnancy.

"Nope, we aren't going for doom and gloom today, B. You and Jughead are the greatest multi-taskers I've ever seen. You're going to find a way to do it all, go to Yale, become famous authors or high-class private investigators, and still have the time to raise baby Jughead into a beautiful little version of the two of you."

"Baby Jughead?"

Betty and Veronica both froze. Neither of them had noticed that Jellybean, who needed help in the kitchen, had quietly made her way up the staircase and started turning the door handle to Betty's room. She'd been about to say: 'Hey Betty, how do you know if the oven is on the right setting?" but her voice had caught in her throat when she heard the words: "I'm pregnant." It had made her pause, her own personal morals about eavesdropping going out the window. Surely she'd heard Betty wrong, this couldn't mean what she thought it did…

"Jellybean! Um… I can explain…" Betty had recovered quicker than Veronica, who was still staring at JB's stunned form in the now-open doorway.

"Is it true, are you…" JB leaned back, tilting her head to check there was nobody in the hallway, "pregnant?" she whispered the last word.

"Quick, come in and close the door." Betty instructed the teenager, who wasted no time in obeying.

"This why you've been sick all week? I can hear you throwing up in the morning…" a look of hurt crossed her face. "Why didn't Jughead tell me? Does Dad know?"

"No, no one does. Please, JB, don't tell your dad or my mom. And don't be angry with Jughead, I swore him to secrecy until after graduation next week." She patted the bed next to her, and Jellybean took a seat. "We only found out yesterday, a couple of hours before Jug got taken into the station. We've both barely had time to process it." She could sense the girl was still a little down about being left out of the loop and tried to give her a boost. "You're the only one in the family who knows. I haven't even told Polly yet, or Charles." She chose not to mention Jughead's blunder with telling Archie.

Jellybean smiled at Betty then. "Really? I'm the only one who knows?"

Betty nodded. "Yes, but you have to swear not to tell anyone. Me and Jughead need to figure out what we're going to do before we start telling people about the baby."

Jellybean pondered Betty's words for a minute. "You're not thinking of putting the baby up for adoption, are you?" Veronica stiffened next to Betty. She hadn't considered that Betty would think about adoption, but maybe it would make a world of sense. Her and Jughead were both still so young and had a lot they both wanted to accomplish. Maybe adoption was a good option to consider.

Betty just smiled, taking Jellybean's hand. "Whatever we decide to do, you'll be the first to know. I promise."

JB leaned into Betty and gave her a hug. Over the top of JB's head, Betty looked up at Veronica. Veronica gave Betty a reassuring smile, but she could see the pain in her friend's eyes.

"You know what, ladies? I think we all need to unwind. Let's forget about all this drama and go get our nails painted! I know a lady in Greendale who works late from home on Friday nights who's holo polish is to die for."

Jellybean grinned at them. "Sounds good, but first can you help me sort these cookies out?"

Half an hour and a fresh batch of cookies later, and Veronica could tell Betty was in a much better mood. Veronica smiled, knowing this is what her friend needed tonight. Some care-free, stress-free fun. But there was one thing Veronica needed to know if she was going to be able to fully back Betty up.

When JB disappeared out the back door to let FP know that she was the new dessert master chef of the house, Veronica used the moment of privacy with her bestie to ask her the thing that had been nagging her since they'd talked to JB upstairs.

"Betty, are you thinking about adoption?"

Betty had just taken a bite of her cookie so was saved from answering for a few seconds. "I don't want to rule it out until Jughead and I talk about it." Betty looked down at her shoes. "I don't want him to feel pressured into dropping everything to help me raise a baby neither of us were planning to have."

"But what do you want, Betty? Don't think about Jughead for a second. You're the one who has to carry it around for the rest of the year. It's your body, Betty."

"Yes, but it's his baby, too." Betty started picking crumbs off the other half of her cookie absentmindedly. The rest of her sentence was barely audible, and Veronica wondered if she meant to even voice the words she said next. "I don't think I'm going to be a good parent, V… what if I turn out like my dad? His Dad was a killer, and his Dad was a killer… Clifford Blossom? Killer. It's genetic… and V…" Betty looked at Veronica then, and Veronica was horrified by the level of despair in the blonde girl's eyes. "There's something very, very wrong with me."

Veronica pondered her friend's words, realising how vulnerable and terrified she was. But before she could think of any words of comfort, Betty continued talking, her eyes far away, looking at a place behind Veronica's head.

"I've never told you this, V," Betty's face went completely white, "but I have the serial killer genes. I'm scared that one day I'll look at Jughead and the baby and I won't see them as my partner and child, but people that I need to eradicate… to make the world better. Just like my dad tried to do to me and Mom."

Veronica tried very hard not to let her face betray the crushing worry she felt. While she was shocked to hear the words come out of Betty's mouth, she couldn't admit that she was really all that surprised. She'd seen Betty snap before; she'd even thought, for a while there, that maybe Betty had been the one to hurt Jughead. But this was still her best friend; her best friend who was confiding in her the darkest fears of her soul. "That, is a lot to unpack, Betty." She reached out and took Betty's hand and tried to keep her voice neutral. "Is this why you don't want to talk about the baby until after graduation? Having thoughts like that must be so overwhelming, B." She moved closer to Betty so that she could draw her into a hug. "If you really don't want to think about this right now, I completely understand. These thoughts can't be hanging over your head while you're trying to ace those finals and enjoy your last week of high school."

Betty wrapped her arms around Veronica and buried her face in her best friend's shoulder. "Thankyou, Veronica. I know, rationally that I'm overreacting… but I also know I'm not in a very good frame of mind to be making any life changing decisions. I just need to get through the next week, then I'll be able to really think about what me and Jughead are going to do."

"It's okay, B. And for what it's worth, I know Jughead loves you very, very much. I'm certain that you guys will be able to talk this all through and sort it all out together." She drew back to look at Betty's face. "Next week though. You both just need to focus on your studies for now. You have the rest of your lives to focus on each other."

Betty smiled. A real, genuine smile this time. She was still smiling when the front door opened and Jughead and Archie walked in. Betty was pleased to see that Jughead was also in a better mood than he left the house in.

"Hello, gentlemen." Veronica crossed the kitchen to plant a greeting kiss on Archie's lips. "I trust you can both deal with our absence tonight. Smithers is about to take us over to a delightful little nail salon in Greendale. My treat to two of my favourite girls."

Jellybean walked in then. She gave Jughead a grin but didn't want to say anything in front of Archie. She'd have to interrogate her brother later. "I saw your car pulling up, Ronnie. Is that a Limo?"

"Of course, we Lodge's always travel in style."