There was a time where Ben and Andrew Johnson were two of the most popular guys in school. Andy was dating Cheryl, and part of the football team, he had a few genuine reasons as to why he was popular. Ben, they would say, was popular by association. He would get the 'Oh, you're Andy's brother?' line a lot more than he liked. So, he began to drift away from the group of people he really couldn't call his friends, and they didn't even notice he was gone. For awhile, he didn't have permanent friends. Yes, people wanted to be his friends, but it was only to get to the other popular people. Eventually he came into contact with Archie Andrews and his crew.

He remembers it perfectly, mostly because Betty was the one to catch his attention. Lunch had began and he was about to begin the struggle of finding a seat which usually ended in him sitting on his own. All he had done was pass their table, and it was enough for the blonde to invite him to their table. At the time, it was just Archie, Betty, Kevin and their friend Jughead and at the time, Ben didn't realise how those four would affect his life. He remembered Betty's glittering blue eyes, her perfect smile. It was hard not to fall instantly in love with her, but it falling for her was a long ordeal, mostly because while he was slowly becoming addicted to her, she was overdosing on Archie Andrews.

The year went on, summer came around the corner, and then Jason went missing. After the news broke, summer sort of stopped. Doing something fun wasn't fun anymore, because Jason always came to his head and suddenly Ben wanted to go home. He regretted ever saying he hated him, because truthfully, he didn't hate him, he just hated him in that immature teen way where a kid will say something and not mean it. He only said it to hurt his feelings, which Ben thinks may not have affected him all that much.

Now, on the last day of summer vacation, Ben sat at his laptop, typing up the ending of his music essay before his text alert came through his earphones. It was Kevin, and something seemed to be wrong.

FROM: KEV 😇

SOS, emergency on the Cooper/Johnson ship!!

Ben rolled his eyes at Kevin's dramatics. Kevin had "shipped" himself and Betty ever since Ben had disclosed his crush on her. Since then, he had made a significant effort to try and divert the girl's attention away from Archie and somewhere in the direction of Ben. So far, no matter how hard he tried, Betty wanted to look nowhere near him. He had to commend Kevin, even though it was apparent she didn't feel anything, he still tried.

FROM: BENJI

what's wrong this time?

Maybe he shouldn't have asked that question, because a few seconds after he sent that text, a photo was sent to him. Enlarging it revealed a very familiar redheaded boy's window, with a very familiar boy on the other side of the window. It was Archie, of course it was Archie, who else was out to unknowingly ruin his love life. His abs could withstand a concrete wall, and it looked like he had gotten taller. Ben closed his laptop, suddenly very interested in the conversation being had.

FROM: KEV 😇

Archie got hot! Like seriously hot!

Ben cursed under his breath, running a hand over his eyes for a second. This was just what he needed.

FROM: BENJI

Seriously?

FROM: KEV 😇

Hold on, I'll call you

Ben waited for five tense seconds, waiting for his friend to ring him. He picked up almost immediately. "What the fuck?" was his first response.

"I know, it's kind of distracting!"

"Wait," Ben said slowly. "How did you get that picture?"

"I'm with Betty, we-"

"She's with you?! Like right now?"

Kevin scoffed, shaking his head from his end of the phone. "Not right now, you idiot. I'm in the bathroom. I can't be a covert spy if I'm blowing my cover right in front of my target!"

Ben rolled his eyes, "Kev?"

"Right, right! We're we're talking about your depleting chances at being with Betty."

"Yeah," he laughed mirthlessly before groaning. This was not exactly how he wanted to end his summer vacation. "Just my luck. We loose Archie for threes months and suddenly he's more of an Adonis to her than ever. I never stood a chance, did I?" if he wasn't so fed up, he would try to deny the growing tears in his eyes.

Kevin stayed silent for a moment, before Ben could practically hear the smirk light up his face. "There may be hope just yet." He raised a brow. "Betty and Archie are meeting up later at Pop's. What's the harm in casually running into them?"

"No, Kev, I'm not gonna be that guy who tries to ruin his crush's date just because I can't grow a pair and ask her out." He would've, if Jason Blossom hasn't gone missing. Then family stuff got in the way.

"I get that, but you're still her friend, remember? You can't distance yourself just because she doesn't like you back. And anyway, Betty told me you guys never got to reschedule that Pop's date from back in July."

It was true, Betty's mom was keeping her daughter on a tight leash those choice few weeks. It was like she was keeping her in the house for a reason. Maybe it was because the Coopers had their own family drama to deal with. Betty's sister was with Jason for a time. "Yeah, she's right." His heart fluttered at the fact that she still thought about it.

"So, just walk in, pretend you were just coming in and out and stay for a few minutes. Make an impression."

"I'll keep it in mind."

"The Jooper ship lives on!"

He chuckled at that, shaking his head. "Thank you, Kevin. I owe you big time."

"We've discussed this. I'm sure you wouldn't mind putting a good word to Moose about a certain boy."

"You know it." There was a noise on his end of the phone. "What was that?"

"Crap, hold on!" Ben waited as Kevin yelled. "Just a second, yeah, I'm fine! I gotta go, Benji. I think Betty thinks I'm sick or something. Bye!"

With that he hung up, leaving Ben with the decision that could make or break how he handled his relationship with the blonde beauty.

-

So, it looks like he was going to Pop's.

Originally, he decided he wouldn't. He told himself that he just needed to accept it, that Betty felt nothing for him. He believed that, for about five seconds. It took one look at his lock screen(a picture of the gang at his birthday, Betty's arms around his neck as they posed) before his hands reached for his house keys and he was out the door.

Now, Ben found himself on the damp pavement, his feet bounding for the Chock'lit Shoppe. He had no idea what his excuse was going to be when he got there, but he knew Betty was nice enough to talk to him for a bit. He might as well order something when he gets there. An Oreo milkshake came to mind.

"Excuse me!" He stopped to see a girl in a elegant black cape wave at him. "Do you know how to get to Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe?"

He frowned at her, everyone knew Pop's, she must've been new. A rare occurrence in Riverdale. "Uh, yeah, I'm going there now actually."

She lit up, reaching over to loop her arm with his, tugging him a little closer and earning a soft grunt from Ben. "Perfect, oh do lead on my liege."

The boy chuckled at her antics, continuing on. "I'm guessing you're new?"

"You have a keen eye, sir." He grinned. "Veronica Lodge, pleasure to meet you."

Ben's eyes widened a bit at the name. "Lodge? Am I in the presence of New York royalty?"

She slapped his chest lightly as he stuffed his free hand in his pocket. "Please. I'm barely Gossip Girl material." they approached the neon lights of the diner when she asked. "And you?"

"Oh! Ben Johnson. Not exactly royalty, more like, court jester." It was half a joke. Right now, he was starting to feel like a joke when it came to his love life.

Veronica giggled, and he would be lying if he said it wasn't adorable. "The court jester plays a vital part in the royal court." she would've continued, but the sentence died on her throat when she noticed Ben's forlorn look into the window of the diner, his brown eyes making contact with a couple in a booth. A blonde and a redhead. The most yummy redhead she'd ever seen in her opinion. He wasn't looking at him, in fact, she'd say he didn't even know he was there. He was too busy making heart eyes with the blonde. "I'm guessing she's a friend?"

He would've lied, but by judging the smirk on her face, there wasn't a point. "Right now, she is." He swallowed hard, finding it difficult to watch Betty laugh in her way of telling Archie she was interested and him not catching on. He felt it quite fitting that he was watching through a window. So close to her but something blocking him. He was screaming on one side and she was blissfully deaf to it all.

"Ah, I see. And this precious hunk of man is the slab of concrete between you two?"

He scoffed at her analogy, but nodded all the same. "You could say that, yeah."

Veronica tugged on his arm a bit. "Well, then, maybe I could sway him a bit." She opened the door, the bell dinging. "Watch and learn."

Ben let out a breath as she stepped in front, swaying her hips a little. If Archie didn't notice this girl, then he was just plain stupid. Now, it was Ben's turn to walk in. He stared long and hard at the door before nodding.

Time to shine.

-
not edited

A/N: muahahaha! Leaving ya hang!

I really like writing how Ben thinks of his crush on Betty. He's too chicken to do anything but if she's happy with someone else, he won't ruin it, even though it hurts. Reminds me of Jake Peralta in a way.

Comment, vote, follow & stay awesome Gotham! - Emma