AND SURE ENOUGH, BETTY was back in Riverdale with some of the girls and boys from Sisters of Quiet Mercy in tow.

     "Where are you going to put all of them?" Marla asked after hugging Betty hello. She looked around at all of them, seeing that some of them looked relieved to be out of that horrid place, others worried that they would have nowhere else to go.

     "I'm going to house them for now until I can find some people to help me look after them until they can find some relatives of theirs to take them in," Betty said, sweeping an eye over all of them. "Well, I'm glad that they're safe, that you're safe, Bets." Marla pulled Betty into another hug. "I wouldn't know what I'd do if I lost my partner in crime."

     "You'd never lose me, Watson."

.｡.:*☆

"I see that Jughead's back in town," Marla commented. She and Betty were in the kitchen now, both drinking a cup of tea to calm their nerves. "Yeah." Betty nodded. "But I think Archie's on his way up to Canada, I think?"

"Why Canada?" Marla almost spat out her tea. "Did they really have to run him that far out of town?"

"Hiram's got it out for him, Mars."

"What does a forty-year-old man want to do with a seventeen-year-old boy? Actually, on second thought, don't answer that." Marla held up a finger. Betty scrunched up her nose. "God, Mars. Why'd your mind have to go that far down the gutter?"

Mara shrugged. "Hey. When you have absolutely no one to tell you what's happening in this god-awful town, you gotta fill in a few holes. Oh my God, there I go again."

Betty rolled her eyes before cracking up. "Marla!"

"Oops."

.｡.:*☆

"I called you all here because there are children from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy living at my house because they have nowhere else to go," Betty explained.

     She and Marla (Marla was there for moral support) were talking to Fred Andrews, Nana Rose, Cheryl Blossom, and Attorney McCoy about the current housing situation taking place in the Cooper Household. "So if any of you could please house a few of them while I try to call social services and get something in order that would be a ginormous help to me."

"I've saved a few of those children from that wretched and I'll be happy to do it again," Nana piped up. Cheryl took her hand appreciatively and smiled. "We'll be happy to lodge some of the girls at Thistlehouse."

     "I can take a few of the boys. Archie's gone so I've got an extra room," Fred offered up. "And we've got a pullout couch here. We'll be happy to have some," said attorney McCoy finally. Betty clapped her hands together. "Thank you."

Not even fifteen minutes later, when Betty and Marla arrived back at Betty's house, the kids were gone. "Wh-where are the kids?" Betty asked, too afraid but prepared nonetheless for the answer she was about to get.

Alice gave her a smile (the plastered-on type, not a real one. The one that made one think that they were hiding something) and said, "I told the Farm about your little dilemma and they were happy to take them all in. You just missed Edgar by, like, five minutes." She went back to her book and Marla had the urge to slap it out of her hands and demand an answer.

"Mom, why?" Betty exclaimed. "I had people that were willing to take them in and look after them and actually care about them!"

"Well, the Farm does all of those things, Betty. They would do the same for you if you just let go." Alice reached out her hand but Betty backed away. "I don't wanna 'let go.' I want to find out what this game and this Farm crap is all about and I'm not gonna stop until I get some answers. Come on, Marla." Betty caught hold of her wrist and led her upstairs to her room.

"You know, for someone who appears to be cute and bubbly all the time, you've sure got a monster grip, Bets," Marla observed as she sat down cross-legged on the bed. She looked at her wrist and saw a few, small welts beginning to form. "Am I bruising? Man, I really do bruise like a peach."

"Oh my God." Betty was by her side and kneeling so she could get a better look. "I am so sorry."

"It's alright, Betty. You didn't mean to." Marla began to inch her hand into her flannel sleeve but Betty pulled it back out to aid it. "It's not alright," she countered as she applied an ointment to help speed up the healing process, "I'm not gonna turn you into an outlet to help me release all of my anger. You're not a punching bag, Mars."

"You'd be surprised," Marla mumbled. She was sure Betty heard her but Betty elected to ignore it. She had heard enough sob stories to last her a lifetime; Marla was sure she could go a night without another one.

"You should be all good now." Betty wrapped Marla's wrist in a piece of cloth, which she found to be a bit much. Betty put some pieces of hair behind Marla's ears before cupping her face. Marla's breath caught in her throat a little when Betty stretched up to reach her eye level. They were looking at each other now, just blue on blue. The room was quiet, save for the soft wind blowing in through a crack in the window.

     "I should probably get home. My dinner's probably getting cold," Marla whispered. "Do you want me to drive you?" Betty whispered back.

     "That'd be great, thanks."

.｡.:*☆

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Betty stopped the car and leaned back into her seat. Marla's bag was in her lap and she was picking at the zipper as the inside of the car went silent. "Thanks," she managed to muster. She got the door the open this time but Betty stopped her from leaving.

"What is it, Bets?" Marla didn't get an answer from her as she was being slowly pulled into Betty's grasp and being kissed by her. It was slow, close-mouthed, and experimental at most. They broke apart and Marla waited for an explanation as to why she was being kissed by her longtime crush. She didn't mind, no. But her crush had a boyfriend and she had no clue that Betty might have felt the same about her.

"I get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach because of you," Betty started. Marla already had questions. "Is that supposed to be a good thing? Because when people have that sort of gut feeling, the person interested in them usually turns out to be a murderer."

"Yes, Mars. It's a good feeling. A really good feeling. And I was curious to see if you felt even anything about me," said Betty, laughing a little. "I'm sure you could see by the way I was staring at you lovingly from afar most days that there was something going on there." Marla quirked a shy smile. "What?" Betty tilted her head, encouraging her to go on.

"I'm not sure when I started to like you, but I think it happened the week I started working for the Blue and Gold. You were so nice to me and really encouraging, always telling me that was doing a good job." Marla's smile was getting a little bigger now that she was remembering all of that. "There was that and also the little touches that happened between us but I'm sure they weren't more than just friendly pats on the back."

"I can confirm that they were more than just a little friendly." Betty licked her lips and slowly pulled Marla back in to kiss her again. There was some space between them because the center console was blocking Marla off but she managed to make do. The car door was open so with that combined Betty's fingers sliding up her back, it doubled the amount of chills she felt. She wanted to continue this, she did, but she really had to go inside because she was hungry. Pulling apart, Marla asked, "What about Jughead?"

"I'll talk to him. But for now, we'll keep this between us." Betty was fiddling with Marla's flannel to keep her hands from going anywhere else. "I know how this works, Bets." Marla chuckled. "I've seen the movies." She went in for one more kiss before getting out of the car. "Goodnight."

Marla fell asleep with a smile on her face that night.