Everyone has fears that justify their actions, or at least an excuse behind which they hide. Jughead was afraid of losing Betty. Alice Cooper was afraid of losing control over Betty. Hal Cooper was afraid of losing his status in Riverdale. Archie Andrews was afraid to lose his football scholarship. And Veronica Lodge was afraid of losing her money.

When Betty asked herself what she would be afraid of losing, she quickly thought of her sanity, but that was already lost. The last thing on her mind was Jughead Jones, although she felt like she was already in the process of losing him. He didn't tell her much anymore. She was confused about the events of every day she spent without him. To her, she was like her mother, stayed home and cleaned the house out of boredom. Betty was trapped. When she thought she was escaping from the world her mother had created for her, in reality she was running towards her mothers world. A normal suburban life was not for her.

Tearing the apron off of herself, Betty threw it on the ground. The sink was still filled with water that was going down into the sewers trying to escape every edge of the plates and cups that were still dirty. Pieces of food were stuck in the drain, blocking the rest of water from escaping. What was once a perfect suburban dinner, or what was left of it, now turned into broken down pieces of food that did not look appetizing to anyone.

Tears started to fill her eyes and slowly roll down her cheek. They were jumping off her chin into the dirty sink water. There was a darkness in her that only pills could control, when she stopped taking her poison, the darkness came back. Betty took a dirty knife off the counter and applied it to her wrist, ready to cut if she wanted to. Somehow the situation seemed too extreme, even to her. She put the knife back on the counter and her eyes looked down at the ground.

Turning off the water, she went to the living room and sat down on the floor. Hugging her knees, Betty started to rock back and forth, as if trying to prevent the darkness in her from escaping and destroying something. She stayed like that for what felt like eternity, until she heard a car park outside and someone walk into the house.

Jughead threw his keys onto the kitchen counter and turned on the lights. How did they even get here? They went from being two lost teenagers to a pretend newlyweds who own a house. He walked into the living room and noticed Betty curled up on the floor. She wasn't looking at him, just into the distant window. In her eyes he could see that she wanted to escape, but didn't let herself move an inch.

Quickly running to her side, Jughead put both arms around her and forced her to stop rocking. His head was on her back, sideways, looking at the window. Then Betty turned around and smiled at him.

"I'm fine," she said, but her voice did not sound fine.

Jughead didn't say anything, he gently picked her up and carried her to their room. The light of the moon bounced off the walls and she observed the lines of light on the wall as he carried her. She was out of her own mind, lost somewhere in a deep subconscious world. Laying her down on the bed, Jughead took off his stupid beanie and covered her with a quilt. Her eyes weren't closed, and she watched the ceiling, barely blinking.

"I should have never left you," Jughead whispered. A part of him knew that there was something dark about her, but he also knew that Betty was strong.

She fell asleep with both of his arms around her, and even though she was in an uncomfortable position, she loved the discomfort. As if she found a new way to torture herself, she forced herself to fall asleep. Something was very wrong with her, and she knew it.

~~~

Her motherly heart felt it, she knew Betty was in danger. Alice Cooper took another sip out of her wine glass and stared at the screen in front of her. A search engine was just completing its download of some sort of information.

Ever since Betty was born and the doctors told Alice that there was something wrong with her beautiful daughter, she was protective of Betty. When they told her that they couldn't find a trace of the problem anymore and that it was gone, Hal told her that it was better for Betty to stay on her pills. Anytime Betty acted out, it made Alice worry. What if there was still something wrong with her beautiful girl?

So, instead of giving her the world, her parents caged her with safety. It was dangerous out there, and it was safer at home where they could control her every move with pills. Thinking about those times made Alice cry a little, but she wiped away her tears instantly. She was doing it for the safety of her daughter, or at least that's what Hal kept telling her.

They were a perfect family about to be in charge of Riverdale, and that Jones boy had to ruin everything. Although, Alice never really figured out why Hal was so mad that Betty was falling for a boy, he wouldn't ruin that much, aside for their reputation. And that was when Alice understood everything. All she was doing, all Hal told her to do was in the name of their reputation. She even killed a man for him. A man who threatened to out their secret, that their daughter was mentally ill. That man didn't care that it was a mistake of a diagnosis, he wanted the Coopers to pay for such a horrific secret.

The screen of her device beeped, and Alice looked at it. "Search for Elizabeth's location complete". The screen read, and Alice sighed with relief.