(i like me better) when i’m with you
by kinselllas
Sometimes, dating Betty is so easy, Archie lets himself pretend it’s real.
Post 2x08
prompt: fake dating fic where they have to pretend to be together for some weird reason
“This isn’t going to work.”
Betty reaches up to push a lock of his hair back, fingers gentle.
“Yes,” she meets his gaze, “It is.”
Archie swallows, giving her a quick nod in return. They face the double doors of the school and he sucks in a breath, can feel Betty tense against his shoulder. Her hand searches next to him, finding his fingers and gripping tightly. Archie squeezes back.
“Ready?” He asks, barely a whisper.
“Ready.”
Okay, let’s rewind—
Archie is sitting in the library. This is important because Archie is hardly ever in the library. He’d stumbled his way in there a few times, hands up Veronica’s skirt, toying with her buttons. But he’s never been in the library for its intended purpose, which is to- well, study.
But here he is.
Betty manifests at his work table, seemingly out of nowhere, and gives him a soft nudge.
See, Archie and Veronica have been broken up for almost three weeks now, Betty and Jughead for the same, minus an hour or two. Archie won’t admit that he’s kind of…okay with it. He finds new ways to keep busy, although he definitely finds himself spending much more time alone. So alone that when Betty shows up next to him, he nearly jumps in his skin.
“How’s it going?” She asks, and Archie can almost feel how hard she’s trying to be casual.
He notes that she’s been wearing her hair down lately, after everything with the Black Hood and their respective break-ups, Archie hasn’t seen much of Betty. She’s been a blur in the hallway, moving from one activity to the next.
“Not bad,” he shrugs gently, “You?”
Betty shrugs back, but her gaze drops to the table. She opens her mouth to speak, but seems to be contemplating her words. Archie raises his eyebrows before she finally responds.
“I want Jughead back.”
Archie mumbles an “Of course you do” under his breath and pretends to focus on the textbook in front of him. Betty reads his response and furrows her brow in confusion.
“I mean,” she offers, eyeing his profile, “Don’t you want Veronica back?”
“Maybe,” Archie sighs, he honestly hadn’t given it much thought. “I guess.”
Betty’s eyes light up at the answer, leaning in closer.
“Great!” she shrieks, “I have a plan.”
Archie can’t exactly argue with her, since he knows there is absolutely nothing that would drive Jughead and Veronica more insane than seeing Archie and Betty dating, confirming their own buried insecurities and pushing them to admit their regrets. Archie found it all to be a little immature, but he also knew Betty’s most ridiculous plans only further proved how much the cause meant to her.
“Favorite color?” She prompts.
“Pastel pink,” he fires back.
“Favorite food?”
Archie smirks, “Pop’s fries.”
Betty smacks his shoulder lightly, a scolding glare.
“Well, they are.”
Archie would quiz her on every fun fact about him, but Betty already knows. It amazes him how easy it is to fall into this “fake” relationship, since they’ve been friends for as long as Archie can remember. He finds that he has an even harder time saying “no” to Betty than he did with Veronica, the pent up loyalty that’s been accumulating over the years.
“And yours is mac and cheese,” she gives him a quick eye roll, “which I know because I’ve been making it for you since we were eight.”
Archie feels his chest swell with a certain fondness.
“Yeah,” he nods, “You have.”
—Back to where we started
Archie and Betty walk hand in hand down the hallway, ignoring the obvious gasps and whispers from the surrounding crowds. For most, it’s not a huge surprise. But Archie does note Veronica’s wide eyes, shock playing over her features. It takes nearly a minute before she’s dragging him into an empty classroom.
“So you and Betty are-“
“Yeah,” he finishes, “We are.”
Veronica swallows, and he sees something flicker in her eyes, a knowing look that forces a sharp pang in his chest. He had played so many scenarios through his head, but it wasn’t the same as seeing her pain first hand.
“Well, I think that’s great,” she nods, but her voice cracks.
Archie wants to reach out, pull her close and hold her the way he had so many times before. But when his hand reaches out, it gets lost in the distance, falling weakly at his side.
He whispers, “Veronica—“
She’s already blinked the tears away, disappearing from the room.
Archie slides into the seat next to Betty’s at lunch, because he genuinely feels like he’s supposed to, and she doesn’t hesitate pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. He flickers his gaze over her face, how easy and normal it is for her to pretend they’re dating.
“I grabbed you an extra snickerdoodle,” he forces, hating how sappy he sounds.
When he holds the cookie up, Betty leans forward and snags a bite, right out of his hand. Archie can’t even bite back his laugh before it’s already out, and he resists the urge to lean toward her and kiss her, an automatic response.
Cheryl’s tray clatters on the table and she rolls her eyes.
“You two are even more nauseating than I could have imagined.”
For the record, Jughead’s reaction had gone entirely undocumented until the night of Cheryl’s party. Archie had assumed he was so caught up in Serpent business he’d disregarded Betty entirely. It actually provided him a big sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to talk through dating his best friend’s ex girlfriend- who is also his best friend.
Betty is absolutely certain that Jughead won’t be at Cheryl’s party, since she’s on his long list of least favorite people. Veronica still recoils a little every time she sees them, but she also seems more accepting than before. She didn’t love him, after all.
When Jughead and the Serpents pull up to Thornhill, Betty’s nervous energy radiates off of her body and everything she touches. Archie’s first instinct is to reach for her and Betty shrugs him away, following Jughead out to the backyard.
Archie lingers by the screen door, watching their heated discussion. Jughead’s arms are flailing, while Betty flinches gently. He feels his fists clench at his sides and grounds himself to stop from running out there. Betty’s hand comes up to cover her mouth and she gives a tiny nod, Jughead turning his back and walking away from her. As soon as he’s far enough away, Archie slides the door open and makes his way over to Betty.
“Hey,” he whispers, “Are you okay?”
Betty shakes her head, tears rimming her eyes. He’s immediately hit with a wave of deja vu, the broken heart he saw after the homecoming dance, the devastation.
“He knows it’s fake,” she whimpers, softly. “He said it’s time to grow up.”
Archie has a million things that he wants to say, that he could say.
He doesn’t deserve you. He’s a dick. It’s time to move on.
Instead, Archie catches Jughead’s gaze, and does the only thing he can think of that will help. He grabs Betty’s wrist and yanks her forward, crashing his lips against hers. She freezes for a moment, eyes fluttering closed before she kisses him back, a sigh into his mouth. He exhales, releasing a lot of emotions he didn’t know he had, and Betty takes it in, leaning into his chest.
The first kiss was different. It was under different circumstances and alarming for reasons that Archie didn’t have time to explore. Kissing her at a party, in front of all of their friends, he had to wonder if this is the way things were meant to be all along.
“Jughead looked outraged,” Betty beams, nudging against his shoulder during their stroll home. “Outraged!”
Archie glances up at her enthusiasm, a small eye roll. “I noticed.”
He feels his heart beating a little faster, thumping against his ribs, without really knowing why. At the end of all of this, Betty’s endgame is Jughead. He has to continually remind himself that while their fake relationship is fun, it’s not going to end with them together. He can’t quite figure out why that bothers him so much.
Betty takes the three steps up to her house and gives him a quick glance over her shoulder and she smiles.
“Good job tonight, Arch.”
And he swears he catches a small wink from her right eye.
Come Monday, Archie finds Betty at her locker and lets his hands fall to her waist. Betty jumps under his grip, her back colliding with his chest. and she giggles softly.
“What are you doing?” She whispers, almost scolding.
“If Jughead thinks it’s fake,” Archie mumbles, against her ear, “Let’s prove that it’s real.”
He can feel Betty shudder beneath his fingers, and he likes the feeling of holding her, having an effect on her again. His fingertips dig in to her hips just slightly and Betty releases a sigh into her open locker. Her hands continue to flip through her textbooks, but her movements have increasingly slowed.
PDA is not exactly new to Archie, Veronica was a bit of an exhibitionist and most of the time he was the one blushing in embarrassment at everyone staring. But he was starting to understand the thrill, hands skating up Betty’s sides, all the while knowing the entire school could be watching.
Betty turns to face him, swallowing gently.
“Archie…” and she sounds unsure, for the first time since they started this ridiculous scheme.
He smiles, a little amused, “Betty.”
Her gaze flickers down to his mouth, before meeting his eyes. A small nod.
“I’m in.”
Archie and Betty do what they can to become unavoidable. Archie grabs her by the wrist after Vixen practice and presses a quick kiss to her lips, snatching her duffle bag to carry on the walk home. It’s easy, because it’s not too far off from how things have always been, just a change in the context. Sometimes, dating Betty is so easy, Archie lets himself pretend it’s real.
“How was your day?” He asks, Betty’s fingers slipping easily into his own.
“Pretty good,” she shrugs, “Cheryl still doesn’t think I’m capable of a full front flip.”
Archie throws her a grin, “Are you?”
“Probably not.”
Archie swallows his chuckle, pressing his mouth against the crown of her head.
Just a change in the context.
“I’m having a party this weekend,” Veronica grabs him by the arm, “You’re invited, obviously.”
Archie nods, but can feel his body tense in her presence, seeking out Betty’s glance. Instead, he finds Betty’s back pressed against her locker with Jughead in front of her body. Archie’s fists clench beyond his control.
“Cool,” he shrugs, “I’ll be there.”
Veronica is staring at Archie, but Archie’s gaze can’t leave Betty and Jughead down the hall. Her gaze follows his own and she swallows harshly next to him.
“I assume you’ll be bringing your-“ she clears her throat, “Betty.”
Archie nods, can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t. Except that his “girlfriend” is still trapped in the same spot, Jughead reaching up to push a few strands of blonde hair out of her face. And Betty smiles, a little, but her gaze seeks him out, and Archie releases a deep sigh of relief. Veronica catches it and rolls her eyes.
“Can’t fight fate,” she mumbles, under her breath, “Right, Archiekins?”
The night of Veronica’s party, Betty walks over to Archie’s and he drives them to the Pembrooke. He notes Betty fidgeting in her seat next to him and the energy already feels off. He sucks in a breath and stares out the windshield, suddenly certain that Betty will end their arrangement tonight. It was short lived, of course, and only a matter of time before Jughead would realize his mistake, asking for her back.
And there was no doubt it in Archie’s mind that if given the opportunity, she would choose Jughead over him in a heartbeat. He already had his chance and he blew it, he’d have to move on from here. His hand moves to her knee and she nearly jumps in her skin, throwing him a small smile.
“Everything okay?” he asks, voice soft.
“Yeah,” she nods hurriedly, “Yes.”
Archie stands next to Betty in the elevator and glances at her as she sucks in a deep breath. Her eyes meet his for a moment, and she blinks the moment away. When the elevator dings open, Archie is shocked to find Jughead is already sitting on the chaste in Veronica’s foyer, drink sitting nearby. He glances up at them for a moment, before shifting his attention back to Sweet Pea’s animated story.
Archie can practically feel Betty vibrating next to him, the anxious edge of care care care.
“Archiekins,” Veronica approaches them, a beaming smile, “B.”
“Hey Veronica,” Archie gives her a grin, hasn’t been able to call her Ronnie since the break-up.
Betty’s brow furrows, “You’re in good spirits, V.”
“Well,” Veronica continues her flashy proud smile, “I have reconciled my feelings about your new romance. No use in fighting the inevitable, after all.”
Betty is quick to react, eyes widening at the word inevitable, and Archie opens his mouth to retort, but Jughead appears before anyone can get another word out. The red cup in his hand sloshes, and nearly goes over Veronica’s shoulder, but he catches it time.
“BettyandArchie,” Jughead grins, slurring slightly, “ArchieandBetty.”
Archie is suddenly struck with how much Jughead reminds him of his father in that moment, and while FP may have changed his ways, the times got worse before they got better. His arm protectively snakes around Betty’s waist, and Jughead’s gaze follows the movement, a smirk playing on his lips.
“Relax, Arch,” he shrugs, but Archie takes the dig of Betty’s usual nickname for him, “We’re all elated at your new found relationship.”
“Elated,” Betty repeats, and Archie rapidly tries to decipher if he hears disappointment in her voice. She shifts her gaze to meet his, tries to offer something back. What does she want? Her eyes don’t give anything away other than seeking out his comfort.
“After all this time,” Archie says, gaze flickering over her face carefully, “Who would’ve thought?”
Betty swallows, nearly a smile, “Who would’ve thought.”
tbc