"Jesus, Arch, girls aren't actually Pokemon, you don't have to collect them all," Jughead tells Archie as he's distracted by yet another completely ordinary but objectively attractive female walking by.

"Did you just out yourself as a nerd even more?" Archie asks, still looking at the back end of the girl he was watching.

"First of all, nerd is term meant to subjugate people with interests considered to be lesser by the people that find them intimidating. And also, I'll have you know, Jellybean was the one who was into it."

"Sure, Jug."

"Hey, I'm not the one whose life goal is to bury themselves knee deep in some strange on the regular, okay?"

Which is the moment, of course, Betty decides to join them at their lunch table.

"Some strange, huh?" Betty says with a smirk. "Going for old school references I see. I like it."

It's times like these he thinks if he believed in the tales of fate and threads attaching you to people you're meant to know there would be a couple of loose strings connecting him and his family and Archie and enough strings to anchor him to Betty Cooper for the rest of his burger loving life. There are certain certainties in life, Jughead accepts this despite his best efforts not to and with that acceptance he knows a few things; the world is round, he will never for any reason believe Forsythe was the best name his parents could come up with, and Betty is the only one for him.

He is genuinely ashamed at his desire to be labeled and label her like some low level dude bro jock but at this point he assumes it's simple biology and an inherent weakness to her very existence. He knows he sounds pathetic, it's something he's decided to own. He's fairly certain no one else knows how he feels, maybe Kevin on the off chance he pays attention but Kevin is easily distracted by drama and Jughead has no intention of causing any for him to look too closely at.

"You know I like the classics, Betty," Jughead tells her with a grin.

"We both know what this school is really missing is a concise use of classic innuendo. You should write an article for the Blue and Gold, tell the masses your message," she says to him with a smile as she reaches over to take the chip he was about to eat out of his hand.

"How come Betty gets to share your food but you bit me when I tried to share your fries once?" Archie asks.

"Hey pal, I was a kid then. Also you don't share, when you do it, it's stealing and thievery is just rude, Arch."

"It was last year!"

"Semantics, my friend."

"So, what's playing at the Twilight this weekend, Juggie?" Betty asks, pulling out a bag of chips out of her backpack to hand to him with a wink.

"This is why I share with her, by the way, Archie. She gives more than she takes," Jughead tells Archie with a satisfied sigh as he opens the chip bag. "And to answer you, Betty, I'm thinking about Rosemary's Baby."

"A horror movie, Jug? It's not even Halloween."

"Well what do you suggest? And no more musicals."

"Hmm, how about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?" Betty suggests, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Are you on another Paul Newman kick?"

"What? It's perfect, you get a good movie, Paul Newman, and Elizabeth Taylor. Please tell me how that's not perfect?" Betty says with slight indignation.

"I'll think about it."

He's trying desperately not to think about her leg pressed against his as he zones out a little while Betty and Archie talk about the football game that Friday. There's part of him that knows he should just speak up, make a move, do something before the masses (who must be blind to not have already seen what he sees) figure out what a great catch Betty is but the fear of rejection, embarrassment, and losing her friendship keeps his mouth shut and his dreams open.

He hears Archie asking a question once he crawls back out of his own head, "So, there's a new girl you're going to show around tomorrow? Do you know anything about her?"

"Only that her name is Veronica Lodge and she's from the city."

"Veronica, huh? Sounds sexy," Archie says with a goofy smile of a man who's already knee deep in imaginary strange with a girl he's never even met.

He tells himself part of the reason he'll never tell Betty the truth is based on the brittle smile she gives Archie as he postulates on another conquest. If no one knew Jughead had it bad for Betty, it seems the only person not to know she's got it bad for Archie is Archie himself. Jughead quietly thinks one day Archie will wake up and see Betty for the girl she is and he knows it makes him selfish but he also hopes he never does.

The next morning Betty is a little nervous to meet the new girl as she waits in the office for Veronica to show. She hopes she's friendly and she'll never admit it but she hopes she's not as attractive as Archie thinks her name suggests. The crush she's been fruitlessly nursing on Archie for what is probably far too long is just depressing at this point. She knows, deep down, that boys who want to be with you, will make a move. It's been years and they're still just friends. Betty is working on accepting it but it's a process.

Betty hears the tell-tale click of high heels on hard flooring and looks up to see a beautiful girl headed her way. Of course Betty thinks to herself. Not only is the new girl beautiful, she's wearing clothes Betty could never pull off. And pearls. She steels herself with her best Cooper smile and asks, "Veronica Lodge?"

"That's me, you must be Betty Cooper?" Veronica inquires in response.

"I am! So, I'll be your peer mentor for today, I'll show you around the school, help you with your schedule, anything you need you just let me know."

"First things first Betty dear, you have to tell me how the boys are in this town? Good? Not so good? Are we ladies permanently single based on lack of acceptable options?" Veronica asks, grabbing onto Betty's arm as she leads her out of the office and into the hallway.

"Oh, well, I'm not really the person to ask, boys don't seem to notice me but having grown up with most of the guys here, I can say most are nice. Maybe. I don't really know how they are for dating to be honest, but they're usually very nice to me," Betty tells her with a fidgeting hand at the collar of her sweater.

"You? No boys are interested in you? Have they seen you? Hell, I'm almost interested and I'm straight. You're beautiful, Bettykins," Veronica says with a sweet smile aimed at her new friend. "I'll tell you what, we'll find you a boy, if that's what you want, and in return you can be my new BFF because Betty Cooper, I can tell we were meant to be."

At that moment Betty sees Archie and Jughead headed down the hallway and much like many men before and after him, Archie has a Pavlovian response to seeing Veronica for the first time. Jughead meets her eyes and rolls them at their friend's predictability.

"Oh," she hears Veronica whisper, "Ginger is a flavor I've never had."

If there is a proverbial nail in the coffin of her Archie related hopes, Betty thinks this might be the final one.

"And who are you, tall, red, and intriguing?" Veronica asks Archie.

"Archie Andrews. And you must be Veronica Lodge? Betty told me about you yesterday."

"I am. And how do you know my sweet new BFF Betty?"

At that Jughead gives Betty a bewildered look and Betty just shrugs in response. She likes Veronica so far, she's been perfectly lovely and Betty is a big believer in giving everyone a chance.

"She's my best friend and neighbor. This is Jughead Jones," Archie tells Veronica with a head nod to where Jughead is standing. "He's our other best friend, not a neighbor though."

"Jughead?" Veronica questions with a confused look of someone who thinks they didn't hear it right while also hoping not to offend if they did hear it correctly.

"The third," Jughead interjects with a nod of acknowledgment. "The real thing is worse, trust me."

"If you say so."

As the first bell rings, Betty tells Veronica they need to get to their first class but grabs something out of her bag while getting ready to walk away.

"Here you go, Juggie. It's a couple muffins from the batch I made last night," Betty says to him with a smile as she hands him a small paper bag. "Blueberry banana, I know you like that kind."

"Thanks, Betty."

He knows he has a goofy look of adoration on his face for both Betty and the muffins. He knows he should school his reactions around a new girl who has already declared Betty her new best friend. New people are often observant as they learn their surroundings and he's slipped into the complacency of people seeing through him and not noticing him noticing Betty. He makes the mistake of meeting Veronica's eyes as he walks by and he knows he's messed up. She's got a calculating look on her face and a smirk that makes her dangerous to the safety of the bubble he's been keeping himself in.

He's already panicking.

A/N: This has 25 chapters, it comes in at about 94k words with a sequel that's not finished yet. It did win a bughead fic award so woohoo for me, am I right? Happy Saturday, y'all!