CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT: Be My Anchor

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THE LAST CHAPTER

(READ FINAL NOTES - END OF THE CHAPTER)

Eleanor walked inside her house after leaving the park, where she had met with her best friend, and that was also the moment she regret even more not to have yelled at Jughead not to leave her alone, she couldn't bare to face all that drama, not again.

"Oh, look who finally showed up." Alice had her arms crossed, "The other 'Serpent Slut' doomed to go to hell. Do you also say nothing happen at school today?"

Ellie gestured to Betty, "Did you tell her?"

"It was me. I'm so sorry, Ellie." Polly admited.

"Let your sister be!" The woman was already standing, "I warned you girls, specially you Betty Cooper, about publishing that article. And you, Eleanor Cooper about FP and yet you went behind my back to visit him! Why do you two never listen to me?"

"Because I'm sick of all the secrets and the lies in this town and in this family." Betty banged her hand on the balcony, "I'd much rather take some heat for being honest than do what you're doing. Living in fear of the truth."

"I'm scared for you, not of the truth." Alice corrected, "You came to me, Elizabeth, your very self, worrying about Eleanor and then you go and do this. Didn't it make it worse?!"

"What worse?" Ellie gestured, confused, "What are you talking about?"

"You not eating, talking, smiling." Her Mom looked at her, "Betty thought you were disappearing, which you were – you are. So hear me, one last time. You're not getting anywhere close to that police station nor are you publishing more articles. Both of you!"

"You're not afraid of the truth? Really? Let's go then." Betty defied her, "You talk about big game about liking Jughead, but wouldn't you be much happier if we weren't together and Ellie's best friend since four years old?"

Alice let out a muffled laugh, gesturing with her head.

"Not new, actually." Ellie breathed.

"Question number two, when you invited FP over to dinner, he said that you and Dad got in a huge fight when you were in high school, at Homecoming. What was that about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Their Mom denied.

"Really? Are you sure you want to keep another secret?" Eleanor shook her head, "Wasn't the previous one proof of what it does? It almost destroyed our family!"

"Is not of your damn business!" Alice had tears in her eyes when she shouted, "None of you!"

Betty approached their Mom, "Ellie is right, you know. Dad was keeping a secret that almost destroyed us. How many are you keeping?"

Secrets were a lot like lies. They are like cancer but in people's souls, they destroy everything they never dare to touch. It is understandable, however, why people are so addicted to keep secrets – like Alice Cooper –. Perhaps it is because when secrets get out, even to friends, they like to use them against us, and so we're left weak and naked. It's self defense.

"You don't need to worry about me." Ellie walked inside her sister's room, "I'm managing."

"I always worry." She gave her a small smile, "It's my job."

"Worry about Jughead, not me."

"We need each other right now, more than ever." Betty gestured, "All of us, together."

"Jug is going away." Ellie swallowed when she said it, "We won't be able to stop it."

"We... We have to try, right?" She shrugged slightly, "We have to..."

"We do have to. Just... with Jughead... it has to be patiently."

"I'll wait." Betty nodded right away, "I love him."

"I know." Eleanor found a soft smile finding it's way to her face, "He's lucky."

"I guess Archie is lucky as well."

Or not, Ellie thought to herself.

Before any of them could say anything, Alice walked in and closed the door behind her. Both sisters looked at their Mom with confusion, the tiredness able to notice in her red eyes.

"There are some secrets that are so painful, you not only hide them from the world," The woman sat down in the bed, "but you hide them from yourself."

"What do you mean?" Betty asked.

"The night of the Homecoming, when your father and I were crowned King and Queen, the fight that FP saw, I had just told your father that I was pregnant."

"What?" Ellie gasped.

"Yes, and we disagreed on how best to handle... things. And we had a really big fight. And the next day, I went away." Alice explained.

Betty completed, "To the Sisters of Quiet Mercy."

"Yeah and five months late, your brother was born."

Eleanor felt sick, imagining her Mom all alone in such position. Their Dad had made to her exactly what he had tried to do with Polly, not that anyone remembered it now.

"The sisters arranged for a quiet adoption." The woman told them.

Betty rushed to her side, "Mom, I'm so sorry."

"It's the biggest regret of my life." Alice cried.

Tears fell from Eleanor's green eyes and she fought with herself if she should or not go hug her mother but then again, she only had one mother and she knew her Mom loved her with everything she had and that made any forgiveness possible somehow.

"Mom..." Ellie sat behind Alice and hugged her body, "God, I'm sorry you had to go through that alone."

Betty hugged their mother as well, the three of them washing each others with love and care, every single thing they needed in that very moment – somehow, it was everything they needed. It was enough.

Next morning, however, they were obligated to face other problems. To Ellie worse ones than the ones she had faced the day before. In some way, her life seemed to have established a pattern – the next day would always be worse than the one before.

"Where is Jug?" Ellie finally asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since last night." Archie told her.

"I –." Betty was interrupted by her phone ringing, "Wait a minute."

While her sister stepped aside to answer her phone, Eleanor decided to send Jughead a text, but once she unlocked it, she was able to see a new message from her best friend.

Jughead: don't miss me too much, bee

Ellie's heart skipped a beat when she finished reading it, and she wasn't sure if it was because of the nickname he only used when they were six or if it was for the fact that, deep down, she was very much aware that was a goodbye text.

"It was Jughead." Betty turned to them with a worried look.

"Where is he?" Veronica asked, curious.

"Southside High." Ellie answered for her, calling their attention, "I got a text."

"He said it's where he belongs" Her sister told them, "and that no one want him here."

"FP warned me Jughead would cut himself off, go to the dark side." Archie spoke up.

"Which is why we have to get him back!" Eleanor desesperated, "We gotta go."

If there was one thing she hated more than the word sorry, it was broken promises and Ellie had made Mr. Jones a promise that day – that she would not let go of Jughead. So they went on their way to the Southside High, where the darkness was waiting.

"Where would he be?" Veronica wondered.

"The cafeteria." The three spoke up at the same time.

"Wait, no twin witch?" The raiven-haired girl said, while they ran.

Neither bothered to answer he, seeing their eyes found the beanie boy sitting down alongside a few other kids. And suddenly, they were all laughing.

"Jug."

He turned around, "Guys, what are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you," Ellie told him, "but clearly you're doing just fine."

She believed Jughead was just like her, he would rather swallow the pain than let it destroy someone else. He was full of darkness, same as her, and neither of them wanted to say it out loud. Ellie had said it to Archie and it felt stupid, it felt like she was pointing her finger at the monster under he bed like she used to do with her father when she was little. Hal would tell her that monsters don't exist – not under beds or inside closets, not at all – but her Dad hadn't warn her that demons, that are also monsters, are usually inside ourselves.

"I have to go make a call." Veronica walked away from them.

"Are you better?" Archie dared to ask.

Eleanor looked up at him, and for a moment inside her darkness, she was able to see him shining brighter than any star, shining more than it ever had.

"I'm managing." It was her new favorite thing to say.

"Tell me when it gets too hard, I'll sit with you 'till the darkness goes away, ok?"

Even tho part of her was shouting for her to not let him get too close, but she still pulled him for a kiss, a deep and caring one. Her world was a mess, so she allowed herself to get lost in his lips and it was the best kind of way of disappearing from the world.

"Guys," Veronica interrupted them, "Cheryl sent me a text. Saying she's going to be with Jason now. Where would she go to be with him?"

"Sweetwater river." Archie said.

"Oh my god, no." Ellie widened her eyes, "We have to –."

"Guys," The raiven-haired girl shouted, "we have to go now!"

Eleanor couldn't believe she had been so close to Cheryl and had not noticed, it was impossible to have not noticed. She had been so focused on her own self that she failed to see the signs, and now the guilt wasn't going away.

It wasn't until they were digging into the snow to find her almost frozen body, that Ellie realized what was really happening. Cheryl had tried to commit suicide, it had never crossed her mind, but the redhead had thought about it and done it. How bad was the pain? How much did she want to escape everything and everyone? How much did Cheryl Blossom wanted everything to stop, including life? A lot.

"Here!" Archie shouted.

They all ran to his side, and Eleanor remembers kneeling beside him and gasp when the boy she loves first hit the cold frozen water – there was blood everywhere now. And because she couldn't bare to see Archie in pain, she also started hitting the ice with her elbow. It became hard to distinguish which blood was whose but it didn't matter really.

In fact, when they managed to take Cheryl out of the freezing water, they still didn't feel any pain – even tho they should – or cold, only relief, specially when she breathed out the water.

"You're ok." Ellie hugged the redhead's cold body, "You're ok, Cher."

Eleanor didn't let go of Cheryl, only to help her take a shower and put on warmer clothes, after they sat by the fire place and the blonde went back to held the redhead's shivering body. She still couldn't believe they had managed to save her life.

"It's ok, it's ok, it's ok..."

Ellie kept repeating it into Cheryl's ears, it's what she does at night, under her sheets, thinking it might convince her somehow, it doesn't but it helps, that much is true.

"What is she doing here?" Hermione walked in.

Veronica looked away from her friend and the redhead and walked to her mother, explaining the situation, the best she was able to anyway.

"I'll just warm up and go home." Cheryl spoke up.

"I can bring you to mine." Ellie offered, "My Mom will just have to deal with it."

"No," The redhead faced her, "you've done enough. I don't want you getting into trouble."

Veronica pulled her with herself out of the house later, – the raiven-haired girl not being able to face her mother any longer –, and Ellie went to get ready to the Jubilee to her house.

It wasn't until she sat down in front of her mirror that she saw how tired she really was, not to talk about the plaster she had around her injured arm, matching Archie's hand.

"Are you ready?" Alice peeked into her room.

"No."

"Hunny," Her Mom touched her hair with love, "it will get better."

"It won't." She tried not to cry, "We all know it, it just won't."

"Don't say that." Alice pleaded, "Don't."

"Jughead is my soulmate. It doesn't matter that you don't... like it, he is. He always have been and I'm loosing him." Eleanor snifled, "And I'm afraid that not to loose, I may loose myself."

"You don't owe him anything. I know how much you love him, but sometimes when we love someone that much, we have to let them go."

"No, I'm not.... I'm not giving up on Jug." She wiped away a tear, "Cause I know he would never give up on me, he never did. So, yes, Mom, I owe him."

"Is it worth loosing yourself?" Alice asked, confused.

"Everytime."

"Look at you," Her Mom held her chin up, looking at her eyes through the mirror, making her face her own reflexion, "you're a ghost, Eleanor, wondering around these streets. You gotta get better, for your own sick. What do you do when they've taken the fight out of you?"

"Mom –."

"Not Mom, look at yourself." Alice forced her to look into the mirror once again, "You do nothing, nothing for them. Don't bother, not for them but you must pick yourself up. Don't do it for them, don't do anything for them, do it for yourself, sweetie."

"I'll save Jughead." Ellie looked into her Mom's eyes, "And then I'll save me, if it's worth it."

The woman straighten up, "Be selfish for once in your life, Eleanor Cooper."

She was left behind with her scary reflexion when her Mom left the room. She stood there for a while, not blinking, not moving.

"Are you ready, E?" Betty showed up in her doorstep.

"Can you help me with my hair, please?"

"Sure." Her sister smiled softly.

There are some pretty precious things in life – not many but enough – and most, thankfully, aren't 'things' exactly. Betty was one of her precious things, if not the most precious. She had been there since the day she was born, and was still there, everyday.

Archie was another of her precious things, but love wasn't about having, it was about wanting what's best for them even if it means it's not you. So love, Ellie realized, is not how many times you say I love you, it's what you do.

"How is your hand?"

"How is your elbow?" Archie replied with a small smile.

"Can you perform?" She asked, worried.

"Doubting me?" He arched his eyebrow, challenging, "Hm?"

"Worrying." Ellie put a strand of red hair behind his ear, "That's my job as a girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

She bit down her lip and looked down, "I meant..."

"That I'm your boyfriend, I hope." Archie teased her.

They say it only takes ten seconds of courage, but to Ellie it was less than that.

"I'm in love with you, it's true." Eleanor blurted out, "I deny it, fight it, that's true. I tell myself it's not love. But I know that I'm in love with you and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

"So you're not pulling away?" He fought against his smile, "Is that it, El?"

"I can't face the darkness alone, and I don't want to." She swallowed, "I also know you know me better than anyone, and I know you care. So, would you be my anchor, Archie Andrews?"

"No need to ask twice."

Archie pulled her closer, her whole body sank into his arms. Their lips moved against each others', exploring their mouths so gently. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her even closer. It felt right, and confused as to how she was still standing.

"Hmhm." They both pulled apart, "Sorry to interrupted you lovebirds, but I got something for Archie, that you both may love." Veronica then gestured to the other entering, "Josie."

"V here told me what happened to Cheryl, I've reconsidered something. About your song."

"Oh my god, V!" Ellie hugged the raiven-haired girl's side, "I love you!"

"It's good to have you back too, E."

So Archie perfume his song that night, being followed by Betty's beautiful and true speech. She had been the perfect choice for that hero role – and for the first time, Ellie was sitting on the right place, not taking her sister's place, like she had done so many times before.

Jughead was the first to clap, only being noticed by Eleanor in the end, their eyes met for a fraction of seconds and somehow it was enough for the blonde to know she was right in not giving up on her best friend – he was still Jughead Jones III, her guardian anger, her soulmate.

"So, you're still here." Ellie gestured to Jug, when they entered Pop's, "That's something."

"I told you don't bother." He gave her a small smile, "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can." She nodded, "But I'm your sister, it's my job."

"Your job," Jughead grabbed her by the shoulders, "is to get better."

"I'm managing."

"We both are then."

They joined their friend at the booth, and it felt right and amazing. It seemed like nothing was wrong in the world, it seemed like nothing was wrong with them.

Yet her escape was still with Archie Andrews and no one else. It was only when his lips touched hers, that the problems disappeared completely, it was only when their bodies were pressed against each others' that she felt completely fine. It was right, and selfish.

"Are you ok?" He put a blonde lock behind her ear.

"How many times are you gonna ask me that question, Arch?"

"Until you say I'm fine and mean it."

"It's gonna take a while then." Ellie warned.

"I can wait." Archie kissed her lips, "I'll wait."

Archie pulled her nacked body closer to his, wrapping his arms around her and played with her beautiful blonde hair until she fell asleep, making sure he kept the darkness away all night.

Next morning, Eleanor woke up with the bell ringing. She left Archie asleep in her bed and unlocked her bedroom door, climbing down the stairs, noticing her parents as her sisters were no where to be found – probably they had went out.

She opened the door, "Can I help you?"

"I came in FP's name."

It was then that Ellie noticed the leather jacket the man was wearing, he was from the Serpents and it was a good thing her Mom wasn't home, or the police would be there already.

"I'm sorry, how is that?"

"You promised to help his boy," The man told her, "we can take of those who protects ours. FP wants to make sure you are protected."

"From what?" Ellie frowed.

"I don't know that, girl." He shrugged, "But he seemed worried."

"Ok... thanks, I guess...?"

"Here," The man threw her a leather jacket, "it's yours now."

Before Eleanor could say anything else, he had already walked away. She closed the door, her eyes not leaving the jacket's back – Southside Serpents written behind. It was the same jacket she saw FP wearing and all that man. Did it meant she was one of them as well, now?

"Ellie?"

She threw the back jacket behind the couch, and turned to face Archie.

"Who was it?" He asked, confused.

"No one. It was a mistake." Ellie lied, giving him a small smile.

"Hm, ok." Archie kissed her lips softly.

She noticed he was dressed, "Where are you going?"

"My Dad

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