Chapter Text
The new girl is beautiful.
It’s the first thought Betty has when she sees Veronica Lodge gracefully exit the backseat of a Lincoln Town car and push big black sunglasses up into her sleek dark hair. Her skin is bronzed and glowing, her lips are painted a vibrant red and she’s wearing an outfit Betty could never dream of pulling off: a black cape and black leather riding boots, a designer handbag looped casually around a slim tanned wrist, a tasteful pearl necklace.
Betty steps forward where she’s been waiting on the sidewalk in front of the ivy covered walls outside the Riverdale Prep campus, a big shiny smile on her face. “Veronica, hi! I’m Betty.”
Veronica looks her up and down and Betty tries not to feel self conscious as the other girl takes in her ponytail, her pink cable knit sweater, the faded skinny jeans she liberated from Polly’s closet over the summer. Veronica is a transfer, Betty only found out about her two days ago and all she knows is Veronica’s family must either be incredibly wealthy or well connected or both to get their daughter into Riverdale Prep right before the first semester of senior year.
And of course, because Betty was the only girl in their year without a roommate, Veronica got assigned to her. They had a long awkward conversation over text yesterday, Veronica inquiring what she should bring for their room and Betty sending back photos and measurements, but this is their first time meeting face to face.
Veronica must decide that Betty isn’t totally hopeless because her face breaks into a smile. “Well hello, roomie. Are you my greeting committee?”
Relief washes over Betty in a soft warm wave. “That’s me. Welcome to Riverdale Prep.”
“Thank you.” Veronica tilts her head towards the front gates. “Shall we?”
Betty nods and Veronica gestures loosely at the older man who’s gotten out of the car, dressed in a crisp suit. A grandparent, maybe? He nods to Veronica and pops the trunk to get out a few monogrammed leather duffel bags, a large suitcase, and a handful of shopping bags.
“Thank you, Smithers,” Veronica calls out, and looks expectantly at Betty.
Betty leads Veronica and her apparent chauffeur slash butler to the wrought iron gate set in the center of the front wall and shows Veronica where she swipes her student ID to unlock it.
“In the morning you can get your ID made in the office but for now I’m your key,” she tells Veronica, who smiles and loops her arm through Betty’s, and Betty tries not to melt at the first act of physical affection anyone has shown her in months.
“Better not lose you then,” Veronica says playfully.
The gate sweeps open and they step onto the tree lined path that leads to the main part of campus. “So up there is the main building.” Betty points out the large three story brick building looming ahead. “That’s got the main office, the college admissions center, guidance counselor’s office, basically anything administrative related.”
Veronica nods as she glances around, looking up at the canopy of leaves formed by the large trees lining the cobblestone path, late afternoon sunshine flashing against that shiny hair. When they get to the main building the path splits and Betty leads her charge to the right to follow the path around in the direction of the dormitories. She points out the buildings they pass along the way: the infirmary, the library, the science center, the main academic buildings, everything done in endless ivy covered brick lest anyone forget they’re at a private school. The grass is lush and green, huge pots of hydrangeas and mums frame the entrances to all the academic buildings for elegant splashes of color, and the lawn is dotted with little benches and tables for students to study outside when the weather is nice.
The girl’s dormitory is on the south side of campus directly past the boy’s dormitory, the two buildings separated by a courtyard that features towering oak trees, a few tables with chess sets, and purple New England asters lining the cobblestone path. The dining hall is down to their right past the courtyard, it makes up the third side of a square opposite the picturesque gazebo the Blossom family paid to have built in Jason’s memory. Betty takes Veronica through the courtyard, pointing out the dining hall to her as she uses her ID to unlock the front door to their dorm.
“Cute,” Veronica says unenthusiastically when they go inside, taking in the foyer, the gleaming mahogany staircase to their right, the plush burgundy carpeting.
“Senior girls are on the second floor,” Betty tells her, and climbs the stairs with Veronica and Smithers trailing behind her.
Move-in day was officially yesterday, everyone else in their dorm is at the pre-dinner assembly Principle Weatherby holds in the auditorium of the performing arts center at the beginning of every year. Betty got special permission to miss it so she could greet Veronica, who absolutely couldn’t be taken to school before today due to some mysterious family situation. If she’s being honest with herself Betty might have tried skipping it anyway, the idea of having to sit there in front of the entire student body like she’s the same girl she was last year is so overwhelming it makes her lightheaded.
They reach the second floor landing and both girls wait for Smithers to catch up to them as Veronica looks around curiously, leaning in to read Cheryl and Toni’s names drawn in big bubble letters on the whiteboard hanging from their door.
“So half the girls are down on the right but we’re all the way down on the left at the end; this is Cheryl and Toni’s room,” Betty points out as they start to walk down the hall. “Across from them are Melody, Valerie and Josie, they have the only triple this year. That’s Ginger and Tina’s room next to them, and Joan and Donna are across the hall, they transformed from Stonewall Prep last year.”
They stop so Betty can show Veronica the alcove where the vintage landline phone sits on a table underneath framed portraits of older graduated classes, the visitors bathroom, the senior girls’ common room. “It’s open hours from ten to ten, boys are allowed until six on the weekends but you have to leave the door open.”
Veronica raises an eyebrow. “And who enforces that rule?”
“Oh, we have a dorm mom, Laurie. She’s new this year actually but I met her yesterday, she’s pretty cool.”
Veronica looks like she thinks having a dorm mom is very not cool but doesn’t say anything about it, so Betty points out the vending machines and the tv and decides to move on.
“So Ethel and Midge are there,” she says, pointing to the last room before the set of back stairs that lead outside to the garden. “And then we’re here at the end.”
Betty slips her room key out of the back pocket of her jeans and unlocks the door, Veronica rushing in after her to take in her new living space: to their right are two double sized beds with their headboards against the wall, a dresser between them underneath a window that faces the back garden. Two matching desks are pushed against the foot of each bed, their shared closet runs along the opposite wall and the door to their bathroom is straight across the room past Betty’s desk.
Veronica snaps her fingers and all of her bags and luggage get deposited on the floor in front of the unmade bed on the side of the room closest to the door. “Thank you, Smithers,” she says, and kisses his cheek.
“Best of luck to you, Miss Lodge,” he says kindly. He waves to Betty and leaves their room, gently shutting the door behind him.
Veronica flops down onto her new bed and lets out a heavy sigh. “I told my mom I could handle moving in on my own, but she insisted Smithers take me.” She rolls her eyes, like, moms, right?
Betty lets out a nervous laugh and curls her fingers in towards her palms. Her mother moved her in yesterday at exactly 2pm, right when the doors opened, did Betty’s entire side of the room while Betty nervously followed her around and dutifully hung up clothes, opened boxes, unwrapped bubble wrap from the framed photos that now stand on her desk: her and Polly in matching Easter dresses back when they were in elementary school, her and Archie standing together on the Cooper’s front steps the morning of their first day of sixth grade with proud, excited smiles on their little faces, skinny arms slung around each other.
“If you don’t want that side we can switch,” Betty offers tentatively. “If you’d rather be closer to the bathroom or…”
“I don’t care.” Veronica slips out of her cape, revealing a beautiful plum colored shift dress, and gives Betty a curious look. “I’ve never lived with a roommate before.”
Betty sits down at her desk chair and reaches up to tighten her ponytail. “It can be a little weird at first but you get used to it.”
Veronica stretches over the side of her bed to reach a shopping bag and pulls out a plastic wrapped bedding-in-a-bag set, puts it between her legs and works the zipper open. “Anything important I should know about you?”
Betty’s fingers go numb, a precursor to the panic attacks she gets now, ever since she went to LA, and she digs her nails into her palms to get some feeling back. “Like what?”
Veronica has to use both hands to yank a pale blue floral comforter out of the bag. “I don’t know. Do you snore? Have a masterbation addiction?”
“No!” Betty’s cheeks flush.
“I’m just teasing,” Veronica giggles, shaking out her comforter. “But, are there any boys I should know about? Do I need to sleep with headphones? Leave the window open for you to sneak in after midnight escapades?”
Betty chokes back laughter. “No, definitely not. But the girls leave a scrunchie over the doorknob if they want to be alone with someone.”
Veronica gives her a sly grin. “Good to know.”
Veronica dumps her new cream colored sheets over her comforter and abandons her bedding entirely in favor of unpacking her clothes. Betty watches from her desk as Veronica hangs up little black dresses, jewel toned cashmere sweaters, silk blouses, jackets with fur collars, barely leaving any space to hang up her dress code regulation-friendly plaid skirts, plain white button downs, black and navy cardigans, and a blazer with the tag still on it.
“I can help,” Betty offers.
“Oh it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Veronica glances back at her bed but instead of making it she unzips her suitcase and starts unloading pairs of shoes.
“I really don’t mind,” Betty says. “I can do your bed if you want to finish the closet.”
Relief flashes across Veronica’s face before she presses her lips together and shrugs, like she couldn’t care less. “Only if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Betty says, and doesn’t voice her suspicion that rich girl Veronica Lodge has never had to make a bed before.
“Thanks.” Veronica pulls out patent leather booties, burgundy high heeled Mary Janes, pristine Adidas sneakers that look like they’ve never been worn. “I’m going to have to do some serious spatial reconfiguring to get these all in there.”
Betty looks at her side of the closet, where her shoes are neatly lined up on the floor: the black oxfords she wears during the day with her uniform, her old Keds, beat up running shoes, the white tennis shoes from her Vixen days her mother insisted she bring “just in case”. A pair of tall navy rain boots with red trim. One pair of black strappy heels for school formals. Simple, streamlined, everything she needs and plenty of space left over.
“You can put them on my side if you need to,” she tells Veronica, and sits on the edge of the other girl’s bed to shake out the fitted sheet.
Veronica narrows her eyes at Betty’s side of the closet. “Minimalism, I like it.”
Betty stares down at the new beige suede ankle boots she’s currently wearing. Her old ankle boots got ruined That Night, her mother didn’t even bother trying to get all the dirt out before she threw them away. Betty wasn’t angry about it, she threw away the outfit she was wearing That Night too, dumped her dirt stained clothes right in the bathroom trash can as soon as she got home. For once she was in agreement with her mom, she didn’t want to see any of it again anyway.
Betty surreptitiously does a hand check before she starts making Veronica’s bed to make sure she doesn’t accidentally drip blood on the new sheets but when she looks down at them she just sees skin, white marks where she was digging her nails around the crescent moon scars that line both palms.
She makes Veronica’s bed while Veronica finishes unpacking all her clothes. Betty shows her the bathroom, the drawer she left empty for her underneath the sink, the rack where she can hang her towel. Veronica stashes her flatiron and blow dryer in her drawer, puts a jar of Le Mer moisturizer and Laura Mercier primer in the cabinet above the sink next to Betty’s sunscreen and lip balm, lines up cosmetic bags and hair clips on the shelf above the towel rack.
Veronica’s phone dings and Betty follows her back to their room where Veronica’s left her phone on her desk; she picks it up and frowns before tapping something out with her thumbs. “We have wifi, right?”
“Yeah, of course.” Betty helps Veronica get her phone and laptop hooked up to the school’s network and checks the clock on the dresser. “We should go, dinner’s about to start.”
Veronica wrinkles her nose. “It’s barely five-thirty.”
“We do dinner a little earlier on the weekends. Here, the dining hall schedule is in there with everything else you need to know.” Betty gets the folder she prepared for Veronica this morning out of her desk drawer and passes it to her. “Campus map, student handbook, weekly school schedule, info on extracurriculars, and you’ll get your class schedule in the morning from the office. Oh hey, and I put your room key in your desk drawer. That’ll get you into our room but you still need your ID to get into the dorm.”
Veronica pulls out a set of keys from her handbag and slips the new key onto the ring. “Thanks. So, what’s the dress code for Sunday dinner?”
“Casual, we only have to wear our uniform during the school week.”
“Perfect,” Veronica says, and puts her cape back on. “I’m ready then.”
Betty presses her lips together and gives Veronica a tight smile, slips her phone into the back pocket of her jeans and checks that she has her ID so they can get back into the dorm later. She takes Veronica out the back way, down the stairs that lead to the garden, making sure the door shuts all the way behind them.
“It locks from the inside, it’s not fitted to swipe IDs so you can only go out, not in,” she explains to Veronica.
The other girl nods sagely. “To make it harder to sneak in late, I suppose.”
“Some girls prop it open during smoke breaks, just don’t get caught or you’ll get written up.”
Betty leads Veronica left through the little maze of rose bushes planted along the path and under the arch of towering trees that lead to the dining hall. Other students are walking in from the direction of the performing arts center and Betty takes a deep breath as she and Veronica go inside. She shows Veronica the coffee bar to their left, closed until tomorrow morning, and then they walk through the front hallway into the dining hall. It’s simple but heavy feeling, lots of dark gleaming wooden tables and chairs upholstered in dark blue, the food stations lined up against the right side of the room, the back wall made up of huge glass windows that face the woods.
“Not bad.” Veronica does a small spin. “Very rustic chic.”
“Come on, the food’s pretty decent.” Betty leads Veronica over to the beginning of the line for dinner.
They grab trays and Betty distracts herself by narrating everything like she’s a food critic; she points out the salad bar, the pasta station, the cut fruit, the organic roasted chicken and freshly made burgers, the ever present cereal selection. Betty makes herself a big salad and pretends not to carefully observe everything Veronica puts on her own tray (a side salad and a bowl of pesto penne) and cruises past the desert station and the frozen yogurt machine over to the drinks, where both of them fill up cups of Diet Coke and stack them on their trays.
Betty’s mentally trying to figure out where the hell they're going to sit when Cheryl Blossom spots her from where she’s drizzling marinara sauce sauce on her pasta, she shoves her food into the hands of another Vixen and stalks towards Betty and Veronica.
“Oh no,” Betty murmurs.
“Veronica Lodge!” Cheryl calls out. “It is Veronica, right?”
She’s still dressed in mourning a year after Jason’s death: black turtleneck, black miniskirt, red and gold enamel spider pinned to her chest, long red curls arranged artfully over one shoulder. To Betty’s surprise Veronica steps back so she’s slightly behind Betty and holds her tray defensively in front of herself.
“Can I help you?” Veronica uses a haughty tone of voice Betty hasn’t heard from her before.
Cheryl’s smile doesn’t slip for a second as she rests one hand on her chest. “Cheryl Blossom. I just wanted to introduce myself to the new girl in school and issue a warm welcome on behalf of all the students here at Riverdale Prep.”
“Pleasure,” Veronica says stiffly.
Cheryl bats her eyelashes. “Have you thought about extracurriculars? The Vixens have room for a few girls this year, you should think about trying out. You have a great look.”
“Vixens?” Veronica asks.
“Cheerleading,” Betty whispers to her.
“Oh!” Veronica shoots Betty a hopeful smile. “I’ll try out if you will, Betty. Cheryl, you know Betty, right?”
“Unfortunately, we share genetic material.” Cheryl gives Betty a withering look. “My cousin was on the Vixens last year. It didn't work out.” Her eyes rove over Betty’s tray. “For many reasons.”
Betty stares down at her salad and wishes she could sink right through the floor and disappear.
“Sorry,” Veronica says cheerfully. “But if the Vixens aren’t good enough for my girl Betty then they aren’t good enough for me either.”
Cheryl and Betty both gape at her.
“Excuse me?” Cheryl says, her voice razor sharp.
“You heard me,” Veronica says. “I’m not interested in joining your little girl gang.”
Cheryl gives Betty a dirty look, like she’s somehow responsible for this. “I see. Well then, best of luck to you, Veronica. You’ll need it.”
Veronica seems unconcerned. “I guess we’ll see about that.”
Cheryl looks her up and down. “I suppose so.”
Cheryl spins on her black stiletto heel and stomps back to her minions.
“Wow,” Veronica murmurs. “She came on a little strong, no?”
Betty gives Veronica an astonished look. “Why did you do that?”
“What?” Veronica asks nonchalantly.
“Why would you defend me like that?” Betty asks her. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know girls like her.” Veronica glowers in Cheryl’s direction. “She reminds me of my old friends in New York.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“It’s not a good thing,” Veronica says darkly. “Besides, we’re roommates. We have to have each other’s backs, right?”
“Yeah,” Betty agrees, stunned at the declaration of loyalty. “Right, totally.”
“Good! So.” Veronica tosses her hair out of her eyes and looks at Betty expectantly. “Where do we sit?”
Betty’s stomach drops. This is the moment she’s been waiting for, for Veronica to realize she’s about to hitch herself to the social pariah of the senior class, the good girl who fell from grace.
“Betty!” Archie Andrews is pushing past Reggie Mantle and Chuck Clayton to get to her, football tee shirt straining against broad shoulders, holding his tray one handed so he can flag her down with his free hand.
She saw him briefly yesterday during move-in along with his dad and Jughead but Betty only had time to wave tentatively at them from across the courtyard before her mother took her by the wrist and dragged her inside. It was the first time she’d seen him since That Night, they talked over the summer a few times while she was gone but it wasn't the same, everything between them painful and stilted.
“Hey,” he says breathlessly when he catches up to her and Veronica. “Come on, Kevin’s saving us seats.”
Archie tilts his head towards the back of the dining hall and when Betty cranes her neck she sees Kevin sitting at a small round table in the back corner by the windows. She’s so relieved that if Veronica wasn’t here she thinks she might collapse into Archie and sob, but she and Archie haven’t touched each other since That Night and Betty is determined not to cry in front of anyone in school this year.
So she smiles at Archie and says, “Hey Arch, this is my new roommate, Veronica Lodge. Veronica, this is Archie Andrews. My best friend.”
“Hey,” Archie says warmly.
“Hey yourself,” Veronica responds. She gives Betty a sly smile, dips her finger into her pesto sauce and licks it off. “Mm. Hot.”
Archie laughs. “Veronica, you sitting with us?”
“Oh, was that not obvious enough?” Veronica deadpans.
Betty watches Archie watch Veronica - his eyes traveling over her body hidden under her elegant cape as his lips curve up in a smile. She feels it right in the center of her chest, Archie and what’s left of his love for her drifting away forever, and she clutches her tray so hard her knuckles turn white.
“Um, Archie?” Betty prompts gently, when neither he nor Veronica break their staring contest.
“Right, come on.” Archie leads the way and Betty and Veronica follow him across the dining hall to where Kevin is holding down their new table.
Betty walks around the circular table and sits in the chair to Kevin’s right, gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and sets her tray down. “Hey Kev.”
Kevin’s eyes go wide as he slings one arm around her shoulders to squeeze her to his side. “Betty Cooper, where have you been?”
“LA,” she reminds him.
“Really.” Veronica sinks down in the open chair to Betty’s right, a curious expression on her face. “Do tell.”
Betty ducks her head a little, embarrassed at the attention, and catches Archie looking at her as he sits down across from her. “It’s not a big deal, I did an internship at a literary magazine over the summer.”
“Not a big deal?” Veronica cries. “Betty, that’s amazing!”
“Thanks,” Betty murmurs, blushing.
“That’s Betty,” Archie says. “She’s amazing.”
Veronica tilts her head and gives Betty a smile so dazzling it makes her dizzy. “I’m noticing.”
Jughead appears out of nowhere and plops down in the empty chair between Kevin and Archie, two burgers on his tray. “Hey guys.”
Betty stares at him in shock. Normally he sits with Toni and Fangs and Sweet Pea and the like, the misfits, the scholarship kids, the rumored children of Southside Serpents. He and Betty are friends, sure, they have Archie in common and they’ve been working on The Blue and Gold together since sophomore year, but they don’t sit together.
But then she sees the way Archie shifts in his chair and stares down at his food and she thinks, oh, okay.
Jughead was the first person to notice that she and Archie were missing That Night, he and Fred Andrews were waiting for them at the station when Sheriff Keller brought them in. Everything changed That Night, the three of them now tied together in strange, painful ways none of them could have ever seen coming back when they were kids, when Archie and Betty were best friends destined to be childhood sweethearts, the perfect younger Cooper girl and the boy next door, Jughead the scrappy sarcastic friend from the wrong side of town with a heart of gold rounding out their group.
What she doesn’t know is if Jughead is sitting here to be Archie’s moral support, or hers.
She isn’t sure anyone, even Jughead, could have the emotional capacity to be both.
Veronica cups her chin in her palm. “And you are?”
“Hungry.” Jughead sinks his teeth into his first burger.
“Jug,” Betty sighs. “This is Veronica.”
“Betty’s new roommate,” Archie adds.
Jughead’s eyes go wide and he swallows quickly, coughs into his fist and nods at Veronica. “Jughead.”
“Bless you,” Veronica responds saucily.
Archie cracks up and Betty glares at him. “It’s a nickname,” she explains to Veronica.
Veronica gives Betty a look like, yeah, whatever, and raises an eyebrow at Jughead. “Charmed, I’m sure.”
Jughead shoots Betty a look that clearly reads, this girl, really? and Betty shrugs and gives him a look right back that hopefully reads something along the lines of, please be cool, and Jughead winks at her and grins before taking another huge bite of his burger.
“So, Betty.” Veronica folds her hands under her chin. “Help me out. Give a lay of the land, socially speaking.” She tilts her head towards where the Vixens sit. “I take it that’s your old table.”
Betty nods and tries to ignore the sting in her chest. Cheryl let Betty know she was off the team in a Vixens group chat, two days after That Night. No warning, no explanation, but Betty didn’t need one. She knew why. She didn’t even have the energy to be hurt by the callous way it happened, she didn’t bother responding before deleting the entire text thread.
“And next to them is the football team,” Betty tells her, pointing out where Chuck and Reggie are lording over the team. “And over there are the musical theater kids, Josie and the Pussycats” -
“I’m sorry, what?” Veronica asks.
“They’re a girl group,” Betty explains.
“Good god, how many girl groups do you have here?”
“So many,” Kevin sighs. “So, so many.”
“We’re a small town, if we don’t separate into groups, how will we ever know how we stack up in the social hierarchy?” Jughead drones sarcastically.
“Band kids are over there,” Betty continues. “Academic - well this a private school, everyone’s academic, but like, the serious academic kids sit there.”
“And next to them is our resident nerd table engaging in what looks like a rousing game of G&G,” Kevin says, like a game show host.
“G and what?” Veronica asks.
“If you don’t know, you don't want to know,” Jughead advises.
“It’s a game,” Betty explains. “Griffins and Gargoyles.”
Veronica shrugs. “Never heard of it.”
“Where are you from?” Jughead asks.
A dreamy expression comes over Veronica’s face. “A magical little island by the name of Manhattan.”
Jughead stares at her. “Everything about you suddenly makes complete sense to me.”
Veronica smiles. “Thank you.”
Betty bites back a laugh and points to where Toni Topaz is sitting between Sweet Pea and Fangs. “And then over there are the scholarship kids, and lets see, did I get everyone?”
“The hippy.” Jughead mutters.
“Oh, god, yeah, whatever you do stay away from Evelyn.” Betty subtly points out where Evelyn is sitting alone, that creepy blank expression on her face as she eats. “She was in a cult.”
Veronica looks horrified. “I’m sorry, she what?”
“Oh, don’t worry, it got shut down,” Kevin says. “Her father was the leader, it was a whole thing.”
“Oh my god.” Veronica leans towards Kevin. “What happened?”
“Her dad was running this whole quote unquote, ‘alternative community’ called The Farm,” Kevin whispers excitedly. “They were harvesting organs and selling them on the black market. Rumor has it he knew the Feds were onto him and he sent his precious daughter to boarding school to keep her safe and out of the way. Can you say daddy issues?”
“Damn,” Veronica murmurs. “And I thought I had a dysfunctional family.”
Betty’s phone buzzes in her pocket and she slips it out, looks down at the screen - a blocked number is calling her. She declines the call, flips her phone over and sets it face down on her tray with numb fingers.
“Everything okay Betty?” Veronica asks.
Betty smiles tightly and stabs at a spinach leaf with her fork. “Just a wrong number.”
“So. Let me see if I have this straight.” Veronica points at Archie, her eyes on his shirt. “Football.” The finger swings to Kevin. “Musical theater.” She narrows her eyes at Jughead. “I’m leaning towards academic but part of you, no offense, is just screaming scholarship kid but that seems like a rude thing to bring up… oops, too late!” She gives them all a bright smile. “So my question is… why are you all sitting here?”
“We sit where Betty sits,” Archie answers solemnly.
Veronica looks around at all of them, and then at Betty, who’s trying not to die at Archie’s proclamation. So far she’s been completely failing at her plan of keeping her head down, at this rate she might as well go right up to Cheryl and let her cousin paint a target over her chest.
“Oh,” Veronica says softly. “I see. I’m at the right table, then.”
She leans in and gently bumps Betty’s shoulder with her own, and when Betty turns to look at Veronica she’s watching Betty with a careful expression that turns into a soft, private smile, and Betty can’t help but smile back.