sweet imagines

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Masterlist

Part 1

Sweet Pea x Reader

@idle-lanes@sgarrett49@murderyoursoul@moonlight53@redhairedoddity@the-achievementhunter@superoptimist1997  @gswritings

Word count: 1572

Warnings: Mentions of abuse and sexual abuse. Do not read if easily triggered.

—–

*bell ringing*

Y/N quickly put away her things, with a new history syllabus in hand and shoving it quickly in a folder that was designated for its future works.

“Hold on there”, Mrs. Haggly - halted everyone from leaving. “You will all have two major projects this semester, the first being in pairs. I have paired you up randomly and it is posted outside the door for all classes. Let me know if you have any questions”, she gave a nod granting everyone to leave the classroom.

Y/N kept her rushed nature, making it to the door after a blonde girl with a pony tail seemed particularly happy to have a partner out of a brown haired guy next to her.

She scanned the paper until she saw her name, “….who the hell is named…”.

“Right here sunshine”, Sweet Pea quipped giving a large grin as Y/N turned around in annoyance.

“This would be just my luck…”, Y/N tried keeping her comment quiet.

Sweet Pea once again followed Y/N’s step as she began to walk to the office as she hadn’t gotten a chance to get her locker number and combination yet. “Don’t you have someplace to be”.

“Oh come now. We have to talk about the project”.

“We have 8 weeks…”, Y/N didn’t enjoy the continuous banter.

Y/N finally made it to the desk, as Sweet Pea was still by her side. “Y/N Y/L/N, I need my locker assignment…”.

*bell chimes*

“Ah cra….”, Y/N was quickly cut off.

“Take this young lady…and for your tour guide”. The friendly office assistant handed Y/N two late passes.

“He’s not my…”, but before she could answer, Sweet Pea swiped the pieces of paper from the desk. Walking backwards in jest.

“Interesting…I know right where this is”.

Y/N’s head fell, tiresome of trying to ignore Sweet Pea. She didn’t need this - she thought. Not on today of all days.

“Y/N is it? Took a bit to get that name outta ya…”.

Y/N followed Sweet Pea out of the office, taking several steps faster to get her locker assignment back. And with succession, she was able to grab one of the papers out of his hand. “If I tell you we can talk about our history stuff later, will you give me the hall pass?”.

“Let me take you to your locker first”, Sweet Pea found himself giving a wink.

While flirting usually worked for Sweet Pea with an array of different girls - it did the opposite for Y/N. She gave a bite to her lip from stopping her words to come out, taking a large breath to get over her annoyance. “Fine”.

Y/N held her books tightly to her chest, eyes off of Sweet Pea, and just looking past him at where the lockers were, trying to find the number by herself.

Sweet Pea’s face fell. Realizing that he was giving off an un-welcomed remark. He once again caught up to Y/N, getting her to stop in her tracks. “Look I’m not trying to be an ass…”.

“You sure about that?”, Y/N raised her eyebrow with the question accordingly.

Sweet Pea gave a reluctant sigh, finally gaining back some unsettling nerves from that morning. He touched the back of his neck, his voice finding some solemn in it. “I just thought you could use a friend was all”. Sweet Pea was genuine in his words. Since the Southside had been paired with Northern Riverdale earlier that year - all of the other Serpents had found new friends to call their own. Toni had Cheryl, Fangs had the theater group - and while Sweet Pea was athletic - most people had still stayed away from him.

Y/N pondered Sweet Pea’s statement. “Why?”.

“You’re new”, he shrugged back.

“Acquaintances then”, Y/N gave a nod of taking a bit of the offer at a time - overthinking on whether or not it was a good idea.

“Excellent. A bar so low we can step over it”. Sweet Pea’s tongue was faster than his mind sometimes.

Y/N rolled her eyes while Sweet Pea pointed to her locker. “Can I have the pass now?”. Y/N spinned the dial to its required numbers.

“Yes but, meet me after school and then we can talk about the project”. Sweet Pea flicked the piece of yellow paper quickly between two fingers - Y/N catching it easily.

“I didn’t take you for the studious type”. Y/N finally really looked at Sweet Pea for the first time - not just looking past him.

“Looks can be deceiving…”, Sweet Pea moved his eyes allowing for the absence of a full answer to leave their conversation there as he made his way upstairs.

Y/N stood at her locker for a moment, closing it gently - thinking to herself, “maybe it will be good to have a friend”.

—–

Y/N came out of her last class - books in hand making her way down to her new locker. And to the least of her surprise - Sweet Pea was leaning against it looking down to a beat up phone. Y/N resisted sighing in angst and instead tried giving friendship a real chance.

Sweet Pea perked up seeing her come down the hallway - having a plan in mind for hopefully everything to come next. He moved to the side, letting her get to her locker. “So…how was the official first day?”.

Y/N shook her head with a chuckle attached, “Who are you? My mom after my first day of 1st grade?”.

Sweet Pea thought for a second, “Fair. Anyway, as your official tour guide…”.

“When did it become official?”, Y/N quirked a smile with her cut off.

“Semantics. Do you like shakes?”.

—–

Y/N sat there in a booth looking out the window to Pop’s parking lot that seemed to show Riverdale well. All types of people going in and out before a dinner rush - teenagers happy to have their first day over with - all giving Y/N the thoughts of how she wished she was like the rest of them - happy. 

Cars passed by - and when Y/N saw a red jeep - a flash came to her memory thinking back to that horrid night. A ringing fell of Y/N’s ears as if all other sounds fell silent.

Sweet Pea finally gave a grasp to Y/N’s frozen body as she hadn’t responded to her name. Y/N blinked finally coming down from her sudden state.

“Are you okay??”, Sweet Pea had already set the shakes down, his hand still on Y/N’s shoulder as she turned back to him.

“Uh yeah. Fine”. Y/N took the shake in front of her taking a sip to give releavement to Sweet Pea with the action.

Sweet Pea sat down opposite of Y/N, dragging his shake closer to him. “You, uh, well you don’t look okay”.

“I’ll be fine. I just…”, Y/N looked out the window to see the car no longer there - “I need to think about something else”.

The look upon Y/N’s face stroke a chord with Sweet Pea. Something too familiar about her being frozen reminded him of what he was like in the middle of his worse nights. Instead of changing the subject - Sweet Pea decided to open up to her. The worse he would lose would be the start of a friendship. He took a small breath, giving time to his words. “I get those too. The shivers sometimes. It’s like a flash of losing your air or something”.

Y/N looked to her hand not realizing it was shaking, her eyes then going back to Sweet Pea. “Can I ask….well, why do you get them?”.

Sweet Pea gave a shrug as if it was not as a big of a deal to him - trying to seem tougher on the surface. “I get bad dreams. I mean, I know that sounds like something a 5 year old would…”.

“No. I get it”, Y/N was now the one trying to give a reassuring smile. She took a quick drink as Sweet Pea seemed a bit uncomfortable staring at his drink now. “Do you want to talk about it?”.

“It can be…well you don’t know me”.

“Couldn’t that make it easier?”.

Sweet Pea muddled the idea for a moment. “Okay but…will tell me why you just froze?”.

Y/N straightened out her body. Feeling a bit unhinged - but it being a few months now - knew she needed to tell someone, and if it could be someone that understood parts of what she was feeling - then that made it better.

“I froze because I think I remembered something”. Sweet Pea gave a confused look to her words. “I think I remember something about the night…the night I was raped. From this summer…”.

With those words - Sweet Pea’s face became tough. As if he was ready to punch someone. Blood boiled up in him - feeling overheated - looking around to make sure her words were kept to themselves. “Do you know who? Because I will…”, synonymous with his words Sweet Pea made a fist on the table.

“No I don’t. I’m trying to place things still….”, Y/N was playing with the skin around her nails now - not looking to Sweet Pea for his reaction.

“Do you want to?”.

Y/N finally looked up, seeing both something soft and hard in Sweet Pea’s eyes in the moment. She gave one small nod.

Masterlist

Sweet Pea x Reader Part 2

@idle-lanes@sgarrett49@murderyoursoul@moonlight53@redhairedoddity@the-achievementhunter@superoptimist1997  

Words count: 1584 Warnings: Slight cursing and flashbacks of abuse and sexual abuse. Do not read if easily triggered.

—–

The nights were the worse. He would lay there for hours - hoping to get sleep, while being afraid of shutting his eyes all at the same time. The silence would get to him - he was used to much louder noises as the night would draw near. Sirens, large dogs barking, beer bottles hitting the wall - and most of the time - screams coming from the hall in his own kitchen.

Masterlist

Sweet Pea x Demisexual Reader

@idle-lanes@sgarrett49@murderyoursoul@moonlight53@redhairedoddity@the-achievementhunter@superoptimist1997  @gswritings

Part 1 Part 2

Word Count: 1868

Warnings: mild violence

A/N: I hope for at least one more part. If you guys want more than that - please let me know! Thanks for reading!

——-

Sweet Pea watched as Y/N had her hands in her pockets while trying to playfully walk over the train tracks heading to 3rd Ave. Something both childlike and alluring about the action. 

“So…how long since you left New York?”.

Y/N turned back, wind softly blowing in her hair - enacting Sweet Pea to being mystified by Y/N’s subtle allure once again. He blinked coming back down to reality as she answered. “About 8 months? The summer was nice here. Quiet stuff, nothing crazy. Something different from a big city for sure”.

“Aw yeah? What, were you going to big extravagant parties all the time or something?”.

Y/N stopped laughing hard in her tracks. “You know my last name isn’t Lodge. I don’t have money to own a Speakeasy”.  Sweet Pea had found some comfort in that statement, as his last “relationship” that of with Josie showed her true colors sometimes. Josie could be down to earth but would show her disgust for things “lower than her” as well as small things that she couldn’t understand of Sweet Pea’s life. A kinship of growing up a certain way was needed for Sweet Pea to open up.

“Where does that mean you lived?”. Sweet Pea enjoyed getting to know someone - especially the likes of someone that didn’t seem afraid of him or think of themselves more than of him.

“An apartment in Brooklyn. And no, not that weird hipster side of it”. Sweet Pea chuckled.

As they headed past the library, Sweet Pea relished in the idea of looking back at the Wrym. Missing the old days of its glory. Instead, he tried to look forward as he watched Y/N be aware of her surroundings looking up to the place she found solace in. “Ya know, this isn’t a bad library. I really like the architecture of it. Especially for a small town. Too much of New York is trying to mimic that now but with all the bells and whistles that they can”.

Sweet Pea thought for a moment. “Want to go in?”.

“It’s like midnight….”, Y/N’s words were cautious.

“We aren’t going to steal anything geez”. Sweet Pea softly rolled his eyes as he made his way up the steps.

Y/N paused in her footing. Not really wanting to go home and liking the idea of seeing the library at night. Maybe reading something and for once being loud in the book collection house.

“Okay”.

“Huh. That was easier than I thought - I intended on a bigger way to convince ya”, Sweet Pea took out the knife from Pop’s that had somehow ended up in his pant pocket.

Y/N shortly stared at Sweet Pea’s hand as she recalled the butter knife. 

“I know the person that owns the place. Doesn’t count as stealing”, Sweet Pea gave a flirty shrug that came paired with a smile.

Y/N laughed his comment off and made sure no one was watching as Sweet Pea jimmied the door open. The lock gave a click and Sweet Pea once again opened the door for Y/N. She quickly glided in as Sweet Pea locked the door behind her. Y/N breathed in the welcome smell of old books and overread pages. The place was darkened but the moonlight had lit up the large windows facing the north end of the building. 

Y/N turned to look at Sweet Pea, who was looking back at her up and down. Her face was lit up with excitement while her demeanor seemed the most relaxed yet despite the illegal pretenses of getting in the building itself. “Come on, let me show you my favorite section”.

Sweet Pea’s body rose in heat a bit, somehow getting nervous following the girl in front of him. He smoothed his hair out of nervousness as Y/N walked with glee to the Mystery/Fantasy section. As he followed her steps, it was like the moment was slowing down - something for his mind to remember. His heartbeat slowed, his hands having a slight twitch - something he tried quickly to gain control of.

“Aha”, Y/N picked up the large anthology of the works of Lewis Carroll, pushing the book to Sweet Pea’s chest as he grasped it on impact. “Hold that for me, I’m looking for one more thing…”.

Y/N missed the look of Sweet Pea as she combed over the call numbers on the shelf - enamored with how focused Y/N was on her small mission. It was then that Sweet Pea heard a creak. His entire demeanor quickly changed. He moved Y/N back quietly,  pointing his index finger to his mouth for her to remain quiet.

What Sweet Pea didn’t notice - as he was focused on the entrance of the library - was that Y/N’s entire demeanor changed as well.

—–

Sweet Pea’s night routine mimicked his morning one. Granted it had changed after the Worm had been taken over.

Now it was a little less exciting. If anything - the most stunning question of the night would be where he would end up sleeping. With the set up now of tents and some bought and owned trailers of the Southside - it was rare that Sweet Pea had a formal bed to sleep on. Sometimes he would get lucky and got a couch in Fangs’ Uncles trailer. And, if he was really lucky and on Toni’s good side - he would somehow manage an actual bed in Cheryl’s new abode.

When at Fangs’ - he would attempt to do homework - only ever liking the subject of English depending on the assignment. Something like math was more of a punishment for him. After a while he would yawn - try to find something substantial to eat - every once in a while getting a cooked meal thanks to the likes of Fangs and Cheryl. After that - it was a long attempt of trying to fall asleep. Sweet Pea was somewhat of an insomniac. He was never a hit the pillow and out type of guy. Even on the nights where he had a long exhausted day.

Some nights he would get mad at himself. Laying there and thinking how crazy it was that his mind wouldn’t stop racing. Of things of his day, things he wish he could change - and telling himself by the end of it, how it was pointless to hope for change.

He would stretch his arms under his head - staring at the ceiling - wishing that he might be wrong.

—–

Sweet Pea flexed his hand, slightly pushing on Y/N’s abdomen to make sure she was still behind him as they slowly walked to the front of the library. Y/N mimicked Sweet Pea’s steps as they remained as quiet as they could. Y/N saw a large book on the shelf, grabbed it soundlessly, slowly gripping it hard.

Sweet Pea lowered himself so he didn’t remain at a standard height sight - then he saw familiar outlines of Ghoulies that once roamed the halls of Southside High with him. He turned to Y/N mouthing the word Ghoulies - Y/N gave a gentle nod in reply. Sweets then gave a signal for Y/N to remain behind the shelves as he moved around the side of the building trying to gain an upper hand.

“See, I told ya no one came in here”, a Ghoulie hopped on a table while lighting a cigarette as the other pulled out a chair sitting on it backwards. 

“What do we tell Penny?”.

“Duh, that we looked everywhere and around the building. Man, I mean the Worm is making us money but it’s just ridiculous how much….”. 

Before the Ghoulie could finish, I blow was pushed to his face by Sweet Pea’s hand. The Ghoulie was on the ground as Sweet Pea gave a kick to his stomach a few times before the other one got up to fight him off.

That’s when Y/N sprung up, book in hand, using all her might to give a good thrust to the gut - knocking what she saw a switchblade to the ground. She kicked it away quickly. With the second Ghoulie the ground, Y/N began to hit the the Ghoulie over the head with the book repeatedly. Sweet Pea stared for a moment in awe as Y/N held her own. Then realizing the Ghoulie under him was trying to move - Sweet Pea took  another kick to his gut, getting down hitting his face. “Stay out of this library!”. 

The Ghoulie, bloodied as he was, gave a nod.

“Let’s go!”. Sweet Pea got up, grasping Y/N’s hand as they ran out of the library. They darted past Olin Avenue, as Sweet Pea quickly looked behind him. His hand somewhat dripping with blood. 

He looked down, realizing he was still holding Y/N’s hand as they slowed down.

“I don’t think anyone is following us”, an out of breath Y/N let go of Sweet Pea and began to walk backwards - trying to make sure her words were correct.

Her hair was now disheveled, makeup a little faded from the start of the night and yet to Sweet Pea, she looked flawless.

Sweet Pea gave a smile as he walked staring at Y/N, impressed by her actions in the library. “I’m going to assume that wasn’t your first fight”.

“It was my first fight here if that makes you feel better”, Y/N flashed a small smile, turning around looking forward as they got closer to her street.

Sweet Pea stretched his arms over his head as he cracked his hand simultaneously. “I’m sorry our venture got interrupted. And by Ghoulies for that matter…”, he huffed a bit of breath. 

Y/N gave a questionable look while shaking her head, “nah, it wasn’t your fault”.

She looked up seeing her building before her, feet pausing upon realization. “This is me”, her head jerked slightly up.

It may have been the adrenaline still lingering, or that he finally wanted to do something that had been on his mind all day. He stepped forward, pushing Y/N’s hair behind her ear. Her eyes looked confused, like she wasn’t anticipating his next move. He leaned in, his lips getting close to hers, until she took a step back.

“I…uh…”.

Sweet Pea’s look of enticement quickly changed, realizing what he had hoped - was wrong. “No, I’m sorry, I thought…”.

“No, it’s me. Really. Truly. I just…look, I told you. You really are better off with someone like Josie”. Y/N’s eyes began to swell with tears. Sweet Pea dawning a confused face.

“What did I do? I’m sorry, I just…”.

Y/N began to shake her head. “Sweet Pea, just say goodnight”. Y/N started to make her way to the building, keeping her eyes on him.

“Will you tell me what I did?”. Sweet Pea thought he had did everything right for once. Overthinking the last few hours.

“Just say goodnight, I can’t handle going into this right now”. The look of turmoil was on Y/N’s face as she said these words.

“Okay. Goodnight Y/N”.

@idle-lanes@sgarrett49@murderyoursoul@moonlight53@redhairedoddity@the-achievementhunter@superoptimist1997  @gswritings

Sweet Pea x Demisexual Reader Part 1 Part 3

Words: 2205

Warnings: None yet?

Sweet Pea x Reader - Part 1

A/N: Thanks for the people who liked the first part. I have more ideas for where this is heading but would like some input if you guys like where this is going or not. Comments are always welcomed! Thanks for reading!

——

As Sweet Pea handed Y/N a drink, he tried taking the beauty of her in one more time. Her nails were now painted, she had put makeup on for the event and even had her hair different. He had hoped it was all for him.

“Y/N!”.

The boy she had entered in with had joined her once again. Sweet Pea this time now being friendly knowing he wasn’t a threat.

The boy tried mouthing “Is this him?” nonchalantly but was unsuccessful as Sweet Pea slightly smiled now knowing she had talked about him.

She nudged his shoulder while Y/N sat up - “I’m going to find the bathroom, I’ll be back…”. She gave a slight nod to Sweet Pea as her brother took her seat.

What was quiet and subtle about her was the opposite of her step-brother. He had no problem with new people or new surroundings. “Patrick”, he stuck out his hand to Sweet Pea and he gave his hand in return.

With that, Patrick gripped Sweet Pea’s hand lightly in order to make a point - “You hurt that girl, know that being in a gang won’t help you one bit”. 

Sweet Pea was used to threats. It was something that came with the territory of being a Serpent. However, he took this more of warning than a full attack. The guy cared about his sister - a girl that had somehow made Sweet Pea’s heartbeat go a little faster. He wasn’t going to blame him for the action of trying to protect her.

“Understood”. With Sweets answer - Patrick let go of his hand - his eyes becoming lighter as if he approved - not that Y/N needed it.

“Well, I wish you luck”.

“Luck with?”, Sweet Pea was confused.

Patrick began to stir Y/N’s drink and smelling it - saddened by the lack of alcohol. “She’s here. That’s something big for her. It means you made an impression”.

Sweet Pea flinched at the words thinking them over - “No. It means she keeps her word”. Patrick smiled liking Sweet Peas answer more.

“So…”, Patrick seemed lost in more words - “did that hurt?”. He pointed to Sweet Pea’s tattoo.

Sweet Pea gave a chuckle. “Nah, I’ve been through worse”.

“What are we laughing about?”. Y/N came to retrieve her seat - Patrick’s body had insinuated that it was his now - making Y/N roll her eyes in jest. 

With that Kevin came on stage to introduce Josie McCoy - in the moment, Sweet Pea began to freeze. Josie began to sing and part of Sweet Pea couldn’t take her eyes off her. Josie had a magical voice no question - but had made it clear that a relationship was not something she wanted. If anything, it made Sweet Pea feel like he wasn’t worthy of a real relationship. Josie concreting that only a month prior. Sweet Pea bit his lip - which drew him back to the puzzling girl before him. She was watching Josie sing, very slightly moving her body to the music. He watched her sway from behind - seeing that she didn’t care of her surroundings - that she was just her.

Y/N had no facade about her. She was upfront, direct and seemed to be a person who knew what she wanted out of life. If anything, she was just trying to take the journey of life with an open mind. 

As Josie stepped off stage, Y/N turned back to both the bar and Sweet Pea behind her - quickly catching his glance at her. Sweet Pea fumbled a bit with a rag that was still in his hand as he had realized he had been caught staring. He tried giving a smirk but all it fueled for Y/N was an inquisitive brow. Once again she was confused by his actions.

“I uh…have to get something from the back”, Sweet Pea quickly left to the back of the bar and his feet lead him to the backstage. Part of him was just trying to hide as it had seemed his feelings would be unreciprocated once again. 

“Well well Sweet Pea, come to tell me how brilliant my performance was?”.

Sweet Pea somewhat grunted as he turned to find Josie behind him. Part of him still wanted her. Josie was always attractive with her petite frame - something he had enjoyed all summer. But what he had lacked with Josie, was a real connection. Her getting to know his true nature had never really occurred to her over the summer. There was heat between them - but never any meaning.

“No. Just came to get some breath”, Sweet Pea groaned.

“Ah Sweets, got something you’re running from or to?”. Josie came closer to Sweet Pea, grabbing onto his black tie.

Sweet Pea looked at her stance - her eyes giving off a darkness of want. Yet, his mind was on someone else. “You gave up me remember?”.

“True. But tonight is a night for celebration…maybe…”.

“Maybe nothing McCoy - you were done with me a month ago. Let’s leave it at that”. Sweet Pea turned but could hear light footsteps retreating behind him. 

He decided to follow them versus looking back at the annoyed singer.

—-

“Hey!”, Sweet Pea shouted coming through the phone booth of Pop’s -  hitting the door a bit as a line of teenagers watched a girl in black dress pants flee.

Luckily for Sweet Pea, his feet took longer strides. He caught up to Y/N in the parking lot.

“Hey! Stop Y/N!”.

She decided to freeze in her steps. She was still trying to understand her feelings and why she fled in the first place.

“Look whatever you saw…”.

“It’s fine”.

Sweet Pea now adorned the confused look upon his face. “What’s fine? Look Josie and I had a thing but i–”.

“Really it’s fine. Honestly it’s probably better”. Y/N cut him off again.

Sweet Pea took a step closer to Y/N, “there’s nothing between her and I anymore”.

Y/N stood there just staring - processing her thoughts before she spoke. “Look, I came here because I told you I would and I did. I’m sorry if you thought this was a date”. Sweet Pea’s heart plunged. “I just…I don’t know you okay? You don’t know me. Someone like Josie is better for you, truly”.

“I’m telling you now. Anything I had with Josie is done. I don’t want her”.

“You don’t know me”. Y/N’s words were concrete in nature - not understanding what Sweet Pea saw in her.

“Then let me get to know you”, Sweet Pea huffed as his feelings were released in a breath. “Would you like a milkshake?”.

Y/N thought for a moment. “One shake”.

“Can it be with conversation?”, Sweet Pea’s flirtatious nature came back to him - but it wasn’t really caught by Y/N. Y/N nodded, walking past him, heading back inside of Pop’s. 

—–

Y/N was a woman with a routine. She woke up in her room always the same way. Wincing her eyes open as she would yawn. Grabbing her clothes out for the day and heading to the bathroom. She wasn’t a girl of vanity. She didn’t spend time looking in the mirror often beyond brushing her teeth or making sure her hair wasn’t too crazy. If anything - she tried to part the mirror as quickly as possible before the words “it will never change from this” would come to her mind. 

She would head to Patrick’s room - either throwing a pillow or getting him up somehow before she headed to the kitchen. She wasn’t a big morning eater but found her solace in coffee. And thus, out of routine, would begin to make a pot as if it was second nature. 

Patrick would come in wincing his eyes while Y/N would look at the clock. She kept everything carefully timed. When to get up from the dining table to clean her mug - when to put her shoes on - and what minute to leave the apartment to get to school on time for her 20 minute walk. 

After locking the door she would crack open whatever book sparked her fancy and her feet would guide her knowing the way to school well by now. It was a routine that never faltered. 

—–

Sweet Pea resisted keeping the smile on his face while he brought the milkshakes over to the booth. He had noticed she felt more relaxed sitting down staring out the window - as if her thoughts were ahead of their soon be conversation.

“So - Patrick…how long have you been step-siblings?”.

Sweet Pea’s words grabbed Y/N out of her small daze as she tried to gain interest. “Oh, I guess about four years now…”.

“Can I ask which parents?”.

Y/N took the straw to her mouth of the strawberry shake - every once in a while plunging the straw in to mix the whipped cream in. “His mom, my dad”.

“Gotcha. Well, he seems interesting”.

“…did he say something in particular to you?”. Y/N’s brow of curiosity rose again.

Sweet Pea thought back to the bar, “nah nothing to worry about. You’re uh…not from here right?”,

Y/N shook her head, “no. New York”, it was the first time that Y/N’s eyes really perked in interest.

“Must be better than here…”, Sweet Pea looked out the window recalling the last few years.

“You okay?”, Y/N was genuinely concerned. 

“Yeah just - this is the type of town…where, well, people like me tend to never leave”.

“If you mean people like you because of that tattoo - then I don’t think you know yourself very well…”, Y/N said this plainly but it had resonated.

Sweet Pea chuckled, “Oh yeah?”

Y/N sat back to the seat of the booth - something coy finally coming out of her mouth. “You speak your mind, you aren’t afraid of anyone else and you seem to go after something when you want to”.

Sweet Pea thought for a moment, “all true”.

Y/N smiled, her lips going back to her drink.

“Do you miss New York?”.

Y/N nodded again, “almost all of it. The city, the museums…the culture”,

“What made you guys come here?”. Sweet Pea finally took a swig of his chocolate shake, leaning back into the corner of the booth - his feet up on the seat before him.

“Arlene. Patrick’s mom. We had to leave New York…”, Y/N thought for a moment and then opened her mouth again, “well because of a situation with my dad. She found a job here and it was just settled at that”. Her eyes looked down in a way of anguish and embarrassment.

“At least you have people who care about you”.

Y/N looked up, “don’t you? I mean…”, she pointed to his tattoo.

Sweet Pea laughed his comment off. “I mean, the Serpents are a family, don’t get me wrong. But I’m not the highest on everyone’s list to really care about. I shuffle around here and there. I got Fangs but that’s about it”.

Sweet Pea took a butter knife off its placement on the table and began playing with it out of habit - somewhat missing the switchblade that was usually in his pocket.

“Well that’s someone then”, Y/N gave a smile.

Once again, Sweet Pea was enamored with how her face lit up when she smiled. It was if she had no idea how she looked - giving off a glow that could have been infectious to anyone. But in that moment, it was infectious to him. 

—–

A few hours had passed between them in the booth. Talking about music and movies and finding the similarities in each other’s tastes. Y/N would ramble about the books she still had yet to read and how she missed going to a “real art museum”. 

“Can I take you home?”.

“Oh I didn’t think….”, she thought for a moment, giving her index finger out to pause the question as well as her answer. She looked at her phone and sent a few texts. Nodding when she got the reply she expected. “Sure. Do you have a car or walking…I mean I don’t live far from here…”.

Sweet Pea looked questionable, “You live on the South Side?”.

Y/N nodded a little reluctantly. “Yeah off of Hastings. The construction over there has been murder on my sleep…”.

Sweet Pea thought about passing the Whyte Worm getting to Y/N’s place. He didn’t want to see his former home in the likes it was now. “I have my bike but if you want to walk…we should take Wabash…it’s safer”. 

“That’s fine”. Y/N pulled a card out of the back case of her phone as she slowly got up.

“They’re already paid for…”, Sweet Pea reached behind his neck slightly rubbing a spot out of nervousness.

“Oh. Well thanks, I’ll pay you back”.

Sweet Pea got up and stepped ahead of Y/N to get the door in front of her. Trying to remember the manners his grandmother taught him.