#sweeka

Sweet Pea rubs his face with his free hand, the one that's split and angry red for her. For the Serpents. A sign that he would do anything just to feel a little something. He closes his eyes, “Mika,” he murmurs. “I'd fight every battle for you. You’re one of us,” he says with a breath. He holds back other things like he feels like he’s known her for so long but doesn’t quite get her.

But he wants to.

She smiles and rests her head on his shoulder as they continue down the road towards the clubhouse. “I know you would, Sweet Pea,” she says with a loud sigh. “Because you're the best ever. You’re the epitome of ride-or-die.”

His heart pulses on the word. And his veins stiffen, his arteries tighten. Because he's the best ever. He feels her breath on his skin and the way her hair drapes on his shoulder, her skin is on his skin and her hand is tangled up with his but he keeps paused. Because friends don't feel like this, he knows. Friend's don't feel like pause mode and so high he's in the air. “Baby,” he says in a breath. “You make me do bad things.”

“You’re a big boy, you make your own decisions,” Mika says with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t go around passing the blame, that’s an ugly trait.”

Mika’s face turns serious and she lifts her head off his shoulder, she keeps her arm linked in his and her fingers wrapped in his hand but she bites her lips, dark eyes and a heavy frown. Sweet Pea knows that what Mika doesn't realise is lately, he's been hanging onto her every word like it was some kind of addiction. Most words out of Mika’s lips have been etched into his mind but he doesn't think too much on it.

But the whole of fucking Southside does.

“I don't like being watched,” she mumbles against his shoulder. “I don't like the attention.”

“We just want to make sure you’re okay,” he says loudly, pulling her hand so she jerks back closer to him. “Don’t worry about it so much.”

She doesn’t seem convinced. “I was watched all the time when I was back home and now sometimes I get scared I’m going to do something wrong.”

“What do you mean?” he asks. Sweet Pea knows that at their age, she shouldn't be thinking like this. It's ageing and heavy in their world but they should be light and free. He quickly thinks about what it must feel like to have a normal life, parents. Maybe it's easier on the Northside. But his Nan always talks about the cards they were dealt and how they have to live with them.

“Nothing...” Mika says slowly. “But this is the way it's always going to be, isn't it?”

“Yeah,” he shrugs, “Maybe it is?” he watches her face brighten, his heart starts beating properly again. He's high for making her smile.

She slaps his chest and pretends to kick at his shins. “Geez, what a way to make me feel like shit, Sweety,” Mika pulls her bag up again and grabs Sweet Pea’s hand, pulling him along. “You're just lucky we always walk together because it's tradition or I might feel like ditching your sorry ass.”

“Tradition?” he laughs, “Since when?”

“Since now,” she laughs. “Come on, traditions start somewhere, right?”

Sweet Pea can feel her changing the subject but he lets her. “Can I ask you something?”

She kicks a rock across the road. “One question,” she hums.

He takes a deep breath. “Did you have a boyfriend before you came here?”

She groans out loud and doesn’t brush hair out of her eyes. “You really want me to ditch your sorry ass, don’t you?”

“No!” he argues. “I… I’m just trying to get to know you, Mimi.”

“Next question or I’m ditching your sorry ass.”

Sweet Pea looks at his fingers wrapped up in Mika’s and he feels like maybe he shouldn't have a burning in his palm or how his hand feels like the weight of the ocean on his back. She's right, this is tradition now. But even with tradition, Mika’s hand in his feels in between satin and handcuffs. A lifetime made out of weeks. “You can't ditch my sorry ass-”

“So you admit your ass is sorry?” she challenges.

Sweet Pea feels like he's on his knees right now. “I'm not sorry for trying to get to know you, Mika,” he says with a small smile on his lips. Mika looks down at the ground and he feels her grip loosen on his arm; before he can even ask, her entire mind was in the expression on her face. “What's wrong?”

Mika clears her throat and looks over to Sweet Pea, sliding her hand back down to his hand, pulling it up with her fingers linked in his. “This,” she says quietly with red, angry knuckles burning in the sun. He wonders why his chest feels tight and his hat feels heavy on his head, his jaw pulses because he knows why his knuckles are angry red and still pulsing for another hit. Because he paid the price for Southside. She takes a deep breath and she puts his hand back down but she keeps her linked in it. “This shit is conditioned in us since we were kids - it was the same when my dad was around. It’s weird, don’t you think?”

Sweet Pea feels his heart and anger occupying the same space in their intertwined hands. That pulse in his jaw seems to be going harder and harder and he wonders if it would be hard to give that idiot Sammy the Ghoulie another hit. “This is the first time I’ve heard you mention your dad.” He thinks quickly about what the best thing to say would be but he can't think through the tears that he can almost see forming. “Don't cry.”

“I'm not,” she says, shaking her head, making her long hair fly everywhere. “Big girls don't cry, Sweet Pea.”

He laughs quietly. “I thought we established that you're not a big girl, I'm bigger.”

“So you're a girl, huh?” she teases.

He laughs and shoves her away, feeling their hands tighten as their bodies move apart but he pulls her close. When Mika laughs, who says that it's not as sunny on the Southside?

He lets her drop it and sway the conversation, feeling like she’ll let him in when she’s ready.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fangs is messy shots on the countertop as Sweet Pea tries to hold his best friend up. “Bro,” he groans, snatching a shot glass out of Fangs’ hand. “You need to go to bed.”

Fangs rolls lazy eyes and downs a half a spilled shot. “You’re not my mom,” he slurs. “Stop telling me what to do.”

Mika laughs and places a steadying hand on Fangs’ shoulder. “Listen to Sweet Pea,” she warns. “Or I’ll kick your ass.”

Fangs looks to Toni for back up but she doesn’t give in, just shrugging her shoulders at Fangs. “Don’t look at me,” she tells him. “I know she’ll kick your ass.”

Mika just smirks at Fangs and he gives a frustrated sigh, “You know, Mika,” he starts slurring again, “Before you came around, these guys used to claim being badasses… now they’re scared of you.”

Sweet Pea looks over to Mika and gives her a grin that just earns him an entitled smirk in return, “Fangs,” Mika starts. “Treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen they say.”

Sweet Pea sips at a warm beer when Mika goes over to the pool table to talk to Jughead and Betty. “How long has this idiot been drinking for?”

“Hey!” Fangs snaps back. “That idiot is standing right here.”

“Since 10,” Toni says, placing a hand on Fangs cheek making him jerk back. “Veronica was here with her mimosas.”

Sweet Pea shakes his head. “Mimosas, Fangs? What the fuck happened to you, bro?”

“What happened to you?” Fangs argues back. “Ever since you fell in love, you’ve been a little twitchy.”

Toni’s jaw drops and she looks away, hiding a giggle but Jughead slowly makes his way over, pulling his beanie down his head. “Did I just walk into something I shouldn’t have?”

Fangs steps uneasily from foot to foot, another drink being taken from his hands this time by Jughead. “Sweet Pea’s in love,” he mumbles. “He’s ditched me.”

Jughead grins and gives Sweet Pea a wink, “Betty and Mika seem to be getting along…”

“I’m not in love!” Sweet Pea snaps a little too quickly. Sweet Pea can feel his blood boiling. “Jughead,” he says, trying to keep the hint of begging out of his voice, “Do I look like I have time to fall in love?” Fangs snorts out loud and Jughead scratches the back of his neck, trying to hide his amusement but it wasn’t working. “Toni! Back me up!”

Toni just shrugs and blows Sweet Pea a kiss, “Look, this shit happens -”

Sweet Pea cuts her off. “This is ridiculous.”

“We have no control over these things…” Jughead says slowly.

“What is this? An intervention? We spend a lot of time together, I know that but it’s your guys fault because you don’t ever spend time with her!”

“I do!” Toni replies, shock on her face.

“Yeah because you’re a girl,” Sweet Pea says with a shrug.

Toni shakes her head. “Wow, you are an asshole.”

“This shit isn’t funny,” Sweet Pea mumbles. “I don’t know why the fuck you think I’m in love with her because I spend time with her, if that were true I would have been in love with Toni over anyone else.”

Toni punches Sweet Pea in the stomach. “I’ve never hated you more than I do right now.”

“I’m just trying to get to know her, it’s not my fault she’s private - if she wants to get in with us, we have to get to know her.”

“How about instead of asking me and dad for information, you just ask her? Or are you too shy?” Jughead says.

“Shit, Sweet Pea,” Toni chuckles. “Even Jughead’s taking stabs at you.”

“It’s because you look like an idiot when you stand in front of Mika and you freeze every time, that’s like Love 101,” Fangs adds quickly.  Sweet Pea punches him on the shoulder. “Ouch! Dude!”

Sweet Pea folds his arms and leans against the wall. “You guys suck; do you know that?” he moans. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”

Toni shoves Sweet Pea’s shoulder before taking a step back. “We get it, you were obviously taken aback by her intense beauty,” she teases with a wink. Fangs smirks and Jughead laughs. “And now you’ve gotten to know her a little better and it’s changed.”

Sweet Pea feels his face creeping up hot and he throws his hands in the air. “Laugh all you want, I’m not gonna deny she’s hot…”

“So it’s true then? You were taken aback?” Jughead asks. “Oh Sweets.”

Sweet Pea throws his hands in the air. “I wasn't taken aback!” he yells at his friends behind him. “But I’m not fucking blind! And you guys must be dumb to think I didn’t see she was pretty! Ugh!” he groans. “This has nothing to do with anything, can you guys just shut up for once?”

The group hushes when Mika comes back over, swinging a pool cue between her fingers with one hand and patting Jughead on the head with the other one. “How Betty puts up with your sadness is beyond me, that girl is the definition of a ray of light.”

Mika leans on the bar next to Sweet Pea and he can feel Jughead’s eyes on him. “Do you want to get out of here?” he murmurs.

Mika raises an eyebrow. “You think it’s a good idea to leave Fangs out here? He looks like he’s about to pass out.”

Sweet Pea inhales deeply and rubs his eyes. “Toni can babysit him,” he replies, leaning in closer to whisper in Mika’s ear. “I could honestly just do with a blunt and a burger…”

She gives him a sugary smile and leans against his shoulder. “My two favourite things.”

Sweet Pea swings his keys around his index finger when he sees FP making his way over. “Can we have the cue back, Mika?” he asks. “You look like you could kill someone with that, or are you planning on joining in, kiddo? Let’s hope you have better pool skills than your old man.”

She hands the cue over before saying; “Sweets and I were on our way out so I’ll be back later to show you my skills.”

FP booms. “You and Sweets, huh? You already got him wrapped around your finger. He can’t stop asking about you.” He elbows Sweet Pea in the ribs while Sweet Pea groans internally. Another person to add to the list of people out to get him.

Mika pauses and Sweet Pea can almost hear her mind ticking. He watches her fists clench and her jaw tense as she fakes a smile to FP. “I gotta go, I just remembered I have something going on.”

She moves so quickly, Sweet Pea barely has time to register that she’s out the door. He shoves his keys in his pocket before starting off in a run after her.

He’s out the door just as quickly as she is and Sweet Pea sighs in frustration before pushing past her. “Stop following me,” Mika mumbles.

He makes it out to the front steps of the Wyrm but he hears the door slam against the wall again and the sound of shoes on the pavement. “Hey!” he starts. “Turn around!”

Sweet Pea stops in his tracks, not expecting her to stop too but she does and his heart lets up. “What?” she calls back.

“Did I do something wrong, Mimi?”

Mika’s eyes darken but she smiles sweetly, her eyes and lips telling him two completely different stories. She moves a little closer until she’s looking him dead in the eye. The movement in itself of her getting closer throws Sweet Pea almost and he hesitates a little before taking a step back. It’s only then when he realises her eyes are a lighter brown than usual, she wears scuffed, red Docs and her jeans are ripped at the knees. Mostly he notices how her smile doesn’t falter and her chest rises and falls before she speaks again. “Firstly, don’t call me Mimi -” she almost shouts, hair flying everywhere.

“Well don’t call me ‘Sweety’ -”

“Secondly,” she cuts off again, “If you’re going to be an asshole constantly, try doing it a bit better? And thirdly, stop trying to dig for dirt on me!”

“I’m not digging for dirt!” he groans, hands in his hair. “It’s just that every time I think I’m getting to know you, you shut down!”

The air stands still as they watch each other. Her dirty Docs scuff in the dust and he can almost see the guard she wears building higher and higher in front of her. “If you have questions, don’t ask any-”

“Anyone else?” he snaps back. “Every single time I try and ask you anything, you shut me down. You’re not doing yourself any favours, baby.”

“Don’t call me baby, either!” she hisses. He throws his hands in the air again and she jerks back, “Don’t put your hands near me!”

“I wasn’t!” he argues, “You’re just so frustrating!”

She puts her hands up and takes a step back. “Just… don’t. Just go, I’ll stay here.”

Sweet Pea sniggers as he kicks his boot in the dirt, unsure of where to look. He knew this was stupid. She was standing at the front of the Whyte Wyrm, yelling out to him. Un-fucking-believable, he thinks, but she still stands in front of him with her hands on her hips. “Whatever you say, Mimi,” he drawls, making his way closer to her, standing at the bottom of the steps but she still looks down at him from the top. But even with him standing there looking up at her, she keeps her smile on and makes herself taller.

She doesn’t wait for his reply. Instead he’s stuck there standing outside alone as Mika walks back into the Whyte Wyrm, slamming the door behind her.

He stands on the bottom step, jaw dropped, face burning and feeling like a complete idiot all over again. But it had been a long time since he had felt anything at all, and it all came from the new girl on the Southside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fangs shows no love when he leaves Sweet Pea high and dry standing out the front of Thistlehouse. Fangs didn’t even have the balls to pretend like he was going to back his best friend up when he was going up against Toni and Cheryl. “Fucking bastard,” he mutters under his breath as he watches Fangs ride away.

He barely gets his fist to the door when it swings open, Cheryl’s trademark smirk evident on her face. “Barely crawling in on your hands and knees, BFG - watch your head when you come in,” she says, spinning on her heels. “We have standard sized door frames around here.”

Sweet Pea groans as he follows Cheryl in, “What does Toni use then?” he mumbles. “The fucking cat flap? Must be hard for her to reach the standard height door knobs…”

Cheryl turns to look at Sweet Pea with a look of astonishment. “Don’t let her catch you saying that.”

“Or what?’ he scoffs, not sure where to look. One of the living rooms alone was bigger than his whole house and he’d never get used to the fact no matter how many times he had been here. “She’ll beat me?”

Cheryl shrugs as she sits on one of the sofas that makes him feel like he’s part of one of Nan’s soaps. “She made me swear not to beat your ass so I’m assuming she’s keeping the privilege for herself,” she sips at a cherry cola obnoxiously as Sweet Pea tries to unfold himself on a seat next her. “Please, enlighten me on why you’re here? I didn’t take you for the dumb one. I always reserved that right for Fangs.”

Sweet Pea screws his eyes shut and rubs his face. “Damn, you are one difficult person to talk to, aren’t you?” he groans.

Cheryl smiles sweetly again. “Quite like you and how you refused to actually talk to the person you’re trying to get to know -”

“I’m sorry that I asked FP for information, I can barely communicate with Mika because she’s so closed off -”

Cheryl cuts him off again. “Communication is funny like that, isn’t it?” she snaps quickly. “Because general rule of thumb is that if you want to get to know someone, you ask that person. Not the whole of Riverdale. Call Archie while you’re at it, you never know just how much he might know about Mika even though he’s never met her, I have his number right here -”

“Cheryl!” Sweet Pea snaps back. “If I wanted to get lectured I would go and talk to Jughead, Jesus fucking Christ.”

Cheryl seems ten different kinds of smug as she keeps sipping in her cherry cola but Toni walks into the living room and Sweet Pea keeps himself from leaping off the seat to grab his best friend. He stands slowly but before he can get all the way up, Toni’s hand shoots out to smack the backside of his head. “Ah!” he moans, “Fuck, T!”

“I warned you,” Cheryl says with a smirk.

Toni rolls her eyes and stands in front of Sweet Pea with her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you sometimes!”

“The air is thinner all the way up there, baby,” Cheryl chimes.

Sweet Pea’s jaw drops and he shakes his head. “I literally came here to see Mika, not get attacked by you two.”

Toni whacks him again. “Don’t talk. Just listen.”

Sweet Pea doesn’t argue, he just slinks further in the seat and rubs the back of his head again, worried about what was coming next. He feared these girls more than FP himself. “Fine, listening.”

Toni’s face softens. “Where’s Fangs?” she asks. “He should have come too, I needed to talk to his ass as well.”

“He pissed off as soon as he realised both mom one and mom two were home,” Sweet Pea answers cautiously.

“No kid of mine would be so freakishly big,” Cheryl adds.

Sweet Pea holds back a laugh. “Please, let me see her,” he begs. “I need to fix everything, I fucked up.”

Toni sighs. “She’s hurting, Sweets. She’s really been through it and she doesn’t always know how to deal with it.”

“So?” he asks. “I can’t see her?”

Toni throws her thumb over her shoulder, “Come on, I’ll show you to her room. I just wanted you to know.”

Sweet Pea gets up, cautious about another hit but Toni pats his shoulder instead and he follows her down the hall and to a bedroom. 

Sweet Pea goes to open the bedroom door, but it slams straight in his face. He tries again, and it slams, one more time, he thinks, but his hand is wavering, and his jaw is tightening, he opens it again; it slams. He hears Mika on the other side, her palm on the door, he knows. He leans his head on the door, putting his ear to it to listen inside. “Baby,” he calls. “I just want to talk to you.”

Sweet Pea wants to get in there, take her in. He's desperate and needy and his nails scratching on her door was not close enough. It would never be close enough; he feels it in his goddamn marrow.

He's fucked up, screwed it up. He hates himself a little more because she's pissed off at him and that's like whip splitting the skin on his back. “Mika,” he calls again, swallowing spit. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this...”

Sweet Pea hears Mika move from the door and he almost rips it off its hinges as he rushes to get in, but he's stopped in the door frame and she raises an eyebrow as she stabs a pointed nail on his chest. “If you come in here, you leave Southside outside,” she hisses, shaking the collar of his jacket. “This isn’t about Southside versus Mika because none of you seem to know how to keep anything to your damn selves. If you want to know anything, it’s between me and you.”

Sweet Pea shrugs the jacket off his shoulders immediately, not even looking back, throwing his jacket on the floor in the doorway behind him.

Mika spins on her bare feet, she's wearing short shorts and denim on denim, hair out, but she seems smaller without her guard up and Sweet Pea can't help but run his dry tongue against his lip and keep all of her close. He wants to protect her with everything he has. He feels he’s been waiting for her for so long, he’s so fucking close to being sated. He finds his breaths are shallow when Mika’s mad at him and he holds in a cocky smile. He throws his thumb behind him. “Left Southside outside,” he tells her. “You gonna give me a smile or what, baby?” He sighs. “In all seriousness, you’re going to have to let someone in some day. Someone more than Toni and Cheryl.”

“I like my circle small,” Mika fakes a smile. “What are you doing here?” she asks him. 

He swallows down spit, looks down at his feet as his socks slide on the wood, and he knows he's fucked up and he's going to pay for it. He'll pay whatever price she makes him, he'll scratch in the dirt, kill a man, he'd do anything for her to be happy with him again. “I've come to say sorry,” he says strongly. “It’s actually fucking me over how much I can’t get you out of my head ...”

Mika is small against the bed. Tucked up precious tight in the corner, pillows surrounding her. She pulls up a pillow and clings to it, tucking her feet under her body. “I haven’t let anyone get this fucking close to me in so long, Sweet Pea and it’s scaring the shit out of me.”

He takes a step forward before taking two back. Holding his hands up in surrender. “You don’t have to be scared of us, Mika. Southside wouldn’t ever do anything to you.”

“It’s not Southside,” she murmurs. Staring at the floor in front of Sweet Pea, she doesn’t meet his eyes. “It’s you.”

He lets the words sit in the air, forcing his jaw to unclench but his heart races so hard, he wonders if it will come out of his chest. “Mika,” he says softly. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you,” he replies weakly, wondering just how bad she thinks he is. “Whatever I’ve done in the past, whatever I do with the Ghoulies, that shit isn’t me.”

He steps closer to the bed and lets his legs rest on it as he lets himself unravel a little. Mika’s eyes water a little with each part of him getting closer to her. “I don’t trust anyone, Sweet Pea. I can’t.”

Sweet Pea sits on the edge of the bed, looking away, trying to catch his breath. He feels nervous, he could feel it sitting high up in his chest. Part of him wanted to just hold her. Wish all this uncertainty away but he knew he couldn’t. Things had to be on her terms, he knows it. “I want to help you, you know,” he takes a deep breath. “This kinda shit isn’t easy. Trying to sort through shit isn’t easy but…” he pauses for a moment. “But, I don’t know, I’m not good with words but I know that I just get you… and I want to help.”

He feels her shift on the bed and he doesn’t let himself breathe. “Can I trust you?”

Sweet Pea turns and gets off the edge of the bed, making his way slowly to the corner she was sitting in on a pile of red pillows. He gets on his hands and knees as he crawls next to her. “Do you trust me?”

Mika’s smile is easy as she grabs his hand, welcoming him in. “You really like Aladdin, don’t you?” He doesn’t answer as he sits down next to her, crossing his legs and staring at the wall.

They let the silence wash over them when Mika plays with the fraying rips of her shorts. “We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” he mutters.

Beats echo through the room before Mika inhales deeply. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him the moment I met him.”

Sweet Pea stops, looking over to meet Mika’s eyes. “Who?”

“My ex. The reason I’m like this.”

“Oh.”

She clings on tighter to the pillow she was using as her physical guard and licks her lips. “My mom and dad didn’t like him. That should have been the moment I realised I really shouldn’t have trusted him but I was such a fucking dumbass back then, I cringe every time I think about it.”

Sweet Pea’s chest feels constricted, it was almost as if he knew exactly what she was about to say, like he knew the story already. His ears start burning and he can feel an anger building. “We’ve all done dumb shit in the past, Mimi.”

“Nah,” she laughs without humour. “He was a bad guy, not in the sense of doing bad shit. He was a terrible human being. You know the cliche, there wasn’t an ounce of good in that guy.”

Sweet Pea forces himself to let go of the tension in his hands. “Is he the reason why you’re here?”

“Yes.”

The air thickens as he takes steadying breaths. “Don’t tell me he hurt you.”

Mika’s eyes darken. “For the most part, the blessing is that I can block out chunks of my past. But there’s things I’ll never forget,” she whispers. “Like how he would look at me as if he owned me. How he would just flip on me and get mad. He hated me around his boys. I’d pay for it later on if I ever said anything to him out of line in front of his friends.”

Sweet Pea looks at Mika, truly letting her sink into him. She had a seriousness in her eyes but it was almost as if she had blanked out. Whatever lack of feeling she had in her own being, he was making up for it. Her words were cutting him, the heaviness on his shoulders seemed to weigh him down. “What happened?” he asks automatically. Part of him not actually wanting to know, the other part desperate to find out so he could find out who this guy was.

She flexes her hands in front of them, looking at her nails to keep herself busy. “He was always too rough but I don’t know, sometimes I thought I deserved it. I was only 17 when he attempted to drive me through a wall,” she says with an out of place smile. “I may have been 17 but my dad bought me up Southside and FP’s right, I could kill someone with a pool cue.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes widen. “You killed him?”

“No!” she says, wiping a stray tear away before sniffing. “All I had to get my hands on was a mop handle and my own strength.”

He sighs with relief and he can’t hide the sheer amazement in his voice. “You killed him with a mop handle.”

“I didn’t kill him!” she says quickly. “He ended up in hospital for a month and luckily dad and FP could still get me out of any charges thanks to connections… but there’s always this thing in the back of my mind telling me he’s going to come back. He’ll get me.”

Sweet Pea groans as he moves closer to her, putting his arm across her shoulders. “Mika,” he says softly, feeling her ease in his arms. “You’re strong; freakishly strong,” he chuckles lightly. “I know it, look at me, I’m losing my rep over you.”

Mika lets tears fall under a small smile and curls up tighter. “No you’re not.”

“Jokes aside,” he says seriously. “I’m not going to pretend like I don’t want to murder that bastard, but he’ll never come near you ever again. We’re here to protect you, you’re one of us.”

Mika shakes a little as her tears catch up, falling silently on Sweet Pea’s hand that’s holding hers. “Sometimes I’m so fucking scared that I can’t even fake being a tough ass. And sometimes, that’s all I have. Is pretending to be hard so no one can get through to me and then I moved here and I’m surrounded by everyone who just want to look after me and I’m not used to this. Since my parents died all I’ve got is me and now you’re here and…” she trails off.

Sweet Pea can feel the shift between them. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who felt that since Mika came around, she had forced a change in him. Maybe he had made a change in her too. “I can promise I won’t ever hurt you,” he murmurs. “And I’ll never go away. Unless you want me to…”

She shakes her head. “No, this is good,” she mumbles. “Letting someone in. I gotta let people in sometimes, right?”

Sweet Pea shrugs against her. “If you want to, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Mika closes her eyes and rests her head on his shoulder. “I think I’ve already let you in and that scares me.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sweet Pea opens the door to his bedroom and kicks three pairs of jeans out of the way of the door and into the corner. Mika pulls Sweet Pea’s jacket tighter on her body as she kicks off her boots. He wishes that he had tidied up even a little before she walked in the house but she was too quick in entering, insisting she wanted to lay down. “Home sweet home and all that shit,” he mumbles. “It’s not much but it’s mine and I love it.”

His mismatched bedding had never seemed so outdated and his Led Zeppelin poster was half falling off the wall  next to Roger Waters which was a gift handed down from his dad but Mika still walked around, touching everything, reading the card from Fangs that he had given him for his 10th birthday and the photo of Sweet Pea and Toni in diapers being held by his dad that was on his bedside. “I haven’t been in an actual room for so long… does that make sense?” she asks. “Like a room that’s part of a home. I love Cheryl, but the room I was sleeping in felt kinda like a crypt.”

Sweet Pea smiles to himself. “This is the only home I’ve ever lived in.”

“I like it,” she says, playing with the hem of his denim jacket hanging on a chair.

He throws the blanket over the bed and tries to tidy the pillows at least a little. “That jacket was my dad’s.”

“My dad has one too,” she replies, sitting on the bed with a yawn. “I think they knew each other from back in the day.” She slips her legs under the blanket and closes her eyes instantly. “Are you sure your Nan said I could stay?” she asks, voice dropping a little. “I don’t want to stay if she’s not okay with it.”

“Yeah,” he lies. “Of course, she said it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. We all get sick of T and Cheryl.”

“Good.”

He waits for her to fall asleep before slipping out of the bedroom and walking into the lounge. Sweet Pea lets his shoulders ease as he sits on the couch, not even taking his shoes off. “Shoes off, Sweet Pea,” Nan says.

Sweet Pea swallows loudly and closes his eyes, wishing that Nan had been asleep. “Sorry,” he says, bending down to undo his laces. “It’s been a long day.”

Nan shakes her head and walks over to Sweet Pea, ruffling his hair. “Do you think that your grandmother came down in the last rain?” she says before kissing his head.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a very tired looking girl in your bed, Sweet Pea. And she doesn’t look like Toni.”

Nan raises an eyebrow as she sits across from Sweet Pea. He could tell she was waiting for his answer but he couldn’t lie to Nan because she could read him like a book. He tries to avoid her gaze but he can’t. “It’s just Mika, Nan.”

“I know who she is,” Nan answers. “FP gave me a heads up. I haven’t seen her dad since he was last in Riverdale, he would have been about your age.”

“You knew him?”

Nan rolls her eyes. “Boy, I know everyone.”

“She’s been crashing with Toni and Cheryl but I think she needed a break.”

“You’re more intuitive than you let on.”

“You’re not mad then?” Sweet Pea asks, trying to keep a grin in.

“If she needs a break, that’s fine with me,” Nan answers. “But you’re sleeping out here tonight.”

“Okay, got it,” he says, pulling the quilt over him.

Nan stands up and turns off the lights in the lounge, “Goodnight, Sweets.”

“Night, Nan.”

Just as she was about to walk out of the room, she turns around, “Oh, and Sweets?”

“Yes?” he groans.

“For the love of God, please don’t hurt this girl.”

Sweet Pea slaps a hand to his face. “It’s not like that.”

“Hmmm,” she replies. “You couldn’t lie to me if your life depended on it.”

There was a stash at Thistle house so big, Sweet Pea knows Cheryl would never notice. But she brushes past him chewing gum loudly and he knows that she has a level of fearless that he can’t match. Her legs are endless as she strolls ahead of him, “Come on, Sweet Pea,” Mika challenges. “I can’t carry all this shit myself.”

He lets the cigarette hang between his lips and he tries to swallow down that feeling he’s getting from watching his newest friend ahead of him. She convinces him that she’s a rum sort of girl, but he doesn’t believe it. She tells him it’s all about the vibe right now. Rum gives her that vibe that she needs. He knows she’s lying, she barely drinks and he’s noticed it on more than once occasion. But he lets her talk herself up while she convinces him that she’ll replace the bottles before Cheryl gets home.

They get a selection of things. Cheap rum that’s Toni’s and Cheryl’s expensive shit. Vodka. So much vodka. A couple packets of Marlboros. He feels the weight of the cigarettes in his pocket and he feels instantly more comfortable, especially when Mika’s hand is in his.

“Let’s go,” she tells him. “Before someone catches us.”

“Let’s stay,” he says, pulling her back towards him. Her hips bump the tops of his thighs and when she ties her shirt the way she has, he can see the bottom of her flat stomach and since when did Mika have lacy bras? “Come on Mika, let’s stay,” he begs her. “Let’s stay here.”

Her look is serious as she flicks between Sweet Pea’s eyes and lips. But all he can concentrate is the swelling feeling at the back of his head and his denim scratching on Mika’s skirt, the way it’s riding up almost with how close they are but he feels they will never be close enough.

He free-falls when he brushes Mika’s hair away and tucks it behind her ear. “You don’t want to stay, Mimi?” he asks amusedly. “Let’s stay here, fuck them. You’ve always said you wanted to go away…”

Mika pushes him away with her elbow and his fingers are loose in her hair, she throws her head back and groans to the ceiling. “How about instead of us sitting here contemplating running away together, you help me with these bottles?”

“Way to ruin a moment,” he argues, tightening his flannel around his hips he grabs two bottles out of her hands. “You want to run away?”

“No!” she snaps. “Don’t play with me. We have a party to throw.”

“I’m not playing,” Sweet Pea grumbles, trying to pull her closer to him again, she gives in, but he can tell she doesn’t want to.

He packs up the vodka and the expensive rum in his bag, lights a cigarette.

He wants to go home, watch TV, listen to Fang’s incessant need to talk.

But instead he’s doing whatever Mika wants.

Because that’s just the way it is.

XXXXX

It was a small gathering of those that Mika didn’t mind being in her zone. But somehow Archie was invited by Jughead and it seemed to piss Sweet Pea of more than usual. Jughead wonders out loud what it would be like to be like Archie. Easy, kind, funny, excitable. To be a puppy. Sweet Pea ignores Jughead’s chatter and watches  Fang’s hurry over with the patch on his back and hands Sweet Pea’s fourth drink. “You want this one?”

Sweet Pea shakes his head and Veronica’s eyes shoot to the door where Betty was exiting. “You look relieved,” Sweet Pea shoots at Veronica. “Early night for Betty, huh?”

Veronica scowls. “Shut up.”

Sweet Pea sniggers and rolls his eyes, spilling the drink a little on the lino floor. “Calm your tits, Veronica,” he says but she ignores him.

“Where’s Mika?” Veronica asks.

Sweet Pea scans the trailer and catches Mika standing in the corner of the living room with Archie. “With Archie,” he points out to the other side of the trailer.

Sweet Pea  looks around the room at the bodies, the trailer is small and trashy but it could fit more people than Sweet Pea and Jughead had thought it would. There were people here that he didn’t recognize. The music blasts his brain so he closes his eyes against the wall. He opens his eyes when Veronica pokes him in the chest, offering him a blunt. He takes it from her and eyes it, “Ronnie…” he starts but she laughs in his face.

“What?” she says, rolling her eyes. “I keep the peace with you for a good reason.”

He takes a hit of the blunt before holding it in, letting it open his veins and slow down the booming in his ears. “Thanks,” he says, watching Mika’s moves slow down with his bloodstream. “I needed that.”

“Mhmm,” Veronica agrees, straightening her skirt around her knees. “You and I both…” she carries off. “You really like her, don’t you?”

Sweet Pea’s  jaw tenses as he prepares to lie to Veronica. “I-ah,” he starts. He gives up. “Yeah…”

Veronica shrugs. “Sometimes you gotta go for it,” she says with eyes hanging on Jughead.

“I really do not believe that you, Veronica Lodge, should be giving me advice.”

She huffs out loud, “I’m going to go and hangout with Archie and Mika, at least they’re fun to talk to.”

Sweet Pea smiles to himself as Veronica walks away. He leans on the trailer wall.

There were too many faces to sort through and that made Sweet Pea feel uncomfortable, Fangs and Jughead lean on the wall, joining him, sorting through the crowd  but people were spilling out of doors and windows, partying on the grass. “You ditched Veronica?” he asks his two friends. “She doesn’t look happy over there,” he says, watching Archie whisper in her ear.

Fangs shrugs and waves a fresh blunt  in Sweet Pea’s face that he almost starts salivating for but just as quickly, his mouth feels so dry, it’s cracking. Mika’s roll of her eyes as she stands next to Archie makes Sweet Pea laugh. “Archie was being a typical Northside dick so we left them to it,” Fangs explains.

“You okay, Jug?” Sweet Pea asks, “That’s what you get for inviting your favorite Northsiders…” no reply from Jughead.

Fangs groans. “Toni pulls all the girls even though she doesn’t want them and all the dudes are always all over her too.”

Sweet Pea snickers and leans back lower on the wall. “She always takes the good chicks, huh?”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t have wanted Cheryl, Fangs. She’s the kind that would kill you in your sleep,” Jughead says flatly.

Sweet Pea holds back a laugh. “You might need to up your game,” he teases. “I’m sure there’s a girl out there who wants a fucked up bad boy, yeah?”

“I’m not fucked up!” Fangs argues.

“You’re not a bad boy either,” Sweet Pea shrugs,.

Fang’s rolls his eyes. “Oh, you got jokes, do you?”

Sweet Pea  nods and Jughead takes a sip of his bottle of beer with one hand, and shakes Fangs with the other.

“Sorry,” Sweet Pea apologizes. “But bro, you don’t have a boy or a girl,” he says to Fangs, “l can’t get  even one girl and Jughead has two. One he jerks off over -”

Jughead covers Sweet Pea’s mouth with his hand. “Jesus Christ, Sweet Pea!”All three of them look out to Mika shaking her head at Archie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jughead grumbles.

“Veronica was right,” Fangs says, “True love is fucked up, huh?”

“And when did you get all deep and meaningful, Fangs?” Sweet Pea cackles. “What the hell do you know about true love?”

“Ah, I’ve seen you falling in love for the past four months, bro, I’ve seen it in the flesh!”

“I don’t love Mika,” Sweet Pea lies point blank.

Fangs snickers, “Yeah,” he says sarcastically. “And you don’t have a snake on your fucking back.”

They keep chatting, Sweet Pea feeling like he’s not drowning enough in his beer but Jughead and Fangs arguing was enough to make him zone out until he hears Veronica yell out; “ARCHIE!”

The party splits in half but Sweet Pea zooms in on Archie and Veronica in the corner, Mika being weakly held back by Toni.

Sweet Pea calls out, “Hey!” as he starts to storm through the bodies but Jughead is faster when he throws his bottle on the floor. Sweet Pea can feel his heart race and his feet heavy on the sticky lino as Mika taps on Archie’s shoulder.

He feels his brain smacking the insides of his skull and his breath is pushed out of him as he moves people out of the way. Mika draws back her elbow while Sweet Pea watches, stuck behind Jughead, her fist is so quick against Archie’s nose that he could hear the cracking through the entire trailer. “Oh shit!” Jughead says loudly.  

Spit flies and in slow motion, he watches Archie’s teeth jut and people move around him, arms flying, screams. Sweet Pea pushes Jughead out the way to get to Mika but she was already shaking out her hand, licking her teeth, “Don’t you ever say anything about Sweet Pea again!” she says, being pulled away by Veronica.  Mika kicks legs and her face gets lost beneath hair that he can’t tell is hers or Toni’s.

“Mika!” Sweet Pea shouts, trying to keep up with Veronica but people were getting in the way.

He decides to let her go. “What the hell was that about?” Fangs asks.

Sweet Pea can’t help but grin, “I can’t believe she just knocked out Andrews!” he says, unable to hide the surprise. “I didn’t know she had it in her.”

Fangs scoffs. “You didn’t know Mika had it in her? The girl is a freak, bro, she’d kill us all.”

“With her words, maybe. But she swings better than you ever have in your entire life.”

Fangs frowns. “Gee, thanks.”

Sweet Pea watches Archie clutch at his nose while Jughead tries to hand him a tissue. “Wonder what that fucker said to set her off.”

Fangs’ eyes widen and he shakes his head. “Don’t do it, Sweets!”

But Sweet Pea is already striding back towards Archie, cocky grin on his face. “Got you good, didn’t she, Andrews?”

Archie doesn’t even make Sweet Pea’s eyes but he stays sitting with Jughead standing over him. “He’s had enough,” Jughead adds with a roll of his eyes. “Don’t hit him again.”

Sweet Pea’s laugh booms through the trailer. “I don’t think I have to, he’s already been taken down a few notches by Mika. Guess you deserved it, huh, Red?”

Fangs sniggers next to him. “That’s it?” he asks. “No fight?”

Archie stands up silently before pushing past Sweet Pea. Jughead half heatedly tries to call out for his best friend but Archie slams the door behind him. “Where’s Veronica?” Jughead asks Sweet Pea, scanning the trailer. “Is she okay?”

“Saw her take Mika to the bathroom,” he says with a panic. Remembering the blood and the sound of the hit. “I wonder if Mika’s hurt.”

They make their way to the bathroom but just as Sweet Pea gets to the door, it shuts in his face. “Ronnie, let me in! What the fuck happened.”

Blood, all he can think of was the blood.

He can hear Veronica complaining through the thin walls but she cracks the door open a little. “Sweet Pea -”

“Fuck!” he says, trying to push the door open. “Are you okay? Is she okay? There was a fuck load of blood…”

Veronica is almost un-amused and it was starting to make Sweet Pea anxious, “Archie’s an asshole. Mika knows it and she punched him. We’re okay,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “Now go.”

Jughead looks like he’s staying, sitting on the floor outside of the bathroom. “Do you know what happened?” Sweet Pea asks him.

Jughead shrugs. “Archie was saying some shit to Veronica, apparently,” he says with tense fists. “Mika heard, went over and knocked him one,” he laughs nervously.

Sweet Pea can’t help but continue to grin, she could hold her own, he knew that, but he didn’t think Mika would ever hit Archie Andrews. “Amazing,” Sweet Pea smiles.

Jughead laughs and takes off his beanie quickly, squeezing it in his hands. “Archie’s a fucker…”

“He’s also your best friend,” Sweet Pea shrugs, quickly thinking of Jughead’s worry for Veronica but not saying anything. “One day, Jug, the Southside won’t be so hard and you’ll figure out everything. Serpents, friends, relationships…”

Jughead chokes and looks over to Sweet Pea, shock apparent. “Where the hell did Sweet Pea go?” he teases.

Sweet Pea points at the bathroom door, “In there, apparently, in Mika’s fists.”

They both laugh as they wait for the bathroom to open.

They hear the door unlock and the door swings open, Veronica spots them on the floor outside and frowns. “What the hell is this? Bathroom security?” she says, heels tapping  on the trailer floor. “I’m fine, Jug,” she says without prompting.

Jughead clears his throat. “Good,” he says, putting his beanie back on.

They walk away down the other end of the trailer.

The bathroom door is open but Sweet Pea stops himself from walking in, he knocks on the wall and shuts the bathroom door a little, stopping himself from looking inside but open just enough for him to call out; “Mimi, it’s me, can I come in?”

“Come in!” she calls out. “Tell me how the fuck to get stains out of a white shirt.”

Sweet Pea covers his eyes as he steps in. “Tell me you have a shirt on.”

“I don’t.”

Sweet Pea keeps his eyes covered as he feels for the counter. “Let me see how much blood there is, but turn around.”

Mika exhales loudly and laughs, reaching up to Sweet Pea’s hands that were covering his face. “I appreciate it, Sweets, I do. But you can open your eyes. Have you never seen skin before?”

He opens his eyes and watches Mika try and wring out her shirt, hair in her eyes and sports bra on that was too hard for him not to notice. “Let me check your fist first,” he says, gulping at the sight of her shirt. “Jesus, Andrews is obviously a bleeder…”

Mika rolls her eyes and puts the shirt in the sink. “It’s not blood, Sweet Pea. It’s cranberry juice and the fist is fine, my shirt however, is not. And I’ll make him pay for that too.”

Sweet Pea raises an eyebrow at her, slightly amused. “What the fuck did Archie do to make you go full snake on him?”

“Where the hell do I start?!” she says, getting louder. Her eyes grow and her hair flies when she turns to look at Sweet Pea. “It was somewhere between telling V that she didn’t belong here and saying that you’re a prick. Gotta admit. Didn’t really hear what he said about you, didn’t have to…”

Sweet Pea is lost for words and instead stands there, staring at Mika not knowing what to do with his hands. She was beautiful, and if he thought about it, even more so when she was wild and wringing out her shirt. “You protected me. For my honor.”

“Well, not just yours,” she says slowly and carefully. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“Too late,” he laughs. “Already have. You love me.”

“And V as well,” she corrects.

Sweet Pea runs his tongue over his lips, leaning back on the bathroom bench. “You love V but you also love me.”

“So what?”

“I’m going to have to tell Veronica.”

“I love anyone Jughead loves and that means you and Veronica.”

Sweet Pea cringes. “Don’t ever say that Jughead loves me, it makes me feel weird…”

“Shut up!” Mika groans, rolling her eyes. “Let’s just get out of here, okay?”

XXXXX

All it had taken was for Mika to tell him to get on the back of her bike and he was there. He hadn’t ridden on the back for years and he had to force Fangs to promise that he wouldn’t let anyone touch his bike while he was gone with Mika.

Mika was a smooth rider. Sweet Pea wasn’t sure what he had expected but he enjoyed the ride, once they almost hit the sign of Greendale, he had no idea where they were going.

The dirt road was uneven and even Sweet Pea couldn’t believe the way she handled it. Up ahead behind some trees, he could just make out a cabin.

Mika pulled up in front of a worn out place that has shutters hanging from frames and a door that looks like it hasn’t been touched in the longest time. The engine cuts out as Mika steadies herself with her Docs on the ground. “Home, sweet home and all of that shit,” she laughs lightly.

Sweet Pea takes off his helmet and cocks an eyebrow, scuffing his own boot in the dirt. “So this is it, huh?” he asks.

“What?” she replies, already running towards the cabin, a grin on her face. “I didn’t tell you where we were going…”

“No,” he says shaking his head. “This is it. The end of me.”

Mika rolls her eyes, shaking the door handle and kicking the right hand corner to get it open. “What do you mean?” she says, still trying to shove the door. Sweet Pea saunters over and gives the door a light shove to which is opens immediately. “Ugh,” Mika groans. “Of course it works for you.”

“I mean,” Sweet Pea starts. “This is where you kill me, I’ve seen the thrillers, babe. This is the end.”

The cabin was run down, there wasn’t any denying it but in the corner was a bed that had been recently made and a pile of books next to a coffee table that had a half drunk coffee in it. “Don’t freak out!” Mika starts.

“So this is your murder house, huh?”

She chucks her handbag in the corner of the small room, next to the coffee table. “I found this a few weeks ago,” she explains. “I didn’t want to tell anyone because I hate people asking me questions and the last thing I need is people crashing out here trying to find me…”

Sweet Pea shrugs his jacket off his shoulders and throws it on a broken seat before sitting on the edge of the bed. “Your safe space or something?”

Mika pauses when she tips the drink out in an old sink. “I guess you could say that,” she nods. “I just really wanted you to see it.”

Sweet Pea watches Mika move through the cabin, legs moving slowly, her smile growing when he notices she finally feels free. “I’m glad you let me in your safe space.”

“I literally just stumbled on it. I like the ride to Greendale. It hadn’t been touched in years so Jug and I did some searching and we found the old land deed…” she says. “Well, he did. Not me. I watched him find the old land deed but it’s now not owned by anyone. Bought some stuff from home, enough shit to keep me occupied when I need to get out. Well, now, you know where it is so don’t abuse it but I just thought you’d kinda like it…”

Sweet Pea laughs as he notices that Mika is pacing up and down the room, hands on her hips and her bare feet on wood. She carries on making noise about Jughead, the kettle she bought from the thrift store and how she can hide the bike around the back so no one knows where she is. He thinks of why she would be chatting non-stop. All day she had been quick words and hurrying him along but now, when they’re alone, she hasn’t stopped. He leans back on the bed that creaks as he moves and just watches her. “So Jug knows where this is?”

“He’s the only one who knows, but you too now. But I can’t tell Toni or she’ll never leave me alone if she found out.”

The chatter continues. He loves talking to her, god, he knows it. And he’d never get sick of her voice but he stands up, almost hitting his head on a low-hanging beam. He knows he has to do it now, or it will never happen.

For once, he needs to be sure of himself in other ways than just in the Serpents.

Mika’s hand flies into the air and he catches it, pulling it down slowly. His heart races even just touching her and it’s fucking killing him. “Shit, I…”

Mika jerks her head back and looks at Sweet Pea with confusion. “Sweet -”

“Shush,” he says quickly. “Please,” he says slowly, taking a deep breath. “I just… I’ve just gotta do something and please, just trust me, okay? Shit,” he laughs. “Fuck, I really fucking suck at this but just tell me you trust me.” Mika just nods as she lets Sweet Pea walk her towards the bed. He sits her down first, on the edge and then he sits down next to her, placing his hands on his knees. “Do you still trust me?”

Mika rolls her eyes and sighs. “Obviously.”

“Nah, Mimi, you gotta say it.”

“I trust you!” she groans with frustration that makes him laugh.

Slowly he lifts his hand to Mika’s ear, brushing hair behind and smoothing down to her jaw. Down her neck.

Mika closes her eyes slowly as Sweet Pea leans in.

The movement was so slow, gently he placed his lips against hers but it was Mika who sighed into his touch and leaned in closer, placing her hands on Sweet Pea’s thighs to push her up.

It was when Mika started moving into him, her chest on his as Sweet Pea dotted right finger prints on her shoulders, moving down her body, scratching on her thigh.

She was quick against him when she rose up, never pulling away from his mouth. She tasted like chewing gum and last night’s beer when he could just manage to see the sun rising.

Sweet Pea’s nails scratch on her jeans when she straddles him, “Fuck,” she groans, “lie down,” she demands.

Sweet Pea stays sitting with his hands on her hips, letting her move against him, tasting the skin of her throat. “Don’t rush, babe,” he tells Mika across her collarbone.

Don’t rush, he tells himself.

Heavy kisses dull down just enough. He lets her touch him, across his chest, up the nape of his neck. “Please,” she insists.