#thekillingtype

When Lavender awoke the next morning, Sweet Pea was absent from her bed. She assumed that he had gone to work on a job or check up on Daisy. While her being alone did hurt at first, she understood that he had other priorities he had to tend to too. She let out a groggy sigh as she rubbed the grains of sleep from her eyes. Did last night really happen? She found herself wondering and realizing that she was still naked hammered it in that it did.

Then the realization hit her and she was suddenly overcome with intense dread. They hadn’t used a condom, and while she didn’t keep detailed track of her period, it had been a few weeks since her last cycle meaning she was either ovulating or close to it. She wasn’t on birth control because it interacted with her antidepressants too much so her only options were condoms or the risky pull-out method.

She knew that she couldn’t handle a child right now, nor could Sweet Pea handle a second child. It was an easy decision to make, to go to the pharmacy and pick up a plan-b pill. The thought of going alone though made her incredibly nervous, especially after her run in with the Ghoulie last night.

At first she called Toni and Cheryl, but neither picked up. She really didn’t want to ask Jug or Fangs, because they’d probably tattle to Sweet Pea. Her only option then was...Lily.

Lavender swallowed hard as she got out of the shower and got dressed. She had no issues with Lily but she found their relationship rocky at best. They had had a little heart to heart last night, but before that then their conversations had often been argumentative in nature. Though, she figured if anyone would understand, then it would be Lily. Seeing as she herself had a child with Sweet Pea.

She figured just going over there would be better than calling, and for that she was thankful that it was a Saturday. Once she was finished getting ready, she made her way to Sweet Pea’s trailer. Luckily his bike wasn’t out front, so she assumed he was off with Fangs somewhere or working a job for Jughead.

With a little hesitation, she knocked on the front door despite still having a key. It felt weird going in there without knocking first now that it wasn’t just Sweet Pea (and occasionally his father, though that was a rarity). She heard a faint “in a second” before waiting a few minutes. Eventually the door opened to see an exasperated Lily with a giggling Daisy in her arms.

Lav smiled weakly, suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed. “Can I ask you a favor? You don’t have to say yes but...if you do then I’ll buy you and Daze some lunch in return.”

Lily thanked god above that her stomach did not growl then and there. “Sure, what is it?” She asked, while before she hadn’t been too sure of Lav’s intentions with Sweet Pea, she knew now that the purple haired girl meant no harm. She was just as vulnerable as her ex was and they both pretended not to be simultaneously.

“I need to go get some plan-b.” She said, looking utterly embarrassed that she had gotten too caught up in the moment to make Sweet Pea wear a condom. She was sure Lily was going to lecture her about it, tell her that she was a total idiot. But, she was wrong. Lily just nodded and moved aside so Lav could come in.

“Can you hold her while I get ready?” Lily asked, not even missing a beat. “It’ll only take like ten minutes.” She passed the happy baby off to Lavender who sat down on the couch with her. She was unable to look at Lily directly, still feeling incredibly ashamed.

Almost exactly ten minutes later, Lily returned with her keys. “So, I take it you guys finally said it?” She asked, trying to lighten the mood. Lavender forced a smile as she stood up with Daisy still in her arms.

“Yeah, we did...and uh, I just got so caught up in the moment I forgot to make him wrap it up.” She said, nearly choking out the words.

Lily just laughed, knowing all too well how bad Sweet Pea was at wearing a condom. “Don’t worry about it too much, since it was just last night the plan-b should work fine. Do you need money? Jug might can get some for you if-”

Lav shook her head, “No, I’m fine. My dad left me a lot when he died. I just want to get it over with. I really don’t think any one of us could handle two baby snakes at this time.”

Though she wouldn’t say it, Lily was grateful that Lavender was doing the smart thing. She recalled when she went in for her abortion and was unable to carry through after hearing the heartbeat. While she loved her daughter more than anything in the entire world, she couldn’t deny that life would have been so much easier if she had simply taken a pill the day after risky sex. Though she was certain that cost would add up to be a small fortune very quickly.

The two teens went to Lily’s car. Lav placed Daisy in her car seat and strapped her in, making sure she was secure before getting into the passenger’s seat. Lily hopped in behind the wheel and started the car before driving to the nearest pharmacy on the southside, the only one she knew of that wouldn’t give them any trouble for asking for a pill. Any northside place would just lecture them and try to force them to have a parent buy it for them. That clearly wasn’t an option for either of them.

The car ride was relatively quiet. The only sounds were punk music from the radio and Daisy babbling in the back seat. Lav was unsure of what she should say, if she should say anything. “After, want to go to Pop’s?” She asked, “My treat for not making me go by myself.”

That time Lily’s stomach did growl. A sheepish look crossed her face, “Yeah, sure. That sounds great.” She parked the car and the two got out. Lily walked around and grabbed Daisy before going inside.

Once inside the tiny store, they walked through the convenience aisles to get to the back part where the actual pharmacy was. “I have to ask someone, don’t I?” She whispered to Lily. She had never done this before and wasn’t entirely sure how it would go.

“Yeah, the pharmacist will give it to you after telling you the side effects. Don’t worry, I can ask. I’m used to the judgmental looks people give me.” Lily said back, keeping her voice just as low. Lavender nodded, feeling even more grateful now.

Once at the counter, Lily told the pharmacy tech what they needed. The young man looked between Lily and Lav, wheels obviously turning in hi head about why teenagers would need an emergency contraceptive. Lav was biting her lip nervously, looking down at the counter while Lily just stared him head on, clearly not one to play games.

The tech nodded and went to get the pharmacist to help them. Lily nudged Lav with her elbow as a silent encouragement. Lav let out a shaky breath as an older woman came with the small box that she needed. She asked who it was for and Lily said it was for her, again the look on her face was daring the pharmacist to say anything negative to her. Daisy was giggling, clearly having no understanding of what was going on.

The woman simply nodded, not about to put up a fight with a couple of teenage gangbangers. Everyone knew who the Southside Serpents were in these parts. The top of Lav’s tattoo was visible over the upper edge of the tank top she was wearing. Lily was wearing her jacket and even Daisy at a tiny denim vest with the double headed snake. The top rocker said “baby” and bottom rocker said “serpent”. Jug had it custom made a week ago.

The pharmacist went over the risks and what would happen after taking the pill. She rang them up and Lav paid with her credit card. She put the package with the pill as well as an information pamphlet into a plastic bag and handed it to Lavender since Lily was carrying Daisy. “Have a good day, stay safe.” She said, not sounding judgmental in the slightest.

Lily thanked her before turning with Lav and walking out, her head held high and never looking down. Once outside Lav let out a huge breath of relief. “Thank you, I don’t know why I care so much about what other people think. Probably something to do with Reggie calling me a slut any chance he fucking gets.”

“You’re half Northsider, that’s why.” Lily said, somewhat jokingly. “All Northsiders care about what people think about them. That’s just how they are. I doubt it’ll always be that way for you. Just give Sweet Pea a little more time to corrupt you.”

Lav made a face as she opened the back door for Lily so that she could put Daisy in the car seat. “How long until I’ll be known as just a Southsider?” She asked, a little irritated.

“However long it takes for your bank account to lose a few zeroes.” Lily replied playfully. “Why does it matter so much to you anyway?”

She sighed, “Because as of now I don’t fit it anywhere. Not with the Northsiders, not with the Southsiders, and not with the gang. No one will give me a chance. Jughead thinks I still need more time, but I’m ready! I can do jobs just like everyone else! I’m tired of being looked at like some dumb, fragile princess that can’t do anything for herself. Christ, I get enough of that from Sweet Pea alone. I don’t need it from everyone else.”

Lily smiled as they both got into the car. “I’ll ask Jug to let you come with me on some of my next jobs. As training. That way you’ll be contributing. How does that sound?”

Lav was quiet for a few moments as she drove them to Pop’s. She was grateful for all that Lily had done in the span of half an hour. “That sounds good...Thanks.”

“Cheer up! You finally got laid last night!” Lily said, laughing, “And you two finally admitted your feelings! Please promise me that it's not a one time thing or I will lock you both in a closet until it's not.”

“He said it first.” Lavender said, cheering up instantly at the memory. “And of course I said it back. It was perfect….even if it was a struggle to get out.”

Lily shook her head, “it’ll get easier. Or I think it does. It seems to, from what I’ve seen at least. Whenever Sweet Pea and I said it to one another it was more like...platonic love. Not romantic love. Does that make sense?”

Lav nodded her head, unsure of what exactly to say. She figured it was the same in how she told Fangs, Toni, or even Jughead that she loved them. She wasn’t saying she was in love. Just that she cared for them all deeply. It finally seemed to click in her head that that’s how Sweet Pea and Lily were.

A few minutes later, after crossing the railroad tracks, Lily pulled into Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe. They got out, Lav grabbing Daisy this time, and went inside. There weren’t very many others there; an elderly couple in one booth and a businessman at the bar, that was it. It was a little odd considering it was a Saturday, but it was whatever.

Lily chose a booth at the end of the row where they could be as far away from the few other customers as possible. Lav handed Daisy to her and sat down. A moment later a waitress came over and took their drink orders while Lav looked over the menu. She was still chewing on her lip nervously, the pill in her pocket waiting to be taken. She knew that the side effects were going to mimic a period and she just wasn’t in the mood for that at the moment, not with how painful hers had been the past few months.

“You should take it as soon as possible.” Lily said, in a tone that was almost motherly. Lav sighed with frustration and nodded.

“I’m just waiting on my milkshake. I don’t do well with pills unless I have something to wash it down..” She muttered.

Lily reached out and put a hand over hers, “it’ll be okay. If for some reason it doesn’t work, then we’ll figure it out. But, I don’t think you should be thinking about the worst case scenario right now.”

Lav shook her head, “I know. It’s just hard not to. Just the thought of getting pregnant makes me want to throw up.”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh, though she was sympathetic. “Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s rough going to high school and being knocked up. I don’t know how I survived it some days…but she was worth it. Even if I am exhausted all the time.”

“You’re a lot stronger than I am.” Lav admitted. “I couldn’t even take going back to school after my attack. Everyone was talking about me, whispering behind my back, all the rumors that flew around about what happened. And spoiler alert, in none of those rumors was I a victim. I was a willing participant. I swear the bulldogs try to remind me of it every chance they get. I lost count how many times Sweet Pea had to go up to bat for me. The first few weeks were the worst. No one really talks about it now unless they’re trying to get under my skin.”

The waitress came back with their milkshakes and took their food orders before flitting away again. Lily was looking at Lav with a serious expression. “I wouldn’t say I’m stronger than you, Lavie. You went through hell and back. You went through something a lot worse than a teenage pregnancy. Don’t discredit yourself.”

Desperately wanting to change the subject, Lav looked up at Lily, “I know about you and Jughead.” She said plainly, nearly giving Lily whiplash in the process.

“W-What?” Lily sputtered, not entirely sure what exactly she was talking about. “What do you-”

“You’ve had sex before.” Lav clarified after taking a long swig of her strawberry chocolate shake. “He took your virginity, right? Or at least, that’s what he told me.”

“He told you that?!” Lily snapped, heart racing with a panic. “It was supposed to be a secret!”

Lav smiled at her, “it is. He was just really drunk the other night and I pulled it out of him. I asked him what was going on between you two and he just emotionally vomited all over me. It was kinda cute.”

Lily was quiet, taking a deep breath. “That was before Sweet Pea and I were together….Sweet Pea thinks he took it. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I had slept with Jug. They practically hated each other back then.”

“I think it’s hilarious.” Lav said with a gentle smile. “I had a good laugh at least. Jughead really cares about you. He always has, I think. He and Betty were never quite right. I think she was just convenient. I was glad when they broke up. Let Archie and her bang it out or whatever. Jug didn’t need to be hurt by her over and over again. Especially when he caught her cheating.”

She frowned at Lav babbled on, “Betty cheated on him?”

Lav paused and nodded, “Yeah, he caught her and Archie kissing one day. He was a wreck. I think that’s why he ultimately called it quits with her. Thank god too, he didn’t deserve that bullshit.”

“He never said anything to me about that.” Lily mumbled, “he would only say that it was a mutual decision between the two of them.”

Lav scoffed, “no way. Betty wants her cake and to eat it too. Cake being Jughead’s heart in this case. She’d do anything to manipulate him back into her life. God, I can’t believe he actually let her play serpent queen! Thank god no one actually took her seriously as a Serpent. Can you imagine? I’m more of a serpent than some Northside barbie.”

Lily tried not to giggle, seeing as Lav was pretty much a barbie in her own right. Clearly it wasn’t the right time to point that out. If Betty and Veronica were the dolls of the Northside, then Lav was definitely the pin up girl of the Southside. Though she would viciously deny it any time someone pointed it out.

The only difference between them and her, was that Lav actually used her money to do a lot of good for the Serpents. Jug had told her about how much she had donated to the gang’s projects or to Serpents who needed the extra financial help. Apparently her father left her more than she was willing to talk about. She wouldn’t even take credit for it, making Jug swear to secrecy every time.

“Hopefully he won’t give her another chance.” Lily said as Lav eyed her suspiciously.

“You have a thing for him still, don’t you?” Lav asked, hoping that Lily would spill her heart out. By the red tint Lily’s face suddenly took on, Lav knew she was right.

“Jughead doesn’t want a teen mom, Lav. There’s no point.” Lily said as their food came.

Lav took a fry and dipped it into her milkshake before eating it. Lily gave some fries to Daisy who began to happily gnaw on them. “I think you should let Jug make that decision instead of making it for him.” Lav said finally after swallowing the food she had put into her mouth. “It’s not fair to just assume he won’t.”

“Are you of all people giving me relationship advice?” Lily asked, though she was clearly joking. The other girl took no offense and instead rolled her eyes back at her. “Take your pill.”

“Oh, right…” Lav reached into her pocket and popped the white pill out of the plastic packaging. She placed it on her tongue before taking a large gulp of milkshake to get it down. “How long until it kicks in and I ruin my underwear?”

“I’d give in thirty minutes. Do you need a pad or anything?” Lily asked.

Lav shook her head, “No, I put one on before I left just in case. I should be fine. I just hope I’m not in too much pain.”

“Well, if you are, then I’ll make Sweet Pea take care of you. Hopefully I won’t need to work tonight.” Lily said.

A comfortable silence fell as they both ate their food, the only sound was Daisy babbling every once in a while in Lily’s lap. Once they were done, Lav paid the bill and left a tip before getting up. It had only been about twenty minutes or so, so she wasn’t feeling anything yet. “I better get home before the cramping starts. I have a feeling I’m not going to hold out much longer.”

Lily smiled, secretly grateful Lav didn’t bring up her drug dealing for the time being. She really didn’t want to talk about it right now anyway. Not when they were in such a public setting. “Let’s get you home then.”

“Thanks for coming with me.” Lav said softly, “And for not being upset…”

“I know Sweet Pea is a total idiot and hates condoms. If he truly cares about someone then he will conveniently forget that condoms even exist. I swear he only wears them for one night stands.” Lily grumbled. “He’s such a dumbass sometimes.”

“All boys are, honestly.” Lav said with a small snort. “I was too caught up in the moment to make him.”

Lily offered her a smile, “it’ll be okay, try not to stress over it too much.”

Lav nodded as she got into the car after helping Lily put Daisy in the car seat. They drove back to the southside where Lily dropped Lavender off outside of her trailer. Lav waved goodbye, already feeling the slight twinge of pain in her lower abdomen, before retreating back into the safety of the inside.

A few hours later, Lavender was curled up into a tight ball on the couch clutching her stomach. When Sweet Pea walked in, he hadn’t expected to find her there. Actually, he thought she’d be at the Wyrm with Toni, Cheryl, and Fangs.

“Babe?” He asked as he realized he hadn’t talked to her at all that day. It wasn’t that odd as sometimes they were both busy with either school or side jobs. Luckily Lavender wasn’t the type to freak out when he didn’t text back right away. She trusted him, though he would admit that he didn’t necessarily deserve it given his track record.

“Pea,” She whined pathetically, “can you get me my heating pad?”

A confused look crossed his face as he went to the closet to get it. “Your period? I thought we had another two weeks.” The fact that he knew that was a little endearing, though she was in too much pain to really appreciate it.

“I had to take a plan-b pill just in case. We didn’t use a condom last night and I feel like I’m dying.” She said back with a dramatic groan. Sweet Pea plugged in the heating pad she typically only used when her cramps were really bad and handed it to her. She uncurled enough to press it into her abdomen before curling back up.

The events of last night flashed before his mind and he remembered not bothering to put on a condom, “oh...yeah, sorry. I guess we got carried away.”

She smiled softly, although it was clearly pained. “This is your fault.”

He brushed her hair back before kissing her forehead, “what can I do to make it feel better?”

“Never forget to wrap it up ever again.” She said, mostly joking. “Just sit with me.”

He nodded, “let me go get cleaned up first, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Lavender waited as he went into her bedroom and changed into a pair of gym shorts and tank top. He wiped some of the dirt off his face and hands with a warm washcloth before hanging it up and coming back into the living room.

“Sit up,” He instructed gently as she did her best to sit up so he could sit down. Once he was situated, she laid back down with her hand on his lap.

Sweet Pea began to play with her hair as he cut on the TV to find something for them to watch together. Though he already knew what she wanted to watch. Anytime she didn’t feel well, she always had him put on her favorite movie. She was pretty predictable sometimes.

He cut on Jim Henson’s The Labyrinth before settling back down into the couch cushions. Lavender let out a small content sigh, still holding the heating pad tightly to her abdomen. It was finally warmed up enough to help relieve some of her pain.

“I’m sorry, I know you hate this movie.” She mumbled as she watched the screen. Sweet Pea let out a soft chuckle, because he did in fact find the movie really creepy and somewhat disturbing. But, if watching it made her happy then he’d sit through it a million times or more.

“It’s fine.” He said, brush her hair back as he began to play with it mindlessly. “I don’t care if it makes you feel better.”

Lav smiled softly and in turn, made Sweet Pea smile as well. He wasn’t watching the movie anyway, he was too captivated by her instead. She was much more fun to watch anyway. “I love you.” She said airily, not taking her eyes off of Bowie on the screen. It seemed so much easier to say it now that they weren’t at odds with each other.

Sweet Pea stiffened against the couch for a moment, the feeling of her saying it without prompting made him feel uncomfortably warm. He still wasn’t used to this whole love thing. It didn’t make much sense to him. He had thought he had been in love with Lily after all, but it wasn’t at all like how he felt with Lavender. He just wished he understood it more.

“I love you too, princess.” He said, almost inaudibly as a blush crept up his neck and to his ears, setting them on fire. He wished he could take her into the bedroom and prove it all over again, but he knew she was in much too much pain for that.

They sat in silence, Lavender drifting in and out of sleep in his lap as he scrolled through his phone with his free hand. He had messaged Lily telling her that Lav wasn’t feeling well so he would probably be spending the night again over here. He was surprised when she responded that it was okay. He half expected her to harangue him for not helping out with Daisy for two days in a row.

A few minutes later she sent him another text, saying she may need to work tonight so she would bring Daisy over in a few hours. Sweet Pea sighed, unsure how he would be able to take care of both of his girls at the same time. Maybe Lav would be feeling better by then? He doubted it. She seemed pretty miserable. Normally she didn’t take naps like this unless she was really sick. He had only seen her do it once before when she had the flu. That had been miserable for both of them as anytime she threw up, he would join her.

Hopefully she’d be able to rest without his full attention. He did feel bad that he had to divide his time between her and Daisy, but it really couldn’t be helped. He was just thankful that she had been so accepting of his daughter after the initial rough patch between her and Lily.

Lavender woke back up when he shifted his legs. He mumbled an apology before stroking her hair again to coax her back to sleep. “Daisy is coming over later.” He warned her. “I guess Lily has to go sell some more drugs or whatever. I don’t see why Jones hasn’t punished her yet. It’s ridiculous. Anyone else would be kicked out on their ass.”

“Pea, why do you want Lily kicked so badly?” Lav asked, trying not to get too aggravated with him, “She told me she doesn’t have a choice. Did you even try to talk to her about it without accusing her of something?”

He made a disgruntled face down at her. “What? No, I was busy today and you needed me last night. Jones knows now though and he didn’t do anything.”

Lavender turned onto her back so she could look up to him, “You’re so dense. Jughead is totally in love with Lily, that’s why he can’t do it.”

“What?! No he’s not!” Sweet Pea snapped, somehow feeling offended that his girlfriend would even suggest such a thing. “Why would you say that?” \

“Juggie is one of my best friends, Pea. I know when he has a crush on someone. The way he looks at her and the way he talks about her to me. I mean, it’s obvious. Plus they have a history.” Lavender said, hoping he wouldn’t try to argue with her when she felt like shit.

His face seemed to fall a little and she didn’t understand why he was so upset. Him and Lily hadn’t been together in a long time, not really. Lily wouldn’t even take him back a few weeks ago. “They have a history? When?”

“That’s not really my place to tell you, Pea.” She said, hoping he’d understand. “I don’t understand why you care? You’re not with Lily anymore. You’re with me.” She reminded him, her annoyance showing this time.

Sweet Pea just huffed, “I know that, brat. You brought it up, I don’t see why you can’t tell me. Did she cheat on me with him or something? After all the time she spent lecturing me about-”

“No, it was before you.” Lavender quickly corrected. “Lily never cheated on you to my knowledge.”

Now he really was hurt. Lily was his best friend and she had never told him. He felt betrayed, left out, and lied to. It had nothing to do with their past romantic relationship. It was strictly their platonic one that felt threatened. Lav could tell by the look on his face that he was upset. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. “Hey, calm down. She didn’t tell me either, I just found out through Jug. Don’t make me say it.”

His face screwed up into disgust, “don’t say it.”

“I’m going to if you don’t smile.” She threatened and he rolled his eyes.

“Sweet Pea” She said sternly but he was pouting now.

Lav sat up and turned to face him, “come on, let’s get some cheer-up for your pancakes.”

He groaned loudly at the stupid pun she told him every time he was down about something. It drove him crazy because it always did make him smile, despite wanting to do anything but. He couldn’t stop the tiniest of laughs that came from him. “I hate you.”

“You love me, now make me some food. I’m hungry.” She flashed him a set of large hazel eyes full of hope that he’d cook for her. A look he could not resist in a million years.

He stood up from the couch and shook his head. “Fine, if I don’t you’ll just eat junk anyway. I swear you’re such a child.”

“I am not!”

Lavender was rubbing her cheeks furiously in an attempt to dry them. She could hear Sweet Pea following her, but simply pretended that he didn’t exist for the moment. She didn’t want to be near him right now, not after everything that had happened since last night.

As soon as she got inside her trailer, she planned on calling Toni and asking if she could spend the night at Thistlehouse. Maybe some girl time would help her clear her head and mend her heart. Also being sandwiched between Toni and Cheryl meant that the likelihood of her having any nightmares was slim. She didn’t want to sleep with Sweet Pea or Fangs this time around, not since they both had spurned her.

She trudged up her front steps and quickly unlocked the door. Once inside, she attempted to slam the door shut but a large hand stopped it from closing. More anger and hurt welled inside of her. Why couldn’t he just give her some fucking space ?

“Sweet Pea, just leave me alo-” She began before he abruptly cut her off.

“I love you.” He said plainly, as if it were nothing. As if it were something he had said a million times before. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest, wrenching itself against her ribcage as it pounded with anxiety. Did he really just…?

She didn’t want to face him, not now. Not after what he had just said. He waited for her to verbally respond, however Lavender’s mouth and throat felt like they were so stuffed with cotton that she couldn’t say anything. Even her tongue felt like sandpaper, pressed against the hard palate of her mouth to keep herself from audibly sobbing again. Why after all this time did he say it? Why did he always pick the absolute worst moment to talk about his feelings? She wanted to scream.

If she had turned to look at him, she would have seen the scared and pained look on his face. The feeling of rejection creeping up his spine as he yearned for her to say something, anything to confirm that she felt the same way. That they meant more to one another than they had ever let on. That this went beyond acquaintanceship, beyond friendship, and beyond sex. There was more to it than that or so he thought…

“Shanna?” His voice cracked, making him flinch at how whiny it sounded. He dreaded for anyone to see or hear him like this. Already he was feeling tortured by showing so much soft emotion, even if it was to his girlfriend. If she had said something back then it wouldn’t be so bad, but her silence was more telling than not.

Lav finally turned to look up at him, her eyes watery again with more tears. She nodded her head and he finally realized she was unable to speak, whether it was due to the vitriol of emotion she was feeling or something else, he wasn’t entirely sure.

Finally after a few tense minutes, she found the ability to speak. “Do you mean that?” She probed, not quite trusting his utterance. Though Sweet Pea was honestly not one to lie about feelings, it was just so new to her to hear this from him. He had mentioned before how he had loved Lily, but he had never used such a word with her in regards to their relationship. It was a dream come true and for that she couldn’t trust the reality of it.

He stared at her, wondering if he could pull up the nerve to say it again. When he found that he couldn’t, he nodded his head numbly with his eyes never leaving hers to let her know that he was being sincere. Lav rubbed her eyes once more, smearing salty tears across her face for the dozenth time.

Should she say it back? She wondered, still finding it hard to even speak. Such a strange cacophony of emotions bundled up inside of her chest. “I…” She muttered, tripping over her own words, “I l-love…” She inhaled sharply, trying to power through it. “I love you too.”

They looked at one another wordlessly, Sweet Pea’s jaw set firmly as he clenched his teeth. All he wanted to do was sweep her up and kiss her, but he wasn’t sure if she would be up for that or not. He didn’t know how triggered she may have been by the Ghoulie from before. But Christ, he just needed to touch her.

Sweet Pea took two broad steps forward and grabbed her by the upper arm to pull her into his chest. Lavender didn’t even bother trying to resist him. She melted into his torso, taking a deep breath to inhale his intoxicating scent. Despite being upset with him, all she wanted to do now was just stay wrapped within his arms, enveloped in the illusion of safety.

She felt his nose nuzzle into the hair on the top of her head, the slow intake of air through his nostrils to take in the smell of her shampoo. He never felt more at home then he did when she was in his arms.

Lavender hadn’t realized how touch starved she was until this very moment. And she knew straight away that it would be difficult for her to let go of him any time soon. Not only that but she wanted more and while she knew he couldn’t resist her, she also wasn’t sure if she should give in to her own desires. He had been a raging asshole after all.

She heard him mumble something into her hair, but was unable to decipher it. “I can’t understand you,” She said, turning her head from out of his jacket so he could hear her.

He let out a small groan before lifting his face off of her scalp. “I said, I’m sorry for what I said at the Wyrm.” She didn’t have to see him to know that his face and neck were flushed red with embarrassment. He always seemed to have an allergic reaction to apologizing. Still, it was amazing that he even said he was sorry as usually he just acted like nothing had ever happened. Maybe he was starting to grow up, even if it was just the tiniest bit.

Her grip around his waist tightened a fraction, pressing her cheek into his sternum in an attempt to keep herself from crying again. The hurt was still so fresh in her mind that despite what she felt was a sincere apology, she still couldn’t help but think of his stinging words. Sweet Pea began to rub her back, sensing that she was on the verge of spilling more tears.

“You’re such an asshole to me.” She huffed out, managing to stop herself from crying. “I don’t understand how you can say you love me after acting like a total jerk.” She attempted to pull away, however Sweet Pea did not allow her to. His grip around her remained vice.

She felt him stiffen uncomfortably against her. “I don’t know how to do this.” He said quietly, almost so low that she didn’t even hear him. “I’ve never felt like this before, okay? I don’t know how to handle it.”

Lav looked up at him, wearing her confusion plainly on her face. “But didn’t you love Lily?” She didn’t understand how he could say he never felt this way when he had mentioned loving her before.

“That was different.” He admitted softly. “You drive me fucking crazy, you know that? I can’t ever stop thinking about you. When I was with Lily, I still thought about fucking other girls. I cared about her and I loved her as a friend, I guess but. The thought to cheat doesn’t even cross my mind with you. I get so freaked out by the way I feel around you that I just fuck it up. Because that’s what I do, Shanna, I fuck everything up. Just look at what I did to Lily.”      

Lavender clung to him, afraid that if she loosened her grip then he’d fall apart right before her eyes. It wasn’t fair that he always had to pick up her pieces when he had his own issues to take care of. Maybe that was one of the points Lily was trying to make during that first week. Lav had never really given him a chance to be vulnerable and at the moment she hated herself for that.

“It’s okay,” She muttered to him. He wouldn’t look directly at her, choosing to stare off at a wall instead. When he didn’t respond or move, she reached up and put a hand on his cheek to force him to look at her. “I mean it, Pea. It’s okay to not understand what you’re feeling. It’s new to me too. I don’t think I’ve ever cared so much about someone before. Not like this.”  

His eyes bore into hers for a tense moment as they stared in silence once again. He dared to lean down and press his lips against hers, which Lavender took in eagerly. She opened her mouth slightly, tongue prodding at his lips in desperation.

Sweet Pea opened his mouth for her, his own tongue reaching out to greet her. They collided, rolling and wrestling. Lav couldn’t help but let out a needy whine as she pressed herself flush against him, wanting more each second that passed.

He backed her up against the nearby wall, hoisting her upwards by grabbing the backs of her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist, securing herself against him as they continued their bruising kiss. His hands that were perched on her hips, pushed up her thin tank top. Their lips finally broke apart as he pulled it over her head.

Her bra was quickly discarded next as he wasted no time at all. They had both been wanting this for far too long now and it was all too easy to get caught up in the moment. Daisy wasn’t around,and if Lily dared to come by then Sweet Pea was going to give her a solid piece of his mind.

Sweet Pea was groping both her breasts, making her keen against the wall. His thumbs ran over her nipples, hardening them. Lav grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him in for yet another deep kiss, needing something to occupy her mouth to keep her from becoming a moaning broken record.

Lavender pushed off his leather jacket and he happily aided her in shedding it. She enthusiastically unbuttoned his flannel, making quick work of it. Why did he have to wear so many fucking layers?

Finally once his flannel was off, he tore off his undershirt. With his bare chest exposed, Lavender ran her fingernails across his pectorals. The pads of her fingers brushing past his nipples and down his semi-toned stomach. She rolled her hips against him, eager and wanting. He simply wasn’t moving fast enough for her.

Sweet Pea seemed to be ignoring her pleas for more as he continued to manipulate her nipples slowly as they kissed. Lav simply huffed, pulling her mouth away from him so he could see her pout.

“Can’t you let me enjoy getting you off first?” He asked in a threatening tone. “Or do you want my dick that badly?”

Lavender groaned, “You are the worst, stop teasing me!”

“No.” He responded, attacking her neck with his mouth as his hands jerked her skirt upwards so that it was bunched at her waist. His thick fingers caressed her clit through her cotton underwear, making her let out another needy whine.

He pinched the swelling bundle of nerves, earning himself another whimper from her mouth. Sweet Pea pulled away from the wall, causing her to grab onto his shoulders as he carried her into her bedroom.

“You’re not going to fuck me against the wall?” She asked playfully as he rubbed circles around her clit. Her words devolved into a moan towards the end.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You little slut.” He hissed back. While other people absolutely could not call her that word, Sweet Pea definitely could. It was her own way of reclaiming it by telling him to use it. It sent a passionate thrill down her spine.

He dropped her onto the bed, causing her to yelp in surprise. She looked up at him, doe-eyed as he unbuckled his belt and ripped it free from his pants. In one swoop he grabbed both of her wrists, wrapping the leather around them before tying it to the headboard. Lavender was staring at him curiously, wondering where this had come from. He had never restrained her like this before, not that she minded. If she didn’t like it then she’d let him know, though he usually had a way of telling when something made her uncomfortable even more she verbalized it.

When she gave no outward sign of discomfort, he continued by ridding her of the rest of her clothing so that she was totally naked on the bed. He settled between her legs, kissing down her chest as she inhaled sharply with anticipation.

She had noticed that he only went down on her when he felt the occasion was particularly special. If it was a regular quickie then he usually didn’t bother. The action caused a warm feeling to wrap around her as she tried to squirm away from his fanning breath.

Sweet Pea shot her a look telling her to be still as he tightened his grip around her thighs. He attacked her clit with a series of licks and suckling kisses, a finger probing at the entrance to her core. Lav jerked in his grip, whimpering and whining for more as he was doing nothing but tease her with his mouth.

He latched on firmly, sucking hard as he swirled his tongue around her in a quick rhythm that had her quaking in his grip. Two fingers plunged into her wet pussy, curling inside of her before easing out. She couldn’t stop the mewls from coming out or the quiet begs for more. He worked her over, pumping his two digits at an incredibly fast pace as he continued to service her with his tongue. In minutes Lav was pushed over the edge, crying out for him as she pulled at her restraints.

Sweet Pea pulled away from her, pressing the two fingers that had been inside of her into her mouth for her to clean them off. She sucked on them, hollowing out her cheeks as she stared into his dark eyes. Once he was satisfied with her work, he pulled them out and wiped the excess saliva onto the bed sheets.

“Have I ever told you how great your pussy tastes?” He asked in a husky tone as he readied himself between her thighs. Lav shifted her hips to give him more room, spreading her legs as far as she could to get him ample space. There was a raging blush across her cheeks as she shook her head no.

Sweet Pea smirked, tip pressing into her folds but not quite entering her. “You look so pretty with your legs spread out like that, dripping for my cock.” She swallowed thickly, while enjoying the dirty talk she was unable to respond to it. It was still a new thing for her to hear as her other partners had never done it before. Being young and not nearly as experienced did have its downsides. Although if he were honest with her, he loved how flustered it made her.

“Do you want me to fuck you, princess?” He asked, still teasing her with his closeness. She moved her hips, trying to get him to enter her, however he simply pulled back a fraction just to spite her. “Tell me you want me to fuck you.” He growled.

Lavender whined at him pathetically, “Fuck me, Pea, please!” Her face grew a darker shade of red. Sweet Pea merely smirked as he slowly pushed into her, biting back a moan at how tight and slick she was.

She seemed to relax into the bed as he filled her, stretching her walls as he continued to plunge deeper inside of her. She let out a soft, breathy moan and her eyes slid shut so she could focus on the sole feeling of being completed by him.

He moved her legs so that they were flung over his shoulders haphazardly, leaning forward so that they were pressed into her chest. She pouted up at him, wanting him to move his hips to give her arousal some kind of relief. Sweet Pea was giving her a cocky look, knowing exactly what she wanted and purposefully not giving it to her.

“Pea,” She whimpered again, giving him the most desperate facial expression that she could muster. “Please? I love you-”

That seemed to be what he wanted to hear as he suddenly pulled his hips back and snapped them forward. He fell into a heavy rhythm, slamming against her as she moaned helplessly beneath him. Sweet Pea grunted as he bared his weight on his wrists, hands placed on either side of her shoulders.

He moved at a furious pace, pounding into her harder than he ever had before. Lavender couldn’t say anything coherently, simply falling apart as he reduced her into a shapeless mass of pleasure. She felt as if she was wound incredibly tight and he was yanking on the end of her string, daring her to unravel at any moment.

She let out a loud gasp as he adjusted the angle in which he drove into her, hitting deeper than before and making her toes curl with delight. Her stomach felt tense, clenching as she tried to keep herself from exploding too soon.

"Don't hold it back," he growled at her, knowing her body better than she did sometimes. "Come all over my dick, baby girl."

Lav cursed as he picked up speed again, throwing her mercilessly over the edge and into a sea of ecstasy.

Sweet Pea slacked his pace slightly, allowing his rhythm to become sloppy as he chased his own high. In minutes he was releasing inside of her, filling her to the brim with his load.

He gently lifted off of her, unfurling her legs so that she could lay normally. He crashed down beside her after undoing the belt that tied her wrists, pulling her into his chest as they both heaved for air. She nuzzled her nose against his sternum, inhaling the sensual mixture of sweat and sex as he rubbed her back soothingly.

“I love you too,” He mumbled back to her as he drifted into the twilight dimension of sleep.

There was a hard but tentative knock on the door to Sweet Pea’s trailer. Lily managed to gather herself up off the kitchen floor, having been crying there alone for the past ten minutes. Luckily Daisy had placated herself in the living room, playing with a few of the toys that Lavender had bought for her a few days prior.

Lily cleaned herself up the best she could in the time it took for her to open the door, finding the next in line for Serpent King standing there looking bashful. As if he knew something that he shouldn’t.

“Hey,” He said softly, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, “can we talk?”

She bit into her lower lip hard to keep from crying again. She knew exactly what this was about and she really didn’t want to face up to it yet. Ever since she came back she found herself growing closer and closer to Jughead. Her heart seemed to thump loudly in her ears anytime they came into contact with one another. Even passing him in the hallway sometimes left her breathless. She absolutely hated this feeling, as she knew exactly what it meant. It had been similar to what she felt for Sweet Pea some time ago. Only this time it seemed so much worse, and she wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was just post pregnancy hormones raging.

Lily stepped to the side so he could walk in. He brushed past her, not meaning to touch her as he did so. Their arms touched for a split second, leaving a warm and tingling feeling in the joined flesh. Jughead quickly moved away, making a straight line to the couch in order to plop down on it as if he’d had a long and hard day.

He took his beanie off momentarily, running his fingers through his thick locks before roughly pulling it back over them. His hair resettled, framing his face perfectly. Lily gulped as she looked at him in an attempt to settle the uproar of nerves in the pit of her stomach.

She closed the door, locking it out of sheer habit and muscle memory before joining him. She chose to sit in the recliner adjacent to the couch, not wanting to risk visibly showing how much she needed the company right this very moment. Her teeth were clenched, hands balled up on her knees into tiny fists. She looked as if she may snap in two at any second.

“Are you dealing?” Jughead asked finally. The tension in the air seemed to throb painfully as Lily looked away from him and towards her little girl that was jangling  a ring of plastic keys. She really didn’t want to answer him, however she knew that she had no choice but to. She had been caught red handed by Sweet Pea and Lavender the night before. While Lavender had tried to save her, clearly her ex had no intention of just letting this slide. He could be such an insufferable asshole when he wanted to be.

“Yes.” Lily admitted to him, knowing that she’d be unable to lie even if she wanted to. Nausea swept over her and she felt like she may start to puke her feelings out at any moment. She fidgeted with the fraying edges of a hole in the knee of her beat up jeans, hoping the tiny thoughtless movements would keep her sane for just a minute longer.

Jughead let out a stressed sigh, “you know I have to tell my dad, right?” He asked and she nodded numbly. “He wants me to take over when I turn eighteen, says he’s too old to keep doing this shit. So he’s making me handle the younger Serpents for now to learn how to deal with issues like this.

He paused, wanting to ask her for her advice on the situation before realizing that it would be really dumb to do so. Lily was the one to show him around Southside High when he first got there. She taught him all the Serpent Laws and helped him through the trials. He’d be lost right now without her, and yet here he was having to find some kind of fitting punishment for her.

“Is it the money?” He asked quietly, not wanting to offend her. Babies were expensive, he knew that. Maybe he hadn’t been giving her enough jobs to work lately, and the thought of her struggling made him feel incredibly guilty. “Because I can get you more money, Lils-”

“No, Jug.” She replied in a voice that was equally as soft as his. “I’m not getting paid to do it, at least not cash.”

A perplexed look crossed his face, “then why?” He probed, needing to know why she was doing something so risky. If she were caught, then Daisy would likely be taken from her and no one in the gang wanted that.

Lily tensed even more so than she already was. “Please, Jug, just drop it.” She said, her tone becoming more urgent. “I really can’t tell you why. I’m not doing this by choice, alright? I can’t give you any details.”

His eyes darkened. “Is someone blackmailing you?” If someone was threatening to harm her in any way then he needed to know. Not only for her safety, but for Daisy and Sweet Pea’s as well. Although he would totally deny the sheer amount of worry of her being in any kind of danger gave him.

Her mouth turned into a desert. She wasn’t sure if blackmail was truly the right word for what was going on. It wasn’t that the person she was dealing for was threatening to release any information on her, no it wasn’t quite like that. They would just stop helping her with her father’s appeal to turn over the conviction that landed him in jail. She couldn’t afford a defense attorney on her own. The person footing the bill was the one making her do such a risky thing as sell drugs on Ghoulie territory.

All she could do was shake her head at him, “That’s not-” She started before halting. The less he knew the better, or perhaps the less of the truth he knew the better. “Yes, Jug. Someone is blackmailing me and I have to do this, please.” She begged, allowing her eyes to go wide and desperate. “Please, I have to.”

“Law says I have to take your jacket, Lils...I can’t do that.” He admitted to her, unable to tear his blues away from her watery greens. “Do you know who is doing it? Or are they staying anonymous somehow?”

Did she lie again? Could she lie again? Would she just be digging herself into a deeper hole that may just collapse upon her one day and become her grave? “Jughead, I really can’t discuss this with you. Just know that it is not my choice but I have to do this. If I don’t then...then my dad may never get out.” The last part came out in a broken whisper as she choked back a cry for help.

Jughead’s gaze softened, hating seeing her so upset and wanting nothing more than to comfort her. However, he still had a job to do regardless of his feelings. “So they’re helping you get him out? I can help somehow, I’ll find a way, I promise I-”

“Jughead,” She said, shaking her head at him and letting out a small, tired laugh. “You don’t have the resources that this person does. They have money for a good lawyer, the Serpents don’t have that. If you have to take my jacket, then…” She hesitated, not liking what she was about to say, “then do it. My father never wanted this life for me anyway.”

The absolute last thing Jughead wanted to do on this Earth was to take her second skin from her. The thought alone seemed blasphemous. “If I do that, then you won’t be able to make money for Daisy. For now, we’ll keep this on the down low. The longer it takes for my dad to know, the longer I can stall. I don’t want to take away your livelihood, especially when you’re being forced into breaking the code.”

Lily heaved a heavy sigh, “When FP finds out, he’s going to murder you.”

A smile broke across his sullen face, “then who’d take over? Sweet Pea? Can you imagine?”

They both devolved into laughter, the air around them lightening. After a few moments, they stopped and fell into silence once more. At least this time it was less intense. “Promise me something, Lily.” Jughead said finally after he noticed her shoulders drop.

She looked up at him, eyes connecting once more. “What is it?” She asked, wondering what else he could possibly need from her. The seriousness on his face was causing her anxiety to ramp up again, the dial turning up all the way to eleven.

“If you’re ever in any danger, you’ll come to me and tell me?” He said gently, not wanting to further unnerve her. “I will do whatever in my power to help you. I won’t let anything happen to you. So please, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is or where I’m at, just tell me if you need my help. I’ll come running. Can you promise me that?”

A half dozen stray tears suddenly fell from her eyes, unable to hold them back at the sweet sentiment of him wanting to protect her. Even if it was just because he was her leader, even if it was just because they were such good friends, even if the reason wasn’t because he was infatuated with her as she so damn wished he was.

She wiped her cheeks with the palms of her hands, smearing the clear liquid across her soft skin. “I promise, Jug.” She mumbled, seemingly in pieces but somehow held together at the same time. “I promise.”

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Sweet Pea’s index finger grazed her clit through her underwear as he kissed across her breast. Lavender released a whiny moan, unable to handle the way his mouth moved across her chest on top of his prodding digit. She was only in her underwear while Sweet Pea was down to just boxers and gym shorts. She thought she was going crazy underneath him, his tongue and finger moving slowly against her body.

Suddenly there was a banging on the front door and both teenagers groaned at the interruption. Instead of getting up, Sweet Pea went back to teasing her nipple with his teeth, hoping that whoever it was would just go away. Lav inhaled sharply, about to exhale another moan when the banging happened again.

“Sweet Pea! Open up! I need you to take Daisy!” Came the loud and commanding voice of Lily Owens.

He sat up abruptly, face red with anger as he left his girlfriend panting on the bed. He opened the front door, “We agreed that tonight you would take her.” He hissed, “Why don’t you be a good mother for once and spend some time with your daughter?”

Lavender flinched at his harsh words, pulling on a top to make herself more decent. She heard Lily’s reply clear as day, “I spent nine months alone with her. Take some responsibility.”

“Responsibility?!” He roared, “I have watched her every night this week! All I wanted was one night with my girlfriend and you said I could have that! Now you’re here trying to pawn her off of me again? What is your deal, what do you need to do that’s so goddamn important?!”

“I have a job to do! Just take her already and stop being such an asshole!” Lily yelled back, unafraid of his anger like Lavender was.

Lav had poked her head out of the bedroom, “Pea, just take her.” She said softly. “We can finish this some other time.”

Sweet Pea took his now crying baby from Lily as well as her diaper bag. If looks could kill then Lily would be minced into a million tiny pieces and strewn across the hard for the buzzards to pick at. He made sure to slam the door in her face before attempting to calm down his daughter.

“Sweet Pea, this is our chance.” Lavender said, having slipped on a pair of leggings. “We take Daisy to Mrs. Fogarty next door and follow her. Jughead said he hasn’t been giving her any jobs that require her to be out at all hours of the night. Now we can see where she’s going.”

He had managed to get Daisy to stop crying, he sat her in the pack ‘n play that he kept set up in her trailer and went to get dressed. He was too angry to respond to her, knowing he’d snap if he said anything out loud. Instead Lavender took his silence as an agreement to follow through with their plan.

Once he was finished he came out to see Lavender holding a giggling Daisy. She flashed Sweet Pea a smile, “Let’s hurry before she gets too far.”

He couldn’t hide the small smile that formed at seeing his two favorite girls get along so well. He kissed the tops of both of their heads before grabbing his keys. Lavender quickly took Daisy next door where Fangs’ mother was more than happy to watch over her, saying how much she missed having a baby in the house. The teens thanked her before hopping onto Sweet Pea’s bike and making it to the street adjacent to his trailer to see Lily getting into her car and driving off.

They followed after her at a safe distance. Sweet Pea hoped she wouldn’t recognize the sound of his bike. If Lily was on to them then she made no indication of it. She drove into Ghoulie territory, something that had Lav on edge as she was squeezing Sweet Pea’s rib cage. There was still a hit out on her and if she were caught here then something terrible could happen. Sweet Pea was only one person, he couldn’t fight them all off.

Lily pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned office building. Sweet Pea slowed, parking to the side of the crumbling bricks to stay hidden. The two of them got off of his bike to get a better look. Before they left, Lavender had grabbed her late father’s binoculars to help them see. Even though it was night, there was enough light from the street lamps to see what was going on.

A teenage boy walked up to her, hair falling into his face and a cruel, twisted smile on his lips. Neither Sweet Pea or Lavender recognized him and he wasn’t painted up as a Ghoulie. Lavender was looking through the binoculars and watched as Lily handed him a brown paper bag. He opened it, pulling out small baggies of powder.

Lavender bit her lip, “Pea…” She handed him the binoculars so he could see. She could feel him tense beside him, anger surging.

“She’s been ditching Daisy to deal drugs? What the fuck is this?” He hissed, not liking the way her buyer was leering at her as if she were also a poison to be consumed in order to chase a high. “We have to tell Jones.”

“Maybe we should talk to her first.” Lavender said softly. “Before going to Jughead. What if he kicks her out?”

“She’s dealing drugs, Shanna. Serpents don’t do that shit.” Sweet Pea replied, “Let’s go, we’ve seen all we need to.”

Lavender was frowning as she got back onto his bike. She had been jumping at every stray noise. The thought of someone following them was ever present on her mind. Every shadow was her enemy at this point and Sweet Pea sensed her distress. Not only had he gotten to the bottom of Lily’s little disappearances, but he also wanted to get his girlfriend out of such a dangerous environment.

He sped back to Sunnyside, his thoughts racing faster than his motorcycle. How could she do this? The other kid hadn’t been a Ghoulie from what he could tell, but still he was in their territory. Where was she getting the drugs from? Was she cooking them as well? It wasn’t Jingle Jangle so what was it? There were more questions than answers at this point and he hated not knowing what was going on. He hated the feeling of betrayal. And he hated feeling like he no longer knew who the girl that was once his best friend was.

When they arrived back at her trailer, Lavender went straight inside as Sweet Pea went to grab Daisy. He didn’t want Lily to get suspicious of him for not having her or yell at him for letting Mrs. Fogarty look after her.  

When he arrived back, he set the little girl on the couch. She was already starting to nod off, having crawled to Lavender to lay in her lap.

Lav smiled, stroking her back softly to help soothe her. She had already put on Paw Patrol for her to watch. Sweet Pea wanted to smile at the image, but was too upset with Lily.

“Do you mind if I take a shower?” He asked, knowing she didn’t but still wanting to ask. He needed to clear his head and he did his best thinking while under the hot water.

She shook her head, “You know I don’t. Go ahead, I got her.”

Sweet Pea nodded and went into her bathroom, cutting the water on the hottest setting before stripping down and stepping inside.

Daisy fell asleep while he was bathing. Lavender gently picked her up and placed her in the pack ‘n play, making sure it was free of any toys or blankets before going into her room. The water was off but he still hadn’t emerged from the bathroom. “Pea?” Lav called out, “Are you okay?”

She heard a deep sigh, “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Lav frowned as she started getting ready for bed. She reduced her clothing down to a pair of underwear and one of his button up flannels, leaving the top few buttons undone. By the time she was done, Sweet Pea had walked out in nothing but a towel.

“Sweets, please don’t do this to me.” Lav groaned, falling back onto her bed. He had made a rule that they couldn’t have sex when Daisy was in the house. She thought it was so stupid, but his argument was that Lav was so loud that she’d wake the little girl up. This had led the both of them to be extremely sexually frustrated as Lily had left Daisy with them nearly every night.

The tension was beginning to cause an uncomfortable rift between them that neither of them could keep ignoring for much longer. Between that and still having not uttered the L-word really was doing more harm than good. That was one reason why Sweet Pea needed the night off from Daisy. He needed to fix things before they became unmendable, and he feared that the breakage might already be too much. They ached for one another but his paternal boundaries wouldn’t allow them to be together intimately.

Sweet Pea’s shoulders slumped forward with a tired sigh. “You know we can’t.” He added, exhaustion in his voice. He hated the frustrated look on her face as she laid down and turned her back to him so that she could no longer see him. He frowned, unable to say anything else as he changed into his pajamas. He kept a handful of clothes over at her place now, just for convenience.

He cut out the light and laid down next to her, pulling her close even though she resisted at first. Eventually she melded against him, unable to stay angry. She nuzzled the crook of his neck and quickly fell asleep.

They had school the next morning. Sweet Pea and Lavender barely spoke to one another. They were having a disagreement on what to do about Lily. Sweet Pea thought they should tell Jughead immediately, however Lav wasn’t so sure. She thought they should get Lily’s side of things first. Maybe what they saw wasn’t what it appeared to be. She wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but her boyfriend wouldn’t let her.

At lunch, she noticed that Jughead and Sweet Pea were both absent. Lavender was incredibly suspicious. She had a feeling he was going to tell him behind her back, and the thought had her too angry to even eat the sandwich she had brought. Fangs was also missing and the only core Serpents at the table were the girls.

“Where is everyone?” Toni asked, taking a bite from her apple as she looked around.

Lavender opened her root beer, her mouth seeming incredibly dry. “I don’t know.” She said quietly, unable to look at Lily.

Lily cocked her head to the side. It wasn’t like Lavender to not eat her lunch or to not actively start conversation. She was very talkative once she accepted you as a friend, which Lily felt that she had. Maybe it was because of last night. “I’m sorry I had to leave Daze with you two last night. I know things are hard right now, but I had a job to do. I needed the money for diapers.”

Lav forced a smile, “I can buy you some if you need them. Just tell me what kind you like.” The offer was genuine, she just felt incredibly uncomfortable knowing what she knew.

“Why is Jug giving you such late night jobs anyway?” Toni asked before Lily could respond, “Doesn’t he understand you’re a mom?”

Lily visibly stiffened. “It was the only thing he had available. He told me that he could try to find something else, but I decided to take it. It’s alright, I’ve been gone from the Serpents for too long. I need to prove myself again.”

Toni snorted, “You don’t need to prove anything. You’re a serpent by blood.” She took another bite of her apple before grinning at her girlfriend who was walking over to join them.

“Lavie, I’d feel incredibly guilty if you bought me diapers. I’ll just ask Sweet Pea for money next time.” Lily said, smiling lightly to show that she appreciated the gesture.

Lavender snorted, “I have more money than he does, but don’t tell him I told you that. He’s very self-conscious about it.”

“Self-conscious about what?” Fangs asked, sitting down next to her as the other two boys joined them.

“His extra large dick.” Lavender responded jokingly, and Fangs let out a dreamy sigh playfully. She rolled her eyes at him and they both giggled at one another.

Sweet Pea sat next to her, immediately shoving food into his mouth. Lavender glanced at him and could tell by the look on his face that he had talked to Jughead. She wanted to say something to him, but knew this wasn’t the time nor the place. It would have to wait until they were alone. Although she was certain Sweet Pea would pull the daddy card over her head like he seemed to love doing. He didn’t need to constantly remind Lav that she wasn’t Daisy’s mother. That was plain to see.

Jughead was uncharacteristically quiet. He was eating his cafeteria burger at a slow pace which was also unusual. Typically he shoved as much food into his mouth at once as he possibly could. He wouldn’t look at Lily either, which typically he was so secretly enamored with her that he couldn’t keep her eyes off her. Lavender was the only one that knew this about him, everyone else thought they were just friends. She knew he wanted something more than that. He acted the same way around Betty when they first started dating.

Anger caused her to stand, abandoning any attempt to eat her lunch. “I forgot I have a meeting with Mr. Hawthorne about an assignment. I’ll see you guys after school.” Lav left and Sweet Pea didn’t even look to acknowledge her. He knew she was mad but so was he. They didn’t have to see eye to eye on everything.

There was obvious tension between everyone as Lavender had received a text from Jughead to meet him at the Whyte Wyrm that night. Because her name was still on a rival hit list, Fangs stayed close with her which she was totally fine with. She didn’t want to speak to her boyfriend right now. He was too stupid for his own good, in her perfectly honest opinion.

Fangs was doing his best not to take sides, but Lavender could tell he was leaning more towards Sweet Pea than her. Typical boys sticking together. She was angry with him, but not enough to ask for a different temporary body guard.

When they arrived at the Wyrm, they went upstairs to the small office to speak in private. Jughead and Sweet Pea were already there and the intensity of the clashing opinions was palpable. Lavender was opting to glare at Sweet Pea, while he pretended that she wasn’t even there. It hurt her more than she wanted to let on.

“Are you sure you saw Lily dealing drugs?” Jughead asked her and she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Frankly, Jughead, I’m not sure what I saw. I saw Lily handing a bag of something over to another kid. It could have been anything. I can’t say if it were drugs or not because I haven’t talked to her like I wanted to because my partner decided to talk to you first instead.” Lav spat back, feeling as if it were her against the three of them. The odds had memories threatening to flash back, but she held them back by counting backwards in her head. Grounding herself was the only way she’d be able to stay ahead of it.

Jughead glanced at Sweet Pea, who was finally looking at his girlfriend. The two were having a heated contest to see who would back down first. It didn’t seem as if either were going to budge anytime soon. “What else could it be, Shanna?” Sweet Pea hissed. “What do you think she was giving him? Baking soda? Sugar? It was drugs and you know it!”

“I don’t know it though and neither do you!” She snapped back angrily. “If you had just asked her first, asked her to explain instead of running to Jug, then maybe we’d know the truth! But we don’t because you had to be a little snitch instead.”

“I’m sorry I’m actually loyal to the gang we’re a part of.” Sweet Pea replied, and Lavender’s heart shattered. How could he even suggest that she wasn’t loyal? She had never done anything to hurt them, unless you count the time she broke Kitty’s nose.

Hot angry tears welled into her eyes as she stared at him with disbelief. “How dare you,” She choked out as her fury escaped her. “How dare you even suggest that I’m anything less than loyal. I don’t care what any of you do. I’m going to go talk to her.”

Before they could say anything in response, she turned on her heel and stormed out the door, slamming it behind her so hard that a picture frame fell off the wall and shattered.

Lavender didn’t care about the danger. She was seeing too much red to even notice the painted ghoul approach her as she walked down the street towards Sunnyside. She didn’t even hear the sound of his wrist breaking when she grabbed and twisted it. She hardly comprehended the motion of her knife coming out to press against his groin or the threat that spilled from her lips for him to touch her again.

The random Ghoul freed himself from her iron grip and ran before she could castrate him, which she had made perfectly clear that she would do if he took one more misstep. She kept her knife in hand and she finally arrived safely in the park where no one was dumb enough to attack her in broad daylight. She went straight to Sweet Pea’s trailer and banged on the door.

Lily opened the door, confused at the expression worn on her new friend’s face. Her makeup was smeared as she’d obviously been crying, her switchblade was gripped tightly in her fist and her hand was shaking violently. Lily quickly pulled her inside. “What are you doing alone?”

“Are you dealing?” Lavender asked, ignoring the question. “We followed you last night. Are you dealing?” She asked again, her voice more desperate now because if she had to address what just happened then she might fall completely apart.

Lily was taken aback by the question. “Lavie…” She said gently, “Put down the knife.” She reached for it, but Lav quickly got into a defensive position. Her body was stuck in fight mode and it was a simple reflex. She didn’t mean to hurt Lily.

When she realized that she was pointing the knife at a fellow Serpent, she dropped it. It clattered onto the linoleum of the kitchen. “I’m sorry,” Lavender whispered as her tears started again. “I’m sorry.” She couldn’t stop the sudden stream of apologies that escaped from her mouth. She sounded like a broken record, unable to stop saying the same two words over and over as panic overwhelmed her.

Lily quickly took her into her arms, holding her tightly in an attempt to soothe her. She had no idea what had happened before she got there, but if she had to guess by the knife then it would be that she had a run in with the Ghoulies.

“Shhh,” Lily cooed softly, stroking her hair. “It’s okay. Just breathe. Where is Sweet Pea?”

Lavender’s forehead was on her shoulder as she shook with sobs, unable to give any kind of coherent answer. They weren’t particularly close but in the moment, Lavender needed someone to lean on and Lily was more than happy to oblige.

After realizing that her questions wouldn’t be given an actual response, Lily decided to change the subject back to herself. “Someone is making me do it.” She said softly to Lavender. “To help me get my dad out of prison. I...I don’t have a choice. Is this why you and Sweets were refusing to speak to each other at lunch? You shouldn’t be arguing over me.” Lily was able to use her concern for Lavender to steal her features and keep from breaking down herself. That would have to wait.

The distraction allowed Lav to break free from the tight hold of her trauma. She lifted her head and rubbed her eyes, her smeared makeup making her look like a raccoon. “I wanted to talk to you first. Ask you about it first….but he wanted to go straight to Jughead. He just kept saying that he needed to do right by Daisy and that I didn’t have a say in it because I wasn’t her mother or even her step-mother. And earlier he accused me of not being loyal to the Serpents so I stormed out on my own to come talk to you.”

Lily didn’t press her further. Obviously something else had happened, but if Lavender didn’t want to talk about it then Lily wasn’t going to force her. “He’s an asshole.” Lily replied, “how are you disloyal because you wanted to talk to me about it first? That just makes you a good friend.”

Lav sniffed back the mucus that had begun to build in her sinus cavity. “You really think so?”

“Yes, I do. And he doesn’t need to bring up the fact that you’re not Daisy’s mother when Daisy has nothing to do with this. That’s such a dumb thing to keep mentioning. I’ve seen how well you help take care of her, so even if you’re not a birth parent you’re still helping. That is what matters. I appreciate what you do for her, especially considering that you didn’t know about her until a few weeks ago.” Lily continued. “He needs to pull his head out of his own ass.”

“We’re just so...frustrated lately. He won’t have sex with me if Daisy is in the house, even if she’s in the other room.” Lavender said, feeling as if her relationship was just falling to pieces faster than she could mend it.

Lily made a face, “why not? If she’s asleep in the other room, why does it matter?”

Lav blushed lightly, “He says I’m too loud and will wake her up…”

“Trust me, you will not wake that girl up.” Lily said, “She sleeps as hard as he does. He needs to get over it and just fuck you. Or tell you how he feels about you. Either one would make you two stop being so angry with one another.”

“Can you just...tell him that?” Lavender mumbled, still embarrassed by the subject at hand. “Because he won’t listen to a thing I say when it comes to her. He’s been a father for like a month and thinks he knows everything there is to know about taking care of a child.”

Lily snorted, “He is insufferable. I don’t know how you put up with him.” She picked Daisy up, who had been playing on the floor with her stuffed animals. She squealed with delight at her mother’s affection and Lav smiled at the two of them.

“You put up with him too. Once upon a time.” Lav pointed out, and for once the sentiment didn’t bother her. She didn’t feel any less valid as Sweet Pea’s current girlfriend by pointing out their past relationship. Growth comes in small doses, after all.

Lily just shook her head. “I guess it was hard to see all of his faults at first. Distance made me realize that we just weren’t a good fit. We were just best friends that were tired of being alone. The love there was never the same as it is between you two.”

Lavender chewed on her lower lip. That damn word again. She hated every time Lily brought it up, because especially now she was convinced that it just wasn’t true. If Sweet Pea loved her then why did he sometimes say such terrible things to her? Sure, it was always out of anger, but that was no excuse to verbally abuse her.

“And you two still haven’t said it.” Lily said pointedly, observing the look on her friend’s face. “You two really blow at communication.”

A pout formed on the other girl's lips as she crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “It’s not my fault he’s such a troll sometimes. He makes it impossible to talk about…”

Lily bounced Daisy on her hip, making the little girl giggle more. “I know he does. Honestly it’s kind of a miracle you two ever ended up actually dating by what Juggie tells me. I guess FP played a hand in that.”

“I think it was more Fangs than FP, if I’m totally honest. He would find reasons to leave us alone.” Lav said, a small smile forming on her mouth as she thought back to when the two boys were her live-in bodyguards. “He basically forced us to be close. Even if we fought it tooth and nail for the longest time…”

“I just hope he’s better at sex now. He was awful when we were together.” Lily said, groaning at the memory. “He literally gave zero preparation, just stuck it right in and went to pound town.”

Lav frowned a bit, “he didn’t warm you up or anything?”

“Not really.” Lily admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed about it. “He just did what he could to get himself off I guess.”

“What an asshole.” Lav mumbled to herself. “I guess he learned something because I actually quite enjoy the sex. Or, I did. Until he totally cut me off for no good reason.”

They became quiet as they heard the telltale sound of Sweet Pea’s motorcycle out front. Lavender quickly bent down to pick up her knife. “I better go. I don’t want to see him right now.”

“Lavie, he needs to know that you almost got hurt.” Lily said and she watched the teen stiffen uncomfortably. It wasn’t something she wanted to address right now. She planned on just calling Toni and Cheryl to possibly stay the night at Thistlehouse. None of the boys were in her good graces...except perhaps Jughead who hadn’t actually done anything wrong to her yet.

“No, he doesn’t.” Lavender said, pinching the bridge of her nose in order to will the panicked thoughts away. She needed to be strong in front of him, even if it was clear that she had been crying.

Lily gave her a disapproving look. Clearly this was something that needed to be addressed, whether Lavender liked it or not. Just as Lily’s extracurricular activities needed to be, although Lily hoped by pushing the focus on Lavender she could escape that particular conversation.

She was about to make a break for the back door when the front door opened to a very angry looking Sweet Pea. Daisy whimpered at the look on his face, recognizing it as the one he made when he was about to yell. It frightened the little girl and the knowledge of that made Lily all the more protective of her.

Lavender attempted to leave, hoping that his stare down of Lily would prevent him from noticing her. She was wrong. His head snapped to look at her, noticing the knife in her hand. “Why do you have that out?” He asked incredulously, boxing her in before she could make her escape.

“It fell out of my pocket.” Lav lied as she slid it into the back pocket of her skinny jeans. “I’m going home, Pea. Let me by.”

“She was attacked.” Lily said, again knowing that his conversation had to be had. “I just got her to calm down a few minutes ago.”

Sweet Pea’s hard face softened into nothing short of concern and worry. He put a hand on the side of Lavender’s face, thumb brushing over her cheek as he quickly looked over her for any damage. “You shouldn’t have left by yourself.”

Lavender smacked his hand away from her angrily. “I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been such a prick to me.” She countered back. Sweet Pea took a step away from her to give her space., knowing that if she had just come down from being triggered that backing her into a corner would just make it worse. Even if he was upset with her, he still respected her boundaries.

Nevertheless, his teeth clenched. “Just tell me what happened, Shanna.”

“A Ghoulie tried to put his hand on me so I broke his wrist.” Lavender replied. “And I threatened to make him a eunuch if he touched me again.” A proud look crossed Sweet Pea’s face. He wanted to be furious with her, but knowing she had successfully defended herself made him very pleased. It was a very conflicting set of emotions.

“I’m going home.” She muttered, walking past him finally as he turned to follow her. She really didn’t want him to, but seeing as the sun was beginning to set, him being nearby made her feel safer. If that lone Ghoul came looking for payback with backup then she’d need help in the form of the six-four giant. While he did not walk right next to her, he did keep a step or two behind in order to give her more space.

When they were both gone, Lily let out a sigh of relief. Maybe with their mountain of relationship problems, they’d forget all about hers. She could only hope. She set Daisy in her high chair so she could feed her her dinner and then put her to bed. Deep down she was praying that she wouldn’t be getting a text from her boss to make another run tonight. She was so exhausted from the little amount of sleep she had been getting. She thought coming back to Riverdale and rejoining with Sweet Pea would allow her to have a break. If only that had been the case.

Now she had to deal with everyone knowing she was dealing drugs and the possibility of getting thrown out. The sudden onslaught of anxiety and fear of being without her family overwhelmed her, forcing tears to release from her eyes at last.

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Lavender stared at Jughead, not at all understanding what he meant by forgiving Sweet Pea. What had he done this time? Of course the two fought more often than not over petty things but they made up hours, sometimes minutes later. It was just their dynamic. “Who is she?” She pressed as he looked at his buzzing phone again.

“Lily is Sweet Pea’s ex but I think he should really be the one to tell you all of it.” He said, his anxiety starting to show with his tone of voice. Lav made a face that he couldn't quite tell what it meant. “Listen, just try to get his side of things before exploding on him, okay?”

She stiffened, not liking his accusation of her tendency to react dramatically to any inconvenience no matter how minor. “Why did no one tell me about her? All this time and I’ve literally never even heard her name before. I don’t understand what the big deal is!” Her voice started to edge on the side of frantic as panic began to flood through her. Who was this girl and why did no one mention her?

Jughead sighed. “It’s complicated, Lav. Sweet Pea told us not to mention her around him. We all agreed that it would be better for you and him if you just didn’t know what went down between them.”

“So, everyone collectively decided that I, Sweet Pea’s girlfriend, didn’t need to know about someone who was obviously very important to him? Why is he hiding her from me, does he still have feelings for her or something?” She asked, her tone turning accusatory. Jughead put his hands up to try and calm her down, but instead she stood. “Whatever, Jug. I’m going home. Have fun talking to your new best friend.”

“She’s not-!” Before he could finish she had slammed the door behind her. Jughead sighed and sunk down into the old couch. Things were about to get a lot more complicated.

Lavender made a bee-line for her trailer as fast as her short legs would carry her. She was fuming at the thought that everyone kept some big secret from her, and worse of all she was dying to know what it was. She sent a quick text to Sweet Pea, demanding he come over to “come clean” when he was done with his job. Sweet Pea, being ever the oblivious asshole, had no idea what he needed to come clean about but figured the purple haired girl would fill him in when he got there.

Hours later, once Sweet Pea was done running bike parts to Centerville, he walked into the Rhodes trailer having no idea what shit storm was about to be thrown at him.

First of all, he found his girlfriend curled up on the couch in a state of drunkenness that he hadn’t seen her in in many months. Immediately he thought something had happened, she had a PTSD episode or someone made threats. In an instant he was by her side, her thin shoulders in his hands to get her to look at him.

“Who is she?” Lav slurred, eyes red from crying. Every worst case scenario had gone through her head. Was he cheating on her? Did he have some other life that she had no clue about and he was keeping it from her? How could this girl that she knew nothing about cause her so much grief?

Sweet Pea’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Who is who?” He asked, having no inkling of what in the world she was talking about. “Why did you drink so much?”

“Lily Owens.” Lav spat hotly, “Who is she?!” Her voice began to raise with notes of hysteria. She was so worked up and heartbroken and she had no idea why.

His blood ran cold as he stared at her. He had hoped that he could have approached the subject of his ex eventually, when the time was right. But Lavender was so god damn sensitive that he didn’t think that time would ever come. The insecurity she felt after the attack by the Ghoulies was so great that sometimes he felt trapped in that even talking to a girl she didn’t know had her upset.

They had a long talk about it once and she agreed to get it handled in therapy. And she did get better but there were times when he knew she just couldn’t help it. They had broken her so thoroughly that it was going to take time. He sighed softly, trying not to show how aggravated he was. “She’s my ex, Shanna. I was going to wait to tell you this but...She’s coming back to town in a few days and she needs a place to stay...with our daughter.”

“Your what?” Lav asked, somehow finding the fact that he had a child with another woman was way worse than him cheating on her. “You had a kid and never thought to tell me?!” Fresh tears came to her eyes and quickly fell down her face that was flushed pink from inebriation. “Don’t you think that was something I’d need to know?”

He flinched, feeling the hurt roll off of her in waves. “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d overreact!”

“Overreact?!” She yelled, her voice finally raising. “Are you fucking kidding me?! You kept a whole ass family secret from me, Sweet Pea! Get out. Just get OUT.”

His eyes narrowed as he stood, releasing his grip from her. “You always do this! You always fly off of the goddamn handle over every little thing. So I have a daughter, so what? I’ve never even met her! Lily ran off pregnant and had her without me there, so yeah I don’t bring it up because I’d rather not think about being a dad at sixteen! You’re not the only fucked up person in this relationship!”

She stared at him with stunned silence and he knew he had gone too far, as he always did. Sweet Pea just huffed angrily before turning and leaving in a manner exactly as she had from the Jones trailer earlier that day.

The next two days, Lavender spoke to no one. Not Jughead, Not Fangs, and especially not Sweet Pea. He hadn’t even bothered to text or to call as she was always the one to give in first. Still, the fact that he wasn’t even trying to patch things up between them only served to hurt her more.

Fangs had left her small apologetic presents at her doorstep. Flowers, snack cakes, chocolate, even a bottle of her favorite rum. While she accepted the gifts, she still refused to speak to him. His messages were all left on read.

Jughead and Toni had both sent only one apology text, while both seemed pretty heartfelt, they were also denied any kind of answer from her. It was only after an hour and a half long intense therapy session did she decide to try and make up with all of them. Her therapist had helped her realize that Sweet Pea was put in a difficult position from the start of their relationship with her trauma and intense insecurity. In the end, she concluded that he wasn’t purposefully trying to hurt her. He was trying to save her. It just ended up blowing up in his face.

She had picked up a carton of Marlboros for him and was walking up to his trailer. She didn’t notice whether or not his bike was on the side of the house, and dismissed the beaten up car parked on the street as a neighbor’s. It could have easily been someone else’s. Or maybe his dad was finally out of rehab?

Knowing that he was possibly still upset with her, she chose not to use her key to walk in. Instead she knocked on the door in her usual fashion and waited, cigarettes in hand. What she didn’t expect (but totally should have) was for a teenage girl to open the door.

She was shorter than Lav by about an inch, brunette, and absolutely stunning. Lavender's heart fell into her stomach. “O-Oh,” She stuttered, “I thought-”

“He’s not home.” The girl said in a somewhat flat tone. She had learned all about the person in front of her from Jughead. He filled her in on all of Sweet Pea’s doings while she was gone. “But you can come in and wait for him. He’ll be back in a few minutes.”

The door opened wider and Lavender looked inside, noticing that now the trailer was littered with baby clothes, toys, and assorted things necessary to take care of a child. The scene made it all too clear to Lavender that Lily, who she assumed opened the door, was now living with Sweet Pea. Suddenly she was breaking all over again and the progress she made in therapy was virtually gone.

“I should go.” Lavender mumbled, unsure of where she fell in this new hierarchy. “Can you just tell him that I came by? I need to talk to him.”

“You’re Lavender, right?” Lily asked and she nodded in response. “I’m Lily. I think we should talk. Come in, it’ll be easier than standing out here. Daisy is asleep so don’t worry about her.”

Lav did not at all feel comfortable talking to her, but the backfiring of a nearby car put her so on edge that she had no choice but to hide inside. She felt idiotic by being set off at a time like this. The intense need to hide somewhere where she felt safe overrode her discomfort with the situation at hand.

Lily seemed to have some knowledge of what was going through the other girl’s head. She noticed her jump and frantically check her surroundings at the loud sound. Jughead and mentioned her PTSD and that Lily should tread carefully for the time being. After knowing what happened with the Ghoulies, Lily ultimately felt pity for Lavender and not contempt...Though if she were completely honest, there was a little of that too.

It was clear to Lily that Lavender was very disoriented by the sudden amount of baby things around the living room, as well as an open suitcase that had all of Lily’s belongings in them.

The current girlfriend sat down on the chair that Sweet Pea fell asleep in way too often and sunk down into the cushions as if she were trying to disappear from sight. Lily took a seat on the couch, wondering if the awkwardness was going to go away any time soon.

“So you live here?” Lav finally asked, nearly flinching under the look Lily gave her. The question seemed much too obvious, of course she was living here. She had nowhere else to go.

“Yes.” Lily said, her voice a little more curt than she initially intended. “We needed a place to stay since my mom stayed in Toledo. Sweet Pea said it was okay. Is there a problem with that?”

“No! Not at all.” Lavender said quickly, wishing she had turned and ran when she had the chance. “Sweet Pea just didn’t tell me…”

Lily huffed, of course he didn’t. “We need to talk about that.” Of course, she still had residual feelings for the serpent. He was the father of her child. And the way he had ended things were so messed up. Plus he had said when she came back they could start all over. Obviously that wasn’t going to happen now.

“I get that you’re his girlfriend now. I mean, I never expected him to pick a Northsider over…” She stopped, seeing the hurt expression on Lavender’s face brought on a wave of guilt. “You really had no idea about me, did you?”

“No…” Lav said, her voice so soft that Lily almost didn’t hear it. “We never talked about past relationships. Look, I really need to go. Can you just give these to him for me?” She asked, motioning towards the carton of cigarettes in her lap.

“When did you start dating?” She asked, her tone serious.

“Three months ago but we hooked up the July before that….” Lav admitted, not wanting to withhold anything.

“July?” Lily asked and Lav sensed the anger in her voice. “I knew he was cheating on me. I knew it.” She hissed under her breath, not meaning for Lav to actually hear her.

Pain ripped through Lavender’s chest. He had still been in a relationship with Lily that night? She felt like she was going to throw up. She abruptly stood. “I-I’m sorry, I…” She didn’t know what she could say to make any of this better.

“I’m not blaming you.” Lily quickly said after a small sigh. “You didn’t know….How could you have known that I was about to give birth to his daughter? Of course he’s so fucking selfish he didn’t even say anything about it to either of us.”

Lav was holding back tears to the best of her ability. The thought of being the other woman, even for just one night, made her want to lock herself up and drink herself into oblivion. Really she only stayed away from the unhealthy coping mechanism when Sweet Pea was around. Right now, it didn’t seem as if he’d have time to be around for very long. He had a baby to take care of.

“I’m sorry,” She apologized again, really just having no idea how to handle this situation. She backed towards the door, reaching for the handle when it swung open. Sweet Pea was there, looking as tired as ever. A confused look crossed his face when he saw the tears threatening to fall from Lavender’s eyes.

“Shanna?” He asked, not knowing what Lily had done to make her upset...if she had done anything. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to apologize but.” She was too upset to be angry at anyone other than herself. “I need to go home. I got you some cigarettes...here.” She shoved them into his hands before nimbly squeezing past him and running off.

Sweet Pea looked down at the carton before looking up at Lily. “What did you do ?” He asked, his voice threatening to raise.

“You slept with her before you broke up with me.” Lily said, her voice low but angry. “You didn’t end things until August. You said, you said we could start over if I came back, Sweet Pea. You promised me that we would try for Daisy.”

He felt utterly lost. He had loved Lily so much but her leaving had him feeling so alone that he needed something . His dad had started his first stint in rehab and had been in and out since. He was so completely alone with no one to hold at night. Initially he had felt terrible about it but the guilt went away because in the end she had left him when she said she never would.

“You left, Lily. What did you expect?” He asked, his voice icy. “You abandoned me like everyone else did. How did you think I could continue to love you after that?” Her hand reared back and slapped him hard across the face, the sound bouncing off the walls of the trailer. And deep down he knew that he deserved nothing less.

Lavender returned to her trailer, attempting to put herself back together. She had truly wanted to work things out with Sweet Pea and didn’t have the strength to curse him to hell when she saw him. And the look on his face when he saw her. Past his confusion was definite regret. The softness of his eyes made her want nothing more than to be held by him. She wasn’t sure if that was ever going to happen now.

She eyed the bottle of rum on her kitchen counter and she knew that she should resist it’s calls. Did she really want to wake up with a hangover tomorrow? It seemed better than feeling heartbroken at his point.

As she reached for it, she heard a knock on her door. Lav let out a sigh of relief to have been stopped before she drowned herself yet again. She went to the door to see her boyfriend standing there, looking equal parts pissed off and broken down. His left cheek was bright red and starting to bruise and she knew that Lily must have hit him.

She said nothing as she opened the door for him and he walked in, hands clenched into fists. He was clearly agitated but not at her. That was evident enough in him not screaming at her when she opened the door. He saw the bottle of alcohol sitting out in the open and made a straight line to it.

Lav felt as if she were about to cry again, this time for him. Because like her, Sweet Pea also had a habit of hitting the bottle when he felt like the lowest of the low. Of course, she was still very much heart broken by his actions before but seeing him in pain was a whole new kind of ache. It was one that she found herself hating more.

“Wait,” She called out just as he grabbed the bottle by the neck. “Pea, can we talk first? I promise not to yell at you…” Her voice showed her weakness, but she didn’t really mind since he was the one hearing it.

Sweet Pea let out a tired sigh and nodded. He carried the bottle to the couch and sat down with a heavy thud, keeping the rum in hand as if in case of emergency. Lav gently sat down next to him, turned sideways on the seat to face him fully. “Can you just...explain to me what’s going on?”

“I fucked up.” Sweet Pea said, scowling at himself, “again.”

She knew his biggest fear right now was her leaving him. While she thought she had abandonment issues, his own were far worse. “Just tell me what happened.” She said, her voice gentle to show that her being upset wasn’t as important as what was going on with him currently.

“I loved her, you know? I didn’t mean for her to get pregnant.” Sweet Pea said, his voice extremely quiet. He very rarely opened up like this. And him doing it sober was a first. “Then she left. She left like everyone else leaves. And you’re probably going to leave too because I always mess everything up. I don’t know how to be a good boyfriend or baby daddy or whatever. I’m just a teenager. I just don’t know.”

Lav put a hand on his leg, moving closer to him as a few stray tears escaped her eyes. “I’m not leaving you. I just want to know everything. That’s it. I’m sorry I blew up on you the other day. I should have let you have a chance to explain. It seems that I don’t know how to be a good girlfriend either…”

He let out another sigh as he set the bottle down on the table in front of him and pulled her into his arms. He hated for anyone to see him like this, but he hated being alone even more.

He buried his face into her blonde roots and just breathed in the scent of her vanilla shampoo. Lav nuzzled her face into his chest, listening to him breathe. "I told her I'd try, Shanna. Before you. Before everything. I promised her."

Lavender squeezed her eyes shut, having no idea why she was going to say what she was about to. "If you have to," she couldn't even say it. "I understand, Sweet Pea. It's okay. I'll be okay."

That wasn't what he wanted to hear, but he appreciated her willingness all the same. "Can I stay here tonight? One last time?"

She couldn't stop the silent tears from coming and in truth she didn't want to. "Of course, Pea. One last time."

The next morning, Lavender awoke to find herself alone in her bed. The spot where Sweet Pea had slept the night before was still warm. She sighed softly, not having the emotional energy to even cry over the loss of their intimate relationship. Could they even function as friends? They weren’t friends before they started dating, so how could she expect them to be after? She had no idea what she was going to do without him by her side almost every night. Perhaps it was time to talk to Fangs again.

She called him over after attempting to shower the sadness off of her. She put on clean underwear and lounge-wear as she waited for him to come over. Fangs came crashing through the door like a puppy who had missed his owner, grinning at her and quickly making his way to the couch.

He stopped grinning when he saw the forlorn expression on her face. “What’s wrong, babe?” He asked, taking her hands into his.

“We broke up last night.” She muttered. “Because he...he promised Lily before we were together that they could start over when she returned.”

Fangs was frowning. While he loved both Lily and Sweet Pea, he had long since come to the conclusion that they were much better as friends and not as lovers. But, he also knew that Sweet Pea intended to keep any promise he had made if he could. And though he could tell his friend was visibly upset, he was surprised to not find her crying and drinking. Despite it being only ten AM.

“I wish I had told you, Lavie.” He said in a quiet voice, pulling her into his chest to try and soothe the heart he knew to be aching in her chest. “I’m so sorry. You deserved to know. I just thought...you were doing so well…”

“It’s okay, Fangs.” She mumbled, her voice muffled by his t-shirt. “You had made a promise too. I just...I just don’t know where to go from here. I mean, I thought that I might...you know…”

He pulled her away, looking over her flushing face. “That you might love him?”

She groaned, “please don’t say it out loud. It sounds so stupid.”

“No, it doesn’t.” He bit back, almost angrily. “It’s not stupid at all. Come on, let’s go to the quarry. It’s finally warm enough to swim!”

Lavender froze. She had many plaguing thoughts about wearing a bathing suit in front of others. While all her wounds had healed perfectly well, she still had long, thick bands of scar tissue across her thighs and stomach, with a few smaller ones on her chest. Sweet Pea was so far the only one she had let see them since she was able to shower alone and clothe herself. The thought of anyone else possibly seeing them made her sick to her stomach.

“I don’t feel like getting wet, I just took a shower.” She lied, hoping he wouldn’t call her on it. Unfortunately today was not a day that Fangs was feeling particularly intuitive.

He cocked his head to the side, “but you love to swim. It’ll cheer you up!”

“I don’t have a bathing suit that fits.” She lied again, hoping that maybe he’d either catch the hint or drop it. “My boobs got bigger over the winter and mine are all too small now.”

His eyes looked at her chest as if to examine it. If it were anyone else, she’d be offended, however it was him so she knew it was not meant to be explicitly lewd. “They look about the same to me. You can always wear a bra or something instead.”

Lavender wanted to hit him upside the head for being so dense. She knew he wasn't purposefully being obtuse but it was still grating her nerves. “Fangs. I don’t want to go swimming.” Her voice was a little more firm now in an attempt to get through to him.

A puppy-dog look crossed his face as he pouted at her. “But...Lavie...it’ll be fun…You can wear some of my trunks if you want?”

She let out a sigh of defeat, “alright. Bring me some with a drawstring so I can tie them tight otherwise they’ll just fall right off.” His pout was replaced with a broad smile as he all but cheered with success.

Fangs left but was back five minutes later with a pair of black swim trunks for her. He happily handed them over as she went into her room to change. She put on a purple bikini, which still fit perfectly fine, before putting on his pants. She then put on an old form-fitting T-shirt that kept all of her scar tissue covered.

As she looked herself over in the mirror, she frowned. She looked utterly ridiculous but it was better than exposing the truth. She didn’t want anyone to be reminded of that day back in early January.

She finally came out of the bedroom to see Fangs packing a bag of snacks and a cooler of beer for them. “Jones and Topaz are meeting us there. I hope that’s okay.” He said, his back turned to her.

“That’s fine…” Lav mumbled awkwardly. She had already forgiven them as well, and hoped that they’d help her forget about her ruined love life.

They made it to the quarry, the sun shining high above them. Toni and Jughead were on the small beach, clad in their swim gear already. They both gave Lavender strange looks at her attire. “My, uh...bikini doesn’t fit anymore.” She said, but the only one to catch the lie this time was Toni who gave her a worried look.

“Lily will be here in a few with Daisy.” Jughead said as he typed a message onto his phone. A panicked look crossed Lavender’s face.

“Jughead...why would you do that?” She asked as Toni elbowed him in the ribs. He looked up, appearing like a deer in headlights. It hadn’t really occurred to him how awkward it might be for her. Really he just wanted to hang out with her, having missed her all these months. It had almost been a full year since he’d seen her last.

Toni sighed, obviously aggravated by his lack of thought. “Lily is cool, Lavie. Don’t worry about her.”

Lavender tried not to think about their only interaction. Lily had called her a Northsider, reminiscent of Sweet Pea back before they were dating. It was an insult that she hated. She couldn’t help that she had grown up mostly on the Northside or that she didn’t dress like a typical Serpent. She enjoyed soft colors a bit too much and flannel looked terrible on her.

“Okay.” Lav forced herself to say as she plucked a can of beer out of the cooler Fangs had brought. “I guess meeting Sweet Pea’s daughter would be kind of cool.”

“That’s the spirit!” Fangs said cheerfully as he stripped off his shirt. “Let’s go!”

He attempted to pull her into the water. “Fangs! I’m trying to drink, I’ll join you in a minute!” She pleaded with him, trying her best not to spill any PBR in the process.

“Oh fine, you have five minutes so you better chug it or I’m throwing you in.” He let her go, shaking his head before him and Toni raced to the water.

Jughead was quiet. “You broke up with him.” He said, his voice low so that the others wouldn’t hear. “So he could be with Lily….”

“Yea.” Lav replied as she took a gulp from the can.

"I know why you're wearing that ridiculous get-up, Lavie." He mumbled to her. "You don't have to hide it from us. I'm sure they're barely noticeable."

She frowned, refusing to look at him. "I didn't want to come at all. This was a compromise with Fangs. He was too dumb to figure it out."

Jughead grabbed a beer for himself and sat down, motioning her to join him. She sat down next to him on the makeshift log bench. "Figures. At least his heart is in the right place."

They watched Toni and Fangs splash one another. "How are you holding up, really?" He finally asked.

She opened her mouth to answer when she saw Sweet Pea, Lily, and Daisy approaching, she quickly shut it. "Don't worry about it." She said, throwing her head back to finish off the beer in her hand.

Jughead frowned, wanting her to open up but also knowing that she wouldn't now. Who knows if she ever would. He knew that the progress she had made was about to backslide thanks to her and Sweet Pea no longer being together. Despite the rocky beginning, they truly were good for one another.

He wanted to say something encouraging, but failed at the sight of Lily. This did not go unnoticed by Lavender who was sure to bring it up later.

Sweet Pea wouldn’t look at her. He was carrying Daisy, who at nine months looked exactly like him. Lavender wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to stand the sight. Her chest was so heavy that she was worried that she’d sink when she got into the water. If she got into the water.

Lily gave her a strange look. “Are those Fangs’?” She asked, nodding her head towards the trunks Lav was wearing. It wasn’t mean spirited, rather just honest curiosity.

“Yea. My bikini is too small so I asked to borrow his shorts.” Lavender said, her tone even and not bearing any ill will. The atmosphere surrounding them was completely uncomfortable and Lav had no idea what to say.

“Jug, can I talk to her alone for a minute?” Lily asked, her voice gentle and there was a small smile on  her face. Jughead nodded and stood, patting Lav on the back briefly before walking closer to the shoreline.

Sweet Pea glanced at the two of them, wanting to listen to whatever Lily had to say but also knowing she’d probably yell at him if he did. He begrudgingly moved towards the water with his very excited little girl.

Lily waited until both boys were out of earshot. She turned and looked at Lavender who was toeing the dirt with the tip of her shoe. “Thank you.” Lily said, her voice genuine. “You didn’t have to break up with him.”

Lavender couldn’t help the hurt sigh that left her, “Yes I did. He made a promise and I wanted him to keep it.”

“I mean, you didn’t have to because I’m not taking him back.” Lily said. She wasn't hostile but there was anger hidden somewhere in her tone. Lavender mistook it to be directed towards her when it was truthfully towards Sweet Pea. “He cheated on me. And to be honest, I can’t be sure that he won’t do it again.”

“You left him.” Lavender said back, jumping to his defense. “What did you expect?”

Lily’s gaze hardened. “I expected some common decency from the man who told me he loved me. What I didn’t expect is for him to stick his dick in someone else just because things between us got hard. All he had to do was talk to me. He could have broken it off first before pursuing other people.”

Lavender was sitting rigidly on the log, daring to look up at Lily. Her hazel eyes encapturing a mixture of rage and pain. But Lily wasn’t done. “I’m sorry for what the Ghoulies did to you, I am. But he can’t fix you. And it’s not fair to put that responsibility on him either. He needs to be a father to Daisy right now. That’s what’s important.”

She was speechless, unable to come up with anything to say in return. While Lily had a valid point, it hurt tremendously to hear it. Lavender stood and Lily backed up to give her space. “This was a mistake.” She said, obviously talking about coming to the quarry. She took a few steps before stopping and turning back towards Lily. “And for the record. You don’t know a single thing about me. So maybe you should stop assuming the type of relationship I had with Sweet Pea. That’s between us. Not you.”

She turned back, grabbing Fang’s keys from his pile of things and leaving. The only one to notice her departure was Sweet Pea, who failed to mask the pained expression on his face at the sight of her go.

-----------

Tag List: @the-gargoyle-queen​, @alexa-playafricabytoto​ If you want to continue to be tagged in the sequel, just let me know!

When Sweet Pea finally joined Lavender at the cake, everyone began to sing Happy Birthday while she lit the candles surrounding the double-headed snake. He watched numbly, not even hearing the song end or the cheers that came after. She had to nudge him to get him to snap back to reality and blow out of the candles after making a quick wish (even though he thought wishing on birthday candles was utterly stupid, he still had some modicum of hope).

Cheryl cut the cake, divvying out a good sized piece to everyone. Sweet Pea got the first cut and the biggest slice, though he didn’t feel much in the mood for cake. He forced himself to take a bite, watching the way his ex’s eyes lit up with anticipation. She couldn’t wait to see what he thought.

Sweet Pea forced a small smile, “this is the best cake I’ve ever had.” He said honestly, it was very good. It just felt so...wrong. And he couldn’t place why. As if he shouldn’t be eating this because she got it for him. That by consuming it he was somehow trapped in this non-relationship. Maybe he was looking too far into it.

After grabbing a cold beer, Lav sat down at an empty table with her piece of cake. She watched as various serpents danced and talked, some were playing pool while others were chowing down on cake and other snacks that had been provided. She felt an incredible amount of pride for being able to put this all together for him, the afterglow of sex leaving a kind of invincible aura around her. A protective bubble if you will.

Someone sat down across the table from her and she gave a sideways glance to see that it was Lily. Lavender sipped her beer, pretending to not feel any sort of intimidation. Lily watched her eat silently for a few tense minutes.

“You don’t see what you’re doing, do you?” She finally asked, wondering how Lavender could supposedly know Sweet Pea so well, but not know that she was hurting him. It was extremely obvious to Lily who had grown up with him. Spending nearly every day with him for over a decade made it so she knew his every tell. Sweet Pea couldn’t hide shit from her and vise versa.

Lavender sighed, annoyed with this discourse already. “What are you talking about?”

Lily straightened up in her chair, “you’re hurting him but you don’t even realize it. I don’t think you can read him as well as you think you can.”

“I know he’s upset about the breakup but we talked about it. We’ll get back together when the time is right.” Lav replied, her voice growing cold. “I don’t see why it’s any of your business. You’re the reason we broke up in the first place.”

“I understand why you did it. Because you wanted us to have a chance, but I told you I don’t want his cheating ass back. It’s my business because he’s my best friend and you’re putting him through unnecessary heartbreak because of something stupid that I said, which he gladly chewed me out for later.” Lily said, trying to get through to her. “Toni and Jug said something to me too and I apologize for what I said. Maybe you’re not using him to get better. I just jumped to conclusions because I was hurt….”

Lavender waited patiently for her to continue. However, the conversation seemed to die off there. Lav had no idea what she wanted to do now. Did she take him back now that Lily had admitted to being wrong? This somehow felt like a trap. “I want him to focus on being a father.” Lav said. “I loved mine very much and I think it’s important for little girls to have a good dad in their life...and he missed out on so much already. I don’t want to take time away from her.”

Lily couldn’t help but feel a new appreciation for the girl she had deemed “the other woman”. Here she was just trying to help them keep their family together...and all Lily had done was attack her. She let out a soft sigh, regretting how unnecessarily harsh she had been.

An uncomfortable silence fell on them as Lav watched her nemesis, Kitty Rollins, approach Sweet Pea. Her grip on her beer bottle tightened as Lily watched the scene unfold. They were standing extremely close to one another, Sweet Pea was smiling and even laughed . Lavender felt anger and heartbreak all at once. They weren’t together, she told him he could see other people, but him actually doing it….that was not something she had been prepared for.

Lily watched both Lavender and Sweet Pea, instantly figuring out what her baby daddy was doing. He wasn’t actually interested in Kitty, that was evident, but he was putting on a show as if he were. It was all to goad Lavender into some kind of reaction. He naively thought that maybe if he showed her how much she still wanted him, that she’d come back. Maybe they could stop being platonic and go back to what they had.

Kitty grabbed a hold of Sweet Pea’s jacket, and Lavender nearly saw red. She had to chug down her beer to keep from losing it. “Lav, listen.” Lily said, reaching out to put a hand on top of the other girl’s. It was a very...strange gesture to Lavender. “He’s not into her, I promise. He only has eyes for you right now. He’s trying to rile you up.”

Lavender’s eyes softened as she looked back at Sweet Pea, who had chanced a glance at her before leaning in to whisper something to Kitty. The jealousy and rage returned in an instant. Even if Lily was telling the truth, it was working . “He’ll still have sex with her.” Lav said, “He had sex with me and he didn’t even know me.”

Lily pulled her hand away. “He will pretend to, sure. But he won’t actually do it. He’s too chicken shit. I promise, if they leave he’ll just drop her off at her trailer and leave her there. Trust me, he did the same thing to girls when we were taking a break just to annoy me. He doesn’t have side chicks when he’s actively in love with someone. I think...I think we had fallen apart before July even started.” She swallowed down the lump of pain in her throat. Even though she had moved on, it still hurt quite a bit when she thought about it.

Lav was staring at Lily now, eyes as wide as saucers. Her and Sweet Pea had never used the L word with one another. They weren’t ready. It was too big of a step. And while Lav had deep rooted suspicions that she did love Sweet Pea, she was almost sure that he didn’t love her back... at least, not romantically.

“He...loves me?” She asked, still not believing what Lily had just said. The brunette was unperturbed. Sweet Pea was terrible at saying those three words so it wasn’t surprising that he hadn’t told her how he felt. She also wondered if Lavender also had similar issues admitting to her feelings.

“Shanna,” Lav flinched at the use of her real name. “Trust me. No one knows Nathaniel better than I do. If he didn’t love you, then he would have gone out and banged the first chick he came across the night you broke up with him.”

Lav bit her lip, nearly giggling at finally knowing Sweet Pea’s real name. He would never tell her it, even after many nights of begging and trying to seduce it out of him. “Do you think...he could be a dad to her and a boyfriend to me?” She asked, her voice obviously unsure.

Lily smiled softly, “you’ll never know until you let him try.”

The purple haired girl stood, leaving her trash at the table for the time being as she sauntered over to Sweet Pea. He was giving her a curious look as he allowed Kitty to press her body against him. “ Nathaniel ,” Lav said sweetly. Kitty’s head snapped to look at the shorter girl, eyes narrowing into a glare. Her nose was now permanently crooked thanks to Lav’s little stunt when she first became a Serpent.

Sweet Pea grit his teeth, anger flaring at the sound of his name. Lily, he thought icily, looking to his ex as she waved with a huge smile on her face. His eyes shifted back to Lav who was completely ignoring Kitty. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“You’re not together anymore, Northside slut, back off.” Kitty hissed. Sweet Pea’s gaze hardened as he pushed her away from him. He knew how the Northsiders at Riverdale constantly called Lav demeaning names such as slut or whore after her attack. They didn’t know what really happened, and the rumors made it seem like she was gang-banged consensually by a bunch of Ghoulies.

He never stood for anyone calling her either word, because he knew how much it had destroyed her esteem. “Back off, Rollins.” He hissed at her, no longer wanting anything to do with the black haired girl. He put an arm around Lav, his large hand finding the small of her back so he could lead her away.

Though Lav was stricken by the insult, she pretended to brush it off as if it were nothing. She understood why Sweet Pea took the defensive stance and appreciated it greatly. He had even forgotten that she had called him by his real name. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I’ve been an idiot about this whole thing.” Lavender said admittedly, her cheeks dusting with a shade of pink. “Lily...Lily talked to me and she’s right. I shouldn’t be hurting you like this.” He made a face, not liking that she had called him out on his feelings. “I was just worried that I’d take you away from Daisy, but I should have at least let you try to figure out how to balance us.”

He let out a pent up breath, nodding his head slowly. “So what does this mean? You want to get back together?” His heart seemed to be thudding painfully in his chest, as if it were burst free at any moment.

She turned to face him, looking up with those big hazel eyes that drew him in every time. “I know this has been really weird for both of us, Lily and Daisy coming back into your life. But I think...I really think we can work through it. So, if you want me to be your girlfriend again then I would lo-” She cut herself off, “then I would be extremely happy.”

Sweet Pea stared at her, his feelings all jumbled together like a poorly wrapped skein of yarn. “So we’re dating again?” He asked, a bit confused by her rambling.

Lav let out a frustrated groan, “yes! We’re dating again!”

He couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face, his heart pumping full of joy as he leaned down to kiss her with her small face in his hands. She sighed into the kiss, moving her lips against his until Fangs came up and slapped Sweet Pea on the ass.

“Dude!” Sweet Pea snapped at him, not liking the interruption.

“Are you two fucking again or what?” Fangs asked, a stupid smile on his lips. “Because I’m kinda over this whole broken up thing. Not that I don’t love sleeping with you in my arms, Lavie.”

Sweet Pea made a face at him and Fangs quickly changed his tune, “platonically, Sweets. It was a joke.” Sweet Pea rolled his eyes and pulled Lav close to him in a possessive way.

“Anyway,” Fangs said after rolling his eyes. “Let’s celebrate! Drinks on me everybody!” He yelled out, making the crowd cheer.

“Fogarty, I pre-bought all the alcohol you idiot.” Lavender said, a cute pout on her face. “Stop taking credit for my generosity!”

Fangs smirked before walking off, waving his hand at him in a goofy goodbye. “Jerk.” Lav muttered playfully before looking back up at Sweet Pea who had been staring down at her.

“This is the best birthday I’ve ever had.” He mumbled at her, a blush creeping up his neck. “Thanks Rhodes.”

“You’re welcome, Pea.”

The party went on fairly late into the night. As things were starting to wrap up, Lavender noticed that Lily had disappeared even though the rest of their core group was there helping to clean up. “Where’s Lily?” Lav asked Sweet Pea who just sighed.

He ran a hand through his hair, “she keeps disappearing at weird hours. She left about forty-five minutes ago, told me to pick up Daisy and apologized for making me watch her on my birthday. She said she had something to do. Who has something that important to do at two in the morning?”

Lav frowned, seeing a foreign look on his face. If she didn’t know any better, then she would have thought that it was distraught strewn across his features. “You don’t know where she goes?”

“No.” He replied, his tone erring on the side of anger. “She just tells me to watch Daisy and leaves. Sometimes she’s gone for hours.”

Lav threw the trash she had in her hands away, “maybe we should follow her one day.” She looked up to see his thoughtful expression.

“You’re right, Shanna.” She grimaced at her name, “next time we’ll follow her and see where she goes.”

She pulled him down for a quick kiss. “Can I spend the night with you? I don’t want you to be by yourself on your birthday.”

He smirked at her, “technically my birthday ended at midnight. But if you think you can handle a crying baby waking you up in the night, then sure.”

Lav couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “I should have known you’d adjust to that quickly seeing as I used to be that crying baby waking you up all the time.”

Sweet Pea’s gentle smile turned into a disapproving look. “Don’t talk about yourself like that.” He said, not liking her speaking negatively about the aftereffects of her trauma. “You’re not a baby.”

She looked up at him through her thick eyelashes. “I’m your baby.” She said cutely, trying to lighten the mood.

He rolled his eyes at her before letting out a sigh of defeat, “yeah, yeah. I guess you are. Hurry up, Princess, so we can go home.”

With the help of the others, they finished cleaning up the Wyrm and packing up the leftover food. Lavender told Sweet Pea she’d meet him at his trailer since they drove separately and she still had his key. Luckily she knew she still had some clothes stashed over there from when they were dating previously. It just seemed stupid to take it all home when they’d get back together eventually.

When she arrived, she put the food away before retreating to his bedroom, ignoring all of the baby toys strewn across the living room and hallway. She changed into one of his t-shirts and stretched out on his bed as she waited for him to join her.

About ten minutes later, Sweet Pea arrived with a sleeping Daisy. Since it was so late, she was in too deep of a sleep to wake up when he picked her up and brought her home. He put her in her crib and turned on a night light before going into his room.

He couldn’t help but grin at the familiar sight of Lavender on his bed wearing his clothes. The shirt swallowed her whole and looked more like a dress than anything. She glanced up from her phone and smiled back at him. “Hey, birthday boy.” She said, “Oh, I’m sorry, it’s not your birthday any more.” She added sarcastically.

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes at her as he got undressed, stripping down to his boxers before turning off the light and laying down beside her. Lavender planted her face into his hard chest as he arms wrapped tightly around here.

They laid in silence for a few moments before she broke it. “Where do you think she’s going?” Lav murmured.  He could barely hear her as her voice was muffled by his skin. She always seemed to smother herself against him whenever she got the chance. He had no idea how she could possibly comfortably breathe.

“I don’t know.” Sweet Pea said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. “She’s been different since she got back. She’s always in a shitty mood. Yells at me any chance she gets. I know that I hurt her and that I deserve it but...I don’t know, something just doesn’t feel right.”

Lavender let out a small hum in response, unsure of what to say. “You should thank her.” She said finally and she felt him tense up against her.

“For what?” He asked, confused by why his girlfriend would suggest such a thing. “She broke us up.”

“Maybe,” Lavender replied, moving her head slightly so he could hear her better, “but she also got us back together. I probably would have still been trying to prove something to her if she hadn't apologized to me. I guess you and the others laid into her pretty badly for what she said.”

His grip on her tightened. “I told her she was a jealous idiot.” He hissed. “And that you were going to therapy. And...that you still need protection.”

“What are you talking about? We took care of the Ghoulies.” Lavender replied, not understanding. She had been in the clear since the dust settled after taking out the last three.

“The Ghoulies want revenge, Shanna.” Sweet Pea said. “They’ve been making threats again. Jughead may have gotten a lot of them locked away for the time being with that stupid race, but they’ll be out sooner rather than later. It won’t be good.”

She attempted to pull away from him but he wouldn’t let her, keeping his arms firmly in place. “Are you saying they’re after me again? Sweet Pea, why didn’t you tell me?!”

He could feel her heart rate spike through their chests, hear the impending terror in her voice. “They’ve got a score to settle with you, but we won’t let it happen. Okay? Fangs and I have been watching you day and night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked in a pathetic tone, no longer fighting against him.

“Because if I had then you would have been too scared to sleep and when you don’t sleep you’re an impossible bitch to be around.” Sweet Pea said, “Nothing is going to happen. We’ll watch out for you.”

Lavender huffed, her heart still racing. She attempted to shove her fear outside of her mind, tried to will herself to calm down. At least she felt safe there, in his bed with him holding her so tightly that she could barely move. It was better than being home alone. Hell, it was even better than sharing a bed with Fangs like she often did during her and Sweet Pea’s time apart. The thought of them being together again was the only thing that allowed her to slowly drift to sleep.

The next day, the young Serpents decided to go to the quarry to relieve some stress that had been building due to rising tensions with the Ghoulies. Lavender had opted to wear a sundress that was long enough to cover the tops of her thighs where her scars were. She was lounging in the sun, sipping a daiquiri that Fangs had made for everyone before they left. He filled as many thermoses as he could find to keep them from melting too fast.

Sweet Pea had bought her a new bikini so that she couldn’t use the excuse that hers no longer fit. He wasn’t totally clueless and the biggest sign that she was having body issues were the photos she had given him. Her scars had been barely visible when he knew they were thick bands of stark white against her skin. Either Toni had edited the photos or she had covered her scars with makeup. He assumed the latter.

Lavender made the excuse that she didn’t feel like swimming so she was just going to sit on the shore. She wasn’t about to go in front of everyone wearing nothing but a skimpy bikini. Though she quite loved the one he had bought for her, she simply wasn’t ready.

He walked up, dripping wet as he sat down next to her. She smiled at him softly and offered him her drink, which he took and gulped down. “The water feels great. You should go in.” He said, pretending to be oblivious to her concerns. “It’s not too cold like you thought it might be.”

She frowned, not wanting to argue with him but not wanting to go in either. “Maybe later.” She murmured. “Daisy really likes the water, huh?” She asked in an attempt to change the subject.

They watched the little nine month old, held by her mother, splash around in the water. She was giggling and babbling, making all kinds of happy noises. The others all had smiles on their faces as well. They didn’t seem to notice either teen on the bank.

Sweet Pea did not allow for her to deflect the conversation. He stood back up and quickly scooped his girlfriend into his arms. Lav grappled with him, attempting to get away as she knew what he was about to do. “Sweet Pea! Stop! Put me down!”

“No, you’re going to have fun with us.” He said angrily. “You’re not going to sit over here by yourself like a loser anymore. Christ, even Jones is out there instead of being a wet blanket.”

They came closer to the water and Lav continued to struggle, doing anything she could to get away. Anything besides physically hurting him, which she really did not want to do. “I mean it, Nathaniel, put me down!”

“Okay, Shanna.” Sweet Pea said, dropping her suddenly. She realized her mistake when her body hit the water. She screamed again at him as she righted herself as quickly as she could.

“You are such an asshole!” She screeched, attempting to storm back to shore, however he stopped her by standing in front of her. Any time she tried to get around, he’d move to block her still.

“You’re going to swim with us.” He said firmly. “Or else.”

She rolled her eyes, “Or else what? I’m not a child!”

He leaned down to whisper to her, “Or else I’ll hold out on you, baby girl. Don’t forget, I know just how much you need me to get you off.”

Lavender stopped, her face heating up even though she knew the others couldn’t hear him. “Prick.” She hissed before sinking down into the water. “I hate you.”

Sweet Pea merely shrugged nonchalantly, “sure you do. Why don’t you take your dress off so it doesn’t get ruined.”

She glared at him, “It wouldn’t be ruined if someone didn’t drop me into the water!”

Fangs swam over to them, grabbing Lav by the waist. “I can unzip you!” He said, a giant grin on his handsome face. “I’ll take it to shore. I gotta take a leak.”

“I’m not taking my dress off!” She snapped at the two of them as she tried to get out of Fangs’ grasp. It wasn’t much use, he was too strong for her and the water resistance made it ever harder to struggle.

“Take it off, Fogarty.” Sweet Pea said darkly.

Lavender began to panic, her eyes flooding with tears that made both boys stop their harassment. What Sweet Pea hadn’t intended was triggering her with his order. Her mind jolted into the darkness of a flashback from that night.

“God damn it.” Sweet Pea huffed as he pulled her into his arms to try and calm her down. She only struggled against him, hitting his chest as hard as she could until he let her go. She swam around him and took to the shore, grabbing a towel before running into the forest.

“Good job, asshole.” Lily said and Sweet Pea noticed that everyone was glaring at him. He groaned and turned, about to go after her when Lily stopped him. “Don’t. You’ll make things worse. I’ll go while you play with Daisy.”

Sweet Pea reluctantly took his daughter into his arms as Lily, Toni, and Cheryl all went to go after Lav. Fangs and Jughead were quiet, watching them go. A heavy silence fell on them as Sweet Pea bit the inside of his cheek. He wanted to scream until his lungs gave out or punch something until it reduced to tiny little pieces. He had been so good at not triggering her. He hadn’t stepped on a landmine in months . All that work vanished in a split second when he pushed her too far. Christ, why did he always take things too far?

In the woods, Lavender had found a large rock to curl up on as she cried. She didn’t soften her sobs, not realizing that she had been followed. She let herself break down into a soggy mess, unable to form a coherent thought. She could feel their knives gliding across her skin. Her clothes rip off her body. The sheer pain and terror all came back as strong as the night it happened.

“Lavie,” A soft voice broke the sounds of her crying. Lav shrunk against the stone, turning so her back was to the person who called her name. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this. It was embarrassing.

She felt Toni’s arm wrap around her shoulders in a soothing gesture. Lav’s body tensed, unwilling to relax against anyone in the moment even if it was her best girlfriend. “It’s okay, you’re not alone. We’re here.”

Lav did her best to stifle her sobs. She hiccuped back tears as she finally leaned into Toni’s side for comfort. She felt guilty for ruining their fun. “I-I’m sorry.” She managed to stutter out. “I-I didn’t mean.”

“Do not apologize, Purpura Serpenta.” Cheryl said in a calming tone. Lav felt her arm wrap around her waist. “You did nothing wrong.” She added. “That buffoon of a boyfriend of yours is at fault.”

“He didn’t mean to.” Lavender said in a weak attempt to defend him. She didn’t sound like she believed herself.

Lily sat down behind her, resting her back against hers. “He was being an idiot.” She said in a frustrated tone that was totally directed at him and not the crying girl behind her. “Obviously you didn’t want to swim, he should have just left you alone.”

“It’s not that…” Lav mumbled, “I did want to.”

Toni squeezed her shoulder. “You can tell us, Lavie, it’s okay.”

“They’re so ugly.” Lav murmured, nearly breaking down again. “I don’t want anyone to see them.”

The other three were silent, unsure of what to say. Toni and Cheryl continued to hold her as Lily kept their backs touching for her own show of support. “I know it’s not the same but...I feel like my body is a disaster after pregnancy.” Lily said, hiding her face so they couldn’t see how embarrassed she felt to admit it. “My stomach isn't back to where it used to be...I’ve got these gross stretch marks that won’t ever go away. I just wish it could have gone back to what it was before Sweet Pea knocked me up.”

“I wish I was taller.” Toni confessed. “Also not the same, but I hate being so small. No one takes me seriously until I punch them or pull out my knife. It’s such a headache.”

“I love your height.” Cheryl said with a small pout. “It’s perfect to me.”

Lavender began to breathe normally again as she slowly crawled back up from the depths of her inner hell. “I shouldn’t have run away with the Ghoulies giving threats...I’m such an idiot.”

“We wouldn’t let you come out here alone.” Toni replied, pulling her closer. “So don’t worry about that. Even when Sweet Pea and Fangs are being complete jerks, we’ll always have your back.” The other two girls murmured an affirmative.

After a few beats of silence, Lavender uncurled herself from the rock. “We should go back. Before the boys hurt themselves somehow.”

Lily snorted, “dumbasses.” She stood up and offered her hand to Lavender who reluctantly took it. She smiled at her warmly. “You know the best way to get back at him?” She asked, a devious glint in her eye that did not match her smile.

Lav blinked, “what?”

“Just ignore him. He can’t take it. It drives him absolutely crazy.” Lily said, trying her best not to giggle. “I used to do it any time he annoyed me or pissed me off. He’ll be begging for attention in minutes.”

A small smile broke across Lav’s lips. “Okay. Why don’t we both do it?” She asked. “It’ll be twice as much punishment.”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh at the idea, “brilliant, let’s do it.” The two linked arms before returning to the quarry, completely ignoring Sweet Pea, Fangs and Jughead the rest of the afternoon.

Tag List: @the-gargoyle-queen​, @alexa-playafricabytoto​ If you want to be tagged, just let me know!

As the days passed, it was slowly becoming easier and easier to avoid Sweet Pea. To be fair, a lot of his time was now spent in his trailer with his new family and Lavender spent probably too much of her time casually drinking and hanging out with Fangs and Toni.

Currently, Toni was working on her hair. She had let her roots grow out a bit too much for her liking. Sweet Pea had made some comment about how he’d like to see her natural hair color again so she hadn’t been keeping up with her touch ups like she had previously. Of course now, that was totally out of the window and Toni was more than happy to return to being her hairdresser.

“Why don’t you just try being friends with him. He asks about you all the time.” Toni asked, as she finished sectioning off her long hair. “Ghost Adventures comes on tonight and I know that was your favorite thing to watch together.”

Lav was posting snaps of Toni doing her hair and sending them to a group chat that contained Fangs, Toni, Sweet Pea, and Cheryl. She couldn’t help but notice that a certain ex was the first to view them.

She had been wanting to ask him to come hang out with her for the past couple days. It had been less than a full week, so naturally there would still be some awkwardness. “I guess it’s worth a try.” Lav mumbled. “What should I get him for this birthday next week?”

Toni made a face that Lavender couldn’t see, “what about the present we worked on together? We worked hard on those pictures. Honestly I think they’re some of my best work. I might just get into doing boudoir shoots from now on.”

“I think that would be highly inappropriate.” Lav replied. Two weeks ago she had asked Toni to take some photos of her in a new set of lingerie in hopes to give the pictures to her boyfriend for his seventeenth birthday. She had put heavy makeup on all of her scars, making them nearly nonexistent. “We’re not dating anymore, Toni. I’ll just get him something else.”

“I don’t understand why you just won’t take him back. Lily already said she was refusing to date him again after what he did.” Toni said as she began to apply the dye skillfully. “So what’s stopping you?”

Lavender chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously. “I want to work on myself first. He deserves to be with someone that’s not a broken mess.”

Toni was frowning, not liking the way her friend was talking about herself. “So...maybe after some more treatment you’ll reconsider?” She asked hesitantly. She fully planned on sending this new bit of info to Sweet Pea as soon as she got the chance. He had been driving himself crazy trying to figure out if his ex was mad at him for something Lily said or if they’re relationship was over for good. He didn’t like not knowing.

“Of course.” Lavender said, her mood lifting a bit. “I don’t think I should be dating anyone right now, but as soon as I’m ready to again then he’ll be the first I ask out. I care about him a lot, Toni...and I hate that I’m having to do this but I think it’s in both of our best interests. Plus he had a child he needs to help take care of. I don’t want to take him away from her.”

“I’m sure he can manage both.” Toni replied, “But can I ask what brought this on? Why did you decide to do this all of a sudden when it wasn’t an issue before?”

Lav had hoped that Toni wouldn’t ask her this, and she knew Toni could tell if she was lying. Lav wasn’t very good at it in the first place. “Lily made a comment that I was using Sweet Pea to fix myself and that it wasn’t fair to put that on him.”

Toni couldn’t help but let out a sigh of disappointment. “So this is over something Lily said…”

“Yes, what is that supposed to mean?” Lav asked, her tone erring on the side of accusatory.

“Just that she doesn’t even know you, Lavie. She was probably saying that to try and protect Sweet Pea because they were best friends growing up. She doesn’t want to see him being used, but you’re not doing that. You’re getting professional help. Sweet Pea helped you stick to healthy coping and was just a good boyfriend. I mean, sure you had your fights but they were never that serious. And it’s not like you haven’t been working on yourself at all….” Her voice trailed off, unsure of what else she could say to maybe convince her to change her mind.

However, Lavender wasn’t about to be persuaded by her. “I know that, Toni. I want to prove it to her. I want her to see that I’m not some viper trying to steal him. And I really do think he needs to spend time with Daisy. He’s missed out on so much already.”

“Alright, alright,” Toni said, totally defeated. “Can you at least tell him all of this? He feels like a piece of shit because you won’t talk to him.”

Lav wanted to nod her head, but couldn’t unless she wanted to risk Toni messing up. “I’ll have him come over tonight. We can talk about it then.”

Later that night, after the sun had gone down, Lav waited for Sweet Pea to arrive. She had made them popcorn and had a mix of soda and beer, whichever he wanted to drink, as well as various candy. She admitted to herself that she went probably a little too far in trying to make this not weird, and ended up totally overdoing it. Still she was excited to be spending time with him again, even if it was strictly platonic.

He arrived a few minutes after she had finished putting everything out. She opened the door for him and paused when she saw a certain little girl in his arms. Sweet Pea had an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry, Lily ditched me last minute and I couldn’t just leave her. She’s asleep though...I don’t think she’ll wake up.”

Daisy was indeed fast asleep in his arms, drooling all over his shirt. She was too cute to make Lavender upset. “It’s fine, Sweet Pea.” She said, her voice showing him that she wasn’t angry. “She can sleep on my bed if you want.”

Sweet Pea let out a sigh of relief as he walked inside. He took the sleeping baby into the bedroom and laid her down on the part of the bed that was against the wall. He put up a few pillows to stop her from possibly rolling off the other side just in case. Then he set her diaper bag down and rejoined his friend in the living room.

“If I had known you were going to wear your pajamas, then I would have to.” He said, his voice teasing her as he sat down. His eyes swept over all of the things she had bought. “Wow, what’s all this for?”

She blushed, sitting down next to him and crossing her legs. “I just thought I’d make a night of it. As...an apology for isolating and ignoring you when we said we’d try being friends.”

Sweet Pea let out a small uncomfortable sigh. All Toni would tell him was that she didn’t hate him and that she’d explain herself tonight about not getting back into a relationship with him. “Just friends?” He asked, his voice daring to sound hopeful of something more than just friends .

“Pea,” Lav said as gently as she possibly could. “I need to work on myself a little bit first. Lily said-” She stopped herself, “Lily accused me of using you to get better and that didn’t still well with me, okay? I want to prove to her that that’s not what I’m doing. I care about you a lot. More than any other guy I’ve ever been with. It has nothing to do with anything that you’ve done….And..I think you should focus on being a dad, right now. To make up for lost time.”

His face fell entirely. It still felt like a rejection, no matter how hard she tried to not make it sound that way. She quickly grabbed the sides of his face. “Look at me,” She mumbled softly, “I’m not going to make you wait for me. If you want to be with someone else…” Her eyes darted away from his before closing. She took a deep breath, “I’ll understand. Just...when the time comes...can we try again? I want to be with you, Pea, I do. It’s not fair for you to have to carry around all my baggage.”

Sweet Pea sighed again, gently grabbing her wrists and pulling her hands off of him. “Okay.” He said quietly, “We can do that. Just stop avoiding me.”

Lavender smiled sweetly at him, “I will. Just stop moping! I’ll even help you with Daisy if you ever need a babysitter. She’s cute.”

He cracked a rare smile as he put his arm up across the back of the couch. “So, is tonight a rerun or a new episode?”

“I think it’s a new one and then reruns.” Lav said as she cut on the TV and turned it to the right channel. “Do you promise you’ll come over and watch this with me every week?” She asked, a bit timidly.

“Yea, your commentary is cute.” He said, shrugging nonchalantly as she shook her head at him. “And you always have the best snacks. Is that a two pound bag of Sour Patch Kids? Where did you even find that?”

Lav laughed as he reached over to tear into the bag. “I’m the queen of sweets, Pea. I have my ways. They’re all for you anyway.”

He head snapped to her, “are you trying to make me fat, Rhodes? It’s two pounds of Sour Patch Kids but it’ll make me put on like twenty.”

She tried to control her giggles, “Just work it out or something. Whatever you do after a night of eating nothing but pizza and drinking beer. Pretty sure you put down more than two pounds of either of those.”

He scoffed at her, “rude.” He said back as Zak Baggins, the host of Ghost Adventures came on the screen. “There’s your boyfriend.”

Lav snorted back another laugh, “Please. I would never date a man with so many phobias.”

A few minutes into the episode Lav and Sweet Pea were silent. “This...this is about aliens? What the fuck?” Lav mumbled to herself, unsure what kind of weird one-off episode this was. “What about ghosts?”

“Aliens are cool.” Sweet Pea said coolly. “I’m glad they’re doing something other than ghosts for once.”

“The show is literally called Ghost Adventures, Pea. This is stupid.” Lav said, pouting now.

He rolled his eyes at her. “I bet it’s better than that stupid doll episode you love so much.”

“Stop disrespecting Harold, Sweet Pea. Or I’ll find him and bring him to you.” She hissed at him playfully, knowing he had an acute fear of dolls. He had drunkenly confessed how much they creeped him out. Harold had been a cursed doll in the episode he was talking about, the episode that was indeed her favorite.

Sweet Pea scoffed, pretending to not be at all afraid of such a threat even if the mere thought of having a possessed doll anywhere near him made him wildly uneasy. They fell into a comfortable silence as they watched, making commentary back and forth when something ridiculous happened, and making jokes at the investigators' expense. Things felt back to normal almost, the only difference was that he wasn’t touching her. Usually he had an arm wrapped around her waist or a hand on her thigh. It was strange to not be able to show any kind of affection all of a sudden. Still, being here with her was better than nothing.

As the next episode came on, he noticed Lavender slouching more and more, her comments becoming less frequent. He knew the tell-tale signs of sleep when he saw them. And while he knew he should stop her from falling asleep on the couch, he couldn’t bring his heart to do it. Instead he watched as she eventually leaned against his side, breathing softly with her eyes shut.

Sweet Pea let out a held breath, not knowing what he should do. He enjoyed the familiar feeling of her body against his, and he really didn’t want it to end anytime soon. He was definitely going to be having a talk with Lily later about the thoughts she seemed to have put in Lavender’s head. He couldn’t believe she wouldn’t renew their relationship because of something his ex said. His anger kept him from sleeping, despite how exhausted he was.

After all, how hard could it be to be a dad and a boyfriend? It shouldn’t be that difficult…

Eventually, Sweet Pea did fall asleep on the couch with Lav still laying soundly against him. Much later in the night, Lav awoke to the sound of a child crying. She frowned as she sat up, realizing that her and Sweet Pea had fallen asleep together. He was snoring heavily due to the position he was in and she couldn’t help but laugh lightly to herself.

She had figured she would let him rest a little more. He had looked so exhausted earlier when he first walked into her trailer with the little girl. She stood and went into her bedroom, cutting the light on to see Daisy crying on her bed. Lav picked her up, shushing her gently as she rocked her. “Did you have a bad dream?” She asked in a whisper.

Daisy looked up at her, in awe of her purple hair. “I have bad dreams too, Daze.” Lavender said, smiling softly. “They’re really scary sometimes. But it’s okay.”

She babbled back at Lavender, unable to form more than a few syllables. The only words Lav could understand were “Dada” and “Mama”.

“Daddy is sleeping right now.” Lavender replied, carrying her out into the living room to see him. “See?”

She was about to set Daisy down on the couch when Sweet Pea’s phone began to ring, the high pitched noise waking him up finally. He blinked sleepily, seeing the two girls in front of him. “Hey, what’s…” Then he realized his phone was what woke him up. He answered and Lav noticed his entire demeanor change.

“I’m at Shanna’s house.” He said gruffly and Lav could hear that someone was yelling at him through the speaker. “Daisy is fine. If you didn’t want her to leave my trailer then you shouldn’t have left her with me. I had plans.”

Lav began to feel awkward as a shouting match soon began. Daisy began to whimper at her father shouting, so Lav took her back into her bedroom. “I know how hard it is to have parents that fight.” She mumbled. “It’s awful…”

About five minutes later, Sweet Pea came into the room, his face red with anger. “I have to take her home.” He said. And while Lavender knew he wasn’t mad at her, the rage in his tone still made her flinch. He took Daisy from her arms and she instantly cuddled up to him. His enraged facial expression melted into a more somber one. Her affection was effectively dousing the flames.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asked, not knowing what her plans were. “If I’m allowed to leave the house,” he added spitefully.

Lavender forced a smile. “Sure. We can do our homework together if you want.”

He groaned, obviously not liking the thought of doing schoolwork. “Fine. Bye, Rhodes.”

“Bye, Pea…” And like that he was gone again and she couldn’t stop the feeling of pain blossoming in her chest as she tried to go back to sleep.

The following week, Lavender and Sweet Pea spent plenty of platonic time together. Usually they weren’t alone, Fangs, Toni, Jughead, or occasionally Lily joining them, however it was still nice to still be able to have some kind of functioning relationship.

That brings us to today, Sweet Pea’s birthday, and while he insisted that no one celebrate it...Lavender may or may not have thrown him a surprise party at the Whyte Wyrm. She had ultimately decided to give him the photos that Toni had taken, because she didn’t want her time and effort to just go to waste. Plus, they’d be together again eventually right?

Fangs and Toni had helped her put up the last of the decorations. “Your aunt really made this cake?” Fangs asked, looking over the cake that was shaped and decorated to look like the Southside Serpent emblem. “This is amazing!”

Lavender grinned, “isn’t it? She gave me a great discount too. I guess she’s not so bad for a Northsider, huh?” Fangs just chuckled, shaking his head as he checked his phone.

“They’ll be here in a few minutes, everyone hide!” He ordered and everyone went to their places to surprise Sweet Pea when he got there. Of course, Lily would be with him. Mrs. Fogarty had happily agreed to watch Daisy for the night.

Soon enough, the two young serpents were walking into the bar while arguing with one another. Sweet Pea stopped and looked around at the decor, “What...Oh fuck-”

“Happy Birthday!” Everyone shouted as they jumped from their hiding places, Fangs poped a confetti bomb in Sweet Pea’s face just to annoy him. Sweet Pea didn’t look at all pleased. He really hadn’t wanted a birthday party.

Lav bounded up to him, a grin on her face. “I told you not to do anything…” He hissed at her and she just shrugged in response before grabbing his hand to lead him to the cake.

Sweet Pea stopped his grumbling when he saw it, “This is for me?” He asked, his voice nearly becoming a whisper. “Why?”

“To be fair, I planned all of this before we broke up.” Lav said, shrugging. “I didn’t want it all to go to waste! I know you never really had an actual birthday party so I wanted to throw you one so you could see how fun they are!”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Rhodes...you’re an idiot sometimes.” He grumbled at her and she just smiled at his griping. She knew his protests were not fully genuine. It wasn’t hard to figure out that he had always wanted someone to throw him a special get together. It took seventeen years but the wait was certainly worth it.

His eyes tore from the cake when he felt something press into his chest, he looked down to see a very small present being shoved into him. He glanced at Lav with a confused look, still was still smiling at him. “Open it, dummy.” She said with a small laugh.

Sweet Pea took the gift and unwrapped it, finding a USB drive inside. “What the hell is this?” He asked, looking it over.

“A jump drive, duh.” She said, pulling out her phone and pressing send on a message she had pre-set to send him. “Now look at your phone.”

He took out his phone and checked the text from her, his eyes widening at the images attached. “What-”

“I had these made before everything happened.” Lav said, sounding sheepish now. “And I didn’t want them to just sit on my laptop unappreciated. I thought...you know, it’d be something nice to hold onto for now. The original files are on the flash drive. Just try not to let Fangs see them. He’s been pestering me for weeks to get a peek.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off of the pictures. He hadn’t seen her in lingerie since her serpent dance. Obviously this was much different as he was the only one who could see this. “Who took them?” He asked, his voice raising slightly at the thought of another guy seeing her in this state of undress. “I swear to god if Jones-”

“Relax, Toni took them.” Lav said, rolling her eyes. “Calm down. You’re the only boy that gets to see me naked.” She froze before quickly back tracking, “I mean...you know what I meant.” She huffed at herself with annoyance.

“Rhodes.” Sweet Pea said, a little more firmly, “You can’t just give me something like this and not expect me to not want to... take care of it. ” He chose his words carefully in hopes that he wouldn’t offend her somehow. This whole friendship thing with her was brand new territory.

Lav blinked at him, not understanding at first until he shifted his weight uncomfortably in a somewhat awkward way. She had noticed before that he only did that when he was aroused and was trying to hide it.

“Sweet Pea, did my nudes give you a hard-on?” She asked in a sickly sweet voice, blinking up at him as if she were innocent. “I had no idea my body had such an effect on you.”

“You’re such a fucking tease.” He hissed at her, “If you don’t take care of this, then I’ll have to find someone that will.”

She rolled her eyes at him, “You’re such an asshole. Did you think I’d wind you up and not let you come down? It’ll be like July, no strings attached. Just friends with benefits.”

He pursed his lips, “I don’t see how that’s any different than just dating…”

“If you don’t want to fuck me, Sweet Pea, then you can go fuck someone else. Maybe Lily wants to give you some birthday fun instead.” She said bitterly, making him groan with annoyance.

“Just go to the storeroom. I’ll be there in ten minutes….I need a condom.” He grumbled to himself.

Lav rolled her eyes, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I came prepared, Pea. I already have one, but maybe you should wait to stir up less suspicion.” She turned and mingled through the crowd before disappearing behind the bar and into their favorite closet.

Sweet Pea couldn’t help but look through the pictures again, his pants starting to feel tighter. He cursed under his breath at her. Deep down he knew he couldn’t just do a physical relationship. Sure, with a majority of girls that was all he wanted. Lavender was different though. But still, he couldn’t turn her down. It would have been impossible for him to not partake in a round of birthday sex.

He waited ten minutes, keeping time on his phone. A few people had told him Happy Birthday and he shrugged them off the best he could. He really didn’t care for his birthday all that much, but he did appreciate Lav trying to make it special. Finally he made his way to the back room where they always seemed to end up.

He opened the door, finding Lavender already in her underwear, sitting on a small cot that was against the back wall. His brow quirked into a curious expression. “Someone’s eager.”

She couldn’t help but smirk at him, “It’s been over a week. I’m tired of having to do it myself.”

He shrugged off his leather jacket. “Is that so? Maybe you should have taken pictures of you doing that too.” He said, joking as he sat down next to her.

Lavender slipped into his lap, straddling him while she put her hands on his face. She kissed him passionately, unable to hold herself back any longer. She had missed him so much, that she almost thought about calling off their little break. She had to keep reminding herself that she had something to prove to Lily.

Sweet Pea kissed her back, his hands finding familiarity in the feeling of her hips in his grasp. She began to grind slowly, obviously not wanting to ease into things. He obliged her by kissing down her neck, nipping at her skin and sucking hickies into it. His hands slipped down to her ass, squeezing handfuls of flesh between his fingers.

She undressed him as quickly as he’d let her which was not quick enough. As she yanked his boxers down, she looked up at him from her position between his legs. “Can I have a taste?” She asked, knowing he wouldn’t turn her down.

Sweet Pea swallowed thickly before nodding. Lav took his cock in her hand and stroked it before sliding it into her mouth. He put a hand on the back of her head to force it down further, making her nearly choke.

Lav bobbed her head as she sucked and licked at him, earning herself small pleased moans from his throat. After only a few minutes he pulled her up by her hair. She pouted at him, wondering why he stopped her. “You’re going to ruin your makeup if you keep at it.” He said, a little out of breath.

She grinned at him before shaking her head when he released her hair. “This lipstick is blow job proof, Pea. My makeup would have been fine, thanks for the concern though. Lay back.”

He made a face at her, “I don’t like girls on top.”

“Well tough, I want to be on top, so lay back.” She said in a bratty tone. His eyes narrowed before he reluctantly laid back on the cot, his lower legs hanging off.

Lavender stood and took off her underwear. She grabbed the condom she had brought and tore open the gold foil package before rolling it onto his penis. “You say you don’t like it, but have you ever tried it?” She asked, knowing the answer already. Sweet Pea only grunted in response and she knew that was a no.

She straddled him once more, lowering herself down as he held his dick in place for her. He entered her as she slowly descended until their hips touched.

He had to admit, this was a nice angle even if he did feel less in control. Lav let out a breathy sigh as she began to move her hips, finding that perfect position that had him hitting her g-spot in the most amazing way.

Sweet Pea watched her facial expressions as she fucked him, entranced by them completely. She put her hands on his chest for support, while his own gravitated towards her hips again. She was moving much too slow for his liking. Using his grip on her he started to move them faster due to his impatience.

Lav let out a small mewl of delight, throwing her head back slightly as she allowed him to move her hips for her. She bucked desperately wanting more.

He pulled her down to hold her against his chest while he thrust upward, taking total control of the situation after he figured she had had enough fun. His hips slammed up against hers at a fast pace, groaning as he felt her teeth on the base of his neck right before his shoulder. “Fuck,” He gasped lightly.

“Oh god, Pea,” Lav moaned as he increased his speed, “right there, oh fuck .” Her whines made him only that more into it. If he could have flipped over and fucked her harder than he would, unfortunately that just wasn’t possible as there wasn’t enough room.

He reached up and pulled her hair, tangling it between his fingers. Her lips parted from his neck as her head was wrenched backwards. “Did you think I’d let you have control, baby girl?” He asked darkly as her eyes rolled back from the pleasure she was feeling, her climax building.

“No,” She gasped back before moaning a little too loudly. Luckily there was loud music playing out in the main part of the bar. “I’m gonna cum, Pea, I’m so fucking close.”

Sweet Pea roughly grabbed onto her ass to hold her in place as he continued to ram into her until she suddenly covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the scream that came out. Her inner muscles fluttered around him, squeezing his cock so much that he came almost immediately after.

Lav rested her head on his chest as she panted. “Let’s get cleaned up, we have cake to eat.” She said between breaths. She sat up and fixed her hair before standing up shakily, looking around for the rest of her clothes.

He sat up, taking the condom off and tying it off so that his semen wouldn’t come out. He watched her dress, still trying to regain his breath. “Wow, just come and go then.” He said with a hint of annoyance.

She turned and gave him a confused look, “I’m not going anywhere without you, dummy. Come on. Don’t you want to eat cake?”

“I swear, you’re worse than Jones when it comes to food.” He grumbled as he stood up and started to get dressed. Despite having just had sex, he found himself feeling incredibly empty. Maybe it was having her so close only for her to rip away from him when they were done. Normally they laid together for a while afterwards until he usually fell asleep. It hurt him more than he thought it would for her to act like sex with him was nothing but a physical activity. Now he knew what all of his one night stands felt like when he left immediately after they had finished.

Lav just shrugged at his insult, letting it roll off her. “Meet me by the cake when you’re ready. My aunt is an amazing baker, you’re going to love it.” She said with a bright smile before leaving, shutting the door behind her.

He sat in silence for what felt like forever, staring at the door where she had walked out. This shouldn’t hurt this much, he thought to himself. It was almost the same level of pain when Lily left a year ago. She was there but she wasn’t at the same time and it was slowly tearing him apart. He stood and started to dress slowly, taking in a deep breath to squash his emotions deep down inside of himself. Then, he opened the door and went to join the others...

Tag List: @the-gargoyle-queen​, @alexa-playafricabytoto​ If you want to continue to be tagged in the sequel, just let me know!