𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐒

𝐗𝐈𝐕|𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀: 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑

Sweet Pea follows her like a shadow. It's so similar to the way Archie had been shadowing her lately. It also isn't similar at all. Archie did it out of possessiveness, Sweet Pea is clearly doing it out of genuine concern. She notes the way his eyes scan out the hallway every few minutes. She knows the Bulldogs are out of passes with Jughead and they've clearly run out of them with Sweet Pea as well now. She has no idea how to save this, but after the way Archie handled her she can't find it in herself to care anymore. She's shell shocked still, and it makes her careless as to what goes on with her ex anymore. If they break him, they break him. Sweet Pea helps her set up her booth along with a display for the cupcakes that read Lodge-Cooper. Fangs and Kevin eventually make their way to help too with Moose and Midge. Sweet Pea keeps quiet the entire time, but she notices his eyes veer towards her every so often. She thinks Sweet Pea must be great at poker the way his face never says anything other than 'Don't fuck with me'. She sticks her tongue at him like a small child and she can swear she sees his lips move up the slightest. She'll count it as a win regardless. Something has made him hard the same way it's seemed to make all of the Southsiders hard. The same thing that made her hard. Broken families and violence. She's tired of being hard and she thinks maybe the Serpents might be too. They're always fighting. They have a reputation for it. A rep of lashing out and hurting people, but it finally makes sense to Veronica. How can they stop retaliating if nobody will ever stop attacking them? She knows now none of them would ever let anybody hurt the other. It's not in their characters. They're not like anything she's ever heard gangs are. They're everything like what she's heard real families are. It gives her definition of gang a slightly different feeling in her vocabulary. She wants to be in a gang. Maybe even theirs.

"Like something you see Lodge?" Sweet Pea calls as he finishes hanging the large yellow sign. Cupcake with a kiss. She forgot she was staring lost in thought, but she'll roll with it.

"Absolutely." She shouts with a smile and a wink.

"Why wouldn't you." He says smugly.

"What time does the booth open?" Asks Dilton Doiley as he walks by the group.

"Keep it moving squirt." Sweet Pea says hostilely. Doiley picks up his steps without another word.

"Don't be a bully." Veronica chastises him. "I need the votes which means they get the kisses."

"Yeah, yeah." Sweet Pea huffs. "Still don't like it." He mutters under his breath. He sounds like Archie. Somehow it's more endearing on the young Serpent.

"It's a good tactic. Boys are simple." Kevin tells him as students begin pouring into the hallway from class.

"Time to start this." Veronica announces when she sees Betty smiling at the display. Veronica's first thought is that clearly Archie hasn't stormed Betty with his fury yet. Then again Betty might be too pure for Archie to ever show her that side of him. What a blessing for the blonde. No matter how bad Veronica might feel about it, Betty doesn't get to keep Jughead while still seeing the best in Archie. Neither boy deserves that. Betty should have chosen a side sooner. Even if Betty has now chosen to stick with Jughead in defending the Southside too. It's a little too late and a little too half hearted. Veronica will not make that same mistake, she's chosen her side as well. Archie loses, and if he keeps pushing he's going to lose everything. She is going to take everything from him. That doubt about Archie trying to kill Jughead is completely gone now. She saw it in his eyes, his capacity to be violent for what he won't give up. She won't ever let him get that chance again.

"You're going all in." Betty tells her stepping closer. The blonde has no idea the storm that is encompassing Veronica's mind. The storm that is going to destroy them. The only regret she will ever have about falling in love with Jughead is how badly it is going to devastate the first girl she ever tried to truly befriend.