Redemption [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 7

"There's no way you actually got away with that," Sweet Pea said, leading our group back outside.

I nodded, though his back was to me. "Oh,but I did," I laughed. I pulled to a stop beside Sweet Pea, looking around him to see what he was looking at. Down the street, some guy was standing busy with a can of spray paint, oblivious to us.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Sweet Pea yelled, starting towards him. I exchanged glances with Fangs and Diamond before we followed behind.

"Back off, I'm not here for you," the tagger said, barely even looking in our direction. I recognized Andrews now. It wasn't exactly hard, considering only him and the Blossom family were the only people in the entire town of Riverdale with red hair.

"Oh, yeah? THen who's the message for, huh?" Sweet Pea demanded, grabbing Andrews . "Aw, hell, don't tell me it's for the Black Hood. You believe this guy? And people say we're the troublemakers."

"What was is it Jughead called this guy earlier?" I asked, glancing at the Serpents. I saw a flicker of recognition in Andrews's face when he turned his attention to me. Not that it was going to do him any good. "Doesn't seem like much of a "milquetoast" if he's willing to show his face around here, especially at this time of night."

The boys studied him, finally realizing who it was. Sweet Pea smirked, "I think–whoa," Sweet Pea cut off, as he and Fangs pushed Andrews back when he tried to walk past us. "You can't come out here and tag our turf. So why don't you get your ass back to the Northside before someone gets hurt?"

"Get out of my way or someone will get hurt," Andrews threatened. I watched him carefully as he reached further into his backpack, discreetly searching for something.

"You just made a big mistake," Sweet Pea warned, snapping his switchblade open.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath as Andrews drew a handgun from his backpack. Fangs and Diamond pulled me back, while Sweet Pea stepped in front of me.

"Who made the mistake?" Andrews yelled, raising the gun and stepping closer.

"What the hell?" Sweet Pea took a step back, lowering his knife.

Diamond took off running, Fangs not far behind. I knew I should run too, but I couldn't. I was frozen, eyes locked on the gun in Andrews's hand. The gun that was now still pointed directly at Sweet Pea's face. This couldn't be happening. This had to be a joke, right? Some kind of sick, twisted joke. I had to do something, but what? And then it clicked. If this went wrong, blame Thomas Topaz for telling me to stand for Southside. I slowly moved to the side as Sweet Pea took another step away from Andrews, who followed at an even pace. I moved in another direction, neither boy noticing me. All I needed was to be able to see from the right angle. One more move and I had my answer.

I launched myself forward, knocking Andrews's arm to the side. From the corner of my eye I saw him fumbling to keep hold of the gun as I was pulled in the other direction. I didn't pay attention to where were were running, I let Sweet Pea lead me further from Andrews and his gun.

Eventually we slowed, Sweet Pea leading me into a copse of trees. I leaned against a nearby tree, catching my breath. I watched silently as Sweet Pea paced back and forth, anger rolling off him.

"What the hell, Abigail?" he snapped, turning to me. "How could you do that? You could have been killed!"

I shook my head, "But I wasn't killed, and neither were you." I pushed myself off the tree and walked to stand in front of Sweet Pea, arms crossed. He may be a lot taller than me, but I wasn't easily intimidated. "Andrews wasn't going to shoot anyone," I explained, looking Sweet Pea straight in the eye. "He didn't have his finger on the trigger. I wouldn't have gone for it if he had."

"How could you have even taken the chance?" he asked, anger beginning to slip away. "You put yourself in danger, and for what?"

"Because..." I began. Memories of that night flashed through my mind. "Because I couldn't just stand there and watch someone else I care about be shot right in front of me," I rushed out. "Last time wasn't my fault, he knew the risk, but tonight," I faltered, for the second time today I was fighting back tears. "Tonight would have been my fault. If I hadn't come back to Riverdale, none of this would have happened."

"No, none of it was because of you," Sweet Pea said softly. He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around me. The leather of his jacket was cool against my cheek as I leaned against him. "I don't know what happened in the past, but you didn't cause tonight to happen. Northsiders have been coming after us for years, and tonight we just happened to be there when he was."

"You're right," I sighed. We stayed like that for a few minutes, both lost in our own thoughts.

"Come on, I'll walk you home," Sweet Pea said, breaking the silence.

I frowned as he pulled back. "You don't have to do that," I said. "It's late, I'll be fine."

"I want to know you're safe," he pleaded. "How am I supposed to do that if I don't even know where you live? You already know where I am."

"Sort of," I said, rolling my eyes at him. "I know you live in Sunnyside, but I don't know where exactly. "What am I supposed to do? Go knock on everyone's doors until I find the right one?"

"I could make it easy and we could both go back to my place tonight," he said with a smirk.

"Tempting," I said, meeting his eyes. "But not tonight. I think we've had enough excitement already." I led us out of the trees, Sweet Pea wrapping his hand around mine.

"What if I tell you which is mine?" he asked. "Then will you let me walk you home?"

Did I want anyone else to know where I was crashing? The motel didn't have the best reputation, even among the Serpents, but some of them already knew. "Alright, just don't spread it around, okay?"

Sweet Pea agreed, though I could tell he was confused. I led him through Southside, the streets quiet now that it was after midnight. When I turned into the parking lot of the motel, I felt his hand tighten on mine. I gave him a quick nod before leading him up the stairs.

"You're really staying here?" he asked quietly as I unlocked the door to my room.

"It's what I can afford. And it beats sleeping outside every night," I shrugged. "Want to come in?" I asked quietly.

Sweet Pea shook his head, leaning against the doorframe. "No, I'll be a gentleman tonight," he said, reaching for my hand.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "So now you're a tough guy and a gentleman?," I asked, stepping closer.

"Only when I want to be," he smirked. "Good night, Abigail," he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Night, Sweet Pea," I replied, watching him walk away.

Authors Note:

I had been planning on this and the next chapter being one extra-long chapter, but I changed the scene in the trees about four times and honestly, am still not totally happy with it.  But I know that if I don't publish this now, I will continue rewriting that section and the story will never get anywhere.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think so far.