Chapter Two
Reggie had helped carry Dilton inside, and once they wheeled him away, someone came to ask what had happened. They said that Dilton was in no shape to answer questions, and stared at them both awaiting an answer.
Reggie seemed at a loss and suddenly speechless so Talia was quick to take over.
"He knew that Reg and I were in the area tonight so he called us and said some Southside Serpents jumped him in the streets," she told the man writing everything down, making sure to recite what Reggie had come up with earlier in the night. "We picked him up and brought him here as fast as we could. Do you think he'll be all right?"
The man nodded, void of all expression. "It's likely that there won't be any permanent damage. He should be able to fully recover once he's out of surgery."
Talia thanked him graciously, and Reggie exhaled rather loudly and exasperatedly when the man left. "Thanks. I dunno why I froze up like that."
"You're worried, Reg," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner and smiling up at him softly. "Don't worry. It's normal."
He would never admit it, but Reggie cared about people. The fact that Dilton got hurt while Reggie was around and that he hadn't protected him was likely going around in his head over and over.
Reggie called Dilton's parents, who rushed in a few minutes later and found the nearest worker. After they thanked Reggie and Talia multiple times they stood in the waiting room to impatiently pace while they waited for their son's surgery to be finished.
Reggie and Talia decided to stick around for a while longer and went to go take a seat. and she could practically see Reggie's blood start to boil.
"I hate them," he growled. "I hate those damned snakes."
Talia glanced down at his hands, which were curling into fists.
"This never would have happened if Archie had just listened to you," she said. "He shouldn't have gone to the Southside last night. He shouldn't have tagged their territory. And he sure as fuck shouldn't have waved a gun in that guy's face."
"He was protecting us," Reggie said, his tone shifting from one of anger to one of defence.
"Yeah, and his protecting you could have gotten you killed," she hissed in frustration. "Think logically, Reg. Archie was trying to help, yes, but he wasn't thinking clearly. He could have caused a flat out war."
"The Black Hood is a Southsider."
"We don't know that for sure," she argued.
Reggie stared at her in astonishment. "Why do you wanna defend them so bad?"
Talia rolled her eyes and stood up. "Because Archie started this. You know that. He pointed a gun in a Serpent's face. Of course they were going to come after him."
She knew that she had done the exact same thing only a few hours before. She couldn't ignore the fear growing in the back of her mind.
"Yeah, and you did the same thing!" Reggie said a little loudly than he should have, jumping to his feet.
"I was protecting Archie!" Talia shouted, making the others in the waiting room turn and stare at them. "And you..." she continued, her brow scrunching together as she felt her expression change from anger to hurt.
"Excuse me," the same emotionless man said from beside them. Talia didn't look at him because she could feel her eyes start to burn with unshed tears. "I just wanted to let you know that your friend will be fine. He's out of surgery now, and his parents have just gone to visit him."
"Good," Talia said, blinking the tears away. Now knowing that Dilton would be all right, she didn't have a reason to stay. "I was just leaving."
"Tal!" Reggie called after her, seeming like he was about to force out an apology. "Damn it, Tal! Stay here! I'll give you a ride in a while!"
Talia left the emergency room and walked home alone in the rain.
*
Talia skipped school the next day. The others, especially Reggie and Jughead, were asking why. Even though Jughead was at Southside High now, he still cared about her a lot and was alarmed when Archie said she wasn't there. Archie wanted to know about the gun, and more importantly, he wanted to know if she was okay. She simply texted him back and said that she was fine and she slept in, then just didn't want to come to school. He believed her. It was her usual excuse when her mind couldn't handle her daily life.
Talia asked Jughead if she could come over, and he warned her that he was going to the Whyte Wyrm, which was a usual Serpent hangout. She decided to go anyway. She didn't want him to be alone if anything went wrong.
She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about Jughead wanting to become a Serpent. That was what he informed her of when she came to his home. He trusted her enough, and knew that the others and Betty would judge him for his choice. Talia wouldn't. She liked the idea of Jughead having other people around to look after him too, but she wasn't sure about the initiation. She had had enough experience with gangs to know that initiations could be especially difficult - and painful.
She also wasn't sure how she felt about going to the White Wyrm. But then, if the Serpents were going to come after her for pointing her gun at the boy, she might as well get it over with. It was likely that the others hadn't seen her clearly enough. So long as the boy wasn't there, there wouldn't be a problem. Eventually, though, there would be.
Jughead had insisted she not come, but as per usual, knew that he sure as hell couldn't stop her.
They went into the bar, the music playing loudly while the Southsiders and the Serpents sat around or danced and played pool or arcade games. Talia followed behind Jughead with her hands in her jacket pockets.
When Jughead walked up to the pool table and Talia saw someone she vaguely recognized, her heart seemed to stop and her breath caught in her throat.
The boy looked right at her. His eyes widened ever so slightly, and he had been bent over about to shoot a cue ball. The others he was playing the game with glanced at him, wondering what on earth he was waiting for. He caught himself and looked back down at the table before shooting the cue ball. He sunk two solid ones into the pockets.
Talia was certain that he would say something about her and what had happened the night before, especially when she noticed how dark the skin around his left eye had become. Archie no doubt gave that to him. He had an impressive punch.
The sentence that left his mouth instead surprised her.
His eyes were focused on Jughead, but he still looked over at her every few seconds.
He said, "these Northsider's are lost", and continued watching Jughead in nothing but contempt.
YOU ARE READING
Back To Life ✧ Sweet Pea (DISCONTINUED)
Fanfiction"The first time she saw Sweet Pea was the night she pointed a gun in his face." ----- In which the Northsider with a gun didn't know she was dying until he made her feel alive.
