Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

1.5

THE BEGINNING
CHAPTER FIVE
MAY 15, 2017

Soon after the fight had started, people crowded around the two men fighting.

  Jason was on top of Malachi, punching him over and over up until he was distracted by something unknown to Queenie. That's when Malachi got the upper hand and switched the position. He kept punching Jason until he was down and that's when he decided to stand up and start kicking the Blossom boy.

Kick after kick, Queenie watched as Jason bloodied up and there was nothing she could do about it, knowing if she tried to stop Malachi, it would make matters worse.

Finally, someone came over to stop the fight and it wasn't Jason's teammates as Queenie expected, it was Sheriff Keller.

    "Fuck." Queenie heard Malachi mutter under his break as he turned around to see the Sheriff standing in front of him.

   Queenie watched closely as Malachi was cuffed and put in the back of a police car. Queenie quickly ran over to Jason, "Why did you fight him, dumbass!" She shouted angrily, but Jason knew it was her own personal way of thanking him without saying the words thank you.

    "Earlier today, you told me you would be the one saving me, so I decided to prove you wrong." Jason told her as he stood up from the ground with a bruised and bloodied face.

   "You're a dumbass, Blossom, you know that?" Queenie crossed her arms as she glared at the boy.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Jason slightly smiled at her.

   "Let me take you to the Wyrm to clean your cuts." She told him calmly.

     "Why not your house?" Jason questioned and Queenie looked at him as if he had two heads.

   "Definitely not." She chuckled, shaking her head and Jason sighed in response.

   "Find take me to–whatever you call it."

    "The Whyte Wyrm." She corrected him, "Hey, it may sound like a weird name, but that place is my second home."

    "Well then, take me to the Whyte Wyrm, just don't get me killed please."

    "Can't make any promises. Mustang and Tall Boy have a strong hate for Northsiders. They'll kill you without blinking,"

   Queenie laughed when she saw the scared look Jason was giving her, "I'm kidding," She reassured him, "Well, kind of."

•••

  Queenie strutted into the Whyte Wyrm with Jason alongside her and many people stared at her confusion, including her father, but he had decided to not question her decisions like he did with Jughead. He trusted his daughter more than he trusted anyone else.

Queenie walked up to the bar and smiled brightly at Hogeye, "Hogeye, pass me the first aid kit, will ya?" She asked him as she pointed to the first aid kit that was clearly visible on the shelf in front of him.

Hogeye nodded in response before handing it to her, "Follow me." She told Jason calmly who obeyed her without question for some unknown reason.

•••

"There. All done." Queenie smiled as she hopped off the sink counter as closed the first aid kit back up.

"Thank you?" Jason answered as more of a question rather than a statement.

"You're very welcome, Blossom."

Jason groaned in frustration, "Are you ever going to call me by my real name?"

"Probably not," She shook her head and smiled, "You might wanna leave now, it's ten at night on a Monday. Your Northside parents will probably kill you." She told him jokingly and Jason nodded in agreement.

Just as Jason was about to leave, Queenie stopped him, "Jason?" She called out him, calling him by his name for the first time ever, "Thanks for fighting Malachi in my honor. Even though he basically kicked your ass."

Jason laughed at her, "You're welcome, Queenie." He told her before leaving the bar's bathroom

  After Jason left the Whyte Wyrm, Queenie exited the women's bathroom to see her friend, Joaquin and her other friend, Mandy, standing there with their arms crossed.

"What?" Queenie asked them confused, "What's that look for?"

"This!" Mandy snapped at her as she slammed her iPhone into Queenie's chest.

  Queenie looked down at the phone to see that a Northsider has posted fight on their Snapchat story. It showed Malachi getting arrested and Queenie running toward Jason immediately after to see if he was okay.

"Why do you have a Northsider's snapchat?" Queenie asked, trying to avoid the subject.

    "Don't you dare do that, Queenie. Don't change the subject. Tell us exactly what happened and why Malachi was arrested at Pop's tonight because we know you. We know you had something to do with this because
if you're the reason he got arrested, he's going to want your head on a stick when he gets out."

     Queenie sighed, "I can't tell you everything, but I had to do a delivery for Penny after I did her a favor. She said I had to deal to a Northsider. Turns out, she lied. It was actually Malachi. I went through with it, he got handsy. I told to back off, he didn't, the Blossom boy came and pushed him off. They started to fight and I think you know the rest from the video." Queenie explained and her friends nodded.

   "Please don't tell my Dad." She pleaded and her friend's eye widened
when they noticed who was standing behind the Jones girl.

   "Tell me what?" FP asked the trio, causing Queenie to quickly turn and face him.

   "Nothing," She lied, "It's nothing."

   "Goodbye, Joaquin. Goodbye, Mandy." FP told the two other teens as a way of telling them to get lost so he could talk to his daughter alone.

"Don't think I didn't hear about Malachi getting arrested because he got into a fight with a Bulldog at Pop's. And I know you were there because you're still wearing your work uniform and you came into the Wyrm with Red beside you." FP demanded and Queenie sighed.

   "Malachi and I got into an argument during one of my breaks, he was being handsy, I told him to back off and he didn't. The Northsider I brought her saw it and beat the crap out of Malachi in a way of helping me. He ended up getting beaten badly himself and
I brought him back here to clean his cuts after Keller broke up the fight arrested Malachi." Queenie explained and FP sighed.

   "Why was Malachi on that side of town in the first place?" He asked her and Queenie shrugged in response.

   "I have no clue." She lied and FP surprisingly believed her.