diamond //sweet pea//

//nine//

The days turned into weeks and Dallas found herself immersed in a different kind of life. Whenever she could, and with the help of Cassidy, Dallas spent more and more time on the Northside of Riverdale with a certain beanie wearing boy and his friends.

His friends had been suspicious of the sister-brother relationship but Jughead had reassured them that this was legit, and he wasn't going to let more family members leave.

Eventually, Archie, Veronica, and Betty came around and welcomed Dallas into the group of friends. She spent weekends away from Malachai, the Ghoulies, and even Sweet Pea. She had been sucked into a world that she knew she didn't belong in, but if Jughead found a way to coexist with the Northside elite, then damn it she could too.

However a single thought kept itching at the back of her mind. Her father. Jughead had done an incredible job of making sure their paths never crossed. She meant to ask him why but her fear of losing her brother prevented her from doing that.

On an incredibly dreary day, Dallas climbed the crumbling steps of Southside High, Sweet Pea in tow, but somehow, today felt different. And as if the universe demanded it, her life once again would come to a difficult twist. As she sat on the serpent side of the cafeteria, a strange feeling passed over her. She took a quick mental check of everyone present, Fangs, Sweet Pea, Cassidy, Toni-.....no Toni.

She did a scan of the room and looked just in time to see Toni walking through the doors, a person who didn't belong in tow. A beanie wearing, angsty type of boy. A boy with raven hair and a nose identical to Dallas's.

It took all she had not to instill fear into his soul. How dare he show up here without telling her. Sweet Pea couldn't know what she did, and Jughead was well aware. Toni introduced him, Sweet Pea's body tensing up beside her. As far as Sweet Pea was concerned, Dallas didn't know in the slightest, that the boy standing in front of them was her brother. But he knew. He knew that he had to protect her. However he thought that the best way to keep her from harm, was to shield her from her family.

"So...Jughead was it? You're going to school here now?" she asked cooly.

A knowing looked flashed in his eyes. But he didn't hesitate. He played it off well.

"Uh yeah," he muttered back, in his I don't care about anything tone.

"Well then the serpents welcome you." Dallas stood up, pecked Sweet's cheek and grabbed her bag before turning away. "I have to finish my chem lab. I'll see you all later," she called back.

It was true. She did in fact need to finish a chem lab, but she had no intention of focusing on it. She angrily marched up the stairs to the top floor, making sure to knock through anyone who came in her way. Dallas was tiny, but mighty.

It wasn't long before the door to the lab swung open, nearly falling off its hinges. Years of it being kicked open had weakened it. There in the frame stood a disheveled Jughead.

"You! You jerk! How come you didn't tell me? Huh? You caught me off guard!" Dallas slammed down the pencil she held in her hand, thankful no other kid had bothered to show up, and thankful that the teacher didn't care to either.

"I'm sorry Dal, I didn't tell you because I thought that maybe I could get out of it. But no. I had to come here."

If she had been a cartoon, her face would have been beet red, and steam would have spiraled from her ears. "Did Betty and Veronica know last time we hung out?"

"Kinda. Well...yes alright!"

"Ugh. You're unbelievable."

"Is be giving you a hard time baby?" A deep voice appeared in the doorway. It hadn't occurred to Dallas that her hand was balled in a fist and her pencil was in his face until that moment. Until Sweet Pea stood in the room.

Both Dallas and Jughead appeared to be deer caught in headlights. Jughead backed up and adjusted his jacket. "No."

But it didn't matter what can came of Jughead's mouth, all of Sweet Pea's attention was on Dallas. "No, it's fine. Just leave it," she said, her voice wavering. 

The silence surrounding them brought new meaning to the word uncomfortable. Jughead took this moment to push his way past Sweet Pea, who had done a very good job at being a barrier in the door frame. 

"What the hell was he doing up here Dallas?" 

She shifted in her boots, her eyes angled down. She couldn't hide it forever. She'd eventually have to come clean. As they say, no time better than the present. 

"Sweets, I know he's my brother."

It took all of 10 seconds for the look of disappointment to cross his face, and even less time for immense guilt to smack Dallas in the face. But the guilt wouldn't last long. Mostly because the disappointment didn't last long. 

"What the hell! How long have you known?" Sweet Pea growled, his temper flaring right before Dallas' eyes. Sure she'd seen it before, but never directed at her. 

"A few weeks! Okay? You don't control who I see or who I talk to," Dallas said, her voice raising with each word. 

"Weeks? Dammit Dallas, I don't want to control you. I want to make sure you don't get hurt. I'm only trying to protect you, got it?"

Dallas' hands balled into tight fists, her body visibly shaking. "I don't need your protection!" she snapped. As soon as the words left her mouth she wanted to reel them back in. Every word tasted like venom as she spit them. "Sweets....I..."

But he didn't move. Hell, his expression didn't even waver. He scoffed to himself, and then spun on his heels, leaving Dallas to stand in the middle of the room, alone. It felt as if the weight of the world had decided to land solely on her. Every inch of space around her felt like it was closing. she had managed the mess up the one person in the entire world that was all about her. 

Sweet Pea's anger had somehow been miraculously been controlled upstairs, but as he bounded down the stairs, all hell broke loose. He was fuming and he swung his fists onto every surface he could find. He had been angry a million times, but this was a different type of anger. He was hurt. And not the physical kind either. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...dude calm down! What happened? Where's Dallas?" Even in his blind fury, Sweet Pea recognized Fangs' voice. 

"I don't care." Lie.

"You don't care? You're crazy about her what happened?" he asked again.

"I don't care," Sweet Pea repeated. Lie again. 

Sweet Pea shoved past his best friend and stormed off away from the school. Needing to go clear his head of all things Dallas. 

Meanwhile Dallas stumbled down the stairs, angry tears streaking down her face. Her feet fumbled across the linoleum, her jacket dragging on the floor hanging by her fingertips. 

"There you are...oh no baby what happened?" Even in her blind haze of grief, Dallas recognized Cassidy's voice. 

"I messed up Cas, and he's never going to forgive me. And I'll have to go back to Malachai, and then I'll have to leave Riverdale," she sobbed. Cassidy wrapped her arms around her best friend, trying to get a cohesive story together. 

"Come on, let's get you to my house, you can stay the night and we can fix this, okay?" Cas said, trying to coax Dallas into a state of calmness. Dallas responded with a head nod a a few sniffles, but it was a start. 

Cassidy drove the mustang to her house, where it sat quietly, something rare in her house of 9 people. She ushered a shaking Dallas inside and had her explain what had happened, only having to stop of few times for some more crying. And while Cassidy agreed she had messed up, there was no doubt in her mind that he would forgive her. Because these two weren't like every other teen couple, they were soulmates in her eyes, and soulmates always work it out. 

But working it out would have to wait until tomorrow, because a sleeping figure lay heavily on the couch, deep in a dreamless sleep.