Glory- A Riverdale Sequel (Sweet Pea)

3. See You Again

       A few hours later, all the Serpents left in town showed up at the Jones residence to offer well wishes and to just be there for Betty. Cheryl, Toni, Ronnie and I found ourselves in the kitchen mixing drinks, cooking for the impromptu party at Jug's house and making sure Betty had easy heat up meals in the freezer to last her until Jughead got home and started recovering.

"So, Allyson," Cheryl smiled up at me from the lasagna she was layering, "How's business? And where's the little? We haven't seen her since last year, and Facebook just doesn't do her justice."

"Business is...well, surprisingly good. I never realized the eccentric rich of Seaside liked their odd stuff so much. We actually had a guy special order a sarcophagus from a tomb excavation. He paid like...$200k up front in cash and then brought another $800k to cover the rest of the cost upon delivery. We actually had to close the store because we had to triple count it," I laughed, "And that's just one story. We have some weird shit come in. As far as Bella goes, considering what's going on, we decided it would be best to leave her at home with a sitter. We're not sure how deep of shit we're treading through here, but she doesn't need to get caught in the crossfire, but I do have pictures of her and Sweet's first daddy daughter fishing trip. She made him buy lures when she realized the worms he bought were live bait and got angry because it wasn't fair."

Cheryl nodded and continued layering noodles and cheese into pans, making sure to wiggle her fingers and look pointedly at me as she did so. Toni and Ronnie looked at me pleadingly, so I finally took the bait and peered over and gasped like I hadn't seen it all over Instagram and Facebook when it happened two weeks ago.

"So. Is Toni becoming a blossom or are you becoming a Topaz?" I elbowed Toni in the ribs as I slapped burgers into patties to take out to Sweet Pea to grill. Both of the two were so proud of their names that I didn't imagine either would agree to dropping their maiden name completely, and I could only imagine the fight over which name would take dominance in a war for dominance over hyphenation.

Toni looked up and sighed, "I'm all for Topaz-Blossom, but she wants it to be Blossom-Topaz. Said my way sounds like some retarded ass flower."

Cheryl sighed and looked over at Veronica, "Did you and Archie argue over the fact that you didn't fully take Andrews?"

Ronnie poured another pitcher of jalapeno margaritas to go out and sighed, "His pride was hurt at first, but I think he realized why I was hanging onto Lodge. If I'm going to overthrow my daddy's evil empire, I need my maiden name. He actually put that in his will."

Before anyone could comment on how quickly I jumped to take Sweet Pea's last name, I picked up the two plates of patties and walked them out to the back patio, where Sweet Pea was talking to Fangs. It looked serious, so I hung back until Sweets saw me and waved me over. Fangs froze and looked over at me uncomfortably until Sweet Pea sighed and said, "We have full disclosure. Secrets went out the window the day we got married."

Fangs sighed, "Mrs. McCoy is doing everything she can, but the sheriff is doing us dirty. We can't even get ahold of an autopsy report to find out what this guy actually died from. But we know FP didn't aim to kill, and he didn't that fucker was breathing, and the worst Jones did was a busted nose, maybe a concussion. Betty and I are writing as many smear articles as we can get past the editor of the Register, but that's just another uphill battle. Hiram Lodge owns this town now. Nobody even sneezes without him knowing it."

I frowned and took a sip out of Pea's beer as he turned around to check the patties on the grill, "I mean we all saw this coming, but my question is this. What can we do to stop him? To bring down an operation this big, you need a fuck ton of money. He has more than god and is always five steps ahead."

Fangs sighed, "I actually had an idea for that. Ally, you're a curve ball. Do you still have access to your trust fund?"

I sighed and nodded, "But that's Isabella's college money. We live comfortably enough that I won't touch it because that money insures we can send her literally anywhere she wants to go. Why?"

Fangs sighed, "We were thinking...You were the daughter Hiram wanted, and you're the only person who escaped him. What if-," Sweet Pea turned around with fire in his eyes before he could continue.

"And do you remember what he paid the Ghoulies to do to her when she didn't join up? They wanted to sell my daughter if the torture they put Cat through didn't kill her first. I will not let you use my wife as leverage. I almost lost her once, and it won't happen again," Sweet Pea took a long swig from his beer and frowned at Fangs, "Come up with a new plan, Fogarty."

Fangs sighed and looked away, defeated. I sighed and touched Sweet Pea's arm gently- something he knew as a signal to calm down. He looked over at me as he flipped the patties and raised his eyebrow at me- a glance I knew to mean his anger was justified and he wasn't letting up on this. I put my hands up and took the first batch of patties to the table and then went back in, put my hands around my mouth and shouted that food was ready and everyone needed to sit their asses down.

Once the food was served, the tension between Fangs and Pea was gone, and we all forgot our troubles, at least for a little while. Even Betty had a smile on her face as she looked around at the family that had come together to make her feel safe and remind her that even in these dark times, no Serpent stands alone.