Rule - Sweet Pea (1)

Auntie Dearest

(I know everything isn't always in order but remember I have a plan y'all.)

Teenagers by my chemical romance blasted from Rules phone, scaring the girl from a dead sleep and resulting in her falling out of bed. With a huff, she unlocked her phone and placed it to her ear. "What?" she snapped at her cousin, not bothering to be quiet since it took damn near a miracle to wake Sweet Pea. "Well hello to you too," Rule rolled her eyes at Jughead, "quit rolling your eyes and meet me at pops in a hour."  A click signaled the end of his cryptic phone call, something Rule had grown used to. 

Rule whipped Sweet Peas shirt off her body, padding to her closet and tugging on a pair of black skinny jeans. Rifling through her dresser, she slipped a olive green shirt on that tied in the cleavage, shoved her feet in a pair of black boots, and tamed her hair with a brush and a beanie. Slipping on her usual silver rings, Rule stuffed her arms through her serpents jacket and scribbled a quick note for Sweet Pea, placing a kiss on his cheek and grabbing her bike keys. 

Blowing smoke from her nostrils, Rule leaned against her bike as she waited for Jughead to arrive, the boy pulling up a few minutes later. "What exactly am I here for?" Rule groaned from lack of sleep, tossing the remnants of her cigarette onto the ground and crushing it with her heel. Jughead muttered the situation to Rule, her face ranging in expressions but mostly lingering on pissed off which lately seemed to be her favorite. "You did what?" She half shouted, wanting to throttle her cousin. "She's your aunt, i'm hoping you can work something out!" Jughead pleaded, gesturing wildly.  "Penny is not my aunt. Auntie dearest is a crazy, vindictive, manipulative, bitch!" Rule ranted as she followed Jughead into the restaurant.

"Ah, I see you brought my lovely niece!" Rule groaned at the voice of her least favorite aunt. "Hello Aunt Penny." Rules voice was flatter than cardboard, cringing when her Aunt came in for a hug. Rule glared at a smirking Jughead over Penny's shoulder, patting her awkwardly on the back until she let go. Once released, Rule made a beeline to a booth and shoved Jughead in first. A waitress shimmied over a few minutes later, taking Jughead's and Penny's order first before getting to Rule. "Uh, i'll just take a coffee." Penny looked at her niece in shock, halting the waitress with her hand. "Don't be silly, she'll have the strawberry banana pancakes."

Rule did her best to hide the shock of her aunt still knowing her favorite order from the last time they saw each other, three years ago. They'd been inseparable when Rule was young, her aunt even coming up with her nickname and teaching her how to fight, but that all changed when Penny suggested to her parents that what happened with Malachai was her own fault. Rule had blown up at her aunt, leaving with her parents three days later. "How's your mom? I didn't even know you guys were back."

Jughead whips his head to Rule, anger written all over her face. "My parents are dead. You'd know that if you hadn't called me a whore and took my side after being raped." Her voice was anger and ice, satisfied by the pure shock on Penny's face. "What?" Penny asked, her eyes reflecting pain at the realization that her older was dead.

"Let's focus on what you want with my cousin." Rule snapped as the waitress delivered their food, pushing her pancakes away and taking a sip of the scalding coffee, thankful for the burning sensation that stopped her from reaching across the table and sticking a fork in her aunts neck. Jughead slid her a piece of bacon that she happily chewed on while Penny collected herself. "I uh, he owes me a favor so there's a delivery I need him to make." Penny sliding apiece of paper across the table, Rule snatching  and quickly reading it before handing it to Jughead.

"I know the drill." Rule tapped on the table, answering Jughead's question before he got a chance to answer it. "Penny used to have me run her errands." Penny looked down, but Rule wasn't sure if it was in guilt or embarrassment. "Okay then." Jughead stated awkwardly, eating a little faster as if unsure if Rule would flip the table. Rule scribbled her number on a napkin, sliding it across the table and signaling a waitress to bring her a box and a plastic fork. As Rule shoveled the pancakes into a box, Penny smiled victoriously but Rule was quick to cut her down. "Now if you'll excuse me," Rule stood from the table "I have a boyfriend to get home to that will probably love these pancakes." The smile vanished from Penny's face, realizing her attempt at bribery was unsuccessful.

Rule knew all of her aunts tricks, but Penny didn't know hers. "Oh," Rule added as a sarcastic afterthought "and you can pay for our food. Least you could do for a whore like me right?" And with that, Rule strutted from the diner and threw a leg over her bike, lit a cigarette, and drove away as quickly as possible without ever looking back.

Pulling up to her trailer, Rule yanked the key from her engine and stormed inside with the box of pancakes in her hands, looking like a murderous waitress. Sweet Pea took one look at the budding tears in her eyes and sweeped her into an embrace, holding her while she cried. "Its okay angel," he murmured into her hair, not knowing what was wrong but knowing damn well he would fix it. The sound of Dr. Phil on the TV broke made Rule pull back to look at Sweet Pea incredulously whose face was slowly turning red. "You're watching Dr. Phil," Sweet Pea cringed, waiting for her to finish the sentence "without me?" He looked down at Rule, whose tiny smile didn't seem to match her puffy eyes. "You're so the girl for me." Sweet Pea joked, sweeping her off her feet and rushing over to the couch, plopping her on his lap. 

Amazing how it only took one person to change how you felt.