𝖛𝖎𝖈𝖎𝖔𝖚𝖘 ↠ sweet pea [2]

|| FIVE ||

"Hello?" Lauryn called, peering around the trailer door as she let herself in the next day. "FP? Jughead?"

"Morning, Doll. Everything all right?" he answered, startling her by pulling the door for her to come in. "It's just us."

She stepped inside, taking a deep breath as the door closed behind her. "I was just wondering if you'd gotten any more news about the Red Skulls."

"It's been twelve hours," he laughed before shaking his head. "Nothing. If I do find out anything, I'll let you know, though."

"Oh, okay," Lauryn responded, going to open the door when FP held it closed.

"We need to talk, Doll," he told her, gesturing for her to sit down at the table which she did. He sat opposite her, noticing how she refused to look him in the eye. "What's happening with you lately?"

Lauryn chuckled lightly. "What do you mean?"

She looked into his eyes when she didn't receive a verbal response, letting out a sigh. "It's just... been hard lately."

"What has? Money?" FP assumed. "I told you, whatever you kids need--"

"It's not money," she shook her head. "Sweet Pea and I... we haven't been great lately. There have been a lot of obstacles, one of them being Josie McCoy."

FP screwed his face up, sitting up straight. "What? She's sniffin' around your man?"

"Yeah," Lauryn chortled pathetically. "And if I didn't know better, I'd say he's starting to sniff back."

"He wouldn't, surely," FP disagreed. "By God, I saw that boy the night he became a father. He wasn't goin' anywhere, Doll."

"Yeah, well, now..." Lauryn paused. "I guess he's starting to realise that he didn't actually want this."

"Tough," FP said bluntly, shrugging. "This happened because of him as well. He should've thought about that before he..."

"Yeah, but," Lauryn sighed. "I mean, I chose to keep the baby. Maybe--"

"Don't you dare even imagine that it was the wrong call," FP warned her seriously. "That baby is Serpent blood, Fogarty blood. You did right not giving her over to the Northside."

"I'm not sure Fogarty blood is the purest substance this side of the river."

FP glowered. "Have you seen that little angel you made? She ain't made of your parents, she's made of you."

Lauryn half-smiled at his comment, her eyes meeting his firm gaze, which told her that he would never go back on the words he'd just said to her. Her face fell again when she remembered that her problems were still where she left them. "But, FP..."

He reached for her forearm. "Tell me, Doll."

"I can't..." she hesitated, unsure how to go about it. "I can't feed her. It's just not... working."

"That's okay," he comforted. "Get her on formula. You can't control what your body does when you're stressed out."

"Serpents never use formula reliantly though..."

"Screw the tradition," he scoffed. "It's 2018, and that kid needs to be fed."

Lauryn tried to stop her face from falling apart, and she pursed her lips together and bit her cheeks. "I just feel like I'm letting her down."

"You could never do that," he shook his head. "I knew from the moment you told me you were havin' her that you'd be an amazing mom. I still don't get why you were so scared of telling me. I'll always be here for you, you know that. You're like one of my own."