Resilience | Sweet Pea.

78 - Invitation

"Archie?" I ask as I walk into his room that evening to see him sitting on his bed, clutching a photograph. "Are you okay?"

"I was talking to mom, and she told me I should talk to Veronica, and tell her how I felt." Archie says sadly as I sit down with him on the bed.

"How you felt?" I ask. "I didn't realise you were still interested. What about Josie?"

"Josie's gone, remember?" He sighs. "Plus, yeah, I liked Josie but... I love Veronica, Nova."

"You're not filled with glee, so what happened?" I ask.

"Last night I went to see her." He sighs, putting the photo on his dresser. "But... Reggie was there."

"What was Reggie- oh." I say

"He beat me to it, and I lost her, Nov." He says sadly.

"C'mon Arch. We all know Reggie isn't a relationship type, it won't last." I scoff.

"I think it's different this time." He hums.

"I'm sorry, Arch." I sigh. "If you and Ronnie are meant to be, you will be."

"Life isn't a fairy tale, Nov." He huffs.

I lift my shirt a little to reveal my bandaged wound.

"You're telling me." I laugh.

"Sorry." He sighs.

"But seriously, Arch. I didn't think Pea and I would ever recover from everything let alone get back together. Don't lose hope. But I would seriously think about your friendship with Reggie." I tell him.

Archie sighs.

"You want me to put a hit on him?" I ask, mostly in an attempt to make him laugh.

"What?!" Archie asks.

"I mean, I know a guy! I could-"

"No, Nova. I don't want you to put a hit on him." Archie laughs, putting me in a headlock.

"I will bite you if you don't let go." I warn, immediately being met with my release. "Wise boy."

Archie chuckles for a moment, before sighing in defeat.

"Archie." I hum.

He looks up at me. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"You are 17. If it's not Ronnie, It'll be someone." I tell him.

"Thanks, Nov." He says.

"And hey worst comes to worst, I'll let you have a crack at Sweet pea." I say with a mischievous grin, really trying to get him to laugh.

"First of all, go fuck yourself, second of all, no thank you, and third of all, if I did try you'd kill me on the spot." Archie laughs.

"Yeah, you right." I joke back.

"Thank you, Nov." He sighs. "You always know how to make me laugh."

"What're sisters for?" I reply.

"You mean besides being the route of all my frustration?" He teases.

"Watch it buddy or you're going out the window." I warn him.

"I love you." He laughs.

"I love you too, meathead." I laugh back.

Before either of us can say anything else, my phone rings and Betty's name appears.

"I gotta take this, I'll talk to you later." I tell Archie before bolting from the room into my own.

I'd only spoken to Betty once since Prom night, with her being at the farm, and me being in the hospital, things felt weird. Not between her and I, just generally. I hate that Betty's at the farm, and she knows it.