little talks [ sweet pea ]

nineteen

"no, absolutely fucking not," was the first thing Jackson spat out when he heard Sweet Peas words.

it was now almost one in the morning and Jackson had somehow ended up wearing Sweet Peas denim Serpent jacket and a bandanna he'd found at the skatepark in his hair. over the past hours of frolicking around the southside Jackson had became good friends with Toni and Fangs. he and Toni both had a love for photography and would not shut up about it. whilst he and Fangs shared a love for Sheepdogs like Hotdog... and just Hotdog in general.

they'd spent their night fucking around the streets of the Southside. Fangs, Sweet Pea and Jackson all high from the joint they'd shared just an hour or so ago. now, though, Sweet Pea was suggesting Jackson played a game the younger Serpents liked to play.

"c'mon, Jay," Toni urged, using her new nickname for him. Jackson wouldn't lie and say he hated it. it was different from 'Jack' or 'Jacko'.

Jackson glanced between the three Serpents all staring at him with shit eating grins on their faces knowing Jackson was about to give in. with a roll of his eyes, Jackson snatched the list from Sweet Pea hands and started to read through it as Sweet Pea explained to him the rules and game.

"okay, so," Sweet Pea clapped his hands together, "the aim of the game is to run in there-" he pointed at the small store in front of them, "-and get all five items on the list as quickly as possible. theres rules, though. three of 'em."

"course there is," sighed Jackson.

"rule one," Toni said, "you have to greet Old Man Gray at the counter. if you don't that's five seconds added to your time," Toni held up five fingers, "rule two, when you get to the counter say 'its going to be a busy night'."

Jackson understood the second rule. condoms and lube were on the list. it made sense.

Fangs got up from the ground where he'd made himself comfortable and said, "don't forget rule three. you have to say something to Old Man Gray to put a smile on his face. if you don't that's a minute onto your time."

"a minute?"

"yup!" Fangs held his hand out to Toni and the girl yanked him up, "his wife passed a few years ago and his daughter lives in New Zealand. we haven't seen him smile for four years," Fangs then went on to explain how when they did the challenge they couldn't get him to smile.

"before we start can I ask why lube is on here?" Toni and Fangs opened their mouths to speak but were cut off.

"its for Fangs," Sweet Pea blurted before Toni and Fangs could even get a word out. Toni held back her laugh, whilst Fangs just groaned and threw his head back, annoyed with his friend. the lube was not for Fangs and the three of them knew that.

"right," Jackson nodded and looked back down at the list. "well then, lets do this."

Toni smiled happily and grabbed a worn out stop watch from her bag. Sweet Pea and Fangs dragged him Jackson to the entrance of the shop.

"time to beat is seven minutes twenty nine seconds," Toni called from her spot on the footpath. "and.... go!" and Jackson was bounding into the store.

"hello! how are you?" Jackson greeted Old Man Gray. the man looked up from his book and gave Jackson a slight nod of acknowledgement.

"i'm good, kid, yourself?"

"great," Jackson smiled at the man and walked off into the store. he glanced down at the list as he speed walked towards the section where he'd find the lube and condoms.

latex gloves, stockings, condoms, lube and strawberries.

nodding to himself, Jackson quickly glanced through the condoms before grabbing regular ones and then grabbed a random bottle of lube from the shelf under the condoms.

he then made his way to the end of the isle where he grabbed a random pack of stockings from the shelf. after getting the strawberries and latex gloves he quickly rushed towards the counter. he dropped the items on the counter and smiled embarrassedly at Old Man Gray.

when the man raised an eyebrow in Jacksons way he stuttered out, "its, uh, g-going to be a, um, busy night?" it came out as more of a question. he stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked back out the window to see Fangs trying to tackle down Sweet Pea and Toni watching him intently.

"you friends with them goofs?" Old Man Gray suddenly asked making Jackson whip around. he nodded with a small smile, grabbing the three items Old Man Gray had scanned already. "you keep them close. they all have next to nothing."

"yeah. yeah, I definitely will," he turned back around and his eyes fell onto Sweet Pea, laughing loudly as he had finally body slammed Fangs onto the pavement. a fond look took over his face and he smiled softly at the tall Serpent.

"oh, I see," Gray said and placed the last two items in front of Jackson. Jacksons gaze turned back to Gray and he frowned at the man. "you like Oliver."

"Oliver as in Sweet Pea?"

"mhm," Gray hummed. the timer Jackson was currently on had been long forgotten. his attention was now on Old Man Gray and the fact that he thought he likes Sweet Pea. he couldn't be more wrong, really. Jackson thought of the Serpent as a friend and nothing more.

"I don't like Sweet Pea," Jackson denied it, shaking his head immediately.

"well, he likes you," Gray stated and his words caused Jacksons frown to deepen. "you're Jackson, yeah?"

"yeah...?"

"Oliver comes in every morning before school and all he does is talk about you," Gray explained just as Toni started banging on the shop window. "your friends want you kid. hey, next time I see you I want the first you say to me to be that you and Oliver at least had se-"

"I am leaving now," Jackson quickly put twenty bucks on the counter and left the shop, Grays laughing filling the shop as the door closed behind him.

"you got him to laugh," Fangs stated more than asked. Jackson nodded with his cheeks still tinted red from his conversation with Gray earlier. "your time was also like eleven minutes and sixteen seconds."

"yeah. got caught up," Jackson muttered before holding out the items he'd just bought, "here you guys go."

Toni happily took the stockings and gloves from Jacksons hands before saying she needed to get them to the Wyrm and leaving with Fangs by her side. Jackson glanced down at the condoms and lube in one of his hands and the strawberries in the other, looking back up at Sweet Pea with a raised eyebrow.

"we can either fuck or eat strawberries or both," he said with the most serious expression. Sweet Pea seemed at lost for words, his mouth opening and closing multiple times before he choked out a jumble of words that Jackson couldn't understand. he let Sweet Pea stutter some more before bursting out laughing.

"Pea, babes, I'm messing. though, we are going to go back to my flat and eat strawberries whilst watching uhhh... whatever you wanna watch," the pet name slipped out before Jackson could notice. fuck, even after it was said he didn't notice he'd said it. Sweet Pea noticed it, though, and it made that weird feeling erupt in his stomach. you know the one where it feels like you've just been suddenly dropped? butterflies did they call it?

Jackson spun around on his heals leaving a confused and flustered Sweet Pea behind. Sweet Pea stood there for a second trying to calm down his beating heart and only ran to catch up with Jackson when the boy turned around and shouted out "these strawberries wont eat themselves. lets go!"

a/n we love old man gray