Restrained - A Sweet Pea x Reader Fanfiction

13

The next morning, chatter flooded the school. Everyone was whispering in little groups. And it wasn't just the Serpents, it was everyone. Something was up. I strained to hear people's conversations, getting little bits as I passed. "Have you seen it?" "If I see that dude I am so going to punch him." "I can't believe they did this!" What the hell was going on?

I hadn't officially spoken to Sweet Pea since our fight the night before. I wasn't really counting the start of the first test yesterday. I had no idea what I was going to say to him when I saw him.

So I said nothing. Everything that needed to be said had been said already. So I walked into his open arms, only needing him to hold me again. "I'm sorry." He said into my hair as he kissed the top of my head. 

"Me too." I breathed in his peat wood scent before pulling away. "Also, why is everyone so on edge? What happened?" I looked around at everyone in the hallway again.

"You haven't seen it yet?" Sweet Pea said, genuinely surprised.

"Seen what?" The second bell rang, and I knew I would be late for class.

"I'll tell you at lunch." Sweet Pea said, reluctantly walking to class and I did the same.

Lunch

Sweet Pea was waiting for me at the table, Fangs and Toni next to him, laptop open on the table. I set down my tray, looking at the screen. Shirtless boys, probably our age, sat around the camera, red ski masks covering their faces. What? One boy stood directly in front of the camera. That idiot. Archie.

"This is a message for the coward calling himself the Black Hood. You think you can attack us from the shadows. But Riverdale is a lot stronger than you. And we're not afraid." I glanced around at the Serpents. Jughead hadn't joined us yet. "See there's only one of you. But we are a legion. We're called the Red Circle. And we're coming for you." Archie moved closer to the camera, bending down to be at eye level. "We will find you. We will hunt you. And we will end you." The footage stopped. What has he done, this time?

"Yo, Jughead, have you seen this?" Sweet Pea called out as my brother approached. "One of your Northside friends sent out this video." He replayed it as Jughead's face contorted with a knowing fear. "Fangs here is trying to earn his stripes. Taking out that douche should do it." Sweet Pea began excitedly pounding the table with his fist. But I knew. I knew under that slightly arrogant charade, this video scared him. I knew that, because it scared me, too.

Jughead looked at me, but I moved my gaze away, opting to remain silent. He breathed through his teeth and said, "You really want to earn your stripes, take out the Black Hood." Mocking laughter erupted from the Serpents, including my boyfriend. But Toni stayed quiet. Interesting. 

That Evening

We walked out the door and down the stairs, our eyes adjusting to the darkness after a couple hours of multicolored flashing lights. It was a good party, but living on the Southside, we knew better than to be drunk on the streets. Sweet Pea didn't drink anything, I started one, and Fangs finished it. We all laughed at some stupid joke Fangs made, when we saw him: Archie Andrews, spray painting a red circle on a garage door. Even though I had barely drunk anything, I was suddenly sick to my stomach.

The only light was from the dim street lamps and the moon as we walked up to him. "What do we have here?" Sweet Pea asked. Not a question, but a threat. Archie ignored us, continuing his painting. Sweet Pea put a firm hand down on his shoulder and Archie stopped moving. "I hope you don't think you can just vandalize our property and leave. You're not in the Northside anymore, golden boy."

"I'm not scared of you." Archie challenged

"That's where you're wrong." I said, even though I had no idea what I was doing. It felt like someone else had taken control of my body. "You should be scared." Sweet Pea took out his switch blade, the wicked edge pointed at Archie. 

He reached into his sweater, pulling out a black object. It took me a minute to realize- it was a gun. He aimed the barrel at my head and yelled, "Who was wrong!" Sweet Pea and Fangs flinched, but I was frozen to the spot. Archie made eye contact with me, his eyes utterly void of any ounce of kindness he once possessed. "Who was wrong!" He yelled again. Sweet Pea stepped in front of me as I began to tremble. He pushed me completely behind him and backed up slowly. Archie still had the gun held up, but it was now angled for Sweet Pea's head. Fangs grabbed my arm and the three of us ran to our bikes. As I got on behind Sweet Pea, in too much of a hurry to put on our helmets, I looked back at Archie. He had put the gun away, but there was something about his eyes. He almost looked... sad. Sweet Pea drove off, closely followed by Fangs.

We went for the closest safe location: Sunnyside trailer park. We entered Sweet Pea's trailer and I was unable to stop my hands from shaking. Never in a million years could I have imagined my childhood best friend pulling a gun on me. Archie had always seemed so pure. Fangs was sitting on the couch next to me, running a hand through his hair as Sweet Pea paced around the room.

If I wasn't so shaken, I would have been thinking about the fact that Sweet Pea would take a bullet for me. Would I do the same for him? Could I do the same for him? That was a question I couldn't answer. Because even though I wanted to, I didn't have the best of luck getting close to people. My brother and I always had a rocky relationship, along with my Dad and me. None of the friendships I had ever lasted very long, the one with Archie being the longest, and he pulled a gun on me tonight.

Fangs, still shaken up, left about half an hour later, and I, about half an hour after that. No one said anything. I returned to my trailer.

I walked in, Jughead sitting on the couch with his laptop. "Hey." I didn't reply, so he looked up.

"Y/n?" I didn't react.

"Y/n what's wrong. What- what happened?" He noticed my trembling hands. 

"A- Archie. H-He had a g- gun."

"What?!" Panic filled my brother's eyes.

"He was a- aiming at m- me."

"That bastard." The panic was immediately replaced by anger. A reckless anger. But I stood still in the main room as Jughead grabbed a jacket, and ran out the door. I heard the roar of a bike engine as the door closed, leaving me alone in the quiet trailer.

Jughead's POV:

I pulled the tarp off my dad's bike, not having seen it in years. Somehow, the mud caked on the tires was comforting, but I couldn't think about it now. I climbed on and put on a helmet, taking off towards Archie's house. 

I stormed up to the door, pounding on it as hard as I could. Archie answered and said, "Hey Jug. What's up?"

"What's up? What's up, Archie?! You pulled a gun on my sister!" I yelled at him, digging an accusatory finger into his chest. His face hardened, but he said nothing. I pulled back, shaking my head at him. "Making a video is one thing but going to the Southside with a gun-" Still, he said nothing.

Unable to take it, I punched him in the jaw. Once. Twice. Archie looked at the ground, having no reaction to the pain. I glared at him as I drove off once more, thankful that he didn't pull the trigger when he got the chance.

I returned home to my sister who was sitting silently on the sofa. Her hands were still shaking and if you didn't look too hard, you would have no idea if she was breathing or not. I sat down next to her after closing the door behind me to keep the night air out. I held her close to me again, but I knew she couldn't feel it. She was empty; a hollow shell. Because even though she was terrified, she was also mourning the loss of her childhood best friend. Archie Andrews was someone else now.