The Space Between Loyalty

Riverdale has always been split down the middle.

Northside stories are written in classrooms and diner booths, in ink and observation.
Southside lives are written in bruises, borrowed cigarettes, and promises that don't get spoken out loud.

You're a Jones - same blood, same age, same last name as Jughead - but you stayed when he didn't. You earned your Serpent jacket the hard way, built a family out of Toni's honesty, Fangs' chaos, and a loyalty that doesn't ask for permission.

Sweet Pea has always been there.
Not as a savior. Not as a temptation.
Just solid, steady, and watching your back.

Across years of violence, distance, time jumps, and impossible choices, nothing is rushed. Nothing is named too early. Loyalty is tested not by betrayal, but by closeness - by the quiet question of who you choose when the rules no longer protect you.

This isn't a love story about defiance.
It's about restraint.
About staying.
About the space between who you're loyal to - and who you can't stop choosing.