#findmeinpops 12 days of christmas

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Christmas: Day Twelve - Southside Archive Secret Santa

Merry Christmas Liz ( @worriestothewind​ )! Here we have a festive friends-to-lovers oneshot for Female!Reader x Sweet Pea. I hope you enjoy reading this and that you have a wonderful festive season; I wish you all the best for the new year (and decade!). Harry x 

P.S. Thank you @southsidearchive​ for organising the Secret Santa, it’s much appreciated.

Prompt: Friends to lovers

Ship(s): Sweet Pea x Female!Reader

Rating: T

CW(s): Cursing, alcohol

Gifted: Liz ( @worriestothewind​ )

@riverdalebingo​ : A Christmas Bet

Reindeer Games: Prancer - Parties

As Y/N was pushing the pins into her hair to hold up her half-up half-down do, she could only think about how little she wanted to go out tonight. Every year the Southside Serpents held a festive party in the Whyte Wyrm - she had no clue how they could even afford the place considering their low budget but it probably did not hurt that FP, the current leader of the Southside gang, was brothers with the owner.

Y/N had joined the Southside Serpents three years ago so there had only been three parties since Y/N had first been permitted to go, and she was rather glad that she had only ever been roped into attending one of them; every other time she had been quite happy to stay at home, curled up in bed. Her best friend Sweet Pea had voluntarily attended each one, unfortunately for her, so she had been left at home alone to entertain herself. But this time he was dragging her along with him.

“I still can’t believe you persuaded me to go to this party,” Y/N complained, casually strolling out of her ensuite bathroom and standing in front of Sweet Pea, hands on her hips in the only act of defiance she could muster right then. He drew his eyes away from his phone, looking up from his position on her bed, not batting an eyelid at her half-clothed state.

It was an almost amusing contrast to see Sweet Pea in the setting of Y/N’s room; the floral pink duvet cover against the fully-black biker look, that Sweet Pea seemed to have had ever since he left the womb, would have been shocking to most. To be fair, his dark attire wasn’t all that different from Y/N’s typical outfits of choice, but she had an affinity for all things pink, pastel, and floral when it came to her decor and belonging, only preferring grayscale when it came to clothes.

Y/N and Sweet Pea had been best friends since birth, or near enough; they were both Serpent legacies, but Y/N’s family was somewhat more stable than Pea’s. When Sweet Pea hit the ripe old age of six months, his father took it upon himself to high-tail out of Riverdale to go and live with his pregnant mistress. A single, working, new-mother, his mom often resorted to leaving Pea with the Y/L/Ns’ and the pair became fast friends. They grew up together and, although they did occasionally venture outside of their partnership, they were each other’s closest friend. And it was for this exact reason that Sweet Pea had no reaction to Y/N standing in front of him in only a black mini skirt, fishnets, and bra.

“We need to leave in half an hour. Are you going like that?” Sweet Pea commented dryly.

“Pea,” She moaned, continuing to complain just in case he would allow her reprieve from their plans.

“It’s up to you, but I think FP may have something to say about your outfit of choice.”

“Pea, please?” She pouted, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

Sweet Pea sighed, dropping his phone between his crossed legs. “I believe we had an agreement, sweetheart.”

“Yes, and I will be forever grateful that you are not forcing me to go to the New Year’s party or any other Serpent festive gathering for the rest of this year, but,” Y/N crouched down, a hand on each of Pea’s knees, “would you not much rather be curled up with yours truly, hot chocolate, and a Christmas comedy on the TV?”

She tried to pull her most enticing puppy-dog face--which nine times out of ten melted Pea into a puddle at her feet, but not this time.

“A deal’s a deal.” He gave her a pointed look which softened slightly when he saw genuine disappointment flicker through Y/N’s eyes. “Hey,” he placed his hands on top of hers, running his thumbs over the back of them, “I’ll be there and I promise we can be back here by one am. I’ll even try to persuade your mom to let me sleep over and we can cuddle with hot chocolate and a comedy then.” The placating smile he offered did nothing as she rolled her eyes, pushing up from her position.

“You don’t need to persuade my mom to do anything.” She wandered over to her dresser, picking up her makeup bag before plopping herself down on the floor in front of the full-length mirror attached to her wardrobe. “She fucking loves you.” And didn’t Y/N know it.

‘Sweet Pea is such a nice boy’, ‘why don’t you date Sweet Pea’, ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful if Sweet Pea was my son-in-law,’ – Y/N never heard the end of how much her mother adored Pea but what her mother (or Pea for that matter) did not know is how much Y/N and her mother were in agreement in wishing that Pea would date her.

For as long as they’d been friends, Y/N had known that she loved Sweet Pea, but it was not until a moment in their teens, when she had had the sudden urge to grab him by the neck and crush his lips to hers, did she realise the love was no longer solely platonic.

Y/N had a crush on her lifelong best friend and he did not have a single fucking clue.

She had briefly entertained the thought of initiating something between them but the potential of losing Pea over such a thing was a devastating concept and so the idea was killed in moments. Regardless, Y/N knew that Sweet Pea had a huge crush on Toni, not that he had told her this, but she had noticed the way he smiled at her - that was the smile of a boy who was crushing on a girl.

Each time Y/N saw that smile, there was always a small twinge in her gut but she was determined to make her best friend happy, no longer caring that it would not be with her. Sweet Pea deserved to be happy.

“But she doesn’t love me as much as I love you.” He sent her a faux sickly-sweet smile in the mirror, forcing her eyes to roll yet again.

Drawing on her eyeliner, Y/N could not stop her mind from imagining him meaning it the way that she secretly hoped he would. No, she had to reprimand herself, Sweet Pea had been with her through thick and thin, spent many evenings soothing her as she sobbed over this and that as well as always having her back. She loved him regardless of context and, because of this, she wanted and needed him to be happy – if Pea wanted to be with Toni then she would make it happen.

“I fucking love you.” Their little phrase left her lips as she finished up the liner on her second eye.

“And I fucking love you,” he replied, as they shared a genuine smile before delving back into their respective tasks – Y/N applying minimal makeup for the forced exertion from her home and Sweet Pea texting whoever.

******

Riding on the back of a motorcycle in a skirt was never really the best of ideas, but it was a dark December evening and no one would see. But what Y/N had not considered was how bad of an idea it was to ride on the back of a motorcycle, in the middle of December, at night, in fishnets and a skirt.

“Holy shit, I’m freezing,” she exclaimed, jumping from the seat as soon as Sweet Pea turned the engine off.

“Yeah, probably not the best of our ideas,” Sweet Pea reasoned, sliding off the seat a lot more smoothly. He placed a hand on either of her arms, rubbing his hands up and down her clothed skin, trying to create a little heat.

“Our idea? Please, I wanted to take the car but no, we were already late so you wanted to freeze my tits off.”

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes at that before gripping her wrist in one hand, pocketing his keys with the other, and all but dragging her towards the bar door.

“I’m freezing, my legs are going to fall off, and I do not want to be here.” Y/N continued to complain and Sweet Pea could only compare her to a toddler having a tantrum.

They stopped just shy of the closed door, muffled music and chattering could be heard on the other side, and the glow of multi-coloured lights could be seen through the frosted panes of the windows. It all looked rather cozy and, if there weren’t fifty other people in there, Y/N would have probably been quite happy to enter.

“Stop being dramatic, we had a deal. These parties normally suck--”

She opened her mouth to interrupt but a slight glare from Sweet Pea stopped the words in their place.

“--but my bestest friend in the whole entire world is here and you’re going to make the experience so much better. Then, we will go home, maybe catch a lift with someone since I quite like your legs being attached,” he spared a glance to her goose-bump covered skin, “and we will drink hot chocolate and watch a movie.”

He took one of her hands in his, neither of their fingers particularly warm, and began to push on the door before stopping and turning back to face Y/N. “Oh, and Toni’s here.”

Ah, how could she forget her plan, although she wasn’t entirely sure why Pea thought that this would be an incentive for her to enter, he had no idea that she was aware of his crush. Y/N was going to somehow get her best friend to ask out Toni by the end of the night, whether she said yes was out of Y/N’s control, but she would be sure to get Sweet Pea to confess... somehow…

With a small smile now gracing her lips, they both pushed through the door into the large bar area, welcoming the overwhelming warmth that hit them as well as the tangy smell of alcohol. Hog Eye, the owner of the Whyte Wyrm, had strung fairylights along the walls and a small Christmas tree sat on the bar, adorned with the same multi-coloured lights and several red shiny baubles. People were scattered all over the large room, drinks in hand, and loudly chatting away as Bing Crosby was crooning out ‘White Christmas’.

Y/N hummed along as she handed her coat to Sweet Pea to hang on the coat stand, nodding a silent thanks as she continued to take in the room. It was whilst doing this that she spotted several bunches of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling, and then she had her plan. Now she just had to lure Toni and Sweet Pea over to one of the many bunches of mistletoe. She began to search for Toni but the latter had already spotted them and was waving them over to where she stood with a small group of her friends.

“Let’s join Toni,” Sweet Pea spoke before Y/N had the chance, sending a nod towards the fellow Serpent.

“Hey guys, cold out isn’t it?” Toni greeted each of them with a hug once they made their way through the crowd. This was not too much of a feat, though, as they tended to part easily for Sweet Pea as he towered over most people.

“Sure is. This idiot decided to ride on the bike wearing fishnets.” Sweet Pea knocked Y/N with his elbow, sending a kind smile to let her know he was only joking.

“Sure, sure, my fault, I know.” Y/N rolled her eyes goodnaturedly, bumping her best friend back with her hip.

“Well, at least it’s warm in here, you’ll be alright in no time,” Toni replied before pulling on the arm of a tall redhead beside her, who turned away from her current conversation. To say Y/N was shocked to see Cheryl Blossom in the Whyte Wyrm would be an understatement. It had been a few years since they had all graduated from Riverdale High, but Cheryl had always been an incredibly preppy individual, to put it kindly, who had deemed herself higher than most others around her. She and her brother, Jason, had practically ruled the school, hardly sparing a glance to others, particularly the transfers from Southside High who were made bottom of the food chain. She had obviously come a long way from her time in high school.

“Sweet Pea, Y/N, I’m sure you remember Cheryl.” Cheryl wiggled her fingers in a small wave and offered a sheepish smile as they were introduced. “She’s a ‘trainee serpent’, so to speak. FP is considering her for the initiation.”

Both Y/N and Sweet Pea’s eyes widened comically. Tonight was full of surprises. It was one thing for the Cheryl they knew to willingly surround herself and be associated with Serpents, but for her to also desire to become a Serpent - perhaps she had hit her head.

Cheryl must have noticed their expressions as she was quick to pull her hands together in a pleading gesture. “I know and I sincerely apologise for the unacceptable and truly horrible way I treated you and your fellow Serpents throughout our time at Riverdale High. I promise that I have changed my ways since graduation and, with the help of TT, I hope to show you how true this transformation is.”

“Of course, I’m sure we’ll see more of each other through Serpent business, but we can always hang out. It’s a regular thing we do with Toni,” Sweet Pea answered for both of them, swinging an arm around Y/N’s shoulders, signalling for her to nod her agreement.

“Brilliant.” Cheryl grinned.

A slightly awkward silence settled around the four of them, something that was most likely due to all of their being unsure how to act with Cheryl around. Y/N’s eyes flitted around the room, not knowing where to land, trying to avoid having to make stilted conversation. Her eyes just happened to catch on a particular bunch of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling above the bar.

Being in such close proximity with Pea heated her skin, something that was putting Y/N off of the whole scheme she had created, but the look that appeared on Pea’s face each time he saw Toni reappeared in her mind; she wanted only the best for him and for him to be happy and, because of that, she would continue forward with her plan.

“I don’t know about you, but I need a drink” Y/N broke the silence, and relief noticeably appeared on Pea and Toni’s faces, Cheryl seemingly oblivious. Pretending to notice Toni’s lack of drink in hand, you added, “Toni, why don’t you join us at the bar.”

Pea’s eyes narrowed slightly, trying to work out why she had intentionally omitted Cheryl from the invitation but seemingly settled on ignoring it for now, he released his arm from around Y/N’s shoulders before chiming in, “yeah, I’ll cover this round.”

“And I’ll stay here and make conversation with my soon-to-be fellow Serpents.” Cheryl did not seem overly bothered about her exclusion, smiling and nodding before making her way across the room to a group of younger Serpents.

Y/N led the three of them over, placing herself at the front of the group so she could strategically lead them over to the right-hand side of the bar where the mistletoe hung. She settled herself at the very far end, resting her arm on the sticky surface so that Toni and Sweet Pea would be forced to stand together at her left.

“Y/N, Sweet Pea, nice to see ya,” Hog Eye greeted, coming directly to the trio, bypassing a few already waiting patrons.

Y/N and Sweet Pea had helped out Hog Eye quite a bit over the last year. The Ghoulies, before they were run out of town, had made an attack on the Whyte Wyrm, destroying half of the bar, and the pair had been a part of a few Serpents who had helped reassemble the place. Veronica had pitched in the money necessary, due to feeling guilty about her father being partially responsible for the attack, so Y/N and Sweet Pea just offered some manpower, as well as occasionally taking up some shifts at the bar while Hog Eye was recovering from injuries he sustained during the ordeal.

Nevertheless, Hog Eye had been incredibly grateful and had no qualms ignoring the already waiting customers to serve them. “Toni too, I see. What can I get you three?”

“I’ll have a bourbon, please, Hog Eye, you know how I like it,” Y/N replied. “Pea’s driving so he’ll just have a coke?” Sweet Pea nodded to her question. “And Toni, what do you want?” Y/N turned to Toni who seemed distracted but requested a Jack and coke at her prompting.

As Hog Eye was pouring the drinks, Toni zoned out again, slowly gaining a mischievous twinkle in her eye paired with a not-so-hidden grin. “Y’know, Y/N, you’re looking hot as hell tonight.”

Y/N turned bright red at Toni’s words, and she wanted nothing more than to hit her head on the bar counter in embarrassment. A similar, but more subtle, pink dusted Sweet Pea’s cheeks. It was also joined by a small smirk.

“Um, thanks I--”

“Yeah, you look amazing, let me take a photo of your outfit. And Sweet Pea! Sweet Pea can be in the photo as well.” She was talking so frantically that neither Y/N or Sweet Pea really understood what was going on so when Toni suddenly gripped Y/N’s arms and spun her around for the picture, Sweet Pea had to grab Y/N by the waist to stop her toppling over.

“Perfect! Just perfect!” Toni exclaimed, pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket. “Now Y/N just move a little closer to Sweet Pea.”

“Do you know what the fuck is going on?” Sweet Pea whispered into Y/N’s ear, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. She shook her head in answer but also to rid herself of the odd sensation, she could use that bourbon now.

“And smile!”

Toni took the photo. The pair began to move apart from the too-close position before Toni stopped them with a hand, that mischievous look taking over her entire face.

“Would you look at that!” She feigned surprise, tilting her head to the ceiling. Y/N and Sweet Pea followed suit, freezing at what they saw. Shit.

“Mistletoe. You know what that means?”

“No, Toni you were--”

“You’re under the mistletoe, you have to kiss.” Toni seemed to be enjoying Y/N’s squirming, but Y/N was more concerned about Sweet Pea unwrapping his arm from around her waist and pulling away, taking it as rejection. Although it was nothing short of what she expected, it still stung.

“No, Toni, I think Y/N wants you to come here.” Sweet Pea stepped back, motioning Toni over. Y/N could almost scream in frustration, this was not going how she had wanted it to go.

“No, it was supposed to be you and Toni under the--”

“Guys, just get on with--” Toni tried to interrupt Y/N, but Sweet Pea stepped in.

“Wait, you were trying to set me up with Toni?” Y/N swung around to face him, now incredibly concerned that he had taken offence. She had not considered Sweet Pea might consider her scheming overstepping.

“Yes, I just wanted to see you happy and I know you have a crush on--”

“Me? Have a crush on Toni?” Sweet Pea’s eyes were almost bugging out his head.

Their outbursts had gained the attention of a few of the nearest Serpents whilst Hog Eye was trying his very hardest to hold in laughter, his face beginning to resemble a tomato.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to--”

“I thought you had a crush on Toni!” His exclamation caused Y/N to freeze, both of them oblivious to the listening ears and the amused smiles of the entire bar.

“You--I--What?” Y/N could not believe a single word that she was hearing. How had he gotten the idea that she liked Toni? Y/N had noticed how he had always smiled when they approached her and whenever she was mentioned in conversation the same look reappeared; how else was Y/N supposed to interpret this?

“As entertaining as this is, we would all appreciate it if you both shut up.” Toni’s words brought their attention to the silence that otherwise filled the room and the fact that every pair of eyes were trained on them. If Y/N had been embarrassed before, it did not compare to how she felt now.

Heat filled her entire body, and not in a good way, her face radiating as she chewed at the skin on her lower lip. Sweet Pea was hiding his embarrassment somewhat better, but pink still tinged his cheeks and the tips of ears.

“You’re under the mistletoe so stop stalling and just kiss!” a shout came from somewhere in the small crowd.

Sweet Pea shot a glare in the heckler’s direction before he took a step closer as Y/N was still frozen in shock, reaching his hand to cup her cheek, gently tilting her head upwards to face him. His thumb smoothed over her warm cheek as he scanned her eyes for any form of protest--there was some hesitation but also a hefty amount of want. The same thumb ran over her lower lip now, his ring cold on her skin as he pulled her slightly bruised lip from between her teeth. Pea’s gaze left her lips, meeting hers and silently asking for her permission. After a nod, so small that only he would have seen, he brought his other hand up to her unoccupied cheek, guiding her face up so they met in the middle.

Sweet Pea wasted no time in pressing his lips to hers, unable to believe that this was happening and savouring the moment. Y/N broke out of a trance, bringing one arm up to wrap around his neck, threading her fingers through the short hairs at the nape of his neck, ensuring he would not pull away quite yet. It was too soon.

Her lips were on fire, but it was the sparks that spread from their connection through all the nerves in her body that racked her with shivers and set her akin alight. Her other arm settled against his chest, clenching the material of his jumper in her fingers as one of Sweet Pea’s found its place at her waist, pressing her against him, trying to get as much contact as possible.

And then Y/N began to move her lips in a gentle caress, Sweet Pea following suit. There was no rush or urgency, they had time but also a passion as they poured their love for one another into this kiss. The pair moved almost in opposites, caressing each other in turn. Y/N took a gasp of air so Pea seized the chance to run the tip of his tongue along her lower lip, not needing to deepen the kiss further, but savouring the feeling, her touch, her taste, when they were no longer connected. Y/N moved to wrap her other arm around his neck but a loud clearing of a throat registered, triggering Y/N to remember just where they were.

She leant her forehead against Sweet Pea’s chest, her cheeks turning even redder whilst her lungs were still trying to catch up, snickers beginning to filter through to her ears. How could she forget where they were? She probably would have allowed them to progress to a full-on makeout session, without intervention, completely oblivious to the audience they had gained.

Sweet Pea pressed a kiss to the top of Y/N’s head, the hand not on her waist smoothing through her hair. The contact of his skin sent a shiver down her spine, her body obviously not registering their audience.

Once she finally caught her breath and calmed down, she pulled away enough for Sweet Pea to press a small kiss to her nose. An involuntary grin took over her lips and stayed in place as she finally twisted her head to look at the Serpents gathered around.

A chorus of cheering and wolf whistles broke out. Toni still stood behind her, only now joined by Cheryl, who had wrapped an arm around her waist; the former wore an incredibly smug expression whilst the latter simply looked thoroughly entertained. Fangs, on the other hand, who stood a few metres from them, had a slightly childish pout on his face aimed solely at Toni.

“Told you I could do it tonight,” Toni simply said in answer to his expression. “You’re going to have to pay up.” She held her hand out, making a ‘gimme’ motion.

“I don’t have the money on me right now! I was so sure…” the last part seemed to only be spoken to himself.

“You bet on us!” Y/N cried indignantly, wrapping her arms around herself, interlocking her fingers with Pea’s at her waist.

“Only last week,” Toni placated, as if that made it any better.

“If it’s any consolation, Y/N,” Hog Eye spoke unexpectedly. He was leant casually against the wall behind the bar, a smug smile that rivalled Toni’s, adorning his face, “me and yer’ mom have had one going for years.”

“My mom!” Y/N was not angry, per se, but more frustrated with the fact that everyone seemed to have been in a secret conspiracy, even her mom.

“Just don’t tell her about all the mistletoe I put everywhere.” Hog Eye began to full-on belly laugh when Y/N’s eyes bugged out of her head. The rest of the bar, still listening, joined in too.

Y/N twisted back around to properly hug Sweet Pea, wanting to fully gauge his reaction. It seemed she was not alone in her embarrassment, but by the chuckles that were beginning to vibrate through his chest, he was finding the humorous side of things. Y/N sighed. She supposed it was all good-natured.

Y/N‘s gaze flickered over Sweet Pea’s face, taking in the small smile, the slight flush to his handsome features and the twinkle in his forest green eyes. He was truly gorgeous.

“I fucking love you,” she whispered to him, smoothing a lock of his hair back from where it had fallen into his face.

“And I fucking love you.”

[ao3feed--bughead]

by Find Me In Pops (writemeourlovestory)

A drabble in which Betty loses Jughead at the local Christmas market and ends up calling for him through the overhead speakers.

Words: 798, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Riverdale (TV 2017)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones

Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones

[ao3feed-choni]

by Find Me In Pops (writemeourlovestory)

Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz have been exchanging letters regularly ever since a school letter exchange program. This year, Cheryl decides to deliver her Christmas letter in person this year.

TW: references to child abuse (not detailed

Words: 1335, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Riverdale (TV 2017)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F

Characters: Cheryl Blossom, Toni Topaz

Relationships: Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz

[theao3feed-bughead]

FindMeInPops' 12 Days of Ficmas: Christmas Day Bonus - I Promise I've Been A Good Boy

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2EUOtNe

by Find Me In Pops (writemeourlovestory)

Betty is dressed as a Christmas elf and is on her way home from work when she bumps into a very drunk Jughead who is convinced that she actually knows Santa Claus

Words: 1415, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Riverdale (TV 2017)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones

Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2EUOtNe

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Two - Bonding

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And a quick fyi for those who prefer AO3, my 2019 12 Days of Christmas collection is at this link and should be uploaded with an hour of this being posted.

Prompt: No. 20 - Person A making Christmas crafts with Person B’s younger sibling - cookies, snowflakes, reindeer food etc.

Ship(s): Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones

Rating: T

CW(s): N/A

Reindeer Games: Dasher (decorations)

@riverdalebingo : Putting up decorations

“I’m so sorry Betty.” Jughead apologised for what seemed to be the hundredth time since he had asked her two days ago, motioning for her to enter his home.

“No it’s alright, I promise.” She gave him a quick kiss as she passed him on her way through the doorway, mindful that Jellybean was probably in the next room and that they did not want to draw her attention with overzealous displays of affection.

“It’s not but I’ll try to make up for it.” He smirked, hooking an arm around her waist and pulling her back into him, pressing a heavier kiss to her lips.

Betty’s hands pressed against his chest as she pushed back to look up at him, hoping the sincerity shone through her eyes and smile.

“You don’t need to make up for anything,” she kissed him again before pushing off of him and spinning towards the living room door, “although I’m sure I wouldn’t complain,” she teased over her shoulder before quickly disappearing into the room.

A small chuckle left him as he followed close behind. “Sure but you are my girlfriend and not my babysitter.”

“It’s not babysitting,” she replied with mock offence, “it’s hanging out. Plus, I haven’t really got to spend much time with Jellybean.” She stuck her tongue out before throwing her bag onto the sofa, finally spotting the eight year old in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Jellybean sang back mockingly, “I’m not a baby.” She stuck out her tongue too, copying Betty, who felt a strange sense of pride in the comradarie that the pair had seemed to have formed in the thirty seconds she had been in the house.

Secretly, Betty had always wanted a younger sibling, or at least a younger cousin, but no, she was the baby of the family. One of the perks of dating Jughead was that she got to have that younger sibling, even if she had not managed to see much of her, but the feeling of having someone look up to her warmed her heart.

Betty sent Jellybean a wink before holding out her hand for a high five to which Jellybean gladly obliged. Jughead laughed at their antics before wrapping them both respectively in a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of their heads.

“Be good, Jellybean.” He instructed as he pulled his coat on. He offered Betty one last smile and a nod before he ventured out into the cold.

“Right!” Betty called as soon as the door clicked closed, skipping over to her bag and bringing it over to the small coffee table in the center of the room where Jellybean joined her. “Now that he’s gone…” She unzipped the bag before pulling out several craft supplies.

When Jughead returned home four hours later, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t this. He hadn’t even gotten his jacket off before he noticed and froze.

The living room was decorated with dozens of paper garlands - some were shaped like snowmen and snowflakes cut from what seemed to be recycled newspapers whereas others were long chains created from old magazines and glitter. Remnants of pizza takeout scattered the small coffee table, right next to a small pile of colourful envelopes each with scrawled names on the front in marker.

Jughead could not help the small smile from turning into a grin though when he spotted both Betty and Jellybean, curled up fast asleep in the corner of the sofa with Elf still playing on the small TV. Jellybean’s face was hidden in Betty’s neck, her small body snuggled against her torso with Betty’s arm wrapped around her back and a content smile gracing her expression.

His complete and utter adoration for the pair was incredibly apparent in that moment, taking hold of his heart. Individually, he loved them dearly, but seeing that his two favourite girls not only got on well with one another but had bonded, that made him indescribably happy.

If he was completely honest, Jughead had been concerned how Jellybean would react. Betty was the first person that he had ever dated and did not know how Jellybean would feel about no longer being the only major female in his life, especially since their mother had dropped Jellybean at FP’s feet when she had turned two and they had not heard from her since. Instead of being hostile or wary, Jellybean was beginning to see Betty as a pseudo-mother - whether it was a good thing, he did not know, but he was just happy that they seemed to get on so well.

Careful to be quiet so as not to wake them, Jughead pulled a blanket from the back of a nearby armchair, unfolding it before laying it over the pair. He pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads, Jellybean’s nose scrunched up adorably in her sleep whereas Betty’s eyes fluttered open at the contact

“Did you have fun, sweetheart?” He asked, brushing her mussed hair from her face.

“I did, my love. We did.” She corrected. Betty tried to reach out for his hand but when Jellybean’s sleeping form prevented any movement, she simply puckered her lips, silently asking for a kiss.

Jughead pressed his lips to hers in a short but sweet kiss, not wanting to wake his little sister; she would most likely not be impressed by the reason for her waking.

“Go back to sleep, sweetheart.” He kissed her again and by the time he pulled back, Betty’s eyes were already closed as she drifted back to sleep.

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Christmas Day Bonus - I Promise I’ve Been A Good Boy

Merry Christmas, wonderful people! As it is Christmas Day and I had one more idea I wanted to write for, you have an extra drabble for my 12 Days of Ficmas. As always, the AO3 collection is linked here. The entire Masterlist for all of these drabbles will be posted tomorrow.

Prompt: No.12 - Person A dressed up as an elf because of their job. Person B is drunk and thinks that Person A actually knows Santa

Ship(s): Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones

CW(s): alcohol, swearing, mentions of street harassment

Reindeer Games: Blitzen - Holidays

Walking home in the half-melted snow, Betty’s mind was fixated on how much she hated her job. The owner of the bar that she worked at had wanted to go ‘full-festive’ to try to rake in tourists. That was fine with her when he had been hanging up garlands and fairylights as well as putting up a couple of Christmas trees and bunches of mistletoe but then he had decided to dress the bar staff up as elves. Betty drew a line at being forced to work in a short, skintight elf outfit whilst serving drinks to tipsy men but it was either obey or be fired and she really needed the job; lucky for her, a childhood friend worked as a bouncer in the same bar and had been happy to escort her as she maneovered around the room - that worked to prevent roaming hands. Archie had had to go straight home to his wife and newborn, though, Betty had assured him she would be fine, she’d grab a taxi and go home. But the line for taxis outside the bar had been an hour long and, not wearing enough clothes, Betty was half-freezing to death. On account of not wanting to lose any limbs to frostbite, she had decided to walk the three blocks back to her apartment. During the journey, she had been catcalled five times and was still at risk of losing a finger or two, but at least she was not still standing in the queue to get a taxi.

As she rounded the final corner, she spotted a mass sat on the steps up to the apartment complex. Not knowing what to expect at 2am in the middle of the city, her body tensed at the potential threat, her mind running rampant with all of the possibilities of what could happen next. Braving to continue forward with the goal of her nice warm bed, she wrapped her fingers around the can of pepper spray in her handbag, slowing her pace and trying not to focus her eyes too long on what she now realised was a person curled up on her steps.

She had just reached safety, her hand on the door handle when movement from the mass caught her attention. Trying not to make any sudden moves, she slowly opened the door but stopped as the person spoke.

“You’re an elf.” It wasn’t a question. The man had a gruff, slurred voice and was definitely intoxicated and, by the stinging stench of alcohol, he was drunk, very drunk.

Betty did not know what to do. Her body was screaming at her to run, to get out of there but her mind was chastising her, reminding her of how her parents had always raised her to be polite. She did not want politeness to be the death of her but a small part of her felt sorry for the man; after all, to be this intoxicated in the middle of the street at 2am on Christmas Day, he must be going through an incredibly rough time.

“I, uh, I’m not a real elf.” Her tongue tripped over the words, the adrenaline in her veins preferring that she ran rather than talked.

“‘I’m not a real elf,’” The man mimicked as he uncurled himself more to be sat upright on the stairs, “that’s exactly what a real elf would say. You have to keep secrets, can’t have the whole world knowing about the big man.” He tapped his nose.

“I-I guess they would.” She let out a small chuckle. “But I promise I’m not. I work in a bar and, you see-”

“Just stop with the practiced, convoluted, bullshit story!” He interrupted, pushing himself up onto wobbly feet. “I don’t care! I’m not about to out you to the whole fucking world!” Although still slightly slurred, his enunciation was getting better and his words more coherent.

“Seriously,” she tried to reason but he would not let her get further than one word. Now on his feet, he took a few shaky steps towards her.

Betty brought the pepper spray out of the bag so it was only hidden by the overflap, ready to use it if he attempted an attack. His proximity was making her nervous. Upright now, she had a clearer view of his face and could see obvious tear tracks down his face - she was right, he had gone through something rough. Surprisingly though, she realised that he was wearing a three piece suit, crumpled and dirty, but an expensive suit nonetheless.

“I honestly don’t care but please,” he pulled his hands into a pleading gesture, “please, tell Santa I’ve been a good boy. I promise I’ve been a good boy, I promise!”

“I’m not-” She stopped, changing her next words. ”Sure. Sure, I’ll pass on the message.”

The man only nodded in response, turning and making his way back to the stair he had been sitting on before. With the exchange over, Betty opened the door to leave before her conscience got the better of her. No man who owned a three-piece suit got into this state just for the hell of it.

“Hey,” he froze as she called out to him, both of them turning to face each other and Betty letting the door go, “what’s your name?”

“Jughead.” He threw himself down on the step but continued to watch her.

“I’m Betty.” She moved to sit down near him, not so close that he could easily touch her, but close enough that she could see his expression. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”

Jughead scoffed but tears began to well in his eyes, a completely broken look taking over his face.

“My fiancée, my girlfriend of five years, has kicked me out of our apartment, it was my apartment before her.” He spat the word ‘her’ like it was dirty. The tears then broke free, pouring down his cheeks. “I accused her of cheating, fuck I know she’s been cheating on me - I walked in on her and my brother redressing!” He was now shouting but Betty did not have the heart to tell him to quiet down. This man was heartbroken and in her gut she just knew that he did not deserve a single inch of anything that had happened to him.

“She doesn’t deserve you or your love, you’re too good for her.” Over the meer minutes that they had known each other, he had made an impact on her, connected with her soul. She hated seeing him hurting. Betty scooted closer, laying her hand on his arm, brushing her fingers over the crumpled fabric.

“Thanks.” He offered a small, watery smile before it disappeared and he looked down to his feet. “I’m sorry, I’m not normally like this.”

“I know.” She soothed.

“Shit, I’m piss-drunk, covered in dirt, lying on my apartment steps and confessing my woes to a fucking elf.” Betty was still confused why Jughead was so convinced that she actually knew Father Christmas but had decided that it was not the most important part of this interaction.

Instead, Betty was wondering how she could help the broken man and, despite her head screaming for her not to, an invitation to come up to her apartment left her mouth. There was very little Betty could do for him on the street; if he were to come up, she could help him calm down, get him into clean clothes, let him sleep the alcohol off, give him food and water, and then talk him into kicking the she-devil out of his apartment.

“You’re inviting a drunk man up to your apartment?” Jughead questioned.

“Against my better judgement, I am.”

“No,” he protested, “no, I should…I should…” he trailed off, the alcohol taking its toll on his thought process.

“What about a trade?” She bartered. “You come and crash on my sofa, my conscience demands I insist, and,” she felt so stupid for even saying it, “I will tell Santa that you have been a very good boy.”

Those were the terms that made Jughead agree. He gathered himself up off the steps and followed her into the apartment complex.

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Nine - Naughty and Nice

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request - I have a prompt list that I’ll reblog now, if you want to take a look - so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And quick note, if anyone prefers AO3, the link to my 2019 12 Days of Ficmas collection is here. x

Prompt: No. 23 - Person A and B accidentally wearing ‘Naughty’ and ‘Nice’ jumpers in public and then bumping into each other

Ship(s): Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones

Rating: K

CW(s): N/A

Reindeer Games: Vixen: Winter (I think?)

@riverdalebingo: Holiday meet cute

Betty was running late, not just a ‘I left a minute late but no-one will notice’ kind of late but more of a ‘I overslept by twenty minutes because I unplugged my alarm and now I have to get on the crowded subway’ kind of late. Betty hated not being on time, and had been kicking herself ever since she realised she had not plugged her alarm clock back in after tidying her room yesterday.

She attempted to run to her platform which was pretty much futile during rush hour in December. Nevertheless, loosely gripping the banister and watching her feet, she persevered and tried her very best not to trip over the station stairs or the other people.

She made it onto a train just before the doors slammed behind her and, as the carriages began to move, Betty tried not to faceplant the chest of the person directly in front of her; the one time she had not been prepared and had toppled back into a woman, the pair of them landing in a pile on the floor, was not remembered fondly. The kind lady had been incredibly understanding but she did not want to repeat the red-faced situation.

“You do look like a nice girl.” It took her a few seconds to realise that the owner of the previously-mentioned chest was talking to her.

“Huh?” Stunned and confused, she tilted her head back to properly look at the stranger. She could not deny that he was handsome but any stranger who called her a ‘nice girl’ was instantly labelled a creep in her mind.

The stranger did not answer, instead simply motioning with his head towards her jumper. Dan, her manager, had insisted that all employees wore a festive jumper in December; Betty did not own a Christmas jumper so had gone shopping for one - a bright red sweater with the word ‘Nice’ embroidered in sequins. Perhaps his comment was more warranted than she first thought.

“We have matching jumpers.” He tried again, directing her attention to the jumper he was wearing. She had seen it on sale right next to hers - the same red sweater but with ‘Naughty’ written across it instead.

“Ah.” To be fair to Betty, she normally had had a coffee before she was required to have coherent conversations with humans; after her rush to get out of the house this morning, she had been hoping to pick one up at work before dealing with customers - that was her excuse for her stilted answers anyway. It was difficult for her to handle his chipperness at seven in the morning.

“I know it’s from the women’s section but the men’s were all so boring.” The man’s cheeks had begun to flame, taking her silence as judgement; perhaps his purchase was unconventional but not wrong.

“I don’t blame you,” Betty was quick to reassure him, “I often shop in the men’s section too.”

He nodded. “I’m Jughead Jones.” He stuck his hand out, or as much as he could when crowded from all sides; this was not really the place for formal introductions, especially as her face was practically pressed against his chest.

“Betty Cooper.” Although she struggled, she did shake his hand only to be unceremoniously shoved into him by a stampede of people getting off the train. Her face bright red, she attempted to right herself and, with the help of Jughead’s steadying hands, was stood and holding onto the railing by the time the doors closed again.

“So, Betty, are you working or shopping?” Betty was grateful he did not make a big deal of her accident, her cheeks still not fully back to their correct colour.

“Work.” Betty answered. “I work at a coffee shop.”

“A coffee shop? Well I could use a coffee.” Betty nodded dumbly in reply. If she had been more conscious, she would have rather enjoyed talking to the stranger. “And I’m getting the impression you do too.”

Something between a scoff and laughter left her. She was desperate for some caffeine, missing her daily dose only aided in reminding her how much she was not a morning person.

“Let me walk you to work, I’ll buy us both a coffee.” He offered just as the train arrived at Betty’s stop.

“I’d love that.” Betty smiled up at him and a grin was given in return. She was definitely going to be late.

[findmeinpops]

How about 17 from the prompts list?

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Five - Christmas Market

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request - I have a prompt list that I’ll reblog now, if you want to take a look - so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And quick note, if anyone prefers AO3, the link to my 2019 12 Days of Ficmas collection is here. x

Prompt: No. 17 - Person A losing Person B at a Christmas market and having to make an announcement over an intercom to reunite them again.

Request: Anon (thank you whoever you are!)

Ship(s): Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones

Rating: K

CW(s): N/A

Reindeer Games: Prancer - Parties

A/N: had a busy few days, this isn’t edited at all, please excuse any errors. I will look at it tomorrow. NOW EDITED

It had taken all of ten minutes for Jughead to disappear. 

Both him and Betty had gone to the Christmas market in the neighbouring town. Betty had been strategically making her way from stall to stall, appreciating the vendors’ work and produce. Jughead, on the other hand, had gotten over-excited at seeing a vinyl stall on the opposite side of the street; one second he was there, Betty looked down, and then he was gone.

This was typical of him, maybe Betty needed to get him a leash or at least a working phone. She had tried to call him five times already but it went straight through to voicemail, his battered mobile was constantly dying, not helped by the fact he tended to forget to charge it.

After searching for five minutes and not finding a single sign of Jughead, she turned to one of the stalls’ vendors who pointed towards a tall, official-looking man handing out flyers.

“I’ve lost someone, he has dark hair and is wearing a black beanie and a red jumper?” Betty asked the man, a sympathetic smile instantly appearing on his face.

“Sorry ma’am, I haven’t seen him but I can put a call out for him.” He placed the pile of papers on a small table at the entrance of the marker before shifting along to where a control board and microphone sat.

“No, there’s no-” Betty tried to protest but the man continued to insist.

“It’s really no trouble, ma’am, now what’s his name?”

“Uh, it’s Jughead Jones but he’s tw-” Betty was becoming frustrated with the man’s interrupting but did not want to shout at the stranger for only trying to help.

The man still did not listen to Betty, though, pressing a button which brought the current carol playing through the overhead speakers to a crackling end.

“Jughead Jones, Jughead Jones,” the man’s voice was projected loudly throughout the whole  market, “please make your way to the welcome desk or nearest official. This is for Jughead Jones.”

If Betty was embarrassed right then, she could not imagine how Jughead would be feeling. On the bright side, she did not think any of the other customers there knew them - hopefully that would save any further humiliation. She had only meant to ask if anyone had seen where he had gotten to not for someone to announce to the entire market that she had lost her boyfriend.

“Thank you, sir, but there was really no-”

“Ma’am, it’s fine. As a father, I know how worrying it can be when your child wanders off.”

She did not know why she even tried to correct him again but he interrupted her before she could get the first syllable out. No matter how she attempted to speak, he would not allow her to get a word in edgeways. 

“Now, you’ll be alright here for now, Mrs Jones? I just need to do something quickly. I’ll be back in ten minutes, if your son hasn’t returned then we can let the police know.”

The man patted her shoulder sympathetically before turning around and disappearing into the crowd, not waiting for her answer. Betty could only sigh, this was not going as she had expected.

She had all but begged Jughead to come with her to the market and, when he had finally relented, she promised they would only be a half hour tops, planning to buy some fudge, decorations, and possibly some gifts for their parents too. She had also expected to have to drag Jughead from stall to stall rather than for him to completely disappear within ten minutes of their arrival due to his puppy-like excitement.

Betty did not have to wait long though, as soon a sulking and slightly embarrassed Jughead Jones appeared through the crowds. She felt sorry for having him be called for through the intercom but he a) should not have disappeared on her, and b) should keep his phone charged. Despite her frustration, the pitiful pout that graced his lips when he spotted Betty threatened to send her into a bout of giggles - maybe she was enjoying his discomfort a little bit.

“There was a stall with vintage pieces.” was all he said in greeting, tightly clutching an oversized paper bag to his chest, the look of a petulant child still adorning his expression.

[findmeinpops]

Hey there! For reindeer games holida prompts— number 39! Ship of choice!

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Four - Going Sledding

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And a quick fyi for those who prefer AO3, my 2019 12 Days of Christmas collection is at this link and should be uploaded with an hour of this being posted.

Prompt: No. 39 - Going sledding

Ship(s): Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones

Rating: T

CW(s): N/A

Reindeer Games: Vixen: Winter

@riverdalebingo​ : Snow storm

Requested: the wonderful @theheavycrown​

A/N: This one is a drabble which has not been edited at all. I’ll check it over tomorrow so it won’t be going up to my AO3 quite yet. NOW EDITED

“Hello?” Jughead’s  very groggy voice came through the phone.

“Jug.” Betty, on the other hand, was all but vibrating with excitement but was intent on making sure that Jughead was actually awake before she started raving at him at 7am.

“Betty? What time is it?” She could practically see him sleepily rubbing his eyes with his messy hair and flushed cheeks as well as that adorable face he always pulled when he woke up. If he was next to her right now, she would have woken him up with little feather kisses and maybe some hot cocoa too but no, he was at home, in his own bed and, instead, he was woken up by his ringing phone.

“Early but that doesn’t matter.”

Now she could see his furrowed brows whilst he unsuccessfully smoothed his hair, trying to work out what was going on. Jughead was quite possibly the most intelligent person she had ever met but not first thing in the morning. When he had just woken up, Jughead was lucky if he remembered his own name - he was not a morning person.

“Have you seen? No, I guess you probably haven’t seen.” She paused for a moment, her brain working too fast for her mouth to keep up. “Jughead look outside, open the curtains and look outside.”

Jughead obliged, still at a loss for what Betty was going on about but his questions were answered as he was promptly blinded when he pulled back one curtain.

“Holy shit.” He whispered, his eyes not believing what was in front of him. Every inch of the front garden was covered in a thick coat of snow, nothing was untouched. It was beautiful. 

Snow was still falling relentlessly, the clouds seemingly never-ending and, if it continued at this rate, there would be a good foot of snow within the hour.

“I know, it’s absolutely gorgeous isn’t it. You know what this means, right?” Betty had now started bouncing in her seat, her eager tone a contrast to her boyfriend’s monotone.

“We’re not going anywhere.”

“The car isn’t going anywhere and school’s closed.” This was what was making Betty most excited, anyway to get out of that hellhole for a day was more than welcomed by her.

“So, I wondered if you wanted to go sledding before we get completely snowed in?”

“I’ll be five minutes.”

***

Lucky for them, Betty and Jughead’s neighbourhood was right next to a large hilltop field - the perfect place for sledding.

After picking Betty up at her house, Jughead led her to that very field, both of them dragging a colourful plastic sled that had not been used for years; Riverdale did not get snow very often but, when they got a coating, it was hardly ever this thick. Betty had had to dig through the garage for ten minutes before she had found the cheap sleds hidden away in a cardboard moving box.

The pair took turns pushing each other down the hill but were struggling to pick up great speed - that’s when Jughead suggested they went down together.

Jughead balanced the sled half-over the crest of the hill before setting himself down on the far end of the seat, using his arms to anchor the sled in place as Betty ungracefully climbed onto his lap.

“Are you ready?” At Betty’s nod, he tucked his legs under hers, bent awkwardly to stop his limbs overspilling. “All arms and legs inside the vehicle.” He announced as he began to push the pair over the edge of the hill.

They went barreling down in the snow but overturned before they had reached the bottom. They fell unceremoniously into the foot-deep snow, rolling with the momentum they had built, before finally coming to a stop at the bottom of the hill. Betty was tucked into Jughead’s chest, his arms surrounding her as he had caught her and pulled her into his arms as they came off the sled, trying to keep her injury-free.

“That went well.” Betty commented dryly before silence overtook them, slightly in shock from the ordeal.

After a minute of lying there Betty’s teeth began to chatter, her muscles trembling, and she pressed herself tighter into Jughead’s bodyheat although the proximity did not help much due to his sodden clothes.

“Hot cocoa?” Jughead asked.

“Sure.” As Betty pulled away, Jughead kissed the tip of her bright red nose.

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Eleven - After The Kids Have Gone To Sleep

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Happy Christmas Eve, wonderful people! Here is the penultimate drabble in my 12 Days of Ficmas series. If anyone prefers using AO3, the entire collection is linked here. The masterlist will also be posted onto my Tumblr on the 26th.

Prompt: No. 5 - Person A dressing up as Santa and sneaking into the kids’ rooms to hang their stockings.

Ship(s): Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones

Rating: K

CW(s): N/A

@riverdalebingo: ‘after the kids have gone to sleep’

Reindeer Games: Comet - Traditions

“Is Midge asleep?” Jughead asked Betty as she softly closed their daughter’s bedroom door, tiptoeing down the hallway to where her husband stood just outside their room.

“Yep, and Four is down for the count too.” She whispered, pulling the faux-beard up over his chin and gently slipping the elastic behind his ears. They had already piled the presents underneath the tree downstairs, now it was time to hang up the kids’ stockings.

Jughead was a very convincing Father Christmas. They had bought the costume for Midge’s first Christmas and although she, at six months old, would not have cared whether it was her father or Santa hanging the stocking on the end of her cot. Betty and Jughead had been excited for their first child’s Christmas. Both of their parents had always made Christmas so magical that being able to recreate it for their own children was one of the first things they had discussed when the pregnancy test turned out positive.

Running her hands down the fake pot-belly tucked underneath his shirt, she smiled fondly at the memories of Jughead whispering to her pregnant tummy, telling it all of the wonderful things that they would do for Midge’s first Christmas. And then, once she was born, Jughead had laid the mince pie and whiskey down on the hearth, sprinkled the reindeer food over the path, and hung up her stocking on the mantle, all whilst balancing Midge on his hip. It wasn’t expected, but Jug had been the most enthusiastic every Christmas since, and the sight never failed to make Betty’s heart burst with love and adoration for her little family.

“Can you grab my hat?” Jughead was still trying to tighten his belt in an attempt to prevent the oversized trousers falling around his ankles. Betty grabbed the Santa hat from the bedside table and carefully pulled it over his hair, hiding the black locks from view. Then she pressed a kiss to his nose before going to find his black work-man’s boots.

“Now the final touch.” Jughead handed her a tube of lipstick for the tradition they had started accidentally three years ago but Jughead made sure that it was repeated each Christmas since. Betty coloured her lips red before pressing a firm kiss to his cheek, making sure to leave a print.

“Perfect.” He approved, double checking his get-up in the mirror on his way out of the room.

Cautious not to tip the gifts out, Betty picked up the two stockings and followed her husband out into the hall. Jughead entered both of their kids’ rooms in turn, hanging the stockings on the small hooks they had added onto their bed frames.

He intentionally treaded heavily and pretended to be oblivious to Four’s peaking eyes over the top of bunk, even adding a jolly ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ as he left.

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas 2019 Masterlist

Happy Boxing Day! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Here is the full list of one-shots and drabbles I have written and posted for the last twelve days, each with links to the Tumblr and AO3 post. I will leave a link for the entire AO3 collection here. Happy reading and I wish you all the best for the new year (and decade!).

Day One: Pen Pals

Ship: Cheryl Blossom x Toni Topaz (Choni)

Summary: Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz have been exchanging letters regularly ever since a school letter exchange program. This year, Cheryl decides to deliver her Christmas letter in person.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Two: Bonding

Ship: Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones (Bughead)

Summary: Jughead is called out last minute for some Serpent-related business. With no one else to babysit Jellybean, Betty offers to spend sometime with her boyfriend's little sister.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Three: 'You. Me. Snowman. Now.”

Ship: Sweet Pea x Female!Reader (Reader Insert)

Summary: After a particularly heavy snowfall, Sweet Pea and Y/N are stuck at home but Y/N manages to persuade her boyfriend to help her build his very first snowman.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Four: Going Sledding

Ship: Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones (Bughead)

Summary: After a heavy, overnight snowfall, Betty and Jughead decide to spend their morning going sledding in the snow.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Five: Christmas Market

Ship: Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones (Bughead)

Summary: A drabble in which Betty loses Jughead at the local Christmas market and ends up calling for him through the overhead speakers.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Six: A Cynic’s Christmas (Part One of Two)

Ship: Sweet Pea x Female!Reader (Reader Insert)

Summary: Sweet Pea hates Christmas simply because he has never had a good one (and is also a bit of a cynic). So, instead of going back home for the festive period, Y/N decides to stay at her and Sweet Pea's shared apartment and give him the best Christmas experience ever.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Seven: A Christmas Emergency

Ship: Sweet Pea x Fangs Fogarty (Swangs)

Summary: Fangs is decorating his trailer for Christmas when, after the lights are wrapped around the tree, realises that they do not work but cannot afford to replace them. He vents to Sweet Pea who decides to help his boyfriend out.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Eight: A Cynic’s Christmas (Part Two of Two)

Ship: Sweet Pea x Female!Reader (Reader Insert)

Summary: Sweet Pea hates Christmas simply because he has never had a good one (and is also a bit of a cynic). So, instead of going back home for the festive period, Y/N decides to stay at her and Sweet Pea's shared apartment and give him the best Christmas experience ever.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Nine: Naughty and Nice

Ship: Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones (Bughead)

Summary: Meet-cute in which Betty and Jughead bump into each other wearing matching ‘Naughty’ and ‘Nice’ jumpers.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Ten: Christmas Crackers

Ship: Sweet Pea x Fangs Fogarty (Swangs)

Summary: Fangs drinks one too many beers during his and Sweet Pea's Christmas dinner and decides to critic the jokes inside the Christmas crackers.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Eleven: After The Kids Have Gone To Sleep

Ship: Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones (Bughead)

Summary: ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse... well except for all the parents filling up the stockings.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Day Twelve: A Party At The Whyte Wyrm (Southside Archive Secret Santa)

Ship: Sweet Pea x Female!Reader (Reader Insert)

Summary: Sweet Pea and Y/N are best friends and have been their whole lives but Y/N has one big secret - she is unbelievably in love with him.

Links: Tumblr | AO3

Christmas Day Bonus: I’ve Been A Good Boy, I Promise

Ship: Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones (Bughead)

Summary: Betty is dressed as a Christmas elf and is on her way home from work when she bumps into a very drunk Jughead who is convinced that she actually knows Santa Claus

Links: Tumblr | AO3

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Eight - A Cynic’s Christmas (Part Two of Two)

Part One is here.

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request - I have a prompt list that I’ll reblog now, if you want to take a look - so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And quick note, if anyone prefers AO3, the link to my 2019 12 Days of Ficmas collection is here. x

Ship(s): totally platonic Sweet Pea x Female!Reader

Rating: K+

CW(s): homelessness

Reindeer Games: Comet - Traditions

@riverdalebingo: Traditions

Six hours. Six fucking hours, that was how long Y/N was out shopping. Sweet Pea was in bed when he had heard her close the front door. He had crawled from his bed and stuck his head out of his bedroom just in time to see five members of the apartment block staff, plus Y/N, all carrying armfuls of shopping bags through the hallway and into the living room. He was far too sleepy to venture out and ask what she was doing so simply sighed and wandered back to bed. It was probably selfish of him but he had been up early that day to do a shift at the part-time job he had. Y/N insisted he did not need it but he wanted to give some kind of contribution to rent / groceries etc., even if it was so small when compared to Y/N’s contributions.

The next morning, Sweet Pea was woken from a dreamless sleep by Y/N prodding him quite harshly in the arm.

“What…” He grumbled, feeling both groggy and very confused.

“You need to get up, we have stuff to do.” She poked him again. Her voice was far too cheery for the morning and, by the slightly damp hair and coffee in hand, she had been up for a while already.

“I- what? What time is it?”

“It’s 2pm.” Y/N’s tone was akin to that of a chastising mother, as she perched on the edge of the bed. “How did I not know you slept in this late, it’s not healthy.” Sure, they lived in the same apartment but they did not study the same subject, Sweet Pea had a job, and he generally spent most of the time when he was at the apartment in his room. Y/N had no reason to know about Sweet Pea’s sleeping habits but she thought that she would have noticed that they woke up five hours apart.

“What’s not healthy is not getting enough sleep so I would rather sleep until 2pm than be tired all day.” Y/N had to stop herself remarking at ‘all day’ considering he was only awake for the afternoon.

“I guess… We’re going off topic, you need to be up and dressed in twenty minutes, we have stuff to do.” Swiftly standing from the bed, she shoved the mug of coffee into Sweet Pea’s hands before spinning on her heel and marching out of the room.

***

Eighteen minutes later and he was showered and dressed, fighting a yawn as he left his bedroom but he froze in his step. To say he was shocked at the state of the apartment would be the understatement of the century.

Every spare inch and surface was decorated with lights and Christmas ornaments. He had not even seen further than the hallway but he already got the impression that Christmas threw up all over the apartment.

Green garlands adorned the walls, each wrapped with strands of warm-white fairylights, giving the hallway an pleasant glow. The ornaments that had sat on a large dresser tucked in the corner of the hall had been removed and replaced with a small three-foot, fibre-optic Christmas tree; the tips glowed white and were decorated by small red and silver shiny baubles hanging from each branch.

Tentatively, he crept round the corner into the kitchen, not surprised to find that this room had been decorated just as - if not more - liberally as the previous. In addition to the ornaments and lights, neat piles of items, ranging from flour and sugar to more decorations to shopping bags filled with tins and boxes of food. Y/N obviously had a plan and Sweet Pea was terrified of what she was dragging him into.

For the large majority of the time, Sweet Pea did not struggle to say no to people but the exception was always Y/N. She either did not give him a choice or argued and complained until he said yes, her vocal sparring rivalled Sweet Pea’s, or sometimes she just resorted to pouting and saying ‘please’ in the sweetest, butter wouldn’t melt tone that she could muster. However she did it, though, Sweet Pea always struggled to say ‘no’ to his best friend and, knowing that she was doing all of this for his benefit, assured him that there was no way that he would be able to refuse. He would complain, he would argue, but he would not say ‘no’.

“Good, you’re up.” Y/N clapped her hands as she hurried into the kitchen. She inspected the table’s contents for a few seconds before nodding, presumably finding everything she wanted there, and then motioning for Sweet Pea to follow her back into the living room.

“Now, I did the rest of the decorations,” how, Sweet Pea did not know, she had got back at half eleven last night, and this amount of work must have taken hours even if she did have some help, “but, because this is your first Christmas, you must decorate a Christmas tree.”

Sweet Pea did not particularly want to decorate a Christmas tree but Y/N just gave him a look and he quickly obliged.

Y/N pulled a box, filled with brand new fairylights, baubles, and tinsel, along with a seven foot faux Christmas tree, into the centre of the room, before they began to assemble it. If he was completely honest, Sweet Pea found the whole process incredibly therapeutic and maybe enjoyed it too, especially when Y/N began to play Christmas music through her phone, singing quietly along whilst doing awkward but nevertheless adorable bottom-wiggle dancing - kind of like dad dancing but for a twenty one year-old girl.

After the pair had finished haphazardly assembling and decorating the tree, Y/N took a picture. Sweet Pea appreciated Y/N resisting the need to redo all of it, he had managed to make even pre-chosen, colour coordinated decorations look higgledy-piggledy. She seemed to be on a tight schedule though as she hurried him into the kitchen before scooping up the pile of ingredients and laying them out on the worktop.

“Next,” announced as she washed her hands, “we are going to make some gingerbread biscuits.”

“I’ve had gingerbread biscuits before.”

“Sure, but have you ever made gingerbread biscuits and made the entire house smell like a delicious Christmas bakery?” She took Sweet Pea’s silence as his answer. “Exactly. Can you follow a recipe? I need to go and do something in the other room.”

After getting confirmation that he could indeed read and follow written instruction, she scuttled back out of the room, having grabbed a large shopping bag filled with what, Sweet Pea did not know, but it looked heavy.

As always, Y/N had been right. The gingerbread baking in the oven had smelled heavenly and he had no qualms in telling her so. Sweet Pea had accepted a short time into their friendship that Y/N normally knew better when it came to practical things…or most things really.

He guessed that was one of the many benefits of growing up in a wealthy family, no doors were truly closed - money could buy most things and no-one denied the rich an opportunity. She had traveled, she had appreciated many cultures and learnt many things both practical and academic. But that did not mean that he was unable to teach her anything. When they met, Y/N had just moved back to London, without her mother this time, and had a child-like naivety about the world - something that Sweet Pea was lacking to the extreme. Hearing his story had kickstarted the whole process and she had been slowly losing her rose-tinted glasses over the last three years.

Her and Sweet Pea evened each other out in that respect. Y/N had been overwhelmingly naive and Sweet Pea had been overwhelmingly cynical; neither of them had lost that part of them entirely but Sweet Pea had been learning that there were good people in the world and Y/N had been learning that there were bad people as well as coming to the realisation that not everyone had it as easy as she did - this was when she began to donate such a large percentage of her allowance to local charities.

“Sweet Pea!” Y/N not-so-gently shocked him from his reverie. “Stop daydreaming and box up those biscuits, we’re going out.”

As they had packed up the car, Y/N had refused to tell Sweet Pea where they were going but the large number of food and toys in the bags they moved into the boot gave him a clue. His suspicions were confirmed when they pulled outside a nearby homeless shelter.

Sweet Pea was very happy that Y/N had included this in her Christmas Eve plans. The homeless, or nomads as Y/N liked to call them, had an especially tough time during the festive period and the fact that they were able to help them out just a little, maybe bring a bit of joy into their day, was incredibly important to him. One of the many charities that Y/N made regular donations to was the London Homeless and the pair spent many an afternoon volunteering at the local soup kitchen.

“Y/N! Sweet Pea! How great to see you!” Jane, the main organiser for this particular shelter, greeted them each by name, embracing them. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

She helped the pair carry in the bags, a couple of the other volunteers taking the food into the kitchen to be distributed as necessary. Y/N handed Sweet Pea a specific bag, instructing him to take it over to a rickety table in the back corner of the hall. When he opened it, the bag was filled with small red and green stockings, colour coded for either adults or children; within them were hygiene supplies but also a few sweet treats, and toys for the children.

Sweet Pea and Y/N spent several hours there; the shelter had been setting up for the annual nomads’ Christmas dinner, prepared and cooked by a couple of volunteer chefs from local area. The pair joined the staff and the nomads, they all sat down together, they pulled crackers, joked, laughed, and chatted, enjoying the food and company.

Once they had gotten home, they drank Bailey’s and watched The Muppets’ Christmas Carol - of course Y/N had thoroughly enjoyed comparing Sweet Pea to Scrooge - before leaving a brandy and mince pie out for ‘Father Christmas’. They then immediately drank and ate both. And in the morning, Sweet Pea had woken to a filled stocking hanging on the end of the bed.

Y/N had taken the time to plan a few days where she included both the more traditional traditions as well as the more unique ones. Y/N was good for Sweet Pea and Sweet Pea was good for Y/N. They had the best Christmas ever with the person they loved most in the world.

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Three - ‘You. Me. Snowman. Now.’

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And a quick fyi for those who prefer AO3, my 2019 12 Days of Christmas collection is at this link and should be uploaded with an hour of this being posted.

Prompt: No. 32 - “You. Me. Snowman. Now.”, No. 52 - “Do you want to build a-” “Absolutely not.”

Ship(s): Sweet Pea x Female!Reader

Rating: T

CW(s): this has a slight, unintentional, dom-y tone but nothing even vaguely inappropriate

Reindeer Games: Vixen: Winter

@riverdalebingo​ : Free Space

“Hey.” Y/N prodded Sweet Pea in his sweater-clad arm. “Hey, hey, Sweet Pea.” She prodded him again but Sweet Pea continued to fane obliviousness, scrolling endlessly on his phone. 

“Sweet Peaa.” She complained dragging out his name and beginning to pull on his sweater instead, intent on getting her way. “Sweet Pea, please?”

“What?!” He suddenly bit back, his head snapping to face hers, his eyebrows drawn in an irritated scowl, mouth straight and a hardness in his eyes. Y/N shrank back slightly, her hand raised to pull at his arm again but was now slowly moving to cover her lower lip. Sweet Pea’s expression softened at the wounded look that flickered through her eyes, sorry that his stress had caused him to snap at her.

“Sorry, Princess, I’m sorry, what did you want to tell me?” Switching off his phone, he dropped it down the side of the sofa cushion before pulling her against his chest.

“It was nothing, don’t worry, I shouldn’t have interrupted your working.” She knew that he was stressed with work as of late and was now berating herself for annoying him when she knew he was already drawn tight.

It always seemed to happen as they neared the end of the year, like clockwork, throughout their three year relationship, more frown-lines would appear in his brow and black circles would form and grow larger under his eyes as they got further into December. This year though, with the heavy snowfall of the last few days and his inability to make it out of the house to work, he had seemed so much more frustrated and was nearly constantly attached to his phone. Y/N had not had the same problem, being able to work from their cozy study instead, due to her career of choice being writing, but the inability to leave was now beginning to even affect her. If Y/N was completely honest, she was going stir-crazy, she wanted nothing more than to go out and play in the snow, and she had indeed gone out yesterday for a few minutes but, after giddily making a snow angel, the novelty soon grew old and her excitement wore off as she could not enjoy the heavy snow with her favourite person.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll just pop another movie in.”

“Y/N, what did you want to tell me, it’s alright.” Her head still pressed against his chest, he smoothed his thumb along her cheekbone, his other tracing patterns at its place on the material covering her waist.

“I-I just wanted to know if you would like a hot chocolate?” It was more of a question mumbled against his jumper but Sweet Pea’s keen ears easily picked it up. He drew himself back from their embrace so he could try and see her face but it stayed securely against his chest, hidden from view.

He sighed, pulling her onto his lap, one leg either side of him, kneeling on the sofa. Of course this was to try and get her to look at him but she kept her head down and firmly placed it against his neck.

“You’re lying.” The tone wasn’t harsh per se, but it held a confident accusation.

“Mmm.” Y/N grunted against his skin, neither confirming nor denying, but from experience, Sweet Pea had learnt that an unwillingness to reply tended to mean that he was correct.

“Tell me.”

“No.”

“Y/N.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Nope.”

“Yes.”

The next thing that left her mouth was not quite coherent due to the words being incredibly muffled by his skin and were probably intended to be that way to avoid Sweet Pea understanding her; the only thing that Sweet Pea was sure of was was that she hadn’t said ‘no’.

“What was that sweetheart?” He coaxed, finding her grip slightly more lenient and slowly pulled her up from her position before cupping her face in a hand so that he could see her pretty eyes.

Y/N remained silent for a count and Sweet Pea was almost ready to ask again before a small smile appeared on her face.

“Do you want to build a snowman?” She sang slightly off-key but the tune was still very much recognisable; the pair had watched Frozen a couple of times since it had come out and the film had become a fast favourite of Y/N’s.

“No, I don’t. Now, what did you want to-”

“That is what I wanted to tell you.”

“Well, I still don’t want to build a snowman.” He could only sigh when a pout appeared on her expression, suddenly wishing that her face was still hidden against his chest; she knew that her puppy-dog face always weakened his defences.

“Pleaase?”

“No, I really don’t wa-”

“Why?” She questioned, sitting back on her bum and crossing her arms across her chest. “Why don’t you want to build a snowman with me?”

“Because building a snowman is stupid and pointless.” He moved his arms to sit just on her hips whilst his hands clasped in the small of her back to anchor his arms around her, trying to stop her falling off his lap backwards.

“You think I’m stupid and pointless?”

“No, I said building a snowman is stupid and pointless, don’t twist my words.”

“It’s the first proper snowfall since we’ve been together, Pea, I want to build a snowman with you.” She subconsciously reached to brush a strand of hair that had fallen onto his forehead, smoothing it in-line with the rest.

“It’s cold.”

“Well yes...it’s snow...and December.” He gave her a pointed look.

“I don’t want to build a snowman.” His voice held the ‘this the end of the discussion’ tone but Y/N ignored it.

“Have you ever built a snowman?” She questioned further.

“Y/N.” He spoke a little sterner.

“Sweet Pea.” She mimicked the tone. He sighed.

“No I haven’t but-”

“YOU HAVE NEVER BUILT A SNOWMAN.” She jumped up from his lap, breaking through his arm-barrier, her expression one of shock and perhaps even horror.

This news should not have been much of a shock to Y/N. After all, until Sweet Pea met her, he was very much an anti-social, stay-inside outcast, unless he was meeting with the Serpents; even then, though, he only participated in the rough-housing, activities which required ‘man-power’ (as he put it) plus occasionally volunteering at the local homeless shelter. 

“No Y/N, I have never built a snowman.” He sounded defeated and that was because, after being with Y/N for three years, he knew exactly what was coming next.

“We’re going to make a snowman.” She stood firmly in front of him, arms crossed, begging him to argue with her.

“Sweetheart, I still don’t want to-”

“I don’t care. You. Me. Snowman. Now.” She ordered, marching towards the cupboard in the hallway pulling out his coat, scarf, and gloves, throwing each in turn at him, where he still sat on the sofa; one glove hit him square in the face and she had to suppress a giggle.

“Now where are your wellies?” Y/N asked as she pulled out her own coat, scarf, gloves, and wellies, before beginning to dig deeper into the cupboard.

“I don’t own any wellies.”

“Mine aren’t going to fit you.” She spoke as if he didn’t already know this.

“Of course.”

“I guess you could wear your hiking boots...but you’d have to wear some fluffy socks with them…” she thought aloud, not really paying attention as she rooted through the numerous bags in the bottom of the cupboard before pulling out a pair of well-worn hiking boots.

“I don’t own any fluffy socks.” Y/N snorted at the way he practically spat ‘fluffy socks’.

“You can borrow a pair of mine.” She was actually only half-joking, she did not want him losing his toes to frostbite.

“Yours aren’t going to fit me, Y/N.”

“They’ll be fine, you know that pair that practically come up to my knees?”

“Of course.” Sweet Pea sighed, utterly defeated, he wasn’t going to deny Y/N anything, he did not know why he bothered arguing in the first place.

***

“Alright.” Y/N clapped her hands together, the noise seeming much louder in the empty field. “First we make a snowball; you can do the head and I’ll do the body.”

Sweet Pea obliged, scooping up a large handful of snow before packing it together tightly.

“Now we just roll it.” Y/N crouched down, trying her best not to topple over and soak through her trousers - she was far too cold already, not that she would admit it to Pea.

“Just roll it?”

“Yeah, you’ll see that snow tends to stick to snow.” As she spoke, she began to push her small snowball into the almost foot-deep snow and roll it. “Watch how I’m doing it.”

Getting the general idea, Sweet Pea followed suit.

As Y/N’s snowball had continued to grow, she began to struggle to push it, it soon weighing the same as her and so, eventually, Sweet Pea’s surpassed hers - the student had become the master, as he had told her smugly.

Once they were done, Sweet Pea carefully lifted Y/N’s oversized snowball up and balanced it on top of his, holding it in place as she packed copious handfuls of snow into the neck space.

“He’s a little bumpy and uneven,” Sweet Pea looked at their snowman critically, eyeing one particularly flat side, “but I’d say he’s pretty good.”

“We haven’t finished yet!” She exclaimed in a ‘duh!’ tone. “You go rummage around the bushes for a handful of pebbles and I’ll be back in a minute!” with that, she skipped from the field, following the short path that led back to the house.

Sweet Pea wasn’t overly concerned that she would be harmed by another person as their home was out of the way and the pathway that led to the field pretty well hidden, but he was well aware of her accident-prone ways and could not help but worry that she may slip and fall on a patch of ice. Nevertheless, he followed her instructions, planning to search for her if she was not back in five minutes. He had no reason to worry, though, as she reappeared before he had finished his job, a bundle of clothing clutched happily in her arms.

They met each other at the front of the snowman. She dumped the bundle on the floor before taking a round black stone from Sweet Pea’s hands and pushing it into what would be the snowman’s face. Sweet Pea understood the idea and quickly marked out a smiling face for the snowman as Y/N wrapped a scarf around his neck and pulled a hat over his head.

“And finally,” she announced once she had finished dressing the snowman, “his nose.” She pulled a carrot from her pocket, offering it to Sweet Pea to do the honours. This was his first snowman and he should therefore have the pleasure of putting the nose on the snowman.

After the finishing touch was placed, they both took a few steps back. Sweet Pea wrapped an arm around Y/N’s shoulders, pulling her into his side as she wrapped an arm around his waist. They stood there for a few minutes, admiring the masterpiece, until snow slowly began to fall from the sky again.

Silently, Sweet Pea offered Y/N his hand, which she accepted, and then they began making their way back inside into the warmth.

“I think he should be called Dave.” She announced as they passed the row of hedges that surrounded the field.

“I love you.” He said instead of answering, squeezing her hand in his.

“I love you too.”

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Seven - A Christmas Emergency

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request - I have a prompt list that I’ll reblog now, if you want to take a look - so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And quick note, if anyone prefers AO3, the link to my 2019 12 Days of Ficmas collection is here. x

Prompt: Person A starts decorating for Christmas only to realise that all of their strands of lights have stopped working. They're really upset because they can’t afford to replace all of them so they call Person B to vent. An hour later, Person B shows up at Person A’s house with several strands of working lights and helps them decorate the house.

Ship(s): Sweet Pea x Fangs Fogarty

Rating: K+

CW(s): N/A

@riverdalebingo​: Christmas Emergency

Reindeer Games: Dasher - Decorations (loosely)

No, this was not happening. This could not be happening. Fangs threw himself onto the nearby sofa, the springs protesting at the excessive force but he could not find the energy to care.

Fangs Fogarty lived alone in a trailer in Sunnyside Trailer Park. Every year since he could remember, he would stare longingly at the Christmas lights that all of the houses in Riverdale would be covered in, and every year he would promise himself ‘next year, next year I’ll get some lights’. He told himself this every year until last year, when he put aside just enough to buy a string of three hundred multi-coloured fairylights. Fangs had been so incredibly proud as he hung them up in his trailer, enjoying the small piece of festivity he had been able to give himself. Once the first of January hit, he had wrapped them up carefully and stored them in a cupboard to be used the next year.

This year, Fangs had saved enough to buy himself a small, faux Christmas tree which he proudly sat on the table in his trailer. He had then wrapped the fairylights around the branches before plugging them into a nearby socket. And then they hadn’t turned on. He pulled the plug out and reinserted it several times, switching the socket itself on and off a few times too but the fairylights still refused to light up.

Frustrated did not begin to describe how Fangs felt in that moment. He should have checked the lights worked before going out to buy the tree; he would rather have a working string of lights to hang on the wall than a barren tree.

Money was always tight for Fangs, particularly around the festive season. The small amount he was paid meant that he could not usually afford more than the necessities and he was struggling to find a job that paid any higher due to his lack of qualifications. When his parents had died, Fangs was forced to drop out of school a year early to find a way to make money. He did not want to go into the system and he did not want to be a burden on any of his fellow Serpents, not for their lack of offering, but Fangs was stubborn. Because of this, there was no way that Fangs would be able to justify buying another set of lights.

The cheap phone Fangs had bought several years began to vibrate in his back pocket, the screen flashing with Sweet Pea’s name.

“Hey.” Fangs answered weakly, not able to muster up the enthusiasm.

“Hey Fogarty, what’s wrong?” Sweet Pea could head the upset in his tone immediately.

“Not much. Just, um…” how did he explain that he was getting upset over a set of Christmas lights. It was stupid, he told himself, some people had a lot less than him and he was getting upset over a set of fairylights.

“Seriously, Fangs, what ‘s wrong?” He persisted.

Initially Sweet Pea had been calling to let Fangs know that he would be a little late coming over the next day due to a complication at work, but as soon as he realised something was bothering his boyfriend, he needed to know what it was so he could help fix it or at least comfort him if he wasn’t able to. Sweet Pea could not help but worry about Fangs. He himself had been in Fang’s position a few years ago but lucked out when he got into an apprenticeship - he was now making a decent salary.

Wanting to help in whatever way possible, he offered Fangs money or to occasionally cover the groceries but each time he refused; the only thing that Fangs did let him do was to take him out once a week for a meal. Fangs seemed to be able to justify it as a date night, which Sweet Pea supposed it was, but he also needed to know that his boyfriend had at least one decent hot meal each week. Fangs Fogarty was a stubborn man and it frustrated Sweet Pea to no end.

“I was putting up that tree I bought,” Sweet Pea remembered the second-hand, three foot tall tree Fangs had found at a garage sale. It wasn’t the most glamorous of decorations but Fangs’ face had lit up when he had seen it and that was the only sign Sweet Pea needed to know that the crappy tree was worth it, “and the lights from last year don’t work. I packed them away carefully but I guess one of the bulbs has blown or something...”

“Ah, that sucks, I’m sorry.” Sweet Pea tried to comfort him but emotion-talk had never being one of his fortes.

“It’s stupid, getting upset over the lights but I can’t afford another set this year.” Something in Fangs’ voice seemed forlorn but also completely exhausted. “But I’m lucky to have this, I have food in my belly and a phone, goddamnit, I sound like a baby.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Sweet Pea could not just sit by and let Fangs belittle and berate himself. “I know how excited you were to finally have some Christmas decorations up, it’s not stupid. You’re disappointed and upset, and it’s fine. Please, don’t beat yourself up.”

“Yeah, I guess.” The agreement in Fangs’ tone was completely fake and he did not try hard to hide it.

“Alright, Fangs, why don’t I come over to help cheer you up? Maybe bring some takeout?” Sweet Pea already had a plan forming in his head, an early Christmas present, if you will.

“It’s pretty late, don’t worry.” ‘11:30’ sat in the top corner of Fangs’ phone, although it looked more like ‘1.:3C’ due to the broken pixels scattering the worn screen.

“No, you need me.” It wasn’t a question.

“Fine, but no takeout, I have food here.”

Ten minutes later, Sweet Pea knocked on Fangs’ trailer door. It swung on the hinges as Fangs pushed it open but he could not catch it due to the tears that suddenly pricked at his eyes.

Sweet Pea stood on the front step, in one hand a box of 300 multi-coloured fairylights and a steaming bag of Chinese takeout in the other, but it was the beaming smile on his face which made Fang’s emotions run haywire. God, he loved this man.

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Six - A Cynic’s Christmas (Part One of Two)

Part Two is here.

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request - I have a prompt list that I’ll reblog now, if you want to take a look - so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And quick note, if anyone prefers AO3, the link to my 2019 12 Days of Ficmas collection is here. x

Prompts:

No. 40 - “Wait, you’re not going home for Christmas?”

No. 13 - Person A hates Christmas because they’ve never had a good one. So Person B goes all out to make this the best Christmas for them.

Ship(s): totally platonic Sweet Pea x Female!Reader

Rating: T (for swearing, please correct me if I’m wrong)

CW(s): cynicism, making light of deceased family, alcohol, swearing

Reindeer Games: Blitzen - Holidays

A/N: this is going to be a two-parter, folks. It’s going to be a long-un’ and I had not a lot of time to write both parts before this went out. Enjoy x

Y/N sighed, flopping back onto her bed, hands spread wide over her head in despair. Her mother had asked, no, demanded that she come ‘home’ for Christmas like she had done every year for the three years she had been at university. And, like every year, Y/N truly did not want to go but did not have a worthy excuse to give her mother for why she had to stay in the apartment she and Sweet Pea rented near her university campus.

“Just don’t go.” Sweet Pea told her, sat on top of her desk despite there being a perfectly good chair not even one metre away. “You don’t want to go, you never want to go, but you force yourself to go for no other reason than to torture yourself. Just don’t go.” He shrugged, switching his phone off and instead choosing to watch Y/N argue with herself for the tenth time that day, just this time she was surrounded by piles of clothes.

“My mother forces me.” She corrected before releasing another over-dramatic sigh, if only it were as simple as Sweet Pea made it seem.

“Your mother doesn’t force you, she’s not even in the country. What’s she going to do? Fly over here and drag you back to California by your ear?”

“Please, my mother coming to England?” Y/N sat up, knocking a pile of dresses onto the floor. “She would not risk the weather, especially not in December.” She dramatically emphasised ‘December’ - a winter in England was considered the devil by Y/N’s mother. God forbid the temperature gets below ten degrees.

“She’s English.” He stated with his signature emotionless tone and expression.

It had taken a month after he moved in for Y/N to get Sweet Pea to show anything that nearly resembled a smile. Now he did not hold back his emotions much when he was just around her, when they were in public was a different matter, but Y/N learned that emotionless was just his default expression. Just like her default expression was a friendly, approachable smile.

“She is but she took one step into California and never looked back.” Y/N stood up, beginning to pace through the center of the room. “Literally, she had all of her stuff shipped over before the end of the first week.”

“You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet.”

“The floor’s wooden.” Y/N stopped in front of him, an eyebrow raised.

“It got you to stand still didn’t it?” He jibed, raising an eyebrow back.

“Oh shut up.” She began to pace again, her hands clasped and her fingers worrying one another.

“Would you please stop?” Exasperation began to leak into his tone with maybe just a hint of genuine concern.

“I do not want to go. I hate her. I love her but I hate her. I do not want to spend Christmas with her. Y’know,” she stopped again, hands still clasped, “she will expect me to move there by the end of the two weeks. She will be surprised if she does not find my boxes at her front door by the second of January, taking into account holiday shipping delays of course. Y’know...” and she began to pace again.

Having enough of her meltdown, Sweet Pea pushed himself off of the desk, striding over to Y/N and grasping her by the tops of her arms.

“For the love of God, stay fucking still!” He exclaimed, releasing her arms but fixing her with a pointed glare. “I’ve told you so many times, just stay here. We can just get pissed and watch telly.”

“Wait, you’re not going home for Christmas?”

“All my family are dead.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. Sweet Pea always went for shock value, loving to watch the way people squirmed when he emotionlessly announced that his entire family was dead without warning, and it worked for the first three times with Y/N - she wasn’t a sociopath after all. But after two and a half years of living in close proximity with Sweet Pea, she was now completely desensitised to his antics.

“I know that but what about your friends? Or just having Christmas in your hometown?”

“My friends all hate me and my hometown is a dump.” He countered, taking a few steps back before lifting himself onto the desk again - she had given up on reprimanding him for it a while ago.

“Well I know that’s not true,” she paused, “the first bit anyway - goddamn Riverdale is falling apart.” Y/N had visited with him once and, after seeing the photos of how the town used to look, was horrified at how it had been left to run itself into the ground. The local diner was the most heartbreaking, now empty and ripped apart. The trailer park on the outskirts, where Sweet Pea had lived, was one of the only parts still standing, the gang he was born into going strong but simply did not have the funds to rebuild the town to its former glory. Unbeknownst to Sweet Pea, Y/N had every intention of donating a hefty sum of money in a few months when her trust fund finally came through.

He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “It’s fine, Y/N. I’m happy to stay here. Christmas is an awful time where companies milk the world dry, the rich thrive, the poor are miserable and everybody pretends to enjoy themselves whilst Uncle Sam gets completely drunk and vomits all over the Christmas turkey.”

“Well,” Y/N started, used to Sweet Pea’s eternal cynicism, “the rich do that all the time, not just at Christmas, we can try our best to save the world but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you shouldn’t let that stop you from having an awesome Christmas.” Then she gave him a pointed look. “Plus, you don’t have an Uncle Sam because, as you love to remind everyone, he’s dead.”

‘Touche’ was all that Sweet Pea offered in return, allowing his legs to swing slightly over the edge of the desk.

“So what are you actually doing for Christmas?” Y/N persisted. “Are any of your friends staying back? Can you celebrate with them?”

“I don’t have any friends.”

“You have me.”

“And you’re going back to England.”

Y/N sighed. When Sweet Pea was in one of these moods, getting answers was like trying to get blood from a stone, and he was usually determined to force her into his negative view of the world. Most of the time he would be somewhat of a pessimist, particularly in front of strangers but, as with the expressionless facade, the constant pessimism and cynicism faded somewhat as the pair established a friendship. However, when he was in one of these moods, he would argue black was white and that the world was evil and everyone should die, just to watch you get frustrated.

“Are you seriously not doing anything for Christmas? I can stay, if you want?” She offered.

“If you really don’t want to go, then don’t go, she can’t force you, but don't stay for me. Christmas sucks, it has always sucked and it always will, there’s nothing that can be done about it.” He stated matter-of-factly, shrugging again.

“You hate Christmas?” Y/N asked dumbfounded. She guessed she should have known this already, what with his shitty childhood, she could understand the reasoning but to hear him actually say it seemed to shock her. She herself was an avid Christmas fan, to be best friends with an anti-Christmasser was a bizarre concept.

On the first of December, Y/N had gone to the local Christmas tree farm and bought a six-foot tree to sit in the apartment entranceway. She knew she wasn’t going to spend Christmas in the country but she needed her home to have some element of festiveness, even if she would not be here on the actual day to appreciate it. Sweet Pea had persuaded her not to decorate the entire house as ‘what’s the point in spending so much on decorations when you won’t fucking be here’.

What he had not yet grasped though, is Y/N had too much money; she was one of the lucky ones, or unlucky, depending on how you see it. She came from a long-line of rich, white, upper-classmen and so when her mother gave her a £2500 weekly allowance, on top of paying for necessities and the upkeep of their apartment, she would not struggle to afford to deck out the whole place as she wanted. Half of the allowance already went to local charities but anymore than that and her mother began to ask questions. Her mother looked down on the poor, or anyone who could not afford to have a solid gold toilet; she was a horrible person with no empathy and it was for that reason that Y/N did not want to spend her festive period at her estate in California.

“Yes, I hate Christmas.” He stated. “For all of the reasons I just told you.”

“I’m staying.” She decided.

“Okay.”

“I’m staying and you are going to have the best Christmas ever.” She crossed her arms defiantly whilst her mind was already organising a list of everything she needed to do and get to make this the greatest experience for Sweet Pea. It was the afternoon of the twenty-third, but with her expertise, she was fairly certain she could get it done.

“No, Y/N, plea-” Sweet Pea tried to protest but was already half-defeated.

Anyone who knew Y/N knew that she was a force to be reckoned with once she had her mind set. It would take gale force winds or perhaps the apocalypse to stop her.

The idea was kind of sweet, Sweet Pea supposed, but involved far too much time and money being spent for only his benefit. Plus, he knew how her mother was and she would more than disapprove of her daughter spending so much for no true reason.

“Sorry, I can’t seem to hear you.” Y/N exclaimed as she ran from the room to where her handbag sat on a table beside the tree in the hallway.

“Y/N!” He called, following swiftly after her.

“Still can’t quite hear you!” She cried, pulling open the front door before stopping and turning to shout back to Sweet Pea. “I’m heading out for a while, don’t wait up!” And with that, she was out the door, shutting it with a slam, leaving a very confused Sweet Pea in her wake.

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Ten - Christmas Crackers

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request - I have a prompt list that I’ll reblog now, if you want to take a look - so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And quick note, if anyone prefers AO3, the link to my 2019 12 Days of Ficmas collection is here. x

Prompt: No.46 - “these jokes are not Christmas friendly.”

Ship(s): Swangs

Rating: T

CW(s): dirty + nsfw jokes, alcohol

@riverdalebingo: (an unconventional) Christmas Dinner

Reindeer Games: Blitzen - Holidays

“These aren’t funny!” Fangs exclaimed, throwing another slip of paper onto the floor only to bend over and pick it back up. “I mean, listen to this: ‘Who delivers presents to cats? Santa Paws.’ It’s utter crap!” He tossed the joke onto the floor again.

Fangs had perhaps had one beer too many but Sweet Pea was finding his apparent anger at the cracker jokes far too amusing to care.

The pair had decided to spend Christmas Day at Sweet Pea’s apartment. There was no family to visit and all of their friends had gone to see their own, most had invited the pair to go with them, but neither had wanted to impose. Instead, Sweet Pea had bought a small turkey as well as carrots and potatoes for Christmas dinner, and invited Fangs to his apartment for the twenty-fifth.

The dinner had been a disaster. They had decided to forego the vegetables and Sweet Pea had burnt the turkey after an impromptu make-out session. When Fangs had arrived on his doorstep an hour ago, he had been clutching a large box of crackers and a crate of beer; they had greeted each other with a kiss but the innocent peck had elevated into full-on making out on Sweet Pea’s bed.

All was not lost though as they had found a box of burgers in the freezer and cooked those instead. Despite being slightly singed, the burgers had come out relatively unscathed and they sat down to eat them at the fully-laid dining table. Prior to his arrival, Sweet Pea had set it with plates and cutlery as well as a glittery red table runner that he had picked up from Walmart - he wanted to make an effort for their first Christmas together.

However, whilst they were eating, Fangs had decided to pull all of the crackers by himself and empty the contents onto the table - this idea came after beer number three. He currently had five and a half hats as well as a tangle toy, some nail clippers and several whistles - all the jokes were scattered across the wooden floor.

“You are reading cracker jokes, they’re infamously bad.” Sweet Pea replied before taking a swig from his own beer; he was pacing himself, not needing the buzz the alcohol brought.

“We should make up our own.” Fangs declared, pulling the last cracker with a snap. “Instead of…” he fumbled to pull out the joke from inside the tube, “instead of ‘what says Oh, Oh, Oh? Santa walking backwards’ - Jesus Christ that’s bad.” A moment passed before he broke into unrestrained giggles, something that only happened when he was drunk. Sweet Pea could not help his own chuckles, he did not find the joke funny in the slightest but seeing his boyfriend so tipsy and giggly was always fun to witness.

“Instead of that,” Fangs tried again after he had stopped gasping for air, “it should be…” He took a few seconds to think before a mischievous grin appeared on his face. “Where should you kick a snowman during a fight? In the snowballs!” Fangs then broke into body-racking laughter again.

“That’s still terrible.” Sweet Pea rolled his eyes.

“Okay, what about:” he proposed, “why did the Grinch rob the liquor store? Because he was desperate for some Christmas spirit.” And then he was off giggling again.

“How about ‘Why was the snowman smiling? Because he saw the snowblower coming down the street.’” Sweet Pea offered, grinning as he took another sip from his beer.

“That’s not appropriate.” Fangs pouted.

“How does Santa stay STD free?” He ignored Fangs’ comment, too proud of his own jokes. “He wraps his package before shoving it down the chimney.”

“No!” Fangs cried, sounding like a protesting toddler, and covered his ears with his palms. “These jokes are not Christmas friendly!”

“Why is Santa so jolly? Because he knows where all the naughty girls live.”

Fangs wrinkled his nose at that one but continued to hold his hands over his ears as if he never heard a word.

“Why does Santa land on the roof? Because he always likes to be on top.”

“Wait, I don’t- Oh, OH.” Fangs tried his best to hold in his giggles but failed miserably. Sweet Pea was chuckling again too but reached over to slowly take away Fangs’ beer, the latter completely oblivious.