#he would literally point and laugh at andrew for having a crush on kevin

[kevindavidday]

how fast do you think andrew clocked that jean had feelings for kevin? how pissed off do you think he was when he remembered his own stupid boy crush era for kevin?

[xlady-saya]

Hello! I don’t really use this account a whole lot but I wanted to go ahead and make a pinned post, which I’ll hopefully remember to update frequently lol. Anyways, here’s a collection of the fics I’ve written for aftg, andreil, and others so far ^^

progress comes in small steps series [complete]

and we’re just starting to get it [Rated T, 11.1k]

Neil is nothing and everything all at once, the entire universe for Andrew, however small of a universe that is. Even Aaron is starting to see it, though the pieces still don't line up.

And Andrew is trying to convince Aaron that he's never jealous? Yeah right. You don't spend your entire life being denied, being hurt, going through foster care with nothing to call your own only to be okay with someone else trying to take the one bright piece of life you call yours.

Or, Aaron is done with Andrew's shit and makes it his job to prove his brother wrong.

there’s always more to learn [Rated T, 12.3k]

The subject of Katelyn and Neil hasn't felt like dangerous territory in a long time, but Aaron feels the bomb countdown already coming to an end before Bee even opens her mouth.

"Well, the two of them are so alike," Bee goes on, oblivious to the tension leaking into the space. Her smile is pleasant, teasing. "It just goes to show how you and Andrew have similar tastes despite being so different."

The world freezes on its axis.

Andrew inhales a little too loudly the same time Aaron chokes on his spit. "W-What?"

trust is a slow process [Rated T, 7.3k]

If Katelyn had been stealthier, she could've escaped the crowded dance floor without Andrew seeing her.

But of course, she's no Neil.

Or: Katelyn and Andrew spend some unwanted quality time together, and Katelyn sees things for what they are.

someday there won’t be scowls [Rated T, 8.1k]

Neil finds that even with his mind's best efforts to hang onto the wounds of the past, his opinion of Aaron just isn't what it used to be. He can thank Andrew and Katelyn for a lot of it, but his own observations certainly help.

When he sees Aaron like this, the mix of worry and adoration on his face as he thinks of Katelyn, Neil can't help but feel too exposed himself.

It's a start.

I want this touch to be familiar [Rated E, 38.1k]

Deep down, Andrew knew he would always reach this crossroads, a time where the thought became too strong to ignore.

Going all the way with Neil. It's not something he can continue to avoid thinking about. When Andrew looks back to the days where he held Neil's hands down, when he never got off with him in the same room, he's forced to acknowledge how much he's allowed.

Not allowed. Welcomed. Wanted.

But that’s not all there is to it, and the desire to make a decision finally makes itself known.

if magic exists, you’re the closest thing [Rated T, 16.2k]

The concept of love is not one Andrew understands.

For a long time, it escaped him. It's always fuzzy, always distorted. He'd given up on it long ago, so why is he still chasing answers?

Whatever the reason, he's content to blame Jean Moreau for a lot of things, Katelyn too.

It's their fault he's here, at the happiest place on earth.

this red is for you [Rated T, 10.8k]

Katelyn never considered herself capable of doling out violence.

It has always been a far away thought, dampened by college courses and late night dates with her boyfriend. She lives a stereotypical life, despite everything she's been through with Aaron. Aside from her growing connection with the notoriously troublesome Foxes, nothing much about her life has changed.

Even then, she's learning she's still able to surprise herself. When Katelyn witnesses Neil defending Andrew, her own protective rage rears its head, ready to be explored.

And maybe that's a good thing.

an unconventional crossing [Rated T, 8.1k]

Aaron likes to believe he and Andrew have a lot more practice navigating their conversations now. And he’s right, mostly. But sometimes, challenges arise at the strangest times, and especially when their significant others are concerned.

In which Andrew and Aaron run into each other at the grocery store, and choose not to part ways.

the roads I traveled with you [Rated T, 35.5k]

When his brother gets engaged, Aaron doesn't expect it to send his head spinning as much as it does. Marriage has always felt like a dream, or a nightmare, one he never thought either of them would be able to achieve.

In that moment, Aaron remembers what he's always known, what keeps his head above water. He wants to be with Katelyn forever. That's never been a question. But marriage hadn't been brought up. For so long it was this abstract concept, a fantasy. He'd always reasoned with himself that it would happen, rationally of course it would, but now...

Now Andrew has made the idea a reality, and Aaron has to confront his own wants for his future.

one shots/multichapters

I’ve had a love of my own [Rated T, ongoing]

Despite everything Neil could’ve imagined for his life, he never thought he’d be here, finally giving the world the interview they’ve always wanted.

It’s been decades, but even with his numerous accolades and sports wins, he finds that they’re the least important thing about his life.

Neil can’t help but laugh. Andrew would be so annoyed if he were here.

Of course, Neil only wants to talk about him, and the life they spent together.

slurred [Rated M, 1.6k]

They're not the type of people to give up control, but with each other they're willing to bend the rules.

growing pains [Rated T, 10.6k]

Stuart knows it’s perfectly normal for teenagers to have crushes. That’s why he’s not surprised in the slightest when Neil starts acting strange; lighter, happier. However, what he doesn’t expect is for the crush to leak into his everyday life—or literally take up residence in his house. Or: five times Stuart knew Neil was hiding a nighttime guest, and one time he actually met him.

your hands are mine to hold [Rated E, 6.7k]

It has taken a long time for Thea to accept a lot of aspects of their past. Her eyes track the fear in Kevin's eyes, emboldened by how his own resolve wears it away year by year. She'll never take that sight for granted.

It's hard to ignore the weights on both of them, with their lives so eaten up by the Exy world and memories of the Nest, but one thing has always remained consistent.

Thea trusts Kevin Day with her everything, and she'll never hesitate to follow him into battle.

better than a night light [Rated T, 7.3k]

Neil hasn’t had the chance to examine the feeling of fear in a long time. He’s all too familiar with it though; from the nightmares, to the memories of a cold basement floor, he knows the feeling like the back of his hand.

But this fear is new, loaded with ridiculousness and a complete lack of reason. It’s nothing more than pixels on a screen, far away theories that can’t hurt him like his past can.

Maybe that’s why he’s beginning to not mind it as much. It doesn’t hurt that Andrew is also there to hold him through it.

Playtime [Rated E, 6.7k]

There was a time when Andrew might've questioned being so into this.

Not anymore.

take what you want [Rated E, 5.4k]

Laila has come a long way from her freshman year, past all the worries and pressure to behave a certain way. She never thought she’d realize it here, lounging poolside with her girlfriend.

The urge to seduce Alvarez is just too good to let go.

a product of absence [Rated T, 7.8k]

It’s funny, Andrew thinks, that this would be seen as a curse in any other situation. Two people, thrown apart by time and circumstances, desperately searching for one another.

But Andrew has never doubted Neil’s return. He’s not running, he’s not worried. It’s perhaps the only waiting game that’s been worth it, that he understands, because this bond with Neil has only ever made sense to him.

In another life, Neil made this much clear: they would always find each other in the end.

here I am, there you go again [Rated T, 17.5k]

There's many things about the past Neil chooses to leave behind, and most of the time it's for the best. For some reason though, his brain can't help but cling to the last memories of him.

"My Ex." Neil bites his tongue at the word, because it never feels right. At this point, so many years later, that man is no one. A stranger. He shouldn't presume to know him anymore than his ex should presume to know Neil.

If he remembers Neil at all.

But Neil should know better than anyone that the past always has a way of catching up to him, and this time, he's not as willing to run as he might've initially thought.

losing battle [Rated M, 3.4k]

It's always been Nicky's dream to be closer with his cousins. However, when he opens Andrew's mail to find more than he bargained for, he finds himself regretting the wish. Unfortunately, no matter how much Andrew's warmed up to him in the last few years, Nicky's pretty sure he'll die (literally) if Andrew finds out.

Nicky's mission begins.

temper, temper [Rated T, 3.7k]

"You paid for the deluxe package," Neil says as he scrolls through his payment history to find his client's invoice. His system is simple:

Basic Package: Fuck you. A general statement of displeasure and a brief description of the wrongdoing.

Intermediate Package: Fuck you, with passion. Everything in the basic package, but with additional insults. Customizable for an extra fee.

Deluxe Package: Fuck you to hell. Everything from the first two packages, for an extended period of time, and with extra viciousness.

And it looks like Andrew Minyard is the unlucky soul today.

a new contract [Rated T, 7.2k]

Neil’s request is simple on its face, but infinitely complicated given his history.

“Convince your team to sign me.”

And this was Andrew’s deal: If Neil can prove that he’s serious, that he can build a new life for himself so that he doesn’t end up crawling back to Riko, Andrew will convince his coach to recommend him for recruitment in the fall.

Yes, it was meant to be black and white…

But Andrew should’ve known better. Nothing ever is.

What a Rush [Rated E, 1.6k]

It's always Andrew's goal to stretch Neil's pleasure to its limits, and he's barely begun to scratch the surface.

locked together [Rated E, 8.3k]

Andrew licks his lips and tugs on the tail of the beast inside him, righting it so it can point him in the direction of what he's searching for. Neil looks good on top of him, panting and giddy, and it's rare that Andrew doesn't want to flip them over and make Neil fall apart.

But...every once in a while...

Well, he's relaxed today. He wants to listen, he wants orders, he wants to be controlled so long as the control comes from Neil.

do you like scary movies? [Rated T, 22.5k]

To say Andrew has never seen the benefit in the make-believe would be a lie. However, he finds less and less use for it as he grows older. He especially fails to see the benefits of anything from the horror genre; he’s made plenty of his own mistakes, has seen more than enough to terrify him in his life. He doesn’t need to rely on jump scares and idiotic protagonists.

But when he meets Neil, self-proclaimed horror archivist, he finds that maybe he never gave the genre the credit it was due, and he ends up thanking the dull movies eventually…

They lead him to Neil, the realest thing he’s ever known.

[snarkwrites]

09 | gangsta; sweetpea

Notes:

SO.. I uhh... Got super into writing this recently. I just really liked where it was heading after part 7. Yes. Yes, I realize that literally no one asked for more of this but.. I wrote it. Might as well share it.

I warn in advance. There as a graphic and detailed fight in this chapter. Also. There is a LOT going on in this chapter. A LOT.

This is the second of four parts I have already written and waiting to go. I know, I know.. Literally no one asked for this. But you’re getting it anyway.

Warnings:

loosely canon compliant - this is the biggest warning, so if you’re into things that follow exact canon plot you are… definitely not going to like this. angst & slow burn, heavy sexual tensionstarting now, actually - this is just so everyone who started reading this thinking the smut would transpire in a hurry knows that apparently, it is not. violence / swearing & fighting, possible underage drinking and other shenanigans- look.. it’s high school. shit happens. also apparently, my ofc Alyssa uses the word fuck like all the time?…eventual sexual content / a virgin original character- this one is self explanatory. yes, i plan to write a smutty chapter in this at some point. when? i don’t rightly know. it’s got a while before we get there.

Pairing:

Andrews!Sibling OFC, Alyssa x Sweet Pea

Other Parts:

[ one - two - three - four - five - six - seven - eight -   soundtrack ]

Other Stuff:

[ faq - tag list doc ]

Tagging:

@brithedemonspawn​ is the only person on my Riverdale tag list. If you’d like to be tagged for this story by all means.. Please let me know. Please, I beg. It’d make me super duper happy!!!

                                          NINE.

“What do you mean Hiram asked you to go cut their chains? Archie, this is not your place. They’re trying to fight back against this bullshit. Because that’s what this is, in case you’re wondering.”

“You need to make other friends. Literally anyone but them, Al.” Archie answered calmly. I glared at my brother from across the dining table. My father surprised me when he spoke up.

“You’re still friends with Jughead, right? How is that any different than your sister, being friends with Toni? Or that Fogarty kid? Or the other one, the moody one.. What’s his name?” my dad asked.

“Sweet Pea?” I questioned, taking a few more bites of my cereal. Grumbling about Hiram Lodge as I did so.

“He’s trying to help this town.” Archie muttered.

“What he’s doing is making people homeless. I bet you wouldn’t say that crap if he were trying to run anybody on this side of town out, Archie.” I snapped, pushing my chair away from the table, standing abruptly.

“Okay you two.” my father warned, glancing from me to my brother. Adding quietly, “Your sister has a point. That’s exactly why I’m going to talk to Hermione today about terminating the contract to build the housing.”

“Dad, you needed that contract.” I protested. Going quiet.

“I don’t need it bad enough to watch people gettin run out of their homes, tiny. I can find other jobs.”

“Dad..” I started, but he shook his head. Judging by the way his jaw was set, he’d made his mind up on this. I sighed, going quiet. Assuming that it was probably my fault he even made the decision that might just cost him the construction company in the first place. I think he could tell I was worried, because he caught me on my way out the door for school after Archie had stormed out, bolt cutters in hand to go and do Hiram’s bidding.

“I chose to do this on my own, okay? I just want to make sure you know that, Al.” my dad searched my face, waiting on me to give confirmation that I understood. I wasn’t entirely sure it was true, because for the past twelve hours, the fight had been ongoing between my brother and I.

“Actually, it was your mom who kind of reminded me what getting mixed up with the Lodges might bring on me. Has nothing to do with you and your brother fighting. But I wish you two would sit down and talk.”

I nodded, sighing. “I wish I knew he’d listen. But he’s changed so much since he started taking up with Hiram…” I shook my head. For the first time ever, I was actually kind of disappointed with my big brother.

If he weren’t under Hiram’s thumb right now, I have no doubt in my mind he’d either be helping Jughead with their protest, or he’d be doing everything he could to call attention to the issue.

“I know. Happens sometimes, tiny. All we can do is hope this whole thing is a phase and it doesn’t backfire on him. Be there for him when it does backfire.” my dad advised, pulling me into a hug.

As I went to step out, my dad tossed a brown bag towards me and I caught it. He smiled and shrugged. “Pretty sure when your friends get to school today, they’re gonna be starving. FP said they hadn’t eaten since 8 last night. This was some kinda hunger strike. Tell Fangs to share the bacon. I know he’s a growing guy, but shit.”

I laughed and smiled, doubling back to hug my dad. Really giving him a good squeeze.

“I love you too, kid. Now you need to get going.” my dad laughed when the hug broke, walking to the door and leaning in it, watching me til I got to the end of the street.

I spotted Cheryl waiting at our usual spot as of late and I made my way over. Opening the bag and letting her take out a biscuit. “Dad sent food for the others. That is, if Hiram doesn’t insist that my brother, idiot he is, escort them all straight to the police station.”

“Has your mother gotten back to you at all on the legality of what Ms.McCoy did before she stepped down as mayor?” Cheryl asked. I shook my head. Watching the sidewalk from the direction that Toni, Fangs and Sweet Pea normally came from intently.

“Where are they?”

“Toni texted me a few minutes ago. They’ll be here.”

“So Hiram didn’t make my brother and the other guys on the wrestling team take them to the station? Because if he thinks for a second I won’t dig into my college fund to post bail, my brother’s a bigger idiot than I ever imagined. Because I will.”

Cheryl was smiling at me. Giving a soft laugh as she bit into the biscuit she’d taken from the bag in my hands. “ Take deep breaths, lioness.”

I took a deep breath, deadpanning at Cheryl, “Happy?”

“It will suffice.” Cheryl’s grin broadened when she caught sight of Toni.

I let out a ragged breath when I saw our friends heading our way, fuming in anger. Sweet Pea seemed to be the angriest, arguing loudly with Jughead and Fangs about how they should’ve just let him go and not held him back or tried to stop some fight.

Toni, Fangs and Sweet Pea came to a stop in front of Cheryl and I. I held out the bag to Toni and she grabbed it, not wasting a single second. Grabbing a biscuit and groaning as she practically inhaled it. Then grabbing a few strips of bacon. “Oh my god, I love your dad too.” 

“There’s enough in there for everyone. Fangs, he said you had to share the bacon, man.” I laughed at the way this made Fangs pout a little.

I stopped in front of Sweet Pea who was still angry, almost shaking at this point. I grimaced at the bruise forming on his jaw. Stepping a little closer. “Are you going to eat, Hulk, or nah?” I teased, shaking the bag at him.

“I’m too fuckin pissed right now, Cherry.” Sweet Pea answered, a harsh tone. His jaw setting.

“Oh.” I muttered. I realized just how close I was standing to Sweet Pea and suddenly aware of that, I stepped away a little and let Fangs take the bag because I was tired of holding it. As we started to walk to school, I found myself walking right next to Sweet Pea all over again when Kevin Keller caught up to us and chose to walk next to Fangs, putting me in between Sweet Pea and Fangs by the time we’d all sort of formed a line.

“Kevin, don’t you own a car?” I teased gently, giving him a knowing smirk. I’d kind of picked up on the fact that he might or might not have himself a little crush on Fangs.

“It’s broken right now.” Kevin answered my question, nodding towards Sweet Pea covertly as he smirked at me. I bit my lip, glancing over at Sweet Pea as I shook my head. Because I knew what Kevin was about to assume and I knew that at best, Sweet Pea only tolerates me because of Fangs and Toni.

“Dad’s supposed to take me out to let me try getting used to driving his truck this weekend.”

“I’ll be sure to let my dad know so he’s on standby.” Kevin taunted, making me stick out my tongue at him. “I’m not that bad.”

“I’d like to agree, but I have Snapchat, so I know about your driving. I saw the go-kart thing. I had no idea  you could make a go kart drift, if we’re being honest. You drive like a lunatic, woman.” Kevin taunted. I pouted at him, folding my arms. “I do not! I just wanted to win.” I pretended to be annoyed, holding my hand up at him.

Sweet Pea’s hand brushed against my other hand and I glanced down. Curling my pinkie around his. Giving it a squeeze. I didn’t dare to look up at him as I did this, of course. When he didn’t pull away, I didn’t either.

He was upset. I considered him a friend. I tried to tell myself that my hopes in doing what I was doing were to calm him down. Nothing more.

But deep down, I was starting to realize that this might not exactly be the case. That maybe I felt things…

Things I knew he’d never feel in return.

Things I knew I needed to get over.

XXX

He bit his lip when he felt her finger curl around his. A glance over at her revealed that she wasn’t even looking at him, instead, she was buried in something Kevin was showing her on his phone. He’d almost swear that she didn’t even realize she’d grabbed hold of his finger again, but then, she gave it a little squeeze a few seconds after she glanced up from Kevin’s phone.

She still hadn’t looked at him. Or let go of his finger.

Every part of him knew he should let go but he didn’t want to. And he kept telling himself that more than likely, it wasn’t anything more than just her, trying to be a friend because he was madder than hell and it was obvious.

Oh but he wanted it to be so much more than that.

Their sides brushed again and his breath caught in his throat a little.

Fangs had a good point the night before when they’d been talking. It was getting harder and harder to hide the way he felt.

The fight he’d gotten into with Alyssa’s brother came back to him and he used Archie’s words as a reminder as to why he needed to forget the way he felt.

Because Archie did have a fair point when he pointed out that Sweet Pea wasn’t good enough for her and sooner or later, Alyssa spending so much time around them was going to get her in serious trouble or worse yet, hurt somehow.

But then what Fangs and Jughead both insisted the night before came back to him too and their advice made him want to fight. To act on the way he felt. To prove her brother wrong. To be with her. Be the guy who made her laugh. The guy she cuddled up with on a rainy Saturday to watch her horror movies. The one she came to when she was hurt or scared or just needed him.

They were making their way across the parking lot and she still hadn’t let go of his finger. To be fair, he hadn’t let go of hers yet, either. The connection was keeping him calm. Giving him other things to think about beyond the way he wanted to lose his entire mind over the fact that he was losing everything and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He felt powerless. He hated the feeling.

But the way she linked her finger through his and left it there gave him something else to focus on for a change.

And now, thanks to it, all he could think about was just how hard it was getting to keep his feelings himself.

“Alyssa?”

“Yeah, Kev?”

“Are you going out for the play? Come on, you have to.” Kevin pleaded.

Alyssa mulled it over, shrugging. About to shake her head before Kevin frowned. “You have to.”

“I’m not good at the whole getting up in front of people crap. We’re lucky I can manage cheering at the games without freaking out, Kev. Or have you forgotten the fairy debacle from Kindergarten?”

“It wasn’t that bad!” Kevin was giving her the pleading face.

“Kevin. I left the stage and ran to my dad. In front of the entire school.” she shook her head, laughing. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. Besides, me singing? The sound of cats dying. I am not going to put people through that.”

“Oh come on.”

“Nope. Not happening, man.” she shook her head, smiling.

“Toni and I are thinking about it.” Cheryl spoke up.

Toni raised a brow, laughing as she nodded. “Thinking is the key word here, babe.”

Sweet Pea took a deep breath. Willing himself to either let go of her finger first or push things a little further. Maybe grab hold of her hand. Or brush his hand against her hand. He grumbled in frustration when he couldn’t make himself do either thing.

After a second or two, he managed to find a way to graze his hand against her hand and make it seem as if it were an accident. To his surprise, before he could pull his hand away, she’d linked her fingers between his.

She glanced up at him for a second or two, licking her lips. Giving his hand a little squeeze. They were almost to the doors of Riverdale High by this point. He figured she’d let go of his hand, but she hadn’t yet.

Everyone else split off, going to their own classrooms. He let go of her hand to push open the door, letting her step into the room as he held it open, letting it close behind him. As they took their assigned seats, she sank down in her chair, digging around in the pocket of her jeans.

Holding out a pack of chewing gum to him. Sweet Pea took a stick of the gum, unwrapping it. Popping it into his mouth.

After opening the text books, their teacher spoke up, addressing the class.

“We’ll be doing a bit of a different assignment. We’ve been studying genetics and I feel that it would be interesting to give this a try. You’ll be given dice.”

Sweet Pea chuckled when one of the other Serpents in class with them muttered an audible, “Finally, somethin I fuckin know about.”

Mr. Keaton glared at the other Serpent, silencing him. And then Mr. Keaton continued. “You will then roll these dice to determine what physical traits that offspring between yourself and your lab partner would inherit. You will chart the results and write a detailed summary. If you choose, for extra credit, you may draw this offspring.”

Sweet Pea coughed, shifting around in his seat awkwardly. Because all this entire project brought to mind for him was a mental replay of a particularly dirty dream he’d had about Alyssa not too long ago. The silent acknowledgement that he felt this magnetic pull to her and the harder he fought it lately, the more it refused to stay buried. The way it felt when her finger curled around his or the way it felt when he’d taken hold of her hand on their walk to school.

Every single touch, accidental or otherwise as of late.

Alyssa fidgeted a little herself, he noticed. He found himself wondering if she was fidgeting because she was suddenly regretting being paired with him for the term, or if she was fidgeting for the same reason he’d been fidgeting.

,, There’s absolutely no way she’s into me.” his mind taunted.

Mr. Keaton passed out dice and once they’d gotten their dice and the list of physical traits that Mr. Keaton compiled they’d be rolling for, Sweet Pea cleared his throat.

“Wishing you’d made a fuss about now, hm? Gotten switched to work with no brains over there?” he said it only half jokingly.

“Why? Are you?” Alyssa asked, gazing over at him, a brow raised. Laughing softly. “It’s just an assignment, Sweet Pea. And you’re not like.. You’re not a leper or something. I mean, I could do a lot worse.”

“If you’re fine with it, what the hell.” Sweet Pea shrugged, chuckling to himself quietly. Trying to fight back the sliver of hope that chose that exact moment to rise to the surface. The fact that she wasn’t switching, while surprising, didn’t necessarily mean anything. He had to keep reminding himself of that.

From the back of the classroom, Reggie spoke up. “Mr. Keaton, I’ve been thinkin… Maybe I should switch partners with Sweet Pea.”

Sweet Pea tensed.

When he knew Alyssa wasn’t looking, he shot Reggie an angry glare.

Reggie smirked at him, daring him to say something.

Mr. Keaton looked from pair to pair, rubbing his chin. “Amanda? Alyssa? Would either of you want to switch?”

Mandy was just about to speak up. He felt Alyssa tense up beside him and heard her mumble to herself, “Not today, Satan..” as she turned in her seat, giving Mandy an angry glare.

Mandy glared right back at Alyssa before giving their teacher the sweetest smile she could muster. “I’d love that, Mr. Keaton. Reggie’s an idiot. I’m sure even that Serpent is so much smarter.” 

“The Serpent has a name, bimbo. You wouldn’t like it if I only called you bimbo, right?” Alyssa whirled around in her seat to snap at Mandy before she could stop herself. “Anyway, Reggie’s no stupider than you. Kind of a perfect fit if I do say so myself.” 

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes at Mandy, but he cleared his throat, tapping Alyssa’s shoulder so she’d turn around before she got into trouble. He found himself super focused on the way she got heated just now because Mandy hadn’t bothered saying his name.

“If he makes me switch, I swear to god, I’m unleashing my wrath.” Alyssa grumbled to herself. Making Sweet Pea take a shaky breath or two.

Why did this matter so much? 

Sweet Pea found himself a little surprised. He honestly thought she’d be jumping at the chance. He assumed she’d be happy to get away from him.

“Alyssa? Your thoughts on the matter?” Mr. Keaton questioned.

“ Nope. I refuse to have that absolute pig be the  father of  my non-existent children, sir. I’m fine where I am.” Alyssa answered, turning to shrug at Reggie as she said it.

Reggie pouted a little.

Sweet Pea smirked, shrugging at Reggie when their eyes met. Reggie glared at him, finally turning around when Mandy cleared her throat.

“You could’ve switched, Cherry.”

“ I realize this. But I didn’t want to.” Alyssa answered, finally meeting his gaze. Biting her lip. “Unless you wanted me to switch?”

“No, no. Fuck no.” Sweet Pea’s answer tumbled out in a rush. Alyssa laughed softly, managing a little smile. “In that case, we should probably get started. This is a pretty long list. Oh, while I’m thinking about it.. We’re trying to avoid my shitty eyesight, red hair and skin that burns at even a hint of sunlight.” she muttered, glancing over at him.

Sweet Pea caught himself doing it again, getting caught up in her eyes. Staring like an idiot. He nodded. “Okay, since we’re going there, Cherry. We’re trying to roll with the hopes that this kid doesn’t knock their fucking heads off every time they walk through a door.”

“I mean, it’s better than climbing shelves and counters to reach things your idiot brother puts out of your reach deliberately, but hey.. Go off I guess.” she teased gently, smiling at him. Holding out the dice.

“You roll first. I am.. Not good at dice.” Alyssa pleaded. Sweet Pea chuckled and shook his head. “Oh no. No, you first.” he smirked at her, he couldn’t resist it.

Alyssa pouted but  took the dice and rolled.

“Okay, so.. Doubles..” Alyssa announced when both the dice settled on the side with one dot.

“Twins.” Sweet Pea consulted the list. “We were rolling for a number of offspring just then, right?” he asked.

“They better have given me good drugs.” Alyssa joked, filling in the chart. “I’ll roll for one, you can roll for the other?” she asked. Sweet Pea nodded. Silently hoping to god she hadn’t noticed him staring yet again. He answered in a daze, “Yeah.” as he took the dice to roll again. This time they were rolling for hair color.

“You better roll again, sir. Remember? We’re trying to avoid red hair.” Alyssa nodded to the dice settled on the top of the desk between them.

“Actually, no. I’m not. You are, but I’m not.” Sweet Pea smirked, the smirk growing when he saw her pout a little about it. “Deal with it, Cherry.”

“Well, we’re off to a great start. Can’t even agree on hair color.” Alyssa teased, noting that they’d gotten the red hair trait from her.

She took the dice back. “Come on dark brown and functional brown eyes..” she muttered, smiling when she rolled for Sweet Pea’s eye color, but scowling a little when she managed to roll that yes, they’d have vision trouble. “Poor kids.” she shook her head, laughing. Holding out the dice to him.

Sweet Pea had been in a daze yet again. Luckily, he managed to pull himself out of said daze when she placed the dice in his hand. He rolled. Grumbling when he got himself for the height gene.

The bell rang a few seconds later. Alyssa gathered her books and started for the door. Sweet Pea caught up to her. “Wasn’t so bad.” he mused. Carefully.

Alyssa smiled, shaking her head. “No, it wasn’t.” hiding a laugh as Reggie and Mandy made their way past in a very heated and angry argument. She nudged Sweet Pea, nodding towards them. “Some people should never be allowed to procreate.”

“They really shouldn’t.” Sweet Pea answered, swallowing down a lump as it formed in his throat. Letting his gaze linger for a few seconds. “Hey, if you want.. We can finish this tonight at the Wyrm.”

“You’d be okay with me showing up at the Wyrm.” Alyssa eyed him carefully.

He shrugged. “It’s not any different than all the times you came with Toni.” 

“I’ll be there, then. Oh and Pea?” Alyssa turned back to look at him. He chuckled. “What?”

“Your name is coming off the top of the Mortal Kombat leaderboard. Tonight. Better bring your A game, sir.”

He bit back a groan at what she said. There was just something about the look in her eyes just now.. Teasing and playful… that combined with her calling him Sir definitely gave him a reason to need the walk to his next class.

Because he needed to pull himself together. He needed to get his head around everything and more importantly, he needed to really stop and think if he wanted to keep fighting whatever was starting to happen between them.

Because he’d been fighting it since he’d seen her around town for the first time. And he just couldn’t anymore.

Fangs caught up to him. “Didn’t you hear me yellin at you, man?”

“I was thinkin.”

“About?”

“Maybe you were right. About what we were talking about last night?”

Fangs smirked. “You’re gonna go for it?”

“I want to. Doesn’t mean I will. But I can’t keep saying I don’t.. Ya know.. When I do. Because it’s driving me fucking insane, man.” 

“Want her?” Fangs filled in the blank, snickering when Sweet Pea gave him a dirty look but nodded. As they made their way into class and took their usual seats in the back, Fangs leaned across the aisle. “For what it’s worth… I think she’s into you, man.”

“Yeah. I doubt that.” Sweet Pea looked at his best friend as if Fangs were losing his mind. He wished that were true. He wanted it to be true. But he doubted that it was.

“You’re blind.” Fangs chuckled, turning his attention to the note Kevin had slipped into his locker. Chuckling and rubbing his chin in thought as he debated on what his response was going to be.

XXX

Practice had just ended. I made my way over to my locker in the girls locker room and I opened the door, thinking I’d grab the clothes I bought to change into after practice. Clothes that were nowhere to be found.

I grumbled to myself, annoyed. A quick glance around the locker room put me onto the fact that Mandy and her little army of skanks were circled up, looking at me. Whispering and laughing. Mandy was bold enough to call out, “Missing something, are we?” as she held up my clothes, laughing… Slinking over to the door that lead into the hallway.

Tossing my clothes right out in the middle.

I turned and glared at her. “You bitch.”

“Aw, are you upset right now? What are you gonna do, Alyssa? Go cry to big brother? Go sic your Serpent trash loverboy on me? I’m so so so scared.” she nudged her friend Kaylie. “I bet she doesn’t do anything. I bet she just sits there and fumes like usual. I’m surprised she had the nerve to call me a bimbo earlier in class if we’re being honest.” Mandy smirked as she said it, glancing at me. Nodding towards the door. 

“If you want your clothes, sweetie, they’re right there! All you have to do is go get them…. Unless you’re afraid? Don’t flatter yourself, Alyssa. Nobody wants to see you in your underwear. Absolutely no one.”

I clenched my fists and took a deep breath or two. Mandy and her friends were all staring at me, waiting. Gazing from the hallway, where my clothes were piled up, back to me. Smirking and laughing because they were starting to think Mandy was right. That I wasn’t going to do anything. That I’d just turn and ignore Mandy’s attempts to goad me into a confrontation and shove down all my anger like I usually did. 

,, she wants you to turn the other cheek like you’ve been doing until lately. If you do that, you’re basically telling her she can get away with this crap.” the thought came and rather than shove it out in favor of being the bigger person, I leaned into it.

Because today was not the day and I was not the one.

I stood and walked out into the hallway. Right as the bell to dismiss final class for the day rang and the hallway was starting to flood with students. One of them being Sweet Pea. We locked eyes as I walked past, calmly going to the Riverdale crest on the floor that she’d tossed my jeans in the center of. Bending to pick up my jeans. Sweet Pea’s arm shot out.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, out here like that, Cherry? Have you lost your mind entirely?”

“Nope. I’m getting my fucking clothes. Since Mandy the thundercunt scattered them all over the hallway.”

Sweet Pea growled quietly, his fists clenching and unclenching. He took off his Riverdale polo, holding it out to me, but I shook my head, biting my lip and smirking as I did so. “Oh no. No.. see, if I don’t do something major now, she’s never going to fuck off. So thanks but no. Now put your shirt back on before you get in trouble.”

Sweet Pea eyed me. Shaking his head. I tapped my foot impatiently, holding his gaze. “Sweet Pea… Put the goddamn shirt back on. I know what I’m doing, okay? This is to prove a point.”

“What good is that gonna do when you’re caught by a teacher and you wind up in detention, huh? Take the fucking shirt, Cherry. Take it now.” Sweet Pea used his firmest tone, but I was too angry. It didn’t do anything to me.

“Put the shirt back on, Sweet Pea. Now.” I muttered firmly. A hand on my hip. “Do it. I’m willing to stand here until a teacher spots me if that’s what it’ll take to keep you from doing something that we know might get you expelled.”

“Goddamn it.” Sweet Pea gave up arguing, finally realizing I wasn’t going to budge one way or the other. Not until I’d done what I came out to do. And the less he argued with me, the quicker I could get it done and get back in the locker room.

I spotted my favorite Motley Crue crop tee near the girls bathroom. And totally zoned out, so angry that I was actually shaking a little, I paid not one single bit of attention to the fact that a few people were staring.

I was too pissed to be embarrassed and that is probably a good thing. Because if I wasn’t so pissed, I’d have wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.

I spotted the red and black plaid shirt I’d been wearing over my tee shirt hanging over the rim of a garbage can and I calmly walked over, plucking it out. With my clothing gathered, I went to step back in the locker room, ignoring the one or two whistles and the Ghoulie who felt the need to comment something so gross that I debated heavily on walking over and twisting his dick in my hand until it twisted off.

I flung the door of the locker room open wide and when I did, it connected with Mandy’s face because she’d been standing there. Probably recording the whole thing to post on her socials later.

Because that’s totally something girls like her do for funsies.

She stumbled back, holding her nose as blood began to slowly pool between her fingers. And before she had a chance to react, I was slamming her against the lockers immediately to the right of the door. My forearm against her throat to hold her there.

“You’re going to erase whatever video you just recorded. Don’t fucking test me, you diseased thundercunt. Erase the video. I know you recorded the whole thing.”

“You little bitch, you broke my nose!” Mandy slammed her head into mine, causing me to drop my forearm from her throat and grab for my own nose. Once she was free, she threw a punch. I ducked it and came up swinging. Connecting with her jaw. And before she could even recover from the punch, I was grabbing her by the hair and shoving her head at the locker door.

She charged at me, knocking me on the ground. I grabbed hold of her face, trying to go for her eyes and once she was trying to block that, I flipped it and reversed it so that I was straddling her hips now. The first thing I did was grab hold of her phone and throw it on the floor a few feet away as hard as I could. When she tried to reach up and choke me, I choked her back and she rolled us so that she was on top this time. Fists were flying again. The benches that ran the middle of the locker room were being moved out of place. Lockers were being hit as we made full use of the floor in the girls locker room.

Her friends tried to rush over to help but Veronica and Cheryl stopped them from getting close as Cheryl called out to me, “Get her! It’s about time!” and she told Veronica firmly, “Lock the doors. Nobody gets in or out. Amanda has had this coming for a while now.”

Veronica nodded, locking the door to the locker room. Betty held off Mandy’s friends with Veronica and Cheryl’s help. Determined to let the fight keep going. At least until one of us or the other calmed down.

 I stood up, pulling Mandy off the floor. Pulling her towards the showers.

Turning on the water full blast and as cold as I could get it. Shoving her into it and as soon as I had her cornered, I leaned down to her level. Grabbing hold of her white and yellow Riverdale Vixens ringer that now had blood spattered on the front of it.

“You better hope that video got erased, Mandy, or this is just a preview of what your life’s gonna be like, honey.”  I said it quietly and calmly. “And if you think for even a second about messing with me again… Remember this.”

“You’re actually insane.. You crazy little bitch. Just wait. I’ll get back at you. This isn’t over, Alyssa.”

“Oh, I’m counting on that, you diseased mega skank.” I shrugged as I walked away from her, facing her. My middle finger up in the air. “You might want to clean yourself up, Amanda. We can’t have anybody thinking we were up to no good in here, now can we?” I challenged.

A teacher was pounding on the door and it started to click into place what I’d just done. I sank down on the nearest bench, panting to catch my breath. Trying to calm down. Letting the anger and everything subside.

Cheryl made her way over, Veronica and Betty in tow. Stopping to unlock the door as they went. Whatever Cheryl told the teacher had the teacher satisfied that nobody was up to anything bad in the locker room and leaving and once they had, Cheryl shut the door quickly. Leaning against it with her hand over her heart. “Whew. That was so close.”

Veronica sank down on the bench in front of me, the first aid kit we kept in the locker room open and across her lap.

“This is going to hurt, Al. I’m sorry in advance.” Veronica winced as she started to apply hydrogen peroxide to the few scratches on the side of my face and cheek.

All I could do was nod. Because I was still coming down from the adrenaline.

“If she messes with you again after this, she’s clearly an idiot.” Veronica spoke up after a few seconds. I shrugged. “Oh, she’s not done with me yet. But it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry we couldn’t stop it before all hell broke loose.” Cheryl spoke up, wincing as I looked up at her and laughed it off, shaking my head. Trying to flinch away from Veronica as she came at my face with a cold and damp washcloth to clean the blood away from underneath my nose.

“Cheryl, trust me. I’m fine. I can handle myself. You guys were trying to count the votes, it’s not a big deal. Besides. I needed to stand up for myself.”

“I know, but if I’d been in here, I could’ve stopped her.” Cheryl butted in, gently but firmly.

“I should’ve stood up to her way before now, if I’m being honest. Take the high road, they said. It’s better in the long run, they said. That’s a load.” I grumbled. 

“Ouch fuck ouch hey.. Can you wipe less painfully?” I pleaded with Veronica.

She grimaced and muttered an apology.

“I can’t wait to hear about this crap later. Or try explaining it to my dad and Archie. Archie’s going to take the chance to spin this so that somehow, it’s anybody’s fault but mine.” I grumbled, shaking my head, disgusted at the thought.

“He’s just being a protective brother.”

“I wish sometimes he’d not do that.. So much. Did you know that he just stood back and let Reggie and Sweet Pea fight earlier when the team went to cut everyone loose?”

“I’m still angry with my father about that.” Veronica muttered, adding a second later, “But, that’s typical of him, though. He’s not happy until he owns everything and everyone.” Veronica fumed, shaking her head with a disgusted look on her face.

I bit my lip, nodding. Keeping my own opinions on the subject to myself. Because it’s not like she can control what her parents choose to do. And she tries to be better, she tries to make it so that there’s a very clear and obvious difference between herself and her parents, but with parents like hers, you wind up having to get your hands dirty sooner or later.

I’d just finished getting dressed and stepped into the hallway, finding Sweet Pea leaning against the wall.

“What the fuck was going on in there?”

I shrugged.

Mandy walked past with her friends and Sweet Pea looked from Mandy back at me. Grimacing as he caught sight of my face. Stepping closer. 

“Did she do that?” he eyed me in concern. Tensing up a little. The soft edge to his voice had my heart fluttering a little, but as fast as that started, I was quick to shove it down. Reminding myself that Sweet Pea only tolerated me because we happened to share two friends in common. His hand raised, gingerly touching at a bruise forming along my jaw. Hissing as he shook his head. I tensed a little because now that the adrenaline was completely gone and the shock I’d been in or whatever for the duration of my fight was wearing off too and now everything just plain hurt.

“Mhm.” I answered quietly, swallowing down a lump as it formed in my throat. Gazing up at him. I blinked when my body brushed up against his, not aware that I’d stepped closer to him.

“Did you do.. All that?” he nodded to where she stood at her locker in the hallway, glaring daggers in my direction, her friends flocking her.

“I hope you’re prepared to pay for Amanda’s broken nose, you crazy witch.” Kaylie called out calmly. “Her mother is going to make sure you pay for the fight.”

Mandy smirked at me. “I can’t wait to tell my mother everything. I’m almost as excited to talk to her about the way you’ve been bullying me as I am to post the video of you wandering the hallway of our high school in underwear.”

I tensed, taking a step away from Sweet Pea and forward in the hallway. Sweet Pea reached out quickly, grabbing me up and away by my hips. Putting me behind him as he eyed Mandy calmly. “You really don’t value your life at all, do ya?”

Mandy eyed him, gulping.

“It’s a simple question, Mandy.” Sweet Pea shrugged, smirking a little.

“What are you gonna do, Serpent? I can make one call and have you arrested.”

I growled from behind Sweet Pea. “Try it you fucking gremlin. Try it.” I threatened.

“Enough.” Sweet Pea’s tone was calm and firm as he looked from Mandy to me, folding his arms over his chest. I went quiet and Mandy’s lip quivered a little as she gazed up at him. 

“What you’re gonna do, Mandy… Erase whatever you recorded. If you don’t, you’re really not going to like what happens.” Sweet Pea stepped closer to her, giving a menacing scowl as he towered over her.

Just the way he said it had a slow and lazy heat settling in the pit of my stomach. Had my breath catching in my throat because of just the tone he took… You’d think he was my actual boyfriend. He was acting more like one than any of my past boyfriends, Reggie included.

If I were more hopeful, I’d almost want to say he meant every word of the threat he made to Mandy.

Mandy hurried off and Sweet Pea turned, settling his gaze on me. Eyeing my nose critically and grimacing. “It’s not broken. What the hell happened?”

“She was practically leaning against the damn door so when I threw it open, it hit her in the nose. She went to swing at me, I threw her against a locker… Then it kind of spiralled out of control from there?” I shuffled my feet, going fidgety under his intent and concerned gaze.

“Who locked the door?” Sweet Pea asked, admitting a few seconds later, “I tried the handle when I saw Mrs. Ellis heading for the locker room. I heard all the yelling and every time somebody hit a locker or the wall, so I figured something was going on in there… I was gonna warn you...”

“Oh, that was Cheryl. She wasn’t going to risk anybody going to get a teacher to come in and break it up.” I gave a soft laugh, shaking my head. I nodded towards the doors at the end of the empty hallway.

“We should probably get going. The last place I want to be locked in overnight is here.”

“Yeah, I was waiting on Fangs, but apparently, he ditched me.” Sweet Pea shrugged. I raised a brow, because that wasn’t like Fangs. Usually if he said he’d be somewhere, he was there.

“I haven’t seen him since lunch, come to think of it.” I spoke up after a few seconds.

“He probably bailed. He’s probably already at the Wyrm.” Sweet Pea shrugged. I nodded, agreeing.

“So.. ready?” I asked. Trying my best not to get my hopes up. Preparing myself for Sweet Pea to suggest going to my dad’s or to Pops instead of going to the Wyrm. Shocked more than a little bit when Sweet Pea smirked and nodded.

“Yeah. Just so you know, Cherry… If you think for one second you’re wiping me off the leaderboard, not gonna happen.” he chuckled as we walked down the hall and he paused to push the door open for me.

About halfway to the Wyrm, my hand brushed against his. I glanced down, biting my lip. Debating heavily on just grabbing hold of his hand.

Because friends held hands, right?

I mean.. I held hands with Cheryl and Toni all the time.

Except deep down, I knew that was not even remotely the real motive behind holding Sweet Pea’s hand. The simplest truth was that I just… Couldn’t stop myself from doing something. Anything.

I took a deep breath and carefully, I slipped my hand into his. Gazing down for a second or two after I’d done it. Shocked I’d actually had the damn nerve to go through with it. Even more shocked when Sweet Pea didn’t immediately scowl, tense up or let go.

Instead, his fingers laced with mine.

And like this morning, neither of us really mentioned it. But that tension that seemed to hang around us like a heavy cloud recently?

It got so very much thicker.

He pushed open the door to the Wyrm and I stepped under his arm, into the building. He stepped in behind me, nodding to a table with two chairs towards the back. Where it was a little quieter.

“We should be able to get everything finished back there, Cherry.”

I nodded. My eyes darted around. Finding it odd that the same people staring at me currently never even gave me a second look when I wandered in with Toni and Fangs.

I shoved the thought out of my head.

We were just two classmates.. Two friends.. Meeting to finish an assignment for school.

We made our way to the back of the bar, taking a seat at the table. At one point, while we were deep in rolling and making notes for the chart we’d been given and for our report we’d have to write later, FP wandered past.

“That’s good kid. Nice to see you actually takin school seriously. Don’t give Alyssa a hard time, buddy.” he flashed Sweet Pea a smirk and Sweet Pea nodded. Smirking right back at FP.

“People are looking at us like you’re doing something wrong.” I leaned in and whispered when I just couldn’t take the way people were watching like a hawk anymore and it had me curious.

Sweet Pea glanced up and around, shrugging. “ Most of the older guys think it’s impossible to be friends with a girl and won’t bring one around unless they’re involved with her. Is it bothering you?” he gazed at me, that concerned look in his eyes again.

I shook my head profusely. Taking a sip of the wild cherry pepsi that FP had brought over to us to drink earlier and wanting to kick myself for even mentioning it, because I had a feeling I’d probably just made things awkward.

And that was the very thing I was trying to avoid. 

We finally finished rolling for genetic traits and I finished up the sketch I’d been doing.

“Okay. If you laugh I swear to God.” I gazed at Sweet Pea nervously as I shoved the sketch pad across the table to him.

“Did you just do this?” he asked, staring at the sketch.

“Yeah. I’m not the best.”

I reached for the sketch pad. But not before it flipped a few pages and settled on a drawing I’d done of Sweet Pea when he hadn’t been paying attention one day while we were all hanging out in here, playing the Mortal Kombat arcade game.

Lucky for me, he saw that I’d done sketches of Toni and Cheryl sharing a Twizzler at lunch one day and Fangs working on his motorcycle in the parking lot before school one morning. When he got to the sketch I’d done of Reggie, he scowled a little.

“I wanted to burn that too but Cheryl convinced me if I ever decided to actually get off my ass and apply to art school after I’m done with Riverdale High, it’d be good for my portfolio. She literally tried to throw herself on the fire to stop me from burning all the sketches I did of Reggie.” I laughed quietly, wincing as I shook my head.

Every time I caught myself thinking about the fact that I’d been taken in by a charming smirk and flirtatious mannerisms and the charisma of one Reggie Mantle, it only reminded me how gullible I was. How soft-hearted.

You’d think that getting involved with a guy who all but stalked me and tried to spread nasty rumors and suggestive pictures of me that I never should’ve sent in the first place when I finally got smart enough to break it off with him before leaving Chicago would be enough to teach me.

Apparently, it wasn’t. Because I came here and what’d I do? I got involved with Reggie Mantle. And now, that was over and I was starting to feel things for Sweet Pea, a guy who probably only tolerated me because we shared friends in common.

That was another huge reason I was not keen on opening myself up too quickly all over again. I might not always make the best choices, but even I had the common sense to know that I needed time… I needed to bounce back. Figure things out on my own.

And all of that was another  huge reason I was determined to keep whatever I was starting to feel for Sweet Pea close to the vest. The more I could keep whatever I felt at bay, the better off I’d be. Because realistically, I just didn’t dare hope.

I was starting to realize I just couldn’t trust my own judgement when it came to emotional things. Until I got to a place where I could, I was doing the best thing I could for me.

Something tells me this is going to be so much harder than I could ever imagine though.

The door to the bar flew open and Toni barged in. Over to the table Sweet Pea and I were sitting at.

“Have you talked to Cheryl at all this afternoon?” Toni asked in a rush. 

“I tried to call her earlier but it kept going to voicemail. And we were just saying earlier that Fangs is MIA too…” I rubbed my  temples. I had the sneaking suspicion that I knew exactly what might have happened to Cheryl, because not so long ago, her mother had kind of caught wind of her relationship with Toni. And her mother was not thrilled.

I grumbled, digging in my jeans pocket for my phone.

It clicked for Toni that Sweet Pea and I had come to the Wyrm. Alone. Without her or Fangs present to act as a buffer.

“You’re here together, fuck. I’m sorry. I’m just.. I’m freaking out right now.” Toni glanced from me to Sweet Pea and then back again. “Are you two finally going to stop being snipey assholes and get along though?”

Sweet Pea shrugged, giving me a teasing smirk. “Maybe she’s not so bad… For a princess.”

“Maybe you’re not so bad either. For a giant grumpy asshole.” I teased right back. Feeling my cheeks burn hot just a little at the look in his eyes and the way he put emphasis on the word princess.

Because no, that did not help my current ongoing mental dilemma at all.

“You’re staying with me until we figure out this situation with Cheryl, right?” I asked Toni. Toni nodded, stealing a sip of my Pepsi. “I swear to God, if her mother’s hurt her…”

“If her mother’s done anything to her, she’s going to answer to both of us. I’ve got your back, Topaz.” I spoke up, giving Toni a reassuring look. I tried to call Cheryl again on my phone, but it went straight to voicemail too. I frowned at it, putting my phone away.

Toni eyed me and then glanced in Sweet Pea’s direction as if she were indicating that she wanted details later tonight when we were back at my dad’s place. Mouthing to me, “Well?”

I shook my head, shrugging. “We were just finishing that thing for Biology.” I mouthed. Glancing at my cell phone. I was not getting a good feeling at all. And the more Cheryl’s phone rang and went to voicemail, the more that bad feeling grew.

“It’s going to voice. He’s normally here already if he ditches.”  Sweet Pea swore to himself and shook his head.

“Wait.. he got called to the office right after lunch.” Toni spoke up. Swearing when she tried to call Cheryl yet again and the call went to Cheryl’s voicemail as it had just done for me. She shoved her phone into her pocket and took a few deep breaths. “Maybe she just went to sit with her Nana. They haven’t let her out of the hospital yet, I don’t think.. That has to be it.”

The door flew open again and this time, my brother and Jughead were rushing in. Stopping to talk to a few of the other Serpents we went to school with who were present. Whatever Jughead told them had them rushing out the door in a hurry. I eyed them but quickly turned my attention back to the situation at hand involving our two missing friends. Trying to retrack the events of the day. I remembered it then, Fangs had been called to the office during lunch and after that, I hadn’t seen him again.

We had the second to last class of the day together. He hadn’t been there. 

“You guys have to get out of here. Get everyone out of here and out of this side of town now. They’re about to raid the Wyrm.” Jughead and my brother rushed over to us. My brother let out a ragged breath when he caught sight of me. “Thank god. There you are. I was worried when I couldn’t find you. What the hell happened to your face, pixie?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.. You guys. Explain. What the fuck do you mean we have to get out of here? Archie, what’s going on? What have you let that jackass talk you into this time?”

“Nothing! It’s something I overheard, okay, look. I know you’re still pissed at me. But you guys need to get everyone together and get the hell off of this side of town, okay? Just trust me. Do it. I told Dad what was going on and he said that we could put people up until FP figured something out.”

Sweet Pea eyed my brother with a wary look. I eyed him too, wondering briefly if this were some kind of a trick that Hiram put him up to. Wondering how the hell he managed to get Jughead in on it if it were.

“What the hell is going on tonight?” I wondered aloud after a few seconds.Not even ten seconds later, one of the older bikers wandered in, getting a hold of FP, taking him to the back to talk.

“Are you makin this up, Andrews? Is this a trap? Because to me, that’s what it feels like.” Sweet Pea tensed. His fists clenched at his side and my brother shook his head. “No. This is me. Trying to make up for all of the other stuff, okay? Look. Hiram set the whole thing up this afternoon after he got done arranging to have Fangs arrested earlier.”

“He’s not lying. I just went down the the station, man. Fangs is there. They’re holding him for questioning and they won’t say a fucking word about why he’s even there. And while I was there, I heard some of the guys in the break room joking about how fun it was going to be, cracking some Serpent skulls tonight. If we leave now, they have nothing. They don’t get any evidence, they can’t make any arrests.” Jughead explained impatiently. “We have to go. We needed to be gone ten minutes ago, if you want the honest fucking truth, Pea.”

“Dad really said he’d let them hide in our house. You’re not lying.” I questioned my brother, gazing up at him. Standing taller. “Because I swear to God, Archie, if this is a trap.. If any more of my friends get arrested because you have a burning desire to be Hiram Lodge’s long lost son or whatever the fuck it is you want to accomplish.”

My brother cut me off. “I’ve been working undercover. I wasn’t supposed to tell you anything. I wasn’t supposed to say anything to anyone, actually. Getting close to Hiram is… for the greater good.”

“Uh huh.You mean like the actual greater good or the oh look, pops bought me a ferrari for christmas because I’m a good little fucking stooge greater good?” I questioned, a brow raised and my hand on my hip.

“Al, we can finish this argument once your friends have their shit and they’re heading back to our side of town. I’ll gladly finish this discussion then. Dad sent me and Jugs to get everyone away from here.”

“I don’t know..”

Sweet Pea cleared his throat. “I’m not saying I trust you, Andrews. But I’m willing to take what Jugs says with a grain of salt. He is one of us now.”

Toni and I exchanged a surprised look, but then everyone started to rush around and gather their things as quick as they could. And as soon as we were all out in the alley behind the Wyrm, the first of at least six police cars came flying by, blue lights flashing and sirens blazing.

I let out a ragged breath and glanced up at Sweet Pea. When I caught on to the fact that he was both angry and silently freaking out, I reached down, gently grabbing hold of his pinkie finger with mine. Giving him a weak smile when I glanced up at him.

He didn’t smile back, but as we rounded the corner and promptly had to find another alley to go down to hide because another cop car rushed past, I felt him squeeze my pinkie finger with his more than a time or two.

Almost the second we crossed over into the North Side, I realized just how eerie and quiet it was.

Too quiet.

Nobody was saying anything. We were all too tired from running. Hiding. 

At one point, Toni reached down and grabbed the hand of mine closest to her, giving it a squeeze as she muttered into my ear quietly, “I hope Cheryl is okay.”

“We’ll get up to my room and figure something out, okay?”  I promised in a whisper.

And on the other side of me,  I felt Sweet Pea’s hand lazily close on mine. A squeeze so light that I honestly didn’t think he even realized he’d done it.

It took a few seconds, but I dared to glance down. Eyes fixing on the way his hand engulfed mine. His fingers laced between my fingers. Before I could stop myself, I dragged my thumb knuckle lazily over his palm. Gave his hand a similar light squeeze as I glanced up at Toni to pretend I wasn’t aware I’d done it.

Once we were all in my dad’s house, FP showed up. Explaining that he was currently trying to figure out somewhere everyone could go. Letting people who’d gotten separated from family during the whole scramble to leave whether their people made it and were incoming or at another place that FP had taken the other half of South Side to keep the cops from finding everyone at once or whether they’d been caught and were going to need bail.

My dad and Archie took over the kitchen with the help of FP and Jughead, making food for everyone. Once everyone else was set up and occupied and there wasn’t anything else I could do to help my dad and my brother, I went to go find Toni and we slipped out of the chaos downstairs, retreating up to my room.

The second the door was closed behind me, Toni spoke up.

“You don’t think Penelope killed her.”

“Toni, no. But I do think that she’s keeping her somewhere. Remember Cheryl telling us that she needed to tell us something important? I think that whatever she was going to tell us is the reason we can’t find her right now. Her mother makes Joan Crawford look like a fucking saint.” I fell back across my bed and stared at the ceiling. Sitting up a few minutes later.

“Hey, that girl in my English class… her mom’s a nurse. I can ask if Cheryl’s been there to sit with her nana.”

I dug my phone out and texted the girl in question. Frowning when the girl answered that she’d been there earlier, but she’d left to go home.

“She’s not there. Okay, I do not like the way this feels.”

“Me either.”

We sat in silence on my bed for a few minutes, trying to figure out a way to find out what happened to Cheryl. As I tried to think of places she might have gone or hidden at, I texted my mom about Fangs being kept at the station.

She texted me back, asking if I knew why they were holding him and I texted her back that we were trying to figure out why and we were hoping she’d call and scare someone into giving some form of an answer.

I frowned when she called a few minutes later and explained that she hadn’t been able to get anything. She asked what the hell was going on in town tonight, telling me that while she’d been talking to the secretary at the station, she’d heard a lot of yelling and angry chanting from outside. And a lot of whispering and hushed laughing.

I told her about the raid and I told her about Midge’s body being found during the school play. I told her that people had been starting rumors for whatever reason that Fangs might have done it, because Midge and Fangs had something going on.

“You’re staying out of trouble though, right? With your brother going through whatever it is he’s going through, sweetie…”

“About that.. I kind of got into a fight. But none of the teachers know. Nobody saw it.”

My mom sighed and I frowned, tensing up a little at a possible lecture incoming. When it started, I sat there with the phone away from my ear, letting her go on for a few minutes before I explained calmly, “I’m not going to stand back and be a doormat either, mom. And since Archie is doing all this and showing his entire ass, I need to take care of my own problems. Mandy was a problem, I solved it. End of discussion.”

“First of all, don’t take that tone with me. Second of all.. Does your father know? Did you tell him any of what you just told me?”

“No. I only told you what I just did to get you off my back. Mom.. I’m.. I love you and I’m sorry. I can’t be perfect and I can’t be something I’m not.”

“I’m not asking you to be perfect. I’m asking you to stay out of trouble.”

“It doesn’t feel like that though.”

We exchanged tense goodnights and goodbyes and I ended the call, tossing my phone at the top of my vanity as I flopped back against my bed.

“Ever feel like the black sheep?” I wondered aloud. Feeling bad about it after I said it, because I realized that Toni literally only had the Serpents, Cheryl and her grandfather and me. I palmed my face and shook my head, ashamed. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I get it. My grandpa and I argue a lot.” Toni gave me a sympathetic nod. 

I shook my head at myself. “I swear, my mom and I are constantly butting heads. It’s part of the reason I never understood why she insisted I was the one to go to Chicago with her and that Archie stay here in Riverdale with Dad.”

“Probably because trust me. There are some things that men are not equipped to deal with.”

“I mean, true, but…”

Toni laughed quietly. Stretching a little. “Maybe Cheryl just wanted some space. I haven’t found anything out from anyone else.”

“All I know is what she told me before she left practice. She was going to see her Nana Rose again.”

“Yeah, she told me that too. But she’s been jumpy all day. Like she’s scared.”

“I noticed too.” I agreed, nodding. “Maybe she’ll be at school tomorrow. If she’s not, we’ll ditch and try to find answers or something.”

“Yeah. I’m too wiped to think anymore right now and if I do, I’m going to drive myself insane. And if I do that, we both know I’m going to go off and do something fucking dumb.” Toni admitted as she pulled back the cover on the other side of my bed.

“You’re cool with sharing a bed? I mean, all things considered.”

“Please,I know you have a very specific type of red-head and it ain’t me... Besides. You’re my friend. I’m not making you sleep on the floor.” I answered, gathering my things because I figured that everyone who was planning to shower tonight had probably done so already.

I made my way down the hall, reaching for the handle to the bathroom door right as Sweet Pea pulled it open from the other side. With a towel wrapped around his waist. I spun around, immediately going red in the face. “Shit, fuck. I’m sorry, I.. I thought everyone had already gotten a shower and gone to sleep?” I called out without daring to turn around and face him.

He cleared his throat. “Nah. I told Archie to go before me. I’m the one staying in your house. Didn’t want to intrude.” he tapped my shoulder when he’d pulled on his jeans and I turned around. He took a step forward to come out the door at the same time that I took a step forward to go in the door. We wound up body to body in the hallway. I gazed up at him, licking my lips.

He grimaced as his eyes settled on the bruise on my jaw from the fight earlier in the afternoon. “Did you show your dad? That looks a lot worse now.” His voice took on a concerned tone. 

I shook my head. “Nope. I already had more than enough lecturing about it from my mom earlier when I called to get her to see if she could find out anything about why Fangs was arrested and being held.”

Sweet Pea raised a hand, dragging it through damp hair. A droplet of water trickled down his forehead. Then dropped onto his nose, rolling down it’s slope. When it dripped down and rolled down his lips, my eyes were glued to it’s movement.  He cleared his throat, repeating the question that he’d asked me I apparently hadn’t heard. “Did she find out anything?”

“Just that they’re holding him until they have to let him go. If I had to guess though, it’s because people were saying crap about him and Midge having a thing going..” I muttered quietly. Shuffling my feet against worn wooden floorboards. 

“At least you tried.” he muttered quietly, gazing down at me. His eyes darted to my bruises and scrapes from my fight with Mandy earlier and he cleared his throat. “You should go tell your dad what happened. Just in case she is dumb enough to upload anything she might have recorded and we can’t coerce her into taking it down on our own.”

“If she does, she does. Won’t be the first time something like that happened.” I blurted it out, going quiet as soon as I realized I had. Tensing a little because I really hoped that he didn’t pay it any attention. Or that he didn’t push to know what I meant.I wasn’t even sure why it slipped out. I fidgeted a little, nervous. He eyed me, but luckily, he didn’t ask for further details.

The last thing I wanted right now was for him to know exactly how stupid and pathetic I was and still am. If he knew I’d been dumb enough to sext Dave and Dave had turned and used the photos against me or any of the other shit that I got into in Chicago… I pushed the intrusive thought out of my head.

“Cherry?” Sweet Pea muttered quietly. His eyes fixing on mine. Hints of a smirk playing at his lips. As quickly as the thought came ,, he has literally no idea just how devastatingly handsome he really is, I swear to God.” I hurried to shove it out. Bury it way down deep. Try to ignore the way I felt the slightest flutter of my heart. Or the way my throat seemed to close up when I realized that we were migrating closer to each other and that his hand was brushing against my hip just barely.

“Yeah, Pea?” I finally managed to pull myself together enough to get out the words. Gazing right back up at him, falling in right over my head and virtually powerless to stop it from happening.

“Night.” he yawned as he stepped out of the doorway, making his way back downstairs. From the sound of it, my brother had dragged out one of his old gaming systems. And apparently, he and a few other Serpents were sitting up, playing some long forgotten game. I made my way away from where I’d been peering down the stairs just to make sure that things weren’t tense between everyone and I turned, slipping into the bathroom.

Turning on the hot water and leaning against the wall, letting it cascade down onto my body from above. Just… trying to process the entire craziness of the day so far.

By the time I slipped into my side of the bed, Toni was already asleep, wearing my black velvet eye mask over her eyes. I found one of my other ones and slipped it down over my eyes.

And it seemed like in literally no time, I was out like a light. Exhausted from everything that had gone down in one day.

[jugxbets]

ALS Chapter Two continued pt 1

Alex scoffed. Jughead noticed.

"How about you? Everything okay with you and that new girl?" He asked.

"No. She's a spoiled, bitch who'll whine if she doesn't get what she wants." Alex coldly said.

"Oh, so you hate her because she's just like you?" Jughead teased.

She playfully nudged him and laughed. "Shut up."

When she heard Moose say that Kevin was with him, she turned around to look at him to give him a wink. He nervously smiled in response.

Then she looked back at her table. Their assignment was to dissect a dead frog.

"And what are suppose to learn from doing this?" she asked, disgusted.

"I have no clue, but should be an easy A, smarty pants."

She laughed.

Then the 'living mannequins' interrupted.

"So, if you're here, does that mean you're smarter than Archie?" Ginger asked.

Alex blinked.

"What does it matter?" She shrugged.

They shrugged. "So are you guys like a thing?" Tina joined Ginger on her '21 questions' game.

Alex blushed while Jughead shuffled in his seat awkwardly.

"U-uh, no." Alex shook her head as she chuckled.

The girls smirked.

Their attention then went to Cheryl, who was cutting open a frog a little more aggressive than needed.

They gasped when they saw her stab it and move the scalpel down its body.

That caused Alex and Jughead to glance at Cheryl with their brows furrowed.

The class went on.

Jughead and Alex messed around most of the time but got the assignment done.

It was time for them to go to the rest of their classes. Most of them had the same schedule.

Then it was lunch time. Betty, Kevin, Alex, and Veronica were walking across the football field with their lunches in their arms.

"So, what did Moose want?" Veronica asked, taking the words out of Alex's mouth as she was about to ask the same thing.

"Oh, my god, I don't even think he knows." Kevin admitted.

The girls giggled.

He went on to talk about Moose. Alex was annoyed by the fact at how everyone was forgiving Veronica so quickly.

"Okay, well, I ship it." Veronica chuckled.

"Well, of course, you would. You're a big city girl with loose morals."

Alex snickered. She loved how shady Kevin could be.

Then he continued to talk about Moose.

"...part of me wishes he would just stay in the darn closet." Kevin absentmindedly said.

Alex cringed. Probably shouldn't have said closet, she thought.

It got awkward real fast. Especially when he tried to clarify that he didn't mean a literal closet.

Alex went around the table to sit next to Archie.

"Archie!" Veronica basically shouted.

Alex glared at her.

"Any new material you wanna try out in a very forgiving audience?" She asked.

"Not all of us are forgiving." Alex pointed out with a smirk.

Veronica's face went blank.

"I..." Archie began to protest.

"Please?" Veronica pleaded.

"Would you? I'd love to hear it." Betty said as she put in her best smile.

Alex sighed. She desperately wanted to change the subject.

"Give me the guitar." Alex said as she put her hands out.

"Why?" Archie questioned as he passed it to her.

"I'll play, you sing." She said, strumming the guitar. It threw her off.

"Okay, first of all, this is out of tune."

He chuckled. She tuned it and made Archie proceed with his song.

He grabbed his journal. "I'm still working on the lyrics, so..." he made sure everybody knew.

"Yeah, yeah, get on with it." Alex said, ready to play.

She began strumming the guitar. Archie started to sing.

He barely got through the chorus when Alex noticed that Betty was crying.

Kevin and Veronica clapped when he finished.

"Betty, are you okay?" Alex asked concerned.

Then everyone else looked at her.

She let out a humorless chuckle.

"I'm supposed to say, 'yes.' That's what the nice girl always but.." she said, as her voice broke. She got up. "No, I'm not. I want to be, I thought I could be. But it's too much, too fast."

"Archie.." she sobbed.

"Betty.." Archie sympathetically said.

She walked off.

Alex nudged Archie. "Go after her, idiot."

He put his journal down and did what his sister told him to.

Both Kevin and Alex glared at Veronica. It filled her with guilt.

"Guys, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" She desperately asked.

"Until Betty believes you." Alex hissed.

She put Archie's guitar down and stormed off.

She went inside. She wandered down the empty halls. Everyone's lunch period was at this time so no one was really present in the hallways at the moment.

Her mood changed when she walked by Jason's locker. It changed from mild anger to complete sadness. It was surrounded by cards, candles, and flowers. She tried not to let her feel any kind of sympathy for the Blossoms but it was hard to do that now that it's been clarified that he was murdered.

She sighed heavily as she thought about him.

She continued walking towards her locker. She needed her books for her last class.

"You miss me?" She heard a familiar voice say.

She turned around only to see Chuck.

She smiled. "Of course."

He reached in for a kiss, which she returned. He pulled her closer to him by her tiny waist.

He pushed her against the lockers gently.

She grunted when her back hit the cool metal. She smirked while her lips were still intertwined with his.

He pulled back, still keeping her body in place.

"Come to my house later?" He smirked. "My dad'll be working late."

She hesitated to answer. She knew what he wanted and she wasn't sure she was going to give it to him.

It had only been a few weeks but she was crushing on him hard. He told her he felt the same but that they couldn't date because his father wouldn't allow it with it being football season and all. So he convinced her to keep their "fooling around" a secret.

"Um, I'll have to see. I might have homework, so..." she trailed off.

He chuckled. "You can say no if you don't want to."

"No, I do." She nervously chuckled. "I'll go. After cheer practice.”

He smiled. "See you then."

He pecked her on the lips before walking off.

She went back to her locker and closed it.

Weatherbee snuck up behind her.

"Alexandria."

She gasped as she turned around to face him.

"Yes?" She responded.

"Can I talk to you about your brother for a moment?" He asked.

"Uh, sure." She said as her eyebrows furrowed.

"Let's step into my office."

She nodded. He lead the way.

She had just been there this morning, what did he want?

He cleared his throat once they were sitting across each other.

"Has Archibald been acting weird lately?" Weatherbee got right into it.

Alex was taken back by his question. She raised an eyebrow as she tried to recall.

"No, not that I've noticed." She shrugged.

"Hm." He hummed. "Do you think he might know anything about Jason's death?"

Alex hesitated to answer. Every time she asked or talking to him about it, he would get weird and quickly change the subject. She covered for him out of instinct

"Uh, no." Her brows furrowed. "What makes you say that?"

He shrugged. "I'm just trying to figure out the whole situation, is all."

Alex nodded. "I think we all are."

"Agreed. Thank you for your time. You can head to class." His hand gestured towards the door.

She nodded and headed out.

She went to her last class. She couldn't concentrate though. She had too many questions to ask Archie. Was he a suspect?

She spent the whole period thinking about it.

Then it was time for cheer rehearsal. Cheryl seemed very stressed and overwhelmed.

Alex did what Cheryl asked her to in order not to get into a fight with her. Alex helped her choreograph the squad, like agreed.

She thought the whole dance was good, but she felt like something was missing.

"You're right about that, little Andrews." Cheryl said as she observed her squad from a far.

The only reason she obeyed Cheryl's demands was because she would rather do that than to listen to Veronica and Betty argue.

"Stand down, vixens." Cheryl interrupted. "And listen up."

She went on about how the squad was letting her down.

She mentioned that everyone's attention would be in her and that they would be waiting for her to breakdown. She said she wouldn't.

"..I need start power, like Alex here, suggested."

"Well, I didn't real—" Alex began.

"I need the Pussycats." Cheryl cut her off.

"Stay loose and limber, ladies, while I make a call." She shouted.

Alex went to a corner, that Veronica and Betty happened to be in. She took a sip of her water and began to stretch.

She heard Veronica talk about how psychotic the way Cheryl was grieving was. Betty shaded her by saying she wasn't putting on an act, implying that Veronica was.

"For the record, I only went into that closet with Archie, so that Cheryl wouldn't."

Alex rolled her eyes. She couldn't help but overhear their already sparked up argument. She thought about interjecting but she didn't want to hear any more of Veronica's lies.

"It is not my fault he doesn't like you." Veronica snapped.

"If that's what you were thinking.." she quickly added.

The rest of what she said, Alex sort of agreed. She was still a bitch though.

Their argument got more heated by the minute until Cheryl interrupted them.

Alex kept minding her own business while she stretched.

She overheard Betty inviting Cheryl to get mani pedis and blowouts after school. That was to purposely get under Veronica's skin.

Then they walked off.

Veronica turned to Alex.

"You wanna yell at me too?"

"Do not start with me." Alex warned.

She sighed.

Alex rolled her eyes. "I overheard. I agreed with most of the things you said. But again, you did NOT have to go into the closet with Archie. Even if Cheryl went in with him, she would be angry at her, not at you."

Veronica nodded. She rubbed her face with her hands in frustration as she groaned.

"Just give her time. You're forcing it." Alex mentioned.

Veronica nodded.

Rehearsals ended. Alex checked her phone. She had a message from Chuck.

From Chuck:

Can't wait to see you.

She smiled.

She grabbed her stuff and headed out the doors.

She began walking to Chuck's house. It wasn't that far but it wasn't as close as her house was.

She arrived and rang the doorbell.

He greeted her and welcomed her inside.

They headed up to their room where they began the making out on his bed.

They've gotten to this point before but she always stopped when she feared it would go too far. This time she wasn't sure she cared.

His hand, that was on her thigh, started to wander up her short shorts. She whimpered at his touch.

Their session got hotter by the minute.

He started yanking her shorts down.

Alex stopped kissing him.

"What are you doing?" She nervously asked.

"Don't worry." He kissed her neck. "I'll be gentle."

She hesitantly nodded and continued to kiss him.

When he took her shorts off, she starting pulling at his shirt. He took the hint and pulled it off, reconnecting their lips as he got it off.

He was on top of her. Her legs were spread out, whereas he was at her entrance. She felt his bulge as he occasionally pressed himself against her. The contact would make her whimper, wanting more.

She took her shirt off as well. Her hands trailed down to his belt and zipper as she unbuckled and unzipped his jeans. Her hands ran along his very visible bulge. He moaned softly when he felt her petite hands where he needed her the most.

She was a bit nervous because he was quite big. She decided she didn't care and proceed to pull his underwear down, not taking them off completely.

He took her panties off and finally, he placed himself at her entrance.

They both moaned softly at the contact.

"You're so wet." He grunted as he kept pressing himself against her.

she moaned in response. she was shaky and kinda nervous because they were going to fast but she didn’t wanna ruin the moment.

"Do you want it?" He seductively asked, as he placed his arms on either side of her head, kissing her neck.

"Y-yes." She breathlessly moaned.

"Tell me. Tell me you do." He continued to kiss her neck.

"I-I want it. I want it so bad." She said with so much lust and need in her voice.

He gripped her waist with both of his hands and gently, like he promised, placed himself inside of her.

Her brows knit together as she felt all of him inside of her. She let out a loud moan once he was all in.

He snapped his hips back and forth, meeting hers. Her breaths were ragged and short. He was grunting the whole time, which turned Alex on more.

His hand ran along her stomach and starting rubbing her clit, causing her to moan louder.

"What's my name?" Chuck suddenly grunted.

Alex just moaned in response.

"I said," he said, grabbing her in a light chokehold, "what's my name?" He growled.

She swore she could've melted in his grip right there and then.

"C-Chuck." She moaned

Chuck moaned as he kept going, and faster. He was about to finish and so was she.

"Scream it." He demanded.

She was getting closer and closer with every stroke he made.

One last stroke and she screamed his name. That made him finish right there and then as well.

He rested his forehead against hers, trying to catch his breath. She was breathing quick too.

He extracted himself from her and laid beside her.

Alex was still trying to catch her breath. She knew she would be sore after this.

Chuck pulled his underwear and jeans up. He zipped and buckled them back up.

Alex sat up and started putting her clothes back on.

"You were great for your first time." Chuck admitted.

o-oh. he thought it was my first time.

Alex chuckled nervously and went along with it. "Thanks, I guess."

"Are you sore?" He asked leaning in for a kiss, which Alex gave to him.

"A little, but I'll be okay." She chuckled once again.

"Alright. Do you think you'll be good to walk home?" My dad's gonna get here soon." He casually said as he put his shirt back on.

What? That was it?

"U-uh, yeah, I guess so.." she stammered.

Chuck laid back down and pulled out his phone to go through his socials.

"Cool." Was all he said.

She got her bag and left.

She was sort of limping when she was walking but it went away after a couple of blocks.

She couldn't help but think that Chuck just used her. She felt her eyes well up with tears. She decided to fight them and not let them stream down her face.

She took a deep breath, and told herself everything would be okay.

She got home and saw Jughead, and Archie having a little argument outside.

"What? What are you gonna do?" Jughead asked, tempting Archie.

That was the only thing she overheard.

"Uh, is everything okay?" Alex carefully asked.

"Everything's fine." Archie didn't hesitate to answer her question.

Jughead just glared at him. They didn't break eye contact once.

"O-okay." She shook her head. "Hi, Jug."

"Hi." He bitterly responded. The bitterness wasn't intended for her but it came out that way anyway.

Then Fred stepped outside.

"Hey, Jug. Coming in?" Fred offered. "We got take-out from Pop's."

"He was just leaving." Archie answered for him.

"Archie." Alex scoffed.

Jughead scrunched his face up and walked away.

Archie went inside and Alex followed.

"Why are you home so late?" Fred asked Alex.

"I had cheer practice." She lied.

"I was just with Veronica." Archie said as his brows furrowed.

She stammered. "Oh- uh- with Cheryl. Just Cheryl. She asked me to help her choreograph so.."

Archie narrowed his eyes.

"And what the hell is up with you?" Fred continued to ask Archie.

"Nothing. I lost my appetite." Archie said, walking out of the kitchen to climb the stairs.

Alex scoffed and followed him.

She barged into his room.

"What the hell, Alex, knock fir—"

She cut him off. "Why have you been acting so weird?"

It caught him off guard.

"Why is Weatherbee asking me if I think you know anything about Jason's death? Hm?" She hummed when she got no response.

"A-And you're fighting with Jughead now? I mean seriously, what the fuck is going on?"

He looked away, shameful. “I-i don't know what to say to you.." He finally said after a moment of silence.

Alex let out a humorless chuckle. "Of course. That's perfect. That's just the fucking cherry on top."

She stormed off and went into her room, slamming the door. She felt betrayed because she kept covering for Archie whenever he needed it and there was something he wasn't telling her. Something is going on, she knows it.

She threw herself on her bed and screamed in frustration into her pillow.

Then something hit her. A thought: Chuck didn't wear a condom.

"FUCK!" She screamed into the pillow.

She sat up and starting to come up with a plan. She needed a plan b pill. Asap.

She thought about calling Betty, to ask her to get it for her but she knew she wouldn't. If her mother found it, she would kill them both.

Then she thought about Kevin but he's the type to blurt things out. She couldn't let him know.

There was no way she would ask her dad or Archie, or even Jughead.

It came down to one person.

She dialed their number.

Alex? I think you got the wrong phone number.

"N-no, i dialed it correctly. This is Veronica, right?" Her voice sounded shaky.

"I could really use your help.." Alex's voice broke.

what happened? Are you hurt?

“Nothing like that.. can you just do me a huge favor?”

[old-soviet]

Neil and Jewelry

So like I have this personal headcanon that every time Neil had to switch identities, he would put one of those fake piercings in his nose, lip, or ear?? Idk it’s just a little detail that he would pop in to help him feel more ‘in character’ and look more human, I guess, and he wouldn’t have to keep hiding piercings. So anyway, during the summer before his sophomore year at PSU, before he meets the incoming freshmen, he just pops it in his nose. He wants to be Neil Josten to these freshmen, not Nathaniel or anybody else, and he always really liked the nose ring.

He just walks out of the bathroom the Friday before freshman move-in week and he has it in, but he doesn’t say anything. Nicky hasn’t had his morning coffee yet so he can’t even look anyone in the eyes, much less notice anything different about someone. Kevin sees it right away, though. 

“Oh, really? Murder and mafia wasn’t edgy enough for you?” he asks, gesturing to the nose ring. “That better fuckin not be permanent.” And Neil just flips him off because it’s not permanent, and Kevin knows he wouldn’t do that to himself, and Neil knows that Kevin won’t be too much of an asshole so long as Neil takes it out for games. 

Nicky looks up to see what Kevin’s talking about and it takes him a couple of seconds but when he finally sees the nose ring he literally can’t talk...like his brain is going ???  !!! because Neil is already so hot and now he’s got a nose ring and Nicky is So. Gay. Neil just rolls his eyes and Kevin mutters something unintelligible about Erik. 

Andrew comes out of the bedroom a little bit later, while Neil is failing at making himself breakfast. Immediately he knows something is up because Nicky is just staring at Neil with a big ol’ blush on his face. When Neil turns a little bit, Andrew sees the nose ring and he just turns around and walks right back into the bedroom. No one sees him again until they leave for practice, and he makes a very conscious effort to avoid Neil’s gaze. 

Aaron meets them at the car and looks at the nose ring curiously, but he doesn’t say anything about it. He does snort when he notices the effect it very obviously has on both Andrew and Nicky. 

When they get to the lounge, the upperclassmen are already there. Matt notices immediately, and he loves it. “It looks great on you dude. No seriously, it’s great. When did you get it? Is it real? Wow, I’m so glad you’re feeling yourself.” 

Dan laughs at her boyfriend and then turns to her boyfriend’s boyfriend and winks at him. “Damn, son.” (We all know that Dan is one hell of a flirt and she loves flirting with Neil because they both find it hilarious.) 

Renee just smiles at him and tells him that it’s a good look for him. 

Allison is so proud. Neil?? Taking some pride in appearance??? She loves it. “You look absolutely fabulous, but what is that, aluminum? You need some real sterling silver so you don’t get a rash. We can get you one this weekend.” 

They’re all so nice to him. Neil never really cared what he looked like before, and he never really disliked his appearance because he never really thought about it. His teammates made him actually feel good about the way he looks, and it’s a nice feeling. 

He takes the ring off during practice to avoid and injury/distraction, but he pops it right back on afterward. Wymack gives them their usual debriefing after practice, reminds them that the freshman will be on campus next week, and throws in a reminder to no-one in particular that all jewelry has to come off during games. 

They don’t go to Eden’s that night, because Allison organized a nice dinner at a swanky restaurant for them all since it’s the last night they have just the nine of them. It’s really a lovely dinner, and the hot discussion topic is Neil’s ring. They ask him why he got it, and he explains always having one to move around and that the nose ring was always his favorite. Nicky asks Andrew if he likes it-Andrew responds with a bored look and a refusal to speak for the rest of the night. 

Later, when they get back, Andrew heads up to the roof and Neil follows. They share a cigarette, meaning Andrew smokes and hands it to Neil every once in a while. 

“What, I don’t get my own tonight?” 

“They raised the prices, I’m not made of money.” 

“Do you like it?” Neil asks after a while. Andrew looks at him, throws his cigarette down for Neil to crush under his boot, and stares directly into Neil’s eyes. It’s a little bit unsettling, since he’s been avoiding looking at Neil all day. 

“Yes or no?” 

“Yes.” 

Andrew just leans forward, into Neil’s space, and places a tiny little kiss on Neil’s nose, right on top of the ring. He doesn’t back up when he’s done.

“If you’re not careful, you’re going to give Nicky a heart attack. He can’t handle hot dudes,” Andrew says, and before Neil has a chance to point out that Andrew just called him hot, Andrew grabs his face and pulls him into a proper kiss. 

Many kisses later, Andrew pulls back and deposits another soft peck to Neil’s nose. 

“You know, junkie, I could grow to not hate it.” 

Note: the author of this post now posts on @soviet-whale​  

[madelainesvixens]

Sweetvee 44& 20 please

This is my first attempt at Sweet Vee, I hope I didn’t disappoint, xx

Please continue to sent requests from this list of prompt!

44. “You don’t have to leave.”

20. “Get naked. Now.”

.

Following the tradition, Cheryl Blossom was hosting a big end of summer party at Thornhill. And, everyone was expected.

A drink in her left hand, Veronica was laughing and moving hips with Kevin while Archie and Reggie watched with envy. She had a fun summer with the two football star but she didn’t see a future relationship with any of them. Archie had his chance…and he blew it. Oh, Archiekins, you should’ve known better than to fool around with a Pussycat behind Veronica’s back. And, as for Reggie, he was too much of a player for her. Josie could have him.

“Who’s the lucky arm candy going home with you tonight?” Kevin asked, glancing at Archie and Reggie.

Veronica turned to look in their direction and back to Kevin. “No one.”

Kevin’s eyes widen. “What?! The hottest guy at Riverdale High are literally at your feet and you reject them both?” He shook his head. “Sometimes I don’t understand the straights…”

She laughed and sipped her drink. Kevin grabbed her hand and she twirled around the brunet, moving her hips to Cardi B’s latest hit. Boys are fun and all but, nothing beats dancing your life away with your G.B.F. Sorry not sorry, boys.

Two hours into the party, Cheryl decided it was time to spice up the night and suggested they started playing games. Only, this year, Secrets & Sins had been dethroned by 7 Minutes in Heaven. While chaos was thrilling to watch unveil, she was also in the mood for some kissing - or, maybe it was the alcohol talking.

Everyone had a couple drinks in their bodies which was the perfect time to start the games. If you start them too early in the night, it’s not as fun. They all gathered in the living area and sat on the velvet couches. Josie grabbed an empty bottle from Reggie and placed it on the cherrywood table, right in the middle.

Naturally, being the host, Cheryl was the first to spin the bottle and, to no one’s surprise, it landed on Toni. Kevin and Veronica shared a look, both suspecting that the redhead had cheated but neither dared bringing it up. If she wanted to make out with her girl for seven minutes in a coat closet, you go girl.

Then, it was Josie’s turn…with Moose. From across the room, she gave Kevin an apologetic look and got in the closet with the Bulldog, trying to not guilt herself too much. Yes, Moose was Kevin’s crush but, beside Veronica and Josie, no one knew about their bathroom kiss before summer vacation and, according to Moose, it had to stay that way.

It was now Veronica’s turn to spin the bottle and everyone was on edge, waiting to see if it would land on Archie or Reggie. The bottle circled for three complete tours until it landed on Sweet Pea. The room went silent.

Veronica looked up, meeting the Serpent’s eyes, breath catching in her throat as memories of their night together one rainy evening came up. Wet clothes. Black ink under her lips. Strong hands. The room suddenly got ten degrees hotter.

“Veronica,” Cheryl said, pulling the raven haired girl out of her mind. “It’s your turn. We’re waiting.”

She stood up straight, smoothing her skirt and walked toward the closet with confidence, Sweet Pea close on her heels. He closed the door behind him, plunging them in the darkness of the coat closet.

Now that he was standing in front of her - and so close - she could smell his after-shave perfectly. It was musky with notes of vanilla - which were only noticeable if you were close enough.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” Sweet Pea returned.

“I heard from Jughead that you had been promoted in the Serpents.”

Sweet Pea pulled his eyebrows, unsure what she was talking about. “Oh. Right. I’m now in charge of the initiations,” he proudly replied. “So, if you want to join the Serpents, I’m the one you’ll have to convince. Little warning, places are limited.”

Veronica chuckled, shaking he head. “Gangs are not for me.”

“Why not? You have the thick skin, the confidence. You’d be a great Serpent.”

“Better keep that thought to yourself. If my father hears about that, he’ll have your head on a silver platter for dinner.” He laughed. “I’m not joking.”

“I run fast.”

“He’ll hire someone who runs faster…and has a gun.”

“I know how to use a gun.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

Sweet Pea checked his phone, the light from the screen brightening the coat closet, and saw they had five minutes left. “It’s not that I don’t like chatting with you but, I doubt Cherry will let us come out if your lipstick is still intact.”

She pressed her lips together, feeling her berry colored lipstick. He was right. “What do you suggest?” the petite girl asked, a hint of flirt in her voice.

A smirk curled on Sweet Pea’s lips and she took a step forward, the distance between the teenagers diminishing. “I think I might know a way to take that lipstick off.”

“Do you?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes,” he said seductively, trailing the ’s’.

Veronica looked up to meet the taller boy’s stare. A piece of his raven hair grazed his forehead and she wanted nothing more than to push it back into place and use this as an excuse to run her fingers through his hair. Last time they were together, the dark locks were wet from the rain and she didn’t have the luxury to feel its softness. She trailed her gaze down, biting her bottom lip as her eyes landed on his lips, remembering the feeling of plump lips on her cold skin, back arching as his kisses got lower and lower.

The clock was ticking and soon, they would have to return to their friends and go back to their lives and that meant no Sweet Pea. Instead of wasting any more time, she grabbed the lapels of his leather jacket in her tight fists and pulled him to her. Their bodies collided and they looked into one each other’s faces for a split second before his lips crashed to hers.

It was just like she remembered.

His large hands found home on her waist and jaw, angling her face so he could deepen the kiss. She moaned as his tongue slipped inside her mouth, Sweet Pea’s hands move from her neck to her hips bringing her closer until their lower halves were flush together. Veronica released the leather and moved her hands to his hair, twirling the soft curls between her fingers.

She backed him into the coats and knocking off several their hangers, creating a rattling noise. Sweet Pea smiled smugly trough the kiss and grabbed hold of her thigh, lifting her.

They heard footsteps coming from the other side of the closet and quickly, Sweet Pea set Veronica down. She fixed her skirt, having ridden up her thigh during their activities. Although she was confident with her body, she didn’t want to flash anybody.

Half a second later, the door opened, revealing the hostess. Cheryl glanced behind them and grinned. “I see you two had fun. I heard some rattling in there, you better not have ripped my Nana’s vintage Valentino coat or I’ll slit both of your throat with my dead father’s maple tree knife.”

“Chill, Cherry. Nothing was damaged,” Sweet Pea said, brushing past her.

The game continued and at some point during the night, Veronica may or may not have faked not feeling well and Sweet Pea kindly offered to take her home. Kevin told her he’d call later to check up and Veronica hugged him goodnight before leaving the Blossom’s castle with her Southside knight.

They got into his truck, being the Serpents’s designed driver for the night, and Sweet Pea sped off in direction of his trailer, knowing Hermione and Hiram were home.

Sweet Pea fiddled with his keys when they got to his place and Veronica let her fingertips brush along the waist of his jeans, a smug look on her face as she watched his erection grow in his jeans.

“Quit it, will you?” he asked.

She giggled and didn’t listen. Instead, she gripped him over his jeans and Sweet Pea groaned. That girl was going to be the death of him…

The locked ticked and he retired the keys, narrowing his dark eyes at an amused Veronica. Sweet Pea grabbed hold of her petite hands, holding them firmly. “You’re a bad girl, Veronica Lodge.”

“So I’ve heard…” With his free hand, Sweet Pea opened the door and pushed them inside, kicking the door shut behind them.

“Get naked. Now.”

After round two, Sweet Pea pulled the Northsider closer, wrapping an arm around her back as her head rested on his chest, feeling very satisfied. Not to brag but, the Serpent had a much better stamina than Archie or Reggie - he was also kinkier than them and she really liked that.

“What’s a Gucci princess like you doing with idiots like them.”

“What?” She raised her head from Sweet Pea’s chest, supporting her body with her elbow.

“Reggie and Archie,” he explained, eyes on the ceiling. “They don’t deserve you. Andrews cheated on you and Mantle-” Sweet Pea stopped himself, trying to think of a nicest way to word it. “He’s not the brightest crayon in the box.”

Was Sweet Pea genuinely trying to help her make the right choice or was he subtly fending for himself. Veronica smiled to herself, having a feeling it was the latter. “Well, you’ll be happy to hear that there’s nothing more than games between me and them. At least, not on my side.” She paused, seeing the realist side of things. “I don’t think either of them could keep up with my lifestyle.”

Sweet Pea looked down at Veronica and arched an eyebrow. “Uh?”

“Have you seen my father? Neither of them are strong enough to handle Hiram Lodge. Archie met him once and Daddy made it very clear that he didn’t have the stomach to become a part of the Lodge family.” She trailed her finger down his tan chest, lingering on the tattoo right under his left pec. “He’s too soft for the business.”

“What about me?” Sweet Pea asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

A smirk formed on Veronica’s lips as she slide a leg over the Serpent’s stomach, straddling him. By reflex, Sweet Pea’s hands came up to rest on her hips, fingers grazing at the soft skin.

“It’s almost one-thirty. I should get going.”

She made a move to leave the bed but Sweet Pea grabbed her hand, stopping her. “You don’t have to leave.” Veronica looked down at him and he smirked. “Unlike you, I don’t have any parents who will barge in with a gun if someone’s in my bed.”

At that, she laughed and let herself being pulled back in bed. Kevin was going to be thrilled in the morning when she’ll tell him all about her night in the snake’s den.

[bililireinhartarchive]

Riverdale: A High School Musical.  Chapter 3.

Read on AO3.

Or start at the beginning.

Thanks to the greatest beta in the world @wherearethecloudsnow for being on this journey with me.

Jughead woke up the same way every morning.

Afraid.

Of what was always a different story. Some mornings he feared that his dad was going to claim him and Jellybean; other times, it was his mother coming back. This morning, and many others, he felt the (albeit irrational) fear that the Lodges were going to toss him and his sister onto the street.

Jughead would never admit it to himself, but he deeply cared about the Lodges. The Pembrooke was his home, Hiram was his father, Hermione was his mother, and, begrudgingly, Veronica was his sister.

Jughead was frightened of how much he leaned on them, in his mind he knew one day they would desert him too. And that really hurt.

~~~

Veronica woke up the same way she did every morning.

Afraid.

Of who she was, of who she was becoming, of the feelings blossoming inside. Veronica didn’t want to be Riverdale’s rich bitch, she wanted… she wasn’t sure what she wanted.

Singing, dancing, performing were the great loves of Veronica’s life. She doesn’t know when her persona came into being, Veronica only knew that it was too late to go back.

There was also one other love in Veronica’s life, and it’s probably the strongest one, Jellybean.

Her ten-year-old sister, who goes by JB and who looks at Veronica like she hung the moon, is the light of Veronica’s life. Jellybean knew nothing about her sister’s high school life, except that she was popular (but feared was more like it).

The fear of her fellow students was the only thing she had left, now that Cheryl Blossom had to come to town with her perfect hair, her gorgeous figure, and her beautiful lips that Veronica desperately wanted to get a taste of. Now Veronica was having a really hard time focusing on anything.

~~~

Kevin walked into school and noticed him, Fangs Fogarty. Kevin had had crushes on a lot of people, but Fangs took the cake. Kevin had never thought about a guy so much, but when the Serpents came to Riverdale High, God, was he hit hard.

Kevin had written countless songs for Fangs, some of the greatest he had ever written if he was being honest, but it seemed wrong to put them out when Fangs barely knew he existed. Even if he did, Kevin wasn’t out to anyone, so what was the point of dwelling?

But it was really hard to ignore him though, when he had literally half his classes with him, and Kevin really wanted to know where his Serpent tattoo was.

~~~

Archie made up his mind. With his finished song in his bag, he was ready to tell Betty about it. When he had finished writing it last night, he couldn’t stand it anymore, he needed someone to know. And he knew Betty would keep his secret if he asked.

~~~

“Betty, did I ever tell you about my brother?” Cheryl asked in the cafeteria that day.

“I didn’t even know you had a brother,” Betty replied.

“Jason and I were twins. We were inseparable, he used to take me on boat rides, walks, picnics, and just everywhere we could go to escape our parents. Jay-Jay loved the theatre, he was in every single one of our school productions back home. He was so talented, he could mesmerize you, take you to that place and he made you feel like you were on the stage with him,” Cheryl said with misty eyes.

“What happened to him?” Betty asked, taking her friend's hand.

“This summer we went on a boat ride, and our boat tipped. I survived, he didn’t,” Cheryl said with a stone face. She’s told this story only a thousand times.

“God, Cheryl, I’m sorry,” Betty replied, “I used to have a sister too.”

Cheryl gave her a questioning look.

“She’s still alive, I think,” Betty sighed, “About a year ago my sister got pregnant by the means of a guy named Chuck Clayton, and the two of them ran away together and I haven’t heard from her since.”

“Maybe that’s why we became friends,” Cheryl said with a bitter laugh.

“Cheryl, do you mind if I ask why you suddenly decided to tell me about your brother? You’re usually not ready to talk about these kinds of things.”

“Oh right, I did have a point. I was thinking about signing up to be director for the winter musical, And I was wondering if you would audition to give me some help.”

Betty felt a pang of nostalgia and hope. But then the word came out.

“No.”

“Oh. I just heard that you were really good at singing and dancing, so I thought you might be interested,” Cheryl said, allowing her expression to drop for one second.

“No, I really couldn’t make time. I have so much to study, and I have to help out at home. And my mom suggested I reopen the Blue and Gold, the school newspaper so that when I take over the Register I can know what I’m doing,” Betty said with a slight laugh, “Besides I don’t even like dancing.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe we can both hang out when we have less on our plates,” Cheryl said, getting up.

“Wait, we can still make time.”

“Yeah, I just think you know it’s not gonna work, what with one of us doing what they want and the other… well, you know.”

“Cheryl….”

“I’ll see you around, Betty Cooper,” Cheryl said, leaving the cafeteria.

~~~

Betty left the cafeteria, a little dazed and confused, and found Archie waiting for her.

“Archie, hi,” Betty said, putting on a smile.

“Betty, can we meet at Pop’s after school, I’ve got something that I really need to tell you, something that I’ve been keeping secret,” Archie said.

“Archie, there’s something I’ve been waiting to tell you too,” Betty said, chuckling.

“Great, I’ll see you there. I’ve got to go to class now, but I can’t wait,” Archie said, smiling.

“Me neither, I’ll see you later.”

But no later than when Betty turned around was she met with another obstacle.

“Good, that Cheryl Blossom isn’t with you,” Veronica said.

“What do you want, Veronica?” Betty asked.

“Just pass on a message to Blossom for me,” Veronica replied.

“Fine, what is it?”

“Tell her that I’ve directed the past seven musicals and I’m not going to give up my spot to the maple syrup princess.”

“Okay,” Betty said with a decided roll of her eyes.

Veronica walked away.

Jughead stayed behind, looking like he wanted to say something.

“Sorry about her,” Jughead said, before walking in the direction of Veronica.

Betty’s eyes followed him.

“What a strange combination,” Betty said with a laugh.

~~~

Betty arrived at Pop’s way before she needed to, considering Archie had football practice and wouldn’t be there until at least four. But she found Kevin Keller sitting at the counter, they were speaking acquaintances so they could pass the time together.

“Hi, Kevin, writing music for the new musical?” Betty asked, taking a seat next to him.

“Oh, um yeah, Betty. How are you?” Kevin asked, putting his sheets away.

“Fine, I’m just waiting for someone,” Betty replied, “Do you want me to let you work, cause I can keep myself entertained someplace else?”

“Oh, no, it’s fine. It’s just the music’s not for the musical, it’s kinda personal, you know.”

Then Fangs and Sweet Pea came through the door. Betty waved, but Kevin ducked his head and pretended to be intensely interested in the menu.

“Kevin, you don’t have to hide, they’re not gonna hurt you if you make eye contact with them. I know the two of them, they’re actually great, big teddy bears,” Betty whispered the last part.

“I’m not scared, it’s just I like Fangs,” Kevin said, without realizing it. Just wanting to make a sarcastic comeback.

“Oh. Okay, I get that. Sometimes I get shy around Archie sometimes,” Betty said, surprised for a moment. More by the bluntness of the statement, then by the meaning of it.

“Please don’t tell anyone I said that I didn’t mean to let it slip out like that.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t presume to tell anybody anything like that.” “Thanks…. I think I’m just gonna go,” Kevin said, picking up his bag.

“Did you not want the Fangs thing to come out, or is it just you that you don’t want to come out?” Betty asked.

“Both.”

“Hey Betty, sorry I kept you waiting,” Archie said, giving Kevin a slight nod as he passed him.

“No problem, how was football practice?” Betty asked, moving to a booth.

“You know, got sacked, threw some balls, Reggie was an ass, the usual,” Archie replied with a grin.

“So, um, what did you want to tell me?” Betty asked, trying to keep her excitement concealed as best she could.

“It’s more of what I wanted to show you,” Archie replied, reaching for his backpack.

“Oh?”

He pulled his sheet music out and handed it to her.

“You’re trying out for the musical?” Betty asked, looking it over.

“No, Betty. It’s mine,” Archie replied, wringing his hands.

“Yours? You mean… you wrote this?” Betty asked.

“Yeah. What do you think?” Archie asked, looking like he was having a hard time not bouncing around in his seat.

“Well, I’m surprised, “she said, taking a deep breath and looking it over again, “At how good it looks.”

“Really! Oh God, I was so nervous.”

“Have you told your dad?” Betty asked, sensing there was more to it than what it seemed.

“No,” he said, sobering up, “Betty, the thing is, music makes me feel something that football never made me feel. I feel whole for the first time since my mom left, I feel like I’m finally doing something I wanna do.”

Betty’s mind went back to her conversation with Cheryl.

“Does that make sense, Betty?” Archie asked.

“Definitely.”

“Good, I was a little worried.” “Are you going to play this for me sometimes, Andrews?” “Of course, as soon as I have my guitar with me,” he replied with a grin, “Maybe we can go to Sweetwater River like we used too.”

Betty smiled at the memories.

“By the way, didn’t you say you wanted to tell me something too, Betty.”

Fuck it.

“Yeah, I do,” Betty said, taking a deep breath, “I want to make us going to Sweetwater River a date.”

“What?”

“Archie Andrews, I’ve been in love with you since we were six years old, will you go out with me?” Betty asked, breathless.

“Betty… um, I’m sorry. I just don’t feel the same,” Archie said, looking down at the table sadly.

Betty flinched and sat perfectly still for a brief moment.

“Betty-”

Betty stood and ran to the diner door.

~~~

[ronanlyncx]

the best parts of the foxhole court (feat. me crying)

- i’m not saying love at first sight exists but… the first time they meet andrew almost breaks neil’s ribs <3333

- “Andrew smiled down at Neil and tapped two fingers to his temple in salute. “Better luck next time.” this is… gay

- ““I’m not good enough to play on the same court as a champion.” “True, but irrelevant.” a new voice said.” Okay i know we have all acknowledged that kevin day is the queen of being extra but like…. nothing will ever top this

- “Where the court is, Kevin is.” “I didn’t think the court is what Kevin was staying for [talking about Andrew]” #gay

- “You have a nice car for someone who thinks he’s poor,” “That’s why we’re poor.”

- Andrew pretending to be Aaron when he picked Neil up from the airport

- “”I did.” Neil said. He tapped two fingers to his temple, copying Andrew’s mocking salute from their first meeting. “Better luck next time.” you know what this is? gay. 

- “Keys meant Neil had explicit permission to be here and do what he liked. They meant he belonged.” Neil has a key kink

- When Neil gets his new racquet it was “all he could do” to keep from crushing the net to his nose and smelling it…..wtf

- “It was a little comforting that neither Aaron or Nicky was scoring, either, but Kevin landed almost a third of his shots. It was a poor show from a former national champion, but it was also intensely humbling as Kevin had grown up playing left handed. Seeing him take on Andrew right-handed was ballsy enough; seeing him score was surreal.” kevin and neil supporting each other is my kink

- “Neil watched him [Kevin] over his shoulder. “I saw him first.” Nicky said. “I thought you had Erik,” Neil said.” Neil “i don’t swing” Josten my ass

- ““What’s Andrew doing?” Neil asked. “Nothing.” wow i love foreshadowing

- Kevin telling Nicky that Neil could be court…. my heart is full my plants are watered my acne is gone

- “Neil couldn’t hear the answer, but the sharp slap of the phone snapping shut again said it wasn’t the one Kevin wanted.” kevin being extra exhibit B

- “Neil was much better at instigating fights than winning them.” oh honey we know

- Neil is so extra okay like,,, when they were moving Matt into the dorm Neil literally did not take his duffel bag off his shoulder the entire time….they carried couches up the stairs,,,and he didn’t take the bag off,,, i fucking hate him lmao

-’“The death threats were creative, though.” Nicky said. “Maybe this time they’ll follow through and actually kill one of us. Let’s vote. I nominate Seth.” jesus nora really did that 

- ““He’s short, can’t play, and looks like he has an attitude problem,” Seth said.” i can’t believe this is neil josten’s official twitter bio

- “Neil didn’t know what triggered their [Allison and Seth’s] abrupt and constant change in emotions. He hoped he never understood.” Neil being 100% done with the straights™

- Nicky telling neil he knows about his contacts and is like “why tf would you choose brown?” and neil is like “I like brown” and nicky goes “Andrew doesn’t” #gay

- Nicky needing the directions to the exit to Sweeties and Andrew is like “the one with the waffle house” and you can physically feel Nicky looking into the camera like he’s on the office,“This is South Carolina. Every exit leads to waffle house.” lmaoooo

- Neil paying the busboy $100 to knock him out so he doesn’t tell his secrets 

- ““You’ll need all the water you can get today. Cracker’ll dehydrate you like no one’s business.” Neil answered by upending his glass onto the floor.” bad attitude™

- i’d just like to take the time to say that i love matt boyd

- “Andrew reached up and forcibly uncurled Neil’s fingers from his mouth. He pushed Neil’s hand out of the way and stared at Neil with nothing between them. Neil didn’t understand the look on his face…whatever the look was it was dark and intense enough to swallow Neil whole” this is so fucking gay

- ““Are you stupid?” Seth asked Neil. “Yeah.”

- “look here shortbus” lol

- “He [Neil] had enough problems getting along with his classmates now that he was wearing his exy jersey. He caused a small disruption wherever he went.” i’m sorry neil but literally no one cares about sports this much 

- “Neil looked between Seth and Allison. “Are Andrew and Renee…?” oh no honey renee is a lesbian

- ““This is my reassured face,” Neil said, pointing to his blank expression.” he’s so extra i hate him sjdsdkksdks  

- Dan slamming into a player hard enough to knock him over… suddenly i love sports

- ““Going in for Seth Gordon is freshman Neil Josten, number ten, of Millport, Arizona.” Neil wondered if casket lids sounded like court doors slamming shut.” he’s so extra sdkldjslk

- “Hey, Pinocchio. Time to run. This one’s for you.” I don’t know how this is gay but it is

- “Dan stumbled over to Matt, looped her arms around his neck, and fell asleep immediately.” they’re so cute i tolerate one (1) straight couple

- “Damn it all to hell. Hemmick! You were supposed to wake them up ten miles ago.” “I don’t want to die.” 

- Wymack throwing his wallet at Andrew to wake him up 

- ““Morning sunshine,” Matt said. “Fuck you” Kevin said. Dan yawned into her hand. “Glad to see you’re still a morning person.”  “Fuck you too.” big mood

- ““It’s good to see you again,” Kevin said, and smiled as he took her hand. Behind Kathy’s back, Dan feigned swooning into Matt’s arms.” Dan Wilds is an icon

- “Renee was sitting sideways in Andrew’s lap, one foot braced against the ground to keep him from shoving her off. She had a hand over his mouth as they both stared up at the stage. Matt had one of Andrew’s wrist in both hands. Wymack had the other.” refer to this post

- ““I can’t,” Neil said. “I have a bit of an attitude problem.” there is literally no way to describe the feeling you get when you first read this part like i seriously have goosebumps,,, neil standing up for kevin, neil shutting riko’s bullshit answers and excuses down, neil leaving kathy a shook mess… 15/10 

- ““Someone as inexperienced as you are has no right to an opinion on this matter.” “All the same, I’ll give you one more,” Neil said.” BRUHHHHH 

- “Riko,” Andrew said, spreading his arms as if he intended to hug Riko hello.” this man high as fuck

- “It’s fine, Coach,” Andrew said catching up to them. He touched Neil’s back on his way by, fingers light enough to give Neil goose bumps, but didn’t slow down on his way to Kevin’s side.” do y’all understand how fucking gay this is

- “Oh, Neil, as unpredictable as he is unreal.”

- Andrew punching the window and Matt getting paid $300 to fix it

- “Remember this feeling. This is the moment you stop being the rabbit.” i’m so fucking emo you don’t even understand 

- Everyone being so shook when they figured out Neil could speak french AND german 

- Andrew giving Neil clothes pt. 2

- “A group of people shouldered their way up to the bar counter at Neil’s back, pushing him into Andrew. Andrew didn’t budge beneath his weight. He was something solid to lean against, something violent and fierce and unmoving.” Okay neil was probably pressed against Andrew for five seconds (at most) this is so gay and sosososo extra

- Kevin downing thirteen drinks in less than 2 hours..i cannot even imagine,,, this gave me alcohol poisoning just reading it

- the monsters getting the news about seth, and kevin is like “what about the line-up?” and nicky is like ???dude??? and kevin goes “it’s not a major loss.” i’m going to hell for laughing

- ANDREW GIVING NEIL THE KEY TO THE HOUSE IN COLOMBIA I LOVE DYING AND BEING DEAD

[jugheadslut-blog]

the slut and the falcon(s) - Jughead Jones and Archie Andrews

little disclaimer:

this is for @mrsjugheadjonesthethird ’s writing contest! i really like their work and stuff and i also kind of really wanna get noticed with my own work, and what better way than to do this? even if i probably will not win, it’s worth a shot

prompt: ‘fuckin’ veronica, man, always listening in on archie and jug’s conversations.’

word count: 3,152

another little disclaimer: jughead still goes to Riverdale, and he’s in the Southside Serpents

warnings: swearing, A LOT OF SIN, like dominant ass fucking archie and jughead, some drug use (just weed), a threesome with archie and jughead, spoilers! etc. (and some vague jealous jughead)

and, god.. this has.. daddykink.. i’m such a slut..

AND LOWKEY, ARCHIE IS A VOYEUR

I HATE MYSELF

-

It’s quite early to be having full fledged conversations, especially at Riverdale High. It’s supposed to be all zen and whatever, and yet, it is seemingly the complete opposite of zen. Especially when you grab your notebook and your folder and close your locker, only to be faced by nobody other than Veronica Lodge, her face glowing with excitement, and you think, how can someone possibly be this jovial at seven in the morning? “Yes?” You greet her anyway, yawning.

“Alright. So I’m walking down the West wing, right? And of course, I see this bitch Cheryl, and she’s talking to me about the dumb River Vixens and I’m like half paying attention. It’s right near her locker and Archie and Jughead are standing there talking about something but I can’t tell what, right? So I switch spots with Cheryl and she keeps babbling on about something irrelevant, and then I hear Archie talking about how they both think you’re hot and I’m like ‘woah’, and Jughead is like talking to him about all of the shit he would do to you if you were together. It honestly was hot as fuck. So Jughead’s going on about how he wants to fuck you -”

You stopped her right there.

The Jughead Jones wanted to do that with you? You, the co-captain of the River Vixens? Southside Serpents Jughead Jones? The once passive aggressive but is now a complete bad boy Jughead Jones? That one? Fuck Archie, man, that was all Betty’s. But Jug? It couldn’t be. “I feel as if this story is fake..” You chuckle and cock a brow at her. “But it was a good laugh. You got me.”

“Then tell me, (Y/N), if I was joking, why would Jughead be eyeing the fuck out of your ass in that skirt right now?”

You widened your eyes and whipped your head around, and sure enough, Jughead is slumped up against the lockers with a cigarette inbetween his white teeth, smoke flowing out through his puffy, perfect lips. Immediately, you turn red, your heart literally dropping into your stomach. He notices you staring at him and he quickly takes another drag of his ‘cancer stick’, before walking off, completely unashamed.

You had always been a good girl. Perfect grades, perfect attendance, perfect record, perfect life, in a nutshell. You had known Jughead, since, what, last year, maybe? The beginning of this year? Point is, mama always told you not to be with his type. But ever since you’d met this particular boy, you could not stop thinking about him. He was so intriguing and your heart throbbed whenever you saw him.

And sure, you had hung out, but it was mostly at Pop’s, which isn’t even a one on one thing. It involves you, him, Veronica, Betty, Archie, and maybe Kevin. Every sincle time you would be around him things would seem different.

Jughead was another story. He was sent to juvie at the mere age of ten for trying to burn his elementary school down, which was, in fact, false. He was bullied severely by assholes like Jason Blossom, and basically, the entire football team, the only exception being Archie. He’s never had a birthday party because he claims his family makes it this arbitrary day and they pretend to act like everything’s okay, when really, they are not. It made him lonely. His mother moved away with his sister, Jellybean, and he was sent to a foster family on the Southside, - his father, FP Jones, is in jail for covering up the murder of Jason Blossom - and god knows why he still makes the effort to come to Riverdale everyday. All in all, he’s lived a fucked up life. Inside, you knew there was a huge teddy bear that honestly needed a hug, but on the outside, all that really called to you was his image. He was so hot and you hated yourself for thinking so.

“Hey - (Y/N)? Earth to (Y/N)!” Veronica was snapping in your face, and it took moments for you to realize what was going on, and that the bell had just rung. Jughead had dissapeared, and you were left with confusion, and slightly damp panties, but it was alright. Shit happens.

You shook your head and nodded quickly, looking over at her. “Sorry! I’ve got to go to class, Vee. I’ll catch you later?” Before she could reply you rushed off to your first period class, which was Social Studies - you had it with Jughead, that you knew.

-

Social Studies is an actual nightmare.

It starts off with Jughead sitting right next to you this time. Your teacher is neglectful enough to not care, and while teaching, Jughead keeps biting his lip and eyeing your thighs, which are not covered by anything but the cloth of your cheer uniform’s skirt. You’re trying hard to pay attention, taking notes and tapping your foot on the ground.

The thing about these desks that you’re in right now is that they are close, and all the way in the back of the room. So, inevitably, Jughead’s gonna do what he wants to you, as long as you’re okay with it. About halfway through the class, there’s a note passed to you, and you open it.

'archie told me to do this to you. -j’

You’re even more confused, but before you can speak, Jughead’s hand is on your thigh.

Your fucking thigh.

You tense up immediately and widen your eyes, covering your mouth in order to contain a gasp. Oh my god, this is really happening. It’s really fucking happening, in the middle of Social Studies, at exactly 7:34 in the morning. Jughead’s hand is squeezing, rubbing, massaging at your skin. His hand grazes your panties and you look down, grabbing his wrist in a quick but gentle motion.

'not here. are you insane?’ Says the note that you pass back to him.

Jughead just smirks and pulls his hand away after reading it, clearing his throat.

-

At Lunch, it’s you, Archie, Betty, Veronica, Kevin, and Jughead. You’ve made the stupid mistake to sit next to him, and Veronica is smirking at you from across the table. It’s all so tense.

You continue to think about what happened in Social Studies and get quite squirmish in your seat, Veronica glaring at you with a knowing look on her face. “Is there something wrong, (Y/N)?” She asks, raising her brows at Jughead, who was locked into his laptop, fingers typing away, completely ignoring the discarded lunch beside him.

“Huh?” You snap out of your Jughead filled trance, and boy, was it a good trance. “Oh.. no! No, nothing’s wrong. Just thinking about that big Social Studies test coming up.”

“Is that the only thing coming in Social Studies?” Veronica purrs, causing Jughead to look up at her, his face turning pink, completely throwing his bad boy aura off.

“Veronica!” You gasp, your eyes widening with surprise. “Wh - How do you even know about that?” You break into a whisper, leaning over the table to talk to her better without anyone hearing.

“Jug told me, he figured out that I listened in on he and Archie’s convo, and he practically spilled out every naughty, sinful thing he’s ever wanted to do to you. It was quite hot, actually. You’re lucky.” She gushed, flashing a smile to Archie, who was invested in Betty at the moment, apologizing to her for some unknown reason.

You shook your head and sat back, continuing lunch in a calm silence, your thoughts filled with images of Jughead.

-

After school lets out, you and the rest of your group head out to Pop’s, an annual tradition for the five of you. You’re sitting next to Jughead, across from Archie, Betty, and Veronica.

Betty has her head turned with annoyance, and Archie has yet to redeem himself for whatever he’s done. Veronica is sipping lightly at a double chocolate milkshake, and Jughead is still stuck in his god damn laptop.

It’s really not fair, the way he can look so gorgeous while being nonchalant. It makes you tingle, and you still can’t believe that he wants you.

There are a couple of jocks at the table next to yours, and they’re whistling at you, calling your name and shit like that, and Jughead notices this. He grunts and immediately sets his hand on your thigh, which is visible to everyone. You squeak and smile at them, turning to Jughead. “Right now?” You whisper.

He doesn’t say anything and watches the boys leave, scowling at him and rolling their eyes. You shrug, laying back and closing your eyes.

After a few minutes of calming down, you feel a hand back on your thigh, which surprises you, causing you to open your eyes.

You soon realize that it’s Jug again, your breath hitching. Betty asks you what’s wrong, and you just shake your head, knowing about her tragic, inevitable crush on Jughead, closing your eyes once more.

Jughead chuckles quietly and lets his hand travel up into your skirt, squeezing at your skin gently. His fingers trace shapes into your hipbone and you try your hardest not to make any noise. He’s not making anything noticeable, just typing more paragraphs into whatever he was writing with one hand.

You tried so fucking hard not to do anything. And this is just the beginning. Jughead’s hand is in your panties now and beginning to explore what’s underneath, his fingers moving in a way that has you feeling like you want to melt.

Betty and Veronica don’t notice, but Archie does.

His facial expression turns from regretful to interested in a minute, and you see this, because you’ve opened your eyes yet again, laying your head on Jughead’s shoulder and nuzzling it, thighs clenching around his hand.

“You know, Jug,” Archie begins to say, “I don’t think (Y/N) is feeling too good. Should we take her home, or?”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Jughead replies quickly, his hand immediately slipping out of your underwear, causing you to sigh with frustration. “Betty, Veronica, you wouldn’t mind. Would you?”

“Well, yes -” Betty starts.

“No! Not at all!” Veronica then quickly interrupts her, nudging her side and letting the three of you escape the tiny booth. “Have fun. Feel better, (Y/N). Text me later.”

Betty growls with discontent and rolls her eyes, sitting back with her arms crossed, and you can practically feel how angry she is.

You fake a cough and let the boys take you by each arm, their grips firm and wanting.

You shiver.

Fuck.

-

(okay i cannot wait for the sin anymore, we’re getting right to it. listen to Believer by Imagine Dragons if you really wanna get the vibe)

It starts off with them taking you home, slamming the door and escorting you to your room, to where Archie locked the door, and Jughead picked you up, pinning you to the wall.

You cried out when Archie began sliding your skirt down, getting to his knees and kissing at your thighs, while Jughead was working on giving you hickeys on your neck and collarbone, his thumb rubbing your chin. Your toes curled and you whimpered, gasping occasionally.

“Oh, fuck, I - I -”

“You what?” Jughead huffed, flipping your shirt off. “Get on the bed. Go.”

Strangely, the urge to obey him overcame you. Archie finished taking the rest of your clothes off, not bothering to tease you. You jumped onto the bed and layed down, Archie removing his shirt.

Jughead licked his lips and grabbed your hips, dragging you over to him. “Arch, do whatever you want.”

Archie did just that, leaning down and licking a stripe up your aching cunt, releasing a much needed moan from you. He smirked at the reaction, beginning to eat you out, while Jughead kissed at your chest, taking one of your rosy buds into his mouth and sucking.

“Ngh -”

And something in you just snapped, your submissive side coming into play so quick into the moment.

“Daddy, Daddy -” You whimper, squirming underneath the both of them.

They both stopped, Jughead’s eyebrows raising as he pulled away from you, his hand roughly grabbing your chin, thumb slowly grazing over your lower lip. “What was that, slut?”

“Daddy,” You gasp out. “Please, I need more.”

“Oh, this is fucking precious. Captain of the River Vixens, innocent, Miss Perfect, has a daddy kink? Who would’ve fuckin’ thought?” He replies, feeling himself harden even more.

Archie chuckled and went back to what he was doing, smacking your thigh and sliding two fingers into you.

“God, I bet you love to get fucked. Hm?” Jughead continued, curling his hand around your throat lightly. “Tell me. Tell me you love to get fucked.”

“I love to get fucked,” You sob out, your hole clenching around Archie’s fingers, which spread out so he could add his tongue into the mix. “I l - love to get fucked, Daddy, please..”

This is the most fun Jughead has had in a while. He’s grinning, fucking enjoying how submissive you are in this moment. It’s amazing and he knows that you’re all his, partially Archie’s. This is a great opportunity to do everything he’s ever wanted to you. “Yeah?” He leaves his thoughts. “Do you want Daddy to fuck you?”

“Yes!” You felt your eyes start to well up with tears, legs spread for whatever would come your way. “Please!”

Jughead unbuckled his belt and set it down on the bed, slowly taking his jeans off, revealing his very satisfying bulge in his boxers, his shirt coming off as well. You noticed that his body had many bruises and scars but didn’t ask, because aside from that, he was fit, and not ugly at all.

Archie whispered something to him and they switched places, Jughead grabbing his jeans for a moment and pulling a condom out - he had come prepared. He lined himself up after sliding it on, teasing himself at your entrance.

You whimpered and felt Archie bite at your collarbones, which made you melt in all the right ways, completely vulnerable in his touch. Jughead began to slowly push in, causing you to gasp and throw your head back. “Oh - Daddy!”

“Good girl..” He purred quietly, spiraling his hips again, getting himself prepared before all but slamming into you, not waiting to go slow.

You felt literal tears rolling down your cheeks because of how good it felt, your hand curling in Archie’s hair, the other wrapping it’s fingers around his length, stroking furiously.

Archie moaned gently into your ear, moving his hand down to rub at your clit while Jughead mercilessly fucked you, biting his lip.

You spread your legs out more and bucked up, watching Archie move and place his cock on your mouth. “Suck,” He ordered, and you complied, opening your mouth and feeling him move in, completely humiliated at how much you were enjoying this. “Good girl..” He muttered, “Come on.”

You gave him what he wanted, immediately bobbing your head the best you could with the position you were in, your entire body on fire in this moment. Your tongue grazed the vein on the underside of Archie’s member, and he grunted, gripping your hair.

It’s been about fifteen minutes, and Jughead was pounding into you so hard that you were sure you were going to feel it the next day. He was moaning loudly at this point, his breathing uneven and harsh. “I’m so close,” He panted. “Holy fuck, Archie, she’s so good..”

Archie pulled you off of his cock and stroked himself, nodding. “She really is, Jug. Oh, my god, I’m gonna cum. You’re such a good girl, (Y/N), aren’t you? Look at me. Stick your tongue out.”

You obeyed him and clenched around Jughead, whining out in desperation. “Daddy - fuck, Daddy, I’m so close, yeah..”

Archie was very vocal when he came, hot spurts of him streaking out onto your cheek and your tongue, and you got as much of it into your mouth as you could, gasping. “Mm!”

Jughead, who’s noises should have been fucking illegal because they were so hot, came at the exact same time, his whine broken and amazing as he threw his head back and spilled into the condom, his hips jerking even closer into you. “Fuck - (Y/N)..”

And finally, you came, which was very rare because guys were never good enough. Your legs wrapped around Jughead’s lower body as you arched your back, taking in a deep breath, “Daddy -! Fuuuck..”

The three of you layed there for god knows how long, just breathing heavily and calming down. It was all so intense.

“(Y/N)..” Jughead murmurs, pulling out and cleaning himself up, tossing the condom into a nearby wastebin in your room. “Do you smoke?”

“I have before, why?” You reply.

“Can we do that? Right now? It would be such a good way to end the night, babe.” Jughead asks, going through your drawers, grabbing a small gram of what seemed to be marijuana, which was conveniently set next to a unopened pack of the paper for blunts.

You nod, smiling and quickly rolling three joints up, grabbing a lighter from your night stand.

And then, you smoked, it took a while to finish completely, but after you did, you were high, and cuddling Jughead, in the best fucking mood ever. Archie was snoring on the other side of the bed, and honestly, you wouldn’t have this day any other way.

Jughead slipped his serpent jacket on and blew some smoke into your face, giggling and wrapping an arm around you to pull you closer. “You were really good.” He told you, licking his lips. “Like, really good. And I rarely ever tell anyone that.”

“Thank you..” You cooed, kissing at his jaw. “I’m gonna give you a bunch of hickeys for everyone to see tomorrow.”

And that you did.

-

The next day at school, Archie and Jughead are clinging to you. They sit next to you in class, in the courtyard, at your locker, and at lunch. Jughead is littered in hickeys and you kind of love it.

Every girl is jealous of you in this moment, especially when they see you get fucking escorted to class by both of them, and you realize just how lucky you are.

“Okay - we’ll see you at Pop’s?” Archie asks at the end of the day, running a hand through his soft hair.

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Okay, good. Jughead, are you gonna go with her?”

Jughead nods and grabs your hand, pecking it. The gesture is sweet and you feel your heart start to warm up, a blush coming up to greet your cheeks. You giggle uncontrollably, and look over at him. Jughead says his goodbyes to Archie, and then squeezes your hand. “You ready, doll?”

“Yes,” You laugh. “Daddy.”

-

god this took me like a WEEK AND A HALF to finish oh my fucking god hey hi i’m sorry i am LATE but i really put a lot of effort into making this good! i love u all and honestly i’m not even gonna try with a/n’s anymore

but if u enjoyed this like repost comment follow u know the drill

I LOVE U

until then,

tchao~

[serpent-jugheadjones]

The Partner Revealed - Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

Pairing: Jughead Jones x Reader

Description: Jughead and Y/N’s relationship gets more intense but will it continue?

Warnings: Bullying

Word count: 3396

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, my computer died on me. But it is a bigger part to make up for it! 

Jughead’s point of view

Jughead gets up refreshed that morning. He couldn’t sleep many hours, but the ones he managed to were serene, the very word Y/N used to describe Sweet Water River the previous night. He has so much to write after what he considers to be his best moment in ages! He lets his fingers work fast and his mind even faster, for he would have to move from one Twilight Zone to another – the drive-in to school – pretty soon.

He walks through the halls of Riverdale High just thinking about the latest lines of his novel, imagining several possible ways in which those pages could unfold. He’s wondering what role Y/N will play in that story, looking for her face on everyone else’s. Jughead is bitterly disappointed in himself because he never remembered to ask for her phone number. His mind is brought back to the present as he spots Archie standing by Jason’s locker, now a memorial site. He really wants to work things out, so he tries to start a conversation with some of his usual sardonic humor, making a joke about Jason. However, it has a bad impact on his friend, and the awkward atmosphere between them continues.

Jughead walks into his Biology classroom with Principal Weatherbee and Sheriff Keller’s announcement still fresh in his mind. “Most of you already know the details, but your classmate Jason Blossom’s body was found late Saturday night. So as of the weekend, Jason’s death is now being treated as a homicide. It is an open and ongoing investigation.” He wants answers just as much as they do and will stop but nothing to find them. He sits in the front, overhearing Cheryl’s conversation with her minions, confirming that Jason had fallen into the water. She says like it’s the most obvious thing, but Jughead doesn’t buy it and takes note to share with Y/N later if or when he sees her. Just as he finishes writing his sentence, the teacher walks in. “Seats, everyone. Pair off, gloves on, scalpels up.” He says hurriedly, putting something on the blackboard. Walking right behind him is none other than Y/N Y/L/N. Jughead shouts he wants to be paired with Y/N before his brain even processes the thought, before anyone even has a chance to pick their partners. Archie says he wants to pair up with Cheryl, Veronica practically throws herself at Betty, leaving Kevin to work alongside with Moose, the pair who found Jason’s body.

The Y/H/C girl seats on the stool next to his, drops her heavy bag on the desk, opens the zipper and takes her notebook out. “Didn’t think we had any classes together.”, says a kinda nervous, kinda thrilled novelist who can’t help noticing she smells like white chocolate and ginger. “Just Biology, I guess. Didn’t make the grade for honors.”, she explains. “Here I thought pairing up with you would be a guaranteed pass.”, he says playfully. “Sorry Jones, that guy with the gradebook doesn’t like me.” He looks at her questionably. “I refuse to make dissections. Telling him we are in the 21st century and that kind of teaching is old fashioned didn’t seat so well with him.”, she says rolling her eyes and taking off her jacket, revealing a biology joke on her shirt, a cell taking a selfie written cell-fie under it. “So I’m gonna have to do all the work?” He points at the frog sitting in front of them. She laughs. “I’ll do the theory, you do the practice.” Jughead starts dissecting their frog and she looks away, earning a reproving look from their teacher. 

As Y/N makes notes on frog anatomy in Jughead’s book, he observes her. She’s so focused on what she’s doing that lines form on her forehead, and he thinks they make her look adorable. "We should go to the Pep Rally together.”, he blurts out. She looks up from the book and towards him, puzzled. “Everyone will be there. It’s the best time for us to narrow down our list of suspects.”, he quickly tries to fix what could’ve sounded like he was in any way interested in school events that involve jocks and cheerleaders running around. “Maybe that sounded like I wanted to take her out and now she thinks it’s just for my novel. Well done, Jughead.”  He scratches his neck nervously at what she’ll say. “I’ll meet you under the bleachers.” She writes something down on a scrap paper she hands to a now happier Jughead. “I got her number.”

He notices how hard it is for her to keep a gag in as they do the assignment, so he discreetely gives her the note containing Cheryl’s conversation, in hopes it will make her mind shift from dead open frogs to dead shot people. “Does anything weird come to your mind whenever you think of that holiday? Besides Cheryl lying.”, she asks in a low voice, looking around to make sure no one is eavesdropping. “Well, Archie and I were supposed to go on a road trip during the July 4th weekend. But he bailed last minute. I tried talking to him about it before class, but he was... evasive.”, he says reluctantly, with some visible bitterness, looking at his friend behind him, afraid to see a suspect instead of a life-long pal, but then again, he wasn’t so sure they were still friends after that. “He was also very defensive this morning when I made a joke about skipping PE because I’m grieving Jason.” He knew she wouldn’t reprehend him for it, unlike Archie. Even not  knowing her long enough, he could tell they had similar ways to see and react to things. She even giggles at the thought of Jughead telling Archie a morbid joke. “Archie seems too nice to do it, but we can’t be sure. Maybe talk to him? Since you two have a history. I’ll stick with Evil Queen Cheryl.” He laughs a little too loud, but he’s literally saved by the bell ringing and everyone leaving the classroom as fast as they can.

Jughead was once again wandering through the school halls, messenger bag across his chest carrying his laptop and the school book Y/N made notes on, headphones blasting his favorite song, blocking the world. He passes by the music room and sees something so weird that breaks him away form his daydream. His best friend – at least that’s what he would call him until last summer – and the music teacher so close they could only be kissing. His mind going 100 miles per hour, he goes straight to Andrews’ house to wait for Archie and follow Y/N’s advice to talk to him. Now more than ever he needs to understand what’s going on; Besides, regardless of the distance that formed between them, he cares about him – a lot. When he finally shows up, Jughead doesn’t like the answers he gets. He tries his best to knock some sense into that bonehead, but has to leave declaring defeat. He’d usually head to Pop’s to write and eat his body weight on fries but he is terribly wiped and has so much in his mind he knows he won’t be able to make a single coherent sentence. He doesn’t even remember about Y/N until she shows up holding his hand, slightly touching her lips on his cheek – in his dreams.

Y/N’s point of view

Keeping her focus on studying becomes a lot easier after Biology. She doesn’t have any other classes with Jughead, and there aren’t too many honor students anyways. School hours fly by and her homework pile gets bigger, but all she wants to work on is the case. She looks for Jughead after her last class, unsuccessfully. She heads to Pop’s, the only place left she believes he can be found. To no luck. But she does see Veronica and her mom, the new comers from New York, just after Jason supposedly drowned. They aren’t the strongest of suspects but Mr. Lodge being in jail makes it wise sticking around to see what she can find out. 

She doesn’t hear anything worth mentioning, besides the Archie/Veronica drama. Hermione pretty much just does her job, taking orders and delivering them. After it gets boring, mainly because Jughead was a no-show, Y/N leaves.

Y/N finds out she’s home alone for a few days. Her parents always leave town without notice, certain that she can take care of herself. The only hint is her dad’s car keys gone. “I just thought that with a murderer on the loose they’d at least let me know.” That said, she opens the fridge and finds dinner ready to heat up with a note on it: “Back in a couple of days, love mom and dad.” A beautiful smile forms in her face. “There’s my note.” She goes up to her room to finish the homework she started at Pop’s while she was waiting for Jughead. It’s an essay for her Spanish classes on the book “Pablo Escobar: My Father”. After each sentence, she glances at her phone, occasionally pressing the power button to check if Jug texted her, but her eyes only meet her screen background. 

She hasn’t seen Jughead all morning. He wasn’t at Pop’s when she passed by before class, he wasn’t in the halls or in any classrooms when she got to school, and they didn’t have Biology that day. Y/N thinks she’s getting paranoid. “I mean, we only spoke twice so far! That doesn’t make us friends. He doesn’t owe me anything.” While she’s lost in those thoughts, walking into the student lounge, a lively conversation is taking place there. Archie, Veronica, Betty, Kevin, and many other northsiders are just listening. Reggie is talking about Sheriff Keller giving him a hard time over Jason’s death, but when he sees that bright girl coming in, it’s inevitable not to provoke her, not to let his urge to defeat her turn him into an unpleasant caveman. “Maybe Y/N did it?” Everyone laughs. “Bare with me.” He ajusts himself on his seat to face her. “She did tutor him. Maybe she fell for him and he didn’t crush her back. Obviously, who would?” He looks at her with disgust, making her sigh in anger. “Maybe she snapped and shot him.” Some of the guys on the football team were actually falling for his theory. Y/N needs only a few seconds to think of an appropriate answer. “You have a theory strongly based on maybes, don’t you? If you had focused on certainties, maybe you could have reached to a plausible conclusion – that Jason’s death is much more than a love crime. But how would you, if your neurons are already wasted on football moves?” She looks away from an enraged Reggie and sees Jughead standing by the vending machine, confused. She stares at him, hoping to get some backup, but she’s only met with more doubts in his eyes.

Reggie’s teammates tease him about her comment, forcing him to try to defeat her. He has another stupid idea. “If a kid at Riverdale killed Jason, it’s not gonna be a jock, right?” He trows his football over to Moose, who was laughing the most. “Now let’s be honest. Isn’t it always some spooky, scrawny, pathetic Internet troll, too busy writing his manifestos to get laid? Some smug, moody, serial killer fanboy freak, like... Jughead?” He turns to him and everyone laughs again. “Why is picking on us so funny for them? Just because we don’t fit in their distorted standards.” But he does’t stop there. “What was it like, Suicide Squad?”, he asks and Jughead just shrugs. “When you shot Jason, you didn’t do stuff to the body, did you? Like… After?” The whole football team is backing him up. “It’s called necrophilia, Reggie, can you spell it?” Juggie wittly answers. She chuckles at his reply before Reggie skillfully jumps over the couch towards him. Fortunately, Archie stops him. ”What do you care, Andrews?” Reggie asks demandingly. “Nothing, just leave him alone.” Arch is trying to minimize the damage for both him and Jug, but he can’t find the words. “Holy crap. Did you and Donnie Darko kill him together? Was it some sort of pervy, blood brother thing?” Hearing that, the red-haired boy loses his temper and jumps at the caveman. Everything turns to chaos, ending with Reggie punching Archie in his eye.

Jughead’s point of view

Y/N takes Jughead out of the student lounge before Reggie does anything else. He tries to escape as soon as they get to the hallway, but she grabs his wrist, making him stop and turn to her. “My parents aren’t home, we can hang in there till the Pep Rally.”, she says in a way he can’t deny. “Don’t you have any more classes today?”, he asks, implying he didn’t want her help. “I’ll skip.” He’s taken aback by her determination to help him. He doesn’t think she has ever skipped class before.

The walk to her house is dead silent, unlike the previous one. Neither dares to break the silence. Jughead, a prolific writer, is oddly unable to find the words. When they arrive, she hands him a soda can and opens one for herself, pointing him towards the tall stools around the kitchen island. “You tutored Jason?”, he finally asks. It isn’t the bullying that hurts. He sits down and takes a sip from his soda. “Yeah, last year.”, she says softly, not meeting his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He knows he can’t demand anything from her, but he’s hurt by finding out from someone else – Reggie of all people. “Didn’t think it was relevant.” He knows she’s right. “Would’ve been nice to have a heads up.” He runs his hand on the strains of hair sticking out of his beanie. “We weren’t exactly friendly to each other. I just helped him with his Chemistry assignments a few times. Like I said, irrelevant.” They both sip their sodas. They both think that Jason’s chemical problems might matter after all, but they don’t know how to explain it, so they move on. “I’m sorry, I’m just pissed at Reggie.” He looks down at the dark, cold marble table hoping he hasn’t ruined the start of something good. “I know.” She reaches for his hand and they maintain eye contact for a while. When they stop touching, all he needs is feeling her soft touch again, but he just freezes.

After finishing their drinks, they silently agree to leave everything about that small-brained Reggie behind. Jughead’s attention was instantly directed to the living-room shelves the second he got in, so now he has to ask about those shiny DVD covers, his eyes shining even more. “Is this the complete Tarantino filmography?”, he points at them. “Me and my dad are obsessed.”, she tells him with an excited smile. “What do your parents do?”, he asks, trying to understand why they have such a collection. He picks up some of the DVDs to take a closer look. “My mom is a writer. Nothing big published yet, just some magazine articles.”. He finds that even more interesting than Quentin’s “From Dusk Till Dawn” in his hands. “Dad’s a retired surgeon.”, she continues, as his focus is back on the shelves, now checking the book bindings. “Retired?”, he asks, wondering about his age. “He’s not old. He had an accident and his hand got crushed. He can’t operate anymore. So now he just consults for other doctors.”, she explains. Worried that she may ask about his parents, Juggie quickly finds something else to talk about. “Can I borrow this?”, he shows her the book cover. “Metamorphosis? You’ve never read it?”, she asks amazed. “About time, huh?”, he’s embarassed and they both laugh. “Please take it. Kafka is a must. It’s a crime you haven’t read it.” Damn, he loves the way she deals with words, saying things with multiple meanings. He feels stupid for hiding from her all day over a dream he was afraid could come true. Only now he realizes he actually wants it to happen.

He feels good, like he hasn’t for a long time. It’s great to be relaxed, not having to watch his back or keep second-guessing someone’s sentences. He can just get to know that fascinating girl. In this spirit, Jason’s murder doesn’t even come up for the rest of the afternoon, as if it didn’t happen at all. However, those few hours eventually remind him that he had a life, a dysfunctional but satisfactory one, before the case. As nice as being with Y/N is, he misses his friend, more than he cared to admit, to himself and to Archie.

They are standing next to the bleachers. The field in front of them is full of Vixens and Dogs. Everything is decorated in blue and gold, the school’s colors. Jughead can hear Y/N’s voice but he can’t make out the words, not because the crowd is making an incredibly loud noise or he’s ignoring her, but due to the fact that his attention is solely on Archie, speaking to Miss Grundy. His friend finally approaches. “See you at Pop’s later?”, she asks, making sure to give them room to talk. Jug just nods, anxious to know what he has to say:  Weatherbee will know he heard a gunshot on July 4th. Juggie is immensely relieved and proud, glad to realize they’re heading the right way, back to their unique friendship.

Y/N Point of view

She watches everyone from afar, used to doing that since she learned being invisible comes with advantages. But no one is acting guilty or uneasy. “Is it just me or cheerleading is revolting?”, she asks out loud, knowing nobody will listen to her. She’s ready to leave for Pop’s, rolling her eyes at the girls with their high pony tails swaying their hips happily to the song as if a kid, the brother of their leader, hadn’t died. Something changes her mind, though. Cheryl running away from the stage, crying her heavy make up out. Y/N follows the red-haired girl as fast as she can, barely keeping up. She stops at the dressing room door and almost walks in. Cheryl is drowned in tears and Veronica’s voice is trying to comfort her. “He was supposed to come back.”, Cheryl sobs. Y/N hears footsteps coming to their direction and quickly gets out, for she’s already a social pariah without being caught sneaking up on Riverdale’s elite. But not forgetting to make a mental note to tell Jughead later.

Arriving at the diner, she looks around but doesn’t spot Juggie anywhere. She asks at the counter if they’ve seen him, but no one has. She places her order and proceeds to his usual booth to wait. Every time the shopkeepers bell rings, she looks up at the door, excited to tell him what she heard. A few hours later, when she is finishing her third milkshake, the bell finally signals Jughead entering. Y/N can’t help a grin, but he looks to the other side of the diner. Archie walks in right after him. They both stand at the door for a second before making their way to the table Betty and Veronica are sharing. Her grin slowly fades, giving way to an exasperated expression. Jughead doesn’t even notice she’s there until she gets up to leave. She sees him moving as if he will get up and walk after her, but she’s so fast at disappearing it’s impossible to check whether he really does it. “He got his friends back, he doesn’t need me anymore.” That’s the only thing in her mind.

[nickireadstfc]

The Raven King, Chapter 4 – Andrew Does Shit No One Expects Him To, Pt. 2

In which Orange Sportsball finally starts to form into something resembling teamwork, the Foxes drag Neil for “I’m fine”, I suggest a quality mascot design, and Neil pulls some sweet stunts, only to be dramatically and jaw-droppingly out-stunted by Andrew ‘Extra’ Minyard.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The Raven King.

GUESS WHO’S FCKNG BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have risen from the ashes of my shattered laptop, finally ready to once again bring you the foxy shitpost content you love and deserve. I’m writing this from a Dell brick that probably came out while I was still in elementary school and weighs as much as a small child, but I don’t care. It has a keyboard and a screen and Microsoft Word, and that’s all that matters.

Back not with a fizzle, but with a bang: I bring you an event filled with drama, shade and Extra, brimming with excitement and recklessness –

The first actually epic Exy game of this series: Palmetto State vs Belmonte University.

(This is a tad longer to make up for lost time, so strap yourselves in.)

           They were driving back after the game instead of checking into a hotel for the night. (…) They could have just hired a driver like most schools did, but Wymack was almost as leery of dealing with outsiders as his Foxes were. It was apparently better to be uncomfortable but safe than to trust a stranger with his fractured team.

This is ya friendly reminder that Wymack is a badass protective mother hen and deserves everything good in this world. My dude :’)))))))))) #dicksoutforwymack

           They stopped for gas and a bathroom break, stopped again for a quick dinner, and crossed a time zone on their way to Nashville.

And this is ya friendly reminder that American is large as hell. DIFFERENT TIMEZONES. IN THE SAME COUNTRY. How is this a real place.

They arrive at the stadium and Neil is once again faced with his worst enemy (besides new clothes):

Communal showers.

           The only reason the Foxes had private stalls on the men’s room was because Wymack specifically commissioned them. Neil forcibly focused back on the task at hand. First he had to survive the game, then he could worry about the showers.

I initially wanted to make fun of the fact that this is a real sentence, but actually I kind of understand what it’s like to not want to show parts of your body to everyone, so. He gets a pass.

Also, the idea of trans!Neil just does not leave my head. I want a billion pieces of fanart/fanfic now.

It’s almost game time!

           Neil didn’t see the Vixens, the Foxes’ all-girls cheerleading squad, or their mascot Rocky Foxy.

The have a fucking mascot??? Oh my actual God. What is it, an oversized Fox? Complete with a jersey, a black eye and a big FUCK YOU spelled on its forehead to match the team?

Why have we never heard of this before, this is the best thing ever.

           [Belmonte’s Terrapin mascot] stopped a safe distance back from their benches to make a couple crude thrusts at them. Nicky was happy to return it until Wymack swatted him upside his head.

Oh Nicky, never change. <3

           Kevin pulled one of his racquets free, fingered the strings like they might have come loose on the drive, and went over to the court walls. He didn’t spare the crowd a single look; all he cared about was right in front of him.

And if you look to your left, you’ll see Kevin being his usual Exy-obsessed, stoic and mighty self.

Also ahehehehe… Fingered. Hi, I’m 12.

As they are getting ready, Neil gets some sweet advice from Kevin – basically, only do boring ass gameplay until the second half and then go so hard you and I both bust a nut, also Andrew should realistically collapse field from withdrawal but he’ll probably hold up through sheer ego alone.

Sounds legit and like there could be nothing going wrong with it, at all.

We also briefly meet Katelyn, Aaron’s crush and – as I’m guessing – probably his date for the banquet thingy they’ve got coming up soon.

(You think I forgot about that, didn’t you. I never forget about opportunities for Fox banter, dress-up and hilarious social situations.)

However it’s not entirely a fun encounter as it’s time for another episode of our popular show What The Actual Fuck, Andrew?:

           “Oh.” Andrew slapped his fist into his palm as if the answer had just occurred to him. He flashed Matt a wicked grin but answered in German. “Maybe he’s afraid she’ll die on him like the last woman he really loved.”

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, ANDREW. Also, what the actual fuck, backstory. I need it now.

No time to ponder on it, it’s game time, fuckers!

We’re kicking things off a bit unusual – literally:

           Neil listened for a serve that didn’t come. For a second he was afraid Allison would lock up and refuse to move. He was halfway to Herrera before he heard the distinctive thump of a ball against Andrew’s oversized racquet. Allison had served it back to him, and Andrew smashed it up the court toward the strikers.

Have I mentioned how much I love functioning teamwork amongst my children? Because fuck, yeah.

Have I mentioned what I also love? Some good ass Kevin/Neil Exy action.

           The only bright point was realizing his lessons with Kevin were paying off. (…) Passing wasn’t what Neil wanted to do in this game, but he could already see how he was improving. His shots were harder and more accurate, and it took him less time to figure out where to throw.

My beb :) improving :) being taught by Kevin because Kevin sees the heaps of potential in this boy and wants to make him the best he can :) I’m fine :)

           Wymack (…) send out his substitutes. Neil wasn’t between Kevin and the door, but Kevin detoured past him anyway on his way out.

           “Destroy him”, he said.

           Neil felt like he’d been waiting for this all his life. “Yeah.”

Fuck yEAH :’)))))))))))

(Again, reminding you all that I am passionate multishipper who gets into p much any ship if dynamics present themselves unto her, unless they are super problematic. If I make any comments about ships you don’t like – cool, we all have our own tastes but please don’t send me rude comments about it.)

From that point on, my friends, the game finally catches me and holds my attention way more than the first game did. It’s on, you guys. Passes are flying left and right and our faves are working together, I really cannot stress enough how much I love functioning teamwork.

And then, of course, Neil pulls This Shit™:

           He knew Herrera was right behind him for a body check. If he got crushed between the wall and Herrera, he’d lose the ball in the fight. Neil caught the ball right off the wall but didn’t try to protect it. Instead, he gave the butt of his racquet a hard pop with one fist. It sent the ball flying straight up out of the net. He dropped to his knees in the same breath.

           He almost wasn’t fast enough. Herrera crashed into him at full speed a half-second later, but Neil wasn’t where Herrera was expecting him to be. He tripped over Neil’s body and (…) crashed into the wall head-first. (…)

           Neil scooped the ball up and took off for goal. (…) He looked only at the goalkeeper and knew he was going to score. He put all of his first-half frustration behind his swing. The goalkeeper swatted at it and missed. The wall lit up red to confirm the point.

FFFUCKKK YEAHHH. This is the most badass shit he’s done since The Talk Show Incident™ (although nothing tops that ofc) and I am way proud of my son.

Also, Neil dealt with that backliner how I deal with my responsibilities: Letting them come at me full-speed and then swiftly ducking out of their reach.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not before long, the first half is over and they’re at an even score! Amazing, wonderful, 100/10 proud mama right here.

           Neil couldn’t feel his feet, but he assumed they were down there somewhere. The shoulder he’d hurt in the first half was still throbbing thanks to the well-aimed blows of his new backliner mark.

What a fucking asshole move. Oh, you’re already injured there? Let me hit you a couple extra times, just for good measure, just to really fuck you up.

Remember that thing about Andrew staying off his meds, and how it’s going totally well? Yeah.

           Andrew stood a silent stone in their midst, looking a thousand miles away from all of this. He was a vacuum his teammates rowdy cheer couldn’t touch.

           “Stop it.” (…)

           Andrew slid a bored look Neil’s way. “I’m not doing anything.”

           “Exactly,” Neil wanted to say, but he knew it was a senseless argument. He didn’t have the right words for that gnawing feeling in his stomach.

Ah yes :)))

Wymack shows up and scolds them for not pushing harder earlier, yadda yadda, team talk. And then, I present to you the genuinely funniest thing to happen this chapter:

           Abby came to Neil last and stayed with him, feeling the line of his shoulder armour through his jersey. “How are you doing?” (…)

           “I’m fine.”

           Nicky fist-pumped in triumph. “Thank you for being so predictable, Neil. You just scored me ten bucks with two words.”

           Matt look up. “Are you serious? Who the hell bet against you?”

           Nicky jerked a thumb at Kevin. “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

I am hOWLING. I cannot believe they bet on his “I’m fine” oh my god this is the bEST.

DRAG. HIM.

The running gag of Neil “I’m fine” Josten will never not make my day. Neither will the Foxes’ obsession with betting on everything. I LOVE IT.

Kevin, never able to be anything but serious, drags him even more, but not in a fun way:

           “You’re an idiot. Do you see this?” he brandished his left hand at Neil. (…) “Injuries are not a joke. They are not something to gloss over. (…) If you ever say ‘I’m fine’ about your health again, I will make you rue the day you were born.”

Yikes.

           Abby eyed Neil. “I’ll ask again, then. Are you okay?”

           “I’m –“ It was too automatic a response. (…) “It’s just sore. So long as I can keep my mark off my right side I’ll be – okay.”

           Matt laughed at the near-miss. “I don’t see this experiment ending well, Neil.”

           “Some people are just hardwired to be stupid,” Wymack said.

I’m literally loving every single thing about this.

Fun times over, they go back on the field for second half, where Neil sits out on the sidelines at first and uses this opportunity to talk about his favourite subject: Andrew.

           “Why does Andrew do this?” Neil asked, unable to stay quiet any longer. “If he doesn’t care about Exy, what’s the point of going through this every Friday?”

           “Would you want to be crazy high every day of your life?” Matt asked.

No, but in my opinion, that still doesn’t add up. He could have probably picked any day to go meds-free, Wymack would have taken him anyways – I don’t know, pick every Sunday or every Monday or every Wednesday after lunch, it doesn’t matter. Why Exy?

The only logical reason to pick Exy days over other days is the possibility that – shocking! – Andrew does care about this dumb sport after all.

Excited for the final explanation of this. I have a hunch there’s still more to it.

In other news – my feelings:

           The Foxes were notorious for their shoddy teamwork, so most people forgot they were a Class I school. (…) If the Foxes could get over their differences and learn to compromise every once in a while, they’d be a formidable force. (…)

           Neil wanted to be part of this evolution. He wanted to feel the team click into perfect synchrony, even if it lasted only a moment.

Give me all that good teamwork, and give it to me now.

           The Terrapins came as hard as they could, but the Foxes shoved back with a ferocity the home team wasn’t expecting. They were exhausted, but Matt rallied the defense around him and Neil had permission to run himself ragged on the offense. (…) Every minute on the court brought him one minute closer to saying goodbye to Exy forever. He didn’t want to miss a single second.

As always, angst is the best motivator.

They’re all getting fired up and playing their hearts out when we near the most dramatic part of the game – the Foxes in the lead by one point, sixty seconds left on the clock. And then –

           Eight seconds from the end a terrapin striker got the ball. Aaron ran after him, but he was too exhausted to close the gap. The striker’s ten steps took him all the way to the foul line for his shot.

Oh shit.

           The goal was too wide and Andrew too small; there was no way Andrew could stop a shot this close-range. (…) Even if Andrew could get there fast enough, the ball was too low to the ground for him to swing his massive racquet.

Oh. Shit.

           Except Andrew was moving before the striker finished taking his shot, as if he already knew where the striker was going to aim, and he didn’t even try to swing. He threw himself at the ground as far over as he could and slammed his racquet down between the ball and the goals so hard Neil heard wood crack all the way across the court. He was just fast enough; the ball hit the taut strings of his racquet and bounced off.

OH SHITTTTTTTTT!!!!! BOI!!!!!! THE FUCK!!!!!! IM YELLING!!!!

This is exactly the sort of Extra and Dramatic Shit™ I was missing.

HOLY SHIT, WHAT A SAVE.

And with that, the game is over, FUCK YEAH.

Andrew, of course, is now completely done.

           Kevin didn’t have to ask what was going on. He’d lied to cameras for years and knew how to buy Andrew time. (…)

           Andrew let go with one hand and gestured. Kevin gestured back as if having an actual conversation. The only sound either of them made was the desperate gasp of air through clenched teeth as Andrew tried not to get sick in front of the crowd.

Cool move, actually. They seem to have done this before? I continue being beyond intrigued by their dynamic.

           The rest of the team fell in around them, bringing the celebration to their strikers and forming an impromptu barricade around their fallen goalkeeper.

Team <333

Protect that smol sick bastard, he just saved all your asses.

They get Andrew off the court safely, and with that, it’s good things all around.

           Neil had never seen Wymack smile like this. It was small but fierce, as angry as it was proud. “That’s more like it. Draw sticks and figure out who’s helping me fend off the press. The rest of you get your sticky, stinky asses to the showers.”

What a DAD. Love him.

           “Renee and I will handle it,” Dan said as they headed to the locker room. “Neil, you can use the girls’ showers while we’re busy.”

           Neil stared at her. “What?”

           Dan frowned at him, so Matt explained. “There aren’t stalls here.”

LET ME FUCKING LOVE YOU. I cannot get over this move, what the hell, that is so sweet.

Foxes being there for each other :’) I’m fine :’)))))))))))))

           Neil had noticed, but he hadn’t thought his teammates would. That they had, and that they were doing something about it, knocked the wind out of him. He tried to answer, but he didn’t know what to say. The best he managed was, “Is that really okay?”

           “Kid, you’re killing me,” Nicky said. “Why do you always get that deer-in-the-headlights look when someone does something nice for you?”

Yet another installment in our popular series Neil Doesn’t Realize People Actually Care About Him, episode 4 of a billion!

Before we finally leave this long-ass trip of a chapter, Andrew briefly joins Wymack, Andrew, and Andrew’s new best friend Johnnie Walker Blue for a chat:

           “Why did you pay for stalls, Coach?”

           Wymack lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Maybe I knew you’d need them one day.”

           Andrew smiled around the mouth of his bottle. “Neil is a walking tragedy.”

           “You’re a pretty pathetic sob story yourself,” Wymack said.

Smol beans :’) bonding over how fucked up they are :’) love em.

Also #dicksoutforwymack, all day, every day. Maybe I knew you’d need them one day, holy shit, please have my platonic babies.

           Andrew headed for the door, but Neil put a hand in his path. “How did you do it? How did you know where to go?”

           “Coach said Watts always takes his penalty shots to the bottom corner. With the game riding on him he was bound to do the same.”

           Neil stared at him, startled and disbelieving. (…) It’d been an off-the-cuff remark amidst a lot of other information. Neil hadn’t thought Andrew was even paying attention to Wymack’s spiel.

Well, my dude, seems like someone gives more fucks than we all were starting to think. OF FUCKING COURSE. I’m still grinning my face off writing this.

And with that, they’re off, back on the bus home, and we’re letting this chapter ring out but some good ol’ Neil “Oh shit, what’s this, good feelings, get them away from me” Josten.

           As he listened to them, Neil realized he was happy. It was such an unexpected and unfamiliar feeling that he lost track of the conversation for a minute. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this included or safe. It was nice but dangerous.

           Someone with a past like his, whose very survival depended on secrecy and lies, couldn’t afford to let his guard down. But as Nicky laughed and leaned closer to talk about one of Neil’s goals, Neil thought maybe he’d be okay for just one night.

:’))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Nicki out.

If you like what I do here and you want to help me continue writing, please consider buying me a coffee (or two)! Thank you so much <3

[floggingink]

Riverdale: Chapter One, The River’s Edge

the “WELCOME TO Riverdale / THE TOWN WITH PEP!” sign is so beautifully sad and simultaneously saturated and grimy, like high school

the cinematography of the Blossoms’ Fourth of July date is like……astounding……the tracking, the close-ups…..the vintage muscle car driving through the wet forest…..the perfect coil hidden in Cheryl’s hair…..her gloriously inappropriate heels…..

I love the trope when the lady is stepping out of the car and the shot is framed of the ground with the car door opening from above and into the shot comes POP. the woman’s shoe. and it’s always a sexy, sexy heel.

WHY are Jason and Cheryl Blossom going out on Sweetwater River for an early morning boat ride, like he is Ryan Gosling and she is Rachel McAdams and there are geese? WHY is Cheryl dressed like she’s going to the Derby? WHY are they holding hands? WHY do their lips look exactly the same?

Dilton Doiley is canonically an “amazing” dancer: the red lenses of Dilton’s birdwatching binoculars are much appreciated, in keeping with the insertion of red into strange places

anytime a person in pastels says “I wish X burns in hell,” watch that person wearing pastels closely

I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: Jughead is very Brick-ly lit. I don’t think he’s seen sunlight all summer. I think he steps outside to walk over to crime scenes and the clouds just come and he turns blue.

@jugheadjonas

is the Jughead writing in the diner in the future, like his narration? I hope it’s just real-time Jughead, who tromped over through the woods towards the commotion with his nice camera and instinctively was like, This is going to be epic, and went straight to his booth and opened a Doc.

GOD BLESS THAT BEANIE HE’S WEARING IT

it’s called a whoopie cap. I love Jughead Jones.

“new mystery” Veronica Lodge rolls her window down to look up at the apartment building and then….opens the door. you don’t need to roll down the window, just open the door, you have to go in anyway, my sweet. points for her quick teensy smile before following her mother in

it’s so we could see her eyebrows better, okay. everyone’s eyebrows are incredible, but Camila Mendes’ eyebrows are especially good

Betty’s little pink lacy bra is sooooooooooo sweeeeeeeeeet. she also has a lovely white antler necklace-holder on her lovely white vanity table

KJ Apa’s abs, check

Betty organized a book release party at her internship for Toni Morrison, her literary hero. Betty had an internship after her freshman year of high school where she organized a book release party for Toni Morrison, who is her literary hero. Betty could gut me with her white antler necklace-holder and I’d just be like, “Thank you for organizing a book release party for Toni Morrison, your literary hero”

the look on Archie’s face while he watches Betty talk about doing something that made her so happy, how easily he nods along with her, he’s sat at this diner many a night before listening to her talk about her literary hero (Toni Morrison)

“They weren’t poems. They were song lyrics” …..oh, Archie.

“Are you going to have Ms. Grundy tutor you?” Archie looks to the side. “Uh, I dunno…”

“You’re the only person I’m telling”

Betty is legit drinking a strawberry milkshake BETTY

Best costume bit: Veronica’s cape

Archie has no idea what In Cold Blood is about but he knows Veronica just made a wicked reference so he laughs. Betty has read all of Truman Capote’s work and read Too Brief a Treat and knows he was the inspiration for Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird, which she has also read, despite none of them being written by her literary hero, Toni Morrison

let me be clear on this: KJ Apa in a white Henley

Certified pedigree: Luke Perry of 1990’s 90210 as Fred Andrews, with a respectably manicured beard

Mädchen Amick, MÄDCHEN AMICK: “And stay. Focused.”

Betty has lots of little deer things around her room! and her lamps are long-stemmed tulips? Betty is a princess.

Betty takes Adderall.

Archie’s fifteen-year-old boy-handwriting is just as shitty as it should be

Reggie Mantle. “Bro. You taking some T? Ginseng?” REGGIE.

Veronica’s plaid first-day dress is not a dress but is in fact a matching skirt and blouse.

Fifth period is AP English: Veronica’s “the lost epilogue of Our Town” diss re: RHS, which Betty seems to quietly not appreciate. Josh Lyman also used an Our Town reference in a dig at the President for expecting Zoey and Charlie to “go out for malteds or something” on their first date. I might not be reading this play.

Sixth period is Intro to Film: Blue Jasmine is that Cate Blanchett movie where she’s broke that we didn’t watch because it’s by Woody Allen. Veronica makes a lot of references!

the 2001 Josie and the Pussycats movie was a masterpiece: Josie, Valerie, and Melody are not only wearing cat-ear headbands, but their hair has little puffs like cat ears

Josie is really, really done with people walking in on their rehearsals and she’s got a little speech planned for when it happens now, complete with hand gestures

the SHOT of VALERIE, BACKLIT, while Josie is educating Archie, her PROFILE, her CURLS, her little SMIRK, her little NOSE PIERCING, she too can gut me with Betty’s necklace-holder

she’s fantastic but again just inserting that shot of her watching and smiling while Josie off-screen is talking is like ingeniously cool

@kevinkeller

God bless Kevin for IMMEDIATELY “clarifying” the Betty-Archie situation instead of there being some stupid hijinks thing where Betty simmers next to a Veronica who can pretend not to notice her crush

God bless Veronica for IMMEDIATELY backing away from it and telling Betty to ask him out

Betty’s eyes are filled with tears of some sort while Cheryl is pontificating

What damn high school in America: would let Jughead sit with an open laptop at a school assembly?

Jughead is like physically uncomfortable with Cheryl saying she knows Jason wouldn’t want the school to spend the year mourning

Cheryl loves nothing in this episode so much as she loves speaking at a microphone to an audience. I think she killed Jason just so she could hold an assembly announcing at a microphone to the audience that he wouldn’t want the school to spend the year mourning

The female gaze: Archie walking home in “this heat,” using the tried-and-true all-American method of wiping your face off with your sweaty, dirt-tracked T-shirt

These students are legally children: …having said that, onscreen, the female in question gazing at him is his 30-something music teacher, sporting Lolita-worthy heart-shaped sunglasses (what a truly great beautifully-packaged pedophilic cinematic reference, no? ffffffffffff). the messy-teen-TV-show trope of student/teacher affairs is….complicated. they have very cathartic, very illegal sex in the back of her VW Bug

the title doesn’t come up until NOW. already there has been a murder and statutory rape.

did Miss Grundy give Archie leave to call her Geraldine or is that just his emotional trump card?

Fred’s “guy” is on paternity leave, which makes me feel good for whatever reason, I’m not going to unpack it

is Fred bitchy to tell Hermione he won’t hire her as an accountant because her name is too linked to her husband’s fraud? let us remember that Will Gardner hired Alicia Florrick as a lawyer despite her name being linked to her husband’s corruption

and prostitutes

the day after Archie told Betty he demoed his songs, he apparently felt confident enough to share them with Kevin. Kevin is also in the trust circle.

Kevin’s aggressively styled hair cracks me up.

Archie flees as Cheryl approaches

Lili Reinhart’s incredible, boiling “anddon’ttalkaboutArchie—” that gets cut off as Cheryl stops

Cheryl’s pins: the cherries!!!

“So? What are you three hens gossiping about? Archie’s Efron-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?”

“Is being the gay best friend still a thing?”

Cheryl’s hair: Cheryl tucks her hair back around one shoulder while plugging herself as the cheertator

Cheryl’s non-assembly lip gloss is a nice dark neutral

Cheryl’s backpack

“too season-five-Betty-Draper” is a horrendous, phantasmagorical thing to say

were Miss Grundy’s sunglasses prescription? because she wears real glasses.

Gay?!: the kiss?! let me say this. I love it because Cheryl immediately calls it out, which promptly desexualizes it and makes it just a nice, slightly incongruous thing that happened between them. and the “just trust me” line must mean Veronica made a habit of kissing her girlfriends to get things.

You’re wearing lipstick? Right now?: Veronica’s red lip at the tryouts

“Thanks for asking.” Betty’s innate politeness in the face of her family’s monster is unbearably sad and lovely

Cheryl’s a psychopath: laying it out like a businesswoman to Betty’s potential friend that Polly is in a group home

Cheryl is literally sitting in a wooden armchair

Cheryl’s very interesting “Finally.”

Please protect Betty: her bloody palms

Veronica was rich: “Maybe I am that reckoning,” like she’s Selene

Summer + Blair = Veronica: “I’m ice.”

Archie wearing Jason’s number on varsity will surely only increase whatever animosity is between himself and Cheryl

Veronica “spoiled rich bitch ice princess” Lodge has been self-awarely self-absorbed but 95% the greatest friend ever, right away, and has not done a single bitchy thing yet

Fwoopy hair is the best hair: in an effort not to give every hair award to Jughead, I will force myself to branch out and recognize that particular kind of hair-fanning of a sweaty short cut’s bangs when you styled it this morning and it’s starting to uncoif and just float around as Archie’s pretty red hair after football practice does

Betty’s anxiety sabotaging her at the last moment and co-inviting Veronica to the semi-formal

Camila’s blinking when she says “What?” is Emmy-worthy

Veronica calling him Archikins, like she has in the comics for the past 100 years

did she have that blue headband on all day or was she just packing it in case she got a blue outfit later?

“What did you say to me?”

the ROCK on Hermione’s hand!

dads who call their sons “son” fatigue me

Betty’s pink dress with the little cutouts on the side!!!

God bless Moose: football star Moose Mason is shyly bisexual and has a huge dick.

he calls her Geraldine again

Cheryl’s sheaths: her dropped-strap red dress

Cheryl being confident enough (that microphone) to tell the world what song her parents were fucking to when she and Jason were conceived

I like a lot her saying “turtledoves” instead of “lovebirds”

Every triangle has three corners, every triangle has three sides: Seven minutes in heaven! Classic! The blue reflection of Archie’s phone in Veronica’s eyes! Archie’s Chucks! Veronica going for it in the privacy of the walk-in!

Reggie, thrilled Archie “nailed it”

“You shady bitch.”

Veronica is so good at seeing the big picture

WHOOP THERE’S THE DINER. Jughead did not even attempt to do the semi-formal.

Jughead eats: all Jughead visibly consumes in this episode is Pop’s coffee. is this even real? but on second viewing, I can almost see a Twin Peaks throwback to the first time Bobby Briggs is onscreen at the Double R Diner, dressed in a dark jacket with his dark hair swooshed back, drinking a cup of diner coffee served by Mädchen Amick.

Jughead doubts it: “…considering how he died? Probably not.”

@dailycwriverdale

this tiny exchange, Archie’s earnestness and Jughead’s smiley snideness, is like reeeeally good for me, how easily they can slip back into their old rhythm of best friends talking. comfort, riffing, KJ Apa doing these very sweet things with his brow and Cole Sprouse fidgeting around with his shoulders as he talks about the Aquaholics

…so it’s just like three lines, but Jughead was not in this episode very much

and Jughead knows at once what Archie is talking around, re: Jason “doing everything he wanted,” and gently goads him about becoming the popular varsity football god if that’s what Archie wants to talk about

I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: “Would’ve gone a long way with me.”

I like that we’ve seen everyone’s houses: Veronica’s apartment, Archie’s suburban two-story with a porch, Cheryl’s mansion, Betty’s townhouse, the…diner.

Archie > Dawson: this is the FIRST EPISODE, where Archie is telling Betty no, not the fifth episode, where it would have been dragged out beyond endurance of him being too polite or scared to tell her he doesn’t feel the same way about her after saying “Uh yeah, sure” at the dance. TAKE NOTES.

however, Betty does not want another person telling her she’s perfect. perfection for her is exhausting. she just wants to eat and be a cheerleader

Gay.: “But if you were gay….what would you like to do?”

the Blossom corpse: Jason was NOT drowned but shot between the eyes, like Archie heard. Cheryl LIED to us, WITH her microphone.

“Damn good coffee”: oh lots and lots, the grungy “Welcome to Riverdale” sign with the two mountains in the background and the debilitatingly peppy font of PEP!; water corpses; plaid; people standing around by the water in nice clothes looking at the police bring up the body

“SOMEONE IS WATCHING, SOMEONE IS WATCHING”

[yahoo-shutdown-corner-blog]

Was the Bears' Trubisky debacle the worst NFL draft flub ever?

The Bears selected Mitchell Trubisky second overall in the NFL draft. (AP)

Welcome to the Wednesday War Room, where your favorite Yahoo Sports NFL writers weigh in on the most serious and critical NFL topics of the day. Read on for how you can join in. Today, we’re talking the Chicago Bears’ draft woes and the likelihood of surviving a series at quarterback for the 49ers. Onward!

Question 1: The Chicago Bears selected Mitchell Trubisky with the second pick of the NFL draft, a move that looks terrible from every angle. What could possibly be a worse draft-night meltdown than that?

Kevin Kaduk: The entire football world might be unable to look away from the Chicago car wreck, but the truth is that laughing at the Bears’ first-round foibles has turned into a rite of spring for those of us in the Windy City.

This is nothing new.

Yes, there was Brian Urlacher in 2000, Tommie Harris in 2004 and Kyle Long in 2013. Greg Olsen (2007) turned into an All-Pro (albeit for another team, thanks Mike Martz!) and the jury is still out on Leonard Floyd (2016). The rest of the list is cover-your-eyes worthy, though. It’s headlined by punch-line quarterbacks in Cade McNown (1999) and Rex Grossman (2003), anchored by a trio of running backs that never lived up to their college fame (Rashaan Salaam, Curtis Enis, Cedric Benson) and accented by three wide receivers (Curtis Conway in 1993, David Terrell in 2001, Kevin White in 2015) who never proved they were worth a top 10 pick.

The rest of the list is made up of players long since forgotten by anyone not holding a Chicago area code: John Thierry? Michael Haynes? Kyle Fuller? Chris Williams? Gabe Carimi? What’s truly astounding is that this has truly been a group effort with five different front offices contributing to being consistently disappointing.

So while Mitchell Trubisky might be a bit taken aback from the reception he’s received so far, he can take solace in the fact that it’s really not him, it’s the Bears’ front office.

Shalise Manza-Young: Ricky Williams to the Saints. New Orleans was 6-10 in each of its first two seasons under Mike Ditka, and he clearly wanted to make a splash. But teams that haven’t been to the playoffs in six years, like the Saints going into the 1999 draft, generally need more than one player to change the course of the franchise. Not to Ditka. He traded his entire ’99 draft – and first- and third-round picks in 2000 – to Washington in exchange for the No. 5 pick, which he used to get Texas running back Ricky Williams. And after all of that, what did Ditka and the Saints get? A 3-13 season in 1999, a firing for Ditka, and only 38 games from Williams. New Orleans traded Williams to Miami in 2002. Throw in that just ridiculous bride-and-groom photo Ditka and Williams posed for on the ESPN the Magazine cover, and the whole thing was just a disaster.

Frank Schwab: Everyone is freaking out about what the Bears gave up to move up one spot for Trubisky. They gave up a pair of third-round picks and a fourth. Here’s what the San Diego Chargers gave up in 1998 to move up from No. 3 to No. 2, the exact move the Bears made: A 1998 second-round pick, a 1999 first-round pick, returner/receiver Eric Metcalf and linebacker Patrick Sapp. Metcalf was a two-time All-Pro returner (though he was ineffective for Arizona in 1998, at 30 years old). Sapp was a 1996 second-round pick who didn’t work out. Still, that makes the Bears’ price to move up look like pocket change. The MMQB pointed out this week that on one of the draft value charts, the Bears gave up 580 points, and the 1998 Chargers gave up … 1,980 points!

And yes, the Chargers drafted Ryan Leaf with that pick, after the Indianapolis Colts took Peyton Manning first. No matter how bad Trubisky is, he won’t be worse than Leaf.

[ STACK: New Raider Lynch shows he hasn’t lost a step ]

“I think the consensus of opinion is that two guys like (Manning and Leaf) don’t come along very often,” Charger general manager Bobby Beathard said on the day of the trade, according to the Associated Press. “If we’re going to be successful in getting that type of quarterback, we’re going to have to give up something, and we really did.”

They really did give up something, no question there.

Jay Busbee: We won’t know for a few years just how bad this Chicago deal is, but you’re rolling into a season with one quarterback hated by the entire fanbase and another (Mike Glennon) feeling like he just got chumped in front of the entire country. Not a great recipe for immediate success. But in terms of draft-day debacles, you can’t beat what happened to the Vikings two years in a row in the early 2000s. The clock ran out on Minnesota while it was trying to swing a 2003 trade with Baltimore (to be fair, the Ravens didn’t submit their half of the deal to the league in time) and the Jaguars and Panthers leaped up to hand in their cards before Minnesota could get its act together. The year before was even more humiliating: a Kansas City staffer literally blocked the Vikings staffer from reaching the podium so that Kansas City could complete a trade with Dallas. That’s why you need to send a line-busting fullback to rush that card to the podium, not some analytics geek.

Eric Edholm: Technically, the Rams-Redskins trade that brought Washington RG3 wasn’t a Draft Day debacle since the trade happened a few weeks prior to the first round. But the Redskins pulled the trigger on Robert Griffin III, and if my memory serves at the time, there wasn’t a whole lot of conjecture about the price the Redskins paid to move up. Griffin was considered that good, and most people debated whether he — not Andrew Luck — was the real prize of that class. We know how that one went. And to me, it’s not about the picks the Rams made in exchange; it’s about what they could have done with them. In theory, the Rams realistically could have drafted Luke Kuechly, Janoris Jenkins (whom they actually took), Lane Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins. Oh, and the Rams had chances to draft Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins at the tops of Rounds 3 and 4, respectively. Yeah, this whole thing was a debacle all the way around.

Question 2: What would it take to get you to play a full series of downs at quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers? No kneeling down, no handing off; you have to throw at least one pass.

Frank Schwab: I’ve always wondered things like: If you got a full season of at bats in Major League Baseball, could you get one hit? (I’ve figured yes, seeing some of these pitchers swing, and none of them go hitless over a career.) Or, how many games would you have to play in the NBA – with a green light to shoot – before you made a basket? But those questions don’t involve 300-pound linemen about to crush your spine and your soul, so the answer is that it would take a lot. Maybe not Mike Glennon money, but enough to cover inevitable medical expenses.

Eric Adelson: In addition to a hefty check, I’ll need a premium Netflix subscription because I’ll be laid up for a while. (Amazon Prime too. And Alexa.) Medical coverage that has no deductible. A Firehouse subs gift card. A self-driving Tesla. And someone to cut my cable cord because I do not want to see those highlights.

Shalise Manza-Young: Can we clone Joe Thomas to play offensive line in front of me? Will I have in-his-prime Randy Moss on the receiving end? If we can do that, I’d consider. And since I’d be in the area, a postgame private meal cooked by Bay Area super-chef Hubert Keller would sweeten the deal.

Jay Busbee: You ever seen an NFL play up close? No? Put it this way: even executing a simple handoff is going to rip your arm out of the socket, my friend. So none of that for me. No, I’d request my paycheck for the game go straight to charity, and then I’m going to line up in the shotgun formation, take the snap, and fire three straight passes at Kyle Shanahan, all the while screaming YOU COULD HAVE DONE THIS AGAINST THE PATRIOTS, KYLE! And then I’d get ground into powder by Luke Kuechly (or, more likely, my own O-line), but it’d be worth it. And I would claim my own personal rehab as the charity to which I’d be donating.

Eric Edholm: Heck yes, I’d play a series for the 49ers. Call three seven-step drops for all I care. Well worth the 39.6 passer rating that comes with three straight intentional groundings. My price: A measly roster spot all season. The NFL’s rookie minimum salary for 2017 is $465,000, and for that I would give Aaron Donald three good shots at me. Oh, and since John Lynch granted Peter King a spot in the 49ers’ draft war room this past weekend, I would assume that my signing bonus would come in the form of the tell-all book rights for the 2017 season. Sign me up. Talent-wise, I am basically like 31 percent as good as C.J. Beathard.

Kevin Kaduk: It depends. How much have I had to drink? What kind of horse tranquilizers can I access afterward? Honestly, I’d probably do it for 10 grand provided you give me some scout team work during the week. I’m tall enough to see over the line and I think I might even be able to complete one pass with the right play drawn up. That’d be enough to get a decent backup job somewhere else for the next few seasons, right?

There you have it. Weigh in with your own thoughts below. Got ideas for future questions? Email us and you might just find your name in lights. Now, get practicing; the 49ers could be calling any day.

____ Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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