#i just also see them as fucked up stressed out teenagers smoking weed in nicks bedroom together is all

[sunbratz]

as an old dndads frog who doesnt really even ship that much in this fandom, i think everyone is missing the potential for grant and nick.

[princesweetpea]

I Found | Sweet Pea x Aurora Jones (oc)

All Chapters Here

Chapter: Six

Warnings: Mentions of violence, brief mentions of physical abuse, brief mentions of sexual abuse, mentions of substance abuse.

READ IT ON AO3

          Rory laid in her bed for two hours after Sweet Pea walked out of her trailer, mentally beating herself up and screaming curses into the empty air. What the hell is wrong with me? Why did I do that? She felt so disgusted with herself, and by the fact that he had initiated it in the first place. Did he though? I reached up his shirt… Her eyes wandered to the window. It was dark out now; she had barely felt time move. She glanced at her alarm clock on the counter: eight o’clock. She sighed.

           A knock on the door broke her out of her self-deprecation. Maybe Sweet Pea was here to yell at her for what they did or to tell her that it would never happen again, which she would wholeheartedly agree with. Even though it was unarguably the best sex I’ve ever had… Another knock sounded on the metal door. She shook the thought out of her head as she grabbed her dark green silk robe and pulled it onto her body before heading toward the door. She took a deep breath before opening it, and there stood Mambo, which surprised her. His eyes were red and puffy, his face streaked with semi-dry tears and blood still on his face from earlier that day.

           “Mambo, how did you get here?” He narrowed his eyes at her and dead-panned at the same time.

           “I walked,” he stated flatly, walking up the steps as he pushed past her to get into the camper. Rory cocked her head to herself with her tongue in her cheek, mumbling a sarcastic, ‘Please, come in.’ He ignored her, striding over to one of the armchairs, throwing his uniform coat on the floor. “Nice place. Very bohemian.” She smiled at his comment.

           “Jughead said the same thing,” She chuckled, walking over to the sink to wet a cloth before handing it to him so he could wipe the blood and dirt from his face. “How did you know where I lived?”

           “Peter.” He shrugged.

           “He let you walk here by yourself?”

           “I’m not twelve anymore, Rory,” He groaned, laying his head back. “And for the record, he tried to come along and have Lara drive us. I left while he was grabbing his letterman. I’m shocked that he hadn’t called you.” Rory gave him a disapproving look before padding over to her phone. She had three missed calls, two voicemails, and seven messages from him. Her phone had been on silent. She sheepishly hugged the robe tighter around her.

           “You shouldn’t have walked. It’s dark out, and we’re in the southside now. I don’t know what all you know, but Riverdale isn’t safe anymore.” She warned him solemnly. He waved her off.

           “I know how to defend myself,” he said as he pulled out a switchblade, waving it in the air back and forth a couple of times before setting it on the small table between the two armchairs. Rory’s eyes widened, and before she could speak, he added, “Don’t scold me. I had to, in a place like Seaside.”

           “What the hell happened to you, Nicky?” She asked, trying her best to keep her horror out of her tone.

           “I grew up,” he began. “I’ve gone through a lot of shit. But I’m not ready to tell you what happened to me.” He shrugged and turned his head to stare out a window. Yes, he had grown up. Since the day Mambo was sent to that school in Seaside three years prior, Rory went down every rabbit hole she could find to dig up information on it, or maybe even some dirt that she could show to her parents to force them to bring him home. However, no matter where or what she searched online, nothing ever came up. It was as if the school didn’t even exist.

           She sighed and plopped down onto the chair adjacent her brother. “I’ll be here whenever you are, though. Don’t ever forget that I’m always in your corner. I always have been.” Rory stated, trying to catch his eyes. He simply nodded, seeming to be in deep thought. He suddenly turned to face her.

           “It smells like sex in here.” He stated simply. Rory’s eyes widened and her cheeks began to heat up.

           “No… It doesn’t.” She tried to play it off.

           “Okay, but it does.”

           “How do you even know what sex smells like?” She questioned him with narrowed eyes. He slow grin crept onto his face as he turned his head to face the window again. “Nicholas!”

           “It wasn’t an all-boys school, you know,” He shrugged, his grin going wider. Rory groaned, putting her head in her hands. “Can I stay here tonight? And possibly longer?” He was so quick to change the subject, though it didn’t seem that he was embarrassed or anything.

           “You can stay as long as you’d like. There’s an air mattress rolled up in the cabinet,” He nodded at her as he stood and walked to the cupboard she was pointing at. On his way, he stopped to examine one of the bookshelves, picking up a set of tarot cards. “This was mom’s camper from when she was a teenager. Most of this stuff is hers.”

           “I recognize these,” He nodded, flipping through the deck. Rory cocked her head at him curiously. “They were in some pictures she showed me, like from when she was pregnant with you and Peter.”

           “Oh.” Rory simply nodded at him, though she had never seen the pictures he was talking about. They talked for a few more hours, from everything that Mambo had missed since being sent away, to the musical and Midge’s death, and then they stopped on their mother.

           “How… how did it happen?” He asked softly. Rory shifted uncomfortably. He had just found out about her death today. God, this is so fucked up.

           “Are you sure?” She asked, and he nodded slightly after a moment of thinking. “She was… run over. But by people themselves. Trampled to death. On riot night.” She cleared her throat. Tears stung at her eyes but she quickly blinked them away. He nodded again, slower this time as he processed the information.

           “Was she still using?” Mambo asked tentatively. Rory’s breath hitched and she shrugged. “Told you she was done right?” He rolled his eyes knowingly. The siblings were all too familiar with their mother’s drug abuse cycle. She’d frequently use, made it obvious, but then lie and tell them that she had stopped. “I’m surprised that that isn’t how she bowed out, honestly.” He said harshly. The comment stung, but Rory agreed. By the time Rory looked at the clock again, it was almost midnight.

           “I’m going to take a quick shower before bed. Do you want to go ahead and set up the air mattress while I’m in there?” Rory asked, picking up her pajamas before striding toward the tiny bathroom at the back of the camper. “There’s also snacks in the pantry, and a few different drinks in the mini fridge.” Mambo nodded in acknowledgement and moved to the floor to assemble his sleeping arrangement.

           Rory stepped into the shower and let the hot water cascade down her body. She sighed in contentment, feeling today’s stress and shame wash off of her, along with the remnants of Sweet Pea’s touch. She immediately felt anger surge through her, both for Sweet Pea and herself, as she washed her hair. She truly hated him. He wasn’t even mildly irritating; he was so much worse. She felt nauseated. She grabbed her soapy loofah and roughly scrubbed her body for what seemed like hours. She sat down and brought her knees to her chest and stated that way for a while. After rinsing away her regret, she stepped out of the shower and toweled off. She could hear her small television on in the other room. When she opened the door, however, Mambo was nowhere to be seen.

           “Mambo?” There was no answer. “Nick?” She looked out the window over her counter and saw him sitting on the ground in front of her camper, a small fire burning in front of him in a makeshift fire pit he must have constructed. She carefully stepped over the air mattress and tip-toed outside. She gasped. His head snapped over to meet her surprised eyes as he was removing a Black Devil cigarette from behind his ear.

           “I thought you’d be in there a little longer… I didn’t mean for you to find out this way.” He sighed, continuing to light the end of the cigarette and inhale. She just watched him, having a hard time seeing her once innocent baby brother smoking in front of her. She selfishly wished it were pot, because at least it wouldn’t be killing him the more he did it. How often did he do this? Does he smoke weed too?

           “Didn’t mean for me to find out this way, or not at all?” She asked flatly. He smiled sheepishly back at her as he slowly let out a cloud of smoke. “A lot has changed.” She exhaled.

           “More than you know,” he chuckled bitterly. She frowned at his comment, but didn’t push it any further, knowing that she would get the same answer from earlier. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. The moonlight bounced off of the remaining half of the sleek black cigarette before he pressed it into the ground to put it out. She raised an eyebrow at him. “I didn’t do that for you, just so you know. It’s just too cold out here.” He shrugged, gesturing to his bare torso before standing up, then proceeding to kick dirt over the fire and walked back inside. Rory rolled her eyes and followed him in.

           He was surprisingly already in bed, but without a blanket or a pillow. She walked over to her cabinets and pulled a fluffy blanket and pillow out before throwing them at him. He mumbled his thanks and turned off the television. She flopped down onto her bed and pulled the comforter up to her chin and closed her eyes. Just as she was ready to drift off, Mambo’s voice broke through the silence of the camper.

           “I think I’m ready.”

           “What?” Rory asked.

           “I’m ready to tell you what happened to me. I think,” He explained quietly. She turned to face him on the floor, propping herself up on her elbow. “Yes, I’m sure,” He rolled his eyes, seeming to read her mind.

           “Okay, whenever you’re ready.”

           “All of this,” he began, gesturing to himself. “I swear, it was not my choice. I used to be so kind.” He always had a flair for the dramatics whenever he spoke.

           “I know you were. Why aren’t you now?” Rory smiled weakly at him.

           “Because the best way not to get your heart broken is to pretend you don’t have one,” he shrunk a little, but there was no emotion in his voice. “To be fair, you haven’t even seen my bad side yet. Rory, I need you to be patient with me. Reflecting on the past has no real substance to me, but a lot of pain, both emotional and physical.” Rory winced a little when he said the word physical. She didn’t know if she was ready to hear this now. She thought she was, but if he’s been hurt, she didn’t know what she would do.

           “If you keep ignoring your emotions like this, you will eventually break down.” She stated carefully.

           “While that’s unfortunate, I need to tell you what happened to me, so I guess I can pay attention do them at another time,” he smiled weakly, his eyes dim. “My time at Seaside Correctional School was… the absolute worst experience of my entire life, thus far. Even worse than finding out that mom died. They abused us. They abused me the most, it seemed. More than just emotionally, or physically. It got worse… One of them tried to… They tried.” He emphasized, and his eyes got dark. Rory blinked. Surely not. Surely… Surely not. “That was the first time… The first time I really hurt someone, Rory.” She tried her best to keep her expression neutral.

           “What did you do, Mambo?”

           “I got this,” he started, pulling his switchblade from under his pillow and flipping it between his fingers, “a couple days prior. Some of the other kids would somehow smuggle in cigarettes and other contraband. I traded two packs of Black Devils for it after I was tired of being smacked around and no other adult believing me. One morning, one of the orderlies came in to start my electroconvulsive therapy. He was different from the lady that usually did it, but things were never the same all the time at that place so I didn’t question it. This guy was acting really weird from the start, though. I laid down and he put the things on my temples – I don’t know what they’re called, I was too pissed off at everything to find out. Anyway, he put the things on my temples, and I closed my eyes to prepare for the buzz feeling in my head. Then… nothing. It finally turns on after a minute. But suddenly, there’s a hand…” He pauses and swallows hard. “And it was where it definitely shouldn’t have been,” he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Tears threatened to spill out of Rory’s eyes as a million thoughts rushed through her head, but she remained silent, listening to him intently. He glanced over at her, slightly concerned that she may have fallen asleep. He was relieved when he saw her staring back at him. “Don’t cry for me. I stabbed him.”

           She blinked. “You…”

           “Stabbed him, yes. Before I knew what I was doing, the blade was swiftly snatched from under my pillow and then it was through his forearm. Then I yanked the whatever-they’re-calleds off of my head and ran out of my room. Seriously, stop crying. You’re making me uncomfortable,” He tried to joke to break the tension. She blinked again, then quickly wiped her face. “This continued to happen until I came home today. No one ever believed me, not even Dad. He thought I was just trying to get out of there, and to be fair, I was. I’m just so glad that the money stopped coming and I was sent home.”

           “Mambo, if I knew… I’m so –”

           “Sorry. I know. Dad wouldn’t let me talk to you, because he knew you would try to get me out of there,” He sighed. It was silent for a moment. “I was put in solitary for two months straight after that. They took my knife, but I stole it back when I got out. All of my classes were through a screen, and I was by myself the entire time, aside from the therapy sessions. I was put into solitary a lot. I lost my fucking mind. I was there, yet I was not there.”

           “Why were you doing shock therapy?” Rory asked inquisitively.

           “Because they believed everything dad told them when he dropped me off. All ‘assessments’ afterward were bullshit. They never believed a god damn thing I said. The only thing they did change from what he told them was that I’m in fact not schizophrenic. I can’t believe he told them that I was… wait, yes I can,” He laughed bitterly. “I had to fight like hell, and fighting like hell has made me what I am. I am the monster they created. Something in me just… snapped.”

           “Are you a bad person now?” Rory asked suddenly.

           “Depends on who you ask. Who we are and who we need to be to survive are two very different things. But I kept hurting people. The other kids couldn’t do what I had to do. But we were just kids… we weren’t meant to be heroes. I don’t even know who I am anymore. It’s like… I used to be a person. What am I now?”

           “You’re just a kid, Nicky.” He winced.

           “I stopped being a kid the day our parents sent me there to die,” His voice cracked. “I hate them. I hate their guts. I hate what they did to me.” He was crying hard suddenly, which was a shock compared to how he was as he described the horrors he had endured for three years. Tears pricked at her own eyes as she leant over the edge of her bed to pull him up into bed with her. She held him as he cried into her shoulder, and for the rest of the night after he fell asleep.