fierce ↠ sweet pea [1] [✔]

|| TWELVE ||

"Morning, Lauryn," Toni greeted her outside Jughead's trailer, standing on one of the steps with a look of frustration on her face. She'd clearly been woken up earlier than anticipated, too.

"Hi, uh, Jughead's inside, right?" Lauryn furrowed her brows. Surely, Toni didn't need to wait for her?

"Yeah." Toni nodded simply.

Lauryn felt slightly baffled by the bluntness. "And you didn't go in, already?"

"Nope."

"Okay, this is weird. Why not? Is it because you like him?"

"No, I just wanted to wait for you," Toni said, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. Lauryn shook her head sarcastically and knocked on the door.

A blonde-haired girl with a tight high ponytail and preppy-casual clothing opened the door, surprised to see two Southside Serpent girls at the door.

"Hi, Toni," she said quietly, her voice eventually fading out. "And...?"

"Betty, this is Lauryn. Her and Jughead have known each other since they were kids," Toni introduced them. Lauryn shook Betty's hand, smiling warmly to give off a good impression but Betty didn't look like she was sure about her.

"Come on in," Betty opened the door wider, letting the two Serpents in. She led them into the living room where Jughead was sitting on the couch, his face in tatters. Lauryn gave Toni an I-get-it look, referring to both Betty and Jughead.

"Gee, Jughead. Remind me not to let you enter any dating shows any time soon," Angel Face teased, crossing her arm to match Toni who chortled at the joke.

"Shouldn't be a problem, Betty's got me covered in that genre of socialisation, but thanks." Jughead lifted an arm at Betty who sat down next to him with a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

Betty stared at her boyfriend worriedly, clearly observing his beat-up face even more as it got worse the more she looked at it.

"I'm fine, Betts," he eased as she started dabbing his face with cotton pads, causing him to wince subtly.

"Can't you just take a day off?" she begged.

"It's not that bad, just some cuts and bruises," Jughead insisted. "Nothing to worry about."

"I told you that motorcycle was risky, Jug," she lectured, throwing the Serpents completely off of what was going on.

The girls frowned at each other, neither of them opening their mouths to say something. Toni shot a look at Jughead, suspecting that he'd told his girlfriend a white lie.

"You promised you were always gonna wear a helmet," Betty continued softly.

Lauryn squinted her eyes at Jughead who brushed off the look. "Yeah, Jug, why didn't you?" she played along, aiming to annoy him purposely.

Jughead rolled his eyes. "It was just around the block. Don't blame me, alright? Blame the pothole."

"I thought you were gonna say that you got jumped by those... Creepies."

"Ghoulies," Toni corrected. "But, no, the Serpents won't allow that. They got Jughead's back."

"Even though he's not a member," Lauryn added, sighing. "It's just family loyalty."

Betty stood up after analysing the Serpents, giving them both the impression that she'd developed an opinion on them already. She scrambled for her things, leaping up and scurrying towards the door. "Great, well, I've got to go to school, try and fix this mess with Kevin. Toni, Lauryn, will you keep an eye on him?"