Broken~ A Sweet Pea Story {Completed}

Chapter 25

"What are you doing just staring at her? Go over there and talk to her!" She whisper/screams.

I look back up to where Katrina stood; I notice that she is gone. I weight fell onto my chest.

"Where did she go?" I ask.

Toni, Jughead, Fangs, Brett and I continued to look for her.

"Found her!" Brett states.

I stride over to him and he points. I follow his finger to see her talking with Tall Boy. Her face scrunches with seriousness and she nods slowly. He pats her shoulder and she gave him a small smile. She looks passed him and looks at me again. My heart races and she lifts her hand to give me small wave. I wave back and she smiles in a way that makes her dimples fully visible.

Oh my god, she is gorgeous.

Her eyes return back to Tall Boy and he continues talking.

What the hell is he talking about?

Katrina's P.O.V.:

"Welcome back, Katrina! Even though you left for a while, you are still well known. As the woman who grabbed the rattlesnake. The first woman who survived The Gauntlet in years. You, Katrina Maron, are on your merry way to becoming a legend." He complements as he places a hand on my shoulder.

"You know, we could have taken care of you after the Gauntlet. You didn't have to leave.." he adds.

"I... had my reasons. My own baggage." I respond.

He looks down at me and says:

"You, have earned something that grown men haven't earned yet."

"And what is that?" I ask.

"Your first stripe."

The crowd around me cheered and whooped for me. Some people slapped my back encouragingly. I laugh at how they were acting.

I walk away from him and to the bar.

"Six Coronas please." I say to the bartender.

"Coming right up." She states.

I hold the Coronas in my hands and take a deep breath before I walk to their table. I walk in slow strides towards the table and Sweet Pea stood up. We gaze at each other again and suddenly, my words vacate my brain.

I look at the ground and finally spoke:

"I order Coronas for you all.... if you like Coronas."

I look up at them and they all stare at me in awe.

"What?" I ask.

"You're beautiful." They all say.

I laugh softly to myself and say:

"Thank you."

Toni walks up to me and pulls me into a tight hug. I have never felt so relieved to get a hug before.

"Oh my God. I've missed you so much." She mumbled into my shoulder.

I slide my hands under her arms and hug her back.

"I'm so sorry I worried you... I know I have some explaining to do; a lot of it. I promise I will explain everything." I say.

She nods and pulls back from the hug. She wipes away her tears of joy and smiles at me. She nudges my shoulder and says:

"Look at you. You goddess."

I chuckle at her words.

"You and your badass, bob haircut and charming clothes." She adds.

"Yeah, Kat. What happened to you during the two months you were gone?" Brett teases.

He pulls me in for a tighter hug. He pulls away and says:

"So... I heard you've kicked Toni's ass."

Toni slaps him and he exclaims:

"Ow!"

Jughead and Fangs gave me their warm hugs; but I saved the best for last. I walked up to Sweet Pea and he looks at me.

"Hi." I say.

"Hey... how you been?" He asks.

"Pretty damn good, how about you?" I respond.

"The past five months have been... rough." He states.

He sits down and I sit down next to him.

"And how do you feel right now?" I ask.

My chocolate brown eyes meet his and he states:

"Relieved... repaired... joyful..."

"How do you feel right now?" He asks.

"Cheerful.... Strong..... Unbreakable." I say.

His perfect pink lips curved upwards. I smile at him and Toni tapped my shoulder. I look up at her and she says:

"Wanna go up and sing with me?"

"Maybe another time, I'm... occupied at the moment."

Sweet Pea laughs at my words.

My God, I missed his laugh so much.

"Okay." She states before she walks away.

Someway, somehow, the chair I was sitting on was taken out from under me.

Uh-oh. This was not going to end well.

I close my eyes and brace for impact. But the impact never came, instead I was pressed against a warm, familiar chest. I open my eyes and see worry lacing Sweet Pea's eyes. His massive arms wrap around my waist and my hands found his neck. Our faces were millimeters apart. I could feel his breath on my lips and vice versa. His heart practically bangs against his ribcage. I pull him in for a hug and he body eases underneath my touch.

One of his massive hands cup the back of my head and the other stayed on my waist. Being in his embrace sends chills up my spine. Good chills. He buries his face into my neck and pulls me closer. I rest my face against his shoulder and my throat aches in anticipation. Silent tears trail down my cheeks.

"Oh my God, Sweet Pea. I'm so sorry." I whisper.

"No, no, no, no. Don't be sorry. You were just trying to look out for yourself." He defends.

"How can you defend me? I hurt you... I hurt myself.... I'm such a selfish person." I whisper.

He pulls back and cups my cheeks.

"Hey..." He whispers.

I look up at him and he wipes away my tears with his thumbs. He presses a lingering kiss on my forehead.

"You wanna take this somewhere else?" He asks.

I nod and say:

"Yes."