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The bell rang, signaling time for Carson's Free period. She sighed out of relief and walked into the hall, spotting Sweet Pea and seeing him say goodbye to Fangs then jog over to her.
"Hey, sweetheart," he smiled, hugging her.
Carson smiled and hugged him back. "Hey, Sweets. Can we head outside?"
Sweet Pea nodded and the two went over to the steps and sat, "So about the phone call last night."
Carson was left without words, not knowing what to start off with.
"I know that friends don't just kiss. I don't know what 'things' do either. All I've known is actually dating someone," Sweet Pea laughed.
Carson chuckled, looking down at her gloved hands. "Right, dating. Listen, if you don't want to date or be a thing that's fine with me, I guess. Not really, but it's whatever. I get that - Hey, maybe we're moving too fast."
"Do you think we're moving too fast?" Sweet Pea asked, causing Carson to look up.
"My dad wants to meet you. Uh, I told him that it's not your style. And if we're not dating then you really don't have to. I understand if you can't meet him, honestly, I do. Who would want to meet such a monster? Ha, he's not that bad actually. I mean, sometimes he can be nice but that's only if you're on his good side. If you're not then it's really chaotic and I know I'm rambling again and I'm so sorr–"
Sweet Pea shook his head and swept his head, placing his lips on hers. Carson made a surprised sound before smiling lightly and placing her hands on his cheeks, pulling him a tad bit down.
When they pulled away, Carson chuckled, "That was a really nice way of telling me to shut up."
"Do I make you nervous?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Why do you ask that?" Carson asked.
"Because last night you told me that you ramble when you get nervous and you always seem to ramble when you talk to me," he chuckled.
"Well, I mean - wait, you were actually listening?" Carson asked, knitting her brows together.
"Why wouldn't I have been?"
"No one listens to me."
♕
"You're not hungry, mija?" Hermione asked Veronica, making Carson look up after taking a drink of her orange juice, "Is it Archie and your dad?"
Veronica sighed, "No, it's Josie. We got into a fight and she dropped out of Pickens Day."
"I see," nodded Hermione, "And this is Sierra's doing, I assume?"
Veronica nodded.
"That's it. I'm taking care of this."
"Mom," Carson spoke up, "It's like you said, your family works differently from other families. And if Josie and Mayor McCoy don't like the way you do business, that's on them."
"Okay first of all, it's your family too," Veronica reminded her older sister, earning an eye roll, "And second of all. . the show must go on."
♕
Carson Lodge
Carson eyed the food trucks, looking back up at Sweet Pea, "I want cheese fries."
Sweet Pea chuckled and shook his head, pecking Carson's lips before winking and putting on the duct tape on her lips. She narrowed her eyes at him, taking a piece of duct tape and putting it on his mouth as well.
The two winked at one another before grabbing signs that said 'honor this land.' Turns out, General Pickens isn't who everyone thinks he is; and so here Carson was, standing with the serpents as always, as she vowed to herself.
Carson could hear her sister singing, secretly loving her voice. Carson turned her head and nodded at Jughead before she and the rest of the serpent gang marched with Toni leading them. Hiram and Hermione Lodge turned to them, seeing their own daughter with them. They saw how close Carson and Sweet Pea were, and immediately knew that that was him; their daughter's Serpent.
Everyone eyed them, but they kept their gaze forward, soon coming to a stop.
Veronica stopped singing and got down from the stage, "Carson? Toni? Jughead? What the hell is going on?"
Fangs went to one side of Toni whilst Carson went to the other, Sweet Pea right beside her. The Lodge couple shook their heads at their daughter. Carson made eye contact with them and simply narrowed her eyes and looked up at Sweet Pea then back at them.
"We're here representing the dead and the silenced. Pickens Day is a lie. General Pickens slaughtered the Uktena tribe, my grandfather's family. And this land, the land that we're standing on, the land that will soon give way to a new Southside, was stolen from them. And we can't bring them back, but we can and we must honor them," Toni declared.
Hiram glared at his daughter before walking up to the stage and standing behind the microphone, "Hey, folks, hi. Uh I think we can all be proud to live in a Riverdale where young people stand up for justice. Where a young woman can defend the honor and legacy of her grandfather. And where we can celebrate the living legacy of the Uktena, who contribute to the rich tapestry that is Riverdale, that is the Southside and that will be SoDale. So let's hear a round of applause for that, am I right?"
Everyone clapped.
"That's right. What do you say, people?"
Carson inhaled through her nose and ripped off her tape, ready to go against her father but Sweet Pea and Jughead quickly reacted and grabbed her shoulders. "No."
Hiram looked down at her daughter, then he made eye contact with Sweet Pea who only glared at Hiram like he did with everyone except for Carson.
