Faithfully

8

The Serpents pulled up to the Andrews' house and Sweet Pea lead the way. Before they even made it to the door it opened and Archie was standing there waiting. "How stupid are you, Northsider? You really think you can come to my house, stick a gun in my face in font of my girl and there wouldn't be any payback?" Sweet Pea said. Archie looked at him and the words echoed in his head, 'my girl'?

"You have crap timing bro." Reggie Mantel said as he pulled the door open more and revealed a livingroom full of Northsiders. "Bulldogs eat serpents for lunch." "We'll see about that." Sweet Pea responded.

"And the more the merrier."

Reggie lunged for Sweet Pea but Archie held him back and said, "Hey, chill. Veronica you stay here." "What? No." She said in protest.

"Yes." He snapped back after her. "If you want a fight, we'll fight." Archie told Sweet Pea as he got closer to him. "What about your gun?" he asked.

"What about your knife?"

"How about no weapons." Veronica told them as she eyed both boys down.

In the pouring rain the Serpents lined up, ready to take on the Northside in an even battle.

Sweet Pea hoisted his jacket up and walked up to Archie and they stood and faced each other. Archie made one right hook to Sweet Peas cheekbone and the two sides collided, throwing punches and bodies to the pavement.

In all of the mix-up Archie ended up on the ground and Sweet Pea gave him a swift kick to the stomach. Just as he was about to do it again, a sudden noise made everyone stop dead in their tracks.

Out of no where the sound of a gun shot echoed through the air. Veronica Lodge stood there in all her glory as she held up the gun. "What the hell!" Sweet Pea yelled as he and the other Serpets started to retreat. He knew the gun shot was going to catch the attention of the police so it was only a matter of time before they showed up. He got on his bike and sped off into the night with the other Serpents as they avoided being arrested.

As Braxton laid in bed she heard the gunshot go off. She jumped at the sound of it but didn't think much of it since she was already half way asleep. Ten minutes later she was woken up by the sound of her window as it opened and someone say "Fuck." as they fell to her bedroom floor.

Braxton shot up in her bed and her heart was racing. She picked up a lamp from her bedside and started to creep over to the intruder but then relaized who it was after she turned the light on. "Sweet Pea what the hell?" She yelled at him. "What are you doing here? I almost killed you!"

Sweep Pea looked at her and laughed then said, "With a lamp?"

"It's a heavy lamp."

"Right."

Braxton took a good look at him when she noticed Sweet Pea's face. "What the hell happened?" She asked as she set the lamp down then turned back to him. His eye was swollen and bruised, he had blood running from the corner of his mouth, and he was soaking wet.

"Nothing." He told her as he pushed his hair out of his face.

"Did you get into a fight?"

"Andrews has a decent right hook."

"Oh my God. Come with me." She told him as she pulled his hand along with her. "Where?" He asked.

Braxton went into her dad's room and grabbed some dry clothes. "You can change in my room. I'm going to head down to the kitchen to grab the first aid kit." She told him.

Down in the kitchen she looked through all of the cabinets until she finally found where her dad stored the red box. When she turned around Sweet Pea stood by the island as he watched her.

She hopped up and sat on the kitchen counter. "Come here." She told him and he reluctantly obeyed and positioned himself between her legs so she would be able to reach his face. She doused a cotton round in peroxide and started to clean the blood from his lip. That was the first time that Braxton ever actually got the opportunity to admire Sweet Pea's face up close.

She stared his features over as she grabbed another cotton round. His eyes were tired and his skin was smooth with light freckles from the summer sun. He had a small scar above his right eyebrow from a left handed Ghoulie that sucker punched him a few months back.

"Thank you." He said as he looked down at her. She rubbed her thumb over his cut lip. "For what?" She asked

"Choosing us."

Braxton looked up at him with a confused look on her face and said, "Choosing you?"

"The Serpents. I kind of thought maybe since those Northsiders are your friends you'd side with them. "

"The Serpents are my family, Pea. I would never put friends before family."

Sweet Pea looked down at her and he cupped both sides of her face with his hands as he looked into her eyes. He leaned forward and place his lips on hers. He kissed her softly and Braxton felt herself melt into him. She slowly pulled away and said, "It's about damn time." He laughed then she pulled him back in as she grabbed him by the shirt and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Once the rain subsided almost an hour later Sweet Pea made his way to his bike that was parked down the alley. "Sweet Pea?" He heard someone ask as they approached him from behind. When Sweet Pea turned around he saw FP as he walked towards him. "FP, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"When Rich is at work I stop by and make sure Brax is alright. What the hell are you doing here?"

"She's helping me with lit class." Sweet Pea quickly replied. "I'm struggling."

"At one in the morning?"

"Uhm-yeah."

"I don't think so boy." FP said as he shook his head. "Listen to me when I say don't get involved with Braxton. I've seen the way you look at her, and her old man won't have it. Just stay away."

"And if I don't?"

"I'm serious. Rich doesn't want Braxton having anything to do with us Serpents. Just walk away." FP warned and then turned around and started to walk down the alley for the street. Sweet Pea cleched his jaw and gripped his fists. He was pissed that he finally found someone who he thought was worth his while but he was given direct orders from the Serpent King himself to stay away.