Faithfully

46

After all the progress that Braxton and Sweet Pea made to get back to somewhat of a normal relationship, it was lost in ten minutes and they were back to avoiding each other. As they walked the halls in school they would look the other way. At the Wrym Braxton would stay at the bar talking to Toni while Sweet Pea would stay by the pool tables looking from affar. It was like the last month of their relationship never existed.

"Man, you guys need to stop doing this." Fangs sighed as he tossed the pool que between his hands. Everyone was at the Wyrm on Monday night for the monthly pool tournament. "What are you talking about?" Sweet Pea snapped at him.

"You and Braxton. You were finally getting a long, the gang was back together. Now it's back to me and you and her and Toni."

"She used me, Fangs."

"Don't act like you didn't like screwing around with her again. So what she doesn't want to date you right now, can you blame her?"

"Watch it, Fogarty."

Fangs elevated voice caught the attention of the few people that were in the Wrym that night. "Dude you broke her heart." He continued. "Then once you saw she wasn't going to beg for you back you started fucking around with Britt Boyer again because you knew Braxton didn't like her. So excuse her for not running back into your arms. I kept my mouth shut because you're my boy, but Braxton is my friend too."

Everyone looked on and watched as Sweet Pea gripped his fist and swung hitting Fangs. He lunged forward pushing Sweet Pea back and shouted "Are you kidding me?" Then grabbed his jacket and headed for the front door. As he walked past Braxton she turned towards Sweet Pea who looked back at her with an angry scowl. She quickly slid off of her chair and followed after Fangs out the door.

"Fangs, what the hell happened? Are you okay?" She asked as the door slammed shut behind her. "I'm fine, it's nothing." He said as he turned around to face her.

"Your lip is bleeding."

Fangs wiped his lip on his sleeve and walked towards her. "I get that you don't want to be with SP. He made poor choices and I don't blame you. But he feels like you used him. Maybe you should talk to him, if he punched me then he'll take his aggression out on anyone. We all know how dangerous that can be."

"Sweet Pea's not my responsibility anymore."

"He punched me because he's angry and I defended you."

"I'm so sorry, I don't really know what to say." Braxton said as she pulled Fangs in for a hug and wrapped her arms around him. At that time Sweet Pea came out of the Wrym and stopped in his tracks when he saw them. When they pulled apart and Sweet Pea hissed, "Oh no, don't stop on my account."

Braxton rolled her eyes as she groaned. She looked back to Fangs who said "I'll catch you guys later." And headed towards his bike. She turned around to face Sweet Pea who could tell she was angry. "Brax." He said but she ignored him and walked past him for the door. He watched Fangs as he got onto his bike and drove off into the night. He pressed his lips together in disbelief. Did he really just punched his best friend?

Back in the Wyrm everyone was waiting patiently as they waited for FP to arrive so they could finally take the vote to see who stayed. Would it be Jughead Jones? The son of the Serpent King. Or would it be Penny Peabody? The one who could get them out of all legal situations.

"Are you nervous?" Braxton asked as she wrapped her arm around Jugheads shoulders. "Oh no, I'm perfectly okay with my fate being in the hands of my fellow Serpents." Just head sarcastically replied.

"Relax." Toni told him. "The only way you're out and Peabody is in is it she bribes everyone with drugs or money."

"Yeah well, with her line of business, something tells me she has plenty of both."