"I'd heard you were pretty clever. And here I was thinking Jughead was the one I had to worry about. Goes to show how much I know."
"Indeed it does," I said coldly. "Did you really think you were going to Riverdale and set up shop that easily? If you'd done even the slightest bit of research, you'd know that this isn't the same town you left all those years ago. Those aren't the same Serpents you abandoned."
Gladys looked up from the magazine she'd been flipping through since Veronica left. "Oh, I did my research all right. I know Jughead's pulled this crew out of the drug trade, but that's where the money is. And that's why we're going to pull the Ghoulies in and take the business back from the Gargoyles."
"First Tall Boy tries to merge us with the Ghoulies and now you? In case you didn't hear, let me tell you how well that went," I began. "Jughead challenged the Ghoulies to a race, got a bunch of them sent to prison for a few months. Tall Boy kept going behind our backs and got himself kicked out of the Serpents and Riverdale and dropped as Penny Peabody's little errand boy. Eventually Hiram Lodge brought him back to run around as the Gargoyle King and he ended up dead. So unless history is going to repeat itself, I'd get the fuck out of Riverdale if I were you."
"See, that's the difference though," Gladys said. "Unlike Tall Boy, I'm not doing anyone else's dirty work. I'm running this whole operation myself."
I let out a short laugh. "Oh, so you're trying to be the new Penny Peabody, is that it?"
Before I could do anything, she was standing in front of me, my hair caught tightly in her fist as she pulled backwards. "Never compare me to that bitch again," she hissed in my ear before letting go of me. "Try it, and I'll make what I did to her in Toledo look pretty."
"So what is your master plan then?" I asked. "Planning to dethrone Hiram Lodge and take over the Southside? He's got a hand in the Fizzle Rocks production too, so that might mess with your plans a bit."
"Oh, I'm not worried about Hiram," Gladys said. "I've already got his daughter working for me, trying to convince him to give up on the candy business. He can have his prison and Southside, I don't care about any of that. And you know, I had been considering making this a family business. I had JB working with me back at the junkyard, thought it might be nice to bring everyone else in here. And given your...extensive knowledge of the Ghoulies and the candy business, I was thinking of bringing you on as my right-hand man. Or woman, should I say. But now I'm not so sure that would be a good idea. It would be too easy for you to usurp me."
"You can count me out on helping you become a drug queenpin," I said. "I won't need to be a part of it to bring you down. I'll be able to manage it from the outside just fine."
"I look forward to seeing you try," Gladys said, walking closer to me again. "Dolly," she added quietly as someone came up the steps outside. I glared at her as the door opened, keys rattling in the lock.
FP paused in the doorway. "What, uh, what's going on here?"
"Nothing to worry about," Gladys said, slipping on a fake smile as she brushed past me towards the kitchen. "Just a little disagreement between Babygirl and I. Such a shame she didn't have a better mother figure growing up, then this whole thing could have been avoided."
"She was your sister," I snapped, getting a warning look from FP.
Gladys ignored my comment, pulling things out of the cupboards. "I was just about to start on supper. Are you staying?"
"No, actually, I'm not," I replied, making my way to the door. "By the way, Reggie was asking when you were going to return his car," I said, stopping with my hand on the doorknob.
"Here, just take the keys," she snapped, leaving the kitchen to dig in her purse.
Fortunately I caught them when she tossed them in my general direction before returning to banging pots and pans around noisily. "How's that for an answer?" I asked FP with a grin before leaving quickly. That was not a conversation I wanted to stick around for.
Walking through the Serpent camp, I spotted Fangs sitting by the fire alone. "What are you up to right now?" I asked, dropping onto the couch next to him.
"Not much," he replied, not looking up from his phone. "Sweet Pea's still at the gym with Archie if that's who you were looking for."
"I know, which is why I came to you with this," I said, dangling the key from my fingers. I was suddenly in a good mood since leaving the trailer and I didn't want to pass up the chance I had at the moment.
Fangs's eyes widened as he realized what I had. "Is that the key to Reggie's car? How'd you get it?"
"Don't worry about that," I said. "I need to return it to him though. You wanna come along? It's been a while since we hung out together."
"Yes!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "Can I drive?"
"Definitely not," I replied. "The last time Sweet Pea and I let you drive the truck, you drove like an old lady. This car was not meant to be driven like that."
"I drove like a normal person, following the speed limits," Fangs protested as we slid into our seats. "What's wrong with that?"
I rolled my eyes, starting the car. "That's boring. This car is meant for fun, and I really doubt we're ever gonna get another chance like this."
"Yeah, you're right," Fangs said, giving in. "But I control the radio."
"Deal. Let's see what this baby can do." The tires squealed as I hit the gas, sending gravel flying up behind us. We drove around for a while, testing the limits of the road and the car more than once.
"Damn, Abigail, where'd you learn to do all that?" Fangs laughed as the car spun to a stop.
"If there's one thing Ghoulies love, it's their crazy souped-up retro cars and hearses," I shrugged, looking at the marks we'd made across the parking lot. "I may have learned a trick or two from them. Now come on, we need to get out of here before anyone sees that mess and we can check the car over before we return it."
I pulled over a few blocks away and between the light of the streetlamp overhead and the flashlights on our phones, we managed to spot a few scratches here and there that Reggie would definitely notice. Looking around, I spotted a small store still open. "Here," I said, handing Fangs some money, "go get some black nail polish so we can cover these up long enough to return the car."
"What? Why do I have to go?" Fangs asked, trying to hand the money back. "Why can't you?"
I leaned against the side of the car, crossing my arms. "Because if I go, not only will I be buying black polish for the car, I will also find the brightest glow-in the dark polish they have and use it on your nails. And I will make sure everyone knows about it."
"Black nail polish you said? I'm on it," Fangs said, eyes wide.
I laughed as he took off running. Before long he was back, holding the light where I directed so I could do what I needed to. "It's not the best quick-fix I"ve ever done, but it'll work for now," I said as I finished the last one. "Why don't you drive us back to his place so we don't mess it up?"
For all his excitement, Fangs still did drive incredibly slowly and carefully back to Reggie's house. As he parked, I pulled out my phone to call him. "We probably should have asked first, but are you home?" I asked when he answered groggily.
"Uh, yeah, why? What's going on?" he asked, suddenly sounding more awake.
"Oh, nothing, but you might wanna come outside," I said, catching the keys Fangs tossed over the hood of the car at me.
Within minutes Reggie was standing outside, frozen in shock. "Bella! Oh, you're back, you're back. How is she here?" he finally cried out, circling the car.
"Don't worry, I let Granny Fangs drive it here," I said.
"Uh, yeah, yeah," Fangs said, covering his laugh with a cough. "I made sure to take good care of the car for you."
"But how?" Reggie asked, looking over at me, worried. "You didn't steal it back for me, did you? Oh, man, that's gonna cause so much trouble I can't deal with."
I rolled my eyes at him. "I didn't steal it, the keys were given to me."
Reggie sighed in relief, climbing into the driver's seat. "Oh, Bella, what did they do to you?" he asked, running his hands over the dash.
"Well, Abigail and I are gonna give you two a little privacy," Fangs said, throwing an arm over my shoulders. Reggie didn't even seem to notice us leaving, he was so preoccupied with that car of his. "I'm gonna say that this has been one of the best nights I've had in a while," Fangs announced as we walked down the street.
"Really? You mean this was better than getting jumped by a bunch of girls?" I asked sarcastically, pulling out my phone to see who was calling. "Speaking of...What's up Sweet Pea?"
"Where are you?" he asked. "I thought you'd have been home by now, it's late."
I pulled the phone away from my ear, checking the time as we walked. It really was late. Had we driven around that long? "Sorry, Fangs and I just left Mantle's place."
"You can tell me about it when you get here," Sweet Pea said.
Fangs and I walked on in silence until we reached the Andrews house where Sweet Pea was sitting on the front steps waiting. "Couldn't wait for me to get inside?" I asked, taking a seat next to him.
"Maybe I was making sure the Pretty Poisons weren't out waiting for you," he said, leaning over to kiss me.
"And you were wondering why I walked with you all the way here," Fangs added.
"Not that you two would be a lot of help if that happened," I joked.
"Hey! Come on, now. That's not fair, we'd be protecting you then," they both protested together.
"Whatever you say," I replied, laughing.
"So now will you tell me what you were doing at Reggie Mantle's house so late?" Sweet Pea asked. "With Fangs?"
"I managed to get the keys to his car and before returning it to him, Fangs and I decided to go for a little joyride," I replied.
"Yeah, and I know who I'm calling as my getaway driver if I ever decide to rob a bank," Fangs said.
"We all know Fangs couldn't be the getaway driver, he drives like an old woman," Sweet Pea said.
Fangs threw his hands up in defeat. "All right, I get it. You guys hate my driving. I've gotta get home anyways."
"We just hate it when you're driving a car," I called after him before turning to look up at Sweet Pea. "How'd it go at the gym?"
"It was actually pretty cool," Sweet Pea said. "Mr Keller agreed to help train us. He said Archie won't win the match, but at least he won't be killed."
"And that's all we need right now," I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Wait, you said he's training 'us'. Does that mean you're going for it too?"
He shrugged. "I mean, why not? I'll be there anyway. And Mr Keller said he'd teach me some of the moves he learned in the Army, things I'd never learn otherwise. I don't see boxing as something to make a future out of or anything, but I want to try it out."
I couldn't help smiling. I like seeing you this excited about something."
"You're the one who said I should help Archie," Sweet Pea said, tilting my chin up gently. "If it weren't for you, I'd never have tried boxing. So, thank you." He pressed his lips against mine, kissing me slowly.
"Come on, let's go inside," I said, pulling back after a few minutes. As much fun as spinning Reggie's car had been earlier, it was nothing compared to how I felt now just being with Sweet Pea. I never wanted to lose this feeling.