"Yo, Pea". Sweet Pea didn't bother to look up at the sound of Toni's voice as he knew she'd come over to him anyway. He was playing a game of pool at the White Wyrm with Tall Boy and Crooks, still trying to defeat them as nobody has ever managed to do so. He was competitive and didn't like giving up. "They're playing a movie for the last time at the Drive In tonight, wouldn't it be fun to go?". Toni leaned on the side of the pool table, watching how Sweet Pea slightly bend over and had his tongue poking out of his mouth in concentration before ticking the stick against the ball and let it roll over the table.
"Maybe it would". His hoarse voice replied and made the much smaller Serpent roll her brown eyes. "It's going to be fun, just come with Jug and me". Toni whined, not understanding what could be so fun and important about a game of pool. "Think about all those Northsiders you could beat up or mess with". Toni's words made him lift his head and look at her sideways. He tried to force the grin back that wanted to curl his lips. "You got me there, Topaz. Maybe I'll show my face later this night. Just have to show Tall Boy here who's the master of this game". Sweet Pea looked over at the older man who gave him a chuckle.
"I'll be dead by the time you'll be able to beat me, kid". Tall Boy replied and made Toni shake her head, questioning herself if they weren't just big kids in general, both of them. "Go with your friends, Sweets". The older Serpent padded Sweet Pea on his back and took the pool stick from him, making him groan. "I'll beat you later!". He threatened and took his leather jacket from the coatrack, swinging it over his shoulder before pushing the door of the Wyrm open. He searched in his pocket for his cigarettes, getting one out of the box and fiddling with the lighter before getting a bit of fire to the end of the cigarette.
Sweet Pea leaned against his bike, taking a drag of the cigarette and blowing out the smoke while he stared down at his boots. "Sweet Pea's got a little crush...". Fangs Fogarty sang as he came out of the White Wyrm. Sweet Pea rolled his eyes and ignored his friend. Fangs was the only one he had told about the girl he had met a couple nights ago. Who scraped her knee with a pretty hilarious fall, he had to admit, and he brought home on the back of his bike. Fangs' first question had been: 'was she hot?'. And Sweet Pea had to admit again, she was pretty cute. Gorgeous actually.
But not for him. She was a northsider and it was more than obvious. "I said three words to her, Fangs. You can't fall in love that easy". Sweet Pea eventually spoke up, turning to him. "Sure thing, Casanova". Fangs wasn't completely convinced. Sweet Pea seemed to pick up girls rather easy, however he also knew he mainly avoided the Northside girls. "You're heading to the Drive In?". Fangs changed the subject and Sweet Pea nodded, throwing away his cigarette and blowing out the last huff of smoke. "Toni wanted me to". He explained and swung his leg over his bike.
"Maybe you'll see her again and you can give her another ride". Fangs wiggled his eyebrows. "Fuck off, Fangs". Sweet Pea flipped him his middle finger and revved the engine to speed away from the Wyrm. The Drive In was rather close to the usual spot the Serpents hung out at, so it was a short drive. The motorcycle rumbled onto the grindstones of the road to the Drive In, making some others look up and some ignored him. He parked his bike next to the other bikes of the Serpents, lazily unclipping his helmet and letting it dangle around one of the handle bars of the steering wheel.
Sweet Pea moved his fingers through his raven hair and made his way to where he spotted the rest of his group, easily spotting Toni's coloured haired among his gangmembers. "Move aside". He muttered softly as the movie had already started, making her groan in irritation, yet she was glad Pea had turned up. His dark eyes flickered from the screen and went through the people seated in front of them, some visible and some hidden by the cockpit of the trucks they brought. He spotted a familiar beanie and nudged Toni in her side.
"Don't know if you understand the purpose of a movie, but it's mainly made for watching". She replied while her hand moved in her bucket of popcorn to grab some and stuff it in her mouth. "Jug's here too?". Sweet Pea ignored her sarcastic remark and watched her nod her head positively. "With Betty and her friends". Toni said while she kept her eyes on the screen. "Oh, well". He replied with a sigh. He wasn't a big fan of 'Betty's friends', which were also Jughead's friends. Especially the redheaded guy and the Lodge girl. Ugh, just the look in her eyes, as if she ruled the whole world.
Sweet Pea leaned back against the truck and crossed his arms over his chest after he stole some of Toni's popcorn. His eyes looked sideways to two people who were seated almost next to them, their truck parked a couple meters away from him. The girl's laugh echoed through the Drive In and it seemed like she was laughing about something the guy next to her said. His lips curled up in a snarl as his eyes caught the blue and yellow colours of the Riverdale High jackets, however he felt drawn to her when she looked back at the screen. It was her, it was the girl he had brought home a couple nights ago.
The guy next to her had his arm swung around her shoulder and she seemed to feel pretty comfortable by snuggling into his side, which made Sweet Pea raise his eyebrows. And Kate felt indeed pretty comfortable with Reggie next to her. He was way nicer than she thought he was, constantly flirting with her and telling her stupid jokes that weren't actually very funny, but just the stupidity of it made her giggle. The movie wasn't that interesting, but Kate admired the atmosphere at the Drive In. She could see why the inhabitants of Riverdale were going to miss this place in town a lot.
"I have to use the toilet, do you want some popcorn?". Kate asked as she had heard a refill was easily possible. "Yeah, sure". Reggie smiled and took his arm away from her so she could stand up. Kate took the empty bucket and her empty can and hopped out of the truck, making her way to the booth were she could get some more popcorn and a new drink. She quickly put them down on the counter and went around the building to get to the ladies room, getting to the toilet and then washing her hands. She checked her appearance in the mirror and wiped some excess of her mascara away from under her eyes.
Her eyeshadow was still intact, although she didn't want to overdo her make-up. Kate ruffled her hair a bit that was now curly as she didn't straighten before going out. She smiled as she thought back of Reggie picking her up, about to smoothly drop a pick-up line about how great she looked when her mother showed up behind her. Kate unlocked the door and was about to get out, a shriek leaving her mouth as a tall guy stood in front of her. "Oh my god". She huffed and put a hand over her hammering heart. "Second time in one week I scared you, doll?". His low voice spoke up, the corners of his mouth curling into a grin.
"Sweet Pea". Kate stated, not knowing if she got his name right, yet he didn't correct her, so she assumed she was right. "Dollface". He replied, the grin not leaving his handsome face. She took in his tall form, dressed in the same leather jacket he had worn when he offered her a ride home last monday. "I have a name, you know". Kate softly replied, briefly looking away as his staring eyes made her blush. Sweet Pea cocked an eyebrow at her, showing her he was waiting for a reply with what her name was. "I'm Kate". She eventually said, extending her hand for him to shake, if he wanted to.
She almost felt embarrassed as she didn't think he would accept the gesture, her cheeks crimson as she was about to lower her hand when he shook hers firmly. Sweet Pea's warm hand curled around hers, her much smaller hand disappearing in his bigger one. His rings felt cold against her skin and her eyes briefly wandered over the tattoo that was inked into his thumb. "Well, isn't it a pleasure, northie". Sweet Pea said and loosened his hand from hers. "Are you enjoying the movie?". She decided to ask and his chuckle made her look up with a questionable face. "Haven't been paying a lot of attention to be honest". He explained.
"Me neither". Kate admitted as she didn't really like the movie, she just enjoyed the company of her new friends. "I noticed". A smug grin made her swallow hard. "You seem pretty cosy with the Bulldog over there". His voice was a bit teasing, yet his deep brown eyes darkened and it made her a bit nervous as she didn't want to cause any trouble or be in the trouble. "O-oh, he's just a friend. I-I know him since Tuesday". Kate stuttered and Sweet Pea's laughter rung through her ears. "I'm just messing with you, you're popcorn's also ready for you for like ten minutes now". He said and she was sure her cheeks were as bright as a tomato now.
"Thank you". She muttered to the boy behind the counter and turned around with her popcorn and her drink, discovering Sweet Pea had left her before she could say anything else. Kate made her way back to Reggie and handed him the popcorn and the drink before hopping into the back of the truck herself. "Did you get swallowed by the toilet halfway?". Reggie chuckled with a playful tone. "Oh, no, I just...". She nibbled on her lower lip as she reminded herself the opinion Reggie had on the Serpents and other Southsiders. "I just helped another girl fixing her make up in the restroom". Kate added a smile and hoped he would believe her, which he did.
A sigh of relief left her mouth softly as she leaned against him again, however she found herself looking over at Sweet Pea and the two other Serpents who were seated a couple metres away from her. The tallest Serpent just popped a piece of popcorn in his mouth, his eyes finding hers and it made her blush fiercely. "Do you know him?". She blurted out and Reggie was a bit struck by her sudden question. "Who? The moviestar, well no, but he knows me because I'm obviously the best pl...". "Sweet Pea". Kate cut him off and Reggie laughed at the name. "Who the hell names his child Sweet Pea?".
Kate looked away from him as she didn't think it was right to laugh about someone like that. Sweet Pea was quite nice. "I believe he's one of the Serpents". She softly said and hoped Sweet Pea wasn't able to overhear their conversation. "Then I would ask why you know him?". Reggie asked, his tone dropping now and her blood almost froze. "W-well, he was kind enough to give me a ride home at the beginning of this week because I got lost in the Southside of the town". Kate's innocent eyes didn't help to calm his anger. She was here for a goddamn week and Reggie thought he had finally pulled, yet of course those scumbags had to...
He gritted through his teeth and scoffed. "Even if you're lost, you don't let the goddamn Serpents take you home, Kate". Reggie looked like he was gathering his stuff and she was a bit annoyed by his sudden attitude. "I didn't know any better, Reggie. What was I supposed to do? Run further and then get raped or something?". Reggie let out a sarcastic chuckle and hopped out of the truck. "See you later". He managed to get out before leaving the Drive In. "What the hell". Kate sighed and leaned back against the truck to watch the movie further on her own. She stared at the screen without processing anything in her mind, but she yelped as she felt the truck slightly shaking when someone else climbed in it.
"You need to stop scaring me, you know". Kate mumbled as she didn't look at Sweet Pea when he came to sit next to her. "Or you have to stop zoning out and you could've seen me coming". He stated simply and started to eat her popcorn, which she shoved his way as she had lost her appetite. "Where's your boyfriend?". Sweet Pea asked and sat against the side of the truck to look at her as the movie didn't catch his interest anyway. "Left because he had a sudden issue that needed to be fixed". Kate lied, which he didn't buy at all. "Funny that I heard his rant about us Serpents before he left". He said and Kate tugged her lower lip between her teeth.
"Did his ego feel attacked because you told him I was nice to you?". Sweet Pea asked now and Kate let a scoff tumble over her lips. "Don't ask if you already know it". She didn't know where she got the courage for such a bold answer, but it looked like he thought it was rather funny. "Northsiders". He sighed dramatically and shook his head, causing some of his strands to fall onto his forehead. His head turned towards the screen and Kate trailed hers over his neck, eyeing the snake that swirled over his caramel skin. Sweet Pea looked back at her and he caught her staring again, which made her blush for the hundreth time that night.
"Do you want to go home too?". He asked, almost a bit hesitant as if he wasn't sure if he should offer her another ride or not. "I will walk home in a bit". Kate said and it was quiet between them for a moment. "You should watch the movie with your girlfriend". She added as she looked over her shoulder at the short girl with the coloured strands in her hair. She looked back at him in confusion when he started to laugh. "Toni's more into you than into me". Kate blinked at his explanation and then let out a soft "oh" as she got what he meant. "Let's get you home". Sweet Pea easily got himself out of the back of the truck.
Kate stood up and was about to sit down on the edge to carefully hop down to the ground, however she squealed as one of his arms wrapped around her and he put her down. She ignored his eyes and his face in particular as she knew he had a shit eating grin plastered on it. Sweet Pea led her to his bike, however she hesitated before getting on it, this time not because she was scared. "Sweet Pea?". She shyly asked. He looked down at her and waited for her to speak up again. "Do you want to go and eat something? I'm kind of hungry". She admitted, not sure if he'd like that.
Sweet Pea looked at her for a moment before the grin returned on his face.
"Sure, doll. Hop on".