"Thanks for dropping me off, Sweets." - Harley said, as she got off his bike.
"Don't mention it, shortie." - he smiled.
"Don't call me like that, I swear I'll kick your ass." - she chuckled.
"I'd like to see you try, sis." - he grinned.
"Take care of T.T and Fangs, tonight. I have a feeling they'll get blackout drunk. I know you're the responsible one." - she smiled and he sighed. - "You really are the sweetest." - she chuckled and hugged him. - "Have fun."
"Good night, Harls." - he said, as he hugged her tight.
"Back so soon?" - Jughead said, once Harley walked through the door.
"Yeah." - she mumbled.
"So.. Sweet Pea, huh?" - he asked.
"What about Sweets?"
"You too seem awfully close."
She stopped taking her shoes off to look at Jughead. - "Are you mental?" - she laughed. - "Sweets and I have the most platonic friendship ever. He's just a really good friend."
"Whatever you say." - Jughead shrugged.
"You have no idea how wrong you are." - she shook her head. - "I'm going to bed."
"Did you see my dad?" - Jughead asked, before she could enter the bedroom.
"I might've noticed him amongst the crowds." - she lied. - "Why?"
"I was just wondering if I should wait for him to get back, or if I should just go to sleep." - he shrugged.
"I think that you should sleep. God knows how long he'll stay there." - she smiled sympathetically. - "Good night, Juggie." - Harley waved and disappeared into the darkness, that was her room.
She took her clothes off and stretched on the bed. She yawned and was fast asleep.
Not long had passed, when FP entered the trailer.
"Dad?" - Jughead looked at him surprised. - "You're home early. Thought you'd stay longer."
"I thought that too." - he mumbled, while taking his leather jacket off. He hung it up and turned back to look at his son. - "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I was reading. But, I'm getting kinda tired now." - he shrugged.
"Well, let's get to sleep then?" - he lay down next to him. - "I don't think that our guest will be coming back anytime soon."
"Harley?" - Jughead asked confused. - "She came, almost half an hour, before you did."
"She did?" - FP asked surprised.
"Yeah. Sweet Pea dropped her off."
"Is Sweet Pea her boyfriend?" - he asked, as he took his shirt off.
"I don't think so." - Jughead shook his head. - "She said that they aren't dating and that I was completely wrong, when I asked her about him, that is." - he chuckled.
"Very well, then." - FP tried to conceal the smirk that so badly wanted to make an appearance across his face.
"Why are you asking, tho?"
"Well they seemed very close." - he shrugged. - "Plus, I'd like to know what my men and guests are getting themselves into."
"I understand." - Jughead nodded. - "But I wouldn't worry about it. Harley seems like a nice girl, so if they were together, I doubt that she would cause trouble, or that Pea would become less interested in work."
"Right." - FP said, while covering himself with the thin blanket. - "Well, get some rest."
"Night, dad."
"Good night, Jug."
~*~
The next morning, Harley woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. She groaned and reached out her hand to the nightstand.
"Yeah?"
"Good morning, sweetie." - her mother said over the phone.
"Hey, mum." - Harley smiled at the sound of her voice.
"Did I wake you?"
"Kinda.." - she mumbled. - "What time is it?"
"It's around 10:30." - her mother answered. - "Were you out late last night?"
"Something like that, yeah." - she said, remembering her fight with FP.
"Do you want to continue sleeping? I'll call you later?"
"Nah, it's alright. I should get up, anyway." - Harley said, straightening up on the bed. - "What's going on? Is there anything wrong?"
"No, not at all, baby. We haven't talked in a couple of days, so I just wanted to hear your voice."
The young girl smiled. She really missed her mother and her town. Back there, they didn't have any problems and Harley didn't have a crush on a man that was old enough to be her father.
"How are you doing? How's work going?"
"You know, same old, same old." - her mother answered. - "I'm tired and in need of sleep, but also in need of money and they need people around the hotel to take care of stuff. I manage." - she sighed. - "I'm not important, tho. How's Riverdale been treating you? Have you made any friends?"
"It's good. And yeah, I have a group of friends."
"Oh, that's lovely. I'm so glad." - she said happily. - "What about school?"
"School's, well... School." - Harley shrugged to herself. - "I've got a test in psychology on Monday."
"Did you study?"
"No, but I'm gonna."
"Okay, sweetheart. Well you go, have breakfast and we'll talk later, or tomorrow. Have a nice day. I love you."
"Thanks, love you too, mum." - Harley said and hung up.
She stood up and threw the phone on the bed, on the very spot she was just sitting in. She walked to her side of the closet and took some shorts out, as well as a crop top. She put the clothes on and tied her hair up in a high ponytail. She grabbed her phone from the bed, on her way out.
"Jug?" - she called, before she could even step into the living room. - "Juggie, you up?" - she asked.
"He's out." - she heard a low and raspy voice that belonged to none other than FP Jones. - "Betty called him."
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" - she rolled her eyes at him.
"I've got the day off." - he said standing up.
Harley tried her best not to eye him up and down, since he only had underwear on.
"So that means that I'm stuck with you?" - she turned around and poured herself a cup of coffee. - "Great, lucky me." - she said sarcastically.
"Will there be any left for me?" - he asked stepping closer to her. Their bodies were almost touching and she could feel the warmth that was radiating off his skin.
"Probably." - she shrugged.
He placed his hands on the counter in front of her, she turned around to face him. They were inches apart.
"You know," - she started talking. - "there was a time when I'd do anything to have a moment like this with you, when I really wanted to kiss you." - he smirked. - "But now.. after last night, all I wanna do is punch you in the throat and kick you in the nuts." - she smiled sweetly.
"Oh, c'mon, you don't mean that."
"Stay this close to me for another 10 seconds and see if I'm bluffing or not."
He sighed and moved away, knowing very well what the girl was capable of.
She disappeared into the bedroom and came back after a while.
"You don't have to worry about me bothering you, anymore." - she said. - "I'm leaving."
"What?" - he stood up in shock. - "But, where will you go?"
"I found a small apartment. It's big enough for me, tho. And it's not that expensive." - she explained briefly. - "It's not anything special, but I don't need anything extravagant."
"You don't have to go."
"I don't want to stay either, Jones."
"Look," - he spoke up, making her turn towards him again. - "I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. It was wrong and my actions were somewhat possessive." - he looked down at his feet. - "You're a young woman that can, indeed, take care of herself. You're not defenseless, not at all, in fact. You're strong, smart and badass." - he looked at her, but he couldn't read her face, it was completely blank. That girl could act, he could give her that. - "I'm sorry, Harley. I really am."
"So what happened that made you drastically change your opinion and mind?"
He shrugged. - "I can't control you, you can do whatever you want to do."
They were quiet for a while. - "I should really stop acting like your dad."
"And start acting like my daddy." - she mumbled quietly, as she smirked.
"What was that?" - he furrowed his eyebrows.
"Oh, nothing." - she chuckled.
"I heard that, you know." - he looked deep in her eyes. - "I may be older, but I'm too young to be deaf." - he whispered in her ear, right after he pressed up her against the wall.
"I was joking."
"Were you really?" - he asked, as he started kissing her neck.
"You know that this is wrong, right?" - she said and he stopped kissing her neck, his lips were now inches apart from hers. She could feel the hot air he was breathing out, against her lips.
"I doubt that it will feel wrong." - he mumbled and attached his lips to hers.
His hands rested on her waist and hers on his chest. They needed a moment to adapt to each other, but a few short moments later, they deepened their kiss.
"FP.." - she mumbled in between kisses.
"Mm?"
"I'm too smart to be seduced by you." - she said, as she pulled away.
He stopped kissing her. - "I know you are."
She moved away. - "And I'm serious about moving out."
He sighed and looked at her. She sat on the counter. - "And I'm serious about me wanting you to stay."
"We can't keep this up, Jones." - she leaned her head against the kitchen cabinets.
"Keep what up?"
"The fighting, the flirting.." - she mumbled. - "I can't wake up every morning in hopes that you're at work, or at the bar."
"So you don't even want to see my face?" - he looked at her disappointed.
"It's nothing like that." - she chuckled and shook her head. - "It's not safe for us to get into something like this. One day we kiss, the other day we fuck, what'll happen then?" - she asked.
"We haven't even properly kissed and you're already thinking about sex." - he smirked.
"Wipe that smirk off your face. I'm serious. Do you know what the people will say?"
"Who gives a crap about what they say?"
"I do!" - she threw her hands in the air. - "I'm new around here. Who knows how long I'll get to stick around. I don't wanna lose my friends."
"You won't lose them." - he shrugged.
"Your son is one of the best people I've befriended here, FP. He'll be pissed if he were to find out that there's something going on between us."
"So you agree, there is something going on."
"FP, you're every girl's dream come true. Tall, dark and handsome." - she smiled.
"But?"
"But the reason I came here wasn't so I could find a love interest, it was so I could find something more about my father." - she stood up.
"And you did!" - he smiled.
"And that means that I'm not going to stay much longer." - she shrugged. - "Riverdale is just an escape for me, nothing more."
He sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders. - "I haven't met a girl like you in a long while, Harley. It would be a shame to let you walk away."
She smiled and placed a light kiss on his lips. - "I'm glad you think that." - she walked over to the hanger and picked up her backpack. - "I'll come back to pick my stuff up later."
"Very well." - he nodded.
Harley parked her bike in front of the diner and walked inside.
"Hey, Pop? Could I have a strawberry milkshake, please?"
"Coming right up Harley." - he smiled at the girl.
"Thanks, I'll be at the booth." - she said and walked over to Jughead. - "Where's Betty?"
"Huh?" - he looked up at her. - "At home?" - he asked confused.
"Your dad told me that you're out with her." - she said. - "Guess he misunderstood." - She shrugged. - "Who are you here with, then?"
"I was alone, but now you're here."
"What's wrong Jug?" - she asked worried.
"Nothing." - he shook his head.
"I can tell that something is bothering you. What is it? You know that you can tell me."
"Yeah, I know. It's nothing." - he mumbled.
"Fine. I won't push it. But when you do feel like telling me what's got you so shook, I'll be right here." - she smiled and he nodded.
"Here you go, Harley. One strawberry milkshake." - the man said and left the glass in front of her. - "Anything else you'd like Jug?"
"No, thanks Pop. I'm good." - he smiled at him and Pop nodded. - "What're you doing here, tho? Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Oh, I'm on my way to look at this apartment I found online." - Harley said as she took a sip of her milkshake.
"Apartment?"
"Yeah, I'm moving out."
"Why?"
"I don't wanna bother you and your dad, Jug. You guys should sleep comfortably. I'm just a bourdon to you guys."
"What? Not at all!" - he shook his head no. - "It's refreshing to have a female around the trailer. Someone to keep an order in things." - he chuckled.
She shrugged. - "I feel like I should get my own place. We all need some space and some us time."
"Yeah, I understand." - he nodded.
After a while, Jughead's phone rang. He swiftly took it in his palm and looked at the screen. - "I really need to go." - he mumbled.
"Who is it? Is it something important?"
"Yeah, something like that." - he said and took out money to pay for the food he had earlier.
"Do you want me to come along? Do you need help?"
"No, it's ok. You finish your drink and take a look at that apartment if you so badly want to ditch us." - he joked. - "See you, Harls." - he said and stood up.
Since she was left alone at the diner, there was no need for staying much longer. She gave Pop the money that Jug had left, along with her own and got on her bike.
She headed towards a building that was at the very edge of the Southside. It was the only building dividing the two parts of the town. She parked her bike in front and climbed up the stairs.
The apartment she looked at online was on the top floor. She had called the agent, before she drove off from the diner.
Harley knocked on the door and walked inside.
"You must be Harley." - A short brunette woman greeted her. - "I'm Ophelia. Come in." - she smiled.
"It's nice to meet you." - Harley smiled back at her.
"So, as you could see online," - she said. - "it's a one bedroom apartment. Everything is an open concept, apart from the bathroom, of course. It comes fully furnished. This is the bathroom right here." - the woman opened the white door, leading to a small bathroom with white and turquoise tiles. - "It's nothing special, really," - she said once the short tour was over. - "I can't see why you're interested in buying it and not just renting it out. Especially when you said you're visiting."
"Well, it's not my style really, but I'll work with what I've got. Plus, visiting or not, I'd still like to have a place that's just my own. No one else's. Even if I do go away, I could rent it out and when I come back I'll have a place to stay."
Ophelia nodded. - "You're smart, I like that idea. Even tho it's not that expensive, do you have enough money here in cash?" - she asked.
"I wanted to ask you that, could I pay you half now and half next month?" - Harley asked.
The woman though about it for a while, but she eventually gave in. - "Alright." - she nodded. - "You've got yourself a deal young lady." - she put her hand out for Harley to shake.
"I'll come back later to bring my stuff." - Harley said after signing the papers and after Ophelia gave her the key.
"It's your place now, doll. You can do whatever you want." - she grinned. - "Rearrange it, paint it, hell even burn it if you like." - she joked. - "Just have in mind that you don't have insurance yet."
Harley laughed. - "See you around, Miss. Ophelia."
"See you around, kid."