Estrella woke up to morning after being threatened at gunpoint, hungover and sore as hell. Beside her sweet pea snores in her ear, large body sprawled across the bed with their long limbs tangled together over the sheets.
ripping the blankets off her pajama covered legs, Estrella climbs out of bed. "Sweetie, get up!" She groans before last nights snacks come back to haunt her.
Sweet pea doesn't stir as She leaps across the room for the small bathroom in the hallway. Everything comes up, the case of mike's hard, the half a bottle of Smirnoff drank doing shots with pea and the dozen eatables fangs had stashed in his pocket that made the trio forget their own names.
Estrella leans back against the cool wall of the bathroom. Hangovers are a bitch She declares to herself.
"Sweetie!" She moans loudly, arching her back off the floor. He doesn't answer. Estrella moans again, crawling to her feet. She flushes the toilet, washes out her mouth with what looks like mouthwash, it didn't taste like it. And then gets dressed, pulling on sweet pea's favorite red flannel, her leather jacket, then his jean jacket, the double headed serpent standing proud between her shoulder blades.
Estrella jumps into her car, driving to pop's diner as her dash clock chirps five AM. She knew she was up way too early for this.
"Morning Estrella. Usual?" Pop greets happily as the bell chimes over my head.
"Not today. I need two hangover specials, the largest container of onion rings you can give me and a pot of black coffee." Estrella slumps onto a bar stool.
"Rough night?" Pop asks with a chuckle as he begins pulling together her order.
"I think I got run over by a couple trucks then got dragged for good measure." Estrella rests her head on her arm, closing her eyes for a moment while she waits.
—————
"Stella?" Jughead prods Estella's shoulder.
He had come in for a coffee and some quiet but found her asleep at the counter, while pop Tate didn't look surprised.
Estrella waves Jughead off, burying her face into her elbow.
"She's been there for about three hours now." Pop informs Jughead, wiping the counter around her for no good reason. He had nothing to do, the morning rush was already gone.
Estrella glances up from her arm, eyes squinted, the remains of her makeup darkening under her eyes. "Hey Juggie!" She drags out her greeting before curling back up.
"I'll call sweet pea to come pick her up. How much was her tab?" Jughead turns to pop leaving Estrella to sleep on the table.
——————
"Watch her head!"
Estrella jerks as her head bounces off the door frame of pops diner. That wasn't the wake up she was expecting.
"Ouch! Watch it butt munch." Estrella seethes reaching up to rub her head. Her whole body shakes as sweet pea laughs. Too slowly Estrella becomes aware of her surroundings.
"Don't fall asleep in diners and I won't have to carry you into the parking lot at ten AM." Sweet pea answers.
Once again estrella squints at her surroundings. She was in the parking lot of pop's, a large bag of food resting on stomach stomach and her body being cradled by sweet pea, being hovered over by Toni.
"Hey baby cakes!" Estrella waves to Toni before sliding out of sweet pea's grip, tripping him in the process.
"How high are you?" Toni answers raising a well manicured eyebrow.
"No, no, no. It's 'hi how are you'." Estrella corrects her teasingly. Earning a surprised stare from Toni.
"The hell did you three do last night?" Toni asks sweet pea, who is playing with Estrella's car keys.
"She drank a case of mike's. Ate most of Fangs bag of eatables and then did a bottle of vodka shots with me." Sweet pea lists.
"You are all my smart food!" Estrella shouts pointedly.
"You ate my hot Cheeto's!" He shoots back.
"Only because you stole my popcorn!"
"I did not!"
"Guys! Shut it!" Toni jumps in between the two.
"Stay out of this!" The pair shout down at her.
Toni backs off, snatching sweet pea's motorcycle keys and leaves on his bike without another word.
Once she's gone the two begin howling with laughter.
"I bought more popcorn, and Cheeto's." Sweet pea declares once he calms down.
"I've got a hidden stash of both, and our favorite movies." Estrella climbs into the passenger seat.
"That sounds perfect." Sweet pea drops his hand onto her knee as he speeds towards Estrella's trailer.
They curl up on the couch for the rest of the day, wrapped in ester's favorite blanket with two overflowing bowls of food.
"I forgot to tell you. My jacket looks super hot on you." He whispers as the opening credits of 'scream' roll. Lustful wanting curling his words in her ear.
"I forgot to tell you. You look really hot." Estrella whispers back in his ear.
"I know I am. But thank you for noticing Ester."
———————-
Four movies, and about six bags of junk later sweet pea excuses himself for a serpent meeting. Not that Estrella was surprised. They were becoming more and more of a regular occurrence with FP behind bars.
Estrella sits alone on the couch, painting her nails with grease playing in the background. Danny Zuko always reminded her of Sweetie, they had similar hair, a soft side and a playboy side. The only difference was sweet pea's unchecked aggression that usually made him really sexy and intimidating in Estrella's eyes.
The door beside Estrella explodes on its hinges making Estrella screech in surprise, throwing the blanket off her lap to jump to her feet. Toni falls through the door. Her hair a wet mess, eyes wide and lungs screaming.
"Sweets-Sweet Pea- he's... he's lost it! He's put together a group of serpents to beat the crap out of the Northsiders." She gasps.
Estrella launches across the room, shoving her feet into her boots before snatching her keys and running into the dark world outside. "Stay here in case he comes by!" Estrella orders before throwing her car into reverse and speeding out of the park.
The sky challenges Estrella's Plymouth, snarling and roaring. The Plymouth doesn't hold back through the dark. Estrella gets as far as the bridge over sweet water river beside Pickens park.
Spread across the bridge is the serpents from the night before, and the red circle bulldogs. Archie Andrews and sweet pea stand inches from each others faces, sweet pea looks ready to kill.
The sky opens up above them and the rumble begins.
"Sweet pea!" Estrella barks, running blindly through the rain towards the center of the bridge, but she's lost sight of the two ring leaders. It's just bodies now, rolling across the ground, tumbling over one another. The water beneath Estrella's shoes runs red.
"Enough!" She screeches as what looks like Fangs tumbles past her with a bulldog, his fists around their varsity jacket.
"Sweet pea! Stop this!" Estrella tries to march for the center of the fight but ends up getting knocked down. Drenched from head to toe, and smeared with blood Estrella stomps for the side of the bridge.
She collides with a girl. Dressed in a black skirt, a white shirt with the a red circle on the chest and her purse in the crook of her elbow. Veronica lodge; a drowned snob.
"I can't stop them!" Estrella informs her cousin loudly. Veronica studies her for a moment, then pulls a gun from her purse.
"I can!" She shouts over the storm.
Estrella's eyes go wide. "Do you know how to use one of those?!" She demands. Veronica gives her a look and Estrella ducks, covering her ears as her cousin fires the gun into the sky. The rumble comes to an abrupt halt.
Estrella nods to Veronica before stomping up towards sweet pea, his face bruised, nose bloody and a sneer set on his lips.
"Go." Estrella snarls at him, pointing towards the Southside. "Sweet pea you need to leave before the serpents get hurt."
Sweet pea looks down at her, the bloodlust in his eyes fading. "Est-"
"Go on! Get out of here!" The serpents take off. Leaving her and sweet pea standing in the rain, being watched by the bulldogs.
One of the bulldogs limps past, having been laying on the ground in the shadows Estrella had overlooked him. Red clouds Estrella's mind, Sweet pea's switchblade is in his leg. Her head snaps up, her hand faster. Sweet pea's head rocks back. "Get out of my sight sweet pea." He slinks backwards, leaving Estrella standing in the middle of the bridge. Rain pouring over her body and an emptiness in her chest.