CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DATE OR NO DATE
"why you gotta be so cute"
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Don't ask why, because you won't receive an answer, but Harley Byers was currently standing in her room, stressing over something to wear for tonight.
She had fanned through her entire closet, tried on four different outfit, and made a complete mess of her entire room. Harley wasn't the type to stress over her outfit for a date, so she wasn't sure why she was feeling this way all of a sudden. Hell, she wasn't even sure if it was a date. On one side, it seemed odd for a guy to ask her out at eight am on a school night just to hang out as friends. Then again, why in holy hell would a Southsiders, let alone a Serpent, invite a Northsider on a date? None of this made sense.
Yet another pair of jeans were sent hurling across the room, crashing into the pile of clothes located beside her bed. Harley groaned loudly in defeat. Even with a closet packed with clothes, it felt as if she had nothing to wear. No cute heels, no fancy jackets. No nothing.
What do one even wear when you're going on a 'date' with a gang member? Do you dress like you're one of them? No, that makes you appear like a wannabe. Do you go all in with a fancy dress, a full face of makeup and high heels? Fuck no. You don't want to seem desperate or over dressed. "Why does this have to be so hard?"
When a second article of clothing hit the wall, this time being a pair of wedgies, a person barged into the room. Harley's mother, Addison, stared wide eyed at the mess, before a smile broke out on her face. "Tell me, who is he?" She asked, a cheeky grin smacked onto her lips. Harley jumped, startled by her mother's sudden appearance, still not used to the woman actually being present.
"What? Who?" Harley said, deciding to play dumb. She knew that there was no way her mother was ever letting her leave the house if she knew that she was going on a 'date' with a Southsider, let alone a serpent. Reggie Mantle and Harley's parents shared the same amount of hatred for them.
"Don't play dumb with me, sweetheart." Addison said, stepping into the room with a smug look. "I was your age once too, you know? I know that look on your face, and the looks of this room. You my dear, is going on a date. Now, tell me who with?"
"No one important." She responded, inspecting a pair of heels. "And it's not a date."
"Mhm." Her mother hummed unconvinced, taking a seat on the edge of Harley's bed. "Want any help looking for an outfit for this not date? I happen to be an expert."
It was unusual to have a mother present, let alone having her mettle and trying to bond. Harley was good on her own, she always and been. She'd spent so much time feeling disdain for both her parents that she had no idea how to act, or feel, now that they both were putting in an effort. Harley had spent so many sleepless nights wishing for this moment to come, but now that it was her, she almost couldn't believe it. And with her mother trying to become her best friend? It was all too much, too fast.
"No I'm good." Harley rejected her mother's help. Addison's face fell, her shoulders slumping. She was trying her best, but maybe it just was too little, too late.
"Harley I know that—"
"Mom, I'm not doing this now. I'm not having this conversation. I have a date to get ready for, alright?" Harley interrupted her mother. She wasn't in the mood for her mother's excuses.
"Oh, so it is a date?" The smug grin was back on her face. Harley rolled her eyes, pushing the woman out of her room.
"Goodbye!" She yelled, drowning out any cheeky comments her mother was about to make, slamming the door shut.
Harley turned around, sighing heavily as she looked at her messy room. She was going to have to clean it all up when she was back.
Her stomach dropped when her phone buzzed. The two previous texts she had received from the unknown number haunted her mind as she shakily pulled it out of the pocket, a sigh of relief falling from between her lips when it was a simple notification from twitter.
"Gosh, Harley, stop being so paranoid." She mumbled to herself, stuffing her phone back in its place in her pocket. It was obviously just someone trying to mess with her, nothing else. At least that was what she was going to continue telling herself.
The Byers girl was highly disturbed by the two texts. Harley felt unsafe, watched, whenever her phone chimed with a text, or even signaled a notification at all. But she wasn't going to tell someone. Who would she tell anyway? Her parents was a no go, and Jughead would only tell the girl she was being paranoid. She didn't need to tell anyone anything. It wasn't necessary.
Little did she know. . .
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The shrill sound of the bell sounded loudly when the door to Pop's opened, Harley stepping foot inside wearing a nervous look. It was hid behind a stern mask.
Her eyes slipped over the people inside the diner. Her eyes stopped at the Serpent logo embedded in the leather, her breath hitching in her throat. Sweet Pea's back was turned against her, but she recognized him. Even sitting he was still tall. Sucking in a deep breath, the curly headed brunette headed in his direction. She smoothly slipped into the seat infront of him, arching a brow in his direction along with an arched brow.
"You came." He almost sounded surprised. Harley shrugged her shoulders, nodding. "Also, your late." The clock read 08.23 am. The girl was twenty minutes late.
"You invited me, did you not? Did you think I wouldn't show up?" Harley asked. Sweet Pea opened his mouth to answer, but shut it when Pop Tate approached to take their orders.
"Harley, feels like I haven't seen you in ages." He said, taking her order. A strawberry milkshake, a burger and fries.
"Yeah, I've been busy. Wouldn't mind picking up a shift though." Harley flashed him a smile. He returned it.
"Sure, I'll let you know. What can I get you?" He switched his attention over to Sweet Pea, accepting his order before disappearing back into the kitchen to prepare the food.
"So, you wanted to get to know each other?" Harley started. Sweet Pea shifted in his seat, regretting setting this thing up. He wasn't even sure why he wanted to get to know the girl.
"Yeah, tell me about yourself." He awkwardly said. She bursted out in laughter.
"Really? No offense, Sweet Pea, but you don't really strike me as the 'I wanna know all about you' type guy." She admitted.
"Fine, what do you propose we talk about then?" He hadn't really ever been on a date before. All the experience he had was from the cheesy romance movies Toni and Fangs ( his two best friends ) had forced him to watch with them. Sure, the gang member had plenty of. . . experience with girls, but not in this sappy type way.
Harley hummed, trying to think. The girl had plenty of experience in this department. Several guys had asked her on dates. Harley had been on her fair share of them too. She had tried it all; the awkward dinner, the uncomfortable movie. A thing she hadn't done, however, was go wild. Her life had always been so proper, so picture perfect, she'd never done something completely unheard of. "Pop's, can we get that food to go?" She called to the older man who was rummaging around behind the counter.
Sweet Pea shot her a confused look, one that slowly edged over to nervousness when he saw the evil smirk growing on her face. "Ready for a ride, Sweet Pea?"
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"We could've been arrested!"
When Sweet Pea had invited Harley to Pop's, he didn't think it would end up with the two of them running from the cops. Harley hadn't told him what they were doing. She had simply handed him the food from Pop's, forcing him to follow her. The first thing they had done was stealing two bicycles. Then they had biked across town to a store at the outskirts of the town, swiped handfuls of candy, and dashed out of there.
Sure, it wasn't anything big, but Harley had never done anything illegal like that before. And Sweet Pea? Well, he wasn't as much as a thug as the Northsiders painted him to be.
"Really? The blue lights and cop chasing us didn't give me the memo." Harley joked inbetween laughs. Sweet Pea couldn't help but laugh along. Her laughter was contagious.
"You're crazy." He accused, his palms firmly planted on his knees as he leaned over and panted.
"Aren't you Southsiders supposed to be 'thugs' or something? You're pretty basic if you ask me." Sweet Pea rolled his eyes at her joke.
"Contrary to popular Northside beliefs, we Southsiders are pretty law obedient citizens." He returned. Harley couldn't help but laugh. She was enjoying this 'date' a whole deal more then she thought she would.
"Yeah, right, the meth lab in the basement of your school told ya that?" He playfully glared at her, giving her shoulder a light shove. "Too soon?"
"Yes, very much too soon." Sweet Pea was enjoying himself too. It wasn't like he didn't have a good time every now and then, but trying to stay in school and at the same time try making money to survive was proving to me time consuming.
"C'mon, I'm getting hungry." With both the food and stolen candies in the baskets of the bikes, the two pedaled down the dark, empty streets of Riverdale. Sweet Pea didn't ask where they were going. He trusted her.
Soon enough, they skidded to a halt. Harley scooped the food into her arms, letting the bike drop carelessly to the gravel. Sweet Pea copied her actions, cautiously as not to try as he followed her into the woods. Soon enough the two stopped by the riverbank, the sound of rushing water filling their ears.
"You brought me to Sweetwater River? Really? You don't that's a little. . . morbid?" Sweet Pea joked, settling down on the ground with her. Harley pulled out her milkshake, happily slurping it.
"Don't be a buzzkill." She warned.
"I'm not." He held his hands up in surrender. "Clifford Blossom is. Literally. You know, seeing as he dump-"
"We're not talking about Jason Blossom's murder on this date, got it?" Harley blurted the 'D' word before she could stop herself.
Sweet Pea took a bite from his burger, smirking at her. "Oh, this is a date?" Her cheeks heated up, but the darkness of the night covered it.
"No, maybe? I don't know, you invited me on this thing." The brunette rushed to say, waving her hands around for emphasis. He caught her wrists, pausing her movements.
"You into me, Northsider?" Harley could practically hear her heart thumping in her chest. The almost kiss that took place at the quarry flashed in her mind, the close proximity between the two reminding her of it.
"N-no!" She pulled her wrist away from him, shuffling to move away. "I'm hungry, give me my fries." Sweet Pea laughed, obeying her order by handing her the fries. "Did you bring ketchup?" She asked. The boy shook his head.
"Of course not. That stuff ruins everything." He stated, taking another bite o dais burger. Harley's jaw almost dropped open in shock.
"You're kidding with me, right?" She gasped loudly when he shook his head. "I take offense to that! Ketchup is like a light in a world of darkness. It makes everything ten times better."
Sweet Lea stared back at her with wide eyes. "You can't be serious? Wow, I don't think I can be seen with someone who puts that garbage in their body."
"Oh yeah?" Without warning Harley dropped the now empty box that used to host fries, launching herself over to him. She snatched the curly fries from his hands, holding them over the rushing current underneath. He sprung to his feet, eyes narrowed. "One step closer, Sweetie, and these babies will be swimming with the fish." She threatened.
Sweet Pea played along. "You wouldn't dare."
Harley feigned a evil laugh, giving him a challenging look. "Wouldn't I?"
"Fine, what do you want in return?" He asked.
"Funny you should ask. I'm holding your fries hostage until you're ready to admit that ketchup is superior to anything." The Byers girl said, waving the box of curly fries over the water.
"You drive a hard bargain, princess."
"Princess? Where'd you get that from?" Harley asked, nose scrunched up at the nickname.
"Thought it suited you. Since you're like literal royalty at your school." He explained. Harley shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm more of a Queen in my opinion, but I guess it'll do for now." She joked. "But, back to the problem- hey! Back off! Back off or I will throw them!" She yelled to the boy as he edged closer to her.
"I call your bluff." He said, continuing to step closer.
"Your loss." The box started to slip from her fingers, a panicked expression now dominating his facial features.
"No!" Sweet Pea jumped over, clutching both the fries and her, pulling them away form the edge of the shore, both tumbling back to the ground. Sweet Pea landed with an 'oof' to the ground, Harley following suit. The brunette crashed ontop of him which caused the boy to groan loudly.
Surprisingly enough, the fries were safely within his grasp, having suffered no damage from the 'hostage situation' or the 'suicidal saving mission'. "Thanks for saving my fall." Harley said, jumping to her feet. Sweet Pea groaned loudly from the ground, already feeling his back ache from the impact.
"You're crazy, Harley." He declared for the second time that night.
She waved her hand dismissively in the air, returning to her position on the ground with the food. "Yeah, yeah, what else is new?" With a genuine smile on his face, Sweet Pea sat down in the ground with her, popping one of his precious fries into his mouth.
And so the two continued the night by conversing side by side, not returning home till one in the morning. They tried to find the place where they had snatched the bike before making their way back to Pop's where Sweet Pea and parked his bike. Though the Byers girl lived relatively close to the diner, he convinced her to give her a ride home.
He pulled up infront of the house after receiving directions from her. She slipped off of the bike and to the side walk, tugging her jacket closer to her body. Harley gave him a shy smile, tucking a loose curl behind her air.
"You're not half bad, Northsider." Sweet Pea complimented, straddling his bike.
"Could say the same about you, Serpent. You make. . . tolerable company, Sweets." The two shared a silent moment, simply staring at each other.
Soon enough the boy drove off into the night, the rumble of his motorcycle lingering. When he was completely out of view Harley climbed up to her window, swiftly sneaking back into her house.
Tucked under her sheets, she couldn't help but to fall asleep with a small smile gracing her lips. Unbeknownst to her, the very boy she had spent the evening with fell asleep the same way.
word count; 2718
a/n
yes, there we go, finally some sweet pea and harley alone time. wanted to make some scenes between the two of them that didn't include the shows originals plot lines, so i sincerely hope u guys enjoyed. don't want to make things too heated between the two too fast, and i'm kind of struggling with how sweet pea is suppose to act around har, but we'll see.
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