UPPERS
chapter seven
তততততততততততত
Rosemary got a text later that night from Betty asking if she wanted to go with them to Cheryl's house. Apparently the advice that Penny Peabody had given Jughead was that a way for them to lessen FP and Amelia's sentences was to have the family of the victim forgive them for their crimes and ask for mercy. When she read the text, Rosemary felt her face heat up in anger that even after Rosemary told Jughead not to, he was still taking Penny's advice. The blonde wanted no part of anything Penny had to do with, so, even though she knew her presence would help Cheryl agree to help, she left Betty on read and decided to spend her night at Archie Andrews's house.
Rosemary pulled up to the Andrews household and made her way towards the front, not even bothering to knock since she knew Fred kept the spare key under a potted plant in the front. She was quick to make her way in, only she was shocked to see Archie not in his room but sitting at the bottom of the stairs with a baseball bat at his side. He quickly stood and held it up threateningly when she walked in, but let it fall when he realized who she was.
"Who, easy there, tiger," Rosemary softly chuckled, closing the door behind her. "It's just me."
"Shit, Rose," Archie sighed, leaning the bat against the wall. "I could've hit you,"
Rosemary snorted as she leaned against the front door, her arms crossing over Jughead's sweatshirt that she wore. She hugged the hoodie a little closer as the scent of Jughead's calonge rose to her nose. The scent made her heart feel heavy in her chest as she thought back to earlier that day.
"You couldn't hit me if you tried, Andrews," Rosemary teased, her eyes falling on the energy drinks that sat at the floor around where he was sitting before. Her brows tugged downward along with her mouth into a deep frown as she turned her attention back up to Archie. "Especially with the lack of sleep you've been having. What the hell, Archie?"
Rosemary swifty scooped up an empty energy drink can and held it up towards her friend with a questioning look. She was quick to put the pieces together and understand what was going on with Archie, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
Archie was scared. She had noticed his tired eyes since that day that Fred was shot, bu she had just assumed that it was nightmares. What she didn't think he was doing was staying up all night with a bat staring at his front door while downing Red Bulls. She wondered if he had slept at all since the attack.
"Arch," Rosemary sighed as she placed down the empty can. She made her way over to her childhood friend and placed two comforting hands on his broad shoulders. "You need to slee-"
"You sound like Ronnie," Archie cut her off, shaking her hands off of his shoulders as he ran his hands through his hair. "I don't need sleep. What I need is to make sure my dad stays safe."
"That's not your job, Arch," Rosemary argued back, making sure not to raise her voice since she knew Fred was sleeping upstairs. "Listen, I know you're scared about that guy coming back. Everyone is Archie – Hell, I'm terrified! But what happens if he does show up, huh? You haven't had a full nights sleep in who knows how long and you think you can take him on with your bat and some Red Bulls?"
Archie was silent, though Rosemary could tell he wasn't listening to her words. His eyes were locked on the window to his left and his body was tense. Rosemary peeked around his broad frame and felt her heart jump to her throat as her eyes landed on a hooded figure staring back at her. He swiftly walked away out of sight, but Rosemary knew he was there and was quick to scoop up Archie's bat and hold it tightly in her hands.
She was never good at baseball. When they had to play it in gym Rosemary was always at the end of the line when hitting and in the far outskirts of the outfield where no one would hit the ball. She always struggled with being able to swing the bat accurately since she excelled more in her gymnastics and wrestling. Any sport with a ball she kept far away from.
Archie sprung into action, rushing through the back door and tackling the dark hooded figure to the ground. Rosemary was petrified, her heart pounding in her ears as she heard the grunting of both Archie and the hooded man from outside. She heard them struggling as they fought each other and knew she had to go help, but she was frozen as flashes of the hooded man holding a gun to her head flashed in her mind. She was only snapped out of her paralyzed state when a voice yelled out from outside.
"Stop!"
Rosemary broke into a run, running through the front door and holding the bat up threateningly as she watched Archie rip off the hood of the man. A mess of black hair and tan skin shone in the porch light and Rosemary let the bat fall as she stared down at Reggie Mantle, who was panting underneath of Archie.
"It's me," Reggie sighed, pushing Archie off of him as he tried to catch his breath. "Are you freakin' insane?"
"What the hell are you doing here, Reggie?" Archie asked from his seat on the ground next to Reggie.
Rosemary sighed, leaning the bat against the house as she tried to calm down her rapid heart rate. There was no hooded man outside of the Andrews household. Just Reggie freaking Mantle probably pulling a stupid prank. The sight of the dark haired teen made Rosemary's blood boil as her eyes landed on the black hood laying on the ground. She glared daggers down at Reggie, who met her eyes and seemed shocked at her angered expression.
"Delivering your uppers," Reggie panted, his words catching Rosemary's attention as her head snapped to Archie's direction as her hazel eyes widened. "Clearly the last thing you need. You've lost it, Andrews."
"Excuse me, Uppers?" Rosemary spoke up, neither boy looking in her direction or even acknowledged her words.
"You're the one here wearing this hood," Archie accused as he held up the black fabric, still panting as he tried to catch his breath.
"It's called a prank," Reggie defended himself. "I didn't expect you to attack me. What if I had been the guy? Eh? You would have just tackled him?"
Rosemary sighed, sliding down the side of the house onto the porch so she was next to Reggie and across from Archie. Her eyes were locked on the ginger, her mind racing with Reggie's words.
He was right. What would have happened if it wasn't Reggie pulling a stupid prank and it was the man back to finish the job? Archie would've most likely been shot because of his recklessness. Rosemary had seen killers before, her time on the Southside made sure of that. Hell, she had probably walked among some in the Whyte Wyrm. But the hooded man? He was different. His green eyes were cold and empty. He didn't care who he was attacking and if Archie had run in like that without thinking he would have been shot on sight.
"Yeah," Archie agreed with Reggie's words. "Damn Right."
"He has a gun, Andrews," Reggie sighed, leaning slightly against Rosemary as he tried to catch the breath that was knocked out of him when Archie tackled him to the ground. She tensed at the contact between the two but didn't think too much of it since she was too shaken up to bother telling him to get off of her. "He shot people. Only a dumbass lunatic brings a baseball bat to a gunfight."
"As much as I hate it," Rosemary spoke up after noticing both boys were out of words and were continuing to catch their breath. "Reggie's right. Arch, you can't just expect to rush in head on and take this guy out."
"What else am I supposed to do, huh?" Archie asked, his head snapping up so he could meet Rosemary's eyes. "Just let him walk in and try and finish the job? At least I did something instead of standing there doing nothing!"
Rosemary knew Archie was upset but his words stung her chest. He was right. She did nothing to help. What was she going to do if the hooded man came after her next? Freeze up again? She was a Serpent for Christ's sake! She wasn't supposed to get scared, but here she was freezing up and letting her friend risk his life when she should have been helping.
"Dude, lay off of her," Reggie spoke up softly, catching Rosemary slightly off guard at his words. "She was scared, there's nothing wrong with that."
Rosemary sat there in silence, both teenage boys looking at her to try and read her emotions. Her eyes had drifted to the bat that leaned against the house next to her. She took a shaky breath and stood up, her eyes having a glossy sheen in the porch light as they watered up.
"Hey, where are you going?" Reggie called out as she started to make her way towards the door.
"Home," Rosemary answered, though her voice was hoarse and thick from her emotions pooling up.
"Let me drive you," Reggie offered as he stood up, pulling his keys of of his pocket. "Here, start the car. I'll be right out."
Rosemary turned and stared at the keys he held out to her. She didn't know why Reggie was being so nice to her all of a sudden and she wasn't sure if she liked it very much. But, she also knew she didn't really want to make her way home alone, and she knew the boys didn't want her doing so either. Slowly, she took the keys from Reggie's hand and nodded, not bothering to send Archie a passing glance as she walked down the porch to Reggie's truck.
The blonde girl sat in the dark of the night in Reggie Mantle's passenger seat, the only sound being the running of the engine as she waited for him to come and bring her home. She noticed her bike parked in the driveway and decided she would just get it tomorrow after school.
Her mind raced with the day's events. From her argument with Jughead to Reggie's stupid prank, her emotions were crashing like waves in her mind. What would've happened if that was the hooded man and he killed Archie and then her? She thought of Jughead and their last conversation – well last argument.
She slowly pulled out her phone and looked down at Jughead's contact. He was probably with Betty right now trying to convince Cheryl to forgive FP and Amelia so they could get a lesser sentence. And even though Rosemary knew her being there would have swayed Cheryl's opinion, she didn't go, and if FP and Amelia didn't get the lesser sentence it would be her fault.
In anger, Rosemary let out a groan and shut down her phone, the picture of her and Jughead she had as her contact for Jughead making her eyes water. She cursed at her own stubbornness since all she wanted to do in that moment was call Jughead and listen to his voice. All she wanted was for him to be comforting her, telling her that she was going to be okay and the hooded man wasn't going to come after her. Instead, there she was sitting in Reggie Mantle's car feeling like she was about to break down into tears while he was running around with Betty Cooper trying to keep his dad from going to jail.
Rosemary was snapped out of her thoughts as Reggie climbed into the driver's seat, his eyes lingering on Rosemary for a moment before he switched the truck into reverse and pulled out of the driveway. Rosemary was silent for the drive, the only sound being the soft rock music playing from the radio and Reggie's fingers tapping on the steering wheel to the beat.
"I'm sorry for scaring you," Reggie spoke up, his voice softer than before. "It was a stupid prank to pull and if I knew you were there I wouldn't have done it."
Rosemary was silent, her mind racing at Reggie's sudden niceness to her. She knew their split was messy, but she had forgotten how good of a friend Reggie was before they had gotten together. They met in middle school when Reggie was just the dorky Asian kid in her math class. They became friends after Rosemary was partnered with him for a project about pi. As school went on and years past Reggie grew taller and started playing football, which is how he changed from just the dorky kid she knew to the high school jock he was today.
"Thank you for driving me," Rosemary spoke up as she saw her dad's house appear in the distance, ignoring his apology he had just given her moments ago.
"Of course," Reggie nodded, leaving more awkward tension to grow between the two. "Uh, how's your sister? I haven't really seen her or dad around for a while."
"Um," Rosemary contemplating actually telling Reggie the truth. "Dad dipped out after mom got arrested and I sent Lizzy to go live with my aunt in Greendale after the whole, you know, Jason thing."
"Oh," Reggie grew silent, more awkward tension rising in the truck. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry."
Rosemary finally turned to look at him, though his attention never left the road she could see his eyes meet hers for a split moment before looking ahead again. The street lights lit up his face on occasion and Rosemary could see the frown he held on his face.
"Why do you keep apologizing?"
"I was a dick," Reggie shrugged, though she could hear the uneasiness in his voice as he tried to think of the right words to say. "And I didn't even think about what you're going through right now with your mom and shit."
"Oh."
They pulled up to her dad's house and Reggie parked the truck along the curb in the front. With the windows dark and with no car in the driveway it looked haunting in the night. She remembered coming home late and always seeing the living room light on when her dad would sit and wait to make sure she came home safe. Sure, sometimes he was asleep on the couch with the TV on, but he was always there.
And now he wasn't.
The two teenagers sat in an awkward silence, neither making any move to speak up or get out of the truck. Rosemary let out a sigh, her eyes finally drifting to Reggie to see him already looking at her. His eyes lingered on Jughead's hoodie that she wore, but not for too long because he seemed to pull his eyes away. He looked sad, though his sadness wasn't pity for her or any feelings towards her situation. He was sad about his actions towards her. How he treated her at the end of their relationship.
"Well," Rosemary sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt as she finally decided that she should probably head inside. "You should probably head home before your mom throws a fit that you're out past curfew."
Reggie let out a sigh and nodded, his eyes dropping to his steering wheel as she opened the door and climbed out of the truck. When he didn't hear the door shut he looked up to see her standing just outside the truck, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"Mind picking me up for school tomorrow since my bike's at Archie's?" Rosemary asked, her small smile tugging up more when she saw Reggie's face slightly light up. He knew this was her way of telling him she forgave him without having to necessarily say it.
"I'll be here at seven, Holland," Reggie nodded to the blonde girl. "Don't be late making yourself all dolled up."
Rosemary snorted, rolling her eyes as she shut the door. As she walked in front of the truck, she flipped off the dark haired teen her entire walk up to her eyes. In the truck, Reggie let out a laugh and matched her action, making sure to watch that she got inside safe and only left when he saw her living room light switch on.
তততততততততততত
I'm sorry but Rose and Reggie are my favorite BROTP in this whole series. They play such crucial parts in each others lives and I genuinely think their friendship is strong enough to push through anything. They've been such big parts of each others lives and especially in the last book Reggie was there for Rose through a lot of the shit she was going through (*cough cough* the Ben situation *cough cough*).
How do you guys feel about where their friendship seems to be going at the moment?