More Than I Should... (Fp x OC)

Sunnyside II

In which she helps him...

I sat with Cheryl and Reggie at lunch, Tina and Ginger nowhere in sight, they hate sitting with me, fake bitches. Cheryl informs me that Betty and Veronica made the cheer team, I'm happy for Betty, although I don't like the feeling that my twin is trying to be me, I probably only feel like that because I'm currently unable to do cheer. I tell her about the stuff that went down at Fp's trailer last night.

"You're getting with Hobo's dad?" she asks, her eyes wide.

"I'm not 'getting with' anybody...yet." I smile mischievously at her.

"So, can't have the hobo so you sleep with his dad instead?" she asks, obviously joking, she knows I'm not that person.

"No, everybody knows the original is always better than the sequel." I say, we burst into laughter, I feel light inside, being able to forget about things for a while when I'm joking around with these two.

"I really with Hobo was here to hear you diss him like that." Reggie says, actually looking disappointed Jughead wasn't here...

When the school day was finally over, I said goodbye to Cheryl and Reggie and got my skateboard out of Reggie's car. Skateboarding my way to the southside and to Fp's trailer. When I finally reach my destination, I actually knock on the door and wait to be let in. Looking around the park, there's many empty beer bottles around and a multitude of bikes, the place gives a gang-type vibe but also seems like a tight-knit community.

I whip back around when I hear the door open behind me. I have to keep my jaw from dropping slightly when I see Fp standing there, not a shirt in sight, hair wet and hanging limply on his forehead, and face still unshaven.

"Hey Gwen, come on in." he tells me, turning to the side and giving me just enough space in the doorway to get myself and my skateboard inside. Still, my shoulder brushed his bare chest as I entered, the smell of his body wash hitting me like a truck, the scent was nearly intoxicating.

"I still gotta finish cleaning up this mess," he gestures to himself, "So I'll be right back."

"Do you want me to help? My dad taught me how to that stuff when I was thirteen, he still has me give him a shave every week and trim his hair every month. I was thinking of opening a salon when I get done with high school." I ramble, wondering why I opened my fucking mouth.

"Sure, why not, come on." He leads me to the bathroom, getting out his shaving kit and handing it to me. he then takes a seat on the toilet. I apply the shaving cream to his face, cleaning the blade and turning his head to my right, getting started.

"So, are you going to tell me what's been going on lately?" I ask him, carefully dragging the blade down his face.

"Its just been a stressful week or two, there's just been a lot going on with the Serpents and bills piling up and not being able to find a job and it just became too much for me to handle." I nod, continuing to shave the man's face.

"Are you going to tell me what happened with you? The bruises on your neck, on your ribs." I stop what I'm doing, staring at him shocked, wondering how the hell he managed to see the bruises. I look into the mirror, sure enough the makeup applied there this morning had smudged and you could see only a slight discoloration, at least he didn't know how bad they actually looked. I look away from my reflection, attempting to dodge the question and continue shaving his face, he catches my wrist, just hard enough to hurt, and I wince. He quickly let go of me, "What happened, Gwen?" he asks again.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you yet." I tell him, he looks disappointed but nods, allowing me to continue. I get to his neck, tilting his head back to give myself a better angle. "Don't move, don't speak, don't even breathe if you can help it." I say, not wanting to fuck up and somehow manage to kill him or some shit.

When I'm finished, I instruct him to sit on the ledge of the tub, facing out so I could stand behind him and his hair would fall into the shower and could be washed down the drain. I began to trim and style his hair, concentrating only on the task before me. When I was done, I grabbed a towel and dried his hair, using a comb to fix it back to the combed back style he typically had it in.

"Alright, all fixed up." I tell him, allowing him to stand, e looks at himself in the mirror, smiling softly.

"You've got yourself a loyal customer, Ms. Cooper." He jokes, feeling his now-smooth face.

"Happy to be of service, Mr. Jones." I joke back, "Alright, I'll start on the rest of the house, you should finish up in here." I tell him, sliding past him and out of the bathroom. I walk to the stereo system and connect my phone, playing my Liked Songs on Spotify. Close to Me by Ellie Goulding and Swae Lee begins to play, I hum along as I open all the blinds to let the light in and grab some cleaning supplies from under Fp's sink and begin cleaning off the dining table, disposing of the bottles and cans and empty takeout boxes. The song ends and Love Lies by Khalid and Normani begins to play, I begin to sing, not noticing Fp's arrival into the kitchen.

"Damn Cooper, didn't know you could sing like that. You should perform at the Wyrm sometime." He says from behind me, I jump and turn to face him, he still wasn't wearing a shirt and was leaning on the side of the fridge, watching me.

"Dude, you can't just sneak up on a girl like that." I tell him, a hand over my heart, taking breaths to steady its pace. He grins at me, shaking his head.

"Whatever Jumpy, Ima go get started on the bedroom." He tells me, grabbing an apple from the fridge and tossing it to me, "Eat something at some point." I nod, tossing the apple up and catching it as I watch him walk away. I couldn't help the smile that formed on my face when he was out of sight. I set the apple on the now-clean table and used my phone to skip the song currently playing, Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana coming from the speakers. I begin to take inventory of the things he has in his cupboards and in the fridge, making a list of groceries he would need to pick up and deciding to make dinner for him out of the stuff he did have as I sang along with the lyrics of the fast-paced song.

I cleaned the counters of the kitchen, tidied up the living room, getting rid of the bottles and cans, and vacuumed the place, before starting on food. I made spaghetti with homemade sauce and garlic toast, wanting him to eat something that didn't come from a box. He comes out of the room, finally having a shirt on, and sees me boiling water for the noodles.

"When I said 'eat something' I didn't mean make me food. I can just get takeout." He told me, looking confused and amused at the same time.

"You've had enough takeout to last a lifetime. Its time for you to eat real food." I tell him, he sighs and opens the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and sitting at the dining table, I begin to laugh as I hear Oops! by Yung Gravy playing, turning it up to an ungodly volume, singing along, Fp looking concerned. When the song ends and THE GIRLS by BLACKPINK begins playing, Fp's concerned looks slowly fades as the song progresses.

I work through the familiar steps of making the food. By the time its done Fp has already asked about ten times how much longer it would be, he liked the smell of the food and was apparently starving. I take the garlic toast out of the oven, placing one piece of the toast on each of our plates and dishing up some spaghetti, I take our plates to the table, setting mine across from Fp's on the table, grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge for myself, and sitting down. We eat and talk, bullshitting around, joking and laughing, in our own little bubble, unaware of the things going on outside that trailer and the events to come...