Second Chances [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 47

The rest of the week flew by and before we knew it, Sweet Pea and I were waiting with Mrs Andrews and her friend Brooke at the El Royale. I hadn't wanted to be here, but it was either come up with a good excuse not to or tell Mrs Andrews what was going on.

Sweet Pea had opted out of setting up a match of his own, but we were hoping Fangs would want to hang out afterwards. Since joining the Farm, he'd essentially himself off from us all. Currently, he was up in the ring, practicing throwing punches.

Brooke checked her watch again just as we heard the outside door open and shut. "Veronica, where's Archie?" Mrs Andrews demanded.

"Yeah, I'm going cold in here," Fangs called down.

"Mrs Andrews, Counselor Rivers, I presume," Veronica greeted. "I"m sorry to have kept you waiting, but Archie is not gonna be able to make it."

My hand tightened on Sweet Pea's. I knew how much Archie wanted this, how important it was for his mother to see that. The only reason he'd be backing out now would be if his competition at the Regional Classic had been tougher than expected and he physically couldn't do another match. There was a very slight chance that Veronica had Archie tied up in the back of the car, but considering when she and Cheryl had me help kidnap Cheryl's mother, I was the one doing all the hard work, I highly doubted it.

"What?" Mrs Andrews asked. "Why not?"

Veronica glanced at Sweet Pea and I for the first time, her face free of emotion. He'd tried to talk Archie out of this madness but obviously it hadn't been enough of an effort in Veronica's opinion. "He's feeling under the weather," she replied, turning back to the pair in front of her.

"Since when?" Mrs Andrews pushed. "He was fine this morning."

"We think it's food poisoning," Veronica said. "I'd love to reschedule."

"She's lying," Sweet Pea muttered, quietly enough that only I could hear.

"No shit," I whispered back. "But why?"

Fangs was still in the ring, dodging an imaginary opponent, waiting for someone to tell him what was going on. Brooke looked down at the notepad in her arms disapprovingly while Mrs Andrews looked between her and Veronica's sickly sweet smile in confusion.

"I can fight. I can fight," Archie called, stumbling down the hall from the locker rooms. Even from across the room I could see the fresh bruises on his face and body. "I can still do this."

"This isn't going to be good," I said, pulling away from Sweet Pea to stand by the ring. "Fangs, you've gotta call it. Say you won't fight Archie like that."

He looked down at me in confusion, still bouncing back and forth. "What? No, I've been prepping for this all week."

"Seriously? Just look at the guy," I snapped, gesturing to where Archie stood talking to Veronica. "A tap on the fucking shoulder would bring him down."

"I"m fine. I'd like to show you what I can do, ma'am," Archie called, brushing past Veronica. "Fangs, you ready?"

"You see, Abigail, he's got this," Fangs growled down at me. "Yeah, let's do it," he added to Archie.

I turned away, running a hand through my hair as Archie walked towards the ring. Why couldn't Veronica have held Archie off just one more minute? I could have gotten through to Fangs with that little extra time. But now they were planning to go at it like a normal match.

"You tried," Sweet Pea said softly, coming up to me. I could hear the worry in his voice. "It's all on him now."

As if in slow motion, Archie climbed into the ring, Fangs moving back and forth on the other side. The rope sprang back up, catching Archie's ankle. It was just enough to throw him off balance, sending Archie crashing face first onto the mat where he lay motionless.