𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓑𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭

𝒻𝒾𝒻𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃

For all of her life, Nellie wanted to please the man that came to visit every Friday. Although he granted her and her mother only three hours of his time, it were the only hours she looked forward to the moment he left. She had made it her mission to win his admiration. She studied hard for his pride. She made sure she looked her best on Fridays, fishing for his compliments. 

When he had walked away one day and closed the door of their small apartment behind him, Nellie had never thought of it as the last time. When he didn't show up the week afterwards, she studied even harder, thinking that if she gave him a better reason to come, he would show up eventually. And after a few weeks, her mother's eyes became dull with sadness. Nellie figured out another plan, but it didn't seem that her father would return to them.

Hiram lodge never returned to the apartment and neither did the sparkle in Dhalia's dark brown eyes. 

+  +  +  +  

When Nellie came back home, she found Sweet Pea restlessly sitting on the front porch. The end of his cigarette lit up in the oncoming darkness. A dark ember in the night. His foot dangled from where he was perched on top of the railing. His eyes locked with Nellie's looming figure as soon as he heard her footsteps on the grind. 

He took a deep pull, his eyes brooding as he didn't break eye contact once Nellie stood at the bottom of the staircase that led to the entrance of their trailer. The way he tossed his cigarette over the railing had to convince her that he was careless. But the ways his shoulders tensed when she took the first step, revealed that the Serpent was merely trying to hide something. 

Anger? Frustration? Nerves?

"I am going to the Wyrm, wanna join?" Sweet Pea said, tearing his gaze away from Nellie as he squinted at his motorcycle a bit further away.

"Don't you have school tomorrow?" Nellie retorted back as she mounted the stairs until her hand lingered on the doorknob. 

"Not really feeling it," Sweet Pea remarked. His worn leather jacket tightened as the boy shrugged. 

"So you're not coming along?" He called after Nellie as she opened the door and entered the trailer. However, she joined him outside in a matter of seconds, a daring grin plastered on her face. 

"Just had to put my stuff away," she grinned, skidding of the steps in a playful manner, walking past him. 

Sweet Pea focused on her as he made his way to his motorcycle. Something in her demeanor had changed. It seemed as if at last, Nellie Hearst was entirely comfortable hanging around the Serpent. He shook his head as he thought about it. After all, he knew about her mother, she knew about Tall Boy. 

They were even now.

Without waiting for it to be offered to her, Nellie pushed the helmet on top of her head. Some stubborn strands peaked underneath the solid black material. She waited impatiently until Sweet Pea straddled his motorcycle so she could hop on. Her arms wounded around his waist almost immediately. 

Sweet Pea hated to admit it, but the warmth that was radiating off her skin, left him already hesitant to arrive at the Wyrm. 

Instead, his hands found their way around the steer and the two of them raced over the road. Trees passed them quickly. Sweet Pea's hair was tossed and turned in all directions. The wind was rushing past the rider and his passenger, so fast Nellie couldn't hear a thing. Sweet Pea however, heard her giggles erupt in his ear as he rose the speed. The sound of it made him all too eager to continue speeding up until the road ahead became a blur of trees and asphalt.

All too soon did they reach the dark bar at the edge of the Southside. Nellie hesitantly let go of Sweet Pea's waist before she descended her seat. The warmth that surrounded the boy had been a welcome change to the chilling surroundings they found themselves in. 

The sound of loud chatter and breaking glass broke the spell between the Serpent and the Abandoned Daughter. Before the chill had a chance to settle, Nellie headed to the entrance. 

When Sweet Pea didn't immediately follow, she turned her head to the side, looking at the boy standing next to his motorcycle. 

"Well, didn't you want to come?" she said. The neon light made her smile disappear into the shadows that covered her face.

Sweet Pea shook whatever hesitance that had come over him and followed the girl inside. He didn't know why, but as soon as they had reached the Wyrm, he didn't want anything else than be back on his motorcycle. Driving to whatever destination with the girl that occupied his brother's room clinging on his shirt. 

When the loud music and the smell of beer washed over him, he returned to his old self. Without looking at Nellie, he headed straight to the brown haired Serpent that was leaning against the pool table. Azure's bright blue eyes were fixed on Toni. 

"Well well, at last you decide to grace us with your presence?" Azure mocked as he playfully hit Sweet Pea's shoulder. "What makes that trailer of yours so interesting you won't leave it?" the Serpent continued. 

Then his eyes fell on Nellie who joined the group and started small talk with Toni. 

"Of course," Azure said, nodding his head knowingly. Sweet Pea frowned and shove the other Serpent to the side. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm keeping my hands off of F.P.'s goodwill case," He turned his attention the ongoing game of pool behind them, turning his back to the two girls.

"Well, it seems to me she doesn't want you to keep your hands of off her," Azure remarked, kicking his elbow in the taller boy's side. Taking the hint, Sweet Pea glanced over his shoulder at Nellie, who stared at him. Satisfaction pulled his lips into a smirk.

That was until she moved her head to the side and her eyes opened ever so slightly. She excused herself to Toni and unaware of her spectator moved across the floor until she reached an almost invisible door at the back of the room. Sweet Pea knew the room. It was F.P.'s office in the Wyrm.

Nellie carefully knocked against the worn wood, her ear pressed against the surface. It was hard to hear a sound coming from inside when the outside was so tumultuous. She flinched when the door was pulled open with a surprising force. 

F.P. loomed in the darkness of a small office. The gang leader frowned when he noticed Nellie. "Can't talk right now, Nellie," he said, reaching for his leather jacket behind the door, after he ended a call on his phone. His eyes were frantic and restless. A permanent frown graced his forehead. 

"I need to talk to you," Nellie replied instead of moving away from the man's path. F.P. sighed, 

"Another time," he insisted. 

Nellie brought herself closer to the Serpent. She noticed his ragged breathing, his fingers fiddling with a pair of keys in his hands. Something had shaken the man. But now was not the time to figure out the Serpent's leader and his agenda. Now she needed a teammate, someone on her side. Who better than a gang leader who had already expressed his dislike to her father?

"It's about my father, F.P." she breathed out, afraid that another Serpent might hear her. She didn't want anyone to know about her true identity. Not yet. First she wanted to make Hiram Lodge pay for all the pain he had caused her mother. 

After that, she wanted for him to know who was the one behind his fall.