𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓑𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭

𝓉𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎

If a Serpent is killed or imprisoned, their family will be taken care off. It was a rule that Sweet Pea knew by heart and had saved him in both occasions. When his parents disappeared after a drug deal gone wrong, Tall Boy provided a somewhat normal life for his brother and himself. When his brother was imprisoned for arson and car jacking, Sweet Pea was old enough to live by himself in the trailer, but Tall Boy made certain he was alright, had food and went to school even if Sweet Pea hated the place. Tall Boy was the glue that held his brother and him together. 

Now that the Serpent had betrayed them all, it was unclear if the brothers would manage a life on their own, for they had never fully depended on no one else but each other. 

+ + + + 

Sweet Pea watched Nellie read the message. Her jaw set as the meaning of the words on her screen dawned on her. Her teeth clenched, her lips slightly pouted as she turned back to Sweet Pea. He could read uncertainty in her dark brown eyes. The sunlight gave her eyes tiny golden specks. Golden embers that were gone the second she blinked and returned her gaze to the illuminated screen. 

"What's wrong?" It was now Sweet Pea's turn to ask the question, but as soon as the words escaped his lips, he wasn't sure if he wanted an answer. From her recent talk with F.P. it was clear that Nellie did not trust Sweet Pea enough to let him in on whatever plan she's working on with F.P. 

Nellie took her bottom lip between her teeth in thought, drawing his attention back to her lips. He had felt the tension that was building between them, felt how her breathing hitched when her eyes lingered over his mouth. A grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. 

It was gone, however, the moment she locked her phone and put it away from his sight. 

"Just someone from New York," Nellie lied. She was a terrible liar, Sweet Pea discovered. Her wordings were too vague and she tried too much to avoid his stare. He scoffed in response, feeling betrayed all over again. 

He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up completely. Not able to utter another word that wouldn't come out angry or even violent, he dashed to his unmade bed. As he approached, Nellie tensed but he ignored her as he picked up a clean shirt from a cabinet under the mattress. Without looking at her, he threw it over his head and continued putting on a deep green flannel shirt which he left hanging open. 

He felt her eyes burning in his back as he walked towards the door, still avoiding her look. His fingers clutched around the fabric of his jeans jacket which he shrugged on. 

"I'm out of town this morning," he finally broke the silence, cursing himself that however mad he was at her, he still wanted Nellie to know that he wouldn't be there, "I should be back around noon," he continued and he mentally punched himself for the words that continued to stumble out of his mouth. 

"Perhaps we could do something together then?" Nellie asked. 

Sweet Pea froze, his hand still hovering over the doorknob. 

With that simple sentence, she managed to calm the anger that had been running through his body the entire moment since he saw her ditch him to spend time with F.P. Suddenly, it seemed as the dark gray clouds lessened and the sun violently tried to break through. 

To keep his hands busy, Sweet Pea pulled at the lapels of his jacket. "Yeah, we could," he spoke, glancing back at Nellie from the corners of his eyes. 

She was standing strong on the other side of the kitchen counter, but her gaze was uncertain. She looked sorry for some reason and he hated that it was because of him. He shook the thought away. "We could go for a ride?" he offered to which a smile broke through on her face, immediately vanishing the worried look.