babysitter // sp

eight.

Sweet Pea pulled the car into Betty's driveway, putting it in park. She hadn't said a word the whole ride here and her eyes never left her hands as they watched the her thumbs twiddle. She didn't notice the car had stopped moving until Sweet Pea's hand reached over and sat his hands over hers to get her attention.

"Hey, look at me." He whispered grabbing her chin softly between his thumb and index finger turning her face to look at him.

    "What's on your mind? Don't keep it bottled, Elle. Tell me what you're thinking." He said searching for any ounce of emotion in her eyes. They've been blank since they left the school.

    "Why me?" Her voice was barely a whisper. She couldn't cry. All of her tears had drained from her tear ducts and she wasn't sure she couldn't produce anymore. Sweet Pea said nothing as he unbuckled her seat belt and pulled her over the armrest that separated their seats to sit in his lap. She immediately melted into his arms, her fingers playing with his dog tags as he held her tightly for a few minutes.

    "Come on, we can cuddle on the couch until everyone gets out of school." Sweet Pea whispered kissing her temple. She nodded and opened the door to climb out. Once inside Sweet Pea led her to the couch where he sat down with his legs spread across the couch and his back leaning against the arm rest, motioning for her to lay down in between his legs. She cuddled into his chest and he threw the blanket Mrs. Cooper had across the back of the couch over them, "Try to get some sleep, Princess. I know you must be tired." Sweet Pea said.

    "I need to call Johnny. There's got to be more to the story of our family." She said looking up at him.

    "You can call Johnny after you rest. You had a rough morning, Elle." He said pushing her head back down onto his chest gently. She gave in as the exhaustion hit her suddenly. The second she laid her head on his chest, she was out like a light.

    Sweet Pea lay there playing with her hair as she slept thinking about everything that's been going on. He knew that when she talked to Johnny about what happened today, he was a dead man. Though Sweet Pea didn't care. He was slowly developing feelings for her and last night, he couldn't help himself. He didn't want her to worry about the black hood, he wanted her to forget everything happening even if it was for just a moment. He replayed the talk he had with Johnny in his head, remembering how Johnny told him her whole backstory so he was aware of what to expect, and it definitely wasn't a fairy tale.

The front door opened and the whole gang walked in. Everyone that was in the lounge, minus Reggie and Moose, had come to make sure she were okay. Sweet Pea didn't realize how much time had passed. He looked down and saw that she was still sound asleep so he motioned for them to speak quietly. Everyone stood kind of shocked at the sight in front of them. Never pegging Sweet Pea as the cuddling type.

"Uh, Jug told me to tell you that they are at Elle's house now. They'll be over later." Betty said breaking the awkward silence as everyone stared at the two, "And my mom wanted me to tell you that you and Elle could stay as long as you need to as a thank you for what you guys did for us." She added referring to when the Serpents came to get rid of the two Centerville scumbags that Chic called.

    "Whatever Elle wants to do. Thanks, Betty." He answered.

    "How long has she been sleeping?" Midge asked sitting on the floor next to the chair Moosed occupied.

    "Since we got here." He said as he moved the blanket up to cover her exposed arm and wrapped his arms tighter around her when she shivered at the cold air.    

"So why all of a sudden does the black hood want Elle?" Midge asked.

    "It's not the black hood. Svenson was the black hood and i watched Sheriff Keller shoot him. He's dead. This has to be some copy cat trying to scare her." Betty piped up.