Sweet for You (Sweet Pea Imagine) (Riverdale)

Chapter 17: Bruised

You walk into school looking for your friends, Pea hadn't come to your house last night or texted you. So, you wanted to see what was up. You also wanted to tell at least Betty that you seen the Black Hood last night. You were basically 100% sure now. You overheard your neighbors talking about a guy who stood outside in the rain last night. You see Betty first. She was at her locker.
"Betty! We need to talk," you say quickly. "About your ongoing piece." She gives you a confused look, before she reads your face. "Blue and Gold?" She nods and the two of you walk there.
"What's up?"
"I seen the black hood last night," you say quietly. "He was on my road. I think he might have been watching me. I first saw him when I was walking home from Reggie's house. Then, I get to my room and I saw him in the street light across the street."
"Did you tell anyone?" Betty asked writing down something. You shake your head. "Okay. Don't. No one thinks there is one guy doing all of this. They will call you paranoid or crazy. But, I'm gonna tell Archie and Jug. They are helping. Has he tried contact you?"
"No... Has he tried contacting anyone?" You ask. "Betty! Did he try talking to you?" She sighed and closed the door to the small office. "Betty!"
"Yes. He calls me sometimes. And he gives these awful ultimatums," she sighed. "Don't tell anyone. I'm trying to figure all of this out." You nod quickly. "Maybe you should stay with someone... He won't go after your parents. He would've told me that by now. Is there anyone you can stay with?"
"I don't know," you sigh becoming overwhelmed. "What am I supposed to say to my parents?"
"Come up with something... Just don't say anything about him," Betty says quickly and quietly. "Okay? You'll be fine." You get up following her to the door. Your stomach was turning. Why was she so certain that the hood was going to come after you? And, how were you going to explain any of this to your parents.
"Hey!" Reggie runs up to you. "What's wrong?"
"I have to find somewhere to stay for a few days," you sigh tightening your hand around your bag. "You know all of this stuff about the Black Hood? Well, he followed me from your house last night... We think he's gonna try something with me next." You look up at him waiting for a reaction.
"Shit... Why don't you stay with me?" He offered. "I can drive you to and from school. I have cameras around my house. And, it can be like old times. We can watch movies and have popcorn fights."
"Really? You aren't having any of your other friends stay?" You ask. "I don't want to ruin any of your other plans."
"Nah... Just me," he promised. "Come on! Say yes."
"Fine," You laugh. "But, if we don't have blueberry pancakes every morning..." He chuckled. "Thanks Reggie." You hugged him tightly. "I'm glad we can do things like this again." He hums in agreement.
"I'll see you in class," he said as you let go.
"Were you just hugging Reggie?" Cheryl scared you. "Why?"
"I'm staying with him for a few days... He's all alone and we are friends. Also... We think you know who... Is after me," you sigh. "I know Hal is in prison. But, you know there was more than one. Just like I do."
"Omg! Really?" She fixes a piece of your hair. "Have you talked to Pea?"
"No," you sighed. "I haven't seen him actually." Her face fell slightly. "What?"
"Nothing... You should go see him," she smiled wryly. "He's in the lounge." You give her a strange look before retreating to the lounge. She was close behind. You stop in the doorway, for a moment you can only see his back. Then, he turns. You suck in a deep breath before quickly making your way to him. His eye was partially swollen and black. He has a cut on his lip and one across his face.
"What the hell happened to you?!" You grab his face and look at Fangs who is in the same condition. "All of you!" Pea winces slightly as your finger pushes on his cheek. You almost didn't notice. "Pea?"
"Just a little fight. We are fine. Just a few cuts and bruises," he shrugged. You could see pain in his eyes as he moved his shoulders.
"Fine? Look at the both of you! You can barely move," you scold. "Fangs... What about you?"
"I'm totally fine. I mean, I've been shot though," he tried to ease the tension. It doesn't work. "It was just a brawl with some ghoulies."
"You fought ghoulies?" You didn't know how to take in all of this. "Why?"
"They threatened some of us," Fangs explained. "We needed retaliation." You were a little confused now.
"By some of us," Cheryl started. "He means family and loved ones close to us."
"My gosh," you sigh examining more of Pea's injuries. You never understood all of the violence. But, you weren't one to judge or stop someone from doing things they want. "My poor babe..." He chuckled a little. "Look at you." You think of the black hood for a moment, but shove the thought away. He didn't need all of this on his mind. "Can I get you anything? Either of you?"
"Something cold," Cheryl suggested. "For their aches." You get up and go to the vending machine getting a few drinks.
"Hold these to your face," you hand each of them a drink. "And, take a few of these. They will help with the pain and swelling." You hand them each ibuprofen. "What all hurts?"
"My lip hurts... You know what will make it feel better?" He has a look of mischief in his eyes. You roll your own before placing a small kiss on his lips.
"My lip hurts too!" Fangs said pointing at his face. Pea gives him a dirty look. "What? It does." You laugh rolling your eyes again. "I'll settle for a cheek? Your best guy friend is in immense pain here." You kiss his cheek before sitting Pea down.
"What have you been up to, today?" Pea changes the subject. Fangs laid back resting his head on the back of the chair.
"Just talked with Betty and Reggie," you shrug. "Trying to help Betty with one of her pending cases." Cheryl gives you look, when you don't tell him about the Black Hood. "I would ask about you, but I can already guess."
"What did you and Reggie talk about?"
"How he is home alone and needs someone to stay with him. And how we used to be really good friends," you say coolly. He looked at you for more explanation.
"She and Reggie were inseparable as kids. They did everything together. Dances, projects, talent shows... They had never fought either," Cheryl explained. "This was before they started dating... Y/N and Reggie were like twins yourselves."
"Yeah... Last night we actually talked about that," You laugh a little. "He made fun of me for the way I passed out at the party too."
"You went to his house last night?" Pea asked, he had a puzzled look hidden in his eyes. Fangs leaned his head a little to watch.
"Pea... It wasn't like that. I was just checking on him. His parents have been gone for a month now and he's been alone," You place a hand on his leg. "That's all. We relived a few past memories and he made fun of me. Of course I made fun of him too... But, we are just friends."
"I know."
"Okay... I wish there was something I could do to make him feel better," you sigh.
"Stay with him," Cheryl supported. "Like when you were kids." You thanked her silently. "You'll watch movies and have pancakes."
"At the same time?" Fangs asked sitting up.
"No... That would be weird. We would have pancakes in the morning. Popcorn and milkshakes for the movie," you say.
"Pancakes sound good," Fangs sighed. "We should get pancakes."
"We should," Pea nods. "And, you should stay with him. Take care of him a little." He wraps his arm around you, wincing.
"Are you sure I shouldn't be taking care of you? You can't even move," you turn a little. "I hope the other guy is worse." He smirks a little. "Who did they threaten to set you off?"
"No one," he rubs your arm. "Just looking out for Fangs and Toni." He had a little tingle of something in his voice. The bell rings through out the school. "Wanna skip and nurse me today? Could use your hands."
"Sure," you sigh. "What about Fangs though? He looks ready to pass out. Or throw up. I'm not sure really."
"He can come... He doesn't get your hands though," Pea gave you a look, but smirked.
"I would hit you... But, you're already in pain," you sighed. "Come on. I'll drive. You can come back to get your bikes." They nod in agreement. You send a quick message to Reggie telling him what was going on and that you will meet him at his house after school. "Cheryl?"
"Oh no. I have things to do today," the redhead smiled. "I'll see you. Toodles." She gave a perky wave.
    "So on the way home. I think we should stop by Smith's," you say helping Pea and Fangs up. "See Jon?"
    "He still have that candy?" Fangs asked. You nod. "I'm down."
    You walk the two to Pea's truck. You were going to drive, but Pea would not allow that. He got in the drivers side and you sat next to Fangs. You stopped to see Jon and got some of his candy. Then, you go to Pea's trailer. You have them both laying down. One on the couch and the other on the chair. You give them each a bag of frozen vegetables that had questionable expiration dates.
   "Come sit with me," Pea called as you went back to the kitchen. "Please..." You get two glasses of water for them and go back to sit with him. You rub his shoulder and neck until he falls asleep. He had the bag of vegetables on his back. You watched both of them sleep for a while. Then, get bored and begin going through some of the drawers. You organize things in his kitchen before going to his room. Out of the whole place, his room was the cleanest. You go to his closet. You rearrange his things in order of what they were. T-shirts, flannels, jean, and leather. You come across a little pile of stuff at the bottom of his closet. "What are you doing?" You jump.
    "I got bored. So I started organizing some stuff... How are you feeling?" You back out of the small closet.
    "Sore still," he sighed sitting on his bed. "What all did you do?"
    "Mainly kitchen stuff. You had a mess in there... Then I did your closet," You point. "Shirts, flannels, Jean, and leather."
     "So my closet is girly now?" He asked.
     "No. It's clean," You laugh. "Lay down... I don't want you to hurt yourself more." He chuckled at that. "What? Look at yourself! Seriously, you look like you were hit by a bus."
    "I'm fine. I've been hurt worse before," he said. "Seriously, I'll be fine in a few days. The first two are always the hardest... But, luckily for me, I have the perfect person to make me feel better."
    "Fangs?" You ask sitting next to him. "I mean he's a bag of candy and soda."
     "What? You are so weird," he laughed. "Sure, Fangs makes me feel better sometimes... But, just looking at you makes my day better."
    "Stop," you hold up a hand. "That is the cheesiest pick line ever."
    "Did it work?" He asked smiling. You nod and kiss him. "Cheesy ones always do." You hit him and he winces. "Touché."
    "I'm so sorry," you bite your lip. "This is why I told you to lay down!"
    "Yes. Because laying down would keep you from hitting me," he scoffed. You shrug.
    "Never know now." You wanted to see his chest. To see the extent of his injuries. You didn't know much about fighting. Reggie fought, but never a lot when the two of you were together. But, he played football and all of his other contact sports. So, at least you knew a little about contact injuries. "You should get into something comfortable." You grab him a shirt and sweatpants.
    "You know... If you wanted me to take off my clothes," he smirked. You rolled your eyes.
    "You... Just change," you sigh throwing his clothes on the bed. He shrugs his jacket off and you hang it in his closet. You watch as he slowly takes his shirt off. He had fresh bruises scattered across his body. A large bruise was on his side. You sucked in a little breath. A cut was across his shoulder. "Babe."
   "It's fine," he gave you a look. "Seriously." You sat next to him and ran your hand lightly over his new injuries. His back wasn't as bad, but a large bruise on his shoulder blade. You kiss the top of his shoulder and then his neck. You run your hand down his arm and grab his hand. You kiss his bruised, cut knuckles. "Princess, it's okay." You hadn't realized that you were shaking a little and tears rimmed your eyes. You had the worst picture in your mind. He slid his shirt on and faced you. "Come here." He pulled you into him.
    "I don't know why I'm crying," You laugh a little. "It's so hard being a girl sometimes."
     "It's cute," he laughed. "Go make sure Fangs is still breathing." You nod wiping your face. You go to see him still on the couch and take the bag of now thawed veggies and throw it back in the freezer.
"Y/N?" Fangs had sleep laced in his voice. "What's going on?"
"Nothing... I'm just making sure you're okay," You laugh and push a piece of your hair from your face. "Congratulations. You seem fine."
"Only for now," he shrugged. "Something else will happen. I usually get the shit end. Where's Pea?"
"His room," you sigh sitting on the couch. "Do you guys get into fights like these a lot?"
"By That do mean, does Pea usually get hurt like he is?" Fangs sat up. "We get into fights... Sure. But, Pea hasn't really been hurt like this in a long time. This time he was blinded though, with rage. He didn't care. He went after like three of them at a time."
"Why?" You ask horrified.
"Because, they threatened you," Fangs sighed. "He didn't want you to know that though." This made you sigh. How were you supposed to tell them about the Black Hood or whoever is following you now? If he was going to go out and get himself beat up. Or even killed.
"Obviously... You don't know how to keep shit to yourself," Pea came in.
"You can't do that," you were looking at your feet. "You can't go and get yourself hurt because of me... What if they would've killed you?" You look up at him now.
"Then they would have no reason to hurt you," Pea shrugged. "Y/N/N... They wouldn't have been able to kill me. I had Fangs and Jughead. And a whole gang behind me. Cheryl was there with her handy bow."
"Why didn't you want me to know?"
"Because, I knew you would act the way you are acting now. I'm not gonna hang back and listen someone say shit about you. About hurting you. I can't even think about you getting hurt," he said leaning against the wall. "And, if you got hurt because I didn't do something, when I could have."
"I know you don't want me hurt... But, how do you think I feel now that I know why you can barely move... That I am the reason you look the way you do? I feel like... I don't even know how to put words together to describe it," you sigh for what feels like the thousandth time today.
"Guilty?" Fangs buts in. You nod thankfully. "That's why I was fighting too. You're my best northsider friend. You weren't the only one they threatened though. They threatened Betty, Archie, family members..."
"You make this really hard... How am I supposed to make this up to you? I don't think a bear can," you laugh a little. "Or a tiara."
"You don't have to make anything up to anyone. You are close with us. So, all of the Serpents got your back," Fangs said. "Basically family."
You spend the rest of your time just watching a move with them. You have Pea take you to Reggie's place later. You didn't know how to tell him that someone was watching you. You really didn't want to tell him anymore. But, it would bruise his ego if you didn't.