There Is More To Love - Choni

Chapter 14

This chapter sucks. That's it. That's the tweet.
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"Thanks," Cheryl smiled shyly at the cocker bottle offered to her, Toni taking the empty lawn chair beside her around the fire pit

"So, you're the Cheryl I've heard so much about!" Barty beamed, running over and tackling the redhead in a hug "Um, yeah... that's me,"

Toni rolled her eyes, popping the cap off her beer and shoving Barty in the shoulder "Back off, Junior."

Barty feigned innocence, throwing his hands up in surrender, "Just wanted to meet the girl you never shut up about- Ow!" Sweetpea laughed as the smaller boy rubbed his sore arm, sulking off to the opposite side of the fire pit

"Good to see you, Bombshell." Sweetpea grinned, dropping down in front of the girls, giggling maniacally when Fangs came stumbling over and falling into his lap
Her gaze stopped on the drunken mess . Sweet Pea was still pretty scary looking, but he had a bright smile as he talked amoursly with the shorter boy

"Uh?" Cheryl looked at Toni with silent question, who just raised her beer and smiled toothily "The Serpent way."

"Speaking of that, can someone please tell me what the Serpent code is?"

FP appeared out of nowhere, which Cheryl decided to accept as something normal around here, swinging his arm around Jughead's shoulders "Why dont you go ahead and tell her, boy? Someday you'll be takin' over the family business."

Jughead groaned in embarrassment as his father shook him by the shoulder, pulling a log up to sit in across from the girls "Well," he sighed, adjusting the beanie on his head, "Theres several laws we go by. They're incredibly important to us. Which is why they're laws and not rules," He drawled, "One, a Serpent never shows cowardice."

The boys nodded, puffing their chests out almost heroically. Toni did the same, saluting FP.

"No Serpent stands alone."
The boys made a show by wrapping their arms around each other, or at least tried to, and just ended up in a heaved mess once again

"If a Serpent is killed or imprisoned, their family will be taken care of." Cheryl couldnt help but look at each teen sitting around the pit. Were all of their families dead?

"No Serpent is left for dead. A Serpent never betrays his own."
Cheryl saw the small smile playing on Toni's lips, and felt her heart swell fondly

"And lastly," Jughead smirked, counting to three where every Serpent nearby shouted out; "In unity, there is strength!"

FP clapped his son on the shoulder, ruffling the beanie on his head and stalking off to join some of the older looking men hanging by the keg. Cheryl took in the trailer park, scoping the scrappy surroundings the Serpents called home.

There were a bunch of rusty silver trailers sitting in a circle, some parked further into the foliage.
There were chairs strewn haphazardly around the campsite, empty cans and red solo cups thrown on the ground. She briefly wondered which was Toni's trailer, but that was solved as the pinkette pointed to one with a small pride flag hanging off the door.

When Cheryl went to open her mouth, a snarky remark on her tongue, she was cut off by a bunch of people shouting incoherently, forming around the makeshift bar. When she was going to ask what was happening; a body was thrown down onto the table.