We Shouldn't Do This
By: Riley
Summary - Archie and Gabby really need to talk about Jason's death, their roles in it, and what it has to do with each other. Memories of the past year make that more difficult than it should be. Tumblr Prompt. Sneak Peek into We Were Merely Freshmen's Sequel 'The War At Home'.
Gabby grasped the corner of the empty storage cart and wheeled it across the floor of the gym. She stopped every few seconds to pick up the balls she'd smashed over the net, flicking them inside before heading to the utility room. She made it halfway across the gym before the sound of the opening gym door caught her attention.
Seeing Archie, Gabby rolled her eyes. "Coach Clayton hasn't run you into the ground yet?" She asked. She turned her back to him and kept going. Her footsteps squeaked across the floor. The only sound that broke between them was the squeaking wheels of the storage cart. "Quit looking at my ass, Andrews."
The door to the gym closed. She heard Archie walking after her. He never seemed to take a hint. "I-I'm not—"
"Please. I've had Chuck and all the other hordes of drooling imbeciles on the football team working hard to get in my pants, I can always tell when someone's admiring my assets." Gabby turned and, keeping her hand on the cart, walked backwards to keep an eye on Archie.
He lifted an eyebrow, folded his arms across his chest. Gabby forced herself to look away. She wasn't so above everyone else that she hadn't noticed Archie's change over the summer. "I thought you didn't hang out with Cheryl anymore."
"What does Cheryl have to do with this?"
She hated herself as soon as the words came from her mouth. She knew she'd walked right into Archie's plan. Pressing her lips together, she faced the utility room once more, increasing her pace. Archie simply followed her. "Cheryl has everything to do with this, Gabby. It's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"I haven't talked to Cheryl all summer." Gabby pushed open the door to the utility closet and dragged the cart behind her. The wheels caught on the upraised threshold. She sighed, pulling harder. "I'm not Black Cheryl anymore or Black Cherry or whatever portmonteau of a lewd lesbian literotica fantasy people had about us. Now why don't you join the football team and play with yourselves? At least you'd win something."
"Gabby, I'm just worried about you. After Jason–"
Gabby glared, jerking the cart over the threshold, knocking it over in the process. Archie slipped into the room and knelt down, immediately helping her to pick them up. She snatched the balls from his hands and forced them into the cart. With a hard shove, she pushed it away from her.
"Why don't you tell me about Jason," she shot back. "You know, Jason Blossom? One of my best friends? Who's place on the football team you took—"
"—I didn't want to take it," Archie insisted. "That's why I gave back his jersey, I couldn't…" he licked his lips. "Look, I know how close you were to Jason and Cheryl and I just wanted to be sure you were okay."
"I'm fine." Gabby said shortly.
"Gabby—"
Gabby's temper flared. She hated Archie. Hated how he had the gall to sit there and ask if everything was okay when he was the one keeping secrets. Secrets about everything. About Jason, about the fourth of July, about…
Everything.
"You've done your good deed for the day, Andrews. What do you want me to do? Flash you?" She stepped toward him, grabbing the bottom of her tight volleyball jersey. Archie held his ground. "Give you a blowjob? Worship you like everyone else has? Want me to make your wild pre-pubescent fantasies come true?" She looked him in the eye. Stopped herself short of saying, "Or has Grundy already done that for you?"
She wanted to give him one chance. One. Last. Chance. To come clean.
Archie, instead, became angry. His eyebrows furrowed together. "I'm not the one who ruined this, Gabby," he pointed out. "'I'm not the one who let Cheryl walk all over her. I'm not the one who was pretending to be something she wasn't." He stepped toward her with each word until he was in her space. "You can't blame it all on me." His eyes flickered over Gabby's face. "So why don't you tell me, Gabby, what you know about Jason's death? Why Cheryl would say she's guilty."
Gabby clenched her jaw, forced herself not to respond. She could admit her part of everything so long as he didn't keep lying about everything else. She looked at her feet, steadied herself, then looked up into Archie's eyes. It was like déjà vu, reminiscent of the year before when they'd study together, away from the prying eyes of their judgmental friends. A lifetime away they each desperately wished they could get back to.
When things were easier.
Archie's eyes roved over Gabby's face. He stepped towards her. A magnetic pull. A pull of destiny, perhaps. Gabby forced herself to stand her ground. Her feet didn't move, but her heart certainly did. It tattooed a staccato rhythm against her rib cage, upper half moving closer towards the red-head boy that managed to throw her off-kilter.
Their foreheads pressed together, Archie's breath flooded Gabby's face, quick and forceful through his anger. He tilted his head, a move to flick his fringe from his face. The movement made their lips brush together, just barely.
A stolen kiss.
Gabby's eyelashes fluttered, tickling Archie's nose as he inched closer. Gabby forced herself to exhale shakily, pressing a volleyball against his chest to give themselves enough distance to back away. To keep a good, solid distance between them. Gabby dropped her forehead forward, just pressing against Archie's neck, then stepped back.
She lifted her eyes to his, unwavering as she shook her head. "We can't do this," she said.
Archie blinked back at her. A crease appeared in his forehead. His chest heaved up and down. He planted his hands on his hips, licked his lips. Gabby knew what he tasted, a brief hint from the from moment their lips were together. Salty from the sweat that dripped down, exerting himself from football practice.
"Gabby—" he started.
Gabby brought herself to her full height, rolled back her shoulders, rolled her volleyball in her hands. She stopped it, slapping one hand against the side of the ball. The sound echoed in the equipment room, making Archie briefly close his eyes and step back.
"Why don't you talk to Grundy about it?" Her words turned low, whispering accusation as she taunted, "You seem to be real good at that." Gabby taunted.
Gabby left the utility closet, but not before seeing the hurt and fear that flashed through his eyes. Now he knew how it felt.
THE END
A/N: So, what'd you think? I hope you liked the little look into The War At Home. However, while it is set in season 1 and does have to do with Jason's death, it's actually more of an original plot to the story that I'm sure you'll all enjoy just as well. Let me know what you think.
Cheers,
-Riles