Tuesday afternoon, after school, Toni received a call from Jughead. "Who's that?" Cheryl asked as Toni held the phone to her ear.

"It's Jug," she whispered. "Hey, everything all right?" Toni asked.

"It's about the dumb dog." Jughead sighed. "He's been limping and whining lately."

"Take him to the vet or something!"

"I can't, Toni." Jughead sounded distraught. "I looked it up, it's way too expensive. Can you guys just meet me at the Wyrm?"

Cheryl looked at Toni, slightly confused. Toni held a finger up. "Yeah, uh, we're on our way. See you in a few."

Toni hung up the phone. "Come on, we gotta go."

"Why? Where?"

"We gotta meet Jug at the Wyrm. Something's wrong with Hot Dog."

Cheryl rolled her eyes. "Well, let's go."

They arrived in ten minutes despite traffic. They hurried into the bar, where Jughead, Sweet Pea, and Fangs were sitting on the sofa. Fangs was carefully cradling the large sheepdog, stroking it and patting it. "Hey." Jughead said as he stood up.

"Jughead, hey." Toni said calmly.

"What happened to your eye?"

Cheryl shook her head at Toni.

"I tripped on the stairs."

Sweet Pea chuckled. Toni shot him a death stare and he backed off. "Anyways," Cheryl interjected.

"What's the matter with the dog?"

Jughead shrugged. "I don't know, he's just been whimpering and not putting any weight on his paw."

Toni leaned over so she could get a look at Hot Dog. Its head was resting in Fangs' lap as Sweet Pea scratched its ears. It was a strange sight, seeing two grown men cradling and cooing at a big dog. Jughead put a hand behind his head, exasperation showing on his face. "We can barely afford his food. It'll cost $80 just to get him checked out, and if we were to put him down, it would cost another $200 or so. So we have limited options."

Toni sat down on the other side of Fangs. "Which paw?" she asked, and Sweet Pea tenderly pointed to the front left one. Toni gently lifted it, and on the bottom, immediately recognized the two marks.

"You guys, I think he was bitten by a snake!" she exclaimed.

Jughead leaned down, picked up the paw, and looked at the underside of it. "Yeah, that's a snake bite."

"Was it the rattler?" Sweet Pea pointed at the rattlesnake sitting in a glass box over on the other side of the room.

"Could be. If so, it's just a bite. It had its venom glands removed." Jughead knitted his eyebrows together, deep in thought. He looked down at his own hand, where he had a scar from when he was bitten.

"The bites don't match. It wasn't that snake." He nodded to the back corner, his beanie shifting ever so slightly.

"Well, then what kind of snake was it?" Fangs looked increasingly concerned.

Cheryl stepped up from behind the sofa.

"Jughead, how much did you say it would cost to take the dog to the vet?"

"Around $80. Why?"

"I'll pay for it." Cheryl announced.

Jughead shook his head. "Really, you don't have to."

Hot Dog whimpered. Fangs frowned. "We'll take the van." He said.

So the five serpents, plus the dog, piled into the 2008 Honda minivan. "Where even is the vet?" Sweet Pea looked out the window.

"Near the high school." Toni said, pointing vaguely.

They got to Riverdale Animal Hospital in 20 minutes. Sweet Pea, being the biggest and strongest one, carried the large dog into the lobby, which was empty, save for a young girl and her father, cradling a kitten. Cheryl sauntered up to the desk, talked to the receptionist, and returned to where the rest of the crew was sitting. "We can't get in for 30 more minutes without an appointment." Cheryl told the group.

"Then we'll just have to wait a half hour." Fangs said, reaching over to pat the poor mutt's head.

The dog let out a heart-melting whine.

"Awwww," Fangs sighed.

"Is someone attached to the dog?" Sweet Pea teased.

"Shut up." Fangs' mood quickly changed. He crossed his arms.

About 30 minutes later, a vet with scraggly gray hair emerged from a door to the left of the desk. "Ms. Blossom?" He peered at his clipboard.

Cheryl hopped up from her seat. "That's us." she said.

Sweet Pea picked the dog up from Fangs' lap and staggered towards the door. Once they were in the room, Toni told the vet, Dr. Lowry, about Hot Dog's paw. The vet inspected it thoroughly, prodding it and flexing it. The dog whimpered whenever Dr. Lowry touched it. "Well," the vet said. "It's definitely a snake bite. The spacing of the marks implies it's a cottonmouth bite.

"Wait, aren't those venomous?" Jughead clasped his hands together in his lap.

"Yes, they are." Dr. Lowry sighed.

Fangs looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"So what can we do?" Sweet Pea said.

"How long has this been going on?" Dr. Lowry adjusted his circular glasses.

"About three days." Jughead answered.

"I'm surprised he's lived that long. Usually cottonmouth venom is lethal to dogs."

"What can we do?" Sweet Pea repeated.

"Well, you can either let him painfully live out his last days, or you can put him down peacefully tomorrow." Dr. Lowry said, obviously trying to guilt trip them.

"And how much will it cost?" Toni asked.

"It usually costs $175." the vet replied.

Fangs looked physically pained. He was the most emotionally attached to the dog, and most of the time it was living in his trailer. "I'll cover it," Cheryl said quietly.

"Cheryl," Jughead put a hand on her shoulder. "You really don't need to. We can use our emergency funds."

"No!" she shouted, before lowering her voice. "No. We'll see you tomorrow, Doctor. Thank you."

Cheryl stood, pulling Toni up with her. Hot Dog whined as Sweet Pea took the poor thing into his arms again. They all piled in the van, Sweet Pea setting the dog gently in the back seat. Fangs was sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window, one leg propped up on the leather seat. He sniffled and turned to Sweet Pea, who was in the driver's seat. There were tears on his face, gleaming in the mid-morning sun. The tall, raven-haired serpent jumped out of the seat, walked over to the passenger door, opened it, and enveloped Fangs in a hug. Fangs' chest heaved. Toni placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Let's get back home," Sweet Pea whispered.

Fangs nodded and shut the door.

Instead of going back to the bar, Sweet Pea drove to his trailer. He stopped the car and climbed into the backseat to grab the dog, who yelped in pain at the sudden movement. Fangs winced. The five all headed up the steps into the small, messy trailer. Cheryl looked uncomfortable, to say the least. Sweet Pea set the dog down on the sofa, and Fangs collapsed beside it. Cheryl sat on the floor with Toni next to her and Jughead leaned against the arm of the sofa.

The next day, Toni was awake bright and early, already dressed with her Serpent jacket slung over her shoulder. Cheryl took 30 minutes to get ready and grabbed a granola bar as they descended the stairs of the apartment complex and got on the motorcycle. This time, they met the boys at the vet's office. When they got there, Jughead and Sweet Pea were waiting on the sidewalk. They both looked mildly distressed. "Where's Fangs?" Toni asked. "And the dog?"

Jughead sighed.

"The dog died this morning."

"Why didn't you call me?" Toni glared at him.

"We were just really busy." Jughead adjusted his hat. "Fangs is in the van."

Toni and Cheryl hurried over to the red car, where Fangs was in the backseat. "Fangs?" Toni slid open the door.

"Oh," she mumbled.

Fangs was sitting in the back, surrounded by tissues. He was in hysterics. Toni hugged him while Cheryl stood outside with her head poked in awkwardly. "Aw, Fangs. It's okay." Toni placed a hand on his shoulder.

He shook his head no. "I just... I'm sorry I'm making such a huge scene." he sighed and tried to collect himself, but instead a sob escaped from the back of his throat.

"I mean, it's just a dumb dog, right? It wasn't even really mine. Technically it was FP's."

There was a knock on the rear window. Sweet Pea held his face up to the dirty glass. Fangs tried to fake a smile, but it just looked like a pained grimace. The tallest one made his way around to the open door and squeezed into the back seat next to Fangs. "You okay?" it was rare Sweet Pea showed a lot of emotion, other than anger.

Fangs said nothing; he simply laid his head on Sweet Pea's shoulder as more tears rolled silently down his face.

Jughead took the wheel, while Sweet Pea continued to comfort Fangs in the backseat. Toni drove the motorcycle back to the apartments. The sky looked ominous, its dark gray clouds threatening to release a downpour any second. The two girls hurried inside, and, as they promised, the clouds started pouring rain. It was unusually warm, about 60° today. "More Game Of Thrones?" Cheryl grabbed the remote.

"Sure. What episode were we on?" Toni asked from the kitchen while she poked around in the fridge, finding something to eat. She sat down on the sofa next to Cheryl with a bowl full of baby carrots.

About 2 and a half episodes later, when the rain had finally diminished and the town was left in a humid haze, Cheryl announced she was hungry. They discussed for a bit whether they wanted to eat out or just cook something themselves, and ended up making grilled cheese sandwiches. They sat down at the table, their chairs as close together as possible. Cheryl threw a grape at Toni, and she caught it in her mouth. "Ready?" Toni giggled as she aimed a grape at Cheryl.

Cheryl nodded. The grape hit her forehead and fell to the floor. They both laughed. "Maybe we need to work on my catching abilities." Cheryl said between breaths.

"Or maybe my aim!" Toni said as she took a bite of her sandwich.

After the dishwasher was loaded and the table was cleaned off, Cheryl sat down on the couch, patting the cushion next to her. Toni sat next to her and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. Cheryl touched Toni's cheek ever so slightly, and Toni leaned her head up so that her and Cheryl's lips were just barely connected. It was a small, short kiss, but it felt good. It felt right.


Thank you everyone who supports this story! I know this chapter was a little bit shorter, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter! Feel free to give this story a review, and let me know what I should add, what I need to work on, etc. Thanks again!

-PeachyyyyBombshell