Part 3
As the song ended, they hesitated before separating as it felt so good to be in each others' arms. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Toni, Cheryl, Jughead and couple of other kids from the Serpents who had shown up standing together in the corner of the gym. She nodded towards them and Sweet Pea started leading her there by the hand. When they got to the other side of the gym, she heard the others laughing.
"What's so funny?" she asked Toni.
"Oh, nothing really. But, we were thinking about going and hanging outside. You guys in?"
Betty looked at Sweet Pea and he nodded. He was fine with leaving. He came, he saw, he realized this was nothing really special. The group started migrating towards the door and she looked to see if she could spot Veronica on the dance floor, which she could, and it looked like she was having a great time dancing with Archie and Kevin so she figured she did not have to bother them to say she was going outside.
It had been so hot in the gym, it felt nice to be outside even with their jackets off. Betty had not realized how sweaty she had gotten in a few dances until they got outside and she now relished the cold air on her skin. A couple of the boys had driven to the dance so they had a truck flat bed to sit in. Sweet Pea helped Betty up into the back of Fang's truck so she could sit in his lap. Once they were up, Fangs asked if Sweet Pea had his flask to share, which of course he did, and it got passed around to everyone. He himself had a few drinks so he was starting to feel the buzz but he tried to keep his cool. He knew he had to be feeling it because as he laughed with his friends he was using what Betty always joked was his 'outside voice'.
"So this is what it's like to go to a real school," Fangs mused as he sat back against the cab of the truck.
"What do you mean?" Betty asked.
"For one thing, we never had dances at Southside. And if we did, I think Sherriff Keller would have been there in about 10 minutes for either a drug bust or someone getting stabbed. Ghoulies never let us have anything nice."
"Huh, I guess I never though about that."
"I'm not going to say I wasn't pissed when we were told we had to come here because, yeah, it sucks that we lost our school. But it's not bad that we finally have a place that we can get away from the turf wars and all of that stuff for a few hours each day."
"And have teachers that actually teach us stuff," Toni chimed in. "I feel like we read "The Red Badge of Courage" every year just because it was one of the few books that they had enough of for a whole class to have one. That book is like a third grade reading level."
"That's why Fangs had trouble reading it," Sweet Pea chided. In response, Fangs reached over and hit him in the back of the head while everyone laughed.
After a while of carrying on this way for a while, Betty started shivering and used rubbing her arms to try and keep warm.
"I probably should not have left my coat inside," she thought aloud.
Sweet Pea wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. His thick arms blocked the wind but also just being that close to his body made her feel warm all over. She leaned back into him and put her cheek against his neck while closing her eyes. She couldn't remember a time that she felt happier.
Sweet Pea reached down to feel his pocket again; still there. He thought to himself that maybe this was a good time to get Betty by herself so they could talk. Betty could feel his warm breath on her ear as he opened his mouth to ask her in a whisper, "Can we maybe go talk alone?"
The idea made her feel a bit apprehensive because he always seemed like he was ready for these super serious talks and there had been so much left unsaid between them lately, but the night was going so well, what could it hurt? She shook her head yes and he gave her a little wink.
"Are you guys leaving?" Toni asked when she saw them getting up.
"Just going to go for a walk and then maybe back inside," Sweet Pea answered.
"But we will see you later, right?"
"After party at my house, of course," Cheryl piped in from behind her.
"Yeah, we will probably make an appearance," Betty said looking at Sweet Pea for approval.
"Vixen attendance is required, Betty. We will see you there."
"OK, I guess we will see you there," she answered as Sweet Pea jumped down from the truck bed and then helped her down as well.
As they started to walk away, they could hear Fangs say to Toni, "God, your girl is bossy!" and she answered him back with "Shut it, Fangs. At least I've got one."
Sweet Pea took off his coat and put it around Betty's shoulders and grabbed her hand as they walked from the parking lot back to the front of the school and around the side. "Where do you want to go?" he asked.
Betty looked around; there weren't really any places to go without students milling around outside but she did just have to happen to have her key to the newspaper office in her handbag. "Follow me. But we have to be quick!"
They went inside the front doors and passed the loud gym and snuck around the corner. Sweet Pea looked both ways to make sure no chaperons were watching. As Betty put the key in the lock he leaned down and kissed her neck and she let out a surprised 'yelp'. He hushed her so that no one would come out and look for them. She got the door open and they slipped inside and she re-locked the door behind her. They went in and sat on the edge of her big wooden desk.
"So are you having fun?" she asked him quietly.
"Well, I can say I have never done anything like this before. And might not again. But I've enjoyed being with you," he said giving her a short yet tender kiss.
"I'm glad we did this, too. I'm just so happy with everything right now; I feel like we are starting off this new year right."
"I'm happy you are happy," Sweet Pea said taking a drink from the flask he had pulled out of his coat on her shoulders. As he went for a second sip, Betty put his hand to his as to stop him.
"Are you sure you are OK? You've been hitting that kind of hard today."
"Yeah," he said putting it down. "I've just felt a little, nervous, tonight."
"Why would you be nervous?"
"Well, part of it I guess is I just don't have experience with this kind of stuff. I didn't want to mess up or anything."
"Sweet Pea, you don't have to worry-"
"There's more," he said cutting her off. "I've been thinking about this since Christmas and I just couldn't come up with the right time to talk about it. I just needed some courage to come out with it; it's not fair to you to hide what I am feeling."
Betty looked at him as her heart stated to race. This almost sounded like a break up spiel! But wasn't he just talking about how he was happy that she was happy and all that? If that's what was happening right now, she had not seen it coming for a mile. She just had to know.
"Are you breaking up with me?"
Sweet Pea sat back, stunned in a way. He blinked as he looked at her but then he cupped his her cheek in his hand and kissed her. "No! Not at all. It's kind of the opposite actually."
"I'm so confused."
This was it, the time to execute his plan. He loved her and wanted to make sure she knew it. Just how to start was always the problem. He was getting better at talking about his feeling with her but it was still new to him and he often fumbled. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "Have you decided what you are doing after you graduate?" he spat out.
Betty looked down at her hands that she had folded in front of her. She had not been expecting to have this specific conversation right now. Betty had been planning the same future, her mom's future, for her whole life but she had taken a few left turns from there lately. The plan was college. The plan was Ivy League. But where did the Serpents fit into that plan? Where did Sweet Pea fit?
"Um; I don't know. Still."
"I'm not trying to pressure you or anything. I just… I have been thinking about what will happen if you go away to school. What happens to us?"
"Nothing, I guess. Things stay the same… just I won't be here. Why are we talking about this now?"
"It's just been thinking about it a lot."
"I have been too… I just don't don't have an answer for you. Isn't us being happy in the present enough?"
He looked in her eyes to try and steady himself. He felt like this whole conversation was not going how he wanted it to at all. She was so defensive and he didn't want her to think he was attacking her. He wanted to have this romantic moment; he thought if he could just get this off his chest, that it would be enough to keep them together even if she went away, but he was just blowing it. He was going to have to abort his mission and try again later.
"Do you know what? Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't meant to kill the mood."
"It's cool, maybe we can just get out of here, though? Try and salvage the night."
"Good idea."
