Sorry this is so long, I got carried away. This is mostly fluff, with very little plot- because I suck.

I'm also going to apologize to any Jewish readers, because I am not Jewish and only had my own research to go on. I tried to be respectful. And please tell me if anything is wrong, I will come back and fix it.

.*.day one.*.

Lane sat in the Whyte Wyrm with Toni and Fangs, who Sweet Pea had asked to pick up Lane after work. "Are you coming to the Christmas party next week?" Toni asked her.

"I don't know, maybe," she answered offhandedly.

Beside her Fangs piped in. "Come on, Lane, even Sweet Pea likes Christmas," he said as if by proxy that meant Lane should like it too.

But she could only shrug not having a better answer for them. "I don't celebrate Christmas." She leaned back as Fangs sputtered.

"What?" he cried looking to an equally incredulous Toni. "Who doesn't celebrate Christmas?"

Lane had just opened her mouth to respond when a pair of hands wrapped around her waist and she turned to see Sweet Pea behind her. "Come on," he told her pulling her off the stool.

"I just got here," Lane said looking up at him with furrowed brows. "So did you."

"And now we're leaving," he said pulling on her hand to get her moving toward the door, but he felt a little tug from her refusal to move. He could just as easily drag her, and because the drive had taken longer than he'd thought he was now in a hurry. "You'll find out what's happening sooner if you come on."

Taking a breath she turned to the two that shared a grin behind them. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow," she told them before turning back to Sweet Pea who still had a hold of her hand as he spurred her faster. He'd been in such a rush he left the car running.

He opened the door and all but shoved her inside before he hurried around to the driver's side and peeled out of the parking lot. Glancing at the clock on the dash he figured they'd have maybe five minutes to spare by the time they got there.

"What is that?" Lane said smelling chicken and something else familiar that she couldn't place.

"Don't worry about it," he was quick to tell her as he fiddled with the radio, stopping on a station playing Christmas music because he knew if nothing else it would distract her.

She didn't know what he was up to only that he didn't want her to guess anything, and so she looked out the window at the various array of Christmas decorations they passed on their way to the Northside.

He parked in her driveway snatching the bag of food from the back before she could grab it and told her to go in. With a sigh she climbed out reaching for her keys, not bothering to mention the electricity was getting fixed tomorrow. Opening the door she placed her keys on the hook and looked around the heavily shadowed house as the sun almost completely set. There was nothing more than a dim orange glow peeking through the front window.

Her gaze fell to the window table and she froze at the sight of her dad's old Menorah set in the center of it. She stood a few moments barely remembering to breathe as her stunned mind tried to understand, and she crept forward reaching a timid hand to the two candles that were set out. Feeling him beside her she looked up with the softest eyes he'd ever seen. "You made Hanukkah for me," she said in a small voice.

Clearing his throat he nodded, fingering the box he had in his pocket. "Yeah, it was my understanding boyfriends did sappy shit like this."

She looked at him, and he meant more to her than any one person ever had. A rush of affection overwhelmed her and she stepped onto his boots rising to the tips of her toes pulling his face down to kiss him. His hands came around her back pulling her closer, and by the time they finally pulled apart the sun had fully set.

"Okay," she breathed stepping off of his boots and setting the two candles in their designated places.

He stood at her back with his hands on her hips and his chin resting over her head watching her strike a match and light the candle she'd set in the middle; the shamash. And then her soft lilting voice filled the cold dark house with beautiful foreign words as she lit the first night's candle, he heard both love and melancholy in it. When she'd finished, entirely too soon he thought, and it was quiet once more he asked, "what was that?"

"A prayer," she answered leaning against him. "I haven't done the candle lighting since my dad died, but I always sing it. I used to know what it meant."

"You're sad," he said almost able to feel it, and he wished there was something he could do to make that better.

But she reached a hand to his arm and rested against him. "I'm happy too," she assured him.

"Yeah?"

She turned looking up at him and nodded. Her thoughts had been simple, how sweet he was, how much she'd missed actually celebrating Hanukkah. And then they turned to warmer less simple things, and she pulled him down to kiss her. He almost pulled away wanting to wait, but her hands snuck under his jacket forcing it down over his shoulders and that thought hit the floor with the leather and never came back.

After they'd finished he laid over her a minute longer watching the way the flames above them flicked in her gentle eyes, feeling her hands running along his back as she lay with her legs still around him. "This is pretty good mood lighting," he said seeing her smile.

"Alright," she said loosening her hold on him, not wanting it to go to his head, "what'd you get for dinner?"

He hummed as he sat up reaching for his boxers, and he tossed his shirt at her before he grabbed the bag. "It's probably cold," he said pulling out a cylindrical container wrapped in foil. "I have no idea what this is, the lady said most people liked it."

"The lady?"

They sat on the couch and she watched him unwrap the container seeing it was soup. "Yeah, do you know how far the closest Jewish restaurant is?"

She smiled as she quickly grabbed bowls and spoons and returned to the couch next to him. "Over an hour away," she answered realizing why he'd been rushing. "Did you get me matzo ball soup?" she asked with a hint of excitement as he nodded. "I haven't had this since my grandparents used to let us come over."

He paused at that with his dark brows drawn together knowing her choice of words was deliberate. "Used to?" he asked looking for clarification.

She nodded, since she'd immediately stuffed her mouth with a matzo ball. Swallowing she answered, "there was a time between when my mom left and my dad married my step mom that I got to see them." His face didn't change so she continued. "My mom's Catholic and Rebecca's family is Muslim."

Now he got it, but the candles from the Menorah died out as they were supposed to after a half hour, and he reached for the bag grabbing the actual candle he'd gotten because he knew her house didn't have power yet. After lighting it he set it on the coffee table and sat back enjoying the soup, finding it just a little bland. Finishing dinner he pulled out the last thing he'd gotten from the restaurant and watched her eyes light up the way his had when the owner told him they ate a lot of doughnuts during the holiday. And Lane popped one in her mouth as fast as she had the matzo ball.

"I should make these tomorrow," she mumbled licking her fingers. A thought had her turning to Sweet Pea, who sat with powdered sugar around his mouth. "Oh my god, I'm gonna make you latkes."

He nodded licking his sugar coated lips. "She let me try one, those are amazing. And she said if you were really Jewish you'd make them."

"Well I'm non-practicing but I'll make them anyways," she said reaching for another little doughnut.

They finished the bag and sat back warm and full leaning against each other in the soft candlelight. "Oh crap I forgot," Sweet Pea suddenly said before he rifled through the pockets of his jacket. Finding the small box he sat back beside her and held it out to her.

She blinked almost looking surprised as she slowly took it from him. She didn't know what to expect inside but she opened it seeing a little Menorah on a chain and smiled.

"Now if anyone gives you crap about Christmas you can shove it in their face," he told her glad she seemed to like it. "I picked the one with the little star."

"Of David," she finished for him. She absolutely loved it.

"Who?"

With her brows deeply furrowed she turned to look at his innocent face and she shook her head grinning as she leaned in for a kiss.

"What are my chances of getting laid for the second time tonight?"

She turned to him chuckling seeing his wide smile. "Okay, insert some snarky comment that knocks your cocky ass down several pegs," she said too happy to think of anything mean to say that would assert her control of the situation.

"Oh babe, you do that so well," he said resting his forehead over hers.

She nodded feeling her nose brushing his. "I know I do," she agreed. "And your chances are very high," she said before their smiling mouths met in the middle.

.*.day two.*.

About an hour after school let out Sweet Pea let himself into her house, and he was hit with a waft of chicken, oil, and beneath that cleaner. Shrugging out of his jacket he hung it on the coat rack and kicked his shoes off beside where hers were neatly set.

Making his way to the kitchen he leaned in the doorway watching her move around the stove wearing an apron that she wore over a sweater that she wore over a dress. "Want any help?" he asked knowing full well she wouldn't accept.

"No," she answered. "How was school?"

With a sigh he pushed off from the wall and moved to lean his back against the counter so he could look at her, and in doing so he grabbed one of the doughnuts she'd made and rolled in sugar. "Same as always. Did you call yours?"

She nodded scooping the fried potato cakes out of the skillet and setting them on a plate she'd covered in paper towels. "Yeah, Principal Weatherbee said to come by Friday to pick everything up. How are they?" she asked looking up to see his cheeks puffed out from the second one he shoved in before he'd finished the first.

He held a small doughnut out to her and watched her open her mouth taking it out of his hand. "What's for dinner?" he asked seeing the array of vegetables in the sink that she'd already washed. He wasn't too happy with those.

"Chicken and vegetables," she said seeing the way he eyed that last part. "I could've always gone with my first thought," she turned back to the frying potatoes knowing he was looking at her, "which was liver. And no," she turned to look back up at his appalled face, "I'm not joking. We ate it on crackers."

With his nose still curled he watched her check the chicken in the oven before pulling the latkes out and putting unfried ones in. "I will break up with you if you ever offer me that."

"Not if I break up with you first for saying no," she replied, and they shared a small smile before they both turned away.

He grabbed one of the latke on the bottom and tore off a piece. "I thought you said you liked these best with cheese," he said wishing she'd made them that way, it's the one he'd tried yesterday.

"We're having meat," she responded simply.

And he looked at her wondering if that was supposed to mean something to him, but she'd taken the skillet off the stove and was putting the vegetables on a cutting board to chop. So he left it.

"Hey, sun went down," Sweet Pea said when he'd looked out the front window to see it was dark out.

Stirring the vegetables in the pan she wiped her hands on the apron and they went to the living room to stand at the table by the window. He stood as he had the day before, with his hands on her hips and his chin on the top of her head watching the meticulous way she set the three candles and lit them as she sang her prayer.

This time they had dinner at the table, per her request, and they talked about Christmas presents while they ate. He'd shrugged when she asked what he was getting Toni and Fangs, and then she rephrased and told him they were both getting him something so he needed to come up with a better answer. So they spent the rest of dinner coming up with ideas, and they weren't sure which one started it but they ended it coming up with the most ridiculous answers to try to make the other laugh.

After cleaning up they sat together on the couch and she watched him smile before he pulled another small box from his pocket. Giving him a look she turned to the gift and paused when she opened it. "My dreidel?" she asked and turned to see the bottle of tequila he was offering. "I'm liking this already," she said setting the bottle on her lap before taking the folded paper he held out. It was something he'd printed offline, and when she finally understood what she reading she laughed. "Strip dreidel?" she continued laughing. "Oh I love it."

"I was gonna save this for the end cause it isn't really a present," he told her.

"But then we couldn't play it every night," she finished for him.

And he smiled looking at her so fondly, because it was exactly what he'd been thinking. She'd said it before about him, but he found himself thinking he might've been the lucky one.

.*.day three.*.

"She brings treats," Hog Eye said from behind the bar when Lane set down a tub of doughnuts. Each one was perfectly round, her bubbe taught her to never give an uneven sufganiyah, and she'd filled them all with jam.

"What's the occasion?" Toni asked sitting on the same side of the bar as Lane today, not having to work.

A hand reached around Lane grabbing a doughnut. "Hanukkah." Looking up she saw FP's warm eyes and she smiled. "Good to see you celebrating again," he told her knowing it was because of the boy. He leaned closer. "You don't have any,"

"Latkes?" she finished for him and handed him a smaller container with the few she'd saved, remembering they were his favorite.

"You're a good girl," he exclaimed with a wet kiss to her cheek before he left.

She turned from him and found Toni's guilty eyes. "So that's why you don't celebrate Christmas," Toni said planning to smack Fangs upside the head for being the one to ask out loud. "Is that why Sweet Pea keeps ditching us?" she asked and smiled at Lane's nod.

"I'll tell you about it later."

"You better," Toni told her only half joking. He was so different with her, Toni didn't think Lane knew. "Know when you're starting back at school?" she asked easing into the question Sweet Pea wanted her to ask.

Before Lane answered a hand touched her shoulder and she turned saying hi to a boy she vaguely knew from her stint at the jail. She turned back to Toni, who quickly wiped the grin off her face. "After winter break, I'll use it to catch up."

Toni nodded thinking that made the most sense, and to get Lane's watchful stare to lessen she grabbed a doughnut and bit half of it. "You know, people have noticed that you could be home but you haven't left us." She watched Lane's head tilt slightly. "Have you thought about staying?"

Lane looked at her curiously wondering what she was getting at and why. "Do you mean me joining you or me also moving here too?" she asked seeing Toni suck her lips in at being caught.

She took a moment to consider that, to consider Lane's tone which was as bland as always but it wasn't as hard as it normally could be. "You don't seem to have a problem with either."

Shrugging Lane looked around at everyone around them either sitting together or decorating the bar, sharing smiles and laughs, messing around. "If what I've heard is true then the Serpents are a better family than most of you have individually. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered it."

"So what's holding you back?" Toni watched Lane think – Lane was thinking, or rather she was concerned, that she would only ever be a Northsider to them. Be it the crippling fear of being left that kept her from letting people in, but she just couldn't bring herself to trust they'd take care of her – but Toni didn't know Lane that way and so she asked, "you worried about the dance?" because if anything Toni knew Lane was a prude.

Lane was quick to respond, "I'm not doing that."

And somehow Toni found herself taken aback, that she'd let herself forget the entitlement of a Northsider. "Then you'll never be a Serpent," she told Lane firmly.

"Then I'll never be a Serpent," was Lane's simple, distracted, reply.

Before Toni could respond Sweet Pea snuck up beside them with a hand brushing Lane's back. She slid off the stool bidding Toni goodbye

He drove her back to her house and they lit the third candle, four including the shamash. He almost knew the first line of the prayer. "Is that dinner?" he asked smelling something good.

"No," she answered feeling his arms encircle her as he stood behind her watching the candles burn. "That's for tomorrow, we're having leftovers."

He nodded thinking about tomorrow being Friday. "Sabbath, right? I got the candles that burn longer for it."

She looked up at him smiling gently. "Shabbat, and yes," she said using the word she was familiar with. Her father had only observed Shabbat during Hanukkah and she was only planning to do it now because she felt closer to him than she had in years, but she hadn't told Sweet Pea any of this. He'd arrived here all on his own. "You did your research."

He shrugged not willing to admit how much thought or time he'd put into this. So instead he asked, "you want your present now or after dinner?" But he was quick to add, "it's really not anything big."

But she still smiled because nothing he could buy would be better than what he'd done for her. "I've been eating doughnuts all day so I'm not really hungry."

"Alright," he sighed handing her the little plastic package of chocolate coins with a Menorah stamped on one side. And, as it never ceased to amaze him, he watched her eyes light up at something that seemed so small to him.

"Now we can really play dreidel," she told him, having enjoyed their game last night. Though not the hangover they'd woken to.

He shrugged. "As long as it ends in you naked." He watched her laugh and he refused the smile that wanted to spread over his mouth. "What's the one for put in?" he asked not knowing the letters painted on the sides of the wood.

"Shin."

He hummed sitting on the couch and pulling her into his lap. "Shin," he repeated kissing her neck. "As long we get to do that."

She wasn't used to him being this sweet, hell she wasn't used to feeling anything strongly enough to show a reaction. He'd break her heart, it was a thought she unwillingly kept coming back to. But on that night instead of using biting words to push him away, she grabbed their plastic cups from the coffee table.

They held their glasses up as though to toast and he looked at her. "To life," he said.

The corner of her mouth quirked. "L'Chaim." Instead of hitting his cup against hers he leaned forward for a kiss feeling her smile before she returned it.

.*.day four.*.

He found her that day at the dining table with books and papers spread around her as she wrote furiously in a notebook. "That's a lot," he said looking over the different assignments.

"It's only for one class."

His brows rose as he looked down at her, but other than her reply she didn't acknowledge him. "Guess you can't work on it til tomorrow night," he said but she only turned a page and continued writing. "And you're not gonna wanna work on it then." Still nothing, he'd expected some small pull of her face at his innuendo but she only hummed pretending to pay attention.

With a sigh he set the pot in the center of the table watching her eyes glance up before they turned back to her assignment. And he waited, seeing the moment her busy mind caught up.

Him and Fangs had taken her to the store almost every other day for about a month, and she'd stopped to look at the orchids every single time. And she reached gentle fingers to the soft white petals before she looked up at him.

"Don't think anything of it," he said finding himself uncomfortable at how obvious this gesture made him. He'd never tell her how long he stared at the different flowers before picking this one.

With a small smile she turned back to the delicate little flowers that were her mom's favorite. And she took a breath, held it, and let it go before gathering her work together deciding to be done.

"You've still got at least a half hour," he said surprised she was stopping early.

But she shrugged as she stood looking up at him. "I'll hang out with you," she told him, admitting her own vulnerable truth. "But don't think anything of it," she said seeing him scoff as he rolled his eyes. And she reached a hand to his face pulling him down as she rose to her tiptoes to kiss his faintly grinning cheek. "I also have to make sure dinner will be ready," she added seeing his eyes harden unamused, and she left him standing there as she walked into the kitchen laughing to herself.

.*.day five.*.

"I think I like Shabbath," Sweet Pea said as they laid down after lunch.

"Shabbat," she corrected without opening her eyes, laying on her side with an arm thrown over his middle as he laid on his back beside her. "And you were complaining this morning about not touching your cell phone."

He shrugged lazily. "I got over it." He honestly found it a little boring, and she'd seen that on his face and told him she'd always been glad her dad only did Shabbat during Hanukkah and that she was sparing him all of the prayers.

They went for a walk after they woke, using the cold to shake them of their sluggishness from the food and the warmth. He convinced her to play his version of dreidel he'd found online, not to say it took much convincing. And by sundown he stood in his boxers with his arms wrapped around her middle as she wore his shirt like a dress, watching her light the candles; trying to say the words to himself as she sang them.

Sitting on the couch he handed her a messily wrapped box and sat back with a hand on her leg as she opened it. Her brows rose at finding it was massage oil. "You can thank Fangs for that idea," he told her.

"Well it's fitting for the holiday, but yeah," she smiled, "it seems like something Fangs would come up with." She looked at the box hearing the bottle rattle inside as she turned it, feeling him watching her, before a thought came to her and she looked to him with a small smile. "I get to decide what we do with it, right?"

"Yes," he said wary of what she was thinking.

Her smile grew. "Then get upstairs." She watched him blink and she smirked as he climbed the stairs and made for her room, knowing exactly what he was thinking. And she found it so incredibly cute the confused way he looked at her when she told him to lie down.

He'd expected to be doing something to her, with the hope it'd end in something they both enjoyed. But he'd shrugged and did as told, stretching out on her bed lying on his stomach feeling her straddle his hips before her small hands ran along the expanse of his shoulders. With a sigh his eyes fell shut as he relaxed against the bed feeling her hands move from his waist up to his neck where her fingers light dug into the muscle there.

Within maybe five minutes she was chuckling quietly at his soft snores as she rubbed her palms from the center of his back over his shoulders to his forearms. With a deep, content, exhale she leaned over him blowing out the candle she'd set on the bedside table and laid over him with her cheek at the base of his neck and her hands wrapped under his chest. She was warm, and safe, and happy. And she fell into an easy sleep.

.*.day six.*.

He woke with a start, feeling like there was something he'd forgotten to do. But he stretched feeling a weight over his back and he craned his neck seeing the top of Lane's head realizing that's what he'd forgotten. "You awake?" he asked in a hushed voice and after a moment she nodded slowly, having stirred by his moving.

She didn't want to be awake yet, but the longer she was the more aware she became of her arm being asleep still curled beneath him. With a groan she rolled off him and shook her arm as she made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

They made their way downstairs, he had a bowl of cereal while she ate leftover challah she'd warmed, and they talked about what they were doing for the day. "Jughead's coming over at some point, rest of the time I'll just keep doing homework.".

"You've got, what, like two weeks til it's due," he said as they dressed, not knowing why she was worrying about it now.

But that was because she knew he was a procrastinator. "If I get it done now I'll have more time to enjoy the break," she said like she minded having to do school work.

"That and you're a nerd," he said watching her shimmy into a pair of jeans. "What, no witty comeback?" he asked when she remained quiet.

She turned to him innocently. "I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed." He blinked at her confused and she smirked. "What, did that go over your head?"

It didn't take him long to catch on and he smacked her ass hard enough to sting hearing her laugh as she hit his arm. "You watch your mouth or you're gonna pay for it," he warned pulling her against him.

She met him in the middle, smiling against his mouth. "That's kind of the point," she said feeling his hand fall below her waist and squeeze. "Alright," she said with a sigh pushing him away from her, "go be a Serpent, I'll see you later." She turned for the table gathering her things into a large shoulder bag feeling him come up behind her and kiss her temple before he left.

…

"We've got an hour and a half before I need to be back," Lane told Jughead when she opened the door to find him on her doorstep. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He was quick to straighten his face. Sometimes he hated the way nothing seemed to get past her. "Then we should get going," he said seeing her eyes narrow as they searched his face. But she grabbed her jacket and locked the door behind her.

They talked as they drove, Jughead telling her his dad was doing more jobs for Penny and he'd gotten Tall Boy and a couple other older Serpents in on it. "He asks about you," Jughead said not needing to say Tall Boy for her to know that's what he meant.

"Are we sticking with getting her out of town?" Lane asked refusing to talk about it.

She wasn't ready, so Jughead nodded letting it go for now. "Yeah, I was hoping to scout a place to dump her should we need to remove her from Riverdale."

She nodded considering that. "You thinking Greendale?"

"As a matter of fact," Jughead said turning to her with a lopsided grin, finding that even after years apart they still shared similar thoughts.

…

They made it back to her house just after sundown, and they walked in to find it smelled like the brisket she'd cooked for Shabbat that Sweet Pea took upon himself to heat up. "I was about to call," he said meeting them in the living room.

"Yeah you can thank Jughead."

"You were the one that drove slow," he said in his defense.

But she pushed past him for the window table grabbing the box of candles and pulling out seven. "I drive the speed limit," she informed him as she set them in place.

Jughead leaned against the wall watching Sweet Pea move beside her. "Mind if I stay for the lighting?" Jughead asked, having done Hanukkah with her once a very long time ago.

Her answer was a quiet sure, glancing at Sweet Pea over her shoulder noticing the distance he kept between them with Jughead there. And she found herself disappointed.

Her soft, not quite pretty, voice filled the warm house reciting Hebrew words Jughead found vaguely familiar, watching her light the six candles with the seventh she held in her hand. She sounded almost happy, which was something Jughead hadn't heard in a long time. And on the second verse he watched Sweet Pea wrap his arms around her and saw the faint way she smiled as she finished.

Sweet Pea stood with cheek resting on the top of her head consciously aware of the way Jughead grinned. "You can go now," he told him briskly feeling Lane's hand smack his arm.

"Don't be mean," she told him shooing him back into the kitchen to make sure nothing was burning, and she turned to Jughead. "But seriously, we'll see you later." She gave a clipped smile that Jughead returned before she followed Sweet Pea, hearing the door shut.

After cleaning up dinner she sat on the couch with a glass of the wine she'd found of her step mother's, and she was surprised mid swallow as Sweet Pea set a box in her lap. On sight she knew it was a shirt box and she set the glass down before peeking inside. It was a navy blue sweater with two little stars of David, a couple dreidels, and in bold white letters read happy Hanukkah ya filthy schmuck. And she chuckled folding it neatly back into the box. "Now I have a sweater to wear to the party Saturday."

He hummed kissing her forehead. "Toni saw a few others you probably would've liked, but I thought the attitude was more fitting."

"Definitely," she agreed. "Toni went with you?" she asked, having noticed how weird and short she'd been the last week.

Sweet Pea nodded squirming his way behind her to lay on the couch. "So you noticed," he said remembering Toni's guilty offer to help him pick out a sweater with Fangs.

"I notice everything," she said laying with her back to his chest facing the TV he was turning on. Content to lay entertwined.

.*.day seven.*.

"Why is everyone acting weird?" Lane asked watching a suspiciously sweet Toni pouring her another shot of her favorite tequila.

Toni stood back knowing every word was a threat when Lane was too smart to not figure it out. "Sweet Pea said you were coming to our Christmas party, do you want us to put out decorations?" she asked before nodding to herself. "I'll tell Hog Eye to get some."

Lane's eyes narrowed as Toni danced around the question. "I'm too good to fall for that," she informed the other girl, raising a finger in her direction. "But good effort, that was sneaky."

"Thank you," Toni said pretending to be bashful. She saw Sweet Pea, the tallest Serpent currently in the bar, hanging tinsel. "Hey Sweet Pea, I think it's getting close to when you guys need to light the candle," she called to him watching Lane's eyes narrow further.

"We've got an hour," Sweet Pea said taping it to a wooden overhang.

"Yeah, you should probably go," Toni said meeting his eye, seeing him catching on to the fact that Lane was catching on.

"Seriously, what is it?"

A pair of arms suddenly scooped Lane off the stool and she was left grabbing Fangs' shoulders as he carried her to the door. "We just don't want you to miss it, we know how important this is to you." He set her down and all but pushed her out the door, and then he turned to Sweet Pea who came up behind him. "How does she notice everything?" he asked not him.

"Because she has eyes and a brain," Lane answered mildly irritated as she waited for her ride to hurry up.

With a shrug Sweet Pea passed Fangs and replied, "what she said," before he took her home.

The drive was mostly quiet as they listened to the radio, Lane knowing Sweet Pea wasn't gonna tell her anything. She walked up the driveway hearing Sweet Pea pop the trunk and she unlocked the door and went inside turning on the lights downstairs.

When she turned back around she stopped in her tracks at the sight of Sweet Pea standing in the doorway holding a Serpent's jacket small enough to fit her. "So that's why everyone's been weird," she said realizing it had started last week with Toni's questions, and her disapproval with Lane's responses, and then there was today where everyone kept smiling at her but wouldn't say anything.

"Yeah," he said forgetting everything he'd planned to say now that he was looking at her, seeing her wide uncertain eyes as she watched him. "This isn't about us," he told her. "You've been doing this alone for a while, and now that you're back home I can see you're more unhappy here than you were being prisoner at Tall Boy's house. So this," he took a breath, "this is about you. If you want it."

"Sweet Pea," she sighed not knowing what to say because as always with him her mind shut down.

But he stepped toward her not giving her a chance to say no yet. "Look I don't know if we're gonna work out, but I know that whatever happens with us, they'll always have your back."

She nodded getting his point, that this wasn't just because they were together, this was all of them willing to accept her. And she honestly didn't know what to do with that. "I'm sure Toni told you our argument over that dance."

"I pleaded your case," he told her watching her blink, "majority ruled in favor of your initiation being complete when you recite our laws."

That was the last piece, that let her know how much they were willing to care for her by forsaking their own tradition to make room for her broken parts. And that day, standing with a boyfriend she never expected to have, and the idea of a family she never thought she'd get to have again, that day she didn't feel so broken. So she reached for the jacket feeling the cold smooth leather under her palms as she looked up at him. And because she wasn't used to big swells of emotions she tried for something simpler. "I'm gonna have to get a tattoo."

And because his own emotional range was as shallow as hers he happily accepted something easier. "I've thought of a few places you could get it and still be classy," he said watching her roll her eyes. "I was thinking here," his hand brushed under her breast, "or here," his slid his hands around back and his fingers grazed the inside of her thigh as he pulled her up into his arms seeing her smile as she held him. "Or," with one hand under her he reached with the other for her left hand and held it between them as he ran his thumb along her ring finger, and he watched her waiting for her to get it.

Her brow cocked when she finally did, and her stomach flipped and then dropped. "That seems heavy-handed, and a little soon."

"Probably," he agreed bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing the place a ring would've been.

Her stomach did that weird flip again that made her feel like she'd be sick. "I'll sleep on it."

He hummed and nodded with a ghost of a smile pulling at his mouth. "You do that," he said already knowing which one she'd pick.

.*.day eight.*.

And so on the last day of Hanukkah after school she sat in the tattoo parlor watching the heavily tattooed woman carefully etch their symbol on her ring finger. Sweet Pea stood somewhere to her right watching her closely, not paying Fangs any attention as he and Toni looked at the wall of artwork for potential tattoos.

"So when am I reciting the laws?" she asked when he crept closer.

He pulled a chair over and sat beside her tracing the delicate lines inked on her thin finger. "Saturday."

"The party?" she asked turning to look at his blank face. "Well that was decided for a reason," she said now knowing something else was being planned. She was getting sick of surprises.

"Anyone ever tell you you're too smart for your own good?"

With an elbow on the armrest she rested her chin in hand looking up at him with a coy grin. "Guess you're just gonna have to step up your game," she said feigning innocence.

With a derisive hum he nodded. "Shakespeare," he told her seeing her brows draw together, "what you said the other day about the battle of wits." He leaned forward so that their noses just barely touched, seeing the smile in her eyes. "And yes, I did look that up to throw it in your face."

Toni looked over her shoulder wondering how much longer it'd be and smacked Fangs to get his attention before the two pulled apart. It wasn't just that being softest they'd ever seen Sweet Pea, but even with a completely straight face it was the happiest they'd ever seen Lane.

.^.

Come Saturday Lane wore her jacket over the sweater Sweet Pea had bought her, and beside her walked Sweet Pea who wore a simple red and white striped sweater under his own jacket. And she paused at the threshold of the Wyrm seeing amidst the Christmas decorations various blue stars and dreidels, and there was even a light up menorah at the bar.

"What is all this?" Lane asked feeling something warm swelling in her.

FP came around to her side holding out a beautifully hand painted dreidel ornament. "Riverdale's only Jew is about to be one of us, we Hanukkah'd the hell out of this place." He led her to the tree where they'd all brought and hung an ornament of their own and he waited as she hung hers. And with a hand on her shoulder he told her, "just so you know: you point out the boy that hurt you and we will skin him alive."

She looked up at him with a straight face and told him in a serious manner, "you're gonna make me cry."

He smiled knocking her chin and turned her to face the filled bar. "You ready, kid?"

She glanced at the welcoming faces and the effort they'd gone to include her and she turned back to FP and told him with absolute certainty, "yes."

[I wanted that jacket to hit you guys the same way it hit Lane, so having this scene in there would've negated that. So I guess this is like a deleted scene, it takes place on day six before Jughead goes to see Lane]

"Just like a Northsider to expect special treatment."

Jughead stood in the center of the Wyte Wyrm in a sea of snakes holding a meeting he and Sweet Pea convinced his father to call. He'd expected backlash when he made the suggestion of Lane becoming a Serpent, but for the most part they accepted that pretty well with a few admitting she already acted like one. It was the Serpent Dance that ended up being the issue, and what surprised Jughead most was that Toni was Lane's biggest opposition. "I'm not asking for special treatment," Jughead said looking from Toni to the unhappy crowd, "I'm saying she's done enough."

"How so?" FP asked finding himself caught between not wanting Lane apart of this and knowing she'd make a hell of an asset. It was a matter of tradition, she couldn't start this already asking for favors.

Jughead turned to his father. "She's gotten Serpents out of jail twice now, the second at her own expense: no Serpent stands alone. When Sweet Pea and Fangs were caught by Ghoulies they told her to run and she instead got them out: no Serpent is left for dead. Instead of running she sat face to face with the man trying to kill her for the sole purpose of making sure none of was killed because of her: a Serpent never betrays their own." Jughead looked around him to see several people nodding along with him, not everyone but he just needed the majority. "She's been following our laws without even knowing them. I'm saying she's done enough."

"For you maybe," Toni exclaimed unsatisfied, hearing several feminine agreements. "But those of us subjected to that misogynistic initiation, that a lot of you refused to outlaw mind you, might feel a little different. Maybe even a little resentment."

Jughead looked to Sweet Pea, who'd been the one to approach him about Lane in the first place, having yet to hear him offer her any defense. And he turned back not knowing what else to say.

FP saw this and he knew this wasn't gonna Jughead's way, not now. So he looked to Sweet Pea, who was the one who said she'd never do the dance, and told him, "make a case."

Sweet Pea released a heavy sigh having hoped it wouldn't come to this. "She was sexually assaulted earlier this year. I'm not asking her to do this."

An uneasy hush fell over them as they understood what Lane was up against. Toni, who's face had only moments before been screwed up with self-righteous anger now looked down almost ashamed, as did a few other women, even a few men. FP took their silence as a decision and he turned to address them. "We take care of our own," he said looking around them. "All in favor of letting Lane forfeit the dance?"

Tall Boy stood back with his hands down curled into fists. But slowly hands began to rise, most all of the women that had minutes before opposed her, Toni included. They took care of their own, and as they stood there with their hands raised they were taking care of Lane.