Hi.

The past few months have been rough, so I re-wrote one of my favorite stories "Hate That I Love You" as a means of comfort. I wanted to share the draft with all of you.

As always, this is an original story of mine that I converted into Fanfiction, so please be kind if there are any name or appearance errors. I tried to catch as many as I could while I was uploading this.

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of suicide, mentions of domestic violence, images of violence

Overall disclaimer: None of the Archie characters belong to me.

Enjoy, friends.

1

Amy

Where the hell did Sonic go? I thought suddenly. As I was wiping down the tables of my father's restaurant, I'd been admiring Chicago's nighttime beauty. Stars and the streetlamps illuminated the dark sky. Lights shining through the windows of the local shops and restaurants lit up the streets. Across the street, I could see other employees bustling around the premises, performing their closing routines. Some were counting their merchandise. Others were stocking their shelves. A few were cleaning up the messes made by the customers over the course of the day – like me. At the sight of a team of cashiers moving a mess of dishes across the street, I remembered I hadn't seen my coworker in a few minutes.

Sighing, I stopped wiping down the table and went on a small search for my missing friend. It only took a moment to spot his long legs dangling idly over one of the cushioned booths.

I clenched my teeth as I approached him. "Wake up," I demanded, giving him a swift kick in the shins.

He jolted upright from the impact, his brown eyes wide with shock. At the sight of me, the bewilderment shifted to anger. "What the fuck, Amy?"

"Get up and help me finish cleaning."

"No," he replied simply as he lay back down.

"Why not?"

"Because one, I'm tired; and two, it's not my fault you take a year and a half to wipe down one table."

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe it wouldn't take me so long if you'd get your lazy ass up and help me."

"Maybe I wouldn't be so tired if I didn't have to deal with your annoying ass all day."

I narrowed my eyes. I held my wet rag over the groin of his jeans. Smiling, I squeezed the rag, releasing all the excess water over him. My smile widened as his eyes shot open and his mouth curled into a scowl. "Oops," I said as he sat up. "Sorry, Sonic. I mistook you for the bucket of dirty water."

"I'm gonna fucking kill you," he growled.

I giggled. "Gotta catch me first." With that, I took off down the aisle.

Sonic stood up and darted after me.

I weaved around the tables and chairs, desperately trying to deter his proximity. "Slow poke," I teased as I ran in circles around one of the larger tables.

He pushed one of the chairs out of his way and hopped over another one, decreasing a chunk of space between us.

A yelp escaped my lips as his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me against his chest.

He swung me around for a moment, lifting me high enough for my feet to leave the floor.

Wiggling and giggling, I tried to escape his grasp. "Let me go!"

"No. I should body slam your little ass through one of these tables." He lifted me up again as he headed towards one of the damp tables.

"What are you two doing playing around out here?" my father's voice boomed through the restaurant.

Both of us froze. Reluctantly, we turned towards my father's burly figure standing in the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed firmly against his chest.

Sonic finally released me and pushed me away. "Amy started it! She poured dirty rag water all over my jeans."

"I didn't start anything. You were the one lying around while I was doing all the work. I had to do something to wake you up since my yelling didn't seem to do the trick."

"You call that squeaking noise yelling? I thought you were trying to communicate with the rodents outside."

I would've jumped on him if my dad didn't stand in my way.

"Stop, stop," he said with a sigh. "Are all the tables clean?"

"Yes," Sonic and I replied in unison.

"Then the two of you can go home. I'm not done cleaning up in the back, so you're going to have to walk home with Sonic, Amy."

Sonic raised one of his eyebrows. "Whoa, whoa. Benny, with all due respect, who said I was free to walk Amy home? What if I had plans after this?"

I folded my arms. "The only plans you have after this is a date with a box of tissues, your computer screen, a bottle of lotion, and your palm."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "I'll have you know I'm swarmed in women right now."

"Palmela and her twin sister don't count as 'women.'"

"Alright, alright. Enough." Daddy smiled. "Thank you for taking Amy home, Sonic. I highly appreciate it."

Sonic restrained the glare that threatened to appear on his face. "Sure. Whatever," he grumbled.

Daddy approached him and patted his shoulder. "I really do appreciate you taking such good care of my little girl on nights like this. You're going to be a great guardian to someone one day."

I scoffed. "The only thing he guards is his food and his porn collection."

"Get on home," he said. "And be nice to each other while you're at it."

"An impossible task," Sonic said as he shrugged my father's hand off. "But I'll do my best." He tugged at his apron as he looked at me. "Come on, short stack," he said in an infant tone. "Let's get you home before all the big, scary monsters come out and try to get you."

"Shut up," I said, rolling my eyes. I tried to follow Sonic to the back, but Daddy grabbed my arm. "What?" I asked as he gave me a look of disapproval.

"We've talked about this. You have –"

"To be nice for the sake of workplace," I finished. "I know, I know. I am nice to him one-third of the time; the same one-third when he's nice to me. Right now is not part of the one-third. He's been messing with me the entire shift. It's only fair I gave him a little taste of his own medicine."

Daddy shook his head. "Am I making the right decision letting the two of you walk home together – alone?"

"Hey, we haven't killed each the other thousand times we've done it. I'm sure we can survive one more time."

Daddy smiled as he pushed one of my loose curls behind my ear. "Be careful. Stay close to Sonic and –"

"Don't wander off or talk to suspicious characters. I know, daddy." I smiled. "I'll be fine."

"I just worry about you; you know that."

"You don't have to worry, daddy. I'm fine." I sighed. "I have to go before he leaves without me." I kissed his cheek. "I'll see you when you get in. Be careful locking up." I moved away from my father and walked back into the kitchen. I wandered around the culinary tools and machinery to the small coat rack near the back door.

Sonic was leaning against the wall next to it, his eyes glued down on his phone and his fingers rapidly on the screen. He'd already put his black jacket on and pulled the hood up to cover his face.

"Telling Palmela you're running late?" I asked as I approached him.

"Shut up before I stuff you in the freezer," he replied without looking up.

"You don't have the balls."

Sonic looked up at me, his dark eyes filled with mischief. "You wanna bet?" He didn't give me time to respond before he caught me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder.

I pounded my fists into his back. "Put me down!" I exclaimed.

"No. You've ticked me off; you're going in the freezer." He walked towards the large walk-in freezer. "Damn, you're lucky, chica. Benny already locked it up." He set me back down on my feet. "That's disappointing."

"Your face is disappointing."

"Let's go before I find somewhere else to lock your ass in."

I followed him outside into the cold weather. I obeyed her father's orders and stayed close to Sonic as we walked home. My companion was alert, his dark eyes constantly scanning the dark streets. Whenever someone would get too close to them, he'd grab hold of my wrist, prepared to fling me out of the way in case anyone tried anything. I may not like Sonic all the time, but I knew he would never let anyone hurt us. Besides, it wasn't like anyone was dumb enough to fuck with him in the first place. Truth be told, I felt sorry for the idiotic souls who did.

"Thanks for walking me home," I said as we approached the stoop of my townhouse.

"You should be thanking me for not throwing you into the busy street. My dick has been freezing for the past twenty minutes thanks to you."

I smiled. "Well, maybe it'll make you think next time before you decide to fall asleep during closing. Besides, I'm sure it's nothing a hot shower and your girlfriend, Palmela can't fix."

"Palmela is going to beat your ass if you keep fucking with me."

I scoffed. Stopping in front of my stoop, I turned to face him. "Bye, Sonic."

"Bye, Amy."

I ascended the steps to my front door while Sonic went to his next door. I spared him one last glance as he disappeared into his house. A sigh escaped my lips as I entered my own. The familiar scent of burning cinnamon scented candles wafted through my nose. "I'm home, papa," I announced as I walked into the living room. I could see my Papa's moving figure in the kitchen. He turned to me as I entered the kitchen.

"Hey, princesa. Did Sonic walk you home?" He asked as he continued washing the dishes.

"Yeah. Daddy should be home soon. I don't think he had much cleaning left to do. I think he just wanted Sonic and me out of his hair."

"Why? What were you two fussing about now? Oh, and dinner's on the table. How about you talk and eat? I know you had a long shift."

I sat down at the kitchen table where two wrapped plates of chicken and rice sat. She unwrapped one as Papa set down a cup of Sprite and a fork in front of me. I thanked him before continuing the conversation. "He was being a jerk the entire day. First, he kept bumping into me when I was carrying stacks of dirty dishes. Then, he decided it would be funny to switch our assigned tables, so I got all the grumpy, disrespectful old men while he got the nicest old couples on the face on this earth. Then we literally almost fought out back because he wouldn't leave me alone during our break. Then he had the nerve to take a nap while just the two of us were closing. So, I took it upon myself to wake him up by giving him a nice splash of dirty water right on his dick since he wanted to be one all day."

Papa shot me a sharp look.

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." I sighed as I took a bite of my food. "Anyway, after I did that, he started chasing me around and daddy told us to stop and go home. And, as we're going to leave, he tries to lock me in the freezer! The only peace I got all day was the walk home because I think he's actually mad that I poured dirty water on his jeans."

"It wasn't exactly the nicest thing to do," Papa said.

"He's not the nicest person. You and daddy keep telling me to be nice, but it's really hard when he starts all the issues in the first place."

"Ignore him."

"No, then he's just gonna think he won. He doesn't deserve that satisfaction."

Papa shook his head. "You two are never going to get along, will you?"

"Maybe when we're dead."

Papa chuckled. "Dios mío," he murmured. "Even in the afterlife, I can imagine the two of you will still be at each other's throats. It's just in your nature."

I shrugged. "How was your day, papa? How'd the art show go?"

"Good. I sold more paintings than I was expecting which was nice. I also got offered an opportunity to teach a painting seminar up in Florida next week. I'll only be gone a few days so you and Benny shouldn't miss me too much." He smiled. "I know how much you love my cooking."

"I think Papa and I can survive without chicken and rice for a few days."

Papa shrugged. "You never know. Your stomach might have become so accustomed to it that it may not know how to digest anything else."

Amy pretended to gag, and Papa smiled.

He crossed the room to kiss my head. "I'm gonna head up to bed. You alright by yourself for the rest of the night?"

"Yea. I think I'm just going to take a shower once I'm done eating and go to sleep. I do have to get up early for school in the morning."

"Okay. I'm only in my room –"

"If I need anything, I know, papa."

Papa smiled as he kissed my head one last time. "I love you, princesa."

"I love you too, papa. Goodnight."

"Buenas noches."

I scarfed down the rest of my food and cleaned up my mess. I made a quick trip to my bedroom to grab my pajamas before I locked myself in the bathroom. The hot shower washed away the stress of my long day. The heat soothed my tensed muscles and brought on the weariness I'd been ignoring for the past few hours. I washed myself tentatively for almost an hour before I finally stepped out of the shower. I wrapped a towel around myself and reluctantly looked into the foggy mirror. I wiped away the wet residue to reveal my reflection.

Immediately, my eyes fell to the abundance of scars swirling around nearly every inch of my skin. Thin jagged marks covered my chest and stomach. Thick, curved lines wrapped around my arms. Distorted skin, mauled from the heat of tiny flames, lay on my thighs and calves. With every glance at the horrific souvenirs, my brain was reminded of how I'd received each one – and the cruel comments recited during their delivery.

You're hideous.

You're worthless.

You're a waste of space.

You don't deserve to walk on the face of this earth.

You don't deserve to be loved.

I turned away from the mirror as a lone tear fell from my eye. Wiping the tear away, I redirected my thoughts to the task of getting dressed and preparing for school the next day.

Thankfully, our high school had uniforms. I didn't have to worry about finding clothes that covered my scars daily. Instead I settled each day for khaki jeans, a burgundy polo shirt, and a long sleeved under shirt. It was always chilly during the school year in Chicago, so I never had to make an excuse for my yearly attire of pants and long-sleeved shirts.

After I finished packing my backpack for the next day, I wandered to the window. My eyes scanned over the starry night sky, slowly coursing towards the lit window next door. I spotted a shadow sneaking out the next-door window to the ledge of the fire-escape. It sat down under the railing with its legs dangling off the edges. A small flame from a lighter lit up the shadow's features. I recognized the familiar almond shaped eyes and rarely smiling lips I despised so much. The small blunt between his lips and the glassy look in his usually livid eyes were all too familiar.

Frowning, I watched him escape from his awful reality through the blunt. A part of me wanted to march up there, rip it from his lips, and give him a piece of my mind. But another part of me wondered what it felt like to escape from the world; what was it like to not worry about anything for just a select few moments? I imagine it'd feel wonderful and liberating. However, nothing so blissful ever came without a price. I wasn't quite sure I was willing to pay that price. If others were, then so be it; but I had other plans. I just hoped one day those plans wouldn't have a dark cloud lingering over them.

I blinked out of my thoughts to meet the glassy eyes of the boy next door. We held our stare for a moment, neither of us knowing what to do. I knew Sonic didn't particularly care that I'd caught him smoking. I'd caught him multiple times over the past few years getting high on the fire escape. I never said anything to anyone about his little habit. Like most things between us, the occurrences were kept a secret.

With the blunt buried between his teeth, he held up his hand.

My brows creased together at the gesture. Is he waving at me? Slowly, I raised my own hand to wave back.

A smirk appeared on his lips as his open hand turned into a firm middle finger.