It's time for Veronica's confirmation! But thanks to a decapitated statue and a whole lot of teen angst, her swearing off sin will be the perfect conclusion to a weekend of nothing but sin. Let's just hope that no one loses a tattoo this time, shall we?
Chapter title is from End Game by Taylor Swift
WARNING: Penny Peabody is back, and she's a warning of her own… other than that, underage drinking and discussions of underage sex and pregnancy tests and also this is not a Betty Friendly chapter so… sorry I guess?
(Cast Not Your Stone at the) Wayward Daughter
I Bury Hatchets (But I Keep Maps of Where I Put Them)
"So, what you're saying is that Hiram fucking Lodge offered you an internship just like… a day after telling you that you would never be good enough? And you think that's not suspicious?" Amy asked incredulously, sitting on Archie's bed.
"I proved myself to him," Archie explained.
"You're not that good of a wrestler," Amy argued. "Goddammit, Red, don't you get it? He's grooming you, manipulating you, trying to make sure you'll be on his side."
"Look, Ames, I know that you don't like him, but he's really not that bad. You're paranoid, you know that as well as I do, and honesty I think you're overreacting—"
"Overreacting? Really? God, I am so fucking tired of people saying that to me, Archie. I'm not crazy, okay? I'm going to go; call me when you're ready to stop trying to gaslight me and will actually listen to what I'm saying."
She stood quickly, storming out of his room quickly, slamming the door shut behind her.
She grabbed her jacket from its hook, leaving quickly.
As she was heading for her bike, Veronica walked up.
"Amy, hey—"
"What do you want?" Amy demanded, barely sparing her a glance.
"I just wanted to invite you—and Jughead, Toni, Fangs, and Sweet Pea—to my pre-confirmation party tonight, and my actual confirmation tomorrow."
"I'll have to talk to them," Amy told her, "dress code?"
"Tonight it's just our classmates, so you can wear whatever you want. Tomorrow is formal, but I can definitely lend you something."
"Okay. I'll talk to the others and text you," she offered, not waiting for an answer before straddling her bike and taking off towards the Whyte Wyrm.
As soon as she pulled to a stop, she was rushing into the Wyrm, grabbing Sweet Pea and Fangs by the arm, dragging them to the back room, with Toni following close behind.
"Gotta talk to you guys," she explained, "Is baby Jones here?"
"He's with Betty," Toni told her.
Amy clenched her jaw briefly, before speaking. "Well, sucks for him. We've been invited to Veronica's confirmation tomorrow, and her pre-confirmation party tonight. Thoughts?"
"Well the less time I have to spend near Hiram Lodge, the better," Toni said. "But a party could be fun."
"Boys?"
"Yeah, what Tiny said," Fangs agreed.
"Alright, so yes to the party, not to the confirmation?" Amy asked, getting three nods in return. "Sounds good. I'll talk to Jones, and if he wants to go to the confirmation, which he probably will because of Cooper, then I'll go too, and keep an eye on he and Red, but otherwise we'll only go tonight."
As she spoke, Amy pulled out her phone, texting Jughead to find out his plans. She looked up from her phone after a short moment, rolling her eyes.
"Cooper wants to go and she's insisting that her boyfriend needs to come with her. Looks like I'm going," she scoffed.
"Do you want me to come too?" Sweet Pea asked immediately, "I don't know if I want you alone with Hiram."
"I'll be okay," Amy promised, "want to meet Jones at the trailer so that I can figure out what the fuck to wear to a party full of Northside brats?"
"And people say romance is dead," Fangs deadpanned, "let's go."
Amy sent Veronica a quick text, letting her know that they would all be at the party and that she and Jughead would be at the confirmation, and the four Serpents left the Wyrm, riding over to the trailer park. They pulled to a stop beside Jughead, who had also just arrived, and made their way into the trailer.
They had just piled onto the couch, filling FP in on their days, when they heard a knock on the door.
"Sheriff Keller," Jughead greeted, opening the door.
Amy tensed instinctively, and Jughead moved slightly to put himself between the Sheriff and Amy.
*"Sorry to bother you," he started, "it's—"
"We don't have General Pickens' head, and we do not know who stole it," Jughead interrupted.
"Same as the last four times you came by to ask us and our neighbors," FP added.
"You know, Sheriff," Jughead said, "these visits are starting to feel a lot like harassment. There's absolutely no evidence. Zero proof whatsoever pointing to any particular group of suspects."
"Well," Keller countered, "you did write a rather scathing article about the General's legacy, which prompted the Southside Serpents to stop by at Pickens' Day with an ax to grind."*
"Oh, didn't you hear?" Amy spoke up, hands clenched tightly, "we were invited. By Mr. Lodge himself. But really, you might want to think twice about harassing us, Keller. Remember those ribs your deputies cracked? I never pressed charges, because Kevin is my friend, but I have it all nicely documented, and I even have a friend who writes for a newspaper."
"Is that a threat?" The Sheriff asked.
"Of course not," Amy smiled innocently, "just food for thought. Have a nice day, Sheriff."
She watched blankly as he left, relaxing the moment the door shut behind him.
"God I don't like him," she sighed.
"We know, babe," Toni agreed, "now come on, you wanted to plan an outfit."
"Right, yeah, I did…"
She let Toni pull her into the bedroom, and into a tight hug. Amy shook with suppressed sobs and leftover anxiety, letting Toni run a gentle hand through her ponytail.
After several minutes, Amy took a deep breath, pulling away.
"Thanks, T."
"Anytime, babe, ride or die."
"Ride or die," Amy repeated.
She spent several minutes rooting through the back of the closet, before finally pulling out a black dress, tossing it onto the bed.
"When do we need to leave?" Amy asked.
Toni, by far the most organized of the Serpents, checked the time on her phone.
"In about an hour," she decided.
"Thanks," Amy said, leaving the dress on the bed and picking up her makeup bag and hairbrush instead, going to the bathroom.
Toni took the time to get changed herself, into ripped shorts and a mesh top, and joined the others in the main room of the trailer.
"Fuck Keller," she said, "and fuck Hiram Lodge. They're both fucking assholes and need to back the fuck off."
"At least Keller thinks that he's doing what's right," FP pointed out, "even if he's wrong."
"Yeah, but he needs to learn to control his deputies," Fangs argued.
Jughead nodded in agreement, "fuck them both."
"Who are we fucking?" Amy asked, emerging with her makeup touched up and ponytail redone.
"No one fun," Sweet Pea teased. "You look gorgeous, Doll."
Amy smiled softly, perching herself on his lap to hug him.
"Thanks, Sweets."
"You're not going to finish getting ready?" FP asked, surprised.
"I just have to pull on a dress," she shrugged, "I can wait. So, who were we fucking?" she repeated.
"Sheriff Keller and Hiram Lodge," Fangs told her.
"Ew, them… yeah, fuck them both indeed."
"What, did you think I was wrong?" Jughead asked.
"I mean, I do question your taste," Amy agreed easily, voice sharp.
"Okay, claws in kiddo," FP warned.
"Fine," Amy sighed dramatically.
"Actually, speaking of Betty… earlier today at the Blue and Gold she asked me if anything happened between us—well, specifically you two," Jughead corrected himself, looking at the girls, "while we were broken up."
"What did you say?" Toni asked, knowing better than to assume.
"I told her that you stayed over after the Gauntlet and patched me up, and that Amy gave me the tattoo. I didn't exactly specify anything after that, or after our other breakup."
"If she asks, we'll back you up," Fangs promised, and Jughead smiled appreciatively.
They passed the next half an hour talking about lighter subjects, before Amy declared that she needed to finish getting ready. She stood from Sweet Pea's lap, heading into the bedroom. The dress that she pulled on was solid black, tight and short, with lace up panels on the sides. She pulled black bike shorts on underneath, buckling up her boots. She pulled on her Serpents jacket—the ban was only at school—and tightened her ponytail.
The boys had decided not to change so once she was ready, they grabbed their jackets, said their goodbyes to FP, and climbed into the Jeep, taking off to the Five Seasons, where Veronica had apparently booked a room for the party.
Veronica had texted them the room number, so Amy knocked on the door, waiting for it to open.
"Guys! Come on in! Kevin's the only one who's arrived so far," she told them, ushering them into the living room of the suite.
Amy shoved Fangs and Sweet Pea towards the couch that Kevin was sitting on. Once both boys had sat down, Amy sat on Sweet Pea's lap, tossing her legs over both Fangs and Kevin. Toni sat on the floor, leaning back against Fangs' legs, and Jughead settled into the armchair next to them.
It was only a few minutes before the rest of the Northsiders arrived. First Reggie, then Josie and Cheryl, then Archie and Betty. Amy tensed more with each arrival, but relaxed slightly when Sweet Pea wrapped his arms around her and Kevin's hand settled on her calf.
"So, what exactly do Northside parties entail?" Toni asked.
"If anyone says jj I will fucking stab them," Amy whispered to Sweet Pea.
"Well I was thinking Never Have I Ever. I got a bottle of my dad's top shelf tequila," Veronica said.
"I'm in," Amy agreed immediately, eyeing the bottle.
"Ames," Archie warned, but the girl ignored him.
"I don't drink," Jughead told them firmly.
"Play with water, Juggie," Amy told him, "or I can take your shots for you."
"Like you won't be drinking enough on your own," he teased.
"Top shelf tequila, Jug," she reminded him.
"So is that a yes?" Veronica asked.
Amy looked at her Serpents and then back to the hostess. "We're in. Juggie will drink water and I'll take his shots, but we're in."
Archie looked at the Northsiders, "we're in too," he agreed.
Veronica clapped, "Great. I'll grab the shot glasses I brought and we can get started."
A couple of minutes later they each had a shot glass—Amy had two, one for her and one for Jughead—and glasses of water, and Veronica started.
"Never have I ever broken a bone," she said.
Amy took both of her shots, while her partners each took theirs, as did Archie, Reggie, and Cheryl. Technically she was supposed to wait until Jughead drank his water to take his shot, but she knew that he had broken his nose before so she saw no reason to wait.
"Really?" Amy asked, "Bombshell?"
"One of my old Vixens messed up a pyramid," Cheryl explained, rolling her eyes.
"Who's next?" Betty asked.
"I guess we can just go with whoever has one? But you can't say another until everyone has gone," Veronica decided.
"Never have I ever failed a test," Amy declared.
"I don't buy that," Reggie snorted.
"Doesn't matter what you think, Mantle, it's the truth."
Reggie scoffed and took a shot, as did Veronica and Sweet Pea.
"Fucking Phillips," Sweet Pea muttered, quiet enough that only Amy could hear him.
She twisted on his lap to press a quick kiss to his cheek, before leaning her head on his chest.
"Never have I ever been arrested," Kevin said.
"Does it count if I was innocent?" Amy asked, and he nodded.
She immediately downed another two shots, once again not bothering to wait to see Jughead drink, rubbing a hand over her ribs absentmindedly while her partners each took a shot as well.
"My turn," Josie told them. "Never have I ever lied to my parents about a grade."
Archie and Betty both drank, and Amy took a shot after seeing Jughead drink his water, but didn't have her own shot.
"Really?" Betty asked skeptically.
"Well you know what they say," Amy shrugged, sipping at her glass of water, "can't lie to your parents if you don't have any."
"Right," Reggie drawled, "well. Never have I ever slept with an older woman."
"Only woman?" Amy clarified, and Reggie nodded.
She took a shot quickly, thinking of several of the older female Serpents, glowering as she watched Archie and Fangs both take hasty shots.
"Shoulda killed them when I had the chance," she said simply, grabbing Fangs' hand in her own.
Betty smirked at Toni and Amy, "Never have I ever pole danced," she said.
If she weren't dating Jughead, or if they weren't in a room full of her Northside friends, Amy would have punched the smug superiority off of her face.
Instead she took yet another shot, as did Toni and Fangs.
"Never have I ever gone commando," Toni said quickly, seeing that Amy was gearing up for a fight.
"God, Amy, what haven't you done?" Kevin asked, when she took another shot—along with Fangs and Cheryl.
"Never lied to my parents or failed a test," she reminded him, somehow seeming perfectly put together despite her eight shots.
"We should talk, Ames," Archie started, but backtracked quickly when she just glared at him. "Never have I ever had sex in a car," he said instead.
The four partners drank, of course, as did Reggie.
"Never have I ever been walked in on," Fangs bragged, and Amy and Reggie both drank.
"Fuck you, Fogarty," Amy teased, "it's not my fault FP refuses to put a lock on that door. God, after how many times he—and practically everyone else—has walked in, you'd think he'd have learned."
"Or you could stop having sex in public," Jughead argued, "I'm sure that's my dad's preference."
"Yeah well, he can suck my dick," Amy announced. "Getting back to Sunnyside takes too long sometimes. Anyways, who's up?"
"Never have I ever had an amorous encounter with more than a single person," Cheryl said, and Amy rolled her eyes at the ridiculous phrasing.
"Sorry what?" Reggie asked.
"Never have I ever had a threesome," Cheryl clarified.
"Only three?" Amy asked, eyeing her partners.
"Or more," Cheryl amended.
Jughead blushed as he drank his water, Toni and Fangs took their shots with no expression whatsoever, and Amy and Sweet Pea smirked before taking their own—and Jughead's in Amy's case.
"Wait, the five of you?" Kevin asked, incredulous.
"I've told you before, Kev, a lady doesn't kiss and tell."
"And I've told you before, Amy, you're not a lady."
"Bite me," Amy told him with a bright smile, more than a little tipsy.
Jughead saw Betty open her mouth, clearly about to ask for clarification, so he spoke quickly.
"Never have I ever been to a club."
"Come on, FP Three, live a little," Amy told him, taking another shot.
Reggie, Kevin, Josie, Veronica, and the other Serpents followed suit, all significantly more sober than Amy; the disadvantage of being the smallest and wildest person in the room.
"Never have I ever… taken a pregnancy test," Sweet Pea said.
"That feels like a cop out," Betty argued.
"Face it, Northside, there's not a lot we haven't done," Amy told her, drinking again.
"Wait, doll—"
"I'll tell you later, Sweets," Amy promised. "Now I think we've all gone so back to the beginning?"
"Might as well," Veronica agreed. "Never have I ever hit on my drug dealer."
"Does it have to have gone anywhere?" Amy asked immediately.
"No, just hit on."
Amy took a shot, leaning back on the Sweet Pea and rolling her eyes, "'ask me again when you're twenty one, princess,'" she scoffed, "what kind of bullshit is that?"
"What are you talking about?" Reggie asked, staring at her incredulously.
"Fucking Malachai. I mean yeah I get that he's weirded out because of the age thing but like, I'm hot, he's hot, it'd be fun, what's his problem?"
"Malachai?" Reggie asked, "like the Southside drug lord?"
"He's a king," Amy corrected.
"You've tried to fuck Malachai?"
"I mean yeah, so what?"
"So he's apparently a psycho, total loose cannon."
"Mal's… I mean you're absolutely right but he'd never hurt me."
"So, anyways," Toni interrupted, "never have I ever drank an entire bottle of alcohol by myself."
"I came out here to have a good time," Amy said.
She, Fangs, and Reggie each took a shot, and Jughead quickly passed Amy another glass of water. He'd never seen Amy actually drunk before, despite how often he'd seen her drinking, and knew that she would hate to lose her self-awareness around the Northsiders.
"If that's how you want to play it," Amy smirked, "never have I ever reused leftover ramen water to make more ramen."
"One fucking time," Toni announced, taking a shot, "it happened one fucking time."
"One time too many, T," Amy told her.
"Anyways," Kevin interrupted, "never have I ever done a keg stand."
"Keg stand king," Reggie bragged, as he and Archie took a shot each.
"Keg stand queen," Amy retorted, taking a shot along with Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs.
Reggie scoffed, "Bet I could beat you."
"You want to fucking bet, Mantle? Let's go," Amy challenged, starting to stand.
"Let's not," Sweet Pea laughed, pulling her back down onto his lap.
"Never have I ever," Betty started, "stripped in front of grown men."
"You're welcome for that," Amy snapped, taking a shot, along with Toni. "But you were going to, so maybe you should get off your high fucking horse before someone throws you off."
"It's not my fault that you're two sluts, two violent thugs, and a whore."
"Which one is Jughead?" Amy asked, jaw tense.
"He's not one of you."
"I mean first of all that's not true, second of all, does that make me the whore or a slut?"
"You and Topaz are sluts, Sweet Pea is a violent bully—"
"He's our enforcer, dumbass," Amy interrupted.
"Fangs is a lowlife hood," Amy growled in the back of her throat, "And Joaquin is a drug mule. He was using Kevin for god's sake, he's just a Serpent whore."
"He's our fucking heartbreaker, Northside, it's his job, not personal. But he was—is—actually in love with him, you goddamn bitch. Besides, no one knows how good of a fuck he is better than I do, and I don't think Kev has anything to complain about on that front. I made sure of it, in fact."
"Amy, please," Jughead sighed, "you're drunk."
"Bet she learned it from FP," Betty muttered. It would have been too low for any of them to hear, but Amy had turned up the volume on her hearing aids before the party.
"Don't you ever talk about my king like that again, Northside, not if you want to keep breathing. But hey," she looked at Jughead, "I finally get why you haven't fucked her, horrible personality aside. You wouldn't fit next to the stick in her ass, and her cunt is in her personality," she scoffed, "like mother like daughter, I guess."
"Amy, what—"
"You said that I'm drunk and she said, and I quote 'bet she learned it from FP.'"
"Wait, really?" Jughead asked, looking between the two girls. Amy's face remained cold, and Betty refused to meet his eyes. "You know what, let's go," he decided, standing up immediately.
The other four Serpents joined him, walking out of the room without so much as a goodbye. Jughead, being the only sober one, drove them to his trailer. It was empty when they arrived, clearly FP was at the Wyrm, and they didn't bother to do anything more than kick off their shoes and hang up their jackets before piling onto the bed and falling asleep. Amy woke up early, more hungover than she'd been in years, and quickly stumbled into the bathroom. The cold water from the shower helped to wake her up, but she still felt like crap, and was less than pleased when FP texted them all to meet him at the Wyrm as soon as possible. She didn't bother to change her clothes, only reapplying her makeup and fixing her ponytail, and soon the five teenagers were making their way into the bar.
"So, Betty texted me this morning," Jughead told them, "Wanted to know if it was true that we'd… you know…"
"How's it any business of hers? You weren't together."
"I—" Jughead was interrupted by FP as soon as the door opened.
"We're all being evicted," he told them. "None of us are going anywhere, I swear it, but they're using the damn statue as an excuse to turn up the heat. But I have to ask," he said raising his voice, "did anyone do it?"
"Why don't you ask your son and his bitch," Tall Boy called.
"Which one of us is the bitch," Amy mused loudly, "Fuck off, Turncoat, we're included in 'anyone' and no, we didn't do shit."
"Good," FP interrupted, "We'll reconvene at five to figure out a game plan." He turned to the five teenagers, lowering his voice, "go back to the trailer, sober up, and bring those brilliant brains tonight."
"We'll get this sorted," Amy promised, offering him a cheeky salute before they left, climbing onto their bikes and heading to the trailer.
Once they got back, Jughead looked at all of them. "I have no idea how to deal with hangovers," he admitted.
"Tylenol, greasy food, and Gatorade," Amy recited, "I'm not much for Prairie Oysters so we can just… not even try that. Hair of the dog works too but I don't think that's what your dad meant."
"Hair of the dog?"
"Drinking more," Toni explained, "Amy's cure of choice."
"We literally work at a bar, Toni, it's the most affordable option."
"Right, well, it's not happening. We need to be on top of our game tonight, and you and Jug have the confirmation afterwards."
"Fuck," Amy spat, "gotta find out when I'm supposed to go over to get dressed up. Which, Juggy, you're coming with me. I don't want to be alone with Hiram Lodge."
"Understandable. In the meantime—" Jughead asked, not sure what would cause her the least stress.
"Grab your laptop, I feel like trash talking Glee."
"Glee?" he asked, incredulous.
"When Amy feels like crap, she likes to watch Glee and talk shit because it makes her feel better to realize that her life will never be as 'terrible and fucked up as that shitshow,' or something along those lines," Sweet Pea explained.
"Oh—kay then, be right back."
He made his way into the bedroom, emerging soon with his laptop, which he set up on the coffee table. The five piled together on the couch to watch it, and Amy jumped right into the criticism, starting with the opening cheerleading practice.
Jughead got into it quickly, matching Amy's insults with ease. They were all relaxed, happy, even, until Terri Schuester announced that she was pregnant.
Sweet Pea pulled back slightly, and Amy tensed just as fast.
"Doll, that reminds me—"
"Fuck. Last night… that happened, didn't it?"
"That you said you'd taken a pregnancy test? Yeah, it did. And you promised you'd explain. We always use protection, Doll, and I know that you do that with everyone. How—Why—"
"What can I say, I'm the next Virgin Mary," Amy tried to joke, but it fell flat. "The… god, fuck. I was raped, Sweets, at the Sisters. That's… I don't know, they say it's part of conversion therapy, I say it's because people will pay big money for a living fleshlight. I don't know who, I was… I was drugged out of my mind, but I know that protection wasn't exactly a concern. Babies mean orphans mean money, I guess. I got back and realized that I hadn't had my period in a while, took a test, it was negative. I guess it was a stress thing, who'd have guessed."
"Wait," Jughead said, while Toni and Fangs watched in silent horror, "at the Sisters? Like, of Quiet Mercy?"
"No, genius, the other creepy nun cult. Yes, the Sisters of Quiet Mercy."
"Betty's sister was there, do you think she was—"
"Polly Cooper? No, she was okay. The pregnant girls get much better treatment. No drugs, no fucking electricity, no rape… Almost made me regret always using protection."
"Doll—"
"Please, can we… can we table this for a day when I'm not terrified of losing our homes and of dealing with Hiram Lodge?"
All four of the other Serpents nodded, albeit reluctantly, and no one tried to stop Amy from rewinding to the start of Don't Stop Believing.
They spent the next few hours like that, with a couple of breaks for Amy to make popcorn, and by the time they needed to head to the trailer, everyone's hangovers were more or less gone.
Amy took her time getting ready. She wore the same outfit she had worn the previous night—it worked for the Serpents and it would work for heading directly to the Pembrooke—and tossed her small handgun into her usual holster bag.
She and Jughead climbed onto the back of Sweet Pea and Toni's respective bikes, as neither wanted to bring theirs to a Lodge party, and soon they were driving to the Wyrm.
They walked in the door, and Amy froze immediately, seeing who was sitting front and centre.
"Hi Eddie, did you miss me?" Penny drawled, and Fangs turned on his heel.
He left the bar immediately, with Toni right behind him, and Amy pulled out her gun in a smooth move.
"Don't you fucking talk to him, bitch," Amy spat.
"What are you doing here, Penny?" Jughead asked.
"That's none of your business," Tall Boy said, "not since you broke Serpent Law and hurt one of our own. Which Penny was about to show your dad."
Penny smirked, rolling up her sleeve to show the jagged scar.
"Shut the fuck up, traitors. Jones didn't do that, I did. And if you want to side with her, Tall Boy? I'll do the same to you."
"Adams—" FP started.
"Don't. Either you kick her out, or I deal with her myself. But if I do, it'll involve a couple of body bags."
FP sighed. "Penny, get out. You're not welcome here, never will be again. If you ever show your traitorous face again, I'll let Adams handle you herself."
"Of course," Tall Boy scoffed, "she's fucking the king's son."
"I've fucked half the people here, Tall Boy, that's not why they like me better. Besides, Peabody broke the law first, and FP knows it. Now get the fuck out, both of you, or I'll show you exactly what I think about traitors."
"Psycho bitch," Tall Boy muttered, but he and Penny did leave.
Fangs returned a few minutes later, along with Toni, and the latter immediately poured him a drink.
"Are you okay?" Amy asked, joining them by the bar.
"I will be. Toni and Sweets are here, they've got this. You two, however, need to get to the Northside."
Amy nodded tersely, making her way outside. She didn't want to leave her bike at the Pembrooke, but she knew that if they drove to Fred's, he'd give them a lift, so that's exactly what they did—after Jughead ducked into the back room to change into a plain black suit.
Veronica met them in the lobby, looking surprised. "Jughead. I didn't expect you so early."
"I kidnapped him," Amy said dryly, "and he's going to tell me if I look ridiculous."
"I know nothing about fashion," he reminded her.
"Maybe not, but you know about brutal honesty."
Veronica clapped, "let's table this debate for after you're dressed. I've got the perfect thing."
"You always do," Amy admitted.
The trio made their way to Veronica's room, where she quickly passed Amy a green dress. She seemed surprised that Amy didn't make him leave, and that she pulled the dress on over her holster, but said nothing.
After a few moments, Amy stood in front of them in a dark green dress. It was a v-neck, although the sleeves were off the shoulder, with a small ribbon around her waist and a knee length skirt.
"A bit conservative for my taste, but I can work with it," she said.
"Wait."
"Jughead?" Amy asked.
The boy walked towards her, gently pulling her hair out of its usual ponytail to let it fan around her.
"There. Perfect."
Amy fought the blush that she knew would be rising in her cheeks.
"Lodge seal of approval?" she asked, twirling around for Veronica to observe.
"Absolutely."
"So… when do we have to go?"
"We should be heading out pretty soon, I just need to get dressed first."
"We can wait—where do you want us to wait?"
"My room is fine, I'll change in the closet."
Amy nodded, sitting on the bed, while Jughead fidgeted uncomfortably. Thankfully, Veronica was ready soon and told them that her parents had gone with her family, so it would just be the three of them in the limo.
Once they arrived, Amy and Jughead split off, and found themselves sharing a pew with Archie, Betty, and Kevin. The ceremony was incredibly boring, if one were to ask Amy, but she smiled politely throughout. Once the reception started, she grabbed a clearly distressed Jughead and pulled him to an empty stairwell.
"It's just us, Juggy, talk to me. What's wrong?"
"Sunnyside… I've been homeless before, I don't know if I can do it again."
Amy pulled him close, taking his head in her hands to force him to look at her.
"Hey, no one is going anywhere, okay? I promise you, we'll sort this out somehow."
They stayed like that, taking comfort in each other, until footsteps echoing through the stairwell broke them apart.
"Your Southside boys aren't enough?" Betty demanded, "You've got to steal my boyfriend now too?"
"It's not stealing if it's his choice. Oh and, I heard about your whole, accusing him of sleeping with me thing. Was that before or after you told him about kissing Archie?"
Betty froze, looking like a deer in the headlights, "you know about that?"
"Archie is my brother," Amy reminded her, "we tell each other things. But yeah, I didn't think so. So why don't you let me comfort my friend about the fact that we might be about to lose our home. Hm? I'm sure someone in the reception can tolerate your existence, go bother them.
Betty sputtered, but eventually turned on her heel and left them alone.
"Sorry, Juggy, that was… not how you should have found out about that."
"When was—"
"The night after we fucked," Amy told him, "when they were chasing the Black Hood."
"I… need to talk to her. Will you be alright?"
"I'm a big strong girl," she teased, "I can handle myself."
He smiled, pressing a kiss to her forehead before venturing into the crowd. Amy skirted the edges, making her way towards Kevin, but was stopped by Archie's arrival.
"Ames? Can we talk?"
"Can we?" She asked, voice cold.
"Look, I'm not saying that we're going to agree on everything about the Lodges or anything, but I shouldn't have called you paranoid or said that you were overreacting, okay? I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too," Amy said, "I know how important his approval is to you, and I should have tried to be supportive of that."
"So, we're good?"
"We're good, Red. Even when I'm pissed, we're always good."
"Good. So, want to join me in trying to recognize a single thing on the food table?"
Amy giggled and nodded, letting him lead her to the table. They played the game, one that they'd invented as children, for a while, until Jughead was grabbing Amy and letting her know that he would be leaving with Betty, asking her if she could get a ride from someone.
"What do you say, Red? Think your dad would object to picking me up when he thought he'd be doing that anyways?" She asked, trying and failing to hide her annoyance with Betty.
"I'll head out with you," Archie said, "then he only has to come once."
Amy nodded, letting Archie send the text, and the siblings made their way to the door to wait.
Fred arrived shortly, and the two climbed into the truck, with Amy squished between the Andrews'. The drive was silent, for which Amy was grateful, and once they pulled into the driveway it was easy to hug them both goodbye and climb on her bike. She drove straight to the Wyrm, knowing that her partners would be there, and when she finally got to the bar, all she wanted was a drink or a hug.
Thankfully her partners knew her well, and Sweet Pea met her at the door to hug her, leading her back towards the pool table where Toni and Fangs were, with a glass of whiskey waiting for her.
"You sure know how to treat a girl," she drawled.
"FP said you might need it," Toni told her.
"Where is he?" Amy asked, looking around.
"He got a call from Jughead. Said they'd get here soon."
Anything else they might have said was interrupted when Tall Boy, seeming to have only just noticed her, stood up.
"You all heard her earlier. The princess admitted to mauling Penny Peabody, a fellow Serpent. All those in favour of kicking her out—"
"Stand down, Tall Boy," FP said, voice carrying over the entire room as he strolled in with Jughead and Betty—and the statue's head.
While FP pushed Tall Boy into a chair, Amy rounded on Betty.
"You can go now," she told her.
"Excuse me?"
"I said, you can go. This is Serpent business, Northside, you're not welcome or wanted."
Betty gaped at her, looking to Jughead for backup, but he said nothing. With a huff, she stormed out of the bar, and Amy could feel herself relax.
"So, Tall Boy," FP said, "What were you doing at the dump? Why'd you do it?"
"*Cause I'm tired of seeing the Serpents goin' soft under your rule.* You and the fucking princess. *Then Hiram Lodge came by, wanting to stir up some trouble. He said if I took the head, he'd get McCoy and the cops to swarm all over us, cause some chaos.*"
"So Hiram Lodge asked you to betray us and you did? Explain that logic," Amy demanded.
"It'd give me a chance to get rid of you, bitch, and your pet over here," he jerked his head towards Jughead, "and if they were both gone, I could get rid of you, FP."
"And then you'd be king?" Amy laughed.
"He and Penny," Jughead corrected. "You're a Judas, Tall Boy."
"And an idiot," she added.
"You betrayed your own kind, Tall Boy. You broke Serpent Law. What should we do with this lowlife?"
"Take his jacket," Toni called.
"Exile him," Sweet Pea added.
"All those in favour?" FP asked, and everyone raised a hand in the traditional Serpent fangs.
"I'll deal with him," FP told Jughead and Amy, "you kids go back to the trailer and get some rest."
Amy nodded, gesturing for her partners to join them, and they made their way to the Jones'.
Once they'd arrived, and piled onto the couch, Amy looked around.
"So, what do we do about the Hiram Lodge of it all?"
"We don't really have any damning evidence yet," Toni said.
"We can observe," Fangs suggested, "keep a close watch—"
Whatever he was going to say next was interrupted by a knock on the door which Jughead opened to reveal Betty.
He looked back at the other four, and Amy laughed mockingly.
"Looks like we're being sexiled. Jones, careful of the log up her ass, we'll be. Somewhere."
She didn't wait for a reply before she left, not bothering to grab her jacket or shoes. Sweet Pea unlocked the Jeep and they piled in, but they'd barely even made it to the Riverbanks when Jughead texted them, asking for them to come back.
FP3: Betty's gone. Please come home?
Gem: we're on our way
"Really, Toni?" Amy asked, "you couldn't even let him stew for a bit."
"I just want to sleep," Toni told her, getting a shrug of acknowledgement.
They got back to the trailer quickly, finding Jughead sitting alone on the bed.
"Finished already?" Amy asked, "I know I taught you better than that."
"No. We didn't. I… I stopped it. She didn't say it, but I know her. She was doing it because she thought she had to prove something. When we… if we ever do, you know, do stuff, I want it to be because she actually wants to."
"How chivalrous," Amy said, hoping that he couldn't tell how relieved she was. "Now can we all get comfortable and sleep? It's been a long fucking weekend."
Jesus I am so sorry that this took so long! Full disclosure, my laptop was broken and being fixed for almost all of December, and I didn't get it back until a week and a half ago, but now my life is all rehearsals all the time and I haven't had a chance to write until now!
As always, I hope you enjoyed! Feel free/encouraged to leave a comment with your thoughts, or hit me up on tumblr randomestfandoms-ocs to talk about this or any of my other OCs or projects!