CHAPTER NINE
NICK ST. CLAIR THE PUNCHING BAG
"i'll sit and watch your car burn"
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The only way Harley could think of to get her mind off of things, was to go for a run. She didn't know where she was going, but with music blasting through her earphones and sneakers on her feet, she took of in the chill morning air.

The girl had yet to tell Jughead about what had happened, and she was planning to keep it that way. The Jones boy was way to overprotective, especially when it came to Harley, and the fact that he was now in a gang didn't help much either. He'd cause more harm then good, so she refrained from telling him. Harley was pretty sure it would come back around to bite her in the ass, seeing as it was a somewhat common occurrence in the small town, but her withholding from telling him the truth would keep him off her back for a while.

Harley wasn't exactly a track runner, but she had read online that it was a great way to get ones mind off of thing. She figured she'd give it a shot.

Fifteen minutes into the run, she found herself standing infront of Pop's diner. The bell chimed loudly as she entered. She froze, the memories she was trying to escape flooding back when her eyes landed on a leather cladded back. The green, two headed snake glared at her. Only a few feet infront of her, Sweet Pea was landing an order. Shit, shit, shit. She was not ready to face him, not after only faintly remembering that night. She was sure he would have questions, questions that Harley was far from ready to answer.

     Why was it that she had never stumbled upon a single serpent at the Shoppe before, but now they were here damn near everyday.

Harley looked around for a way to escape, but the bell hanging loosely on the door had already busted her. Sweet Pea turned around, his attention landing on Harley. His eyes widened. "Byers!" He called. Harley froze midway through her escape. She plastered a fake smile on her face, feigning surprise.

"Sweet Pea, hey!" She said through gritted teeth. "Fancy seeing you here." He furrowed his brows at the way she was acting. Judging by the few encounters the two had already had only short times prior, this wasn't normal behavior for her. Then again, he wouldn't really know, now would he? They barley even knew each other's names, let alone what was considered normal and not about one another.

     Usually she was witty, a little bit of a bitch, and really sassy. Now, she looked nervous.

     "Yeah. . . You cool?" She pursed her lips, stuffed her hands into her pockets and nodded, awkwardly shifting on her feet.

     "Yep, yup, yeah, mhm. Cool as a popsicle." Silence engulfed the two for a moment or two. Harley took it as her shot to leave. "Yeah, so see you around."

     "Wait!" His hand grabbed hers, stopping her form leaving. "Are you okay? What happened yesterday?" He asked the questions she so desperately wanted to avoid.

Think Harley, think of something. Considering that Harley was very much blacked out most of the time, she wasn't sure how much Sweet Pea had seen. Had he heard Veronica and the others yell and Nick, had he seen them beat him up? "Nothing really. Had a little too much to drink." She lied. He obviously didn't buy it. He opened his mouth to call her out on it, to say that he knew that wasn't the truth, but Sweet Pea stopped himself. It wasn't his place to pry, or even care for her. He wasn't sure why he did. She was just some girl he'd barely even talked to.

When he didn't say anything, Harley took as a cue to leave. So, for the third time today, she turned around to head out of the diner. However, for the third time today, something stopped her. Her breath hitched in her throat.

"Hey beautiful, you look great." Harley stumbled away from him, almost crashing into Sweet Pea. There, in his devilish glory, Nick St. Clair smiled wickedly down at the Byers girl. Harley could feel her hands start to shake, a terrible feeling settling in her chest. This was the guy who had drugged her, who had attempted to rape her.

"Get the hell out of my way." She barked, tears brimming in her eyes. He chuckled darkly, blocking her exit. He leaned in closer to her face, but she tried to stand her ground. She couldn't show any weakness.

"You're lucky I'm not pressing any charges for having me beat up." He removed his sunglasses, pointing at the black eye.

"I'm lucky? You're lucky!" She pointed her index finger against his chest. "You're lucky that I'm not pressing charges, you roofied me, tried to rape me. You're lucky that you only left with a few bruises. You're lucky you're not fucking dead!" She yelled, catching the attention of the few others scattered in the diner. Fortunately, not too many people were there.

Sweet Pea clenched his jaw. Rage bubbled inside of him as he glared at the snobby, privileged kid. He had tried to rape her, and he was getting off the hook just like that. Just because his daddy had a lot of money. Rich New Yorkers were worse then Northsiders, he decided.

"I'd be careful threatening me, beautiful." Nick muttered, letting his hands rest on her hips. She violently tried pushing him off, but to no use.

"Get your hands off of me." She growled, a tear slipping down her face. Her entire body was shaking. He didn't budge.

"Hey, she said to get the hell away." Sweet Pea repeated, his eyes burning into Nick. The St. Clair boy simply chuckled, as if they'd just told him a joke.

"Yeah? And what're you going to do about it?" Sweet Pea didn't hesitate to clutch the boy's shirt, throwing a violent punch square at his jaw, knocking the boy directly to the ground. Before anyone, even Pop Tate, had time to interrupt the brawl, Sweet Pea grabbed Harley's hand, leaving the diner with the food he had ordered.

"Get on." Sweet Pea threw a helmet in her direction, to which she swiftly caught despite being in the state of shock. He climbed onto the bike, the engine roaring to life. "Get on!" He repeated. Utterly confused, Harley climbed on behind him, her arms wrapped around his torso.

What the hell just happened.

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     "Are you okay?"

     On very rare occasions did Sweet Pea ever show any emotions other then anger. He was a angry kid, and he always had been one. He was angry at his parents for neglecting him, angry at the Northsiders for pinning everything on them, and in general, he was angry at the world. It was an unfair place to live, and he hated it. He didn't want to accept it, but everyone was forced to sooner or later.

     Usually he let the anger get the best of him. As a Serpent, someone always had your back no matter what stupid thing you did. No matter who he beat up, the Serpent family would there for him. With them, he didn't need his parents. He had who he needed, Toni and Fangs included.

     Normally his two friends didn't really mind who he took his anger out on, as long as it wasn't someone they really cared about or them. But Harley wasn't like his Southside friends. Which was one of the reasons he was surprised when she told him off for hitting Nick.

     She hadn't yelled at him, don't get it wrong. In fact, the girl was extremely grateful that he had shoved his fist in his face, but Harley made sure to let him know that he couldn't go around using people as punching bags just for the heck of it. He had to control his anger, or it would land him in jail.

     After the two had left the diner, Sweet Pea brought her to the trailer park. Harley made a mental note to tell him her address sometime soon. Lately she had found herself relying at him as her chauffeur more times then she would like to admit.

     Sweet Pea was unsure why he had thrown a punch at the boy in the first place. He assumed it was because of his attitude and tremendously big ego, but something inside of him made him consider other possibilities. Possibilities like Harley. . .

     Harley looked up from the ground. Are you okay, he had asked. She wondered if she was. The honest answer would probably be no. But she wasn't feeling particularly honest at the moment, so she settled for a nod. "Yeah, I'm okay." He nodded, unconvinced, but decided it wasn't his place to pry.

     An awkward silence engulfed them. None of them really knew what to say. Harley shifted slightly from where she was standing, an idea popping into her head. She eyed the motorcycle, debating whether or not it was a good one.

     "What's your plan for the day?" She suddenly asked. Sweet Pea looked down at her, giving her a nonchalant shoulder shrug before answering.

     "Nothing much." He answered simply. She nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. "Why?"

     "Do you maybe want to. . . Hang out or something?" She awkwardly asked. Geez, Har, why do you have to make everything so awkward. "You know what? It was a dumb idea anyways, I don't kn—"

     "Yeah." He cut her off. "Sure, we could." Why the heck are you being so weird about this, Sweet Pea, get you're act togheter.

"Look, this is kinda weird, cause we don't know each other. I'm just this Northsider girl and you're just this Southsiders guy, and we shouldn't be hanging with each other, like, at all. But Jug's been all caught up in Betty and his own business lately, Archie is going nuts and all my other friends are kind of not available at the moment. And I don't know about you, but I don't really feel like being alone." She rambled. She didn't want to be alone, it seemed to be a common occurrence lately.

Sweet Pea didn't answer for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. He should be dismissing her, hate her, but maybe he needs someone other then Toni and Fangs too. Besides, Toni had be busy with the Jones boy, and Fangs was somewhere trying to earn his stripes. It wouldn't hurt, would it?

"Come on, I know just the place." He took a few long strides over to his bike, waiting for her to get on. A small smile broke out across Harley's face as she happily obliged. This was weird, extremely weird, but it felt somewhat normal too. Like it wasn't all that bad.

He revived the engine, speeding off to the next destination.

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If you had asked Harley Byers at the start of this day if she would be spending it at the quarry sitting side by side with a Southside Serpent, sipping milkshakes from Pop's and eating fries, she'd laugh in your face. But, that was exactly what she was doing. And it felt great.

The two was laughing at some story Harley had told him about her and Jughead. He was visibly shocked that a golden girl like Harley was best friends with a weirdo like Jughead. Harley was a straight A student, a rivervixen and was seemingly popular at Riverdale High. The same could not be said for Jughead. Having been too caught up worrying about his father ( and trying to solve Jason Blossom's murder ) he had slacked on his school work. At Riverdale high, he'd been considered a loner, and on one occasion he had even been accused off killing Jason by Reggie. Jughead was also the furthest thing from a jock, ever. He'd be a bulldog over his dead body.

But no one in the small town was as close as the two. From sneaking out at odd hours to spend the night at Jughead's tree house, to solving murder together. They were always there for each other, and no one and nothing would ever get between the two.

"Why'd you buy two milkshakes?" Harley asked once the laughter had died down, waving the strawberry milkshake in her right hand for emphasis. Sweet Pea shrugged, popping a fry into his mouth.

"I guess I have a big appetite." He answered, sipping his own shake. Unconvinced, the brunette nodded. The sun was starting to set between the trees, darkness slowly embracing them. Summer days were over a long time ago, and it was chilly outside.

Harley let her eyes slip from Sweet Pea and down to the water below them. A smirk grew on her face as an idea was birthed. "C'mon." She jumped to her feet, leaving the milkshakes and fries behind as she jogged down to the shore. Sweet Pea followed in confusion.

"What are you doing?" He asked, eyes widening when she shimmied out of her tight jeans, kicking off her shoes and socks.

"What does it look like? I'm going for a swim, duh." She elegantly slipped her top off, dropping it to the ground with the rest of her clothes, leaving a mess behind as she slowly stepped into the cold water. Goosebumps immediately erupted on her body, but she kept going. Once the water reached her waist, she turned around to look at a dumbstruck boy. "You coming or what?"

Sweet Pea snapped out of his stare , forcing his eyes away from her figure and down to the ground. I'm gonna regret his, he thought as he ripped his shirt and jeans off, abandoning them on the shore as he slipped into the water. He slowly edged closer to her. "Why are we doing this? It's balls cold." He joked. She laughed loudly.

"Stop complaining." She rolled her eyes. "Don't you Southsiders ever have any fun?" She asked.

"If by fun you mean getting hypothermia, then no, we don't really have that much fun." He sarcastically fired. "Is this what you Northsiders do for fun?"

"Pretty much. Watch us reenact the Titanic scene every Tuesday at five pm." Sweet Pea laughed at her goofy joke. Harley tilted her head slightly as she peered up at him. "Seriously, what do you guys do for fun? You know, non-gang related things?"

"Non-gang relative things?" He repeated with a raised brow.

"Yeah, like other then illegal drag races, dealing, threatening people with knives and beating up a squad of high schoolers in the rain." He snorted at the comment, rolling his eyes.

"That was one time, plus, your boy Andrews had it coming for him." He retorted. She nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just answer the question." Sweet Pea stared off into the air slightly, pondering the questions.

With a shrug, he answered. "I don't know. Guess we just hang at the Whyte Wyrm and stuff." Having fun wasn't exactly at the top of his list when his parents were nowhere to be seen, and he tried to survive.

"Boooring." She joked, purposely dragging out the 'o' to prove her point. "You need to learn to have a good time."

"Good thing I've got you to teach me then." He answered before he could stop himself. Suddenly, tension grew between the two.

Harley noticed how close the two were. She gulped, the close proximity causing nervousness to swell inside of her. The brunette stared up at him, their eyes connecting. She chewed slightly on her buttom lip as they stared at one another. "Yeah. . . good thing." She whispered. Something inside of her screamed at her to turn around and leave, but it was as if a magnet was pulling them closer.

Sweet Pea could feel himself leaning in, dipping his head down due to the height difference. Harley found herself doing the same thing. Just as their lips brushed against one another, Harley gained control, realizing what was happening. The girl jumped away from him, eyes wide. "I-I have to go." She stuttered, exiting the water in a hurry, grabbing her clothes from the ground.

Without looking back, she darted into the woods, disappearing from his sight as he was left alone in the chilly water, cheeks red. And they were not red due to the cold, but because he had almost kissed her.

word count; 2843
a/n

i know, i literally took forever to update this chapter. sorry if it's kind of lame, but i've been experiencing writers block with all of my books, so i'm hoping writing this chapter and publishing it will help me getting over it. also, i realized the time line of this book doesn't match the show perfectly, but i can't be bothered to fixtures it. no one really cares anyway, right? will be working on my next chapter soon.

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