CHAPTER THREE
GUNS AGAINST KNIVES
"bite at the hand that feeds me"
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     It was so freaking typical of Jughead to go ahead and do something that was with no doubt a very, very stupid thing to do.

     What did he do this time? He confessed to Harley that he was planning to join the Serpents, and that there was little to nothing she could do or say to stop him or convince him otherwise. She had reminded him that if she had to knock him out, tie him to a chair and torture him she would. He didn't take her threat seriously. As well as that, he had decided to move back to the trailer park. He would only be spending two more nights at her place.

     She was aware that moving to his own place was a good choice, but she couldn't help but feel unsettled with the fact that her very best friend was going to live in a trailer park packed with gang members of a gang he was debating to join. Sunny Side trailer pack certainly looked the part.

     He wasn't the only one in Riverdale up to make stupid mistakes. And somehow, as always, Harley found herself tangled up in the mess of someone else's problem. She had no idea how she ended up at the Southside in the middle of the night along side of Archie Andrews, following him around like a lost puppy as he tagged the buildings scattered around the streets. The big red circles was sprayed all around, leaving a trail of where they had been. She only hoped that the one he was trying to catch, the Black Hood, wasn't picking up the bread crumbs he was leaving behind.

"This is the last time I ever let you drag me out to do anything." Harley grumbled, trudging behind him. She had seen him sneak out into the dark night and decided to tease him about it. Harley would've minded her own business if she knew it would end her ass on the bad side of town with a boy slowly going insane.

After Reggie had left Pop's yesterday, the Serpents had quickly finished their shakes and left. She couldn't help but to feel shocked by the cheap tip resting on the table they had been sitting on. Maybe, just maybe, they aren't as bad as everyone think they are. Archie certainly disagreed with that statement.

     Archie shook the spray bottle, spraying yet another red big circle. He had created the Red Circle in the attempts of tracking down the Black Hood. The goal was to catch him before he could do any more damage to the already cracking town than he already had. And if making shirts weren't enough, he needed to imprint on the entire Southside. Harley didn't know about the. . . club? Well, at least not until now. She made a mental note to pester Reggie about it.

     Though the girl understood his itch to do something about the Black Hood, she didn't understand how marking the entire bad side of town would help. At this rate, he might as well has just pulled down his pants and pissed around the place. Harley frowned deeply as she followed the red head, silently mourning the person he was before his father was shot. Though not her cup of tea, Archie most definitely was a kind individual, but his pure and sweet demeanor was slipping away by the minute, the cracks beginning to show.

"Arch, don't you think you've left your mark enough? Gosh, you're like a damn dog." He ignored her. Why had he even dragged her out with him if he wasn't going to talk to her? Oh, that's right, he was making her carry the bag with the spray bottles.

"You know, we're just begging to be caught at this point. We've been walking around for hours." She whined. "We might as well slap a sign on our asses and exclaim in the streets 'hey, we're the idiots vandalizing your stuff, stab us'!"

Archie rolled his eyes, finally acknowledging her complaints. "Look, I'm doing this for my father, for the entire town of Riverdale. Some lowlife is going around killing people, and unlike some people, I want to do something about it."

Harley scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. "And who are you, Nancy Drew? Leave the detecting of a serial killer to the actual detectives, Archie."

"Don't you see? At the rate sheriff Keller's at, half the town will already be dead." He whisper yelled at her, trying his best to not attract anymore attention. It was kind of too late for that now.

"And you think you'll do any better? Pardon my french, but what the actual fuck is going on in your head? You solved Jason's murder, no actually Betty and Jug did, and now you're suddenly a bloodhound sniffing out bad guys?"

Before the redhead had time to answer her, laughter hollowed in the streets, a few figures in the distances stumbling around a corner. The trio edged closer to them, pausing when they realized what was going on. "Woah, what the hell are you doing."

     He wasn't hard to recognize, his remarkable height and facial features immediately being recognized by Harley. He was the same guy from yesterday, and his friend was standing on his right side, both looking as intimidating as ever. There was an extra guy on his left, but Harley had no idea who he was.

Out of instinct, Archie pushed Harley slightly behind him, trying to shield her from the Serpenrs stalking in their direction. She really wished she was at home in her bed right now. "Just our fucking luck." She muttered under her breath. "If I die, Andrews, I will murder you."

     "Back off, we're not here for you." Archie growled, trying to continue his art project in peace. The tall guy wasn't having any of it.

He violently shoved Archie, making the Andrews boy stumble on Harley, stepping on her foot. She yelled in pain, catching the trio's attention. The tall guy shamelessly let his eyes travel her body, slightly shocked by her presence. Of course she was here, slumming it with this asshat. She was just like any other Northsider. Just some pompous northside Princess.

"Oh yeah? Then what is this right here? Who's this message for?" He questioned, pointing at the red circle. Then, realization hit him. He let out a dry laugh. "Oh, don't tell me this is for the Black Hood. Can you guys believe this?" The two guys laughed along with him. "And they say that we're the troublemakers."

     Ignoring them, Archie tried brushing past them, the tall guy quickly blocking his path and forcing him back. "Not so fast."

     Harley was growing annoyed, both due to being irritated by Archie and the tiredness.

     All common sense flew out the window as she took a daring step closer, glaring at the unbothered Serpent. "If you'd be so kind and let us past, we'll be on our merry fucking way." She growled.

     "Tuff little princess." He mused, one brow arched as he watched the girl with amusement. She narrowed her eyes at him in an attempt on looking intimating, but failed miserably.

     "The way I see it, you're the only thing standing in the way of me and my bed, so I suggest you step aside before I make you." She threatened.

     "Yeah, run along Northsiders. We don't want you here. Run away like the coward you are before someone gets hurt." He threateningly barked back. Harley was pushed slightly aside by Archie, who matched the guy's height better then her, but was still a great deal shorter.

     "Step aside, or someone will get hurt." The Serpent let out a humorless laughter, whipping out a pocket knife in Andrews face. Harley's eyes widened as she stared at the sharp, shining object. It was official, they were both royally screwed.

     "Yeah, you're gonna regret that. Big mistake." He snarled, preparing to lunge at Archie. However, the lack of fear in the redhead's eyes caused him to grow confused.

     "No, you made the mistake." Harley's jaw almost dropped to the ground when the Andrews boy pulled a gun from his jacket, pointing it directly in the Serpent's face. The boy scrambled backwards along with his buddies.

     "What the hell man?" He yelled, spinning around to take off, but not before hearing Harley react the same way.

     She pulled the gun from his grip, staring at him in disbelief. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" She had never been close to Archie, but she knew him well enough that he wouldn't just randomly pull a gun at someone's head.

     No sane person would.

     It was all making her realize just how much Riverdale and the people of the small town was changing, of the worse.

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After ripping the gun out of Archie's grip, she stormed off. He followed suit, and seeing as he was her ride, he managed to convince her to get in his car. He tried to reason with the two facts; it was in the middle of the night and a murderer was on the loose. She argued back with the fact that she was holding a gun. But, at last, she agreed to get into the car he had borrowed from his dad.

The ride had been silent, but as they passed a bridge crossing the Sweetwater River, she made him pull over. She proceeded to trudge to the river, ready to throw the dangerous weapon into the water below. Archie remained in the car, his thoughts racing.

She had avoided the Sweetwater River at all cost after what had happened to Jason. Even if he hadn't drowned, Harley still associated it with his death. Right now, she somehow managed to not think about it. The incident that had taken place only moments before was costing her mind.

Harley took a deep breath, letting the chilly and brisk air fill her lungs. Summer had turned to fall, and fall had slowly turned into winter, which was now slowly edging into spring. Harley felt the air nibble slightly on the exposed parts of her body as she held the pistol over the water. The previously frozen water was beginning to melt, rushing beneath her. She had been there when Archie punched hole in the thick ice to save Cheryl from her suicide attempted, pulling her cold body from the water. The river symbolized so much dark stuff, what was one more thing?

As the weapon was about to slip from her fingers and into the rushing water below, she stopped herself. She weighed her options, and as dangerous and stupid it what, she decided to keep it. So, she made sure to put the security on, pulled the bullets out and made sure it was completely safe before tucking it into the waistband of her jeans. Then she returned to the car.

One year ago, it would've seemed ridiculous to keep the gun. In a small, peaceful town like Riverdale, what could possibly be so threatening that someone decided that they would be carrying a gun. When on earth would it come in handy in such a calm and collected place? Well, Riverdale was proving to be a wicked and vile little town, and it was sick to admit that a gun would come handy when encountering gangs, murderers and the other evils lurking in the shadows there. Riverdale just wasn't the town with pep anymore. It was just the opposite.

"Take me home." She sighed when she sat back down in the car. Harley neglected to inform him of the fact that the gun was still in their presence. He didn't need to know.

Not long after, they pulled up by his house on Elm street, her house only a few yards away. She unbuckled herself and reached for the door when he stopped her. "Look, I'm sorry I dragged you out tonight."

"It was a completely reckless and stupid thing to do. I'm really sorry." Though the apologize probably was genuine, Harley wasn't quite sure he knew what he was apologizing for. Hell, she wasn't even sure herself. Was it because he pulled out a gun, or pulled her there with him? Or was it the whole thing in itself that irked her?

"We're. . ." She paused. "Cool."

Archie nodded, a small smile plastered on his lips. "Cool."

She stepped out into the cool air, shivering slightly as she snuck back into her own home where Jughead was fast asleep in her room. Luckily he hadn't noticed her absence (surprisingly enough). She slipped into the bed next to him after changing and hiding the gun.

As she laid in her bed with a snoring boy to her next she couldn't help but let her mind wander. To the Southside, the Serpents and that damn boy. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing for Jug to join them. She had freaked at first, but maybe they would be able to keep him safe.

Before she let sleep take over, she hoped that this was the last drama blossoming between the Serpents and Bulldogs.

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It wasn't the last drama to blossom between the Serpents and Bulldogs.

And it turns out that the gun did find itself to be useful after all.

After spilling the beans about everything to Veronica (Archie had neglected to mention the gun situation so Harley had taken it upon herself to do so), Har had slipped the gun to the Lodge girl. She realized that she wanted nothing to do with it, and that she should've just have thrown it away when she had the chance. Veronica had happily volunteered to get rid of it, much to the Byers girl's relief.

Half the football team, including Reggie, was gathered in the living room at the Andrews house. Archie, Veronica and Harley was there too. Yet again, Harley wasn't quite sure why or how she was there, but she went along with whatever they were saying. And she didn't mind leaning against Reggie's side at all.

     They were discussing some red circle business when the rumbles of motorcycles sounded from the outside. Harley perked up, peering outside in curiosity. Her eyes landed on the movements in the heavy rain, a certain snake logo catching her eye.

     "Shit." She mumbled, following after Archie and Veronica as they went to open the door. There, in all his glory, the tall guy from both Pop's and yesterday stood. He was wearing a cold look in his eyes, a smirk playing on his lips.

     He noticed her too. It was like wherever he went, she popped up. And he wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. One side of him resented her and her royally blue blood. She was a priveleged, stuck up Northsider. It was disgusting. But then again, she had pulled a gun out of his face and she had stood up to the one pointing the gun. It didn't hurt that she made one hell of a good milkshake or that she was incredibly gorgeous, either.

     For now, he decided to stick with disgust whenever he spotted her.

     "How stupid are you Northsiders? You think you can just pull a gun at me in my home, infront of my boys? And there wouldn't be any payback?" His voice was threateningly low, a cold look gracing his face. Archie made sure Veronica was pulled behind him, a hand instinctively trying to do the same to Harley. She stayed put. "Princess' here too? Don't you know you get fleas from Bulldogs?"

As if on cue, Reggie popped up from behind her, throwing an arm around her shoulders loosely. She felt the urge to push him away. Reggie was just doing it to 'mark his territory' or whatever, and it annoyed her. But she stayed put.

"Fine, you wanna do this? Let's do it." Archie said, ignoring Veronica's pleas for him not to. The Serpent narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Where's your gun?" He asked.

"Where's your knife?" Archie retorted. Harley rolled her eyes.

"Okay, we get it, you have dicks. Seriously, scram." Harley said, arms folded over her chest. What were they trying to prove?

"Princess, you might not wanna watch us beat your boy there up." The Serpents laughed. Veronica rolled her eyes.

"If you goons insist on doing this, there's going to be rules."

Only moments later all the boys were gathered in the middle of the street, letting the rain pour down at them. Harley watched as they threw punches at each other. It seemed like the Bulldogs had the upper hand till the tall guy threw a punch at Archie when he was distracted, knocking him straight down. He didn't stop there. Instead, he continued landing kicks to Archie's stomach. The entire scene was like something out of a movie,

"Get the fuck off of him." Harley gripped his shoulder, turning him around. Before he could react, her fist greeted his nose with a painful crunch, knocking him flat on his ass. She bent over, helping the Andrews boy to his feet.

"Can you stand?" She asked, throwing his arm over her shoulder as she tried to support him. Then, everything silenced at the sound of a gunshot, the weapon smoking in Veronica's grip.

     Everyone spun around, heading in different directions, escaping the situation. Archie was aided by Harley and Veronica back into his house. As they were about to enter the house, Harley watched Reggie help Dilton Doiley into his car, a pocket knife stabbed into his thigh. Her stomach dropped. The rumble of a motorcycle caught her attention. The same tall guy caught her eye, the two sharing an intense eye contact before he sped off into the darkness.

Harley was right. The gun had proved to be pretty useful after all.

word count; 3064
a/n

If you guys haven't already guessed it, this book is very much winged. i'm trying to plan how I want harley to be n act n etc, but it's so much easier to write when it's not planned. anywho, i'm sorry if this chapter was boring, feeling a lil insecure abt my writing. is anyone even reading lmao. either way, stay tuned for more thank uuu.

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