ੈ✩‧₊˚  —

Ana was sitting at the Whyte Wyrm talking to Toni, when the pink-haired girl stopped talking mid-sentence, her eyes glued to something behind the blonde girl, making her head snap in that direction.

Her eyebrows rose when she spotted her cousin walk in, his Serpent jacket wrapped around him. The sight of him in the jacket looked right. But the pit that grew in her stomach didn't.

"I think this Northsider's lost,'' Sweetpea spoke up from next to the pool table.

''I'm not. I'm over being half a Serpent.'' Jughead spoke with his head held high. ''Wow. You'll do anything to protect your Northside buddies.'' Sweetpea scoffed, Ana knew the boy was partly right but she kept quiet.

''My father was a Serpent. He led you. My cousin also leads you.'' He turned to look at his cousin, smiling when she nodded her head in approval. ''I wanna stand with you guys. Anastasiya was the one who gave me this jacket. It's finally time I start wearing it.'' Ana walked over to her cousin, standing in front of him.

''Jonesy wants to be a serpent, gotta say cousin, I'm impressed. Let's see if you survive the initiation first.'' She gave him a rough pat on the back before walking out of the bar, her boots clinking with every step.

"Stas!'' A voice called after she made it outside, the cool air hitting her face.

The blonde's heart beat faster, this is exactly what she'd been trying to avoid, being alone with Sweetpea. She knew this conversation was bound to happen eventually, he'd been trying to contact her since she'd driven away from him the other night.

"What's up?'' She spun around, her hands resting on her hips as he looked up at him. The tall boy shook his head at the blonde, a look she couldn't quite describe on his face.

"What's up? What's up, is that you've been avoiding me for three days. You didn't show up for our annual movie night, and you've been blocking my calls.'' Ana avoided eye contact with him.

"I've been busy, okay? I'm sorry.''

''Hey, you don't have to apologise. Stas, not to me. But what's been going on with you lately? Are you sure you're okay? Please don't push me away, I thought we got over this after the crash.'' Ana's head snapped up at his words.

''Don't!.'' Her voice rose before it lowered into a whisper. ''Don't talk about the crash.'' She walked away from him, pausing when she got to her bike, flashbacks of that awful night flashing into her mind.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Sweetpea took her face in his hands, their eyes locking.

''Stas, hey, are you okay?'' Ana took a step back, making his hands fall to his sides as wiped the tears that she didn't know had fallen, before looking up at him.

"I'm fine. It's nothing. I need to go.'' She got on her bike and drove away from him, leaving him standing in the cold once again.

Anastasiya had been through a lot, he knew that. He would always get terrified when she didn't pick up her phone, so this week had been hell for the tall boy.

Sweetpea always knew he felt something for his blonde friend. He just couldn't quite place what it was. The feeling had been there since he saw her lying in that hospital bed two years ago.

He knew it was wrong to bring up the past, especially when Ana refused to talk about it. But she needed to realise how the things she did affected him. He never got over that night, he didn't think he ever would.

ੈ✩‧₊˚  —

"A serpent never shows cowardice. Uh- If a serpent is killed or imprisoned their family will be taken care of. Serpents, uh..."

"Come on. Focus." Ana groaned.

The blonde found herself at Jughead's trailer the next morning, going over the serpent laws with him. As apparently, he was officially joining.

Part of her was jumping with joy at the fact they'd both be serpents. But the other half? She was dreading it. She just knew something bad would follow behind this.

But because she wasn't officially crowned Queen yet, she didn't get a say in him joining. Technically, Tall Boy did, and that just pissed her off.

FP might've left her in charge of the young serpents when he was arrested, but until she was crowned Queen, Tall Boy was in charge. Not that anyone listened to him anyway. They all just ran to her.

Which angered the older man, which meant he hated Anastasiya Black with everything inside of him. Which sounded cruel, as he had watched the girl grow up. But to him, it wasn't fair that she was next in line.

But that's a story for another day.

"You need to take this seriously." She told him, her face stern. This wasn't a joke to her. If Jughead wanted to be a serpent he had to be all in.

"Okay, I am, Ani. I swear to God I am. It's just—" He stood up. "First the Best and now these laws?" He rubbed a hand on his face as he refilled his coffee.

"Why the change of heart, anyway? Why go from saying you don't want our help to wanting to be a full-fledged member?" She asked. "Because of something Toni said." Ana's eyebrows raised.

"My dad was the only one keeping idiots like Sweet Pea in line."

Ana's face dropped. She stood quickly, taking a deep breath before speaking. "He's not an idiot. None of them are, you just don't get it." Jughead let out a breathy laugh.

"Get what? They're trying to destroy the Northside and they stand with the black hood!" He also stood, taking off his beanie, his messy hair falling over his forehead.

"They're trying to protect their home! I'm trying to protect my home." She emphasised her words, trying to get him to see her point. "You might've lived in the drive in Jughead, but you never really understood what it was like to be a Southsider." She let out a bitter laugh.

"You had a school that gave you a good education, and you always had a place at the Andrews family dinner table. You have a girlfriend and friends who love you. All the southside have are each other and their crappy homes. Be grateful you have more than that."

"The only thing that makes you a southsider is your last name and that jacket." She told him, not feeling guilty for the look on his face.

"Then you need to step up to keep an all-out war from erupting!" Jughead told her.

"Don't you think I know that?!" She snapped. "I am seventeen years old! Instead of worrying about a prom dress, I'm worrying about murderers and gang wars. And I'm not even Queen yet." She cried.

"You're all screaming at me, saying I need to step up like I don't know that!" She huffed, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

"It's infuriating to be constantly told by men what to do! FP wants me to take charge because it's my right. And the Serpents are my family. But how am I supposed to do that when everyone's breathing down my neck all the time?!" She angrily rubbed her hands down her face.

"And I know I asked for this. I know I chose to join the Serpents. But I didn't ask for this."

"I'm sorry." Jughead lowered his head.

"Yeah, like everyone else is." She snarked, her face red.

ੈ✩‧₊˚  —

The next day, after Jughead had completed two more of his trails, he was sat whining to his cousin and Katie, who was wrapping his hand. ''A rattlesnake, Guys. A rattlesnake bit me and drew blood.'' He winced when Katie pulled the bandage tight.

The two girls laughed at his bruised ego. The snake, Toothless, named by Fangs, wasn't harmless at all. It adored the group of teenagers, especially Harper, you just needed to know how to take him.

"One that had its venom glands removed, okay? The important thing is you showed no fear, grabbed the knife, and remembered the laws. Which means you're almost a Serpent now, Jonsey.'' Katie finished wrapping his hand and began packing up the first aid kit, passing it to HogEye when finished before excusing herself to play pool with Harper.

Ana was standing in her thoughts when her phone started ringing. Miss Lodge, the caller ID read. Ana nudged Jughead and then pointed to her phone, before leaving him to sit at the bar.

She walked outside, answered the call, and put it up to her ear. ''Hiya, Miss Lodge, what can I do for ya?'' She heard Veronica laugh on the other line, ''Hello Miss Black.'' Veronica's tone was posh, continuing the joke the two had.

"I'm calling you to invite you to a small party my friend from New York is hosting.'' Ana smiled even though Veronica couldn't see her. ''I appreciate the offer, Ron, but I have Serpent duty tonight but if I finish early I'll call you.''

Ana moved over to her bike, her phone balancing between her shoulder and ear as she straddled the bike. ''Alrighty, A. Let me know if you can make it, have a nice night.'' Ana smiled again, ''You too, bye.''

Before she could go anywhere, her phone buzzed, a text from Sweetpea lighting up the screen.

'Come to my trailer, we need to talk.' It read.

Ana sent a thumbs up before pulling out of the parking lot, she knew they'd have to talk eventually. She'd now left him standing alone twice. As you can tell, talking about things isn't her strong suit.

It'd always been a problem of hers. She usually kept everything inside of her until she exploded. Her uncle called her a ticking time bomb once, and he wasn't wrong.

God she wished he was here to help her. The thought of having to talk to him behind bars for the next however many years made her heartburn.

She soon pulled up outside Sweetpea's trailer, stepping off her bike carefully as she made her way to the boy sitting on the steps. She quietly sat down next to him, letting out a puff of air.

''Hey, Stas.'' He mumbled, the nickname pulling a small smile to her lips as she looked at him. "Before you say anything, let me talk.'' The girl nodded and let him talk.

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have brought it up. But I needed to get my point across and we know I was right, even if it was wrong to say. '' He turned to face Ana, continuing when she nodded, agreeing that he was right.

''You avoided me for days, and it felt wrong. You were blocking my calls, the girls didn't know where you were. I had to ask Zara if she'd seen you and luckily she had.'' Ana lowered her head in shame.

Another one of Ana's problems? She bolted when things got too much. She never went far, she always went to the same place, but only FP and Zara knew where that was. And she wanted to keep it that way.

"If I did something—"

''Hey, no. You didn't do anything, I promise. I had to deal with a few things and I'm sorry I stressed you out.'' She placed her hand on his.

"Stas, stop apologising. It's fine. I just want you to be okay.'' Ana's lips tugged into a grin once again, his words never failing to make her smile.

"I'm okay, I just have a lot on my mind at the moment.'' Sweetpea sent her a confused glace, nudging her in a way to tell her to explain.

Ana let out a sigh before talking. ''Everywhere I go, I feel like I'm being watched. Jughead now wants to become a serpent and I feel like he'll take my place and-'' She began to rant, her lip quivering slightly.

Sweetpea interrupted her. ''I can stay with you if you need me to. Or you should go and stay with Zara." She nodded her head as she thought about it.

"And nobody, and I mean nobody, could take your place. That's not a promise. It's a fact. The serpents love you. Everyone's buzzing for when you're going to officially become our queen.''

Their eyes locked again, different emotions going through the both of them. Sweetpea cleared his throat before standing up. He offered his hand out to her and she took it, pulling herself up.

"Thank you pea.''

''Always, now come on, we have to get to Jones' for the final initiation.''

ੈ✩‧₊˚  —

Ana and Sweetpea met up with the other teen Serpents and walked to Jughead's trailer. When they arrived, everyone's face switched from laughter to stone cold in seconds. All due to a certain red-headed boy.

"Who do we have here?" Harper mockingly spoke, stepping forward slightly as she stared down Archie. "He was just leaving," Jughead spoke for his friend.

"Wait you're friends with these thugs?" Archie spat. "It's not what you think." Jughead put his hand out.

Ana let out a laugh at the expression on Archie's face, leaning into Fangs when he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Are you joining the Serpents?" Archie looked at the teens behind Jughead. "If he survives," Katie spoke up, a smirk on her face as she winked at him.

"And go ahead and call us thugs one more time." Ana walked forward, making Jughead put his hand out in front of her. "Ana-"

"These are the guys who attacked me. Who attacked Reggie, and Veronica, and Dilton, your friends!" Archie looked at Jughead in bewilderment.

"Hold on... Is that what you told him happened?" Harper said, her face shining with entertainment.

"You're redheaded friend here, pointed a gun at three of our friends, and wondered why they showed up asking for a fight. He wouldn't be standing here if his girlfriend didn't shoot a gun in the air to stop them." Her curly hair blew in the wind as she pointed accusingly at Archie.

Jughead's face fell for a moment, Sweetpea and Fangs had told him the same story, but he believed it more when it came from Harper. "Wait, is that why you're here? To warn me?" He asked.

"No. I came here to tell you to stay away from Betty. She doesn't wanna see you anymore." Jughead's face fell even further.

Ana and Sweetpea shared a look, Sweetpea's brows furrowed in curiosity but hers furrowed in confusion and concern.

Betty had been fine a few nights ago. Well not "fine". But fine enough that she showed no signs of wanting to be away from Jughead. As far as Ana knew they were happy and in love. She envied the love they had, but she was starting to doubt it.

"Screw you. I just saw Betty yesterday She... She was fine."

"No, dude. She's been wanting to break up with you for weeks. She's been agonising over it. Since you crossed the dark side. She couldn't bring herself to do it."

Ana didn't believe a word of it, but by the look on Jughead's face, he did. And that broke her heart. He had already lost his father, and now his girlfriend.

"So, she sent you? Betty would never do that!" He snapped.

"If you don't believe me then call her. And feel free to tell her you're a Serpent now too. I'd bet she'll love that. She saw where you were headed, Jughead. Okay, we all did. And she knows you can't be with them and her. Come on, man! You know it too." Archie spat.

Jughead's face was full of sadness, but it was quickly masked, his face as stone-cold as the teenagers behind him. "Tell Betty I got the message." He said, standing tall as he waited for Archie to walk away.

As he made it close to Ana, she gripped his arm, harder than necessary, a smirk playing on her lips as she whispered. "Tell her to call me, red. Be careful out there." She pushed him away, before turning to her cousin.

"What? Did you enjoy the show?!" He asked, his face hot with anger.

"Show hasn't even started yet."

LUCE SPEAKS //

i cba to write the scene of his initiation but yay he's a serpent now!! (not rlly yay cus ana is terrified)

not proof read as im lazyyy so spot any mistakes for me pls 😭😭

enjoy 💃🕺