Keep You Safe || Sweet Pea x reader
“Can I request a Sweet Pea x reader where a group of Ghoulies harass the reader and Pea gets defensive because he likes the reader? And because he hates Ghoulies. But they don’t stop just yet and gets reader alone?”
A/N: AHHHH thank you guys for all the support on my first imagine!!! All the feedback truly means the world to me. <3 <3 <3 I sorta ran away with this idea a bit, since I just wasn’t satisfied with my original plot for this story, so it doesn’t EXACTLY match the request, but the general idea is there.
Warnings: swearing, a little fluff, some violence, protective Pea
The sun had just dipped below the horizon as you made your way back to your trailer from the Whyte Wyrm. You hadn’t realized you had been out so late and started to walk faster, not wanting to get caught alone in the dark on the Southside. Sure. the Southside was your home, but even Southside residents were aware being alone on the streets at night was NOT a good idea.
You had lived on the Southside for as long as you could remember. After your parents divorced when you were three and your dad ran away from Riverdale, never to be seen again, you moved to the Southside with your mom and became an honorary serpent. Even though you weren’t technically in the gang, they brought you in as one of their own, especially due to your father’s serpent blood. Your father’s ties with the Serpents was part of the reason your mom split with him, so when she found out you were in cahoots with Serpents, needless to say she was not happy. It lead to an uneasy balance in your relationship, but it didn’t matter that much anyway because your mother was rarely home, working long, low-pay hours as a flight attendant.
You could see the trailer park in the distance and picked up your pace even more, wanting to get home as quickly as possible, when a rough hand grabbed you by the shoulder and shoved you against a fence. Instinctively, you threw your fist out, catching your assailant across the cheek. He muttered a curse, slightly loosening his grip on you. You took the opportunity to kick him firmly in the stomach, causing him to collapse by your feet.
You started to run, trying to get away from him as quickly as you could, when you rammed straight into another person’s chest. You looked up and found a Goulie leering down at you, his thin lips stretched across his crooked teeth, forming a haunting smile. “Where do you think your’re going?” He drawled, grabbing you by the forearms and pushing you back against the fence. The first man you attacked, who you now saw was also a Goulie, marked but the silver-studded leather jacket, had managed to stand up again.
“This here’s a fiesty one,” he chuckled as you struggled to get out of the grasp of the other Goulie. You knew he would leave bruises on your arms tommorow, if you managed to make it out of this encounter in one piece. “What’s a little bitch like you doing out alone on the Southside at night?” the first Goulie hissed, getting up in your face. You could smell the alcohol on his breath, reeking.
In response, you spat in his face, which did not bode well with the Goulie. “Listen here, princess. You’re our slut now, and for each time you lash out, your punishment just gets worse and worse,” he growled, saying the last few words with a cruel smile.
Fear pulsated through your veins, and you felt yourself close your eyes, trying not to cry. You didn’t want to admit it to yourself, but you were scared. Suddenly, the hands clasped around your arms were ripped away, and you fell to the ground in shock. You glanced up and saw a tall, male figure beating up the Goulies. His strong arms rippled with muscles as he repeatedly punched both your attackers. You instantly recognized him, and could only watch in awe as he easily overpowered the Goulies, despite his two to one odds. His eyes flashed to yours for a split second, their dark irises filled with hatred and revenge, but softened for a moment when he met your gaze.
Once both Goulies were on the ground, faces bloody and bruised, your savior, the one and only Sweet Pea, grabbed one of them by the collar. Their faces barley inches apart, I just managed to catch SP’s words to the Goulie. “I’m the only one who gets to call her princess.”
His menacing whisper was the last straw for those Goulies, and they quickly got up and scrambled away as fast as their beaten-up bodies would take them. The moment they were gone, Sweet Pea immediately turned to you. The rage that had filled him only moments ago was quickly replaced by concern. He hurried over to you and dropped to his knees by your side.
“Y/N! Are you hurt? I swear, if those bastards did anything to you…” SP quickly gave you a once over, and the moment he saw the bruises on your arms he cursed under his breath. “Shit, that’s not good. Okay, let’s just get you back to my trailer, and I’ll get some ice.” Realizing you still hadn’t said a word, Pea looked at you, his softer, more protective side shining through.
“Sweets, you really didn’t have to do that for me,” you managed as he helped you up. He gave you weird look, then said, “Of course I did,” as if him not helping were completely out of the question. “You’re basically a Serpent. Serpents stick together, right?” He said.
Of course. That was the reason Sweet Pea had rushed to your aid. He felt like he had to. Of course, his dislike of the Goulies might have played a part as well. For a moment, you were convinced it might have meant something else. You had been harboring a small crush on SP, and over the years, that small crush started to grow until it was no longer small, but quite large. Of course, he was a Serpent, so you two were kind of friends, but not really. You more knew him simply through Toni and Jughead. You were about to apologize profusely for making him drop whatever he was doing to come help you, when he swept you up into his arms bridal style. Your breath caught as he held you against his chest, walking you the short distance to his bike at the curbside. You could hear his heart beating and his breath was warm against your arms wrapped around his neck. He carefully settled you behind him on his bike, then wrapped your arms around his waist. His gaze caught yours, and for a split second, you stared into each other’s eyes, some unknown emotion flickering across his features.
The moment passed, and SP quickly tossed a warning over his shoulder. “Hold on.”
You had ridden motorcycles before, so you knew Pea was going rather slowly, most likely because you still seemed fragile and neither of you were wearing helmets.
Rather than taking you back to your own trailer, SP rode the short distance to his. So about ten minutes later, you were seated on his couch, holding a bag of ice against your arms. Sweets was sitting across from you, his fists clenched at his sides.
“Y/N, please, just tell me what happened,” Sweet Pea said again. He had only witnessed the end of your encounter with the Goulies and had been trying to coax the rest of the story out of you all evening. Finally, you caved, telling his what happened before he arrived. When you recounted how you managed to get a pretty good punch in on one of the guys, SP chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you managed to kick his ass a bit before I got there,” Sweets commented with a smirk. You smiled shyly back and turned away, trying to hide your blush.
“Hey, so you can crash here tonight if you need to,” Sweet Pea said. He then motioned to the couch, saying “I can sleep there, you can take the bed.” He tossed you a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants to change into, then told you to try and get some sleep.
That night, as you were on the verge of falling asleep in Pea’s bed, drifting between wakefulness and sleep, you heard the bedroom door creak open. A figure moved closer to you and pressed a kiss against you forehead. You could have sworn you heard him mutter, “Goodnight, princess,” before leaving again. The following morning when you woke up, you had completely forgotten about the incident, but the boy who had slept on the couch most definitely had not.
The following week you were still slightly shaken about your encounter with those Goulies, but nonetheless you went to school, attended most of your classes (you went to Southside High, it was uncommon for anyone to go to all their classes in a given day), and joked with friends. At one point you found Sweet Pea looking at you from across the lunch table, and once again the two of you exchanged a “look.”
Later that day, you found yourself running late to your last class. The hallways were nearly empty, and as you went to grab your textbook, someone firmly slammed your locker shut. You glanced up and saw not one, not two, not three, but FOUR Goulies leering at you. One of them cracked his knuckles as another got up in your face. You held your ground, hoping that they might back off if you didn’t show any fear.
“Well, well, look who it is. Y/N, right? We heard some of our friends were just having a friendly chat with you a few nights ago, when that Serpent boyfriend of yours showed up and beat the crap out of them,” the Goulie sneered.
“He’s not my boy..” you tried to retort, but before you could finish, the Goulie slammed his palm against the locker next to you, trapping you with his body. “Look,” he hissed. “I really don’t care. We’re just here to deliver a warning. Don’t. Mess. With. Us. And make sure you pass that message on to your not-boyfriend.” With that, they were gone, disappearing down the hallway. You still had your back pressed against the lockers, breathing heavily. Suddenly, you heard footsteps coming towards you, and you prepared yourself to run, thinking the Goulies had decided to come back.
“Y/N?” you heard Sweet Pea’s voice as he turned the corner, coming into view. Relief filled your body, and before you really knew what you were doing, you rushed forward, collapsing into him. His arms instantly snaked around you, and for once he didn’t ask what was wrong. Instead, he just held you. You stood there, wrapped up in his embrace, for who knows how long. All you knew was that right then and there you wouldn’t have felt safer anywhere else.
A/N: Just wanted to say again that I really appreciate all feedback and love it when y’all tell me what you think. I also think I might start a tag list, so let me know if you want to be included!
