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Shaking the can of spray paint, Reggie looks around to make sure no one will catch him. After all, graffitiing the Riverdale High crest in the main lobby is the kind of thing that could get him in serious trouble.
But that’s the point. It’s been only a few hours since the former Southside High students arrived for their first day at their new school, and Reggie’s already tired of having to see all these new people in his classes, in the hallways, and in the student lounge during breaks.
He’s never handled change well, especially when change is a tall guy who stares at him in history class until he finally looks up to make eye contact, only to have to turn away to cover his blushing face at the intensity of the action.
Positive that everyone has gone to class, Reggie slowly starts painting a curved green line. The design of the snake is simple, since he didn’t want to risk getting caught by trying to do something more elaborate. Unfortunately, spray painting the floor isn’t as much of a distraction as he thought it would be, and his mind starts wandering.
According to Archie, who’s his desk partner in history class, the guy who’d been staring at him is named Sweet Pea. Archie only knows this cause apparently this guy and Jughead have gotten all buddy-buddy while Jughead was at Southside High. Reggie had pretended not to notice the bitterness in Archie’s voice, just like how Archie had pretended not to notice the way he kept sneaking glances back at Sweet Pea.
With the basic structure of the snake finished, Reggie picks up another can of spray paint (this one black) to paint on the details. This requires more focus, but not enough that he stops thinking about the tattoo on Sweet Pea’s neck, which stretched when he turned his head to pick up a pencil off the floor, or the strand of greasy hair that fell across his forehead, which Reggie desperately wants to push out of the way.
Standing back to look at his work, Reggie notices that at some point he’d started gripping the can of spray paint harder, leaving indents on the palm of his hand.
All these thoughts about Sweet Pea don’t have to mean anything. Reggie can just shove them down, ignore the queasy feeling in his stomach, and switch seats in history class so he can’t see him anymore. It won’t be long before all the Southsiders are out of Riverdale High anyways, and he won’t have to think about this at all.
He glances back down at the drawing of a snake at his feet, a crude imitation of the design that he saw on Sweet Pea’s neck earlier. Maybe, if this works, all the new transfers will be out of the school by the end of the day. Tomorrow, everything will go back to normal, and his thoughts won’t be consumed by images of guys in leather jackets with deep brown eyes that seem to stare into your soul.
Turning around, Reggie lets all these feelings wash away as he starts walking towards the main office, calling down the hallway as he does so.
“Principal Weatherbee, I think you should come see this.”
---
Reggie slides into a booth at Pops, trying to get his breathing to calm down. The neon lights that are usually welcoming feel harsh and unforgiving, and he squeezes his eyes shut so he doesn’t have to keep looking at them.
God, how could he be so stupid . He trusted Hiram without even thinking about it, and now the entire town is going up in flames. Distantly, if he focuses on the sounds through the window instead of the clink of dishes and low hum of conversation inside Pops, he can hear police sirens. If Archie hadn’t tackled him when he did-
Fisting his hands in his hair, Reggie forces himself to cut off his train of thought, but the image of Fangs looking forward with blank eyes, blood slowly spreading around his stomach, is one that won’t leave his mind. Someone clears their throat, and when he opens his eyes, Pop is standing next to his table.
“Can I get you anything, Reggie?” he says, his voice cutting through the buzzing that’s filling Reggie’s head.
“No, uh- not yet,” Reggie responds, trying to ignore how choked up his voice sounds. “Give me a sec.”
Pop nods, turning to walk towards the counter as Reggie lays his head on the cool plastic of the table, hoping that if he stays here with his eyes closed then everything will just go away. Distantly, he can hear Pop talking on the phone with someone in a low voice, but he’s too exhausted to think about what that might mean.
---
The bunker starts to feel claustrophobic once you’re in there for a while. It’s Reggie’s turn to watch Archie, who fell asleep about twenty minutes after he got here. In the hours since then, he’s gone through every book he could find, which is only the Gryphons and Gargoyles manual and a few assorted survival guides, and jogged in laps around the table in the middle of the room until the muscles in his legs burned with overuse. Even now, sitting in a chair next to the cot Archie’s dozing on, he feels boredom pick at the corners of his mind like an itch he can’t scratch.
Suddenly, Archie wakes up in a fit of coughs. Reggie grabs a water bottle from the backpack laying at his feet and hands it to Archie, who chugs the entire thing and takes a few deep breaths when he’s done.
“Thanks.” he says, voice rough, cringing when he hands the bottle back to Reggie and the movement upsets his wound.
“No problem.” Reggie fiddles with the cap of the water bottle, wanting to ask a question but aware that it probably won’t be well received. Archie seems to sense this, his eyes flicking from Reggie’s hands to the way he keeps glancing at his wound and then quickly looking away.
“You can ask how I got shanked, dude. I don’t mind.”
Reggie chuckles in relief. “Uh, okay. How did it happen?”
“You know Joaquin?” Archie says as he settles back onto the cot, looking up at the ceiling.
“Who?”
“Kevin’s ex-boyfriend.”
“Oh.” It takes a second for Reggie to process the implications of what Archie said. “Wait, he shanked you?”
“Yeah. Right before I went out to fight.” Archie’s voice is heavy with melancholy and something else that Reggie can’t figure out.
“He was taping up my hands, he would always do that before a fight, and I told him that I would come back for him if I made it out. He didn’t say anything so I put my hand on his shoulder, to try and get his attention.”
It’s like Archie forgot that Reggie was in the room with him, and is just talking to himself now.
“I asked if he was okay, and he looked at me for a second and then leaned in and kissed me.”
Reggie’s eyes widen at the confession, and he tries his best to hide the shock on his face, but he doesn’t think Archie would notice even if he didn’t.
“And I jerked back, cause he was acting really weird, and that’s when he stabbed me. I wish- “ Archie pauses, thinking for a second before he continues. “I wish I had been able to get him out too. Maybe things would have gone differently if I tried to take him with me.”
He shakes his head, turning to face Reggie. “Sorry, I’m sure you didn’t want to hear all of that.”
“No, dude, it’s cool. I, uh-” Reggie clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably in his chair. “You said he kissed you? I didn’t realize that you were… I mean it’s totally fine if you are! You just never said anything. Not that you need to say anything! It’s all good, whatever you want to do.”
Noticing Archie looking at him, his brow wrinkled in confusion, Reggie forces himself to stop talking. After a few moments, Archie seems to understand what he was trying to say and laughs as he shifts to sit up on the cot.
“I don’t know what I am, or if I like guys or not. With Joaquin, it’s the first time I’m really thinking about it, and I have other stuff I need to focus on right now. Besides, I’m with Ronnie, so it’s not like it matters much right now.”
Nodding along, Reggie focuses on the last thing Archie said, a question burning in his mind.
“What if you weren’t with Veronica? Would it matter then?”
Once again, a look of confusion appears on Archie’s face. “What do you mean?”
Sighing, Reggie tries to figure out exactly what he should say next. “I mean if you weren’t with Veronica, would you want to know if you’re into guys or not? Like would it matter then?”
Archie fixes him with a serious look, making doubt flare up in Reggie’s stomach. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything.
“Reggie, why are you asking about this?”
He refuses to meet Archie’s gaze, instead focusing on the empty water bottle in his hands. “Just forget about it. It’s stupid.”
“Reggie.”
The tone of Archie’s voice makes him look up, and when he does, the expression of worry and understanding on Archie’s face makes the walls he’d put up crumble.
“I think I might be into guys.” Reggie says, the words making it feel more real than it ever had before.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he waits for Archie to tell him to get out. He knows that it doesn't make any sense, since Archie would never react like that, but that doesn’t stop him from fearing it anyways.
“Okay.”
Reggie opens his eyes at the sound of Archie’s voice, finding him with a smile instead of the look of disgust he had been expecting.
“Okay?” he repeats.
Eyes widening, Archie must realize he needs to say more because he starts rambling. “That’s okay, that you might be into guys. I mean I don’t have anything to do with that but I support you. And you’re my friend no matter what. You know that, Reg.”
Smiling, Reggie feels his nerves melt away at Archie’s clumsy attempt to reassure him. “Yeah, I do know that. Thanks for being cool about this, Andrews.”
Archie grins wider at that. “Of course, man.”
Clearing his throat, Reggie tries to move away from the topic, not wanting to think about it for too long. “So, we’ve missed you on the football team. Moose isn’t nearly as good of a quarterback as you are.”
Moving to sit up fully, Archie’s excitement is clear in his voice. “Really? How’s the season going so far?”
The serious atmosphere of a few moments ago disappears, with Archie wanting to hear everything he can about the Bulldogs and Reggie thrilled to finally be able to talk about this with someone. They wouldn’t have even noticed Betty coming into the bunker half an hour later if she hadn’t alerted them to her presence by tossing Archie a bag of take out from Pops.
“Have you guys been talking about football this entire time?” she says incredulously, although a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.
Looking over at Reggie, Archie seems to understand that their conversation from earlier should be kept between them.
“Yeah, something like that.”
---
Reggie’s just slammed his locker shut when Josie approaches him after school one day.
“Can we talk? In private?” she says, leading him into the empty science classroom when he nods in agreement.
After closing the door behind her, Josie looks at him, opening and shutting her mouth a few times like she doesn’t know what to say.
“Uh, did you want to tell me something?” Reggie tries to prompt her, and apparently it works because she nods a few times and finally starts speaking.
“I know we all got pretty caught up in everything going on with Archie, but before that, when Betty told us to ask our parents about Gryphons & Gargoyles?”
Reggie tenses, knowing where she’s going with this. Still, the small bit of hope that maybe Josie will ask something different keeps him from interrupting her.
“You said that when you asked your dad about it, he gave you a black eye.” Her eyes flick to his left eye, which is mostly healed, although there’s still some bruising on his cheekbone. Sighing, Reggie sits on the desk behind him. Eventually, he was going to have to have this conversation with someone, he just didn’t realize it would happen so soon.
“Thanks for, uh, caring enough to notice, I guess. But really, Josie, there isn’t anything you can do.”
Josie frowns, one hand coming up to fidget with the sleeve of her jacket. “That can’t be true. I mean, my mom and I are at the Five Seasons now, you could stay with us. And she’s a great lawyer, she could help you get a restraining order or something.”
“No!” Reggie says, fear surging up in his chest. He must say it a bit too loudly because Josie startles and jumps at the sounds of his voice. “No, Josie. That’s real nice of you but it’s better if I don’t do anything to rock the boat.”
He sucks in a shaky breath, standing up from the desk so he can slide down to the floor. The coldness of the tile beneath him is grounding. Josie moves to sit down next to him, taking one of his hands in hers.
“Reggie-” she starts before stopping, looking down at their hands. “I’m your friend. You can tell me anything.”
Glancing over at her, Reggie finds her staring at him, a crinkle in her brow from concern. It’s true, Josie is his friend, probably one of his closest. And even though anxiety fills his stomach, making him feel like he might throw up, he knows he can trust her.
“Josie.” Bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arm around them, Reggie tries to ignore how much his voice wavers when he speaks. “I like guys.”
“Oh.” Josie says so quietly it’s almost a whisper.
“If my dad ever found out, I’d-” Tears well up in the corners of Reggie’s eyes, but he scrubs them away and keeps talking. “I’d be lucky if a black eye is all he gave me.”
“Thanks for telling me.” Josie’s voice is still quiet, and she tilts her head to rest it on his shoulder, providing a comforting weight. “Are there any guys that you like in particular?”
Clearing his throat and pushing images of snake tattoos and greasy hair out of his head, Reggie responds. “No, uh, no one specifically.”
It’s painfully obvious that he’s lying, and he winces after hearing how fake he sounds, but if Josie notices, she doesn’t say anything. Instead she smiles, laughing a little.
“Thank god, I was afraid you were gonna tell me you had a crush on Kevin.”
She laughs harder at the sight of Reggie’s face twisting up in disgust. It draws a laugh out of him as well, leaning against her and resting his head on top of hers.
“Yeah, no offense to Kevin but he’s really not my type.”
Josie giggles one last time, knocking her knee against his. “Good. I like Kevin, but you can do way better than him.”
Suddenly realizing how long they’d been sitting there, Reggie pulls out his phone to check the time. “Oh shit, I’m gonna be late to practice.”
He holds a hand out to Josie as he stands up, pulling her to her feet. Just before he leaves the classroom, he turns back and looks at her.
“Thanks, Josie. You’re a good friend.”
Smiling, she walks next to him and opens the door wider, lightly pushing him out into the hallway.
“Of course. Now go before you miss practice all together.”
---
Even though it’s only just gotten dark, Pops is completely vacant tonight. Well, it’s vacant upstairs. Downstairs, at La Bonne Nuit, Reggie is sure that it’s packed. But for the first time in months he isn’t bar tending or working as a bouncer and instead is picking at the order of fries that he got over an hour ago.
He knows that in the long run, breaking things off with Veronica was for the best. It was a bad idea to get involved with her in the first place, since she was technically his boss and clearly still had feelings for Archie despite insisting that they were broken up for good. But knowing that this is probably a good thing doesn’t make it hurt any less.
The bell above the entrance rings, although Reggie doesn’t pay it any mind until Sweet Pea slides into the seat across from him and takes a fry off his plate, tossing it in his mouth.
“Ew.” he says when he realizes how cold the fries are, but drags the plate in front of him and starts to eat more anyways, seemingly ignorant to Reggie’s look of surprise.
After a few moments of silence, Reggie decides that it must be up to him to break the ice. “What are you doing here?”
Sweet Pea glances up at him and swallows the food in his mouth before speaking. “It’s Jughead’s dad’s birthday. They’re throwing a party for him downstairs, all the Serpents got invited.”
“So why aren’t you going down there?” Reggie questions, still confused as to why Sweet Pea is sitting with him.
“Cause I walked in and noticed the captain of the football team sitting alone. What are you doing moping around Pops, Mantle?”
Before he can think to come up with an excuse, Reggie answers his question honestly. “Veronica and I broke up.”
“Oh, shit. Sorry about that.” It’s clear that Sweet Pea wasn’t expecting a real answer.
Reggie sighs, suddenly feeling guilty for bringing the mood down. “It’s… whatever. Not like we were that serious. We mostly just hooked up whenever she needed to let off steam.”
“Still,” Sweet Pea says sympathetically, “You’re feeling shitty about it. And that sucks.”
Furrowing his brow, Reggie shifts uncomfortably against the vinyl cushion of his seat, a question on his mind. “Why do you care?”
Once again, his response takes Sweet Pea by surprise. He fidgets with one of the rings he’s wearing, trying to think of an answer.
“I’d never really seen you look upset before,” Sweet Pea says, “And despite everything, you’re a pretty cool guy. You don’t deserve to be alone when you’re feeling like shit.”
Snorting, Reggie makes sure to look him in the eye when he speaks next. “You’re a pretty cool guy too. I should’ve realized that sooner.”
Sweet Pea smiles and oh , this is why Reggie likes him so much. The butterflies in his stomach that usually appear whenever he and Sweet Pea are in the same room had been dormant up until now, when they decided to come back stronger than they’d ever been before. He clears his throat and looks away, hoping that no one will notice how much his face is heating up.
Thankfully, he doesn’t have to say anything else, because Sweet Pea changes the topic to an upcoming essay in their history class, which Reggie gladly talks about so he doesn’t have to think about the way that this kind of feels like a date, and how if he moved his hand just a few inches, it’d be laying on top of Sweet Pea’s.
After about twenty minutes, Sweet Pea glances back at the entrance to La Bonne Nuit, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
“I should probably head to the party before Toni comes up and drags me down there,” he explains, although he doesn’t seem happy about it.
Reggie tries to hide the way his heart drops at hearing that and nods as Sweet Pea stands up.
“This was a good time, though. I’ll see you later?” he says, hovering in front of the table.
“Yeah.” Reggie responds, unable to keep the smile off his face. “Yeah, you will.”
Smiling back at him, Sweet Pea turns and disappears downstairs. Reggie watches him go, his breakup with Veronica the furthest thing from his mind.
---
“Hey Toni, can I talk to you?” Reggie asks, glad that he was able to catch her before she left for cheerleading practice.
Toni seems surprised that he would want to see her, but nods in agreement and follows him away from the football field and the prying eyes of their classmates, until they finally come to a stop under the bleachers.
“So what is it?” Toni says impatiently, worried about being late.
“You like girls and guys, right?” he blurts out before rushing to clarify, “I mean, that’s a thing that people can be? And it’s normal?”
Seeing his panic, Toni’s annoyance disappears, and is replaced by something softer. “Yeah, it’s a thing. And it’s normal too, tons of people are into more than one gender.”
Reggie breathes a sigh of relief, feeling less anxious now that he’d received so reassurance. When he doesn’t continue the conversation, Toni pushes on, looking somewhat apprehensive.
“Do you think that you’re into guys and girls?” Toni asks slowly, like she’s trying not to scare him.
“Um, yeah.” Reggie gives her a half smile, showing her that he doesn’t need her to be gentle with him. “I’m pretty sure I do.”
Smiling back, Toni playfully punches his shoulder, not making any actual impact. “Well, congratulations, then. Who would have thought that Reggie Mantle is capable of self exploration?”
He laughs, although another question is burning in the back of his mind, something that he feels like he needs the answer to.
Awkwardly shifting his weight from foot to foot, Reggie stares at the ground when he speaks next. “Do you know if Sweet Pea is into guys?”
It seems to catch Toni off guard, because her face goes blank for a second before she exhales deeply.
“Yeah, I mean he and Fangs have made out a few times. He’s never really confirmed anything though, not really his style.”
Nodding a few times, Reggie would rather end this conversation before Toni asks the question he knows she’s thinking, but when she opens her mouth to speak again, he knows that he won’t be able to leave so easily.
“Reggie,” she starts, already making him wince at her careful tone. “Did you ask about Sweet Pea cause you have a crush on him?”
The panic that rises up in Reggie’s chest is too strong to be pushed down. He gives Toni a forced laugh, refusing to look her in the eye.
“Very funny! I was just curious, you know, since you and Fangs are… like this, maybe Sweet Pea would be, too.”
Toni frowns, a crinkle in her brow. “If you have a crush on him, that’s fine. Honestly, with the way he talks about you, I wouldn’t be surprised if he feels the same way.”
Eyes widening, Reggie’s panic is momentarily overcome by surprise and excitement. Sweet Pea talks about him . Like to his friends . But before he can really think about that, the panic is back, reminding him that there’s no way Sweet Pea reciprocates his feelings.
“Sure, Toni. Sorry I talked to you for so long, you should probably get to cheerleading practice. Bye!”
Turning around and walking away from the bleachers as fast as he can, Reggie tries to ignore the sounds of Toni calling after him. His friendship with Sweet Pea is already so new and fragile, built on a history of fighting and hatred. If he does anything to upset the balance, Sweet Pea will never talk to him again.
When he’s far enough away that he can’t hear Toni anymore, Reggie stops and takes a deep breath in, trying to calm down. Whatever he feels for Sweet Pea doesn’t matter, and he’s not going to let it get in the way of anything else. All he has to do is keep this to himself.
---
With the school year coming to a close, it’s somehow not surprising that huge changes have once again descended upon Riverdale. Shockingly though, these changes seem mostly for the better.
The Farm is gone, no longer doing whatever it is they were here for (Reggie’s heard something about organ harvesting, but that’s probably just rumors), and the big game Gryphons and Gargoyles that they’d all apparently been playing has finally ended.
But this is all just stuff he’s heard, since on the night that everything went down, he and Josie were trying to make it through all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. They decided to call it a night after eight movies, which at the time had seemed really impressive.
It’s all a lot to take in, so Reggie decided to go to Pops, his usual place to go in times of distress. When he gets there, a handful of people are painting one of the side walls on the outside of the building, covering up graffiti proclaiming allegiance to the Gargoyle King.
The sight makes him stop in his tracks, hovering in the parking lot. So much has happened and he didn’t know about any of it. His friends could’ve died and he wouldn’t have known until it was too late.
Ever since he talked to Toni a few weeks ago, Reggie has been going back and forth on whether or not he should talk to Sweet Pea about what he’s been feeling. Even her implying that Sweet Pea might be interested was enough to give him doubt about the assumption he’d been making, that maybe his feelings were reciprocated.
Coming to a decision, Reggie walks over to where he can see Jughead talking to a couple of people.
“Hey! Jones!” he calls out, making Jughead look up in confusion.
“Hey?” Jughead responds.
“Do you know where Sweet Pea is? Is he here with you?”
Whatever Jughead had been expecting Reggie to say, that apparently wasn’t it, because his face goes completely blank for a few seconds.
“Uh, Sweet Pea is on the other side of the building. He said he was going to paint over there but I think he’s just smoking.”
Reggie nods a few times. “Right. Thanks!”
“You’re welcome?” Jughead says as Reggie runs away.
When he gets to the side of Pops that’s closer to the woods, the first thing he sees is Sweet Pea leaning against the side of the building, smoking a cigarette. At the sound of the gravel crunching under Reggie’s feet, he startles and drops it on the ground to stamp it out.
“Oh.” Sweet Pea says once he realizes who’s there. “Thought you were Jughead.”
“No, uh, definitely not.” Reggie replies awkwardly, the confidence he’d had before suddenly gone.
After a few seconds of silence, Sweet Pea clears his throat. “So, did you need something?”
“Yeah! Uh-” The words seem to get stuck in Reggie’s throat and he sputters for a moment before finally speaking, “I like you! As more than a friend. I mean as a friend also but, you know what I mean.”
Sweet Pea’s eyes widen, but just as the panic starts rising in Reggie’s chest, he smiles.
“For real?” he says, like he thinks that he’s being tricked.
Reggie laughs, all of his worry and fear disappearing, “Yeah, for real. Do you want to go on a date sometime?”
Glancing up at the Pops sign above them, Sweet Pea shrugs. “Why not right now?”
“Really?” Reggie says incredulously, “With all your friends outside?”
“I don’t care about that,” Sweet Pea responds, “But if you want to go somewhere less public then I-”
“No,” Reggie cuts him off. “I don’t care either. Let’s go.”
The surety in his words surprises him, realizing that he really doesn’t care if people see him and Sweet Pea together.
“Uh,” Reggie starts, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Could I hold your hand?”
“Yeah, you can,” Sweet Pea says as he holds his hand out for Reggie to take.
Reggie inhales a deep breath, and grabs onto his hand, confident that he made the right decision.