Sweet pea and Veronica decide to hang out in a festival after Bughead bails on them.
đ i hope you enjoy this, lovely nonnie. itâs my first sweetvee fic. iâm excited!
A/N: Slightly AU. No Blackhood nonsense. Think of Riverdale like the comics. Sweet fluff and fun.Â
âItâll be fun!â Betty says, eyes full of life and that sweet smile on her face that Veronicaâs slowly becoming immune to. âCome on! You love carnivals!âÂ
âYes, but not when they include being the third wheel to yourâs and Jugheadâs date nights. After the last time? No thanks.âÂ
âI already said sorry about last time. You forgave me!âÂ
âJust because I forgave you for leaving me to have sex in the restroom at the bowling alley doesnât mean I want to go through it again!â
âIt was a quickie!â Betty defends. âYou were alone for like fifteen minutes. Anyway, you wonât be a third wheel. Jugâs inviting Sweet Pea.âÂ
Veronicaâs nose scrunches up at that. Itâs not that she doesnât like Sweet Pea, because honestly? She doesnât really know him. She doesnât have anything against him, but she also doesnât have anything towards him. Heâs just another Serpent that just so happens to be in her circle. Or at least, the outer part of her circle.
âThatâs even weirder. I donât know him, B, and I donât want to. Heâs kind of an ass.âÂ
âNo he isnât! He just takes some getting used to, so this is your chance to get to know him! Please, V? Youâre my best friend and Jughead made an effort to play nice with you. Sweet Pea is his best friend; I think you should do the same. I want all of us to get along.âÂ
Veronica sighs, knowing that sheâs officially lost this fight. âFine! But you know, technically, Jughead didnât âplay niceâ until I paid for dinner that one time. Up until that moment, Iâm pretty sure he was ready to fight me at all times.âÂ
âDetails,â Betty says with a wave of her hand, but sheâs smiling. âSo youâll come?âÂ
âYes,â she groans.Â
âYay! Great. Iâll tell Jug. Heâs going to be so happy!âÂ
Veronicaâs sure that him being happy will have absolutely nothing to do with her saying yes to this outing, but Betty looks so damn excited that she doesnât say anything about it. Instead she just continues to paint her nails a lovely purple that matches the fall weather around her.Â
Itâs freezing outside. Itâs the middle of October so thatâs kind of expected but Veronica hadnât exactly dressed appropriately. She hadnât thought it would be this cold outside. Sheâs wearing a black mini skirt with leggings that, while a little thicker, still donât stop the goosebumps from coming up. The red choker sweater sheâd decided to wear was definitely cute, but it was doing nothing to keep her warm.Â
It also didnât help that Betty and Jughead were ten minutes late. Sheâs already bought the stupid bracelet to get in and sheâs standing by the food stand, texting Bettyâs phone repeatedly but she doesnât get an answer. She decides to give her another call.
âYouâve got to be kidding me,â she snaps as the call goes straight to voicemail. âThis is worse than the bowling alley!âÂ
âIsnât talking to yourself a sure sign of insanity?âÂ
Veronica whirls around at the voice, a glare on her face, but it falls once she sees that itâs Sweet Pea standing in front of her. He has that stupid little smirk on his face that she almost never sees him without.Â
âAre Betty and Jughead with you?â She asks him, ignoring his question completely. âIâve been texting her, but she isnât answering.âÂ
He frowns. âNo. I thought they were coming with you.â He pulls his phone out of his pocket and taps at it before pressing it to his ear. After a few seconds he pulls it away and sighs. âStraight to voicemail with Jug.âÂ
âI canât believe this! I swear, Iâm never agreeing to hanging out with them again! They are the worst friends ever.âÂ
âMaybe theyâre just late,â Sweet Pea defends but Veronica rolls her eyes.Â
âDo you even know Betty Cooper? Since when is she ever late to anything? Theyâre probably off being scandalous somewhere.âÂ
âCanât blame them for being young and in love,â he says, smirking.Â
âI can when it causes me to come to a stupid carnival when itâs freezing outside and Iâm left with a complete stranger.âÂ
âOh, come on,â he says. âIâm not a complete stranger. I gave you an extra cookie at lunch one time, remember? That was nice.âÂ
âYou gave it to me because it fell on the floor, asshole.âÂ
Sweet Pea snorts, but thereâs a gleam in his eyes. âOh. I suppose I did.âÂ
âWhatever. Iâm out of here. Have fun on the Tilt-A-Whirl. Hope you donât puke all over that lovely flannel.â Seriously. She doesnât know what it is with Serpents and their flannels and leather jackets, but it seems to be some kind of uniform. She canât lie though, Sweet Pea might be a jerk but he was nice to look at. He sure filled out the flannel nicely enough. Not that sheâd ever voice that opinion out loud.
Sheâs already walking away from him whenever he latches onto her upper arm. It stops her dead in her tracks. His hand is huge around her tiny biceps and itâs so warm, she can practically feel it burning through her sweater.Â
âHey, donât leave. You already spent money on a bracelet, the least we could do is put it to use.âÂ
âIt was like twenty dollars,â Veronica says with a frown. âDo you really think that matters to me? Iâm not going to waste my night here with some random guy over twenty dollars. There are much better things I could be doingâ Iâd rather be doing.â She doesnât mean to come off so harsh, but honestly? Sheâs really annoyed. She thought Betty would be here and instead sheâd bailed, which would have been fine except she didnât even let Veronica know the change of plans.Â
Sweet Pea actually looks a little hurt at Veronicaâs words and she feels bad. She knows how stuck up she must sound. Sure, twenty dollars was literally nothing to her, but she knows thatâs not the case for everyone. She sees the red bracelet around his wrist and she realizes that he probably doesnât want his money to go to waste.Â
Before she can say anything though, heâs letting go of her arm and taking a step back from her.Â
âRight,â he says with a sneer. âWell, donât let me get in the way of your plans, princess. See ya.â And then heâs turning away from her and walking off in the other direction.Â
She considers just leaving. Sweet Pea is no one to her, he shouldnât matter. But then she remembers Bettyâs words, pleading her to make an effort, and she sighs.Â
âWait!â She calls out, jogging over to him. He turns around and raises an eyebrow at her. âIâll stay, but you have to win me a stuffed animal. And not a small one either! I want one of the really big elephants.âÂ
Sweet Pea smiles widely at her, his demeanor completely changing, and nods. âYouâre in luck, princess. Iâm the king of carnival games.âÂ
âIâm so sure,â she says with an eye roll, but she smiles back at him as she places herself next to him in step. âSo where to first?âÂ
âTilt-A-Whirl?â He looks down at her. âI promise not to throw up anywhere.âÂ
âShut up,â she laughs. âOkay.âÂ
âYouâre the worst!â She screams as soon as they get off the ride. âThat was terrible. Oh, my God. I actually think I might vomit.âÂ
âThatâs hot,â Sweet Pea says but he wraps an arms around her shoulders and leads her down the ramp, back onto the ground. Veronica puts a hand to her mouth and closes her eyes tightly. âOh, come on! It wasnât that bad.âÂ
âAre you kidding me? It was worse!â She shivers as she says the words. The cold wind hand been even more rough as theyâd spun around and around on the ride. Sweet Pea notices her shaking and frowns, pulling away from her to look at her face. She immediately leans back into him without even thinking about it. Heâs just so warm that she immediately misses it. Â
âAre you really that cold?âÂ
âIâm fine,â she says, but her teeth are chattering as she says it. Heâs quiet for a second before he shrugs off his leather jacket, the black one all Serpents wear, and drapes it across her shoulders.Â
âWhat are you doing?â She asks, tensing up as he does. âHey, no, I donât-.âÂ
âYou do,â he cuts her off. âLook, donât make it a big deal, okay? Youâre freezing, Iâm not. Just wear the jacket and be warm.âÂ
She canât deny how warm it is. Itâs also huge on her and it makes her feel a little giddy wearing it, although she isnât sure why. Betty wears Jugheadâs leather jacket all the time and she never seems to make a big deal over it. Veronica blames it on the stupid ride, itâd made her dizzy and now her head was all jumbled up.Â
âThank you,â she says softly as she puts her arms through the sleeves. âSo, feel like winning me that elephant now?âÂ
âItâd be my pleasure,â he smiles. âCome on.â He throws his arm back around her shoulder and sheâs pretty sure itâs only because of how sheâs still stumbling a little from the ride, but if she leans into him just the slightest little bit, well, sheâll just blame that on her stumbling too.Â
âYou got this,â Veronica says as she stands next to Sweet Pea. He has a look of concentration on his face as he holds the dart up, aiming it at a blue balloon. Itâs the last one he needs to hit. âConcentrate!âÂ
âI could concentrate a lot better if you werenât breathing into my ear, princess.âÂ
Veronica laughs as she takes a step back, giving him some space. He moves his arm back and forth, practicing his shot, before he finally lets the dart fly forward. She watches it with her breath held and as soon as it hits the balloon, popping it, she lets out a loud squeal and runs over to Sweet Pea, throwing her arms around him in a hug.Â
âThe carnival king strikes again!â She yells out before laughing. Sweet Pea shakes his head and laughs with her as he places a hand on the small of her back.Â
âI told ya.â
âWhatâll your prize be?â The man running the booth asks with a smile.Â
âThe elephant,â Sweet Pea says, pointing at the biggest one.
âHere you go,â the man says as he hands Veronica the large elephant from the top. âOne elephant for your lovely girlfriend.âÂ
Sweet Pea and Veronica go completely still, looking at each other with wide eyes before laughing.Â
âWeâre not together,â they both say at the same time.Â
âOh,â the man says, but it sounds a little bit like a question. âWell, then. One elephant for the lovely lady.âÂ
âThank you,â Veronica says sweetly.Â
The two of them walk away from the booth and do another lap around the carnival. Theyâre just talking about random things together; when the last time they came here was, what they thought of the new English teacher at school, how cheerleading and baseball practice were going. It was nothing special, but for some reason it was the most fun Veronica had had in a while.Â
Sweet Pea had been nothing like she was expecting and she was delighted to find out that she was getting along with him so well. Sheâs almost a little glad that Betty had bailed. Thereâs no way that they would have gotten to talk this much if the the other couple had come. For one, Veronicaâs sure she would have been bugging Betty the entire time. But this was nicer. This was fun.Â
At that exact moment, her phone buzzes in her pocket and she rests her elephant against her hip to check it. She rolls her eyes when she sees that itâs Betty.Â
Oh my god! Iâm sooooo sorry, V! Jug and I fell asleep. Are you at the carnival? We can be there in like ten minutes!Â
Veronica shows Sweet Pea the text and he just shakes his head.Â
âAt least she had the decency to text you. Do you know how many times Jug has bailed on me just to text me the next day saying, âsorry, manâ. Heâs a nightmare.âÂ
âI guess theyâre just young and in love,â Veronica says, throwing his words from earlier back at him.Â
âGross is what they are.â Heâs smiling as he says it and Veronicaâs sure he feels the same way about them as she does. They were obnoxiously in love, yes, but it was also really nice to see. She was glad they had each other. They were some of the lucky ones, to find their soulmates so young. It was beautiful.Â
âYou wanna get on?â Sweet Pea asks, pulling her out of her thoughts. She looks up at him and sees that heâs gesturing to the ferris wheel theyâd stopped in front of.Â
âYes! I love the Ferris Wheel. Lets go.â She grabs onto his hand and leads him over to the line. Thankfully itâs not long and theyâre sitting in one of the blue little carriages soon enough.Â
She places her elephant next to her as Sweet Pea sits across from her. Heâs making a point of looking at her face, but Veronica doesnât pay attention as she leans over the railing to stare at the world underneath them as they reach the top and stop. Sheâs always loved being this high up. It was kind of like flying. it felt like she could see all of Riverdale from here and it was incredible.Â
âIsnât it pretty?â She says breathlessly.Â
âMhm,â Sweet Pea hums.Â
She looks back at him and notices that heâs still staring at her. Heâs in the middle of his seat and heâs sitting completely still; almost like heâs scared to move. Realization dawns on her.
âOh, my God. Are you scared of heights?âÂ
âNo,â he says quickly, but the shakiness in his voice says otherwise.Â
âYou totally are! Why did you suggest going up here? We could have just went on something else!âÂ
âI saw you eyeing it earlier, figured you might want to ride it.âÂ
âBut youâre scared of heights and this is really high up. We didnât have to get on.âÂ
âItâs fine,â he says, but heâs starting to look a little green. âYou said you love it, so itâs okay.âÂ
Veronica feels terrible and she frowns, not knowing how to fix this. Before she can think, she gets up from her seat and plops herself down next to Sweet Pea. He tenses up at the way the cart shakes at her movement.Â
âHey, itâs okay,â she says as she takes his hand into hers. âYouâre safe up here.âÂ
âEver seen Mighty Joe Young?âÂ
Veronica laughs loudly. âOh, my God! Sweets, seriously. Youâre fine, okay? Look at me.âÂ
He does and his eyes look more gentle than sheâs ever seen them.Â
âThatâs a new one,â he says. She gives him a confused look. âYou called me Sweets.âÂ
âOh. I didnât even realize. Sorry.âÂ
âNo, no. Donât apologize. Itâs fine. I like it.âÂ
âOkay,â she says softly. âYou know, Iâm kind of glad Betty and Jughead bailed.âÂ
âYeah?âÂ
âYeah. Iâm having fun right now with just you.âÂ
âMe too, princess.â He smiles now, all tension gone from his body. âMe too.âÂ
âWe should do it more often.âÂ
âI think Iâd like that.âÂ
When the ride moves again, Sweet Peaâs hand tightens around hers but heâs looking right at her and heâs smiling and Veronicaâs never been happier.Â
âDid she text you back?â Jughead asks as he presses kisses into Bettyâs shoulder.Â
âNo.â She looks at him, worried. âJuggie, what if sheâs really mad at me? This was such a bad idea!âÂ
âNoooo, you think so?â Heâs being sarcastic and she shoves him for it. âCome on, Betts! Did you really think tricking them into a date would be a good idea? Theyâre complete polar opposites. I wouldnât be surprised if theyâve killed each other by now.âÂ
âYou know, Iâm sure other people thought the same thing about us at one point.âÂ
Jughead smirks. âYeah, but weâre Betty and Jughead, we just work. Veronica and Sweet Pea, though? Thatâll never happen.âÂ
Betty frowns as her heart drops. She was really hoping that her plan would work. Sheâd wanted Veronica to be as happy as she was with Jughead and Sweet Pea was a good guy. If only Veronica could just see that. That was what the whole point of this night was. She knows it was sneaky and wrong, but sheâd hoped that it would work out. Apparently not though.Â
Sheâs about to call her best friend whenever her phone buzzes, a text from Veronica with an attachment. She opens it quickly and gasps as she sees the picture.Â
âOh, my God. Jughead, look!âÂ
He leans over and looks at the picture.Â
Veronica and Sweet Pea are sitting down in the Ferris Wheel next to each other, smiles on their faces and a huge elephant in the middle of them. Sweet Peaâs arm is thrown over her shoulders and sheâs leaning her head onto him.Â
Itâs okay. Weâre doing just fine on our own.Â
âHoly shit,â Jughead whispers. âI guess Serpents really do like Vixens, huh?âÂ
âI knew it would work!â Betty squeals. âJust call me Cupid.âÂ
Jughead rolls his eyes as he pushes her down onto the couch and kisses her before tickling her, the both of them laughing loudly.
On the other side of Riverdale, Veronica and Sweet Pea are sharing a funnel cake at the carnival, smiling as they finally get to know each other under the fairy lights and stars.Â
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