Mystique || Sweet Pea [3]

24

Chapter 24 || Wicked Little Town

I sighed deeply as I knocked on the door, hoping he'd still be awake. After a few seconds, the porch light flicked on and the door was pulled open.

"Kitty?" His voice sounded confused.

"Reggie." I sniffed, throwing myself into his arms.

"What's wrong?" Reggie asked, kicking my suitcase inside the house before closing the door. "Why are you crying?"

"He's alive." I told him.

"Who is?" Reggie questioned. "Jughead?"

"Yeah." I confirmed. "He's alive and sitting in my living room with a stupid smile on his face like I didn't spend the last few weeks grieving the loss of my literal other half."

"What?" Reggie was shocked, filling me with a sense of relief that I wasn't alone in finding out Jughead was alive and well.

"Jughead's alive. He faked his death to find out about some serial killer, and solve some epic mystery, and I-"

"Oh, Kit-Kat." Reggie hugged me tighter, scrambling over to his couch. "You must be so overwhelmed with this."

"He let me think he died so he could be a detective with our friends and family right under my nose." I cried. "It's like no one cared about how I was feeling."

"I care." Reggie reassured. "What do you need right now? You want to break something, do you need to cry... maybe you want to go to Pop's?"

"I just need to get away from them all." I tried to calm myself down.

"You can stay here with me." Reggie decided.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive, Kit-Kat." Reggie nodded, rubbing my back. "You're overwhelmed, and you need time and space to process it all. Besides, you know my door is always open for you."

"Thank you." I whispered.

"Now, want to watch a movie?" Reggie suggested.

"I'd rather just go to sleep." I shook my head.

"Then let's get up to bed."

--------

The next morning, I was woken up by shouting coming from downstairs. I sat up, remembering that I crashed at Reggie's last night before tuning into the screaming match happening downstairs.

"She doesn't want to see anyone, dude!" Reggie huffed loudly.

"Why wouldn't she want to see me?" Sweet Pea's voice sounded. I sighed and got out of Reggie's bed, tugging one of his hoodies on before I padded downstairs.

"I don't know, maybe because you found out her brother was alive before she did?" Reggie countered.

"Can you guys please stop yelling at each other?" I asked quietly, walking into the kitchen where they were talking. I glanced at the clock, groaning as I poured myself a cup of coffee. "It's not even ten in the morning."

"Can you just come home?" Sweet Pea asked me.

"You mean the place full of people that lied to her?" Reggie scoffed.

"She can speak for herself." Sweet Pea snapped.

"He's right, Sweets." I sighed, reaching into Reggie's fridge for coffee creamer. "I need time and space away from everyone right now."

"So your solution is to run to Reggie's house?" Sweet Pea huffed.

"My solution was to go somewhere safe that would give me distance from the house full of people that let me believe that my twin brother was dead." I stated. "And I know that you didn't know, but it's still upsetting that you found out before I did that Jughead was actually alive. I love you, but I'm not going to come home any time soon."