Written for Bex - Prompts: Gorgeous / Wishful thinking / "What were you thinking? "You gotta put a whole lot of gone between you and a [girl/boy/man/woman] like that!"

Bingo Challenge - (location) Whyte Wyrm

OTP Collection - Lost

365 Challenge - Location: Whyte Wyrm

End Game

Kevin/Joaquin

For Bex

A/N: This is an AU where Joaquin wasn't involved in Jason's death and where Kevin didn't meet him at the drive-in.

Kevin looked around him nervously as he tugged at the hem of his sweater. His eyes were fixed on Jughead as the newest Serpent led the way into the Whyte Wyrm.

He could feel many sets of eyes on him and their little group and knew he was going to leave without his wallet. Or kidney. If he was lucky.

"Relax," Betty said, her hand resting on his arm for a moment as she walked at his side. She turned her head to smile at him and Kevin huffed in reply. Betty was safe. She was the girlfriend of the Prince of Darkness and therefore had some sort of immunity over these people.

He didn't have that. They would discover his body behind a dumpster two weeks from now, missing all the valuable organs that get sold on the black market. How had he let Betty talk him into this? Kevin was all for helping with good causes, but what kind of charity even happened in the Whyte Wyrm on the bad side of town?

Charity would be letting him leave with all of his fingers.

"We're going to die here," he whispered back, before his eyes fell on Archie who was walking in front of them. If there was anyone whose body would end up behind the dumpster next to his, it was Archiekins. As much as he loved Archie, and Kevin had a lot of love for his friends, the other teen was too headstrong and had no common sense and would probably be the cause of him losing his kidney.

Other people would be opening presents and someone would be cutting him open for spare parts. It was a morbid thought but as the son of the Sheriff, he had to prepare himself for any situation. His father did like to talk over dinner after all and Kevin's nightmares were for himself to become one of his father's stories over dinner.

"Whatever is going through your head, relax," Betty insisted and Kevin forced a smile wondering why Betty was so naive still. They had seen what Serpents were able to do - what with Jughead's dad disposing of Jason Blossom's body and Mustang helping. Everyone in that place was capable of such ruthlessness and Betty acted like they were going to church, all smiles and rainbows and butterflies. Kevin wasn't sure if Betty was being blind to Jughead's wrong side of the tracks trope. This wasn't television - the good girl on the right side falling for the bad boy on the wrong side didn't apply. They weren't Sandy and Danny. Well, unless Jughead offered to give up his jacket, only for Betty to join the Serpents.

That wouldn't happen in a million years. His girl wasn't that stupid - to trade her ponytail and sensible jumpers for an influx of makeup and leather. Though as the idea played through his mind, he recalled what he had heard about Betty's other side. Perhaps being a Serpent did call to her.

"This place is a dump!" Kevin was startled out of his thoughts and he almost laughed at Veronica's words. He had forgotten that she was following him into the place - but that was easy to forget. Anyone looking at the Whyte Wyrm would never for a moment imagine that someone like Veronica would ever find her way in there. Kevin felt safer somehow - If anyone survived it was Veronica. Even people in leather jackets who probably carried guns would be scared of her.

Kevin held back a whimper. Guns. Yes, he was totally going to get shot. Or stabbed. Or…

"Well, this is it," Jughead said, coming to a stop. Kevin moved forward, standing between Betty and Veronica, his eyes falling on a table full of gifts and he frowned, crossing his arms across his chest and becoming very aware that the shirt and sweater he had decided to wear was so out of place there. Why didn't he wear a t-shirt and jacket instead?

"I don't understand," Kevin hissed. "Did they steal these? Are we in the middle of a Grinch-style heist?"

Betty nudged him in the ribs at the comment and Kevin quickly shut up. It was talk like that which would lead to his inevitable demise. He looked at the people who were wrapping the presents, his eyes moving across the group. As he reached the last person, Kevin's eyes widened. Staring back was easily the most gorgeous man he had ever seen in his life. Pale-blue eyes were fixed intently on him and delicious-looking lips were curved up into a smirk.

Kevin was transfixed by the lips. He could almost imagine them… he gave his head a little shake. No, he told himself. He wasn't going to have thoughts like that about a Southside Serpent, no matter how dreamy the guy was or how perfect his eyes were and no matter how intense his gaze was or how perfect his lips were.

"You all know Toni," Jughead said, interrupting his thoughts. Kevin had never been more glad for Jughead. He managed to tear his gaze away from the guy, glancing at Toni instead. She looked up at the sound of her name, smiling warily at the group. Kevin smiled back, thankful that he had met her before. Without the issue of there being any Toni/Jughead/Betty love-triangle, he could really like Toni.

"And these are Sweetpea and Joaquin."

Kevin's gaze landed on Sweetpea for only a moment before he turned back to the blue-eyed stranger. Those eyes were on him again and Kevin wasn't sure whether to be scared or flattered. Joaquin's eyes flicked down his body for a moment, taking in the shirt and jumper and the completely out of place look and the smirk widened.

Kevin couldn't help but do the same, glancing at the leather jacket, the tight jeans and meeting those blue eyes again, wondering if he had made a good impression or a terrible one.

"A little lost, aren't you, Preppy?" Joaquin asked, a hint of mocking in his tone.

Kevin straightened up, his heart skipping a beat at the voice. It was just as gorgeous as the man himself and the accent… Kevin would be thinking about that in the shower for the next month.. "Not if there's charity work," he replied, glad his voice was steady.

"My friends are here to help out," Jughead explained.

Two of the three serpents looked slightly wary, but Kevin was sure that Archie and Veronica had similar expressions on their faces. His gaze drifted back to Joaquin who hadn't looked away from him and gave a slight shrug of what Kevin suspected to be very muscular shoulders.

"Sure. Preppy, you're with me," Joaquin said, turning back to his job. Kevin looked at Jughead who gave him an encouraging nod, before stepping forward. He was there now so it was best to play nicely with the scary biker gang who could be murderers. Anything to get out of there alive.

Anything to hear more of Joaquin's voice.

"Betty, you work with Sweetpea and Veronica with Toni. Me and Archie will set up a space at the end of the table." Kevin tried to hide a smile at the idea of Veronica and Toni working together. They could get along really well… or there would be a fight that would have every straight man in the place watching. He wondered if Joaquin would like to see that.

Or maybe hoping that Joaquin would rather watch him was just wishful thinking.

"I bet you have a lot of experience wrapping gifts," Joaquin murmured, his gaze moving over Kevin again as Kevin moved around the table to stand next to him.

"Some," Kevin confirmed, uncertain now. There was a soft edge to the serpent's tone and Kevin didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He reached for a roll of wrapping paper, but Joaquin's hand smacked down on the roll, holding it in place.

"You have to work your way up to the paper," he murmured. "You hold and I'll stick."

Kevin nodded. He wasn't about to argue with someone in a biker gang after all. He was going to play it safe and hope he did a good enough job to survive and keep his liver inside of his body.

The group set to work in silence and the pair quickly developed a system with Kevin grabbing the presents, Joaquin wrapping and Kevin holding the paper in place. Finally the first stack was finished and Toni called for a break and a drink.

"You smoke, Preppy?" Joaquin asked, pulling out a packet of cigarettes.

Kevin hesitated. Stay inside with the scary bikers or walk outside and possibly get his wallet stolen by the hottest gang member to ever exist whilst smoking.

"I can try," he said, glad that Joaquin grinned at the reply. A hand found his back, leading him towards the door.

"Come on then," Joaquin murmured softly.

...oOo...

One pull of the cigarette and Kevin tried not to splutter at the taste. Spluttering was not cool - spluttering was the opposite of cool and would not impress someone like Joaquin.

"So, who is he?"

The question took Kevin by surprise. "What? Who?"

"Your ex."

"What makes you think my ex is a he?" Kevin asked nervously.

"You don't look like the sort to have a beard," Joaquin murmured teasingly. "Don't you worry, Preppy, I'm not going to hurt you. Don't look so scared."

"I'm not scared," Kevin replied. "No ex. A few closet cases but no ex. Why? Do I look hung up on someone?"

Joaquin shook his head, a smirk on his lips once more. "No. Just wanted to make sure I was right. You'll find I'm not a closet case."

Kevin tilted his head slightly, considering the words. "You're straight?" he asked, unsure what Joaquin meant.

"Out," Joaquin said, bringing the cigarette to his lips and taking a long drag. "I'll level with you, Preppy. I don't usually go for your sort... but you've got something about you that I like."

"Is that a good thing?" Kevin checked.

"Very good," Joaquin said. The cigarette fell to the ground and Joaquin used the heel of his boot to make sure it was out before taking a step towards Kevin. His gaze dragged down Kevin's body once more and Kevin took a step back, his back hitting the side of the Whyte Wyrm.

Hands came up, boxing him in. "What you thinking, Preppy?" Joaquin asked softly, tongue flicking out, running over his lips.

Kevin debated what to do. He could tell Joaquin to kiss him, he could run away…

He brought his hands up, fisting them into the dark blue t-shirt that Joaquin was wearing and yanked him closer. His head ducked down and his lips were on those of the shorter man.

...oOo...

Kevin didn't care that his hair was a mess, as he walked back inside ahead of Joaquin. There were a few whistles which put him at ease. People knew what had happened and they weren't coming at them with knives and pitchforks or shouting homophobic slurs.

"Drink, Preppy?" Joaquin asked, coming up beside Kevin.

"Sure. A coke please."

Joaquin chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds about right," he replied. His hand brushed over Kevin's arse as he turned to leave.

"Kevin!" Veronica hissed as Joaquin walked away. "What are you doing… no. What were you thinking?"

"Huh?" Kevin turned his attention away from Joaquin's arse to look at his friend.

"You and a serpent?" Veronica hissed. "I was worried when you went out there! You can't… you gotta put a whole lot of gone between you and a guy like that!"

Kevin gave a little shrug. "A guy like that doesn't hide who he is," Kevin replied softly. "At least with him, I won't be hanging out with someone who desperately claims to be straight, but hey, let's fool around."

"Well, I'm happy for you," Betty replied, her hand resting on Kevin's wrist.

"You know I am too," Veronica offered. "I just want to make sure you're safe. I mean, he's in a gang."

"So is Jughead," Kevin pointed out. "And he's our friend. Plus Toni and Sweetpea seem alright. He could be the Danny to my Sandy. The bad-boy with the good heart…"

"End game?" Betty suggested, smiling happily at him.

Kevin gave a slight shrug and couldn't help but smile. "We'll see."

They all glanced over at the bar and Kevin caught Joaquin's gaze once more. Yes. End game.

His father was going to freak out, but that was future-Kevin's problem.

2105 words