Falice 2

Soft Underbelly

The last couple of weeks have been nothing but a lack of bliss. FP had been stuck behind bars, still trying to hold onto the glimmer of hope of getting out. He knew he was still held accountable for his doing in the Jason Blossom matter, but he didn't want to spend his life in a prison.

He got a couple of visits from his son. He was always happy to see him, but he knew his boy wasn't comfortable in such a place. Everyone was too intimidating for his liking. FP, regardless, appreciated his visits. He liked checking in on how he was doing with his foster family.

He wasn't his only visitor though. Much more recently he had the pleasure of speaking to a certain blonde. Alice took the time out of her day to secretly come and see him when she could.

FP was stunned when she first came. He wouldn't have expected her of all people to come pay him a visit, considering the last time they spoke to each other. They were at each other's throats.

It has come to be a regular occurrence and he looked forward to seeing her. It was nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't his son. There were things he would rather not discuss with him as his father.

"How was your last meeting?"

FP had mentioned how he got himself into the AA program for his journey towards sobriety. He was starting to turn his life around before his arrest. He wasn't going to let this destroy his progress. "It was great. I really do think that if I get out of here I will stay away from the bottle."

Alice frowned. She didn't like hearing if. "I think you mean once."

FP let out a sad sigh. "I don't want to get my hopes up."

"FP, you will get out of here. We're doing everything we can."

"I know, but what if it's not enough?" FP had taught himself to face the truth. A man from his background didn't get much luck in these kinds of things. She watched his face grow soft. His sad eyes matched his lack of faith. "I'm going to be stuck in here for quite some time."

"We're not giving up. You don't deserve to be in here."

"Alice, can I ask you something?" She quietly waited for him to continue. "Why did you come visit me? It's not that I don't enjoy your presence." He clarified almost instantly. "It's just that, I don't think I deserve your company."

"Because believe it or not I care about you. It's not fair that you have to get punished for what Clifford did to his own son."

"Maybe it was my punishment for being such a rotten father," FP lowly said. "Just like my old man."

Alice's face softened. "You're not a bad father. Hell, you're in here because you're a great one. You were protecting Jughead. You could never be like your dad. You know that, don't you?"

"Alice, I could have honestly been a few drinks away from falling too far." The look on his face broke her heart. He wasn't one to open up so easily, but with her it was different. He knew she could understand him. "Who's to say I hadn't?"

"FP," She placed her hand on the glass keeping them apart. "Look at me." He shifted his eyes slowly to her. "You're not your father. Never in a million years could you be. There's so much good in you."

"How? I screw everything up."

"You don't," She assured him. "Some things happen for a reason and some of those things are to make us stronger. Look at you, you're sober. You're a good father. Jughead knows that. I know that. You have put yourself back together just fine. That's what matters. Forget about the other things."

"Would you have forced yourself to forget about me if I hadn't changed who I was?"

"I love..." Alice took a slight pause in the middle of her sentence to remember to breathe. "I love the person you are in your heart. The real version of yourself. It's what admire about you when I can't seem to appreciate that about myself."