Falice One Shots by falicewins

One Of Us [Collab with Celine_CooperJones]

An engagement party was the last place on earth he wanted to be, and yet that was exactly what the person on the other line was asking from in. He had seen the feisty girl growing up from a young twelve year old who loved to build tree houses, to a woman who was about to marry the love of her life.

However, her invitation to come celebrate this event with them meant going back to Riverdale. And if he was being honest with himself, he was terrified to go back. Not only because of the people he might run into there, but more so because of all the memories that would come back to him, after successfully ignoring the pain that came with those special moments. They were long gone, and he knew he wasn't strong enough to face that.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Toni." FP said a little reluctantly, hoping to find a new, unsuspicious way to back out.

How was he supposed to celebrate love when he felt like every bubble of a beautiful love story was about to burst eventually? Though, this was Toni Topaz he was talking to. Besides that, she knew him as good as he knew her and she wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.

"You've seen me grow up, FP. I'm only marrying once. I really want you there." She pleaded, the disappointment in her voice clearly noticeable.

It wasn't as if she was oblivious about why FP wasn't eager to come, she knew, and she understood, but this wasn't about him. This was about her finally proposing to Cheryl in a world where that wasn't always easy. She wanted to celebrate the kind of love they had even more than anything else in the world. And FP was a father figure to her, she needed him there more than anyone.

FP sighed silently and let out a small chuckle. "Alright. I can't say no to you, can I? I'll be there." There formed a small smile on his face.

Toni was right, he couldn't not show. That wouldn't be fair and he was man enough not to let his own ego stand in the way. His anxiety to come back to Riverdale and face what he was so afraid of was his problem. He shouldn't let down the people he had always called his family.

"Promise?" FP could hear the smile on her face.

And though it was a simple question that seemed unnecessary, he knew that once he'd agree, he really couldn't go back anymore. It was a Serpent law that he intended to honor.

"Promise." And FP Jones never broke a promise. Except one, to the one person he never thought he would hurt again.

How it'd had ever escalated to this, was a mystery he still tried to figure out. It took all the light out of the milestones in his life, the happiness of the small things, which he now had to experience all alone. He wanted to let go, but no bone in his body would ever be able to.

And that's how he ended up in his truck, cruising through the streets of the town he used to know so well. Before he knew it, he drove past an old familiar house, one that he had once called home himself, as if his intuition had driven him there.

The last time he had been behind the bright red door, it had been anything but perfect. It's a day he found himself reliving more often than he'd like. The look on her face, the words that slipped from her lips, the tears she shed, the tears that he shed, all of it haunted even his most pleasant dreams.

**

It was as if every single emotion they had been bottling up finally came to a head, as if their picture perfect life was being torn apart, as if fate was saying one last f-you to them. How foolish to think that their bubble of bliss would never burst, like it had always done before?

As she looked at him, he could read something he had never seen before. It seemed as if she was trying with everything she had in her to act cold, but he knew her well enough to see that she was about to break. He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her that he was sorry, that everything is going to be okay, that they are going to be okay. Comfort her and soothe her in the way only he knows how. But the time for that has passed, something evident to both of them.