Falice One Shots by falicewins

A Lover Or A Friend?

It's a quiet night in Riverdale, with the only sounds that are being made are by FP Jones, who's cleaning the counter at Pop's. Once again, he was working the midnight shift. It was no party, but at least he got to work it with his best friend; Hermione Gomez.

At first sight, the two of them had nothing in common. She was a well-behaved Catholic girl from the Northside and came from a rich family, while he was the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, having to scrape by to even make dinner.

But no matter their differences, they always had a connection. Maybe it were those differences that made them so drawn to one another, as they pulled them out of their own little world and showed something entirely different. And the odd thing was, Hermione was one of the only girls FP had never tried to hit on. Not because he didn't think she was pretty, but because somehow he knew that he shouldn't.

From the very first moment he had spoken to her, he felt that she was going to be a friend for life. She was sweet, understanding, calm. FP was hot-tempered, held his grudges and had a big mouth most of the time. And still, they felt like family to one another.

He made sure that nobody would ever mess with her and in return she made sure that he always had a listening ear. Especially when it came to Alice, whom he fought and made up with the most. She didn't understand anything about their relationship, but she would swear that her advice had saved them more times than FP cared to admit.

They were simply best friends. Chosen family, he'd say. And so he picked up on the change in Hermione's mood instantly. Pop's was empty (which was no surprise, at three in the morning) and she had slid into one of the booths. She stared out of the window, thinking about anything but the job she was supposed to do right now.

FP stopped cleaning the counter and threw the cloth away, as he looked at his friend. She wasn't fine, that he knew.

"Mione? You okay there?" He asked her, his voice filled with concern. No response.

FP sighed quietly and made her a strawberry milkshake (a classic Hermione drink), and walked over to the booth where she had settled, to slid in next to her.

"Here, drink up. Looks like you need it." He placed the shake in front of her with a wink.

Hermione looked a little bewildered, as her bubble of thoughts had been burst. She gave him a warm smile. At moments like this, she was grateful that he could sense her mood so perfectly.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" FP urged on a little bit, his voice soft.

Hermione looked down at her hands, and fiddled with her nails nervously. If there was one person on the planet that she trusted, then it was FP. But this was a secret she was scared to admit to herself, let alone say out loud to her best friend. She had known him since the first day of high school, but were those three years of tight friendship a guarantee that he wouldn't look at her differently once she told him the truth?

He saw the way her eyes glossed over and instantly wrapped his arm around his friend. "Hey, I am starting to get worried about you. Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?" He frowned worriedly as he felt the nerves in his body rise.

"No, no. That's not it. Don't worry about it, I am just having a bad night. I want to go home and go to bed," She smiled a little uncomfortable and shoved her shake aside. She didn't have an appetite.

"Hey, you wanted to be independent." He joked, making her laugh. It was true, she had taken the job to make some of her own money, instead of always holding up her hand.

"Besides, you're working with me. It's not going to be more fun than this." FP said to lighten the mood, and to remind her that working together (even when nobody was there to order anything) wasn't as bad as it sounded.