Falice 2

New Man

"What if I used my truck?" FP walked out of her old bedroom. He turned it into an office after she moved out to dorm with her friends. He embraced her into a tight hug and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Hi, sweetheart. I didn't know you were coming this weekend."

"Can't a girl just stop by and take her dad to lunch every now and then?"

"I'd love to. I just wasn't expecting to see you until next weekend."

"Great. Are you ready to go? There's that diner around the corner I know you like to go to. Reminds you a little of back home, doesn't it?"

"It's no Pop's but it isn't half bad."

Once settled into the diner he asked her what she was really up to. He loved the opportunity to spend time with her so he couldn't say no, but he knew it had to be more than a spontaneous lunch with her old man. Looking up from his menu, "So why did you really take me out today? You didn't miss me that much."

"You know I'll always miss you."

"JB," FP gave her a knowing look. He wanted the real answer.

"Okay, fine. Jughead called and told me about your last conversation." She watched him put down the menu and lean back against the booth. "And I think he's right. Why are you so afraid to go back?"

"You need me."

"Dad, I'll always need you, but we both know I don't need you in the same way I did two years ago. Why are you scared? She loves you. It was hard for you both when we left. Those feelings don't just magically disappear."

"What if she's happy now? I can't be selfish and take that away from her again."

"It's selfish not to try. She was the happiest I've ever seen her when you two were together. So were you." Jellybean pointed out more firmly this time. "Even mom's found somebody. He's not exactly our favorite guy, but she's got him and they've been dating practically since our move here."

FP let out a sigh. "Maybe you kids are right."

"We are right and you know it. Look, you don't have to move back immediately if you're not ready, but take a couple of days, test it out. Don't you owe it to yourselves to have that again?"

__

Alice had recently picked up a couple of shifts down at the Whyte Wyrm to assist Fangs at the bar while Toni was out on bed rest with their newborn.

She originally only agreed to doing it to help out her Serpent friends in need, but the more nights she did it the more she found some joy in it. She felt like she was one of the Serpents again. She felt so alive.

She spent quite some time at the bar. It was her only given opportunity to get back to her southside roots. It was also a nice distraction from reality. There was so much to worry about outside of this little world of hers. A couple of drinks in and she couldn't burst her own bubble for the rest of the night. Including on one particular night ahead of her.

FP had taken the advice of his children and packed a suitcase for a trip back to his hometown for a couple of days. If things went well he would consider coming back permanently.

The drive had been a doozy, but not too bad. He just didn't like being on the road for hours and all alone. He didn't give anyone in town a heads up about his visit. Jughead knew he was heading back, but since he was still out of town he wouldn't be able to catch up to him for a few more days.

So much had changed since he was last in town. The only thing that remained close to timeless was the heart of the town, Pop's. Other than the fact that Pop retired he found the diner to still feel like it once did.