Falice Oneshots | Volume 2

Comfort

* 4x08 SPOILERS *

It's a slow day at the office, lots of paperwork, so the last thing he expects is Alice bursting into his office sobbing uncontrollably.

He's up in an instant. "Alice?" She drops her purse at her feet and hurries over to him, falling into his arms when he opens them for her. He holds her tight, rubbing her back and stroking her hair to try and calm her down. "What happened, Al?"

She pulls back a little to look at him. "Betty, she-she, therapy, I messed up, I'm awful, I-" she's hiccuping through her tears as she tries to explain what happened.

He shakes his head and pulls her back to him, pressing a kiss to her head. "Shhh." He rests his head atop hers as she trembles in his arms. "Breathe for me, baby." He sways back and forth as he comforts her, trying to soothe her. 

She relaxes a little and rests against him, just breathing him in and letting herself be comforted by the only person who knows how to help. He knows her so well, sometimes she thinks he knows better than she knows herself.

"Are you okay?" He asks softly. She shakes her head and sniffles. He presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Sit down." He gestures to the chair in front of his desk and she obliges.

He turns away for a moment to grab his water bottle and when he turns back to her he sees her clenching her fists, digging her nails into her palms

He frowns and kneels down in front of her. He doesn't say a word as he pries her hand open, replacing it with his own so she can dig her nails into his hand instead. He hands her the water bottle. "Take a drink, Al, then tell me what happened if you're ready to."

She takes a long sip of water and fiddles with the label to keep from digging her nails into her palms. "I told you about this morning already, and that I was going to see the therapist to learn how to talk to Betty." He nods. "When I got there Betty was already there talking to her."

"I'm guessing that didn't go over well."

She shakes her head, feeling FP rubbing his thumbs over her skin. "I joined them and Betty started listing off every single thing I did to her, how I abandoned her for the farm, how I didn't tell her I was undercover, how I gave away her college fund. Every single thing."

"You couldn't tell anyone about the whole farm situation, Alice. Don't beat yourself up about that."

"Betty doesn't get that though, in her eyes I abandoned her, and she's not wrong."

"Alice-"

"I said something awful." She whispers. "I hate myself for it, I can't even believe I said it, I don't know why I said it." She starts crying again and FP raises his hands to hold her face, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. Her own hands come up to hold his forearms, needing to be touching him so she doesn't completely fall apart. "I told her I love her more than Polly and Charles. I told her I love her the most. I mean what kind of mother says that? I'm not supposed to say that, I'm not supposed to love one more than the other."

"Al-"

"I'm the worst mother in the world, FP. I deserve her hating me, I deserve Polly hating me, I deserve Charles hating me. I don't deserve their love."

She tires to look away but he turns her head back to him. "Hey you listen to me, you are a good mom, Alice. You're the best mom I know. You love your kids so much, hell, you love my kids just as much. You are a good person, you deserve their love, you deserve all the love in the world."

"I don't-"

"Yes you do." He assures her. "Things with Polly are rough, she's not herself right now, she's not the person you raised. And Charles? You're scared he's going to leave your life again. I know you love all of your kids equally, but right now Betty is the only consistent one you have and you're trying to hold onto her so she doesn't leave too."

"I just... I can't lose her, FP."

"And you won't. She loves you too, Alice. You're not going to lose her." She's quiet for a moment. "Is there something else?"

"I feel like my world is crashing down, I feel like I'm falling apart at the seams." She chokes out. "I'm broken."

"That's okay." He tells her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm here to help put you back together."

"I don't want to be a burden."

He shakes his head. "You're not a burden, I promise you." He pulls back and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I love you, you know that right?" 

"I know." She smiles softly, her eyes still gleaming with tears. "I love you too." She leans in and presses a kiss to his lips, which he happily accepts. "I'm sorry, I took you away from your work."

"It's just paperwork, don't worry." He tells her, pecking another kiss to her lips before standing up. He pulls over his desk chair next to hers and curls his arm around her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "Besides, even if it was something more, you and the kids are always my number one priority."