Living Next Door To Alice

15/ A Night Under The Stars

"Why did Polly ran away in the first place, if you don't mind me asking?" He had heard the argument in the hall that was mostly about Alice dating someone new, but that couldn't be all, could it? She had looked way too upset for that.

Alice looked at him, his eyes so soft and innocent as he met hers. She knew he had heard a few things, there was no need to lie or conceal what had lead to the outburst.

"She heard from Archie that we kissed..." Alice said slowly, not sure how to finish that sentence. It was almost impossible to tell the man she really liked that her daughter wasn't on board.

"Sorry, that is my bad. I should have told him that was supposed to be a secret." FP avoided looking at her and tried to play it cool, which was why he couldn't see the change in her eyes the second those words left his mouth.

"Do you want that? For it to be a secret?" Her voice was quiet and soft and when he finally turned his head to look at her he stopped in his tracks.

This was getting serious now and he didn't want to screw up by saying the wrong thing and upset her even more.

"I don't, Al.... but I think you do. Or am I wrong?" He asked softly, his eyes sad.

It broke her heart seeing him like that. She knew how it had sounded what she had said, but she didn't want to hide her possible feelings towards him. That was the reason why she had never completely denied that something had happened between them.

"Hey, you're not a secret to me. I thought you knew that." She said sadly, trying to catch his eyes as he had still trouble looking directly at her without tearing up.

He took a deep breath and decided to share what he had heard the day Polly left.

"When Fred and I went to get some take-out we overheard the things you said to Polly. About how you'd tell her if things were serious." He shrugged a little, but Alice knew that she had hurt him.

She didn't blame him for being upset about that, she would have felt the same in his shoes and wished that the timing would have been different. She was confused, and now both FP and Polly were becoming a victim.

"I thought you meant that it wasn't worth mentioning. Don't get me wrong, I know we've only been on one date... I just figured that wasn't supposed to be a secret."

"It really sounded that way, huh?" Alice said quietly, looking at her shoes and mentally cursing that she had said those words out loud.

It had been an instinct to ease the situation between her and her daughter, and in the unlucky moment the only one who shouldn't have heard her had passed by. How could she be honest to both FP and Polly without hurting one of them?

"It's alright. I get it." FP smiled sadly and wanted to continue to walk, but Alice held him back with her hand. He turned around again and was met with her serious eyes.

"The only reason why I didn't tell my daughters about our date is because they have been through so many changes already.... especially Polly. You saw how she reacted."

Though she knew it was a lame excuse, she wanted him to know that her being secretive about it had nothing to do with him, but with her urge to protect her kids.

"I didn't want to be the screw-up Mom after a divorce but clearly that is what I am becoming." She let out a sad scoff and crossed her arms, her gaze breaking from his.

Ever since they had told the kids they were getting a divorce, Alice had tried everything to make it better for them. But now she felt like she had only made bad choices. However, FP wasn't going to let her talk about herself that way.