Living Next Door To Alice

35/ Taking Chances

"Yeah, something like that. Would you be okay with that?" His hands rubbed up and down her back.

"If that's gives you the opportunity to do something you've always dreamed of then we'll manage." She promised, and held him a little closer.

"Really? You think so?" He asked softly, part of him still hoping that she'd ask him to stay while the other part was getting excited about having such an amazing job.

"We can do this, I know we can." She said confident, and this time truly smiled up at him. FP smirked as well. It was because of her words that he truly believed that this would work out, that he could have both.

"God, I love you so much." He breathed out, before passionately kissing her.

**
The next morning, Alice had helped Fred making breakfast as FP prepared everything they needed for their meeting that afternoon..

"Hey, should we throw you a going away party? This needs to be celebrated, don't you think?" said Fred suddenly. He was really proud of FP for taking this opportunity.

"I could say no but I know for sure that you will do it anyway." He chuckled, and grabbed a piece of toast.

"Feels like we had an awful lot of those." He mumbled, shaking his head a little. The last time they had thrown him a party it had been because he was leaving to Toledo. Things were different now, but it still felt a little strange.

"But this time it's a happy occasion." smiled Fred, reminding him that those things weren't the same.

"I'm going to check on Polly, to see if she's up for a walk." said Alice absentmindedly, as she shoved her plate with toast to the side and grabbed her jacket without a second look.

"That was weird... she was okay with it, wasn't she?" Fred eyed FP. He had told him that they had talked about it and that she was on board, which didn't seem like it.

"Yeah, she would have told me if she wasn't. Maybe she had a headache." He shrugged, not seeing the signs of how upset she truly was.

**

Alice walked into her own apartment, where Polly and Sweet Pea where on the couch together, giving Daisy her bottle.

"Honey, I am going to the park. Care to join me?" She smiled weakly.

Polly looked at her boyfriend, who gave her an assuring nod.

"Go, I will put Daisy to sleep." He kissed her cheek and took their daughter out of her arms to craddle her into his own arms.

Polly smiled gratefully and grabbed her jacket to follow her mother outside. All the way towards the park she didn't say anything. Something was definitely off.

"Is everything alright, Mom? Where are you with your head?" Polly broke the silence as they made their way through Pickens Park.

"FP is moving to L.A. for a year." She said quietly, her eyes filling with tears as she said those words out loud once more.

"Wait, what? Seriously? Why?" asked Polly confused as she grabbed her Mom's arm to stop her in her tracks.

"For work. Fred gave him the lead to a new big project." said Alice sadly, already sniffling.

"And are you okay with long distance?" She asked carefully, even when she could read the answer in her eyes.

"I don't want him to go, Polly." Alice cried silently, for the first time surrendering of this building sadness inside her.

"Oh, Mom... come here." Polly embraced her mother tightly, and she immediately clutched her daughter's jacket in her hand, not wanting to let go as she sobbed quietly.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't dump this on you. You've got enough on your plate." Alice pulled back with a shaky voice and wiped away the tears that streamed down her cheek.

"If you don't want him to, why don't you tell him? Can't you be honest?" Polly softly caressed her mother's hair.

"I want him to follow his dreams, I really do! Telling him that I want him to stay here with me is selfish. I just need to power through." Alice took a deep breath in, as if that would get rid of all she was feeling.

"Does he know how much you care?" Again, Polly knew that this was something her Mom always did, but her relationship with FP was different then the one she once had with her Dad, right? They were open and honest with each other, weren't they?

"I guess so... that is pretty obvious, isn't it?" Alice sniffed, and wiped her cheeks dry with her gloves.

"We're talking about FP here.... I think you need to be clear about how you feel about this, not assuming he magically knows." Polly said softly. After getting so close with him she knew a little that things weren't as easy as they were with others. FP needed clarity.

"I don't think I can, honey." Alice cried quietly, knowing that if she did, she might risk losing him.