"I've never heard you once say that you love him," FP gets her to halt at the door. She turns around to face him. He carefully takes a step in her direction. "Do you love him?"
"I'm marrying him." Alice is not going to let him change her mind. She came to say what she had to say and that was that.
"Do you love him?" He asks again, refusing to let her walk away without giving him an answer.
"I'm not doing this with you." She opens the door.
"Do you love me?" He dares to ask.
She can not look back at him, at that look she knows is on his face. She knows that if she does, she will cry too. She steps out, and with that parts way with him for the next twenty years.
+
"Dad?" FP's son pushes the trailer door open. He pokes his head in and looks around. He finds him in the kitchen, bottle to his lips and hand over his eyes.
"Dad, we talked about this." Jughead, irritated, yanks it from his hands.
FP grunts.
"Why aren't you ready?" Jughead tosses the drink in the sink. "You promised."
"I'm not going," FP stands up and shuffles to his room. "I'm meeting the Serpents at the Wyrm."
"You can't do one measly thing for me, can you?" He blocks him. "It's not like I'm asking you to bother to fix your marriage anymore. I'm begging you to, for once, put me first."
"The hell are you talking about? I always put you kids first."
Jughead crosses his arms and glares at him. "Yeah, I'll make sure to tell JB that the next time I see her."
"Hey, your mom left us. She took JB from us."
"I wonder why," Jughead grinds through his teeth.
FP glares at him.
"What?" He scoffs. "Just because you let your wife down doesn't mean you have to make me let my girlfriend down. She's counting on me to bring you over for dinner. Is that too much to ask?"
"I don't mix with those Coopers. You do as you please," FP shoves past him and grabs his Serpent jacket from the chair in his room. "But I'm not going."
Jughead grabs him by the collar as he walks by again. "If you walk out that door I will never forgive you."
FP shoves his hand off.
"You know damn well that this is the last chance I'm giving you before giving up on you for good. Is this really how you want to waste it?"
FP shakes his head and shrugs off his jacket. "You have no idea what you're asking me to put up with, boy." He turns on his heel and marches back to his room to get changed.
+
Jughead parks the truck in front of the Cooper house. FP spent the last hour sobering up for the dinner.
Jughead turns to his dad. "Be good."
"I'm doing this for you and your girl," FP pushes the passenger door open. "Keep that in mind."
FP and Jughead knock on the front door. The door pulls open and Betty comes out to greet them. "Juggie!" She hugs him. She looks over at FP. "You must be Mr. Jones. It's nice to finally meet you."
"You must be Betty," FP shakes her hand.
"Elizabeth Cooper, future novelist." Betty proudly smiles. "Come in. Come in. The table is all set.
She reminds him of a certain blonde woman.
Betty yanks Jughead along with her. FP follows behind and shuts the door.
The kids take their seats. Betty's sister joins them at the table. FP takes his time. He has yet to cross paths with Alice and her husband. He's soaking it in for as long as he can.
FP takes the seat next to his son. Betty normally sat next to her boyfriend, but he had told her how nervous he was for this dinner. She wants to make him feel comfortable in their home so she gives him her spot. Betty is at her sister's side.
FP glances over at the kitchen. A quick look felt like years flooding back at him. Hal and Alice.
Hal dips Alice in his arms and kisses her. FP looks away. Hal stands Alice up straight and pecks another kiss on her cheek before landing in his chair at the dining table. He doesn't notice her unhappiness.
FP avoids looking at Hal. He looks into the kitchen again. They lock eyes for a brief second. Alice grabs the casserole and carries it to the table, placing it in between the young couple. She then sits.
"Smells delicious, Mrs. C." Jughead hungrily takes in the homemade scent. He's certain she's the only source for his homemade meal these days.
"Thank you, Forsythe."
"Mom, he prefers Jughead." Betty reminds her.
Jughead awkwardly smiles. "If you don't mind, please."
"You never did tell us how you got the nickname, son." Hal speaks up. "It's a bit...unique, isn't it?"
"My dad gave it to me when I was a kid. It kinda just stuck with me after that."
"Where did you come up with that, FP?" Hal turns to look at the man.
"You know each other?" Betty looks at them confused.
"We were on the football team together." Hal explains. "It's been a long time, no see, Jones."
"Back at ya, Cooper." FP plays nice.
"I see that Jughead's mother couldn't join us. Maybe we'll get a chance to have her next time," Alice directs at FP.
"I don't think we'll be doing that any time soon," FP knows what she's trying to do. She wants to poke him a bit, but he's not going to let her. "We're separated. It's just my boy and I." FP places a hand on his shoulder. Jughead tries to smile the tension away. Why did he feel tension?
"Why is that?" Alice continues to prod.
"Mom," Betty embarrassedly scolds her.
"Irreconcilable differences," He shrugs nonchalantly. "Sometimes we just pick the wrong person to spend the rest of our lives with. Don't we?"
"My parents were high school sweethearts," Polly says. "I hope to have that too, but that means I have to meet someone either this year or next year at the latest."
"Relax, pumpkin. The right young man will come at the right time." Hal tells her.
"Why don't we dig in?" Jughead says, in hopes of straying away from the sudden tension.
"You're always hungry," Betty giggles.
They serve themselves dinner and begin to eat. The kids do most of the talking. For Jughead's sake, FP tries to remain quiet, but with Hal trying to make conversation with him, it's hard to ignore him.
"Care for a glass of wine?" He holds the bottle up. "It's Alice's favorite."
Jughead eyes his father. He hopes he declines. This is no good for his drinking problem. Of course the Coopers don't know that, he didn't think it was any of their business.
"I'm going to have to politely decline. I'm driving my son home after dinner." FP excuses himself.
"One glass won't do you any harm. You'll sober up by then." Hal insists. "What do you say?"
Alice takes the Joneses by surprise by stepping in. "Hal, if he doesn't want any, he doesn't want any. That just means there's more for me."
Alice may not know about his alcoholism, but she knows what feelings he shares towards alcohol.
Hal pours himself more wine. FP passes the wine to Alice for him. She refills her glass instantly. She needs it to get through this dinner.
+
Jughead joins Betty, Polly, and their father in the living room where they chat. FP takes the chance to join Alice in the kitchen so they can talk privately.
He leans against the counter next to her. She stops what she's doing to look at him. "May I help you?"
"Maybe."
"What do you want now, FP?"
"An answer."
"To what?"
"You know exactly what. Do you love him?"
Alice shakes her head in disbelief. They couldn't be having this argument again. "We're not doing this again. Not here."
"I get it, you're married. Don't you think I know that?"
"Then quit it."
"I just want my answer. You never gave it to me."
"We're not doing this, Forsythe. This is about the kids now, not us. Our mistakes are history."
"They weren't all mistakes." FP is quick to shoot back.
"It's all in the past. Drop it."
"You don't want to admit that you don't love him." FP tells her. "I see how you look at him. You're unhappy. He doesn't satisfy you."
"He is my husband." She glares at him.
"When was the last time he slept with you."
"I'm not just going to tell you that. That's personal."
"Is he even good to you?"
"Go home, FP."
"You're still hot, Alice. It's too bad you let him change you. You're not even yourself anymore." He shakes his head. "You're in there somewhere, Al. I know it. Are you ever going to drop this charade?"
"Leave."
"Give me my answer and I'll leave. I'll never bother you again." FP inches closer. "Do you love him?"
"I don't love you," Alice forces herself to say. She wants him to go away. She can't do this anymore. She can't keep pretending.
"You don't mean that."
"I don't love you."
"That's not what I asked."
"No, but it's what you really want to ask."
"Why do you try to hurt me?"
"Like you never hurt me," Alice snarls. "When I lost you, I... I lost a special part of us that I'll never get back. You don't understand."
"We could have had it all if you had left him when I asked you to."
Alice feels a lump in her throat. "Maybe things could have been different." She shrugs. "Just maybe."
There is a silence.
"I hate you too, Alice." FP swipes away a stray tear. He places a hand over hers. "I hate you a lot."
"I hate you too, FP." Her lip quivers. "I hate you a lot more."