[Another stand alone one shot placed here instead]
_____
The Serpent King is FP Jones's biggest enemy. It didn't help that said southside royalty was also his own father, Forsythe Pendleton Jones; the man he is unfortunately named after.
Unlike his father, he wishes to take no part in the Southside Serpents. This decision often resulted in their ongoing feud. Forsythe couldn't get through to his son, and vice versa.
Forsythe slams his son up against the wall. FP turns his face away from him; he hates the stench of hard liquor that his father always reeks of. His father forces him to look at him by taking his chin into his hand.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
"I'm not going to do it." FP refuses his same demand over and over again. It's no different than before.
"You're expected to go through your initiation whether you like it or not. You have to learn to take over for me one day."
"I'm not going to let you groom me into being your second in command," FP shakes his head. "I don't care about the damn fucking mantle. I'm not going to be one of you! You can give me your stupid name for all I care, but I'm not going to become you!"
"Are you talking back to me, boy?"
"Let me go."
Forsythe pins him down on the table. He eyes FP's Bulldogs jacket on the chair.
FP had come home from football practice not too long ago. With their championship game coming up, he has put a lot of effort in keeping up his winning streak. He single-handedly lead the team to victory against the Raven Baxters last week. He has a lot to offer on the field.
He practiced every day after school. He wants to impress the scouts; he was told they would be at the playoffs for him. He has a real, good shot at pursuing scholarships. His coach has set up meetings with college recruiters left and right, but he's never mentioned a word of this to his father. He is certain that the second the man finds out, he will do everything in his power to talk him out of it -- rather, ruin it for him by any means necessary to keep his options limited.
Forsythe grabs it and holds it above him. "This? This is what you want?" He venomously spits. "This isn't meant for you. I raised you as a southsider. You're a Serpent by blood. The least you can do is honor our lineage."
"Since when are you father of the year?"
"You're going through with the initiation or you're dead to me!"
"Lucky for you, I'm already halfway there for option two!"
"Even that damn whore of yours, what's her name?" Forsythe thinks out loud. "Smithy, yeah, yeah that smart mouth blondie. She brings us more honor than you ever could. It's too bad she doesn't rub it off on you."
FP glares at him. "What did you call her?"
Forsythe stifles a laugh. It's just like him to get under his skin. "It pisses you off, don't it? Well, you've pissed me off for ages! It's either you honor our family or don't consider yourself a Jones."
"I don't want to be a Jones," FP challenges.
He quickly learns that it was a mistake to refuse it this time. A line was crossed, farther than it ever has before.
One thing lead to another and FP was on the living room floor feebly trying to crawl away from the man. Forsythe crouches down to his son's level. He balls his collar in his bruised hand. He'd beaten him plentiful.
FP didn't put up a fight. It was a losing game when it came to his father. He believed that just letting his father get all of his anger out on him would make it end faster. There was no use in defending himself.
He's got a dislocated shoulder, what he thinks may be a broken arm, and bruises forming here and there.
Forsythe tosses him one last time before reaching over for the bottle on the counter. He chugs the remaining liquid and throws it at the wall in FP's direction.
"Go to hell," Forsythe shuffles over to the front door. "You have no right to my home anymore. You better be out by the time I come back."
Forsythe slams the door shut behind him. FP had no doubt in his mind he was heading to the Whyte Wyrm for another drink or two. He left FP to fend for himself.
He rests on his back the best he can and stares up at the ceiling. He wanted to scream, but he had to preserve what little energy he had left in him. He held in his tears every time his father hit him. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction of his power over him.
Now that he's gone, he lets it all out. He shuts his eyes tight. He feels more than the throbbing inside him. He harbors the hatred in place of the peace.
+
FP falls asleep after what felt like forever in the emergency room. He needs his rest. As soon as the painkillers set in, he relaxed.
His best friend, Fred Andrews, brought him in when he found him in his trailer. FP had called him to give him a ride, but he wouldn't tell him where to over the phone.
"So what's the word on him, doc?" Fred bumps into the doctor in the hallway.
"I took a look at the X-rays. We managed to pop his shoulder back into place, but his arm will have to sit in a cast for a couple of months. He does have fractured ribs, but nothing broken in that area. Those will heal on their own as long as he takes it easy. Six weeks, give or take." Dr. Steven Masters explains briefly. "I'd like to keep him overnight for observation, but he's free to go home after that."
The doctor excuses himself when he's paged over the intercom. "That's me."
Fred turns to his father with a frown. "Dad, there's gotta be something we can do about this. He can't go back there to him."
Artie agrees. He can't believe FP's own father was the one who landed him in here like this. "He can stay with us for as long as he needs."
"What about his father? Doesn't he have to pay for this?" Fred gets angry for his best pal. "It's never gotten like this before. FP said his father hasn't caused him any more harm than a simple hit or two. He could have killed him after this."
"What? How long has this been going on?"
"I don't know," Fred sighs. "At least since his mother left."
"Don't worry, son. We'll figure something out. I'll give Sheriff Howard a call and see what we can do."
+
Alice sits silently at the bar after being stood up by FP at the diner.
Their relationship had been on the rocks as of late. Alice asked for one measly night to spend together; no sex, no funny business, only dinner and maybe catch a movie at the drive-in afterwards.
She called his trailer after waiting over an hour for him to show up. He didn't pick up on her first attempt. She scoffed when the line finally went through.
FP had dragged himself over to the phone when the phone kept ringing. He sat pressed up against the wall. He had only just gained the motivation to move from his pitiful spot on the floor.
"Where are you?" Alice asked.
"There's been a change of plans." FP monotonously responded. He didn't want to get into it right now.
"What do you mean? You promised you'd show."
"I'll make it up to you some other time," He grumbled.
"Just great. You don't even care."
"God, Alice, leave me alone then!" A shooting pain went up FP's body. He didn't want to argue.
Alice pursed her lips to refrain from lashing out on him. "You are unbelievable. Fuck you."
"Fuck me?"
"You heard me. Fuck you!" Alice huffed. "Classic FP Jones." She furiously shook her head. "Honestly, you're so dead to me sometimes."
FP gripped the phone tightly. Those very words triggered something inside of him. He wanted nothing to do with his father or his damn Serpents. "Take this as a good riddance then. Don't call here again. Leave me the fuck alone. There, happy now?"
He hung up on her. She couldn't believe him. He called Fred after that, but she stormed out of the diner and went to the Whyte Wyrm.
There, she tried to look for a distraction, something to blow off some steam. Hog Eye kept her good company.
"I don't get it. You two hit it off pretty well. What happened?" Hog Eye doesn't understand where all of this came from.
"I never know with the guy. I'm done wasting my time trying to decipher the stupid male brain. No offense."
"None taken," He shrugs. He points to Tall Boy and Mustang playing pool across the room. "Those two share one."
Alice laughs. She needed that to lighten up a little. "They're up there on the idiot list." She shakes her head at the thought of how stupid this is.
Just then, a handful of Bulldogs pile in, no doubt looking for a cheap thrill. Alice rolls her eyes and spins the stool back to face the bar. The last thing she wants to do is interact with another guy from the football team.
But Hal Cooper had a different plan. He spotted her across the room the second he waltzed in.
He's had his eye on her for a while, but rumor has it that she's seeing his teammate.
He separates from the rest of the group and walks over to the bar. "Is this seat taken?"
Alice side glances him. "Depends on who's asking."
Hal laughs as he takes the seat. He kind of likes that she's a little mean to him. "So what will it take to get you to look at me?"
Hog Eye turns away with his drink.
"Hey, where are you going?" Alice asks Hog Eye.
Hog Eye leans into her. "You could use a little distraction with preppy."
"Don't leave me alone with him."
"You'll be fine. If he gets handsy, take him to the snake tank over there." He nods his chin towards the pet snake the bar keeps in the corner as decor.
"I hate you," Alice glares at him.
"No, you don't." Hog Eye chuckles. "Tell me all about it later."
Hog Eye wanders off to go find Byrdie or War Baby to talk to.
"FP, looks awfully different today." Hal says about Hog Eye. He's seen him a couple of times, but not enough to remember a face.
"Funny." Alice forces a smile.
"Where is he anyway?" Hal looks around.
"He doesn't hang around here?"
"Why not?" As far as Hal knew, all the Bulldogs liked to pop in for a good time. "Who in their right mind would leave such a pretty girl like you all alone?"
"Flattering, but it's not working."
"I'm not doing anything," Hal holds his hands up defensively. "I'm just chitchatting. I'll stop if it pisses off your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," Alice rolls her eyes. FP is the last person he wants to think about right now.
"Oh..." Hal finds his opening. "So you're single?"
"Kind of how it works."
"That's a good thing. I didn't like the guy anyway."
"Pretty sure the feeling was mutual."
"I'm serious. Why waste your time on a pig like him? Doesn't the whole Sticky Maple thing bother you?"
Alice furrows her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"
"You know, the stupid playbook the other guys on the team hide somewhere in the locker room that they keep score in. It's disgusting, honestly. In short terms, it slut shames girls from school."
Alice scoffs. "And you're a part of this?"
"Woah, woah. Who said that?"
"You're on the team, aren't you? Who is to stay you don't take part in it too?"
"I was raised better than that," Hal takes offense to her assumption. "I would worship you if you were my girl. Can you say the same about him?"
Alice sighs. She's still more than furious about what happened between her and FP earlier. "I wouldn't be here if he did." She grumbles.
"How about we get out of here?" Hal reaches for her hand. "We can go grab a bite or something. What do you say?"
Forsythe marches down the stairs from his office with a bottle in his hand and a bandage wrapped around the other. Everyone turns to look at him. He scans the room and is visibly annoyed when he sees the boys from the football team here again.
"Who let the canines in?" The drunk man slurs.
He makes his way to the bar and trades his bottle with the bartender for a new drink. He sighs contently after taking a long sip.
He eyes Alice. This makes Alice uncomfortable. His eyes then go over to boy in the letterman jacket that wasn't his son. "What's a smokin' lil' thing like you doing with boys like him?"
Alice doesn't say anything. His touch makes her body ill. She shoves his hand away from her face.
"Come on, doll. You're my favorite. It wasn't that hard to approve of your place here after your memorable initiation."
"What's he talking about?" Hal doesn't get a good vibe from the older man. "Alice, do you want to get out of here now?"
Forsythe grabs her arm before she can get away. "Let her make up her own mind." He barks at Hal. "She's feisty. Aren't you? You know where you belong."
"Let's go," Alice tells Hal. She dreads being around a drunken Forsythe.
"I guess he was the one rubbing off on you instead," Forsythe doesn't quit it.
Hog Eye and War Baby intervene; they pull Forsythe away from Alice.
"You lil' slut! Make sure you're more useful than an easy lay for junior." Forsythe laughs. "As a matter of fact, just take him with you! You're no use for me either anymore!"
Hal helps Alice out of the bar. "Are you okay? Who is that guy?"
"He's FP's father." Alice answers shortly.
"FP? His father is a Serpent? I thought he was a northsider."
"That's what he wants you to think, parading all around school with you boys."
"Alice...uh, has he ever done anything to you?" Hal suspects that this isn't her first uncomfortable encounter with FP's father.
"Can we just go, please?"
"Yeah, yeah, come on." Hal helps her into his car. He takes his seat behind the wheel. "Is there somewhere you wanna go?"
"I'll take you on that offer to grab a bite somewhere."
+
FP settles into the Andrews household as soon as he's released from the hospital. He's come over as a guest multiple times, but being told he would be able to live here with them felt strange. Virginia and Arthur Andrews have always treated FP like one of their three sons. He's always welcomed in their home.
"Is there anything you would like me to make you, sweetheart?" Virginia asks the boy. Her husband informed her about their new living arrangement.
"No, thank you." FP shakes his head. He's not in the mood for anything. He appreciates the offer though.
"Why don't we let the boys talk?" Artie escorts Virginia into the other room so Fred and FP could talk privately.
"You're okay with staying here with us, right? You're comfortable?"
"I'm fine." FP assures him. He readjusts himself on the couch, but he underestimates how easily he can move.
"Take it easy," Fred gives him a pillow. "The doctor said you can't move too much."
"I don't plan to. It hurts." FP hisses. "Did your dad pick up my painkillers? I could use one right about now."
"I'll grab them. Stay still." Fred walks into the kitchen to find them. "I'm kinda glad you'll be around more. You've always been like a brother to me, you know. Being the middle child sucks, but with you around it's like we share the title."
"I'll happily take it. I don't have any brothers or sisters, so when I come over it feels kinda nice to pretend I have a family."
"You are family," Fred brings him a glass of water with the painkillers. "Believe me, we're not letting you go back there. You're stuck with us now."
"You don't have to worry about that. He kicked me out."
Fred frowns. "I'm sorry."
"Let's just forget about it."
"My dad spoke to the sheriff. He said we can do something about this as long as you cooperate."
"For what? Just to give the Serpents another reason to hate me? They'll have my head."
"FP, come on. Who cares what they think? This is about you."
"I do. Look, I don't want anything to do with him anymore. What's been done, is done. End of story."
"No, not end of story. He has to pay for this. He could have killed you!"
"I don't care anymore!" FP is exhausted. "So what if he did? Not like it would have made much of a difference."
"Don't say that."
Artie believes it's time to get involved. "Boys, boys. Calm down!" He nudges Fred towards the stairs. "Why don't you go to your room and set up FP's bed? Take a breather."
Fred huffs and marches up the stairs. Artie stays with FP. "And you. Are you listening to yourself, son?"
FP remains silent. He doesn't know what to say.
"We can go at your pace, but Fred's right. He's very protective over his brothers. He wants to help, that's all."
FP sighs. "I know. I know. I'm sorry."
"Sheriff Howard already has the means to arrest your father. Why don't you want us to help?"
"I just want to bury it all behind me. I'm lucky he didn't leave me worse off than this."
"It's over now. He can't hurt you anymore." Artie takes a seat next him and places a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "If I had known sooner, I promise you we would have stepped in immediately."
"Fred's a lucky guy. He gets all of this. And I-" His voice cracks. "I wish my mom didn't leave me with him. She's didn't even want to take me with her. Why? How could she do this to me? He hurt us both."
"It's her loss. You're a great son."
"My parents don't like me enough to make me believe that."
"To hell with them. We love you. That's all that matters. You can always be one of our boys."
FP's shoulders shake; he lets loose. He needed to hear that. Artie embraces the boy. FP cries into his shoulder.
Fred overheard everything from the stairs. He smiles to himself knowing his father always knows what to do. He's glad to also see that FP is slowly letting his guard down and making peace with being vulnerable.
+
News spreads like wildfire in a small town like Riverdale. The Serpent King had been arrested. Details to his arrest weren't announced publicly per FP's request to privacy.
FP won for once. He took it dearly, considering he felt like he lost so much.
He's in Fred's room on mandatory bed rest and the one thing he hates most is the fact that the Andrews lives next door to Hal Cooper.
He's learned a lot the past few weeks. Hal took everything from him; his team captain status, his scouts, his scholarships, and worst of all...Alice.
He can see them together in his bedroom from the window. It hurts him to watch them; he shuts the blinds. The last time he spoke to her, he was angry. He regrets that things ended terribly between them.
A knock on the door draws him out of his thoughts. Fred's mother brings him a lunch on a tray. "Hi, dear. I hope you're hungry."
FP smiles. "A little."
"Good. I made it with my secret ingredient."
"Love?"
"Yes," She pecks a kiss to his forehead. "For my special boy."
"Can I rub it in Fred's face when he gets back?"
"I love all my boys equally, FP."
"Well, yeah, but he doesn't need to know."
Virginia laughs. "Glad to see that sense of humor of yours back."
"Wait, before you go. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Why is it that you and your husband believe so much in the good in me?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've always trusted me around your son. Anyone else would have thought I'd be a bad influence on their kid."
"FP, where you come from doesn't define who you are. We've always known you to be a good person."
"You're not afraid I'd wind up being like my old man?"
"No, the thought never crossed my mind." She answers in a heartbeat.
"I'm afraid it's all I've ever thought about."
"You'll never be like that monster. You, my dear, are meant for great things."
"How are you so sure?"
"It takes a good man to be concerned with the way they act in this world. You'll make us all proud. Just you wait."
+
Alice lays quietly at Hal's side. She dozes off as Hal strokes her arm.
He looks over at her. "Whatcha thinking about?"
"I don't really know. I guess I've just had a lot on my mind recently."
"Does it have to do with that creepy gang leader? He's been arrested for god knows what, babe. You don't have to worry about him anymore."
"I know, but it's just weird to be so...peaceful for once. I haven't felt this way in a while. It even makes me wonder if FP is okay. I mean, I haven't seen the guy around. And his father was arrested."
"You're not together anymore. Do you really have to think about him?"
Alice glares at him. "I still care about his well being, Hal. I've known him my whole life."
"Jeez, sorry. I just don't like my girl thinking about another guy. That's all."
"Oh, fuck you," Alice sits up.
"Alice, come on. Are you telling me you'd be okay with me thinking about some other girl while I'm with you."
"It's not like that."
"Then what is it like."
"Forget it. I'm out of here." She makes her way out of his room.
"Alice!" He calls after her.
She slams the front door on her way out of the house. She runs into Fred's little brother on the sidewalk.
He stops his bike and looks up at his brother's friend. Truth be told, he's always had somewhat of a crush on her. "Alice, h-hi."
"Hi, Frankie." She smiles.
"I haven't seen you around," Frank has noticed her absence from their house.
"I guess it's been a while, yeah."
"I thought I'd see more of you now that FP's living with us."
Alice furrows her eyebrows. She didn't know that. "He's living with you?"
Frank looks at her confused. "You didn't know? Oh, I thought you'd know considering you're his girlfriend."
She shakes her head. "No, we broke up."
"You did?"
"Frankie, what are you doing man?" Fred pops out of his truck with his baseball gear.
"I'm just talking to Alice."
"Go inside."
"But I-"
"Go," He points to their house.
Frank sighs and listens to his older brother. "It was good seeing you."
Alice turns to Fred. "What was that about?"
"Shouldn't you be with Hal?"
"Why do you care?"
"I know you and FP broke up, but Hal, really? Out of all the guys at school."
Alice shrugs. "It sort of just happened. He's a nice guy. I don't care. Besides, when were you going to tell me FP moved in."
"As if you would care, you hadn't been around anymore to notice."
"I've been dealing with some stuff."
"Sure, aren't we all?"
"You know what, I'm not the bad guy here. He broke up with me."
"What?"
"Oh, he didn't tell you? Of course he made me the bad guy. It's just like him. Stands me up then has the nerve to break things off with me."
Fred thinks about it for a second. "When was this?"
"Weeks ago, we had a date and he was a no show. I called him to ask where he was and he practically gave me the cold shoulder."
"He wouldn't just stand you up without a valid reason." He knows how he feels about Alice. He wouldn't intentionally sabotage their relationship. Yes, he isn't the greatest at express himself, but he tries what he knows.
"Why are you defending him?"
"Fine," Fred shrugs. "I'm done here. I'm checking up on him."
"Fine!"
"Goodbye," Fred waves her off and marches up his porch. Alice rolls her eyes and leaves.
"Honey, is that you?" Virginia asks.
"It's me, mom." Fred sets his stuff aside. "I lost track of time at practice. How's FP doing?"
"I'm right here," FP glances over at him from the couch.
"Jerk," Frank brushes past Fred on his way up the stairs.
Fred ignores him and walks into the living room. He takes a seat beside FP. "What episode is this?"
"Last week's episode. Dylan's mother returns from Hawaii. He's not too happy about it."
"I don't know why you like watching this show so much," Fred teases. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like catching an episode here and there too.
"You're just saying that because I pointed out how much you look like McKay and none of us can unsee it."
"I do not," Fred playfully smacks his shoulder with a throw pillow.
FP laughs. "Keep telling yourself what you want. I know you have a crush on the Brenda girl."
"Shut up."
"Sorry, wrong Walsh twin?"
"You and my mom watch too much tv together."
"She's a great binging buddy. You're just jealous she's starting to favor me more."
"In your dreams," Fred chuckles. "Frank's the baby of the house."
"I love you all equally, FP." Virginia reminds him. "Will you boys behave while I run to the grocery store very quickly?"
"Always, mom." FP cheekily smiles.
Fred elbows him.
"Frederick be nice." Virginia warns him before leaving.
"There's something I did want to ask you." Fred tells FP.
"What?"
"How come you left the part out where you broke up with Alice?"
"Huh?"
"I ran into her outside."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"FP, you can't keep avoiding it."
"I didn't break up with her. She moved on."
"Really? That's not what she said."
"The last time we spoke was right before I called you that night my da-" He clears his throat. "She was yelling at me and I couldn't deal with it. I told her to leave me alone, but I didn't mean it. I was just hurting."
"Did you explain to her why you couldn't see her?" Fred arches an eyebrow.
"No."
"Why not? By the sounds of it you did break up with her."
"So what if I did?" FP scoffs. "The longer she's a Serpent, the longer I can wait to see her."
Fred frowns. "Is that what this is about?" The Southside Serpents have always been a sensitive topic for FP. He knows that. "Do you think it's fair to either of you?"
"It's too late." FP shrugs. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. You know that. You'll have to talk to her eventually. You can't avoid her forever."
"Watch me."
"You can't be serious."
"We're better off this way. Why screw things up more?" FP shuts the tv off and walks upstairs.
+
FP enters the diner for the first time in a long time. Typically, the Andrews pick up his take-out. But now that he's up and moving, he's doing things on his own.
He walks up to the counter where he's greeted by Pop. "FP, it's lovely to see you."
"Back at ya."
"What can I help you with? Your usual, I assume?"
"You know me better than anyone," FP nods. He loves fried chicken with a side of onion rings as much as be loves the burgers.
"Coming right up."
FP thanks him and sits on one of the stools. His back is to the door so when the bell above the door rings, he doesn't see who has just come in.
Alice looks straight ahead. She hasn't seen FP in so long, but she dares to call out his name. "FP?"
He turns at the sound of her voice. She looks down at his arm in a cast and the almost healed visible scars on him.
Hal had mentioned that he was injured, their football coach told the team he would be out the rest of the season.
"How's life without a king?" FP speaks coldly to her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"What he had done to you." Once Alice heard about FP's injuries she started to add things together.
"I doubt you would have cared," He nonchalantly shrugs.
"How could you say that?"
"Are you still a Serpent?"
Alice didn't like his attitude towards her. "That's none of your business." She actually ditched the Serpents when she found out what Forsythe had done to his own son. He just didn't know that. They haven't had the chance to talk.
"Then my life is none of your business."
"I see you're still an asshole." Alice huffs.
"Get off your high horse, Alice. I have every right to be mad."
"At me?" She glares at him. "I'm the one that has the right to be mad at you."
FP takes his order from Pop and makes his way to the exit. He's done arguing with her.
+
"When were you going to tell me?" Fred slides the brochure he found in his bedroom across the kitchen island.
FP looks down at the army brochure he took from a recruiter. "Going through my stuff, are we?"
"I'm serious, man. Are you seriously planning to leave without talking to us first?"
"Who said I was leaving?" FP rolls his eyes. "I was just thinking about it. Didn't mean I was ditching you overnight."
"So you're thinking about enlisting?"
"I'm leaning towards it," FP shrugs.
"You've been living with us for a year now. Don't you think you should have the decency to bring it up before making such a big decision?"
"You're going off to college for the next four years. Why do you care if I leave for the army or not?"
"College can still be an option, FP. You know that."
"With my grades?" FP gives him a pity laugh. "All I had was football. And believe it or not, I can't play like I used to."
"Community college can be your fresh start."
"The army gets me out of this town for a while."
"Sounds to me like you're denying the real reason you want to leave. You don't want to run into her."
"I don't care anymore," FP walks out of the kitchen.
Fred follows him anyway. "She's not the same girl anymore and maybe that's what's bothering you. Or maybe not. But you pushed her away. That's on you."
"Don't pin that on me. Cooper changed her."
"Is that what you wanted?" Fred challenges. "You were all worked up when she was a Serpent. She left that behind. Can you ever be happy with her?"
"She's her own person. Let her live her life, I'll live mine." FP scoffs. "It has been a year. A lot can change in that time."
+
A blizzard took the town with pep with an alerting force. It's a snowstorm like no other for this town. Radio stations were busy warning citizens to stay home and not travel in these harsh conditions.
The issue in the Andrews household though was that FP wasn't home.
"Call the diner again. Maybe he's still at work." Virginia tells her husband.
"I already did, hon."
"Well keep trying."
"Maybe the power is out." Fred suggests.
"Probably not helping mom not freak out," Fred's older brother tells him.
"Hello, hello, Pop? FP? Anybody?" Artie dials the number again. He finally gets an answer.
"Mr. A," It's FP.
He lowers the phone to tell his wife. "It's him."
"Sorry, I was trying to get my truck to work, but it quit on me. I'm afraid I'm stuck here."
"Stay there. Don't drive. It's safer if you stay in the diner. Just keep us updated."
"Yeah, I think so too. It's just me here. Pop gave me the keys to lock up. Fortunately, he was able to make it home safe before the storm hit."
"Take good care of yourself, honey." Virginia takes the phone from Artie. "I hate that not all of our boys are here."
"I promise I will. I'll try to call again when things look more promising." FP wraps up the call, his attention is stolen by the blonde girl walking all by herself outside.
He rushes to the door to check if what he was seeing is correct. "Alice? Alice, are you out of your goddamn mind? What are you doing out there?"
Alice looks over at FP.
"Get in here! You're gonna freeze your ass off!"
Alice only listens because he's right. She lost feeling in her toes.
FP helps her in and shuts the door. She's cold to the touch. "I'll make you a coffee. Don't dare leave."
Alice takes a seat in one of the booths in the meantime. When FP swings back around, he comes with two mugs; one for her, one for himself.
"Care to explain why you're insane? Where were you going?"
"Home."
"Walking? It's even too dangerous for me to drive."
"What are you doing here?"
"My truck won't start. I was locking up, but I wound up getting stuck here for shelter." FP explains. He can't help but stare at her. She doesn't look like the Alice he once knew. Her clothes went from dark solids to pastel and pretty pinks. Her long curls were chopped off and straightened. She assimilated to the northside. "You're lucky I was still here."
"Not so sure about that," Alice sips her coffee. She takes another sip; he remembered how she likes it.
"Can't you at least pretend to not hate me? You know, at least until the storm passes through. It's already bad enough I'm missing the special Andrews pie Fred's mom makes in the winter."
"Right, you're an Andrews now. They might as well make it official."
FP shrugs. "They did. They adopted me months ago. I couldn't emancipate myself after my old man went to prison."
"Oh." Alice avoids looking at him. It hurts too much.
"Figured everyone knew by now, but I guess little miss Smithy left for an internship courtesy of her boyfriend's parents to not get caught up on the gossip of my life."
Alice keeps resisting to look at him. She'd rather not say anything back.
"I didn't even think I'd be seeing you again. You got your way out of this forsaken town."
"It's not as glamorous as it look," Alice shoots back.
"You get to go to college. What are you complaining about? Shouldn't you be happy about that?"
"That was your dream, not mine."
"All we ever talked about was going to college. You wanted to major in journalism. In a perfect world, I'd have a degree in business and start a company or something."
Alice shakes her head. "We never really talked. That's what our problem always was."
FP frowns. "What were we doing, Al? Why are we like this?"
"Do you think it's too late to talk?"
"About what?"
"I don't know. Anything." She just wants to listen to him talk. "Can't we just talk?"
"I thought about joining the army months ago." FP casually throws it out there.
"You did?"
FP nods. "Fred tried to talk me out of it for weeks, but I made the choice on my own."
"What convinced you to stay?"
"I don't know."
"Then what was convincing you to go?"
"I thought I could benefit from getting out of here for a while when I turn eighteen since I'm not going to college."
Alice frowns. "Why not?"
"Look at me, Alice. Do you honestly believe I can get into any of the good schools?"
"Did you believe I could?"
"Yes," He answers without thinking about it.
"Why?"
"You're good at school. You actually put in effort, even when I would try to distract you." FP puts on a small smile. "You've always been better than me." He admits. He looks down at his hands to not catch her reaction. "Say whatever you want to that. You've probably wanted me to say that for years."
"No," She shakes her head. She wants to know something else. Maybe this was her time to get her answer. "I want you to tell me why you never tried to fix things with me."
"I didn't think you wanted me to."
Alice shakes her head. "We never talked about these things. That's where we went wrong. I wanted to make things work, but you were scared."
"We were scared." FP corrects her. "I let you go because I didn't want you stuck with a guy like me. You found someone better, someone who can take care of you and help you get everything you ever wanted. My question is, why did you go so easily? Was I right about all these things?"
"That's where you're wrong," She croaks. "He's not who I want. You broke my heart giving up on us."
"I didn't give up on us," FP tears up.
"You have a funny way of showing it." Alice swipes the tear under her eye. "He's not as good to me."
"I only needed some time away from it all."
"You needed time away from me? Why? What did I do so wrong that you could go on without me?"
"Every time I saw you, you reminded me of the Serpents. I didn't care that you were one because I loved you." He explains clearly for once.
"You loved me?" She whispers almost only to herself.
"But it always hurt knowing that what I loved most was involved with what I hated most. I can't blame you for finding family in them. Hell, that's what I searched for for years too. But him, every time I thought about him, I couldn't wrap my head around you tied to him too."
"I left it the second I found out what he did to you." She argues. "You never told me. You never tell me anything. All I ever wanted was for you to feel like you can talk to me. That's how relationships work."
"I know I'm terrible at it. This is me trying to make up for it if it counts for something anymore."
Alice softens the look on her face. "I shouldn't be so hard on you when I am also terrible at communicating certain things. We can't have any more secrets or lies between us."
"And we won't. I'm willing to fix our friendship if that's the most I can get back. I'll respect that you moved on, but if I'm going to be honest, I never did. I want to start this the right, honest way if you're up for it."
"I don't know if you'll still think that when I tell you something I should have a long time ago." Alice's shoulders shake as she uncontrollably sobs.
FP slides out of his seat across from her and sits next to her to take her in his arms. "Hey, there's no need to cry. How bad can it be? You can talk to me. We're both learning to communicate better here. Whatever it is, I can take it."
That hurts Alice to hear. She's going to break his heart. She knows it. He'll never trust her again. She knows that too. But is she willing to risk it because she owes it to him to let him know about the baby boy she gave birth to.
"There was no internship." She cries into his chest.
"What do you mean?"
"The Coopers didn't set me up for a journalism internship. They set me up..." She hyperventilates. FP soothes her by rubbing her back. He encourages her to continue. "They tricked me into leaving so I could give him up."
"Who? Hal?" He doesn't understand. "Did they want you to break up with him?"
"I left him," She shakes her head.
"You left Hal?" FP is not judging, if anything he's probably relieved he won't run her life anymore. "Is there a particular reason why? Where you happy with him?"
"No, I hate him."
"What did he do to you?" He can feel such hatred in her tense muscles.
"He made me...give up Charles."
"Who's Charles?"
Alice pulls away from his embrace to look him in the eye. There was never a right way to explain this, but she had to try. "Our...our son."
"You and Hal?" FP didn't think so, but he had to double check. What is she suggesting here?
She shakes her head; she is too exhausted to speak.
"Our son?"
She nods his confirmation. He doesn't know how to react, but she can only cry. Crying has been an outlet for her to let it all out for a long time now.
FP doesn't hesitate to take her into his arms again. He holds her tight. She's not the only one who needs it. "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay."
They sit in a comfortable silence for once. They've done enough talking. They've learned to communicate for the sake of their well-being.
They continue their conversation at a later time. Right now what mattered was knowing the other is okay.
He made it a promise to her that they will find their son one day and bring him home. She believes him.
They've both learned talking things out can go a long way.