•••
Alice brought two cups of coffee over to the table and took a seat. She let one glide over to FP. "You know we do need to talk." Alice spoke first. "We just can't ignore this any longer."
"I know," FP sighed. He took a sip of his coffee and placed it back on the table.
"Do you still want to make your marriage work?" Alice asked in all seriousness. She wasn't prepared for an answer but it would be necessary to talk about. "Because this is your second chance for it."
"But it is also my second chance for this," FP reached for her hand. He brought it up to his lips to kiss. "I can't make up for all those years ago but I do need you in my life. I didn't forget about you these past two decades. Far from it actually. I would regret for the rest of my life if I let this go."
"You used to talk about Jughead wanting the family back together. Do you want that too? I don't want to get in the way if you do." Alice was willing to let him go if that made him happy. "Do you still love her?"
"Not in the way I love you," FP tried to gather the words to say what he wanted to tell her. "She's the mother of my children. I am grateful for her for giving me that but there's no spark between us. There hasn't been for years. She gave up on me when things got tough. Took my daughter too while she was at it." FP explained. "What I'm trying to say is that there isn't anything left for me and Gladys. Maybe there was at some point but now I'm certain there isn't. I love her for giving me Jughead and Jellybean but I don't love her, at least not in a way that makes me want to share my life with her."
Alice sat quietly as she let that all sink in. He patiently waited for her to share her thoughts in return. When she finally did she brought up their child. "I practically did the same thing she did, do you still love me?"
"Al, of course I still love you. I wouldn't be so invested in what is going on between us if I didn't believe in us." FP confessed his thoughts on the matter. "Yeah we didn't get to raise our boy together but it won't check the fact that we love each other."
"Who said I love you?" Alice gently teased. She was trying to use humor to cover up the tears in her eyes.
"The smile I wake up to every morning I'm with you. Even the little drool that makes it to my shirt before you wake up." He chuckled.
"I don't drool," She fondly rolled her eyes.
"Whatever you say," FP placed his arms flat down on the table. "But you know you love me." He smiled at her. "You were literally willing to let me go right now if you thought that would make me happy."
"So I guess it's safe to assume we're working on us but what about her? What exactly is going to happen between you two?"
"I think it's finally time to call it quits, officially." FP did think a divorce was the answer. "I'm going to have to talk to her about it but it's the right thing to do. We'll then have to discuss it with the kids. I don't know what to expect. A year ago Jughead would have probably been angry about it, considering he was rooting for us, but now he's a little frayed with her. I know that's how Jellybean feels about me." FP let his head drop into his hands. "It's going to take some time but like I said it's for the best."
"What made you choose her? There must have at least been something you liked enough about her to marry her." Alice curiously wondered. "Just out of curiosity."
"I don't know. I think I'd say it was just the connection we made back in the Serpents together. After you left it all behind and I took it all in I spent quite some time at the Wyrm. My old man had already kicked me out. It was his fault I even ended up joining after that anyway. So like he told me to do I went to hell. I spent some time figuring out my life out but I realized you weren't in it. You were lucky to escape. It's what I always dreamt of. I'm glad you at least got to. I guess you could say it did turn out to be because of me. All these years I thought it was you hated me that much but in reality it was because of what was us. Charles let you cross the train tracks and for him I'm very grateful, eventhough things unfortunately turned out the way they did. I wish I could have thanked him. For getting you the hell away from what I couldn't escape."
"I'm sorry," Alice let a tear roll down her cheek.
"For what?"
"Everything. I got the one thing you worked so badly for back in high school and you got stuck with what I turned away."
"Hey, but I got you now. Forget those two decades. If I had to go through that just to end up here where I am right now I wouldn't change it for the world." FP assured her. "There was one thing I learned while I was in the army. It was to never take anything for granted. I took you for granted when we were just a couple of kids. My punishment was what came to be after that. If I wasn't so invested in getting attention from a bunch of girls I would have learned that I loved you way sooner. You've always been different, Al. It drove me crazy and I know it still does. I'm not taking what we have again for granted. I love you too much to do that."
"I love you too," Alice longingly looked at him. FP stood up and leaned over the table between them. He kissed the crown of her head then her lips, "You are the one thing I'm sure about. Don't you forget that."
"How could I ever?"