"Mom!" Betty calls and Alice can hear her footsteps thundering down the stairs. "Mom?"
Alice walks over to the staircase to see what the commotion is all about and runs right into Betty. "Woah, careful. What are you running for?"
"They're on their way!"
Alice chuckles. "So? We know they're coming, it's not like it's a surprise."
"I'm just nervous, I mean, should I be nervous? Is there any reason for me to be nervous?"
"No. You look beautiful, dinner will be ready in twenty minutes, everything is going to be just fine." Alice promises, pressing a kiss to Betty's forehead.
"Why aren't you nervous?"
Alice raises an eyebrow at her and laughs. "It's not my boyfriend, why would I be nervous?"
"I don't know, I'm just stressed. What if you don't like him?"
"You're a smart girl, Elizabeth. I'm sure whoever you've chosen to be with is completely worthy of my approval. Not that my approval matters, your sister's relationship with the Blossom boy is proof of that." Alice sighs bitterly. "As long as you're happy, and he treats you right."
"He does. He treats me like a princess." Betty gushes.
Alice smiles at her. "That's good. You seem to be really falling for this boy."
"I am, I don't want to get ahead of myself though, I just want to take things slow."
"Taking things slow is a good thing," Alice agrees. "The last thing I need is to be a grandma at forty-two."
"Believe me, I'm not having any babies yet. Not for a long time."
"Good."
Betty's phone lights up with a text. "Oh my God, they're on our road. They're going to be here any minute!"
"Perfect timing, dinner's almost ready."
Betty waits anxiously for the arrival of their guests and when the doorbell rings, she looks so panicked Alice briefly wonders if she'll pass out. "There's nothing to worry about, sweetheart." Alice assures her. "Let's go answer the door."
Betty nods and Alice follows her over to the front door. "Hi Jug!" Betty cheerily greets.
Alice looks at the teenager, noticing something oddly familiar about the boy, she can't put her finger on it though. "Hey Betty." He presses a kiss to Betty's cheek.
Betty turns to look at Alice. "Mom, this is Jughead. Jug, this is my mom."
Alice smiles and shakes the boy's hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Alice."
"Nice to meet you too, thanks for inviting us over."
"Of course, we're happy to have you."
"Oh and this is my dad," he looks behind him and Alice sees a man walking up the front steps behind him. "What took you so long?"
"You forgot the pie."
Alice is floored. She has to clench her jaw to keep it from falling open. There, on her front step, is none other than FP Jones. She meets his eyes when he looks up, and they instantly go wide at the sight of her.
"Dad, this is Betty and her mom." Jughead introduces.
"Hi Mr Jones, it's nice to meet you!" Betty smiles, extending her hand to shake his.
FP snaps out of his daze long enough to properly greet the girl. "Nice to meet you too, I've heard lots about you from my boy here." FP pats Jughead on the shoulder as the boy's cheeks blush. He looks towards Alice and awkwardly clears his throat. "Hi, I'm FP."
"Alice," She croaks out. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
The timer on the oven goes off, effectively cutting the awkward greetings short. "Oh, well you two have perfect timing, dinner's ready."
"It smells delicious." Jughead comments.
"I'm glad you think so. You three can head into the dining room, I'll bring out the food." Alice tells them.
"I'll help you," FP offers, Alice locks eyes with him and swallows dryly. "Gotta put the pie in the fridge anyway."
"Right." Alice nods. "Come with me."
The kids head into the dining room while Alice and FP quickly shuffle into the kitchen. She pulls the chicken out of the oven and pokes her head into the dining room, the kids seem to be entranced in their own conversation. She turns to FP, and he's looking just as freaked out as she is.
"I don't even know what to say." Alice sighs.
FP runs his hand over his face. "I don't know what there is to say. I can't believe I didn't realize it."
"How would you? I sure as hell didn't."
"Well, Jug mentioned her name but I never put two and two together." FP sighs. "What do we do?"
"I don't know, I think-" her question is cut short when Betty's voice calls for her.
"Mom? Do you need any help?"
"No sweetheart, we've got it handled." She looks back to FP. "We'll talk about this later. Can you bring out the salad?"
He walks into the dining room with the requested salad and sets it down on the table. He looks at the seating arrangement; the long table had clearly been set for 4, and Betty and Jughead opted to sit side by side, leaving he and Alice no choice but to sit side by side as well. As if this dinner wouldn't be awkward enough.
She walks into the room with the chicken and it's the first time he lets himself notice how good she looks. He had been too shocked to really take a good look at her and appreciate how she looks but now that he has he doesn't know how he'll survive this dinner. She's got on a white sweater and a pair of jeans that hug her body just right, her hair is tied up in a ponytail and her lips are painted a deep red color that he wants to kiss off of her. He shoves the thoughts out of his head, instead noticing how her hands shake as she cuts the chicken.
He stands up from his seat and takes the knife and fork from her. "Here, let me." She nods and sits down in the seat next to his own. "You made the dinner, least I can do is help serve it." He adds for good measure.
"Thank you." She offers him a weak smile.
He cuts up the chicken and everyone helps themselves. It's awkwardly silent for a little while, no one knowing what to say.
"So, Betty, Jug tells me you work on the Blue and Gold too?" FP questions.
She smiles. "Yeah I just joined this year, I've been thinking about it for a while and just decided to go for it. I'm glad I did because I met Jughead."
He smiles at the teens. "So do you like writing?"
She nods. "I love journalism, I get it from my mom."
Alice smiles at her, and he looks at the woman next to him, noticing how her hands are still shaky. He reaches his own hand over to hold hers, hoping to calm her nerves a bit. He expected her to yank her hand away, so he's pleasantly surprised when she squeezes it tightly.
"That's awesome, Jug's shown me some of the pieces you two have worked on. You've got a talent."
"Thank you. I feel like Juggie has really helped me become a better writer, he's taught me so much."
"Ditto." Jughead presses a kiss to her cheek. "So, Alice, you're a journalist too? Betty mentioned you and her dad wrote for the paper."
Alice smiles. "We own it."
FP looks at her, impressed. "You own it?"
She looks up at him and nods. "We started working thereafter graduating from college and when the owners retired they just handed it over to us, we've been running it ever since."
"Wow, I had no idea. That's really great." He gives her hand a light squeeze, and she smiles at him. "Well that doesn't make my job sound too exciting does it?"
"You work hard dad, don't sell yourself short." Jughead insists.
"What do you do, Mr Jones?" Betty asks. Alice listens intently too, they haven't really talked about the more common topics, much too busy with other activities, it's nice to get to know him.
"Well for a while I was working at this construction site on the Southside but it's closing down so I just picked up a job at Pop's. Not the most glamorous thing but it's nice to have the extra change, especially with this one going off to college in a couple of years."
"I think that's great." Alice speaks. "May not be your idea of an ideal job, but we do what we can to provide for our children."
He smiles at her, happy that she's making conversation with him and not being silent the whole dinner. "Exactly."
_____
"Is it alright if Juggie and I go to Pop's for milkshakes?" Betty asks the adults as they clear the table of dishes.
She really doesn't want to be alone with FP, that just forces them to talk, and she really doesn't know how to go about the situation.
"Sure honey, you can take the car."
"I'm going to help finish up the dishes, have fun kids." FP tells them.
Alice and FP head into the kitchen in an uncomfortable silence. She fills up the sink with water, so she can do the dishes.
"We should talk." FP starts when the front door closes.
"I know. I just... I don't know what to say."
"It's not exactly a situation you run into every day so that's understandable."
"Of course this would happen to me. This is just my luck." Alice sighs, dropping her head into her hands.
FP walks over and places his hand on her back to comfort her. "We had no idea."
She looks up at him with tear filled eyes. "Still. I already have one child who can't stand me, I don't want to lose Betty too."
He pulls her into a hug which she gratefully accepts, she hugs him tightly, and he strokes her hair. "And you won't."
"You don't know that, FP." She mumbles into his chest before stepping away. "I lost Polly because of a damn divorce, I can't imagine what Betty will do if she finds out about us."
"She won't, and neither will Jughead." He frowns as he looks at her. "Do we end this?"
She stares at him sadly. "Do we have a choice?"