FP walked up to his gym locker after what felt like an eternity of football practice. The Bulldogs were piling in behind him but he kept his distance.
He wasn't a social butterfly when it came to making friends. He couldn't consider any of the other players to be his friends.
Lone wolf is how he kept things, of course with the exception of Fred Andrews. That guy was his only true friend. He was a Babe Ruth with a bat and an Eddie Van Halen with a guitar.
He did catch the eye of various girls around school though, but it was never anything that satisfied him. He couldn't find a connection with any of those random girls he fooled around with.
"So, what's it like?" Marty walked alongside Hal.
Hal took his helmet off and sat on the bench to take the rest of his gear off. "What?"
"Alice, dumbass." Marty stated as if it were obvious. "Come on, how is it? She rough you up? Any kinks? What's it like with a Serpent, man? You've hit it, haven't you? You must have. She could spread-"
"I did." Hal threw his jersey at him to shut him up.
"You sly, sly dog." Marty tossed it back at him. Hal smugly laughed with him. "My man."
"Those girls are a thrill. You just have to learn how to tame them."
"How in the world did you manage that?"
FP shoved his gear harshly into his locker. He was listening to every word that came out of their mouths.
Hal was about to say something but his attention shifted over to FP. "Take it easy back there."
Marty turned to look at him. "Better yet how did you manage that, Jones? You had your fun with her first. She get feisty with you?"
FP slammed his locker shut. Hal had a snobby look on his face. "Trailer trash wouldn't know how to satisfy a girl like that." After the gossip went around about FP lying about where he lived Hal didn't let him live it down. He stood up and faced him. "That's why she left you, ain't it?"
FP balled up a fist and swung at him. The hit threw Hal back a step. Hal unclenched his jaw. He charged right back at him and threw a fist of his own. FP gripped onto him and shoved him against the lockers. The rest of the boys crowded around them and created a ruckus watching the scene.
Coach Kleats blew his whistle. "Hey! Hey! What's going on in here?" He shoved his way into the middle. "Knock it off! Boys! Stop!" He grabbed FP and pulled him off of Hal. "Don't be idiots! Fighting is not permitted on my team!" FP huffed. He was breathing heavily with all of this rage building up inside of him. "What do you have to say for yourselves?" They remained quiet which was not a suitable option for their coach. "Office, now. Get out of here." FP threw his hands up in the air. He walked himself out. "You too, Cooper. Off you go."
"Me? He started it."
"Go!" He sternly said. He pointed to the door. Hal sighed and left behind FP.
Principal Featherhead sent both of them home but FP was the only one suspended for the following week. Hal would be getting a few days of in school suspension.
FP got home and tossed his letterman jacket onto the couch. Forsythe stood in the kitchen with a beer in his hand. "What are you doing here this early? Shouldn't you be in school?" FP ignored him. "Hey, I'm talking to you. Talk when spoken to."
"I got a week's worth of vacation thanks to some preppy."
"The hell for?"
"Nothing," FP scoffed.
Forsythe put his bottle down on the counter. FP knew that wasn't a good sign. The man approached his son. FP backed up until he hit the wall. He was cornered. "When a man asks you a question he expects an answer not an attitude, boy." Forsythe grabbed his face. "Understood?" FP's head was too stiff to nod. He just glared back at him. "This wouldn't have happened if you weren't trying to be someone you're not. You're a Serpent by blood but you refuse to embrace your own damn roots. Now look where it's got you. Thrown out of that side of town. Think about where you truly belong. Don't make the same mistake again." Forsythe released him for now. He grabbed his beer and walked out without another word. The symbol on his back glared back at him. He knew where he was going. It was the bar. Nowhere else.
FP picked up his jacket from the couch. He took a good stare at it. It was what his hard work and effort went into. He earned his spot on the Bulldogs. It was his sense of normality. One where he got to escape the life that his father contaminated. He didn't want to be a part of his world. He couldn't get stuck in his gang. To never get the ability to step out into the world and see what it has to offer.
She was the one who kept him out of it. She knew what he aspired to do with his life. She was the one to get him to think about what he truly wanted.
Alice was a Southside Serpent and knew what it took to be one. She understood that it just wasn't for FP. She wouldn't let him get sucked into it. She believed in his desire to get out of the southside. He didn't want to be like his father.
Alice was the one keeping him out of the Serpents but considering she wasn't one anymore there was no one there to stop him.
His face dropped into a frown the longer he held onto his letterman. He remembered her words to him. "Just because your old man wants to force you to be a Serpent doesn't mean you have to feel obligated to abide. It's your life not his." He couldn't help but think about her. She plagued his thoughts constantly. She was his source of sanity, but he unfortunately lost her.
He tossed the jacket aside and walked out of the trailer. He made a decision that night. The Serpents were hesitant at first due to how much he refused before but he was the Serpent Prince by blood.
One initiation later and he was switching jackets. He scanned around the crowd but he knew she wasn't there. The thought of her was just in his head.
•••
The aching thought of her kept him wide awake. He placed the empty glass in his hand on the nightstand. He laid in his bed alone staring up at the ceiling. He remembered her vividly. The way her sweet lips were pressed against his own, the way her hands traveled around his torso, and the way her fingers playfully outlined his Serpent tattoo. She was the touch he longed for. Her eyes would dance with his as they looked for the love that dared to hide. He wanted to forget that she wasn't his. He wanted to forget that she was married. He technically was too. He wanted her to forget his jealous outburst just as much as she wanted her to believe her own words when she said she missed him too.
He remembered their tender moment ever so vividly. The way he felt alive with her. She knew what drove him wild.
They did see each other every morning when they would drop off their kids at school. He would watch her walk hand in hand with her precious daughters, of only five and six, while he would bring his own five year old son into the mix.
"Bye, dad." Jughead would let go of his hand, give him a quick hug on the legs, and run to join the other kids.
FP would walk up to Alice after the children were inside. She looked like perfection to him. She might not dress or act like her old self but he knew who she would always be to him. Her blonde hair was as voluminous as always. Her eyes were vibrant and as blue as the sea but then there was her smile. The smile that made his heart whole. "Hey."
The man found it odd when he didn't see her at the school one day. The little girls were being carried in by their father. He set them down and knelt down to their level.
"Bye, dad. See you later." Jughead hugged his legs.
FP took his eyes off Hal to look down at his son. "Have a good day, boy." He ruffled his hair and smiled before the boy ran inside.
"Hey, Betty." Jughead waved as he passed the Coopers to go inside. Betty waved at the boy then turned her attention back to her father.
"How long is your trip?" Polly asked.
"It's three nights, honey." Polly frowned. "But it will go by quick. Daddy just has to go work in New York for a bit." Hal explained to her again. "I got to drop you two off today so we could spend more time together before I have to go catch my flight."
"Okay," Polly nodded. "Bye, daddy." She wrapped her arms around him.
"Goodbye, sweetheart." Hal hugged her. Betty joined in on the hug. "You too, sweetie."
The girls went inside immediately after. FP turned away and walked to his truck. He climbed into his seat. Hal wasn't too far away. He got into his car two rows behind him. He watched him from the rear view mirror. His luggage seemed to be in the back of the car already. The man pulled away and FP gave it a minute before exiting too.
He made it down the block before getting a strange impulse to do something out of the ordinary. He took a left instead of his usual right.
He looked inside the array of glass windows. The door was as red as the one he's seen next door to his best friend's house. The door that belonged to her.
He stepped out of the vehicle. He continued to stare straight ahead and let his eyes linger on. He saw the blonde woman walking around the office with a stack of papers in her hands. She was busy. Going here, there, and everywhere in there. He could see the stress vibrating off of her.
FP looked away and stepped back into his truck. He didn't want to bother her.
Alice caught movement from the corner of her eye. She saw the all too familiar man shutting his truck door. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion but nevertheless her feet were going towards the door.
FP saw the door open. She stood there clueless to why he was there. He didn't have an answer to offer either. "FP?" She grasped his attention. He reopened the door and poked out. "What are you doing here?"
"I-" FP didn't think that part through. "I don't know honestly." FP sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I just didn't see you today."
"Oh," was all she could say to that. "Do you want to come inside?"
"You seem busy. I wouldn't want to impose."
"Not at all. It's okay. Some company wouldn't be all too bad. It's just me for the next couple of days."
"Business trip?" FP followed her in.
"Yeah, he's at a journalism seminar."
"And you didn't go with him? Wouldn't that be for the both of you then?"
"I chose to stay with the girls. There's always a next time."
FP nodded. He pointed at a chair, asking if he could sit. She didn't mind. He pulled it out and flopped down. "Can't argue with that."
"So what about you? How are things?"
"Good. Business hasn't been shabby."
"Gotta say, I was really impressed with how well you and Fred took off. Not that there was anything to doubt. You two make quite the team."
"Yeah, Fred is great. Me? I'm just his best foreman."
"I wouldn't think anything less. You have experience with people. You are the next in line for the mantle."
"Yeah," FP had been a Serpent for the last fifteen years. The Serpent Prince for just as long. "But I'm not stepping up."
"You're not?"
"Alice, you out of all people should know that. Hell, I haven't even seen him since he bailed on the family."
"You never told me." Alice wasn't aware with what was going on with the Serpents after she cut her ties with them.
"I don't like talking about him," He shrugged.
"You never did." Alice leaned against her desk.
"He was an asshole," FP grumbled.
"I know. But on the bright side you don't have to deal with him anymore."
"I guess," FP crossed his arms on the desk and leaned forward. "But it'll never change the past."
"I think things happen for a reason, good or bad. It's a part of life." Alice glanced down at him. "So why did you change your mind?"
"Huh?"
"What made you become a Serpent in the end?"
FP avoided her gaze. "Just a change of heart I suppose."
"That drastically?" She arched an eyebrow. "That's not like you. Hell, you don't even want to be king."
"It was time to get it over with. I was going to wind up there anyway."
She was not fully convinced. She knew him better than she knew herself. "FP," She stated sternly. "You know you had the right to make your own choices. You seemed to agree back then."
"And I made my choice."
"But why that one?"
"Because, why not? There was nothing stopping me from doing so."
"You, you had your own strength. You had your own beliefs."
"Then I wasn't good enough. That's it. I brought this upon myself and that was that." FP huffed. "But what about you? What made you leave?"
"It was just something I had to do."
"And for what? Hal?"
"FP-"
"What did you even see in him?"
"He's my husband, Forsythe."
"Yeah, now but he wasn't then."
"Why did you really come here?"
"Why him?"
The tension between them increased and what it led up to after would not leave his memory.
He held her happily in his arms in the aftermath. Alice giggled and tilted her head up. He peeked down to look at her. She was staring at him. He couldn't help but smile too. He tightened his arms around her. "I've missed you," She said.
"I've missed you too." FP pecked a kiss on her temple. It was just the two of them like the way it was before.
Hal came back from his retreat on an early Saturday morning. He was greeted by his daughters at the door. They heard the door and knew it was him. He picked them up in a hug. Alice stood on the staircase watching them. She tightened the robe around her.
"We missed you, daddy." Polly said.
"Yeah, it's no fun without you home." Betty added.
"Well it's a good thing I'm back home then."
"Can we get Pop's for breakfast?" Polly took the opportunity to ask.
Hal looked over at Alice. He flashed a smile in her direction. "Yeah, today can be a family day." He told the girls.
And with that a trip to the diner was in place.
FP always drove past it on his way to work. Today he noticed the family in one of the booth by the window. He slowed down to watch. It wasn't easy.
Hal was back and she was with him. He could see the laughter and smiles in there. They shared a kiss in front of their daughters.
FP looked away. He knew better than to acknowledge that again.
***
falling ~ harry styles | happier ~ ed sheeran | we find love ~ daniel caesar | and i love her ~ the beatles | love you goodbye ~ one direction