"I'm glad you're doing a little better, honey." Alice smiled at her oldest daughter who was sitting across from her at a booth in Pop's.
It had taken some time, but it looked like the girl was slowly warming up to the idea of permanently living in Riverdale. What caused her to be more open was still a mystery to Alice, but she was grateful for the progress they made.
"Sorry for acting the way I did. It will take some time, but I believe things will be alright." Polly smiled softly and took a sip of her vanilla milkshake.
That she was being more vulnerable and understanding towards her family because of a guy she had met was something she'd rather keep to herself for at least a little while.
"And I have to admit, Pop's is amazing." She grinned and looked around the plates of food in front of them. It was definitely more than they could eat together.
"Here, take one of my onion rings." Alice shoved her plate to her daughter, who gladly accepted the snack.
Betty however, had paused eating her food as she noticed a familiar raven haired girl entering the diner.
"Veronica? What are you doing here?" She perked up as the girl approached her, who send her a surprised smile back.
"Betty! After you recommended eating something here I tempted my Mom to pay a visit." Veronica gestured to the woman next to her, who must be her mother. She smiled at the trio.
"Veronica and her Mom are new in town, too." Betty cleared up to Alice and Polly, who send the two of them a welcoming smile.
"Would you like to join us? The more the merrier." Alice offered and gestured to the empty spot next to Polly. If they all scooted over a bit they'd fit in one booth together.
"That sounds lovely, thank you." Hermione smiled at Alice as she was glad that someone would invite them. Being new in a town where you didn't know anybody was a challenge itself, so she was grateful for such a sweet offer.
"I'm Alice and this is my daughter Polly. I understand you've met Betty already." Alice kindly introduced herself to the two women as they sat down.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Alice. I'm Hermione Gomez. Betty has been over at our house last week, she's wonderful." Hermione complimented her youngest daughter, who smiled happily.
"That does sound like my Elizabeth." Alice beamed proudly and elbowed her playfully. Betty always loved it when people liked her, so this was something that would brighten her day.
"So, you just moved here like us?" Polly asked curiously, feeling like she could try to contribute to the conversation not only because they seemed like nice people, but to show her mother that she was really more openminded than before.
"We did, after my divorce we wanted something else, something new." Hermione explained them in a nutshell.
Of course it wasn't as black and white as she told them, but everyone knew the complications of a split up between two people with children.
"That sounds familiar." Alice chuckled a little but send her a sympathetic smile after, telling her that she was in the same boat.
"Only difficult thing about starting over is not knowing anybody. Luckily Betty has been very welcoming. It's nice to not be the only new one at school." Veronica looked at the blonde girl across of her, thanking her once more.
Betty knew way too well how it felt like being the new girl and the way Archie had been there for her, she had decided to try and do the same for Veronica.
"Why don't you join us for pizza night? We do that on Wednesdays with our neighbors." Alice impulsively invited them, but it wasn't less genuine because of it.
She had been lucky enough to move across two people with big hearts who made her feel welcome, and she wanted Hermione to enter the warm bath of the Andrews household, too.
"That sounds like something we can't refuse. Right, Ronnie?" Hermione looked at her daughter, a smile tugging on her lips. Showing emotions wasn't Hermione's strong suit, but she had to admit to herself that the invite meant a lot to her.
"I wouldn't want to miss it." Veronica beamed brightly, already looking forward to it.
**
"Who's this woman you invited?" FP asked Alice curiously, as he was setting out enough glasses for everyone.
She had just told him that she had invited someone they had ran into, who was new in town just like she was.
"Why? Are you interested?" Alice teased him, a grin on her lips.
"Are you the funny one at home?" FP shot back, fighting the smirk on his face.
"Ask Betty." Alice turned to her youngest daughter.
"She's not." The girl commented, making both Alice and FP laugh.
"Her name is Hermione and she has a daughter in the same grade as Betty, Polly and Archie. Being new in a town that is unfamiliar is hard, I thought she could use it." Alice explained, still standing behind her idea.
Not that she believed that either FP or Fred would complain about more company, but she realized that she should have ask them first since they were in their apartment.
"It's sweet of you to invite her, Alice. One thing I learned from Mary is to always be welcoming for everyone who needs it." Fred kindly smiled, his eyes starting to twinkle as soon as he mentioned his wife. Alice softly smiled back, thanking him for being so open.
The door bell rang, telling them that their guests had arrived.
"That should be them." Alice beamed happily, looking forward to getting to know the two women better. Betty looked just as excited as her mother did, as she already sprinted over to the front door.
"I'll open!" She called after them, even though that was clear from the second she had abondoned her task of setting the table.
"Come on in. You've met my Mom and Polly and this are FP, Archie and Fred."
Betty took a step aside as she invited Hermione and Veronica to step into the apartment, and gestured to the three men of the household. They kindly shook hands as they introduced themselves.
"Freddie, you're catching flies." FP commented playfully, as he looked at how he was starting the second Hermione stood in front of him.
"Don't tease the man!" Alice slapped his chest but had to laugh nonetheless. Hermione smiled as well. She noticed that he was impressed, even though he tried to hide it. To her it was just really adorable.
"Thank you so much for the invite, we're happy to be here." She told them kindly, as they took place at the extended dinner table that they had carried from Alice's apartment. With so many guests they needed a bigger place to eat and this was the most easy, temporary, solution.
"I think I can speak for all of us that we're happy to have you." Alice looked around the table full of happy faces and ended with Hermione, who smiled gratefully.
"Let's dive in, I'm starving." Archie opened dinner, and was the first one to set his knife into his pizza.
After having a delightful dinner with the homemade pizza's from no other than Archie Andrews and FP Jones, they all moved to the living room part of the apartment. Fred had grabbed the family game they would play to end the night with. Most of them were very competitive, so that always turned out to be fun.
"I'll get us something to drink." FP stood up from his chair as everyone started to chat with one another, making it go unnoticed that Alice stood up as well, mumbling that she'd help him out.
Everyone was getting caught up into their own conversation that they wouldn't question something like that. Alice looked behind her before she approached FP, to see that Archie, Betty and Veronica were wrapped up in a conversation just as Polly, Hermione and Fred were.
"Hey, is everything alright?" She came closer to FP, who was like he said, filling glasses with lemonade.
"Yeah, I guess so. Why you ask?" He looked up from his task to meet her eyes. He wasn't sure what he was reading in them, but it looked like concern.
"I don't know, you seemed a bit off tonight." Alice wasn't even sure how to call the look on his face, or the aura around him that felt different than how she had seen him before.
Maybe it wasn't even her place to ask him something like that, but she felt like checking up on him couldn't hurt.
"I'm just not feeling great, that's all." He said quietly, avoiding her eyes before she'd see how vulnerable a simple question like that made him feel.
"You know I'm here for you if you ever want to talk." She touched his bicep, making him look up at her as he stopped filling the glasses.
And though he wasn't quite ready to show every part of himself, hearing that he could rely on her did make his heart jump.
"Thanks, Al. I appreciate that." He smiled gratefully. She returned the gesture.
"Should I tell them you're not participating with Pictionary, or will you join us?" All she could do for now was giving him a way out, so he'd have the chance to be alone for a little while.
"Only if we can be a team." FP grinned shyly, but tried to make it sound like a little joke.
"I think that can be arranged." She teased back and grabbed a few of the glasses as they walked back to their company.
**
Their night of Pictionary proved to be a bigger success than any of them had ever thought. As expected, Betty and Archie had teamed up just as Polly and Veronica who seemed to be surprisingly in sync.
Fred and Hermione had teamed up, creating big smiles on both of their faces as they guessed right words one after the other. Though, the true surprise of the night were FP and Alice as the unbeatable team. They never made one mistake and therefore had won all the rounds.
"Come on guys, give somebody else a chance."
"Seriously, do you read each other's mind?"
"I bet they are cheating, this is my Mom we are talking about."
"You are just jealous that we're good drawers and are on the same level."
"Hey! Hermione and I are doing pretty good too."
"That's because she's smart and you have basic art skills, Freddie."
"This game isn't fair when you are teamed up with Archie who draws like a four year old."
"I can't even say I am offended, she's right. You can't have good looks and have talent, Betty."
"Alice has both, Red. That's why we're winning."
After chatting for a bit, everyone who didn't belong in the apartment they were in decided that it was time to head home. They had been playing for a while and were tired from all the excitement. While Alice and FP cleaned up everything that was left, Fred escorted the two girls to his door.
"We had a fun night, again thank you for being so kind to invite us over. That means the world." Hermione smiled at the sweet man in front of her, who she truly had fun being around with.
She had been nervous to meet so many new people at once, but it had turned out into one of the best decisions she had made in a while.
"You're always welcome here, Hermione. It was nice having you and Veronica."
Fred smiled kindly at the dark haired woman and her daughter, who returned the same gesture. Just like her mother, she had been having a great time as well.
"Get home safely!" He called them, as they waved once more before they left down the stairs.
"I'm going to bring the trash downstairs, I'll be back in sec." FP had grabbed the trash bag out of the can and tied a knot in it and headed downstairs behind the two women.
Alice looked at Fred as they were cleaning and decided to throw her thoughts out in the open.
"You seemed a little starstruck tonight." There tugged a grin on her lips.
She had been watching them tonight and it truly seemed like Fred's eyes had beamed in a way she hadn't seen before. Not that she had known him for a long time, but you didn't even have to be a genius to see that he was glowing.
"What do you mean?" Fred asked confused, not at all noticing what she was referring to.
"What do I mean? The way you were looking at Hermione!" Alice stated the obvious.
She was sure he had known the way he was laughing when they were on fire during Pictionary, or how he had listened carefully as she had told where she had lived before.
"Don't be crazy, I was just being polite." Fred brushed it off, but his cheeks flushed nonetheless.
Of course he knew that he liked her presence, but he liked having Alice around too and nobody ever mentioned that before. Why was this supposed to be a big deal?
"Fred, you can be honest with me. It's clear that you were stunned." Alice teased him once more, having fun to see his cheeks blush.
However, she was unaware of how this was striking a nerve in him that she didn't know was there. Fred sighed a little and looked at her before he spoke.
"Look, Alice... Yes, she is beautiful. And yes, we had a great time. But the truth is... I can't do that to Mary. She is the one my heart belongs to. Her being gone doesn't change that." Fred stated, and continued cleaning the dinner table.
Alice's eyes filled with guilt. She realized she had been a little insensitive.
"I'm sorry, I hadn't considered that." She said quietly and hoped that he could forgive her for going on about this when it was only meant as joke.
"That's fine, you're not the first one who tells me to move on."
Fred tried to smile a little, but she could see right through that. It wasn't fair that people would keep on pushing him to do something that he didn't want to.
"You don't have to move on if you're not ready for that." Alice walked over to him and this time he met her eyes to see that she meant what she said.
The only people who had ever understood that he wasn't ready to date were FP and Archie. The rest always joked around about getting out there again. Most of the time he just laughed along, when really his heart ached.
"You know the worst thing? A woman like Hermione might be someone I could really connect with. But I just can't. It's not fair towards Mary. I can't betray her like that." Fred's voice cracked and a few tears escaped before he could even fight them.
"Hey, come here. It's okay." Alice quickly wrapped her arms around him, and for a second he let himself relax into her embrace as he cried softly.
When they slowly pulled back he could see the kindness in her eyes, realizing that he had earned a friend who he didn't want to be without anymore.
Alice wiped away the last tears that spilled and gave him a sweet kiss on his cheek, telling him that it would be okay. Not that she could promise that, but as long as he had his support system things would be somewhat fine.
If only she knew that FP had gotten upstairs again and saw the moment right in front of his eyes, jumping to conclusions before they had even the chance to tell what had just happened.