Alice is the first one to wake up, and as she turned around she felt the warmth of a body next to her, which is a feeling she hadn't been familiar with in a very long time.
It were FP's arms loosely wrapped around her waist, while he softly snorred. His bed hair was messy but cute and if she wouldn't want to look into his hypnotizing brown eyes she could have looked at him in his sleep state for hours.
However, Alice had other plans with him. She started to press featherlight kisses all over his face in an attempt for him to come out of his slumber.
"FP, wake up." She whispered quietly, and continued kissing his jaw, cheek, nose forehead and corner of his mouth.
"This tickles." He groggily murmured as he started to smile in his sleep. It made him look even cuter than before.
"Open your eyes then." Alice giggled, and finished off with a lingering kiss on his lips that he melted into.
FP finally opened his eyes and stretched slightly with a groan, as the grin that had formed on his face grew even brighter when he looked directly into her sparkling blue orbs. His arm came to wrap around her more tightly and his fingers started to tickle the skin underneath her shirt.
"If I am still dreaming, I don't want to wake up." He sighed happily, his eyes sparkling with morning glory.
"Believe me, it's real." Alice pecked a sweet kiss on his nose while her hand started to comb through his dark locks. She could barely believe that last night hadn't been a hallucination. He was really lying next to her.
"Goodmorning, beautiful." FP smiled brightly, and pulled her as close as humanly possible while capturing their lips in a long kiss.
"I can't believe your lying next to me." FP breathed out when he had slowly pulled back.
His eyes were still full of sleep, but as she looked right at him she could see the very specific, happy, twinkle in those brown innocent orbs that he only had around her.
"Me neither." She sighed contently. Her hand had continued combing his hair, a motion which could easily lull him back to sleep if he wanted to.
"Are you alright? You made a big decision yesterday." Alice's face turned serious, and if she was being honest with herself she had been worrying about him ever since Jughead told her he was coming back to Riverdale.
"The weekend was filled with those." FP sighed, and turned to lay on his back. Alice wrapped her arm around his upper body.
"I know Jellybean said I could go... I still feel bad." He thought out loud, his mind spiraling back to his daughter. There formed a worried frown on his face.
"Do you think she'll blame me for bailing again?" FP turned his head to look at Alice.
"Hey, don't say that. You chose for your own happiness, they literally told you to." She reminded him the way they had encouraged him to go back to his home town, to Fred, to her.
FP turned on his side again and sighed deeply, his head overflowing with confusion.
"Al, I left them with Gladys. I know I can't legally take them but it seems unfair." The more the talked about it, the guiltier felt about leaving his kids behind. Shouldn't there be another solution?
"Jughead is a wise boy and I am sure Gladys tries." Alice tried to comfort him, even though she knew it wasn't easy to talk this out of his head.
"Tries to break us apart, yeah." FP huffed and absentmindedly pulled her closer, as if that way he could make sure she'd stay.
"I'm not a bad person, am I? For not fighting harder? For just taking their word without further question?" He asked her insecurely, his mind clearly spiraling. His fear of being a horrible father was and would always be haunting him.
Alice immediately cupped his cheeks to make sure he was directly looking into her eyes as she spoke to him.
"You're not, FP. You were miserable there, you didn't have another choice." She comforted him softly.
Her thumbs stroke his cheek, a simple touch that had effect on him instantly. It worked. He breathed out silently and closed his eyes for a brief moment.
"I hope I can prove that I am better, that I can take care of my kids." He spoke more to himself than to her, but either way she'd tell him that she was going to support him through thick and thin.
"I'll be there to help you with it all." She promised sweetly, her hands coming to rest in his hair again when she slowly combed through his dark locks.
"You are the most amazing woman, aren't you?" FP grinned from ear to ear and pushed her down in the mattress and kissed her passionately while hovering over her.
"Hey lovebirds. Breakfast is ready!" Fred's voice shouted through the door, making them break the kiss and look up.
"Coming!" Alice shouted, making sure Fred knew he had been heard.
However, when she made an attempt to leave the bed, FP embraced her into a koala hug, his head ending up in the crook of her neck.
"I don't want to leave the bed, I am too comfy with you next to me." He mumbled as he started to press sweet kisses on her cheek. His stomach involuntarily started to growl, telling him to eat something.
"Your stomach disagrees." Alice teased and playfully pushed him to the side so she'd be able to leave the bed.
She was wearing shorts and a oversized t-shirts of FP's, which was no special outfit, but to him she looked like the most gorgeous woman alive. He stated at her in awe for a second, feeling the luckiest guy on earth.
"Alright, we'll grab something to eat. But after that we're getting back in here." FP managed to sneak in one more kiss, making her giggle like a young teenage girl as they left the bedroom.
On their way to the kitchen they bumped into Betty and Archie in the hallway. Apparently, her daughter had stayed over as well, according to the pyjama she was wearing.
"Morning, Elizabeth." Alice eyed her playfully, telling her with one look that she needed details later.
"Morning, Mom." Betty grinned as they walked into the living room, and couldn't stop the blush on her cheeks. She had hoped she'd be up and off to work already so that they could have skipped this uncomfortable moment.
"It's because I am happy I will let this slide." Alice pointed a playful finger at her youngest, making all four of them laugh.
"You're happy? No kidding, we had no clue." Fred commented sassily, as he continued pouring orange juice for everyone.
"What is it Fred? Are you jealous that I have such an handsome boyfriend?" Alice gloated as she stood next to him at the kitchen island.
"Boyfriend, huh? I like the sound of that." FP hummed behind her, his hands coming to rest on her abdomen as she lolled her head backwards to kiss him.
Before they could melt into a heated and passionate make-out, Fred reminded him they weren't alone.
"There are kids watching." He teased a little, making both Betty and Archie laugh.
"Are we eating together tonight?" The Andrews boy asked.
"Sure, why should tonight be any different from other night?" Fred commented, which after months of living together seemed to be like a usual thing. It was almost weird not to have dinner together.
"Oh babe, I almost forgot. I need to stop by work for a few hours." Alice suddenly remembered and reminded the man who was now, finally, her boyfriend.
"So no movie marathon in bed today?" He pouted a little extra on purpose.
"Another time, sorry. I will make it up to you." She promised seductively and pecked another heated kiss to his lips.
"The walls are thin." Fred commented, fighting a grin.
"I'll keep that in account." Alice sassily smiled.
**
After eating breakfast together, Betty and Archie were preparing for school and Alice had taken off to stop by the station. FP and Fred cleaned up together, as they didn't have as much of a busy day.
"What are you smiley about?" FP chuckled a little as he had studied Fred's face for a while now.
"The fact that you are glowing." He said, the smile not disappearing. FP blushed slightly. It was all because of her.
"Come on man, I haven't seen you like that in.... probably ever." Fred playfully bumped his shoulder.
"I feel like the luckiest man on earth, Freddie." FP sighed happily.
He counted his lucky stars that the universe had eventually brought him and Alice together, even if the road had been rocky.
"We're off to school, thanks for breakfast Fred." Betty thanked the father of her boyfriend.
"Did he treat you with respect? I'm watching you like a hawk, Red." FP pointed to his own eyes and then to Archie with a goofy grin. After all, he was just teasing.
"He does, no worries about that." Betty said sweetly, grabbing Archie's hand, who's cheeks flushed slightly.
**
FP was planning to stop by the Wyrm and catch up with some friends of his, but just when he was about to leave he noticed Polly struggling on the stairs with what it looked like heavy bags.
"Hey, you shouldnt be carrying that. Give me." He rushed over to her and took the bags out of her hand without giving her a chance to object.
"I'm not that pregnant yet." Polly chuckled a little. She appreciated the help, but it wasn't if she couldn't do anything by herself anymore.
"Doesn't matter, you're creating a life in there. I am not letting you carry that." FP pointed at her growing baby bump.
"Fred! Can you give me a hand?" He shouted, so he'd be able to hear him. It was almost too much for him to carry alone, he couldn't even imagine how she got this far all by herself.
Fred rushed out of the apartment and took a bag from FP.
"Did you carry this all by yourself?" He asked Polly in disbelief, especially when he felt how heavy the bag he took was on its own.
"I wanted to cook tonight but might have overestimated myself." The girl admitted with a blush on her cheeks. Polly really wanted to be able to do everything she always used to be, but the more pregnant she became the harder it was for her to adjust.
Suddenly, she felt the overwhelming and exhaustion hitting her, as if with taking her bags the men also managed to break down the wall that kept her steady. In a matter of seconds her cheeks were wet from her tears. FP swallowed when he found the crying girl in the hallway, but got himself together real quick.
"Hey, it alright. Let it out." He had put down the grocery bag in front of the open door and wrapped a protective arm around her as he soothed her.
"Do you want some tea?" Fred asked sweetly, inviting her in to take a breath. The girl gratefully accepted the offer.
Once inside, she had a big mug full of earl grey tea in her hand, and slowly calmed down.
"Sorry, sometimes I get a little bit overwhelmed. Pregnancy hormones I guess." She chuckled a little ashamed. It hadn't been the first time, but it was mostly her Mom, Noah or Betty around to witness it.
"Gladys had those like crazy. Not with tears though, just with anger outbursts." FP tried to sympathize with her a little to put things in perspective.
"Hopefully I am not that bad." She smiled a little.
"I'm certain you are not." He assured her, giving her the same warm smile.
"Is there anything that bothered you? Do you want to talk?" Fred offered her a cookie and an opportunity to open up, if she wanted to.
Polly hesitated for a moment, but realized they had told her she could always count on them. Maybe it was time to make good use of that, especially when she couldn't go to her Mom with this issue.
"It's that... My mom has been my rock and I am so grateful for her. But I can't help missing my Dad." She confessed quietly.
It felt wrong to miss someone who had treated her so dearly, but the naive little girl in her hoped that the father she was once so close to was still in there somewhere.
"Why can't I just be happy with what I do have? I have Mom, Betty... and Noah has been more than wonderful. I even have two amazing neighbors who help me out. Why does it feel like something is missing?"
The girl sniffled slightly as her sad broken eyes looked at the two men next to her.
"Because someone you trusted has shown their true colors." FP told her, a sad smile on his face.
He knew like no other how that felt. With one look they told each other a whole story. It wasn't easy, but he had learned the hard way that sometimes you needed to make yourself a priority, even if it hurts.
"We're always here for you, Polly. I know we can't replace te void your father is leaving, but we'll do anything to make this all a bit better for you." Fred assured her, genuinely meaning every word of his promise.
And though the bond with her father wouldn't be resorted that easily, she would never doubt again that she had two people close to her who did support her through everything.