FP had sneaked into apartment 4B and made his way towards Alice's bedroom. Even when they would see each other in a couple of hours at City Hall, he just couldn't wait to greet her.
"Baby, are you in here?" He asked softly as he knocked on the door.
"Of course I am." She smiled as she poked her head through the tiniest opening in her bedroom door.
"Don't you dare try to take a sneak peak at my dress." She warned him, a stern finger pointed at face.
"Can I at least get a preview of you without you in it?" He cheekily smiled. It hadn't even been his plan to come to see her in her dress, he just wanted to be able to kiss her real quick before the start of their big day.
"Hmm, because you asked so nicely." She smiled and opened the door for him to enter. It was only nine in the morning, so she was still wearing the t-shirt that she had once claimed from FP as her new sleeping outfit.
His hands wrapped around her waist while he slowly swayed them back a forth with a happy and goofy grin on his face. He couldn't believe this woman was about to be his wife.
"Although I can't wait to see you in your dress... you in my shirt look hella hot too. I'd marry you like this in a heartbeat." He nudged his nose against hers as he badly wanted to kiss the smirk of her face.
"You're crazy." She teased and shook her head in amusement. Though, she'd marry him in his flannel at anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
"A little, but you knew that already. There is no way back now." He warned her in all seriousness, but couldn't stop himself from grinning. FP leant in to finally kiss her for the first time that day, but a voice behind him made him turn around.
"Hey! Hey! What are you doing here? You can't see her before the ceremony." Polly walked into the room and gave FP a stern look. She took her duty as maid of honor very seriously.
"Ouch, you're caught." Alice patted his shoulder and laughed when he took a step away from her with his hands held up in defense.
"Don't make me drag you out of here. We need to prepare my Mom." Polly gestured for him to leave. It was her job to manage the timetable and she was going to make sure they wouldn't even be a second behind schedule.
"Alright, alright. I'll go suit up." FP laughed as he followed her orders. It was a little funny, but he loved how involved everyone was.
Polly waited until she had seen him leave out of the door and gestured for her mother to grab her wedding dress out of the closet.
"Okay, he's gone. We can move to the living room." She had prepared enough space for everyone to gather around and make Alice the most beautiful bride anyone had ever seen.
But then there was another knock on the living door. Polly looked up instantly while Alice calmly took her dress and draped it over the dinner table so it wouldn't wrinkle.
"If that's FP trying to peek again I'll have his head." She shook her head disapprovingly already.
"Please don't, I'd like to marry him head and all." Alice smiled and laughed a little as she saw her oldest daughter turn into a younger version of herself.
"Hermione, Veronica! Come on in." Polly smiled sweetly and gestured for them to come further.
"How is the bride to be?" Hermione asked Alice with a happy smile on her face.
"I'm calm, actually. I'm marrying my soulmate today, there is nothing to be nervous about." And though she had expected to freak-out all day, she had been feeling really good from the moment she woke up.
It felt so different from when she married Hal. This time there was no pressure. She loved him and he loved her, which was all that mattered for today.
"Ronnie, do you have your make-up with you?" Betty beamed, knowing Veronica's extraordinary talent when it came to a beautiful look.
"Of course I have, Bee. Sit down Alice, let me do my magic." Veronica gestured to the chair and Alice happily obliged. She was more than ready to get pampered the way a bride deserves.
**
At the other side of the hallway, the guys and Jellybean were preparing FP for his big moment. This was his first wedding day ever and he just couldn't wait for Alice to be his wife.
"How are you feeling, bud?" Fred asked him with a soft smile on his face. He knew that FP had trouble with change, but today he didn't see anything else than a very excited person.
"I've never been this happy, Fred. I never thought I could ever feel like this." FP beamed as his friend help him with his bow tie. He had barley slept from all the nerves, but right now the adrenaline was keeping him awake.
"She really turned you world upside down, didn't she?" said Fred softly, looking directly into the sparkling eyes of FP.
"In the most wonderful way." He smiled. The last thing he had expected the first time he had looked at her, was that one day he would have the privilege to marriage such a beautiful woman.
"I wonder what Alice looks like in her dress." Jellybean thought out loud.
She hadn't seen the dress she had chosen before. Secretly, she was nervous about today too. It was exciting to see her father marry someone he loves so much.
"Maybe you could go take a look for me?" FP brought in carefully, winking his brows up and down suggestively.
"Polly will come for you, you know." Archie warned him with a chuckle. He knew that the Cooper girl was keeping an eye on all of them to keep the mystery alive.
"Hey! She never said my kids couldn't look." He smiled cheekily.
But then his face turned serious and he took a step away from Fred to look at himself in the mirror. He busied himself with the bow tie that was already in place more than perfect.
"Are you alright?" Jughead asked him with a raised eyebrow. He knew that look. Something was bothering him and he wasn't sharing whatever it was.
FP turned away from the mirror and looked at his son. He sighed deeply before he sat on the bed next to him.
"Yeah... I just wanted to ask one more time if the two of you are really okay with this. I know I've asked a thousand times before and you said—" FP was ready to come with a thousand more reasons of why he wanted to check in with his kids and their feelings towards the wedding, but Jellybean didn't give him a chance.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"You're rambling. And we're fine. Pinky promise." The girl held out his pinky for him to link his own in. He smiled and followed her gesture. It was all he needed to hear.
"I pinky promise too. We like seeing you this happy. Alice brings out the best in you." Jughead held out his pinky as well so his father could connect them with his other hand. It was a simple gesture, but enough for FP to have full faith.
"You made me curious now, I am going to look at her wedding dress." Jughead hopped off the bed to leave to the apartment across the hall. He just couldn't resist taking a sneak peek at the bride, the future wife of his father.
"We'll come with you." Archie and Jellybean both joined the boy to see how Alice is doing. FP chuckled as he saw the group of kids leaving the bedroom, almost a little jealous that he couldn't watch her.
They carefully poked their head behind the door of the apartment on the other side of the hall, to see if it was okay they would be coming in.
"Hey, can we switch? We want to see the bride." Archie asked the Cooper girls, who were both still admiring their mother. The sisters shared a look.
"Checking up on the groom can't hurt. We have to make sure he's on schedule." Polly decided. Secretly she was curious how their preparations were going as well. Besides, they were ahead schedule with preparing Alice.
"You look like a princess." Jellybean's eyes sparkled as she looked at Alice dressed in her wedding dress.
"I feel like one." Alice smiled and turned to the mirror to take a good look at herself before she turned back to the Jones's kids.
"How is your Dad doing? Did he try to escape out of the window yet?" She joked, making everyone laugh.
"Not yet, but we'll keep you up to date." Jughead teased. The last thing his Dad was going to do was running away from his big day.
But Alice's face fell serious as well, something unknown sparkling in her eyes. But Jughead knew what it meant, he had just seen it the exact same look in his father's eyes.
"You're looking at us the same way my Dad just did." He frowned. He knew where this was going.
"I wanted to know if you kids—" Alice started off, but Jughead quickly interrupted her. He knew what she needed to hear and he'd gladly repeat it for her.
"...are okay with our Dad marrying the woman who makes him happier than he ever thought he could be? Yeah, we're more than okay, Alice." The boy gave her a warm smile, followed by Jellybean who nodded along. Alice teared up a little but the unconditional support of the two siblings.
"Thank you. For everything. If it wouldn't be for you FP and I wouldn't he here today." She thanked them genuinely. She didn't even want to think about where they would be today if Jughead and Jellybean hadn't supported their relationship. Maybe FP would've still been in Toledo.
"I don't meant to overstep but... FP is going wild when he sees you in this dress." Archie broke the silence as he looked the dress up and down. He knew FP well enough to know that he was practically going to faint when he saw how stunning she looked.
"Yeah, he definitely is. We might have to have an ambulance ready just in case." Jughead joked.
"You guys really think he'll like it?" Alice looked down at her dress. She felt insanely beautiful and she hoped that FP would feel the exact same way about how she looked.
"Better. He'll love it." Jughead promised her.
**
In the little moment that Fred and FP were alone, they took the few minutes to enjoy the silence before they had to leave off.
"It's really happening, isn't it?" Fred said, a big grin spreading over his face.
"I can't believe it either." FP shook his head in disbelief, though with a very content smile on his lips.
"I am so happy for you, brother." Fred had a little difficulty to keep his emotions at bay, which would be even a bigger challenge once they were at City Hall.
"It's all thanks to you, Fred." He said softly. Without him, he'd never be here today.
"You've always been my rock. You pulled me up when I almost drowned, you selflessly took me into your home and made me part of your family and made sure that I pursued my dreams. That includes marrying Alice. I can't thank you enough." FP teared up as he thanked his best friend in the whole wide world. He didn't even dare to imagine where his life would be without him.
"I'd do it all over again if I had to." Fred swallowed his tears and hugged his brother tightly. It had been one hell of a journey, but neither of them would have wanted it any other way.
"How is the groom doing?" Betty poked her head into FP's bedroom and smiled sweetly.
"FP, you look beautiful. Has my mom ever seen you in a suit before?" Polly looked at his outfit and noticeably swallowed as well. Her mother and FP were going to look so perfect together.
"I don't think she has. Will she like it? She is used to see me in my flannels." FP said a little insecure. It had been her idea to dress up, but he looked so... different.
"She loves a man in a suit, so definitely." Betty assured him with a comforting smile. Though, FP was suddenly hit by a wave of anxiety.
Fred immediately noticed as his breathing pattern went uneven. He grabbed his best friend's shoulder to calm him down.
"Hey, breathe in, breathe out." He gave him the example to follow his lead, which instantly calmed FP down. He sighed deeply when he got control back again.
"Sorry, I am just so nervous. I didn't know a wedding day could be filled with so much anxiety." He chuckled slightly to make light of the situation.
"Is Alice freaking out too or is it just me?" He turned to Betty and Polly, part of him hoping that he wasn't the only one of them who was extremely nervous.
"She's actually really calm. You know why?" Polly asked softly. She sat next to him on the bed and squeezed his arm.
"She's marrying her soulmate today. She has never felt this peaceful." Polly continued with a warm smile. FP's eyes started to twinkle.
"She said I am her soulmate?" He breathed out in a whisper, barely believing that she had used such beautiful and intimate words.
"Well, she is yours, isn't she?" Betty said sweetly, but she already knew the answer.
"She is." FP confirmed in a whisper, a smile tugging on his lips. Alice was right. There was no need to be nervous. They were meant to be together.
"It's almost time. Are you ready to go to City Hall and marry the love of your life?" Fred patted his shoulder.
"Never been more ready." He said determined. The moment he had been waiting for was almost there. Between now and an hour, they would be married.
**
A little while later, FP was waiting nervously in the little veneu. It was extremely simple, just like they had discussed. He barely paid attention to his surroundings as he saw his family sitting down on the chairs in front of the small altar. They were all there. Jughead, Jellybean, Archie, Betty, Polly, Sweet Pea, Hermione, and Veronica. All just for them, to witness this special moment.
"She'll come, right?" FP turned to Fred, who as his best man, was standing next to him.
"Bud, she is one minute late. Relax. That woman is going to marry you today one way or another." He assured his friend. Though, FP wasn't convinced. What if she had changed her mind?
"But what if—" He opened his mouth to protest and share all the worst case scenario's his mind could think off, but then Fred tapped his shoulder and pointed at the entrance. There she was. His Alice. His very soon the be wife. His soulmate.
A/N: two more chapters left until the end of the story!