18 Years of Bonnie & Clyde

[12] Forever Young

Alice and FP strolled down Oak Street on the Northside of town, making their way to a party that was hosted by football teammate Marty Mantle. As much as FP was excited to go to a party, Alice wasn't looking all too happy. FP laughed a little, knowing that even though she was going to complain, she was going to love it anyway.

"Hey, cheer up. We're going to a party, not a funeral." He bumped her side with the elbow from his good arm and grinned at her, trying to earn a little smile back.

"Why couldn't we hang in the Wyrm tonight?" Alice whined, wishing she was drowning in tequila shots at her favorite bar.

"Socializing with our classmates is fun, Al. Come on." He took her hand in his own and swayed it a little, trying to make it a playful thing.

"Penelope is there. It can't be fun." She smirked a little as she insulted her arch nemesis, making FP shake his head in amusement.

If she would cause any trouble, neither of them would hesitate to put her into her place like they had done many times before.

They walked into the Mantle's family residence and were immediately greeted by a crowd of dancing people, and Marty who had seen them walking in.

"Jones! Smith! Did you bring booze?" He cut to the chase immediately and extended his hand. Stopping by was free, but bringing something to drink for everyone to share was mandatory.

"You've got it, Mantle." Alice handed him the bottle, one they had stolen from the Wyrm.

"Alice, FP, we're here!" Hermione called for them with her signature sweet smile. She and Fred were chatting away together as they had been waiting for their friends to arrive.

"Wow, what happened to your arm?" Fred noticed FP's cast immediately and his eyes grew wide in concern.

FP's cheeks flushed immediately and he looked at Alice for a split second, who send him a sweet smile, telling him that she'd back up the story he was about to tell.

"I fell off my bike." He explained shortly, trying to make it seem like no big deal. Fortunately, Fred didn't seem to question it. After all, FP had a reputation of being clumsy, so this didn't come as a surprise.

"Shit man, that must've hurt." He said sympathetically. With how hard he was always riding that bike, he imagined that it must have been a rather unpleasant meeting with the pavement.

"Yeah... it did." FP smiled sadly.

It had hurt more than he could tell his friend, no matter how hard he wished that he could speak the truth. If he would, things would change for good and he wasn't ready to lose everything in their senior year.

"What about practice?" He asked him, snapping FP out of his trail of thoughts. He hadn't even been able to tell their coach yet, but it wasn't looking good.

"Not for another six weeks." FP sighed frustratedly.

Maybe that was the thing he was most mad about. His father took away the only chance for him to do something that he was truly passionate about.

"That sucks. You're our best player." Fred placed his hand on FP's shoulder and gave him a soft smile.

He could imagine how disappointed he must be for being benched for so long. Sure, he could train his condition but that definitely wasn't the fun part of playing football.

"Tell me about it. You've got to train harder now, Andrews." FP joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Though, he did have faith in his best friend being able to replace them the following weeks. Fred laughed in amusement, feeling glad that he still had his sense of humor.