"Baby, I'm home!" FP's voice echoed through the room once he walked into the house and closed the red-painted door behind his back.
He hung his sheriff hat on the coat hanger and loosen up his tie just a little bit, to release the uncomfortable feeling that was driving him insane since he tied it up in the morning. Although usually, he was comfortable with wearing the tie, mostly because Alice seemed to like seeing him dressed in his uniform, today he wanted to rip it off ever since he walked into the station.
Being the Sheriff of such a crazy town like Riverdale was everything, but an easy task, especially when mayor Lodge was looking at your hands every now and then to see if you're following his orders. No matter how done FP was with his demands, there was a part of him, that loved his job. And there also was Alice, who was his biggest supporter.
"In the kitchen!" FP followed the sound of Alice's voice and soon, he saw her standing over the sink, washing the dishes.
"Hi there, beautiful." He walked closer to her and placed a kiss on her cheek, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind.
Her body tensed once he came closer. It was something FP noticed, but decided to shrug it off for now. He breathed the scent of her perfumes and buried his nose in the crook of her neck, feeling the comfort washing over him once he held her close. She had always been his safe place, his home.
"Hmmm." Alice hummed in response to his actions, but couldn't help the anxious feeling inside of both her mind and body.
When FP loosen his grip and slowly pulled back from her body, one part of her immediately started to miss his touch, and the other one felt the relief washing over her that he walked away. But she couldn't really understand why she was so torn between wanting to feel his warmth and keeping the distance.
"Where are the kids?" Alice heard FP's voice followed by the squeak of opening the fridge.
"Out with friends. Jellybean should be back in a while, though." She answered simply, hearing as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.
"Let me guess, Jughead and Betty are still snooping around?" FP chuckled and took a sip of his drink, placing the bottle with juice back into the fridge.
"Otherwise they wouldn't be themselves," Alice said a little bit too coldly, taking into consideration that her voice was followed by shrugging her shoulders blankly.
She didn't see his confused expression, but both of them sensed the tension feeling the air. It wasn't in Alice's style to avoid talking with him about everything that had been going on in their life lately, especially when the topic of their kids was brought up in the conversation. But it seemed like she wasn't in a mood for small talks, at least not now.
They had known each other for ages and had been living together for some time now, so it wasn't a mystery for FP that there was something on the line. He was well aware of the stress Alice had to deal with both at work and home. She was constantly worried about the kids and their crazy ideas to save the town from all the evil of the world. She was having a lot on her shoulders too.
The sound of FP's buzzing phone broke the uncomfortable silence between them. He cleared his throat quietly, excusing himself for a while to pick up the call. Alice didn't move an inch, she was just standing next to the sink, finishing doing the dishes and inevitably listening to the short scraps of FP's conversation.
"That's Jellybean. She is going to catch up with her classmates a little bit longer. She doesn't want us to wait for her with the dinner." Though she couldn't see FP's face, she knew that a small smile curled on his lips.
