You Can't Hurry Love

9| No More Lies

It's late. Alice stayed up waiting for FP to come home, but he never did.

She scared him away, she thought. She believes he doesn't want to take on this new role in life. How would she explain it to Charles? The boy loves him and he doesn't even know the truth.

"Alice?" Fred comes down the stairs to find the woman sitting in the dark. "You're still up?"

"He's not back yet, Fred. What if he doesn't come back?"

"He's not leaving again."

"How do we know? It's not like he told us last time."

"I doubt he would willingly want to be out of Charlie's life."

"Then where is he? Why isn't he home?"

"He needs time to let it sink in. He's a dad now. That's big. It's not like you told him you ate his leftovers."

"You should have seen him," Alice frowns. "When I told him, he wasn't mad, no, he was hurt. That's worse. I hurt him, Fred. He should be mad. It's easier to be mad. He has a right to hate me."

"He could never hate you."

"I kept him from his son. He missed all those years because of me."

"There was literally no way to tell him. It's not your fault."

"He's blaming himself when he should be blaming me."

"Neither of you are to blame."

"I am! I should have put in more of an effort to tell him before it was too late. I never would have left; he never would have left."

"You can't keep blaming yourself for this. You've been beating yourself up about it for years. Don't you think that's enough? I want to see you happy again, Alice. When will you let yourself be happy?"

"When he's happy."

"Alice-"

"Seeing him happy makes me happy."

"I know, but don't you ever think about how seeing you happy is what makes him happy? Don't you remember? Who would he go to whenever anything happened to him? The answer is you, Alice. You were the first one he ran to. It's in his actions, not his words. His way of showing how he felt was by doing something. Sure, maybe he wasn't always perfect at that but he tried. He'd do anything for you."

"Can that anything be coming home?"

"Why don't I go look for him and you go to bed?" Fred proposes. "He's got to be somewhere close."

"I don't think I can sleep without knowing if he's okay."

"I assure you that he's fine. Go to bed. As soon as I locate him I'll bring him home. You have my word. Got it? I'll text you when I find him if you promise me to go to bed."

"Okay," Alice gives in. "Let me know as soon as you find him."

"I will."

+++

Fred stops at the one place in town open 24/7 first to try to look for FP. He scans the room, but there's no sign of the man. He asks Pop if he's seen FP, but he confirms that he hasn't stopped by.

Next, he goes to the southside and takes a look around. He has doubts that he'll find him there, but he still has to give it a look. He checks the the drive-in and has no luck. He checks the trailer park, maybe he's in his family's old trailer, but the place was empty and dusty. He goes to the Whyte Wyrm, but the Serpents make it clear that he's not welcomed.