After they had finished showering, Alice headed to the laundry room to pull her lavender purple pajamas out of the drier while FP put his white t-shirt and boxers back on. Alice took his flannel and jeans and set them in the washer, turning it on before they each headed back out into the living room. FP couldn't help but notice her pained steps. "You okay?" He asked with a hand on the back of his neck when she joined him down the hall.
"Hm?" She giggled. "Oh...Yeah. I'm good." She whispered, taking another slow step forward. Her legs were still a little sore and shaking, but she knew it was worth it. "Um..." She began, making her way to stand in front of the sofa. "I think we really needed that."
"Yeah." He laughed with a small grin as he nodded. His eyes accidentally fell to her lips and he stepped closer to her.
She took hold of his forearms, her fingers brushing against his warm skin while he held onto her elbows. "Where did all the time go?" She whispered, looking down at their skin to skin contact.
"Slipped through our fingers." He responded. "Just like you slipped through mine." As he said it, his grip on her grew tighter, as if to make sure she couldn't escape him. "I'm not letting that happen this time."
His words caused her to lose her breath and her body felt weak in his presence. She let out a breath and her head dropped to look at the floor. FP leaned in, giving her the most tender kiss on the forehead. It wasn't until now that they had realized they left Alice's stereo on. "I Swear" by All-4-One filled the warm, silent air and without even discussing it, they both wrapped their arms around each other, beginning to sway to the music. Alice leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, finding comfort in his arms once again. Both had so much they wanted to say to each other, but neither wanted to let it out. They enjoyed the silence save for the soft music coming from the kitchen.
When the song ended, the CD stopped, causing them to notice the silence between them. She pulled her head away from him in order to look up at him and they stopped swaying. She sighed with a weak smile as they still held each other in their arms. She wrapped her arms fully around his back, intertwining her own fingers from both her hands behind him. It was then that she felt it. Her wedding ring. When she pulled back a bit in shock, FP noticed. "What?" He asked her.
Alice grabbed ahold of the ring, pulling it off and bringing her hands out from around him. FP kept his hands on her lower back while she rested her forearms on his chest, staring down at the ring in her hands while she fiddled with it. She sighed. "I don't need this anymore." She said with a hint of relief in her tone. "It's funny that a little piece of jewelry can change your life." She took one last good look at the ring before leaning over to set it down on the coffee table beside them.
As she did so, FP sat down on the couch, leaning back to get more comfortable. Alice turned to look down at him and she softly smiled, following and sitting eerily close to him, leaning into his chest while he put his arm around her shoulder. They laid there and cuddled for hours, talking about the kids and the good old days.
Hours later, the front door opened and Charles "Chic" Smith stepped in in his Bijou uniform. His eyes drooped with exhaustion and each of his steps showed the strain in his feet. Alice shot right up as if she had been caught and FP eventually stood as well. "Chic, honey." His mother's voice went up an octave as if she were talking to a small child and FP looked at her beside him with a tilt of his head.
"Hey, Alice." Chic sighed, his eyes barely staying open.
"How was work?" Alice asked.
"Fine, I guess." He mumbled. "I'm gonna go to bed." He started for the stairs, but Alice walked over to him, grabbing ahold of his hand to stop him for a moment.
"Wait, wait. Sweetie." FP continued to watch Alice as her voice got higher and higher. "Before you go, I want you to meet somebody." She reached her free hand behind her, grabbing FP to pull him to stand next to her. She finally let go of Chic's hand, holding onto FP's with both of her own. "This is FP."
Chic looked at the man, remembering hearing that name from Betty once or twice and hearing Alice talk about him covering up the..."Oh." He nodded, his eyes still barely staying open.
"He's your..." She looked up at FP beside her, then back to Chic. "He-"
"It's nice to meet you, Chic." FP interrupted her. "You go up and get some sleep. You look beat." FP put an arm around Alice beside him while he put his hand out to shake Chic's. Chic weakly shaked FP's hand before turning and lazily walking up the stairs. When he was finally gone, Alice turned to face FP, who spoke right away. "He looked like he had a rough day. Tell him tomorrow morning?"
Alice nervously nodded as she bit her lower lip and FP pulled her in for a hug. "I'm pretty beat, too." Alice finally admitted. "Wanna head up to bed?"
They pulled out of their embrace and FP pretended to ponder the question. "Hmmm...Let me think abo-" Before he even finished the statement, he lifted her off the ground, cradling her in his arms. "...ut that." He finished, kissing her while she giggled. And he carried her up the stairs.
The next morning, Chic stumbled out of bed and down the stairs to find Alice and FP happily preparing breakfast. He slowly stepped down the last two stairs with a look of confusion plastered on his face.
"Oh, good morning, darling." Alice said with a wider grin than Chic had ever seen. "We're making blueberry pancakes and bacon. I also have some poppyseed muffins in the oven." She watched him stand there, looking back and forth between the other two. "Have a seat." She grinned. Chic slowly obeyed, taking a seat at the end of the table as he watched FP over by the stove, flipping the bacon. "Do you want orange juice or apple juice?" Alice asked in a petite voice.
"Apple, please." Chic responded, still staring at FP.
"Okay." Alice smiled, heading over toward FP. "Could you hand me a glass?" She asked Mr. Jones. He reached up into the cupboard over his head and handed her one. "Thanks, hun." She immediately felt her cheeks growing red as she realized what she called him.
FP couldn't help but smile and he slightly turned his head over his shoulder to look at her behind him. "You're welcome."
Chic watched them both smile at each other before returning to what they were doing.
Once breakfast was finished, they all sat at the table with the food in the center of it. While they began to eat, Chic looked back and forth at the other two, still trying to process what was going on here. "So..." He finally broke the silence. "You're the one who helped with the..."
Both Alice and FP stopped what they were doing, looking toward each other. "Um..." Jughead's dad began. "Yeah..."
"Why would you do that?" Chic asked as his mother nervously swallowed her orange juice.
"He did it for us, Chic." Alice reached over, briefly setting her hand upon his. "For you."
"Why would he do it for me? He doesn't even know me." He watched them both look at each other again and he started to put two and two together, remembering that Alice had something to tell him last night while introducing FP. "Oh." He looked at FP who looked at Alice. "So, Hal, he's-"
"Polly and Betty's father." Alice finally admitted. She grew nervous, waiting for her son to explode. But....
A large grin grew upon Chic's face. "Cool." Frankly, he was relieved. He couldn't stand Hal and finding out that he was not his father made him feel like the happiest man on earth. Even happier that it seemed his parents could be getting back together. He took another sip of his apple juice and continued to eat a muffin with extreme contentment.
Alice and FP smiled at each other from across the table and continued to eat as well.
A/N: I know this chapter was a little lame, but I'm trying to set up for the next chapter. Don't shoot me. Lol Updating again soon. MWAH!
