The next day, FP showed up at the Smith/Cooper house unexpectedly once again. Alice glared at him when she opened the door, hoping he could read in her eyes that this was not going to become a recurring thing. "Hey, are you ready?" He asked her as if she knew what he was talking about.
"Ready for what?" Betty asked from inside the house at the dining room table.
"Your mother and I are gonna go take her car to Greendale today. One of the mechanics on the Southside said that he knows a guy in Greendale who can work on such a unique model. You ready?" He wondered, sending her a wink.
"Um...yeah. Let me get my purse." She squinted at him before turning around to fake a smile at her daughter. "Please text me if you leave the house. And basically just text me all day so I know you're okay." Alice put her jacket over her forearm and grabbed her purse, heading for the open door.
"Yes, Mom." Betty sighed.
"And you too, Chic." She looked to her son. "Message me if you need anything. Keep the doors locked at all times and let me know when you get to work, okay?" Chic nodded from the table. "I love you."
"We love you too, Mom." Betty sent her a gentle smile.
"Love you." Chic said and Alice stopped in her tracks. Her heart leapt and she turned to face her children again.
"That's the first time you've ever said that to me." Her eyes watered as she beamed with a smile.
Chic smirked. "I love you, Alice." He said again.
Betty smiled beside him and she felt warm and fuzzy inside, looking at her mother's reaction. "Be careful with that car, Mom."
Alice's eyes stung with her tears and she nodded, hating lying to them. She placed a hand on her chest and let out a sigh of relief as she forced herself not to cry and she left with FP in her car.
"So where are we really going?" Alice wondered as she pulled out the driveway.
"When we get to Fremont Ave, pull over. I wanna drive." FP insisted.
"What are-"
"Just do it, okay? It's a surprise." He grinned at her and she sighed with a roll of her eyes.
"You know I hate surprises." She said, turning down the end of the street.
"I know you pretend to hate surprises, but you actually love them." He placed his hand on his chin, rubbing the stubble on his face with a smirk.
"It depends on what it is." They made it to Fremont and she stopped on the side of the road, watching him happily unbuckle his seat belt.
FP put his hand on the door handle to get out but he noticed she hadn't moved. "Hey." He said when she looked at him. "Just trust me, alright?" He chuckled when she raised one eyebrow at him. He reached over, unbuckling her seat belt for her and he got out. He walked to the other side of the car and opened the door for her. She continued to look at him suspiciously as she exited the vehicle and walked around to get in the passenger seat.
About twenty minutes had passed and they had made it into the village of Greendale. Alice frantically looked around the town, attempting to figure out where it was that he was taking her. Soon, he turned into a car dealership and she glared at him in the driver's seat.
"We're actually getting my brakes fixed?" She held back a ridiculous smile.
"Well...Not exactly. You're gonna get an oil change." FP pulled into the garage, setting a hand on her knee beside him.
Alice smiled, faking a dramatic gasp. "Oooo, how exciting!"
They both laughed and a mechanic approached the driver's side window as FP rolled it down. "Hey. What can I do for you two today?" The man smiled.
"We're looking for an oil change, bud." Mr. Jones answered.
"Alright, just pull up there and we'll get you situated." He smiled at Alice in the other seat and stood, sending FP an impressed smirk.
"I know." FP said before the man backed away from the car and he pulled it further into the garage.
"You know what?" Alice squinted at him when they both unbuckled their seat belts.
"Hm? Oh, nothing." He chuckled.
"FP....what?" She asked with annoyed irritation.
FP laughed. "Nothing. He....He thinks you're hot."
"Oh my god!" She smacked him in the arm. "FP, do men really just have misogynistic conversations about women with just their eyes and body gestures all the time?" She pretended to be upset, though she just felt flattered and a little flushed.
"Oh, come on, Alice. Women do it too." He briefly put his hand on the back of her car seat. "I know you and your girls were checking me out back in junior high before we even got together."
"I love that you think you're special." Alice tilted her head with a grin.
"I KNOW I'm special, baby." He put his hand on her cheek for a second before touching his thumb to her lower lip. He sent her a wink and turned to get out of the car.
Alice scoffed and got out with him. She walked around the car, following him inside the building to talk to the mechanics about prices and deals. When they finished, FP took her by the hand and led her out of the building. "FP." She nervously whispered. "We really shouldn't be holding hands out in the open."
FP looked around the empty parking lot and the empty road and he smiled down at her beside him. "There's no one around." He whispered.
"I'm serious, FP. We need to be careful." She stopped walking. "Remember....Miss Grundy was killed here. Which means the Black Hood could still be around."
"Alright, Alice." He turned his body to face her. "It's time for the real reason we came here."
"I knew you wouldn't just drag me out here for an oil change."
"Of course not. We're at a dealership so if we WERE followed...they'll come to find your car here and our story will check out. We're gonna walk the rest of the way to your surprise." FP placed his hands in his pockets with a grin.
"Where is it that we are-" Alice stopped. "Wait..." She looked around, remembering where they were and one side of her mouth curled into half a smile. "FP...." She said in an annoyed teenage voice. "No. We are not going there."
"Yes, we are." He grabbed her hand again, pulling her toward the street to cross it.
"I thought it closed down." She wanted to stop, but her feet disobeyed her. "FP!"
"Come on."
A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry it took so long for me to update today. Some friends of mine came over and I didn't wanna be rude and on my laptop the whole time. Also...a side note....I forgot to say in my Author's Note in the last chapter that I made Alice's middle name 'Helen,' because in some of the comic books that was stated as her first name and then it was also Millie before the Archie Comics' writers finally decided on sticking with 'Alice.' Anyway....I hope you liked this chapter. The next one is gonna be filled with so many feels and cute fluff. I hope you stick around for it. Love you all! MWAH!
