Bride Over Troubled Water

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Fp stretched his arms above him and settled into his chair. It was late and he had barely changed out of his uniform and sat down when he heard Jughead's phone ringing over on the counter.

Just as he was about to get up and call the boy, Jughead appeared with tousled hair and picked up his phone. His sleepy expression slowly turned to worry.
"Betty, slow down".

Fp felt a knot begin to tighten in his stomach. He had grown quite protective of the girl in his own way and found himself sitting up straighter as Jughead listened intently to her.

"Hang tight, I'm on my way", Jughead finally said as he hung up and headed towards the door.

"Hold up", Fp found himself calling after him ," is Betty okay?"
Jughead turned to face him hurriedly, he was in a rush to leave.
"Yeah yeah, she's not hurt. It's just her mother",Jughead ran his hand through his hair and turned to leave again.

"What happened to Alice?" Fp almost growled as he felt his heart catch in his throat. He reached for Jughead's shoulder, grasping for any details he could get. Needing to know what had happened. Pleading with whatever or whoever would listen to let her be unhurt.

" I don't know", Jughead replied frustratedly," neither does Betty. She can't find her. That's why I'm on my way over".

"I'm coming with you".
Fp grabbed his jacket and keys while his son watched him slightly confused. Still he didn't question him and led the way out the trailer door.

*

"I just got up to get some water and noticed her keys were gone so I went up to her room and...", Betty paused to breathe ,"I found broken glass and blood. I have no idea where she is and I can't get through to her phone.
Jughead rubbed soothing circles on her shoulder.

Fp tried his best to take control of the situation. There was no point in having the kids freaking out over this and doing something crazy. He remembered Alice vanishing all the time when they were younger. Never for long, just enough time for her to pull herself together.

Still, no matter how many times he repeated this to himself, a part of him couldn't help but be worried himself. She wasn't a teenager anymore and it was unlike her to leave blood on the floor behind her. She was always meticulous no matter the situation.

"Keep trying her phone and stay here. I'll go and look for her", Fp instructed calmly.

"Excuse me, I'm not just going to sit here while my mother could be in danger", said Betty with so much determination that she very much reminded him of said mother.

"I don't want her coming back and losing her mind because you're gone", Fp looked at he pointedly,"I'm happy to look for her but I'm not willing to have her kill me for letting you run around town in the middle of the night".

Betty looked ready to fight him on it but caught herself when Jughead squeezed her shoulder and nodded at his dad. She reluctantly sat down and nodded her head in resignation.
"Call us if anything happens".

Fp nodded certainly and left Betty and his son sitting on the couch in silence.

*

For the first time in twenty years, Fp came to the upsetting realisation that he no longer knew Alice. Once upon a time, finding Alice would have been simple for him. Now he found himself roaming the town in the hope that he'd suddenly instinctively know where she was.

The fear that she hadn't simply left of her own accord was growing rapidly and he really hoped to find her in the few places he hadn't tried yet.
She wasn't at Pop's, or the Register, or Pickens Park, or any of the other places on the Northside that he thought she may go.

The idea that she had gone to the Southside had crossed his mind a few times but he had reasoned that there was no way she'd risk going there alone in the middle of the night for no good reason.

Now though, he supposed it was the best place to look. She seemingly wasn't anywhere else.

Just then the green of Alice's car caught the side of his eye as he was crossing the bridge over Sweetwater River. He swerved over the deserted road and practically ran to the car. Looking through the window, he could see Alice's phone lying on the passenger seat with Betty's face lighting up the screen.

Fp ran his eyes over the surrounding area and couldn't see where Alice could have gone. Turning around his eyes settled on the river. He felt slightly sick and rushed to the edge of the bridge. She wouldn't have. She couldn't have.

He scanned the swollen river desperately, knowing there was no way anybody could survive jumping into it. His legs felt weak as he leaned further over the edge of the bridge, his head spinning.

"Going for a swim?"
Fp nearly fainted with relief at the sound of her voice. He turned to see her sitting on the railing a little further along.

"What are you doing?" Fp's voice cracked, he was incredibly relieved and inexplicably frustrated that she seemed so calm when he had just gotten the fright of his life.

"I don't really know", Alice replied with a barely concealed vulnerability that made Fp's anger dissipate. He stepped towards her cautiously, not wanting her to start and wind up falling.

"Then how about you get down from there", Fp suggested gently, hoping his voice wouldn't betray how shaken he was.

Alice turned with confusion etched onto her face and searched his eyes. Her eyes widened at the realisation of what he thought she was doing and she held a hand out to him.

He grabbed it a little too quickly to be passed off as polite and she raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't going to jump", she assured him," I swear I wasn't even thinking about it".

"You better be telling me the truth Al, cause I swear to god if you thought your only option was to jump in that f-",Fp was interrupted by Alice wrapping her arms around him and placing her head against his chest.

"I swear", she murmured against his shirt and he found himself weaving his hand in her hair and gently cupping her head with it.

"Betty's worried sick", he spoke gently down to her,"we all were. What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking, not really. I just needed to get out of that house for a bit".

"And the blood?"
"Oh yeah, I had an incident with a glass of water, that's why I needed out. The blood, it just ...", Alice didn't feel the need to elaborate. Fp held her a little tighter for a moment and then reluctantly let her go.

"Where's the cut?" he asked gently.
She lifted her palm a little revealing a white bandage,"Already taken care of".

He nodded quietly, looked away and said,"I should get you home before Betty kills me".

Alice laughed a little," You scared of teenage girls Fp?"
"Only ones that remind me of you", he admitted with a small smile.

"I was scary I suppose", she admitted.
"Was?" Fp challenged instinctively and without hesitation.
She hit him with a mock glare and turned to her car.

"I suppose you're not gonna let me drive you home after all that?" Fp called after her.
I suppose you're right", she replied with a glance back at him.

She stopped them with her hand on the door, deliberating silently.
"You're welcome to follow me though", she eventually piped up,"I'm guessing your son is at my house anyway"

"You guess right", Fp answered her slowly, suddenly acutely aware of how much he really wanted to hold her again and stay on that bridge a little longer. It had been over twenty years since she had let him get that close to her and he wasn't quite sure why she had.

Suddenly Alice broke the heavy silence between them by opening her car door and sitting in. "I'll see you in a minute then",she said finally, closed the door and drove off.

Fp sighed deeply, mounted his bike and soon followed her.