Everything's Different, Nothing's Changed

Chapter Two: Down The Block, There's A Riot

Set in the finale of season 2: FP and Alice finally reunite after the riot breaks out between the North and Southside. Hal has been revealed as the Black Hood and has been arrested.

Betty was left frantic and highly strung after a call from FP. "Betty, Jug's been injured. We're at the hospital. He's hurt, it's bad, real bad. The Ghoulies" he struggled, "they beat him within an inch of his life. He's been losing a lot of blood." FP's voice was strained with emotion and worry. Betty had to focus hard to understand what FP was saying. With the harsh sound of a siren, voices of anxious doctors, and FP's frenetic tone, his words were unintelligible. Combine that with the feeling of the ground dissipating beneath Betty's feet, her brain was only able to process Jug and hospital. Betty, unable to respond, hung up the phone and sprinted surreptitiously down the stairs. Alice, who was sat on the couch drowning her sorrows in a bottle of red wine, jolted at the footsteps pounding the staircase. "Mom, get the keys. We have to go, now!" Alice had no reaction, her eyes empty and her body deadly still, the trancelike state of someone who has undergone such an incomprehensible trauma. She looked up slowly.

"Elizabeth. What's the matter?" Alice deadpanned. As a witness to Betty's frequent dramatics, Alice was skeptical on whether or not to take Betty seriously, and with just finding out that her husband of 22 years was a masked murdering psycho, her body would not hold under the pressure of another shock. "Jughead's at the hospital. He was stabbed, Mom. We have to go!" Betty stammered. Alice looked up at Betty with wide eyes and dove for the car keys. Within seconds, they were driving out of the cul de sac. Alice switched into manic mode. "What happened? Did FP call you? What did he say? Is he alright? I bet it was one of those transients from the Southside that did it. The Serpents are mixed up with drugs, money, murder, all kinds of depraved behaviour."

"Mom, don't" Betty scolded. Alice sighed and put her foot down on the gas, reaching the hospital within five minutes. Betty slammed the car door and ran into the reception. "Can I help you, Miss?" a young receptionist with black hair and blue eyes asked while adjusting her glasses. "My boyfriend h- he's been hurt. He was brought to the hospital not long ago. Jughead Jones?" Betty raced. The raven-haired woman scrolled through the computer, as though she had something more pressing she had to deal with. "Room 209" she said calmly.

Betty and Alice ran for what seemed like hours until they arrived outside the room. FP was sat outside, the distress radiating from his body. His head held in his hands, his shoulders slouched. Alice took a step back, willing herself not to collapse. After not seeing FP since telling him about Charles, Alice was overcome with grief. She'd never felt so distraught. FP looked up and his face twisted in pain. Alice's eyes started to brim with tears as FP stood up. She ran to him and sobbed as he enveloped her in his strong build. His left hand, on instinct, wrapped around her waist, his right holding her hair. FP's breath started to quicken. "It's okay. God I am so glad to see you, Al. You have no idea" he whispered.

After breaking apart, Alice guided him to sit down. "What happened, FP? Talk to me" she said. Betty dismissed the two of them and entered the room, FP too exhausted to protest. FP glanced up at Alice, the right side of his face a dark purple, his eyes and mouth smothered in scratches and blood. The bruise that covered his eye was as dark as his pupils. Alice straightened up in the chair, as though someone had pulled at her like a puppet on a string. "Jesus, FP. What happened to your face?" Alice demanded. Her hand reached up to brush his cheek on instinct. FP grimaced and pulled away in a motion so fast it made Alice twitch. His face writhed in pain. "I'm sorry" Alice whispered. FP shook his head and his face twisted the same way it always did when he was holding back tears. Alice placed her hand on FP's arm and waited for him to speak. When he remained stoic, Alice pressed the matter. "What happened to you? Who hurt you?"

"I deserved it. This is all my fault. What kind of man am I, Alice? I can't even protect my own son" FP admitted.

"Don't say that. Don't ever say that, FP. What do you mean this is your fault? Talk to me. Who did that to your face?"

He sighed. "The Ghoulies."

Alice frowned. "Ghoulies?"

"They're... our rivals. They dealt drugs and tried to pin it on the Serpents. Jug got himself wrapped up in some bad stuff. With Penny."

"What stuff? You aren't making any sense, FP. Penny?"

"Penny Peabody. She used to be a Serpent. We kicked her out because she was tarnishing our name, dealing drugs on the side, trying to set up a trade. When I went to prison, Tall Boy told Jug that he should go and see Penny, that she could help lessen my sentence. I told him to stay away, Alice. I told him she was dangerous" he cried. Alice shook her head, gripping his upper arm to steady him. "Dangerous how?" Alice pressed.

"In return for getting me out of jail, she tried to get Jughead to become her drug runner. He did it once and said that his debt was paid. It doesn't work that way with Penny. She's greedy, manipulative. I told him that the only way to get rid of Penny is to really get rid of her. He took her out of town with the other Serpents. Rules state that a Serpent can't harm its own, so Jug got rid of it." Alice nodded, her eyes narrowing as she tried to absorb the information. She frowned. "Got rid of what?"

"Her tattoo" FP seethed. "But she came back with a vengeance. Her and the Ghoulie's. We were prepared to go to war. If Penny won, she would take over the Southside and make the place a dealing ground. I told my boy that he would be the death of us. He sacrificed himself to save us. I found him in the woods, Alice. His face, I couldn't even reco-" his palm touched his face and he pulled down, hard. Alice had no words, she just sat shaking. Moments later, FP turned towards her. "I saw Hal being rushed into the ER earlier tonight, what happened?"

Alice dug her fingers into her palm, her face transparent. "He was the Black Hood, FP. I let a killer into my house. He admitted to killing all of those people" she explained slowly. "He wanted to kill sinners. He made me record his confession so that when the police found us, they'd understand". FP's eyes widened in horror.

"He was gonna kill you both?" FP asked. This information seemed incomprehensible. Hal Cooper? Capable of murder? None of it made sense. And targeting sinners? Why didn't he come after the Southside if that was his motive?

Alice nodded numbly. "We were the last sinners left. Then he would kill himself."

"Did he hurt you?" FP enraged. He placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to make eye contact, his fingers clasping deeply into her skin. Alice let out a shaky breath, the tears straining her voice. "He tried to choke me" she cried. FP's hand moved from her shoulder to her neck, gently tracing the crimson skin that was forming into a bruise. Alice was shaking uncontrollably and fighting for breath. He followed her eyes, staring at the bloodstains embedded in her pastel pink silk sweatpants. He frowned, confused as to where the blood was coming from, until he noticed her clenched fists. He realised and recognised the habit she had been doing for years. She would sometimes get so anxious that she would dig her fingernails into her palms so hard until they bled. He pulled at her hands, begging her to stop. He'd never seen her look so beaten down, lifeless. He placed a gentle kiss above her brow. "Alice. Alice. Look. At. Me." She flinched, her blue eyes boring into his. "Stop." She straightened out her hands, glancing at the bloody crescent moons. She looked away in shame. "Don't worry. It's alright. We'll get you cleaned up" he stated.

FP left for what felt like an hour, and then returned with a doctor who was carrying a First Aid kit. As the doctor bandaged her palms, Alice continued to gaze fiercely into an abyss of nothingness. FP knew that he was going to have to repress his feelings to take care of her, she needed someone to depend on. The tension filled his body, the anxiety crippling as he stared at his sons lifeless body through the transparent hospital door. Riverdale was crumbling, as were the residents of what once was a safe and tranquil town.

Hello people of Wattpad. I hope you enjoyed this story. I love making them and am very invested in the relationship of Alice and FP. Like and comment if you would like to see more chapters and please give me prompts/ideas of what you wish to see between these two. The next chapter will be named "With So Little To Be Sure of"