Snakes and Ladders - Falice

Treat You Better

I won't lie to you, I know he's just not right for you. And you can tell me if I'm off, but I see it on your face when you say that he's the one that you want.

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Alice thought that she would be able to handle the retirement party. She thought that so long as she looked and felt good, no one would no any different. But, though she looked dazzling in a dark blue dress, the rumours continued to fly all around her. She felt like a wounded animal being circled by predators. There was no way out; wherever she turned, someone had just been whispering about her.

She'd also hoped that by having Polly – who was in town with the twins – accompany her, she may have a bit of a shield from the wolves. She may have been potentially getting publicly divorced, but at least she could show everyone that her estranged daughter was back in town. Unfortunately, Polly's presence only fueled the fire. People would berate her straight to her face about her situation. She was an unwed teenage mother whose sister was currently at home babysitting her incestuous babies. Everyone knew that, and they made a point of making that clear.

It got so bad that Polly had called Betty to come pick her up merely an hour into the night, leaving Alice at the function by herself. She was about to follow in her daughter's footsteps and leave early as well as no one was actually speaking to her – just about her – but it was Jughead Jones who prevented her from doing so by striking up a conversation. Even if it was only about Hiram Lodge's latest schemes, Alice was glad that the boy had saved her from what had turned out to be a rather humiliating evening.

"I wish I knew more, Jughead." She said after a few minutes of conversation regarding Hiram Lodge's purchase of the Riverdale Register. As she spoke, FP appeared beside Jughead. "Hal sold it without even telling me, I don't even know if I still have a job there or not."

"Why would he do that?" Jughead questioned, "Hal? Why would he just sell it to Hiram? I mean, was the Register struggling? Was it having money issues and a buyout was your last resort?" The boy had been more thinking aloud than actually asking, but his father soon cut in.

"Jug." He warned, indicating that Jughead was being rather rude.

Alice shook her head and waved him away, she couldn't care let. "It's fine, FP." She said, "And no, Jughead, the Register was doing just fine. I truly have no idea what prompted Hal to sell it just like that."

FP wondered if this conversation would eventually take a toll on her as it featured her estranged husband. He had no idea how she was feeling about the divorce, he didn't know if it was his place to ask. "Well..." Jughead continued to ponder, "...at least it's clear why Hiram wanted it in the first place. He wanted to silence you, Mrs. Cooper. To make sure that the only articles printed in this town are in his favour."

Alice nodded with an unimpressed raise of her eyebrow. Whatever Hiram Lodge was up to would be messy at the least. Jughead then excused himself quickly as he spotted Sierra McCoy finishing up a conversation and decided to confront her himself about the Lodges. FP began to speak, hoping to prevent him from creating a mess that he couldn't clean up, but his son was out of reach before he could gather his thoughts.

He sighed in agitation and shook his head, "He doesn't know when to quit, that one."

Alice glanced up at FP and a small reminiscent smile began to form on her lips. She laughed quietly as she shook her own head slightly but sentimentally. "He's just like you were." She said softly, causing FP to finally look back at her. All it took was her timid comment and their heavy eye contact to light what felt like a fire inside of both of them.