Falice: From A to Z

Fire

Summary: This summer is different. Pending divorces, out of town kids, and the threat of wildfire looming over Alice and FP.

Rating: G

Genre: I'm not really sure what to call this. I was going for an introspective-indie-movie vibe.

~~Fire~~

Summers used to mean family road trips in Middle of Nowhere, America. It meant lake houses, national parks, shopping sprees and touring museums in the city. It was Betty's summer reading list, Polly lathered in aloe after burning again, and Alice fighting over directions with her stubborn husband as they drove around in circles in the mountains.

Summers aren't really about family anymore. Her soon to be ex is rotting in prison, and her daughters are off doing their own thing. It's now about Polly with the twins out in Kansas of all places, and Betty running ragged over her unpaid internship. Alice was excited for her to take a week off, only to be disappointed when Betty announced she would be going glamping with her friends, Jughead included.

Because of course the Lodge family would have a lodge in the mountains.

This summer is sleeping in because she has no job, no routine. This summer means no more milkshakes because Pop's is being renovated into a Speakeasy.

It's not knowing how to cook for one so eating ramen and frozen pizzas for an entire week is acceptable.

It's Alice not bearing to go out and face the court of public opinion.

But there is the occasional moment in between when she forgets that she's so lonely.

Moments like when FP Jones knocks on her door inviting himself in because his air conditioner is supposedly busted.

Or when he drags her out to dip her feet in the river and she drags him in instead.

Or when he doesn't bat an eye when she calls him the first night of the kids' trip.

"Come over. We can watch a crappy movie" FP says even though it's past midnight. Surprisingly, she agrees and tells herself it has nothing to do with the evil energy Hal left behind in her house.

She falls asleep on his couch that night and the night after that and she wakes up tangled in his bed with his soft snores coming from the living room. On the third night, she brings a toothbrush in her purse and when sleep is overtaking her, Alice keeps her arm around his waist, keeping him firmly with her. It's bordering on inappropriate and although they've both filed the paperwork, they are still technically married to other people. So they leave it at gentle touches that mean everything and nothing at all.

On the fourth night, Alice and FP sit on her deck a pitcher of her infamous lemonade on the table, and a peaceful silence hanging between them. FP gulps his glass down, thankful for something refreshing in the unbearable July heat.

The blazing sun dips below the horizon, the sky every shade of red and orange imaginable. It looks like it belongs in a 19th Century landscape painting. The faint smell of smoke hangs around them, an ever-present reminder of the fires just a few hundred miles away.

"I've never seen a sunset like this," FP mentions offhand. "Do you think it's because of the fires?"

"I don't know. Maybe," Alice shrugs. She's been trying very hard not think about it. It hasn't rained in over six weeks, the river is running low, and her normally impeccable grass looks like hay. She just keeps hoping that the fires won't reach close to home, that maybe it will finally rain.

Yet, she has fire radar sites bookmarked on her toolbar and google alerts set up for Riverdale-Greendale-Centerville tri-city area. She already has her emergency bags packed by the door; passports, pictures, important documents are safely filed away.