Broken Home

11 | If I Ain't Got You

FP pushes the front door open and finds Gladys alone in the living room. He was going to give her the cold shoulder until he felt the absence of the kids. "Where are Jughead and Jellybean?"

"I dropped them off at Byrdie's place. I think we should talk without them around." Gladys stands up. "I'll mix us some drinks. Just like old times. What do you say?"

FP couldn't say no to a drink. It's been a long day at work. "I suppose we have a lot to talk about."

It felt like it used to be years ago after a couple of drinks. They were two people who found comfort in having someone around rather than being alone. They talked about the kids and how decent it used to be between them before they started all their petty arguments.

"Isn't this kinda nice? Let's give it another shot. I'm serious." Gladys works it back into conversation. "We'll make it work this time."

"You left me. Why do you want this again so badly? Wasn't I enough before?"

"It was just the stress of another baby talking. We thought we couldn't handle it." She tries to excuse their past. "We didn't plan on having any kids, but we made it work. We love them. We would do anything for them. You beat the crap out of Cooper for Charles. Hell, I would do the same for the kids. We're Serpents. We don't let anyone hurt our family."

"How can I be sure that you won't leave me again?"

"I stuck by you unlike her."

"You left me too."

"But I let you be you. I would never ask you to change who you are. You're a Serpent. The Serpent King for crying out loud. She can't take that away from you. She left behind this life. We're not ashamed of who we are. She would never understand how we struggled. She got lucky with that fancy life and abandoned you. She thinks she's better than you."

"Yeah, yeah, she didn't trust me to have Charles around here." FP takes another swig of his drink. "We're not the bad guys. People like Hal are."

"Think about how you can shove it in her face that we made it and they didn't." Gladys grabs his chin. She swipes her thumb through his stubble. "We can have it just as good as those preppy northsiders."

While she works her charm on him, they aren't aware of Alice who has approached the trailer to come talk to FP. She stands at his front door, peeking in through the small crack in the curtains and watching as Gladys makes a move on FP. Gladys latches her lips onto his. She can taste the alcohol on his lips.

Alice marches back to her car after she sees Gladys shove FP down and position herself on top of him. She can't fathom anything she can assume will happen next.

+

Alice makes it back home and Fred finds her sitting in her car in tears as he walks Archie's dog. He knocks on her window to grab her attention.

"What's the matter?"

"I've realized how badly I've screwed up."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a talk with Charles and I realized something. I never stopped loving FP."

"Does FP know that?" Fred asks, recalling what FP had told him.

"I don't think so. But it's too late anyway."

"Why would you think that? I know he kissed you." He answers the look on her face. "Charles told me."

"Because I saw him with Gladys."

"So? He never loved her. She's just here to stir up trouble."

"Well I'm pretty sure I was just about to interrupt them from sleeping together when I went to his trailer."

"You saw them together?" This worried Fred. Maybe FP really was serious about making things work with Gladys.

"I know what I saw."

"Shit." Fred didn't like this one bit. "She wants to get back together with him and he might just be stupid enough to fall for whatever she tells him about being a family."

"All he's ever wanted was a family and I couldn't give him that."

"You did give him a family. It's just a little different from the typical kind."

"You mean a son we split custody with? Yeah, feels like such a nuclear family."

"Alice, the man loves you. If you want him, all you need to do is tell him. That's all he needs to hear."

"He's not going to believe me. I've been rejecting him for years. And all of a sudden I change my mind?" Alice scoffs. "Now that's just mean."

"She's no good to him. You know that."

"Then you talk him out of taking her back. Your his best friend. It's going to be hypocritical if I do."

"I tried," Fred frowns. "Honestly, he would only listen to whatever you have to say. You two have a bond that could never be broken."

"I can't. I just can't..."

*

FP walks back to the trailer carrying Jellybean and holding Jughead's hand. That smile he saw on his son's face; that smile was the reason he believed he made the right choice by taking back his mother.

Jughead runs up the steps to their trailer to greet his mother. She picks him up and walks him in. FP slows down before entering. He looks down at Jellybean who looks back up at him.

"You'll have both your mom and dad, jellybelly." He smiles at her. "You don't know the difference your brothers have felt without both parents under the same roof and I hope you never have to."