This au takes place shortly after s3.
"What you got there?" FP asked Betty softly, knowing she was very fragile at this moment in time.
"A photo album" Betty snivelled as she turned the page.
It had been a week since her mother had gone missing, supposedly kidnapped by Edgar Evernever. Since then, FP had willingly taken Betty in, knowing she had nobody else to turn to. It had been hard on everyone but Betty in particular was finding it hard to cope with.
Betty continued looking through the album, the pain becoming more intense every time she turned a page. FP stood behind her trying not to tear up as he watched Betty gradually fall apart. He blinked a few times to get rid of any tears before placing a hand on her shoulder gently.
"I think we should put this away" he whispered, slowly closing the book and turning to face her. "Your mother is out there somewhere and I promise you we will do our best to try and find her"
More tears spilled from Betty's eyes as she looked down at her lap and then back up at FP. "But what if-" she started but FP shook his head.
"When we find her, you'll be the first person to know, ok?" FP nodded and Betty gave him a hopeful look and nodded too.
"Now come on, it's getting rather late. You need to rest" FP whispered, slowly helping her up and guiding her towards the stairs.
As he did so, Jughead appeared and quickly rushed down to her side.
"I've got it from here, dad" he said, taking FP's place and helping Betty upstairs.
FP smiled greatfully at his son before heading back into the living room. He began tidying up but soon enough his gaze turned to the photo album that was resting on the arm of the sofa. He sighed and looked to see if anyone was coming before sitting down and opening it up.
The album was filled with pictures of Alice and her daughters. With each picture he saw, the feeling of remorse and guilt grew, remembering the way they left things. Him telling Alice that their relationship didn't matter when in reality it was the only thing keeping his head above the surface. Now that was gone and so was she and the only thing keeping him afloat we're the memories of her and what they used to have.
He shut the book and placed it under a cushion trying not to let his thoughts take over. It was too much to handle though. Tears began filling his eyes uncontrollably and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop. FP was never one to get emotional but Alice was just something else. He had never cared for anyone so deeply.
It took some time for him to calm down but after a while all that could be heard was the rain tapping gently against the windows. He stared out into the darkness with hope before laying down on the sofa and slowly dozing off to sleep.
*****
FP was abruptly woken up by the sound of banging. He shot up immediately and fumbled around for the light switch. Successfully managing to turn on the lights, he looked around for the clock and began wondering why anybody would even be awake at this hour. He made his way to the door and unlocked it before slowly opening it to catch a glimpse of who ever was on the other side. At the same time he heard footsteps coming down the stairs at a rapid pace and looked over to see the three kids standing at the bottom of it. He signalled for them to be quiet as he opened the door a little more. In that moment it was as if time stood still for a few seconds. On the other side of the door was none other that Charles and Alice. FP just stood there staring at her, unable to process his thoughts or say anything. She stared straight back at him before her eyes darted towards her daughter, who was rushing towards her.
"Mom!" Betty yelled, her voice cracking slightly as she rushed into her mothers arms practically collapsing in them.
"Betty" Alice sighed in relief. She pulled her daughter closer and placed a kiss on her forehead. "It's ok, sweetheart"
Betty pulled away and stared at her mother for a moment. "I thought you were- I didn't know if-"
"It's ok, I'm here now" Alice smiled, caressing her daughters face and signalling that everything was ok. Alice turned to look at Jughead and gave him a warm smile.
FP smiled as he watched the reunion but quickly turned to Charles to see if everything was ok.
"Dad" Charles smiled as the two quickly hugged. FP patted Charles on the back and brought a hand onto his shoulder as the two separated.
"You ok boy?" FP asked, knowing it couldn't have been easy tracking down Alice.
"I'm good" Charles smiled as he looked over at his sister who was still clinging onto Alice.
"And your mother? Is she-" FP asked worriedly
"She's good too" Charles said reassuringly.
"Thank god" FP sighed in relief.
The two talked a little more before FP noticed how tired Charles looked.
"Hey Jughead, maybe you could let Charles stay in your room tonight" he asked, catching everyone's attention.
"Yeah, sure" Jughead nodded "let's go"
The two headed upstairs along with Jellybean.
"You look tired too" Alice said as she watched Betty yawn. "You need to get some sleep"
"No, no I'm fine mom, I wanna make sure you're ok-"
"I'm fine sweetheart. Go to bed and we'll talk more in the morning ok?" Alice said reassuringly. Betty nodded and gave Alice one last hug before going upstairs.
"Goodnight" Alice whispered as she watched her daughter disappear.
Alice sighed and slowly turned around to look at FP.
"You're letting her stay here?" She asked with a small smile on her face
"Of course.. we look after our own" FP nodded.
"Thank you" Alice said. He could tell she really meant it.
There was a moment of silence as the two contemplated what to do next.
"Al I-"
"Don't" Alice shook her head, and walked towards FP.
He looked down at her and saw the sadness in her eyes. He hated seeing her hurt and immediately did what he used to do to make her feel better. He slowly reached out towards her and pulled her into a hug. Alice immediately let out a sigh of relief and buried her head into FP's chest. He gently rubbed her back and stroked her hair attempting to calm her down.
"It's ok, you're safe now"
I haven't updated this in ages but I finally had the motivation to write something again. I know there's not that much Falice in this one shot but this is how I imagined it would go once Alice returns. I also thought it would be nice to feature FP and Betty having a scene together and him acting like more of a 'father' figure towards her. Hope you enjoyed it !!
