Stuck With Me

33 | Winning Ticket

''Cut it out, Boy!'' FP playfully pushed his son inside, as he wouldn't stop teasing him.

''What's so funny?'' Betty asked, looking up from her homework as the two men enterend.

''There was a woman at the store who was flirting with him.'' Jughead laughed, knowing that he was getting on his father's nerves. He had still no idea if there had really been something going on between him and Alice, but the fact that he was open to dating another woman he figured he might have looked into it too much.

''She was not! We were just chit chatting.'' FP defended himself, making the situation not sound like more than it was.

''So you are going tonight to her house to chit chat you say?'' Jughead said amusingly, as he sat down next to Betty at the dinner table, quickly kissing her cheek.

''You have a date?'' Alice came out of the kitchen and had overheard the conversation. Her voice was a little too high pitched for her liking, betraying that this was killing her more than she'd like to admit.

''Sort of... maybe... I don't know. We just said we would get coffee.'' FP said a little confused, not knowing whether he had a date tonight or not. 

Besides that, talking about that with Alice was making him uncomfortable. He wasn't sure if he saw the sadness in her eyes correctly or that it was something he imagined to see.

''That sounds like a date to me, FP.'' Betty teased him with a big grin, joining her boyfriend with the same knowing look on her face.

''Alright fine. Maybe it is. We'll see, it's just something casual.'' He shrugged his shoulders as he wanted this conversation to be over as soon as possible.

**
FP had just made himself ready for his date, wearing his neatest flannel and had on sprayed some extra cologne. Before he could make his way out of the door, Jughead called for him.

''Dad, can we borrow your video camera? We want to shoot something for the Blue & Gold tomorrow.'' He asked him. If he was right his Dad still had one, even when he didn't use it regularly.

''Sure, Boy. It's in my room. Go grab it.'' FP pointed at the basement doors and made his way out of the house.

Alice had followed his every step, feeling her heart sink more and more as she realized that FP was really going on another date. He had moved on, when she was still heartbroken over their break up. Luckily one of her best qualities was her ability to hide her emotions perfectly well. This was going to be hard, but she needed to stay strong. They had decided this was for the best so she couldn't regret this now, could she?

**

Jughead and Betty had stumbled down the stairs and looked for the camera, when the boy's eyes fell on something else. There it was. All the proof they needed to have to know that there was something going on between their parents. Those sketches— they were beautiful.

There was no doubt about it who the woman was he had drawn multiple times. He grabbed the map and folded it open to reveal about twenty different portraits of Alice. But he hadn't just drawn her face. It were the details that got him.

One was of Alice smiling brightly, as if someone had just told a joke. The other one was Alice still sleeping peacefully. It were just sketches, but they all felt so real— and they were. These were little moments FP had remembered and wanted to last forever. If he couldn't have her, he could still immortalize the memories he had of her. The raw feeling that these drawings radiated almost made Jughead tear up. He handed it to Betty, who quickly scanned the whole map.

"All these are about my Mom." She said quietly, almost overwhelmed by how sweet and soft these drawings were. This man was head over heels with her mother, that is something she knew for sure.