Two Pink Lines

15

"Mom?" Betty calls as she walks in the front door, followed closely by Jughead and Jellybean. "We're home."

Alice smiles giddily at FP. She had texted Betty and told her to bring Jughead and Jellybean home with her, leaving out the detail that FP was back, wanting to keep it a surprise.

"Living room!"

The three of them walk into the room and Jughead and Jellybean gasp at the sight of their dad sitting next to Alice on the couch.

"Dad!" Jellybean makes a beeline to him, hugging him tightly.

FP holds in his tears as he holds his daughter close. "Hey Bean, I've missed you."

"I missed you too." She tells him, her voice soft.

"Jug? You alright?" FP asks, looking over at his son who's standing there in shock.

"I just can't believe you're here." He smiles a little but it fades into a frown. "But I'm guessing this means that mom..." He trails off and FP nods sadly.

Jellybean looks between them confused. "Wait, what's wrong with mom?"

"You don't know?" FP questions.

"We kept her out of it, just in case we were wrong we didn't want her to worry." Alice tells him.

"Worry about what? What's going on?"

FP sighs and turns Jellybean to look at him. "Jellybean, honey, your mom was the one who was in possession of jingle jangle."

"What?" Her eyes well up in tears and FP fights very hard to keep himself together. "No she wouldn't do that."

"I'm sorry baby, she confessed." Jellybean doesn't say another word just hugs him again, burying her face in his shoulder. He holds her tight, rubbing her back to calm her.

"I can't believe it." Jughead says, sinking down into an armchair. "I didn't think it would actually be true."

"I'm sorry, Jug." Betty comforts, pressing a kiss to his head as she wraps her arms around him.

"Tom said we could all go get some of our belongings tomorrow morning." FP tells him. "If you two would prefer, I can go pack up your stuff for you."

"Wait why do have to go get our belongings?"

FP blinks. "Jug, it's considered a crime scene. We can't stay at the trailer."

"So where are we going to stay? Are we just going to be homeless now?"

"No, actually, Alice has kindly offered to let us to stay here until we can go back to the trailer."

Betty smiles at that. "Really mom? You mean that?"

"Of course, I'm not going to let them be thrown to the streets, I'm happy to help."

"Bean, you okay with that?" FP asks his daughter.

"Yeah, I don't want to go home ever."

Alice gives her a soft smile. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you want." Jellybean smiles back at her, a genuine smile.

"Oh Jug we can share a room!" Betty says excitedly and Alice is quick to dismiss that thought.

"Nice try, but we've already come up with the room arrangements." Alice tells the kids, Betty rolls her eyes. "Hey don't roll your eyes at me, I'm not going to let two sixteen year olds share a bedroom." Alice huffs. "Anyway, Jughead, you'll be taking the guest room. And Jellybean, sweetheart, you'll be taking Polly's room."

"Can I go see it?" Jellybean interrupts before Alice can finish the rest of the arrangements.

"Of course, Betty honey, why don't you show Jughead to his room?"

Betty nods and takes his hand. "Come on Juggie."

"No funny business." Alice warns before turning her attention back to Jellybean, earning eye rolls from the teens. "Follow me."

Jellybean and FP follow close behind Alice as she leads them upstairs to Polly's old bedroom. Jellybean makes a face as soon as Alice opens the door. "Am I allowed to redecorate? This is a little too frilly and purple for my taste."

FP nudges her gently. "Jellybean, Alice is being nice enough to let us stay here, be respectful."

"It's alright, FP." Alice assures him. "Honey, you can redecorate the room as much as you want."

"You're the best, thank you." Alice smiles at the girl. "Where's dad sleeping?"

Jughead and Betty come upstairs as Jellybean asks the question. "Yeah where will he sleep? We're kind of out of bedrooms."

"I figured we could put an air mattress in the basement for the time being and we'll go shopping for an actual bed later this week." Alice says, looking towards FP. "That's alright with you, right?"

He nods. "Fine with me, thanks for doing this Alice. It means a lot."

"I'm happy to help."

•

Everyone had went to bed hours ago, but Alice has yet to fall asleep, the idea of FP sleeping only a couple floors beneath her, all too tempting.

She makes a decision and slowly slips out of bed, tip toeing out of her bedroom and down the stairs. FP hears the basement stairs creak and it wakes him from his half asleep state. "Bean?" He groggily questions.

"It's me." Alice whispers, pulling back the comforter and lying down next to him.

"Sorry, I thought it was Jellybean coming down because she had a nightmare." He flips on the lamp so he can see her better, and curls his arms around her and she snuggles closer to him. "This is a pleasant surprise."

"I couldn't sleep knowing you were down here, I've missed you like crazy, it's too tempting having you in the house."

He smirks. "Believe me, I was trying to resist sneaking up to you."

"You should've, I wouldn't of minded."

"Didn't want to risk it, but now that I've got the green light, I think I'm going to have to start." He tilts her chin upwards and brushes a soft kiss to her lips. He rolls her gently so she's lying on her back and leans his head down to press a kiss to her stomach. "I can't wait for you to start showing."

She smiles at him, running her fingers through his hair. "I'm not so excited, it'll be a hell of a lot harder to keep it a secret from the kids."

"Tell them you're getting fat." He suggests jokingly.

Alice rolls her eyes and he chuckles. "What about when we come home one day with a baby? Pretty sure they'd have some questions." She's quiet for a moment. "We're going to have to tell them at some point."

"I know, but let's not think about that right now, let's just enjoy ourselves." He moves back up and presses a kiss to her temple. "I love you."

"I love you too," she tells him, kissing him slowly. "What do you say we properly celebrate?"

"Didn't we already celebrate earlier today?" He teases, gripping onto her hips when she straddles him.

"Yeah, so? I've missed you, all of you."

He grins and pulls her face down to kiss her, feeling like he's living in a dream.