Falice 2

Lovers' Quarrel 4

FP attempted to call Alice once again after Charles left. Now that he knew about everything he had more of an urgency to talk to her. He anxiously waited for her to pick up. He left the breath he was holding in out after he heard the call go through. "Alice," He calmly spoke. "I'm glad you answered."

"You've met."

"Yeah, we did." FP confirmed. "I'm still bummed you left but I now understand why. I have been trying to get a hold of you after I realized how much of an asshole I was being. I'm really sorry, Al."

"A part of you was right though. I did tend to push myself away without considering your feelings."

"You felt like you had to. He would have thought it was best."

"So you're working the case too I'm assuming."

"Yeah, he filled me in. It made me worried about you though. Don't let them dare put a hand on you."

"They won't. I can fend for myself, you know?"

"I know but I don't want you getting hurt. This investigation seems far too serious to get too comfortable."

"Things are going to turn out okay."

"What about us? Where do we stand now?"

"FP," She did not want to get into this right now.

"It's a valid question, Alice. I know why it was so hard to answer before but now I know why that was."

"Can we not do this right now? Our son needs us."

"I know but there's never going to be a perfect time to talk about this. When it's not one thing it's another."

"It's a hard thing to talk about." Alice has had trouble confronting him about this. Feeling loved is different from loving someone. Just like FP she had trouble knowing whether she was loved or not.

"I understand but it's always going to feel hard if we don't try. I love you Alice and I'm very sorry for so many things. I'm not giving up on us."

"I'm not giving up either."

"So can we talk about this? I would have preferred in person but I'll take anything I can."

"I don't think I'm ready to have this conversation."

"What should we do then? We will have to at some point, right?"

"Yes, but just not now. We have bigger things to focus on."

"Al, I can't focus very well without knowing something. You're all I can think about that it actually hurts."

"FP, I can't do this right now. We have to focus."

"Why do you keep doing this?"

"Well maybe it's because I love you so damn much that I can't even dare hate you for hurting me one too many times."

FP felt a mix of emotions run through him. "It goes both ways, Al. I don't mean to pick a fight. Not at all, but we keep hurting each other when we're not trying to."

"I know."

They shared a silent moment together. He cleared his throat to show that he was still there. "Do you think we need to take a little break from each other to figure this all out?"

"I think that would be best."

"Okay," FP accepted that. This wouldn't be something permanent. "I'll always be here for you. Anything, you name it."

"I'll be seeing you soon," Alice's lip curled up into a loving smile. She knows he can't see it but it was there.

"I'll be waiting," FP smiled as well. "I'm going to miss you being around."