I'm never gonna give up on you.

15. I don't know if I could trust you again

„Alice, wait! What about us?" Jake asked her while she stormed out of the car to go inside her house without even saying goodbye. Despite she hadn't told him about FP being missing, he knew something huge was bothering her.

It was obvious that he wanted to know what's next for them, but the only thing Alice was thinking about was FP. She stopped for a while to face Jake and saw the hope in his eyes. Even though she knew, that she couldn't give him the answer he wanted to hear, it wasn't the time for such talk.

"I will call you." Alice sounded a little bit more annoyed than she wanted at first, but it didn't matter for her anymore. Jake nodded and came closer to give her a goodbye kiss, but she turned herself and went into the house leaving him alone in the middle of the street.

Both Betty and Jughead stood up from the couch immediately when they heard someone opening the front door. To their disappointment, it was just Alice, who came back.

JB ran towards her and wrapped her arms around the woman. Alice noticed Jellybean's puffy red eyes while pulling the girl close letting her cry into her chest.

She could see that both Betty and Jughead were out of their minds. Betty sat down on the couch trying to cheer up her boyfriend. The thought of his missing father was driving him insane.

The last time FP went out without saying a word to his kids, especially to Jughead, he became alcoholic and rolled down. His son chosen to be homeless instead of living with his alcoholic old man and Gladys took JB and moved out to Toledo.

Jughead whispered something into Betty's ear and she nodded placing a kiss on his cheek and standing up from the couch. She came closer to Jellybean who was still stuck to Alice's chest.

"Come on JB, we will go upstairs and watch a movie." she tried to encourage her to let Jughead and Alice talk alone, but the girl didn't move an inch. Betty sighed and look at her mother who was softly stroking Jellybean's hair.

"JB, please go with Betty. I need to talk with Jughead. I will come to you later, I promise." Alice wrapped the tears streaming down the girl's cheeks away and smile at her as she nodded and gladly took Betty's hand.

It was hard not only for JB but for all of them. She was the youngest and also just got her father back so it was obvious she didn't want to lose him again.

Jughead tried to explain to Alice what happened once again as calm as he could. He had also called the sheriff station, Pop's, White Wyrm and his southside friends to ask if anyone saw FP. They had been also searching for him for the past hours.

Unfortunately, no one noticed him and neither Jughead or Alice had any other idea where he could be. She was searching through her mind if there is any other possibility for him being somewhere else, but nothing came to her head.

"If FP won't be back till morning, I will call the sheriff station to inform them about him being missing. Now go get some sleep." Jughead raised his eyebrow and looked at her with disbelief. Did she really think that he would fall asleep when his father was missing?

"No buts, young men." Alice crossed her arms on her chest waiting for him to respond, but Jughead was too tired to fight with her. Instead of making a sassy comment at her words he rolled his eyes and went upstairs.

Everything about this circumstance was too much for everyone. All they needed was FP being home. Without him, something was missing. The free space in the house was weird when they all knew that he isn't with them, but they didn't know why.

Suddenly her phone buzzed quietly and she grabbed it immediately hoping, that it could be FP. It was Charles explaining that the battery in his phone died and he will call her the next day.

Alice was out of her mind. Of course, she wanted him to be back, but she was also mad at him. Even not mad. She was furious and also scared. She was scared as fuck that something bad happened to him.

While trying to get all of the mixed feelings out of her head she went upstairs to check up on JB as she'd promised her. When Betty heard her mother coming, she stood up from the girl's bed and went into her own bedroom to spend some time with Jughead.

Jellybean was quietly sobbing into a pillow and raised her sight to look upon Alice who sat on the edge of her bed and placed her warm palm on the girl's back, stroking it gently.

JB lifted herself and Alice wrapped her protective arms around her immediately. The tears were running down her dress while she let the girl rest her head on her chest, pulling her closer kissing her forehead softly.

Having JB in her arms, Alice slowly lied her onto the bed and positioned herself next to her. She wanted to stay with JB for a while to make sure she would fall asleep.

***

It was 3 in the morning when Alice was walking back and forth in the living room waiting for FP to come back. The kids were finally sleeping. Even Jughead had fallen asleep after having such a hard day.

Alice hadn't slept a wink. She had already cleaned the house and drank a bottle of a cheap white wine she got from someone. The heavy silence was overwhelming her, so she was taking deep breaths to focus on something else.

"Damn it!" She whispered to herself while feeling her eyes started filling with tears. She was tired, mad, and definitely lost, but there was one thing she was 100 percent sure about. She wanted him to be back.

Suddenly the door slightly opened and FP walked into the house closing them behind his back. She closed her eyes for a second breathing a sigh of relief.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Alice came closer barging him with her hands trembling. He didn't know why she yelled at him, but he was about to figure it out in a while.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! You left without telling anyone!" Emotions ran high and Alice couldn't help the tears falling down her face.

"Jellybean was crying all evening and Jughead was doing his damnedest to find you." He was standing in front of Alice watching her sobbing and being completely broken.

"Charles was here and he told me that you saw me with another girl. It was Caroline – his friend from the FBI, who was helping us to drag you down from the farm and I hugged her to thank for bringing you home." FP assured her and she was listening closely to his words with disbelief.

She made a mistake, again. It was one huge incomprehension. All he wanted was to make things between them right.

"So, I went after you to tell you how much you mean to me, but then I saw you kissing him." Alice felt guilty once she heard his trembling voice. There was nothing she could do to make it up to him. She broke his heart once more.

"And I didn't want to be here while some jerk would have sex with you." Alice slapped him hard once she heard him whispering. Maybe at the beginning that date was about to end up with sex, but it wasn't his damn business.

He glanced at her shocked by her behavior. Even though her name is Alice Smith, he didn't expect she would hit him for being honest. She just didn't want FP to talk about her like she was always vulnerable and frustrated.

Staring at each other Alice put her palm on FP's cheek which she hit and stroked it gently to apologize for slapping him. Her other hand rested on his neck and she pulled him closer to her.

Their bodies were dangerously close. Feeling him near was something she had been missing the most. His warm hands rested on hers drawing small circles on them by his thumbs.

"I don't know if I could trust you again." She whispered between sobs while pulling his forehead close to hers. FP wrapped his arms around her embraced her tightly.

"But I need to try." Alice cried into his chest quietly. All they truly wanted was to be together and they finally started to adjust to this thought.