I'm never gonna give up on you.

35. Thank you for being a mom to me

Right after Charles's birthday party, he announced, that he called Caroline and they need to leave the town for a few days to close some cases. Betty and Jughead were spending even more time with their friends and Polly, who was still living in the thistle house with Cheryl and Toni, so there were only FP, Alice, and Jellybean living on Elm Street right now.

Even though FP had a day off at work he decided to focus on finishing the paperwork he had been supposed to do a couple of weeks ago. After he finished signing the last page, he closed the documents and pulled the glasses off and rubbed his tired eyes with his fists.

Being a sheriff of Riverdale wasn't as easy as it may seem to be. To be honest, most of the time FP was spending on patrolling the streets and catching the criminals. It was forcing him to leave all of the paperwork for later and 'later' nearly always means 'to do it at home after hours'.

FP was just about to go upstairs and check up on his daughter, but suddenly she ran downstairs with a huge grin on her face, which made FP a little bit suspicious. She started to put her shoes on while sitting on the stairs and he decided to find out about what was she so excited.

"Where are you going?" He asked while leaning onto the doorframe. Even though she wasn't a type of girl who would share her feelings or actions so openly, FP was her father and had a right to know the most basic things.

"I'm going to Pop's with Leo," Jellybean responded quickly, not wanting her father to keep digging. He was highly surprised, that Jellybean had already answered the next question he wanted to ask, but he didn't want to let her go with some boy out so easily.

"Is that Leo guy a friend of yours?" He raised his eyebrow suspiciously and chuckled slightly seeing her cheeks flushed red when she heard his question. By now it was obvious for him that Jellybean was stressed and wanted to make a good impression on this boy.

"So, are you going out on a date?" He asked the last question with a serious expression. It shouldn't be strange, that a teenager wants to spend some time not only with girls but also with boys, but for FP it wasn't as easy as it seemed to be for her. She was his baby girl and he wanted to make sure that she won't get hurt by anyone, especially by some teenage jerk.

"Can I just go without answering your stupid questions?" Jellybean responded with a sassy smile on her face as she rolled her eyes hearing what FP was asking her about. He shrugged his shoulders and without saying another word, she smiled and kissed her father cheek to assure him, that she will be okay, because she will, right?

***

Alice just got into her office after interviewing Tom Keller. She was making a documentary about Fred Andrews, his firm, legacy, and all he had done for Riverdale before he died in a tragic accident. It wasn't easy for her to make a documentary about one of her best friends, who passed away not that long ago.

Suddenly, her phone started to ring and ripped her out of her thoughts. When she saw, that JB is calling, she worriedly picked up and once Jellybean asked her if she could pick her up from Pop's, because she wasn't feeling well, Alice grabbed her bag and was on her way out of the office.

She got into the car and drove right to the Pop's. Even though Jellybean told her, that she could wait as long as she will need to, Alice wanted to take her home as fast as she could.

Alice parked her car next to the main entrance and Jellybean showed up immediately. She got to the car and sat on the passenger seat with her eyes filled with tears. Alice stroked her cheeks gently and pulled her close into a tight hug.

"What's going on?" She asked the girl softly while still pulling the girl out from her arms to look at her. Jellybean sighed heavily and Alice gently grabbed her hands into hers to encourage her to said what was wrong.

"A few days ago, Leo asked me if I would want to go out with him and I agreed. So, we went to a Pop's, but suddenly I felt a little bit strange and went to the toilet..." Jellybean stopped for a while to take a deep breath. Even though Alice was pretty sure what the girl will say, she wanted Jellybean to take her time before she would speak again.

"And as it turned out, I just got the very first period in my life and I didn't know what to do about it. Will you help me?" JB's cheeks flushed red, because of the embarrassment and her whisper was nearly impossible to hear for Alice, but the woman just slightly nodded and turned the engine on.

"Wait, dad is at home..." Jellybean said worriedly. It wasn't strange that she didn't want her father to be at home when she will show up with a bloody stain on her pants. The fact that Leo could've seen it was enough for her.

"I will text him to do some groceries." Alice smiled softly at the girl and watched her nodded on her words. Jellybean chuckled slightly and kissed Alice's cheek thankfully. Although she wasn't her biological mother, she cared about her more than Gladys and JB were truly glad to have her close at hand.

***

Jellybean went out of the shower with the towel wrapped around her naked body and shyly went into her bedroom, where Alice was sitting on her bed. Right before she told JB to take a shower, she took her dirty clothes and put them into the washing machine to make sure, that the blood will be gone.

Jellybean came closer to Alice and carefully sat down on her towel in a way the bedsheets wouldn't get dirty. It was the first time she would have girl talk and she couldn't hide the fact, that she was extremely nervous about it, but on the other side, she was happy, that Alice is the one, who would talk to her about it.

"Okay, so here you have pads and I would rather recommend you to use them rather than the tampons right now because you will feel more comfortable." Alice showed the girl two boxes and explained everything she needed to know about how to use both pads and tampons. Although JB was so scared of this talk, the woman did her best to calmed the teenager down.

Jellybean smiled thankfully and took the box with pads right before she went into the bathroom. Meanwhile, Alice went to her bedroom to put the tampons back in their place. She remembered herself the same talk she had with Polly and Betty. They weren't as scared as JB, but it will always be different when you speak about such topics with your mother than just your father's girlfriend.

She walked right back into Jellybean's room and saw the girl already dressed in her baggy clothes. She could tell, that the girl still is feeling a little bit nervous, but the woman grabbed her hand and carefully lead her downstairs hoping, that jellybean would feel better once she will see what Alice had prepared.

Jellybean smiled widely at the woman once they walked into a living room and saw that she took care not only about her problem but also about her mood. Two cups with warm tea were standing on the coffee table as well as Jellybean's favorite cookies and movies, she had always liked to watch when she was sick or feeling sad.

"Thank you." The girl whispered and buried her face into Alice's chest while pulling her hands all over the woman's waist. She laughed quietly and hugged JB as well. It was a pleasure for her to make JB feel at home with her. JB pulled out from Alice's embrace and decided to finally say out loud how much she wanted to thank her.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me, for being a mom to me. To be honest you are more than just a mother for me because my mother has never done as much for me as you did for the past months. Thank you, mom." Jellybean barely whispered the last words between sobs, because she didn't want if it's okay that she called Alice like that.

"I love you, my little girl," Alice whispered back. She couldn't find any other words to respond to the girl. Crying as well, she pulled the teenager back close to her and kissed her forehead while stroking her hair gently. It was finally the time, when she felt, that JB trusted her again.

"Enough of crying, what would you like to see?" The woman asked JB, who chuckled a little and picked up the random movie from the coffee table. She didn't care which one they will be watching as long as Alice was close.

"But if it's okay, I really want to cuddle." Jellybean smiled and watched Alice nodded. They turned the TV on and snuggled under the blankets. It felt just right for JB to have a real mother, the one who truly cared about her and loved her unconditionally.