Living Next Door To Alice

19/ The Letter

FP slowly came shuffling out of his bedroom and walked towards Fred who had started to make breakfast. The bags under his eyes had doubled since yesterday.

"Where's the witch?" He asked, trying to brush it off as a joke.

"Lower your voice, she might hear you. She's in my bedroom." FP mumbled quietly, as he sat down at the kitchen island.

He yawned loudly. Fred studied his face and noticed that he wasn't just tired. The frown on his head was basically permanent ever since Gladys had set foot in the apartment.

"Look, FP. I get that you want to do a lot for you family... but this?"

Fred decided not to beat around the bush but be bluntly honest. FP knew perfectly well what his friend thought of Gladys, but for him there was no other way out.

"Do I have another choice Fred? God, I don't even blame her." He sighed and started buttering his toast.

Not that he was hungry, but he wasn't sure what else to do with his hands. When he looked up he saw the unconvinced look on his face.

"I dragged her down with my illness, Fred. She had to witness me almost killing myself with alcohol. Of course she hates my ass." FP said lowly, tears stinging in his eyes.

"You don't see it, do you?" Fred grew softer.

At the same time, Archie's bedroom door opened, and the two boys were ready to walk out. Jughead stopped both of them as he overheard their fathers talking. He glanced at Jellybean. She was still fast asleep on the couch.

"What am I supposed to see? That the one person who has all the right to hate me is willing to talk again?" FP raised his voice, causing Fred to do the same.

"That she is the one who kept feeding into what you had become!" He exclaimed.

"Don't blame this on her. That was all on me." defended FP quickly.

Fred stayed silent. It was no use talking to him like this, not when he was under the spell of Gladys. FP needed to do what he thinks is the right thing to do, even though Fred did anything but agree with it.

"I need to go back to Toledo, I am sorry." FP said quietly, gazing down at his toast as he didn't want for Fred to see that he was about to cry.

"If you knew you had a shot with Alice, would things be different?" asked Fred, softly and carefully. FP sighed quietly.

"Honesty? I don't want to know the answer to that. Afraid that it might." His thoughts wandered to the girl across the hall who had been on his mind even more so the last few weeks.

But no matter how badly he wanted to be with her, this wasn't only his choice. Her life was complicated right now and his was being turned upside down as well.

"I can't be selfish anymore, Fred. I need to do this for my family. No matter what I feel for Alice or what she might feel for me. It's over. Done." He reminded him sternly, just as much trying to convince himself.

"What you went through wasn't selfish, FP." Fred reminded him with a soft plead.

"Doesn't matter. I owe this to Jughead and Jellybean. Alright?"

"If you say so." Fred mumbled quietly.

Jughead and Archie had been eavesdropping, but decided that it was now time to walk into the kitchen.

"Hey, morning." Jughead greeted them, like he hadn't just heard some things that could chance their lives forever.

"Hey boys. How did you sleep? Stayed up all night?" Fred smiled and poured them both a cup of coffee.