Living Next Door To Alice

39/ Peace

Around nine o'clock that night, FP and Fred came back into their apartment in Riverdale. The second FP passed the threshold, it felt like he could breath again. Everything was so familiar, so welcoming.

The big family couch (which only came in handy after the Smith women had moved across the hall), the fish on the wall that FP had saved from the first time that he and Fred went fishing together, to the Star Wars cookie jar that they had been using ever since FP had given it to Archie for Christmas when he was nine years old. It was all there. This was home.

He rolled his suitcase inside and took a look around as if he had been gone for years. Fred was right behind him and stopped in his tracks as he finally saw his friend relax. Something changed instantly in his body language. It made him smile.

Fred opened his mouth to say something, but then suddenly the front door went open behind them, making both of them turn around at the sound.

"Fred, can I—" Alice had walked in to ask him to borrow his hot water pitcher, since she didn't have any and Polly was having heavy cramps.

But she stopped her question halfway, when she was met by not only Fred, but by FP as well. She swallowed. What was he doing here?

"FP...?" She asked quietly, but confused.

"Hey..." He gave her a small smile as he felt the tension between them rise.

"You're back." She noticed, her voice still low.

It felt as if her heart had stopped beating, realizing that he hadn't bothered to tell her about this... and because she had no idea where they were standing with their relationship.

"Fred picked me up." He said gruffly, not sure whether to look her right into her eyes or not. It was painful.

"Why didn't you tell me?" The hurt in her voice was clearly there and the tears were stinging in her eyes as she tried not to cry.

"Tell you what?" He asked her, confused.

"That you were coming back?" She cleared up, growing a little bewildered when he acted as if him coming back from Los Angeles early wasn't a big deal.

"Would you even have cared?" He scoffed lowly, avoiding her eyes once more.

To him, it was all crystal clear. If she wanted space, he'd give her that— but on his own terms. It had to be all or nothing, not something in between. That's the one thing that he couldn't do. It would be too painful. And if she didn't want all of him right now, then there was only one option left. She was aware of that, wasn't she?

"How can you say something like that? Of course I would have." Her voice cracked and although she wanted to take a step forward into his direction, for some reason she just couldn't, like her feet were glued to the exact place she was standing now.

FP swallowed. He wanted to believe her words, he really did. But it was hard to, after someone stepped on your heart like it was nothing. Though, he knew that this was probably just as confusing for her as it was for him, so he softened his look.

"It turned out I was spiraling there, I told Fred I was fine but he saw right through me." He turned his head to his friend, who had been standing a few feet away from him. Fred had been wanting to interfere, to tell FP that she cared more than he thought, and to tell Alice how miserable he had been. But he had promised not to, which is why he stayed silent.

"I wish you would have told me." Alice said quietly as she fiddled with her nails while still looking right at him. Two broken pairs of eyes met each other, but couldn't come together as either of them were hurting for different reasons that yet had to become clear.