Living Next Door To Alice

22/ Return to Riverdale

Since it was a gloomy weekend day, the Smith and Andrews clan had planned on a relaxing autumn day together, and so they were all cooped up on the couch under some blankets. It was only around noon, but with the movies that Betty and Archie had picked out, they'd be there until midnight. They had started off with the classic movie Grease, but not everyone was paying the same amount of attention.

Fred glanced at Alice who sat next to him. She was looking at the TV screen, but it was clear that her mind was somewhere else. The longer FP had been gone, the more worried he became about his friend.

"You okay there, Alice?" Fred asked carefully, afraid to step on her toes. She had been a little on edge the past two weeks and sometimes accidentally took it out on the people around her.

She snapped out of her thoughts and noticed how everyone slowly turned their heads towards her.

"Hmm? Yeah, fine. Just concentrating on the movie." She mumbled quietly.

However, Fred knew better. Her glossy eyes told him everything he needed to know.

"You're thinking about FP again, aren't you?" His voice was soft and quiet.

Alice looked at him as if she had been caught. She opened her mouth to say something, but it felt like something was holding her back. Betty shared a look with Fred. They knew she was afraid to talk about her feelings. Though, it was time to stop pretending.

"Mom, it's fine. We know you had feelings for him. You can talk about that if you want to." Polly grabbed her mothers hands and squeezed. She didn't like to see her mother like this.

No matter how hard Alice tried to fight her feelings, her lips involuntarily started to quiver. Before she knew it, she burst out in tears.

"I never thought I'd miss him this much." She started to sob and immediately tried to get rid of the tears on her cheeks in attempt to stop herself from crying. Fred scooted over closer to her and wrapped his arms tightly around his friend.

"Hey, come here. It's okay to miss him, I do too." He pulled her closer. Alice allowed herself to let her head rest on his chest as she sniffed silently.

"Did he call you?" She asked, quietly.

"I called him last weekend." Fred had a little trouble getting to him and honestly expected for FP to have called him sooner, but he had a feeling he was being held under the orders of Gladys.

"Did he sound happy?" Her voice trembled a little. She really hoped that he was alright, even if she was feeling miserable.

"I don't know, Alice. You never know with FP." Fred sighed as he stroke up and down her arm.

Truth was, he knew him better than anyone else and his gut told him that he was most certain miserable. However, he really tried his best to sound like all was fine, which had thrown Fred off guard.

"That he's in Toledo doesn't mean he will never visit again, right?" Archie started to grow worried.

He had never realized before what it had meant that FP moved back in with his family, but hearing his Dad talk like this got him wondering that maybe things were a lot more serious.

"With Gladys watching over him like a hawk? It's not very likely." Fred had been frustrated about this ever since she had come into his apartment, and it only got worse when he found out he could barely reach FP.

"What does he see in her anyway?" Betty didn't understand why FP had chosen to rekindle a relationship that he clearly wasn't into anymore. Even she could see that he was in love with her mother, not with Gladys.