"Didn't think I would ever see you at one of these." She stated bluntly. Handing him a cup of punch, she had been careful to get him the unspiked version. Alice Cooper had been surprised to see him walk into the gym which had been converted into a winter wonderland for the Homecoming Dance.
"Trying to be a better person, be there for him." He replied curtly. He was clean shaven, shirt and tie. She had to admit he looked good, different to when she had seen him outside the Andrews house a week ago.
Jughead had jokingly asked him to chaperone under the gentle encouragement of Betty and needed to pick his bottom jaw off the floor when his father had said yes. He had reminded him that he would need to be sober and presentable and FP had rolled his eyes asking who the parent was. The cold stare from his son, set him straight on that one. Alice was watching her youngest daughter, arm in arm with the beanie wearing boy, who she knew her daughter was falling for, hard.
"Are you ever afraid that they will make the same mistakes that we made?" She wondered out loud, taking a sip. He paused thinking about his response.
"They are not us Alice, I know Jughead sure as hell isn't me, he wont make the same mistakes I did."
"Yes he does seem to have inherited your wife's smarts." She smiled coolly at him. She thought about her own daughter, she so desperately didn't want her to make the same mistakes that she had in her youth. She was aware that she was overbearing at times and she didn't want Betty to hate her for it. But at times she thought maybe it was better that she hate her rather than make those same mistakes.
"I've tried you know. To steer her in the right direction. I messed up with Polly. I know that, I was just so scared they would be doomed to make the same mistakes us their mother." She sighed deeply.
"You don't consider this a mistake then." He indicated at the two teenagers linked arm in arm as they chatted to their friends. When he had seen Betty Cooper in his trailer with Jughead he had to admit he was surprised. He knew the tight control Alice kept over her daughters and that she was letting her daughter hang out with his son struck him as odd. Especially given their history.
"No a mistake is being with someone you don't love because of a reputation. That's a mistake that will ruin your life." She lamented.
"They look so happy don't they." They watched as the two teenagers, completely wrapped up in each other moved around the dance floor. Occasionally he would whisper something in her ear and she would giggle before resting her head on his chest again as they swayed to the music.
"I remember a time when we were happy." He mused.
"Me too." She replied, thinking about the good times the two had had together in their youth.
"Before you turned all Stepford wife." He couldn't resist the little dig at how far removed she was now from the Southside.
"Who would have thought our kids would be dating?" He said an attempt to change the subject.
"Who would have thought you would have had kids." She retorted. He raised the glass to her, conceding that point. It had always been like this between the two at high school. Trading barbs with one another, each one more pointed than the next. He remembered their arguments fondly. She was a force to be reckoned with even back then. He always knew that she would move on from the Southside she was too big for that place, too bright. It was people like him who stayed those who couldn't escape the family loop. He wanted and hoped for better for Jughead.
"What do you think they are talking about over there?" Betty asked as she noticed her mum speaking to FP over by the refreshments table . Jughead looked over where she was looking and chuckled to himself.
"Probably your mum telling my dad, all the ways she will hurt me if I hurt you." He joked, sort of.
"It looks pretty intense." Betty was starting to worry, her forehead creasing.
"Your mum is intense Betty. The first time I came over for breakfast I thought she was going to interrogate me on the way to the bathroom." He had been terrified of Mrs Cooper from when he was a kid, he knew how strict she was and how protective she was of her daughters.
"I'm sure your dad can handle her." She said confidently.
"I don't think even a Southside Serpent could handle your mum Betts."
"Do you think we would ever tell them?" He asked her, finishing his drink and setting it aside.
"What that we dated in high school." She said lightly as if it was nothing of concern.
"I like to think that it was a little bit more involved than dating." The hurt evident in his voice.
"We were so young."
"I loved you." He admitted.
"I know." She smiled sadly looking away from him to watch the couple dancing, Betty's head now resting on Jughead's chest a smile on her face.
"They don't need to know." He decided, observing the couple as well.
"Unless they manage to find an old yearbook in their investigative adventures." She smiled glad that Betty had inherited her journalistic tendencies."Besides I'd be more worried about them seeing what your hair was like back then, not the fact that we were at prom together."
He remembered fondly the ill advised mullet that he had grown in an effort to impress her, suffice to say that she had not been impressed and he got rid of it only weeks later.
"I stand by that hairstyle." She laughed at him. A deep throaty laugh as she reminisced about him in his suit, mullet and a corsage just for her, remembering to match her dress. He had been sweet about the whole thing, from asking her to go, to paying for dinner at Pop's and dancing with her to the slow songs even though he had two left feet.
"Are you okay Alice?" He asked sincerely.
"Not really." She smiled back sadly. "You?"
"No, not at all." He answered honestly, he didn't need to hide the truth from her. They continued to stand there letting the reality of their situations wash over them, each of their own doing. The tempo of the music changed, slowing down, as the couples made their way to the dance floor, arms around each other. He extended a hand to her. "Dance with me?"
She looked to his hand, then to his face, a small smile on his lips, she should say no, not dally in things that wouldn't ever be, but instead she took his hand and let him pull her to the dance floor.
"You still have two left feet FP." She commented.
"You still can't let me lead." He replied, raising his eyebrows. It was true Alice Cooper or Alice Taylor as she was known back then was always the one in control. She dictated the relationship from the very start, when she pushed him up against the wall of Pop's diner almost 20 years ago, capturing her lips with his after one of their more colourful arguments. There had always been this unspoken tension between them that neither one would acknowledge until it had become too much to bear and she had to feel his lips on hers, she needed to know what he felt like.
They had started going 'steady' as she liked to call it soon after. He was consumed by her, the way she walked, the way she felt in his arms and when they traded barbs there was still that passion underneath them, except now they had a whole new way to make up.
That had been until senior year, when talk of futures and moving on were discussed. He knew she had a bright future, one that was too bright for him, he would only hold her back. The things he said had been unkind, they had cut deep, she had distanced herself from him, just as he had planned but what he didn't count on was how much it hurt, to see her with someone else. Especially Hal Cooper, the guy had been a dick from the word go, he was a bully, a jock, everything that FP despised and he wondered if that was why she had decided that he was the one, just to spite him. Senior year they were high school sweet hearts and FP began to pull away more and more, he didn't even bothering finishing his final year, didn't see the point.
Then he met Jughead's mum and he thought that maybe it all wasn't lost, maybe he could work with someone else, it didn't have to be her. But sure enough that relationship broke down as well. For different reasons, but he still blamed himself. He had made so many mistakes in his life and all he could do now was try to be better, to do better and make sure his own son did not follow in his footsteps. He couldn't let him make the same mistake pushing away Betty because of his own insecurities, he wouldn't let history repeat itself.
The song ended and he and Alice broke apart, as if they had lost themselves in the song, in the moment. It was a brief respite from both of their problems. She smiled kindly before they noticed their children approaching them, concern on their faces.
"Busted." He whispered in her ear, a chill running down her spine.