Alice Smith's voice was, without a doubt, the worst noise in the world to wake up to.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Open up, Forsythe!" Her shrill voice carried through the open living room window. Had he fallen asleep out here again? Why even bother with a bed when the couch was becoming his normal sleeping quarters? He placed a pillow over his face to drown her out. "I know you're in there!"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Forsythe Pendleton Jones Junior!" She knocked between each word. "If you think I'm going to give up, you have another thing coming! I have all day!"

"Do you?" a lower voice asked. Alice's knocking paused and FP lifted the pillow slightly off his head to hear better. "Because I'm pretty sure we hardly had the time to stop by here in the first place, much less -"

"Not in the mood, Hal," Alice snapped. "Now either start knocking on windows or leave. I can do this on my own if I have to."

"People are staring, Alice!" Hal said in a hushed whisper. FP slowly rose from the couch and tossed his legs over the side. The thermostat reached 90 yesterday and today was going to be even hotter, so every window in the trailer was open, the thin curtains the only thing stopping someone from seeing right in.

"No one cares what I'm doing." Alice banged her fist against the door again. "If people in the Southside know what's good for them, it's minding their own business. Now open this goddamn door!"

"Alice. Alice!" The pounding stopped. FP supposed Hal must have taken her by the wrists. "It's not worth it, okay? Lets just go."

"No! I'm not going anywhere until I talk to him."

FP sat on his knees on the couch, separating the worn curtains just enough to see the couple standing on his small porch. Hal's hands were on Alice's shoulders as she glared up at him.

"Maybe he's not home."

"Of course he's home." Alice rolled her eyes to the morning sky. "His bike is right there."

Hal ran a hand through his hair. "Well, maybe he walked somewhere. Or - or Fred picked him up."

Alice whacked Hal's hand off of her. "If that were a possibility, do you think I'd be in this shithole at 10 am?"

"Watch it, Smith!" a voice called from nearby. "You're from this shithole!"

Alice spun so quick, her hair whipped around and brushed Hal. "Fuck off, Barry!" She leaned over the bannister. "I grew up on Douglas Street, not in this village of tin cans you call a home!"

"Douglas is two streets over! Same shit, Al!"

Alice flipped off the voice before turning back on Hal. "What do you have in the trunk? You think we can get the door off? Or maybe just pop a screen out? I can climb through and -"

"Do you hear yourself?" Hal asked. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You sound crazy. You're going to break into this trailer for what? To yell at FP? To get yourself all worked up over something that's none of your business?"

"None of my business?" She placed her hands on her hips. "How is this none of my business?"

"This doesn't concern you!" Hal hissed. "This has nothing to do with me or you. Stop." He shook his head. "You need to stop butting into other people's lives, Alice. I'm sorry."

Her nostrils flared. In almost any other situation, he'd feel bad for Hal. Alice was about three seconds from knocking the living daylights out of him. But he knew - and Hal must too - none of that anger was really meant for Hal.

It was for FP.

He grabbed his pack of cigarettes off the coffee table and stuck one in his mouth. As he reached for his lighter, he realized the two of them would probably smell it through the open window, curtain or not. He rolled it around in his mouth for a second before just tucking it behind his ear.

"They are my friends, Hal." Her voice was lower than it had been all morning. "And when there is something wrong with your friends, you help them. You don't walk away when they need you."

"They don't need you to fix anything for them!"

"Of course they do!" she scoffed. "They're morons."

"Oh, Alice," Hal sighed. He slowly placed hands on either of her shoulders. Alice crossed her arms and looked to the side, but he tenderly took her chin in his hand. "Listen to me. Friends or not, you are not responsible for fixing their mistakes. You are not responsible for their happiness. You," he paused, "you can't fix whatever is going on between them, okay? You just can't."

"So what?" Alice asked softly. "I'm only responsible for making you happy? Is that it?"

"No!" He let go of her and ran his hands through his hair again. "You're responsible for making yourself happy. That's it. You make me happy by just being there, by just existing, okay? But here you are, going out of your way to make their problems your problems."

"I -"

"If Fred doesn't want to talk to him, that's Fred's problem. If FP," Hal put his hand against the trailer, "wants to do something with his life, that's his choice. If they don't want to talk to each other about it, that's their problem and not yours."

Alice sucked her cheeks in as Hal spoke. She finally muttered something under her breath as she let her eyes fall to her feet.

"I didn't hear you."

She sighed, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "I didn't - FP, he didn't - he didn't tell me." She looked back up to Hal. "He's my oldest friend and he didn't tell me about this. You know what that's like? Having to hear about this through the goddamn grapevine?"

Hal reached out and brushed some hair behind Alice's ear. "It sucks. I know it does. But - but you and FP haven't been close in a long time. Maybe he knew you'd think it was a bad idea. Maybe he thought you'd try and talk him out of it."

She shook her head slowly, her lips pouting out. "I don't know. All I know is I'll hate myself if I don't do something. I can't leave Riverdale with all this up in the air."

Hal looked back to the trailer. His eyes fixed on the window for a second and FP leaned back.

"Sometimes you need to cut people loose."

"No." Alice's curls waved back and forth as she shook her head. Had she cut her hair to her chin after graduation or before? Had he even seen her since then? "I am not leaving here until I at least talk to him."

"You can't talk him out of this, Alice. Not if he already signed up."

Her lips curled. "You think this is a good idea?"

Hal sighed. "I mean, he's had way worse ideas. Maybe this isn't the end of the world."

He pulled his car keys out of his pocket. He placed them in Alice's hand and closed her other hand over them.

"I'm going to walk to Pops. Just come get me when you're done."

"You're not going to help?"

Hal's back was turned to the window, but FP knew the exact look on his face. He shook his head.

"I think this is something you need to do yourself."

Hal let go of her hands and turned around. Alice took two steps after him, her heels clicking loudly against the small wooden porch.

"I need your help, Hal." She grabbed his shirt and the two came to a stop right in front of the window. "What if he won't see reason? What if he's drunk? What if he pisses me off and I kill him?"

Hal laughed and turned back to her. "If you kill him then it's a good thing we're leaving town soon."

FP brushed away the pang in his chest and put the cigarette back in his mouth. So they really were leaving Riverdale too.

Alice pursed her lips. "You're going to be okay walking to Pops? It's a rough neighborhood."

"I can practically smell the fries from here. I think I'll manage."

She tilted her head up and kissed Hal on the cheek. "Half an hour, tops. I swear."

"Take your time, Alice. I'll order you a milkshake for the ride."

She jingled the keys in her hand as Hal walked away, his heavy footing fading away after a few seconds. Alice leaned against the trailer and let out a long sigh. FP leaned closer, trying to get a look at her face, when her hand whacked the screen.

"Fuck!" he fell back onto the couch and when he looked up, he could see Alice's silhouette in the window.

"You shit," she hissed. "You fucking sneak. You like listening to us, huh?"

He got back on his knees and yanked the curtain back. Alice looked half ready to rip the screen open with the car keys.

"Maybe I don't like being woken up at the ass crack of dawn by -"

"It's after 10!"

"I went to sleep late!" He finally lit his cigarette. "I'll let you in if you promise not to hit me."

"You'll let me in or I'll burn this fucking trailer to the ground."

"Fair enough."

He rolled off the couch and made his way to the front door a few feet away. Alice stepped through, nose turned up at the mess inside. She shrunk two inches as she slowly slid her heels off, setting them neatly near the door. She held her hand out to FP.

"Give me a smoke." He handed her the pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket and she pulled out two. One went right in her mouth and the other behind her ear. She took his lighter from the coffee table and dropped the car keys in its place.

"This place is a dump." She lit her cigarette and took a long inhale. "God, you have no idea how nice it is to have a smoke without sticking your head out a window."

FP plopped back down on the couch. "Cooper's don't let you smoke?"

"As if." She eyed the armchair, but continued standing. "Smoking is a carnal sin." She wrinkled her nose. "I think I used that right at least. It's bad, I know that. One way ticket to hell. Mrs. Cooper would kill me if she saw."

FP absentmindedly picked at a hole forming in his couch. Some green stuffing poked out. "So what can I do for you, Al? You look like a lady on a mission. Well, the heels make you look like a lady anyway. Now that they're off -"

"You know why I'm here." She opted for sitting on the armrest of the couch. "Don't act like you don't."

"You're leaving soon, right?" He trying cramming some of the stuffing back in. "Had to come here to say bye."

"You're leaving too, moron." Alice crushed her hardly smoked cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee. FP cringed. "You thought - what?"

"This is why I never let you bum a cigarette." He sighed and pulled the ashtray closer to him. "You take three puffs and stamp it out."

"Forsythe." FP's head popped up. Her voice was cold. "Did you or did you not enlist in the fucking army?"

"Al, come on." His eyes went to the low ceiling. "What are you even asking me?"

"Yes or no?" She slid off the armrest and on to the couch. "Just answer me."

He pressed his lips together and looked her in the eye. She smacked her hand against the cushion between them. "Goddamnit. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alice crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the couch. "Al, talk to me. Why are you so pissed over this?" He poked her arm and she whacked his hand away.

"You're an idiot, that's why." She stared straight ahead at the small tv. He could see his own reflection when he looked towards it.

"I thought I was a moron." He tried poking her again, but she hit his chest before his hand was anywhere near her. She turned to him with slit eyes.

"Idiot, moron, dumbass, loser." Alice poked him with each word. "All of the above."

She crossed her arms tighty again, staring dead ahead. FP sighed and slumped against the opposite side of the couch.

"Hey, you didn't exactly tell me you were leaving for college."

Her head shook ever so slightly. "Not the same and you know it."

"How's it not the same? Jesus, Al. You disappeared for months without -"

"Don't!" Alice hissed. Her body turned slightly and she waved a long pink fingernail in his direction. "You do not get to talk about that. I came back and the Coopers were gracious enough to let me stay with them so I wouldn't have to go back with my dad." She lowered her finger. "End of story."

Alice's gaze stayed on him, so he went back to picking at the hole in the couch. "Now you're leaving again."

"I'm going to college, FP. A good college. One that I got into all on my own, okay?" She let out a deep breath. "I'm proud of myself. Have you ever felt that in your life?"

No , the little voice in his head whisper. He shrugged. "I guess so. Like when I was playing football."

"When I got that letter, I - I never ever felt like that before. It was better than any high I've ever gotten." She twisted the ring around her finger. "I have spent my entire life trying to prove myself, and I finally did. I'm going to college."

"Good." FP nodded, still not looking to her. "You deserve it, Al. No one wants to stay in this town forever."

Alice looked him up and down and shook her head slowly. "Some people do."

And there is was.

FP's mouth went dry. He jumped off the couch and made his way to the small kitchen, Alice right on his heels.

"You're leaving him, FP. How can you do that?"

He pulled open the fridge and pulled out a beer. He held it uncertainly for a moment before grabbing the bottle opener off the counter and opening it. "You're leaving him too," he said with the bottle to his lips. He drained a quarter of a bottle before he put it down. "We're all leaving. That's what we do. We finish high school and run as far away from this town as we can get. For some of us, that's Boston." He tilted his bottle at her and took another sip. "And for some of us, that's where ever the United States Army takes us."

"You are un-fucking-believable." She ran her hands through her hair and the cigarette behind her ear fell to the floor of the kitchen. She didn't notice. "He loves you, FP. Loves you. And you're just leaving him like this? High and dry? Do you have any idea what he's going through?"

"We're all leaving, Al." He took a sip. "You and Hal to Boston, Mary to Chicago, Hiram to New York. Hermione isn't long for this town either. I know she isn't." He let out a chuckle. "Oh hell. Maybe he and that prude Penelope can have a good old time together."

Alice hit his arm and he clutched his bottle to not drop it. "His dad is dying and everyone he cares about is leaving him, FP. You were his last lifeline in this town."

"Yeah well." He lifted the beer bottle to his mouth and drained the rest of it. He put on his best impersonation of Hal as he said, "It's not our jobs to make other people happy. I need to myself myself happy. Fred needs to make himself -"

Alice yanked the beer bottle out of his hand and tossed it to the floor. Instead of breaking, it bounced once and rolled near the dropped cigarette.

"You two could have something good, you know." Tears were pooling in the corners of her eyes. "But no. You're such chicken shit. You're so afraid to be happy for once in your life." She threw her hands up in the air as a line of tears started rolling down her face. "Will running away and joining the army make you happy? Of course not! You won't make it past basic training." FP muttered something under his breath. "Speak up, stupid."

He pressed his lips together before saying slowly. "I am not good enough for him, okay? I will never be able to make Fred happy. I'm never going to be able to do for him what someone like Mary or Hermione could. I can't -" His hand reached for the refrigerator for another beer, but he just held on to the door instead. "I can never be that person for him. I can't let everyone know. Let everyone see us." He slumped against the fridge. "I am a mess. I need to clean myself up, okay? Get my act together. Maybe this will be the push I need. Maybe," he gulped, "maybe then I can be the guy Fred needs. The one who deserves him."

Alice's lip quivered. "I hate you sometimes," she whispered. "I went to Fred's to drop something off last night. Bunny said he's hardly left his room in three days. Barely eaten. She only even found out what was going on that morning." She pulled up her collar and wiped her face quickly with it. "I can't stand around and watch one of my best friend's break the other one's heart. Because watching it breaks my heart. I will," she rubbed her eyes with her hands, "I swear to God, Forsythe. I will never speak to you again if you don't make this right before you go. I will never, ever forgive you for hurting him."

"I can't." His voice cracked. "He told me he hates me. He told me to get lost, to leave -"

"So?" She tangled both her hands in her hair. The light just caught the ring on her finger before it disappeared in her curls. "You will talk to him or you will die trying. You hear me?"

"I told you, I can't -"

"Then I'm gone."

"Al, come on."

Alice spun on her bare feet and made her way back to the living room. She grabbed her heels as she made her way out the door, slamming the cheap metal as hard as she could.

FP groaned. He grabbed Hal's car keys from the coffee table and his sneakers from near the couch. He slid them on as he ran after her.

By the time he got outside, she was leaning against the driver side door of Hal's Dodge, pulling her heels back on. She glared at him as she pulled the left one on.

"Too late," she called. She wiped the back of her clothes off from the car's dust. "I am done with you forever."

"Bullshit." He leaned over the edge of the banister. He knew some of the neighbors would be watching and the last thing he needed was for one of them crying in the middle of the trailer park. "You're not going anywhere without me."

Alice flipped him off with one hand and pulled the door handle with the other. Her body tensed and he slowly made his way towards the car, keys extended in front of himself. She snatched them from him.

"Just get inside the car, asshole."