Chapter 24: Forgiveness With A Gain Salt

A salt fell from the sky as the silence lingered between the two adults at the booth. They both knew what the other did was hard to begin to forgive. Alice slowly reaches for his hand, leaning toward him. He pulled himself to meet the sorrowful glance. He feels drawn by the sadness in the air. He tries to ignore his impulses to lean in and kiss her. Alice felt her breath get caught in her chest. She could feel the closeness between them, even if the table blocked them from directly touching.

FP's lips were almost touching her gentle ones as the hot breath from his mouth tingled her insides. He shook his head pulling away before their lips touched. The salt in the air returned to the clouds and he sends her a sad smile.

"I-I can't..." Alice nods, understanding that he needed time and leans back into the booth. She returned her attention to the untouched French fries on her plate. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I understand." She replied as heart shattered quietly in her chest. It was too soon to open that door, although it was never been closed.

He drove her home after she finished her meal. She kept thinking to herself. What if he never forgives me, she thought as a tear threatened to fall onto her cheek. She sat in her chair stuck in her thoughts until she heard the familiar voice come through the house. Alice gets up from the chair and heads over to the kitchen where Polly stood carrying in bags of groceries on her arms.

"I picked up dinner for the week. Betty texted that she's having dinner at Veronica's. It's just the two of us and Juni tonight." Polly announced as she walked over to the island and placed them onto it.

"Oh.. thank you for telling me." Of course Betty was still avoiding her at all costs. She knew she lied but how much longer would this going on." She's hiding from me." Polly shakes her head.

"No. She's not. Veronica asked her to come over to appease the crowd. She's having some unruly guests over for a wine tasting with her mother. Her father's family."

"Oh. Did Betty say if she's going to be home tonight?" Polly shook her head again," No... she's staying the night too." She adds gently.

"Grammy!" The little girl yelled." My owie is going bye-bye!" Juniper announced excitedly as she shoved her the fading bruise on her forehead.

Alice knelt down in front of her and said," Oh! That's great, Juni!" She pulled Juniper into a hug and kissed her head gently.

Later that night, Polly puts Juniper to bed. She finds her mother sitting in the living room with her thinking face on. She knew something happened today, but her mom wouldn't tell her what it was. It had to be something that made her mom think so hard.

"Mom?" Alice looks up from her book, finding Polly standing by the archway.

"Yes, dear?"

"You got that face."

"What face?"

Polly sighed as she strolled across the room and sits down next to her mother on the couch. She knows when her mom is trying to avoid her problems. Betty and her mother were the same. Avoiding problems was their way of not tackling them.

"The face you have when you have something on your mind but you don't want to say anything about." It was the same face she used when they were kids. The same one she would use when she had bad news. Now this face told her something.

"I don't have-" She groaned." Fine. I do but that doesn't mean I have anything to say." Alice answers stubbornly.

Polly gave her a look. "Fine. FP and I almost kissed!" She shouted quietly. Polly's mouth falls open in shock. "You almost kissed?!"

"Shhh! You'll wake Betty and Juni!"

Polly's hands fell over her mouth," Wow... during the appointment?" Her mom shook her head." After? Wow... mom! You really like this man don't you?" Alice sighs to herself before nodding.

"I do... I really do."

Xxx—xxx

His mind spun as he pulled into the parking lot. He almost kissed her. He truly wanted to kiss her with all his heart. But he remembered that he wasn't ready to let her back in after she hurt him. He just got all caught in his feelings and that scared him. He walked up to the door, swinging it open and found Fred sitting at his desk.

"Can I tell you something?" He asked as he walked over to Fred's desk and received a nod from Fred. "Yeah. Let it on me." FP's lungs take in the air he just breathed in and he took a seat in the chair right across the desk.

He felt Fred's cautious eyes on him. "Alice and I almost kissed." He blurted out. He catches the shock in his friend's face. "I know I almost kissed her but I couldn't.. i was..."

"You were afraid to open your heart her after what she did. It's a perfectly normal reaction, F. I'm not her biggest fan right now, but Hermione keeps saying that Alice is sorry. I know she hurt you with all the lying and it's up to you when or if you forgive her. I'm here for you buddy." He said as he put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Freddie." He said as he looked down at the image. Fred catches his glance and asks." Is that the baby?" A smile falls onto his face and he nods." Yeah, uncle Freddie. That's my baby!" FP grinned happily.

Fred took the ultrasound from FP's hand and examined it as he turned it over. A blob appeared on from of him and a brief feeling nostalgia feels the room. He remembered how happy his friend was when he told him about Jughead. The smile on his face was the same as the one he wore now. He had the same energy as he did that day.

"Congrats, Man. But aren't you a little old to be a daddy?" He joked around as FP elbow him in the chest. "Hey! I was joking. But for real I'm very happy for you, F."

"Thanks, Freddie, that means a lot coming from you. You raised a great son. I look up to you. I know I've made mistakes but this time I'm going to them straight." He said with a smile on his features.

Fred smiled and thanked him before they both returned to doing their jobs. It was going to a busy shift for the next couple weeks. They had orders coming from Maine, Maryland, Colorado, and New Jersey. It was going to a busy a couple weeks. Jughead was going to be helping him during the chaos. He was sure Fred knew about what happened. He got a call that night from Fred asking why his son needed the power washer. He told him what happened and Fred was shocked as well.

Over the next few days, Alice made cookies for the bake sale she promised for JB. FP told her she didn't have to but she insisted. She was rolling out the dough with the rolling pin when she saw stopped mid-roll. Her eyes flew wide and she was taken by surprise.

"Betty? You're home? I thought--" Betty cut her off with a hug. "I'm sorry. I'm finally coming around to it and I decided that I'm ready to forgive you." Alice felt a wave of emotions soar through her body.

"Really?" She asked as her voice cracked." I understand if you need more time."

Betty shakes her head, laughing." No. I'm good now." She looks down at the counter and sees dough flattened out on the board. "Now can I see my sibling?" She asks with a shiny smile.

Alice nods her head quickly as she went into the leaving room and came back with her purse. Betty took the image from her and stared at it with awe in her eyes. This was her unborn baby sibling. It was still too early to know the gender yet. Alice watches her daughter's eyes well up. She pulled her daughter into a hug and wiped her eyes.

"Yeah... it's not much. We don't find out the gender until 20 or 22 weeks." Betty didn't care. She looked up to her mom and smiled." I'm so happy for you, Mom."

"Thanks, Baby." She said as she looked her in the eyes and smiled back. "How about you help me with these cookies for JB's bake Sale?" Betty nodded and grabbed the rolling pin from her mother.