I groaned as my alarm went off the next morning. Rolling over, I picked up my phone only to find that it wasn't my alarm. It was my phone. I checked the time before pressing answer.

"Hello?" I said, my voice cracking as I woke up.

"(Y/N)? Did I wake you up?" I rubbed my eyes as I sat up in bed.

"It's fine FP. I always get up at eight in the morning. What did you need?" I got out of bed and started moving around the room to grab some clothes for the day. I put the phone on speaker and started to change.

"Is it possible to meet earlier today? In like half an hour? I didn't realize how much paperwork we'd actually have to do for you to work at the Wyrm and it's gonna take longer than I thought it would." FP said. He sounded a little stressed out. "I can give you a ride to the Wyrm and to Pop's to make it up to you." I let out a laugh.

"It's ok FP. Give me like fifteen minutes and I'll be ready." I said as I pulled my shirt over my head. "And don't worry about it." I paused to collect things for a shower and thought I heard FP mutter out a 'yeah right'. "I'll see you soon FP."

"See you soon (Y/N)." FP hung up and I hopped in the shower quick. I couldn't help but wonder why exactly he wanted to meet earlier. He said it was to go over paperwork but I didn't think it would take another two hours to do it. I got out and got dressed. By the time I had finished lacing up my shoes, there was a knock on the door. I jogged down the stairs and opened the door with a grin.

"Hello!" I said as I grabbed my jacket and stepped outside.

"Hello. You're awfully energetic." FP said. He had a coffee cup in each hand and was looking at you with a raised eyebrow. "I guess you don't need this." He raised a cup and smiled. I laughed and took the cup from him.

"I'll never turn down free coffee." I joked as I locked my door and followed FP to his truck. FP shook his head and we got into the truck.

"You sure you still want this job?" FP asked. I took a sip of my coffee and nodded.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. FP gave me a look out of the corner of his eye and raised an eyebrow. "FP you offered me a job. And you of all people know that working at a diner isn't really enough to bring in a large amount of money. So two jobs is double the pay." I reasoned with a shrug.

"If you say so." FP chuckled. I smiled over at him as I sipped my coffee.

"Maybe I'll finally be able to afford a car." I suggested. FP nodded. "Then you don't have to give me ride to Pop's all the time."

"I don't mind. I'm heading there anyway so I might as well." FP said. "Besides with you working at the Wyrm, I might as well give you a ride there too. That's through the more......" He paused and seemed to be trying to pick his words carefully. "The more dangerous part of the southside." I nodded.

"I figured you might say that." I said. "Which is why I have a proposition for you."

"And what might that be?"

"Everytime you give me a ride, I pay for dinner or lunch or coffee or something." I said. We came to a stop in front of what I assumed was the Whyte Wyrm. FP turned to look at me.

"Look. I get it. You want to repay me in some way for the rides. But like you said you want to save for a car. Having the two jobs will help with that yes but buying extra food will not. I get it and I'm not going to allow it." My jaw dropped as I looked at FP.

"I can do both." I shot back. FP chuckled and got out of the truck.

"Well come on. We'll discuss it later." He motioned for me to follow him into the bar. I rolled my eyes and followed him.

My eyes went wide as I took in the inside of the bar. It was much nicer than I thought. The walls were covered in posters for bands and movies. The bar itself was well stocked. The jukebox in the corner looked well used but taken care of. There was a stage with a pole which I raised an eyebrow at but decided to ignore. There were a bunch of pool tables which I assumed the Serpents would crowd around on a weeknight. I didn't notice FP watching my reaction as I moved around the bar. I ran my fingers over top of the bar and nodded. I turned back to FP with a smile on my face.

"Not a bad place you've got here FP." I said. FP smiled back at me. "From the very little you told me, I assumed this was a run down dump. But this looks pretty nice."

"Just because we live on the southside doesn't mean that we can't keep a nice house." FP shot back. I smirked and looked around the bar again. "Come on. Paperwork is upstairs." I nodded and followed FP up the stairs at the back of the bar. He motioned to a chair and started to shift through the piles of paper on a desk. I bit back a laugh as I took a seat and watched FP. "Bingo." I let out a quiet laugh as FP turned to me with a smile on his face. "Here's the papers I need you to sign before you can officially start here." I nodded and took the papers from him. I quickly read over what was on the papers before signing them and handing them back.

"There you go. All signed." I said with a smile. FP smiled and took the papers back. He signed them too and put them in a desk drawer. "Now what? I thought this was supposed to take a while." FP let out a little laugh.

"I know. I just kind of wanted to get a chance to talk to you without customers coming in every couple minutes interrupting us." I blushed and looked away from FP. I looked around the room instead and it slowly started to dawn on me that the room was a combo office and dorm. "Is that ok?" FP's voice broke through my thoughts and I turned back to him. I nodded.

"Yeah. I was actually thinking about that last night." I blushed a little and shook my head. "I mean you're being super nice to me and considerate when not many people in this town have. I just couldn't understand it." FP smirked and turned around to a fridge. He pulled out two soda bottles and passed one to me.

"You sure want an honest answer to that?" FP asked as he took a seat across from me. I nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sure." FP smiled at me and jokingly put his pinky up when he took a drink. I laughed and took a sip of my own soda.

"I was accused of murder last year. They put me in prison and would have kept me on a number of other charges. My son and his friends helped prove I didn't commit the murder." I froze a little at the mention of him having a son but nodded as a sign for him to keep going. "I was in jail for a month or so before I got out. I got a job at Pop's and well it didn't go that well when I first started." I nearly laughed.

"What do you mean it didn't go that well?" I said, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. "From what I've seen, you are amazing at your job FP. You are sociable with the customers. You are fast. You didn't mess up an order last night." I shook my head. "I just don't get it." FP smiled and shook his head.

"Most of the town had turned against me and the southside. I was treated like trash. People actually pushed their drinks and food on the floor to try and get a rise out of me. Almost everyone thought that if they pushed me far enough, I would break and prove that I was exactly what everyone thought I was." FP shrugged and took a long drink of his soda. I watched him with sad eyes. "But I pushed through and came here every night to deal with the serpents and just......lived. My son, Jughead, came back into my life willingly and everything couldn't be better." FP noticed how I was looking at him. "I proved that I wasn't what everyone thought I was. I shouldered on and I'm still living. My life couldn't get much better."

"That's....." I sighed and shook my head. "That's shitty FP." He laughed and shrugged again. "Listen if you ever need anything, you or Jughead, I'm there. I'll be there for you both if you ever need it. But you have to promise me something." I reached out and took one of his hands in my own.

"I appreciate that. I really do." FP said as he gently squeezed my hand. "What do you want me to promise?" I smirked at him and squeezed his hand back.

"You'll be there for me when I need it." I said softly. FP nodded.

"Of course. Anytime." FP and I sat there, holding each other's hands and just watching each other. Time seemed to slow down and it seemed to only be the two of us in the world. I noticed FP seemed to be getting closer and I couldn't tell who was leaning forward. It might have been both of us. A soft ding broke us out of our trance and FP reached into his pocket. He pulled out his phone and sighed. "You willing to take an early shift today?" He asked as he stood up and started to stuff his phone back in his pocket.

"Yeah. Why? What's up?" I stood up as well and started to follow him back downstairs.

"Pop's is really busy. Apparently football practice let out for lunch and everyone decided to head out for lunch." FP said as he left the bar and headed towards the truck. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head.

"That's just great." I muttered. FP chuckled and got in the truck. "My first day and I have to deal with a whole football team of hungry teens." I forced myself to get in FP's truck and he nodded as he started to back out.

"It should be interesting." He muttered as he started towards the other side of town. The radio played quietly in the background as we drove. "I was on the football team once upon a time." I was brought out of my thoughts by his statement.

"Seriously? You?" I laughed as I looked over at FP. He started to laugh too.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" I could feel tears starting to form as I held my side.

"Because you're so....." I motioned over at him and tried to contain my laughter.

"Skinny?" FP offered. I shrugged and took deep breaths to calm myself down.

"You could put it that way." I giggled as I watched a smile spread across his face. "I mean you don't exactly look like football material anyway." FP nodded.

"No you're right. I didn't last very long. I was cut from the team." He said. I smiled over at him.

"I'm willing to bet it was more because of the serpents than it had to do with you." I shrugged. FP nodded.

"That's what I always thought too." FP cut the engine once he parked in front of Pop's. "Let's go feed the masses."