WHEN JENNA WAS finished with homework later that afternoon, she was finally ready to go to Fitz's room. Or, at least, she should have been. Simmons' words had stuck with her, and now, she was unable to stop thinking about them — how it was, indeed, her first time visiting Fitz's room. And it really wasn't that big of a deal. So she had believed, until Simmons made her doubt if it was so casual, after all. Even if they were merely going to plan a prank, it felt like a huge milestone now, and that was causing her heart to race in her chest when she eventually found herself at the door, on which Jenna proceeded to gently knock.

Quicker than she had expected, Fitz swung the door open, as if he had been impatiently waiting on the other side — and when Jenna quietly greeted him and stepped inside, she couldn't push away the thought of him actually doing so. Well, she could not know the truth, but she did know that she was finally standing in the middle of Leo's room, her hands playing with the hem of her shirt and her eyes scanning the adorable, small space. It was much like her room, but the bed was on the other side, there were no cute lights or photos hanging on the walls, and there was a bunch of clothes and books cluttering the floor. It didn't bother Jenna in the slightest, but nonetheless, it caused Fitz to blush when he realized he had kind of procrastinated on the cleaning thing.

"I'm sorry, I was supposed to clean— I was busy with homework, so...", he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, but luckily, when Jenna turned to face him, there was a fond smile on his lips that silently assured that it was okay.

"No, it's completely fine. I don't mind, really", she nodded, before looking around the room again. "Shall we get to the planning part? I can't wait to give those idiots a taste of their own medicine", Jenna's smile widened at the irresistible thought, and it caused Fitz to chuckle as he stepped further in and gestured towards the neatly made bed, covered in pillows so comfy, Jenna just wanted to hop in and take a nap. But instead, she carefully took a seat by the edge, right next to Fitz who did the same.

It was silent between them for a while, with both of them trying to come up with genius ideas regarding their revenge, but it seemed all they could focus on was each other. Jenna honestly didn't understand what was happening to her — how could one boy have this kind of an overwhelming, mind-consuming effect on her? How was it possible for someone to be as adorable as Leo Fitz, someone as caring and kind and soft? Which was running faster — her mind or her heart? And which would win?

Neither even realized it was happening until it was too late, but as they sat there and their eyes ended up meeting, both Jenna and Leo started to lean closer to each other. Once Jenna did indeed understand what was happening — not entirely, but she had seen this moment in movies enough to know how it usually ended — her heart began to boom in her chest, and her trembling hands began to sweat. Frankly, she wasn't sure if she could breathe, but whenever she did manage to take in a shaky breath, she could smell Fitz's warm, comforting scent. That was how close they were, and more proof was when Fitz's hand covered hers gently, and his head started to tilt to the side.

However, before the movie-like moment could have its movie-like ending, the door of Fitz's room suddenly opened and both of the young adults jumped away from one another, their bodies losing all contact and their eyes darting to the entrance, where a proudly smiling Simmons stood. Gulping, Jenna could feel her lips twitching, even if shock was still the most profound reaction within her, and she couldn't help but cover her mouth with her palm as she looked away from Jemma, who was completely oblivious to what she had interrupted.  But if she knew, she would have lost her mind.

"Ah, pranks! Count me in!", Simmons simply clapped her hands together while grinning, and nodding, Jenna flashed a smile at the girl to accept her in their group.   

And from the corner of her eye, she could see Fitz smiling the same way she was — not fondly at Simmons, but in happiness due to what had almost happened.

—————

AFTER A WHILE, the three of them did come up with a brilliant prank, that they decided to execute as soon as their victims, the two boys, had left their shared room. To do what, Jenna didn't really care — she only cared about her revenge at that moment, and that was what convinced her to sneak through the hallway and slip into their room, easily too, as the two had foolishly left their door unlocked. Jenna wasn't quite sure if they'd get in trouble for the whole shenanigan they had plotted against the boys, but she believed that there lived a little badass in everyone — for some people, it was just harder to draw out. Jenna's came out whenever she was mocked or belittled, and right now, she was someone who had been pranked twice, and she deemed that unacceptable.

"Okay, let's do this. Simmons, watch the door. Fitz, you do the wrapping. I'll write the notes. Come on, we have to be quick", Jenna instructed her friends, and agreeing, they did as had been told. Whilst Jemma eyed the hallway to make sure they wouldn't be caught, Fitz handled the bubblewrap he had somehow acquired, and Jenna herself wrote a bunch of post-it notes before sticking them everywhere.

The result was satisfying, to say the least.

There was a proud smile on Jenna's lips as she looked at the room from the doorway — most of the stuff was wrapped in bubblewrap, from the bean bag chair on the floor, to the pillows on the bed, and every pen left on the desk. The walls and furniture were covered in little post-it notes, all of which read "This is how you do a good prank. Take notes. (Pun intended)", and frankly, the longer they stared at it, the more amusing it got.

"High-five!", Jenna then turned to Fitz and Simmons, and both of them responded in the right way, by smacking their hands against hers. They had succeeded, and it was causing them to cackle proudly as they exited the crime scene and rushed to enjoy their victory elsewhere.

"Thanks for doing this with me", Jenna continued, just beaming with joy, although she was breathless as they finally stopped near the Wall of Valor. For once, she didn't stand by it shadowed by sadness, but radiating with happiness. She was used to feeling overwhelmed with heartbreak and yearning due to her father's name engraved on the memorial, but this time, she didn't even realize it — she was too busy smiling at her friends, heart full of love for the both of them, gratitude for their support.

Smiling back at her, Fitz nodded. "They really made a bloody mistake using that airhorn on you, huh?", he shrugged, causing Simmons to nod in agreement. Their cruel prank had started all of this, but that was just it — it had started everything.

"At least it led into meeting you", Jenna pointed out shyly, before nudging the boy she had grown so incredibly fond of. Although understanding her feelings and acting on them in the correct way was a challenge for Jenna, she did know that she cared about Fitz. That was the one thing that made sense as she stared into his ocean eyes and felt the fondness in them, making her heart flutter as she fell into a warm pool of affection and love.

But little did she know, she was too close to drowning in it, surrounded no longer by warmth but the ice cold reality where things didn't always work out like they did in movies, where fairytale endings rarely existed.

"Fitz, are you going to tell her?", Simmons quietly spoke up, and with her eyebrows knitted together, Jenna instantly turned over to the brunette in confusion. The poor girl was about to have her smile wiped away, her happiness crushed, and the look on Fitz's face said that he didn't want to do it, but apparently, he had to.

"Tell me what?", Jenna laughed, shrugging it off as no big deal, but once she saw the seriousness on their faces, she couldn't help but fall into the same kind of solemnity. "Tell me what?", she asked again, but this time, it wasn't light-hearted, but demanding. She could tell something was wrong, and if the two would say it was nothing, she'd instantly know they were lying. Something was clearly going on, and as Fitz turned to her with a sad look, she was no longer so sure if she wanted to know — but she had to.

Sighing, it was obviously something that weighed on Leo's heart, and that meant that it was going to do the same to Jenna. And she wasn't wrong to assume so. "Simmons and I are graduating early", he eventually admitted, eyes shining with an apologetic look, "this is our last week in the academy."

In an instant, Jenna's heart sank through the floor, hitting rock bottom as she gently gasped and stepped backwards, eyes already gleaming with tears. She had found support, happiness — everything in Fitz, he was her rock to lean on, never faltering or threatening to leave her. He had become her best friend, and now, he was leaving, even though he wasn't supposed to. And Simmons — gosh, how was Jenna supposed to let go of Jemma? She was her best friend as well, but now, she was going be torn apart from her closest, and only friends. She was going to be alone.

A storm of emotions raged inside Jenna. She wanted to be happy and proud of her friends, because they had done the impossible, they were becoming agents and they were succeeding. It was great news, but at the same time, terrible. Usually, Jenna would have probably felt slightly jealous and hurt that they were graduating but she was not — this time, though, she was only sad and heartbroken because she was going to lose them and a part of herself along with them.

"You mean— I won't see you again?", Jenna's voice broke under the weight of her words when she found the courage to speak up, her eyes glancing at Jemma and Leo, trying to find any shreds of hope from their expressions, but they were merely sad and apologetic. And that made it real.

Shaking his head, Fitz stepped closer to Jenna, trying to comfort her. "No! No—no, that's not what it means—", he tried, taking her hand softly, but for the first time, she refused to accept the gesture, and instead, she pulled away and shook her head. She could see the hurt in Fitz's eyes, but when she looked into them, she expected him to see the hurt in hers.

"It does, though. It does mean that. You're going to be a successful agent and go on missions and make your dreams come true — that's wonderful, really. You're both going to be awesome, I just know it. But I also know that you won't have time to hang onto old friendships. I'll only become a memory, and in a blink of an eye, years have passed and you'll be on the other side of the world with new friends and someone to love. And I'll be here", the blonde explained, and the saddest part was that it was probably true. That was just how life worked. It was cruel and twisted, but someone had to be the people from your past — some things were meant to be memories, replaced by something or someone else. Something new.

And just like that, the happiness that Jenna had felt only moments ago, had come crashing down, breaking into so many bits and pieces she wasn't sure if it could be even recovered anymore.

»»»

awwww nooo my precious child ))': i'm so upset why did i do this to them

okayokay, only one chapter & the epilogue left before part two! it might feel like it's moving too quickly (tbh i kinda feel like that) but stretching this part just doesn't come naturally. so it's gonna end, like i planned it to!