A PART OF Jenna was expecting the lunch with her mother, brother and two friends to be unbearably awkward — then again, she expected that from most social interactions of any kind — but so far, so good. The five of them had settled into a booth at the café slash restaurant which Jemma and Leo had recommended, and luckily, the seats were big enough for the five of them — or else, Jenna would have turned red for all of eternity due to sitting next to Fitz, who had squeezed in next to her, and Simmons had then followed, leaving Magdeline and Evan on the other side of the table. Sure, their arms were grazing and so were their thighs, but as long as Jenna refrained from moving, it was okay and she didn't have to apologize for nudging the boy.

          Once everyone but Jenna had ordered the salmon Simmons had recommended, and the blonde had settled for chicken, the waiter left their booth alone and they could proceed to chat, which was less dreadful with Jenna's family there. She had missed her mother, who had always guided and helped her through life and the few hardships she had faced during her seventeen years, she had always supported her and her dreams, and moving away from the home Jenna had grown up in had been emotional. She had missed Evan too, even if the two didn't have much in common, they were both kind, good-hearted people who had nothing but love for their siblings.

           It was good to see them both again, and finally have the opportunity to catch up.

           "How has it been here?", Evan was the first one to speak up, nodding towards his sister but giving looks to Fitz and Simmons to confirm that they could answer the question as well — frankly, the gaze he directed at them caused Jemma to blush and twirl the curls of her hair nervously. Even though she had a boyfriend, she was clearly having trouble controlling her heartbeat around Evan, and it was causing both Fitz and Jenna to grin.

           "I was about to ask the same thing!", Magdeline took a sip of the glass of water in her hand. "Starting at a new school was always a struggle for you, Jen. I hope this transition has been a little easier on you. At least you've made some friends, hm?", her mother smiled whilst looking at Jenna, who sighed at the cold, hard truth. She had never really fit in, with her superior intelligence, big aspirations and a lack of social skills, which had always made it difficult to move from one grade to another. Starting school had always filled the poor girl with anxiety to the brim, until it boiled over and she, despite being smart, ended up panicking over the smallest things.

           But somehow, starting at the S.H.I.E.L.D Academy hadn't been as painful as previous experiences. Perhaps it was because she was finally surrounded by her equals, she was finally understood, and she could truly be herself instead of living in worry and drowning in insecurities. Perhaps it was because on her very first day, she had met someone as great and supportive as Leo Fitz, and he, as well as Simmons, had made it easier for her to settle in.

           That was why Jenna answered with a smile on her face. "It has been easier, a lot. I like it here. I'm doing great", she confirmed, which seemed to relief both of her family members.

            "Jenna is amazing! Incredibly smart, but also a good friend. We are truly lucky to have met someone like her", Simmons beamed, causing a hint of pink to color Jenna's cheeks as she looked down at her hands and smiled to herself.

             "Agreed", Fitz finally spoke up, and it only widened Jenna's smile as she was unable to look up and face the boy, even though she could feel his gaze on her. "She is amazing", he confirmed Simmons' words fondly, and all Jenna could do, was nod in gratitude and hope that Fitz noticed. And of course, he did. He noticed everything about her.

           Magdeline then reached over the table to place her hand atop Jenna's, which finally made the blonde girl look up and lock eyes with her mother as the latter continued to smile approvingly. "Well, I think your father would be very proud of you", she admitted, and in an instant, Jenna's eyes widened and she stared at Maggie in amazement. That was what had driven her into this line of work in the first place — her father, and the desire to make him proud by following in his footsteps. Even though he was dead, he still affected Jenna's life in so many ways, and hearing those words warmed her heart, but at the same time, caused it to crack.

          She missed her father, but it only made her more determined to succeed and shine as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

           As Magdeline let go of Jenna's hand and the girl let it drop to her lap, where her fingers proceeded to nervously fiddle with one another, she inhaled deeply and tried to fight the tears. The memory of Henry Rivers was always an emotional one, and Fitz could see that, the silent pain within her even though she tried to hide it as the others continued to talk about other things.

          Suddenly, driven by the unfamiliar confidence in him, along with the need to comfort her, Fitz took Jenna's hand carefully. She was surprised, but when she looked up with wide eyes and met his sympathetic, gentle gaze, she ended up smiling gratefully and squeezing his hand tighter.

          And she had zero intentions to let go.

—————

          AFTER THE LUNCH, which had been less awkward than Jenna had assumed, it was time for the three students to head to the next class, and for Magdeline and Evan to drive back home. It was bittersweet — Jenna hated goodbyes, but they were one of those things in life that were inevitable. Even if she didn't like changes, they still came along and all she could do was push through them, even if it was more of a struggled, desperate crawl than a casual stroll.

          "Thank you for coming", she murmured against her mother's shoulder, her arms squeezing the oldest Rivers tightly and with love. "It was really nice to see you guys again", Jenna smiled carefully when she finally let go, but still remained close enough for Magdeline to wipe her daughter's eager curls away from her face, revealing the striking blue eyes behind them.

           "Of course. I'm proud of you, Jenna. You had a dream and you worked hard to achieve it — and here you are. I wish you the best of luck, sweetheart, and no matter what, I am always only a call away", her mother reassured, declaring her love for her daughter before giving her one last hug, equally warm and loving as the previous. They stayed like that for a moment, silent and gentle, but eventually, Jenna realized that she was supposed to go to class soon, and she was yet to say goodbye to Evan.

            It felt like she was leaving home all over again, except this time, it was Evan and Maggie leaving her. She knew that it wasn't final, that she'd see them again, but it was still causing the smile on her lips to be a sad one when she attacked her brother with a big hug, one that he instantly eased into. His strong arms wrapped tightly around her smaller body, and she ended up laughing, even if, for a second there, the air in her struggled to flow around.

             "You know I love you, right? And I'm happy for you, Jen", Evan sighed after pressing a kiss against her temple. "Your boyfriend seems nice", he then muttered, and gasping, Jenna pulled away and swatted her brother's arm gently whilst her eyes blew wide with shock and disbelief.

            "My— what? Fitz is not—oh my God, you idiot, Fitz is not my boyfriend!", she whispered in panic, but instead of believing his sister, Evan simply grinned and shrugged.

            "Whatever helps you sleep at night", was the last thing he said, before offering Jenna a wink and then walking away with Magdeline by his side. But if anything, Jenna was pretty sure that was only going to keep her up at night — not help her sleep, at all. Fitz wasn't her boyfriend, that was insane, but she couldn't help but wonder what made Evan give her that comment. Did it seem like he was? Did she want him to? What was happening to her?

           Those questions proceeded to eat her from within as she walked over to her next class — not alone, though. Simmons had a class on the other side of the building, but Fitz and Jenna were heading towards the one that was about the history of S.H.I.E.L.D, and frankly, that was the reason why Jenna's heart was racing in her chest, competing against the millions of thoughts swarming in her mind like nervous butterflies. But, she tried to push all that away and focus on the positive — she could sit next to Fitz, and learn more about S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, she had a feeling this could be her favorite class.

             Indeed, the two sat next to each other without even exchanging a word to wonder if they should, and as the teacher introduced himself and started to explain what his lessons were going to include, Jenna followed closely. However, her attention was soon drawn elsewhere and her concentration broken, as Fitz's hand carefully slid a piece of paper onto the small desk in front of her. Looking around the lecture hall quickly, Jenna made sure no one was watching over shoulder as she gently lifted the note and read the softly scribbled words on it — she had to admit, Fitz's handwriting was absolutely adorable.

            "Hi", was all it said, and as Jenna tried to hide a smile, she took out a pen to write back a similar reply. With her own greeting on the piece of paper, she then returned it to Fitz, who quickly read what she had written and ended up shining with happiness as well. When he pushed it back, it had more text on it, and Jenna's smile faltered when she read, "I'm sorry about your father", but instead of letting the sadness in her consume her heart, she thanked Fitz on the note before giving it back.

            It seemed like forever passed when Jenna waited for Fitz to write something more. The teacher's ramblings in front of the board he had filled with text were impossible to focus on, and even though Jenna had a feeling she would regret it afterwards, she didn't pay attention — even if she wrote down everything that the teacher did, she wasn't sure what words were making it to the notebook in front of her. But when Fitz finally returned the note to her, she practically jumped in her seat and eagerly grabbed the new piece of paper he had ripped from his notebook before reading the longer message he had written for her.

            "I'm usually not this social, but I thought we could get to know each other better? Also, it doesn't take a scientist to notice the boiler room wasn't really your thing. So, I have something else planned for tonight, if you'd like to come with me?", Fitz had jotted down on the note, and instantly, Jenna felt her heart swelling in her chest. On the other side of the note, were two boxes, one of which read YES? and the other said, NO?, referring to what Jenna's answer was going to be.

            And without a shadow of a doubt in her mind, Jenna quickly selected the box that happily agreed to his idea, already beyond excited to spend the evening with him.

            Even if that was the last note they passed during that lesson, it was hard for Jenna to stop looking at Fitz, or thinking about Fitz. That happened to her a lot lately, but for what it was worth, Fitz was quite unable to forget about Jenna, too.

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awwww my smol children

i'm already working on the next chapter and it's gonna be so cute (at least that's how i imagined it, hopefully i'll succeed) ((: