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caffeinated-mendes · 4 years

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Failed Mission - Peter Parker & OC - Chapter 1

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synopsis: Eliza Brooks, an eighteen-year-old Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and friend to Tony Stark is given a mission after Tony's death: Attend Midtown Tech and keep an eye on Peter Parker. With the use of her mysterious powers, Eliza had never slipped up on her assignment. That is until Peter's life is in danger, and she has to save him. The cost of her exposing her identity could very nearly mean the end of her mission, and the ending of her chance to become an Avenger.

word count: 2.5 k

a/n: Hi everyone :) Here's a new fic for you all with an OC of mine that I've created with the help of my friend @fallinallincurls <3 I loved Peter so much that I had to make a multi-chap fic for him! Anyway, I see this as Post Endgame, but a few months before FFH. Hope you all enjoy <3 comments likes, and reblogs are always appreciated!

warnings: none

*if you prefer, you can read this on my ao3 instead of here

“Can anyone tell me the answer to number twenty-seven?” Mrs. Codds asked, to which the class silently responded. “Anyone?” Eliza didn’t raise her hand, even though she knew the solution to the problem. Her eyes were trained on the figure in front of her. His leg was bouncing nervously in his desk, watching the clock that taunted them at the front of the room.

Eliza fiddled with her pen, waiting for someone to be called on without their asking. “Ms. Brooks?” Her eyes shot up to the board, examining the problem.

“Uh, thirty-two.”

“That’s incorrect. Anyone else?” Mrs. Codds’ narrowed eyes found her next target, Michelle Jones.

Eliza raised her hand, but spoke without being called on, “Mrs. Codds? Isn’t it thirty-two, though? X equals fifteen, and the square root of sixteen plus y, which is thirteen, equals thirty-two.” With a bit of fright, she pushed her long hair behind her ear.

Mrs. Codds examined the board once again, “I suppose you’re right, Eliza. My mistake. Thank you.” Heads turned to her, including MJ, who mouthed ‘thanks.’ She nodded, moving her gaze back to the board.

“Everybody was so surprised that Mrs. Codds didn’t scream at you or something. She usually rages if anyone speaks out.” MJ said, clutching her book to her chest as Eliza took her bag from her locker.

She chuckled, “I know, I was surprised too. By the way, I can’t hang out today. I’ve got work.” Eliza turned to look around, “But you could invite someone to partner with you in AcDec.”

MJ’s ears turned red, “Eli, no. It’s not gonna happen.”

“He’s cute, though! I know you like him.” Eliza grinned, pulling her navy blue backpack onto her shoulders. MJ pulled on the strings of her hoodie, shaking her head and looking at the ground. “Alright, I won’t terrorize you anymore. See you tomorrow. Oh, and don’t forget, we’re studying on Sunday.”

MJ nodded, “I won’t. See you!”

Eliza hurried her way down the halls of Midtown Tech, her black vans making squeaking sounds on the tile. Turning to look into the window of the library, she saw Peter Parker, MJ, and the rest of the team reading their textbooks. She took out her phone, and called the latest number, walking out the doors of her school. The day was a bitter, cold February day. Eliza had to pull up her hood to not shiver on the spot. “Hello?” A man’s voice answered the phone.

“Hey, Happy. Just the daily report. Peter’s fine. He’s at practice right now, so I’ll be going out later today. You know, the usual.”

“Alright. Thanks for letting me know, Eliza.” He sounded relieved, like Peter would never catch a break.

“Of course. Have a good day.”

“You too. You still coming over to Pepper’s tomorrow for dinner?”

Eliza pounded on the steps to the railway, responding, “Yep. See you.”

“Bye, Eli.”

She hung up, pushing her way into the crowded train. Eliza didn’t know how much longer she could keep the whole thing up. The whole routine of high school didn’t suit her. She longed for the days of training with her mentor. Somehow, she thought that training to be a spy was easier than being a high school student.

Perched up on the roof of a building, Eliza watched as a blue and red figure swung through the borough of Queens: the beloved Spider-Man. She had to hop rooftop to rooftop just to keep up with him. Luckily, her suit helped her jump farther, but landing always hurt. The flexible black and navy blue material let her move swiftly in the shadows, though it didn’t matter. Just one thought, and she could become invisible. She watched as Spider-Man made his way into a bank that was screaming with alarms.

Willing herself to turn invisible, she jumped down onto the steps of the bank. The best part of not being seen was people not noticing you. The worst part was having to maneuver your way through, as nobody could move out of the way for you.

Checking her surroundings, she quietly opened the door a sliver and slipped through. This was the worst part of the job. Watching Peter defeat the bad guys, and not being able to help. A woman at the counter trembled at gunpoint, a masked man clamping his hand over her mouth. Two other goons raided the available containers behind them. As if right on cue, Peter screamed, “Hey! Don’t you have other people to rob? I mean not like you should rob them-” He cut himself off, shooting a spider web to grab the gun in his hand. The action made the man angrier, but before he could do anything, Peter ran, jumping onto the counter and swinging his legs into the man’s side. He doubled over in pain, but as Peter stood over him, he didn’t see that the man’s big, beefy buddies were right behind him.

Eliza wanted to scream, tell Peter to watch out, but she knew better. She watched in horror as one of them hit Peter in the head with a bat, knocking him to the ground. Peter didn’t get up. She couldn’t stand there anymore, so she ran for the two of them, pulling a gun from her belt. Thankfully, whatever she held became invisible too, so she didn’t have to worry about people seeing a floating gun. Making two shots, she hit them both in their legs, not wanting to kill.

Her fingers trembled. She hadn’t done anything like that for real, and hadn’t shot her gun in months. The woman at the counter shrieked. Seeing two men get shot from nowhere was justifiably scary. Eliza jumped over the counter, seeing that Peter was breathing, and conscious. It seemed like he had just woken up. Eliza didn’t think of the consequences as she hoisted Peter up, still invisible. “Whoa! Who’s pulling me?” He grabbed for her, and Eliza was too late to move, as he’d gripped her wrist. “Show yourself! He looked not in her eyes, as he couldn’t see her, but at her neck. Eliza had a couple inches on him.

Eliza knew she’d failed. She lost her grip on her invisibility, and soon she was fully visible. Peter still wouldn’t know it was her. She had a mask on, not unlike Peter’s, but it was black with three stripes of blue on each side. The eyeholes were shaped like upturned rectangles, an almost clear mesh. His spidey-eyes widened. “Eliza?”

Eliza’s breath hitched. Peter didn’t know her. She never spoke to him. Calmly, she replied, “I don’t know who you’re talking about. Let’s get out of here. The police are on their way.” She shook her hand from Peter’s grip, and started running out of the bank, Peter on her tail. They made their way into a dark alley, lit only by a flickering streetlight.

“Are you sure you’re not Eliza? Because you sound like her too. Wait, why am I asking you that? You know who you are.” Peter caught up to her. Eliza tried to turn away, walk in the other direction, but then, Peter pulled on her mask, taking it off. Her long, blonde hair cascaded around her face. “It is you.” He didn’t say anything else.

“How’d you know it was me, Peter?” Eliza’s heart sunk. She failed her mission. At least it meant she got to go home.

Peter almost choked, “How’d you know- I mean, I’m not Peter-” Eliza pulled Peter’s mask off to reveal his terrified face. “Uh- your eyes. They’re blue. Just not a normal blue, it’s like a weird blue. I don’t know why. When you showed up a few months ago to school, and the teacher introduced you to the class, your eyes glowed. I don’t know if everyone else saw it, but I did when you looked at me. Then they went back to normal. They glowed so bright when I grabbed your arm that it went through your mask.”

Eliza looked down. “Peter, I’m not allowed to tell you this, but I failed my mission anyway. I’ve been keeping an eye on you since you went back to school, after, well, you know-”

“Since the blip ended?”

“Yeah. Tony found me, kinda like he found you. I was fifteen, it was right after, um, Sokovia. I blipped too, so I’m only eighteen now. But it was eight years ago. When I blipped back, Fury gave me a mission. He told me that Tony intended it for me when he was gone. I’ve been reporting back to Happy, giving him updates. I follow you when you go out into the city.” Eliza looked down at her feet.

Peter’s face looked disappointed. “Oh.”

“What?” Eliza looked back up at him. Peter played with her mask in his hands. The scene must’ve looked weird. The two of them, holding each other’s masks.

“Well, it’s just that, I thought Mr. Stark thought that I could take care of myself now.” Peter looked up at Eliza, shrugging. His brown eyes looked sad.

Eliza hung her hands, “I’m sure he did. I think he just wanted to have me make sure you were safe. In a way, I was supposed to be the big sister you never had. At least, that’s how Pepper put it.”

Peter nodded, holding out her mask. She took it, and gave him his. “I think this means my mission’s over.”

He looked away, then back at her, “Maybe we can convince Happy to let you stay. He doesn’t have to tell Fury. You could join me, the media wouldn’t know, because you can turn invisible!”

“That might work.” Eliza started to think that she wanted to stay in New York a little bit longer, “Also, I’m not just invisible. I can turn into other animals, too.”

Peter’s eyes widened, “No way! Turn into… a monkey!” He grinned expectantly.

“How about I do something a little more convenient?” Eliza laughed.

“Yeah, okay.”

Eliza felt the familiar sensation encapsulate her body. It was like your entire body was falling asleep, but intensified, as the pins-and-needles feeling grew stronger, her vision changed, and suddenly, Peter got much taller. Her suit, designed to only appear in her human form, was gone. Peter spun around.

“Where’d you go? Eliza?” Eliza scuttled up Peter’s leg, all the way to his hand. She saw him look down. “Ugh. Of course you’re a spider. Deja vu. Can you turn back now?” Eliza hopped off his hand and landed back on the ground. She envisioned herself as herself, a human, and was enclosed in the prickly feeling again. She flexed her fingers, looking back at Peter.

Eliza grinned, “Uh, weird question, but out of all the situations I might’ve had to save you from, how’d you let it be a bank heist?”It seemed too easy for him. Peter didn’t fail like that. Eliza knew that he’d been in much higher-stake situations.

As if reading her mind, Peter replied with a red tint to his face, “I have a fifth sense, it’s kinda like I can feel what's going on around me. Stupid to say after I didn’t realize two guys were behind me with a bat, but you were distracting me, I think. I didn’t know it was you at the time, of course, but I felt this weird power. It pounded through the room, and it distracted me.”

“I guess you can sense me, too. Have you felt it this whole time?” Eliza lifted her hair into a makeshift ponytail, and put her mask over her head. Peter put his on, too.

Peter shrugged, “Well, sort of. Just not that strong. I had a feeling like someone had their eyes on me everywhere I went in the city.” Eliza nodded.

“Well, if I get sent back home, I’d like to make this a night to remember. Wanna fight crime as a team?” Eliza laughed.

Peter shook his head, “We’ll ask Happy to let you stay. I know it’ll work. But sure, let’s do it!” Eliza took this as a cue to change, morphing her body into a creature that could jump easily from building to building.

Looking down at her now, Peter’s spidey-eyes widened, “A monkey! Sweet!”

“Hey, Penis Parker! Did your face always look that stupid?” Flash taunted from behind Peter and Eliza. Peter pushed his face further into his locker, biting his lip.

Eliza, on the other hand, was not the quiet type. “Flash, why don’t you quit taunting Peter so you don’t have to keep hiding your insecurities? I think it’d be a better look on you.” Kids laughed and turned to face her from their lockers, watching as Flash choked on his words. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Eliza slammed Peter’s locker for dramatic effect, making him jump. “Let’s go, Peter. The trash in here stinks.” This was responded by a chorus of laughter from their classmates. Peter pushed his way through to catch up to Eliza, hiding a smile. Flash was left sputtering behind them.

“That was amazing, but you didn’t need to do that. You know I’m not supposed to draw attention.” Peter shouldered his bag as they climbed up the staircase. Last night, the two of them bonded pretty well, beating up thieves and returning stolen items. It felt like Eliza had already known Peter forever. It was a shame she couldn’t stay with him much longer. She was going to tell Happy tonight, at dinner with Pepper and Morgan.

Eliza shrugged, “It’s not like anyone is gonna suspect me of anything.” Eliza’s phone buzzed. It was MJ, asking if she was coming to class. Eliza responded, Yep, I just finished telling Flash off to the entire hallway. She pushed her phone in her back pocket, “Sorry, that was MJ.”

“MJ? I didn’t know you were friends with her, she’s really cool.” Peter said this in a high pitched voice, looking at Eliza and then in front of him.

“Isn’t the AcDec team going on a Europe trip this summer?”

Peter cleared his throat, his voice a little deeper this time, “Yeah, I’m hoping I’ll be able to actually relax on that trip.”

“That’s understandable. I mean,” Eliza lowered her voice, “I’m not really an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I still kinda get it.”

Peter smiled, his voice hushed too, “I have a feeling you’re gonna be more than an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe an Avenger. I mean, we’re kinda down on members.” He looked towards their history class with glassy eyes.

“Thanks for the encouragement.”

“Remember, I’m not letting you leave yet.” With that, Peter walked into their class and found his seat, turning his attention to the girl in front of him. Eliza smirked. It was only obvious that Peter liked her. Ah, to be oblivious to shared love!

Eliza found her seat on the opposite side of the classroom. She looked up at the board, and her heart sank. In big messy handwriting at the top of the chalkboard was written The Sokovia Accords. Eliza put her head down on her desk, and closed her eyes. A voice went through her head, a familiar ghost of her past. It’s okay. Breathe in. Hold it. Breathe out. Breathe in. Hold it.

Breathe out.

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daisy-chain-gardens · 6 years

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Exchange Romance - Chapter 19

A/N: Here it is, the final chapter. Sorry for the delay but I hope this makes up for it (and makes up for the cruel cliffhanger I left the last chapter on).

Ginormous thanks to Jenna ( @allskynostars ). You are a true superstar and I love you a lot. Thank you thank you thank you, this fic wouldn't be what it is without you <3

READ IT IN AO3

Betts: Are you free to talk?

Juggie: …

Juggie: Yep. Gimme a minute to set up my laptop

Betts: ok

“Hey Betts. Sorry it took me a bit to reply, I was just having dinner.” Jughead sat down in front of his computer, slightly out of breath after sprinting up the stairs as soon as he saw Betty’s message.

“Don’t worry about it Jug. I just wanted to catch up. I feel like I haven’t talked to you in ages.” Betty was sitting in her bedroom, hair still wet from the beach as she wrapped her towel tighter around herself, using it as shelter from the cool summer breeze that was drifting through her window.

“It’s only been a week,” Jughead said with a chuckle, reaching up and tugging his beanie off his head before running his fingers through his hair.

“I know, I know,” Betty replied with an exaggerated sigh, rocking onto the hind two legs of her chair as she leant away from the screen. Jughead could tell there was something on her mind, something that she wanted to share. He hadn’t seen her in person in a year and a half but he could still read her like an open book.

“Betts, what’s going on?” His voice was low and teasing, that playful smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he waited for her reply.

“Well…” she started off, sitting properly on her chair again as she contemplated how to tell him her news. “Guess what came in the mail today.” Jughead’s face immediately lit up, his smile causing his eyes to sparkle as he ran his fingers through his hair again.

“No way! It showed up today?”

“It did! I got home from my exam and it was in the letterbox! Oh my God, Jug, you have no idea how excited I am about this,” Betty squealed as she waved the letter around in front of the screen, jumping up and down while still holding her towel tight.

“Betts, that’s incredible. I’m so proud of you.” She calmed down enough to sit at her desk, the smile on her face was anything but calm. Her eyes skimmed over the letter, despite having memorised it after she’d read over it a hundred times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

Dear Ms. Cooper, Congratulations! I am delighted to offer you admission to our Bachelor of Arts course at Victoria University, starting March the 5th, 2019. Your academic accomplishments, extracurriculars…

“How was the beach?” Jughead’s voice broke her out of her daydream as she looked back up at the screen, a confused look on her face.

“Huh?” Betty asked, not quite able to put two and two together.

“How was the beach? Your hair’s all wet and I can see your bathing suit under your towel,” Jughead explained with a light chuckle, shaking his head slightly at her obliviousness.

“Oh, right. It was good, a lot of fun. Kev and I went to celebrate him finishing his last exam. We talked, we swam, we sunbathed. You know, the usual.”

“Say hi to Kevin for me next time you see him. And good luck for your last exam tomorrow. How are you feeling?”

“Not too bad actually. I did pretty good on my mocks and I am kinda good at Media so I’m not stressing out … yet.” They both laughed, knowing she was referring to how she always freaks out at the last minute, worrying she isn’t prepared enough and wishing she’d stayed up an extra half hour the night before, only to walk out of the exam room with an excellence every time.

“Well you would think they wouldn’t let you study it in college if you weren’t amazing at it Betts. Give yourself some credit.” A delicate blush spread across her cheeks at the compliment, her smile softening. She still wasn’t used to the offhand comments Jughead would make that always seemed to make her day just that little bit brighter, her smile that little bit wider. He lived for her smile, and knowing he was the one that caused it made his heart swell.

They sat in silence for a few moments, just looking and memorising, both of them itching to reach out and touch the other, even if only for a second.

“You know what today is, don’t you?” He said it so softly the speaker distorted his voice, forcing Betty to strain to hear the words she didn’t want to, a reminder she didn’t need. She nodded slightly, her eyes never leaving his as they both took a deep breath.

“A whole year Jug.” Betty’s voice was thick with disbelief, the words tumbling out of her mouth before her brain could approve of them.

“We’ve been broken up longer than we were physically together,” Jughead said with a short chuckle, laughing at the irony rather than the situation itself.

“I miss you Jug,” Betty breathed out, knowing that Jughead would hear the I love you hidden in her words.

“I miss you too Betts.”

--------------------

“Merry Christmas!” Betty chirped once Jughead accepted her chat request. His smile instantly lit up the screen as he took her in; her red and white striped top perfectly matching her santa hat.

“Wow, did Santa’s elves kidnap you or are you dressed like that voluntarily?” Jughead teased while wiping his screen.

“Haha very funny. It’s 26 degrees here so Christmas sweaters aren’t really an option,” Betty clarified and she fixed her hat.

“You now that 26 means nothing to me. If you say 26 I’m thinking less than freezing and that's obviously not the case.”

“Right. I forgot. Give me a sec,” Betty said as she pulled out her phone, opening up the conversion app that had gotten a lot of use over the last 18 months. “About 79 fahrenheit. I know that's not super hot but trust me, that’s practically boiling in Wellington when there’s no wind.”

“That whole summer Christmas thing is so strange to me. How do you have snowball fights and hot cocoa and s’mores?” Jughead asked bewilderedly, breaking into a grin once Betty realised he was joking.

“In short, we don’t. We just get to hang out at the beach and have barbeques instead.” Her voice sounded smug and matter of fact as she pulled out the parcel that had been hidden under her desk since the postman had delivered it a week ago.

“Alright Jug, I know this is what you’ve been itching to do since you got yours. You ready to open presents?” His eyes grew wide with excitement as a rushed to the closet and pulled out his own parcel, the one that Betty had wrapped in brown paper and Christmas coloured string.

“I feel like we should be doing a countdown or something,” he heard her mumble light-heartedly as he sat back down in front of his computer.

“No need for that babe, you go first.” That both froze at the endearment; Jughead with a look of terror on his face that he’d overstepped their unspoken boundaries while Betty tried to carry on as if nothing had happened, sending him that soft smile of hers that instantly melted all of his fears.

The tremble in her hand as she carefully unstuck the tape wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Jug, this is beautiful,” Betty exclaimed as she finally unwrapped the festive paper, revealing a brown leather journal.

“Open it,” Jughead instructed quietly as he watched her, trying and failing to anticipate her reaction.

“Oh my goodness.” She was completely out of words as she undid the elastic band and opened up to the middle of the journal, Jughead’s familiar scrawl filling the page in front of her. She flipped through the second half of the pages and found the same thing; black ink in the form of Jughead’s words filling up the white pages.

“Juggie, what is this?” She could feel the tears threatening to spill over the edge as her eyes finally met his. Seeing the confliction in her eyes scared him, made him wonder if he’d done the right thing by sending it to her. He’d written in it most days since that fateful Friday night when everything had changed but somehow nothing did. He’d sent it to her on an impulse, after spending most days over the previous two weeks on the lookout for the perfect present, only to come home empty handed each time.

“It’s … it’s us, it’s our story.” She stayed quiet as she stared down at the journal in her hands, unable to tear her eyes away from the note he’d left for her on the first page.

Betts, Last year I promised to love you and always be there for you. Even without you here with me, I still plan on keeping that promise. This is for us, for you, mostly for you. I miss you, Your Jughead

Her fingers were running over the paper as if it would help her memorise the words, help the soak into her skin so she could wear them forever.

“I’m sorry Betty, I didn’t mean to overstep. I just … I thought you should have it,” He trailed off quietly as she kept staring at the ink stained pages, his fingers relentlessly pulling at that misbehaving strand of hair that refused to leave his forehead.

“No, Jug, this is … I have no words,” she managed out through a hiccup, looking up at him. “This is perfect Jug, really.” He let out the breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding at her reassurance, relieved he hadn’t ruined whatever was happening between them.

“Your turn,” she said with a soft smile as she carefully redid the elastic and placed in on the side of her desk, saving it for later. He managed to pull the string apart as he ripped at the paper, Betty laughing at his enthusiasm.

“Betts,” Jughead drawled as he held his gift up to the laptop so she could see it, his smile wide on his face. It was a scrapbook identical to the one he’d given her at the airport, the same picture of them atop the Empire State Building gracing the cover. The only difference was what was inside, his professional looking photos that proved his eye for art were replaced by her photos, the goofy selfies she’d forced him to take and the photos she’d sneaked in when he wasn’t paying attention. This was her version of the story, their story.

“You should have,” he said with a grin as he lay it down on the desk, flipping carefully through the pages as he skimmed over the pictures. “This is great Betts. Thank you.”

“Merry Christmas Jug,” she said with a gentle smile.

“Merry Christmas. I miss you,” he replied, echoing her tone.

“I miss you too.”

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“Jug, I can’t hear you, there’s too much noise in the background,” Betty yelled to her computer as she watched Jughead turn up the noise on his laptop, people wandering in every direction behind where he sat. “Where are you anyway?”

“Oh um…” Jughead trailed off, looking around him to figure out how much she could see. Everything, she could see everything. “I am, uh, at the, uh, at the airport actually,” Jughead stammered as his hand reached up to run through his hair, twirling the strands determinedly.

“The airport?” He could hear the surprise in Betty’s voice and all he really wanted was to change to subject and stop her from asking anymore questions. He knew her well enough to know that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. “Why are you at the airport?”

“It may be hard for you to believe but I’m actually waiting to get on a plane,” Jughead quipped over the noise, a teasing lilt in his voice.

“Haha very funny. I’m not that stupid thank you very much. I mean where are you going?” Now Jughead was really beginning to panic. He couldn’t tell her the truth, could he? No, no he couldn’t.

“Uh, Veronica decided on an impromptu trip to New York but the chauffeur is sick so she booked us on the next flight?” The question in his voice gave him away and as soon as the words fell out of his mouth he wanted to stuff them back in and lock them away.

“Are you asking me if that’s what’s happening or is that what’s actually going on?” Betty teased, that curious glint in her eyes telling Jughead she was onto him.

“Definitely what’s going on. Mhmm. The absolute truth.” Jughead nodded enthusiastically, making him look more like a dog then an actual human being as he tried to convince her of his lie. “Anyways, enough about me. How’s it going for you Betts? You excited for Monday?” Jughead asked quickly, hoping to distract her. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him, almost as if she could see the truth swimming around in the depths of her eyes. He could almost see the cogs turning in her head as she tried to figure out what he was up to. Eventually, she seemed to realise he wouldn’t tell her and moved on to answer her question.

“I’m good, always good. I’m super excited for Monday, constant butterflies in my stomach kind of nervous. I can’t believe my first day at university is only a couple of days away, it’s insane.” She settled back into her usual self as she filled him in on everything that had happened since they had talked the week before; moving into her flat, her crazy vegan flatmate who insisted all of their animal products be moved to a seperate fridge so it didn’t ‘contaminate’ her food, various last minute shopping trips, and her time spent with Kevin.

“Well I’m glad you’re happy Betty,” Jughead said softly, Betty hearing the support in his words even over the hustle and bustle of the people in the background.

“I really am Jug. I haven’t felt this way in a while and it’s so … refreshing. I don’t feel like my mother is watching my every move and I got into my top uni and I have a job that doesn’t look like it’ll be going anywhere and I … it’s just really nice, to be independent, you know? I feel like I’m finally doing something purely for me and it’s really exciting.” Her eyes were twinkling as she talked, letting Jughead know that she meant every word of it.

“I just wish you could be here with me.”

It came out as a whisper, a thought spoken aloud as she fiddled with the tassels on one of the pillows on her bed. Such a short confession that almost broke his heart. Almost.

“I do too. I miss you Betts, so much, and I’m super sorry but I have to go because they’re about to call my flight. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. Have a good flight, we’ll talk later,” Betty promised as she started shutting her laptop.

“Talk later,” he signed off before the screen went black.

Only one thought was floating around Betty’s usually crowded mind; Riverdale didn’t have an airport.

--------------------

Betty quickly glanced at herself in the mirror before she walked out of the door and towards her first class. The butterflies in her stomach wouldn’t calm down as she smoothed down her hair and straightened her jacket, took a deep breath, and grabbed her keys off the hook in the hallway before she could psych herself out.

The walk to the campus only took a handful of minutes and Betty spent the whole time caught up in her thoughts, barely noticing the asphalt under her feet or the birds chirping in her ears. She found the right building and walked up the two flights of stairs to her class, a path she’d memorise the night before after spending hours pouring over the maps the university had provided for first-year students.

She was 20 minutes early, perfectly on time for her ‘mental health and disorder: interdisciplinary perspectives’ class. She hadn’t been entirely sure what it was about but after reading through some of the resources that the professor had sent them the week before, Betty was fairly confident she wouldn’t be completely lost during this first class.

She pulled her book out of her bag and started reading, figuring she might as well kill some time and try to distract herself before her other classmates arrived. The words of ‘The Princess Bride’ drawing her in immediately as her eyes flew over the pages, taking comfort in the familiar words.

“This is true love. You think this happens everyday?” A male voice pulled Betty from the pages, forcing her back into the real world as she looked up beside her to where the voice was coming from. And standing right beside her, in the middle of the now fairly crowded corridor, was none other than Jughead Jones.

“Jug?” Betty asked in disbelief, her eyes wide open as she took him in. Before he had a chance to give her a sarcastic response, her arms were thrown around his neck as she crushed herself against him, holding him tightly as though he was going to disappear in the next breath. “I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered into his ear, immediately making him relax as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

“Surprise,” he whispered back, feeling her smile into his shoulder. They eventually untangled themselves as someone around them coughed loudly, hinting not-so-subtly that it was time to break things up.

“But - you - what, what are you doing here?” Betty stumbled over her words as she tried to make a mess out of the jumble of thoughts in her mind. Jughead was here, in Wellington, right beside her, in her university? This was going to take a lot of explaining.

“I uh, I’m studying here. I got into the film program on a scholarship and I guess our programs share some courses. I was planning on telling you but then I made the mistake of letting Arch know and, well, you know how it goes. He told Ron and then Ron took it upon herself to watch my every move to make sure I didn’t tell you to keep this a surprise,” Jughead summed up, knowing that wouldn’t be enough of an explanation for Betty but hoping it would be okay for now as the professor was now walking down the corridor towards the class.

“I’m really happy you’re here Jug,” Betty said softly as she slipped her hand into his, letting their fingers intertwine.

“I am too,” Jughead replied as his thumb brushed over the back of her hand, bringing her that certain kind of peace she only felt when she was with him.

“I missed you,” she whispered into his ear as they made their way into the lecture hall, the rustle and bustle of everyone preparing their things giving Jughead enough time to whisper back as they slipped into their seats.

“I missed you too.”

--------------------

As soon as the professor finished his lecture, Betty raced to pack up her things and made her way out the door, dragging Jughead along behind her. She stopped abruptly as soon as they got out of the building, looking around for a moment before finding a park bench nearby and leading him to it, sitting down facing him before taking a deep breath.

“Okay, so Jug, I need you to start from the start and explain this entire thing to me because my head is spinning. This is so insane and I am so happy you’re here with me and that you flew all the way to New Zealand is just unbelievable and I just s-”

“Betty,” Jughead said through a laugh, reaching for her hands to cut off her ramblings before he had to fight any harder to get a word in edgeways. “I will answer all of your questions, I promise. There’s just one little thing I have to do first and then I’m all yours.” Betty’s animated expression sunk a little at his words.

“Oh, yeah, okay. I could meet up with you later at the Mojo on the corner if you want? How about in an hour? Wait, you probably don’t know your way around yet s-” Jughead’s lips came crashing onto hers, his hands now cupping her face so as to pull her closer. Her eyes widened in surprise before fluttering closed once her brain realised what was happening, bringing her own hands up to play with the stray hairs at the nape of his neck.

Jughead pulled away slowly, reluctantly, breathing in as much of Betty in that moment as he possibly could. His hands stayed on her soft skin, gently stroking her blushed cheeks.

“Okay, now I’m all yours,” Jughead announced with a sly smile, proud that he was able to bring up enough courage to actually go through with his plan. Betty sat there, slightly stunned, as she realised that was the thing he said he had to do.

“That was incredibly smug Jones,” Betty shot back, failing to keep any hint of malice in her tone as she failed to control her grin. Jughead stood up and draped his arm across her shoulders, pulling her into his side and placing a kiss on her temple as they started walking towards the exit.

Betty wasn’t exactly sure what would happen, she wasn’t even sure how it happened. All she knew was that she suddenly felt like she could do anything, and with Jughead by her side, she knew she would.

#exchange romance #bughead fanfiction #bughead fluff #betty cooper #jughead jones

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