Stan Fitz Vacker Or Perish - Tumblr Posts

How do you feel when someone calls Fitz a jerk after reading Legacy and saw Fitz lost control and shouted at Sophie ?

oh boy is this going to be controversial

i... don’t think his reaction was uncalled for.

let’s review.

throughout the series fitz’s family is described as, ‘practically royalty’, famous, one of the most important elven families. he also has many relatives who are/were important political figures.

that’s bound to cause an unhealthy obsession with one’s reputation.

fitz himself has been described as the golden boy. he has been one of the most powerful telepaths since the age of thirteen, a lot of attention has been put on him not only because he’s a vacker but also because of how talented he is. not to mention during his childhood he was constantly disappearing, which is sure to raise some eyes.

growing up under the public eye? it ain’t easy. even if you’re an elf.

his whole life he’s been expected to be perfect and have no cracks. you can’t expect him to change overnight- even for a girl he obviously cares deeply about.

in legacy, it takes fitz coming over to havenfield for sophie to actually talk to him, but she was anxious and scared- and for good reason. we all know fitz has never been very good at dealing with painful emotions healthily.

but he does.

“i want you to remember me sitting here with you, not freaking out or causing any of the drama you’ve been worrying about, okay? i know i haven’t always been great about that—but i’m working on it. so i need you to start working on trusting me—because having you avoid me like you’ve been doing really hurts. and finding out you’ve been hiding something this important totally sucks. and knowing you confided in other people before telling me makes it even worse.” legacy, pg 245

even fitz understands why sophie’s been avoiding him, and he’s trying to fix it. he tells her how he feels and what he wishes she would’ve done instead, but he gets why sophie did what she did and he doesn’t fault her for it.

if that’s not handling it maturely- then i don’t know what is.

then he screws everything up with his views on matchmaking. but thinking about his upbringing? those views are completely understandable and i can’t fault him for having them.

because sophie was brought up by humans, she can see how harmful matchmaking can be. because dex is the son of a bad match, he can see how harmful matchmaking can be. because no one else was raised with the pressure of being a vacker- besides biana but even she wasn’t raised with the ‘golden boy’ mentality fitz was- they can see how harmful matchmaking can be. you have to put yourself in his shoes instead of just writing him off as insentive. he doesn’t understand why it’s bad because he’s never experienced the downside of it. he’s only ever seen positives, but that doesn’t make him a bad person.

sure, he doesn’t try to understand, but that’s because no one else tries to explain how bad it’s bad and who it’s hurt, even sophie hasn’t- she’s only ever thought about it.

onto their actual breakup.

i think fitz has every reason to be upset, and i also think sophie has every reason to be upset. there’s no right or wrong.

the problem though, is the fact that neither of them try to understand why the other one feels the way they do. fitz doesn’t try to see why sophie let alvar go, and sophie doesn’t try to understand the full extent of all the emotions fitz is feeling. neither of them are very good at communicating, which is kinda ironic considering they’re cognates, which was the real downfall of their relationship. but they figure out that argument.

then they move on to sophie’s mom.

sophie continually tells fitz she can’t tell him who she is and at first, fitz gets it... until sophie says she can’t tell him- ever.

we all know the most important thing to fitz is trust. he doesn’t realize why sophie won’t tell him because he’s always trusted sophie to tell him whatever whenever she’s ready. there couldn’t be anything so bad she can’t tell him, could there?

but he lets it go.

then he asks about the match.

to him, it’s a simple question, because to him, matchmaking is simple.

to sophie, it’s the question that breaks everything, because to her, matchmaking is anything but simple.

fitz goes onto to talk about how they should discuss her decision together and how it doesn’t just affect her. and honestly? i don’t think he was out of line.

it’s clear now that this is something fitz wants for life, and a relationship isn’t just one person. it’s sacrifice, and it’s compromise.

so fitz is right. sophie deciding she’ll stay unmatchable doesn’t just affect her. it affects him too, because he doesn’t want anyone else. he says so in flashback. at the end of the day, it is still her choice, but that doesn’t mean her and fitz can’t discuss it.

before he leaves fitz repeats why he doesn’t understand, and it’s not his fault he doesn’t. sophie chooses not to help him understand by not telling him who her mom is, but that doesn’t mean she’s to blame either. once again, neither one of them try to see the other persons side. it wasn’t fitz’s fault they broke up and it wasn’t sophie’s fault. fitz isn’t a jerk for think her decision is the wrong one. it’s an opinion. we all have them. fitz gets to have his, but sophie gets to have hers too.

the only reason we think fitz was in the wrong is because we only see how sophie feels, we only hear her thoughts, we only see the stress she’s been under. we don’t see fitz’s feelings. we’re behaving just like sophie and fitz. refusing to listen because of our emotions.

i truly think if they’d both sat down and talked calmly, ignoring how they feel and instead listening to what the other one thinks, maybe their breakup could’ve been avoided.

sorry this came out so long lol but this was such a good question and something i’ve been dying to talk about so thank you so much for your ask!!

How do you feel when someone calls Fitz a jerk after reading Legacy and saw Fitz lost control and shouted at Sophie ?

oh boy is this going to be controversial

i... don’t think his reaction was uncalled for.

let’s review.

throughout the series fitz’s family is described as, ‘practically royalty’, famous, one of the most important elven families. he also has many relatives who are/were important political figures.

that’s bound to cause an unhealthy obsession with one’s reputation.

fitz himself has been described as the golden boy. he has been one of the most powerful telepaths since the age of thirteen, a lot of attention has been put on him not only because he’s a vacker but also because of how talented he is. not to mention during his childhood he was constantly disappearing, which is sure to raise some eyes.

growing up under the public eye? it ain’t easy. even if you’re an elf.

his whole life he’s been expected to be perfect and have no cracks. you can’t expect him to change overnight- even for a girl he obviously cares deeply about.

in legacy, it takes fitz coming over to havenfield for sophie to actually talk to him, but she was anxious and scared- and for good reason. we all know fitz has never been very good at dealing with painful emotions healthily.

but he does.

“i want you to remember me sitting here with you, not freaking out or causing any of the drama you’ve been worrying about, okay? i know i haven’t always been great about that—but i’m working on it. so i need you to start working on trusting me—because having you avoid me like you’ve been doing really hurts. and finding out you’ve been hiding something this important totally sucks. and knowing you confided in other people before telling me makes it even worse.” legacy, pg 245

even fitz understands why sophie’s been avoiding him, and he’s trying to fix it. he tells her how he feels and what he wishes she would’ve done instead, but he gets why sophie did what she did and he doesn’t fault her for it.

if that’s not handling it maturely- then i don’t know what is.

then he screws everything up with his views on matchmaking. but thinking about his upbringing? those views are completely understandable and i can’t fault him for having them.

because sophie was brought up by humans, she can see how harmful matchmaking can be. because dex is the son of a bad match, he can see how harmful matchmaking can be. because no one else was raised with the pressure of being a vacker- besides biana but even she wasn’t raised with the ‘golden boy’ mentality fitz was- they can see how harmful matchmaking can be. you have to put yourself in his shoes instead of just writing him off as insentive. he doesn’t understand why it’s bad because he’s never experienced the downside of it. he’s only ever seen positives, but that doesn’t make him a bad person.

sure, he doesn’t try to understand, but that’s because no one else tries to explain how bad it’s bad and who it’s hurt, even sophie hasn’t- she’s only ever thought about it.

onto their actual breakup.

i think fitz has every reason to be upset, and i also think sophie has every reason to be upset. there’s no right or wrong.

the problem though, is the fact that neither of them try to understand why the other one feels the way they do. fitz doesn’t try to see why sophie let alvar go, and sophie doesn’t try to understand the full extent of all the emotions fitz is feeling. neither of them are very good at communicating, which is kinda ironic considering they’re cognates, which was the real downfall of their relationship. but they figure out that argument.

then they move on to sophie’s mom.

sophie continually tells fitz she can’t tell him who she is and at first, fitz gets it... until sophie says she can’t tell him- ever.

we all know the most important thing to fitz is trust. he doesn’t realize why sophie won’t tell him because he’s always trusted sophie to tell him whatever whenever she’s ready. there couldn’t be anything so bad she can’t tell him, could there?

but he lets it go.

then he asks about the match.

to him, it’s a simple question, because to him, matchmaking is simple.

to sophie, it’s the question that breaks everything, because to her, matchmaking is anything but simple.

fitz goes onto to talk about how they should discuss her decision together and how it doesn’t just affect her. and honestly? i don’t think he was out of line.

it’s clear now that this is something fitz wants for life, and a relationship isn’t just one person. it’s sacrifice, and it’s compromise.

so fitz is right. sophie deciding she’ll stay unmatchable doesn’t just affect her. it affects him too, because he doesn’t want anyone else. he says so in flashback. at the end of the day, it is still her choice, but that doesn’t mean her and fitz can’t discuss it.

before he leaves fitz repeats why he doesn’t understand, and it’s not his fault he doesn’t. sophie chooses not to help him understand by not telling him who her mom is, but that doesn’t mean she’s to blame either. once again, neither one of them try to see the other persons side. it wasn’t fitz’s fault they broke up and it wasn’t sophie’s fault. fitz isn’t a jerk for think her decision is the wrong one. it’s an opinion. we all have them. fitz gets to have his, but sophie gets to have hers too.

the only reason we think fitz was in the wrong is because we only see how sophie feels, we only hear her thoughts, we only see the stress she’s been under. we don’t see fitz’s feelings. we’re behaving just like sophie and fitz. refusing to listen because of our emotions.

i truly think if they’d both sat down and talked calmly, ignoring how they feel and instead listening to what the other one thinks, maybe their breakup could’ve been avoided.

sorry this came out so long lol but this was such a good question and something i’ve been dying to talk about so thank you so much for your ask!!

How do you feel when someone calls Fitz a jerk after reading Legacy and saw Fitz lost control and shouted at Sophie ?

oh boy is this going to be controversial

i... don’t think his reaction was uncalled for.

let’s review.

throughout the series fitz’s family is described as, ‘practically royalty’, famous, one of the most important elven families. he also has many relatives who are/were important political figures.

that’s bound to cause an unhealthy obsession with one’s reputation.

fitz himself has been described as the golden boy. he has been one of the most powerful telepaths since the age of thirteen, a lot of attention has been put on him not only because he’s a vacker but also because of how talented he is. not to mention during his childhood he was constantly disappearing, which is sure to raise some eyes.

growing up under the public eye? it ain’t easy. even if you’re an elf.

his whole life he’s been expected to be perfect and have no cracks. you can’t expect him to change overnight- even for a girl he obviously cares deeply about.

in legacy, it takes fitz coming over to havenfield for sophie to actually talk to him, but she was anxious and scared- and for good reason. we all know fitz has never been very good at dealing with painful emotions healthily.

but he does.

“i want you to remember me sitting here with you, not freaking out or causing any of the drama you’ve been worrying about, okay? i know i haven’t always been great about that—but i’m working on it. so i need you to start working on trusting me—because having you avoid me like you’ve been doing really hurts. and finding out you’ve been hiding something this important totally sucks. and knowing you confided in other people before telling me makes it even worse.” legacy, pg 245

even fitz understands why sophie’s been avoiding him, and he’s trying to fix it. he tells her how he feels and what he wishes she would’ve done instead, but he gets why sophie did what she did and he doesn’t fault her for it.

if that’s not handling it maturely- then i don’t know what is.

then he screws everything up with his views on matchmaking. but thinking about his upbringing? those views are completely understandable and i can’t fault him for having them.

because sophie was brought up by humans, she can see how harmful matchmaking can be. because dex is the son of a bad match, he can see how harmful matchmaking can be. because no one else was raised with the pressure of being a vacker- besides biana but even she wasn’t raised with the ‘golden boy’ mentality fitz was- they can see how harmful matchmaking can be. you have to put yourself in his shoes instead of just writing him off as insentive. he doesn’t understand why it’s bad because he’s never experienced the downside of it. he’s only ever seen positives, but that doesn’t make him a bad person.

sure, he doesn’t try to understand, but that’s because no one else tries to explain how bad it’s bad and who it’s hurt, even sophie hasn’t- she’s only ever thought about it.

onto their actual breakup.

i think fitz has every reason to be upset, and i also think sophie has every reason to be upset. there’s no right or wrong.

the problem though, is the fact that neither of them try to understand why the other one feels the way they do. fitz doesn’t try to see why sophie let alvar go, and sophie doesn’t try to understand the full extent of all the emotions fitz is feeling. neither of them are very good at communicating, which is kinda ironic considering they’re cognates, which was the real downfall of their relationship. but they figure out that argument.

then they move on to sophie’s mom.

sophie continually tells fitz she can’t tell him who she is and at first, fitz gets it... until sophie says she can’t tell him- ever.

we all know the most important thing to fitz is trust. he doesn’t realize why sophie won’t tell him because he’s always trusted sophie to tell him whatever whenever she’s ready. there couldn’t be anything so bad she can’t tell him, could there?

but he lets it go.

then he asks about the match.

to him, it’s a simple question, because to him, matchmaking is simple.

to sophie, it’s the question that breaks everything, because to her, matchmaking is anything but simple.

fitz goes onto to talk about how they should discuss her decision together and how it doesn’t just affect her. and honestly? i don’t think he was out of line.

it’s clear now that this is something fitz wants for life, and a relationship isn’t just one person. it’s sacrifice, and it’s compromise.

so fitz is right. sophie deciding she’ll stay unmatchable doesn’t just affect her. it affects him too, because he doesn’t want anyone else. he says so in flashback. at the end of the day, it is still her choice, but that doesn’t mean her and fitz can’t discuss it.

before he leaves fitz repeats why he doesn’t understand, and it’s not his fault he doesn’t. sophie chooses not to help him understand by not telling him who her mom is, but that doesn’t mean she’s to blame either. once again, neither one of them try to see the other persons side. it wasn’t fitz’s fault they broke up and it wasn’t sophie’s fault. fitz isn’t a jerk for think her decision is the wrong one. it’s an opinion. we all have them. fitz gets to have his, but sophie gets to have hers too.

the only reason we think fitz was in the wrong is because we only see how sophie feels, we only hear her thoughts, we only see the stress she’s been under. we don’t see fitz’s feelings. we’re behaving just like sophie and fitz. refusing to listen because of our emotions.

i truly think if they’d both sat down and talked calmly, ignoring how they feel and instead listening to what the other one thinks, maybe their breakup could’ve been avoided.

sorry this came out so long lol but this was such a good question and something i’ve been dying to talk about so thank you so much for your ask!!

How do you feel when someone calls Fitz a jerk after reading Legacy and saw Fitz lost control and shouted at Sophie ?

oh boy is this going to be controversial

i... don’t think his reaction was uncalled for.

let’s review.

throughout the series fitz’s family is described as, ‘practically royalty’, famous, one of the most important elven families. he also has many relatives who are/were important political figures.

that’s bound to cause an unhealthy obsession with one’s reputation.

fitz himself has been described as the golden boy. he has been one of the most powerful telepaths since the age of thirteen, a lot of attention has been put on him not only because he’s a vacker but also because of how talented he is. not to mention during his childhood he was constantly disappearing, which is sure to raise some eyes.

growing up under the public eye? it ain’t easy. even if you’re an elf.

his whole life he’s been expected to be perfect and have no cracks. you can’t expect him to change overnight- even for a girl he obviously cares deeply about.

in legacy, it takes fitz coming over to havenfield for sophie to actually talk to him, but she was anxious and scared- and for good reason. we all know fitz has never been very good at dealing with painful emotions healthily.

but he does.

“i want you to remember me sitting here with you, not freaking out or causing any of the drama you’ve been worrying about, okay? i know i haven’t always been great about that—but i’m working on it. so i need you to start working on trusting me—because having you avoid me like you’ve been doing really hurts. and finding out you’ve been hiding something this important totally sucks. and knowing you confided in other people before telling me makes it even worse.” legacy, pg 245

even fitz understands why sophie’s been avoiding him, and he’s trying to fix it. he tells her how he feels and what he wishes she would’ve done instead, but he gets why sophie did what she did and he doesn’t fault her for it.

if that’s not handling it maturely- then i don’t know what is.

then he screws everything up with his views on matchmaking. but thinking about his upbringing? those views are completely understandable and i can’t fault him for having them.

because sophie was brought up by humans, she can see how harmful matchmaking can be. because dex is the son of a bad match, he can see how harmful matchmaking can be. because no one else was raised with the pressure of being a vacker- besides biana but even she wasn’t raised with the ‘golden boy’ mentality fitz was- they can see how harmful matchmaking can be. you have to put yourself in his shoes instead of just writing him off as insentive. he doesn’t understand why it’s bad because he’s never experienced the downside of it. he’s only ever seen positives, but that doesn’t make him a bad person.

sure, he doesn’t try to understand, but that’s because no one else tries to explain how bad it’s bad and who it’s hurt, even sophie hasn’t- she’s only ever thought about it.

onto their actual breakup.

i think fitz has every reason to be upset, and i also think sophie has every reason to be upset. there’s no right or wrong.

the problem though, is the fact that neither of them try to understand why the other one feels the way they do. fitz doesn’t try to see why sophie let alvar go, and sophie doesn’t try to understand the full extent of all the emotions fitz is feeling. neither of them are very good at communicating, which is kinda ironic considering they’re cognates, which was the real downfall of their relationship. but they figure out that argument.

then they move on to sophie’s mom.

sophie continually tells fitz she can’t tell him who she is and at first, fitz gets it... until sophie says she can’t tell him- ever.

we all know the most important thing to fitz is trust. he doesn’t realize why sophie won’t tell him because he’s always trusted sophie to tell him whatever whenever she’s ready. there couldn’t be anything so bad she can’t tell him, could there?

but he lets it go.

then he asks about the match.

to him, it’s a simple question, because to him, matchmaking is simple.

to sophie, it’s the question that breaks everything, because to her, matchmaking is anything but simple.

fitz goes onto to talk about how they should discuss her decision together and how it doesn’t just affect her. and honestly? i don’t think he was out of line.

it’s clear now that this is something fitz wants for life, and a relationship isn’t just one person. it’s sacrifice, and it’s compromise.

so fitz is right. sophie deciding she’ll stay unmatchable doesn’t just affect her. it affects him too, because he doesn’t want anyone else. he says so in flashback. at the end of the day, it is still her choice, but that doesn’t mean her and fitz can’t discuss it.

before he leaves fitz repeats why he doesn’t understand, and it’s not his fault he doesn’t. sophie chooses not to help him understand by not telling him who her mom is, but that doesn’t mean she’s to blame either. once again, neither one of them try to see the other persons side. it wasn’t fitz’s fault they broke up and it wasn’t sophie’s fault. fitz isn’t a jerk for think her decision is the wrong one. it’s an opinion. we all have them. fitz gets to have his, but sophie gets to have hers too.

the only reason we think fitz was in the wrong is because we only see how sophie feels, we only hear her thoughts, we only see the stress she’s been under. we don’t see fitz’s feelings. we’re behaving just like sophie and fitz. refusing to listen because of our emotions.

i truly think if they’d both sat down and talked calmly, ignoring how they feel and instead listening to what the other one thinks, maybe their breakup could’ve been avoided.

sorry this came out so long lol but this was such a good question and something i’ve been dying to talk about so thank you so much for your ask!!

fitz when he was looking for sophie: there’s nothing rich folks love more than going downtown and slummin’ it with the poor! :)

fitz when he was looking for sophie: there’s nothing rich folks love more than going downtown and slummin’ it with the poor! :)

Rivals

@sophitz-week day 1: academic rivals

Notes: this was a lot of fun to write and I enjoyed being able to play around with Sophie and Fitz’s dynamic! it ended up a lot longer than I expected but I’m pretty proud of it! hope you enjoy!

Relationships: platonic sophitz, pre-romantic sophitz, platonic sophex, platonic marella x sophie, platonic marella x dex, platonic, keefe x fitz

Word Count: 1986

Warnings: none!

_________________

"I just don't understand the issue," Dex said for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning.

Sophie scoffed. "The issue Dex, is that I am being forced to work with my sworn enemy."

"Sworn enemy's a little much," Dex replied, holding onto his backpack as he gave Sophie an amused look.

"Sworn enemy is perfect!" Marella exclaimed from Sophie's left. "It'll make it even more romantic when they finally confess their undying love to each other!"

Sophie deadpanned. "I can't tell if you're teasing me or just really really blind. There is no way I will ever fall in love with Fitz Vacker."

Dex laughed as Marella looked unconvinced.

"Please Soph, you both have been obsessed with each other since you first came to school in the sixth grade and beat him in the middle school spelling bee. You're like a modern day Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe."

Sophie gasped and held a hand to her heart. "Don't you dare insult my favorite fictional man by relating him to Fitz Vacker of all people."

"Favorite fictional man?" Dex questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to Fred Weasley?"

Sophie glared at him. "So what if I simp for multiple fictional men? Who are you to judge Mr. 'I would lay down my life for Natasha Romanoff'?”

Dex chuckled. "Touché."

Marella grinned. "Ignoring the part where I said you two were obsessed with each other, huh?"

Sophie sniffed. "I'm not ignoring it. I'm choosing not to reply to something so ridiculous."

"Mhm."

"You're also ignoring the fact you had a crush on him when you first met," Dex pointed out.

"Dexter, my man! Always backing me up!" Marella exclaimed, and the two high-fived.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "A lack in judgment on sixth grade Sophie's part, I promise it will never happen again."

Dex snorted. "Whatever you say."

Marella gasped excitedly.

"Sophie's supposed sworn enemy 11 o'clock," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Sophie's head shot towards the boy in question as Dex just shook his head.

Fitz Vacker was tall and had broad shoulders from all the training he needed for football. His hair was dark and never seemed to fall out of place. He was kind and tutored the younger kids when he had free time. He volunteered with student council (his sister was the president) and as popular as he was, he didn't act like it.

Sophie hated his guts.

He gave her a small smile.

Subdued, she thought. She knew how bright his smile really was and she could only think he was holding himself back, which was odd. Fitz Vacker was anything but unconfident.

She stared back as he passed and out of the corner of her eye she saw his blond friend slap him on the back while chuckling.

"I love a good rivals to lovers romance," Marella gushed as they made their way into biology.

_________________

"You've got it bad, man," Keefe laughed.

"Shut up," Fitz grumbled, shrugging off Keefe's hand.

Keefe held his hands up. "Sorry, but it's way too obvious to not make fun of."

"Thanks Keefe, so grateful for your support," Fitz said, still thinking about the minor interaction he'd had with the girl he'd been crushing on for years.

"I am supportive bro," Keefe defended, "But there's only so much support I can give before the overwhelming need to make fun of you becomes too much."

"I can't stand you," Fitz said turning into his class.

"Aww how sweet," Keefe called as he walked down the hall to who knows where. "Too bad Sophie Foster thinks the same thing about you."

__________________

"Seriously, Marella, drop it. The only reason I'm going over to his house is to finish this stupid project," Sophie complained, pulling her keys out of the ignition.

She stared at the mansion the Vacker's called home, trying to work up to courage to walk to the front door.

"Ok, ok fine, just answer one thing," Marella said through Sophie's phone.

Sophie rubbed her temples as she got out of her car, already knowing this wasn't going to end well.

She grabbed the tray of mallowmelt out of the backseat, holding her cellphone between her shoulder and her head. "What is it?"

"Admit you think Fitz Vacker is the hottest man to walk the planet."

Sophie choked.

"Please, Sophie, be honest with me. I know you can't stand him for whatever reason, but you aren't blind and he's like, the blueprint of your type."

Sophie huffed as she walked up the grand walkway. She thought about his sparkling eyes and how they had always radiated comfort and safety to her, even when they were in middle school.

"I guess he's alright," she grumbled.

“AHA!” Marella cheered, and Sophie could practically hear her throwing a fist in the air. "I'll take it!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I've gotta go, talk to you later."

"Ok! Have fun, love ya," Marella said and made a kissy sound before hanging up the phone.

Sophie shook her head exasperatedly, stuffing her phone in her back pocket as she reached the double front doors.

She raised her hand to knock but before she could, the door opened, revealing a slightly flustered Fitz Vacker.

"H-hey," he stuttered.

"Hi," Sophie said plainly before holding out the tray of sweets. "This is mallowmelt from Edaline."

"Oh thanks!" he said excitedly. "My dad will really appreciate this!"

He laughed slightly and Sophie cracked a smile. Fitz's father had been the one to find Sophie her adoptive family when her own family had passed away in a car accident. Her adoptive father and Alden worked together so he'd asked him and his wife to take Sophie in, and they adopted her a few months later.

The two stood awkwardly in the doorway before Fitz started suddenly.

"I- y-you can come in," he said, moving out of the way to let her in.

"Thanks," Sophie replied, clutching her school bag as she walked into the gorgeous house.

Fitz mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'stupid', but Sophie didn't comment on it.

"My room's upstairs and to the left, I'm just gonna go put this in the fridge," Fitz said, gesturing to the tray.

Sophie nodded. "No problem."

She walked up the marble staircase, marveling and somewhat grumbling at the grandeur of Fitz's house.

To say Fitz's room wasn't what she was expecting and was also exactly what she was expecting was an understatement.

He obviously liked the color blue, as his bedspread was navy blue and so was the rug. The walls were white and most of his things were made out of dark wood. Tall bookshelves lined the walls and Sophie found herself jealous of his collection. A glass case on the wall held all his sports trophies, but mostly held photos of his teammates or friends winning something, and Sophie almost laughed at the way they were proudly displayed. It was honestly kinda cute how adorably proud of his friends he was that he hung up photos of their accomplishments in his room. He was like a mother hen.

"Ok so we have to pick a book we're required to read by the school district and analyze whether we think it's an educational read and why we think the book is required. I know you haven't read all of the same books as me cause we're in different grades so I thought we could make a list of all the ones we have read and go from there," Fitz said as he walked into his room.

Sophie was a little taken aback by the sudden proposition but nodded anyway. "Sounds good."

She was a little mad he was right about the books though. Sophie was only a sophomore while Fitz was a senior, so he'd been through more english classes than she had.

She went to pull out a sheet of paper when something stopped her.

"I-is that your second place ribbon from the spelling bee?" she asked and he looked up from his own paper.

Fitz scratched the back of his neck, following Sophie's line of sight in the direction of a blue ribbon hanging from his glass case with the worded '2ND PLACE' written distinctly on the front.

"Uh—," he chuckled nervously, "Y-yeah it is."

Sophie turned to him, confusion etched across her face. "Why would you keep that?"

She for one, would never keep anything that reminded her she had lost to someone.

"I dunno." He shrugged. "Guess it just reminds me of something."

"Of what?"

Briefly, it occurred to her this was the longest conversation she'd had with him since he beat her in the relay race at the end of sixth grade.

"Um, I- uh, I'm not sure."

Sophie looked unconvinced and Fitz blushed.

Sophie gave him another strange look before turning back to her bag.

"Why do we not talk anymore?" Fitz blurted out, and immediately had to resist the urge to slap his hand over his mouth and launch himself out the nearest window.

"What?" Sophie asked slowly, turning to fully face him.

Good going, Fitz, he thought. Now she's going to hate you even more and will probably end up starting a petition to send you to Timbuktu so that she never has to see you again.

"Um," he said smartly.

She raised an eyebrow and he sighed.

"Why don't we talk anymore? We used to be friends when we were in middle school."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know. We're rivals, and last I checked you aren't supposed to fraternize with your competition."

"Huh?" Fitz said, his turn to be confused. "Since when were we rivals?"

Sophie me jaw dropped. "Seriously? We've always been rivals."

"Uh no we haven't?"

Sophie looked incredulous and Fitz had the feeling he said something wrong. "Yes we have! You were the one who started it in the first place!"

"What?" Fitz exclaimed. "When did I do that?"

"In middle school? When you were always competing with me?"

"I- I wasn't doing that cause I thought of you as a rival! I was doing that cause I thought of you as my friend!"

Sophie's confusion and slight anger calmed down for a second. "What?"

"Yeah! I never had someone who could match me at everything I did and then some, so I thought it was fun to push myself to beat you. You made everything a challenge cause you were— are! —so good at everything!"

"Trust me, if I knew you'd stop talking to me for four years just cause I beat you in a lame race, I would have lost every single competition we ever competed in against each other."

They stared at each other as a blush formed on both of their faces. Sophie being confused on everything Fitz Vacker and feeling bashful over all he'd just said, and Fitz frustrated at himself for letting Sophie get that ridiculous idea that he didn't want to be friends with her in her head and feeling bashful over all he'd just said.

Sophie took in a quiet breath. "I- I just thought you wanted to beat me because you didn't like me."

"No!" Fitz exclaimed frantically, waving his hands, as if trying to ward her words away from the air around him. "Not at all!"

Sophie laughed slightly, and Fitz reveled in the sound of it.

"I want us to be," he stumbled, "…f-friends. I've always wanted that."

Sophie looked into his eyes, saw the pure sincerity there, and felt herself melt a little bit.

"I think I'd like that too," she said quietly. "Friends."

Fitz smiled brightly and it felt like the morning sun after a long night.

She paused.

"I'm still gonna try to beat you in everything we do though."

Fitz laughed loudly and it echoed around the room.

Sophie never thought she'd be glad he didn't subdue his smile.

Rivals

@sophitz-week day 1: academic rivals

Notes: this was a lot of fun to write and I enjoyed being able to play around with Sophie and Fitz’s dynamic! it ended up a lot longer than I expected but I’m pretty proud of it! hope you enjoy!

Relationships: platonic sophitz, pre-romantic sophitz, platonic sophex, platonic marella x sophie, platonic marella x dex, platonic, keefe x fitz

Word Count: 1986

Warnings: none!

_________________

"I just don't understand the issue," Dex said for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning.

Sophie scoffed. "The issue Dex, is that I am being forced to work with my sworn enemy."

"Sworn enemy's a little much," Dex replied, holding onto his backpack as he gave Sophie an amused look.

"Sworn enemy is perfect!" Marella exclaimed from Sophie's left. "It'll make it even more romantic when they finally confess their undying love to each other!"

Sophie deadpanned. "I can't tell if you're teasing me or just really really blind. There is no way I will ever fall in love with Fitz Vacker."

Dex laughed as Marella looked unconvinced.

"Please Soph, you both have been obsessed with each other since you first came to school in the sixth grade and beat him in the middle school spelling bee. You're like a modern day Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe."

Sophie gasped and held a hand to her heart. "Don't you dare insult my favorite fictional man by relating him to Fitz Vacker of all people."

"Favorite fictional man?" Dex questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to Fred Weasley?"

Sophie glared at him. "So what if I simp for multiple fictional men? Who are you to judge Mr. 'I would lay down my life for Natasha Romanoff'?”

Dex chuckled. "Touché."

Marella grinned. "Ignoring the part where I said you two were obsessed with each other, huh?"

Sophie sniffed. "I'm not ignoring it. I'm choosing not to reply to something so ridiculous."

"Mhm."

"You're also ignoring the fact you had a crush on him when you first met," Dex pointed out.

"Dexter, my man! Always backing me up!" Marella exclaimed, and the two high-fived.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "A lack in judgment on sixth grade Sophie's part, I promise it will never happen again."

Dex snorted. "Whatever you say."

Marella gasped excitedly.

"Sophie's supposed sworn enemy 11 o'clock," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Sophie's head shot towards the boy in question as Dex just shook his head.

Fitz Vacker was tall and had broad shoulders from all the training he needed for football. His hair was dark and never seemed to fall out of place. He was kind and tutored the younger kids when he had free time. He volunteered with student council (his sister was the president) and as popular as he was, he didn't act like it.

Sophie hated his guts.

He gave her a small smile.

Subdued, she thought. She knew how bright his smile really was and she could only think he was holding himself back, which was odd. Fitz Vacker was anything but unconfident.

She stared back as he passed and out of the corner of her eye she saw his blond friend slap him on the back while chuckling.

"I love a good rivals to lovers romance," Marella gushed as they made their way into biology.

_________________

"You've got it bad, man," Keefe laughed.

"Shut up," Fitz grumbled, shrugging off Keefe's hand.

Keefe held his hands up. "Sorry, but it's way too obvious to not make fun of."

"Thanks Keefe, so grateful for your support," Fitz said, still thinking about the minor interaction he'd had with the girl he'd been crushing on for years.

"I am supportive bro," Keefe defended, "But there's only so much support I can give before the overwhelming need to make fun of you becomes too much."

"I can't stand you," Fitz said turning into his class.

"Aww how sweet," Keefe called as he walked down the hall to who knows where. "Too bad Sophie Foster thinks the same thing about you."

__________________

"Seriously, Marella, drop it. The only reason I'm going over to his house is to finish this stupid project," Sophie complained, pulling her keys out of the ignition.

She stared at the mansion the Vacker's called home, trying to work up to courage to walk to the front door.

"Ok, ok fine, just answer one thing," Marella said through Sophie's phone.

Sophie rubbed her temples as she got out of her car, already knowing this wasn't going to end well.

She grabbed the tray of mallowmelt out of the backseat, holding her cellphone between her shoulder and her head. "What is it?"

"Admit you think Fitz Vacker is the hottest man to walk the planet."

Sophie choked.

"Please, Sophie, be honest with me. I know you can't stand him for whatever reason, but you aren't blind and he's like, the blueprint of your type."

Sophie huffed as she walked up the grand walkway. She thought about his sparkling eyes and how they had always radiated comfort and safety to her, even when they were in middle school.

"I guess he's alright," she grumbled.

“AHA!” Marella cheered, and Sophie could practically hear her throwing a fist in the air. "I'll take it!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I've gotta go, talk to you later."

"Ok! Have fun, love ya," Marella said and made a kissy sound before hanging up the phone.

Sophie shook her head exasperatedly, stuffing her phone in her back pocket as she reached the double front doors.

She raised her hand to knock but before she could, the door opened, revealing a slightly flustered Fitz Vacker.

"H-hey," he stuttered.

"Hi," Sophie said plainly before holding out the tray of sweets. "This is mallowmelt from Edaline."

"Oh thanks!" he said excitedly. "My dad will really appreciate this!"

He laughed slightly and Sophie cracked a smile. Fitz's father had been the one to find Sophie her adoptive family when her own family had passed away in a car accident. Her adoptive father and Alden worked together so he'd asked him and his wife to take Sophie in, and they adopted her a few months later.

The two stood awkwardly in the doorway before Fitz started suddenly.

"I- y-you can come in," he said, moving out of the way to let her in.

"Thanks," Sophie replied, clutching her school bag as she walked into the gorgeous house.

Fitz mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'stupid', but Sophie didn't comment on it.

"My room's upstairs and to the left, I'm just gonna go put this in the fridge," Fitz said, gesturing to the tray.

Sophie nodded. "No problem."

She walked up the marble staircase, marveling and somewhat grumbling at the grandeur of Fitz's house.

To say Fitz's room wasn't what she was expecting and was also exactly what she was expecting was an understatement.

He obviously liked the color blue, as his bedspread was navy blue and so was the rug. The walls were white and most of his things were made out of dark wood. Tall bookshelves lined the walls and Sophie found herself jealous of his collection. A glass case on the wall held all his sports trophies, but mostly held photos of his teammates or friends winning something, and Sophie almost laughed at the way they were proudly displayed. It was honestly kinda cute how adorably proud of his friends he was that he hung up photos of their accomplishments in his room. He was like a mother hen.

"Ok so we have to pick a book we're required to read by the school district and analyze whether we think it's an educational read and why we think the book is required. I know you haven't read all of the same books as me cause we're in different grades so I thought we could make a list of all the ones we have read and go from there," Fitz said as he walked into his room.

Sophie was a little taken aback by the sudden proposition but nodded anyway. "Sounds good."

She was a little mad he was right about the books though. Sophie was only a sophomore while Fitz was a senior, so he'd been through more english classes than she had.

She went to pull out a sheet of paper when something stopped her.

"I-is that your second place ribbon from the spelling bee?" she asked and he looked up from his own paper.

Fitz scratched the back of his neck, following Sophie's line of sight in the direction of a blue ribbon hanging from his glass case with the worded '2ND PLACE' written distinctly on the front.

"Uh—," he chuckled nervously, "Y-yeah it is."

Sophie turned to him, confusion etched across her face. "Why would you keep that?"

She for one, would never keep anything that reminded her she had lost to someone.

"I dunno." He shrugged. "Guess it just reminds me of something."

"Of what?"

Briefly, it occurred to her this was the longest conversation she'd had with him since he beat her in the relay race at the end of sixth grade.

"Um, I- uh, I'm not sure."

Sophie looked unconvinced and Fitz blushed.

Sophie gave him another strange look before turning back to her bag.

"Why do we not talk anymore?" Fitz blurted out, and immediately had to resist the urge to slap his hand over his mouth and launch himself out the nearest window.

"What?" Sophie asked slowly, turning to fully face him.

Good going, Fitz, he thought. Now she's going to hate you even more and will probably end up starting a petition to send you to Timbuktu so that she never has to see you again.

"Um," he said smartly.

She raised an eyebrow and he sighed.

"Why don't we talk anymore? We used to be friends when we were in middle school."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know. We're rivals, and last I checked you aren't supposed to fraternize with your competition."

"Huh?" Fitz said, his turn to be confused. "Since when were we rivals?"

Sophie me jaw dropped. "Seriously? We've always been rivals."

"Uh no we haven't?"

Sophie looked incredulous and Fitz had the feeling he said something wrong. "Yes we have! You were the one who started it in the first place!"

"What?" Fitz exclaimed. "When did I do that?"

"In middle school? When you were always competing with me?"

"I- I wasn't doing that cause I thought of you as a rival! I was doing that cause I thought of you as my friend!"

Sophie's confusion and slight anger calmed down for a second. "What?"

"Yeah! I never had someone who could match me at everything I did and then some, so I thought it was fun to push myself to beat you. You made everything a challenge cause you were— are! —so good at everything!"

"Trust me, if I knew you'd stop talking to me for four years just cause I beat you in a lame race, I would have lost every single competition we ever competed in against each other."

They stared at each other as a blush formed on both of their faces. Sophie being confused on everything Fitz Vacker and feeling bashful over all he'd just said, and Fitz frustrated at himself for letting Sophie get that ridiculous idea that he didn't want to be friends with her in her head and feeling bashful over all he'd just said.

Sophie took in a quiet breath. "I- I just thought you wanted to beat me because you didn't like me."

"No!" Fitz exclaimed frantically, waving his hands, as if trying to ward her words away from the air around him. "Not at all!"

Sophie laughed slightly, and Fitz reveled in the sound of it.

"I want us to be," he stumbled, "…f-friends. I've always wanted that."

Sophie looked into his eyes, saw the pure sincerity there, and felt herself melt a little bit.

"I think I'd like that too," she said quietly. "Friends."

Fitz smiled brightly and it felt like the morning sun after a long night.

She paused.

"I'm still gonna try to beat you in everything we do though."

Fitz laughed loudly and it echoed around the room.

Sophie never thought she'd be glad he didn't subdue his smile.

Rivals

@sophitz-week day 1: academic rivals

Notes: this was a lot of fun to write and I enjoyed being able to play around with Sophie and Fitz’s dynamic! it ended up a lot longer than I expected but I’m pretty proud of it! hope you enjoy!

Relationships: platonic sophitz, pre-romantic sophitz, platonic sophex, platonic marella x sophie, platonic marella x dex, platonic, keefe x fitz

Word Count: 1986

Warnings: none!

_________________

"I just don't understand the issue," Dex said for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning.

Sophie scoffed. "The issue Dex, is that I am being forced to work with my sworn enemy."

"Sworn enemy's a little much," Dex replied, holding onto his backpack as he gave Sophie an amused look.

"Sworn enemy is perfect!" Marella exclaimed from Sophie's left. "It'll make it even more romantic when they finally confess their undying love to each other!"

Sophie deadpanned. "I can't tell if you're teasing me or just really really blind. There is no way I will ever fall in love with Fitz Vacker."

Dex laughed as Marella looked unconvinced.

"Please Soph, you both have been obsessed with each other since you first came to school in the sixth grade and beat him in the middle school spelling bee. You're like a modern day Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe."

Sophie gasped and held a hand to her heart. "Don't you dare insult my favorite fictional man by relating him to Fitz Vacker of all people."

"Favorite fictional man?" Dex questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to Fred Weasley?"

Sophie glared at him. "So what if I simp for multiple fictional men? Who are you to judge Mr. 'I would lay down my life for Natasha Romanoff'?”

Dex chuckled. "Touché."

Marella grinned. "Ignoring the part where I said you two were obsessed with each other, huh?"

Sophie sniffed. "I'm not ignoring it. I'm choosing not to reply to something so ridiculous."

"Mhm."

"You're also ignoring the fact you had a crush on him when you first met," Dex pointed out.

"Dexter, my man! Always backing me up!" Marella exclaimed, and the two high-fived.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "A lack in judgment on sixth grade Sophie's part, I promise it will never happen again."

Dex snorted. "Whatever you say."

Marella gasped excitedly.

"Sophie's supposed sworn enemy 11 o'clock," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Sophie's head shot towards the boy in question as Dex just shook his head.

Fitz Vacker was tall and had broad shoulders from all the training he needed for football. His hair was dark and never seemed to fall out of place. He was kind and tutored the younger kids when he had free time. He volunteered with student council (his sister was the president) and as popular as he was, he didn't act like it.

Sophie hated his guts.

He gave her a small smile.

Subdued, she thought. She knew how bright his smile really was and she could only think he was holding himself back, which was odd. Fitz Vacker was anything but unconfident.

She stared back as he passed and out of the corner of her eye she saw his blond friend slap him on the back while chuckling.

"I love a good rivals to lovers romance," Marella gushed as they made their way into biology.

_________________

"You've got it bad, man," Keefe laughed.

"Shut up," Fitz grumbled, shrugging off Keefe's hand.

Keefe held his hands up. "Sorry, but it's way too obvious to not make fun of."

"Thanks Keefe, so grateful for your support," Fitz said, still thinking about the minor interaction he'd had with the girl he'd been crushing on for years.

"I am supportive bro," Keefe defended, "But there's only so much support I can give before the overwhelming need to make fun of you becomes too much."

"I can't stand you," Fitz said turning into his class.

"Aww how sweet," Keefe called as he walked down the hall to who knows where. "Too bad Sophie Foster thinks the same thing about you."

__________________

"Seriously, Marella, drop it. The only reason I'm going over to his house is to finish this stupid project," Sophie complained, pulling her keys out of the ignition.

She stared at the mansion the Vacker's called home, trying to work up to courage to walk to the front door.

"Ok, ok fine, just answer one thing," Marella said through Sophie's phone.

Sophie rubbed her temples as she got out of her car, already knowing this wasn't going to end well.

She grabbed the tray of mallowmelt out of the backseat, holding her cellphone between her shoulder and her head. "What is it?"

"Admit you think Fitz Vacker is the hottest man to walk the planet."

Sophie choked.

"Please, Sophie, be honest with me. I know you can't stand him for whatever reason, but you aren't blind and he's like, the blueprint of your type."

Sophie huffed as she walked up the grand walkway. She thought about his sparkling eyes and how they had always radiated comfort and safety to her, even when they were in middle school.

"I guess he's alright," she grumbled.

“AHA!” Marella cheered, and Sophie could practically hear her throwing a fist in the air. "I'll take it!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I've gotta go, talk to you later."

"Ok! Have fun, love ya," Marella said and made a kissy sound before hanging up the phone.

Sophie shook her head exasperatedly, stuffing her phone in her back pocket as she reached the double front doors.

She raised her hand to knock but before she could, the door opened, revealing a slightly flustered Fitz Vacker.

"H-hey," he stuttered.

"Hi," Sophie said plainly before holding out the tray of sweets. "This is mallowmelt from Edaline."

"Oh thanks!" he said excitedly. "My dad will really appreciate this!"

He laughed slightly and Sophie cracked a smile. Fitz's father had been the one to find Sophie her adoptive family when her own family had passed away in a car accident. Her adoptive father and Alden worked together so he'd asked him and his wife to take Sophie in, and they adopted her a few months later.

The two stood awkwardly in the doorway before Fitz started suddenly.

"I- y-you can come in," he said, moving out of the way to let her in.

"Thanks," Sophie replied, clutching her school bag as she walked into the gorgeous house.

Fitz mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'stupid', but Sophie didn't comment on it.

"My room's upstairs and to the left, I'm just gonna go put this in the fridge," Fitz said, gesturing to the tray.

Sophie nodded. "No problem."

She walked up the marble staircase, marveling and somewhat grumbling at the grandeur of Fitz's house.

To say Fitz's room wasn't what she was expecting and was also exactly what she was expecting was an understatement.

He obviously liked the color blue, as his bedspread was navy blue and so was the rug. The walls were white and most of his things were made out of dark wood. Tall bookshelves lined the walls and Sophie found herself jealous of his collection. A glass case on the wall held all his sports trophies, but mostly held photos of his teammates or friends winning something, and Sophie almost laughed at the way they were proudly displayed. It was honestly kinda cute how adorably proud of his friends he was that he hung up photos of their accomplishments in his room. He was like a mother hen.

"Ok so we have to pick a book we're required to read by the school district and analyze whether we think it's an educational read and why we think the book is required. I know you haven't read all of the same books as me cause we're in different grades so I thought we could make a list of all the ones we have read and go from there," Fitz said as he walked into his room.

Sophie was a little taken aback by the sudden proposition but nodded anyway. "Sounds good."

She was a little mad he was right about the books though. Sophie was only a sophomore while Fitz was a senior, so he'd been through more english classes than she had.

She went to pull out a sheet of paper when something stopped her.

"I-is that your second place ribbon from the spelling bee?" she asked and he looked up from his own paper.

Fitz scratched the back of his neck, following Sophie's line of sight in the direction of a blue ribbon hanging from his glass case with the worded '2ND PLACE' written distinctly on the front.

"Uh—," he chuckled nervously, "Y-yeah it is."

Sophie turned to him, confusion etched across her face. "Why would you keep that?"

She for one, would never keep anything that reminded her she had lost to someone.

"I dunno." He shrugged. "Guess it just reminds me of something."

"Of what?"

Briefly, it occurred to her this was the longest conversation she'd had with him since he beat her in the relay race at the end of sixth grade.

"Um, I- uh, I'm not sure."

Sophie looked unconvinced and Fitz blushed.

Sophie gave him another strange look before turning back to her bag.

"Why do we not talk anymore?" Fitz blurted out, and immediately had to resist the urge to slap his hand over his mouth and launch himself out the nearest window.

"What?" Sophie asked slowly, turning to fully face him.

Good going, Fitz, he thought. Now she's going to hate you even more and will probably end up starting a petition to send you to Timbuktu so that she never has to see you again.

"Um," he said smartly.

She raised an eyebrow and he sighed.

"Why don't we talk anymore? We used to be friends when we were in middle school."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know. We're rivals, and last I checked you aren't supposed to fraternize with your competition."

"Huh?" Fitz said, his turn to be confused. "Since when were we rivals?"

Sophie me jaw dropped. "Seriously? We've always been rivals."

"Uh no we haven't?"

Sophie looked incredulous and Fitz had the feeling he said something wrong. "Yes we have! You were the one who started it in the first place!"

"What?" Fitz exclaimed. "When did I do that?"

"In middle school? When you were always competing with me?"

"I- I wasn't doing that cause I thought of you as a rival! I was doing that cause I thought of you as my friend!"

Sophie's confusion and slight anger calmed down for a second. "What?"

"Yeah! I never had someone who could match me at everything I did and then some, so I thought it was fun to push myself to beat you. You made everything a challenge cause you were— are! —so good at everything!"

"Trust me, if I knew you'd stop talking to me for four years just cause I beat you in a lame race, I would have lost every single competition we ever competed in against each other."

They stared at each other as a blush formed on both of their faces. Sophie being confused on everything Fitz Vacker and feeling bashful over all he'd just said, and Fitz frustrated at himself for letting Sophie get that ridiculous idea that he didn't want to be friends with her in her head and feeling bashful over all he'd just said.

Sophie took in a quiet breath. "I- I just thought you wanted to beat me because you didn't like me."

"No!" Fitz exclaimed frantically, waving his hands, as if trying to ward her words away from the air around him. "Not at all!"

Sophie laughed slightly, and Fitz reveled in the sound of it.

"I want us to be," he stumbled, "…f-friends. I've always wanted that."

Sophie looked into his eyes, saw the pure sincerity there, and felt herself melt a little bit.

"I think I'd like that too," she said quietly. "Friends."

Fitz smiled brightly and it felt like the morning sun after a long night.

She paused.

"I'm still gonna try to beat you in everything we do though."

Fitz laughed loudly and it echoed around the room.

Sophie never thought she'd be glad he didn't subdue his smile.

Rivals

@sophitz-week day 1: academic rivals

Notes: this was a lot of fun to write and I enjoyed being able to play around with Sophie and Fitz’s dynamic! it ended up a lot longer than I expected but I’m pretty proud of it! hope you enjoy!

Relationships: platonic sophitz, pre-romantic sophitz, platonic sophex, platonic marella x sophie, platonic marella x dex, platonic, keefe x fitz

Word Count: 1986

Warnings: none!

_________________

"I just don't understand the issue," Dex said for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning.

Sophie scoffed. "The issue Dex, is that I am being forced to work with my sworn enemy."

"Sworn enemy's a little much," Dex replied, holding onto his backpack as he gave Sophie an amused look.

"Sworn enemy is perfect!" Marella exclaimed from Sophie's left. "It'll make it even more romantic when they finally confess their undying love to each other!"

Sophie deadpanned. "I can't tell if you're teasing me or just really really blind. There is no way I will ever fall in love with Fitz Vacker."

Dex laughed as Marella looked unconvinced.

"Please Soph, you both have been obsessed with each other since you first came to school in the sixth grade and beat him in the middle school spelling bee. You're like a modern day Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe."

Sophie gasped and held a hand to her heart. "Don't you dare insult my favorite fictional man by relating him to Fitz Vacker of all people."

"Favorite fictional man?" Dex questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to Fred Weasley?"

Sophie glared at him. "So what if I simp for multiple fictional men? Who are you to judge Mr. 'I would lay down my life for Natasha Romanoff'?”

Dex chuckled. "Touché."

Marella grinned. "Ignoring the part where I said you two were obsessed with each other, huh?"

Sophie sniffed. "I'm not ignoring it. I'm choosing not to reply to something so ridiculous."

"Mhm."

"You're also ignoring the fact you had a crush on him when you first met," Dex pointed out.

"Dexter, my man! Always backing me up!" Marella exclaimed, and the two high-fived.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "A lack in judgment on sixth grade Sophie's part, I promise it will never happen again."

Dex snorted. "Whatever you say."

Marella gasped excitedly.

"Sophie's supposed sworn enemy 11 o'clock," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Sophie's head shot towards the boy in question as Dex just shook his head.

Fitz Vacker was tall and had broad shoulders from all the training he needed for football. His hair was dark and never seemed to fall out of place. He was kind and tutored the younger kids when he had free time. He volunteered with student council (his sister was the president) and as popular as he was, he didn't act like it.

Sophie hated his guts.

He gave her a small smile.

Subdued, she thought. She knew how bright his smile really was and she could only think he was holding himself back, which was odd. Fitz Vacker was anything but unconfident.

She stared back as he passed and out of the corner of her eye she saw his blond friend slap him on the back while chuckling.

"I love a good rivals to lovers romance," Marella gushed as they made their way into biology.

_________________

"You've got it bad, man," Keefe laughed.

"Shut up," Fitz grumbled, shrugging off Keefe's hand.

Keefe held his hands up. "Sorry, but it's way too obvious to not make fun of."

"Thanks Keefe, so grateful for your support," Fitz said, still thinking about the minor interaction he'd had with the girl he'd been crushing on for years.

"I am supportive bro," Keefe defended, "But there's only so much support I can give before the overwhelming need to make fun of you becomes too much."

"I can't stand you," Fitz said turning into his class.

"Aww how sweet," Keefe called as he walked down the hall to who knows where. "Too bad Sophie Foster thinks the same thing about you."

__________________

"Seriously, Marella, drop it. The only reason I'm going over to his house is to finish this stupid project," Sophie complained, pulling her keys out of the ignition.

She stared at the mansion the Vacker's called home, trying to work up to courage to walk to the front door.

"Ok, ok fine, just answer one thing," Marella said through Sophie's phone.

Sophie rubbed her temples as she got out of her car, already knowing this wasn't going to end well.

She grabbed the tray of mallowmelt out of the backseat, holding her cellphone between her shoulder and her head. "What is it?"

"Admit you think Fitz Vacker is the hottest man to walk the planet."

Sophie choked.

"Please, Sophie, be honest with me. I know you can't stand him for whatever reason, but you aren't blind and he's like, the blueprint of your type."

Sophie huffed as she walked up the grand walkway. She thought about his sparkling eyes and how they had always radiated comfort and safety to her, even when they were in middle school.

"I guess he's alright," she grumbled.

“AHA!” Marella cheered, and Sophie could practically hear her throwing a fist in the air. "I'll take it!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I've gotta go, talk to you later."

"Ok! Have fun, love ya," Marella said and made a kissy sound before hanging up the phone.

Sophie shook her head exasperatedly, stuffing her phone in her back pocket as she reached the double front doors.

She raised her hand to knock but before she could, the door opened, revealing a slightly flustered Fitz Vacker.

"H-hey," he stuttered.

"Hi," Sophie said plainly before holding out the tray of sweets. "This is mallowmelt from Edaline."

"Oh thanks!" he said excitedly. "My dad will really appreciate this!"

He laughed slightly and Sophie cracked a smile. Fitz's father had been the one to find Sophie her adoptive family when her own family had passed away in a car accident. Her adoptive father and Alden worked together so he'd asked him and his wife to take Sophie in, and they adopted her a few months later.

The two stood awkwardly in the doorway before Fitz started suddenly.

"I- y-you can come in," he said, moving out of the way to let her in.

"Thanks," Sophie replied, clutching her school bag as she walked into the gorgeous house.

Fitz mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'stupid', but Sophie didn't comment on it.

"My room's upstairs and to the left, I'm just gonna go put this in the fridge," Fitz said, gesturing to the tray.

Sophie nodded. "No problem."

She walked up the marble staircase, marveling and somewhat grumbling at the grandeur of Fitz's house.

To say Fitz's room wasn't what she was expecting and was also exactly what she was expecting was an understatement.

He obviously liked the color blue, as his bedspread was navy blue and so was the rug. The walls were white and most of his things were made out of dark wood. Tall bookshelves lined the walls and Sophie found herself jealous of his collection. A glass case on the wall held all his sports trophies, but mostly held photos of his teammates or friends winning something, and Sophie almost laughed at the way they were proudly displayed. It was honestly kinda cute how adorably proud of his friends he was that he hung up photos of their accomplishments in his room. He was like a mother hen.

"Ok so we have to pick a book we're required to read by the school district and analyze whether we think it's an educational read and why we think the book is required. I know you haven't read all of the same books as me cause we're in different grades so I thought we could make a list of all the ones we have read and go from there," Fitz said as he walked into his room.

Sophie was a little taken aback by the sudden proposition but nodded anyway. "Sounds good."

She was a little mad he was right about the books though. Sophie was only a sophomore while Fitz was a senior, so he'd been through more english classes than she had.

She went to pull out a sheet of paper when something stopped her.

"I-is that your second place ribbon from the spelling bee?" she asked and he looked up from his own paper.

Fitz scratched the back of his neck, following Sophie's line of sight in the direction of a blue ribbon hanging from his glass case with the worded '2ND PLACE' written distinctly on the front.

"Uh—," he chuckled nervously, "Y-yeah it is."

Sophie turned to him, confusion etched across her face. "Why would you keep that?"

She for one, would never keep anything that reminded her she had lost to someone.

"I dunno." He shrugged. "Guess it just reminds me of something."

"Of what?"

Briefly, it occurred to her this was the longest conversation she'd had with him since he beat her in the relay race at the end of sixth grade.

"Um, I- uh, I'm not sure."

Sophie looked unconvinced and Fitz blushed.

Sophie gave him another strange look before turning back to her bag.

"Why do we not talk anymore?" Fitz blurted out, and immediately had to resist the urge to slap his hand over his mouth and launch himself out the nearest window.

"What?" Sophie asked slowly, turning to fully face him.

Good going, Fitz, he thought. Now she's going to hate you even more and will probably end up starting a petition to send you to Timbuktu so that she never has to see you again.

"Um," he said smartly.

She raised an eyebrow and he sighed.

"Why don't we talk anymore? We used to be friends when we were in middle school."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know. We're rivals, and last I checked you aren't supposed to fraternize with your competition."

"Huh?" Fitz said, his turn to be confused. "Since when were we rivals?"

Sophie me jaw dropped. "Seriously? We've always been rivals."

"Uh no we haven't?"

Sophie looked incredulous and Fitz had the feeling he said something wrong. "Yes we have! You were the one who started it in the first place!"

"What?" Fitz exclaimed. "When did I do that?"

"In middle school? When you were always competing with me?"

"I- I wasn't doing that cause I thought of you as a rival! I was doing that cause I thought of you as my friend!"

Sophie's confusion and slight anger calmed down for a second. "What?"

"Yeah! I never had someone who could match me at everything I did and then some, so I thought it was fun to push myself to beat you. You made everything a challenge cause you were— are! —so good at everything!"

"Trust me, if I knew you'd stop talking to me for four years just cause I beat you in a lame race, I would have lost every single competition we ever competed in against each other."

They stared at each other as a blush formed on both of their faces. Sophie being confused on everything Fitz Vacker and feeling bashful over all he'd just said, and Fitz frustrated at himself for letting Sophie get that ridiculous idea that he didn't want to be friends with her in her head and feeling bashful over all he'd just said.

Sophie took in a quiet breath. "I- I just thought you wanted to beat me because you didn't like me."

"No!" Fitz exclaimed frantically, waving his hands, as if trying to ward her words away from the air around him. "Not at all!"

Sophie laughed slightly, and Fitz reveled in the sound of it.

"I want us to be," he stumbled, "…f-friends. I've always wanted that."

Sophie looked into his eyes, saw the pure sincerity there, and felt herself melt a little bit.

"I think I'd like that too," she said quietly. "Friends."

Fitz smiled brightly and it felt like the morning sun after a long night.

She paused.

"I'm still gonna try to beat you in everything we do though."

Fitz laughed loudly and it echoed around the room.

Sophie never thought she'd be glad he didn't subdue his smile.