ACROSS THE UNIVERSE - A Petrigrof AU! (Simon Petrikov x Betty Grof)

I'm Glad You Came

It had been two weeks since Simon had been with Betty, and yet here he was, still beating himself over it.

Was this real? Or was it another one of those grueling nightmares?

He'd cheated on Betty — both his Betty, and this world's Betty — and now he was torn between the two. Deep down Simon knew he'd never see his fiancé again, so this was okay... right?

This thing he was doing with this Betty... it was okay.

After he'd gotten intimate with Betty, she started visiting his house every other day. They hadn't been with each other since that one night, though. Betty just enjoyed being in Simon's presence for reasons she didn't fully understand at first, but now, she was starting to. Maybe it was fate? She didn't overthink it, which wasn't the case for Simon.

Today was different, though. Today was the day of their second date, a cute date on the beach they'd been planning out together. Betty was going on her tour soon and wouldn't be able to see Simon for a while, so she appreciated being able to see him on his own before she had to be apart from him.

Simon was stressing about more than one thing today. This time it was something stupid — what would he wear to the beach? A date on the beach... he couldn't possibly wear what he normally wore, but that was kind of all he had. He didn't have money for shopping, either. He barely had any money at all.

So he decided to wear something different. He opened his closet and picked out a black dress shirt and some black slacks to go along with it. He didn't care if he got sand in his pants, he just needed to feel snazzy. Besides this was less layers than he normally wore, so he thought he'd be fine.

Simon looked at his reflection in the mirror on his closet door and his hair was a mess.

But Betty liked it that way.

He blushed as he remembered the woman's comment, but quickly shook it off and combed his hair into a neat ponytail, which he figured she'd like just as much as his messy hair.

"Lookin' fly, Petrikov." He pointed at his reflection in the mirror and grinned while doing finger guns at himself, something he'd die of embarrassment for if anyone were to ever see him doing. "You've still got it."

Simon's car felt silent as ever as he drove alone to the beach. Betty said she'd meet him there, was she afraid of being accidentally kidnapped by him again if she were to ever step foot in his car? He sure hoped not. He turned on the radio to distract from the sound his own thoughts and the sound of his girlfriend's beautiful singing voice filled his ears.

Could he call Betty his girlfriend?

**BETTY POV**

Betty had the beach reserved for her and Simon just for this occasion. She could do that, she was rich enough. Besides she could tel Simon didn't care too much to be part of a crowd, or at least, that's how she perceived him. She also figured he had a back for being just on time, so she made sure to arrive at the beach first so she could see her boyfriend pull up in his janky old car. She loved that janky old car, even though she was slightly afraid of accidentally being kidnapped again if she were to ever step foot inside of it. 

Boyfriend... could she call Simon that? She thought of Simon, him as her boyfriend... and she felt butterflies fluttering inside her stomach. She liked thinking of him as her boyfriend. Maybe today would be the day she'd have the courage to make things official with him, which shouldn't be too hard since she knew he loved her anyway, he'd already told her. But that didn't make things official in her mind, no. She wanted to be sure.

"Hmm," she hummed to herself as she looked down at the folded towel she brought with the intention of laying it out in the sand for her and Simon to sit on. She had also brought a cooler with some snacks and drinks she thought Simon might like and an umbrella to shield them from the sun, all of which were still just sitting in the sand without being set up while she stared out at the ocean, lost in her thoughts about Simon. "Maybe I should set all this up."

So she did, she rolled out the large beach towel—which she thought it might've been better to bring a picnic blanket in retrospect, since she had food and all—and placed the umbrella into the sand where it'd block the sun, at least until the sun moved, as it often does.

She stood back to admire her hard work of laying down a single towel with her hands on her hips, and just then she saw Simon's familiar car pull up to the beach. "Simon!" She waved her arms in the air, soon realizing he couldn't hear her inside of his closed car.

When he stepped out, he was in a black dress shirt and fancy pants. She liked when he wore fancy pants. She knew he was trying to impress her and thought it was cute.

**READER POV**

Simon and Betty sat facing the ocean eating the food Betty had prepared for them both. They were just plain sandwiches and fruit salad, but Simon appreciated that Betty even made him anything at all. It was more than he was expecting, more than he felt like he deserved.

They talked about anything and everything, like they were old friends. Simon felt more comfortable with Betty now, it was unlike their first date when he felt stifled and unsure of how to act around her. He knew now that he could just be himself. But he also knew not to let his guard down too much, lest he mention something to do with magic or his past as the Ice King and make Betty think that he's insane, which he figured he might be, but she didn't need to know that... if he was.

"Simon," Betty stared into Simon's eyes with that smile he remembered from thousands of years ago. Sometimes, he forgot this world's Betty was not the one he once knew. "I've got something... to discuss... no, to tell you."

"What is it, darling?" Simon softly brushed a lock of streaked hair out of the woman's face.

She looked off to the side, struggling to find the words. She wasn't ready to talk about it yet, though she thought she was. "I..." this was all she could manage before closing her mouth, for the moment, she thought maybe she'd just stop talking forever. It would save her a lot of trouble if she did.

"You...?" Simon replied, tilting his head slightly and smiling softly back at Betty.

Betty pulled out a can of whipped cream that Simon didn't know was there until she sprayed it on his face, covering his entire face with it, glasses and all. Even some of it got in his hair. "Aahhh, what!?" He asked, giggling confusedly.

"I want to be your girlfriend!" Betty forced the words out, a bit more louder than she'd intended. She was glad she'd covered Simon's eyes with whipped cream, that way he couldn't see how stupid her face probably looked right now, though she did realize there were several other ways she could've prevented that. Whipped cream on his face was definitely the most fun option, she figured.

"Well, that's great news, because I want you to be my—" Simon licked a bit of whipped cream off his lips, "I want to be your boyfriend, it would be an honor." He scooped a bit off whipped cream off of himself and put it on Betty's nose playfully.

"You mean that?" Betty blushed hard, because this must mean Simon really does love her. "You... should probably get that whipped cream off your face."

"I've got whipped cream on my face? Where?" Simon joked.

Betty looked around. The sun was starting to set, the scattering light painted the sky all pink and orange. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets she'd ever seen. "I've got an idea." She took Simon by the hand and began running toward the ocean and Simon followed, fancy pants (and shoes) and all.

"Wait, my shoes!" Simon called after the woman who was running a bit faster than he thought he could with his old body, but at the same time, he didn't make an effort to stop. He could care less about his shoes getting wet. "Slow down, love! I don't think my legs are supposed to move this fast!"

Once the two were knee deep in the ocean, Betty let go of Simon's hand and held out hers. "Your shirt, give me! You should've taken it off, it looks expensive." Simon obliged and handed her the shirt, which she folded and threw back onto the shore, almost reaching the area where her things were set up, then turned back to Simon. "I used to play baseball."

Then she cupped her hands and scooped up some water which she used to clean up Simon's face. "Hey!" He objected, splashing some water at her too which caused her to giggle and splash him back.

The two stood splashing each other as the sun went down, giggling like the happy couple they were. Things were official now, they were both sure of it.