it's all because of you (and I don't know what to do)

Skye wasn't one to care for attention. It'd probably derived from her past, nothing worth dwelling on. She'd be quite happy to take a seat and just tag along for the ride. No one could say that she wasn't persuasive when she wanted something but that wasn't about attention, she just wanted to do good and pull her weight. Skye did enjoy being depended on occasionally, she wouldn't deny that, but being a part of a team was her main focus. Attention was a reward as far as she was concerned.

That was, until she'd started noticing Jemma Simmons. It's not like she didn't notice her before, it's just, she'd never noticed her this way before. She probably wouldn't be able to put her finger on the exact moment it happened, she just remembered looking at Jemma's legs for longer than necessary, she remembered losing her train of thought when Jemma laughed at something Fitz had done, she remembered that fiery urge to learn forward and find out what Simmons tasted like. But she doesn't remember when, she just wants Jemma to look at her.

It'd completely thrown her off her game. Cracking jokes and being badass, that's what Skye's here for, along with the computery stuff but that's beside the point, she could still do the computery stuff, the same couldn't be said for the funny making and badassery. Skye's a cool kid, no one could deny that, but when Jemma's around it's like all her powers of charm and grace abandon her. Luckily Jemma was completely unaware of her awkward nature, or at least, hadn't commented on it yet, which Skye was immensely grateful for.

It was after a night of watching Brooklyn Nine Nine reruns that she finally realized what she had to do. 'Do you know why little boys pull little girls' pigtails on playgrounds? Because they like the girls and that's the only way they know how to get their attention.' And yes, she's completely aware that taking any kind of advice from a TV show about cops that spend half their day busting up printers and asking convicts for make up tips could be a disaster in itself, but Jake Peralta will end up with Amy Santiago, it's fate, and she's determined to out-Jake herself in order to get Jemma's attention.

So she spends her time coming up with a plan, she admits that half the time is dedicated to coming up with a super awesome plan title. She also admits that half way through the planning she gets distracted because Jemma's off to the side somewhere, she can't see her but she can hear her, she's explaining something, Skye's not sure what, probably something ridiculously smart because she can hear Jemma listing off about twenty words, each with at least five syllables or so. She realizes that she's being completely ridiculous but throws caution to the wind anyway. She will gain the sole attention of Jemma Simmons. Failing is not an option. And so, with a look of sheer determination, she hoists herself up and prepares for battle.

She's glancing at Jemma from the couch, Fitz goes to take a bite of his sandwich but half the filling falls out and he's left looking like someone kicked his puppy. Jemma's head falls back and she lets a laugh cascade from her lips, Skye shrugs away a chill that ripples down her spine and concentrates. She realizes that her plan is technically useless, she can't just go around pulling Simmons' hair and it's not like Jake actually pulled Amy's hair to get her attention.

"I honestly have no idea how you manage to make such a mess, Fitz." Jemma's falling into the seat beside Skye and just like that, Skye's caught off guard, her whole body stiffens and her eyes grow wide, her mouth is trapped in a tight smile. Jemma turns to her still chuckling softly and Skye swears she's melting or, by the way Jemma's eyeing her now, she's just freaking Jemma out.

"Skye? Are you alright?" Jemma looks concerned and Skye doesn't know whether it'd be better to knock herself out or knock Jemma out.

"Your face is weird." Skye honestly has no idea what the hell just happened but before anything else can be said or done, she's practically sprinting from the lounge mouthing 'what?!' to herself and wanting nothing more than to dematerialize. Jemma's face is not weird; her face is perfectly fine, in fact, better than fine. Skye finds her pod and locks the door. She's amazed that she actually found a way to embarrass herself using less than five words, although, Skye has always had that kind of talent.

A few days later they're discussing a case around the holotable, well, Coulson and May are, Fitz is busy slapping Ward's hands away from the images floating in mid air and Jemma's smiling. There isn't really anything to be smiling about and Skye's worried, 'cause she looks a little bit like a serial killer but still manages to look adorable and the fact that Skye is still desperately attracted to serial killer Jemma is just a tad alarming. She soon discovers that they're heading to Canada and Jemma's smiling was down to a deep love for the country, specifically the moose and the snow. Skye's trying terribly hard not to sigh out loud, she really hates snow and her love for large, scary animals isn't very strong, but when she sees Jemma hopping up and down, clapping excitedly and rambling to anyone that'll listen about typical Canadian traditions, Skye finds herself more than prepared to make snow angels with a couple of moose in a forest somewhere.

Apparently the case is pretty simple, Skye doesn't really know, she's not completely paying attention, she's much too busy staring at Jemma who's wandering outside the bus staring up at the snow that's fluttering to the ground. She's pretty sure she sees magic in Jemma's eyes and if anyone ever asked her about it, she'd say she was admiring the view, it wasn't technically a lie. When Simmons beckons her to come out with her, she just shakes her head, not wanting to one; let the tiny icy droplets of death touch her skin and two; embarrass herself in front of the other girl again. Jemma pouts and Skye swears she doesn't notice her feet beginning to move down the ramp at the back of the bus. It's funny how her whole body seems to be addicted to Jemma, not just her mind. Skye's wrapping her arms around herself as the chilly wind whips around her, she turns to Jemma and enjoys the way her cheeks are tinted pink. Jemma smiles at her and suddenly she can't recall breathing steady whenever Jemma's around.

"Don't you think it's pretty?" Jemma asks in a breathy whisper. Skye thinks about what a sappy cliché she is and doesn't respond the way she would've liked to. Instead she smiles at Jemma for a second then turns away, humming in agreement. "I wonder if we'll see any moose."

"Is it not mooses? Or like, meese, or something?" Skye furrows her brow and thinks, probably too hard, about the plural for moose. She thinks about how the English language is so messed up and how there should be a plural for every word to cease the confusion. She catches Jemma giggling quietly next to her and her heart leaps just a little. "I hope you're not laughing at my logic." Skye raises a brow. Jemma holds her hands up and smiles widely.

"I wouldn't dare, Skye." Jemma's humoring her and Skye's wondering how mad Jemma would be if she leaned over and kissed her. "You are arguably the smartest person I know."

"Okay, no need to insult me, Simmons." Skye cocks her head and gives Jemma a look. Jemma laughs and lets her body collide with Skye's side; she links their arms and hugs herself closer. Skye clears her throat and dips her head, she feels awkward but also really warm, it's like she's in the Bahamas which is strange, because she's most definitely not in a tropical climate and she understands that it's likely the warmth that Jemma's radiating. She feels Jemma's hands clamped around her wrist and wouldn't overly mind if they stayed there for a heck of a lot longer than they probably will.

Skye frowns and watches her feet as they shuffle through the snow. She's not really sure how to go about her plan anymore, she's not really sure if she should go about her plan anymore.

"What are you thinking about?" Skye almost slips when Jemma's voice is closer to her ear than she expected. She foolishly turns to Jemma and catches her breath, her heart's beating fast and she prays to whoever the hell's looking out for her that Jemma can't hear it, or feel it. She's dying to know what it is that Jemma's thinking but her brain can't quite function and she's sure Jemma asked her something just moments ago but she can't fathom the words to ask her to repeat herself. She's caught up in Jemma's eyes when she realizes that she's staring and it takes her a few seconds to pull herself together.

"What did you say?"

"I just asked you what you were thinking about." Jemma's smiling softly up at her. Skye bobs her head from side to side.

"The snow's not too bad, I guess…" Jemma doesn't seem to be too satisfied with Skye's answer but accepts it anyway. Skye finds it funny then, how she looses her footing and crashes to the ground. The snow is bad, she does not like the snow and the snow does not like her, or maybe the snow doesn't appreciate Skye using it as a tactical scapegoat. Either way, she's propped up on her elbows and she can feel the snow soaking through her clothes. Jemma's looking down at her, Skye can't tell if she's happy or annoyed that she didn't fall down too. She's laughing and offering Skye her hand. It's then that Skye realizes how much of an idiot she must look and it's then that she pushes herself up off the ground without using Jemma's hand for help. It's then that she feels really crappy for herself and it's then that she apologizes and hurries back to the bus. Jemma's watching after her with a certain look but Skye doesn't see.

They're half way across the Atlantic and the sky's dark, Skye thinks about how screwed up her sleeping pattern is and wonders if she'll ever get it back to the way it was. She's spent the majority of the last hour wishing she could go back in time and wonders what would happen if May turned the plane around and floored the gas or did whatever you do to make an airplane go faster.

She's mindlessly flicking at the stupid hula girl car ornament when she hears footsteps outside her pod. There's a pause and then a gentle knock, before she can say anything, Jemma's pushing her way through the door and closing it behind herself. Skye recoils as far as she can into the corner where the bed meets the wall. She's sat with her knees tucked up under her chin and she feels fresh embarrassment flooding to her cheeks.

"Hello, Skye." Jemma greets as polite as ever, her hands are locked together in front of her and she's wearing a look Skye can't quite describe. Jemma's eyes dart to the bed, as if she's silently asking permission. Skye nods but doesn't say anything, she feels uncomfortable and a little sad, Jemma's been nothing but lovely to her. Skye feels Jemma shift closer to her and watches as the other girl's feet dangle off the side of the mattress.

"I saw a moose, you know? He just walked right past me as soon as you left, I would've gone over to say hello if I didn't want to live for a while longer." Skye smiles coyly. "Then Fitz and I had a snowball fight, Ward also participated for a short time but was rather upset when he took a few blows to the face." Skye gasps overdramatically.

"Not the face!" Jemma nods with an all too serious expression.

"Yes, the face." Jemma's toeing her shoes off and before Skye knows it she's sitting cross-legged facing Skye. Skye feels eyes on her and fidgets as her nerves get the better of her. "We all know his face is the money maker. Speaking of faces, yours is weird." Skye sees the smirk on Jemma's lips and turns to mirror her. She raises her eyebrows and laughs dryly.

"Good one, Simmons." Skye shakes her head and feels another wave of embarrassment. She's toying with the cuff of her shirt and breathing steady, that's a first. She sees Jemma nod her head and grin widely; Skye doesn't stop herself from glancing down to Jemma's lips. She swears she was subtle at one point in her life but it seems that subtly wasn't one of her stronger suits nowadays.

"Next time you should join in, you'd have fun."

"How can you know for sure?"

"I just know. I'm very smart." Jemma says confidently and Skye's breathing's gone funny again. "You've got something…" Jemma's pointing to the hair on the left side of Skye's face and Skye feels a flush working it's way up her neck. She's honestly fed up of embarrassing herself in front of Jemma. She bends forward just a little, so Jemma can reach her easier. Jemma's tugging at her hair and frankly it hurts a little.

"Are you trying to rip it from my skull or what?" Skye frowns jokingly. Simmons smiles down at her apologetically and shuffles closer til their knees are touching.

"You're weak. Let me try again." Jemma reaches across again but this time she tangles her fingers in Skye's hair and pulls her into a kiss.

Skye's completely taken by surprise and gives Jemma a blank stare when she pulls back. She feels like there are tiny explosions happening all over her body and she's instantly missing Jemma's lips. She swallows dryly and decides that whatever happens next is not her fault.

"Did you get it?" Skye points at her hair. Jemma looks to the left for a second before shaking her head. She pulls Skye in again and kisses her, harder than before, she soon enough finds herself sat in Skye's lap with her legs on either side of her waist. Skye's pretty sure her brain has short-circuited, her fingers are gripping tightly to Jemma's hips and she thinks about how being tangled up with Jemma Simmons is so much more than she'd ever imagined. Skye smirks into Jemma's lips, she tastes like chocolate and raspberries. It's strange how Skye's fantasizing about their next kiss already.

It's not until morning the next day when Jemma's handing Skye a coffee, just the way she likes it and giving her a shy look, that something registers in the back of Skye's mind.

Jemma was the one pulling Skye's hair.