it took me really long time to write this chapter and I'm sorry about that but life happened *shrug*

Grant kissed Skye.

It started innocently.

It was Sunday afternoon (not even twenty four hours after Grant's "mission" talk) and Lilly couldn't fall asleep no matter who carried her around, so Skye decided to go for a walk with her. She was just about to leave when the beeping noise let her know that the dishwasher finished, so she asked Ward to empty it and then left the house.

Of course Ward had more important things on his mind than some dishwasher. He needed to figure out what was going on with his rookie and he was lucky that both of their friends stayed with him. They talked about her, about the decision she made, about Lilly, about Ward's feelings (yes, he had feelings for her he didn't admit to her yet and he started to realize it might be a mistake) and they tried to find the way to fix it. He knew he couldn't just tell her because she wouldn't believe him.

Unfortunately, even his madly-in-love friends didn't know how to help him. They really wanted to but it was quite difficult to think about anything when Ward swept everything aside. They thought about it over and over again but when Skye came home almost two hours later Grant still didn't have a clue what to do.

Grant watched Skye leave the pushchair in the hall and walk to the kitchen. "Hi," she said, smiled at FitzSimmons and didn't even look at him. She was upset, he got it. He lost it yesterday, he was aware of it but he just tried to protect her.

"Did you have a nice time?" asked Jemma as Skye walked to grab some water.

She smiled. "Yeah, it was great. I met Elaine." She stuck out her chin and looked straight at Grant, provocatively.

He sighed. She was trying his patience.

"What about you? Did you enjoy yourselves?" She wanted to put the glass to the dishwasher when she realized it was full. She pressed her lips together and straightened. Then she started to empty the dishwasher.

"I will do it, Skye." Ward stood up and walked to her.

"You don't have to," she assured him and put the plates in their place.

"Skye," he started but she didn't respond. "Skye!" His voice was firm this time.

She put the cup on the top of the kitchen unit, clenched her fists and turned around. "What, Ward, what?" She was angry.

He reminded himself to stay calm. He was the reason of her anger and he didn't mean to upset her any more.

"I asked you to do one thing, only one thing and you weren't able to do it! I spent almost two hours walking around with a crying baby, my head is pounding in pain and," she waved her hand, shook her head and sighed, "whatever."

"Skye, I -," he started again.

She lifted up her hand to stop him. "Tell me something. What did you do that you forgot? It's not like you."

He didn't want to lie to her because he said more lies than he could count. But he couldn't tell her the truth either. So he shrugged. "I'm just a human, Skye. I forgot. We talked and I didn't even think about the dishwasher."

"Yeah, I can see that you didn't think about it."

Skye made a face and he wanted to say something to his offence but he couldn't think of anything so he did the only thing he could think of. He tilted, pulled her closer and kissed her. He thought it was a great idea how to let her forget her anger. She was taken aback but she didn't fight him. Actually, she kissed him back. He wasn't able to think anymore. Everything was blank and there was no one else than Skye in that very moment.

Unfortunately for Grant, Skye seemed to realize what was just happening after a while and stepped away. She touched her lips in disbelief; the terrified look in her eyes. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth and closed it again. She obviously didn't know what to say, so she just shook her head and ran away.

Ward turned in the direction where FitzSimmons were while he talked to Skye, only there was no sign of either of them. He went to the hall as he needed to see somebody who wouldn't judge him and the only one in this house was Lilly. To his surprise the little girl wasn't in the pushchair. He made a face. Surely, FitzSimmons took her to their room.

He sighed and decided to go to the gym. He had a talk to make.

Skye had been punching the punching bag for little over ten minutes. It seemed like the only thing that could calm her down. She hoped she wouldn't think about that kiss back in the kitchen but she was wrong. She thought about it over and over and it made her even angrier. She wanted to forget that because it raised a memory of another kiss.

She stopped punching the bag because it just didn't help. She cursed, loudly.

"That was one juicy curse," a surprised voice from behind her said.

Skye closed her eyes for a second as she hoped it was just her imagination playing with her and he wouldn't be there when she turned. But he was there and she realized he was sexy and handsome and she wanted to kiss him again. The kiss wasn't the only thing she wanted from him; she wanted more, much more. She shook her head to chase away those thoughts. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Grant came two steps closer. "We need to talk."

Skye put her hand up when he took another few steps as if she could stop him by that. "I don't want to talk. I want to be alone."

"No, you don't. I can see it," whispered Grant and came even closer. He stood only inches away now.

She could touch him if she wanted to. But instead she took a step back even when she knew there wasn't much point in it because she had nowhere to escape. "Please, leave me alone," she pleaded.

He shook his head. "I'm not leaving this room until we talk," he assured her.

Skye sighed. "Grant, please."

Ward smiled. She didn't call him by his surname and it was always a good sign when it came to her. "You want this, Skye. You want this as much as I do. Why don't you admit it?"

She knew this wasn't going to end well. It wasn't going to end with a talk either. She took a breath, shakily. "I...I can't."

"Why not, Skye?" he asked, quietly.

"Because talking isn't what you want," she paused, shook her head and added, "and me neither."

Grant's face lit up. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. "I'm glad you said that," he assured her and kissed her.

She didn't resist because she liked kissing him and there wasn't any rational reason not to do it. They were both single, they were on an undercover mission and they both were alone for far too long.

When Grant let go of her lips, Skye started to think clearly. So when he bent down again, she turned away. She could hear his gasp.

"Skye?" he mumbled, surprised.

She shook her head. "We can't do this."

He groaned. "Why?"

Skye frowned. Didn't he get it? It wasn't right. It wouldn't last long. And Skye wanted a long-term relationship, she wanted it badly but he couldn't give that to her even if he wanted to. She took a deep breath when there was a discreet sound of clearing the throat from behind Ward.

"What?" snapped Grant and turned around.

Fitz was standing in the door, holding up his phone. "Agent Coulson wants to talk to you."

He looked at her, than on the phone and her again. He was clearly torn. Skye just pressed her lips together and nodded to the phone because it was the right thing to do.

Grant sighed, shook his head and headed to Fitz. Once he had the phone he went upstairs and Skye finally let her breath out. She opened her eyes wide and ran her hand through her hair. She wasn't really sure how she felt. She was glad that they were disturbed but a tiny part of her wanted Ward to continue. She wanted him to seduce her. She wanted him in any way he was able to give himself to her.

"Damn it!" she cursed and ignored the fact that Fitz had been staring at her.

Skye needed time to think about everything that happened in the last few hours. But unfortunately for her the time was the only thing they didn't have. When she came to the living room in which Ward, FitzSimmons and Lilly have been, Grant told her they would have to go to the Bus the next morning. Skye knew that it could mean the end of their mission and suddenly she didn't want it to end. She realized she enjoyed being alone with him and Lilly. She would never admit it out loud but she even loved their arguments.

And because this afternoon could be the last one in this lovely house with an amazing neighbourhood, she took Lilly for another walk. She needed to think so she took the opportunity and went to the playground one more time. She secretly hoped Elaine would be there. Skye knew it would be nice to talk to the older woman. They spent only a little time together but she already considered Elaine a friend.

As Skye sat on the bench on the playground and watched the kids she sighed. She touched Lilly's cheek with her finger. "Well, Lilly, I think I found a perfect place to live." Skye honestly hoped that she would be able to give the little girl that sort of home she deserved. She wasn't naive; she knew she couldn't afford a house in this part of London. Not just yet anyway. But she hoped that one day she would take Lilly here and at least showed her around.

She sat there for another few minutes before standing up with a sigh and walking back to the house.

That evening Lilly wouldn't stop crying – she probably picked up the tension between the adults -, she didn't want to sleep or be left alone so Skye stayed with the little girl in the nursery for the night. Ward didn't like it but Skye didn't give him a chance to discuss it, she'd just done it.

Grant lied on his back in the bed too big for one and listened to the silence. There were times when he loved to sit or lie in a silent room and read a book or just think but since Skye came into his life, the silence made him worry. He needed to hear her voice, anybody's voice, actually.

When he heard something a few minutes later, he wasn't sure if it wasn't just his imagination. So he listened carefully and heard it again. The whimpering noise he heard once before.

It happened only a couple of days after Skye had recovered from Quinn's shot. It was well past midnight, everybody was fast asleep and in the silence of the night Skye started to sob in her sleep. Ward waited for whole two minutes before getting up and running to Skye's bunk. She tossed from side to side, her hair wet, her face twisted with pain. Grant woke her up gently and then held her tight, whispering reassuring words to her ear until she fell asleep again. It didn't happen again afterwards but he didn't forget – he couldn't forget.

So when he heard it now, he got up and ran into Lilly's bedroom.

In the fading light from the hallway he saw that Skye had been curled up in the corner on the sofa for two next to Lilly's crib. She was crying in her sleep and pleadingly asking for something – or somebody – to stop, to leave her alone.

Ward covered the space between him and the sofa quickly and sat down. He looked at Lilly who slept peacefully and was grateful for that. Then he put his hand on her shoulder, whispering her name to wake her up.

She woke up almost immediately, her eyes wide open, her body shaking and just then the tears started to fall down on her cheeks.

He embraced her. "Shh, it's ok. You're safe. It was only a bad dream. You're safe now."

Skye rested her head on his chest, sobbing quietly. "I'm sorry," she said when she looked up at him after a couple of minutes when she calmed herself down.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Grant stroked her back and kissed her on the top of her head.

Lilly made a sound and they both looked at her. She stirred but she was still sleeping.

"Can I...um...can I sleep with you tonight?" asked Skye.

Ward smiled. "Of course," he assured her. He stood up and held his hand out for her. She took it and her grip was tight as if she was afraid he would let go but he didn't plan on letting her go ever again.