I'M BACK!

I'm so sorry to people who have been waiting for this, you probably don't even remember what happened, so I'll give you a run down:

Melinda and Phil met at a bar, but nothing happened.

The next day, Phil finds out one of his students is dead and Melinda is an FBI agent on the case

They like each other

Skye and Jemma are held hostage in the basement of Jemma's college (Columbia - and Skye is a year older but she's a high school senior) - they're 17 and 18

Maria Hill is Melinda's partner, they're sassy best friends. Hunter and Trip are also in their FBI team

After the case is over, Phil asks Melinda out on a date - they go to a fancy ass restaurant and they enjoy themselves before Phil walks her up to her apartment and they make out)

Maria, Trip and Hunter want to meet Phil so they spend Thanksgiving together

Skye and Phil have a tradition where they go out on the harbor and look at Christmas lights every Christmas Eve, Skye wants Melinda to come with them.

Melinda tells Phil about her mentally abusive father whilst on the harbor and Phil tells her he loves her - she freaks out and runs away - they then talk and she says it back.

They go for ice cream afterwards (in the snow, I know) and Skye wants Melinda to stay the night.

Melinda doesn't think she should stay because Phil and Skye need their own time, Skye understands but is still a little upset.

Melinda and Skye bond on the way back to the apartment, and Skye's smiling again. Phil whinges that they don't want to watch 'It's a Wonderful Life'

Does Melinda stay?

Anyway, enjoy!

It was quiet, it was peaceful. Skye had fallen asleep in the armchair, and Melinda had fallen asleep on Phil. She had her head on his chest, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, as he leans against the arm rest. The end credits for the movie were just about to finish, and the menu screen would be on soon. They ended up watching Elf - because Melinda couldn't say no when Skye begged - after spending ten straight minutes arguing about what Phil considered to be 'classic'.

He could feel her breathe evenly against his chest and it was content, it made him feel like he could stay there with her forever. He listened to her breathing until they were in sync and started to drift off to sleep - until he heard her voice.

"I should go," she whispered sleepily, not making an attempt to move as he tightened his hold around her.

"Stay," he whispered back, his eyes closed as he drew patters on her side.

"You need to be with your daughter," said Melinda, lifting her head slightly, to look at him. As he felt her head move against him, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Stay," he repeated "She wants you here," he said, glancing briefly at his daughter before looking back at the woman on his chest "I want you here,"

She looked at him for a moment before leaning up and placing her lips to his softly before pulling back and standing up. He felt dejected as she let go, but his expression turned quizzical when she walked over and lifted Skye in her arms like she weighed nothing before heading for the stairs. Skye had subconsciously wrapped her arms around her neck and Melinda made her way up the stairs.

Phil followed them up and watched as Melinda managed to hold her up with one arm briefly as she pulled back the covers of Skye's bed, and placed her down delicately. As she pulled up the covers, Phil couldn't help the sleepy smile that grew on his face when he watched her kiss his daughter's forehead and walk back towards him, slowly, closing the door quietly behind them.

As she looked up at the look on his face, she asked "What?"

The only answer she got was being pulled forward against his chest and a gentle kiss. Pulling back he said "I love you,"

She just smiled in return, pressing another kiss to his lips before taking his hand and guiding him to the bedroom.

Waking in the morning was almost automatic. As she rolled over, she saw it was 7:30, which meant her father would be asleep for at least another half-hour before he woke up. As she padded to his room quietly, she noticed how she made barely any noise - another perk of training with Melinda. She pressed her ear against the door and heard soft snoring - her dad, she'd recognize it anywhere - and decided to open it slowly.

She smiled at the sight of Melinda lying next to him, not curled against him, but just touching him with her hand, like a reassurance. Thanking God that they were both fully clothed, she tip-toed to the bed and gently pressed on it, seeing if she'd get a reaction before she moved further in between them. As she slid down under the covers, she smiled when two different hands rested over the top.

She sighed contently as the adults next to her held her, almost protectively, and closed her eyes. As her breathing slowed, she felt herself falling back to sleep, neither adult stirring at the new addition to the bed.

It wasn't until twenty minutes later, Melinda woke to a knee in her ribs. She winced slightly and opened her eyes to be met with an extra head of brown hair, sleeping in between her and Phil. She'd noticed that her fingers were interlocking with his over Skye's body as she lay on her side, facing her. She looked peaceful, content, and Melinda had no plans to wake her.

As the girl stirred, she rolled over to Phil, and Melinda heard a soft grunt from him, making her chuckle silently. She saw him frown slightly before his eyes fluttered open, trying to understand what just happened, then smiled softly at the sight of his daughter.

"Knee?" Melinda whispered, making him prop his head up slightly to look at her and nod, giving her a small, quiet laugh "Yeah, me too,"

"Thank you," he said softly "For staying,"

Melinda gave him a warm smile before lifting their hands that were intertwined and kissed his knuckles "Merry Christmas," she whispered.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered back, settling down further in the bed, moving his hand from hers, to Melinda's waist, closing his eyes again.

Melinda smiled again and closed her eyes, drifting into a light sleep.

Oomf!

Melinda fell to the floor with a thud as Skye, kicked her out the bed - hard. She groaned as she lay face down on the floor, not in any hurry to move. She heard Skye laughing softly and turned her head to see her's sticking out over the edge of the mattress.

"Oh, my God, are you okay?" Skye asked, trying her best to stifle the laughter trying to escape.

"What's going on?" Phil asked sleepily from the other side of the bed.

Skye let out a huff of laughter before she half-answered "I accidentally-here," she said extending a hand out to the woman on the floor "Let me help you up,"

Melinda grunted as she rolled over and took the outstretched hand. As Skye was about to pull her up, she got tugged and flipped off the bed and onto the floor, making Melinda laugh at her and Skye do the same through a groan "See? Hurts doesn't it?" the question was rhetorical, but Skye gave out a grunt in reply.

Phil rolled over to the other side of the bed and peered over the edge to see both girls on the floor, tangled "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Courtesy of your daughter," Melinda said and started to get up, falling forward onto the mattress next to Phil before rolling over and laying next to him. Skye stood up and fell on her stomach across the both of them, making them whine. Melinda put her hand on the back of Skye's head, stroking her hair "Merry Christmas, kid," she said softly.

"Merry Christmas," she replied just as quiet. Suddenly she felt Melinda lift her legs, lifting her up and tossing her over to the other side of the bed, making her yelp as she landed on her back.

Phil chuckled and watched as Melinda sat up and bent over the side of the bed, grabbing something out from under it. As she spun back around and handed over a small box wrapped in silver paper and a red ribbon tied around it in, sitting in a neat bow on top.

Skye looked at the present that was being handed to her, wide-eyed, and looked between it and Melinda "What..."

"It's your Christmas present, from me," Melinda encouraged as she gestured to the present.

"What? But you didn't have to get me anything," Skye said, looking up at her.

Melinda rolled her eyes, but had a small smile on her face "I wanted to, now open it,"

Skye tentatively took the present from her as Phil, who was now sitting up, watched them with a smile. She took the ribbon off carefully and tried not to rip the wrapping. Phil smirked at her, knowing usually she just tore off the paper like there was no tomorrow. When she finally got it open, she gasped "No way," she breathed "Is this what I think it is?"

"Modified," Melinda said, smiling nervously "I was gonna give it to you last night but you fell asleep,"

Skye looked up at Melinda, mouth agape, before looking down at the box in her hand. It was a black watch, the face was a perfect circle and the strap was leather. The thing that made it unique though, was that it connected to any smartphone and was touch screen "I can't believe you got this...they're supposed to be a few hundred bucks, at least,"

Phil's eyes went wide at his girlfriend before she replied "Don't worry, I know a guy," she smiled "But he modified it to measure your pulse during training,"

Skye's mouth was still agape as she held it in her hands, unopened and looked up at her again, before practically leaping into her arms, wrapping herself around the older woman "Thank you," she whispered "Thank you, thank you, thank you,"

"Don't mention it," Melinda replied, and Skye pulled back suddenly.

"Wait here," she said and bounded off the bed, the box now laying on the bed where she left it.

Melinda looked over at Phil and saw him looking at her, not really knowing what to think "You shouldn't have done that," Phil said, shaking his head.

Melinda's face dropped "You're mad," she stated.

Phil shook his head again "No, I'm not mad," he said, taking her hand in his and intertwining their fingers "But you shouldn't spoil her,"

Melinda tipped her head back and sighed before looking at him "I know, I know," she groaned "But a friend of mine had a few and I saw it and knew she'd love it and I just couldn't resist-I'm sorry," she said.

Phil sighed "I'm in trouble here, aren't I?" he asked rhetorically, but Melinda just shrugged. He leaned over to kiss her for the first time since they all woke up - the second time - and pulled back a split second before Skye came back in and pounced back onto the bed, handing over a smaller, flatter box to Melinda.

She frowned "You didn't-"

"Melinda." Skye cut off her protests "Merry Christmas." she said, making her take the small box.

As she opened it, Melinda couldn't help the smile that grew onto her face, and ran her finger over the silver. It was a silver necklace with a Chinese symbol for a pendant. Phil rested his chin on her shoulder as he looked over it "What does it say?"

"Warrior," Melinda said quietly, still staring at the pendant.

Skye was getting nervous "Do you like it?" she asked, making Melinda look up at her "Because if you don't you can always take it back and we can-"

"No!" Melinda cut off her nervous rambling before smiling and taking her hand "I love it, thank you," she said softly "It's perfect,"

It seemed to reassure her, because Skye smiled and squeezed back. Phil reached around Melinda and took the necklace out of it's box, unclasping it and moving Melinda's hair to the side and re-clasping it around her neck.

"Looks good on you," said Skye "Even if I do say so myself,"

Melinda smiled at her and shook her head slightly before looking at Phil who kissed her lightly on the cheek and stood up to walk to the en suite and closing the door.

"You didn't have to do this," Melinda said to Skye and unconsciously reached for the pendant.

"I wanted to," Skye relayed her words back to her with a lopsided grin.

"So, out of all the Chinese symbols you could've picked, you chose this one. Why?" asked Melinda.

Skye shrugged "It just reminded me of you," she replied "It's hard to explain, but you just..." Skye shook her head, trying to find the right words "You have more courage, compassion and discipline in your little finger than most people have in their entire body," she said, shrugging again, as Melinda's face softened even more "And I just hope that one day, I'd be half the person you are,"

"You don't get it," Melinda shook her head "Skye, you're already twice the person I am," she said "You've come so far since we've started training, and not just physically, but mentally," she explained "Because, no matter what I tell you about your breathing or your posture, you'll always come out on top," she said and tapped twice on Skye's sternum "Because of what's in here,"

Skye smiled slightly at her and leaned into her, wrapping her arms around her waist and her head on her chest, as Melinda enveloped her in, pressing a kiss to her hair. As Phil came out of the bathroom, Skye pulled back "I have to call Jemma," she said and hopped off the bed, retreating out of the room.

"Everything okay?" asked Phil, sitting down next to his girlfriend on the bed.

Melinda smiled at him "Yeah," she replied "Everything's fine,"

Phil nodded and lent over to kiss her gently, putting a hand on her waist as her hand came up to his jaw. She licked his bottom lip before he opened, letting her enter, and they delve into each other's mouths, their bodies moving closer until Melinda found herself straddling his lap, her arms locked around his neck.

As she nibbled on his bottom lip, she smiled against him when he moaned, knowing full-well what reaction she elicited every single time. As she pulled back, she looked at him, putting her forehead to his "Merry Christmas, Phil," she whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Melinda," he replied, before capturing her lips again.

"I got you something, too," Melinda said as they lay in his bed, naked. She reached under the bed to where she had took Skye's present out from and handed over a small box, around the same size as the one Melinda's necklace was in.

"What is it?" he asked, taking the present from her, and furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

Melinda chuckled at him "That's why you're meant to open it,"

Phil took off the wrapping to reveal a small tin, with an SSR imprint on the front. As he opened the box, his eyebrows rose into his hairline "You didn't..."

"I did," she replied and smiled at his schoolboy excitement.

"You got me vintage Captain America trading cards?" he asked, his eyes wide in awe "How'd you even find them?"

Melinda shrugged "I know a guy," she said.

Phil looked up at her "How many guys do you know?" he asked. She just smirked in return and he leaned over to kiss her "You're amazing," he mumbled against her lips.

"I know," she replied, with a shrug as they pulled back.

Phil snorted "And modest," Melinda smiled at him as he put an arm around her shoulders, leaning back onto the pillows and looking down at his vintage Captain America trading cards "I love you,"

"I love you too," she replied softly. Saying it was still a little strange for her and she doubted she'd get used to it for a while, but Phil seemed comfortable saying it, like it could always just roll off his tongue.

Sorry for the delay guys...ten months is a really long delay, I know.

I was going back through my stories and decided I wanted to do this again.

Anyway...SHE STAYED!

Tell me what you think!