Here it is, a fluffy ending for the fic. Enjoy!

Since his conversation with Jemma he had promised himself they would be just friends. And, for a couple of weeks, it seemed as if it had worked.

He had auto-friend-zoned himself, (God, that was pathetic), he no longer called her at night to have a glass of scotch and or just hang out a little, he hadn't let himself spend any time alone with her, and he had stopped thinking about how madly he was in love with her.

But sometimes all of that wasn't enough.

Sometimes he wondered of what would happen if he kissed May. With no explanation or previous words; just walk toward her, hold her face in his hands and just kiss her lips-

He wondered if she would try to kill him.

Or if she would kiss him back.

He also wondered why he wanted so badly to kiss her. They were friends, right? They had been best friends for like, what, thirty years? That was such a long friendship. He shouldn't ruin their relationship because of his feelings. He shouldn't want to kiss her. And he really shouldn't love her either.

But he did.

He did love her. And he did want to kiss her. And, sometimes, he just wished he didn't even care about her anymore.

Loving Audrey had been a lot easier. She was pretty and funny and smart. But she didn't roll her eyes when he made on of his awful jokes. She didn't make sarcastic comments or teased him. She was sweet. She was kind and soft. She was… She wasn't May. Audrey never knew him the way she did. And he never loved her the way he loved May.

Loving May was too damn complicated… Fine, fine, it wasn't. Loving her was so very simple. It was as natural to him as breathing and he needed her as much as he needed oxygen. He loved Melinda May so much it was almost painful. He loved her sarcastic humor, how strong and delicate she was at the same time, how she cared so fiercely for the team, how she'd never hesitate in giving her own life to save any of them… He was helplessly and irretrievably in love with her. And she had no idea.

So yeah, keeping his promise was kind of hard.

He lifted his gaze and his eyes found Captain America's in one of the comics he had brought in case he got bored. He asked himself what his childhood hero would think of him not being brave enough to tell a girl he loved her. But then he remembered that he knew the man and that he thought he was dead and that he had been in love with a cellist.

"May doesn't love me" he said out loud, frowning. "Don't look at me like that, I'm… I'm talking to a comic. Perfect"

The clock on the wall showing the quarter past seven made him decide that it was enough. He loved May and the fact that she didn't love him back was heartbreaking and made him want to die every time he thought about it, but he also needed to work. Working was necessary and a nice distractor. He would talk to his pillow or comic books about May later.

Coulson stood and put back in the drawer the red folder he hadn't even read. He headed to the lab to find Simmons; she had been running some biological tests in another 0-8-4 they had found and he wanted to check the results. Going to the lab hadn't been exactly fun lately, not with Fitz and Simmons not talking to each other and made the tension of the room almost visible. He hoped he wouldn't find them arguing. Again.

However, when he reached the stairs that led toward the lab he ran into May. She was looking down at the laboratory with a small grin. He opened his mouth to make a question, but before he had time to do so she turned her head around to face him and put a finger on her lips. He closed it again and made his way to her side.

Fitz and Simmons were far away from fighting as how Coulson had expected. He was sitting on one of the tables, talking, and even if he did stop a few times and spoke rather slowly none of them seemed upset about it. Jemma was observing some samples in her microscope, but something he had said must have been funny, for she pulled apart to laugh out loud away from the delicate device.

"They look better" May commented, looking at them once more.

"Yeah" he nodded. "They certainly do, It was about damn time, actually"

"Yes... You've been avoiding me" she said.

"No, I've not"

May turned around to face him. She wasn't mad. Maybe a little sad. "Yes, you've been. Is everything okay?"

He sighed. "I've not been avoiding you. It's just that… I needed some time alone"

"But you hate being alone"

"I do. But sometimes it's necessary to stop and make a small pause"

"To think?"

"To stop thinking" Coulson looked away from her, afraid of saying too much if he lose himself in her beautiful brown eyes.

"About what?" she asked. He didn't answer. "I'm sorry. That's none of my business"

They stayed in silence for a while. Their gazes returned to the two young friends. They seemed so relaxed and happy, as if, just for a while, they were anything but a couple of scientist trying to win a fight against some crazy nazi organization. Ah, to be young. He felt jealous of their naivety. Anyway, he couldn't help but remember himself that he still knew how that feels like.

He always felt like that when May was around. And now, having her next to him with their calmed breathing as the only background noise and her warm presence to reassure him was no exception.

"It is part of your business" he said.

"Phil…"

Damn it. He loved when she called him by his name.

"I was… trying to stay away from you" Coulson said. "Sorry, that's not what I meant. But I really needed to stop seeing you… Geez, I mean…"

"Phil is everything okay?" asked May, taking a step in his direction. He could feel her eyes fixed on the back of his head.

Coulson scratched his chin thoughtfully; trying to think of the right way of telling her what was going on. There wasn't. Not without lying. He finally gave up and sighed. "I need to stay away from you in order to stop wishing I was closer"

"What are you talking about?"

"I've not been avoiding you. I've been avoiding standing too close to you. Don't you get it? If you're next to me I don't know what to do or what you want me to do either"

"And what do you want to do?"

"That's not what I said"

"You said you didn't know what I wanted when you're close to me. I'm asking you what you want"

Coulson looked at her again. Her face remained as unreadable as always. He wanted to do a lot of things. He wanted so badly to tell her he was in love with her and kiss her. Just kiss her. And he saw that it would be so easy to hold her face and do it and he knew that they could die tomorrow and that something could happen that night and that maybe he just had that little instant with her before Hydra or something else ruined it and that he'd never get the opportunity to kiss her.

So he just did it.

He held her face in his hands and without saying anything he kissed her.

And she kissed him back.

It was just as how he had imagined it would be. Sweet and warm and passionate at the same time. May grabbed the lapels of his suit and closed her eyes. It was perfect.

"That's what I want to do every time you're close to me" he said when they pulled apart. "And when you're far away too, to be honest… And what do you want to do?"

May let out a small smile and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him again. "Just that"

Coulson smiled. "I love you, May. And I know you don't believe you can be loved. But I do love you, so much it hurts. I've always been in love with you, even back at the Academy, and I always will. I love you so much, May"

"I love you too, Phil" she said and his heart skipped a beat.

"You mean it?"

"I mean it" said May. "I love you. Even if you avoid me to try not to kiss me"

He leaned over her and kissed her.

Bah, who had he tried to fool? He had always loved her. Even when they were at the Academy late at night laughing and eating pizza and trying to study, even when they gave each other advices about dates. Even when she had married Andrew. Even after Bahrain. Even after coming back to death… The only thing he had done all his life was loving her. And he had no regrets about it.

"Oh, Lord" said a voice behind them.

They pulled apart and turned around. Apparently Jemma and Fitz had finished their work in the lab, because now they were at the stairs. Jemma was closer, a big surprised smile framing her opened mouth.

"We were done so we decided to go get something to eat" she said. Fitz nodded. "We'll, uhm, give you guys some privacy"

She winked an eye at Coulson and then walked past them followed by her partner. "It was about damn time" they heard her say before disappearing at the end of the corridor.

"Yes" said Coulson, smiling. "It was about damn time"

So he kissed her again.

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