And this is the last chapter! Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks a lot to everyone who followed and reviewed and now I'm going to start a new longer story to compensate for the lack of AoS in the next few weeks!
Twenty minutes later, Fitz finally managed to have someone on the phone and a taxi sent to their location. The snow had finally stopped falling outside but it was still extremely cold so when they got out of the cafe, it's almost naturally that they hung on to each other while they waited for the taxi to arrive. She had just spent twenty minutes sleeping in his arms and he had just spent twenty minutes watching how pretty and adorable she was, so there really was no reason to be shy anymore.
When the taxi arrived, they got in and once they gave the directions, she got closer to him and the tilt of her head and shy sleepy smile were enough for him to understand what she wanted and he was happy to comply. He put his arm around her shoulder and she resumed her previous position with a small contended sigh which made him grin happily.
"You know ... I think I'm gonna have to thank Daisy after all ..." She said, her voice a little muffled.
"Yeah?"
"Definitely ..." She answered and he smiled wider. He didn't need her explaining. He'd been thinking the same for the past few hours. It had clearly been worth spending the three most boring hours of his life with Emily to finally get to meet Jemma on the way home.
The rest of the ride was spent in companionable silence. Fitz was happy just being in her presence, especially when she was so close to him but he also felt a little nervous as they were nearing their destination. Even though he felt like from the way she flirted and snuggled against him and actually suggested that he ask her out a date, that she was attracted to him to some extent, the date still had to be planned. After all, it was late and she was exhausted, she might change her mind about the whole thing once she's had a proper night's sleep.
Once they arrived, they paid the driver and got out of the car. It didn't really come as a surprise when they realized that not only did they live in the same neighborhood, they also lived in the same street and Jemma's building was close enough that he could probably see it from his window.
"So it's been ... surprisingly nice" He said with a bashful smile as they stood on the sidewalk.
"Yeah it really was" She answered, smiling back, looking just as hesitant as he was. They'd been talking each other's ears off for the past hours and suddenly they were incapable of saying goodbye properly. Probably because, as tired as he was, he didn't really feel like saying goodbye now.
"So hum I was wondering if you ... I mean you said you would go but hum ... do you think-could you maybe give me your ..."
"Fitz, is ..."
"breakfast!" He finally cried out and winced at how his mouth seemed to spit out every word that passed through his brain without putting them in an understandable order.
"You want me to give you my breakfast?" She teased with an half-amused, half-confused smile.
"No sorry ... let me start over. I wanted to ask your phone number so we could organize this date ... if you still want to ... but then I changed my mind ... I mean no ... I didn't change my mind, I still want your number ... obviously ... but I also thought we could get breakfast before going our separate ways." He said a little breathlessly and she smiled fondly.
"Of course I still want to ..." She said, reaching into her purse to give him her business card. "... and where do you want to get breakfast at this hour?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"There's this small bakery just around the corner, it opens insanely early so we could give it a try ... What do you think?"
She seemed to give it a thought and after a moment, she took his arm again and gave him a warm smile. He smiled back widely and started walking. As he wondered how many more reasons he could come up with to make this night last, he thought that whatever happened now, he would definitely have to thank Hunter and Bobbi.
-0-0-0-
"God it smells amazing!" She said as they approached the bakery who looked like it was just opening. His own face seemed to brighten at the smell of it and that made her smile even wider.
"And it's really good too but I almost never get to buy something, when I walk past it every morning, there's always an insanely long line and I never have the time!" He answered, rolling his eyes.
"You could wake up a bit earlier ..." She teased as they stopped in front of it and he looked at her with a smirk.
"Well ... maybe I'll try ... I never thought there was a good enough reason for that ... until tonight" He flirted and she grinned at him.
Once they got in, she had to admit that everything also looked really good. Most of it was also still warm from the oven and even though she wasn't really hungry to begin with and agreed to have breakfast only to spend a little more time with him, it was all really tempting but she knew she couldn't eat more than one pastry and it would be hard to choose. Fitz on the other hand, didn't have the same problem.
"Will you judge me if I get two ... or three?" He asked with a slightly embarrassed smile and she couldn't help laughing.
"of course not ... I don't want you to starve!" She smirked and even the baker waiting for them to choose had to stifle a laugh. "You'll have to explain to me how you do it though ..." She added and he looked at her a little confused. "... live mostly on sugar and look like ... that" She added gesturing towards his entire slender silhouette and he shot her a bright amused smile.
"I'm sleep deprived, I need to compensate ... and I guess I have a fast metabolism ..." He said and she gave him a fake disgusted look.
"So not even a bit of cardio to burn the calories?"
"Depends on what you call cardio ..." He grinned and she looked at him in mock-offense at the possible sexual innuendo. "I meant running to catch a train of course ..." He added, grinning even wider and she rolled her eyes. And now the idea of helping him burn those calories was making its way inside her brain and she blushed at the interesting images it was conjuring. Hopefully the temperature difference between the bakery and outside was enough to explain her rosy cheeks convincingly.
"Well whatever it's just ... outrageous. Some of us have to run an hour to get rid of the calories of only one of those you know ..." She said, crossing her arms on her chest with what she hoped was a severe look and he also tried his best to look a little contrite.
"Is it a little better if I pay for it?" He asked with a tentative smile and she couldn't help smiling back.
"I guess ... at least I won't have to pay for it twice ..." She conceded. "Or you could help me burn those calories later ..." She added to herself, biting her lip to stop her smile from splitting her face in two.
Once they finally made up their minds, the older man behind the counter wrapped what they bought - a croissant for Jemma, two for Fitz who decided to be reasonable- in a small paper bag and handed it to Fitz with a small fond smile.
"You two make a lovely couple!" He said and just as Fitz was trying to mumble something about the fact that they're not a couple and they only just met, she cut him off with a simple "Thank you" and a beaming smile as she took his hand to lead them out.
Once out of the bakery, she turned towards him to see him look back at her with a comically raised eyebrow he'd probably been sporting for the last thirty seconds and she burst out laughing.
"What?" She said once she managed to catch her breath. "It was easier to say thank you than to spend ten minutes explaining how we met don't you think?" She added and he raised another eyebrow. "And we do look quite lovely don't you think?" She finished, looking at him through her lashes with a flirtatious smile and he finally grinned at her.
"Yeah ... I've been told I look quite handsome in this suit ..." He answered, waggling his eyebrows this time. She rolled her eyes at him but she had to admit that even now that the suit was even more disheveled than when she first saw him, he was very attractive. If anything, it made him look less like a spy and even more like the member of a rock band in a music video and it brought back her not so far teenage fantasies to her mind. "And you are quite lovely yourself ... I mean how do you look so fresh after the night we've had?" He added as he put his arm around her shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world and she gave him a coquettish smile.
"Healthy lifestyle ..." She said, raising a knowing eyebrow at him and he chuckled. "... and I got my beauty nap earlier!" She added, slipping her arm around his waist and enjoying how it did a pretty good job of shielding her from the wind.
"Yeah well ... I didn't and I would die for a cup or coffee right now, I hoped they'd have some at the bakery ..." He said with a sigh.
For a moment, she debated with herself. He was a stranger she'd only met a few hours ago. But then again, he looked about just as dangerous as a puppy and he was a perfect gentleman when she fell asleep in his arms. If he was a dangerous serial killer, he could have killed her several times already, right? But mostly she had to resolve her current dilemma: she wanted to go home and be somewhere warm and take her shoes off more than anything but she also really didn't want to say goodbye even if she was quite positive he would use her number to call her real soon anyway.
"I have coffee at home ..." She finally said tentatively and he looked at her with wide eyes and a small grin tugging at his lips. "And by coffee ... I just mean coffee!" She added with a small grin of her own.
"You mean that tea is off the table then?" He asked with an innocent smile and she chuckled.
"I guess tea is a possibility, even hot chocolate ..." She added with a sly grin. She had no idea why she smiled like that or what kind of hidden meaning tea or chocolate could have but her smile was apparently enough to make him blush and her smile turned fond as she started walking to lead them towards her building.
"God, I can't wait to take these stupid shoes off ..." She said as they were waiting at the walkway.
"I don't know why you bother really ... you'd be just as beautiful with a good old pair of DrMartens or Converse ..." He said and she swooned at how he complimented her without even thinking about it.
"Converse?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"if it's cool enough for The Doctor, it's cool enough for me ..." He answered and she chuckled.
"That's a really good point ..."
"So men really don't care about high heels shoes? It's all just an excuse for us to buy hundreds of pairs every year and torture ourselves with it?" She asked and it was his time to chuckle.
"Well some men do I guess ... but I'm not really on the tall side myself so ..."
"You're still taller than me even with those shoes ..." She answered just as she slipped on a bit of snow that was turning to ice and he caught her just in time. "Thank you ..." She said with a warm smile and held on to him even tighter.
"Well that's because you're tiny ..."
"Hey!" She said as she poked him in the stomach, which just made him laugh. "I'm barely below average in size ..." She added.
"Please, I could carry you in my pocket ..." He said and she rolled her eyes.
"Pfff ... I'll have you know I'm very well muscled ... I'm heavier than I look ..." She said and she couldn't help the tone of defiance in her voice.
"Oh yeah?"
"Hmhmh ..."
When he suddenly stopped walking as they were only a few meters away from her building's entrance, she looked at him with a confused smile. Did he change his mind about coming in for coffee? But then he looked at her from head to toe with a small grin that made her blush slightly and as she was just about to ask what he was doing, he took a step forward, gently encircled her waist with one arm and bent over to lift her from the ground. She ended up in his arms with him carrying her bridal style and she couldn't help the choked but quite delighted shriek that came out of her mouth.
"Fitz!" She said swatting his chest with one hand while the other instinctively went behind his neck to remain steady.
"See? Light as a feather ..." He said as he started walking towards her building again.
"Fiiiitz, come on, put me down ..." She said, the tone of her voice and her bouts of laughter contradicting her words.
"Nope ... no one should walk in those shoes anyway ... especially in this weather" he said as he stopped just long enough for her to unlock the door to the building.
Once inside, he walked to the elevator and let her press the button. As they waited for it to come down, he turned his face towards her with a smile so soft that all fake anger disappeared from her face and she couldn't help reciprocating it.
"This is alright though?" He asked. "Because I don't want to ... and you don't look like you really mind but if ..."
"This is perfectly alright ..." She cut him off and on impulse gave a quick kiss on the cheek. Officially she would say that she really doesn't need a man to carry her and she can completely assume her bad choice of shoes but really, being in his arms definitely was a nice sensation. Also it didn't hurt that it worked quite well with the whole music video fantasy.
-0-0-0-
"God this feels amazing ... You're really ... good at this ..." She said, not able to stop the small moan that came out of her mouth as he touched another sensitive spot.
"Told you ..." He said, grinning widely at the reaction he was getting from her.
"If my mum knew I let a stranger in my apartment and let him do that to me ..." She teased, not able to completely keep the slight breathlessness out of her voice.
"But we're not complete strangers anymore ... and anyway it's nothing shameful ... people pay for that you know, even good girls like you ..." He answered and she chuckled. "Okay ... I think I'm done here, give me the other one ..." He said and she very willingly extended her other leg onto his lap for him to start massaging her other foot.
"Still, it's really nice of you ... almost makes it worth wearing those really mean shoes all evening! But really you didn't have to do that just because I invited you in for coffee ..." She said with a fond smile.
"Oh it's nothing really ..." He lied. Actually it was a lot but not like she might think. Even though she probably had nice feet, he was never especially attracted to feet, but the effect it had on her, now that was something else ... Her breathless voice and the small contented -or was it pleasured- noises she let out ... it drove his mind to very pleasant although quite embarrassing places.
"So are you really going to work today?" He asked in a bid to take his mind off those ideas before it got really embarrassing.
"Yeah ... I don't know ... maybe not ..." She answered in a slightly sleepy voice and he grinned at her.
"Come on ... join the dark side Jemma ..." He said trying to make his voice sound low and mysterious, which only made her giggle.
"I guess ... I suppose I could use a day off to answer my emails and clean up the apartment a bit, I mean it's such a mess, I haven't had time to ..."
"No no no ..." He cut her off. "First of all, this apartment is so neat it's probably cleaner than an hospital and second of all, you should use this day to rest, have fun, do nothing productive like watching DVDs all day or something ..." He added and she looked at him with an amused smile. "...or we could maybe burn all those calories together ..." He said to himself, blushing. "God ... What am I? 15? Can't have the smallest dirty thought without blushing like a schoolgirl."
"is this your idea of a date? Cause I thought you said you could do better than that ..." She said, swallowing another small moan as he focused on another sensitive spot on her foot and he couldn't help grinning.
"You know it would still be better than a date with Milton ... and tell you what? You call in sick, get some rest and then I'll take you on the date of your life time tonight ..."
"That's tempting ..." She said, looking like she was debating with herself again. She really needed to stop overthinking everything. "Okay fine I'll do it ..." She said with an enthusiastic and slightly childish smile.
"The beginning of a criminal career ..." He teased and she poked his stomach with her foot.
"Hey! You know your foot is at my mercy right? I could tickle you to death if you do that again ..." He said with a tone of defiance in his voice.
"You wouldn't ..." She grinned as she poked his stomach again.
-0-0-0-
"Okay I should really stand up now ... I need to go home, take a shower, get some rest ..."
"Yeah that'd probably be wise ..." She answered, not taking her head away from his shoulder.
"But I'm stuck ... as much as my brain wants to go, my body keeps reminding me how nice and warm it is here and how cold it is outside ..." He said, letting his eyes close for a second and enjoying the nice flowery smell of her hair.
"I understand ... the sole idea of going out now ... you'd have to be really brave to do it ..." She added, snuggling even closer to him. He had his arm around her shoulder again and now that she was home, she couldn't find any reason not to fall asleep in his arms again. She knew it was a bit selfish because he probably needed to get home but she wasn't going to insist if he was so reluctant himself.
"I blame you and your ... body heat and your evil magical sofa ..." He said and she chuckled. She wouldn't mind sharing a little more body heat actually. With a few less layers of clothes this time.
"Oh yes, I have a long history of falling asleep on this couch ..."
"Lucky him ..." He said and she grinned widely.
They remained like that for a moment, just enjoying each other's presence and just when she thought he might have fallen asleep, she felt his head slightly turn towards her and she looked up so their eyes were now locked on each other's. There was an intensity and in the same time an incredible softness in those eyes that made her heart melt a bit. Somehow, when he looked at her like that, it felt like they'd shared more than an evening of bad luck, that however irrational it was somehow they shared a bond deeper than that.
His eyes drifted to her lips for a second and hers did the same. When she looked back up, he had a small smile on his lips and she smiled back before they both finally closed the remaining distance between them and pressed their lips against each other. It only lasted a few seconds and was just as soft and tender as she thought it would be but when they broke the kiss, he immediately captured her lips again with more passion this time. She turned more fully towards him and the hand that was on her shoulder moved to her neck and into her hair and it felt so nice that she let out a small moan. She felt him smile against her mouth and her competitive side took over for a moment. She tugged at his lip and pressed herself more fully against him before deepening the kiss. This time, he was the one who sighed against her lips and she was the one to smile.
Their kisses were just like the conversations they'd had all night, an effortless, easy and passionate exchange she felt like she could never get tired of. Suddenly, she wasn't so tired anymore, so she let her hand wander into his hair like she wanted to do all night and they both let themselves drown into the sweetness of those sensations.
-0-0-0-
"Well that was scary ... and kind of exciting too" Jemma said with the biggest smile on her face.
"Can't believe you'd never done that before ..." He said, lazily stroking her arm that was sprawled over his chest.
"I never felt like it until now ... you made quite a compelling case I must say ..." She said, looking up from where her face was nestled in the crook of his shoulder and giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "I mean how am I supposed to get up and go to work now knowing that you ... and your lips would stay home and rest all day ..." She added as she extended her hand to put her phone on the coffee table next to the sofa. Somehow during their snogging session, they ended up lying down on the couch, their limbs all tangled in each other until air became a necessity and they decided to rest for a bit, happy to just be in each other's arms for a time.
"Well me and my lips couldn't be happier that you don't have to leave this sofa for now ..." He answered, capturing her lips again in a much more heated kiss. He didn't think he would ever get tired of this. Jemma's passion for science apparently also reflected on other aspects of her life. From the first moment their lips touched, it felt like electricity was coursing through their bodies. The reactions she was having to his kisses and caresses would have been enough to make all of this enjoyable to him but the way she kissed him and scraped his skull and neck with her fingers was driving him the very good kind of crazy.
"Hmhmmh" Jemma said when they broke the kiss. "And you know i didn't have to invent an excuse, I just said I was sick and they took it for granted!" She said with an amused smiled he found unbearably adorable.
"That's because you're such a good girl, they'd never doubt your sincerity ..." He teased.
"Except I'm not, I'm on the dark side now and it's exciting!" She said, straightening a bit on the couch. "I feel like getting into some other bad girl shenanigans like ... doing a prank to my upstairs neighbor who's always so loud or leaving a restaurant without paying or ..."
"Hey calm down Al Capone!" He teased and she swatted his chest. "And anyway you're supposed to be sick, you should spend the day at home, you don't want to stumble onto someone from work, do you?" He said, raising an eyebrow at her.
"That's a fair point I guess ..." She said and after a moment, a mischievous smile made its way on her face. "Then what kind of bad girl shenanigans can I get myself into while staying at home?" She said, slowly running her fingers down his chest.
"Very good question Jemma and I'm glad you asked. You know I kind of have the reputation of a bad boy ..." He said, grinning and she couldn't help laughing at how utterly ridiculous and adorable it was at the same time. "Kissing me some more could definitely be considered bad girl shenanigans" He finished as he sat up a little straighter as well to face her.
"Oh yeah? And who ever called you a bad boy?" She asked, getting even closer.
"Well first there's me and ..." He was cut off by Jemma kissing hard on the lips one more time but from the way he immediately kissed her back and pressed himself against her, he didn't seem to mind.
This time they didn't stop at kissing though. Soon her hands went for his tie and the buttons of his shirt as he divested her of the cardigan she had slipped on as they got to her apartment. After several glorious minutes of this, she pushed herself off of him a bit and grinned at the pitiful whine he let out at the loss of contact. But it soon turned into a grin as she stood up and offered him her hand with a lascivious smile. Of course he didn't hesitate and soon they were kissing again while blindingly making their way towards Jemma's bedroom.
She broke contact for a second to open the door and when she looked back to him, she couldn't help smiling widely. He was quite the sight to behold with his open shirt, flustered skin, brilliant blue eyes and blinding smile. He was definitely living up to her fantasies. She also noticed how his curls were now a complete mess after she'd spent so much time with her hands in it and it just made him look that much cuter.
"What?" He said and she realized she must have been staring for too long.
"Nothing it's just ..." She started as she got closer and put her hands behind his neck and in his hair again. "I'm sorry but look at you ... you're way too adorable to be a bad boy!" She teased.
"Oh yeah?" He said, sliding his arms around her waist. "i'll show you adorable!" He said, suddenly lifting her up from the floor and walking into the bedroom with a delighted giggling Jemma in his arms.
-0-0-0-
Jemma woke up several hours later to the annoying sound of her constantly beeping and buzzing phone. She very reluctantly got out of bed , went to the living room, took her phone where she left it on the coffee table and came back to her room having barely opened her eyes. She sighed happily as she was welcomed by the warmth of her bed and Fitz's body. Once comfortably snuggled against him, she finally opened her eyes and took a look at her phone to see why it was making so much noise.
For a moment, she panicked a bit when she saw that she had one missed call and seven text messages from Daisy ... until she remembered she was just very nosy and probably only wanted to know how the date went and why she wasn't at work that day. Of course, her guess was verified when she started to open the texts.
(From Daisy to Jemma: Hey, you never told me how last night went with Milton)
(From Daisy to Jemma: Didn't get news from Milton either. Is it a good sign? ? ? ?)
(From Daisy to Jemma: So you took a sick for the first time ever ... things must have gone really well ... )
(From Daisy to Jemma: Come on I'm dying here, give me something)
(From Daisy to Jemma: Unless you're really sick ...)
(From Daisy to Jemma: Do you want me to bring you soup?)
(From Daisy to Jemma: Please just tell me how it went, anything or I'll come by to grill you after work)
For a moment, Jemma was tempted to just turn off her phone and let her friend wait for a few more hours. That would serve her well for fixing her up on the worst date she's ever had. But then she remembered that without said date, she would never have met Fitz and that would have really been a shame. Also she really didn't want her interrupting her plans for the day. The thought made her eyes turn to Fitz. He was still sound asleep next to her which was understandable after such an exhausting night. He looked so peaceful and angelic surrounded in her white fluffy pillows and bed sheets that she felt a wave of tenderness surround her. That coupled with the nice smell of his shirt she had stolen to get out of bed made her feel completely infatuated with him. She'd never felt like that for anyone after knowing them for less than a day and she really hoped he would remain in her life much longer than that.
"God I hope you're as good as you you seem to be!" She whispered to his sleeping face.
Memories of a few hours before came back to her in flashes and she smiled fondly at it. Once they got into her bedroom, things definitely started to heat up as they divested each other of most of their clothes. His hands roamed all over her body with a softness and dexterity that drove her the very good kind of crazy but after a time, the exhaustion of the day and night finally caught up to them. Their movements were starting to get slower so they decided that it would be best to finally get some well earned rest and resume those activities later. He'd gently kissed her one last time before taking her in his arms and falling asleep with a smile on his face. If the amazingly sweet feeling of sleeping with him was anything to go by, sleeping with him promised to be a very pleasant experience that was definitely part of her plans for the day.
He still smiled the same way he did when he fell asleep and with his hair now an even bigger mess, he looked just too irresistible so she extended her neck and laid a soft kiss on his lips. It didn't wake him up but it made him smile even wider in his sleep and instinctively bring her closer to him. The unconscious gesture made her already mushy heart melt completely as she was reminded of this adorable video of a cat hugging his baby having a nightmare. Yes, she definitely stood by what she said earlier, he was absolutely adorable. And it was good because bad boys were never her type anyway!
(From Jemma to Daisy: It went better than you can imagine ...)
(From Jemma to Daisy: Don't bring soup!)