A few hours had passed since the two young scientists had tied the knot.
To everyone's surprise the imaginary forest was still there, as if the world had finally decided to give them a break , though on the other side of that door everything was still falling apart.
But they were not going to think about Hale that evening, not even for a split second.
They might have been most wanted for the rest of the world, but they were most wanted among themselves too.
Melinda had longed for a few moments alone with Phil Coulson since she had been brought back from the Framework, and her wish was finally being granted.
They were dancing, clung to one other, almost afraid to loosen the grip. Melinda's head was resting on Phil's right shoulder, her left hand on his chest, his heartbeat in her ears.
What a peaceful sound it was.
Phil had missed these little moments alone with Melinda, more than ever since he found out about the LMD he had shared so many of those with.
He hadn't fully forgiven himself for the Haig and the Zima Deke had found instead hadn't felt quite the same.
But here they were now, dancing so close he thought one couldn't tell they were two from a distance.
But in the distance, despite Phil's thoughts, everyone could see it.
Daisy, in particular, hadn't looked away from them since the moment they had reached the hypothetical dance floor, hands entwined and longing eyes.
In her head, the two of them had always been lovers, in the purest meaning that word could assume.
Their love was mature, deep, steady. It wasn't a love like Fitzsimmons', young, curious, passionate. It was a kind of love that had grown form friendship, that had become older with them.
It was a way of saying "I'm here, despite everything we've been through, the time travel, the space travels, the space-time distortions, the crazy robots and the crazier men. I'm still here and here's where I want to be."
Deke found her staring at the couple. "I loved watching my parents dancing. They always found some time to do it in the Lighthouse, when the Krees were not too angry at us humans. They would hum some melodies and start to dance, then they would kiss and come back to me." He sighed, his eyes turning up to the sky. "Those were the happiest moments I can remember."
Daisy stayed silent for a while, still looking at the two older agents.
The music had switched to a much more rhythmic song, but they hadn't noticed. Or at least, they hadn't bothered.
"You know Mel, I think the song was over a minute ago at least." Phil said almost whispering.
"I know, and Daisy's been looking at us since we started to dance"
"Are we embarrassing ourselves?" he asked with a grin.
"Phil, just shut up and keep dancing."
"They're definitely going too kiss too. I mean, they must kiss at some point, right?" she said, taking another sip of Zima from her bottle.
Just as she was saying those words, Mack passed by and shook his head in disagreement.
"Coulson is too afraid to hurt her, he'll never do that now." He said, joining the two of them on the grass.
"But Elena seems to agree with you." He said, his eyes turning slightly sad as his lips pronounced her name. "I was just inside with her, showed her the video. She said that the way May is looking at Coulson makes her think they'll beat us on being the next ones"
"See? It's pretty obvious at this point!"
"Mel?"
"Mh-h?"
"I'm sorry." Coulson said as he started to caress her hair. "I never really wanted to take a step back. It just felt like the right thing to do at the moment. As I said, I don't want you to waste your time on a lost cause"
May raised his head from his shoulder and stared at his chest, unable to look at him in the eyes.
"You're not a lost cause Phil. And even if you were, I would still want to be there ."
"I just can't lose to those two. Me and Yo-yo are next. 50 bucks you girls are wrong."
"I would save that money for the wedding, Mack"
"Whose wedding are you talking about?" a very strong British accent came suddenly from behind.
"From the looks of it we are not the only ones who got married today." Jemma said eyeing Phil and Melinda.
"After everything we've all been though they deserve it" she continued. "But perhaps Coulson wouldn't want to make things even worse.. Who knows how much he's hurting."
Fitz turned to look at the man.
"You deserve happiness Mel, and I can't give you that." Phil said, tears forming in his eyes.
"I was a lost cause." Melinda simply stated. "After Bahrain I made sure everyone gave up on me, but you never did. You took care of me Phil, just allow me to do the same." She almost begged, slowly looking up to meet his eyes.
"Right. But then again he did push us into doing this, right?" Fitz pointed out. "He hasn't lost hope. I mean, also, if you think about what he said about playing with fire, I believe he doesn't want to play either."
"That's what I was saying. It just makes sense for them to be together right now." Daisy added having finally found someone who fully agreed with her.
"You are not taking a no for an answer, are you?" Phil half smiled, looking down at the woman
"Have I ever?" she said with a smirk, and Phil couldn't help but smile widely this time.
"I've already lost you once, Phil. I'm not letting you again so easily."
"I know. And that's what makes it so hard. Down there, when I lost connection, before Mike stepped in.. This was my biggest fear. Losing it all over again. Losing the team, losing Daisy.. Losing you.
You said you saw me when you died.. I don't want you to see me die too."
"You think May is into him that much?" Mack asked in disbelief
"Even more than that, Mack. Just look at how she's holding on to him." Jemma insisted and everyone turned again to where the two were.
Melinda couldn't hold back the tears anymore. It had been years since she had cried in front of him. Years since she had cried for him, after knowing about New York.
"I saw you.." she said between sobs, " 'cause you're the one who keeps me alive." She paused a few seconds, taking deep breaths. "I never wanted us to take a step back either, and now I want it even less. What you said before, about playing with fire.. We've played with fire all our lives Phil, we can manage one time more." She said, an unbearable pain transpiring from her face.
She slowly raised on tiptoe, leveling her face to his."Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God." Daisy squealed, squeezing Deke's hand in excitement as she realized what was just going to happen.
"So what do you say Phil? Will you take this one last risk with me?""Am I really losing my money so fast?" Mack exclaimed, starting to make a video for Elena.
"Like I said, I'm not planning to depart any time soon. And telling you no right now wouldn't really help that purpose." He said smiling at her. "The kids are still looking at us, you know?" Phil said in a husky voice.
"How are you such a dork even in moments like this?" Melinda said, giving him the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen."I really hope this wedding gown fits May" Jemma said, leaning on Fitz.
"Might as well give them something real to watch." Melinda said raising an eyebrow, and just like that, she locked their lips together.