Chapter Text
I (a door) you
Chapter 5
God this is ridiculous. Jemma lets her head fall down on the table, her forehead hitting the wooden panel with a soft ‘thump’. It’s Sunday morning, and she usually takes advantage of Sunday mornings to read and indulge herself into some well deserved alone and quiet time, but she apparently cannot concentrate today. She hasn’t been able to concentrate on anything since Friday night, actually. Which is very stupid.
She can’t stop thinking about him. About Fitz.
They had an amazing time together. She met his friends, Hunter that she’d already seen twice, and Mack, a very kind, very tall man that kept calling Fitz Turbo. Fitz got to meet her friends, and from what she’s seen he seemed to like them alright. They all kind of hit it off, even Hunter and Bobbi who bickered for the entire night – Bobbi told Jemma they would probably see each other again, even if he’s, according to her, ‘small and annoying’. It’s not surprising really, seeing the very obvious flirting going on between them throughout the night. Jemma doesn’t know if they already saw each other again since Friday, but the thought of it is making her a little jealous and taking her back to the root of her problem: Fitz.
He’s even more amazing than she thought he was. If anything, the entire night out confirmed how right she was to have a crush on him. Not that it would be wrong to get a crush on a stranger or anything but… now he’s not a stranger anymore. They spent their evening talking, and Jemma thinks she’s never found anyone that attuned to her. For one, he could apparently always keep up with her, which was very nice. He’s smart, and funny, and despite being quite shy he didn’t even hesitate to playfully argue with her about which Doctor is the best one of the show, when they got to that particular topic. After the disastrous ending of her last relationship, it was a definite step up – don’t get her wrong, Milton was very nice, but he consistently agreed with her, and it had quickly become, well, boring.
Things never got boring with Fitz that night. They don’t even work in the same field at all – he’s an engineer, working with Stark Industries – but they talked for literal hours about anything science related, and then realized that they shared a love for Doctor Who as well, and that was it. They did talk with the others too, obviously, but most of the night was devoted to getting to know each other and talking each other’s ear off about their respective project – or, well, the non-classified bits that they could safely discuss anyway.
That being said, this is not exactly where lies her problem right now. Her problem is, that nothing happened between them that night, apart from all the talking. Which is very stupid, because she’s pretty sure that they both wanted something to happen. Because it makes sense! They’re very compatible after all, and he’s very kind and funny and smart and handsome and why, why, why was she stupid enough to forget to ask him for his number?!
She’s so mad at herself for that, specifically. She’s a little mad that they didn’t kiss that night despite it being obvious that they both wanted it, but she gets it. Fitz is after all very shy, and all of their friends were very obviously waiting for them to get things on, which was quite stressful. So she gets it. She would have loved a little goodnight kiss, yes, but she doesn’t blame him for the lost opportunity at all. After all she could have kissed him herself. She was a little drunk by the end of the night though. Positively giddy from an entire evening spent talking with the most wonderful person she’s ever met.
That’s probably why she forgot to ask for his number. They parted ways saying that they would love to see each other again, but that was it, and since their respective friends were watching them say goodbye – Daisy even had her nose pressed against the window, which was deeply ridiculous – well, nothing happened. Ugh, she should have kissed him! She should have ignored their dumb friends and kissed him right there and then! That way she wouldn’t have had to sulk for the most part of the last two days waiting for… waiting for what?
Ugh, what is she doing! There’s a perfectly good way to get things moving, and that is, knock on Hunter’s door and ask him for Fitz’s number. That’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do, right? Makes her a confident woman that knows what she wants and is unafraid to do what she needs to get it, not at all a desperate and slightly crazy one, right? Ugh! Who cares what Hunter thinks anyway, she’s pretty sure Fitz and her are perfect for each other. So maybe he’s gonna tease her for it, he definitely seems like the kind to do that, but who cares if she ends up seeing Fitz again thanks to it, right?
Yes, she’s gonna do it. She’s gonna go knock on Hunter’s door and casually ask him for Fitz’s number. That’s a plan. She can do this. She definitely hoped that Fitz would show up before she’d have to resort to desperate measures, but oh well. He asked her out on Friday after all, so maybe it’s her turn to take the next step. Oh this is terrifying. No wonder he looked so nervous the other night. So nervous, and so cute. God, what is she waiting for!
Checking her watch, Jemma sees that it’s already almost half past 11, so she figures it’s alright to go knock on Hunter’s door right now, even if it’s technically still Sunday morning. It’s not too early, right? Ugh, but maybe it is, she probably should wait just a little bit, maybe go around noon? Ah, no! No more overthinking this, no more stalling, she’s doing this right now, and nothing can stop her!
She stands up, makes sure she’s looking alright and not like she’s been pining and overthinking for the last day and a half, then walks purposefully to her door. She can do this. She has plan, she’s – mostly – prepared, because she’s imagined at least twenty times how that conversation with Hunter would go since yesterday anyway, she’s going to get Fitz’s number and she’s going to call him and ask him out for real. Just the two of them, someplace nice, and then she’ll kiss those pretty lips of his the first chance she gets.
She takes a sharp breath, gathering her courage, opens her door… and almost bumps into Fitz. His blue eyes go wide in surprise, his fist raised up like he was just about to knock, and Jemma’s heart does a triple backflip in her chest because wow. She doesn’t believe in fate or the cosmos or whatever, but this, this is still a pretty insane coincidence, and she already knows how feral Daisy will go when she tells her about it. “Fitz!”
“Jemma! Hi,” he says, and he looks so surprised she’s tempted to ask him if he’s gotten the wrong door again and was expecting Hunter and not her. But then he offers her a beaming smile, and her mind goes blank as her heart stutters in her chest. “I was just coming up to see you.”
An incredible wave of warmth and relief crashes through her as she looks into his kind blue eyes, and she lets out a sigh before she can even stop herself. “Oh thank God.”
He chuckles at that, raising a questioning eyebrow at her, and she feels her cheeks warm up instantly. “What?”
She bites her smile, staring at him for a couple of seconds, pondering. Then she just goes for it, because this is it, this is the moment she’s been waiting for since Friday – and maybe even before that, if she’s truly honest with herself. “I think we should go out again,” she tells him decidedly, ignoring the pounding of her heart.
“You do?” There’s a small, shy smile tugging at his lips, like he’s almost surprised that she would say that, and she’s torn between wanting to kiss him right there on the spot or roll her eyes and scoff at him for being so unaware of how amazing he is.
“Yes, together, just you and me,” she nods, taking a tentative step towards him.
His smile turns hopeful and his hands twitch at his sides, and she wonders if he’s aching to touch her half as much as she is to touch him. “Like, like a date?” he asks, and from the look in his eyes she knows he knows the answer to that question, and yet he’s still asking, making her want to either roll her eyes at him or snog him senseless, again. Is this what it’s gonna be like to date him? Gosh she can’t wait to figure that out.
“Exactly like a date.”
His grin matches hers, and she loses herself in the blue of his eyes for a few seconds as they stare at each other. “I’d love that,” he tells her quietly, moving a little closer too, and her heart soars in her chest. She doesn’t know how he does it. Appear quite self-conscious and shy, and then very confident and almost cocky the next second. She’s not complaining about it though, she likes it, very much.
“Good,” she nods once, glancing down at his lips for a split second, not trusting herself to say much more than that. She wonders if he’s about to kiss her, the small smile on his lips suggesting that he probably is, but then his bout of confidence seems to evaporate all of a sudden and he looks away, scratching under his ear.
“So um, are you, are you free right now?” he asks with another one of his shy smiles, “or where you heading out?”
Her heart jumps in her chest once again – he wants to go out with her right now! –, but then she remembers what she was about to do and she makes a face. “Oh, well, actually, I uh,” she hesitates for a few seconds, Fitz staring at her with barely concealed curiosity, then thinks to herself she’s a terrible liar anyway so she might as well tell him the truth. “I was about to knock on Hunter’s door to ask him your number actually.”
“Oh.” He looks absolutely delighted about it, and this time she does roll her eyes at him, cheeks a little warm. She can’t help her grin when he chuckles though, and then they’re staring at each other again, his eyes warm and bright and oh so fond. “We dodged a bullet here then,” he tells her with a small shrug, “he would have teased you about it forever.”
She chuckles and he looks pleased, like all the other times he made her laugh since they first met, and it does a little something to her heart. There’s another silence where they stare at each other intently again, the tension between them building and growing, delicious and exciting. She’s wondering if she should just go for it and kiss him right there on her doorstep – it would be fitting right, since that’s where they first met? – but then he opens his mouth again, staring down at where their feet are almost touching now.
“I uh, I actually wanted to come sooner, but then he kept telling me to wait three days since that’s apparently some sort of rule? And then I wasn’t sure anymore if you’d want to see me again or–”
“No more relationship advice from Hunter then?” she cuts him before he can start rambling, because she’s found that it is something that he does sometimes when he’s nervous. He looks thankful for the interruption, looking up at her with a relieved smile before it turns a little mischievous.
“Yeah no he’s the worst,” he nods, and she chuckles again, her heart skipping a beat when he leans forward a little and she catches a whiff of his cologne. She loves this, this expectant tension between them right now, because they both know what’s going to happen soon, they both want it very much, and yet it’s still uncertain, how it’s going to happen, who’s going to take the last and final step, and it’s making her heart pound deliciously in her chest and her mind run wild with possibilities. “So do you want to go now?” he asks eventually, and she’s quite disappointed that this wasn’t it just yet, “for coffee or something?”
“Sure,” she nods, “let me just…”
She reaches for the door behind her, probably to go get her jacket and purse or something, but then thinks better of it. She doesn’t have to wait. She doesn’t want to anymore. She looks up to him, looks into his striking blue eyes, the small smile on his lips, the slight blush on his cheeks, and she just goes for it. She takes the last small step and closes the distance between them, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him. He makes a small, surprised noise in the back of his throat, but then he’s wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her back eagerly, and a shiver runs down her spine as his lips move deliciously against hers.
It’s a very good kiss, a fireworks-bursting-in-her-mind kind of kiss, that leaves her breathless and slightly light-headed when they eventually part to draw in shaking breaths. Fitz leans his forehead against her and she takes a second to appreciate the feeling of his hands on her and his body against hers. Then she opens her eyes, and meet his delighted ones.
“Hi,” he whispers, and she chuckles, letting her hands fall back to his chest.
“Hi,” she retorts, leaning back a little to see him better. He looks positively overjoyed, and her heart aches a little at how cute and handsome that ridiculous man is. Everything about this, how they met, how they found each other, sounds like it’s coming right out of a rom-com of some sorts, and yet.
Yet, from the way he’s looking at her right now, and the way he’s still holding her against him, well it’s definitely very, very real.
“So that was nice,” he tells her, and it almost sounds like a question, which she finds quite endearing yet again.
“Very nice,” she confirms, biting her lip, and Fitz definitely glances down at her mouth, making her grin.
“So coffee?” he asks after a few seconds, and he’s so visibly distracted that she almost teases him about it, but then he’s licking his lips and smiling shyly at her and she finds herself quite distracted as well, blushing a little.
Maybe it is wise to go out right now, because if they stay here things might progress a lot faster than they probably should, she thinks. They can go out for some coffee or maybe a Sunday brunch of some sorts, and then come back here later if they want – Jemma already knows that she wants that very much, but she doesn’t want to rush him or anything. He still hasn’t let go of her since their kiss though, and she’s definitely not complaining about that. He’s surprisingly sturdy, which makes her wonder what he’s hiding under that plaid button-up of his.
She definitely intends to figure that out soon.
“Yes,” she nods, patting his chest with a grin, “I’m just gonna go grab my coat.”
“Oh, right!” He lets go of her and takes a step back, scratching behind his ear and most definitely blushing, and she’s overwhelmed by the urge to kiss him once again. She bumps her door open with her hip, keeping her eyes on him, her cheeks almost hurting from smiling too much. She leaves the door wide open and he stands there in the threshold, and she knows that, just like her, he’s very aware of the fact that this is the first time he’s really coming in, despite their little story being so linked to this one particular door – even more now that they’ve had their first kiss right there as well! Maybe Daisy was right, maybe it was a real life meet-cute. “I’m very glad I accidentally knocked on your door that one time.”
She turns to him, and he’s beaming at her, eyes filled with happiness and fondness and maybe something else she’s not quite sure how to put into words yet. She still cannot quite believe her luck. Maybe the girls were right, not everyone is lucky enough to get a cute Scot delivered right to their doorstep one Saturday night.
She’s one of the very lucky ones.
“I’m very glad too.”
The End.
(for now?)