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For as long as Jemma could remember, she loved the theater. She loved sitting in the plush seats, staring at the stage, as much as she loved standing on said stage, looking out at the plush seats. She did community theater when she could, often in the summer when her schedule wasn’t as jam-packed, but the school’s painted black stage had remained elusive to her.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to do the school play, she desperately did. However, often the productions conflicted with classes or other clubs she was a part of, making it impossible for her to be able to go to all the necessary rehearsals. Still, the stage called her name and so for her senior year, already pretty much set to graduate, Jemma decided to let herself audition for her school's winter play.
“Jems, you’re shaking,” her friend, Daisy, whispered as they waited out in the hall before being called in. “It’ll be alright. Mr. Coulson is super awesome so don’t feel freaked out. Besides, I was there when you were practicing and I know you’re going to do great!”
Daisy had been in Drama since her freshman year and knew the school’s department like the back of her hand. She also had the amazing ability to be both wonderfully friendly and incredibly confident, meaning she rarely got nervous at auditions. She still hated them though and agonized over her lines while spinning in her office chair, Jemma having long been the one to hold her script for her and supply a line when needed. Now the tables were turned, Jemma having run her audition over and over with her friend until the lines rolled off her tongue like a long-loved song.
“I have learned I am not very good at improvisation,” she had said the previous evening, pacing a path in the carpet of Daisy’s room, “However I do excel at preparation.” And so she had run her lines until it had gotten late enough that she had to go home, though she still whispered through them before she had gone to bed.
Sitting outside the classroom door, their backs against the lockers and their feet outstretched, Jemma continued to whisper her lines to herself like a reassuring mantra. Her body was vibrating with nerves, even after her friend had laid a comforting hand upon her shoulder.
“Earth to Jemma,” Daisy said, again in a whisper.
Jemma shook her head with a little jolt and she took a deep breath. “I’m sorry what?”
“I said you’re going to do great.”
“Thank you, Daisy. I’m sorry, I’m just—”
Just then, the boy who had just finished auditioning walked out of the room. Jemma recognized him as Leo Fitz, the multifaceted genius. Like her, he was more often seen in one of the science classrooms, but, according to Daisy, had joined the school’s theater program to fulfill his fine arts credit. He had caused quite the wave at the start of the year, annoying many when he turned out to be rather good at acting. After seeing him perform a scene the first week in class, Daisy had rushed to Jemma to tell her all about his performance, going into great detail about his ability. Jemma hadn’t been surprised in the slightest by the tale. After all, being a quick learner was another trait he and Jemma shared. In fact, he and Jemma had rather a lot in common, sharing many of the same passions and often competing with one another for the title of who could raise their hand the most in their classes. If she was being honest, Jemma had always been rather taken with him, harboring a deep-rooted and flourishing crush on him since they were fourteen.
They talked on occasion, though he would often become distant or nervous like he was always thinking of something to say. Sometimes, Jemma worried that he hated her, which stressed her out for multiple reasons. First, the idea of anyone hating her put a bad feeling in her stomach and second, she really truly believed that given an actual chance to talk they would make quite the pair so she very much wanted to just strike up a conversation with him.
Back on the cold blue and white linoleum of the school hallway, Jemma watched as he walked further down the hall. He appeared somewhat pleased with his audition, though Jemma noticed he was massaging his palm with his thumb in what she guessed to be a nervous gesture. It was one she’d often seen him do when he had to present something in front of the class, his thumb always digging into the palm of the opposite hand as his blue eyes darted around the rows of desks looking for something, or someone, to focus on.
Jemma’s eyes followed Fitz carefully, watching as he fetched the next person before slinging his backpack over his shoulders. Once again, she was taken by him, his golden-brown curls, lean frame, and dazzling blue eyes. In fact, she was so focused on him that she had almost forgotten why she had a stone of nerves in her gut. That is until Daisy snapped her fingers in front of her eyes with a little smirk dancing on her lips.
“I see you’ve noticed Fitz,” her friend muttered, her voice similar to that of a teasing older sister.
“I was just seeing who he was picking next,” Jemma lied, a blush creeping up her neck.
Daisy continued to smile, nodding her head as she turned forward once more, her body language screaming her signature drawn out sarcastic “sure” without her mouth even needing to open.
A few minutes later, the boy Fitz had tapped flung open the theater-room door in a smooth motion. The boy skip-ran towards Jemma and Daisy, kicking the latter’s foot with a wide white-tooth smile.
“Come on girl, your up,” the boy said, offering Daisy his hand and pulling her to her feet, “break a leg.”
“Thanks, Trip. Catch you in a bit Jems.” Daisy walked backwards towards the door, shooting her friends a thumbs up that Jemma returned with a scrunch of her nose, before disappearing into the room.
Left alone against the grey lockers, Jemma closed her eyes and rested her head against the metal, shutting her eyes as she willed her nerves to fade. She knew her audition time was after Daisy’s and the anticipation was hollowing out her intestines, causing them to perpetually feel like she’d missed a step. When it was finally her turn, however, and her friend had almost pushed her into the room, she suddenly went numb and her instinct kicked in. Next thing she knew she was thanking Mr. Coulson, trying her best not to look like she was fleeing as she exited the room, and swallowing a large sigh of relief as to remain professional once she hit the hallway. She didn’t even catch the lingering look Mr. Coulson shared with his assistant director or the scribbling of their pens as she thanked them.
It wasn’t until the next day when the callback list was posted that Jemma even really accepted the entire experience as anything other than a giant dream. There was her name, dead center in the list under the name of the character she wanted. Seeing the bolded print, she felt as light as air and drifted off to lean against the lockers and wait for Daisy. Once Daisy had moved through the mass of people around Mr. Coulson’s door and seen the list, she squealed and ducked under everyone's legs, crawling on her hands and knees to get back to Jemma. Brushing the dirt off her hands from her expedition, Daisy leaped until her feet hit the ground next to her friend.
“We got callbacks!” Daisy whisper-yelled, trying to remain respectful as they were still close to the door. However, she couldn’t help but shake her friend’s shoulders with glee. Pink tinted Jemma’s cheeks and she gave her friend a shy smile before the shake she was given made the smile grow to nearly beaming.
“Howdoya feel?” Daisy rushed, her eyes alight in the old yellow lights of the school building.
Jemma took a deep breath, her excitement faltering. “Nervous.”
“Oh, that’s normal,” Daisy said, her eyes rolling round, “but just think! We’re one step further to being done with auditions and starting rehearsals. And that’s where the fun really begins!”
Daisy’s enthusiasm was contagious and by the time the bell rang to go to first period, both girls were nearly bunnyhopping to their class.
The callbacks were more relaxed than Jemma expected. The small group of students was all piled into the theater room, sitting criss-cross applesauce or nervously upright on the platform that made the classroom stage, while Mr. Coulson sat at his table with his call sheet. He and his assistant director, a senior student named Mack, looked through papers while those auditioning talked with one another or looked over the cold reading sheets.
“Alright, everyone!” Mr. Coulson finally called, his teacher voice cutting through the din. However, it also nearly knocked an unprepared Mack out of his chair. “Sorry Mack. Okay, so how this is going to work is that I'm going to call you up in pairs and see how you all work together. You might get called up for multiple things or end up doing a scene multiple times. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything and I just want you all to have fun with this. There’s no need to be nervous and just remember that today you get to do what you love. Unless you were forced to be here, then I’m sorry about that.”
The comment broke some of the tension and everyone in the room let out a freeing laugh.
“So, can I pull up Bobbi and Trip to read for Mr. and Mrs. Providence.”
The callbacks continued on with Coulson calling up different students and excusing those who had finished their scenes. Soon the group dwindled down to those auditioning for the two leads, the group that Jemma was in. She didn’t know anyone left in the room particularly well and so much of her energy was being devoted to breathing and remaining calm and steady. Yet, when her name was called she still jumped slightly. Her knees were somewhat unsteady as she walked to the center of the room, the boy she had been paired with following just behind her. Will, she reminded herself as she caught his eye, Mr. Coulson just said his name was Will.
“Alright you two, I’ll give you a few minutes to discuss what you want to do. Remember, it’s okay if you use the script. It’s just a cold read so we aren’t expecting perfection.”
The pair nodded at Mr. Coulson and he gave them a warm comforting smile.
“So, is there anything in particular you want to do in the scene I should be aware of?” Jemma asked brightly, channeling her nerves into a bubbly facade.
“Nope, not really. You?”
Jemma’s mind went blank and so she just shook her head. She did have a few ideas for the scene, drawing on the emotions of the character, but standing in Will’s presence left her stumped and with the strangest feeling of something being off.
As they went through the lines, everything went smooth enough. Jemma felt she got to the core of her character and displayed her ideas eloquently. Yet, there was something unsettling about the performance. Not that it was wrong but just that it wasn’t quite right. Whatever the feeling was, it made it so she couldn’t completely return the smile that Mack shot her from behind the table as she walked back to the platform to sit.
Mr. Coulson called up another pair and Jemma watched the scenes through foggy eyes. She had a terrible feeling that she had blown the audition and it was as though her wings had been clipped mid-flight. She was only taken out of her daze when Mr. Coulson called up Fitz, pairing him with a junior girl named Aida. They both worked well, the two of them exceptional actors, but Jemma couldn’t help but watch Fitz. The way he said the lines made them feel like they were meant to fall off his tongue and his character choices were subtly woven into his movements but bold in their effect. He was incredible.
Just by the smiles on Mr. Coulson’s and Mack’s faces, Jemma knew he had gotten the part. He had to have done. As Fitz and Aida sat back down, the two directors whispered between each other, Mack pointing at a name on one of the papers and nodding furiously at his teacher. Mr. Coulson shrugged, saying something that became muffled behind his hand, before he turned back to the students on the platform.
“Alright, we just need to see about a few more things so we’re going to mix you guys up one more time and then call it a day. So, can I have Fitz read for Arthur and Jemma read for Charlotte.”
A flutter of nervous butterflies took flight in Jemma’s stomach, their wings causing her heart to beat quicker as her feet moved forward. When she finally made it to the center of the room, she only partly listened as Mr. Coulson gave his little spiel about having a few minutes to discuss and to have fun, her focus on a spot of the wall just behind him. When she turned and her eyes found Fitz, her insides did a little loop-de-loop. He was giving her a smile and Jemma caught him rubbing his palm again with his thumb. Good, she thought, we’re both nervous.
“So, I was thinking of starting sitting on the bench,” Fitz began, dropping his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.
Jemma smiled brightly. She had been thinking the same thing. “That’s a great idea. I was thinking it would be nice to start there too, that way I can--”
“Stand as the fight progresses.”
“Exactly!”
As he gave her a nervous grin, his blue eyes scanning her face with immediate affection, Jemma thought her heart might beat out of her chest. She already had a good feeling about Fitz as her scene partner.
When they started the scene, sitting by one another on a paint-layered bench, it was as if they had been working together since the beginning of time. The lines between them flowed as quick and easy as pouring gasoline and the special spark between them set the scene alight. No motion was forced and no feeling faked. At the end of the scene, Jemma couldn’t help but believe that the two of them together just might be unstoppable.
When they were done and had sat back down, Fitz’s seat suddenly moving right next to Jemma’s, Mr. Coulson and Mack were whispering back and forth. They called up the next pair and the auditions moved forward. Jemma, however, remained where the audition had left her: completely over the moon.
After being excused, Jemma grabbed her backpack and swung it over her shoulder, checking her phone for any texts from Daisy. There were around ten, increasing in urgency. Her head in her message app, she wasn’t aware of Fitz jogging to catch up with her until he was at her side panting.
“Hey, Jemma,” he breathed, her name falling softly from his lips as he fought to catch his breath.
“Hi, Fitz. Are you alright?”
He waved his hand in front of his face as if trying to dissipate her worry, but he was still fighting for breath. “Just ran here and my bag is heavy. Nevermind. I just wanted to say that I had a lot of fun performing with you today. You’re a really talented person and I hope you get the part.”
“Thank you,” Jemma gushed, her hand flying to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “I actually was going to tell you the same thing. I thought your audition was incredible and I was so excited when Mr. Coulson called my name after yours during the second round.”
“Me too! I was really hoping I would get to act with you.”
Jemma’s eyes narrowed as a hint of a smile pulled the corners of her lips upward. Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something more, Jemma’s phone began to buzz.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jemma blushed, pulling out her phone. The screen was alight with a picture of a blurry Daisy and Jemma gave Fitz an apologetic look.
“It’s all good. Tell Daisy I said hi. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” His voice had just a hint of nerves and his sweet little look had Jemma almost blurting out and admitting her crush.
“Of course, yes! Ah, see you tomorrow.”
Fitz gave her a little wave and Jemma sent one back as she tucked the phone against her ear. She knew the moment she mentioned her audition with Fitz to her friend that there would be no stopping Captain Daisy and her unsinkable ships. Sure enough, at the mention of the young man, Daisy was off to the races and at the rate she was going she’d be planning their wedding before the curtain even went up.
No one who had been at the last round of callbacks was surprised when the cast list was posted. Right at the top of the piece of paper next to the names of the leads were Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. Just as she had done at the callback list, Daisy shook Jemma with excitement. Daisy had also gotten the role she had gone for and would be playing the badass best friend of Jemma’s character, meaning that many of their rehearsals they’d have together. In fact, it seemed that the next few weeks Jemma would be spending a good chunk of her time in the school’s small black-box theater with Fitz, Daisy and the boy that played the villain of the play, Grant Ward. Jemma was quite excited to embark on their little journey into the mystery of the play, especially since it meant getting to spend more of her time with Fitz.
In the months that they had been rehearsing, Jemma and Fitz had become close. In fact, Jemma considered him one of her closest friends and couldn’t really imagine her life without him. He began to join her and Daisy for dinner after rehearsal and often, when Daisy wasn’t called, they would go out for tea before he dropped her off at home. These days were some of her favorite and she began to crave the time spent just the two of them, the crush she had on him growing with every stupid science joke he made and every cup of tea they purchased.
She also was getting the feeling the crush might not be one sided. She often caught him looking at her, his eyes wide and searching and lips upturned in a little smile. Daisy, on the other hand, didn’t just have a feeling. From her point of view, Fitz was hopelessly in love with Jemma and would be declaring said love at any moment. Daisy was rather dramatic when it came to the relationship between her two friends. Nevertheless, hopelessly in love with her or not, Jemma had no doubt in her mind that Fitz had become one of the most important people in her life and she highly dreaded the day the curtain closed on the winter play and she lost her excuse to see him all the time.
“Honestly Jems, I really think he’s going to take my advice and give my character a monkey,” Fitz said mock seriously as he lay on the floor of the black box with his script over his face. They were two days from opening night and Mr. Coulson had called the pair of them in for an emergency rehearsal, saying he thought something was missing from the plays climactic scene. In an attempt to diffuse Jemma’s obvious nerves about a change in their well rehearsed blocking, Fitz decided to bring up his favorite ridiculous suggestion he not-so-secretly hoped would come true.
“Your character is a Robin Hood type outlaw from the thirties. Why would he have a monkey?” Jemma laughed, her own script held in front of her face as her head rested on Fitz’s stomach, rising and falling slightly with his breathing.
“I don’t know, maybe because it would be incredibly cool. I mean, imagine it for a second. If he had a monkey--”
The door to the theater thudded open, the push bar of the door clanking and echoing in the mostly empty room as their teacher entered, his arms ladened with folders full of essays. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late. I was talking with Ms. May in the hallway and lost track of time--”
“I’m sure you did,” Fitz muttered, inhaling sharply when Jemm’s elbow hit his side. Now was not the time to bring up their ideas about the relationship between the two teachers.
“But thank you so much for being here on such short notice. So today I wanted us to take another look at Arthur’s death in the bank-vault scene.”
“Is there a specific part you wanted to look at sir?” Jemma asked, standing up from the floor gracefully as Fitz took her cue and clambered his way up as well.
“I have something in mind that I think would really help add the emotional punch to Arthur’s final confession and Charlotte’s reciprocation but I’m not sure exactly where it will work best. I was thinking we run through the scene once so I can take a better look at it and then we’ll move on from there.”
“What were you thinking of adding Mr. Coulson?” Fitz cut in while Jemma took her place at the top of the scene.
Mr. Coulson cleared his throat slightly as he flipped open his script. “I was thinking, if you two are okay with it, of adding a kiss.”
Jemma froze, her throat suddenly tight and her heart began to pound against her ribs.
“Uh… you want to add a kiss?” Fitz’s eyes were large and Jemma thought he looked paler than he had looked a few seconds before.
“If that’s okay with the both of you. If it’s not we don’t have to add it and we can figure something else out--”
“I’m okay with a kiss,” Jemma blurted from near the edge of the set. Fitz’s head snapped so quickly to look at her that she thought he might have given himself a crick. To her surprise, he quickly snapped it back to Mr. Coulson, his own response coming out in a flustered rush.
“Yeah--uh--yeah. I’m good with adding a kiss.”
A glimmer got caught in Mr. Coulson’s eye, but Jemma thought it might have just been from the stage lights.
“Okay, let’s go from the top of the scene and see where the kiss will work best.”
“You added a what?!” Daisy shouted when Jemma met her at the coffee shop an hour and a half later.
“Mr. Coulson added a kiss to the bank-vault scene,” Jemma said again, trying to fight back the blush creeping up her neck.
“Did you kiss him today?”
Jemma shook her head and Daisy sighed in relief, earning her a quick glare from her friend.
“What?” she laughed, her hand sitting over her heart indignantly, “If you’re going to have to stage kiss Fitz I would like to be there.”
“That’s weird, Dais,” Jemma snorted, grimacing over her sip of tea.
“Is not! It’s not like its a real kiss.”
“It’ll feel real.”
“Pfft. Besides, I won’t be there when you actually kiss Fitz for real.”
Jemma’s mug dropped from her lips and she widened her eyes at Daisy’s words.
“What do you mean when Fitz and I kiss for real?”
A look of confusion passed across Daisy’s face, a crease forming between her brows before she suddenly burst into hysterical laughter. “What do I--Jemma! What do you think I mean? You and Fitz are like couple goals, or you will be once you get your heads out of your asses and admit your feelings for one another.”
“What?” Jemma cried, her shout earning them some stares from other nearby coffee shop patrons.
“Come on, Jems. You know you like him, he knows he likes you. You two are adorable together. I mean, yesterday you managed to flirt with each other while talking about dielectric polar bear whatever. Oh don’t give me that look, you know what I meant.”
Jemma bit her bottom lip and stared at the wood grain of the table, her finger tracing the fossil of a coffee stain.
“You really think he likes me?”
Daisy snorted. “Yes, Jems. I very much believe he likes you.”
Her heart suddenly very light, Jemma took a sip of her tea, her mind creating its own scenes with Fitz.
Opening night was the first time they would be running the kiss completely and Jemma couldn’t help the flutter of excitement that took flight in her stomach at the prospect. Fitz seemed just as nervous as she did and the fact the entire cast and a full audience was looking on didn’t really help. When they started the scene, however, the stage darkened to just the two of them and all of it faded away, leaving it so it was just her and Fitz acting together as effortlessly as always.
The lines flowed and the sparks lit and it all felt just right. As the cue line for the kiss drew nearer, Jemma felt the familiar rapid pounding of her heart and her vision tunneled to Fitz’s face. His eyes were a dark shade of blue in the dim stage light and he was so close she could smell the musk of his cologne, the effect almost dizzying.
“You can’t just give yourself up for me. They’ll kill you! We’ve got to find another way, Arthur!”
“Charlotte--”
“You expect me to just let you go? Why are you making me do this? You’re my best friend in the world!”
“And you’re more than that, Charlotte.”
Though the words weren’t truly meant for her, Jemma felt them, and, just as they thought it would, the kiss happened as natural as anything. Jemma flung her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. As they came crashing together, she almost forgot the context of the scene and nearly sobbed when Fitz pulled away to walk towards the edge of the set with his hands raised in surrender. There was a loud cue of bells as the stage lights flashed and Fitz staggered back towards center stage. He gave a sharp cry of pretend pain and crumpled to the floor and in the quiet following the bells, Jemma thought she could hear stifled gasps from the audience. The lights narrowed further, closing them into a tight circle of sepia toned light and the crowd drained away once more, the only thing in Jemma’s world the feel of Fitz’s palm on the hollow of her cheek as she knelt beside him. He tucked a stray unpinned hair behind her ear and tears rolled down Jemma’s cheek.
“I love you,” she sobbed as his thumb wiped the tear away.
“Charlotte…” Fitz’s hand faded from her face and his eyes fluttered closed, leaving Jemma feeling desperately alone on center stage.
The theater was still, dark and still, as the audience processed the tragic fate of the characters. Jemma gripped tightly to the front of Fitz’s loose 30’s era button up before falling to his face, as she began pressing her lips to his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, until Grant’s character came rushing on stage shouting for her to stand. She did so numbly, turning her face slightly to the left as she delivered her final line.
“You believe us finished? You think you’ve killed him?” she said clearly to the stage lights, her eyes brimming over, “You could never.”
With that, she was taken off stage, her chin held high in the air, as the lights dimmed to black.
“Holy shit, Fitz-Simmons! That was freakin’ incredible!”
As they exited the stage after bows, Daisy nearly steamrolled the pair, wrapping the duo in a vice-like hug. “You made me cry.”
“I’m sorry,” Fitz said sincerely, making Daisy bubble with laughter.
“Sorry? You dork, I’m praising you!”
“Oh.”
Daisy let them go with another chime of giggles, beaming as bright as stage lights, before rushing to walk with Trip as they made their way to greet family members. With Daisy up ahead of them, Jemma and Fitz were left to walk together and, feeling brave, Jemma hooked her arm in the crook of his.
“You did great,” Fitz breathed, rubbing his neck with his free hand as his cheeks bloomed pink.
“You did as well. Fitz, you were fantastic.”
“Only because of you.”
Some way down the hall, the doors clunked closed. They must have been walking rather slow as they were left just the two of them in the dim back hallway that lead to the stage, stopped in a small circle of light created by the old yellowing fluorescent light. It was so quiet they could hear one another breathing, the setting becoming rather intimate.
“Fitz--”
“I like you, Jemma.”
It was so sudden that Jemma nearly took a step back from him. Instead, she chose to just take a step closer so as to see him better. Though his face blushed a furious pink, his blue eyes didn’t waver from her face and Jemma felt like her heart might have stopped.
“Oh… well good because I was just about to say the same thing.”
“You--you were?”
“Of course, Fitz. I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year.”
“You what?!” He spluttered, his eyes as big as a spotlight.
Jemma bit her lip to stop from smiling, the look on his face making her want to giggle with delight.
“All this time we had crushes on each other! God, how much time I wasted just trying to think of something to say to you--”
“Well, why waste more time now?” Jemma asked, unhooking her arm from his.
“Well, we definitely shouldn’t do that.”
“No, we definitely shouldn’t.”
And in their own little spotlit world, their lips met in a kiss.