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"May?"
"Coulson."
He wanted to sigh at the sound of her voice. It had been so long… and although he knew she was safe with her father, he couldn't stop thinking about her and worrying about her. She was still his best friend, after all.
It hadn't taken a lot of work to get her father's number, Mr. May knew Phil well enough to trust that he wouldn't use his number for anything unless it was an emergency. So when Coulson realized that she was mostly likely there, he tried to find a good time to call... At least make sure she was okay, just to ease his mind. It had taken about a week, but here he was, finally talking to her again.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
She didn't sound fine. She sounded...tired. Not tired in the sense that she hadn't gotten enough sleep, but emotionally exhausted, like she had been through so much that she couldn't hide it anymore. He could hear birds and wind in the background, and could practically picture her in her father's backyard, errant strands of her hair blowing in the warm breeze.
"The team misses you."
It took everything within him not to blurt out that he missed her as well, that he felt off-kilter without her there.
"I'm sure they're fine. They have you."
He wished he could see her face, wished he could tell if she was smiling or not. She had perfected the art of hiding her emotions over the phone, and for once he resented that about her.
"Daisy hasn't stopped asking about you."
That part was very true. Their little Inhuman had yet to stop pestering him about May, whether or not she was coming back… if she could talk to her… if he knew where she was and if she was safe…
All questions he had been asking himself.
"...tell her I'm fine, really."
As if he hadn't been saying that already.
"She wants to know if you're coming back."
There was a long silence, and Coulson's grip on his cell phone tightened. He could tell she knew that Daisy wasn't the only one desperate for answers, but they both knew he wouldn't outright confess that he wanted to know too.
"...I don't know, Phil. A lot is going on."
And I don't know how to deal with my feelings for you. May bit her lip to keep from blurting that part out. Her time with Andrew had raised more questions than answers, mainly about which of the two men in her life she was willing to follow. Andrew was wonderful, but she had always known that. He was always right there for her, and she knew he still loved her as much as he had when they were married. Any other woman in her position would probably go back to him, back to a life of calm and normalcy. But May couldn't.
She was torn. Torn between caring for one man and loving another.
It didn't help that the other man was sweet, hard-headed, cunning, charming, witty, a self-sacrificing idiot, and her best friend all wrapped into one.
She had a history with both of them and wasn't sure which story she wanted to pursue.
"I know, and I'm not pushing you. It's just… Daisy has just been asking. I didn't know if I was doing the right thing by telling her you were fine and just needed time."
"You're telling her right. I do need time."
Coulson still felt a tiny spark of hope flare to life within himself. She could have said no, could have said that she was never coming back to them. But she didn't. He dared himself to hope that meant she was coming home to him.
"Well… I'll keep your stuff secure just in case you do. Can't have FitzSimmons trying to clone you in the meantime."
"As if the universe could handle another me."
His laugh was short and soft, and though he couldn’t hear her laughter, he knew she was smiling. He wished she were with him in his office so he could see it. It felt like it had been so long since he had last seen her smile...he wondered if it even looked the same...
Another long silence stretched between them, the only sounds he could make out being the sound of her breathing and a soft sigh right before she spoke again.
"I have to go. My dad will be asking about dinner soon."
"Try not to burn down his kitchen." Coulson chuckled, silently dreading the end of this conversation. "I don't think I could convince S.H.I.E.L.D to replace it."
"I'm not that bad of a cook. I've gotten better since our Academy days." He actually heard a dismissive snort this time. “...Take care of them, Phil."
"You know I will. Stay safe, Mel."
"You too."
The call ended with a click, a sound that made her feel that much more hollow and empty inside as it reverberated through her mind. Setting the phone down on the table, she let out a long sigh and stared out at the garden.
Walking away from Andrew after their trip to Hawaii hadn’t been easy. But it hadn’t been her choice at first. After the time she went to visit him at his office and he’d left her waiting outside, with no explanation… She had stopped reaching out. If Andrew wasn’t serious about them trying out civilian life together, she wasn’t going to make a fool of herself. She still had feelings for Andrew, probably always would… but some “loose ends” were better left the way they were. She’d been through enough already.
"How long are you going to pretend you don't have feelings for Phil?"
Her father's voice didn't startle her, she was used to him eavesdropping in on her conversations. She stayed silent as he sat across from her at the table, the gentle breeze and sound of birds chirping not as calming as it should have been.
"I'm not pretending about anything."
"I'm old, not blind." He chuckled, leaning across the table to pat her hand. "It's perfectly normal to care about someone, Mellie, which you should know since you were married once."
May could only grunt and stare off towards the garden behind him.
"Does this have something to do with Andrew... again?"
She stared at the garden even harder, almost wishing it would burst into flames so she could have something else to focus on besides this conversation.
"So what if it didn't work out with your ex?" William laughed, leaning back in the wicker chair. "You know how things are with your mother and me. Some people are better off apart."
"But what if I'm not better off?" She finally sighed, obviously exasperated. "What if we're supposed to be together and I ruined it? And what about Coulson? If I ended up with Andrew, where does he fit?"
"That's something you'll have to figure out for yourself." he shrugged as if it was the most obvious answer. "But you'll never find an answer to any of your questions by hanging around here with me. Go visit Andrew, or call Phil back. But don't just sit here and think about it, Mellie. It's not healthy."
May's shoulders slumped ever so slightly, and William’s smile grew sympathetic.
"All I want is for you to be happy. You have to decide who will help you be that."
"...I'd rather make dinner."
May stood while her father let out a long, over-dramatic sigh.
“For someone so intent on ensuring the happiness and peace of others, you do not seem to want it for yourself.”
“I’m too busy to worry about that, baba.”
William grunted and sighed as May helped him sit on the couch in the living room.
“You are only busy because you choose to be.” William huffed, setting his cane down on the floor and leaning back against the couch cushions. “I did not ask you to come bother with me. I was doing fine.”
“You know your hip-” Melinda sighed, pulling various vegetables and spices from the cabinets in the kitchen.
“My hip is fine, Mellie.” William sighed, turned to look at her over the back of the couch. “You came here to escape your problems. You cannot hide forever.”
May’s hand froze, the zucchini she had been carefully slicing wobbling slightly on the cutting board.
“Just call them, Mellie.” he shrugged, turning back around and leaving her to her slicing. “Let your heart tell you which one to choose first.”
“My heart is what got me into this mess,” she mumbled. “I wouldn’t trust it even if I knew that it was right.”
XXXXXX
"Who was that?"
Coulson looked up at the sound of Daisy's voice, forcing a smile and a shrug.
"No one in particular."
"You're an awful liar." Daisy snorted, plopping down in the chair across his desk. "...It was May, wasn't it?"
Coulson stared at her, saw the desperation hidden behind her knowing smile, and decided that missing May would be easier to handle if he wasn't alone. Besides, Daisy could just check the security footage and find out for herself, and the last thing he needed was her teasing him about how lovesick he probably looked while on the phone with May.
"She's fine. She misses everyone."
"Then she should come back. She won't have to miss us if she's here."
"It's...complicated." he sighed. "You know how she is."
"Is it because Dr. Garner is here?"
"No, she just…" Coulson smiled, running a hand through his hair. "She needs time."
"She's had time." Daisy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and sinking down into the chair. "I want her to come back. "
"She will, trust me. We just have to be patient." He laughed softly when she stuck out her bottom lip. "See, acting like that will just make her stay away. I doubt she wants to come back to a bunch of whiny kids."
Daisy rolled her eyes, laughing and flicking a piece of lint at him.
"Whatever, Coulson. Anyway," she sat up in the chair, snatching the tablet off of his desk and entering her access code. "I didn't come up here to talk about May. We might have a lead on the monster that keeps tracking down the Inhumans."
Coulson watched and half-listened as she detailed the team's findings, and couldn't help but smile at how far she had come. She had taken on a leadership role with the team of Inhumans he had allowed her to try to form, and he was sure May would be proud of her when she saw her. She was, after all, technically still Daisy’s S.O.
He found himself chuckling when that thought settled in his mind.
When May came back. Not if she came back. When. And she would, he knew that. Something deep down told him she would. She wouldn’t abandon him without telling him first, because she knew how much he would worry if she disappeared without a trace.
That feeling was only confirmed further when he received a text around midnight consisting of four Chinese characters.
"要有耐心."
Phil had never been more grateful for Google Translate. He knew the smile he wore for the rest of the day was obvious, but he couldn’t wipe it away even if he tried. The response was just so May that all he could do was smile at the thought of it. May was coming home. He didn’t know when or how, but she was coming.
All he had to do was be patient.
He could do that. For May, he could do that.