Work Text:
Act 1: Acquire hot boyfriend to make ex jealous
Jemma was drunk, which was a feat in and of itself considering the only person Jemma can’t outdrink is Fitz.
Fitz has seen Jemma drunk drunk only three times. Of course, he has seen her tipsy a few times, but that’s after she’s had about five shots plus four beers and a mixed drink or two. And even when she’s tipsy, she’s more sober than most people who’ve only had a few beers.
“You know,” Jemma slurred, taking another swig from the bottle of scotch in her hands. “It’s so fucking stupid that he would just, out of the blue, send me a fucking wedding invitation after four fucking years of radio silence.”
Yeah, Jemma got a little crass while drunk.
“And then of course I go and look up the wife, Emily, and she’s absolutely fucking gorgeous, and has a PhD in pediatrics. Psh, I have two PhDs, Bradley. And what does he have a PhD in? Physical fucking education. Ha! Like that’s useful besides ordering high school students to run around a fucking track.”
By now, her grip on the bottle had significantly loosened by her frantic waving of it. Fitz grabbed the bottle out of her hands and placed it on her nightstand, just in case something bad might happen, like the bottle breaking. Jemma gets overly emotional when she’s really drunk, and he wouldn’t want to have to deal with Jemma crying over spilt scotch.
“But like why would he invite me to his wedding after four years? Probably just to gloat in my face. Like, ‘Hey, look, Jemma. I know you were really in love with me, but I’ve moved on. And I got this hot wife, and we’re getting married, and she’s got a PhD, too. And we’re having our wedding at sunset, like you always wanted.’ Ugh, what a dick.” Jemma reached for the bottle again, but Fitz swatted her hand away.
“I think you’ve had enough for the night. I’m cutting you off,” Fitz said. Jemma’s face twisted in annoyance, and Fitz couldn’t help but think that it was really quite cute when she did that.
“Fine,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “You know what, I’m not even gonna go to the stupid thing.”
“Good,” Fitz said, patting her on the shoulder before standing to clean up the mess they had made and -- how did a shot glass get all the way up there?
“But you know what would be really satisfying to do? Show up, looking incredibly hot with my hot boyfriend, and showing him that I’ve totally moved on, too.”
“But you haven’t,” Fitz quipped, currently climbing on an unbalanced chair (he really needs to fix that) to get down that glass. “Also, you don’t have a boyfriend, much less a hot one.”
“You, shut up,” she groaned, trying to toss a used napkin at him, but it ended up landing only two feet in front of the couch. “I could get a hot date to make Bradley jealous.”
“What, in less than a week?” Fitz was now resorting to standing on the tips of his toes to reach for that glass. Damn, it was really high up there. “Trip’s going to that American football game that he’s been bragging about for months. Mack has a car show. And I’m pretty sure Trip convinced Hunter to go to the game with him. If not, he’s probably doing something with Bobbi since they’re back on again.”
“I actually wasn’t thinking about them.” Her voice got quiet all of a sudden compared to the brashness she spoke with earlier. "I was thinking about taking you."
At the revelation that he was Jemma’s first choice at being her fake “hot boyfriend”, Fitz stumbled on the chair, causing it to wobble, making him lose his balance and flop in the chair very ungracefully. So, maybe he had a huge crush on Jemma a few months prior, and if she had asked him to be her fake boyfriend then, he would’ve jumped at the chance. But he had resigned himself to the fact that she would only see him as a friend. This falling had nothing to do with any residual feelings, not at all. He was just a little...shocked, as any person would be at that moment. He had gotten over the crush months ago, and … oh god, when did she start looking that cute while laughing at him?
Okay, maybe there were some residual feelings. But it’s not as if he would act upon those, because that would absolutely ruin their perfect friendship they had.
“So, you wanna be my fake boyfriend for revenge?” She raised her eyebrows towards him, and Fitz was really trying to fight the blush that he can feel creeping up the back of his neck.
“Y-yeah, but, um, do you really think I’m the perfect choice for the ‘hot boyfriend’ to make your ex jealous? I mean…” Fitz gestured to himself, trying to point out that there was nothing really spectacular or worthy of making someone jealous. Fitz knew that he wasn’t bad looking, but he’s definitely no Trip.
“Totally,” Jemma replied immediately. Fitz was shocked at how fast she replied with that and with such confidence. “Your face is very symmetrical, plus your low body fat percentage, and your eyes are really pretty. Add all that plus a suit and a little stubble, it’d be not bad. Not bad...at all.”
Jemma’s voice slowed down at that last sentence, and her eyes roamed up and down Fitz’s body. Okay, Fitz may know next to nothing about the opposite sex and how they act, but he was 99% sure that Jemma just checked him out. There was no stopping the blush now.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I-I guess I’ll go. It’s not like I have anything to do on Saturday, anyways, and I guess it would be kinda fun to plot revenge. I never really liked Bradley, anyways.” Just as Jemma’s face broke into a smile, Fitz put his hand up to interrupt her. “But, you have to do two things for me. One, I will monitor your alcohol consumption at the wedding because I don’t want another one of this.” Fitz gestured around the whole room, littered with empty cups and bottles, the foul stench of alcohol lingering. “And two, you have to make my favorite sandwich.”
“Deal!” Jemma exclaimed, running over to where Fitz was sitting and hugging him.
So, maybe the sudden reappearance of this very, very tiny crush might be a bigger problem than Fitz anticipated.
Act 2: Look so hot that the ex forgets his own name
Jemma really hates Drunk Jemma.
Not because she hates drinking (of course not), and definitely not because of her high tolerance to alcohol (which she finds quite amusing when half of her friends are drunkenly stumbling about while she’s still in control of herself). It’s because Drunk Jemma says and does what Sober Jemma’s thinking.
Now, Drunk Jemma does come around once in a blue moon, so luckily, she doesn’t have to deal with the aftereffects often. But when she does...let’s just say that one hundred percent of the time, Hungover Jemma wants to curl into a ball and imagine that nothing ever happened.
The first time Drunk Jemma showed up at her graduation from the Academy, she had kissed Fitz. Jemma barely remembered the actual kiss, only that for the next year, she couldn’t help but feel butterflies in the pit of her stomach every time she looked at him. They hadn’t actually talked about that kiss since it happened, only dismissed it as an act of celebration. Because you can kiss your friends when you’re celebrating....right?
During Drunk Jemma’s second appearance when Bradley had broken up with her over a text, she had to have her phone confiscated by Fitz and Skye. If she had not been saved by the graciousness of her friends, Bradley would have woken up to some very, very crude texts from her. Skye told her the next day that in her drafts, she had a text to him with no less than fifty variations of the word “fuck”. Skye vocalized whether or not she should be worried or proud of Drunk Jemma. Sober Jemma decided that she should be very embarrassed.
The third time was most definitely not a charm.The next morning after Drunk Jemma’s most recent arrival, Jemma quickly realized why the throbbing headache was occurring, and soon after realized what had happened the previous night. Once she replayed the moment when she had complimented Fitz on his “low body fat percentage” followed by very noticeably checking him out, she desperately wanted to stay locked in her room for months. Stupid Drunk Jemma and her absence of a filter.
Jemma wasn’t even sure why she felt so embarrassed at saying that to Fitz. She had complimented her other friends in similar fashions plenty of times. She had even complimented Fitz on his appearance before. But this was different. It probably (most definitely) had something to do with the fact that her first choice for the role of her “hot boyfriend” was Fitz.
Jemma did have a tiny (practically miniscule, she told herself) crush on Fitz about a year after the breakup with Bradley. She had started to think about the possibility of her moving on and finding another serious boyfriend. And who was always beside her the whole damn time? Fitz.
It was only logical that she would feel attracted to Fitz; it was actually quite shocking to her that it had taken eight years to develop this crush. However, the crush had gone away after a few months, leaving her only with the thought of friendship for the past four years.
Despite this, she did start feeling her heartbeat pick up whenever Fitz stood close to her or whenever he smiled at her. And she had started noticing the way some of his shirts clung to his body in just the right way -- he had mentioned that Trip and Mack had taken him to the gym a few times (obviously a trip well spent). Jemma couldn’t help but feeling this softening in her chest whenever she was just in his presence. But that’s what’s supposed to happen in a friendship, right?
It wasn’t until Jemma had made a comment to Skye about how she only saw Fitz like a brother, to which Skye responded:
“I don’t know what you guys are doing across the pond, but here in America, we definitely don’t look at our brothers like that.”
Okay, so maybe her tiny, practically microscopic, crush on Fitz had returned.
But that wouldn’t stop her from utilizing her Three Act Revenge Plot™ on Bradley.
So, that’s where she ended up less than a week and one prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich later, waiting for Fitz to show up at her apartment. Jemma had texted him earlier in the day to tell him to show up an hour before he was supposed to pick her up so they could get their stories straight. Jemma Simmons was not here for everything to work out smoothly only for someone to ask them how long they’ve been dating and for her to say two years while Fitz says three.
She was cut off from her reverie by three sharp knocks at the door. Fitz’s signature knock.
When Jemma opened the door, she had to remind herself to clamp her mouth shut, which was becoming increasingly harder every millisecond. Of course he had to pick the tightest button down shirt he owned, which meant showing off his newly toned muscles (Jemma made a mental note to thank Trip for taking Fitz to the gym). Paired the tight shirt was what she thinks is the only suit jacket he owns and a day or two’s worth of stubble (boy, was she weak for the stubble). Jemma realized that this tiny crush may be something more--maybe a lot more.
She reluctantly stopped admiring his appearance, only to notice that Fitz was staring at her as well. Good. Act 2 was successfully in play.
Her outfit for the reception was quite a far stretch from her daily clothes. Skye went with her to go buy a dress because she insisted that everything in Jemma’s closet was “too boring”. Jemma would rather describe it as “practical”, but Skye claimed it was definitely not enough to properly execute Act 2. Jemma had to agree with that.
After countless dresses, they had eventually found the dress that was just right. Jemma had insisted on finding a dress that was jaw-dropping, but not enough to overshine the bride. As much as she resented Bradley, she didn’t know Emily at all, and whatever happened, she didn’t want to ruin her special day.
The dress they found fell just below her knees, and was tight enough to show off her curves but just enough to leave a little to the imagination. Skye also noted that the purple complimented her very well, and added with the makeup that Skye was going to apply and the killer heels, Bradley would totally see what he was missing.
It felt like hours, but was probably less than a minute, that Fitz and Jemma stood in the doorway of her apartment, gawking at each other. Jemma finally came to her senses and moved out of Fitz’s way so he could enter. As she closed the door, she couldn’t help but notice the way his dress pants complimented his backside really well and -- she really needed to stop thinking like that. They were just two friends who were pretending to get be a couple, totally normal.
“You look really nice,” Jemma blurted out. Damn it. She was supposed to keep it cool and normal. This was not cool and normal.
Thankfully, Fitz appreciated the compliment, and she’s pretty sure she saw his eyes light up. “You, too. You look...amazing.” The last word was breathed out, and he gave her this tiny smile, and she decided right then and there that that smile was her favorite smile of his.
Following that awkward exchange, Jemma had made tea and they discussed the nature of their fake relationship. (Dating for two and a half years, they both had crushes on each other for a few years before Jemma asked him out, they share an apartment, and thinking about getting a dog). A few minutes into the discussion, Jemma realized that this “relationship” was what she would want in a real one. With Bradley, they had never even discussed moving in together, despite dating for over three years. Plus, in this hypothetical relationship with Fitz, there would never be any of that awkward firsts--they already knew everything about each other.
Their talk ended far too quickly--they hadn’t even drank a quarter of their tea--leaving them with an awkward silence and an hour to kill.
“So…” Fitz started. “Why’d you ask me to come here an hour early? You didn’t say anything in the text.”
Oh, that. The idea had been completely thrown from Jemma’s mind as soon as Fitz showed up at the door. She grabbed a small box from the kitchen table and showedit to Fitz, who opened it, revealing a simple ring.
“Yeah, you’re gonna propose to me.”
Act 3: The Big Shocker
Following a very intricate plan on exactly how to propose, which included multiple blushes and stumblings from both Fitz and Jemma, they arrived at the wedding. It was held at Bradley’s childhood home. Needless to say, Bradley must have had a damn good childhood based on the house alone.
Fitz noticed Jemma stiffen once they sat down in their seats for the ceremony. He could tell she was uncomfortable at never having been invited to her ex’s childhood home, despite how long they were dating. Unconsciously, he wrapped an arm around her and gently started rubbing her shoulder to soothe her. He couldn’t deny the way his heart skipped a beat when she actually leaned into him, a small smile on her face.
The rest of the ceremony went on without a hitch. Emily looked beautiful in her dress, and her and Bradley seemed really happy together. They were pronounced man and wife just as the sun set on the horizon. Fitz noted that their wedding pictures would be absolutely stunning. Jemma, however, had another thought. As soon as they exchanged their first kiss as a married couple with the colors of the sunset illuminating them in the background, Jemma’s grasp on his hand tightened immensely.
“Ow, Jemma, hand,” he whispered to her. She immediately let go, face tinted pink, and Fitz shook the pain out of his hand.
“Sorry, it’s just that I mentioned to Bradley once that I would want a wedding at sunset, and then he goes and does it with his new wife.” She sighed loudly and watched the newlyweds walk down the aisle. “I guess I just sort of want what they have. A good, stable relationship. I haven’t been with a guy ever since Bradley dumped me. I’m just afraid that no one will ever want to marry me or anything like that.” She laughed humorlessly. “And I know that I don’t need a significant other to make my life happy, but it would be nice to have one, you know?”
Fitz couldn’t believe the words he was hearing. Why would Jemma Simmons believe that no one would ever love her, much less marry her. And to be fair, the only reason she hadn’t had a date in four years was because she turned down every single guy that Skye had tried to set her up with, instead focusing on her work. She hadn’t noticed the way some people looked at her, but Fitz always had. Even just at this reception, there had been quite a few people staring at her (which, he thought, would successfully complete Act 2 of Jemma’s plan), and those people definitely weren’t looking at him.
Hell, Fitz himself would be overjoyed to be Jemma’s boyfriend if only she felt the same way.
“Hey, don’t say that.” Fitz hesitantly put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You’re amazing. Any guy or girl would be lucky to have you. I don’t know if this helps, but I’m ecstatic to be your boyfriend for the evening.”
Jemma gave him a watery smile. “Yes, Fitz, that helps a lot.” She pauses for a moment, looking straight into his eyes, and he can tell that she’s looking at him in this really nice way that he just can’t define. All he knows is that he really likes it.
“And now I’m crying,” Jemma remarked, wiping away a stray tear.
“Don’t worry. You’re at a wedding. People cry at weddings. I’m sure you won’t be too out of place.”
Jemma laughed before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He knew logically that it was probably to keep up their act, but he couldn’t help but feel that it might be real. Jemma could have pulled back just after the kiss, but she didn't, instead leaving her mouth right next to his ear, so close that he could feel her hot breath on his neck, leaving goosebumps where it had grazed.
A second later, Jemma pulled away, grasping his hand and giving it two short squeezes. She stood from her chair with the rest of the guests and headed out into the aisle. Time for the reception.
At the reception, Fitz and Jemma waited for the newlyweds to show up in order to complete their plan. Fitz would ask Bradley if he could propose to Jemma while she talked to Emily. Fitz would make a compelling argument that today was the ten year anniversary of Fitz and Jemma becoming friends. Even if Bradley said no, Act 3 would still be complete because it would set the seed of jealousy into Bradley. In fact, they were planning on Bradley saying no.
But that's not exactly what happened.
Once the married couple arrived at the reception, they were flooded with a mass of people congratulating them. It wasn't until almost an hour after the reception had started that they were able to go and talk to Bradley and Emily. When Bradley locked eyes on Jemma and Fitz, his face lighted up and hugged the both of them.
"Hey, guys! You showed up," he exclaimed, patting Fitz on the back. Fitz wasn't expecting this kind of enthusiasm from a guy whose ex just showed up to his wedding looking extremely attractive with her new boyfriend. "Jemma, this is Emily. Emily, this is Jemma, my ex, and Fitz, her best friend."
"Boyfriend, now," Jemma interjected, holding up her and Fitz's interlocked hands.
Bradley’s face lighted up with excitement. "FINALLY! I was wondering if you two would ever get together. To be honest, I was a little jealous of Fitz when we were dating, Jem."
Jemma twisted her face in confusion. "Why? We didn't even have a crush on each other then."
"You guys had such a tight bond that I knew I would never have with you when we were dating. And I wanted that kind of bond and trust with someone. And I found that in Emily." Bradley kissed the back of his and Emily’s entwined hands. Fitz had to admit, they did seem like a very good match for each other. He looked down at his own hand tangled with Jemma’s and copied Bradley’s movement, bringing his lips to the back of Jemma’s hand, quickly glancing into her eyes. She raised her eyebrows slightly, but then relaxed her face, looking briefly at Bradley then back at Fitz. Keep the plan going.
“Hey, Bradley, do you mind if I talk to you about something in private?” Fitz asked, reluctantly letting go of Jemma’s hand. Bradley agreed and kissed his new wife before moving away from the women.
“What’s up, man?” Bradley asked.
“So, today is the ten-year anniversary of the day me and Jemma became friends.” Fitz was surprised at how easily he was able to lie about something as big as that. He knew he wasn’t a terrible liar, definitely not as bad as Jemma, but saying that they were friends for a shorter amount of time than they actually were made him feel as though he was being cheated of their friendship. Nevertheless, he carried on with the lie. “And I’m not even sure if Jemma realizes that, to be honest. But, today I was going to propose to her.” To make a big show of things, Fitz opened his suit jacket and showed Bradley Jemma’s ring box. Bradley’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. “And I know it’s your wedding, and I can propose to her when we get back home if you don’t like it, but I just wanted your permission to propose to Jemma during dinner later.”
“Dude, totally go for it. It won’t ruin the wedding at all. In fact, it might make it even better. Emily is a sucker for romance, so a proposal at her wedding might make her night just a little better. Plus, she seemed to really like you two. Look, she’s even hitting it off with Jemma.” Bradley pointed to where Jemma and Emily were laughing together about something or other, both of their faces wide with smiles.
“Thanks. You know, Jemma’s really special to me, and I just want our proposal to be as amazing as she deserves it to be.” Fitz didn’t know where that came from. He has resigned himself to the fact that he liked Jemma in that way, but these intimate words just kept rambling out of him, and he didn’t know how to stop. “She’s my everything. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we never had met or if we had never become friends. This might be cheesy, but I feel like we were destined to meet.”
Bradley put a hand on Fitz’s shoulder. “Fitz, I am saying this man to man. I’ve seen the way you look at her. You are completely in love with her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people more in love than you two. And I’ve seen the way she looks at you. Like you’re her everything, too. It would be a waste to not go for it now.”
Well, this was new. Fitz didn’t know that Jemma looked at him in any special way. He knows that she doesn’t like him as anything more than a friend. She’s said so herself many times. She felt just content being friends, and Fitz wasn’t going to destroy that. He never did like change.
Their conversation ended with a sharp nod from Fitz and a rather hard pat on the back from Bradley. Jemma did say he had a particular fondness for lifting weights. They walked over to where Jemma and Emily stood, still laughing. What in the world could be so funny?
“Brad, sweetie,” Emily called. “Jemma was telling me this hilarious story about you when you two were dating.”
Bradley’s face immediately paled. “Which one?”
“The socks,” Jemma added. Bradley immediately groaned and hid his face in his hands.
Fitz looked at Jemma in confusion, and she responded with a dismissive wave of her hand quickly followed by a slight quirk of her eyebrows. What happened?
Fitz nodded. We’re good to go.
A small upturn of Jemma’s lips. Nice job.
--
They said their goodbyes to Bradley and Emily and headed into the thick of the crowd, holding each other tight so they wouldn’t lose each other (and maybe because they secretly liked feeling their sides press against each other). They quickly found their assigned seats for dinner and sat down in the chairs, moving them close together so they could talk.
“So, he actually said yes?” Jemma asked in astonishment.
“You know, I didn’t propose marriage to him, which is what you’re making it sound like,” Fitz remarked. Jemma responded with a playful shove to his shoulder. “Fine, fine! He was actually quite enthusiastic about proposing to you tonight. Said that Emily would love it.”
“That’s wonderful, Fitz! I was thinking you should do it after the entrees but before dessert, when everyone is settling down.”
Fitz agreed with that, but then again, he probably would have agreed to whatever plan Jemma had proposed.
Their thoughts were immediately cut off by the sound of a glass clinking from the main table. The best man and the maid of honor both gave their toasts to the bride and groom. Fitz learned that the best man was Bradley’s best friend since they had been born, and that Emily’s maid of honor was actually her mom. During the maid of honor’s toast, Jemma’s hand had found Fitz’s and had slowly entangled their fingers. Fitz glanced at Jemma, wondering what she was doing, and found her looking at Emily’s mom endearingly, a tear slowly making its way down her cheek. Fitz squeezed her hand for comfort, and she gradually squeezed back.
After the speech was over, Jemma’s claps could be heard over the collective applause of the rest of the guests. Fitz looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and she responded with, “What? It was a really sweet speech.”
Soon after, the appetizers were brought out, which Fitz gladly gobbled down. Meanwhile, Jemma poked around at her plate, her mind obviously somewhere else.
“What’s wrong?” Fitz asked, pointing to her barely touched plate. “You haven’t eaten anything in hours.”
“Nothing.” She tried to direct his mind somewhere else by pushing her plate to him. “You can have the rest of mine.” Fitz looked at the untouched plate, wanting to press more on the matter, but knowing that when Jemma didn’t want to talk about something, it was best to just leave it alone. So, he just started working at her plate. Those appetizers were really good.
When the entrees came, he noticed that Jemma did actually eat that time, and he felt a bit of relief at that. At least whatever was causing her stress wasn’t major. He had seen her during finals; she wouldn’t eat for a week unless he practically force fed her. He was glad it didn’t have to come to that right now.
Fitz glanced around the room and saw that almost everyone was done with their entree. He gave a knowing look to Jemma that he would be ready to propose any second. A sudden realization flashed in his mind. He didn’t have a semblance of a speech prepared at all. Shit shit shit shit shit. He had to make this speech believable, Bradley was counting on him. Fitz wasn’t sure he could do that whole pouring his heart out thing he had done earlier with Bradley. This might not go so well.
Fitz took a deep breath and downed the rest of his glass of champagne before clinking the now empty glass. He stood up hesitantly and noticed that Bradley gave him a wink and a discreet thumbs-up.
“Hi, um, if I could get your attention please,” Fitz addressed to the room. He could feel the nervousness creeping up his spine. This was going to be harder than he thought. “Hi, I’m Leo Fitz. Most of you probably don’t know me, I’m an, uh … acquaintance of Bradley’s, but that’s not really important now.” Another deep breath. He told himself to pretend like he was giving a lecture on the aerodynamics of the DWARFs, not pouring his love out to two hundred people.
“This is my lovely girlfriend, Jemma Simmons, and I want to give something to her.” No going back now.
“Fitz, what are you doing?” Jemma asked, playing along with the ruse.
He took a long breath before slowly moving down to one knee. A few gasps reverberated around the room, and he saw Jemma’s hand move to her mouth, feigning ignorance. Everyone knew by now what he was doing, now it was time for the big speech to shock everyone. He grasped Jemma’s hand lightly before starting to speak.
“Jemma Marie Simmons, you have always fascinated me. From the moment I heard about you all those years ago at the Academy, I knew it would be a challenge to keep up with you. A nice challenge, but a challenge nonetheless. When I found out that we were in a few of the same classes together, I wanted to make myself better, to push myself, just so you would notice me. I’ve never been good with words, now or then--especially back then. I spent months trying to come up with something clever enough to say to you. I didn’t want to muck things up before you even got a chance to know me. I was ecstatic the day I found out we were paired together in Chem Lab so I could finally get a chance to talk to you. And I did. That was ten years ago today when I finally plucked up the courage to talk to you and we became friends.
“Now, here we are, ten years later, and I couldn’t be more in love with you than I am. I...I could never imagine my life without you in it. I don’t know what I would be doing with my life if I had never told you that cheesy science pun that day. You make me better. You challenge me every single day, whether we’re working on a project together or just talking about Doctor Who on our off days. You’re everything to me, Jemma.”
Everything around Fitz had vanished. It was only him and Jemma in this moment. As soon as he started speaking, his feelings had just came tumbling out, finding solace in his words. He supposed now was a good time as any to confess his undying love for his best friend. He only hoped that she understood what his message was. Briefly, he glanced up at Jemma, tears streaming down her face, her free hand wiping them away. He figured she understood. Fitz gave her a comforting smile before reaching inside his jacket for Jemma’s ring.
“So that is why I’m asking if you, Jemma Marie Simmons, will marry me?” He opened the box to reveal the ring Jemma had given him.
Jemma nodded furiously. “Yes, yes, I will.” The entire reception burst into applause, and Fitz was pretty sure he heard Bradley whooping for them. Fitz fumbled with the ring and in the process, almost slid it on the wrong hand before Jemma corrected him.
The plan for after Jemma said yes was for them to hug and then Jemma would kiss him on the cheek close enough to his mouth that some might think they were actually kissing, but far enough away that they weren’t. They had made it to avoid any awkwardness that may occur, learning from the mistake they had made last time they had kissed.
However, like everything else today, it never went according to plan.
When the ring was securely on the right finger on the correct hand, Fitz stood up, Jemma following right after. As Fitz leaned in for the hug, he found that Jemma’s hands were on either side of his face, pulling his lips down to hers.
Surprise Act: The Happily Ever After
Jemma wasn’t entirely sure what made her trash the plan she had so carefully conceived. It may have been the fact that Fitz’s speech had made her realize that Fitz likes her in the same way that she likes him, in a more than friends way, and that that had made her ecstatic. Or maybe it was because of the two and a half glasses of wine that had increased her emotions slightly. It could have been a mix of both.
All she knew was to screw the plan, she wanted Fitz to know exactly what he meant to her. Knowing that she couldn’t do a big speech like he did, showing him would be a better idea.
And showed him she did.
Jemma pulled him down to meet her halfway, lips colliding together. She pulled back on the intensity, not knowing if Fitz would respond well to this or not. Butterflies arose in her stomach when he pushed back, filling her with promises of a hopeful future, one where they might be together as a couple.
It felt like hours they were there, holding each other, but the applause had barely died down by the time they broke apart, foreheads resting against each other. They were both smiling like fools at each other, irises blackened by their dilated pupils.
They took a step away from each other as Bradley exclaimed, “Congratulations to the newly engaged! You’d better send me an invitation for the big day. But for now, let us eat cake!”
The entire time Jemma ate her cake, her hand was clutching Fitz’s, not intending on letting go. They finished their slices in what seemed to be record time, both intent on leaving the reception so they could have someplace private to talk. Jemma tugged Fitz out of his chair and led him out to where their car was parked.
“So, did you really mean everything you said in your proposal?” Jemma asked reluctantly, her back pressed against the coolness of their car window.
“Every word,” he responded, voice raw with emotions. “I’m in love with you, Jemma. And you should feel no pressure to respond to that, but judging by that ki--”
Jemma cut him off with another kiss, pulling him closer to her, and subsequently pushing her further back into the car door. She didn’t mind of course, not when he was kissing her like that. This kiss was more passionate and less restrained than the one in the reception. They finally had time to pour their emotions into this kiss, and it just proved that they had a lot of emotions for one another.
They finally broke apart when air became an annoying necessity for them both. Jemma finally felt free after this past year of confused and pent up emotions. They still had a lot to talk about, but for now, this was enough to reassure her that they would be just fine.
Nuzzling his nose against her cheek, Fitz panted into her ear, “So, my place or yours?”