The first time is right after the incident with Miles.
She's taken to calling it the incident because calling it anything more than that makes her upset. Incident makes it seems like it was only passing thing, which the bracelet on her wrist disagrees with, but she calls it that anyway. She just poured her heart out to Coulson, and she passes him in the hallway. She goes to apologize again, but he pushes past her. When she gets back to her bunk, the tears change from sadness about her past, to hurt from him. All she wanted to do was apologize. She felt like she had ruined her new family.
…
The second time was after the incident with the berserker staff. She knew he had only being angry because of its affects, but the things he said were hurtful, and she was only human. That night her nightmares had been intertwined with different terrifying versions of him yelling at her, and she woke up to tears streaming down her face and worried looking Jemma clutching her arm.
The night after that, she wakes in tears from nightmares about him again, but these ones are instead about his past. She curls up in a ball in her hotel room. She's never slept in a room all alone this big, and with the tears and the darkness and his dismissal of her earlier, she feels more alone than ever. She had always wanted a family, and she knew she had found one, but he was special to her, and he was pulling away from her.
…
The third time was when she found out about him being Hydra. She's curled up in the bathroom shaking, tears falling down her face and she had just been kissing him a minute ago. Her lips burn and she feels dirty. She never felt this scared or empty in her entire life. But she has to survive now, her time with the team has taught her that much. She stands up, the tears turn from sad to angry as she wipes them away, searching for a weapon, a way to send a message, anything that will help her live and get warn the team. She gets off the floor and splashes water on her face. She will not be fooled by him anymore.
…
The fourth time is after the plane lands at the Playground. They've unpacked what they can, and have been given the tour. She's in her new room, hula doll next to her bed, inventorying her laptop when she stumbles upon the picture she took of him at the diner. She stares at his face for a long time, remembering that day, the day he had broken her heart and told her he had always loved her. It sets her off again and she almost tosses the computer across the room. Instead, she pushes it away from herself. A mixture of rage fueled and sadness fueled tears pour down her cheeks and she tries not to scream her frustration at him.
…
The fifth time is the day he comes back. He's been gone for almost two years, all this time he's been infiltrating Hydra and taking them down from the inside. Coulson decides to bring him back to the team, after consulting all of them of course. She agrees last, only because he tells her that she doesn't have to talk or work with him if she doesn't want to. He isn't hailed as some great hero when he returns, but the rest of the team doesn't stare daggers at him the way she does. She storms off to her room the second he looks at her. May comes to find her. She says she hates him. May says that is okay, and that the opposite of love isn't hate, its indifference. She says she doesn't love him. May smirks at that. She huffs and wipes her face and rolls so that her back is facing May. The door clicks shut as May leaves.
…
The sixth time is because he almost dies. He just come back from his latest mission with two bullets in his leg and left a trail of blood leading up the cargo ramp to the lab. He almost flat lines twice when Skye excuses herself and runs up the stairs. May finds her a half hour later to tell her that he is still in critical condition and they're taking him off the bus to a hospital. She buries her head in her hands as the tears start to slip down her cheeks.
"I don't want him to die," she whispers into her arms.
"I know," says May, sitting beside her.
Three hours later, Jemma comes up the stairs to tell them that he is back in the lab resting, and that he'll live. She cries tears of relief into Mays shoulder.
…
The seventh time is very different than the last six. Mostly because they are tears of joy, and he's kneeling in front her with a ring.
"Oh my god," she says, and it's all she can say, until her brain starts working again and she repeats yes over and over again as he slides the ring on her finger. He wipes away the few tears looking concerned and in love and beautiful. She kisses him again.
"I never thought I would be loved," she whispers.
"I never thought I could love someone like I love you," is his reply. He holds her against his chest, her rock and her safety.
…
The first time he cries because of her is the day she tells him she's pregnant. She looks terrified, hands wrapped around her stomach, but he pulls her closes and before he realizes it there are tears sliding down his face and he's shaking. She looks up at him with worry and he holds her face with his hands.
"I never thought…" he trails off, before pulling her closes again.
"Thank you," he whispers, pressing his lips to her hair, "Thank you for this."
She wraps her arms around him tight, knowing all the tears she shed in the past when now just that, in the past, and that things from now on were only going to get better.