Daisy glanced up from where she was curled up in the library, eyes landing on the tall blond sitting across the room from her. She watched him curiously, smiling slightly at the extreme look of concentration on his face. She remembered hearing from Jemma that his name was Lincoln. In fact, Jemma had mentioned recently that there was someone in her biology and chemistry classes– a pre-med student– that she wanted to set Daisy up with. Daisy shifted her focus to the stack of books next to him, and the contents solidified her suspicion that Lincoln was in fact the one Jemma had mentioned. At the time, Daisy had strongly opposed Jemma's meddling. But as Daisy got a closer look at him... Well, she might be willing to make an exception.
As she continued to watch him, she noticed a small flash of light near his hands. Confused, Daisy tilted her head and watched his hands closely. As his fingers twitched and moved, blue sparks danced and popped across his fingertips, and Daisy couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips. At least, she thought it was a small gasp. Though there was quite a bit of distance between them, it appeared the stillness of the library made the simple sound quite audible. Lincoln's head shot up in surprise, and his eyes widened as they met hers. As if on instinct, his hands curled into fists, and he quickly tore his gaze from hers and began to frantically gather his things. Before Daisy could even process what had just happened, Lincoln had gotten to his feet and started practically power-walking away.
Daisy watched him go as what she had just seen finally clicked into place. This boy, this seemingly normal medical student, had powers. Just like her. Daisy's first gut instinct was to run after him. She even took one step forward before something held her back. Later, Daisy would look back and realize that something was fear. Acknowledging that someone else had powers like she did would make it real. And for the past year since discovering her powers, Daisy had done nothing but try to forget about her abilities, and pretend she'd never made that pop can tremble when she got angry. Pretend she she didn't feel every cell in her body vibrating every time she felt some emotion too strongly. That had even been one of the reasons she'd pushed back against Jemma's meddling in her love life.
And yet, even now, it seemed as if every molecule in her and around her was buzzing. Like they were trying to propel her after him. Daisy glanced at the table the blond has so quickly vacated, and noticed that he'd left a book. A single, solitary book he'd probably come back for later when he thought she'd be gone. But that one book was the catalyst in her decision. It was all she needed to tip the scales of her mind, and in a heartbeat she was rushing forward to scoop the book from the table before racing after him.
She caught sight of him just before he rounded the back corner of the building, and she turned up her speed. Now that she'd decided to go after him, the thought of not catching him scared her even more than the thought of going after him had. Her feet pounded the pavement as she ran, and her heart sped up in her chest.
"Lincoln! Wait!" she called out to him breathlessly as she neared, and she saw him freeze in front of her. She came to a stop cautiously behind him. "Wait," she panted again, struggling to catch her breath. He slowly turned to face her, but she noticed he took a slight step backwards. Daisy straightened slowly and steadied her breathing before holding the book out towards him. "You, uh... you left one of your books." Her words came out quiet and stammering, and Daisy silently cursed herself for sounding like a shy school girl. But now that she was in front of him, it seemed she couldn't quite find her voice. It was silent for a moment before he hesitantly reached for the book. His eyes never left hers as he watched her warily, and his body was tensed away from her as if every part of him was poised to run the second he sensed danger.
As he silently pulled the book from her hands, Daisy glanced down and noticed for the first time which book he had left. Daisy's cheeks flushed a slight pink as he finished taking the chemistry book from her, and she thanked her lucky stars she was already flushed from running after him. She brought her eyes back up to his to see him still watching her. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again when the words simply wouldn't come. There was another second of silence before Lincoln finally spoke.
"Back there... did you–" But Daisy didn't let him finish. With his sudden words it was like the dam in her mind broke and everything came flooding out at once.
"I have powers too," she blurted quickly, and Lincoln's eyes widened in shock. She tried to regain her footing but it was no use. Her words came quick and fast and nothing she could do would stop them. "I-I can cause... tremors, earthquakes I guess. I can feel them coming, too. It started a year ago, I was angry and suddenly this pop can on my desk started shaking, and–"
"You have powers?" It was Lincoln's turn to cut her off, and truthfully Daisy was grateful for the interruption. She took a deep breath and simply nodded. She saw his whole body relax, and he finally tore his eyes away from hers. "I thought-I thought I was alone," he almost whispered to himself, and Daisy's heart clenched as she heard the words she thought to herself so many times. "I thought that there was–"
"That there was something wrong with you," she finished for him. He looked back up at her and nodded slightly. She thought back to the moment Jemma's now-boyfriend Fitz discovered she had powers, and what he'd said to her. She spoke those words out loud now. "'There's nothing wrong with you. You're just different, and that's ok.'" She spoke softly, taking a tiny step closer to him before she continued. "My friend told me that when he found out about my abilities. I had just discovered them myself, and I said the same thing you did. But Fitz, he convinced me there wasn't anything wrong with me. With us. We're just different." She took a deep breath and hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder. "And sometimes, being different can mean making a difference." He met her eyes and smiled slightly then, and Daisy matched it with a smile of her own.
They stood in a more comfortable silence then, until Daisy suddenly realized she still had her hand on his shoulder. She quickly removed it and cleared her throat, glancing away from him. In doing so, she missed the tiny spark of laughter in his eyes, and instead her eyes landed on the chemistry book still in his hand. She pointed to it now.
"I was glad you forgot that," she told him softly. She forced herself to meet his eyes again as she continued. "I was trying to decide whether to follow you or not, but when I saw you left your book..." she shrugged. "Well obviously it helped me decide," she finished lamely. Lincoln smiled and held the book up to look at it. Daisy felt her cheeks flush again, and this time she didn't have an excuse to hide it. To her horror, Lincoln chose that moment to look up.
"Chemistry," he said simply, glancing down at the book again. "What a coincidence." Daisy sucked in a breath when he met her eyes again. The smirk that lit up his face as he watched her was enough to make her stomach tie itself in knots. She blushed even deeper than before and quickly looked down at her hands. She closed her eyes and cursed herself for being such a idiot– again, but Lincoln just laughed. Daisy felt herself smile at the sound, but that smile quickly turned to a look of surprise at his next words. "You wanna go grab a coffee with me, maybe?"
Daisy's head shot up in surprise. He was still smiling, but there was a hesitancy there this time. Daisy closed her mouth that she hadn't realized had been hanging open in shock, and attempted a shy smile.
"I-uh, I would love to," she nearly mumbled, but Lincoln immediately relaxed. The easygoing grin came back, and Daisy felt her stomach turn yet again.
As they fell in step beside each other, they subconsciously walked so close to each other their hands kept brushing as they moved. Trying to find anything to distract her from the feeling his hand brushing hers gave her, she voiced a question that was in the back of her mind.
"Why aren't you surprised that I know your name?" She immediately regretted the blunt way she said it, but Lincoln simply chuckled. His hand came up to rub the back of his neck.
"Your roommate Jemma. After her and Fitz finally started dating, I think she was hoping we would too. She pointed you out to me once, so I just assumed she'd probably done the same for you," he mumbled awkwardly, and Daisy couldn't help but laugh. He turned to her quickly, eyes wide. "And I thought about it, honestly. I just... I wasn't—"
"You weren't sure you should even try to date," she finished for him with a smile, and he nodded gratefully. "I thought the same thing." There was another moment of comfortable silence, before Daisy broke it again. "Jemma will be a little upset she didn't get to set us up, but I'm glad we got to talk to each other on our own." Lincoln simply smiled at her as they reached the coffee shop. He held the door open for her, and as she walked past him, he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"Me too." Daisy smiled broadly, and the two of them fell into easy conversation as if they'd known each other all their lives.
As they walked back to the dorms side-by-side many hours later, their hands brushed against each other yet again. Only this time, Lincoln took advantage of it. He quickly wrapped his hand around hers, and Daisy started slightly. She glanced down at their hands before looking up to see Lincoln watching her carefully. She could read the question in his eyes, and she smiled. She tightened her grip around his hand in answer, and the two of them walked hand-in-hand back to their dorms.
But Daisy couldn't help but feel like they were walking towards a happier future.