"Penny for your thoughts?" Jemma nudged Fitz's shoulder as she joined him on the kitchen bench.

Fitz looked up from the tea he had been staring into, "Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking back to the academy when we first met."

"Ahh," Jemma nodded and stole a sip of his tea. "We certainly have come a long way, haven't we? I'm glad you don't hate me anymore."

Fitz looked sharply over at her, "What?"

"I mean, imagine if we had never been partnered in chem lab. Would we still be bitter rivals to this day?" she mused.

"Jem, what are you going on about?"

"Fitz, you couldn't have been any clearer how you felt about me at the academy," Jemma furrowed her brow as she looked at him. "You were the smartest, and made sure everyone including me knew it."

"You thought I hated you, and we were rivals? And I was making sure everyone knew how smart I was?"

Jemma stared at him as he burst into laughter, "What is so funny?"

"Lord Jem, I didn't hate you! I thought you were the smartest person at the academy. I was dying to talk to you because you seemed like you would really understand me. I just didn't know what to say without sounding like a complete dolt. If I was acting like I was trying to show everyone how smart I was it was only because I was trying to get you to notice me."

"But you - I -," she stuttered uncharacteristically. "How long?" she finally got out.

"Months," Fitz admitted. "It wasn't until after we were partnered that I felt secure enough to talk to you."

"Oh, Fitz," Jemma sighed and leaned her head on her shoulder.

"We're a right mess, aren't we?"

"For two people so in sync, we were remarkable terrible at communication," she agreed.

Instantly he knew she wasn't just talking about their early days. "Luckily thats behind us, yeah?" he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Yeah," she agreed with a smile.

~Fini~