I
When she walked into the store late on a Friday afternoon, Skye was greeted with cold air being blown her way. She pulled her collar up higher in hope it would keep some of her body heat contained. She shivered violently, and for a split second she regretted her decision to come here on such a cold day, to buy ice cream non the less.
But when she heard her stomach rumble she quickly pushed her regret away. She desperately needed some sort of substance that wasn't juiced fruit or vegetables. If Bobbi knew she was buying ice cream, she would go insane. Skye grimaced, why she even let the other woman convince her to participate in this weird diet cleanse thing was beyond her. It was probably one of the worst decisions she ever made.
She made her way over to the area in the store where the ice cream was, still huddled deep into her jacked. Because she had her hood on, she completely missed the other person standing in front of the freezers. Without any warning, she fully collided with another body that stumbled backwards.
"Oh my god!" Skye exclaimed, reaching out to get a hold on the other persons arm to prevent them from falling over.
"I am so sorry, I didn't see you there." She said as soon as the other person, a woman, had found her footing again.
"Oh don't worry about it," She said, English accent very present in her voice, "No one got injured." She smiled.
"Yeah, you're right. I should pay more attention when I walk though." Skye smiled back at the other woman. "Wouldn't want to hurt anyone."
The woman nodded, her brown hair bouncing around her face. They stood opposite of each other in an awkward silence until Skye opened her mouth again. "So uhm.. I came her to get ice cream."
"Right! Yes, me too." The other woman said, slightly flustered.
Skye opened the glass door and got a container with chocolate peppermint ice cream off the shelve. She then turned back to the woman who was still standing motionless at her side.
"Well, it was nice running into you," Skye jokes, "quite literally."
The woman snickers, "It sure was, though I would prefer you just use my name and say hi the next time."
"Will do." Sky answers.
She turns around and starts to walk away, but realizing something and turns back. "You never told me your name."
"Jemma. Jemma Simmons."
Skye smiles, "Nice to meet you Jemma. I'm Skye."
II
Skye sniffed as she found herself in front of the same freezers again two weeks later. She had taken care of a sick Bobbi for a week, and now she was exhausted. Turns out that when your roommate gets the flu, chances are you are going to get sick too. So she decided to treat herself with some ice cream and a nice movie before she would suffer the same fate.
To say she was surprised to see the woman -Jemma- again, was an understatement. She thought she would never see her again after that rather awkward meeting two weeks prior. But yet, there she was, clutching a shopping bag in one hand, and the other stretched out above her. It was obvious she was trying to get something from the highest shelve but couldn't reach it.
For a split second, Skye thought about walking away, but she soon discarded that thought and walked towards her.
"Jemma?" She said hesitantly.
The woman yelped and turned around quickly. "Oh hi!" She said, putting the bag down, "Skye, right?"
Skye smiled, "Yes, you remembered my name."
Jemma smiled back, "Well, you did make quite the impression last time." She grinned.
"Yeah yeah. I thought you'd forgiven me already."
"I have, don't worry." Jemma hopped from one foot to the other, "So, here for ice cream again?"
"Yes, my roommate had the flu for a week and this is the first night I can actually relax and do nothing. So I thought some nice ice cream would suffice."
"Sounds like a good plan! Unfortunately I have to work tonight, but its my turn to do the groceries since Fitz is out of town this week."
"Fitz?" Skye couldn't help but ask, hell, she only met this girl twice but she had a feeling she would grow to like her pretty quickly. Best to know if she was single or even attracted to girls before she found herself in too deep.
"He's my best friend and roommate. We went to college together." Jemma smiled fondly.
"So, no uh.. boyfriend?"
"God no," Jemma chuckled, "no guys for me."
Did she just wink? Skye thought, losing control over her mouth. Before she could catch herself saying something embarrassing, she blurted out, "Right, ice cream!"
Without looking at Jemma, she pulled the first container off the shelve and almost ran away, furiously blushing. She was never this flustered after talking to a girl, what was wrong with her?
She didn't look back, and missed the other girl's amused smirk behind her back.
III
In comparison to the last couple of weeks, today was an excruciatingly hot day. The sun burned on Skye's skin, making her sweat and leaving her feeling rather uncomfortable.
"Come on guys! Hurry up. If we stay outside another minute longer I am sure I'm going to melt." Skye told the group of people next to her.
"Don't exaggerate, Skye. We all know you just want the ice cream, no need to up make excuses." Trip answered her, pushing against her shoulder.
Both Bobbi and Hunter laughed, and Skye cracked a smile too. Trip was right, after all. She didn't mind the heat that much, she just wanted a good reason to eat ice cream, nothing more. Or so she told herself.
Her friends had given her a strange look when she told them she wanted to buy the cold refreshment at a grocery store. None of them knew Skye's real reason to go there. It certainly wasn't because of an English girl named Jemma. Not at all.
When the finally reached the store, Skye quickly glanced inside. To her disappointment, the girl was no where to be seen. Even though Skye knew the chances of them meeting again were extremely small, she still managed to get her hopes up, only to have them crushed now. She didn't let it ruin her mood too much though. She was with her friends on a sunny summer day, she was going to enjoy herself.
They all choose a flavour and went to stand in line to pay for it, when Skye saw her. At first, she couldn't really believe it. No one was that lucky, especially not her. But yet, there she was, brown hair pulled up in a pony tail and green rimmed sunglasses on her nose. She was talking to a guy walking next to her, and Skye guessed that had to be Fitz.
"Jemma!" She called out, attracting the attention of not only the woman she called out for, but also from her friends and some random people around them. She didn't care.
Jemma noticed her too, and smiled brightly as she tugged Fitz' arm to come with her. "Hello Skye." English accent ever present, even in those two words.
"Let me guess, here for ice cream?" Skye said.
"How does she-" Fitz began, but was interrupted by Jemma, "Yes! Same for you I suppose?"
"You know it." Skye smiled, ignoring the quizzical looks her friends gave her.
"We have to stop meeting like this, you know." Jemma said, fidgeting with her fingers.
"We definitely should."
Without her noticing, the line had moved up and suddenly it was her turn to pay. Bobbi, Trip and Hunter were already waiting for her by the exit, looking at her with facial expressions changing from impatient to amused.
"My friends are waiting for me." Skye said weakly.
"Oh of course. Fitz and I need to go too, lots of things to do today!"
"We do?" Fitz said, looking confused, "I thought you said you didn't have anything to do tod-"
"Silly Fitz," Jemma interrupted him once again, "don't you remember that thing I told you about?"
Skye let them banter as she paid for her ice cream. As soon as she was done, she faced Jemma again, "I'm sure I'll see you again here sometime."
"Yeah probably," Jemma grinned, "I'm looking forward to it."
Skye made her way over to where her friends were standing, trying to look indifferent and ignoring their looks. "What?" She finally said when they were outside.
"I don't know who that girl is, Skye, but congrats, she's hot." Bobbi smirked.
"Shut up." Skye hissed. "Her name is Jemma by the way." She added in a whisper. "Beautiful Jemma Simmons."
IV
The next time Skye went to the store to buy ice cream, was for a much sadder reason. Her eyes were red rimmed and she felt like utter crap. The only thing that could make her feel a little better was ice cream. Lots of ice cream, preferably chocolate peppermint.
But when she opened the freezer door, her favourite flavour was no where to be seen. She let out a deep sigh, forcing her tears not to fall. Her day was already bad enough, and now the only good comfort food she knew was sold out. But she knew better than to stand here and cry about it. That wouldn't fix anything anyway. Instead, she looked around for her second favourite flavour.
When she located the strawberry ice cream, she felt a little relieved. At least she could have this one. She slumped over to the register to pay, not really paying any attention to her surroundings. She made her way outside, clutching the cold container so tightly it made her fingers numb.
"Skye?"
She heard someone say her name, and she looked up confused. Her eyes landed on no one other than Jemma Simmons. She immediately looked down. She had been crying for a good part of the day, and she was sure she didn't look that attractive anymore.
"Are you okay?" Jemma asked, sounding worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Skye said in a hoarse voice. "Just, you know, my favourite flavour was sold out." She attempted to make a joke to distract Jemma from her obvious unhappy state of mind, holding up the strawberry ice cream.
"Chocolate peppermint?"
Skye nodded.
Jemma reached inside her shopping bag, pulling out a container with Skye's favourite flavour. "I don't know why you are so upset, but no one cries when their favourite ice cream is sold out." She said, handing it to Skye. "But you look like you can use it."
"Thanks." Skye said so softly it was almost inaudible.
"Don't worry about it. Let's trade shall we? I love strawberry."
"Then why did you buy chocolate peppermint?" Skye asked curiously.
Jemma blushed, "I've seen you buy it three, so I thought I should try it."
Skye looked up, smiling even though she felt terrible. This girl seemed to have that effect on her. "I'm sorry you didn't have a chance to try it out."
"Don't be silly. I'll try it another time." She said reassuringly. "Is there anything else I can do to make you feel better? You seem pretty upset..."
"My dog died today." Skye croaked.
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." Jemma said.
Before Skye could process being called honey, Jemma had her enveloped in a hug. The woman's arms wrapped around Skye's shoulders and a warm body pressed into her own.
Skye wasn't used to being hugged, and usually she didn't even like physical contact, but somehow being hugged by this particular person made her feel better. She knew that meant something and she should step back and think about it, but for now she let herself enjoy the closeness this woman gave her.
She wrapper her arms around Jemma's waist and buried her face in her hair.
"It's going to be okay." Jemma whispered.
And for now, Skye believed her.
V
Skye casually leaned against the cold freezers, suppressing the urge to shiver. She once again found herself in the grocery store in the ice cream isle. This time though, she was here on purpose.
After she and Jemma shared a hug and an awkward goodbye, Skye had talked to Bobbi. After running in to the English woman four times, both Bobbi and Skye decided she couldn't let fate decide when their next meeting would occur.
So that was why Skye was now standing here, trying very hard to look casual, like she was waiting for someone. Which she was in fact. She wanted to see Jemma again, and since she didn't have any information about her apart from her name, this was the only thing Skye could come up with to meet her again. Even if it was a little pathetic, she frankly didn't care.
After waiting for over an hour, she started to loose hope. Of course she wouldn't show up. How small was the chance that Jemma was going grocery shopping today at this exact time? She should have thought about this more thoroughly, she was only making a fool of herself standing here waiting for no one. She just hoped that for once, some sort of higher power would be on her side.
Guess not. She thought bitterly.
Her back felt sore from standing in such an uncomfortable position for so long and she had gotten quite hungry. She decided to buy ice cream, it was a pitiful replacement, but at least it wouldn't feel like she completely wasted time here.
Her eyes landed on the strawberry, and after a short second of doubt, she picked it up from its shelve and went to pay for it. Once outside, she looked around, hoping Jemma would magically appear somewhere. When she didn't, Skye started to walk home. She put her headphones on and turned the music on.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm, and she jumped back, startled. She was quick in noticing the woman next to her, and she let out a relieved breath when she saw it was Jemma. She took her headphones off and hung them around her neck.
"Jeez Simmons, you scared me."
"I'm sorry Skye, I called you but you didn't hear me."
"Yeah, I got that part." Skye huffed, a smile on her face. "So, what brings you here today?" She asked casually.
"You."
Skye's heart skipped a beat and she looked up at Jemma, "Wha..what?"
"Well after our last meeting I really wanted to see you again but I didn't know where to find you besides this place where we seem to meet at odd moments. So I thought that if I waited out here for a while I may run into you again. And I know that sounds kind of creepy and even a little bit stalker-ish, but I really couldn't-"
"Jemma, you're rambling." Skye laughed.
"Right, sorry." Jemma said, looking more flustered than ever. "I'll stop talking now."
"Don't. You're cute when you ramble."
This made Jemma impossibly more red, and the other woman looked down at her feet.
Skye burst out laughing, "I waited inside for you for an hour, hoping you would show up." She confessed.
Jemma's head shot up, "Really?"
"Yeah. I was maybe not so secretly hoping you would come to buy ice cream."
"We definitely need to stop meeting like this." Jemma said, repeating what she said earlier when they met on that hot day, smiling brightly.
"We definitely should." Skye replied, "so how about I take you out for dinner sometime? We can even get ice cream afterwards." She added with a wink.
"I would love that." Jemma said, reaching in her pocket. "This is my number. Now we wont have to wait out here for each other." She giggled softly.
"Great idea, Jemma Simmons." Skye got the card and put it in her own pocket. "Well I guess I'll see you around then?"
Jemma nodded, "I am sure you will."
+ I
"You know, if Bobbi had never suggested to do that stupid juice cleanse, we would have never met." Skye said, bringing the spoon to her mouth.
"I know, that would have been a catastrophe." Jemma laughs, "Thankfully you failed that cleanse. Miserably."
"Yeah. And by the way, ice cream is so much better than juiced fruit. By a long shot!"
"That's true, though it is the more unhealthy choice of the two."
"Shhh, we are not talking about that." Skye said, smiling.
It was six months after their first meeting, and Skye has never in her life been more happy than she is now. Jemma, her girlfriend, is sitting opposite of her at Skye's table in her apartment, mouth filled with strawberry ice cream. A smile almost permanent on her face.
"You know what we should try?" Skye suddenly said.
Jemma tilted her head, like she always did when she was listening intently.
"You like strawberry, and I like my chocolate peppermint," Skye began, pulling Jemma's bowl closer, "We should mix the two. It might taste wonderful."
Jemma nodded, and Skye proceeded with her plan. She got up from her chair to get a clean spoon and bowl. When she sat down again, she first put some strawberry ice cream in it, followed closely by the brown mixture. She then took her own spoon and carefully placed a bit of both on it.
"Okay, close your eyes." She said, looking at Jemma.
Jemma did so and leaned a bit forwards. Skye slowly brought the spoon to her girlfriends lips. "Open up." She said before leaving it to stick out so that Jemma herself could get it out.
The other woman's face got a funny expression, and Skye couldn't contain her laughter. After a few seconds, Jemma opened her eyes and swallowed.
"It tastes a bit odd, but yet I really like it." She said.
"It's special," Skye replied, bringing another spoonful of the brown and pink mixed ice cream to her own lips. "it's our personal invention."
"It's the best ice cream in the whole world." Jemma laughed happily.
From that moment on, 'Strawberry-chocolate peppermint' was their ice cream flavour of choice.