Jemma hated haunted houses.
She couldn't understand why someone would voluntarily allow themselves to be scared. Why would you walk into a small, dark, corridor with the knowledge that, at any moment, someone will jump out at you?
Yet, here she was.
Standing in line with Fitz, nervously bouncing on her heels…again. Her hands clenched together in front of herself as he stood behind her. She could almost hear the smirk on his lips. That annoyingly odd way he cleared his throat. A mixture of a chuckle and an apology.
"You're going to be fine, Jemma."
His voice cut into her quiet causing her eyes to narrow. She glanced over her shoulder at her best friend. "That's what you said about the last house." She reminded, taking a small step forward. "And I jumped out of my skin."
"Yeah, that was perfection." Fitz laughed, clearing his throat when Jemma's stare cut through him. "This one shouldn't be so bad." He raised his hand, pointing at the large monitor. It was displaying some randomly odd commercial concerning the house. "The guys dressed in a bloody bunny suit. How scary can a bunny possibly be?"
Jemma huffed and turned her attention forward. Her arms crossed against her chest immediately. "This is the last time."
"You said that the last time."
Jemma grunted, stumbling over her words for a moment. "Well... this time I'm certain of it."
The next few steps forward were excruciatingly slow. It was like everyone had turned into zombies, playing on their phones, chatting amongst their group. She counted at least seven groups of people playing 'heads up'. So many times Jemma had to control herself from shouting out an answer that was poorly acted out.
It was a distraction though. Watching the people around her. It kept her mind off of whatever that giant, bloody bunny had planned for her and the other 'unsuspecting' future inhabitants of the house.
The person in front of her abruptly stopped causing Jemma to stumble forward into them. "Oh, I'm sorry." Jemma apologized, her hand pressing into the soft, black leather jacket.
The woman turned, a smile on her lips. "No, you're good." She raised her hand and shook her phone. "Entirely my fault."
"Well, either way." Jemma raised her hands with a small, nervous chuckle.
Her smile widened a bit and Jemma felt her heart jump. She didn't understand how she didn't notice this beautiful person before. Maybe it was the impending panic attack that made her pay attention to what was around her instead of right in front of her.
"Your friend is right; you know?" She spoke as she typed on the tiny keyboard.
For a second, Jemma remained silent, almost unsure whether she was actually talking to her. "I beg your pardon?" She responded, raising an eyebrow.
The woman leaned back against the tightly stretched ropes that made up the line. "About this house not being so bad." She slipped her phone into her pocket. "My friend and I have done it twice already. You'll be fine."
As Jemma opened her mouth to respond, Fitz's voice came filtering out. "See, Jemma, I told you."
Jemma gritted her teeth and shot him a sideways glance. She returned her attention to the front again, noticing a bit of distance between her and her line partner. She took a few steps forward, not too eagerly, to catch up. "I'm just not a fan of these things, that's all."
"You know you can always grab onto me if you're scare, Jemma." Fitz offered, squeezing his friend's shoulders as they stopped once more.
"Or me." The woman added.
Jemma couldn't help but notice the flush of pink that made its way up her neck and into her cheeks. She wondered if it matched her own. She could see the woman's friend smirk from the corner of her eye and shake his head.
"I mean…" She cleared her throat as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "It's, uh, it's easier to, you know, grab forward instead of backwards."
Jemma snapped from her surprise for a moment and nodded. "You're right. But, I-wouldn't want to impose on your personal space."
"I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind." Her friend chimed in, earning an elbow to the ribs.
The woman turned fully and started to walk backwards. It wasn't until that moment that Jemma realized how close they were to the entrance. Her heart was out of control. This beautiful human's eyes on her with the added anxiousness of walking through the darkness behind her was making her all fluttery. Jemma's eyes widened as she watched the woman's friend enter the building. Suddenly time had oddly sped up and they were poised to enter the building.
She shrugged with an adorable half grin on her lips. "Offer still stands." She reminded as she turned on her heels and walked into the entrance.
"Here we go." Fitz giggled, excited with a small jump behind her. He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "We should hurry so we can catch up to your girlfriend."
Maybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe it was the jitters. But Jemma never remembered elbowing Fitz as hard as she did at that moment.
The large Bunny emerged from the door with a loud sinister laugh. His axe waving wildly in the air. Jemma screamed. It wasn't a normal scream either. It was loud and high pitched and it followed with her burying her face the back of the woman in front of her. She stumbled backwards and Jemma's hands gripped her sides.
"Woah." She laughed, placing her hands over Jemma's. "You okay?"
"Bullocks." Jemma mumbled into her back. She was pretty thankful for the darkness at this point. No one could see how red her face suddenly feels. "I'm so sorry."
Her laughter continued as she guided Jemma into the next room. "It's all good. The bunnies gone now." She patted Jemma's hand. "You're safe."
Jemma raised her head and glanced around. She slowly removed her hands from the girl's sides and took a tiny step back, almost stumbling into Fitz. "I'm sorry I grabbed you."
She glanced over her shoulder, her white teeth sparkly in the blackness. "I told you it was okay."
"I know, but— "
A loud bang followed by a weird monster cut her off. She screamed again and wrapped her arms around the slightly taller woman's shoulders. She could feel the chuckle in her throat by how hard she was gripping her neck.
"Kind of need to breath." She gasped, the laughter lacing her throat.
Jemma quickly let go. "Oh my-I'm so sorry-I truly- "
Another monster. Another scream. Another way to wrap herself around this woman who's name she didn't even know. Who she had maybe a five-minute conversation with standing in a line to suffer through this hell. She was almost accustomed to her laugh and the way she patted Jemma's forearm and told her everything was going to be fine.
By the fifth room, Jemma was muttering curses. Her mind blown by how long this house actually was. It was almost like it was never going to end. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. It had gotten to the point where she just held onto her savior the entire time. Her arms wrapped around her waist and her forehead buried in her back.
The woman reached back, wrapping her arms around Jemma. It was a slightly awkward position, but the woman didn't seem bothered by it. Her flexibility impressed Jemma, but she was focused more on the feel of her protector's arms around her.
"We are almost out." She assured her, giving her one small squeeze before letting go.
"You promise?"
That adorable chuckle escaped her throat once again. "I promise."
Two more steps, the sound of a chainsaw and it was over.
"There you have it." Fitz breathed, grinning at his friend. "That wasn't so bad."
Jemma's fingers were sore from grabbing onto the leather. Her throat rough from screaming. She raised her head and glared at him. "No, no, it was perfectly delightful."
"I enjoyed it."
She turned at the sound of her protector's voice. Again, with that smile. "I'm Daisy, by the way." She pointed over her shoulder. "This is Mack."
Jemma could see Fitz straighten at the introduction of the very large, very handsome man with her. "Jemma." She introduced, placing her hand on Fitz's shoulder. "This is Fitz."
Mack leaned forward, extending his hand to Fitz. "Nice to meet you."
Fitz hurriedly took his hand. "You as well."
Daisy watched them for a moment, raising her eyebrow. She released a small chuckle and returned her attention to Jemma. "We were going to hit another house." She took a small step forward putting her directly in front of Jemma. "Would you like to join us?"
Fitz grinned. Even though he wanted to hang out with Mack a bit, he couldn't help but take this opportunity to tease Jemma a bit. "Oh, no." he responded, earning the look he was expecting from his best friend. "Jemma said that was the last house so we should probably- "
"We'd love too." Jemma interrupted, returning her focus to Daisy. "If you're okay with me practically jumping on your back again."
Daisy's smile grew. "Completely okay with it." She offered her hand to Jemma with a shrug. "Just in case you need some comfort in the scare zones."
Jemma smiled and took her hand. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Daisy intertwined their fingers and pulled her a bit closer.
Fitz passed by to join Mack in the front of the group. He nudged Jemma lightly and leaned into her. "See. Told you haunted houses aren't so bad." He winked at her and joined Mack in the lead.
She turned her head slightly and caught eyes with Daisy. They smiled at one another before Daisy leaned into her causing Jemma to wrap her free hand around her bicep. She felt Daisy's muscle twitch when a random scare actor jumped out at them. Daisy raised an eyebrow and breathed out and Jemma couldn't help but chuckle.
No, haunted houses really weren't so bad after all.