Fitz supposed that this might be the last moment of peace he might get in a long time. After spending the day in a bright sunny forest, the dank interior of the Lighthouse felt even more gloomy than usual, but none of that seemed to matter when the woman in his arms shifted around to stare up at him. His fingers trailed through her hair, and when he remembered with a pleasant jolt to his stomach that Jemma Simmons was his wife – his wife - Fitz almost forgot that the world was ending.
"What are you thinking about?" Jemma mumbled with a smile, and he realised that he'd been staring for a long time.
He pressed a kiss to her hair. "How long it took to get you out of that dress," he said, with a grin.
"You got there eventually."
"Thirty pins, Jemma. Thirty," he said, his lips brushing against her hair. "I've built machines less complex than that contraption."
Jemma rolled her eyes, with that half-smile she always did when she didn't want to admit that she found him funny, and Fitz was once again reminded of how much he loved her.
"You still haven't told me what you were really thinking about."
"Oh, that's easy," Fitz said, nestling his chin against her shoulder, and pulling her tighter to his chest. "You."
Jemma snorted, as if to say, well obviously. Then she cocked an eyebrow, a smirk flitting across her face. "I thought you might be thinking about how I totally out-romanced you at the ceremony."
"Didn't realise it was a competition."
"Oh, Fitz," Jemma said, her eyes shining as her fingers brushed against his cheek, "it's always a competition."
"Reading it off a piece of paper doesn't count," Fitz said. "And you should have heard my proposal, it blew your vows out the water."
"If you say so," she said. "Seeing as I didn't hear them, though, I have nothing to compare them to, and I win by default."
Fitz blinked as he realised what she was getting at. "Are you asking me to repeat my proposal?"
"Well, if it was as romantic as you say..."
He sighed. "It was a spur of the moment thing, Jemma, I can't just—"
"—well, if you're going to cop out," she taunted, still grinning in a way that made him what to shut her up with a kiss.
"I'm not even sure I remember—"
"—I'm still not convinced that said proposal even exists."
"Right, fine," Fitz said, if for nothing else to wipe that smirk off her face. He took a deep breath, clearing his throat dramatically.
"Do you need a cough drop?"
He took a moment to glare at her, exasperated, before beginning his speech.
"I've missed you so much," he said. "I spent six months in an off-the-books military prison, plus 80 years frozen in space—"
"—Does this mean I'm technically married to a 100-year-old man?" Jemma interrupted, wrinkling her nose. She stopped when she saw the look Fitz was giving her. "Sorry. Carry on."
"I realised something," Fitz said. "The universe can't stop us. We have crossed galaxies, we have travelled through time, we've survived the bottom of the Atlantic, all so we could be together. A love like that, that is stronger than any curse."
He felt her take a deep breath in, and waited for her to interrupt him again, but she didn't. She was silent, listening to him intently.
He found his voice falter a little on the next part, just as it had before. "You and I are unstoppable together, and I—" he swallowed— "I don't want to live another day without you. So, Jemma Simmons, will you marry me?"
There was a quiet pause, and then a sniffle, and then he realised that Jemma was crying.
"Well," she said, as Fitz thumbed a tear away from her cheek. "You don't have to worry about me saying yes."
She wiggled her fingers at him, the ring glittering even under the dim fluorescent lighting. He laughed, catching her hand in his and lacing their fingers together, brushing a kiss against her neck.
"I have to admit," Jemma said. "That was a pretty impressive speech."
"I meant every word," he said, and then his voice was overcome with emotion as he continued, "Jemma. I can't promise that it'll be plain sailing from here on out – in fact, knowing us, it definitely won't be – but I can promise that I will never leave your side, I will never stop loving you, and even if the world crumbles around us, I will spend all of my time trying to make you happy."
Jemma had no words to stay to that, just choked out a sob as more tears spilled, and rather than try and put her feelings into words, she pulled him forwards and kissed him, slow and sweet.
"I love you," she whispered into his ear. "I don't want to live another day without you, either."
He didn't say anything more, he just pulled her into another kiss, and the two lay there together in each other's arms, safe in the knowledge that whatever the universe threw at them next, they'd face it together.