Once Skye and Coulson got back to the house, Skye placed her bag at the bottom of the stairs, and followed Coulson into the kitchen.

Grabbing a glass of water from the tap, she turned towards Coulson, leaning against the sink.

'So how was your day?' Skye asked, a little curious as to what Coulson did when she left for school.

'It was okay, bit of a slow start, but it picked up after lunch.' Coulson said with a shrug.

'I actually have a business meeting soon, if that's okay?' Coulson asked, unsure if Skye minded being home alone.

Skye realized at this point that she had no clue what Coulson did for a living. 'Sure. But what exactly do you do? Business wise.'

Coulson smiled. 'I write.'

Skye looked up, interested. 'Anything I might have read?'

Coulson laughed, before replying, 'I doubt it, I'm not that great, but what few books I sell pays the bills.'

Skye looked at him in disbelief, 'Don't be so modest, I'm sure you're great. Besides, there must be a fair few people buying the books, to be able to afford to live in such a nice house.'

Coulson laughed, before saying, 'Thanks but it was always more of a hoby to me. After I came back from the war, I missed the action, the danger, so I decided to write my own. A friend of mine picked up on it and connected me to a publisher he knew. It all kinda just went from there.'

Skye nodded, before Coulson continued, 'Speaking of, that meeting is with my publisher, and it starts... In 10 minutes. I gotta run, there's food in the oven, I'll be back by 8.'

Skye shouted a goodbye, as Coulson sped out the house, hearing the engine of the car roar before driving away. Skye looked at the oven timer, and saw the food only had 10 minutes left. Suddenly curious, Skye went over to the large bookcase in the living room, brimming with all sorts of books. Some in different languages, some old, some new, Skye felt kind of stupid for not realizing he was a writer sooner. After a quick skim of the authors, she didn't find any by Coulson, and Skye was disappointed.

Skye went to her bag, and pulled out her laptop. She quickly opened up Amazon, and typed in 'Philip Coulson'.

Coulson had been underselling himself. He wad written multiple books, the majority, part of a series, called 'The Avengers.' They seemed popular, getting high ratings from everyone. Skye put her laptop down, as the timer went off for the oven.

Skye quickly turned it of, put on oven mitts, and opening the oven door.

The smell of homemade pizza wafted from the oven, and Skye smiled. She remembered telling him on her first night that Pepperoni was her favourite, and he hadn't forgotten. She quickly removed it from the oven, and found herself a plate.

After her first bite, Skye shamefully let out a moan. It was delicious, and seemed to be a recurrence with Coulsons cooking. Skye quickly wolfed down half the pizza, and left the rest. Covering it in foil, she put it in the fridge, before finding a piece of paper and scribbling out a note, to be left on the counter.

Dinner was great. Didn't know if you were eating at your meeting, so the rest is in the fridge. Skye.

Skye smiled, before checking the time. It was still 6:30, and Coulson wouldn't be back till 8. Suddenly an idea came to her, and she grabbed her bag from the bottom of the stairs and her jacket. She left the house, locking it behind her with the keys Coulson had given her the day before.


It was a 10 minute walk into town, but it wasn't that cold out. She wandered around the town center, occasionally asking directions till she found the local bookstore. It was cosy inside, with a cute, little cafe in the corner. Skye and Coulson had their love of books in common, and Skye knew she would be visiting often. She looked around a bit before going up to the counter and asking, 'Hey, a friend recommended to me a author, and I wanted to check him out.'

The lady at the counter smiled, before replying, 'Sure, honey, what's the authors name?'

'Philip Coulson.'

'Ooh, I love his works, your friend has good taste.' Skye smirked at the irony as the lady showed her to where his books were stocked.

'The author actually lives locally. He occasionally does book signings when he releases anything new.'

Skye nodded, trying not to laugh. 'Anyway, there it is. I recommend his series, but they're all great.'

Skye thanked the lady, before looking at the books. They looked good, they were kind of fantasy, with superheroes and spies, and were targeted at young adults. Reading each of the blurbs, she picked out the first three from the series. One was about a soldier, another about a spy named Black Widow and the third was about a god of thunder. Skye realized that the first six were about the different heroes, and the rest were about them working as a team. One thing that connected all the books was an Agent, who worked with them as their handler. They looked pretty great, and Skye went back to the counter to buy the first three. Bagging her purchase, Skye went over to the cafe, and ordered a coffee, and started reading the first book.

Skye became so engrossed in the story, that she jumped when she felt a hand tap her on her shoulder.

'Honey, we're closing up.' Skye nodded, and placed the book in her bag before leaving.

Skye got back to the house at 20 minutes to 8, and she quickly went upstairs and continued with her book, not noticing when Coulson got back, and eventually falling asleep with it in her hands. She didn't stir when Coulson popped his head into her room to check on her. He smiled when he saw the book in her hands, and turned the lights off, before leaving, gently closing the door behind him.


'Did you hear what the new girl did to Ward today?' Tasha asked, everyone nodding, whilst Tasha grinned. 'God, I wish I did that to him on my first day.'

Everyone laughed before Trip added 'Yeah, I spoke to her at lunch. I told her to come to the group, if she wanted, she's good with computers. I guess she couldn't make it.'

'Oh yeah, I saw her in in my Computer Science class, she was pretty good,' Tony added.

'Maybe she'll come next week. She probably just moved into town or something. Why else would she have joined half way through the semester?' Simmons said.

Tony grinned, before saying playfully, 'Well, there's only one way to find out.'

'Nothing. There's nothing. Just her name, Skye Coulson.' Tony groaned in frustration.

'Like I said, she's good with computers.' Trip grinned, knowing Skye had probably done that at lunch.

'You don't think she's related to Philip Coulson?' Simmons asked, suddenly curious. She had loved reading his books.

Trip shrugged, not wanting to mention Skye being an orphan. He didn't know if that was free information.

'Didn't he and Ms May have a thing?' Tony piped up at the mention of Coulson, loving gossip.


Simmons was distracted. And that didn't happen easily. Usually she payed the up most attention to her classes, but today she couldn't concentrate.

Skye had turned up to class, late, and she hadn't even bothered taking her notebook out. Instead, she was just reading a book. She thought it was from that series by Coulson, which only heightened her suspicions that she was somehow related to him. If it were in any other situation, she would have commended Skye for her choice of reading material, and she was all for reading, it stimulated the brain and sparked your imagination, but NOT IN CLASS! First it was the doodling and now it was the book, Simmons could not let it stand.

Simmons poked Skye hard on the shoulder, and almost hissed at her, 'Put that away, before you get detention. You should be listening!'

Skye rolled her eyes at her, but instead of putting the book away, she just turned to the next page.

Simmons huffed. 'Fine. See if I care.'

Simmons ignored the slight twitch of Skye's mouth, and went back to listening to the teacher. Simmons wasn't usually one to judge, but she just couldn't stand when people neglected their education. These teachers only wanted to see you pass, you could at least give them the time of day. Simmons found herself grumbling about Skye in her mind instead of listening, again, and quickly focused. She wasn't going to let someone else's lack of interest ruin her learning, no matter how infuriated it made her.


Skye found herself absorbed in the books. She spent her weekend reading, in her room or at the bookstore, when she went back to buy the next couple from the series. She was completely obsessed.

'You are a genius!'

'Pardon?' Coulson said, looking up from his laptop.

'Your books. They are amazing! The way you write, it's so real.'

Coulson smirked, before replying, 'I'm glad you think so. Some of the stories actually happened, back when I was in the army.'

'No way! That's insane!'

Coulson grinned, 'obviously, some bits I couldn't include, some bits I had to make up. And then there are bits I did include, but say I made up, you know, working for special forces.'
Skye grinned, before asking, 'Do you recon you could tell me some stories?'

Over the next few days, Skye began to settle into a routine of sorts. Skye would wake up, have breakfast with Coulson and then drive to school. At school, she would mostly read. Occasionally she would listen to music, tucking the wire of her earphones in her hair. She got great satisfaction from seeing the disapproval from Simmons.

At lunch, she would read, or go on her laptop, working on her coding for her Computer Science class, the only class she actually worked in. She would spend her evenings at the bookstore cafe, with her laptop or buried in a book. On the evenings she stayed at the house, she would talk with Coulson, about the army, the books, even school.

She had got into her routine, but it was disrupted one evening at the end of the week when she came back to the house to find they had a guest.

'Crap! I completely forgot you were coming, Nick,' she exclaimed, before hugging him.

'Don't worry, that's a good sign. Usually you count the days till I come for the check ups. Come on, Coulsons got food waiting.'

Skye grinned, and followed him into the kitchen.

Coulson poured them drinks, as Skye set the table.

'Umm, Coulson, you gave me an extra set of knives and forks,' Skye called from the dining room.

'Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I invited Melinda over, she should be here any minute.'

Skye froze. She didn't want her telling Fury about her lack of work in class, she had promised she would try this time around. Skye quickly recovered herself. She didn't want to get too anxious, she knew where that lead.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

'I'll get it,' Skye called, before going to answer it.

It was indeed May, and Skye welcomed her into the house.

'Hello, Skye.'

'Hi, Ms May,' Skye greeted, still slightly worried.

'Please, call me Melinda, we're not in school.' Skye nodded, as Coulson called through.

'Mel? Is that you? You're just in time, I'm starting to serve up.'

Melinda smiled, before saying to Skye, 'God, I've missed Phil's cooking.'

Skye laughed, as she followed her into the dining room.

May hugged Fury, and then Coulson, before seating herself at the table, and the rest followed suit.

Conversation ran freely, as Coulson began to serve up, Skye often getting lost in private jokes and stories. After their first mouthful, Fury gave a moan in appreciation, as Skye giggled, thinking back to the pizza.

'I forgot what a good cook you are,' Fury said with a grin.

Coulson laughed, before he quipped,
'Well it makes all the difference when everything I work with doesn't come from a can.'

May laughed, and Skye smiled. She liked seeing this joking side of Coulson.

The dinner continued, and school wasn't mentioned, much to Skye's relief. Although Fury and May involved her in the talk.

'Coulson tells me you're reading his books.'

Skye smiled, before nodding. 'They're really good.'

'And, how do you like the town, Skye?' May asked.

'Its nice. The people are kind, and there are loads of places to see. My favorite is the book store. It has a great little cafe.'

May smiled, she did that a lot, now that she was out of the school. 'I know the place. It's lovely for a place to relax.'


As the evening went on, Skye noticed the amount of wine consumed increased, and May and Coulson moved to the living room so Fury and Skye could talk.

'So how do you like it here?'

'Its good. Coulson is a nice guy, and the schools okay. Everything seems good.'

Fury frowned. 'And yet you seem to be holding back. What's wrong.'

Skye mirrored Fury's frown. 'This wouldn't be the first time I misplaced my judgement. Remember the Brody's?'

Fury sighed. 'Coulson isn't the Brody's. He's not going to abandon you at the first sign of trouble. He's a good man.'

'I'm sure he was, 10 years ago when you knew him.' Skye shrugged. 'People change, how do you know he hasn't?'

'Because I trust this man with my life. He was there when I lost my wife, and I, when he lost his. We were there through everything, and I never saw someone with a greater heart. People like him don't just change. It's ingrained to his very DNA. Just have a little faith.'

Skye sighed. 'You're right. He's a good guy. I just don't want to lose this. I think this could eventually turn into something good.'

'And you, more than most, deserve it. But it won't unless you take the leap. Start to trust again. You can have everything you've wanted. Coulson is the one, I'm sure of it.'

Skye smiled. 'You're right. Of course you're right.'

From the lounge, the sound of laughter erupted, and Fury smirked.

'I swear, if one of them don't make a move..'

Skye grinned. 'Right! It's so obvious,' She exclaimed with a giggle.

Skye and Fury decided to joined the others, and the settled into easy conversation, talking the night away.

Skye thought about what she had said to Nick. Maybe this could be something good, Skye admitted to herself, as she looked at the people around her.

Maybe I could have a life here.


Hey, so heres another one, i couldnt sleep. This one is a little more fluffy, but i like it. The next ones gunna have more simmons in, and maybe involve more of the others.

so Im going to try posting at least once a week, but when im bored (take this weekend as an example) it might be more.

thanks for all the lovely reviews, and yeah, tell me what you think, send a review, and i will definitely reply if youre not on guest. Thanks