The next day, Jemma was prepared, as always. She might have even overprepared. She was going to walk into the lab, say to Fitz that she's been flirting with him the past couple of weeks, then, based on his response, she would act in one of three ways.

If he reacted positively, she would ask him out on a formal date. If he reacted negatively, she would just move on and play it off as some sort of joke. If he reacted indifferently or didn't react at all, she would then go into a very planned-out speech of how she came to terms with her realization of liking him and then list the pros and cons of being a formal couple.

Yep, she was definitely overprepared.

Jemma couldn't sleep the night before, so after making her speeches and very planned reactions, she gave herself many, many mental pep-talks in case of rejection, which her mind went to quite often.

But, perhaps the best pep talk came from Skye.

"Just go out there, say you like him, and take his reactions like a woman!" Skye had said to Jemma before the long-awaited reveal of her feelings. This pep-talk had made Jemma feel infinitely better, and she felt like she could do anything.

She walked into the lab with her head held high.

The first thing Jemma noticed was that Fitz was talking to one of the lower-level scientists. She thinks her name is Brittany or something. Jemma took a deep breath before strutting over to where Fitz and Brittany were.

"Hello Fitz, Brittany," she said, a smile on her face. "Do you think I could steal Fitz from you for a moment?" she directed towards Brittany. Brittany smiled and nodded before leaving the lab.

"What's up, Jemma?" Fitz asked when Brittany left.

"Have you noticed anything…odd about me lately?" Jemma asked.

Fitz pondered for a moment before replying, "No, why?"

Jemma took a deep breath (probably the 10th in just this hour alone). This was it. The moment that could change everything.

"Because I've been flirting with you this past week," she rushed out.

Fitz's eyes widened. Oh no, was this a good or a bad eye widening? Or was it neutral? Should she start going into her planned neutral speech right now?

Before Jemma started her very long and very elaborate neutral speech, Fitz sputtered out, "Like a friendly flirting o-or a … romantic fl-flirting?"

Ok, still kind of neutral. Maybe.

"Romantic," Jemma muttered, looking down at her feet. She really didn't want to know Fitz's reaction, her mind automatically going to the worst case scenario. But, she looked up anyway.

And she was glad she did.

Fitz's face was broken in two with a huge smile. Jemma hadn't seen him smile that big in a long time. Well, this definitely went under "positive reaction".

"So, you're happy?" Jemma asked, a smile slowly showing up on her face.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"I-I thought you had moved on." Jemma took a step closer to Fitz, and he did the same.

"Jemma, I thought you didn't like me, so I just accepted that we would be friends, but I could never get over you."

Joy and relief washed through her, and Jemma let out a nervous laugh. Finally, all this miscommunication was over.

"So, um." Jemma couldn't help but laugh again. This was really happening. "Do you…want to get dinner sometime. Outside the base, of course."

She didn't think Fitz's smile could get any wider, but it did.

"I'd love to."