She knocked shyly his bedroom door. She wasn't quite sure about what she was doing there, didn't even know if she actually wanted to see him, but Victoria was not available and she needed someone. She sighed as she waited for an answer, moving the sole of her shoe absently over the blue carpet as she scratched a piece of paint that was falling off the wall.
"It's open" he finally said, from inside.
May turned the knob and entered the cluttered room, closing behind her backs. Comics, books, old exams and soda cans were strewn across the floor, as well as food scraps whose date was unknown. Phil was sitting on the couch reading a comic, and she smiled when she realized he was using the Captain America shirt she had gotten him for Christmas.
"Hey" he saluted her, happy and confused to see her at the same time. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the city, at your date with Mark... he stood you up?" he added, frowning.
She shook her head. The days were still somewhat cold, but the atmosphere in the room was warm enough to put aside her jacket and stay with a simple white shirt and a red hanky. She sat beside him, kicking her boots off to put her feet on the couch, adopting the same position he was in.
"He... he did show up" she admitted after a small pause, taking a deep breath to calm herself.
"Oh, so?" Phil put his comic on the floor, what actually meant a lot, for he could see that his best friend was not okay. She was biting her lip, her eyes were shining and fixed in the floor. He put one hand in her knee and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"He... he brought me flowers" she confessed, covering her blushed face with her hands. "Oh, Phil, he appeared with a bouquet of roses!"
She felt absolutely humiliated and pathetic because of her reaction and couldn't prevent a tear rolling down her cheek. Not very sure about what he was supposed to do, Coulson hugged her by the shoulders, pulling her closer to his side.
"And I... I panicked! I closed the door, opened it, closed it agan and said I couldn't do it" May continued, burying her head in his chest. "I know I was been ridiculous and now Mark will never talk to me again"
"Hey, it's not a big deal" he replied.
"It's just that, God, I'm a mess. He gave me the flowers and I, agh, I suck at these things!"
Phil smiled slightly at her frustration, gently stroking her hair. Mark was a nice guy, sophomore, who had always been kind to his friend, (otherwise he could be considered deadman). But really was stupid, he thought, if he had brought her some roses after dating just for a couple of weeks.
If he were her boyfriend he would have done things differently. He wouldn't have bought her flowers or chocolates, he didn't want to scare her, and neither would have taken her to a cheesy coffee as Mark had planned. No, he would have done something simpler, more personal, something that showed how much he knew her and cared for her. Maybe they would had had a walk around the gardens at night, but not with a carriage or violins or turning the whole thing into a big deal, just to stroll and enjoy their company, as so often they had done at recess. Then they could have gone by the lake and they would had been sitting on a blanket that he would have brought in a backpack, accompanied with her favourite meal and a movie. And the thing is that the special part of the night wouldn't be any extravagancy or his opportunity to shine and impress her, that was not them. It would have been just one more way to show how deeply he appreciated her, how much she meant for him and how crazily in love he was with Melinda May...
"Do you think he'll ever forgive me?" she asked, popping his bubble and taking him out of his reveries. "I mean, he broke up with me, but he looked really mad and I wouldn't want to be one of those girls who just hate their exes"
"Huh?" he replied, still clinging onto the daydream of their perfect date. "He'll understand, Mel. And if he broke up with you it is because he's a complete idiot"
May straightened a bit, wiping her face with the back of her hand. She looked into his eyes and realised that he was serious. Coulson really seemed as if he meant what he had said. He probably did.
"Thanks, Phil" she muttered, offering him a small smirk. "I'm the idiot in this story, but that doesn't matter"
"It's not your fault, silly" he insisted, giving her a small punch in the arm. "You just had dated for a couple of weeks, any girl would freak out with that. I bet Vic would have broken his nose"
"You are right" May chuckled. "But now she is at the cinema, with Thomas... and John?"
"He took a girl out to a restaurant in the city, whatever they do next I really don't want to know, but it won't be here for I paid him ten bucks to stay away" he answered, shrugging. For special dates like San Valentine's day, the Academy allowed the students to go out to the city, they could even borrow a car if they wanted to. That measure had been implemented after that, one year, the gardens had been filled with hormonal couples who fought for a privileged corner and others, on the contrary, that didn't seem to have any privacy issues.
"And what about you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you are popular, Phil, tons of girls would have killed to go on a date with you" said May, a little puzzled. "How is it that you are not with anyone?"
"Oh, well... the truth is, Sophia asked me out and so did Laura, but you know that they are not my type" he admitted. "They are so dumb act so and hoity-toity because they know they're more beautiful than the other girls"
For one reason or the other, his eyes were glued to his hands, as if he felt embarrassed or guilty fo the girls's behavior. When he looked up again he saw that her expression hadn't changed at all. She didn't push him to say anything, as she was also a quiet person and understood how it was to lose yourself in a daydream. That was one of the many things he liked about her, he thought, the fact that she liked the silence. They could both sit down and read for a while, not even talking for hours, just keeping each other company..
"Well, considering that I'm the girl that ended up with you, I gotta say I feel somewhat offended" May suddenly joked, rolling her eyes teasingly at him. Damn it, did she have a way of knowing when someone was thinking aboyt her?
"Don't be a fool, Mel" replied her friend, returning the gesture. "You are prettier than them, it's just that they don't want to admit it"
"Oh, sure... But, if it's not them, isn't there any other girl you would like to be with?" she insisted, determined to obtain at least one name. At the end of the day, she believed, if none of them had accepted to go out with him it was because they were blind idiots.
"Nah, I'm fine with you here" he replied. "You are nicer and cheaper. Like, right now, I'm saving renting a car, a restaurant, some flowers, dressing up..."
"Hum, so, talking about your financial situation, would pizza crash your market?" she asked, feeling her stomach rumbling. "Mark and I were going to go to a restaurant and I haven't eaten since lunch. I'll pay you later, I swear, but I'm starving and I don't have any money here"
"Actually, I'm hungry too" he said.
"Great" May stood up. "I'll go to the bathroom and then we can order"
"Uh... you really wanna go in there? Because I wouldn't" he warned her, seeing her about to enter in the bathroom he shared with Garrett.
"Okay, maybe I'll go somewhere else. In the meantime, you already know what to order" she said, and winked before leaving the room.
Coulson picked up the phone from the table in front of him. Thank goodness, the Academy had a delivery system that allowed students to order food and receive it in their bedroom, either pizza, Chinese food, chicken wings or even some green thing that no one had ever ordered. He believed it was called salad.
"Hello?"
"Here is the delivery system, please tell me your name, area, grade and bedroom" said a boy from the other side of the line. Phil cursed himself for calling, realizing that it was Jack, an idiot who had failed like eight years ago and now worked at the cafeteria with his whole life dedicated to disturb the students.
"Phil Coulson, field agent, first year, room 616" he murmured, taking a deep breath.
"Okay... why would you like to order?"
"Two middle-sized pizzas, please"
"No, I asked why. For Valentine's day?"
"Because I'm hungry" Phil rolled his eyes.
"Are you with someone?"
"Yes"
"A girl or a boy?"
"A girl, but what on earth does anything of this have to do with my pizza?" he exclaimed, clearly upset.
"A special girl?" Yes, he thought, althought no in that way.
"My best friend"
"Aahh, we've have many of those today" Jack commented. "Trying to beat up the friend-zone, huh?"
"Not at all, we are just friends. Now, I'd like a pizza..."
"Is that girl your girlfriend?"
"WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT THAT?!" He snapped, losing his patience. He stood and poured himself some coke, trying to stay calm.
What was that thing that Melinda liked so much? Oh, yeah, Tai- chi. He took a deep breath, trying to remember the times he had seen her doing it.
"I'm sorry, the cafeteria needs to know if you will give the pizza an use that does not conform part of the eating habits"
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, spitting the drink he had begun to have and choking because of his irregular and discoordinated breathing.
"Look, to be honest..."
"I just wanna eat some fucking pizza!"
"Fine, Finn Clowson"
"It's Phil Coulson"
"Whatever, Flynn, I need to know if..."
"Yes, she is my girlfriend!" he finally exploded, reaching his limit of exasperation. "Could you send me two middle-sized pizzas, yes or not?"
"Dude, we sell pizza, that's the point" replied Jack. Coulson asked himself if he really enjoyed bothering the students or if he was just a moron. "Which pizza would you like?"
"A pepperoni one, and... one of those who have tiny sausages and meat"
"Great. They'll be there in half an hour or so, Finn"
Coulson hung up violently, since when he had to tell someone about his private life to eat a pizza? Melinda, his girlfriend? ... Ha. Well, at least he had managed to order a meal. He returned to the couch and began to dry the spilled liquid, muttering against Valentine's day and fantasizing about the idea of strangle Jack.
"I'm back" said May, coming in. "Hey, why is my jacket all wet?" she asked, grabbing it by one of the sleeves. "And what are you doing with that sponge"
"Don't ask" he replied, flopping on the coach. "Two pizzas are on their way"
"Cool... you wanna see a movie?"
"'Sure..." Phil kneeled down next to the shelfe where his roommate and he kept a collection of movies that was quite impressive for a couple of students from a secret agency at the early 80's. "So, we have King Kong, Grease, Breakfat at Tiffany's... Hey, don't look at me like that, John got it to play sensible with girls... Anyway, The Godfather, ChinaTown, Starwars, Rocky, Jaws, Live and let die (no, we've already watched it to comment Bond's skills as an agent), The Getaway, Foul Play, The Deer Hunter, A Clockwork Orange...
"Geez, where did you get all of those movies?" she asked, surprised.
"Remember the girl who was supposed to hack The Shining so we could watch it? Well, she still has a crush on John, and she insists on giving him movies. It's cool" he replied.
"I bet he doesn't think that way"
"Oh, trust me, he doesn't care. I mean, she's a total psycho, but she got us a limited edition of Starwars" Phil commented, shrugging and smiling. "There are at least thirty more in here, from Frankenstein to Halloween to Willy Wonka. We can watch Jerk and laugh about Mark"
"You don't have to do this, Phil" she grinned. "We can watch another one"
"I've already watched all of them. But, if you want to, we can watch The Addams Family" he suggested, pointing at one of their favorite TV show.
"That would be perfect... You are just like Gomez" She mocked him.
"And you are Morticia"
"Really? Will you go nuts if I speak in chinese?" she said, pretending blinking seductively.
"Hum, I don't know... Hey, the pizza is here" he said, standing up when he heard the knocking.
Phil opened the door,willing to break Jack's nose he tried to made a comment. However, he had sent Artie, a sympathetic redheaded boy who was a sophomore in the investigation part, and with who Coulson had spoken a few times in the library. He had big glasses that increased at least ten times the size of his eyes. Fith a face furrowed with freckles, he was as probably about nineteen but looked no more than fifteen.
"Here's your pizza, Phil" he said nicely.
"Thanks, Artie, here you have" he gave him the money in exchange of the pizzas.
"Your welcome. Good luck with your girl" the boy, who was maybe older than him but not even taller than May, winked an eye and then disappeared.
Phil rolled his eyes and closed the door.
"Mel, the pizza is here" he announced, leaving it on the door. Then he headed to get some cutlery at the tiny section that included a small round table and that they had designated as a kitchen.
"Uhm... Phil?" she asked from the couch.
"Yeah?"
"Why did you get this pizza?"
"I thought you'd liked it like that"he replied distractedly, bending down to look under the tablecloth as he tried to find a second knife.
"Actually this is not funny" said the other one, clearly upset. "I was trying to forget about him"
"He hasn't done anything to you" Coulson couldn't help but rolling his eyes. May loved pepperoni, why would she try to forget it? For being an asian girl she absolutely adored that american product with that italian name. He would never understand girls and their diets.
"Fine, it wasn't his fault, but it was you the one who said that he was an asshole for breaking up with me" May complained, very displeased by her best friend's choice. "If you think that I..."
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Breaking up with you?"
"Yeah, genius, Mark dumped me, remember?"
"Mark? And what does that moron have to do with the pizza?" he asked, increasingly confused.
"That I don't have a boyfriend anymore and you ordered a heart-shaped pizza"
"A...? That I what?!"
With a couple of knives and napkins in his possession, Phil returned to her and gasped. Both boxes, open on the table, contained pizzas that had the shape of a perfect heart.
"Oh, fuck. I'm so sorry, Mel" he apologised, slapping his forehead. He sat down next to her and sighed heavily. "It was that idiot of Jack. He started to ask me a lot of questions, and wanted to know what were we going to do with the pizza... And I had enough and I told him I was with my girlfriend to shut him up"
She didn't say anything for a while. Finally she burst out laughing, amused and relieved with the true.
"It's fine, Phil, I've gone through that too" she reassured him, remembering the time Vic had had to speak with a fake french accent as she talked in chinese while they ordered a pizza, because they had heard that it was cheaper for the exchange students.
"Good to know. Now take this, I have an idea" he handed her a kinfe. "Your time to breake a heart"
Maty laughed, accepting the offer. She knelt down, put on her best face of feigned madness and cruelty and cleanly cut the pizza in two. Beside her, Phil did the same.
"Melinda, can I ask you something?" he asked, as they sat on the couch again.
"Yeah, sure, what's up?" she replied, eyes wide open as he knelt on his right knee.
"Would you make me the happiest guy in the world by conceding me the honor of conserving the half of your heart?" he asked, devouring with his eyes the pepperonis she had seized. "You know, in exchange of mine, with the promise of keeping safe that little part of you"
He had such a straight face that she could not help but laughing out loud. Melinda was a shy girl and didn't usually talk too much to people, but with him it was different. When it was about Phil Coulson, everything was different. Moreover, her laughter was not like the other girls's. It wasn't flirtatious, nervous or hollow, not seductive, but warm and maybe even too loud to come from that tiny girl of seventeen. The kind of laughter that makes you smile even when you don't know the joke and that you just have to join. That was her laugh, and he loved it.
"Fine, Phil, I'll give you the half of my heart" she said, once she was calmed again. "It's such an honor, you know. But you are not going to keep it safe, after all, you are going to eat it"
"That's for keeping it closer to me"
"Ah, that's deep. And gross"
"Nah, I'm a poet. Sorry, for the cheese proposal, by the way" he added, unable to stop himseld, and they both laughed again until there were tears in her eyes.
They exchanged halves, joking about who had the greatest and most inflated heart, and who was more stingy at the hour of sharing their attributes, such as were the pieces of meat and pepperoni. They accommodated on the couch and covered with a blanket as they sang The Addams family song. It was such a good show and made them laugh a lot, which was exactly what they needed.
Phil felt May resting her head on his shoulder, snuggling against him. Almost without thinking he hugged her by the shoulders, smiling to himself and feeling pleased as he had managed to cheer her up. If Mark had ditched her, he was probably a jerk. At some time the question she had made him before came back to his mind again; isn't there any other girl you would like to be with? And the truth, he thought, was that having Melinda May by his side and a heart-shaped pizza in hand, there was nothing else he could wish for in the world.
I know it's not Valentine's day yet, just couldn't wait to post the chapter... What do you think? Post some reviews, please, I'd really love any feedback you could give me! :)
