The next morning, Fitz rolled out of bed, got dressed and walked into the living area of the apartment with a huge smile on his face as he prepared himself some breakfast. As he finished putting jam on his toast, he turned to face the couch and jumped at the sight of Skye sat there looking at him.
"Christ alive, Skye! You scared the life out of me!"
"Well, we wouldn't want that." Skye commented as Fitz sat down next to her.
"No, we wouldn't. What are you doing up so early?"
"Got up about an hour ago, couldn't get back to sleep. Came out and sat here for a bit." Skye explained grumpily, her eyes still fixated on Fitz. It was making him rather uncomfortable.
"…Are you okay, Skye?" Fitz asked.
"How was dinner last night? You and the guys have fun?" Skye asked.
"Oh, uh…yeah. It was great." Fitz replied.
"How many of you went in the end?"
"About eight or so. It was a good laugh. I hope I didn't wake you when I came in; I know it was pretty early in the morning." Fitz said.
"Of course you didn't. I'm a deep sleeper once I'm gone." Skye said.
"Skye, you're staring at me. Still tired?" Fitz wondered.
"Tired of the lies, maybe." Skye said as she stood up and grabbed her keys from the counter and headed for the door.
"What does that mean? And where are you going? You promised yourself you'd never go outside before 8am." Fitz questioned. Skye turned to face him as she opened the door.
"Well, it seems promises are made to be broken. Right, Leo?"
She slammed the door as she left.
She never calls me Leo. And broken promises? What does that even…?
…Oh no. Oh, god no.
…
Jemma stared at the message Fitz had sent her, breathing heavily and heart thumping as she sat on her sofa, the book she was reading beforehand now lying on the floor in a heap.
'She knows.'
There was a brutally hard knock on the door. Jemma swallowed as she tentatively approached it and opened it to see Skye there, her face numb of any kind of emotion.
"Look, Skye…"
"Don't." Skye snapped as she walked into the apartment. Jemma sighed as she closed the door and faced her friend. Well, hopefully still her friend.
"Lincoln saw Fitz in the restaurant with a girl. Said it could've been you. For a moment I denied it. I just thought 'No, they promised me. My best friends in the world wouldn't break a promise like that'." Skye began.
"Skye-"
"-But we went and checked on you in your apartment; see how your migraine was. You weren't there. Where were you, Jem?"
"Skye, please just let me-"
"Where were you?"
Jemma looked at her friend desperately, but Skye was having none of it.
"…I was out with Leo. On a date." Jemma reluctantly said, looking at the floor.
"How could you just flat out lie to me like that? Both of you? You PROMISED me!" Skye shouted.
"I know, and I'm sorry for lying. But…but I can't be sorry for seeing Leo. He came round a few days ago and we kissed and…well, they escalated and…" Jemma began.
"Wait, you two slept together? When?" Skye demanded.
Jemma looked at the floor again, the silence telling Skye the truth.
"Oh god…when I came over and I said you looked tired out. Had I just missed him?" Skye said.
"…No. He was hiding in my bedroom." Jemma said almost silently. Skye shook her head and gave a displeased chuckle.
"Look, if we didn't have to lie then-"
"-Don't pin this on me, Jem! It wasn't my fault my two best friends betrayed my trust! Walked all over their promise like it was nothing!" Skye exclaimed.
"Look, I'm sorry for lying. But you need to realise you have no right to tell me who I can and cannot date! You had no right to keep us apart for years! YOU were the one who lied to both of us first, so how can you be so desperately upset that we've lied to you. This lie lasted for days, yours lasted for years. We tried to respect you, Skye, but…I couldn't help it." Jemma explained.
"Oh, so I'M the hypocrite? Little Miss Perfect over there! Little Miss 'I'll Never Sleep With a Guy after One Date'! You slept with Fitz BEFORE your first date! I've never done that!" Skye shouted.
"Really? So we're not counting all the times you hooked up with that Ward bloke, who I now know works with Leo and he probably doesn't know about? And if you're telling me you didn't sleep with Lincoln after one date I should congratulate you, because that would be a first!" Jemma snapped.
That comment earned her a slap from Skye, who proceeded to head to the door.
"You know what, Jem? I knew you'd like Fitz, and I knew he'd like you. Even before you two even met! THAT'S why I kept you two apart. You two weren't ready to be together, and you still aren't! He's too immature and you're too unsociable! I've been working on getting you two better but it's still too soon! I did this because I love you two so damn much. So I'M SO SORRY for caring!" Skye shouted, slamming the door as she left.
Jemma stared at the door in silence, tears down her face.
…
By the time Skye returned to the apartment, Fitz was sat on the couch ready for her return and glared angrily at her as he stood up.
"Jemma's crying her heart out! What did you say to her?" He demanded.
"Sure, no 'I'm sorry for lying to you'." Skye said.
"No, because I had the best few days of my life because of one lie after the millions you've told me. Don't give what you can't take, Skye." Fitz snapped.
"Why is no one seeing why I'm upset here?" Skye asked.
"I do see why you're upset and I understand it. We lied to you. Fine, I'm sorry. We both are, but we can't change what we did and I wouldn't want to. You can't be so controlling over us! I know you think you're just being a good friend, but all of this was CONTROLLING, Skye. You can't force us not to date, especially when that apparently was your grand scheme all along! It would be our mistake to make!" Leo explained.
"So…Jem told you everything?"
"She phoned me the minute you left her place. Look Skye, I know you care about us, but you don't have the right to claim power over our love lives." Fitz said as he said back down.
A few moments of reluctance later, Skye joined him.
"I was doing what I thought was best. I didn't want it to go wrong." Skye said.
"I know. Your view was just warped, that's all. How did you know for sure it would go wrong? If you knew we'd like each other even with our faults, then why did us having faults matter? We're human beings, after all." Fitz said.
"I…I never thought of it like that." Skye admitted.
"I know, because once you get an idea in your head you can't let it go. Think about it. I don't wear those silly shirts or tracksuit bottoms anymore; I haven't for years. You haven't noticed that I currently have two jobs where I work hard at with the sole intention to pay bills. You haven't noticed that Jemma speaks up in lectures and hangs out with other classmates from time to time. We did all of those things naturally, Skye. We were always ready to be together because all our 'problems' would always go away. It's called growing up. You had a rough life with your parents, and you grew up quicker than we did, that's all. We just took longer to catch up." Fitz explained.
"That…makes sense, I guess."
"I think you were so caught up with your little plot that you just always saw us as the immature boy and socially awkward girl, and were blind to how much we've changed and grown. I have stubble now, girl!" Fitz said, making Skye chuckle slightly.
"Well, I know you're right." Skye said.
"How?"
"Because that whole speech you just gave was very mature. I guess I have been a little controlling." Skye admitted.
"But that wasn't your fault; it's just who you are." Fitz said.
"I'm sorry." Skye said.
"I'm sorry too." Fitz replied, pulling his friend into a hug.
"So, you and Jemma are serious then? It's all good?" Skye asked.
"It's all good. I really like her, Skye. I like her enough to lie to you about it." Fitz smirked. Skye just smiled as she playfully squeezed Fitz's cheek and stood up.
"Right, I'm off again." Skye said, heading for the door once more after a countless number of times that day.
"What are you doing?" Fitz asked.
Skye turned to face Fitz again, a determined look on her face.
"I need to go to May's Diner. I have one hell of an apology to make."