"I can't believe tomorrow is already the last day of shooting!" Jemma exclaims as she steps into the hotel lobby followed by Fitz.

"Well since it's almost 4 am, the last day of shooting is today and actually starts in five hours." Fitz answers, grinning as he walks towards the big empty couch facing the lobby's TV. They've been shooting all day and since the deadline is close, they had to stay as late as needed to finish certain scenes even though they knew they had to be back on set by nine to shoot the final scenes.

"Argh, there was no need to remind me of that!" She says as she flops down on the couch. "That's it. I'm never getting off this couch. Tell them to shout the last scenes with my body double." She says with a big sigh and he chuckles.

"I guess that could work if you had one!" He answers as she kicks off her sandals, extends her legs on Fitz's lap and lies back on the couch. He smiles at how she now does that like it's the most natural thing in the world. Fitz had never been really comfortable with physical contact even with really good friends or family members but with Jemma it came gradually and now he doesn't even question it anymore. It's just like that and he couldn't appreciate it more.

"That's just a detail Fitz!" She says, closing her eyes for a moment.

"I'm not carrying you to your room if you fall asleep on the couch Jemma!" He says with a teasing tone, knowing that, actually, he probably would if she asked him.

"How disappointing! But you know what Fitz? The first thing I'm going to do when this shooting is over is staying in bed for a whole day!" She says with a big smile on her face. "I'm serious, I will not leave my bed for a full twenty four hours!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a really good plan." He says as he almost unconsciously grabs her foot and starts massaging it.

"Oh my ... I could really get used to that!" She says with an ecstatic smile on her face and he grins back, looking proud of himself.

"So ... today I called Trip and I told him that I'm going to take the job. So I guess I should be flying to Los Angeles soon after we're done here." Fitz says with a timid smile on his face, waiting to see her reaction. And he's not disappointed.

"Fitz, that's fantastic! I'm so happy for you!" She says, shooting up, not looking so tired anymore. "And you know for ... us too. We're going to have so much fun together!" She adds with a bashful smile, blushing.

"Yeah, about that, I've been thinking about it ... I really hope we can keep seing each other when we're both there. I mean it'd be nice you know to ... go out and ..." He says, blushing and fighting to say what he's been thinking about since the last night they spent together.

"Yes of course. I mean think of how much fun we had with a TV and the sky as our only distraction, in such a big city with so many things to do, we'll be unstoppable Fitz!" She says beaming.

Fitz smiles back sincerely but he cannot help feeling frustrated. He had decided to go all out and ask her out on a date. But of course, that's pretty much what they had been doing for the last two months so it shouldn't surprise him that she doesn't understand that he's asking her out for something different. He had thought he could bring up the subject subtly but the exact status of their relationship being so shady already, he realizes that he's going to have to be really clear if he wants her to understand. He's going to have to tell her that he has more than friendly feelings for her and that he'd like to take her out on a date, a real romantic date and hope that he read the signs she sent him correctly. As he's wondering if now is the right time to do it, Jemma interrupts his musings.

"You know I thought about it too. I really hoped that you would take the job and I'm so so glad you did and ..." Jemma starts, also having difficulties saying what she has in mind. "... the apartment I'm going to be moving in is actually quite big, it has two extra bedrooms ... and I was thinking maybe ... I don't know if you already planned something but, if you'd like you could you know ..." She says and she's actually grateful when Fitz interrupts her.

"... come and live with you?" He says, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah?" She says tentatively. "I mean, I'd understand if you'd prefer to have you own place but you know, rent is so expensive in Los Angeles and you'd probably be better than in an hotel for six more months and really ..."

"Jemma stop, I love that idea!" He says grabbing her hand to stop her rambling.

"Yeah?" She says, smiling bashfully and locking her eyes with his.

"Yeah!" He says, smiling back, feeling his heart beat a little faster because of how intensely she's looking at him right now.

As they stay like that for a moment, lost in each other's eyes and holding hands, Jemma tells herself that now would be the perfect moment to tell him. Tell him how she feels and hope for the best. But after all, they already had a lot of perfect moments and it wouldn't be fair to tell him now. It wouldn't be fair to him, it wouldn't be fair to anyone. Only a few more days and she can tell him. A few more days and then, they'll have all the time in the world to figure out if it could work.

"But are you sure that you're ready to live with me and see me everyday? You know I can get pretty messy. You've seen my hotel room!" He says grinning. He knows this would never be a real problem between them but he's actually really wondering if she'll still like him if they see each other all the time. What if they run out of things to talk about once they live together, what if their relationship only worked because they were stuck in the desert. Jemma is a very social person. In Los Angeles, she's bound to make new friends and maybe she'll get bored of antisocial, shy and grumpy Fitz. And what if they end up just simple roommates merely talking to each other when they cross paths in the apartment.

"Well. I'm pretty sure I can live with that." She says smiling and thus interrupting his paranoid thoughts. "And I'm not perfect either anyway. You have to know right away that I'll probably claim 90% of shelf space in the bathroom. Also I sing a lot ... and I have an horrible horrible voice." She adds, grinning and he smiles back.

"Okay, well I guess we'll have to make do with each other's weird habits then!" He says, letting go of his apprehensions.

"Yeah ... Fitz?"

"Yes Jemma?"

"I'm really excited about this." She says, squeezing the hand that's still intertwined with hers.

"Me too!" He answers beaming, locking eyes with her again and he knows that now is the right time.

As he's about to dive in for good and tell her how he feels, they hear a voice coming from the other side of the lobby.

"Jemma?"

The moment she hears his voice, Jemma freezes completely. She immediately lets go of Fitz's hand and her face goes completely pale. So pale actually that Fitz looks sincerely worried about her and it makes her insides twist with guilt.

"Jemma, are you alright? Do you know him?" He asks with a soft voice.

"Yes Fitz, listen there's something you need to know but I promise, that's not how it looks like and ..." She starts, but then she's interrupted again and she knows it's too late anyway. He had to come. And of all the moments he could have chosen, he chose to come now that she's with Fitz.

"Hey baby, I wanted to surprise you but the guy at reception told me you were probably still shooting. I was waiting over there, I almost didn't see you!" The man says as he gets to her and gives her a quick peck on the lips before hugging her.

"Hey Will! That was so nice of you to come." She says as she awkwardly hugs her boyfriend back. "Did you get my message the other day? Because you never called back." She asks with a slightly embarrassed smile as she takes a step back from him.

"Oh no. I didn't have any reception at all back there. But I finished early and when I finally got back to civilisation, I decided to come straight here to surprise you. My voicemail was bursting, I didn't have the courage to listen to all of it." He says, chuckling.

"Yeah I thought so ..." She answers.

As he's watching them talk to each other, Fitz feels like he's living a nightmare. One of those nightmares that starts like a dream in a nice meadow on a sunny day and then suddenly, a monster comes in, the sky turns black and you just run away until you wake up in your bed, your heart beating really fast but so relieved that it was just a bad dream. Except that, as much as he's trying to, Fitz doesn't wake up from this one. Actually now that he thinks about it, it all makes sense. That's why she backed away when they were about to kiss even though she looked like she wanted it as much as he did. That's why one minute, she's all flirty and intense and the next, she backs away like she's having an internal fight with herself. Fitz had thought about all the possibilities. He thought maybe she wasn't sure of how she felt, maybe she was scared that he didn't feel the same, even though he wasn't so subtle about it these last few days. Of course, he considered the possibility that he was just reading her wrong and she only liked him as a friend. But never once did he think that she had a boyfriend. How can someone have a boyfriend and never mention him once in two months? What could that mean? When he makes eye contact with her, he feels like he's taking a hundred punches to the stomach and decides that he can't be in her presence any longer.

"I'm going to bed. Good night Jemma" He says, trying to make his voice sound as neutral as possible, while he's getting up and starts making his way to the elevator.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You two were talking, did I interrupt anything?" Will says, completely ignorant of the drama playing in front of him. His friendly smile makes Fitz incredibly angry. Deeply, he knows that this guy is not responsible for his misery but the fact that he looks so nice makes him want to punch him in his stupid hog face. Badly.

"No, don't worry. It was nothing important." he answers and after one last look at Jemma, he turns his back to them and quickly walks to the elevator before any of them stops him again. All this time, he kept telling himself that he should do something about his feelings for Jemma before it's too late. But it was never too late because it was never a possibility. The woman he loves obviously loves someone else and there's nothing he can do about it.

As Fitz is walking away from her, he doesn't see that the smile on her face is completely fake. He doesn't see that she hugs her boyfriend, not because she missed him but to hide the tears that are threatening to fall from her eyes because she had promised herself she'd never hurt Fitz again. The amount of pain, sadness and anger he managed to express in a single look directed towards her makes her feel like she's going to be sick. She had planned everything perfectly, she was going to make things right with everyone and she was going to be so happy. But then she managed to muck things up again and this time, there would be no fixing it. Her relationship with Fitz is broken and it's all her fault.