Hey guys! I'm updating twice today because I'm gonna be pretty busy for the next two or three days and don't know when I'll get the chance to add another chapter.

A lot of people have been asking about Phil and I promise he'll start to become a bigger part of this story! It's just, Skye's still scared of him, but they're working on it, I promise. I personally LOVE the relationship between Skye and Phil in the show and I'll try to do it justice in this fic.

I hope you guys like this chapter, it was pretty fun to write :) As always, I own nothing (I wish I did) and all mistakes are my own. xx


When Skye woke up, the first thing she thought of was that she had to go to school today. The second thing she thought of was how guilty she felt. She had freaked out in front of Natasha and all of her friends. They had been laughing and having fun and Skye had probably ruined it. Natasha probably hated her and didn't want to be her sister anymore. She couldn't help how she had reacted. They started getting louder and louder and then they had said something about beating someone up and then Skye couldn't get Mr. Ramsey out of her head.

She hadn't meant to ruin Natasha's fun, she just got really scared and couldn't stop thinking about how Mr. Ramsey would yell at her and push her down and throw things at her. When May came in and helped her remember that she was safe, she hadn't been able to look at Natasha. She was probably really mad at her. She had only glanced at the older girl for a second, just long enough to grab Alice and tuck her close, but she saw that Natasha had looked upset and like she was going to cry. Skye had embarrassed her in front of her friends and made her sad and she had to apologize.

She scrambled out of bed, grabbed Alice and tiptoed out of her room. She didn't hear Phil downstairs, so she assumed that she was up earlier than normal. She made her way to Natasha's door, but she couldn't make herself walk in. She stared at the scenery painted on the door for awhile. The snow and barren trees might've looked a little sad and lonely, but for some reason it comforted Skye. She gathered up her courage and twisted the doorknob.

She had never been in Natasha's room before. She didn't really know what she expected it to look like, but she didn't think it would look like this. Her room was very, very neat. Her walls were a dark color, she couldn't tell what because there were no lights on, and all of her furniture was white. She had posters all over her walls; most of them had superheroes on them while some had ballerinas. She had a desk against the wall and a big mirror hanging just over it. There were pictures all over the edge of her mirror and Skye could see Steve, Bucky and Clint in a lot of them. She wanted to move closer to get a better look at them, but she thought that she should ask Natasha first.

Her eyes were drawn to the bed. It had a white frame and white sheets and she could see Natasha's red hair but nothing else. She slowly approached the bed. When she was standing right by it, she carefully climbed up and sat down next to Natasha, cross legged. She stared at the sleeping girl for a little while before deciding that if she wanted to apologize, Natasha needed to be awake. She didn't know if Natasha would get mad if she woke her up, maybe she should just wait until she woke up on her own.

That sounded like a better idea, so she sat there for a couple of minutes before Natasha shifted and made a noise. Skye could tell that she was waking up even though it was way earlier than she normally did.

She leaned in a little and whispered, "Nattie? Are you waking up?"

The older girl groaned and reached up to rub her eyes. She slowly opened them and blinked blearily and Skye. When she saw her, she bolted up and leaned over to turn on her lamp.

"Skye! Are you okay? What're you doing in here?" She looked worried and that made Skye feel worse. Natasha was worried about her even though she had ruined her night.

"I'm sorry, I can go." She started crawling off of the bed but Natasha stopped her.

"No, wait. Please don't go, I want to talk to you." Skye looked over and Natasha was sitting up now. She threw back the covers and scooted over so she was right in front of Skye. Maybe she wanted to yell at her or maybe she would tell her she didn't want to be sisters anymore.

She braced herself for the worst. Whatever it was, she would not cry, "I wanted to apologize Skye. I feel so terrible for what I did, I didn't think about how you would react. I should've known that that would scare you. I didn't mean to make you scared Skye, please, you have to believe me." Natasha was wringing her hands in her lap and pleading with her.

Skye couldn't believe what she was hearing. Natasha was apologizing to her. She wasn't mad at Skye, she felt bad about what happened. She thought it was her fault that Skye got scared.

Skye had to reassure her, "No, it was my fault Nattie. I'm sorry I did that in front of all of your friends. It was stupid. I'm stupid."

Even though she told herself she wouldn't cry, she couldn't stop the tears from escaping. She had been told she was stupid her whole life and she had tried not to listen to them, but it was hard not to. She had acted like she was stupid last night, so they must be right.

She heard Natasha suck in a breath, "Skye, look at me," she reluctantly looked up and into the redheads face, "You are not stupid, okay? I never want to hear you say that again. You are smart and beautiful and kind and whole bunch of other awesome things, but you are not stupid." She paused to take a breath and to gently intertwine her pinky with Skye's, "You're a great little sister, and I want you to know that I'm sorry for scaring you."

Skye had a lot of thoughts swirling around her mind, but she focused on the main one, "So, you still want to be my big sister?"

Natasha breathed out a little laugh, "Skye, I'll always be your big sister, not matter what. Even if we fight or are far away from each other, even if you want me to stop being your big sister, I still will be. Nothing will change that. We're sisters forever."

Skye was surprised at how happy and relieved she felt when she heard Natasha say that. She still wanted to be her sister and wasn't mad at her. Her tears stopped and she felt the overwhelming urge to give Natasha a hug. Usually, that would scare her. She didn't want to get close in case they sent her back, but Phil had said that they were keeping her forever and Natasha said that she would always be her sister and May had helped her so many times… she couldn't help but hope that they wouldn't send her back. Maybe they would actually keep her and she would have the family she always wanted.

She remembered what May said yesterday, about Skye being brave, and so she thought that maybe taking a chance was braver than trying not to get attached. This family could turn out like the Ramsey's or the Bedford's, or they could turn out like the Harvey's. The scary part was that Skye had no way of knowing which way they would go.

She decided that she could be brave like May thought she was, so she slowly crawled into Natasha's lap and started playing with the older girl's hands. They sat like that for a little while before they heard Phil walk past the door and go downstairs.

"So, are you excited to start school?" Natasha had started rocking them back and forth and it made Skye feel like she could fall back asleep.

Skye wasn't happy about going to a new school. Actually, she was really nervous and scared and she could feel a bunch of butterflies flying around in her tummy. What if she made no friends? What if everyone was mean? What if her teacher didn't like her?

She didn't answer at first and felt Natasha take her hands out of Skye's and wrap them around her so that she was cuddled close to her chest. It felt nice and warm. "Skye, sisters tell each other everything. You can tell me if you're scared, you can tell me and I'll keep it a secret. I won't even tell mom."

Oh, she didn't know sisters told each other everything. If that was true, then she could tell Natasha that she was nervous, "I don't want to start a new school. What if people are mean?"

Natasha kept rocking them and it felt good to say that she was scared out loud and not have someone make fun of her, "When I first started living with mom and dad, I had to start a new school too. It was scary at first and I didn't know anyone, but then I met Clint and it got less scary and more fun. You'll make friends here and school will be okay, I promise."

That made Skye feel better. She was thinking about Fitz and Jemma. She had already sorta made some new friends. She hoped that they were in her new class.

Natasha gently patted her thigh, "let's go pick out your outfit. You gotta look good on your first day." Skye nodded and scrambled out of Natasha's lap and into her room.

Natasha helped her pick out a pretty shirt and jeans. She pulled the tags off and marveled at how well they fit compared to her old clothes. Natasha tied her shoes for her and offered to do her hair, so Skye was sitting at her desk with Natasha braiding her hair when May came in.

She looked surprised when she saw both girls were already awake, "I was going to wake Skye up and get her ready for school, but it looks like you beat me to it." Skye smiled at her and felt Natasha tie off her hair.

She stood up and saw May smile at her, "Oh Skye, you look adorable. Nat, why don't you go get ready while we go grab breakfast."

Nat smiled at Skye and kissed her mom on the cheek before disappearing out the door. May led Skye downstairs and helped her climb into her chair in the dining room. She placed a bowl full of cereal in front of her and when Skye started eating, she felt Phil sit down next to her.


Phil had been keeping his distance from Skye, knowing that she had trouble feeling comfortable around men and wanting her to be able to settle into their home with as much ease as possible. He wanted Skye to trust him. He wanted her to know that he would take care of her and protect her and keep her safe. Now that she was warming up to everyone, Phil thought it was a good time to try and get closer to the little girl. He didn't know what exactly happened to make her so fearful of men, but he could guess.

He remembered when they first got Natasha. She had been an angry little girl. They had to teach her English and help her find ways to deal with her anger, but she had never been afraid of them, just angry and misunderstood. Trip had been a dream. That kid was tough, but he had surprised them all when they found out that he wasn't afraid to talk about what he was feeling. He had healthy ways to deal with his emotions and his past, and although he still had his rough days, he was never afraid of them. He remembered when they took in the twins. They were both ten and their parents had died when their apartment building collapsed. They were mistrustful and stuck together, both refused to even acknowledge May or him for weeks, but they had never been afraid. They finally warmed up to them and they had become a family. Now, they were off at college, Trip was a straight A student, and Natasha was a kindhearted dancer.

Skye was afraid of him. She didn't let him approach her and flinched away from him. She was starting to warm up to May and Natasha and he could tell that she wasn't distancing herself to hurt his feelings, but he couldn't help but feel a little excluded.

He shook that feeling off just as quickly as it came. He would gain Skye's trust if it was that last thing he did. He would show her that he wanted her to be a part of his family, and that he wanted to protect her and keep her safe and happy. He knew that it would take time and effort and would be hard, but he was willing to do that. He would prove to her that even though he was a male and an adult, he could be trusted. He just hoped that Skye would come around.


"Ready to go to school kiddo?" Phil was smiling at her.

She smiled back at him and nodded even though she was still nervous, even after her talk with Natasha. She wished she could just stay here and never go to school again.

"It's okay to be a little nervous sweetie." He was giving her a sympathetic look and took her empty bowl of cereal away from her.

When she just nodded again, he said, "Well, your school starts a little earlier than Nat and Trip's. Let's get a move on!" He handed her the blue backpack and lunchbox that May bought her yesterday and she followed him out to the car.

She reminded herself to be brave and got into the car. May buckled her in and they listened to Disney songs on the way to school. She looked out the window as she sang along to the music. She was super nervous. She tried think about anything else, playing dolls with Natasha or the stars stuck onto her ceiling, but it didn't help.

They pulled into the school and Phil parked. Skye realized that they were going to go in with her and that made her feel a little better. She didn't see any other kids running around and wondered why.

May unbuckled her and she hopped out of the car, "Why is no one here yet?"

"We got here a little early so that you could meet your teacher and see your classroom before anyone else got here," Phil smiled kindly at her but her tummy still had butterflies.

They made a move to start walking towards the school but Skye couldn't make her feet move. She didn't want to go to school, she wanted to go back home and play with Alice.

"What's wrong baby?" Skye looked up into May's kind face. She looked concerned.

Skye shifted her weight from foot to foot and sucked in a breath before answering, "What if no one likes me here? Or I get lost? Or my teacher doesn't like me? What if the kids are mean and they push me down like Jonathan did… Can we go back home?"

May and Phil glanced at each other before answering.

May kneeled down so that they were eye to eye, "I'm sorry baby, but you have to go to school. We got here early so that you could look around the school so that you won't get lost and I'm sure the kids here will love you, what's not to like? And we know for a fact that your teacher is very nice."

Skye kept fidgeting but was starting to feel better, "How do you know that?"

Phil kneeled down next to May, "Because she's a friend of ours. We've known her for a long time and she is very, very nice."

Oh. All of the things that they were saying made sense and had calmed her down a little, but she was still nervous. She didn't like meeting new people.

"Skye, you're going to be safe in there. No one will hurt you, I promise. I won't let anyone hurt you, even if it's another little kid. You'll be fine sweetie," Phil was looking at her earnestly and she couldn't help but feel comforted. She nodded and smiled at him.

Both May and Phil stood up and offered her each a hand. She took them both and walked between them into the school.

They made sure that she knew the way to her classroom and as they approached it, she saw a lady with dark hair standing by the doorway. She smiled as they got closer and Skye shifted so that she was behind May and Phil.

"Maria! It's so nice to see you again, it's been awhile." Phil was smiling at her and shaking the lady's hands and then the lady shook May's hand.

"Too long, Phil. We should get together for dinner sometime soon. Tony and Pepper tell me all about your guys' adventures in the hospital," she was smiling knowingly.

May laughed and then tugged on Skye's hand a little, "This is our new baby, Skye."

Even though Skye was still nervous, she didn't want to be rude, so she shyly waved at the lady.

The lady smiled brightly at her and reached down to shake her hand. Skye had never shaken anyone's hand before. She hoped that she did it right.

"It is amazing to finally meet you Skye. I'm your teacher, Ms. Hill, and I'm very excited to have you in my class, we're going to have so much fun together." She was smiling brightly and looked genuinely happy to be meeting Skye. She seemed like she was a nice teacher.

"Let's head into the classroom and talk some things over. I'll show you your desk, Skye." Ms. Hill led them into the classroom. She walked Skye over to an empty desk and told Skye that she can put her things away in it. She pulled out her pencils, notebooks, and crayon box and placed them gently into her desk. She was excited to use all of her new supplies. When she finished, Ms. Hill sat down at her desk and they sat in front of her.

Skye liked the classroom. One wall was all windows and they had cubbies to put their lunchboxes and coats in. There were maps and posters on the walls and hanging over the chalkboard was the alphabet. It was bright and happy-looking in here.

She looked back to Ms. Hill and she was shuffling some papers on her desk, looking for something in particular. She squirmed in her seat and felt May wrap her pinky around her own. It made her feel better.

Ms. Hill finally found what she was looking for and smiled triumphantly. "So, it looks like you're a very good student Skye," Skye grinned a little bit at that, "but, your old teacher says that you're a little behind in reading and math."

Skye wasn't good at reading or at math, she knew that. She never wanted to ask for help at the orphanage because the other kids would find out and laugh at her.

She felt her cheeks start to heat up, "There's nothing wrong with that, Skye. I'll work with you one-on-one and we can get you caught up, no big deal." She smiled at Skye and then looked to May and Phil, "I'll send home some extra worksheets that you guys can help Skye with. With both of our help, she'll be caught up in no time." May and Phil nodded enthusiastically.

Skye liked Ms. Hill. She didn't make her feel stupid and she wanted to help her, so she nodded at her and grinned a little. She wanted to be a better reader and she wanted to do well in math and she was willing to work a little harder to accomplish that.

"Excellent! Well, my students should start showing up within the next few minutes, so you might want to start saying goodbye." She smiled at them all, shook May and Phil's hand again, and went to stand outside her door.

Skye knew that May and Phil would have to leave her, but she didn't want them to go. She liked Ms. Hill, but she didn't want to be left alone with a bunch of people she didn't know. What if they forgot to come back for her?

She felt her eyes starting to well up against her will. She stared hard at the ground and forced the tears to go away. She decided that it would probably be best to just get it over with as fast and emotionless as possible.

She stood up and made her way back to her desk, "Bye guys."

She was staring intensely at her desk when she felt May and Phil approach her. "Skye, you don't have to do that. We know you aren't happy to be going to a new school and that it's scary to be in a new class with a bunch of people you don't know." May was talking gently and Skye refused to look up at her, instead choosing to keep staring at the desk.

Phil tried, "I'm sure you'll make a lot of new friends here, Skye. We'll miss you at home."

Phil's words sparked a new wave of tears to fill her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She kept staring at the stupid desk.

She heard May's kind voice, "Okay, well we're going to head out. We'll be outside to pick you up as soon as school is over. We'll miss you Skye. Have a wonderful day baby."

When Skye looked up, she saw May and Phil's retreating forms. She felt guilty for ignoring them, "Wait!"

They turned around and Skye ran up to them. She flung her arms around May's middle and buried her face into her stomach, "I'm sorry! I'm scared. Don't leave me here, please."

She felt May start to rub her back and she was making soothing sounds, "Oh sweetie. It's okay to be scared."

Skye rubbed her face back and forth against May's stomach, "It is?"

This time Phil answered her, "Of course it is. Everyone gets scared sweetie. But we both know that you'll be fine here, you might actually have a lot of fun. And if you need us, you can always ask Ms. Hill and she can contact us. We're always here for you Skye."

She pulled away from May, Phil's words making her feel much better. She remembered that May said that she was brave, so she took a deep breath and tried to be brave. "Okay. You guys will come back and get me right?"

Phil and May exchanged glances again, "Of course we'll come back and get you Skye. We would never leave you behind." Phil's voice was kind. He had been comforting her all morning and she remembered what she had been thinking about with Natasha this morning, about giving this family a chance, so she cautiously stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug.

It was a very brief hug, Skye stepped out of it pretty much immediately, but she could tell that Phil was happy because his smile was bigger than it usually was.

"Okay sweetie, we need to go now. We'll be out front at the end of the day. Have a great day baby." May looked like she wanted to stay, but she took Phil's hand and started leading him out of the room.

"Have fun today Skye! We'll miss you." Phil smiled at her one last time and then she was alone.

She took a deep breath and sat back down at her desk. She could do this. She would be okay here and she would try to make friends.

Other kids started trickling into the room and a boy came and sat in the desk next to her, "Hi!"

She looked over at him. He had dark blonde hair and green eyes and he was smiling widely at her. He looked nice, "Hi."

"You're new here. I'm Lincoln and I sit right here, so we're neighbors." He was still smiling and Skye thought that he was nice.

"I'm Skye."

He was about to say something else when she heard someone else say her name. She looked towards the door and saw the boy and girl from the playground waving excitedly at her.

"Skye! You're in our class! Oh yay, this is going to be so much fun!" Jemma walked up to her and Fitz followed, "Yeah, you should sit with us during reading time. We sit right by Ms. Hill so we can see all of the pictures in the books."

Skye looked at the three people standing around her and smiled at them. Maybe school wasn't as bad as she thought.


Sooooo what'd you guys think? It was mostly Phil and Nat moments in this fic with a little bit of May. I feel bad for sidelining Trip so much, but he'll be in the next chapter, I promise!

I'm so happy you guys are liking this fic! I love it when you guys send me reviews, it makes me smile every time I read one. Thank you so much for reading and let me know what you guys think! xx -Ariel