Hey guys! Sorry that last chapter was a little short, but this one will be so cute and filled with Skyeward fluffiness galore! I don't know why. I'm just feeling in a very fluffy mood. Maybe that's cause I hung out with my boyfriend today. He and I are one of those couples that just lives to annoy each other. Surprisingly, I met him at Captain America: The Winter Soldier when he drew the Hydra symbol on my arm after I gave him my number. I thought he was cute because he looks like a younger version of Hawkeye but then he opened his mouth and ruined the whole thing. How I ended up with him and how we survive each other remains a mystery.
Okay. Enough ranting about my love life. On with the story!
Finally after moments of silence that seemed never ending for Skye, she spoke, her voice little more than a breathless whisper, "It's my mom's birthday."
"Your mom's birthday?" Grant repeated in confusion. He couldn't understand why something so simple could cause a perfect student like Skye to cut school. "Why would that want to make you hide and cry?"
"Because… because," Skye started to get choked up with tears. She buried her face in her hands again. No matter what Grant said, she didn't want anyone to see her physically cry.
Grant pulled Skye's face out of her hands and tilted her chin up to look her in the eye. I could get lost in those eyes Skye thought to herself, Even with scars, there's something beautiful about him that goes beneath his skin. Am I falling for him? This can't be happening. Yet, here I am losing myself in his eyes. Her train of thought was broken by Grant saying, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Skye."
That one sentence caused Skye to release a sob. Grant couldn't take it anymore. He pulled her into his arms. She continued to cry onto his shirt but he didn't care. The only sound for the next few minutes was the dripping of all the water off the leaves of the flowers and trees and Skye's muffled sobs. But those few minutes felt amazing to both Skye and Grant. Grant was holding the most amazing girl in his arms and comforting her. Skye was held in his strong arms, finding comfort in the steady beat of his heart that she could hear through his chest.
After those few minutes, Skye finally lifted her head from Grant's chest, immediately missing the comfort it gave. She wiped at the few remaining tears. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I think it would actually be best to talk about this."
Grant nodded in understanding, "You can tell me anything, Skye." He took a chance. He reached out and grasped her hand in his. She gave him a small smile at the gesture.
Skye took a deep breath and looked down at her feet, not wanting to see the pity in his eyes as she spilled her story. She went on to tell the story of how her mother was diagnosed with cancer, the separation of her parents, and her sitting by her mother's side as Melinda died before her very eyes. Grant didn't interrupt once. He sat there, nodded at the right times and squeezed her hand when she got choked up with tears. By the time she was finished, she was back to sobbing uncontrollably. "I guess with my dad just coming back from the hospital, it just makes it worse."
"How so?" This was the first time Grant had spoken through her entire story.
"I just lost my mom, I don't want to lose my dad too." Skye explained. She released Grant's hand to pull her knees up to her chest and wrap her arms around her shins. "It's just too soon. I couldn't take it when he was in the hospital. Thinking that I could lose my dad too. Then I would be alone."
Grant placed a hand on her shoulder, "You will never be alone, Skye. You have Avery and me." Skye offered him a small smile in return.
"Thanks, Grant." Skye said quietly.
Grant decided to change the topic, "What's with the new jacket? Usually you only wear your track jacket."
"It's not technically new." Skye explained, "It-it was my mom's." Skye wiped at a few stray tears that found their way down her cheeks.
"Skye, listen to me." Grant ordered quietly. Skye turned to face the beast of a man, "Your mom would've been proud of how much you've grown in the time since her passing. Every day you go to school, come here and no one would know what you've been through cause you have the strength to hide it. And you know why you have that strength?" Skye shook her head, "You have that strength because of who you are. You never want anyone to be brought down and you think that if you tell them, that's exactly what will happen. You have that strength because of that huge heart of yours. That's what makes you, you. Your amazing, kind, generous, beautiful nature." He reached behind her and plucked a blue rose out of the bushes. It was a little lighter color than the rest, the exact color of the sky. He held it out to her. "Here, a sky blue rose for Skye."
Skye started blushing like crazy and laughing but took the rose all the same, "Wow. Way to be insanely cheesy." Grant laughed along with her, happy to finally see that beautiful smile back on her face. "But thanks. I wish my mom was still here though." She turned to Grant with a little bit of sparkle in her dark eyes, "I think she would've really liked you."
Later that day, the rain had started again, so Grant invited Skye in to the mansion. He understood why she skipped school and why her father had let her. She needed to be alone on a day like today. She didn't need to be around people asking her why she was so depressed. That's the one thing she didn't want. People asking questions about her moody-ness. She had revealed her story to him on her own time, not because he pushed her to. And she was glad about that. It made her feel better to get it off her chest. They were now inside the house. She was sitting in the den with the movie, Now You See Me ready to watch. (A/N That is a great movie! I absolutely love it! Mark Ruffalo is amazing in it! And there's such a huge twist at the end, but no spoilers. Go watch it!) She was sitting on the couch twirling the rose he gave her.
She had never gotten anything so sweet from anyone. This was something she would treasure as long as she could. Of course it would eventually die, but she would have to find some way to preserve the memory of it. While he watched her stare at that rose, Grant was in the kitchen, popping popcorn and stirring hot cocoa. When he heard the microwave ding, he took out the popcorn, poured it into a bowl and poured in a bag of M&M's, mixing the two together. Skye liked it that way and he was not going to argue with her today.
"Another date with Skye?" Bertram asked coming into the kitchen.
Grant scoffed and rolled his scarred eyes at the butler, "It's not a date." He clarified, "I'm helping her through a rough patch."
"Oh." Bertram smirked, "Trying to be her diamond in the rough, huh?"
"Stop it, Bertram." Grant snapped lightly, "She'll never think of us as anything more than friends."
"You don't know that." Bertram argued.
"Oh I know that." Grant retorted, "Look at her. She's the most beautiful girl in the world. Look at me. I'm a beast. Why would she even think of liking me like that? Hell, I don't even know if she sees us as friends. She's probably just taking pity on me."
"You know she would never do that." Bertram pointed out, "She's not that kind of girl."
"Bertram," Grant sighed, looking again at Skye starring dreamily at the rose before turning his back to the scene to look at the rain pounding at the kitchen window, "I have no idea what kind of girl she is. I mean, one day, she could be a complete tough ass making jokes and snide remarks while beating my ass at Battleship, the next she could show a whole different side of her. Skye's not one kind of girl. She's one girl with many sides to her. So many beautiful sides to her."
"You truly believe she's beautiful?" Bertram questioned.
"Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe her," Grant confessed. He had never been this open with his feelings before. Skye had done something to him. Something he couldn't reverse, but for some reason, liked. It was like a weight lifted off his chest after every confession. "But it's not just her beauty I see. It's what's underneath the skin. She's kind, generous, and just… amazing."
"Then that should be enough, right?" Bertram pleaded, "You fell for her, not for her beauty but for her. That's enough to break this spell right?"
"Don't you remember?" Grant exclaimed, "She has to love me back! And she would never do that. Not with probably every guy at SHIELD Academy chasing after her."
Bertram sighed. He had gotten his hopes up again. He had hoped that this would be the one to break the spell. But Grant was certain that Skye would never love her back. Bertram suddenly thought of something.
"Why don't you do something special for her?" Little did the two men know, Skye was hiding behind the door, listening in on their conversation. She had come to see what was taking so long with the snacks, but decided to listen in on what they were saying. She immediately knew they were talking about her, so she couldn't help her curious nature.
"What are you talking about?" Grant questioned, without turning away from the rain-splattered window.
"Do something special for her." Bertram repeated, "And I think I have just the thing you could do."
Grant finally turned to the butler as he was reaching in his coat pocket. "What? Nothing will be good enough for Skye."
Bertram pulled out two tickets with decorations of twinkling lights and vines in the corners. "Two tickets to SHIELD Academy's senior prom. Theme: enchanted garden."
"What?" Grant asked shocked, taking the tickets out of the older man's hands, "How did you even get these?"
"I still have a few connections over there." Bertram smiled, "Take Skye to prom. It's next weekend, so ask her soon."
"Oh yeah. Like she'd want to even be seen with an ugly beast like me." Grant scoffed, "Especially at prom. It's supposed to be the best night of her life. She wouldn't want to be seen going to prom with me."
"You seriously think I'm that low?" A familiar voice called from the doorway. The men turned to see none other than Skye Coulson standing in the doorway to the kitchen wearing a smug and somewhat shocked smirk on her face.
"Skye," Grant sputtered, "How long have you been there?"
"Ever since you started talking about 'doing something special for her'" Grant breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she hadn't heard them confess about the curse and the requirements. "Grant, why wouldn't you think I wouldn't want to be seen with you?"
"Well, cause, look at me." Grant motioned to his face, "Who would ever want to be with me? Especially as a date to prom?"
Skye stayed silent but walked over so that there was only a couple inches between her and Grant. The air in between them felt like it was filled with electricity. Grant had to restrain himself to stop from grabbing her by the waist and kissing her senseless. If only he knew Skye had to restrain herself too. Skye covered up the feeling by smirking at him again, "I would."
"What?"
"If you haven't noticed, I don't give a flying fuck what others think of me." She explained, "I would be proud to be seen with you." Reaching up, she plucked one of the tickets right out of his hands, "Especially as my date to prom."
Grant was rendered speechless for a few moments before finally spitting out, "Wait. So, you seriously want to go to prom with me?"
"Of course." Skye smiled, "Good thing you asked me now. I need to go with Avery to buy a dress. She needs a dress too. She got a date with Antione Triplett." Grant nodded. Avery could get a guy. "And plus, I think Miles was planning to ask me." Grant's jaw clenched slightly at the sentence, "I did not want to go with him." She shuddered at the thought. With that, she turned and practically skipped out of the kitchen, "BTW, hurry up with the snacks! I won't wait forever to start this movie!"
Ooooh! Grant's taking Skye to prom! How exciting is that? Next chapter we'll see how Miles takes being rejected a second time and Avery and Skye having a little "girl chat." Hehe. Anyways, don't forget to answer the poll on my bio about what chapter story I should do after I finish this one! R&R please!
Quote Of The Day: If you find someone who makes you smile, who checks up on you often to see if you're okay, who watches out for you and wants the very best for you, don't let them go. Keep them close and don't take them for granted. People like that are hard to find. –Unknown
Song Suggestion: Beautiful Disaster –Kelly Clarkson
BTW, I also need your help with something else. I need to know what song that Grant and Skye should dance to at prom before Miles interrupts them. *Hint hint* PM me or leave a review with your opinion, but I just need to know for the prom chapter. It can be any song it just has to be a slow song, okay? Just PM or leave a review with the song you'd like.