"Alright, let me get this straight," Hunter said, shifting in his spot on the loveseat and glancing up at Bobbi, who was perched on the arm next to him. "Your flat is how far from Jemma's again?"

Fitz ducked his head, feeling faintly guilty. "A ten-minute walk," he mumbled.

Next to him on the sofa, Jemma just smiled and took a sip of her beer as both Hunter and Bobbi broke out into laughter, their amusement making a dull flush creep up his neck. He didn't see why it was so funny.

"Mate," Hunter said, still laughing, "that's creepy." He shook his head. "You bought a flat close to hers on purpose? That's… a little stalker-ish, I think."

"I think it's sweet," Jemma said, sitting up straighter. "In a way. Like he just wanted to be close, without seeking me out like I asked. And anyway, it makes things much easier now." She looked at him and smiled again, resting a hand on his knee. "It means we don't have to bother with long metro rides or anything like that when we're going between our flats."

Bobbi hid a sly smile behind her beer bottle. "You mean it makes booty calls a whole lot easier," she said.

Fitz choked, his face turning even redder, and he smacked his fist into his chest to try and clear it. "Um-ah-now, look-"

"Bobbi, that's so gauche," Jemma said primly, withdrawing her hand from Fitz's knee. He mourned its loss. "They're not booty calls. They're… stay-in dates."

Bobbi shrugged lightly while Hunter snickered next to her. "Call it whatever you want," she said as she raised her beer to her mouth. "It is what it is."

"Still think it's creepy," Hunter added, slouching in his seat a bit. "Bob, back me up on this."

She shook her head. "Nope, sorry, I'm always going to be in favor of Jemma finally getting the action she deserves."

Jemma tutted, but she was smiling, a spot of pink high on her cheeks. Fitz just sighed.

"It's not like I went to her flat and stood outside and stared in her windows," he protested. "I never went at all before we met again. I never saw her. I kept away, like she asked. Just-not… far, far away." He did see how it could sound fairly creepy when viewed in Hunter's perspective, but it hadn't felt that way when the estate agent had shown him the flat. He'd taken in the spacious lounge and updated kitchen, and when he'd realized how close it was to Jemma's place, it had just felt right. He couldn't be in her life anymore, but maybe he could be close by: a tiny, tenuous connection to her. And when he'd received her letter asking him to wait, it felt even more perfect. When time aligned and she was ready, he would be right there with open arms.

"Creepy," Hunter muttered again, but he was grinning. Bobbi swatted his shoulder.

"What are you even going to tell people?" Bobbi asked, turning her attention back to them. "When they ask how you guys met."

Fitz and Jemma exchanged a look. There were some things that not even Bobbi and Hunter knew. Jemma had lived a timeline where Fitz had died, and had never heard mention of him from either of her friends. Fitz had lived a life where he'd avoided catastrophe at Kelvingrove Park and had actually gotten to know Bobbi, frequently hanging out with her and Hunter when the two of them weren't going on proper dates. He'd even politely rebuffed her offers to set him up with her friend, who she claimed was perfect for him. He knew Bobbi meant Jemma, and as much as he'd wanted to see her, he was doing his best to avoid her until the right day came. In his timeline, Hunter had never told Jemma that Fitz had died. Instead, she'd inexplicably run from his office in a panic once he'd told her that Fitz worked there at the lab, but had taken the day off.

Hunter and Bobbi had been gobsmacked when both Fitz and Jemma had come back together a couple of hours later, realizing that their friends were each the mysterious person from out of time the other had been writing to. It was extraordinary and a little frightening to Jemma that her timeline had managed to rewrite itself while she had been gone, and once both she and Fitz had caught on to what had happened, they silently agreed with one look not to tell anyone. Things would just be much simpler that way.

And they had gotten rather good at that very quickly, communicating complex things with just a look. Jemma read what was in Fitz's eyes immediately and nodded before turning back to Bobbi.

"We thought we could just tell people we met through an old-fashioned pen pal program," she said, letting her hand return to Fitz's knee. He relaxed back into the sofa cushions a bit. "I think those still exist. And it's technically true, if you think about it. No one has to know it was through a quantum mailbox, though."

"Which I still can't figure out," Hunter said, scratching at his beard.

Jemma smiled. "Don't feel bad. Fitz is a physicist, and he couldn't figure it out, either."

Bobbi took a long pull from her beer. "Do you think you'll ever move back out to the cottage?" she asked. "You know, where it all began? You said you still own it, right, Fitz?"

Fitz nodded. "Yeah, yeah I do. Had the estate agent renting it out, but no one's lived there for awhile." He paused for a moment, deep in thought. "I don't know. I like being here in the city, so close to work and my mum, and I know Jemma feels the same-" She nodded. "And we've both got our leases to worry about. But maybe… I don't know, maybe one day we'll go back." He looked at Jemma and smiled, thinking of a day in the future where they might move in together and make things between them even more official.

Hunter saluted them with his beer. "You're gonna need it for all the kids you'll have."

Jemma's jaw dropped as Fitz choked again, and Bobbi laughed. "Hunter!" Jemma exclaimed. "We're not even engaged or married yet, it's much too early to be talking about children."

Hunter snorted gracelessly. "If you don't think the two of you aren't getting married after the way you met and got together, then you're not geniuses after all. It's like the universe wants you to be together."

That seemed to appease Jemma, because she suddenly smiled and give Fitz's knee a little squeeze before looking back at him. "Yes, I suppose maybe it does," she said, a sparkle in her eye.

After spending so long thinking that distance was their curse, that the universe had it out for them-well, when she said it like that, it was easy to believe in, too.

-:-

Jemma slowly came to wakefulness and blinked her eyes open to golden sunlight streaming in between the curtains of Fitz's bedroom window. She smiled to herself as she stretched slightly; more sunny mornings like this meant spring was almost in full swing in Glasgow, and maybe that meant she and Fitz could get out and about later in the day and do something fun together.

The man himself was still fast asleep, curled around her back with an arm slung over her waist, radiating heat like a furnace. That was one of the many new little things she'd learned about him once they'd finally synced up their lives; his body ran hot while she was usually cold, so she readily welcomed his warmth to chase away the chill, whether it be walking down the street together in winter, cuddling on the sofa, or snuggled together in bed.

Moving carefully, Jemma slipped out from underneath Fitz's arm and shifted so she was laying on her side facing him. He whuffled quietly once, but didn't wake. She smiled again and took a moment just to watch him, taking in everything about the way he looked: the lines of his face, the way his curls were in disarray, the light definition to his arms and the shape of his torso that she could just make out beneath the thin white tee he was wearing. It had been a couple of months since they'd met properly, but in some ways she was still adjusting to having him physically present in her life. Sometimes she feared that if she blinked, he might disappear, simply a figment of her imagination.

But he always remained, and Jemma couldn't be happier with the way he'd slotted so neatly into her life, exactly how she'd once hoped he could. Their respective jobs kept them both busy, but they spent almost all of their evenings together, mostly at Jemma's flat-as Fitz claimed it felt "cozier"-and they filled their weekends with lazy lie-ins and dinner dates and movie dates and all sorts of other fun things they found to do in the city. Fitz was just as interesting and funny and kind as he'd been in his letters, and he complemented her perfectly.

She couldn't believe how much she loved him, and how lucky she was to be loved by him in return. Carrying that happy thought in her mind, Jemma leaned forward to place a soft kiss to Fitz's forehead, then one to his temple and his cheek. She'd just reached his jaw when he stirred, rolling onto his back and mumbling indistinctly.

"Jemma?" he said, putting up a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight without actually opening them. "What time is it?"

"Late enough," she replied, propping her hands on his chest and resting her chin on them. "We should get up."

Fitz made a displeased noise and shook his head, wrapping his arms around her and trying to roll them both back onto their sides. "No, 's too early," he grumbled over Jemma's laughing protests. "Come on. Sleep more."

"I'll make you breakfast," she promised, smiling brightly. Fitz's sterling morning disposition was already familiar to her. "I don't mind. I like your kitchen, it's a lot nicer than mine."

Fitz gave up on trying to coax her down onto the pillows and flopped over on his back again. "Ah, I see," he said, eyes still closed. "You only love me for my top-of-the-line cooking appliances."

Jemma tutted at him. "That is patently untrue. And, fine, don't get up if you like, but then I suppose you'll never find out what plans I have in mind for you after breakfast."

He finally cracked one eye open at her, and she gave him a saucy smile. He opened both eyes and swallowed, raking a hand through his hair as he looked past her to the door. "Right. I will just-I'll go put the tea on."

Jemma laughed and lightly swatted his chest. "You are so predictable."

"You love it," he shot back, sitting up with a groan and pushing the blankets away, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "And far be it from me to ever turn down sex with my amazingly stunning girlfriend."

That made her heart swell with warmth, even as she laughed again. "I do love it. And you don't have to be in such a hurry, I'm going to make sure you eat a proper breakfast. It's not that late."

"Says the woman who lured me out of bed with the promise of sex," Fitz replied cheekily, disappearing out the door and into the hall, heading for the bathroom.

"We'll have plenty of time for that after breakfast!" Jemma called after him, shaking her head with a smile. And they did, she thought as she stood from the bed and went to go find some socks to pull on. Now they had all the time in the world.