"Fitz, where the hell are you going?"

"Out!"

"It's almost midnight!"

"I need some air, Jemma!"

They'd been arguing for a good hour by this point. It had been so long they couldn't even remember what the argument was about. Something little and petty, for sure, but neither knew exactly what.

"LEO FITZ." Jemma shouted as Fitz opened the apartment door to head out.

"WHAT?"

"…At least take a coat. It's cold out there." Jemma said softly.

Fitz walked back into the apartment, grabbed his coat and walked out, slamming the door behind him and not looking at Jemma once.

Jemma let out a deep sigh of frustration as she melted onto the couch with her head in her hands. It had been like this for weeks now. Their emotions were fragile; it didn't take much to set either one of them off. The stress and strain their feelings had been having on them was quickly causing a rift, getting wider and wider every day. Jemma knew why she was emotional. Fitz knew why he was emotional. They didn't have a clue about one another. If only they did.

They always apologised eventually, and had done after each and every one of their recent fights, but the tension was still present and wasn't going anywhere.

Well, not unless their mutual attraction was going somewhere anytime soon.

The moment Fitz walked back through the door twenty minutes later he was met with a warm hug and a teary apology, and things went back to being the calm before another inevitable storm.

…

The turning point came on a chilly Thursday evening.

After a practically silent meal, Jemma and Fitz did some work on their laptops for a short while until Jemma gave up, unable to even concentrate in the same room as Fitz now. It was a sweet pain, but a pain nonetheless.

"Right, I'm gonna do a workout before I shower." Jemma said, standing up and heading to her bedroom to get changed.

"Oh, right. I'll leave you to it." Fitz said, desperately attempting to control his blood flow until he could seek the safety of solitude in his bedroom.

"Fitz, I keep telling you I don't mind you being here for-"

"-I know, but I don't want to disturb you."

"You wouldn't be disturbing me, Leo."

"Jemma, just leave it. You don't need to watch me like a child 24 hours a day." Fitz snapped.

"For goodness sake, I'm not TRYING to treat you like a child but you are acting like one." Jemma retaliated.

"I don't need another lecture." Fitz groaned as he headed for his room. Jemma, angered by this point, rushed in front of him and blocked the entrance to his bedroom.

"Bloody hell, Jemma!" Fitz exclaimed.

"What on Earth is your problem?" Jemma asked brutally.

"I'm sorry? MY problem?" Fitz questioned.

"Yes, YOUR problem. I have done NOTHING to offend you and yet you're going off at me for no reason-"

"-Oh, like you haven't been shouting at me for no good reason lately!? Please! Get out of the way." Fitz barked.

"Not until you tell me what the fuck is wrong with you." Jemma shouted.

"You don't get to claim any moral high ground here, Jemma! Maybe when you calm down-"

"-ME calm down? Maybe you should give up engineering and try a career in comedy." Jemma said fiercely.

"I'm not listening to this." Fitz said, throwing his laptop onto the couch and heading for the apartment door.

"Oh, that's right. Run away AGAIN. How very mature of you!" Jemma critiqued, stopping Fitz in his tracks. He turned to face her again, angrier than ever yet still gobsmacked by how hot she was when she was angry. Jemma was thinking exactly the same thing.

"I'm not running away, I'm ESCAPING. I can't even got into MY bedroom without your say so, apparently! I'll come back when YOU have calmed down and-"

"-HOW DARE YOU! How DARE you pin the blame on me, Leo fucking Fitz! This is on YOU. Not me! I've had ENOUGH!" Jemma screamed, leaving Fitz in stunned silence.

"I've been dealing with all of this for months, putting on a brave face and being strong and holding it all in and you have the audacity to blame ME for putting YOU and our friendship first? Fuck that, and fuck you, Fitz! FUCK YOU."

A few tears had appeared in Jemma's eyes during her rant. Fitz stared at her blankly, her words cutting him deep. Jemma let a tear fall and wiped it away.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"Then why did you?" Fitz asked, deflated.

"I…I just…I don't know."

"…You don't know. You don't know why you're being such a bitch and yet I'm the one in the wrong? What happened to us, Jemma? We NEVER used to fight! What changed?" Fitz demanded.

I know what's changed, but I can't tell her.

"YOU CHANGED! You changed, I changed, we both changed, everything changed, I DON'T KNOW! Believe it or not, I don't have all the answers! In my professional life I do, yes, but my personal life is a complete and utter shambles and that I can and will blame YOU for. Because you drive me insane!" Jemma wailed.

A long silence before Jemma continued.

"You and your bloody blue eyes and your bloody Village People outfit and the bloody Vaseline! All of your bloody comments on my diet and my workouts and when I run into exes in the supermarket! You and everything about you drives me up the wall, Fitz! News flash: PEOPLE CAN BE FRIENDS FOR A LONG TIME AND DATE WITHOUT IT BEING WEIRD, YOU KNOW? Bobbi and Lance are doing it just fine! I've seen LOADS of people do it but just because it's so bloody hard for you to understand how emotions work doesn't mean what you say goes! I DISAGREE with you! Maybe it doesn't matter how long you've known someone for, the fact of the matter is that above all else you…"

Silence again.

"…you love them." Jemma finished, unable to look away from Fitz as she took a series of deep breaths and stopped caring about the amount of tears dripping off her cheeks onto the floor.

Fitz remained silent and still as Jemma wiped her eyes and looked to the floor.

"Done?" He asked eventually. Jemma smiled through her tears and nodded.

"Yeah, you know what? I am. I'm done. I can't do this anymore. I can't cope with us being like this for another second."

"…What does that mean?" Fitz asked, teary himself.

"…I'm moving out." Jemma whispered through her pain and ran into her room before crying into a pillow. Fitz watched the space where she was stood for a long while, his heart in pieces.

I love her.

…

Fitz gave up knocking on Jemma's locked bedroom door after an hour and retreated into his room, drying his tears with his pillowcase.

How did it all come to this?

After a moment, Fitz couldn't help but chuckle lightly to himself. The way things were between him and Jemma now, he might as well have just told her how he felt months ago.

Their relationship would never be the same way again, but not in the way he wanted – either of them wanted.

His mind went over Jemma's words again and again in his head. Over and over and over.

"You and your bloody blue eyes and your bloody Village People outfit and the bloody Vaseline!"

His eyes? She'd always said she liked them. Why would something she liked about him anger her? And the Village People outfit? The only time he'd worn in recently was when he was doing DIY and manual labour. Why was that wrong of him to do?

Thinking about it, she did act kind of weirdly around me when I was wearing it. Kind of like the way I am when she wears her…

Fitz sat up straight.

…her workout outfit.

But that would mean his Village People outfit would be her version of the workout outfit? But that would mean she…?

No, surely not?

"All of your bloody comments on my diet and my workouts and when I run into exes in the supermarket!"

Why was she so hung up on the diet and workout thing? She used to hate getting compliments and having attention directed towards her, so why did she suddenly want attention from people about it?

Wait, no. Not people, him. People had commented on it, yes, but he was the only person Jemma ever asked for his opinion on how she looked.

Does…does she want to look good…for me? Like when she asked me to choose her dress for her…she NEVER used to let me choose her outfits. She always said I had no fashion sense.

…What if she made me choose because she wanted me to like what she wore? ME?

And those little moments, like when we fell in the snow…what if that wasn't just me who picked up on those?

And the time she massaged me when I was stressed over work…she NEVER used to do that in all these years. And what if it wasn't just me shuffling closer when we'd watch a movie?

What if Jemma Simmons was as upset as he was because she was feeling what he was?

"PEOPLE CAN BE FRIENDS FOR A LONG TIME AND DATE WITHOUT IT BEING WEIRD, YOU KNOW? Bobbi and Lance are doing it just fine!"

Why would that be a reason to be upset with him unless she was taking it personally?

She doesn't find it weird for people who've been friends for a long time to start dating.

She doesn't find it weird.

Bloody hell.

It's not weird.

She might feel the same.

"I'm a fucking idiot."

…

Fitz quietly walked out of his room and tiptoed towards Jemma's. Listening against the door for a while and not hearing anything made him conclude Jemma must have fallen asleep.

I can hold this in. But waking her wouldn't help matters.

In the spur of the moment, Fitz grabbed a scrap piece of paper and a pen, wrote down a note for Jemma and slid it under her door, sitting on a stool in the kitchen with a satisfied smile.

No going back now. He'd done it.

His face dropped.

He'd done it. What had he done?

A large part of him became terrified that he'd gotten it all wrong, but now there was nothing he could do.

Shaking with nerves, Fitz stayed put and stared at Jemma's door; it was already early morning and there would be no way he could sleep now.

…

Jemma woke up with the sun in her eyes. She checked her alarm clock and saw it was almost 6.30am – it was time to get up for work anyway.

She rubbed her eyes and felt the dried tears. Suddenly, the events of the previous night came flooding back to her and she felt like crying again.

How can I possibly face him now?

She knew what she had to do. She'd go to work then ask Daisy if she could stay with her for a few days. It was too painful living with a man who didn't feel the same way she did. She adored Fitz and hoped they'd find a way to be friends somehow, but everything had changed. Her sheer adoration for him had torn them apart.

She got out of bed and decided she needed to shower, heading for the door. As she reached to unlock the handle, she noticed a shard of paper on the floor.

That's Fitz's handwriting.

She bent over and picked it up. Her heart stopped as she read the words.

She read them again. And again. And again.

'It's not weird for me either.'

Surely he couldn't mean…?

But what if he did?

Jemma couldn't breathe. She unlocked the door, turned the handle and pulled.

…

Fitz's eyes were fixated on Jemma as she opened the door. Her eyes were fixated on his too.

"Morning."

"…Hi."

Silence.

Jemma took a few steps towards Fitz, clutching the note tightly in her hands. Fitz's heart was beating out of his chest.

"Look, Jemma-"

"-Do you, um…does this…does it mean what I think it means?" Jemma asked tentatively. Fitz took a moment to read her face. She was on his wavelength; she understood his meaning. They were psychically linked, after all.

After a moment, Fitz stood up off of the stool and coughed.

"Uh…yeah."

The smile that appeared on Jemma's face was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

"So, you mean…you mean that you-?"

"-God yes."

"…Me too." Jemma smiled. Fitz smiled back.

"Really?"

"Really."

A happy silence.

"…H-How long?" Jemma asked.

"Jemma…too long. I didn't think that you felt-"

"-I didn't think you felt…like I did." Jemma said softly.

Fitz took a deep breath and stepped close to Jemma, slowly taking her hands in his.

"I do." He smiled.

"I do too." Jemma grinned.

The two giggled together for a moment, not daring to look anywhere else but the other's eyes.

"I'm so sorry about last night, I-"

"-Jemma, let's not even-"

"-Right, right. Okay."

Jemma's face suddenly filled with a thought, leading her to let go of Fitz's hands and rush into her bedroom. Fitz watched her go with the biggest smile.

She feels the same.

Jemma hurried back in with her phone in hand, blushing as her eyes met Fitz's again. She quickly dialled a number and waited for the other end to answer.

"What are you doing?" Fitz wondered.

"We're calling in sick." Jemma said.

"Yeah, good call. We need to talk things through." Fitz said, sitting down on the couch, buzzing with joy.

"No, Leo." Jemma said.

Fitz looked at her in confusion. She smiled at him in a way he'd never seen before.

"I think we've done more than enough talking, don't you think?"