I apologize if anything about England is completely wrong, I've never lived in England like I have with the setting of Wildwood Ranch. Also, I have no idea what Jemma's parent's names are, so I'm making them up...
I don't know if you've noticed, but the last two sections of the story have been mostly from Jemma's POV, even though it's in third person. I'm going to try throwing in more of Skye's thoughts.
Skye was terrified. She did not like how big the Atlantic Ocean was and how high above it the plane was flying. She'd never flown in a plane before, so the nine hour flight over mostly ocean was a bit too much for her to handle. An hour in she'd had to crawl over the person beside her to get into the isle so she could run to the bathroom and vomit. The whole thing was a very stressful experience for her.
Skye decided she hated airplanes. She sat in the bathroom for as long as was acceptable until someone knocked and asked her to hurry up. She returned to her seat and tried to settle in, but she couldn't stop fiddling with her necklace and tapping her foot on the ground. The hours left of the flight were hardly bearable and the only reason Skye made it through was because she wouldn't have been allowed to jump out of the plane if she wanted to. She told herself the whole way that it would all be worth it when she could see the look on Jemma's face when Skye showed up at her school. Phil, Skye, and Jemma's parents had planned a surprise visit starting a few days before Jemma's spring break.
Skye's flight had left at eleven at night on her time schedule and because of the time difference, she landed at two pm in England. It was just enough time for her to find a cab, drop off her stuff at Jemma's parent's house, and get to her school before she was dismissed.
All of this was easier said than done, though, because as soon as Skye stepped out of the airport, a gust of London air hit her face and Skye almost had to cover her ears because of how loud the traffic was. Her jaw dropped. She'd never seen so many buildings and people in one place at the same time. Several people gave Skye sideways glances because of her appearance, but she didn't notice.
Skye wasn't exactly sure how to get a taxi, but eventually she had the attention of one of the yellow cars and slid into the back seat. She gave the driver Jemma's address and spent the whole ride with her face practically pressed up against the window, taking in all the sights. She stared in awe at the massive cathedral-like buildings and the many other tall structures. What amused her the most were the funny looking double-decker busses.
Jemma's house wasn't deep in the middle of the city, but it definitely wasn't like what Skye was used to. She got out of the cab and paid the driver, almost forgetting to grab her things. She checked to make sure she was at the right house before sauntering up to the doorstep. Before she could even knock, a woman threw open the door, leaving Skye's fist hanging in the air.
"You must be Skye!" The woman exclaimed, pulling the shocked teenage girl into a bear hug.
"Now, Elena, let the girl breathe." A man Skye assumed to be Jemma's father appeared in the doorway and told his wife gently. Jemma's mother complied, releasing Skye and smiling warmly at her.
"Jemma talks of nothing but you, it's good to finally meet you." Jemma's father told Skye, shaking hands with her.
"I'm sure you're hungry, dear, why don't you come inside and get something to eat?" Jemma's mother offered. Skye was still struck mute, she just didn't know what to say, so she offered a nervous smile instead. Elena ushered Skye into their living room, took her bag, and returned with a plate of cookies and some tea.
"Thanks." Skye finally mumbled, sitting down on the couch rigidly and eating what was probably the weirdest cookie she'd ever had out of politeness. It was dry and hardly had any flavor.
Elena and her husband sat on the couch on the opposite side of the coffee table and looked at her quite strangely. Crap. Skye quickly realized that she was supposed to eat the cookie things with the tea and slowly took a sip, trying not to gag on the liquid. She was definitely more of a coffee person. She smiled anyway and took a few more sips before putting the cup down and neglecting it.
"Thank you so much for allowing me to visit." Skye said politely, squeezing her hands between her knees in her lap. She had no idea how to talk to these people.
"It's no trouble at all! Fredrick and I were wondering when we were going to be able to meet you anyway." Elena joked.
"We were about to hop on the next plane with Jemma!" Jemma's father, whose name was apparently Fredrick, exclaimed. Skye gave the best fake laugh she could, and thankfully it looked like her girlfriend's parents bought it.
"Well, Jemma should be getting out of school soon, you should hurry if you want to be there when she leaves school." Fredrick said.
"We would take you, but it's walking distance and we're sure you want to see Jemma alone." Elena said with a knowing smile. Skye just nodded and jumped off the couch as soon as Jemma's parents began to show her to the door and pointed her in the right direction. Skye began to walk, but she looked more like a wandering puppy.
"Simmons, I can't believe you!" Fitz exclaimed. Jemma had just told him about her plans to become a vet, and Fitz clearly didn't think it was a good idea.
"You could get into any university you want, but you choose a tiny college in the middle of nowhere?" Ashley put in. Jemma rolled her eyes. While Fitz loved the annoying blonde, Jemma hated her and only tried to get along with her for Fitz's sake. She'd been feeling like the third wheel all of senior year.
"Yes, because I want to be with Skye." Jemma explained for the millionth time. Ashley and Fitz both applied to all the same schools and would probably get into them, so they just didn't understand the whole separation thing.
"Yes, we know, everything's for Skye." Fitz said dramatically. Jemma clutched her books closer to her chest while they were walking towards the front exit of the school, but she quickly stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked him angrily. Fitz removed his arm from its place draped over Ashley's shoulders.
"It means that she's obviously not good enough for you if she's holding you back like this." He told her. Jemma's blood began to boil. She immediately thought back to her argument with Skye, and she remembered the tears in her eyes when Skye believed those exact words. Jemma shook her head silently and turned away, walking out of the building and leaving the newly cruel Fitz behind.
She stared at the ground and didn't look up until she roughly crashed into someone, spilling her books all over the pavement.
"For a minute there I thought you were going to walk right past me." A familiar voice stated as Jemma apologized and knelt on the ground to gather her books. Jemma slowly tilted her face up and it felt like a nuclear bomb had gone off when she realized that Skye was standing above her in all her western glory.
"Skye!" She screeched, jumping to her feet and wrapping her arms so tightly around Skye's neck that she was almost positive she would have to release her in a moment so she didn't choke her girlfriend to death. Skye wrapped her arms around Jemma's waist and laughed, lifting her off the ground a few inches. Jemma removed her head from Skye's shoulder and pressed their lips together.
"How... what... Skye?" Jemma started stuttering when Skye put her down. Skye laughed and brushed Jemma's hair out of her face.
"I got a break in barrel racing for a while, and since you happened to be having a break as well..." Skye trailed off, pressing another light kiss to Jemma's lips.
"Where are you in the charts?" Jemma asked excitedly. She'd forgotten to check recently, but over the school year Skye had become quite the barrel racer, quickly climbing the national ranks. Jemma had been receiving letters from all over the United States as Skye traveled on the circuit.
"Third in the US." Skye beamed proudly.
"That's amazing!" Jemma told her. Jemma's schoolmates had finally begun to notice what was going on, and most of them were pointing and snickering. Although it made Jemma nervous and slightly annoyed, Skye didn't notice and probably wouldn't have cared if she had.
"Is this... Skye?" A hesitant voice asked. Skye finally peeled her eyes off of Jemma for just long enough to spot a curly haired boy and a blonde girl the exact same height.
"Yes." Jemma said, glaring at him.
"You must be Fitz!" Skye said enthusiastically, not even noticing Jemma's annoyance. "Jemma's talked about you quite a bit." She said, shaking his hand.
"I'm Ashley." Fitz's girlfriend introduced herself, shaking Skye's hand as well.
"Well, Jemma and I better get going before her parents come looking for me." Skye joked.
"They didn't smother you, did they?" Jemma asked in horror. Skye held up her thumb and pointer finger slightly apart from each other. Yes, a little bit, the sign told her. Fitz and Ashley stared at Skye in complete bewilderment and shot Jemma apologetic looks that she completely ignored as she led Skye by the elbow.