Cidney fumbled with a jar of jelly. She'd managed the get the cream cheese on her bagel after it finished toasting and decided it wouldn't be complete without jelly. After several unsuccessful attempts to open the jar she plopped down on the kitchen floor and held it between her feet and twisted the lid. She let out a whoop when the top turned off and stood to complete her breakfast. Triumphantly she took a bite out of her bagel. Her arm was in a sling till the stitches patching her up needed to come out. Unfortunately the sling was also accompanied by a swathe to keep her arm against her body to prevent unnecessary use. And the doctors had assured her that the swathe was necessary. If Ward hadn't been living with her since she was discharged she'd have taken the swathe off as soon as she got home from the hospital; Ward was always the one about following orders not her. The food helped her temper and she wasn't worried about the shop, before the mission one of her old employees returned for the summer so she knew her shop was in good hands. At the moment her primary concern was getting a shower. She'd only had sponge baths the past five days and she wanted to wash her hair. The day before she'd considered going to a hairdresser to get it washed but her hair was so awful looking her pride wouldn't let her. She turned to the sound of the front door opening to reveal Ward coming back from his run; she envied the fact he could go take a shower on his own.

"Did you sleep any better last night?" Ward kissed her forehead, "You weren't tossing around as much."

"Not really." She confessed

"Why didn't you say something? Was your shoulder hurting?"

"No point in both of us not being able to sleep. It hasn't really stopped hurting." She felt like she was fighting a losing battle. The pain meds made her sick to her stomach and without them her shoulder became the only thing she was really aware of. Motrin and anything else over the counter just didn't seem to cut it. She turned her bad shoulder away from him and pressed into his side, "I just want sleep and clean hair." She muttered laying her head on his chest.

He gave her a sympathetic look, "Go to the hairdressers and have them do it."

"No. I look like a bum. I'm not going in public till I look semi presentable."

"You look fine."

She looked up at him shocked, "Do you not see my hair!? I look like I just dumped oil on my head."

He suppressed a laugh and his eyes lit up when he thought of a solution for her, "Come on." He led her into the bedroom and gently pushed her down onto the bed. "Rest while I get cleaned up. Then we'll wash your hair."

"I don't think dry shampoo is going to help anymore, Grant." She said earnestly.

"Not what I have in mind." He took her phone and found her favorite playlist. "Relax and I'll get you fixed up soon. I'll be ten minutes -tops."

"Okay." She agreed lowering herself onto her back. Closing her eyes she listened as the classic rock Ward turned on softly drifted through the room.

Three songs later she felt Ward's hand on hers. "I think that was longer than ten minutes."

He guided her into the bathroom and she raised her eyebrows at him, "I had to set this up."

Pillows from the couch were leaning against the tub. "It's not perfect but it will work for a quick wash." He turned her and had her sit with her back to the tub, leaning back her head rested at the edge of the tub and her back was comfortable. He lifted her head and pushed a folded towel between her neck and the tub's edge.

Ward removed the showerhead and began to run the water over her hair. Taking her shampoo he began the challenge of washing the long hair.

"You're not doing the scalp massage." She whined playfully.

"I'll get to it."

"Good. That's the greasy part."

"I know how to wash hair. You may be surprised to learn I wash my own." He tapped her forehead lightly, "I'd like to think I do a good job."

"Your hair is short. That makes it easy to wash" She hummed happily when he began to massage the shampoo into her scalp.

After rinsing out the shampoo Ward started to move to conditioner when she stopped him, "Please wash it again."

"It's clean now." His hand hovered over the conditioner bottle

"Just one more, please?" she gave him her best puppy dog eyes. "It felt nice."

Starting to decline her request she gave him a small pout. He relented with a sigh, "How can I say no."

She grinned triumphantly, "Thank you."

When he finally finished washing her hair and rinsing out the conditioner Ward squeezed the excess water out, taking a towel he began to gently rub her hair. Leaving the towel around her shoulders he took a hair dryer and began the drying process for her.

"Grant I can do that." She insisted.

He pushed her hand away softly, "I got it."

….

That evening Ward returned from the grocery store to an empty apartment. Relief flooded over him when he saw her note telling him that she was visiting Danny. Deciding she probably needed space he started putting away groceries. Ward's mind drifted to his conversation with Coulson at the hospital. He still hadn't talked to Cidney, the conversation about what they were going to do felt like a dark cloud looming over his head; he wondered if Cidney was thinking about it too when he realized that was a stupid thought. Of course she was thinking about it, the past few days there were already so many moments when she started to say something to him but decided against it. He often caught her watching him carefully, like he would bolt at any moment.

The door opening pulled him from his thoughts. She wore his old hoodie and it swallowed her small frame. Only her left arm was through the sleeve, her right hidden under the material kept against her body by the swathe. Black, square glasses rested on her nose, she hadn't bothered trying to put in her contacts that morning. Her hair was in an abysmal braid that Ward assembled that morning under Cidney's instruction. He knew she didn't like the braid, it was knotted and hair was slipping from the weave but he secretly thought she looked adorable. Cidney caught Ward staring at her and smirked.

"I guess I don't have to wonder if you still think I'm pretty." She joked

He stepped close to her and ran his hands over her arms, "You look prettier than you did at the party last week."

A blush crept up her face, "Now you're just telling tales."

"No," he kissed her forehead, "Not in the slightest." He kissed her nose.

"Grant what are we?" he stopped, his lips hovering over hers. He opened his eyes and saw her blue ones looking into his for an answer. His hands left her hips and he straightened. Cidney's breath hitched when he turned away. "Grant? You left not me. And you're the one who came back into my life….we've been falling back into old patterns…you can't blame me for thinking-"

"You're right…I wanted everything to be like it was before I didn't even stop to think what would happen later…"

"It's later, Grant." She whispered sadly.

He turned to her, Cidney's eyes were misted, "I want this…I want you. But I'm still an agent and that means I won't be able to be here all the time. I could get transferred to a desk job so I could be around more-"

"You'd hate a desk job."

"If it meant I could be with you I'd do it." He said firmly. "I have no right to ask this…and I know I don't deserve it…will you give me a second chance?" Cidney paused and he watched as the wheels turned in her head and she weighed everything. "Cid, please….please I-"

"Yes." She breathed. "I want it too…I said I forgive you and I meant it." Grant let out a shaky breath, "But I still don't trust you like I did." She confessed.

"Understood." He nodded so relieved that he would do anything to earn her trust back. "I'll put in for a transfer. It might take a while-"

"Grant," she hushed "they need you. You can't leave your team."

"They can find another specialist." He insisted

She shook her head, "You don't see how much they care about you. Give it time, you all will get to know each other and you'll see how much they all care about you."

"How are we going to rebuild something if I'm always gone?" His hands rested on her hips.

"I think it'd be good for us. It'd help keep things slow…we can still talk and you can visit whenever you can. If you stayed I think we'd be trying too hard to make it like before…this will be something new for both of us."

"Okay." He agreed and bent down to kiss her, this time she didn't stop him.