Skye smiled to herself as she slid on her riding jacket, sitting astride Wards' motorcycle. The rest of her day had blurred together as she replayed the events of lunch over and over again in her mind. After they had realised everyone was staring at them in the lunch hall, Skye quickly led them to an empty art room so they could properly introduce themselves. FitzSimmons, they had introduced themselves as, a mix of their names due to them being inseparable. After that, they had split into pairs, to get to know each other.

Leo Fitz. The name sent her stomach into swirls. Her Soulmate. She had absorbed everything in, his adorably gruff accent, his messy hair, his incredible mind that had shone through in only a few short moments of conversation. It didn't seem real. She had told him a bit about herself, too. Mostly about her friendship with Ward, what she did at school, trivial things that her nervous mind had provided. Part of her felt reluctant to go into the details of her family, her abandonment. The part of her that she was sure would send Fitz packing, adamant that this pathetic person couldn't possibly be his Soulmate.

Skye pushed those thoughts away as she fiddled with her helmet, waiting for Ward to be let out of class. She hadn't seen him since lunch, hadn't had the opportunity to question him about his own Soulmate. Jemma Simmons. She was sure they were perfect for each other, just from what she had gleamed from a brief introduction and the bashful smiles she kept sending Wards' way.

As if he could read her mind, Skye spotted Ward heading over in her direction, grin on his face as FitzSimmons followed.

'Sup, Shortie,' Ward shouted with a grin as he came over. Skye rolled her eyes at the nickname. She wasn't that short.

'Look who I found!' Ward gestured to FitzSimmons who both gave her a smile and a wave.

'Hey, guys. Good first day?' Skye greeted before chucking Ward his helmet and riding jacket.

Fitz was just about to answer before Simmons blurted, 'You ride a motorcycle?!' Her eyes were wide in shock.

'What, this thing?' Skye patted the bike beneath her proudly. 'Yeah, its Wards'.'

'Yeah, we usually take my truck but the engine crapped out, can't get it fixed till next Saturday.' Ward added with a shrug.

'Oh, Fitz, you could-' Simmons began, before Fitz continued along the same thought, 'I can take a look at it, if you want. I'm really good with machines.'

Ward's eyes lit up before he clapped Fitz on the back. 'This is perfect! Skye, why don't you take Simmons to Danny's Diner and Fitz can take a look at the truck, we can meet up after.'

Not one to argue with Ward when he got excited, Skye shot Simmons a questioning look before nodding.

'Great, this gives Fitz and I the chance to get to know each other, have a little chat now that he's you're Soulmate.'

Skye narrowed her eyes at Wards implication of him giving Fitz the shovel talk. 'If I didnt know any better, I'd say you planned this. Just don't scare him away, would ya,' Skye grumbled much to Wards amusement, whilst Fitz looked vaguely worried.

'Hey, don't worry, he's only joking around,' Skye tried to calm him, as Ward handed back his helmet and jacket, before getting Fitz to take him to his car.

Once they were gone, Skye turned her attention back to Simmons.

'Hey,' Skye started with a warm smile before getting off the bike and laying the helmet and jacket on the seat next to her own helmet. She shrugged off the jacket she was wearing and handed it to Simmons.

'Here, it'll fit better than Wards.'

Simmons stared at the jacket in front of her, dumbly. 'Oh, we're taking the bike?' Simmons asked, her eyes wide with nerves.

'Yeah, Fitz was your ride, wasn't he?' Simmons nodded silently. 'Well, I happen to be an excellent and safe rider,' Skye added, putting emphasis on the safe to help alleviate her fears.

'O-Okay,' Simmons agreed warily, taking the jacket from Skye's outstretched hand. She quickly pulled it on, turning to face Skye who was watching her with a grin.

'What? Is there something on my face?' Skye let out a laugh and shook her head.

'No, nothing. Its just... It suits you. It's very different from the blouse and cardigan you're wearing.'

Simmons smiled at Skye, 'Oh, thanks.. I think.'

With a grin, Skye tossed Simmons her helmet, before she quickly put on Wards jacket, slightly too large, and then his helmet. She helped Simmons on the back of the bike, looking positively tiny astride the beast of a motorcycle, but Skye withheld her laugh, instead making sure Simmons' helmet was on properly. Certain it was, Skye straddled the bike in front of Simmons, pulling Simmons' hands tight around her waist.

'Hold on, okay. You ready?' Skye asked, and felt Simmons nod behind her. 'Okay, here we go!'

Skye kick started the bike, the engine roaring to life beneath them. The noise was almost loud enough to cover the sound of Simmons squeaking, almost. Skye chuckled and feeling her shaking, Simmons playfully hit her.

Skye threw a thumbs up back to Simmons, before hitting the gas and then they were off.

Skye felt Simmons tighten her grip around her waist as they shot out of the car park and onto the road, the world flying past them by as they sped down the familiar roads that lead to her favourite road side diner that stood on the edge of town. She welcomed the euphoric sensation that only came when she was driving the bike, the wind rushing past her and making her feel like she was flying. She was careful to ignore the feeling deep in her bones telling her to go faster and to chase the adrenalin rush, not wanting to scare Simmons on her first time riding. Eventually, she felt Simmons relax behind her, her grip loosening slightly as she started to enjoy the drive.

The diner came into sight all too soon and Skye briefly thought about keeping on going, but dismissed the idea. Maybe another time, perhaps. She slowed as she turned into the car park, till she swung into a parking spot and stopped. She methodically shut down the bike and kicked down the bike rest, then when the unbuckle her helmet.

Shaking out her hair, she felt Simmons let go of her waist, and begin to take off her own helmet. Getting off the bike, she accepted the helmet from Simmons and grinned.

'So, not bad for you're first time, huh?' Simmons looked flushed and was smiling brightly at her.

'That.. That was amazing! I've never felt so free.' Simmons exclaimed happily. 'I thought I would be terrified, but after a while I just relaxed and... Wow.'

'I know, right! It's even better driving, feels like you're on air,' Skye gushed, reaching out her hand to help Simmons climb of the bike. Once she was, Skye tossed the helmets into the storage compartment under the seat and turned back to Simmons and nodded to the diner.

'Prepare to taste the best milkshakes in all of America- no, the world!' Grabbing Simmons' hand, she lead them into the diner and into a booth. They were quickly joined by a waitress.

'Hi, ladies. What can I get you?'

Fitz nervously tapped on the steering wheel as he drove, conscious of the large muscle-y guy seated next to him (Really, was the guy on steroids or something? Does he live in a gym?) who had minutes ago joked about giving him the shovel talk, because that wasn't scary at all.

Fitz quickly glanced over to Ward and almost jumped in his seat when he found Ward already watching him.

'Do you like music? I like music, lets listen to music,' Fitz rambled in a rush, reaching to turn the radio. Some top 40's station started playing the latest Katy Perry song, and Fitz winced. He reached forward again to change stations but was stopped as Ward reached forward and turned it off completely.

'Oh.. Do you not want to-'

'Look, can we talk?' Ward interrupted, before Fitz could start rambling again. Without waiting for a response, he continued.

'I feel like we got off to a bad start. I was joking before, I'm not going to do that whole macho-don't-hurt-her-or-else thing.'

'So... You're not going to shove me in a dumpster? Or lock me in the school overnight?' Fitz asked quietly.

'What?! Fitz, no! No. I would never do that to anyone, let alone you!' Ward gave him a worried look. 'Have people done that to you?'

Fitz shrugged. 'Yeah... At my old schools... Better me than Simmons, I guess. It's okay.'

'No, Fitz!' Ward all but yelled in anger, causing Fitz to flinch. Noticing the movement, Ward lowered his voice, 'No, Fitz, that is not okay. If anyone tries anything here, to you or Simmons, tell me and Skye. That is not okay.'

'Okay,' Fitz agreed quietly.

Ward sighed, 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. It's just... Skye had had a rough time growing up. It's not my place to give you details, but people were hurting her, in and out of school. At the time, I couldn't do anything, but I will never let it happen again. To any of you.

'I said I wouldn't give you the shovel talk, and I wont. I just want to ask you to take care of her. God, she would kill me if she knew I was doing this, but you need to take care of her, and be patient, and do things at her pace. Because she can have trouble letting people in sometimes. And I.. I love her, so just take care of her.'

Fitz nodded, and then smiled. 'I promise. It's good she has you. And Simmons now, too.'

'Hey, you've got me too. Me and Skye, we're family. That makes you family too.'

Fitz beamed at him. Ward suddenly cleared his throat.

'Right, well, now that our little heart to heart is over... Cars! You're good with cars,' Ward changed the subject awkwardly.

Fitz laughed before going along with it, 'Yeah, I'm good with all kinds of stuff really, I want to be an engineer.'

'Really? What kinds of stuff do you work with?'

'Oh, god, you're right! These pancakes are amazing,' Simmons moaned, quickly taking another bite.

Skye grinned and took a sip of her smoothie. 'Right! Me and Ward have been coming here since I was like 8. Nothing beats having breakfast for dinner when you've had a bad day.'

'Oh, you've had a bad day, have you?' Simmons teased, grinning at Skye who had all but collapsed from the amount of food she had consumed in a scarily small amount of time.

'Nah, my day's been pretty good. Its safe to say I'll remember it forever,' Skye quipped back, 'but I guess some habits are bad to break, or maybe I just like to treat myself.' Skye winked, causing Simmons to giggle.

'So...you and Ward have known each other for a long time, right? And you two have never... You know...'

Skye choked on the smoothie she had just taken a sip from, 'What?! Dated? No, thank god!' Skye started laughing, full bellied laughter that no one can make look attractive.

'What? Why is the thought of dating Ward so funny? Is there something wrong with him?' Simmons frowned.

'Oh, no, Simmons,' Skye took a gasp of air, trying to refrain from laughing further. 'Simmons, Ward is my brother!'

'What?!' Simmons' asked in shock, eyes wide. 'I thought you were best friends? He said you met in the third grade.'

Skye chuckled, 'Yeah, that's true... I'm adopted.'

'Oh!...Okay.'

Skye smiled sadly, 'Yeah, no one really knows what to say to that... I was left at the orphanage when I was a baby, and I got placed in a bunch of foster homes but none of them really stuck.' Skye shrugged with a sad smile.

'I met Ward on the first day of third grade. Some asshole was pushing me around because the orphanage couldn't afford nice clothes, or even clothes that fit if I'm being completely honest. Anyway, Ward defended me and we've been tight ever since. He was always there for me when a home got bad, his mom always let me sleep at theirs when I ran away. Last year, we got our timers, and everyone just assumed we would be mates, I guess even I believed it a little but we never did anything before. Imagine our surprise when we had the same time, only it didn't go off when we saw each other.'

Skye laughed at the thought. 'I didn't know if I was happy or disappointed to be honnest. On one side, my best friend wasn't my soulmate, but on the other side, I didn't have to worry about anything changing between us, you know, the expectations of being mates. Anyway, about six months ago, I was... I was placed in a really bad home. Some bad shit went down,' Skye's eyes flickered down to her wrists and took a shake-y breath.

Simmons' eyes followed Skye's', and she held in a gasp at the sight of the mottled mass of scar tissue around her timer. Instinctively, Simmons reached forward and grasped Skye's hands, turning them so her wrists were faced down, and ran her thumbs over her knuckles.

Skye looked up at Simmons and smiled weakly. 'Some bad shit went down,' Skye repeated,' and Ward got me out of there. Ward and Carrie, Wards mom, stayed with me in the hospital and Carrie said that I was family, I had been for a long time and that she couldn't let me go to those places any more... So she adopted me. My full name is Skye Daisy Ward... So, no. Me and Ward were never a thing.' She finished with a grin, hastily rubbing the unshed tears from her eyes.

'Good. I'm glad you found family.' Simmons said quietly, just noticing she was still holding Skye's hands.

'So, what about you, how'd you and Fitz meet?' they both let go with the change in topic.

Simmons smiled to herself at the memory, 'Well, Fitz and I -'

Simmons was interrupted by a bell as the door opened, followed by raucous laughter. Skye and Simmons both glanced up to track the noise and were greeted by the sight of Ward and Fitz jokingly shoving each other and laughing.

'Well, it looks like those two are getting along,' Skye said with smile. 'Hey! Guys!' Skye waved the two over.

'Skye, Simmons, hey!' Ward greeted, followed by a shy, 'Hey,' from Fitz. Ward slid into the booth next to Skye, gently shoving her over. 'Budge up, kiddo,' he joked, causing Skye to roll her eyes.

'You're like 4 months older then me, jerk,' Skye grumbled, but moved over anyway. Fitz joined them on Simmons' side, somewhat more politely.

'How's the truck?' Skye asked.

'Oh, man! Fitz is a miracle worker. Got the thing up and running in 15 minutes,' Ward enthused, much to Fitz' chagrin.

'It wasn't a big deal. Just a few loose plugs and a faulty wire.' Fitz mumbled.

'Hey, don't sell yourself short. I couldn't make heads or tails of it,' Ward insisted.

'Fitz is amazing, he can fix just about anything,' Simmons agreed, nudging him with her shoulder.

Embarrassed by all the attention, Fitz quickly changed the subject. 'So, what have you two been up to?' he asked Skye and Simmons.

'Simmons was just about to tell me how you two met,' Skye answered with an understanding smile.

'Oh, this I want to hear!' Ward exclaimed.

Fitz and Simmons shared a look, before Simmons started, 'Well, both our parents are scientists. I grew up in Sheffield, but when I was 10, my parents moved to London to work on a new project.'

'Right,' Fitz continued, 'And I grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. My parents were asked to collaborate with Simmons' parents in London, so we moved there. I was being a right moody git about the move and when my parents took me to see the labs, I got into a bit of trouble.'

Simmons snorted. 'By trouble, he means he completely deconstructed highly expensive equipment when his parents weren't looking.'

Skye and Ward chuckled, causing Fitz to blush. 'Anyway, my parents practically locked me in the common room where I couldn't go any more damage-'

'Tell that to the poor coffee maker, Fitz,'

'-when I see this girl hanging upside down of the sofa reading a textbook on advanced biology. I was intrigued, so I struck up a conversation.'

'I, of course, hated him immediately, as 10 year olds tend to do,' Simmons added.

'But she soon came to realise that we were in similar situations and she wouldn't be able to do the experiments she wanted to without an engineer to work the equipment, so we struck up a partnership of sorts, conducting all sorts of mad science together.'

'And the rest is history,' Simmons finished with a smile.

'We caused our parents a few grey hairs with our monkey business, but we were inseparable. When my parents got offered a job in America a couple of years ago, they recommended the Simmons', and we all moved here, even got houses on the same street.'

'Our parents' company opened up a division here, so we all moved and here we are,' Simmons finished.

'Awww, you guys are adorable,' Skye exclaimed.

'I'm totally imagining them in massive lab coats and blowing stuff up,' Ward said in agreement.

'That was one time!' Simmons argued.

'Come on, Simmons, we did set quite a lot of stuff on fire,' Fitz conceded.

'Yeah, but it was controlled fire. Completely intentional.'

'Sure, Simmons,' Fitz teased.'

Simmons huffed, just as Ward's phone rang. 'It's mom,' he said to Skye as he checked the caller I.D. He answered, bringing the phone to his ear.

'Hey, Mom... Yeah, we're with them now... Danny's diner... No, I haven't eaten. You know Skye can always eat more.'

'Hey!'

'Cool, we'll be there in 10. Bye, love you.'

Ward hung up. 'That was my mom. She's cooking dinner and wants us home,' he explained apologetically. 'She wants to know all about you.'

'It's okay, our parents are probably thinking the same,' Simmons said with a smile.

'Here, give me you're numbers,' Ward handed his phone to Fitz. 'I'll send them to Skye too.' Fitz quickly typed in his number before passing it to Simmons. Once she was done, they all stood up, Skye leaving a few bills on the table.

'It was really great finally meeting you both,' Skye said, hugging Simmons, before turning to Fitz. 'Maybe next time, Ward wont steal you away and we can hang out. Just us?'

'I look forward to it,' Fitz agreed with a smile, before hugging her. 'I cant wait to get to know you.'

Skye smiled. 'Me too. Simmons has told me a lot about you.'

Fitz blushed, much to her amusement. 'Well, we'd better go.'

Nearby, Ward and Simmons were having their own goodbye, but they soon separated. Heading to the exit, Ward called out, 'Later, Fitz. Thanks again for the help with the truck,' before they all went their own ways. Fitz and Simmons to Fitz' car; Skye and Ward to where the bike was parked. Neither said anything as they put on their gear, except to check they were good to go, before they were driving home. The journey was quick, and they soon found themselves parked outside their house, spotting Carrie moving around in the kitchen through the window. She noticed them and gave them a wave as they got off the bike. Heading in, they both greeted Carrie with a hug.

'So? How'd it go? I want to know everything!'

Skye sank into her bed with a smile, before rolling over onto her stomach to reach her charging phone. Switching it on she added both the contacts Ward had sent her into her phone.

Fitz (22:09) : Hey, its Skye, just giving you my number before I head to sleep. Night xx

Skye sent the text, and hovered over Simmons' contact for a second, before hitting it. She heard it ring from in her hand. When the phone signalled that she'd picked up, she brought it to her ear.

'Hey, Simmons. It's Skye... I just wanted to give you my number... Yeah, I had a really good time today, too...I hope we can do it again, you know, without the guys too... I think we're gonna be really good friends...'

Hey, I know its been forever, and I have no excuse other than I'm a real asshole, but I'm sorry. Anyway, I hope you like it :) Send me a review with what you think, its always appreciated.

P.S Changed my username to DaisyRomanov because blackdaisy is life :)