Without further ado, here's chapter two! Oh...that rhymed :D

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Unfortunately, due to the fact that they had both completely forgotten they'd set their baggage down next to the street and had to turn back for them, the pair was caught by the sudden downpour and now stood in the foyer, utterly soaked and dripping onto the dark wood of the floor.

Fitz threw up a few choice words at the clouds before shutting the door loudly behind them, muttering under his breath about the "shite weather" as he shook his head, flicking all new droplets of water into Jemma's face from his drenched curls.

"Thanks so much for that, Fitz..." Jemma sighed, blinking rapidly as she overdramatized her reaction to the flecks of water.

"Whoops...sorry, Jemma." He wasn't sorry at all, not really. He couldn't hold back the amused smile and he knew he'd started something because a playful glint flashed over Jemma's eyes...a mere moment before she shook her longer and more abundant hair forcefully in his direction, flinging a decent amount of water right at him.

The two of them burst into a fit of giggles but it was cut short by a rather loud sneeze from Jemma that sent Fitz immediately into business mode.

"Right," he straightened up and gave her a very stern look, pointing in the direction of the staircase at the end of the front hall, "You get up there and get out of those wet clothes, Simmons!"

Jemma gave him an overdramatic salute and turned on her heels like a soldier before marching down the hallway to ascend to the second floor. Fitz shook his head with a smile and followed behind with their baggage, grinning like a fool as he watched Jemma's head twist side to side as she took in everything around her, the joy was clearly written on every inch of her face and it was an amazing sight...it had been quite a while since he'd seen her look so carefree.

The second floor was fairly small due to the slant of the roof on either side, resulting in the rooms having a unique shape depending on where the windows were. Three rooms were found, and quickly examined by his excited female counterpart and each door she opened resulted in her jaw dropping further and further and her delighted gasps turning into squeaky squeals of delight.

"Fitz, this is the coziest place on this blessed planet!" she proclaimed as she practically skipped into the larger bedroom to the right of the staircase, stopping the the center of the room to scan it and commit it to memory. Her eyes came to rest on the bed and she cast a glance over her shoulder to waggle her eyebrows at him, which resulted in his heart doing a somersault in his chest. "We'll definitely have to break that in later, won't we?"

"Uh...yeah, definitely!" Internally, Fitz wanted to kick himself, even after all they'd been through and their years of being side by side, she still managed to turn him into a stuttering fool every time she flirted with him, which was becoming much more often since they'd finally crossed that line from best friends to...well, best friends in love was the best way to describe it. Nothing had really changed between them, they were just closer now in ways they hadn't been before.

Obviously she'd noticed the waver in his voice because she gave him a smile the likes of which she kept specifically for his eyes only as she slowly moved across the room to where he was still holding onto the bags. Swallowing thickly, he waited on pins and needles for her next move, which turned out to be her hands sliding slowly up the length of his arms, around his shoulders and coming to a halt at his chest where they gripped onto the material of his jacket to pull him a bit closer. She angled her chin up to bring her lips to his ear.

"Fancy a hot shower with me?"

Did he ever! No, wait...that wasn't part of the plan, this was supposed to be romantic, slowly built and solidly presented. Steeling himself inwardly, he responded to her offer with an apologetic smile and a shake of his head before pressing a quick kiss to her lips and stepping back from her intoxicating presence to reduce the difficulty of his resistance.

"Can I take a raincheck on that?" He hated the flash of self consciousness and disappointment that he saw in her eyes, but he had to stand firm if he wanted the evening to go as planned...after all, sometimes the wait and the tension made everything even better. He sure hoped so anyway, because the frosty glare she gave him as she backed out of his personal space made him a bit nervous about how she may respond to any of his actions tonight. "It's just...I was gonna go make tea...for you when you got out. So you could relax and everything..."

"If that's what you'd rather do, Leo."

Oh boy...she only used his proper name in two circumstances: during sex and when she was pissed at him.

He chose not to react to the cold tone of her voice and he gave her an honest to God smile, hoping to convey something positive to her and let her know he wasn't being malicious. He waited until he heard the shower running before pulling open his suitcase and pulling out a pair of jeans and a thick, wool jumper to fight off the chill that was beginning to settle in the house from the Scottish October night. Considerably more comfortable in the dry, warm clothes, Fitz made his way back down the stairs and into the kitchen to put the kettle on for the tea he promised her. The telltale whistle of the steam pushing it's way out of the kettle just at the time the shower turned off upstairs and he quickly filled two mugs (successfully scalding his right thumb in the process when some splashed out on him), and added the cream and sugar exactly the way Jemma preferred so hers would be ready before prepping his own, then he leaned against the counter to wait for her, holding both mugs tightly in preparation for her arrival.

Footsteps overhead told him she had made her way to the bedroom, most likely to bundle up even more than he had due to her cold nature. Sure enough, when she appeared in the doorway of the kitchen she was sporting light pink fleece pyjama bottoms and one of his thicker woll jumpers. Despite the lofty look on her face and the upward tilt of her nose that clearly told him she was pure dead pissed at him he had to smile at the sight of her...she always stole his clothes because she liked the slightly oversized feel of them better than her own fitted ones, and he loved the sight if he was honest.

But his appreciative stare was interrupted when she marched across the floor with an air of superiority and began rifling through the cabinets next to the stove where he was leaning. He knew her tactics well, she wanted him to be very well aware of the displeasure that was coming off her inwaves so she would get as close as possible without actually making eye contact, or any kind of contact at all, and remain stubbornly silent until she just couldn't hold it back...all he had to do was wait for the inevitable snide remark she would soon make.

"Tea?" he offered calmly from his spot at her side as she bent down to dramatically investigate the nearly empty cabinet that only held a few pots and pans.

Her head tilted just enough to look over her upper arm at him with a look that clearly expressed 'are you kidding me?' and then she straightened up and faced him, quietly accepting the mug from him withouth a word.

"Why how nice of you, Leo. You're so thoughtful." Her tone was heavy with sarcastic condescension and it made him wince slightly, but he recovered quickly and set his mug on the stovetop with a sigh and turned to her to make serious eye contact, ready to work this out before things went too far.

"Are you mad at me, Jemma?" he asked softly, giving her the opportunity to let it out if she wanted to, even though he knew exactly why she was mad.

"Of course not, Leo, what ever gave you that impression?"

"Maybe the fact you're calling me "Leo" and shooting daggers at me with your eyes?"

"Well that's your bloody name, isn't it?" The reply was swift and sharp. Definitely time to stop skirting around things.

"Jemma..." he took her tea from her carefully and set it beside his own then he took hols of her wrists, tracing her pulse point with his fingertips soothingly as he looked her dead in the eyes, "You're mad and I know why, but will you let me explain?"

Thankfully, she seemed to thaw a bit at their suddenly closeness and she nodded as her eyes dropped to the floor between them. He couldn't have that, so he tilted her chin back up with one knuckle and forced her to meet his eyes again.

"We're together a LOT at the base, yeah? But I noticed something the last few months...a lot of the time we spend together is working in the lab surrounded by dozens of people and working on projects and working out problems for the missions."

"Not ALL the time..." Jemma started to argue but Fitz cut her off.

"And what little free time we do have is spent sleeping, snatching a meal or..."

"Having sex! Which is what I nvited you to do just now, but you..."

Fitz rolled his eyes slightly and clapped his hand over her mouth gently to cut her off before she really got heated.

"I'm not a complete idiot, Jems, I know that. I PROMISE you, I want you all day every day, and we'll get to that soon, but I miss...us."

Almost immediately, Jemma's eyes softened her brows arching slightly as she grasped what he was trying to convey. Her hand came up to move his from her mouth and she gave him a sheepish little smile.

"Oh, Fitz..."

"I just thought...all the work we've been doing lately with Dr. Radcliff is pretty time and energy consuming so..."

"You want to spend actual genuine quality time together." She finished his sentence. That was a good thing.

"Yeah. And I can tell when you're getting stressed, Jemma...you need some down time. So what'dya say we light the fireplace and..."

"Cuddle?!" The hopeful expression and her gleeful tone were a precious combination and Fitz broke into a massive smile.

"Exactly."

They each took their respective mugs from the stove and made their way to the lounge. Jemma immediately plopped into the big, cushy couch and tucked her ankles underneath her as she lounged sideways on her elbow and propped her head on her palm to watch as Fitz worked on getting the fire lit. He glanced over his shoulder at her a few times, giving her a wink or a smile each time and, when the fire was lit he joined her on the couch. Jemma sat up immediately and squished herself right up to his side, overdramatizing her shivering to earn her some sympathy...which worked because his arm was around her shoulder without a second's hesitation, pulling her even closer as he rubbed her arm in long firm strokes to create some warming friction.

"See? This isn't so bad." He commented matter-of-factly.

"No indeed," Jemma tore her eyes from the crackling flames across the small room and graced him with her full attention, "Thank you, Leo. You always seem to know what I need way before I do...I didn't realize how much I missed this till now. We really haven't had much time to just relax like this, have we?"

"I won't say I told you so, but..." Fitz teased and Jemma gave him a playful shove and giggled.

Fitz gave her a smug smile and picked up his mug of tea he'd set on the end table, taking a huge sip without even thinking about it...and ended up spluttering loudly as the hot liquid settled on his tongue.

"Fuck me sideways!" Somehow he managed to set the mug down without spilling it everywhere in his haste, and immediately began panting and waving his hands over it in an effort to ease the pain one can only know if they've gulped a scalding hot cup of tea. Jemma was trying to be soothing and comforting but all she was managing to do was giggle loudly and get out one or two words in between.

"Oh...Fitz...you alright?"

"No, woman, I just lost the entire top layer of my tongue!"

"I can kiss it and make it better."

Fitz was caught a bit off guard by that, and he gave her a look out of the corner of his eye as he contemplated the offer.

"Have at it then."

Jemma didn't need a second invitation, her lips were on his as soon as the words were out of his mouth and Fitz was pretty sure the fire in the fireplace was pathetic next to the heat she ignited in him. Cuddles be damned...he could only turn her down so many times before he lost his sanity completely, and he discovered then that the number of times he could deny her was one.

After all, they had two whole weeks to relax; they could put it off till tomorrow.

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I just love them so much...that is all.

Proceed to the review section, ladies and gentlemen ;)