A/N: Back from the holidays again for me, I see. And with another chapter. I hope it is okay!

Disclaimer: I'm getting real tired of this.

Days after their trekking, after the night when everybody pondered about their feelings, they pretended that nothing seemed to bother them and they continued to go on visiting the different rural places there were, getting on a boat and went fishing and went sailing. The Roberts still joined them when they were having a game night with their mats and blankets outside and Suzanne and David even joined them to sleep out.

Coulson and Skye went down to the breakfast buffet area one day, where Andrew was already waiting for them. As they walked hand in hand, Skye decided to suddenly stop, turn and face Coulson, "Do you really like me?"

Coulson's heart skipped a beat, well, I didn't see that coming, "Of course, I like you."

Skye turned away again and continued walking, "Oh. Okay."

Oh. Okay. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

But Coulson decided not to bug her for an answer, not wanting the mood or appetite for breakfast. But that evening, when he was walking alone by the rocky coast, his hand was held by a familiar hand as soft, "Oh, hello."

"Why didn't you ask me out?"

"Well, I thought you'd want to go out with Ryan later on. He said he wanted to go down and buy some souvenirs." Skye wrapped his arm with hers, "Well, he's with Suzanne and David playing Jenga. I don't suppose he's going down anytime soon."

While they were walking together, the Jenga trios were stifling a giggle. David asked as he pulled out a block out of the tower, "Are they really a couple?"

"I don't know. I have to say, they sell it pretty well." Andrew answered, the grin on his face started to form - proud at himself for had planted the idea of them being a couple in the first place.

"Sell what?" Suzanne turned at Andrew.

"Oh," Shit, that slipped. "Being a couple. Even if they're not, they'd get Oscars for best actor and actress. But why did you ask that in the first place?"

David shrugged his shoulders, "I just don't see them as kissy and mushy. They just hold hands and that's it."

"What? You don't like that?"

"I like that. I just thought they seem platonic. But I like that the fact they, you know, they just don't do PDA."

"PDA?"

"Public Display of Affection." Suzanne replied through a mouthful of Doritos.

Meanwhile by the coast, as the couple walked on in silence, Coulson decided to break it and hold a conversation of their own too, "What was it that you meant to ask me this morning?"

Skye got out of her peace of mind, suddenly flooded with a million questions that she had initially wanted to ask him that morning, "I just wanted to ask you if you really do like me or not. That's it."

"Skye," Coulson stopped and turned to look at her with each of her hands in his, "I'm a Level 8 clearance SHIELD agent with 25 years of experience under my belt. How the hell do you think I would fall for that?"

"Oh, woah. Okay. You don't have to be so angry about it." Skye pulled her hands out of his.

"I'm sorry." Coulson hung his head. It was surprising to him how years of training, years of experience of practicing to keep his guards up so as not to give away was easily broken just with a simple action of his cared one not being able to tell the truth.

"I just- I just don't think it's time for us to talk about this yet." Skye mumbled softly. "If not now, when? What the hell are we going to talk about, even? Why are you talking in circles?"

"Why are you suddenly so goddamn angry?"

Coulson silenced. He did not know why. But the questions, the doubt that were surrounding him was suffocating him so much he was finding it difficult to breathe around her.

"Fine." Skye crossed her arms, "If we're going to talk about it now, then we will." Coulson glared at her, his jaw clenched, waiting for her explanation. He truly did not understand where all those anger was coming from. "I just wanted to know, are we going somewhere off from where we are right now?"

"What the hell do you mean?" You know exactly what the hell she meant, Coulson.

"Can you speak nicely?"

Coulson clenched his jaw.

"I just wanted to know, if we, uh... If you.."

"If what?"

"If, our relationship, is it going anywhere?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what the hell I am talking about! Stop denying it!" Skye yelled at him back. She was mad, that he did not want to seem to talk about it but yet he was the one who insisted.

Coulson scoffed and took a step back, "What? That I love you? Is that what you want to hear from me? That I love you? Because that is never going to happen, okay? You and I, it's just this. It's just-" How the hell do you even want to go on with this lie, Coulson? "-this."

"Okay." Skye found her voice steady.

Okay?

Was that what she just said?

Okay?

In a really calm tone?

Okay?

As Skye started to walk away, Coulson held her back, "Where are you going?"

"Back to the cabin. I just wanted to ask you that. I've got my answer. I've got nothing else to say or ask. So, yeah. Back to the cabin." She replied dryly.

"No, look. I-"

"It's alright."

"No. Shit. You don't understand."

"Well, goddmammit, explain!" Skye cursed herself for having yelled into his face.

"I can't explain it."

"Well then, let me go. What the hell?"

As they departed, they had not the slightest idea that the trio who were playing Jenga had saw their quarrel, despite not being able to hear anything. "Well, damn. I didn't see that coming. Pretend that we didn't see anything, okay?" Andrew instructed the younger Roberts, the instruction understood by them when they nodded and diverted their focus back to their tower of blocks.

But as Skye neared them with a smile on her face, an effective mask that made them put on theirs too, "Can I join you guys?" Andrew made space for her and smiled, "You can sit beside me."

"Thanks." Without thinking through, she reached out for his hand. Andrew was surprised at the sudden physical contact but he knew she wanted comfort. In turn, he provided the comfort she needed and intertwined their fingers together. When Skye propped her head on his shoulder, all he could manage was just a kiss to her hair as he whispered, "It'll be okay." The interaction was witnessed by the two young Roberts who kept quiet, because they understood that she needed it, although not understanding what had just happened.

Where as Coulson stood in the distance, watching the exchange of contact, his heart burned and ached, his head bursting, thinking, What have you done?

That night, Skye asked Andrew if she could share the bed with him instead. He granted it, still knowing that the two had not been in good terms. Although he did not know what had happened between the two, he knew that must be one he must not get involved in, and he knows that him, being there to comfort Skye, was not a good idea but he has to do it. Because deep in his heart, he told himself, "If she truly reminds you of Kelsi, you'd not want her to not have someone to confide into. You're not doing this again. You stick by her and help her through it."

But in the middle of night as he held on to Skye as she slept, he felt her moved and sat up, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just going to sit outside for a while."

"I'll go with you."

"No, I need my time alone."

"Skye. You know my job is to protect you, keep my eye on you."

"Fine." Skye stood up, making her way out the door, grabbing her hoodie along the way. As they sat down by the porch as they faced the sea, Andrew asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know." She held his hand and propped her head on his shoulder, "I really don't know." By the cabin door, Coulson clenched his jaw. How are you going to fix this, Phillip?

The next morning, Coulson found both Skye and Andrew by the rocks, just sitting down quietly. He approached them, "Skye," but it was Andrew who turned to look at him, "Can I talk to you for a second?" The questioned still for the young agent-in-training. But Skye did not even acknowledge his presence. Andrew got up and turned to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "You promised to take care of her."

"I know," Coulson whispered back.

As Andrew walked away, he sat down beside her and looked at her. But she did not even took a glance at him, "I'm sorry." But she kept silent. "Skye. I just- I- I just don't think I am the right person for you."

"I am starting to think that too."

"Skye..."

"No, no! Listen to me! You want to move on but you don't dare to let go! Fine, I get that but you don't have to let your frustration out on me when you know it is about you!"

"I'm sorry." Coulson hung his head.

"I'm sorry." Skye calmed down, "I didn't mean to yell at you. I just didn't understand why you had to be so harsh."

Coulson held out for her hand, and gladly enough for him, Skye actually took it in hers before she asked, "Can I get the truth now?"

"What truth?"

"Are we really going anywhere?"

"Skye..."

She felt his grip loosening. "No. Goddammit! Just answer it!"

He sighed, and slowly he let go of her hand, "I just don't think I am the person for you."

"No," Skye grabbed it again, "I just want to know what you truly feel towards me. That's it."

"I don't know. I like you, Skye. I truly do. I might even have-" Coulson stopped halfway. His heart was beating fast but how is it that this words could not seem to come out as fast as the pace of his heart rate? How is it that it suddenly stopped from coming out of his mouth?

"You might have what?"

"Nothing." Coulson stared at the sea and left her to wonder on her own, leading them back to silence.

Skye laughed sadly, "You know. I really thought that we could go somewhere off from here."

Coulson looked at the hand that she was still holding on to, "What do you mean?"

"I just- I thought- Never mind. I don't want to argue with you." She said, her hand loosening her grip of Coulson's as she stood up to walk back to the cabin. But it broke her heart when Coulson did not hold her back, when he simply let go of hers and did not even watch her walk away. And it was as shattering as it was for Coulson when he turned to see Andrew had his arms around her, with her face buried into his neck as he kissed her forehead. To see the younger agent comfort her when it was Coulson himself who had promised her to always take care of her had broken her heart, Coulson felt like tearing his own into two again.

Throughout the day, Andrew and Skye had been out and about on his rented motorbike. Coulson did not know where to exactly but he just thought it would be better if Skye could find comfort in Andrew's company after the banter he had caused. Meanwhile, Andrew had brought Skye to the bay, sitting by a bench and bought ice-creams on a cone for two as they watch a yacht race, "You know, Kelsi says that ice-cream will always make her happy. I just hope it can cheer you up like it did for her."

As Skye smiled in gratitude, her gaze diverted to the yacht race, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Does he really like me? Or is he just, you know, finding a need for love? Considering now, uh, he's... Uh."

"Having a mid-life crisis?"

"But even if he is, what exactly is holding him back?" But she did not get an answer, "How in love was Coulson with Irene?"

Andrew set his hand down on his lap, "So, this was it. He still can't move on?"

"I don't know." Andrew turned to face her, "Maybe you should know something." Skye locked her gaze on the sea instead. "Coulson, he uh," Andrew breathed in, praying that he would not ruin their relationship any further, "Coulson was a wreck after he was told that he could not see her anymore. For weeks, I could hear him sniffling before he went to sleep. I never saw him cry but I know he did. He wrote quite a lot of letters, saying how sorry he was but they can never be sent - and all found in the paper basket of our dorm. Although he put on a good front on looking fine both physically and emotionally, especially in front of Fury, most of the HQ noticed that he would be gone at the end of the day to find him at the end of the airplane runway, sitting quietly in his red Corvette as they observed him from the hangar."

Skye licked the melting ice-cream in her hand, "Your point being?"

"All I am saying is that he does not let go that easily. And I know that he had opened up for another try at love. But somehow, I just think he is afraid of letting you down. And I think he still could not forgive himself for leaving Irene alone. Remember, he tried so hard to save you. But maybe, just maybe he couldn't let go of his past. And that you have to give him the time to properly get back at it. I have never seen him as happy as he is always with you. Not since Irene." With a voice almost pleading, Andrew took her hand in his and gave it a light squeeze. "He deserves you but he couldn't see it. Or maybe he doesn't want to see it. All I ask of you, is to please fix him, Skye. All I want is for him to get the happiness he deserved."

"How about you?"

"I will do what I realised I have should have done for the past eight years - let go."

Back at the cabin, Coulson had replaced his shorts with jeans and in his black fitting t-shirt with a pair of aviators, he went out, locked the cabin door and headed for Lola. As he started up the engine, he heard a familiar voice from the lodging next door, "Did I mention that you people really have nice rides?"

"Oh, John. Thanks," Coulson replied dryly - half-sincere and the other was just his pure anger at himself, "Her name's Lola."

"Going out for a ride?"

"Yup." Coulson heaved a sigh and managed a smile, "Wanna jump along?"

"I'm down for it." The 46-year-old family man walked up in his flip-flops, jeans and t-shirt.

As he sat beside Coulson in the passenger seat, John joked, "So, are there any compartments I can't touch just in case a gun fell out?"

Coulson laughed as he ignited the engine, "Actually, I've got three."

"No."

Coulson nodded, amused at his surprise, "Just don't open that compartment in front of you."

"That's where the guns are?" Coulson nodded again. "Well, damn." John laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"I really thought you guys were a normal family on a holiday. But really, you guys just never stop surprising me."

Coulson laughed as he steered the wheel, driving down the road, "I'm not exactly going anywhere. I'm just taking a ride. You've got places to recommend?"

"Nope. I'll go wherever you drive to."

"Hmm."

As they drove quietly, John could not help it but to notice Coulson's doleful face, "I like to drive nowhere when I need to think. I thought it helps me reflect better."

"Your point being?" Coulson replied without taking his focus off the road empty road.

"You're troubled." John pointed out as he observed the woods they passed by.

"You make a good detective."

"Well, other than the fact that it is pretty obvious that you look it."

"I look it?"

"Oh, come on. It's not even sunny, we're surrounded by woods - obviously it's not as bright. And you are wearing aviators."

"Okay. Straight to your point."

"Phillip, I know I don't have the right to intervene. But you are on a holiday now and holidays are meant to bring people together."

"Point."

"Right." John sat up straight, "I noticed you didn't talk to Skye since yesterday and she had been out with Andrew since the morning. Truth is, I saw you two quarrel."

"Ah."

"Are you two alright?" Coulson kept quiet.

"Look, you don't have to tell me anything."

"No. It was just me."

"Look, if it's about the age gap, you two can forget it. The first time we met you, I have to say, Julia bugged me the whole day, telling me how your ages are too far apart. But I know that is not the matter with both of you."

Coulson pulled over by the empty roadside, "What really makes you think so?"

"I see her company makes you really happy."

"But how sure are you that that gap won't be an issue?"

"Why must that be an issue?" John paused, staring straight at Coulson, "Is that really the issue?"

"I don't know." Coulson took his aviator off and threw it on the dashboard as he sighed, "Maybe? It's not her. It's me."

"You worry about the age gap?"

"Not exactly. Okay, maybe slightly. Goddammit." Coulson pinched the bridge of his nose, "I really don't know."

"Is it your past?" Coulson nodded, "I just couldn't seem to let go. Maybe I am not the right person for her."

John sighed, "Have you explained yourself to her?"

Coulson shook his head. "Look, honestly, I have no idea what is going on right here and I think that is pretty obvious. But talk to her. Nicely. Help her understand. It will just get worst if you don't."

A/N: AND THERE WE GO. A long chapter. I know some had asked for them to get together already. Soon, I promise! Okay. I just want to apologize if I used a lot of dialogues rather than narrative because my friend pointed that out again when we handed in our final story project and that my narratives were a little dry to her. I would take in any comments on that to try to build my writing skills!

I'm logging off here because I'm going to catch up on 'Yes Men'. *cross fingers*