Tonight Fitz can't find sleep. Again. Which shouldn't be a problem because today is Friday and for the last few weeks, he's been watching Doctor Who with Jemma every Friday night. But instead of doing that, Fitz is currently alone in his room, sulking about what happened earlier today. The first episode of Doctor Who must have started about half an hour ago and Jemma has already sent him two text messages asking him if he was coming to watch it and saying that she wanted to talk to him. Texts which he has decided to ignore, being way too angry at her. He got to his room as soon as he was finished working and didn't even get out of it for dinner. He knows he'll have to see her again eventually but he's decided to make it as late as possible.

Since he first talked to her on the second week of shooting, she's never been nothing less than warm and friendly. To his own surprise, they even started seing each other more and more during the weeks that followed and they became really close friends. Recently, even though nothing ever happened, he even felt that the line between friends and something else was starting to blur. And then, this morning happened. Fitz had been working on a design for a very light camera harness she could wear and thus film herself during specific scenes instead of being followed closely by a camera man. After all, she was supposed to be alone in the desert and it would make things easier if she was actually alone sometimes. They had talked about this idea and she was very enthusiastic about it. So when it was finally ready, he didn't want to wait to show her. When he came to see her, she was surrounded by a few people but she didn't look like she was talking to them and she was seating on her reserved chair so she obviously wasn't busy at the moment. But when he started talking, telling her he had finally finished the harness and that she could try it on now if she liked, she interrupted him with a cold tone that he had never heard from her, especially directed towards him: "I really don't have the time now Leo."

"Oh. Okay. I guess you can come and check it out later today." He answered, a bit confused and taken aback by her lack of enthusiasm.

"No, I really have a busy schedule today but I'll see it work soon enough anyway." She said, sounding even colder.

"Right ... is everything alright, you ..." He started, now worried that maybe she was mad at him for something.

"Can you leave me now? I have to talk to these ladies here." She said pointing to the two women standing close by and who, by the look of their visitor badges and recording devices in their hands, were apparently journalists. Completely dumbfounded by her behavior, he couldn't even say another word and just left without saying anything. She had just dismissed him like she was one those diva actresses and he was her poor assistant. He spent the rest of the day working in his lab, thinking about it. He had hoped that she would come to see him to explain why she had been so cold but she hadn't. By the end of the day, he had come to the conclusion that she was okay with being friends with him during the night when no one was watching but she couldn't be seen by important people hanging around with a nobody like him. This changed his perspective on all the time they had spent together. He thought that the nights were their special moments but in fact it was just a conveniant way to pass the time without embarassing herself by being seen with him.

As the tears are welling up in his eyes, Fitz turns on his laptop to check his emails and try to keep his mind occupied.

Jemma has been feeling horrible since her conversation with Fitz earlier this morning. The look of hurt and confusion in his eyes when she had so coldly dismissed him had broken her heart. She tried to go to his lab a few times during the day but the journalists never left her side and by the end of the day, he was nowhere to be seen. Even though she had a good reason for acting like she did, she would not be okay until she had the occasion to explain it to him, and her sour mood had a terrible impact on her acting all day. She kept forgetting lines and losing focus on her role. She blamed it on her back still hurting and Phil finally decided to end the day earlier and let her get some rest since they were actually ahead of schedule thanks to Fitz and his inventions. That last piece of information sent another jolt of guilt to her heart.

When the first episode of Doctor Who starts, Fitz still isn't there which means that, as she feared, he is probably angry at her. Half an hour later, when he still hasn't answered her text messages, she decides that she has to be the one coming to him. So she gets out of her room and that's when she realizes that, even though they already spent a number of nights in her room, she still doesn't even know in which room he is in. Jemma ignores the curious look of the receptionist when she asks her for the room number of a man at this time of night and goes back up the stairs to see him.

"Fitz, it's Jemma, are you awake?" She says as she knocks on the door. Silence.

"Fitz, I know you're in there and awake, I can see your shadow moving. Please, just give me five minutes to talk to you." She adds, her voice pleading.

"There's nothing to discuss Jemma. It's late, you're a busy woman, you should get some sleep to prepare for another busy day." His snappy tone is a slap in the face but from his point of view, she probably deserves it after the way she talked to him.

"Fitz, I think there is. And you know perfectly well that tomorrow is my day off anyway. And I'm not moving from here until you open this door. I'll stay here all night if I have to." Her tone getting harder to show him her resolve.

After a minute of uncertainty, he finally opens the door to greet her with the coldest look on his face. She's so used to his warm smile and soft eyes that his expression sends shivers down her spine, and not the good kind of shivers. He moves to the side to let her in, closes the door behind them and comes to sit on the edge of his bed without saying a word, while she remains awkwardly in the middle of the room, not knowing if she should sit or not. His room is smaller than hers and she would have no other option than to sit next to him on his bed, so she decides that it's probably wiser to remain standing for now. He's looking at her with a raised eyebrow like he's waiting for her to speak. Even though, he thinks he knows why she acted like she did, he's still willing to let her explain herself but that doesn't mean he's going to make it easy for her.

"Listen, I know I was awful with you today and I feel so bad about it and I'm so so sorry." She starts, her voice slightly betraying her feelings. "I know I've handled things really badly and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings but I actually had a good reason to act like I did. You see ..."

"Oh I know perfectly well your reasons Jemma. I get it now." He interrupts her and for a moment, she thinks he might actually know but then he continues: "You're fine with killing time with me when you can't sleep but you cannot be seen with someone like me in front of journalists. You're a famous actress after all, you have to have standards." He says with a bitter laugh.

"What? No, that's absurd! Do you really think I'm that shallow? And anyway why would you be be low anyone's standards?" She asks, now getting a little mad at him.

"I don't know Jemma. What was I supposed to think?"

"Listen, someone from the crew saw us come back from the desert together the other night and now they're spreading rumors that we're secretly dating. Apparently those journalists had already heard those rumors about a certain Fitz and I dismissed them but I didn't want them to know it was you. That's why I called you Leo and that's why I made you leave so quickly. They're supposed to be serious journalists but in the end they like gossip like all the others. I didn't want to be so mean but I panicked and then, they didn't leave my side all day and I never had the occasion to come talk to you to explain and apologize." She says, speaking in a such rapid pace than she's completely out of breath by the end of her sentence. Fitz's face is unreadable right now and she's now anxiously waiting for him to say or do anything.

"Oh I see. Because that would be such a terrible thing for you if people thought you were dating me. You have to make sure to stay available if someone more interesting came along." He says, still snappy and she realizes why he completely misunderstood her.

"Fitz, no, you got it all wrong. That's not the reason I didn't want them to know and anyway, I- I ... never mind, that's not the point. Something similar happened a year ago with a really good friend of mine." She starts and her eyes start to fill up at the memory. "I wasn't used to the paparazzis back then and one of them photographed us while we were hugging. It was completely innocent, I just hadn't seen him in a long time. But anyway, they made up this story about us sleeping together. They started following him everywhere and it was a nightmare. Even though I was also good friends with his wife, it almost destroyed his marriage because she started having doubts. At some point, he told me it would be better if we didn't see each other for a while. You know, just a few months until they find a more interesting story. But it's been almost a year now and I still haven't heard from him and he doesn't return my calls anymore." The tears are now falling freely on her face.

"Oh Jemma, I'm ..." Fitz starts, the soft expression she's used to now finally back on his face but she still interrupts him because she knows that if she doesn't say what she has to say right now, her feelings will overwhelm her and she won't be able to finish.

"And I don't want that to happen with you. I know you like your privacy more than anything and they would make your life a living hell and it would be all my fault. I know we haven't known each other for a long time but our friendship is really important to me. I know I don't look it but I do feel homesick sometimes and you're like a balm to my heart, Fitz. You are really are. You have to stop underestimating yourself. You're so sweet and funny and-and ... and I don't know what I would do if you didn't forgive me because ..."

This time, it's Fitz who interrupts her. Seing her cry because of him breaks his heart and he can't take it anymore so he gets up and in one big step, he's in front of her and enveloping her in a tight hug. Her arms automatically encircle his torso and she rests her head on his chest.

"That's alright Jemma. I get it now. There's really nothing to forgive, you meant well. It was just a big misunderstanding. And I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time and implied that you were so shallow because I know you're not. You're amazing and I never want to make you cry again." He says, his voice as soft as ever as he's also fighting the tears that are threatening to fall from his eyes.

And even though she can't stop the tears that keep falling from her eyes for some reason, her lips stretch into a wide smile. "And I probably overreacted anyway. I can be quite the drama queen when I want to." He adds with a playful tone, which makes her laugh. He likes that sound a lot more than her crying and decides he wants to hear it some more. "I didn't know you were so popular with paparazzis. I wonder how much I could make with those selfies we took while watching TV in your room." He adds with a mock-pensive tone and he smiles widely when she starts laughing even louder. "I'm serious, I mean I don't even know what I'm going to do after this shooting, I could use the money!"

"Fiiiiitz" She says with an offended tone as she starts to untangle herself from him but he stops her and keeps her prisoner in his arms.

"Okay, okay, I'm kidding, don't go!" He says, his voice soft again, and she's more than happy to comply.

They remain like that for a long moment, enjoying each other's warmth. As he's tracing soft patterns with his fingers on her back, the rhythm of his heart is like a lullaby to her and to him, the smell of her hair is like a breath of fresh air after such a horrible day. When her tears have finally stopped falling, she tilts her head upwards to look up and smiles at him timidly when she meets his beautiful and intense blue eyes. On impulse, he deposits the softest of kisses on her forehead, his lips lingering just a moment longer before he puts his own forehead against hers and their eyes lock.

"Our friendship is really important to me too. You are really important to me. I want you to know that Jemma." He says with a warm smile and she smiles back. They remain like that intensely gazing into each other's eyes until Jemma unconsciously tightens her hold on him and their faces come even closer to each other. As Fitz's gaze is drawn to her lips, wondering why he never noticed how pretty and plump and pink they are, Jemma breaks the silence.

"Do you wanna go to my room?" She says, her voice coming out huskier than she intended.

"What?" He answers, his eyebrows raising to his hairline.

"To watch Doctor Who!" She adds quickly, realizing how it must have sounded considering the situation they are in at the moment.

"Oh yeah, Doctor Who, of course, yeah sure, I'd like that!" He says, his amused voice tainted with disappointment as he untangles himself from her. "Lead the way." He says as he opens the door for the both of them.

When they get to her room, it takes a little time to shake the awkwardness of the situation. They still sit next to each other on Jemma's bed but Jemma hesitates to put her head on his shoulder like she does most of the time now, and Fitz doesn't know if putting his arm around her shoulder is the good thing to do even though it's much more comfortable when they're both resting against the cushions. Maybe it's a combination of their heated argument and their explicit admissions of their strong feelings for each other. But surely what could have happened earlier if Jemma hadn't broken the silence has a lot to do in their discomfort. At first they just laugh or react at the show, exchanging timid glances and smiles every once in a while, but soon enough, their usual banter is back. One would comment on the show and the other would give his opinion, starting one of their endless discussions. Two hours later, without them really realizing it, Jemma's head is back on Fitz's shoulder and his arm's around her shoulder.

They don't know if they're finally starting to adjust to the desert or if it's just been a particularly long day but they're both starting to feel sleepy a lot earlier than usual. Their sentences start to get shorter and they're slowly sliding, now more lying down than seating on the bed and the last thing Fitz remembers before falling asleep is that he should call it a night and go back to his room when he still has the courage to do so.

When Jemma wakes up a few hours later, she's really confused. First, she remembers it was 2 am the last time she looked at the time and the sun hasn't risen yet so she mustn't have slept more than a few hours, but for some reason, she feels wonderful if still a bit sleepy. She knows she had really good dreams but as she wakes up, they're already starting to slip from her mind. For a moment, she also panics wondering if she's not late but then she remembers it's her day off and she's not expected on set today. Then, after a minute or two, once her brain is fully functional, she realizes that the wonderfully comfy pillow on which she slept is not a pillow but Fitz's chest. Of course, the rest of his body is attached to it and he's apparently still sound asleep. They must have dozed off while watching Doctor Who. The emotional day and evening she spent has drained her more than she thought and obviously Fitz is no better. Still, one of them must have felt that they were falling asleep because the lights are off. As she slowly lifts her head from Fitz's chest, she can't help smiling at his face that's lightly bathed in moonlight. He is slightly turned towards her and he has the ghost of a smile on his lips, he must be having good dreams too. His peaceful expression makes him look even younger than usual, even with the light scruff on his jaw. She always thought he was kind of handsome in a boyish way but with the white light of the moon on him, the structure of his perfectly symmetrical face makes him look like he could have been sculpted by Michelangelo himself and he kind of takes her breath away. Not to mention that he still has this wonderful smell of fresh laundry on him so she decides to go back to sleep for a while. Now that they've been sleeping like that for hours, it won't make a difference if they do it for a few more.

But as she takes the remote to turn off the TV that was still running in the background, she feels him stirring in his sleep and soon enough, he's awake too. She lets him slowly emerge from sleep until he finally realizes her presence and turns his head to look at her with a sleepy and questioning look.

"We fell asleep watching Doctor Who" She says, smiling.

"Ooooh yes. I remember now." He says smiling back. "Have you been awake for long? You should have woken me up!"

"No, I just woke up a minute ago. Took me a moment to realize what was that living pillow under my head though" She says and they both chuckle.

"What time is it? I really have no idea how much time I've slept"

"Mmmmhmm I don't know, have you seen my phone ... oh here it is" And with that, she reaches for her phone on his bedside table, which forces her to literally lay over him for a second.

"Hey!" He says as he playfully pushes her back to her side. "Don't take up all the space. Typical woman!"

"That's my bed. I can even do the starfish if I want to!" She says, smiling widely as she extends one arm and one leg over him for a second before pulling away to lay her head back on his chest and he can't help smiling at how nice and natural it feels. "It's 5:35, that's why the sun is not up yet."

"Okay, then I think I'm gonna go back to my room now and sleep some more." He says, trying to gather the courage to get up from Jemma's bed to go back to his sad empty one.

"But you don't have to" She says tentatively.

"Well no, but I still feel kind of tired and it'd be nice to catch up on some sleep since I have nothing planned today ..."

"No, I mean go back to your room" She says, blushing and she hopes the room is dark enough to cover it.

"Oh" he says with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I mean, I don't know about you but I haven't slept so well in weeks, pretty much since the start of shooting actually. And the only thing that differs from all those other nights is you so ... but I don't want to make you uncomfortable so if you'd rather go back to your room, I completely under ..." She says but he cuts her up enthusiastically.

"No no, I'm completely okay with that. I feel more rested after a few hours than I've felt in weeks too. So I don't see why we should deprive ourselves of a few more delightful hours of sleep." He says, smiling widely and she smiles back before putting her head back on his shoulder, his hand laying on her naked arm sending shivers down her spine. (The good kind this time)

"Good night Fitz" She says, placing a soft kiss on his jaw.

"Good night Jemma" He says, placing one the top of her hair.

When Jemma wakes up again, Fitz is gone but tea and two croissants are waiting for her on the bedside table. Next to it, there's a note from Fitz that makes her smile even more than the delicious smell of breakfast.

It says:

Hi Jemma,

Had to go, I had a few paparazzis to call to ask them if these photos of you drooling on my shoulder this morning were worth something. You know I can always use the extra money! (Also, Phil needed me on set urgently so I had to postpone my plan of sleeping until sunset). Didn't want to wake you so enjoy your breakfast and your day off and I'll see you later. Thanks for the great night. F

P.S: I'm glad everything's well between us, I hated being angry at you.

Still smiling after the great night she had and because of Fitz's sweet and funny note, Jemma takes a sip of her tea and grabs her phone to make a call she's been postponing for some time.