From inevitablyfitzsimmons: "Value me." Requested from a fanfic ask meme on tumblr.

"Value Me": I'll write a drabble about my character telling yours how they feel about them.

(A/N: If you're not familiar with the show I based this AU drabble off of, watch some episodes on Netflix, it's super hilarious)

~A snippet from a Young & Hungry AU I hope to write someday~

The past couple of days had been a complete and utter disaster. Not only did Jemma get fired from two jobs in a row– one because she accidentally burned down a restaurant across the ocean and then another because Fitz just couldn't stand that she was working across the hall for another billionaire tech genius– but now he wasn't being honest with her. Why did Fitz say that she could go be the personal chef for Ian Quinn, a rich CEO who was in negotiations with him to buy his company, if in reality he didn't want her to go at all? It didn't make sense!

After Ian scolded them for their actions and promptly kicked them out of his penthouse, Jemma trailed Fitz closely as they both stormed into his own house. If they were to clear the air between them for good, this had to end now.

"Okay, Fitz." Jemma closed the door behind her and crossed her arms. "A deal's a deal. Time to talk."

"Okay, I'm upset!" her former boss exclaimed. "I think my drone's broken and now you know how I feel."

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Jemma snapped. " When I first got back, you said you had moved on for good and now all of a sudden you're spying on me because you think I'm sleeping with your neighbor? What is that all about?"

Fitz pursed his lips together, and for a split second Jemma was convinced he would give in to his guilt for getting Jemma involved in this whole mishap. "Do you really want to know what that's all about? Or, are you just going to jump on another plane when things get too difficult?"

Of course that's what this was all about. She should've known better. No wonder he refused to respond to her texts after she left so suddenly for her apprenticeship in Switzerland. "Oh, so you are mad."

"You pulled the rug out from under me, Jemma!" Fitz shouted, waving his arms angrily at her. " You left me like an idiot at Mack's engagement party! I offered to take you out on a date, somewhere nice, and you said you would think about it. I told you I loved you, I kissed you, and I know it meant something to you."

"It did," Jemma's voice wobbled.

"Then why would you leave me like that?!"

"Because…" She stepped closer to him. "Fitz, if I would have seen you, I wouldn't have been able to go."

Sighing, Jemma looked away, ashamed. How could he possibly understand her situation when she had hurt him so badly in the first place? "When I first left I kept wondering to myself, you know, how could I leave when we were just getting started?"

"And what did you come up with?" Fitz glared pointedly at her. " Because I couldn't come up with anything."

Jemma bit her lip and shrugged. "Being with you would've been too easy."

"You…you think this is easy?" Fitz spluttered.

"Fitz…" Since the tension didn't appear to be dissipating as she had hoped, Jemma decided to take the conversation to the couch. "You would dive through a hole in the universe to make me happy. But I need to make that plunge myself, does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, I know what plunges are," Fitz scoffed.

"I went to Switzerland because I want to be the first Julia Child and if you did everything for me, then I would lose my own drive to make that dream come true! Do you understand that?"

Fitz turned his head away to hide his pout. "Yeah, I know what dreams are!"

His sarcasm cut through Jemma like a sharp blade slicing through a lean piece of meat, but at least he now understood where she was coming from. "Fitz…"

"Look, Jemma…" He moved to join her on the couch. "When you left, it was horrible. I was a mess. So I threw myself into work- and…" Fitz paused, suddenly deep in thought. "I actually got myself to a place where I almost made five hundred million dollars-"

"So, me leaving was a good thing?" Jemma pressed.

"Yeah," Fitz agreed, almost as if he was surprised with his concordance to her conclusion. "My accountant thinks you should ruin my life more often. But Jemma…" He gritted his teeth and folded his hands in his lap. "I can't go through that again."

"Fitz, I am sorry," Jemma apologized, scooting closer to him. "I am really, truly, very sorry. Could you ever forgive me? Please?"

Leaning back into the black, leather pillows, Fitz sighed. "Okay. I…I forgive you."

"Thank you so much." She suddenly developed to urge to hug him, to thank him for giving her a second chance, but she resisted, not wanting to give him any mixed signals, given that they were sort of in a murky grey area right now regarding their relationship. After all, what were they, friends? Lovers? Boss and employee? Or a mixture of all of the above? It was confusing, if not exceedingly complicated, to say the least. "So…where do we go from here?"

"How about we go back to doing what we do best," Fitz suggested. "Being friends."

Jemma sighed in relief. "I would love that."

"Me too."

"So we're good?"

Fitz nodded slowly. "We're good."

"Good," Jemma concluded. Her voice took on a soft, teasing tone. "Feelings talk adjourned."

Fitz stared back at her in silence, his smile not quite reflecting the happiness she had expected from their consensus. "Alright, I have to leave now, I have to get up early and start the job search," Jemma commented, rising to her feet and making her way (rather slowly– not that she was dilly-dallying on purpose or anything) towards the door.

Behind her, Fitz grimaced, squinting his eyes shut and bringing his hands to his head. "Oh god, oh god, oh god."

Jemma turned around and grinned knowingly. "Oh god, oh god, oh god, what?"

Shaking his head in disbelief, Fitz stood up to meet her gaze. "I can't believe I'm about to say this…Jemma, do you want your old job back?"

"Yes, yes! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, and that was when she decided it was the right moment to hug him. As soon as she released him, Jemma leaned her head back and sighed, letting go of the anticipation of a potentially hectic, stressful morning the next day. "Now I don't have to get up early."

Fitz wordlessly led her to the door, standing awkwardly next to her as she reached for the door knob. "Well…I'll see you tomorrow, chef," he finally said.

The twinkle in his eyes pulled her in, and for a second she wanted to not just be his friend and personal chef. However, once again, she kept her feelings in check. Having sex with the boss her first night at work was a mistake she still regretted, she recalled briefly, and she did not want to make the same mistake again. "See you tomorrow, boss."

As she heard the lock click behind her, Jemma reclined against the wood, pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts before heading towards the elevator. If she believed so ardently that she and Fitz were destined to be together, that he was "the one"…why was their journey so incredibly tenuous, vulnerable to even the most petty of disagreements?

Fitz might have been right all those months ago…maybe the cosmos were against them after all.