Over
She felt like a total bitch for doing it. She could only imagine his big brown puppy dog eyes, so full of confusion and hurt at her basically turning her back on him. After what he did and had gone through for her. "Dear God, I'm such an asshole," she muttered as she rounded a corner and pressed herself against the wall of an empty corridor.
Why did she do that? What good would it have done anyone? What purpose did it have, other than to show Ward that he had been fucking an ungrateful bitch? That was exactly what she was right then. "I need to go and –"
"There you are, Melinda." Her head tore through the sound barrier as she whipped it around to see who it was. It was only Phil. She hadn't been that happy to see him since he showed up at the Triskelion to recruit her for his team, after she had been told he had died months earlier. He raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay? You look as though you've seen a ghost."
"Ah, I'm fine. Just… thought I heard something."
Phil considered her for a long time before nodding. "Okay, just making sure. I was just heading to debriefing, if you want to sit in."
"Sure I'm allowed?" He gestured for her to follow him, and after weighing her options promptly, she did. Quickly. Phil frowned, but had no trouble keeping up.
"Shouldn't be an issue. Where's the fire?"
"Hm? Oh, just eager to hear what happened."
"Hm. Well, while I have you here, and we have measure of privacy, I wanted to say one final thing about Ward. I know you two are probably going to need a moment soon, but just know that I still trust you, despite what happened last week. I'm trusting you to be able to have that on the side and still be able to perform your duties at the level I'm accustomed to you doing. I'm also trusting you to know when to end it when and if it starts to interfere."
Just like that, Phil gave them his blessing to continue their affair. Exactly what she didn't need right then. "Understood."
"Agent Coulson."
Phil turned around and allowed himself to grin. Melinda stopped but suddenly felt sick.
"Agent Ward. It's good to see you up again," he said while shaking his hand. "May, aren't you glad to see Ward up?" There was a knowing hint in his voice that made her want to smack him.
"Yeah, it is," she muttered quickly.
Ward kept his eyes trained on her, frowning softly. "Debriefing isn't for another ten minutes. Do you two need a minute alone?"
"Yes," Ward said quickly.
"No," Melinda answered at the same time. "We'd better get going. Hate to be late." With that, she all but sprinted down the hall.
Ward kept his eyes on her, his frown deepening. "Sir –"
Phil shook his head. "I don't know."
He would have to sit next to her during the debriefing. He would have to keep nudging her foot with his, like some lovesick schoolboy. Why did he have to be so cute when trying to get her attention?
The scowl that had become a near permanent fixture on her expression made Hand regard her with slight annoyance. Great, now everyone thought that she was still pissed for being taken off the mission.
His antics and his just being there were making it too hard to concentrate. Whether it was lightly tapping his pen on the table, which she was sure was morse code, or looking away quickly when she glanced at him. His scent, his gloriously delicious scent kept wafting into her nose every time he moved. He smelled like the ocean, one of her favorite scents. It was bad enough that she was having to battle her own desires and wants; having to battle him too was almost too much.
"…if no other comments, dismissed."
When it was over, she couldn't get out of the room fast enough. "May, wait," he called after her, but she didn't, couldn't answer him.
Finding a secluded hallway, she quickly took her vest and shirt off, leaving her in a training bra, and prepared for her Tai Chi. Her heart was still racing and her breathing shaky. His scent, the look in his eyes when he first saw her, everything was still fresh in her head. Forget everything. Let it all fade away. Halfway through, she was already feeling relieved. Tension and frustration melted away as she moved her body fluidly, like a river. Her breathing was like a soft, steady breeze, carrying out all the negative energy that had been filling her body and bringing in new, good energy.
She could feel him watching her like a hawk. Not like the Hawk, but intensely, steadily. She felt a shiver run up her spine. Ignore him, she resolved. She kept moving, and he kept watching, drinking in her every movement. She breathed out deliberately, flushing away the heat that had been washing over her.
His shoes clacked softly against the tile floor as he approached her. She breathed out again, adding in a soft sigh. "Why are you watching me?"
"There was a time when you didn't have to ask." He kept approaching, until she felt him only a few feet away. "What's your problem?"
She kept her back to him. She already knew he was running his gaze up and down her curves. She cursed silently again as that realization sent a sensation through her nether region. "My problem?"
"Yeah. You're acting like you don't want me around." She could feel the heat from his body permeating around her. She wanted it, more of it to beat against her.
She sighed. She didn't want him around, because she wanted him to pin here against the wall and take her breath away. She wanted to feel his hardness pressing against her, and his lips pressing against her neck. "Not now," she managed.
"Not now? Melinda…" His hand brushed her tricep, sending jolts through her.
"Not. Now," she said sternly, despite the shiver in her voice.
His hand slid from her arm to her hand, wrapping his fingers around it. Goosebumps prickled up from his touch. "Ward. You have hard head."
He didn't answer, but whipped her around to face him. "You ran off twice when you saw me. Why?"
"Let go of me." Her voice shook. She cursed herself.
Instead of doing so, he gently placed his hand on her other wrist to stop her from leaving. Her breath kept catching. "Answer me and I will."
She stared up at him, into the brown eyes of his and saw things that she didn't want to see. She didn't see lust, she saw warmth and concern. For her. "You want to do this right now?" she said with a hardened voice.
His dipped his head down under their foreheads were touching. She shivered involuntarily. His breath was hot, but so sweet. "Better now than later." Their lips just barely brushed against each other. It was like a jolt of lightning that surged through her entire body. The thrum of her heart was deafening, and it and the rest of body were screaming for her to lean upward just a scant inch. She tried hard to ignore it, but her body's baser instincts were threatening to take control.
"Fine. I ran because I…" Was she really going to tell him the truth, and risk hurting him? Would she risk him finding out how she really feels and becoming more willing to put what they already have on the line by trying to pursue something they both know that they shouldn't even think about? She couldn't. And that was why she lied to his face. "Don't like what would have happened."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Ward, I didn't run, I left. I left because I just don't want to do this anymore." His eyes became clouded with something else she didn't want to see. "I'm just tired of what's been going on."
He swallowed thickly and backed away. His grip became almost nonexistent. "You're… breaking up with me?"
She mustered up the nerve to scoff. "We can't break up. You're just a bedmate. Nothing more." She pretended hard not to see the hurt in his eyes, or to feel the hurt throbbing in her own chest.
He swallowed again, and then let her go. For the briefest of moments, he looked like he was about to cry. If she wasn't so choked up herself, she would have derided him on it. It was gone just that quickly, replaced with a hardened mask that looked like he didn't care about a word she said. "If that's what you want, fine. I'll see you on the Bus."
She tried to say something but she was afraid her quivering voice would give her away. Instead, she turned around and returned to her Tai Chi. She let out a shaky breath. She pretended not to feel the tear trickling down her cheek. She didn't love Grant Ward. He was a bedmate. Nothing more.
A/N: And that concludes this MayWard fanfic.
Kidding. ;)