Coulson refuses to tell him why he's being ordered to accompany Skye back to the memorial wall, and they look on her face does not even bare considering asking her himself. Instead he watches her carefully, out of the corner of his eye, and squeezes her hand slightly when it starts to shake.
She's scared, but she won't tell him why.
She's steeling herself for something, but he doesn't know what.
And given the solemn look that's been on Coulson's face over the last few hours, he's not even sure if he wants to know. All Ward knows is that it's hurting her, and for some reason that makes something deep in his chest ache, something he doesn't think he's ever felt before. He wants to make her pain go away, make her lose the emptiness that has been shadowing her over the last few days, so different from his Rookie. Instead Ward is filled with a protective instinct unlike anything he's ever felt before.
It kind of hurts, but he thinks he'd say it was the good kind.