Grant is 20 when he first starts to realize his feelings towards Skye (and vehemently denies it)
Keeping with his word, Grant had stayed in touch with Skye, spending his last summer before college hanging out and catching up. Skye told him of her initial troubles with her adoptive parents and the whole new town dynamic, while Grant filled her in on all that had happened to the orphanage and their move to a larger plot of land across town.
His first year on his own was tough, but keeping in contact with his mother and Skye made him a little less home sick. The Wards had invited Skye over for Thanksgiving, and the Hansons extended an invitation to Grant for Christmas Day, which he gladly accepted. The following summer, Grant got a job at the local movie theater, sometimes sneaking Skye into R rated movies; the ones with profanity, not nudity and violence (he wasn't that much of a rule breaker.) When August rolled around and he had to return to school, Skye made sure to pack him enough junk to last the whole drive. He had made a mental note not to mention the pile of junk to his coach.
Sophomore year Grant had gotten an internship with his combat sciences professor, this combined with an increased practice schedule made it difficult for Grant to return home. He spent his Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks researching different combat techniques of different cultures while doing drills and laps in the indoor gym. Although he missed Christmas, his family made sure that he still received gifts. A week after new years, his RA dropped off several boxes and gave him a wink.
In all he got 5 presents. His mother had sent him a container of christmas cookies (still tasted fresh) as well as a sweater with his name ironed on in the back and and pack of new socks (he was embarrassed that his mother knew that he had been using the same 2 pairs for 2 weeks.) Skye had sent him a WELCOME TO PAWNEE poster that she had no doubt spent some time searching for on the internet. And finally Lance and Bobbi had sent him a couple coffee mugs. One had grumpy cat plastered on the side with the caption "Don't speak till this is empty. Twice." and the other was light blue with clouds painted near the rim. Putting away his gifts (and sticking the pawnee poster above his bed) he made sure to send thank you texts to everyone. He was looking forward to seeing his family and Skye during spring break. So when his coach scheduled 2 games during the spring break, Grant sufficiently upset. Skye didn't seem too perturbed, their spring breaks didn't coincide anyways, so she would have been in school regardless. Instead, Skye made him promise to be home for her graduation party, and promise he did.
The minute he finished his last final exam, Grant was packed and ready, on his way back home. 10 hours later, he's arrived at his parent's doorstep dropping off some boxes before he makes his way to the Hansons. The party had just begun, and judging by the swarm of cars in the lawn and driveway, Grant was the last to arrive. He paused at the door for a moment, taking a second to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt and lay his hair flat before knocking. The door opened almost immediately and a petite woman with short brown hair stood at the entrance. She looked at him up and down and her eyes widened when she spotted the wrapped gift tucked under his arm,
"You're here for Skye's graduation?" Grant tried not to look surprised at the British accent that came out of the girls mouth,
"Ya. I'm an old friend." The girl didn't seem convinced, she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow,
"And you are?"
"Grant. Grant Ward?" Grant saw the flash of recognition in the girls eyes, but she didn't move to let him in. Instead she leaned in a bit closer,
"You're the famous Grant Ward? You don't look like the proper son of a senator, nor the boy who uses chairs to look over fences." Grant gave her a confused look but before he could answer another voice came from inside the house,
"Jemma? Whose at the door?" A boy joined the girl, Jemma, at the door. He looked at Jemma then at Grant in the door, "Whose this?" Great. Another person with an accent.
"He say's he's Grant Ward, but I'm having trouble believing it." The boy looked him over as well and shrugged his shoulders,
"Want me to get Skye?" Jemma and Grant spoke at the same time,
"Yes, please." The boy nodded and turned back to the house. In the meantime, Grant and Jemma stood at the door. Grant shuffled his feet awkwardly while Jemma continued to study him. She spoke again,
"Did you drive all the way here from school?" Grant nodded,
"I stopped off at my parents first then straight here." She gave a hmph and they continued in silence. It felt like ages before Grant could hear someone coming up behind Jemma. There was a gasp and then a slash of long brown hair and Grant felt someone tumble into him,
"Grant!" He wrapped his arms around the girl and gave her a squeeze, he heard the boy whisper to Jemma behind Skye,
"I guess that answers that." Skye released him and took a step backk, grin on her face,
"You made it! Your mom wasn't sure what with final exams and stuff." Grant returned the smile,
"Finals be damned I would've skipped em if I wasn't confident that I'd make it in time." Jemma scoffed and Skye giggled. She turned around and gestured to the couple behind her,
"Grant, this is Fitz and Simmons."
"Fitz" the boy clarified, pointing to himself and then pointing to the girl, "Jemma Simmons." The girl smiled and nodded extending a hand which Grant took and shook.
"They're my friends from school. They were co-valedictorians for graduation. Basically geniuses." she then turned to her friends and gestured to Grant, "As you've probably gathered, this is Grant, he's an old friend. Knew me way back in my days at the orphanage." Without missing a beat she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the house, "C'mon you've got to meet everybody."
They made their way through the living room first and Skye introduced each one in turn. Some faces were familiar from previous interactions, but others were completely new. There was Lincoln Campbell, The Koeing Brothers, as well as a couple of familiar faces from the orphanage. Grant was glad to see so many people Skye considered friends. They stepped outside and Grant went to say hello to the Hansons while Skye went searching for someone named Tripp. He engaged in conversation with Mr Hanson, telling him about school and his studies. Mr Hanson went to go grab himself and Grant a drink,
"I'm glad that you could make it today. I know Skye was really looking forward to it." Grant nodded,
"After missing christmas and spring break, I couldn't miss this too." Mr. Hanson took a sip of his drink and looked out at the group of kids,
"You know Jenny and I had a bet going." Grant raised an eyebrow, "After how long you've known Skye and how close you were, Jenny thought it was a matter of time before you two started something, you know, romantic." Grant nearly choked on his drink. He shook his head quickly,
"Sir, I mean me and Skye have been friends for a while, but she's always been just that, a friend."
"Don't you think I know that son?" He smiled and clapped Grant hard on the back, "Jenny has always been a romantic, so she suggested we bet on it, and as we all know, I can't pass up a challenge."
"What was the bet?"
"Jenny was betting that the next man to court Skye would be you. I bet that before the year was up, Skye would land herself a good boy from school. When Trip finally plucked up the courage to ask her out, Jenny was red in the face. Easiest 20 dollars Ive ever made."
"Who is this Tripp I keep hearing about?" Mr. Hanson pointed out into the crowd where Skye was walking towards them, with another boy in tow. He was tall and dark, toned chest barely concealed in his thin t-shirt and the sun reflecting off the top of his head. He had a big smile on his face as he followed Skye to where Grant and Mr. Hanson stood. He nodded to the older man, and the older man acknowledged him with a nod before setting off in search of his wife.
"Grant, this is Antoine Tripplett, my boyfriend. Tripp, this is Grant Ward, an old friend of mine." The boys shook hands, and Tripp spoke
"It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you."
"That's funny. I've never heard about you." Grant was taken aback by his own response. Skye shot him a warning glace, before giving a nervous laugh,
"Oh don't mind him. He never seems to like my boyfriends. He threw the last one in the pool after bashing him in the nose." Tripp shifted nervously,
"C'mon girl. From what I've heard, your last boyfriend was a creep." Grant answered,
"I can contest to that. Besides, he was calling her a whore. Boyfriend or no, thats just disrespectful." Tripp nodded in agreement.
"Well I appreciate you standing up for my girl." He reached over and slid a hand behind Skye. She leaned into him ever so slightly, and gave a contended sigh. It was a small show of affection but for some reason, Grant wanted nothing more than to take Tripp's arm from behind Skye's back and twist it behind his back. They continued with the small talk when there was crash from the kitchen as well as shouting, so Skye ran off towards the house, with Tripp following behind.
As soon as they disappeared Grant gave a huge sigh. The excitement that he had felt when he first arrived at the house was quickly evaporating. For some inexplicable reason, seeing Skye and Trip had drained him of all his energy. Maybe it was his 10 hour drive catching up to him. After all, Skye was happy, and after all, that's all he really wanted right? For Skye to be happy?
He shook his head and went back inside, where Skye was busy picking up utensils off the kitchen floor with the help of Tripp. He offered his assistance but Skye insisted he mingle with the other guests. So he found himself on the couch between the couple that had greeted him at the door. At least he thought they were a couple, when he mentioned it, they both turned red and shook their heads. They seemed to get over their initial doubt about him and began to bombard him with questions.
"Did you really meet Skye when she was 5?"
"How did she look?"
"What's it like to be the son of a senator?"
"Do you go to congress a lot?"
"Do people recognize you at school?"
Grant patiently answered all their questions, he had heard them all before.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Grant was taken aback by the question, Fitz spoke before Grant could answer,
"Jemma! You can't just ask him if he has a girlfriend! That's a rude!"
"What? Its a genuine question, an attractive man as him, he must have girls all over him over at school!" Grant found a pause in the conversation which he used to speak,
"No. I do not have a girlfriend at the moment."
"See? For all you know he could be going through a tough break-up right now!" Grant shook his head,
"Nope, I haven't had a serious relationship since before I graduated." He had entered into a few brief flings during his time at school, but nothing too serious. After Raina, he hadn't really found someone with a deep connection. Now that he thought about it, after the break-up with Raina, Skye was really the only girl that had stayed consistent in his life.
"Oh I see." Grant caught the look Jemma gave Fitz.
"Wait, what was that for?"Fitz shrugged his shoulders and Jemma tried to put on her best innocent face.
"Oh nothing."
"No. It was something. Now was is it?" Jemma remained tight lipped but Fitz spoke,
"Oh, its just that Jemma is under the impression that you and Skye are in love." What was it with people insisting that he and Skye were anything more than just friends.
"You've known me for all of an hour and you already think that?" Jemma nodded,
"Well its quite obvious if you ask me. You drove 10 hours just to make it on time to this party, and you brought a gift even when it wasn't required." Grant subconsciously nudged his gift further behind his back, "And based off the way Skye greeted you when she saw you, the cares really deeply about you-"
"Thats because we're friends and I hadn't seen her since August." Jemma gave him an impatient glare.
"May I finish?" Grant gestured for her to continue, "There's also the business with Tripp. I saw you talking with Skye alone and then with Tripp. It's like night and day. Now I assume you're a gentleman, so you wouldn't do anything to endanger their relationship, but I swear you looked as though you were ready to attack to poor boy when he put his arm around Skye." Grant didn't want to respond, or really admit that he had been considering the idea. "Last but not least, I've seen the way you look at the girl, and if that's not love then I don't know what is."
"Brilliant deduction's Sherlock," Grant replied sarcastically, "You got me. I'm head over heels in love with Miss Skye. You wont mention will you? I would hate to complicate things with her significant other!" Fitz gave a snort of laughter, and Jemma gave them both a disapproving glare.
"Fine. Deny it all you want, but don't come crying to me when you realize what a pair of idiot you are." With that she stood and strode off towards the kitchen. Fitz sighed next to him,
"She's a handful that one. She insists that she knew Tripp liked Skye before Tripp knew himself." Grant shrugged and took a sip of his drink. He felt Fitz looking at him before he spoke,
"Well I'll leave you to it. I'm gonna see where she ran off to." He stood and Grant watched him leave the room.
He thought back to what Jemma had insisted was proof of his feelings. Grant had to admit, he hadn't expected to see Skye with someone. Not that he had spent any time thinking of it. He was just surprised that was all. Skye had never mentioned Tripp, that much was true. But they didn't talk as much this year, maybe she just never got a chance? Whatever, that was the past. In the present, Skye was with Tripp and she seemed happy, what with graduation past and college in August.
Grant sighed when he realized he was going to have to apologize to Tripp. His comment was rude, and Tripp hadn't done anything to him. 'Feelings' or no, Grant was a gentleman, and Tripp made Skye happy. And that was the most important thing. Right?
Semi-jealous Grant is always fun at parties.
I hope you like how i integrated Fitzsimmons.
How would you feel about a sequel from Skye's point of view. It would be in the same timeline, but different events from Skye's life from her perspective. Maybe?
Let me know.
Don't forget to review and comment. They mean a lot to me.
Till next time
-Alex