Begin Again

Day thirty-six

Simmons entered the room and almost immediately Fitz was sitting up.

"Jemma! Did you sleep well?" he asked and she nodded, although she hadn't slept well at all. The previous night was on replay in her head, every step of the dance imbedded into her brain. It had been so absolutely perfect, almost too good to be true.

"I brought you a sandwich," she said and handed him the package. "The house that we'll be staying in is ready, and we'll be moving there soon. I can't wait."

Fitz thanked her and placed the sandwich on his bedside table. "Neither can I. The doctors said that you could take me for a walk today, does that sound all right?"

She smiled, filled with happiness at the promise of another day with Fitz. "No, it's better than all right. Much better."

~*~

Her brain was unable to think coherently when he took her hand, their fingers locking together like puzzle pieces. The breeze felt cool against her skin and tangled her hair in knots behind her, and she was glad that they had such a beautiful place to spend their time close to the Playground. Hopefully there was a park near the safe house.

"You've come a long way, you know," she said gently. "Not long ago you could hardly stand, and now here you are."

"I still have a limp, and my arm probably will never be the same again."

"Yes, but I don't care. I thought you were going to die - your heart stopped on the eighth day of your coma," Simmons said. She'd never forget that day, the pure fear of losing him, the monitor flat-lining and all of her hope draining away with his life.

He didn't know what to say and instead squeezed her hand more tightly, and they kept walking. With his slight limp, accentuated by the dancing (he wouldn't tell her this), they didn't move very quickly but they didn't need to, for they had nowhere to go.

There was a stream at the bottom of the hill, hidden away by trees. The sound of rushing water led them there and they sat down on the bank, dipping their toes into the water.

"Do you feel like swimming?" she asked and he shrugged. "The water seems nice."

"You can if you like. I'm not going anywhere."

The stream was only about waist deep in the middle and Jemma was glad that she'd worn a dress rather than jeans like Fitz had. The water was refreshingly cold and almost completely clear.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" she said. While watching her enjoy herself always brought a smile to his face he looked left out sitting on the bank alone. "You don't have to come in very far, and I can help you roll up your jeans if you like."

He gave in, as it did look like she was having a good time. She stood up, her skirt clinging to her legs, and waded over to him. His hands didn't need much guiding to roll up the hems of his trousers and before long he was ankle deep in water, Simmons supporting him by his side.

"You're right, it is nice," he said happily.

"Have you got your balance?" she asked as he started to bend down, submerging his hands in the water. He nodded and she moved away, letting him do it himself.

She shrieked as icy water splashed her in the chest, completely soaking her pale yellow sundress. Fitz laughed happily, this time hitting her in the face.

"Oh, this means war," Jemma said, shaking her wet hair out of her face. She bent down, cupping her hands, and saturated his sweater. His jeans were beginning to unroll and they dipped into the stream.

She almost forgot for a moment that they were top scientists in an organisation that needed desperately to rebuild. Instead she found herself acting out the childhood she never had with her best friend who was more than that, and on this second chance she'd been able to let him know.

~*~

The water fight lost its magic after at least ten minutes, when Fitz began to get tired and his legs started to go numb. She helped him to sit down and then leaned on him, her head resting against his upper arm.

"I wish every day could be like this," Jemma said wistfully.

"Yeah, but if you're there then that's good enough for me."

Author's note

Just to let you guys know, I am cutting this book much shorter than I originally planned. It will end in about four chapters or so. I started writing this in the gap between seasons and it was kind of a prediction for season two. Now that season two is actually on I no longer have any inspiration to write this and I don't want to stretch out ideas that don't interest me anymore.

On a happier note, my summer holidays have started now and I should have a lot more time to update! The only reason that I haven't been on here is that I had to cowrite a novel on @iPlanet_Official - it's called iPlanet and it was for an English project. It would mean a lot if you could check it out.

10K reads! WTF?

Elizabeth Henstridge liked my photo on instagram I am dying help

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