Fitzsimmons

Twelve Days - Day 10

"Just grab some seasons of Doctor Who," Fitz ordered Skye. He had been so swept up in his latest engineering project that he had forgotten to buy Jemma her Christmas present. Skye was willing to help, however, so he had invited her to the mall with him. "Oh, and maybe get a Harry Potter poster, if they have one. I'll pay you back later."

"Where are you going?" Skye asked as she sorted through her purse.

"This bookstore on the second floor. Meet here at five 'till nine?" Fitz started on his way.

"Sure, bye!" Skye had to search for a map of the mall first, then found her way into F.Y.E. to start shopping.

Fitz nearly ran into the Barnes and Noble. The mall closed at nine, and it was already eight thirty. He sped past the first few rows of novels and into the young adult section. Nobody actually reads the mature 'adult' books, anyways.

He grabbed a few sci-fi dystopias, even though she would often find flaws in the setting, and one or two romances, knowing she had a secret love for them. Stupid romantic novel moments were Simmons' guilty pleasure. Fitz also picked up a gift card to the café in the store then waited in the long line for the checkout.

"The mall will be closing in ten minutes," sounded the intercom, and Fitz started to panic. He would surely make it in time, but Fitz was always one to stress about nothing.

"I'm buying a Christmas gift for my friend Jemma," he told the tired sales clerk excitedly when he got to the front of the line. She nodded, uninterested. "She's really smart and the most beautiful girl in the world," Fitz continued while she tried to scan quickly.

"Twenty-eight," she replied, and Fitz gave her several crumpled bills.

"I mean, she's really gorgeous. And she's so compassionate."

"Good luck with that," the cashier said, ending the conversation, then handed him the bag and his change.

"Yeah, bye," Fitz finished, embarrassed. He had a minute to get back to Skye.

"Got everything?" Skye asked as he ran up to her.

"I think so, you?"

"I got series seven and eight. And this rad Hogwarts poster."

"Great, now let's go." They walked back to the parking garage and loaded all of their gifts into the back seat of the S.H.I.E.L.D. van.

"Did you get Ward anything?" Fitz asked with a smirk as Skye maneuvered them out of the ramp.

"None of your business," Skye responded sternly, and Fitz cracked a smile. "You're the one that bought Simmons a hundred dollars worth of gifts."

"Yeah, but Simmons' my best friend. We would never be romantic or anything," Fitz said, and this made him frown slightly. "But you barely know Ward, yet you still want to buy him a nice gift."

Skye kept her eyes on the road in front of her and refused to answer. Fitz loved arguing with Skye, because he always won, but it also made him miss his bickering with Jemma. At least it was a challenge with Jemma, even if he ended up losing.

"What did you want for holiday?" Fitz eventually asked Skye, breaking the angry silence.

"A new smart phone and access to the redacted S.H.I.E.L.D. files about my family, but not everyone can get what they want," Skye replied, still bitter. "What did you want?"

"The same things as Simmons, mostly," Fitz replied gleefully. Skye let out an unexpected laugh.

"You are ridiculous," Skye explained. "Honestly, how long are you going to keep up the 'best friend' act?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fitz sounded offended.

"You're obviously more than that. I bet I can guess the number of times you've hooked up."

"Simmons and I never," Fitz objected, then took a deep breath. "I swear we're just friends."

Skye glanced over at a disgruntled Fitz, then suppressed another giggle. "I believe you. You're just funny when you're grumpy."

"I'm not!" Fitz felt himself turning red, and it didn't help that Skye laughed again.

After a good seven minutes of silence, Fitz asked, "Do you think Simmons will like her gifts? I want them to be special, you know."

Skye rolled her eyes slightly at his ignorance, then said, "Fitz, she'll love it."

Fitz's satisfied smile stuck in Skye's memories. This would be an anecdote told in her Maid of Honor speech at the Fitzsimmons wedding.