Chapter Text
Will grinned, lightly brushing his right hand against Jemma’s, where it rested in the crook of his left arm. “So you’re about to graduate Harvard with two PhDs? Damn, I really lucked out getting a date with a woman who’s beautiful and a genius.”
He was walking her home, and she was leaning into his warm, solid side, and all in all this evening was turning out much better than her previous date night. In the weeks since, she’d begun to feel bad for ending things so quickly with Milton—he was a nice guy, after all, and through her overthinking, her memory of their date had faded to a general sense of a reasonably pleasant evening. But then she’d run into a notably handsome man named Will at a coffee shop, and decided to take a leap of faith in accepting his spur of the moment offer of a date. After all, she’d reasoned, Fitz had encouraged her to date someone who excited her, and what’s more exciting than perfect strangers? In any case, the outing was certainly no disappointment, and her memory of her date with Milton paled in comparison to the fun she was having this evening.
“Oh, well, getting a date with a handsome bloody astronaut is no disappointing thing, either!” Jemma gushed in response, blushing. Will laughed, placing his hand on hers again, and leaving it there this time. “I had…a very nice time tonight, Will.”
They were almost to the street corner right across from her building, and he stopped as he turned to look at her, his arm sliding out from her hold to tuck her hair behind her ear instead. Fitz was off work tonight—he was studying, she knew. She found she couldn’t decide whether or not she was happy that he wasn’t the doorman on duty. She did not miss the pressure of her dates coming to their end in front of her best friend, but she did miss just…seeing him at the end of the night.
“So did I,” Will said, bringing her back to the moment. He was looking at her, his eyes rather warm, and she decided it was bloody well time she rectified the loss of that good night kiss. Not to mention how eager she was to end her dry spell, as it were. So, not allowing herself enough time to overthink it, she leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. Not missing a beat, Will’s free arm came to wrap around her waist, tugging her closer as he deepened the kiss.
A long moment later, Jemma broke away with a small gasp, giggling slightly in his grasp. “Would—“ she cleared her throat, suddenly nervous. “Would you like to come upstairs?”
~
When Jemma woke the next morning, she found the bed cold and empty beside her. Frowning, she swallowed her disappointment at the idea of being left alone, reasoning that he was probably using the loo. Swinging her bare legs over the side of the bed, she padded out into the hallway. “Will?” she called quietly as she looked around her flat. Hearing no answer, she was just about to give into her disappointment when she thought she heard two familiar male voices through the open window of her living room. She only lived on the second story, and her living room faced the road just off to the side of the main entrance to her building, so maybe—yes! A grin broke over her face as she peeked out the window to see Fitz, on duty, apparently having a chat with Will, who appeared to be carrying coffee and a pastry box! Of course, she always preferred to have a balanced breakfast before indulging in sweets or empty carbs—and she didn’t drink coffee, no less—but it was awfully thoughtful, not to mention gentlemanly, of Will to go out of his way like this. Who knows, maybe he remembered from their meeting that she’d been drinking tea. Though if he didn’t, that would be alright, she reasoned as she continued to hawk over their conversation. Not everyone knew each other’s beverages as perfectly as she and Fitz did, of course—oh god. Fitz. He was probably criticizing Will’s purchases as she watched, knowing Jemma’s preferences as well as he did his own. Jemma grimaced, hoping Fitz wouldn’t manage to turn Will off with his negativity.
She didn’t get much of a chance to worry, though, as Will then moved out of sight, and she was scrambling to the entryway to answer the buzzer. “Morning, babe!” Will’s voice crackled over the receiver once she’d picked it up. She cringed only slightly at the pet name. “I thought I’d surprise you, I ran down the street for croissants and coffee!”
“Oh how sweet of you, Will! I’ll buzz you in,” she responded, feigning what she thought of as the sultry voice of a woman used to being fetched pastries the morning after first date sex. She ended up sounding more like a tired smoker, but didn’t allow herself time to overthink it, instead setting the receiver back in his holder on the wall and spinning around to give herself a once over in the hall mirror. She neatened her hair, giving her armpits a sniff-check even though she’d just spent the bloody night next to the man—and on top of him, she thought smugly. She eyed herself with a bit of pride—she rather thought she looked like she’d jumped out of a romance movie, wearing nothing but a rumpled button down shirt and her second-sexiest pair of underwear(her first sexiest pair had gotten chucked across the room the night prior).
The buzzer sounded again, startling her out of her self-congratulating stupor, and she whipped around again, yanking the receiver off its holder in her excitement. “Did you not get in?” she asked in a friendly tone, not bothering with the faux sex goddess tone this time.
“I don’t like him, Jemma,” said an all-too-familiar Scottish voice.
Groaning in frustration, Jemma slumped against wall. “Oh, come on! You only met him for thirty seconds! What is it this time? Weak character again?”
“He brought you coffee, Jemma! It didn’t even occur to his arrogant American self that maybe the beautiful Brit he’d wooed over Thai food would prefer tea like any self-respecting person should.”
Jemma scowled, feeling distinctly bothered, so much so that she barely noticed Fitz calling her beautiful. Barely. “You say he ‘wooed’ me like it’s a bad thing. He’s a gentleman, Fitz. Can’t I enjoy feeling appreciated without you grumbling in my ear like a prat for once? Besides, we only met this week, he doesn’t have to know my every preference already.” She heard a knock at the door, and cut off the retort she was sure Fitz was crafting. “Now, I’m going to go enjoy some morning croissants with a sexy bloody astronaut!” Nodding with satisfaction, she slammed the receiver back onto its holder and made her way to the door.
Will flashed her a grin when she opened the door, and held up the pastry box. “Croissants, as promised. And,” he paused to place a quick kiss on her mouth. “Since we met in a coffee shop, I thought it was only fitting I grab coffees while I was out.”
Jemma smiled up at him, trying to ignore the sour feeling left behind by her brief conversation with Fitz. “That’s so thoughtful of you, Will, thank you! Come in, please.” She stepped out of the way, letting him inside before closing the door behind her and following him into the living room.
“I stopped and talked with the doorman. God, what a funny guy. What is he, Irish? Anyways, he had all sorts of questions about what I was doing, coming and going so early.”
Jemma wrinkled her nose as Will chuckled to himself, setting his burdens on the coffee table. “Scottish, you mean.”
Will looked up at her, pausing with his hand in the pastry box. “What?”
“Fitz. He’s Scottish.”
“Oh! God, sorry, I must seem like an arrogant American ass.”
Jemma blinked, startled by his response. He sounded genuinely sorry, and she moved to sit next to him, reminded by his coincidentally familiar wording that she did not want to treat him the way Fitz had over the phone. “It’s alright, honestly. I suppose the mix up is understandable if you’re not familiar with the UK. Anyways, you know, Fitz is actually not just the doorman—not that there’s anything wrong with being a doorman, of course, but he’s actually just temporarily in the job to pay his bills while he finishes his studies in engineering at MIT.” She felt the need to defend Fitz, even if she was feeling rather cross with him at the moment.
“You know him well, then?” Will handed her one of the coffees, and she sipped it, trying not to grimace at the taste.
“Oh, yes, he’s my best friend, actually. Fitz and I met in our sophomore year as undergrads at a party, through a mutual friend, Hunter, and soon after ended up in a couple classes together due to cross-registration. We were already close friends by the time he got a job here. I was actually the one who recommended him, since I knew he was looking for a part time job and the building was hiring. He—“ she cut herself off, flushing. “Gosh, sorry, I don’t mean to be rambling about another man. Not that me and Fitz are like that, of course, but—still.” Stop talking, Jemma!
Will laughed, though he looked a bit thoughtful for whatever reason. “It’s okay, I like hearing you talk about your life.” He watched as she took another sip of her coffee, not hiding her expression much better this time when she set the cup back down on her coffee table. “Do you…not like coffee?”
Jemma cringed slightly, laughing and covering her face partially with one hand. “Sorry! I only drink tea! It was so sweet of you to think of me, though!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Will assured her, sounding, to his credit, like he actually meant it. “My fault, I guess, for not noticing that you probably had a tea bag hanging out of your cup at the coffee shop.” He grinned, looking a bit flirtatious. “Maybe I was a bit distracted by how gorgeous you looked.”
Jemma flushed, looking down at her hands. See, Fitz? she thought. He’s a gentleman.