Confessions
Title: Confessions
Author: Diane
Entry: 10
Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Pairing: Grant Ward/Skye
Rating: Teen Rated
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This is a sequel to my previous story "Unexpected" so it might help to read that first although, please note, that story is Adult Rated.
Word Count: 1,460
Summary: Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as their gazes locked and she felt goose-bumps break out all over her skin at the intensity of his stare. She had a pretty good idea of what he was referring to and she was immediately transported back to the previous weekend when she had turned up unannounced at his apartment under the guise of getting him to go dancing with her. His body's responses to her every touch had told her so much without him needing to utter a single word.
Author's Notes: This has been written for The October Writing Challenge.
“Tell me a secret?”
Ward paused in his reading and glanced up at her. “I don't like peas,” he answered without missing a beat.
Skye rolled her eyes. “That's not the kind of secret I meant.”
“Well, you didn't exactly specify.”
“Whatever.” Pushing his feet off the table they were propped up on, she took a seat in front of him. “Seriously, tell me something I don't know about you.”
Looking around to make sure no one else was in close proximity, he lowered his voice to a whisper and said, “There isn't much left that you don't know.”
Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as their gazes locked and she felt goose-bumps break out all over her skin at the intensity of his stare. She had a pretty good idea of what he was referring to and she was immediately transported back to the previous weekend when she had turned up unannounced at his apartment under the guise of getting him to go dancing with her. His body's responses to her every touch had told her so much without him needing to utter a single word.
A frown marred his forehead when Skye suddenly stood up and walked away. What the hell? He wanted to go after her but just at that moment Coulson walked by.
“Everything okay?” the older man asked.
“Yes, sir,” Ward replied, giving a small head nod.
“Good. If anyone needs me I'll be in my office.”
Ward waited until he'd gone and once he was sure the coast was clear, he got up from the couch and went to find Skye. He checked her bunk first despite being fairly certain she wouldn't have retired for the night this early and, sure enough, she wasn't there so he headed to the next best place.
Entering the makeshift gym, he didn't spot her at first but as he descended the spiral staircase he found her sitting on the bottom step. “Hey,” he said, breaking the silence.
“Hey,” she echoed.
“You took off pretty fast back there.”
“Yeah...”
Carefully moving past where she sat, Ward stood directly in front of her and watched as she kept staring at the floor. “What's wrong?”
“Nothing's wrong.”
He ran his hands through his hair. “Right, that's why you're sitting here in the dark,” he said, kneeling down so he was at eye level with her. The urge to touch her... to put his hand over hers was overwhelming but he managed to stop himself. “Did I do something to upset you?”
“No. Look, it's not you, okay...”
Ward wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. God, she could be so frustrating. “Skye, c'mon... something's obviously bugging you and we need to deal with it before we land.”
“We don't need to deal with anything. Whatever's 'bugging me',” she said, using her fingers to demonstrate air quotes, “won't affect the new assignment. I might not be as experienced as you but I'm not stupid.”
He sighed loudly. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Her fingers played with a loose strand of thread hanging from her sweater. “The way you looked at me upstairs... it felt so intense and I, uh...”
“You what?” he prompted when she didn't continue.
“God, this is going to make me sound like such a child.”
“I'll try not to laugh,” he told her, smiling at the small chuckle she released.
“I felt jealous,” she blurted out. “I suddenly wondered how many women had done what I did... you know, turning up at your apartment and just... offering it to you on a plate.”
“Skye...”
“Don't, okay. I know I sound like an idiot.” Skye kept her eyes fixed on her shoes, not wanting to see the pity on his handsome face.
“Look at me,” Ward said, his voice low. When she didn't comply, he placed his pointer finger beneath her chin and gently raised her face. “You turning up at my apartment... it might have been unexpected but it wasn't unwelcome. I was glad you came.”
The corners of her mouth lifted at the unintended double meaning in his words and she saw the moment it also registered with her SO.
“Okay, that didn't come out right.”
“I knew what you meant,” she told him, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
“And for the record, you're the first woman who's been in my apartment.”
Skye's eyebrows nearly met her hairline upon hearing his words. “Riiiight,” she drawled.
“I'm serious. I haven't lived there all that long so—”
“So, all the other women turned up at your old place, then.”
Ward shook his head. “Will you stop?”
Her gaze returned to the floor. God, could she sound any more like a jealous harpy. “Sorry,” she mumbled sheepishly.
Giving in to temptation, he took her hand in his and rubbed his thumb along the back of it. “In this job you're always on the move and, as you've seen, things can change at a moment's notice. It's hard to have much of a social life especially when you're lucky to get a night off let alone an entire weekend so when I do get home I just want to kick back and relax.”
“You don't date?”
“How can I?” he asked. “Practically everything I do is classified and there aren't many women out there who'd enjoy constantly having their plans cancelled at the last minute without being told the reason behind it.”
She licked her lips, trying to work out how to say the words jumbling around in her head. “I get that but... you can't tell me you don't, um...”
“I don't what?” From the light blush infusing her cheeks he was fairly certain what she was wanting to know.
“Sex,” she said, feeling the heat rising in her face. “You can't tell me you don't have sex.”
“Sex and dating aren't mutually exclusive,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, I know but... you're really telling me you don't invite women back to your place?”
Ward ran a hand over his jaw, his late-in-the-day stubble prickling his fingertips. “It might be hard to believe but that's what I'm saying.” Being undercover more often than not meant he was pretending to be someone else and so his home was his sanctuary and the one place he could really be himself and not answer to anyone. The expression he saw on her face told him she still didn't get it so he tried a different tactic. “Why do you like hiding out in the SUV on the bus?”
“You know about that?”
He smirked at her. “It wasn't hard working out where you disappeared to. So, why do you like it?” he asked again.
“I like having a little time alone for some me time.” As Skye said the words, the penny dropped. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh,” he said, his smirk turning into a smile.
Looking up at him from beneath her lashes, she asked, “Should I apologize for coming over?”
“What do you think?” Inching closer, Ward brushed his lips over hers before retreating.
His kiss, as brief as it was, told her all she needed to know and she felt a warmth spread through her entire body.
He wanted to kiss her again but with everyone still awake and wandering through the bus he knew there was a good chance they'd be busted if they took it any further. “We'd better get back before we're missed,” he said.
“Yeah.” Skye watched him stand up and she managed to refrain from smiling when she saw Ward rubbing his jean-clad legs which, she figured, had to be pretty sore from kneeling for so long. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he replied. Holding out his hands to her which she instantly took, he pulled her up into a standing position.
“Thank you,” she said softly, giving his fingers a light squeeze.
“For what?”
“Making me feel better.”
Ward's eyes glanced to the open doorway above them and happy that the coast was clear, he ducked his head and nuzzled their noses together before popping a final kiss onto her smiling lips. “You're welcome.”
After they had ascended the stairs but before they left the darkness of the gym, she turned to him and said, “So next time we're lucky enough to have a weekend off...”
“I'll be expecting you.”
Fin