Stay Close To Me
Title: Stay Close To Me
Author: Diane
Pairing: Grant Ward/Skye
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This is a completely AU ficlet.
Summary: For the past few months Skye had noticed a quietness to her best friend that hadn't been there before and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Granted, he'd never been a big talker – actions had always spoken louder with him – but there was something off about him and it had seemed to start upon his return from having spent the summer with his grandmother.
For the past few months Skye had noticed a quietness to her best friend that hadn't been there before and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Granted, he'd never been a big talker – actions had always spoken louder with him – but there was something off about him and it had seemed to start upon his return from having spent the summer with his grandmother.
As they walked home in complete silence she wondered whether he could also feel the awkward tension that seemed to now exist between them or if it was just her.
“Ward?”
He looked over at her. “Yeah?”
“Let's sit for a moment.”
Ward suddenly seemed to realize where they were and he gave a small nod of his head as he took a seat at what they had long ago claimed as their bench down by the lake.
“Are you okay?” she asked as she sat down beside him and closely watched his face.
“Sure, why wouldn't I be?” he replied.
Skye sighed quietly under her breath. “I don't know. It's just... you know you can tell me anything, right?”
“I know.”
She didn't fail to notice that his whiskey-colored eyes only held hers for a few seconds before he looked away. “Okay then,” she mumbled, feeling a pang in her chest at the fact he either didn't want to tell her what was troubling him or he just didn't feel able to confide in her. Rising from the bench, she stood there and watched him staring straight ahead at the shimmering water and when, after a couple of minutes, he still hadn't acknowledged her she started to walk away.
“Skye, wait!” he called after her.
Stopping in her tracks, Skye didn't turn around.
“I'm sorry,” he said softly as he approached her.
“I just wish you'd talk to me and tell me what's bothering you.” She paused for a moment before quietly adding, “Even if it's me.”
“What? Skye... no! How could you think that?”
She nervously toyed with the cuff of her leather jacket. “Because you've been so different lately and... I don't know why. I know you've been avoiding hanging out with me and the times when we have you've been really distant. I'm a big girl, Grant. If you don't want us to be friends any more, then—”
“I don't want to be friends any more,” Ward blurted out, instantly wishing he could take back those words when he saw the look of complete shock and pain etched upon her beautiful face. Knowing he needed to work fast to make her understand what he had actually meant to say, he cupped her cheeks between his palms and lowered his head, urgently pressing his lips against hers and holding them there for long moments before drawing back. “I-I want us to be more than friends.”
Skye's lips were tingling from the after effects of his unexpected kiss. She stood frozen to the spot, her cheeks burning beneath Ward's touch. “I... I don't understand.,” she said, her words sounding lame even to her own ears.
“I want us to be more than just friends,” he repeated. Dropping his hands from her face, he ran them through his hair. “Remember when I came by your house to say goodbye before I left for the summer?”
She nodded. “Of course I do.”
“You hugged me so tightly and I... I suddenly had this urge to kiss you and, believe me, there was nothing friendly about it,” he confessed. The memory of Skye's body pressed flush against his own and the feel of her warm breath puffing against his ear as she told him how much she was going to miss him would forever be burned into his brain. “And then, when you came to wave me off... the urge to do it was even stronger.”
Skye bit her lip as she listened to everything he was telling her. “Why didn't you do?”
Ward shrugged. “I don't know... I guess I didn't know how you'd react. Don't forget, I've been on the receiving end of your mean right-hook,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood a little.
“You know that was an accident.” Her lips quirked upwards into a smile before she sobered again. “Maybe it was just the heightened emotion of the moment... I mean, you were going to be away for the entire summer,” she suggested.
“Yeah, maybe. But if that was the reason why haven't these feelings gone away? Why is it that I spent the whole time I was away thinking about you and that I was happiest when we'd be calling or texting each other practically every night? That now I'm back home you're still all I can think about.”
“I-I don't know what to say,” she finally said, her heart racing wildly in her chest. Never in a million years did she ever think he would be saying all of this to her... things she thought she was only ever likely to hear from him in her dreams.
Staring at the ground, Ward shoved his hands into his pockets. “Just say you don't hate me.”
“Hate you? God, I couldn't hate you if I tried,” Skye told him. Closing the short distance between them, she sucked in her breath as she slipped her hand into his and laced their fingers together; giving them a gentle squeeze. “Is this why you've been avoiding me since you got back?”
He nodded. “Yeah. The last thing I ever want to do is wreck our friendship and I stupidly thought that putting some distance between us would... I don't know, somehow make these feelings for you go away so that's what I did. I hate that I made you think I was staying away because I didn't want us to be friends any more. I'm so sorry for that.”
She smiled softly at him. “It's okay. I'm just glad I know the real reason behind it.” Hesitating for a brief moment, she then said, “Maybe you can make it up to me.”
“Sure,” he was quick to reply. “What do you have in mind?”
Skye felt her cheeks heat up again but she forced herself to say the words which were on the tip of her tongue. “Kiss me again.”
His eyes widened at hearing those three words but he was soon smiling. Tucking an errant lock of honey-brown hair behind her ear, Ward leaned in and softly brushed his lips over hers once... twice... before deepening the kiss. He moaned into her mouth when he felt her arms slide up his chest to twine around his neck and he wasted no time in wrapping his own arms around her waist, pulling her into him.
“Wow,” she whispered several minutes later when they had finally drawn back from one another to breathe in much needed air.
“Yeah,” he replied, equally breathless. “So, uh... does this mean you want us to be more than friends, too?”
Smiling shyly up at him, she said, “Yeah but—”
“Does there have to be a but?”
She swatted him playfully on his shoulder. “But,” she repeated, “I don't want this to wreck our friendship. We've known each other practically our entire lives and the thought of us not being close... it scares me.”
“It scares me as well,” he admitted, “but the thought of us not giving this a chance scares me even more.”
Skye understood what he meant and she gave a small head nod in agreement. “So I guess we're doing this, then?”
“I guess so,” he said, grinning like the cat who'd got the cream.
Her own smile illuminated her entire face. “You do realize that when my parents find out about us my dad's not going to be letting you sneak into my bedroom any more. In fact, you'll probably find he'll have bolted the windows shut.”
Ward frowned. “Maybe we should keep this a secret for a bit... you know, just while we're getting used to it.”
“Uh huh,” Skye said knowingly.
As they continued on the walk to her house hand-in-hand, she felt as light as air; the earlier weight she'd felt pressing down onto her shoulders having completely lifted.
Fin