Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Daisy, are you up?" her mom called up the stairs, and Daisy could just picture her standing there, hands on her hips and still in her t'ai chi things, her expression the patented Melinda May unimpressed.

"I'm coming," she yelled down the stairs, hurriedly stuffing her laptop and a pile of books into her shoulder bag. Glancing quickly around her room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she slung the bag over her shoulder and ran down the stairs.

Exactly as she had predicted, May was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs with her hands on her hips. "What took you so long?" she asked, her expression disapproving.

But Daisy had been with Coulson and May for long enough to know that May was far from mad. "Just laziness, mom - guess you didn't quite manage to weed it out of me," she said cheekily, pecking her foster mother on the cheek on her way past.

Daisy could practically hear May rolling her eyes. "You forgot your project," she said, waving a hand at the thick file lying on the dining table.

"Thanks, you're a life-saver," Daisy said gratefully, backtracking to grab the file off the table.

May shook her head, but there was a tiny smile tugging at her lips. "Alright, off you go."

Daisy lingered in the doorway for a second, fidgeting with the straps of her bag. "Really, mom," she said. "Thank you. I couldn't have done this without you."

From the way her gaze softened, May knew perfectly well that Daisy didn't just mean for this project. "Anytime," she said, and Daisy knew that she would pick her up from the streets over and over again in a heartbeat, if she needed to.

It meant a lot.

Daisy bounced on the balls of her feet for a second, then gave in and rushed across the room, pulling her mom into a warm hug.

It was a testament to how much May cared that she didn't flinch away at all - if anything, she pulled Daisy a little closer, tucking her head against her shoulder.

"Love you," she murmured into her hair.

May pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. "Love you too. But you really better get going now, otherwise all that time you spent on Professor Hand's project will have been wasted."

Daisy stepped out of the hug, smoothing a crease in one of the papers in her file. "Professor Hand better be impressed," she said darkly.

May gave her a tiny smile. "She will be."

Daisy was just about out of the door when she added, "oh, and your dad mentioned a little something being revealed today that he thought you'd really like."

Daisy was back in the house so fast that Elena would have been impressed. "What?!?! What is it?"

"You'll have to find out," May said, smirking.

"Mooooom!" Daisy complained.

May patted her on the back, gently but firmly shoving her out of the door. "I'll see you after your lectures, okay?"

"But -"

"And remind your dad to get those extra lightbulbs on his way back? He always forgets," May said, ignoring her protest completely.

Daisy rolled her eyes, but there was only affection behind it. She would find out what it was soon enough, after all.

"I'll remind him," she said, tightening the straps of her bag and raising one hand to wave goodbye. "Have a nice day at the studio! Kick that Garret guy's butt for me, will you?"

"You bet," May said, giving her a quick grin and a wave.

Daisy shifted her bag onto her shoulder as she walked into the garage, feeling a grin tugging at her lips as she pulled out her car keys. She would never have envisioned this life for herself five years ago - but here she was. And honestly? It was perfect.

Turning the keys in the ignition, Daisy slipped May's sunglasses onto her head and started the drive to Lighthouse University.

//

As it turned out, Daisy didn't get much time to wonder about her mom's cryptic hinting at all - pretty much as soon as she arrived on campus, she found herself swept up in a veritable storm of lectures, deadlines and presentations. (And just for the record, Professor Hand did like her project - in fact, Daisy managed to get an "excellent work" out of the notoriously strict professor, which was enough to have her floating on air for the rest of the day.)

So much so, in fact, that by the time her lunch hour rolled around, she had all but forgotten about the supposed big reveal.

Until Fitz and Jemma cornered her in the lunch line, that is.

"Daisy!" Jemma gushed, grabbing onto her arm and nearly making her spill mayonnaise all down her front. "Did you hear?"

"Hear? About what?" Daisy asked, half-distracted by trying to do damage control on her sandwich.

Jemma gave her a little shake. "About the giveaway."

Something about the way her friend's eyes were shining told her that this wasn't just the usual Jemma Simmons enthusiasm-for-anything. "What?" she asked, putting down her sandwich. "What giveaway?"

"For the top two candidates in each subject," Jemma said gleefully.

Fitz took over from his girlfriend, his enthusiasm a little more muted than hers, but his eyes still sparkling with excitement. "You know those rich-people hotels where they do everything for you, with the spas and mini-fridges and games rooms?"

"Yeah?" Daisy asked, her sandwich long forgotten as she caught onto their excitement. "What about them?"

"The board of administrators made an announcement earlier today," Fitz said, stretching out the moment dramatically. "That the top two students in each subject…"

Daisy punched him in the shoulder. "Hurry it up, Leopold!"

He rolled his eyes at her use of his full name, but obliged her and hurried it up. "They announced that the top two students in each subject will win a trip to one of those hotels… in Majorca!"

Daisy clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a squeal, settling for jumping forward and pulling Fitz and Jemma into a crazy-tight hug instead.

"Oh my God!!" she practically shrieked into Jemma's hair. "Oh my GOD, you guys!!"

Fitz patted her back, his eyes alight with amusement and affection. "We thought so, too," he said, a grin tugging at his lips as he stepped out of the hug to nod at Daisy.

She promptly pulled him back into the hug. "Can you believe this?!?!"

"I have to say, I can't," Jemma admitted, hugging Daisy tighter. "But isn't this just the most perfect opportunity?"

"Oh my God, yes," Daisy said fervently, nodding into the group hug. The three of them had been talking about going away for ages, but unfortunately they all had the nasty tendency to overwork themselves, so it never happened.

It did mean, however, that they were each, without any trace of doubt, the top students in each of their subjects.

Which meant… they were going to Majorca.

Good God, this really was perfect!!

//

Two weeks and twenty-two hours later, a hyperexcited Daisy was standing in the line for passport control in Palma Airport, listening to Jemma rattle of lists and lists of details about their hotel and the little town they would be visiting, Fornalutx.

"It says here that they have jacuzzis - jacuzzis! - in every room," Jemma read. "Not to mention satellite TV, so you can get any channel from anywhere in the world. Oh! Oh, and they also have this day-long tour through a citrus grove that ends in a candlelit dinner that's supposedly the most romantic thing ever. Fitz, doesn't that sound lovely?"

"I don't see what's so romantic about citrus," Fitz said drily, nudging his girlfriend's hip.

"The local people are big believers in the symbolism of the fruits, Fitz," Jemma said. "And besides, I think it's very beautiful."

She flipped her phone around to show them a picture of a lemon grove - and she was right, the contrast of the bright yellow fruits against the dark green leaves and the blue, blue sky was absolutely lovely. Daisy could just imagine the little tables scattered throughout the grove sparkling with soft candlelight, and boy, was it ever a romantic picture.

"You guys should totally go," she said, glancing up from the phone to smile at them.

They both protested at exactly the same time.

"Oh, no, Daisy, we couldn't possibly! This was supposed to be a break for the three of us, we can't just leave you on your own for the whole day!" Jemma said.

And, "what would we do in a citrus grove for a whole day, anyway?" was Fitz's opinion.

Daisy rolled her eyes affectionately at them both. "Well, first of all, Jem, I'm not a baby," she said. "I can entertain myself for a day! Besides, didn't you just mention world-wide satellite TV?"

"And Fitz," she went on before Jemma could argue, "It says here that you get to sample all the citrus treats they make, and have a quiet picnic with them under the trees, just the two of you. That sounds pretty damn good, don't you think?"

Fitz bit his lip, glancing over at Jemma with soft eyes. "It does sound pretty great," he admitted.

"But are you sure -" Jemma began.

"Of course I'm sure," Daisy interrupted. "Now, no more arguing. It's our turn to check in!"

They moved up to the desk and sorted out their passports and security checks, and then any protests Fitz and Jemma might still have had were cut off as they stepped out of the terminal and into fresh air and sunlight.

Oh. Oh, oh, oh. Daisy felt like she had walked straight into one of those cringey holiday romances she and Jemma always watched on ladies' night - birds were chirping, the sun was sparkling off the sea in the distance and making the red-brick cobbles of the streets and buildings glow golden-bright. Colours and patterns of all kinds blurred together as people swept through the square, laughing and chattering, and the air was rich with the smell of citrus from the groves nearby, mingling irresistibly with the heavenly aroma of a churro stand just to their left.

She felt like she had to turn in a slow circle to take it all in - really, just like the rom-coms. All that was missing was the dramatic moment where she made eye contact with her love interest -

Daisy stopped dead as her gaze found a familiar red Lighthouse University jacket on the opposite side of the square… and there was Deke Shaw, standing so close to one of the lemon trees that he was practically hugging it, and currently gaping at her like a fish out of water.

Her rom-com delusions had never vanished faster.

"Jemma," she said in a deceptively calm voice when her friend joined her outside the terminal, "what is he doing here?"

Jemma followed her gaze, and Daisy saw her wince. "Well, he is the second smartest student in computer science," she said apologetically.

Daisy's glower could have turned the fiercest assailant into dust. "You know how I feel about Deke," she said plaintively.

"Come on, Daisy, he's really not so bad," Jemma cajoled.

Daisy folded her arms. "You have no idea."

"I get that you're mad at him, or whatever," Jemma said, shaking her head slightly. "Actually, no, I don't get it. What do you have against him?"

"It's better you don't know," Daisy said darkly.

Jemma shook her head. "I'm sure if you'd just give him a chance, and get to know him past this grudge you have against him, you'll see that he's really a delight."

"Uh-huh," Daisy said, supremely unconvinced.

A second later, Fitz joined them outside the terminal, his eyebrows flying up when he saw Deke. "Oh, I should've figured he'd be here," he said, adding cheerfully, "ugh."

Daisy snickered. Fitz and Deke were… well, it was complicated. Because of the large age differences between their parents and grandparents, Fitz was technically Deke's… great-uncle? Once removed? Or something… yeah, it confused Daisy too. They went by 'cousins' to make everything easier.

And like all good cousins, they ribbed one another relentlessly.

If Daisy wasn't so wholeheartedly against anything Deke Shaw, she would have found it hilarious.

"Shall we go check into our hotel?" Jemma asked, snapping Daisy out of her thoughts.

"Mmm? Oh, yeah," she said, smiling at her friend

Jemma nodded. "Hey, Deke!" she called, waving her hand to get his attention. "Come on, we're checking into the hotel."

Daisy opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again, scowling instead. She might not like the guy one bit (and it wasn't as if she didn't have her reasons for that, either) but she wasn't totally heartless. And, besides, they were going to the same hotel - it only made sense to check in together.

It wasn't like she would have to spend any time with him after this, anyway, so she could deal with it.

Their hotel - the Hotel Palmira - was just a quick walk from the airport according to Jemma's GPS. Daisy used the time to properly appreciate the charm of the little town - everything, from the cobbled streets to the little churches, was made of the same sandy red bricks, with bright green lemon trees sprouting out of every alley and the corner of every building. The whole village was tucked against the side of the mountains, with the sea sparkling bright blue just-just on the horizon.

The air was bright with the laughter and chatter of the people who were squeezing their way through the narrow streets, and the very air seemed to hum with a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere.

Daisy could feel some of the tension leaving her shoulders already, a small grin tugging at her lips as they walked. Oh, she had needed this break, this indescribably wonderful feeling of holiday.

And when they reached their hotel, her jaw dropped.

She had been expecting fancy, sure - but this was a freaking palace!! At least three stories high, and with the same elegant arched style of architecture as some of the churches in the area (which, honestly, should not have worked as well as it did in red brick.)

Because God, did it ever work. It looked like what you might get if an old-time king's summer palace met the twenty-first century - the windows lit with a soft golden glow from inside, a bright blue pool with a deck and what seemed to be a spa off to the right, a path of little white cobbles to the door - and all against the backdrop of the forested green mountain and the vividly blue sky.

Daisy couldn't help letting out a soft, contented sigh as she took it all in.

"¡Bienvenido! Welcome!" a woman's voice said, and Daisy turned to see a short, dark-haired woman in a soft green skirt smiling warmly at them from the door. "Come in, come in."

They walked up the white cobbles and unto the hotel itself, letting out synchronised breaths of relief when the cool breeze from the air-conditioning rushed over them. Majorca was beautiful, but it was hot.

Daisy spotted a small table with a large jug of lemonade over to the side, and she immediately walked over, helping herself and trusting Jemma to take care of their booking.

She was a little uncomfortably aware of Deke doing the same thing, and shifted away to look at the beach photos pinned to the wall.

"You are the party from Lighthouse University, no?" she heard the woman say to Jemma, and imagined her friend nodding, brisk smile in place.

"I am María. I will be your host for the duration of your stay," the woman introduced herself. "If you need anything, just ask for me, and I will be happy to provide it."

"Thank you so much," Jemma said, leaning into Fitz's arm a little. "I'm Jemma Simmons, and this is Leo Fitz, Daisy Johnson, and Deke Shaw."

Daisy turned around to offer María a bright smile, and she smiled back immediately, cheeks dimpling.

"Sí, good, good," she said, reaching into her desk. "I have your keys here."

Straightening up, she produced two sets of keys, holding them out to Jemma with a welcoming smile.

Jemma took them, her brow furrowing slightly. "Is… is this all?" she asked carefully.

María looked surprised. "Sí," she said, looking at Jemma a little hesitantly. "One room for Senor Fitz and Senorita Simmons, and one for Senor Shaw and Senorita Johnson."

Daisy, who up until now had only been paying a casual interest, almost choked on her lemonade. "Ex - excuse me?" she spluttered. "Me and Deke?"

María's smile had disappeared completely now, and she looked from Daisy to Jemma with growing concern. "This is not what you were expecting?" she asked, a flicker of worry crossing her features.

Daisy instantly felt guilty. "No, no, we're not mad," she said, walking over and putting on her most reassuring smile. "There's just been some kind of mistake - Deke and I are not together."

María's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "No?" she echoed, a little incredulous. "But the booking…"

She searched around in her desk for a moment, then came up with what Daisy assumed was their booking. "For top two students in subject, romantic holiday to Majorca," María read off. "Full VIP package, all expenses paid, honeymoon suite."

This time Daisy really did choke on her lemonade. "H… honeymoon?"

Deke, who up until now had been doing a remarkably good impression of a shocked statue over by the lemonade table, unfroze to say, "I'm sure we didn't book that, there has to be some kind of mistake."

He wouldn't look at Daisy as he came over, and the tips of his ears were red as he leaned across to read their booking.

"No," he said at length, sounding shocked but resigned. "That's what it says."

Daisy pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, well," she said, drawing in a quick, bolstering breath and trying not to look at Deke. "Do you have any other rooms available?"

María bit her lip as she opened a tab on her computer, clicking through for a moment before shaking her head, eyes regretful. "I am very sorry, Senorita Johnson," she said sincerely. "Unfortunately, we are fully booked."

Deke touched her arm lightly, his gaze softening. "Hey, it's okay," he said, and it sounded like he really meant it. "It's not your fault."

Daisy was taken aback by how… well, by how decent the gesture was. She would totally have pegged him as the yelling-at-staff-when-it's-not-their-fault type.

Maybe she had read him wrong.

… In this one thing, at least. You couldn't be that wrong about a person.

And Daisy knew what she had heard.

But that wasn't the point right now. She would only drive herself crazy thinking about it - and besides, she had to share a honeymoon suite with the guy.

A honeymoon suite. Dear God!

As though sensing the direction of her thoughts, Jemma reached out to touch her arm. "It's okay, you and I can double up," she said reassuringly. "You don't have to -"

"Uh, no way," Daisy cut her off before she could even finish that thought. "You and Fitz have been looking forward to this holiday for weeks, there's no way I'm going to split you two up!"

Jemma chewed her lip. "We have been very excited, but -"

"Then enjoy this," Daisy cut her off again. "Don't argue with me - you two overwork yourselves just as much as I do. You deserve this break."

"And anyway, are you really going to pass up the chance to, you know, relax-relax?" Deke asked from his position next to María, wiggling his eyebrows at his cousin.

Fitz looked like he might die of embarrassment, and kill Deke along the way. "Thanks, Deke," he said, rolling his eyes. "We all needed to hear that."

"He's not wrong, though," Daisy pointed out, grudgingly surprised to find herself agreeing with Deke Shaw. Apparently miracles did happen.

Fitz groaned out loud. "Not you too."

But his gaze was sincere as he added, "I really would be willing to share with this idiot if you'd prefer it."

Daisy's heart warmed. "Thanks," she said, to both of them. "But you and Jem don't need to spoil your holiday because of me. I'll be fine with Deke."

She couldn't quite keep the grimace off her face as she said it, but she did manage to say it, at least.

Jemma nodded slowly, her gaze sending Daisy a silent thank you. "So it's settled, then?" she asked cautiously.

Daisy had just opened her mouth to agree when Deke cut her off. "Wait."

They all turned to him, even María.

"I was just thinking," he said, tapping the side of his leg and still avoiding looking directly at her. "I'm sure there are other students who are in the same boat as us - I mean, nobody was expecting this trip to be booked for couples."

Jemma was nodding thoughtfully before he had even finished speaking. "That's a really good point," she said. "I can ask around, if you'd like, and hear if there's anyone who'd swap out with -"

"No," Daisy interrupted, and, great, now everyone was looking at her in surprise.

She shifted a little from foot to foot. "I mean, think about it," she said. "I'm not really close friends with anyone except you two, so it would be like sharing a bed with a total stranger. Deke… at least I know Deke. Sort of."

It wasn't like she knew him well, or anything - after The Incident, she had done her best to avoid him like the plague.

But he was Fitz's cousin, and Jemma loved him, so details did filter through.

Deke glanced up at her, meeting her gaze for the first time since they had arrived, and she was struck by the sincerity she saw there. "Okay," he said. "But if you want to back out at any time, you can."

Daisy nodded, hoping her surprise didn't show too much. Deke Shaw being this decent - fancy that!

"Thanks," she said, offering him a quick, curt nod.

María, who had been watching the conversation with anxious eyes, finally seemed to relax. "Would you like me to give you the tour, then?" she asked.

The four of them exchanged glances, and after a moment, Jemma nodded. "Yes, please," she said, throwing María a small smile. "That would be nice."

María smiled back. "This way."

She led them through the lobby and into a large, sandstone-floored room with dark wood tables scattered throughout. "This is the dining room," she said. "This is where you will take all your meals, unless you would prefer them up in your rooms."

"Very nice," Fitz said, nodding approvingly around the place.

María smiled. "Through here is the lounge," she said, leading them on, "and the games room."

Daisy let out a low whistle as she peeped into the first of the two rooms - lounge! Her entire room could have fit in here, twice over.

Plus, those were some really nice couches - she just wanted to sprawl out on one and take it all in.

"The WiFi password is PALMIRA, one word, all capitals, with the a as an at sign, and the i an exclamation mark," María went on.

It was Daisy's turn to nod approvingly. That would be important.

"Over here we have the bar," María went on, taking them down a set of stairs and into a cellar kind of place, completely with edgy lighting and a dark wood bar.

"Cool," Deke said.

María showed them back up the steps, gesturing for them to go out onto the deck. "This is the pool, and over there is the spa," she said, pointing at a low building on the opposite side of the pool.

Daisy nodded, but she was a little caught up with the pool itself - because, damn. Not only was it massive and aquamarine blue, but it also had a little fountain in the middle!

María smiled indulgently. "Many of our guests spend a lot of time here, and on the deck with a margarita."

Daisy licked her lips. Okay, that did sound really nice.

"Lastly," María said, gesturing them back in, "your rooms are upstairs. Once again," she paused at the bottom of the flight, "let me apologise for the misunderstanding."

"It's okay," Daisy assured her, and really, it was - whoever had made this mistake, it was not María.

Nope, this was on the university, and as soon as she got back, the administration department was getting one strongly worded letter.

But that was in the future. Now, she had to see about this room.

She followed María and the others up the stairs, shaking her head a little in awe as she saw a butler - an actual butler - pass by her with her suitcase in hand.

This was insane, Deke Shaw complications or no - and she reminded herself to give her dad the biggest hug in the world for managing to wrangle this.

Oh, she owed him one.

"Bien entonces. Senorita Simmons, Senor Fitz, you are to the right," María said, pointing. "And, Senorita Johnson, you and Senor Shaw are over here at the end of the hall."

Daisy took a deep breath, gathering her wits. Whatever the hell happened, she would not let it ruin her holiday. She had waited far too long for a chance like this, dammit.

Inner pep talk achieved, she followed María into the room… and promptly stopped short. Whoa.

The door opened up onto a lounge-slash-relaxation-room kind of area, complete with a full-size wraparound couch, a massive flat-screen TV, and a minibar in one corner. And it was huge - at least twice as big as her bedroom back at home, and three times nicer, featuring soft, cream colored carpets and linens, with darker yellow accents in the throw pillows and lamps, and deep, rich sablewood furniture - this place was stunning, to put it quite simply, and that wasn't even mentioning the ensuite bathroom, complete with jacuzzi, candles and rose petals.

The door to the main bedroom was half-closed, and María pushed it open to reveal what had to be the biggest bed Daisy had ever seen. The mattress was at least two hands thick, and the white linens looked so soft that Daisy just wanted to throw herself onto them and sleep for the rest of the day -

She stopped short, though, when she saw that there was a little bowl full of, of all things, lemons in the middle of the bed.

"What's with the fruit?" she asked, turning to María with raised eyebrows.

The woman smiled, her eyes becoming a little dreamy. "Lemons symbolise deep love, fidelity, unity and happiness," she said. "We leave them here as a good-luck charm for newly married couples."

Ah. Well, that was awkward. Daisy silently cringed as Deke entered the room just in time to hear that last rejoinder, the tips of his ears immediately going bright red.

María seemed to realise her mistake immediately. "I am so sorry," she said sincerely, reaching over to remove the little bowl.

Daisy didn't know what made her do it, but she touched her arm. "The lemons can stay," she said, shifting them to one of the bedside tables. "They're… nice."

She saw Deke giving her a surprised look, but María's smile made it all worthwhile.

"Thank you, Senorita Johnson," she said, and seemed to hesitate just for a second before adding, "I will… leave you two to talk, then?"

She phrased it like a question, but Daisy nodded quickly. "Yeah, great."

As soon as María was out, she turned to Deke, finding him studying the little patterns on the carpet with intense fascination.

Well, she couldn't blame him.

"Look, I know this is awkward as all hell," she said, feeling her cheeks burn as she fixed her gaze on the wall opposite him. "So why don't we just… enjoy today, and talk about it tonight?"

Deke glanced up at her, and there was a multitude of emotions swimming in his gaze, from surprise to caution to apprehension, finally settling on relief.

"Yeah," he said, giving her a quick nod. "Yeah, that sounds good."

The air of awkwardness between them was so strong that Daisy almost felt like she could reach out and touch it.

She cleared her throat, her cheeks burning. "I'm just… going to go out now," she said, tipping her hand back at the door and feeling her cheeks heat even more. So awkward, Jesus Christ.

Deke nodded firmly at the wall above her head. "Great. Enjoy it."

Really grateful to make her escape from the stiflingly awkward room, Daisy half-fled out into the corridor, pressing her head against the cool wall and drawing in a deep breath.

It was like she had told herself earlier - she would not let this spoil her vacation.

She could worry about Deke and the freaking bed much later, because fight now, well…

It was holiday time, baby.

//

For the rest of the day, they did all the cliché touristy things - took selfies by the cute little red-brick churches, wandered through the local market and gasped at all the colourful cloths and skirts, tasted anything and everything that appealed to them, and generally had a ball. They even managed to get Fitz to try on one of the wide-brimmed sombrero hats, which had to be one of the funniest things Daisy had ever seen.

And back at the hotel, they were spoiled by a rich dinner of fideua, a local variant of paella made with noodles instead of rice, and served right up to them so they could eat as much as they wanted.

(Daisy was pretty sure Fitz was regretting his decision to have that many churros, but there they were.)

She felt warm and contented as she sat there, her stomach full of good food, and her cheeks still aching from laughing so much at Fitz's churro antics.

All in all, it had been a really great day, and she was just about ready to collapse into her fluffy, comfortable bed and sleep till kingdom come --

Ah. Right. Bed.

She had to bite on her tongue to keep from groaning out loud as she realised that not only did she have to share a bed with Deke Shaw, but she also had to talk about sharing a bed with Deke Shaw.

And all while she was extra-tired from being jet-lagged…

She could just see her mom rolling her eyes in her mind's eye, her hands on her hips.

"Daisy Johnson," May would say. "I raised you better than that - if there's a problem, use whatever you've got to solve it."

She shook her head wryly - but her mom was right, wasn't she? No point agonising over this. The sooner she got it over and done with, the better.

"I'm going to go up to bed now," she told Fitz and Jemma, pushing back her chair. "Wish me luck!"

Fitz gave her a heart-felt "good luck!" but Jemma just rolled her eyes. "Really, Daisy," she said. "I think you're being very dramatic about this."

Give Deke a chance, her eyes seemed to be saying. He's really not that bad.

Daisy gave herself a little shake. She and Jemma really had been friends for far too long - here she was, inventing meanings for her friend's gazes!

It had to be the jet-lag.

"Yeah, whatever," she said, giving the two of them a kind of general wave. "Bye, guys."

They waved her off, and Daisy squared her shoulders as she made her way out of the dining room and up the stairs.

Mom. Think of Mom.

Her mom never let herself be fazed by awkwardness - if there was a problem to solve, she damn well solved it.

She could do that, right?

Firmly telling herself she could - I am Melinda May's daughter for a reason - she opened the door of their room and walked in.

She pushed the door shut behind her, and found Deke waiting for her, perched on the edge of the bed and already dressed in a soft red nightshirt.

Daisy found herself absurdly relieved that he didn't sleep shirtless - now there was a whole can of worms she didn't want to open.

But, for this one thing, she didn't have to.

Small mercies. She'd take it.

"So," she said, deciding to get directly to the point. That was what her mom would have done, after all. "We need to talk."

Unfortunately, Deke chose that exact moment to speak, too - "So, uh, how are we going to do this?"

They blinked at each other for a moment, then Deke said, flushing a little, "Sorry, you go."

"No, you first," she said with a wry gesture. Another trick she had learned from her mom - if she could get other people to do the awkward talking part, so much the better.

"Right, yeah, I can go first, no problem," he said with a slightly forced laugh. "I won't make it awkward or anything, I mean, pshhh, it's just a bed, and we're sharing it, no big deal -"

Daisy could feel the beginnings of a headache throbbing at her temples, the combination of jet lag, a busy day, and crappy sleep on the plane - and this really wasn't helping.

Later on, she would blame that for the way she snapped - that, and the fact that no matter how much she tried, she had never been able to pick up on her mom's endless patience.

Oh, and she really didn't like Deke Shaw, and she just wanted to sleep, dammit.

So, all in all, not the best combination of things.

"I know it's hard for you," she snapped, "but we're going to be adults about this, alright?"

Deke blinked, stopping right in the middle of his rambling, and his expression was the very embodiment of a kicked puppy, hurt and confused.

"Wh - what?" He sounded confused, too. "I'm the same age as you, I'm perfectly capable of being an adult about this!"

A trace of defensiveness had crept into his tone, coupled with a deeper hurt she couldn't quite place.

She was tired, and her head was killing her, and did not need to deal with this right now, dammit. Couldn't she just solve the bloody problem and get it over with?

"Look," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I know you have trouble respecting people's boundaries, but -"

"Wait, wait, wait," Deke cut her off again, and this time there was a definite hint of anger in his gaze, too. "What? You don't like me; that's fine, I get it. You don't have to. But you can't just… you can't just go around saying I have no respect for boundaries! That's a really low thing to say about a person, and even if you don't like me, you have no right."

Daisy could feel her jaw dropping. She had no right? Excuse me?

"I think I'm well within my rights," she said, her voice colder than ice. "Remember the rumble on the fourth of July last year? Remorath's party?"

Deke shook his head slowly. "Yeah, but…"

"Oh." Something in his gaze clicked, filled with understanding, and what seemed to be an incredible amount of guilt. "Oh."

"Yes, oh," she said bitingly.

Deke took a step towards her, holding out his hands. "Look, Daisy," he said, his gaze sincere. "I know what I said was completely unacceptable, but I never meant for you to hear -"

"Yeah, well, I did hear!" she practically shouted at him, the last fragile strands holding back her temper snapping like moorings in a tornado. "I heard how you told all your mates that you were going to code a game with me as the reward for finishing fastest."

He tried to say something, but she refused to let him get so much as a word in edgewise as she let the resentment that she had been holding in a bitter ball in her chest finally flood out. "Do you have any idea how reprehensible that is?" she spat at him. "How degrading? That crosses so many fucking boundaries, Deke Shaw, I cannot even begin to name them."

"Daisy, wait," he said, finally managing to squeeze a word in when she had to pause for breath.

"What?" she snarled.

He swallowed hard. "I know there's nothing I can say that can ever excuse my behaviour."

Daisy was just about to say, "no fucking kidding," but something in his eyes froze the words on her lips.

He took a quick, shallow breath. "You have to know, I didn't mean a word of it," he said, meeting her eyes directly, urgently, like he needed her to understand. "I was drunk off my ass that night. Zima… Zima and I are not a good combination."

"But, Daisy, I would never do that," he said, and his gaze was so desperately urgent that she found herself almost electrified, unable to look away. "I told those guys the next day that they had better forget I said anything. It… It was a drunken mistake, and I can never apologise enough for it."

He took a deep breath, fixing his gaze firmly on the floor. "And I know it doesn't excuse anything, but… I need you to know, I was in a very bad place mentally that night."

He closed his eyes for a second, gathering himself. When he opened them again, his gaze was serious. "I don't know how much Fitz has told you, but… our family's not exactly the best in supporting and encouraging us. I… it felt like no matter how many times I tried to prove myself, I would never be good enough."

"I'd always be rejected," he finished. "No matter what, I was never enough."

He swallowed. "So I went out, and I tried to forget how much it was tearing me up by shoving it off into a bottle of Zima, by giving the guys a good laugh over an inappropriate locker-room story."

He raised his eyes back up to her face, and his gaze was heavy, shameful. "By letting myself fit in, even if it was at someone else's expense."

He dipped his head, and his eyes were full of sincere regret as he met her gaze properly again. "I had no idea you heard that," he said. "You were definitely never supposed to. No-one was, actually."

He paused for a moment to let that sink in, then he concluded, soft and sincere - "I'm really, really sorry, Daisy."

Daisy… honestly didn't know what to say. She found herself standing there her lips slightly parted, and her gaze still fixed on Deke Shaw - because somehow, in just a minute or so, he had managed to take her entire view of him and flip it right over.

Because yes, she had heard stories from Fitz - and while that didn't make Deke's actions okay by any stretch of the word… she did understand what it felt like to want to fit in, that desperation that you would do almost anything just to belong.

Oh, she understood that.

She must have let the silence stretch on for too long as she sorted through her frantic, scrambled thoughts, because Deke ducked his head, the tips of his ears turning bright pink. "I'm sorry, I totally over-shared, didn't I? We can just share the bed, it's no -"

"I had no idea," she interrupted, ignoring his rambling completely as she shook her head slowly. "Deke, I had no idea…"

But instead of comforting and reassuring him, her words had exactly the opposite effect.

Deke gave a sharp, bitter bark of laughter, shaking his head. "What, so you just thought I was this fucking asshole all along, the kind of person who thinks it's okay to treat people like they mean nothing? The kind of person who would degrade someone else like that?"

She opened her mouth to argue, to say that no, that hadn't been what she had thought, at all - but she couldn't do that, could she? That had been exactly what she had thought.

The silence between them stretched starkly, and Deke shook his head slowly, his eyes wide and full of such a multitude of emotions that Daisy couldn't even begin to describe them. "Of course you did," he said, his voice sharp and ironic. Bitter. "Of course you did."

It was her turn to swallow, hard. "Deke, I…"

"You know what, Daisy, it's okay," he said, and she was so taken aback by the sheer bitterness in his tone that she couldn't reply. "Let's just stop overcomplicating things and share the bed. Basic math, right? You get half, I get half."

She tried again. "Deke -"

But he was shaking his head before she could even finish saying his name. "Just go," he said, and the sheer exhaustion in his voice effectively shut her up. "The bathroom's free, if you want to go change."

She didn't know what to say except for "thanks," and as she walked out of the room, it was with the feeling that she had really messed this up accompanying her every step.

//

Daisy tossed and turned that night, finding it very hard to get to sleep. When she had gotten back, Deke had already turned out the lights, and was lying on the very furthest part of the bed, facing the wall in stony silence.

She had settled in as quietly as she could, her body still wracked with guilt. How could she have been so wrong about him?

How could she have let herself hate him for months, when what he had done was just a drunken mistake, and one that he had tried his best to fix as soon as he sobered up?

Everyone made drunken mistakes, especially on university - and, oh, God, especially if you were struggling with family, too.

How could she hold this against him now? How?

But how could she tell him that she had been so wrong when he wouldn't even speak to her; when he made it plain that he would much rather turn off the lights than even look at her?

Needless to say, she lay awake staring at the ceiling for a very long time.

Furthermore, that bloody bowl of lemons on the bedside table kept staring at her in the dark, mocking her with their meaning.

Deep love, unity, happiness. When was the last time she had experienced that with someone?

Had she ever?

She was suddenly acutely aware of how long it had been since she had shared a bed with anyone - if she ever let herself have a one-night stand, she never stayed.

It had been years since she had felt the weight of someone else's body in the bed with her, even if it wasn't like that - and she wasn't used to it. She could feel her body tensing up with every quiet breath he let out, every movement she could practically feel through the darkness.

Did it help that she still felt crippled with guilt? No, no it did not.

And did it help that those fucking lemons were still mocking her from the bedside table? Fucking no.

Her emotions were a mess, and lying there in the darkness for goodness knows how long, Daisy could feel the line between what was real and what was just memory blurring, going dangerously thin.

There was too much emotion, too much unfamiliarity, too much tension --

Before she knew what was happening, she found herself back in the bed she had called home when she was nine, back in the last time she could vividly remember sharing a bed with someone.

It had been a dark, dark night, and her foster father had been drunk, really drunk. He had gone upstairs, and then a sharp, piercing scream had split the night.

Her little foster sister - Polly, her name had been, Polly - had come hurtling through the darkness and into Daisy's bed, her tiny frame shaking with tears as she clung desperately to Daisy for any kind of reassurance.

"Mary Sue," she had sobbed into Daisy's blankets, her breathing coming in ragged gasps. "Mary Sue, Mommy and Daddy are fighting again, it's bad -"

She remembered the sound of breaking glass, and then another scream, high-pitched and terrible.

Thwn her foster father had come into their room --

Daisy jerked awake, bolting upright and feeling frantically around the bed, practically collapsing in relief when her scrabbling hands found just pillows, blankets.

Her breathing was still coming in ragged gasps, but she told herself fiercely that it was okay, it had just been a dream --

Then something moved in the darkness beside her.

Daisy reacted instinctively, curling herself into a ball and covering her face with her arms, feeling her heart pounding a ragged staccato against her ribcage as she fought desperately to get her breathing under control.

A warm hand touched her back, and it was everything she could do not to flinch away. "Daisy?" Deke's voice was gentle, concerned, a complete contrast to the sharp bitterness of earlier the evening.

"Are you okay?" he asked, still on that soft, warm tone, his hand gentle on her back.

Daisy tried to reply, she really did, but all that came out were gasps as she tried desperately to get her breathing under control.

"Hey, hey, hey," Deke said, and his voice was so incredibly gentle as he searched around in the dark until he found her hand, gripping it tightly and pressing it against his chest so she could feel his heart beating.

"Breathe with me, okay?" he said, squeezing her hand. "Just breathe with me. It's going to be okay, I promise. You're okay."

His words registered in her brain on some level, but a much bigger part of her - the primal, instinctual part - was still stuck in the dream, in the memory, playing the crash and the screams and the fear over and over again in a sickening, horrible loop, until all she could think of was the little girl sobbing against her, the fear -

"Hey," Deke said again, reaching out to cup her cheek. "Hey."

It was this gentle touch, coupled with the sheer tenderness in his voice, that managed to soothe the panicky fragments of her mind enough that she managed to regain some sense of reality.

He brushed his thumb gently across her cheek, his touch achingly tender, then moved away to take her other hand, too, and press it against his chest as well.

So anchored, Daisy could feel the rise and fall of his chest with every breath, steady and sure.

Almost unconsciously, she started to match her breathing with his, letting the gasps slow and even out until she had full control of herself again.

She licked her lips, her throat feeling very dry and scratchy. "Thanks," she said, her voice cracking a little.

She cleared her throat and tried again. "Thanks, Deke."

He squeezed her hands, and she didn't need the words to know he was saying, anytime.

When he moved to pull away, though, she all but whimpered in protest, grabbing onto his nightshirt and pulling him close again. It was stupid and insecure of her, on some level she knew that, but if he went away, that meant her assurance that it was just a dream went away, too.

She wasn't… she couldn't… she needed that anchor.

"Can you… hold me?" she asked, and the fierce, independent part of her hated how vulnerable she sounded just then, how small.

But a much bigger part, the part of her that was still seeing flashes of a sobbing little girl, didn't care how she sounded, as long as it meant he would stay.

Deke had gone completely silent, but she could feel his heart hammering through her loose grip on his shirt.

Suddenly and horribly aware that he still had to be mad at her, that she had definitely gone too far, she let go of his shirt, pulling away and mumbling, "sorry, I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me -"

"No," he interrupted, reaching blindly for her hands and somehow managing to find them in the dark, giving them a gentle squeeze. "No, I get it."

His voice was impossibly tender as he murmured, "come on, then," lying down carefully on his side of the bed and pulling her gently after him.

Daisy let go of his hands in favour of resting her head against his chest, marveling at how perfectly her head fit into the little hollow between his head and shoulder.

She could already feel her eyes fluttering shut, the combination of her utter exhaustion and the steady, comforting thrum of his heartbeat proving too much for her.

She made herself stay awake just long enough to whisper a soft, sincere "really, Deke - thank you."

And his breath was warm against her neck, tickling the little hairs at her nape as he bent down to reply, his lips almost brushing her skin as he replied - "always, Daisy."

//

Daisy woke up slowly, her whole body feeling warm and uncommonly comfortable and relaxed. She burrowed her head into her pillow, unwilling to wake up and face another day of projects and deadlines - her bed was so soft, couldn't she sleep fir a moment more?

Sunlight tickled her face, and she could feel her nose wrinkling in a sneeze.

Weird. Since when did sunlight come from that side of the room? Her window was on the other side, wasn't it?

And… Her bed was good, but surely it hadn't been this soft before?

She opened her eyes, feeling very owlish as she blinked in the bright morning light. Furrowing her brow, and feeling very sleep-stupid, she looked around her… and the first thing she saw was a bowl of lemons on the bedside table.

Lemons? What the…?

Oh. Oh.

It all came flooding back to her in a dizzy rush as her brain shook off the last of its sleepiness - Majorca! She was on holiday in Majorca, staying in the most luxurious hotel, and…

Shit.

Her brain woke up fully, and the events of last night came rushing back to her, standing out in vivid relief against all the other memories.

Deke… Shit. She had gotten herself into such a hole, and she hasn't even had time to apologise before practically flinging herself onto him during the night.

God, what did he think of her?

She twisted sharply around to see Deke's side of the bed, and nearly toppled right off, covers and all.

Right. Somewhere during her post-nightmare panic, she had moved completely over to Deke's side of the bed.

She wanted to bury her head into the soft, creamy covers and hide there for the rest of eternity - what had she done? She and Deke were by no means friends, especially not after her little performance last night - and yet she had clung to him, and embarrassingly tightly, for most of the night.

God. What on earth was she going to say to him?

But hold on just a minute. While she was thinking of Deke… where was he? He sure as hell wasn't in the bed with her - and, nope, he was nowhere else in the large bedroom, either.

She didn't have a clue what she was supposed to think about that. Was she happy that she didn't have to go through the cliché and cringey waking-up-in-his-arms rigmarole? Uh, yes.

But there was a part of her that was also a little hurt, a part of her that was struggling to reconcile the two sides of him that she had seen - he had been so caring last night, so compassionate. Surely he wouldn't leave just like that?

Though… could she honestly blame him if he had? From his perspective, things looked pretty bad. He had opened himself up to her, and in return, she had basically told him she thought he was an asshole.

Oh, and as if that wasn't bad enough, she had also gone and lost her head completely during the night, and attached herself to him like a bloody limpet.

Yeah, no, she couldn't blame him for bailing, at all.

Then the door to the main room opened, and Deke's head peeped through.

"Oh, you're awake," he said, offering her a small smile as he pushed open the door and walked properly into the room. He paused half-way to the bed, looking suddenly anxious. "We didn't wake you up, did we?"

"Uh, no," Daisy said, because she honestly had no clue what else to say.

"Oh, good," he said with an easy smile. "I was kind of hoping you'd sleep a little longer, but this is totally decent, I guess."

He clicked his fingers, eyes lighting up as a thought occurred to him. "Shall I go fetch your breakfast?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Daisy said, holding up her hands in a time-out sign. "Breakfast? Sleep a little longer? What is going on here?"

Deke's whole demeanor seemed to soften. "You don't remember?" he asked, eyes kind. "You had a nightmare -"

"No, no, that I remember," she said, her body giving an involuntary little shiver at the flash of her foster father's leer that popped into her mind. "I just…" She raised her hands, letting them drop into her lap with a soft thump. "Breakfast? Sleep-ins? What the…?"

"Well, you had a rough night, so I thought it might be good for you to sleep in a little," Deke said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. "You know, let your mind shake it off completely." His gaze turned playful. "And I figured, fancy hotel breakfast in bed couldn't hurt."

Daisy's jaw had dropped, her lips parted slightly as she gaped unashamedly at him.

She swallowed, closing her mouth. "But you… Aren't you mad at me?"

"Mad?" he echoed, his gaze meeting hers, genuinely confused. "Why would I be mad?"

She almost wanted to laugh at how crazy this was. "I don't know, because I attached myself to you for half of the night?"

"You were having a nightmare," he protested, like that made everything okay.

She threw her hands up. "Yeah, and? Right before that, I was insulting you, and saying I thought you were an asshole!"

Deke's eyes flashed. "I'm not heartless, Daisy!" he said, sharper than she had been expecting. "Or selfish! I'm not the kind of person who would let you suffer through something like that alone, no matter how mad I was at you."

He took a step closer to her, and his gaze found hers, catching and holding. "I'm not that petty," he said, and his eyes were fierce with it, the need that she had to understand. "If you're in a bad situation, I'll be there for you, no matter what."

Daisy's mouth had dropped open again, and she had almost forgotten how to breathe. That… he was willing to put everything aside, for her? Just to help her?

She could count the number of people who had done that before on one hand. (Coulson, May, Fitz, Jemma.)

She had to let out a long, shaky exhale, and when she had gathered herself, she managed to say, "thank you, Deke. That means… a lot."

What had she done to deserve this? She had never done anything similar for him, had never even hinted at it!

Well, from now on, that was changing.

Pulling herself decisively to her feet, she walked over to Deke and stopped only when she was standing right in front of him, meeting his gaze squarely. "I owe you an apology."

He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "No. I do. I was an asshole to you for months after one drunken mistake."

"To be fair to you," he said, dropping his gaze uncomfortably, "that must have been a really shitty thing to hear."

"Well, yeah," she said. "But it was a mistake, and, Deke, everyone is allowed to make mistakes."

She felt a little tickly thrill as she realised that this was actually the first time she had called him by his name, out loud, to his face. (... Okay, that made it sound like they never spoke. They did, but until now, only rarely, and it was remarkable how well you could get away with just calling someone "you" in English.)

She gave herself a little mental shake. Thinking about names was not the point now, regardless of weird tickly thrills.

"You apologised for your mistake," she continued. "And you really tried to fix it. Which means I do owe you that apology."

She took a quick breath, holding his gaze steadily. "So, Deke -" his name again, really, she had to stop fixating - "I am really, really sorry for treating you like that for months. You didn't deserve it."

She held out her hand to him, but he didn't take it - and Daisy felt a stab of hurt, cutting much deeper than she had been expecting.

Then Deke spoke.

"Well, yours was an honest mistake, too," he said slowly, still looking at her outstretched hand. "So I don't think you have all that much to apologise for."

He took a quick breath, glancing up from her hands to meet her gaze with wide, cautiously hopeful eyes. "What if," he said slowly, "instead of going around and around in a whole circle of apologising, we agree to put it all behind us and start over as friends?"

Daisy could feel a surprised grin tugging at her lips. "What, and pull a Fitzsimmons?"

Everyone on campus knew the legend of how Fitz and Jemma had been on the verge of confessing their feelings for each other… then the whole Will/Aida debacle had happened, and they had almost lost each other completely, before agreeing to start it all over.

It was one of the sweetest stories in Lighthouse history, especially if you looked at where Fitz and Jemma had ended up.

Deke smiled back at her with just a hint of shyness, something she found surprisingly and completely adorable. Deke Shaw was a lot of things, but she didn't think she had ever seen him shy before.

"Yeah," he said, and it was his turn to hold out his hand now, the simple gesture full of meaning, full of tentative but very real hope.

Daisy took it immediately, trying not to linger on how warm his palm felt against hers, how comfortable.

"I'm Daisy Johnson," she said, the small smile that had been tugging at her lips broadening into a full-on grin. "Computer science."

"Deke Shaw," he said, grinning right back. "The same."

//

Once Daisy had finished her fancy hotel breakfast of tomato tostada, jámon and chocolate-dipped churros (God, this place was going to spoil her) she caught Deke trying to leave while she was brushing her teeth.

"Just where," she said, lowering the toothbrush and shooting him her most formidable glare, "do you think you're going?"

He froze, looking for all the world like a kid caught with one hand in the candy. Or lemons. Whatever.

"Uh…" he said, tipping a thumb awkwardly back at the door. "I was just going to go -"

"Nuh-uh," she interrupted, brandishing her toothbrush at him like it was a weapon. "We agreed to be friends like ten seconds ago, you don't get to just disappear for the rest of the day."

He shifted awkwardly in place. "Yeah, but this is your vacation with Fitz and Jemma," he said, meeting her gaze with sincere eyes. "I wouldn't want to intrude, or anything."

Daisy softened immediately, lowering the toothbrush. "It's not intruding if you're invited," she told him, gently but firmly.

"Besides," she added when he still looked a little unconvinced, "today is Fitz and Jemma's day-trip date. I was planning on crashing here and spending the whole day in front of the TV."

"The good friend thing to do," she continued, waving her toothbrush for extra emphasis, "would be to join me."

Deke was full-on grinning at her, his eyes crinkling in the corners and making him look happier than she had ever seen him before. "Well, when you put it like that," he said, abandoning all attempts to leave the room and stretching himself out luxuriously on the couch. His eyes were impish as he tipped his head back to beam at her. "What crappy thing are we binge-watching today?"

"Well, first of all, I am offended that you would think my taste in TV shows is crappy," she said, folding her arms and putting on a haughty expression that she managed to hold for all of two seconds before breaking out into a massive grin. "Move over, we're watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S."

"You might want to put that toothbrush away first," he told her, eyes sparkling with amusement.

She glanced down at it and nodded once, turning back to the bathroom. "Good point."

"But don't think for one second," she called over her shoulder, "that this gets you out of F.R.I.E.N.D.S."

She could swear she could hear the grin in Deke's voice as he replied, "Wouldn't dream of it."

//

Daisy couldn't remember the last time she had laughed this much - F.R.I.E.N.D.S. was hilarious at the best of times, but the faces Deke would pull at the group's latest crazy antics had her laughing so hard that she got a stitch in her side and had to bury her face in his shoulder to get herself under control again.

They had started out the day a perfectly decent distance apart on the couch, but the more episodes they watched, the closer they shifted together, till their shoulders were brushing with every laugh.

Daisy didn’t think much of it. You just couldn’t binge-watch something for an entire day without getting closer, both physically and emotionally. It was just a fact.

Besides, this had the added bonus of making it a lot easier for her to steal his tacos when room service brought them up.

The day passed in a blur of laughter, face-palms and tacos, and before her brain had completely caught up, it was dark outside, and her eyes were drooping as the end credits of their twenty-eighth episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. played through.

There was just something about being curled up on the couch together, watching a show as stupidly hilarious as F.R.I.E.N.D.S for a whole day that made the time fly, and filled her whole body with a soft, warm kind of feeling as she rested her head against Deke's shoulder, a sleepy smile pulling at her lips.

Happiness, she guessed the feeling was. She was happy. Simply and completely happy.

Friends would do that for you, she thought, smirking proudly at the pun even in her half-asleep state of mind.

Beside her, Deke made a small snuffling sound as he turned around to face her, eyes bleary. "We should probably get to bed," he said, looking forlornly at the cozy little nest they had made for themselves on the couch.

She stifled a yawn behind her hand. "Really?"

Another yawn threatened, and she gave in, pulling herself to her feet with extreme reluctance. "Come on," she said, poking him in the arm until he got up, too, every bit as reluctantly as she had.

Luckily, they had been smart enough to change into their pajamas before starting their last hour of binging, so all they had to do was shuffle over to the bed and collapse. Which was a lot harder than it should be after spending an entire day on the couch, but they managed it.

And by all rights, it should have been as awkward as all hell. They were sharing a bed, for God's sake!

But after spending the entire day curled up together on the couch, it… wasn’t. She was used to his warm presence beside her now, and she knew in some deep, intimate part of her mind that she could trust him to be there for her even if something did go wrong.

She had nothing to worry about with him here.

In fact, as she shifted closer to him and snuggled her head into the little hollow between his chest and shoulder, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

//

Sunlight was tickling her cheeks, playing across her face until she gave in and opened her eyes, blinking owlishly at the room around her.

Well, that felt like déja vu.

Except… there was something distinctly different about her pillow this time. It was firmer, somehow, and it almost seemed to rise and fall every second minute.

Also, there was a warm weight around her middle, like someone had casually slung an arm around her waist…

Shit. Someone had.

And not just someone - Deke!

Deke, her friend-as-of-yesterday, had his arm slung casually around her waist.

And she had been sleeping on his chest.

How the hell had this happened? Binge-watching messed with the settings of your brain, it was a well-known fact, but… this was a whole new level of crazy.

But is it, really? a little niggly voice in her subconscious asked. Is it that crazy? Binge-watching makes you giggly, and stupid, and tired, and you spent the whole day getting closer and closer, literally.

Okay, she had to admit, maybe it wasn't that crazy. She had definitely heard weirder.

The part that she was actually struggling with was how easy it had felt. How right, how natural - how, despite the fact that there should have been more awkwardness than the amount of science words Fitzsimmons knew, there just… wasn't.

It definitely had something to do with their binge-stupid minds. But she was also starting to think… maybe it had a lot to do with Deke.

If the last day or so had shown her anything, it was that she had been dead wrong about him.

He wasn't an asshole, at all. He was a genuinely sweet guy, and thoughtful, and considerate.

And… a really, really good friend.

Yes. That was it. Deke was, above all, a really good friend - the kind of friend who would drop everything to come get you if you were in a bad situation; the kind of friend who would make you roll your eyes with stupid jokes, then take your breath away with incredibly sweet gestures.

The kind of friend you could trust no matter what.

Maybe that was why she had felt so comfortable with him - it was like her subconscious had known that, even when the rest of her was giggly and stupid from binge-watching.

Feeling a slow, steady warmth suffusing her chest, Daisy carefully slipped out from under Deke's arm, climbing out of bed and tip-toeing over to the bathroom.

She paused in the doorway for a second, turning back so she could watch Deke sleep, and feeling an affectionate smile tug at her lips when she saw he was smiling slightly in his sleep.

Dumbass.

But he was her dumbass, her friend - and though the Daisy of a few days ago would never even have dreamed this to be true, she was so lucky to have him.

//

Daisy had never been the kind of person who planned out vacations according to a meticulous schedule (that was all Jemma) but the moment she had seen Hotel Palmira’s pool, it had had her name on it.

So that was what they were doing today.

And, God, was it ever beautiful - water so blue that she almost thought she was dreaming it, a little fountain right in the middle shooting up sparkles, and the palm trees around the edge of the property creating a perfect tropical aesthetic.

Daisy immediately rushed over to dip her foot in, letting out a muffled shriek when it was a lot colder than she had been expecting.

It didn’t last long, though - a second later, her foot was back in the water.

“Where are Fitz and Jemma?” Deke’s voice asked from somewhere behind her.

She didn’t turn around, her attention still focused on the blue, blue water - but not enough that she couldn’t get in a teasing jab. “You really want to know the answer to that?” she asked with just a hint of mischief. “They had a super romantic date yesterday.”

He snorted a laugh, and she tipped her head so she could grin at him over her shoulder - and promptly stopped short.

What was Deke Shaw doing shirtless?!?!

Specifically, what was Deke Shaw doing looking good shirtless?!?!

She had gotten some idea of it when she had been snuggled up to him last night, but man, Deke was fit.

Sure, maybe not in the classic musclebound gym dude kind of way, but he definitely wasn’t bad - and surprisingly attractive, in a “cute nerd” kind of way.

Daisy realised she was staring, and closed her mouth very quickly, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

No such luck.

“Were you just checking me out, Daisy Johnson?” Deke asked, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips.

Crap.

Daisy fluttered her eyelashes, giving him her best disarming smile. “Who, me?”

“Do you see any other Daisy Johnsons around?” he asked, eyes sparkling in amusement.

She found herself grinning right back as she looked dramatically around the pool area. “Um… that girl over there looks like she could be a Daisy Johnson,” she said, straight-faced, nodding over at a girl in a heinous red bikini with white flowers on it.

Deke started to snicker. “I’m not sure if that’s an insult to you or to her,” he said, looking mildly horrified as the girl gave him an appraising once-over.

“Seriously, though,” he said, returning his gaze to her. Something in his eyes softened as he looked down at her. “I much prefer this Daisy Johnson.”

Daisy’s body flooded with a pleasant, tingly kind of warmth, and she thought she might have blushed, just for a second. “You sure about that?” she asked, standing up and folding her arms to hide the hint of uncharacteristic sappiness.

Deke looked her up and down very deliberately. “Well, yeah,” he said, his gaze lingering on her blue bikini for just a second longer than it probably should’ve. “You definitely have better taste in swimwear, for one.”

She smirked at that. The red really was an appalling choice.

And as for the blatant lingering… well, she could let him get away with it, but she seemed to remember something about some teasing - and unless she was very much mistaken, this was the perfect opportunity to get a bit of payback.

“Were you just checking me out, Deke Shaw?” she asked, drifting into his space and snickering at the look on his face.

“I mean -” he spluttered.

She was full-on smirking now. “Yeah?”

He huffed and looked away. “You basically asked me to check you out!”

She poked him playfully in the chest. “That’s funny, because I don’t seem to remember saying, hey, Deke, check me out!”

“You’re impossible,” he groaned, stretching out the word dramatically - but there was only laughter in his eyes.

She smiled sweetly up at him. “And you love me for it.”

His whole demeanor seemed to soften, his gaze filling with something she couldn't name as he looked at her, standing across from him with one hand still resting lightly against his chest, a playful smirk playing on her lips. "Yeah," he said slowly, and something flickered in his eyes, something a little bit like nervousness. Or hope. Or both? "Look, Daisy -"

But what exactly she had to look about, she never found out, because right at that moment, Fitz called, "oi, you two! Over here!"

"Fitz," Daisy called delightedly, whirling around to rush into his arms. He made a small oomph sound as he caught her, patting her back awkwardly.

"I missed you," she said contentedly into his shoulder.

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "We were gone for one day, Daisy," he reminded her. "And besides, it was your idea."

"It was," she agreed, stepping out of the hug so she could grip his shoulders and stare dramatically into his eyes. "So tell me all about it! How was it? Was it really romantic?"

"Well," Fitz said slowly, half-turning his head to look back at Jemma, who gave him an encouraging nod. "Jem and I decided to move in together."

Daisy squealed and nearly knocked him over with another hug, before rushing over to Jemma and hugging her too.

"Oh my God, you guys, that's amazing!" she said when she had finished hugging them both thoroughly. "Isn't it amazing, Deke?"

Deke, who had been watching from his position by the pool with that indefinable look in his eyes again, seemed to give himself a little shake and beamed across at his cousin. "Yeah," he said warmly, "yeah, that is amazing. Congratulations, you guys!"

Jemma had a knowing look in her eyes as she returned his smile, and he raised his shoulders awkwardly at her, like he was saying, what can you do?

Daisy wished, and not for the first time, that she could get into Jemma's head - it had to be a fascinating place, and besides, then she'd always know exactly what was going on.

She'd have to settle for girl talk.

"Jem," she said, tugging at her friend's arm, "do you want to come tell me all about it? Those deck chairs look really comfortable, and I seem to remember María saying something about margaritas."

Jemma's eyes lit up as she smiled. "That sounds great," she said, squeezing Daisy's hand. "See you around, boys."

//

"So," Daisy said once they had settled themselves on the deck chairs (which, by the way, really were as comfortable as they looked), "how was it?"

Jemma closed her eyes, a blissful kind of smile playing on her lips. "Well," she said slowly.

Daisy watched her affectionately. "That good?"

Jemma opened her eyes to beam at her, really and properly. "Yeah," she said, and Daisy couldn't remember the last time she had seen her friend this happy. "Yeah, it really was."

Daisy cupped her chin in her hands, a soft smile of her own pulling at her lips. "I'm really, really happy for you guys," she said sincerely.

Jemma was wearing her soft Fitz expression as she stared into the distance, lost in her own little world as she doubtlessly relived the events of the previous day.

Daisy let her be. It was adorable, and besides, God knew Jemma deserved the chance to relax.

After a minute or so, Jemma gave herself a little shake, looking guiltily up at Daisy. "Sorry about that," she apologised. "I was just -"

"Daydreaming about your handsome Scot?" Daisy asked innocently.

Jemma gave her a look, and she laughed out loud. "Sorry, sorry," she said, nudging her friend's shoulder. "I'm really happy for you. Truly."

"You've said that about five times now," Jemma said wryly.

"Well, you deserve it," Daisy declared.

Jemma's smile was quick and soft. "Thanks."

"Oh, no," Daisy said, giving an overly dramatic shudder. "I sense a but there."

"No, no, I really mean that," Jemma protested.

It was Daisy's turn to give her a look.

Jemma relented. "Fine, fine," she said. "I'm just a little surprised, that's all."

Daisy was taken aback. "What, that I'm happy for you guys? Shouldn't that be obvious?"

"No, not that," Jemma said, reaching out to squeeze Daisy's hand. "You're a wonderful friend, that doesn't surprise me at all. It's just… you and Deke."

"Ah," Daisy said, nodding.

Jemma turned to face her more fully. "I was expecting to come back to Deke barely alive," she said seriously. "But instead, I could have sworn the two of you were flirting."

Daisy, who had just brought her margarita up to her lips, practically choked on it. "We weren't flirting!" she spluttered.

Jemma gave her an uh-huh kind of look. "You seemed awfully close," she pointed out. Her eyes widened a little as a thought occurred to her. "You didn't… shag him, did you?"

This time, Daisy didn't even need a drink to choke on. "Jemma!" she hissed.

Her friend raised her hands. "What? It's not that far-fetched! One day you hate each other, and the next you're being all flirty by the side of the pool."

"That wasn't flirting," Daisy insisted. "That was just… we're friends, and we were teasing each other. That's all."

Jemma gave her a flat stare. "You were literally talking about checking each other out."

Daisy opened her mouth, and closed it again. Opened it. "Okay, but… we're friends. Friends can do that!"

"Fitz and I did," Jemma said pointedly.

Daisy scoffed. "Yeah, but you and Fitz ended up…"

"Exactly," Jemma said.

Daisy scrambled for a logical explanation. "Look, it's really not like that," she said. "We're closer because he told me a little bit about his past, and because he helped me out after a nightmare."

Jemma's eyes filled with concern. "You had a nightmare?"

"A memory, yeah," she admitted. She shot her friend a reassuring smile when she still looked worried. "But it's okay, Deke was there. He gets it, you know."

"I can imagine," Jemma murmured, turning to glance over at Deke, who was having a lively cousin-argument with Fitz over at the pool.

Her gaze shifted back to Daisy after a moment. "So, is that why you like him? Because he gets it?"

Daisy spluttered. "I don't… stop being ridiculous, Jem!"

"I don't see why it's so ridiculous," Jemma said, raising her eyebrows.

Daisy shook her head, gesturing with her hands. "Come on, you can't develop feelings for someone in two days."

"Why on earth not?" Jemma asked roundly.

Daisy was spluttering again, scrabbling for an answer. "Because… because you just can't! It's not enough time."

"I think it's plenty of time," Jemma said, raising a hand when Daisy tried to interrupt. "No, hear me out. Attraction, love - they're not simple things, but they can start simple. It's completely possible to start liking someone just because they were nice to you."

"I don't -" Daisy began, but Jemma cut her off.

"No, listen. You don't show it, but you've been through a lot - and I know how much it means to you when someone's there for you."

Daisy kept quiet at that. That was certainly true, wasn't it?

"So I don't see why it's that unreasonable for you to start developing feelings for Deke," Jemma continued thoughtfully. "He was there for you in one of the few times you let yourself be weak, and he didn't judge you for it. More than that, he understood - probably even better than even Fitz or I can."

"There's something really valuable in that," she said, meeting Daisy's gaze with serious eyes. "Someone who understands what you're going through, an equal partner? It's special, Daisy. And I think you know that."

"Besides," she added, and there was something distinctly impish in her brown eyes, "he's definitely not unattractive."

Daisy hid her face in her hands. "Jemmaaaa."

"You see my point, though?" her friend prompted. "It's not that ridiculous for you to like him."

"I'm not saying you're in love with him," she said, correctly interpreting the look Daisy gave her. "That would be premature. But liking him? That would just mean that you're willing to take that understanding and caring he showed you and let it develop into even more."

"And that makes a lot of sense, Dais," she said gently. "It really does."

Daisy didn't know what she was supposed to say. Jemma wasn't… she wasn't wrong, about her definitions of liking someone, at least. She supposed it could happen in two days, if the circumstances were right.

And finding out that Deke was nowhere near as bad as she had thought, but actually a really great guy, did seem like the right kind of circumstances.

Not that she liked Deke, of course. That was the part Jemma was wrong about.

They hadn't been flirting, not really. They were friends, for goodness's sake. That was all.

Right?

//

But no matter how much she steered the subject to other things, her mind kept doubling back to Jemma's words: it's not that ridiculous for you to like him.

She was wrong. She was.

But even so… Daisy found herself looking at Deke with new eyes for the rest of the day, with wary eyes, watching and analysing his every move for some kind of clue that would make it all make sense.

He spent most of the day with Fitz, though, and she with Jemma, so there wasn't much opportunity to come to any solid conclusions. All she could do was repeat to herself: she didn't like him. She didn't.

"Hey, are you okay?" Deke's voice asked, and she felt his warm hand on her shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts.

"I…" Okay, why wasn't she pulling away from him? Why was she letting him this close this easily?

Why wasn't she pulling away?

It wasn't like her to let people near her - May, Coulson, Fitz and Jemma could all attest to that. She was used to people leaving, so the thought of letting someone new in when they could just walk right out wasn't something she took lightly.

And yet here she was, Deke Shaw's hand on her shoulder, his body very close behind her, so close that she could take one step backwards and basically find herself in his arms.

And she… was completely relaxed about it. In fact, her body leaned naturally towards him.

Shit.

"Daisy?" his voice was gentle, encouraging - and really, really not helping the way her head had suddenly started pounding, swimming with a flurry of confused emotions.

She liked him.

It was like Jemma had said, exactly like Jemma had said - she wanted that compassion and understanding of his to stay in her life, to grow richer, to grow into something more.

And she was attracted to him, wasn't she? Just that morning, she had been thinking about how fit he was.

How had she thought that was not flirting, exactly?

Because it can't be flirting, she realised with a sudden and terrible clarity. I like Deke… but I can't like him, not like that.

If she liked him like that and she let him in, it would hurt so, so much more when he inevitably walked out.

Because he would walk out. Every romantic relationship she had tried to go into invariably ended in a giant disaster.

It was her. She was too screwed up and messy to make it work.

A part of her tried to whisper, but what if he doesn't walk out? He gets it, you know. He gets what it's like to be a little messed up.

That was just part of the problem, wasn't it? Deke had been hurt before, she could tell.

It wasn't fair to him to go into this knowing it would fail - it would just hurt him all the more.

And she couldn't do that. She wouldn't be the person who hurt him like that, not if she could help it.

And she could help it, couldn't she?

She could stop this thing before it even really began.

"Deke," she said, and she could feel him tense at how cool her voice was, "I'm fine."

His hand dropped from her shoulder, and she tried not to feel cold in that spot, tried not to miss his warm presence behind her.

"Are… are you sure everything's okay?" he asked carefully.

She kept her gaze fixed firmly on the wall. "Of course I'm sure," she said, her voice neutral. "Not that it's your business, anyway."

"Daisy, what?" he asked, his voice flooded with a mess of emotions, from shock to confusion to deep hurt.

She wanted desperately to turn around and tell him it was okay, she didn't mean a word of it, this was hurting her even more than it was confusing him.

But she kept her gaze firmly on the wall, her voice cold. "You heard me."

Deke reached out and grabbed her shoulders, spinning her around to face him. "What is going on?" he asked, and, oh, the combination of emotions was so much more intense in his eyes, so much more vivid.

She felt something stinging at the backs of her own eyes, and blinked fiercely against it. "Don't touch me," she said sharply, jerking away from him.

He looked like he had been sucker-punched right in the stomach. "Wh-what?" he asked, the little wobble in his voice almost enough to make her turn around and take this all back.

He swallowed, his eyes searching hers. "I thought we were friends."

For some reason, that made her irrationally and furiously angry. "Yes, friends," she said, almost snarled it. "That's what we agreed to be. Friends. Nothing more. Not the people who flirt by the side of the pool, and not the people who share a bed."

His eyes had gone wide, and she couldn't have named the emotions flickering through them even if she had tried.

"Just friends," she repeated emphatically, deciding not to even try. "So stop acting like it could be more."

He took an involuntary step back, but his eyes were still locked on her, full of shock and a desperate, hurt kind of disbelief. "I don't…" he said, and swallowed. "I don't understand. Where's this -"

"It's never going to happen," she said, emphasizing the words so fiercely that it they sounded more like an attack than she had ever really intended.

Deke took another step back, swallowed hard, and stepped back again. "Right," he said, and his voice sounded twisted, strange, so full of raw hurt that it sent a wrenching pang through her entire body. "Right, yeah, I get it."

And before she could so much as stretch out a hand to stop him, he turned and almost ran out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him with awful finality.

Daisy sank to the floor slowly, her hand shakily covering her mouth as she fought despairingly against the tears prickling at the backs of her eyes.

What had she done?

//

About twenty minutes later, the tears came, and try as she might, she couldn't stop them. This wasn't… this had never been how it was supposed to go. It had been supposed to be gentle, and kind, and a favour to them both!

Instead, she had hurt them both, and badly.

She had screwed up, big-time. She had dug herself a hole, and dragged Deke down with her - Deke, who had been nothing but sweet to her, and now he was hurting, they were both hurting, and it was all her fault.

She didn't know how she could ever fix this - it was that bad.

How could she have said that, honestly? How could she have made it sound like she didn't care anymore, like she was out to hurt him -

God, all she wanted to do was hide her head in her mom's shoulder and hear her say "it's going to be okay, we'll fix this, I promise."

Except that there was no way to --

Wait. Her mom!

If anyone would know how to fix this, it would be her mom.

Swiping at the tears in her eyes, Daisy straightened up and scrambled for the phone on her bedside table, unlocking it with shaking fingers and swiping to May's contact.

Her mom answered on the second ring, sounding surprised and concerned. "Daisy? Is everything okay?"

The wonderful, warm familiarity of her voice was too much for Daisy, and she started crying anew. "No."

To her credit, May didn't freak out immediately - that would've been very unlike her, after all. She kept calm, talking in a soft, reasonable voice until Daisy had calmed down sufficiently to tell her story.

"It's Deke," she said.

"Deke?" Her mom sounded surprised. "That boy who's moon-and-stars in love with you, that Deke?"

Well, that wasn't going to make her cry at all. "Yeah," she whispered past the lump in her throat, sliding down the wall and pressing the phone tighter against her ear. "That Deke. And I… I really messed up."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," May said, her steady, comforting voice already doing wonders for Daisy's emotional state.

"No, it is," she said, because no matter how reassuring her mom was, it was that bad.

"Well, tell me about it, then," May said.

So Daisy did. She told her about how she had never liked Deke, and why, and how she had found out how wrong she had been. She told her about the nightmare, and how he had comforted her, and how they had agreed to do a Fitzsimmons and start over as friends. She told her about the day spent curled up in front of the TV binge-watching friends, and she told her about the flirting by the pool that morning… and she told her about the confrontation of twenty minutes ago.

When she had finished, May was silent for a long time.

Then she said, in the tone she saved specifically for when she really needed Daisy to listen - "Look. I understand that you feel like you can't let anyone in, that you can't let him drown in your wake."

She released a shaky breath, which crackled static-y down the line. "I know exactly what that feels like, Daisy. I've been there. I know exactly how hopeless it can be, how it can feel safer to feel nothing instead of opening yourself up to something that can hurt you so badly."

"But if I've learned anything over the years, it's that life's not meant to be spent alone." She paused for a moment to let that sink in before continuing. "It's true, there's a risk involved, and you can end up hurt worse than what you would be if you left it."

"But, Daisy… you can also end up happy, so radiantly happy that you won't look at the world the same way. As a wise man once told me - it's a leap of faith, and at the end of the day, it's about trust. You have to ask yourself: do you trust Deke?"

Daisy closed her eyes, picturing Deke's face - and the first thing that popped into mind was how he had held her close that night after her nightmare, how he had reached out to her and anchored her, how he had been there for her despite having every right to be mad at her.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Yeah, I trust him."

May let out a soft breath, and Daisy could just see the tiny smile she would be wearing. "That's good," she said, her voice full of warmth. "That's really, really good."

Daisy let herself feel the first tiny, tentative prickles of hope. "Yeah," she agreed. "It is."

"Then I think you know what you need to do next," her mom said, her voice gentle but with a hint of steel behind it.

Daisy let out a soft, slow breath. "Yeah," she said, for the third and final time. "Yeah, I do."

She got to get feet, the phone still pressed to one ear as she started looking around the room for a jacket. "I need to find Deke," she said decisively, "and apologise."

May's voice was full of pride as she replied, "that's my girl."

Daisy paused with one arm half-way through the sleeve of her jacket, feeling a flood of gratitude flow through her chest. "Mom… thanks," she said sincerely, squeezing the phone a little tighter. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

May's voice was warm. "That's why I'm here. I love you, huā."

There was a moment of silence where Daisy imagined them both standing there, holding onto their phones with matching soft, affectionate smiles.

Then her mom said, "Go get your man."

And Daisy was grinning as she hung up.

She pulled the jacket properly around her shoulders, smiling to herself when she saw it was a red Lighthouse University one, matching the one Deke had been wearing on their first day here.

It was probably really stupid of her, but it felt like some kind of good-luck charm from the universe, like the opposite of Fitzsimmons's supposed curse.

She pulled the jacket a little tighter, glancing around the room - their room - once or twice for good measure. Something on the bedside table caught her eye, something bright and yellow…

That damn bowl of lemons.

Daisy felt a grin split her face as she looked at them, a plan forming in her mind.

She knew how she was going to make her apology.

//

She found Deke faster than she had been expecting - she peeked in on Fitz and Jemma's room to ask if they had seen him, and there he was, perched on the bed between them.

Jemma took one look at Daisy's face and tactfully pulled Fitz out of the room, making some excuse about tea that Daisy barely heard.

"Deke?" she said softly, edging into the room and coming over to stand tentatively beside him. He didn't turn to face her, though.

She made herself push on regardless. "We… we need to talk."

"Really?" he asked, and she was taken aback by the bitterness in his voice. "I thought you made yourself plenty clear back there."

A stab of guilt shot through her, and she closed her eyes for a second, remembering and drawing strength from her mom's voice. Life's not meant to be spent alone.

"I didn't mean that," she admitted, dropping her gaze to the floor even though he couldn't see her. "I… lashed out because I was scared, and I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve any of that -"

"Scared?" he interrupted, turning around to face her, and she was shocked to see his eyes were a little red. "Why would you be scared?"

"I, uh…" She hesitated, chewing her lip. "Jemma and I were talking, and she was teasing me, and I guess I didn't want to see it, because my track record with relationships is awful and I -" Aware that she was babbling, she reached into the pocket of her jacket and brought out a single lemon. "Here, I brought you this."

"A lemon," Deke said slowly, looking at it. "Uh, thanks?"

Daisy shifted awkwardly, feeling her cheeks warm. "They, uh, they symbolise deep love, fidelity -"

"- unity, and happiness," Deke finished for her, reaching out with tentative fingers to take the lemon from her. His hand brushed lightly against hers, and she tried to ignore the little goosebumps that crept up her arms at the simple touch.

He studied the lemon carefully, turning it slowly between his fingers before looking back up at her, gaze serious. "Are you saying…"

"Yeah," she said, ducking her head and biting at her lip. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying."

Telling herself to remember her mom's advice - leap of faith - she glanced back up at him, meeting his gaze squarely. "I said those things because, uh, because I don't really have a good history with relationships," she said frankly. "I'm not… I'm not the best girlfriend, I don't think. I'm a mess, really."

"Well, so am I," he said, putting the lemon down and reaching for her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.

She tried not to start grinning like an idiot at the gesture, but man, it was hard.

"The point is, people leave," she told him directly. "Right as I let them in, they leave, and it just messes me up more."

She swallowed. "I didn't… I couldn't face the thought of going through that again, and I didn't want you to go through that. So I thought if I pushed you away…"

"You could keep the hurt away, too," he finished for her.

She nodded, biting her lip. "It was stupid and insecure of me, I can see that now, but -"

"Hey," Deke interrupted, letting go of her hand to cradle her cheek, his thumb brushing a gentle line across the curve of her cheekbone. "I don't blame you for that. I don't."

"I know what it's like when people leave," he admitted, his gaze earnest. "But, uh… you do know I've liked you since the day you first walked into Hand's lecture hall, right?"

She chuckled, so taken aback by the delightful surprise of it that she completely forgot about the seriousness of the moment. "No, really?"

"Really," he said, giving her a wry look. "You didn't like me one bit, so it was pretty hopeless, but… come on, you didn't know?"

"I don't think I wanted to know," she admitted, wincing a little at the memory. "I really didn't like you."

Deke gave a wry laugh. "I wouldn't have liked me much in your shoes, either."

"Hey," she said, nudging his hip with hers. "I know you said you're a mess, too, but we're going to try and help each other clean up our messes, okay?"

"Help each other clean up our messes," he echoed, looking down at her with so much tenderness and affection that she thought she might melt. "I really, really like the sound of that."

"Me too," she said, whispered it more, really, as he shifted closer to her, closing the last bit of space between them and brushing his thumb in another achingly tender circle over her cheek.

And then they were kissing, his hand slipping around her head to tangle gently in the hair at the back of her neck, her palms flattening against his chest to grip his shirt and tug him closer, closer.

She almost had to break the kiss because she was smiling so much - and really, who would've thought? Certainly not her… and yet here she was, kissing Deke Shaw, and brilliantly, ecstatically happy about it.

And you know what? She wouldn't change a single step of the way.

It had been a mess, yes - but it had been established, messes were their thing.

Besides, it had gotten them here, so who was she to complain?

//

One week later, Daisy was driving home from the airport, May's sunglasses perched on her head and a happy, relaxed smile on her face. She pulled up smoothly in front of her parents' house, not bothering to pull into the garage but instead just parking right there on the lawn.

Her mom and dad were waiting for her on the porch, big smiles on their faces as she rushed over and hugged them both tightly.

"Look how tanned you got!" her dad exclaimed, holding her at arm's length. "It looks like you had a really good time."

May rescued her sunglasses from Daisy's head, slipping them onto her own head and raising her eyebrows at her daughter, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah, how was it?"

Daisy thought back to the hotel that had spoiled them so much with its delicious food, room service, and gorgeous pool; to exploring the little Majorcan town with her friends by her side; to the apartment Jemma had showed her pictures of on the way back, complete with breakfast nook; and lastly to the message from Deke she had gotten right before turning in to her parents' street - say hi to your parents from me, drive safe, love you lots.

And she grinned. "It was the best holiday in the world."

The End.