Hey guys!

Oh my god, I'm so sorry for not updating! I had totally forgotten about this fic. I thought it had been completed, but as I was looking over my documents, I realized that it wasn't finished. So, here's the last chapter! It might not be what I had in mind for this story at the time I conceptualized it, but I hope you enjoy~

Forgive any mistakes, I haven't written fanfics in a long time.

(The song is "Home" by Katharine McPhee).

You are the world within the world that I exist
You are the touch that just won't fade
You are the end and beginning of each and every day
You are the reason I stay sane

It's hard to see beautiful
Oh, it's hard to see beautiful in your own eyes
But you make me beautiful for the very first time

Does anybody know what it's like
To feel larger than life?
To look deep in your soul
And know you're not alone?

Does anybody know how it feels
To find something that's real
And make it your own?
That's when you know that you found home
Home, you found home, home

A Few Days Later.

When Fitz had been in his coma, Jemma had kept vigil by his bedside every day until that glorious moment when he had woken up. But the nine days she had stayed next to him in that small, stuffy room were literal hell. More so than when she was trapped on that godforsaken planet, all hope of seeing the sun, the Earth, or Fitz seemingly lost.

When the BUS had arrived at the Playground and she'd shown the team that she was alive and informed them that Fitz was too, she had felt a modicum of safety. And then her mind had drifted back to Fitz. The doctors – those that were still loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. – had gone to take MRIs of Fitz's brain to assess for any visible damage the lack of oxygen to his brain had caused. They wanted to prepare for any and all scenarios when and if he woke up.

During those long few hours, she had needed to preoccupy herself with something other than Fitz. She had been on the verge of driving herself crazy thinking about him and all the scenarios that could happen. So, she went on an impromptu tour of the new base. It was an hour later when she stumbled across an unlocked door that led up to the roof. She had the fleeting thought that an unlocked door to the roof was a glaring security hazard for a top secret base, but it faded away when she saw the security measures on the roof. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have given the antenna tower a second thought, but she wasn't just anyone.

The antenna was one of Fitz's inventions – one she'd given him some input on. The long metallic pole was crossed twice with parallel lines much like a mutated "T." The inconspicuous object created a force field around the building twice over and combatted any ammunition and electronical waves that tried to destroy or disarm the base. She gave a little smile, but it disappeared as quick as it came, replaced with a stoic façade.

Since that moment, whenever she'd needed a break, fresh air, or if everything got too much for her, she'd go up to the roof.

Now, staring at the antenna, a wave of sadness fell upon her. She knew it was utter nonsense to have an inanimate object control her emotions, but she couldn't help it. All she could think about was how she and Fitz grew apart. Their time at the Academy seemed so far gone, at this point, that she felt as if she was thrust into another world, so to speak.

As she turned towards the view of the town, the sunrise looked bleak and meager to her. She had longed to see just one sunrise on that planet, but to no avail. Now, back on Earth, with unlimited sunrises as long as she was alive, it didn't feel as special as they should've been. Not without Fitz beside her.

After their fallout, their relationship had become entirely professional. It was all last names and tight smiles, courtesy for personal space and no more movie nights. It was like they were at the Academy again, before they'd pull their heads out of their asses and joined forces. Her days were now filled with awkward brushes as they shuffled around the lab, murmured apologies, and full sentences. Suffice to say, she absolutely hated it.

She'd even taken to slowing down the pace of her words just a fraction of a second in hopes for Fitz to finish her sentences, trying to give him the right opening to interject his thoughts – he never did. And if that wasn't frustrating enough, Fitz had become a shell of himself around her. He was right next to her every day, but he might as well have been millions of miles away – or lightyears, she should say.

The truth was, she never felt so helpless in her life; caught trapped between a boulder and a steel wall. She had never wanted to hurt anyone, least of all, Fitz. She would do anything to have change -

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Startled by the intruder of her thoughts, Jemma self-consciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Sorry."

Jemma sighed, dropping her arms. "You wouldn't like what I was thinking about, Will."

Will sighed knowingly and faced the town. "Fitz," he said definitively.

Jemma nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see it. The one person she hadn't meant to stumble upon, the man that was the reason for the awkward tension around the base had just read her thoughts while the one person she so desperately wished to be in tune with was drifting farther away from her every passing second.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she lowered her head. "I'm sorry," Jemma apologized, her voice cracking. She never wanted anyone to get hurt.

He let out a breath and shook his head, "You have nothing to be sorry for. It's okay." He waited until she looked back up at him to say, "Truth is, I always knew it would be him. Over on the other side, it was me and you against the world, but here, on Earth… in reality, it's you and him – it has been from the very first day you guys met." He shrugged. "I just fooled myself by prolonging the inevitable."

She broke then, the dam breaking. "I'm so sorry, Will. I'm so sor-"

He pulled her into a hug just then, trying to dissipate her sobs. When she finally pulled away from him, her hand self-consciously came up to her clavicle and played with the pendant of her necklace.

They stood like that for a few moments, facing each other, but reluctant to move away.

"So, I'm gonna go back home."

Her voice mirrored her face in surprise, "Really?"

Will nodded, "Yeah, the doctors cleared me." He let out a shaky breath, "I think it's time to see my family; let them know I'm alive."

"That's great! Maybe you could work things out with your brother," Jemma added.

"Here's to hoping." He smiled a little, a trace of a real smile lingering on his face for a little bit.

Silence fell upon them and neither of them moved away from each other. They stayed rooted onto their places on the rooftop, the feeling of something that needed to be said floating around in the air.

Will was the one to break the silence.

"I've never seen you wear that before," he pointed his chin towards her necklace; she was still absent-mindedly playing with the small pendant – the sign of infinity with a tiny rose etched into its intersection. She looked down and quickly dropped her hand, but tried hard to stifle a smile.

"I haven't worn it in a very long time."

"Then why now?" He asked, genuinely curious.

Jemma shrugged. "I don't know. I just woke up and put it on this morning. The one I had on when I was swallowed by the Monolith is still on that planet. I forgot I even had it on until you pointed it out. I think today, of all days, it's a reminder."

"Of?"

"Reality," she answered, only realizing the weight of her word the moment it came out of her mouth.

He waited patiently for the story that he knew would come. Jemma looked at him hesitantly as she admitted, "Fitz gave it to me. Back when we were at the Academy."

She searched his eyes for any reluctance or regret, but when she found none, she found the strength to continue. "Once we found each other at the Academy, we became inseparable. Nobody else had ever understood me like Fitz did – does." She shut her eyes for a second before continuing, "I was sixteen and in another country by myself and I had nobody to talk to. I was scared, but excited at the same time because there I was, with likeminded individuals for the first time in my life. But it wasn't enough. I still felt like I was an outcast because I was this teenager in an adult world, outshining them in intellect. I had friends, sure, but it wasn't until I met Fitz that I truly found someone I could connect with. And as luck would have it, he understood me perfectly. Not only was he highly intelligent, he was sixteen too, living in a foreign country with nobody to talk to, feeling like he didn't belong. And the best part was, he was from the UK too. It was like having a home away from home." It took her a second to really, truly realize what she'd just said. "Every day, we were by each other's side. People had started to refer to us as one entity and it just stuck. We weren't just Fitz and Simmons anymore; we were FitzSimmons. We spent almost every second of every day together." Jemma let out a breath. God, how times had changed.

She cleared her throat and smiled at the next part of her story. "The week before the actual week of Christmas was our little impromptu Christmas. We each went home for the holidays, so the only way we could celebrate it together was if we celebrated it earlier; it was our little tradition. I think we'd only known each other for four years – we were at Sci-Ops, so a year after graduating the Academy – when he gave me this." Jemma scoffed at the triviality of the events beforehand, "Earlier that week, we had this huge fight about something that was so stupid that escalated quickly – I don't even remember what it was. It was our first real fight and we shared a flat together and worked together, so it was even worse. And we were both so petty and too proud to admit that we were wrong, so the week passed and it was four days until Christmas – that was when he would leave for Scotland. I would leave the day after. As I was packing, I realized his flight had been scheduled to leave a few hours beforehand and I had forgotten. I had been so wrapped up in my own world and trying to stay as far away from Fitz as possible that I hadn't even realized he had already left. He hadn't said goodbye and I hadn't realized that our tradition had gone out the window. I had been devastated."

.

It went straight to voicemail. Again.

Jemma leaned back against her headboard and let out a frustrated breath. Her head lolled over to the right, her eyes landing on her open suitcase on the bed. How could she have been so stupid and selfish?!

She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. God, she was a terrible friend. Would Fitz ever forgive her? A million more thoughts, exactly like those ran through her head for over an hour as tears streamed down her cheeks. Fitz was the only person she had, the only person that truly connected with her. He was her best friend in the whole world and she doesn't know would she would do if she didn't have Fitz in her life.

She threw her head back softly against her headboard. She screwed up big time.

She tried calling Fitz again, but it only led to that robotic tone telling her that Fitz couldn't be reached. As Fitz's pre-recorded message was coming to an end, the sound of the front door of the flat closing echoed throughout the room.

Jemma started, her ears now catching every small sound. The tick-tock of the clock hanging on her wall synchronized with the blood pumping in her ears. She tiptoed her way to the door of her bedroom which was slightly ajar. Peeking through the crack, she made out a figure pacing in the kitchen. She gripped the handle of her door hard, trying to even out her breathing. As the man stayed still, standing firmly behind the kitchen island, her eyes finally focused on the man. The unruly curls were a dead giveaway.

"Fitz!" Jemma exclaimed. She ran towards him, enveloping him in a bear hug before he could even get a word out. It took him a second to register what was going on, but once he did, his arms wrapped around her. He hugged her tightly too.

"I'm sorry," they both said simultaneously.

They both laughed, blushing. Everything was going to be okay.

Jemma fixed his tie and apologized once more. "I'm sorry, Fitz. I was being stupid and selfish."

"So was I," Fitz replied. "I'm sorry too."

Jemma smiled.

Fitz fished out a box from his backpack that rested on the floor. He handed her a small wrapped box.

"Fitz…" Jemma's tears welled up in her eyes again.

"Go on, take it. Open it." He said, a grin on his face.

Smiling, she took it from him and carefully opened the gift, making sure that the gift wrapper didn't rip.

"Jemma, come on. It's only just paper-"

"Fitz, it's-"

"A principle. I know, I know."

"Ugh, Fitz. If you'd only just let me explain, you would understa-"

This time, her sentence wasn't cut off by Fitz. Jemma had opened the box and was stunned to see what was inside.

"Oh, Fitz…" Her hand flew up to her mouth. "It's beautiful."

Fitz smiled at her, his blue eyes shimmering with happiness. "It's made of vibranium; it won't break."

"You made this?!" Jemma shouldn't have been surprised, he had made more delicate and more fragile things than this necklace, but she couldn't help it. Emotion overwhelmed her.

Fitz nodded.

She wrapped him in a hug again. "Thank you," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"No problem, Simmons. It was nothing. A friend of mine owed me, so I asked for vibranium."

"Thank you," she whispered, tracing the infinity sign with her thumb as she marveled over the detail of the rose in the center.

"So that you always remember that no matter what, we'll always be together. We're a team and nothing can change that, not even a stupid fight."

The tears threatened to fall.

"Fitz…"

.

"And from that moment on, we never ditched a tradition. From that moment on, we were always by each other's side." Jemma titled her head back a bit and sucked in a breath. Tears were threatening to fall and she didn't want to cry again. She let out a shaky breath and tried to regain control. She held the pendant between her fingers again as she sadly admitted, "Until Hydra came back. Until Ward and the ocean. Until the pod. Until the coma. And we broke all over again. It took a while until we found each other again and we were just going back to the way it had been, but that stupid rock had to liquefy at that. Exact. Moment. And now… now, we're here, broken all over again." Jemma let out a cold laugh, "The only thing that hasn't been broken is this necklace."

"Do you know what I take from that story?" Will said after a few moments of silence.

Jemma turned her head towards him for an answer.

"That you always find each other again." Before Jemma could rebut his statement, he continued. "No matter how terrible things get, no matter how lost you get, you guys always find your way back to each other. I mean, we were stuck on a deserted alien planet lightyears away from Earth and Fitz got both of us back. Most importantly, he got you back. You guys are like that necklace of yours. Vibranium is indestructible, right?" Will had a crooked smile on his face.

Jemma couldn't help but feel guilty all over again. Two amazing guys, both hurt because of her but still vying for her happiness.

"That's not actually true. It would take immense force and energy, but it could break. Take Iron Man's laser beams and Captain America's strength and then-" The look on Will's face stopped her from speaking on the topic any further. "Oh, you were analogizing."

Will smiled in response.

"We might be here together, but we may as well be millions of miles away from each other."

"But you're not. He's just downstairs. Just go and talk with him. Take that risk. Then you would be only a few inches from one another."

Jemma let out a breath. "Thank you."

.

Fitz rubbed his hand over his face in hopes to wipe away the tiredness. He had just spent the entire night in the lab on Coulson's prosthetic update. Coulson was leaving on a mission in just a few hours and the update would be instrumental to help catching his target. His watch told him that it was nearly eight o' clock. He sighed at the messy lab before him. He had no energy to clean up the mess he had made.

He took a few stretches to work out the kinks in his muscles, sent a text to Coulson informing him of the update, and started heading out of the lab. He was turning towards the hallway to the housing quarters when he bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry, Will. I didn't see you there."

"It's okay, Fitz. It was my mistake."

"Are you headed somewhere?" Fitz asked, his eyes focused on the duffel bag in Will's hand. He wondered if he had managed to sufficiently cover up the hopefulness in his voice.

Will smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm headed home. Back to my life before I was sucked in to another planet. Thanks for everything, Fitz. For getting me out when you didn't need to. For helping me acclimate. Thank you."

Fitz smiled at him, albeit a little restrained. "It was no problem."

Will let out a chuckle. "Oh, well we both know that's not true."

Fitz let out a breath of agreement.

"It was an… experience, Fitz." Will stuck out a hand.

Fitz nodded and shook his hand, "It really was."

Will started to go past him when Fitz stopped him. "Wait, what about Jemma?"

Will smiled again, "We both know that she's meant to be with you."

Before Fitz could stop him again, Will had turned into another hallway and left.

Fitz was both relieved and anxious by Will's departure. It meant that there was nothing between them anymore, but it meant that there really was nothing between them anymore. Would they find each other again? Or would it be them who were the reasons why they couldn't coexist?

.

Jemma stayed up on the roof for hours after Will had left. They had hugged and said their goodbyes and he had left her alone with her thoughts. Dusk had turned into morning and she had stayed up to watch it all happen.

Not really, though. She had been too engulfed in her thoughts to truly notice.

Will had given her good advice and simplified the solution for her, yet she was reluctant to actually do something. There was nothing separating the two of them now. And that scared the shit out of her.

She knew he loved her – loved her more than she deserved – and she knew the feelings she felt for Fitz were also love, but she was still scared. What if it wasn't wrong timing and horrible occurrences that were the reason they were two ships passing in the night? What if it what was wrong was actually them? They had been oblivious to the thing right in front of them for over a decade or too scared to confront it. Maybe they had been perfect partners but took so long in finding and accepting that truth that they had merely become two ships passing in the night.

This thing that she had with Will had created such distance between her and Fitz and she doesn't know if they can find each other again. She had loved Will, that was true. The feelings she had or has for Will was love. She acknowledges that. But she also acknowledges that that love was one of necessity, one of desperation, one fueled by loneliness. She could argue that that's how her bond with Fitz formed as well. But what she can't figure out is what the difference between the two types of love is. Was it time? Was it the strength of connection? Was there some sort of mystical force out in the universe that tied two people together?

Jemma eventually concluded that it was a combination of all those things and one more thing. Reality.

Looking back at her life, she can't help but conclude that her and Fitz are meant to be together. She has no other answer, no other explanation for the feeling she feels for Fitz. She loves both Fitz and Will, but her feelings keep leading her towards Fitz. She can't rationalize or science her way towards an answer for this one. She can only rely on arbitrary, unexplainable feelings to dictate this course of action.

If they could conquer physical distance, why can't they conquer emotional distance?

.

Fitz was about to head to bed when there was a knock on his door.

.

Jemma stood outside of Fitz's door, anxious. She had decided to listen to Will and take the risk.

.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"I love you," Jemma blurted out.

Fitz was taken aback by her admission. "Wha- what?"

"I love you," Jemma repeated. "And I can't take it anymore, Fitz. I can't take us being apart. It's killing me." Tears were welling up in her eyes and she was sure that any moment now, she'd be crying again.

Fitz just stood there, still taken aback. He wasn't prepared for this. And half of him was too tired and was taking in everything at half speed.

"Please say something."

"I-what?"

Jemma took a breath. "I was up on the roof, thinking. And then Will came up and we just started talking and he told me to take a risk. So, I'm doing that. Because I can't keep doing what we're doing. I need to know if we can still be friends or if we be more. Or…" She took a moment to compose herself. "Nothing."

"You told me you loved him." Fitz said, stoic.

Jemma took in a shaky breath and nodded. "I do."

"But you love me too?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Fitz," she shifted her weight from one leg to another before continuing, "I can't really explain it. All I know for sure is that I love you. With all my heart. More than I could love anyone else. When I was on Maveth, all I could think about was you. You were the sole reason that kept me going; Fitz, you're my home. I knew that from the first moment I met you. And then when I saw that bottle break, I lost hope. I shouldn't have but I did because… because I thought I'd never see you again, Fitz. I thought I'd never be able to return home. But now I'm here, I'm back because of you. Because you never gave up hope. So, can I return home?"

Fitz looked at Jemma, watched as tears escaped from their hold and rolled their way down her cheeks. He could tell she was anxious and scared, but he also could see the relief in her eyes. She'd been harboring so much guilt and regret and sadness.

Fitz didn't say anything. Instead, he brought his hand up and wiped away the tears on her cheek. In one moment of indulgence, Jemma closed her eyes and nestled into his hold. If this was the last time she'd be able to be with Fitz in a more-than-friendly capacity, she would take it.

Fitz watched as Jemma relaxed into his caress. She was effervescently beautiful. He had imagined so many times over the course of their friendship how it would feel to hold her, to kiss her, to call her his. He had imagined of a time just like this where she would tell him that she loved him too.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. His beautiful blue eyes bore a hole into hers. It was as if she was being pulled into the ethereal vastness of the ocean. His eyes had always captivated her; she could always tell so much from his eyes, but there was only one other time that she'd seen what she was seeing right now. Back when they were stuck at the bottom of the sea.

Goodbye.

That's what he was telling her. And who could blame him? She had caused him so much heartache, so much sadness. She had deceived him one too many times. Jemma understood.

So, with one last revel of his touch and one last look, she nodded and moved to walk away.

Fitz had been too caught up in his memories that it was only the loss of her touch that jolted him back to reality. Before she had the chance to turn completely away, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.

Much like a previous time, he pulled her in for a desperate, passionate kiss. Except this time, it was full of hope.

When they pulled away from each other, Fitz held her tight in his arms and looked right into her eyes. "Of course you can."

Jemma couldn't stop the ear-to-ear grin on her face and embraced him tightly. "I'm so sorry, Fitz, I'm so-"

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Jemma. It wasn't-"

"But Fitz, it was my-"

She was cut off as he pulled her in for another kiss. This time, it was slow and languid. It was as if he was pouring his whole heart into her. It was the one time she was glad he hadn't finished her sentences.

"I love you, Jemma. And you love me. That's all that matters."

It wasn't until five minutes later that they'd both fell against his bed and held each other until they both fell asleep. But for the time being, they kissed each other in the warm sunlight that spilled into his room. And that was enough.

Thanks so much for reading and for those who came back to read this, thank you for your support!

Please leave a review if it evoked any type of feelings out of you.

Happy New Years!