Up

Skye drummed her fingers on the table in front of her, her other hand propping up her face. She sat at a small table outside a café in the airport, her bags by her feet and the seat across from her empty. Grant had left to find a bathroom, but he’d been gone longer than was really necessary. She started to get twitchy, her toes as restless as her fingers. Looking down at the cup of coffee Grant had bought for her, especially made to how she liked it, Skye fought to keep her anxiety at bay.

Grant won’t leave me, he loves me. She repeated to herself. He loves me, he’ll come back. Besides, she still had his stuff at her feet.

Skye’s inner monologue and downcast face blinded her to her boyfriend approaching with a couple of gifts in hand. She only looked up when he slid into the seat opposite her and placed the small bouquet of chocolate roses and a jewellery box under her gaze.

“What are these?” she asked in surprise, glancing between the gifts and Grant.

“Well,” he began. “Those are chocolate roses.” He pointed to the bouquet, and Skye smacked his arm with a huff of laughter.

“I meant, what are they for?” she asked, smiling this time.

Grant shrugged, a cute pout of nonchalance accompanying the movement. “For you.”

A half-suspicious and half-amused expression pulled at the corner of Skye’s lips as she opened the box. She gasped in delight as she saw the necklace laid out on the cushion.

“Oh my god, Grant! Is this a daisy?” she exclaimed, looking up at him with adoration.

“Yeah.” He replied with a smile. “I was trying to go for ‘Skye’, but they didn’t have a sun, and a cloud doesn’t really suit you–” he was cut off by Skye grabbing his face with both hands and pulling him into a kiss.

“Thank you.” She murmured as they pulled apart. Her hands still cradled his face, her thumbs brushing over his cheekbones softly.

Grant beamed, his eyes sparkling. “I love you.” He said in the same low tone.

“I love you too.” Skye replied, leaning forward to kiss him again. It was chaste and gentle, and both of them felt like the world had disappeared around them. Pulling apart brought to their attention the first call for their flight.

“All passengers for the flight at 1500 hours to Beijing, please make your way to Gate 3.” The intercom announced.

“That’s us.” Grant said. He removed Skye’s hands from his face and gently kissed them before picking up his bags as he stood. Skye followed suit, and left some money on the table for their server. Walking towards the gate to board the plane, Grant took hold of Skye’s hand. As per usual, his heart fluttered a little when she interlocked their fingers and squeezed his hand reassuringly. Skye smiled so sweetly up at him and his face mirrored hers in its tenderness. He was immensely proud of himself that he’d tried to have another chance with her, but he didn’t know what he’d do if she rejected him again. That worry caused his thoughts to walk along a darker path as he remembered the age-old lesson that Garrett taught him. Love is a weakness.

Noticing the slight change in his gaze, Skye internally sighed. She had a feeling that he wasn’t unaffected by what Garrett had done to him. No doubt his thoughts had segued into the whole feelings-are-a-weakness trope.

“Grant.” She said softly, yet firmly. He glanced at her, making eye contact, but looked away just as quickly. Panic flared up within Skye at the signs that he was shutting her out. “Grant, look at me.” She said in the same tone, proud of herself that her fear hadn’t shown in her voice. She halted, letting her arm follow Grant until their interlocked hands prevented him from going anywhere without resistance. The love of her life turned to face her, but his gaze was on the ground, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Not looking away from his face, Skye placed her bags on the ground and reached up to once again cup his face in her hands. Gently, she tilted his chin until his face aligned in parallel with hers. However, his eyes refused to meet her gaze, and Skye realised that underneath that stubbornness was a sea of fears.

Taking a deep breath, Skye gave Grant a small peck on the lips. He responded, his bottom lip pushing outwards as if to follow hers. That alleviated some of Skye’s worries.

“Sweetheart.” She whispered. “Look at me, please.”

Slowly, Grant flicked his eyes up to meet hers. Skye saw a mixture of fear, hope and love, alongside remnants of haunting memories. His lips twitched as he fought to keep them from trembling.

“I can’t get rid of it.” He whispered, as though he were afraid he might be punished if someone overheard him. “I can’t stop him, Skye, I…” he struggled to find the words to describe the crushing despair that accompanied thoughts of Garrett.

“I understand, Grant.” She soothed. “And I don’t blame you. You are a good man, no matter what horrors you’ve faced.”

“But you know what I’ve done, Skye. I can’t ignore that.” He said in a broken whisper, tears welling up and threatening to fall.

“Let me tell you something that a great man once said.” Skye said firmly.

“A great man?”

“A very great man.” She nodded. “He said that we all have light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on.” Grant’s expression didn’t change. “Grant, the past is the past. The choices you make now are the ones that matter to me.” She gave a soft laugh. “We’ve been through them all, on both sides.”

“Who is this great man?” he asked after a few seconds.

Skye was careful to make her description of Sirius Black as relatable to Grant as possible. “Someone who grew up in a family that was no family to him. He spent years in prison blaming himself for something he had no control over, and was labelled a wanted man because he had the nerve to make amends in whatever way he could. He was loved and treasured by those who gave him a chance and was loyal almost to a fault.” She was smiling now, radiating her sincerity, and Grant had lost the haunting look in his eyes. “I mean, his animal persona was a dog. How much more loyal could you get?” she lightly teased, and was delighted when he laughed.

“Animal persona?” he asked, confused.

“You have really got to read Harry Potter.” She answered, the amused glint still in her eye. Gazing at him adoringly, Skye raised her right hand to run it through his hair. “I think it might really appeal to you.”

His heart full of love and wonder, Grant leaned down and captured Skye’s lips with his own, his free hand winding around her waist as he pulled her flush against him. Skye happily kissed him back, parting her lips to deepen the embrace, but pulling back before they got too frisky in an airport. She could swear she heard him moan as the kiss ended.

“As much as I enjoy this, sweetheart,” she breathed. “China’s waiting, and none too patiently.”

Grant chuckled, sending shivers down her spine and pools of warmth between her legs. “As you wish, my love.”

They boarded the plane without any hassle, but the pair of them half-expected S.H.I.E.L.D. to have placed a tag on their IDs. Finding their seats by the emergency exit (Skye rolled her eyes when she noticed that; of course Grant would have bought these seats specifically), they stowed their carry-ons in the overhead luggage compartment and settled into the seats closest to the window, Grant being in the middle of the row.

The plane was a large Boeing 747, complete with three lanes of seats and two aisles running the length of the aircraft. Skye was used to being on a large plane, but she’d never flown on a commercial flight before, and paid attention to everything.

“Anyone would think you’d never been inside a plane before.” Grant observed from her right. His eyes glinted with the same amusement that pulled his mouth into a smirk. Skye just gave him deadpan look.

“The only planes I’ve been on have been the Bus and quinjets.” She replied, turning her head to look out the window at the tarmac.

“Well, I’m almost entirely sure that the tarmac on runways doesn’t differ all too much.” His dry remark elicited a bark of laugher from Skye, who lightly punched him on the shoulder.

The couple were mostly quiet during the flight, just enjoying being together. Skye rested her head on Grant’s shoulder, and he rested his on her head. Their fingers were intertwined, thumbs rubbing gently on the backs of each other’s hands. Grant fell asleep a few hours in, Skye calling for neck pillows and fitting one under Grant’s head before she allowed herself to sleep as well.

Skye almost skipped into the hotel Grant had booked, wondering what other luxuries he had gotten for them. She knew that he never would have done this for himself, so it had to be because of her. She twirled around, taking in everything she could, then searched for Grant’s unmistakeable height in the crowd around her. Spotting him over by the reception desk, Skye weaved her way over to him, slipping her arm through his and smiled at the woman as she checked them in.

“I’ve already sent the bags up to the room.” Grant murmured in her ear, kissing her temple after they had been given their access card. His arm snaked over her shoulder and Skye smiled contentedly, sliding hers around his waist. “It’s mid-afternoon, so there should be enough time to entertain ourselves before dinner is served.” He grinned wickedly down at her, both of their eyes darkening with lust.

“Oh, really?” Skye played along. “And what do you have in mind to entertain us?”

“Well…”

Skye had barely closed the hotel door behind them when Grant was on her. His hands were everywhere; running up and down her body, finger tangling themselves in her hair and dipping into her pants. Skye wasn’t complaining. She was doing the exact same thing. Their mouths mashed together in an almost desperate attempt to be close, tongues sliding over each other and teeth grazing lower lips.

Getting frustrated with the amount of clothes between them, Skye pushed Grant’s unbuttoned plaid overshirt off his shoulders and he let it drop to the floor. Getting the black singlet off as well was proving a little more difficult, as the couple was pressed up so tightly against each other, there was definitely no room for Jesus. Nevertheless, Skye’s incessant tugging to pull the singlet off won out against Grant’s desire to touch every bit of her. With one graceful movement, he pulled the garment over his head and dropped his to his side. Skye took this opportunity to start pushing him towards the bed. As hot as being pushed up against a door while horny was, she wasn’t too eager to share their private time with passers-by.

Their lips met again in a frenzied, passionate haze. This time, Grant was the one to insist on removing tops, and almost got Skye’s hair caught as he yanked her shirt over her head. Sliding a hand around her back, Grant undid the clasp of the bra, and Skye pulled the cups away from her breasts. As always, Grant’s breath hitched at the sight. Deciding he was going to focus on those this side of dinner, he lifted Skye by her hips and laid her on the bed, her legs wrapping around his waist.

Skye let out a low moan as Grant slowly took her right nipple into his mouth, sucking and nipping at it with his teeth. His right hand kneaded her left breast, causing her back to arch up off the bed.

“Grant…” she groaned out, feeling that her panties were already wet. “Take me!”

Grant didn’t need to be told twice. Pulling a condom out of his jeans pocket, he pushed his pants and underwear down, kicking them away as he pulled Skye’s jeans down her legs agonisingly slowly. He planted a kiss to her mound as soon as that was revealed to his hungry gaze, and her legs tensed in response.

“Grant, just get on with it, or I won’t give you a blowjob later!” Skye growled out. Grant’s head snapped up and he swiftly moved to pull on the condom.

“You ready, babe?” he breathed, hovering just outside her entrance. Skye made no verbal response, preferring instead to hook her legs tightly around his waist again and pull him in.

As Grant slid home, both he and Skye let out sighs of relief and satisfaction. Then Grant started moving, Skye matching his thrusts like it was second nature to her. Her nails raking over his back as the pleasure intensified, Grant picked up the pace.

With the last few strokes, Grant climaxed, his consciousness going blank for a moment. He shuddered, but knew that Skye hadn’t come yet, so he kept going until she fell apart under him. Their breathing laboured, Grant rolled himself to her side as they caught their breaths.

“So,” he started after several moments of silence. “About that blowjob…” They both glanced at each other as he finished his sentence, and Skye grinned.