"Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are." -Marianne Williamson
Grant ward hardly ever felt joy as a child. He didn’t get birthday parties or christmas, or halloween or thanksgiving, the most joy he would ever get was when his Gramzy bought him a chocolate bar from the candy store on the corner of Jameson and Piedmont.
He usually didn’t like thinking about his home town, it had way too many bad memories, with only a couple good ones to fill in the cracks. That’s why, as they all stood around the briefing table one afternoon, his heart jumped into his throat.
"Chatham Massachusetts." Coulson said swiping a couple things to send files up onto the screen. "Some 084 energy was found in one of the forests there, and we are going to go check it out."
"Wait." Skye spoke up looking at everyone around the room. "Ward, aren’t you from Chatham?"
"Y-yes." Ward mumbled looking at the picture of the town on the screen, the town he had successfully managed to avoid the past 17 years.
"Are you okay to go on this mission? Because if not we completely-" Coulson started again, nodding to the specialist who looked like he was going to throw up.
"No, no sir i’m fine."
"Are you sure Grant? You don’t look like you’re fine." Skye spoke to him again, putting a comforting hand on his arm.
"No I’m sure. I’ll be fine."
"Okay…" Skye spoke warily, not believing what he was saying for a second.
"Sir, uh, is there any way we can stay there for a little while after we finish the mission, so I can visit my grandmother?" Ward asked, turning his head to look at Coulson.
"I’m sure there won’t be a problem with that. I’ll let you guys spend tomorrow and tomorrow night there, then we’ll come back to the bus in the morning. Everyone go get packed and ready."
”We land in an hour.” May said before turning around and leaving, followed by everyone except Ward and Skye.
"Hey…You sure you’re okay?" Skye asked him once everyone else was out of earshot
"Honestly? No…I don’t really like that town that much…but at least i’ll still get to see Gramzy."
"So what are you going to do besides visit your Gramzy? Or are you just going to spend the whole day with her?" Skye asked him another question, this time smiling up at him.
"I’d love to spend the whole day with her, but last I checked she’s at the old folks home which only has visiting hours from eight to noon. So maybe after I visit her, I could show you around the town?" Ward asked with his voice cracking a little bit on the last part. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad with Skye around.
"I’d love that Grant." Skye smiled up at him again, making his heart thump a little harder. "I’m going to go pack, see you in a little bit."
"Okay…" Grant whispered back, mentally celebrating that she was coming with him.
It was now the day after their successful mission, and the team had started to gather in the lobby of the hotel to talk about what they were going to do that day.
"Well Fitz, Skye and I are going to go on a marine biology tour!" Simmons smiled enthusiastically at the rest of the team
"Ugh. Jemma don’t make this any more boring than it already is." Skye groaned looking over at her best friend.
"Skye this isn’t boring! This is fabulous! Look! They have whales, and seals!" Jemma said back.
"Kill me now."
"You could come with me and May to see a play?" Coulson suggested.
"I’d rather stare at whales for two hours than tag along on Mom and Dads date."
"You can come with me to the beach?" Trip asked
"and watch girls chase after you for three hours?"
"You can uh come with me if you want?" Grant piped up.
"What? Aren’t you going to visit Gram- your Grandma?" Skye asked catching herself as the rest of the team didn’t know Grants nickname for his grandmother.
"Yeah, but i’m sure she would love to meet you." Grant smiled nodding his head, he hoped he would be a little less nervous if Skye came along.
"Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude on you and your grandmother."
"I’m sure. I’d love for you to come and meet her."
"okay then, I’ll come with you." Skye smiled at Grant before turning to Simmons "Sorry Jem. Looks like it’s just going to be you and Fitz."
"Oh that’s quite alright, we’ll still have fun!"
Soon after that everyone got into their respective cars or started walking. Fitzsimmons took a car since they had the farthest to go, May and Coulson took the other, Trip walked, and so did Skye and Ward, who stood hand in hand walking together down the busy sidewalks.
"This town is really nice. It’s all old timey!" Skye smiled looking around at the old buildings and cobblestone streets.
Grant smiled back at her before responding “Yeah, I think my favorite thing about this place was the way it looked. I actually really liked this part of town because it was where I went to get away. My family lived farther in-land.”
"Oh well that’s good. That way you hopefully won’t have to go near your old house." Skye said as they continued to walk down the busy sidewalk, letting go of his hand for a minute so she could dodge people next to them.
"I hope not. Now come on, the old folks home is right down here!" Grant smiled at her and grabbed her hand again, pulling her through the crowds of people.
"Whoa! Grant slow down!" Skye giggled at how excited Grant got once the old folks home came into view.
"No way!" Grant smiled back and continued to pull her along the streets.
soon enough they arrived at the doors of “Pines Senior Care Home” smiling, laughing and out of breath.
"Hello! Welcome to Pines Senior Care home, who are you here to visit sir?" The lady at the front desk asked them as they walked through the door.
"Hi, we’re here to see Elanor Ward." Grant said going up to the desk.
"Okay I just need your names for your visitor stickers then I’ll let you in!"
"I’m Grant Ward, and this is Skye." Grant nodded to Skye who stood next to him and waved.
"Okay…" The lady smiled typing their names into the computer. "Grant and Skye Ward!"
"We uh, we aren’t married…" Skye stumbled out noticing how Grant pretty much froze.
"Oh! So sorry about that."
"Yeah we’re just good friends!" Skye smiled at the receptionist who rose an eyebrow at them.
"okay…Here are your stickers! Ms. Ward is in room 305, and you have about two hours left in visiting hours!"
"Thank you." Grant smiled briefly before grabbing Skyes hand again and leading her down the hallways until they stopped at a room.
"Ready?" Grant asked her.
"Yep." Skye answered back as he pushed open the door.
"Gramzy?" Grant asked stepping into the room
"Grant? Dear is that you?" Gramzy asked sitting in a rocking chair in the corner, sitting her book down and slowly getting up.
"I haven’t seen you in over fifteen years Grant! Where the hell have you been!" Gramzy smiled at him, wobbling over to give him a hug.
"Work’s been tough."
"And who is this pretty young lady?" Gramzy asked, nodding towards Skye.
"This is Skye, she’s my friend." Grant said smiling
"This is Skye? and friend? Huh." Gramzy shook her head. "It’s nice to meet you darling!"
"It’s nice to meet you too Ms. Ward!" Skye said smiling as Gramzy came over and hugged her as well.
"Please, call me Gramzy!"
"Will do, Gramzy!" Skye said, smiling even wider now
"Well come, sit, let’s talk!"Gramzy motioned over to a table with a couple chairs sitting around it, but not before she grabbed
Grant by the arm and whispered in his ear. “I like her.”
"Good because I think I like her too." Grant whispered back
"Think? Honey you are head over heals in love with her. Now make a move because I want grand babies before I die." Gramzy smiled, pat him on the cheek and went to go sit down next to Skye, leaving Grant there bright red with his mouth gaping open.
————
A couple hours later they had talked about family life, work, and shared childhood stories. Gramzy got along really well with Skye, which Grant was thrilled about, if he was ever going to be in a relationship with Skye, he needed Gramzy to like her. As it neared the end of visiting hours, they still sat talking around the table, until Grants phone rang.
"I’ve gotta take this. Be right back." He nodded at the two women before excusing himself out of the room.
"You are aware of how much my boy likes you, right?" Gramzy asked Skye the second the door snapped closed.
"Yeah, I uh, I think so." Skye stuttered out. "At least I hope so because I’m pretty sure I feel the same way…"
"Oh trust me. He does. For starters he hasn’t shut up about you in the past four years." Gramzy laughed
"What? I thought you haven’t heard from him in fifteen years?"
"No, No! I haven’t seen him in person for the past fifteen years! We talk all the time on the phone!"
"Oh wow! I hope it was all good things!" Skye smiled wide at Gramzy
"It was sweetie!" Gramzy smiled back right before Grant walked through the door again.
"Hey Skye? That was Coulson." He said coming back in and standing behind Skyes chair. "He wants to know if we can meet up with he rest of the team for lunch then go see a movie together."
"I think you both have to leave in a few minutes anyways! So go ahead! Just promise to visit again soon!" Gramzy smiled at the two and got up to give them hugs
"We will! it was really nice meeting you!" Skye smiled at her widely as she gave her a hug, then moved over to give Grant a hug.
They were halfway out the door when they heard Grmazy yell from behind them “You two better be dating and or married with children the next time you come to see me!”
and that was enough to make Skye and Ward jump at least a foot away from each other, and turn bright red.
It was now staring to get dark outside, as lunch and the movie had taken a lot longer than anyone wanted. So, as everyone went their separate ways to either eat dinner or go back to the hotel, Grant took the opportunity to ask Skye out…kind of.
"So…" Grant began as they walked along the sidewalk outside the movie theater. "Do you want to go out to dinner then I can show you around? The town is really pretty at night…"
"Are you asking me out?" Skye questioned, grinning up at him.
"I think so…" Grant said unsure of himslef
"Well I hope you are, because I would love to go out with you." Skye smiled up at him even wider.
"Really?"
"Yes really!"
"Well thats good, I thought you wouldn’t want to go out with me after the whole Hydra thing…"
"Grant that was three years ago. You have more than redeemed yourself." skye grabbed his hand as they continued walking.
Soon, they arrived at a wonderful sea food restaurant that Grant said his Gramzy used to take him and his little brother and sister to so they could get away from the house. And after a great dinner, they started walking around the town again.
"That’s the old candy store that we used to go to all the time!" Grant smiled pointing at a small vacant building on the corner. "It’s kinda sad it’s gone now…it was awesome. You would’ve loved it."
"I’m sure I would’ve!" Skye smiled up at him, loving that he was having a good time. "You know you sure seem to be pretty happy for being in a town you hate…"
"Yeah, well, I don’t think I ever hated this town. There was just never more than one or two things that made me happy, or made me feel joy in this town. So I simply disliked it." Grant explained as they rounded the corner on the street and sat down on a bench overlooking the downtown area. "I don’t think I’ve felt pure joy in a long time."
"You know a nun once told me that Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are. Thats how I like to think. If you think about how good things are, then you have joy!" Skye smiled at him as he looked thoughtful, and when he didn’t say anything, she continued.
"You have your Gramzy, you have Mom and Dad, May and Coulson, Little Brothers Trip and Fitz, little sister Jemma, and-"
"I have you." Grant interrupted her and leaned to face her a little more.
"You’ll always have me, Grant." Skye whispered as she leaned forward a little bit too.
"Good. Because I never want to lose you." Grant smiled before closing the space between them with a kiss.
For once in his life, he felt what could only be described as, pure Joy.