@aclevelblue XX
She wanted to take it back right away, just seeing the look on Coulson's face. Even her real father and her didn't say 'I love you’ to each other, it was not a phrasing that was used in her family; it had been 'I'm proud of you' from him, not those three words. But best to tell Coulson now than never, that much was sure. And then, leaving her standing there in shock, before she could start rambling to take it back and save them both from too much embarrassment or at least him, he came back to her and hugged her, which promptly destroyed her weak attempt to not start crying again. 'Don't leave me,' she wanted to say, the cry stuck in her throat for a long time. They had missed so much time, when she pretended to be Mace's lapdof to raise ranks and keep them safe while they looked for Daisy - all useless, Mace hadn't even been an enemy, she had wasted chances - and before too, between ending in different planets and dimensions, and when SHIELD needed to be rebuilt and she had to give Fitz space, they had been apart for so long. Everyone kept leaving. And when they didn't, she was taken from them. Time had ran out. 'Don't leave me' she thought desperately again, hands closing against the back of his jacket, holding him there. "This is not your fault," she said instead, voice wavering, the guilt that always burned her from inside out not something she wanted to leave on his shoulders, "You have the right to choose... This is not your fault. If we are hurt, it's not on you. It's... it's so good that we got to... meet each other, that you... that you took us in, gave us this family... And I'll look after them... so you... you just do what you have to do... Talk to Daisy and May and... just remember this, okay? That you gave us everything. And we love... you so much."
