Fitz at the end of s03e03

After analysing Simmons behaviour on the date, it’s time for Fitz!

First of all, I wanted to point out just how well prepared and thoughtful he was. Not only he kept the reservation for months. He also cleared the place, so there will be no strangers that could make Simmons feel uncomfortable, scared or judged. No cell phones that could start buzzing. No loud voices laughing in the background, somewhere behind her. The place has dim light, no light bulbs, not even a tiniest lamps on the tables, just soft candles. The table itself- it’s in the middle of the room, so Simmons wouldn’t feel trapped in some corner. There’s only one waiter in the room, rest of the staff is probably in the kitchen or somewhere, not making her feel surrounded.

The way he walks behind her, not taking his eyes off her. Sure, that can be normal love-sick Fitz, but it can also be to both give her some space, for her to not feel overwhelmed by him, and to literally watch her back - she doesn’t have to worry over someone sneaking on her while he’s watching, right? And I’m sure that after months of being hunted, Simmons feels safer knowing that Fitz is just behind her.

Each time Simmons tries to make a reference to their past - whether it’s about Fitz holding the reservation for months (to the point that they even got free vine for being persistent) or him bringing her back, Fitz just shrugs it off. “It’s no big deal”. When she thanks him, he assumes she simply likes the place. Because this day was supposed to be about her. Not about their past, not about their future, but just for her to relax and for a change be happy and unperturbed. Not to dwell on what happened to her. Just to start fresh, without talking about the past. To give her a nice moment and something to look forward too. To show her, that there’s still hope and something bright in this world. He even tries to cheer her up, by reminding her how it helped him back when he was the one needing support, and jokingly admitting that, yes he was feeling crappy, but it was still nice.

I especially like this moment, when Simmons tries to thank Fitz for the rescue and not giving up on her (with this sweeeeeet hear eyes) and he just shrugs. Like he wants to say “Isn’t it obvious? Like seriously, why are we even stating things like that, it’s a law of nature to spend six moths trying everything and risking live to save you. Why are you talking about this like it’s something special?”. Because Fitz, as always, doesn’t see anything special in his behaviour. She’s still calling him a hero and he still doesn’t see anything heroic in his actions.

Another point for Fitz is his understanding. Not only of not being able to find the words to express feelings, but also that it’s not the moment for her to express them. He can wait, she doesn’t have to push herself to o anything more than she’s ready and capable of. She doesn’t owe him anything. He really tries his best to avoid anything that could make her even slightly uncomfortable and stop her from enjoying the evening, even when I’m sure there’s a part of him that’s dying for answer and some clarity.

Just the fact that Fitz so quickly noticed that something is wrong is nice, but his clear distress is just sweet. I bet in this exact moment he’s running through everything he’d just done, wondering where he made a mistake, how he triggered her to be upset. Jemma was not crying at that moment yet, but he still reacted immediately, asking the waiter to leave, making it just two of them - more familiar surrounding, where she could feel safer.

Fitz is not waiting for her to answer him or explain anything. He’s not telling her to calm down, not worry or relax. He’s not telling her to enjoy the evening or pretending he doesn’t see her struggle. The truth is, he probably have no idea how to help her and what to do. The easiest for him would probably be wait for a signal from her, since his every action can make things worse instead of better. But he decides against sitting idly, because he wants to help. He wants to somehow make her feel better, and if he can’t solve the problem he can’t understand, then at least he can assure her that she’s not dealing with it alone. He can be there for her and support her and that’s exactly what he tries to do.

Plus, he knows that it’s practically the end of their nice evening out. Look at his face- this is not a face of happy man. He sighs, his arms fell down. But he doesn’t complain or in any other way let it show that it’s not what he dreamed of. He just stands up and go to her. To help her. Somehow. Because, after all, that is the reason why he came to that restaurant in the first place. To make Jemma feel better.

The thing with this scene is that Fitz is still not sure what to do and I can’t blame him- who would? He takes the chair from the next table, move it and sit next to her. He sees her struggle to control herself and stays close, within her reach. I think in this moment he’s checking if she’s fine with it. Maybe it’s the moment when she doesn’t want anyone near, or watching, or maybe he’s too close and she wants him to move. But she doesn’t move away, instead saying “I’m sorry” and starts crying, so he reaches for her, rubbing her arm soothingly, letting her closer but not pushing. It’s her who moves to him. He’s just there for her.

Fitz is murmuring some soothing words (you can see his lips moving if you look closely) to her, probably assuring her that it’s okay, that he understands and she’s not alone, not anymore. He hugs her lightly, letting Jemma decide whether she wants to stay there otr move closer. Only when she lies her head on his shoulder, accepting his support, he reaches for her hand.

What’s worth noticing, is that it’s not a room in playground where they can hide, this is a public place (almost empty, but still) with strangers watching them from some corner (well hidden, but still, the waiter will be back at some point) and making assumptions. And Fitz doesn’t seem concerned at all with it, with what others will think about a women bursting into sobs, he just wants to make Jemma feel betters, and if what it takes is her crying for half an hour in a fancy restaurant, then so be it, others be damned.

I was wondering how, at this point they both define the other, are they dating, are they a couple, would they describe the other as boyfriend/girlfriend? I bet they don’t think about definitions right now, focusing on Jemma’s recovery, but somewhere in their subconsciousness, there’s something that switched. Now they hold hands, they are together in clearly romantic setting, they are not afraid to be vulnerable in front of other and count on their support and they had a talk about their feelings (the writers said that there was a talk offscreen after Fitz came back from Iliad!) and agreed on a date at the end of season 2. So while they don’t really think or define it, something’s happening here. And whatever label Fitz has now in Jemma’s head, he’s doing a great job being just that.