The Guide To Moving On

Chapter 27 - Insane

I continually screamed choice words at Clint as I ran after him. He headed for the common room and I didn't manage to catch him until he got there. 

However, when we thundered into the common room he quickly realised that he was cornered. I used this to my advantage and grabbed him by the collar, reaching for the knife I had hidden under the dining table a week beforehand. 

I pulled him onto the ground, pinning him down, wrapping one hand around his neck and reaching my other arm up to stab him. 

"Natasha!" Someone yelled from behind me. I spun around and realised that it was Steve. 

He must have heard the commotion and chased after us. He grabbed my hand and pulled the knife away from me, then grabbing me and pulling me off the floor away from Clint.

I froze just looking at him whilst Clint was gasping for breath on the floor.

I closed my eyes and waited for him to start scolding me but what he did next really shocked me. 

He didn't tell me off at all, instead pulled me into a massive bear hug. I couldn't hold myself together any longer, not when I was in his arms. I promptly burst into tears, sobbing into his muscular shoulder. 

His hand moved up and down my back in circles which only made me cry harder. I felt his jaw move against the top of my head, he was probably mouthing an apology to Clint but I didn't care. 

He scooped me up in his arms bridal style and walked us over to the elevator whilst I latched onto his t-shirt and buried my head into it, sobbing. It smelled strongly of his aftershave which was weirdly comforting. 

Steve's POV

Nat literally was about to kill Clint if I hadn't caught her at the last second! 

For about a week now she had been really snappy and the past two days she had actually started threatening and injuring people. 

I constantly tried to get us alone so I could ask her what was wrong, but she always found a way to weasel out of it and leave before I even realised what happened. 

Like yesterday, when I tried to get her alone with me in the training room, she literally flipped me onto the ground and ran away from me, saying she had told Clint she was going to meet her an hour beforehand and was running late.

Lies, I had checked with Clint an hour later and he said he knew nothing of it. 

But the look she gave me when I pulled her off the floor though was one of pure brokenness and it was enough to make my heart throb for her. 

I knew I should have tried harder to check on her before now, but I did the only thing I knew how. Pull her into the biggest hug I could. 

And just like that she was sobbing into my shirt even when I picked her up to take her away from Clint. I knew she wasn't ok. 

As I exited the elevator with her in my arms, Natasha still violently sobbing, and I had to decide where I took her. We could go back to my room but chances are, she wouldn't feel comfortable there, especially when she was this upset.

So, I took her to the only other place I could, her room. I used my hand print to override the lock on her door and walked in. 

Her whole apartment was quite the mess but I decided to take her into the bedroom where it was more comfortable for her. 

I immediately noticed that the bed looked as though it hadn't been slept in in ages, which was not a good sign. 

I sat down on the bed, with her in my arms, but she immediately tore out of my arms and latched onto her pillow instead, curling in a ball, and burying her head into it, shaking violently. 

I sighed and laid down beside her, propping myself up with one arm. I reached over and stroked her hair this time, in an attempt to calm her down. She moved her head slightly towards me and half opened one of her puffy eyelids, tears immediately pouring from it and down her beautiful face. 

It was now that I got a better look at her face, I realised that with the tears pouring down her cheeks, it had rubbed off her make up and the massive dark purple bags under her eyes were revealed. 

I had known she had light bags under her eyes during missions but I now realised they only appeared light because of the makeup she had been wearing. I had assumed that it was just because of how overworked we were for a few weeks but now I am beginning to think that it something much more than that. 

"Natasha what's going on?" I asked her gently. Nothing.

"Natasha?"