Always You

Chapter 16: Drinks

Four weeks had passed and two more operatives were taken down. One in Germany, where Yelena gagged him in order to make sure he wouldn't piss her off. Another in Italy, where Nat found one of her best friends from the Red Room and was able to free her personally.

Within those weeks, now nearly a month, nothing new had transpired between Y/N and Yelena. The flirty comments continued and Yelena spent some nights continuing to trace figures along Y/N's arms as they slept, but no new doors had opened for the pair.

Nat had begun to notice the flirty comments though and did start to question her sister a bit more as time went on. She knew Y/N like the back of her hand, but this sort of behavior seemed out of character for her sister at times.

A flirty comment to fluster Y/N was one thing, but the two had stepped into a different kind of dimension now.

On their way through Europe, the trio ditched the helicopter and had been staying in hotels on S.H.I.E.L.D's dime, which meant one single room and nothing more. Nat wondered if that was the reason she'd seen such a stagnant air around the two, but couldn't help to question her sister.

"So..." she started while fixing her hair in the mirror next to Yelena as she brushed her teeth.

"What?"

"When are the two of you going to quit being pansies and do something about your feelings?" Nat said with no reservation.

Yelena choked on the toothpaste that was left in her mouth before spitting it all out, "What?! What are you talking about?"

The corner of Nat's mouth ticked up as she listened to her sister attempt to catch her breath. If there was one thing she knew her sister was good at, it was avoidance. With that, she closed the bathroom door, locked it, and stood in front of it.

"You two are insufferable. You need to do something," Nat responded.

Yelena noticed that though Nat was being stern, her face was open. She wanted to be there for her, but the two grew up estranged after being separated at such a young age. This entire assignment had been helping grow their relationships, which Yelena was finally able to see in this moment.

"I don't know what to do," she finally responded, "I don't know what I feel, I don't-"

Nat's hands flew up, stopping her as she spoke, "That's not true. You know how you feel. You just haven't ever had to talk about it."

Yelena's eyes opened wider at her sister's response. It wasn't what she was expecting, but was it true? Did she know? Was she avoiding it?

"I guess you're right..." She trailed off.

As Yelena began to drift off into thought, a large smile grew across Nat's face catching her attention, "What? What are you thinking?" Yelena asked.

"I have an ideaaaa," She sang as she grabbed her sister's hands and pulled her to the other side of the bathroom and began to whisper, "You two should go to the bar tonight. The one down the street? Just talk. Be alone. Without me! I'll be okay here. You won't even have to worry. Just see where it goes."

This was an idea that had definitely crossed Yelena's mind before. She'd daydreamed of moments alone with Y/N but never had the courage to ask for them, "Okay. Okay, yeah!" She responded perking up.

The two thought of ways to ask Y/N before Nat just pushed her out of the bathroom and told her to go for it. There was nothing difficult about talking to Y/N and both Yelena and Nat knew that. Practicing what to say would just be a waste of time.

As she stumbled out, she caught Y/N's attention and watched their eyes light up a bit. Her face softened into a smile seeing this.

"You good?" They asked while shifting to sit as Yelena made her way to the side of the bed where they were laying.

She shook out her nerves and took a deep breath as she sat down, "Yeah! I'm good. I was wondering if you wanted to get drinks tonight down the street? There's this cute bar I've been eyeing. I really want to go."

"For sure! Is that why Nat's getting ready right now?" They asked while plugging their phone in to charge before they'd start to get ready to head out.

Yelena's breath hitched a bit realizing she needed to clarify, "Uh no, actually. She's just using the bathroom. I was... I was thinking it could just be us?"

Y/N's eyes stayed glued to their phone as it attached to the charger. They were not expecting to hear her offer alone time, especially not after the month they'd had. The two had flirted, yeah, but nothing had happened at all since that night on the pullout couch before their missions started. Truly, they hadn't even come close.

They turned to meet her eyes, which looked visibly nervous but finally relaxed once she saw their face, "That sounds even better, actually. Want to head out in a few? It's almost eight anyways, probably best to get ready to go now."

She smiled and nodded, heading back off to the bathroom to start getting ready. Y/N felt as though they could notice a slight skip in her step as she walked back. All they could do was grin thinking about how excited she was to be alone with them.

But then they were thrown back into the text conversation they were having just before she came out.

(7:43pm)

Daisy Johnson
Can we please just talk, Y/N?

Y/N
I have nothing to say to you.

Daisy Johnson
Please? Just for a few minutes.

The second message had come just moments before Yelena was forcibly thrown out of the bathroom. Though it had been a while since the two had even spoken, even seeing Daisy's name light up on their phone shook their core a bit.

But Y/N was excited. Excited to spend time alone with Yelena. Excited to get away from this hotel room they'd felt stuck in for the past few days.

With that, they threw their phone down and even decided they would leave it at the hotel for the night. This night was for them and Yelena. No one would step in their way.