Number Neighbors- Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Chapter 15

Now you had real people to focus on, like Nat, and Leon, and even one of your coworkers started asking you to hang out.

Life was starting to feel a little less dull and you felt like you owed a lot of that to Nat.

Shaking your head you gripped Leon's arm a little tighter, there you go again thinking about Nat. It was impossible to get her out of your head when every little thing reminded you of her.

As Leon steers you in the direction of the gathering crowd you find yourself becoming anxious. Crowds haven't been your specialty, especially not after-

A body bumps into yours as they push past you to run towards the crowd and suddenly you're thrown back to that moment four years ago when you were rushing out of that building.

You hear the sounds of people screaming which in reality is people cheering but your brain can't tell the difference right now.

You look down at your hands and see your own blood staining them- the same way from that day.

The sound of alarms and hurried footsteps mix with the smell of sweat and dirt and suddenly you're unable to catch your breath.

Another person bumps into you and you flinch, you're sure your eyes are wide with panic but you don't know what to do. You hadn't had an episode like this in a long time. You thought you'd finally gotten over it.

Slipping your arm from Leon's you find you're uncomfortable touching anyone and you can't focus.

You try the different breathing and counting exercises your therapist taught you.

It only helps a little.

Someone on a stage in some direction drops a microphone and the sound reminds you of the crumbling building next door. The ring of it is the ringing in your ear from the head trauma and loud explosions. You didn't even realize your hands were covering your ears until you felt something pulling them away. You flinch at the contact, the voice is fuzzy and it's hard to focus on the words.

"Hey"

"Y/n?"

"Can- you he- me?"

"What's- Going-"

When the ringing stops and you hear someone laugh out an apology over a speaker system things get a little less cloudy.

Your eyes shoot from the ground into dark brown concerned eyes and you feel wetness slipping down your face.

Embarrassment floods your system and you find yourself unable to make eye contact

"Can we just get out of here please?"

Leon observes you for a second before nodding his head, slipping his hand into yours, and pulling you away. You don't comment that you don't feel like being touched. You don't have the energy to. You just need to get far away from here.

"I know this really great ice cream place?"

You nod your head and let him lead you. You weren't really hungry but you'd take any quiet place right about now.

Two blocks down you can still hear the crowd but it's a lot quieter than before, Leon opens the door to a Mint and Salmon-colored Ice cream shop and you walk in. The sound of the bell drowns out the sound of the announcer before the door shuts to blissful silence.

~~

"Okay, everyone! Now what you've all been waiting for- The Avengers!!"

Nat fakes a smile as she walks out onto the stage. She was going to kill Tony for stealing her phone and putting a firewall on it to blackmail her into doing this event. It wasn't like she hated doing these things but they'd only just gotten back from their mission and they only had the chance to shower and change before they came here.