i'm with you, every step of the way

Chapter 12

Natasha shocked her mom the next day by being up early and cooking breakfast for the entire family.

"Good morning mother! I made pancakes and bacon!" she said, cheerfully.

"Thanks... honey," her mom said slowly, giving her dad a questioning look, who just shrugged. "You're going to school today?" she asked, noticing Natasha dressed up.

"Yep, have a test I can't miss," Natasha replied, as if nothing happened. Her mom nodded and took a seat, eating the freshly cooked pancakes Natasha put down. She sat down across from her mom and quickly finished her food. "Guys, I have to go, gotta be at school early!" she kissed their cheeks and grabbed her bag, running out the door. Her parents gave each other a weird look but let her be.

Natasha went straight to Fury's office because she needed a new locker. She was sad because it won't be next to Bucky's anymore since their block is full, but she's hoping that it's somewhere near.

"Here Natasha, your locker number is 504, it's the closest one we could find near your homeroom. Is this okay?" he asked and she nodded. It's not like he has a choice. Fury leaned back on his chair and sighed. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, we still haven't had the chance to find out who did that to your locker. But trust me, once I get word about it, they'll face their consequences. They not only vandalized school property, but more importantly, they bullied a student and that is not right." Natasha nodded and thanked him, leaving his office to go find her new locker.

She was glad to see that her locker was just the next hallway from Bucky and homeroom so it's not too much of a trouble for her. She opened it and started arranging her stuff. Fury gave Bucky the rest of her things from her old locker and he gave it to her last night when he visited. She sighed, rearranging her new locker is tough; she's had her past one for about two years already so it has already accumulated so much. Twenty minutes later, she finished neatly putting her new locker together when the one on her right opened. She closed hers and was ready to greet her new locker neighbor before she saw who it was.

"UGH, you've gotta be kidding me," she groaned and turned around, ready to leave.

"Natasha?" Steve called out, quickly getting his books and shutting his locker to trail after her. "You have a new locker next to mine?" he asked. She stopped abruptly and he almost toppled over her.

"Obviously. Now please stop talking to me, I gotta get to class," and with that, she stormed off so fast, Steve didn't even get to process what she said.

"But we have the same homeroom..." he wondered out loud, long after she already left.

Natasha went to her seat seething. Pepper, who was already there, sat next to her and held her hands. "Hey, you okay? Maria and I didn't get to go to your house on Friday; Bucky said you'd want to be alone." She said, talking in that voice that makes Natasha just want to throw herself over her and cry.

"Yeah, I'm fine. And I didn't mind if you guys go; we're all best friends here," she smiled at Pepper.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna kill Barnes, I'm pretty sure he just wants to be alone with you," she chuckled. "So, you got a new locker?" she asked, as Maria and Bucky entered the room.

"Yeah, and guess who it's next to, ugh, Steve," Natasha replied, pounding her fist lightly on the table. Her three friends fell silent.

"Do you want to trade lockers with me?" Maria offered.

"No, it's okay. It would cause so much trouble, with us rearranging our stuff and getting administration approval. I'll just ignore him as much as I can." she sighed.

The bell rang and they all took their proper seats. Natasha poked Bucky's shoulder and gave him a smile. He looked her and raised his eyebrows, but smiled back. He was glad; that's the way she shows that she is fine.

The first half of the day went fine. Chemistry was a little awkward because they had a lab with Steve but they were so busy that they didn't have to talk so it wasn't too obvious the two weren't talking to him. The kids at school seem to already forget the incident, or they just don't want to talk about it and that made Natasha feel even better.

Their little friend group at lunch is starting to get bigger. Sam started sitting with them because he and Maria seems to be getting closer lately. It's cute to watch. Some weird kid named Peter Quill just sat at their table randomly one day and played music out loud and they sort of just accepted him. He's funny and he has great taste in music so that's a great addition. There also would be some occasional guys from the basketball team dropping by to hang out with Bucky. It was fun for everyone because all those who sit with them are nice.

"Well, well, well, look who's still here." Natasha didn't even have to look up to know that it was Sharon who approached their table. She continued eating like she didn't hear anything. "What, you don't think what was said on your locker was true? Because they are, bitch!" she all but screeched.

Natasha finished sipping her juice before she looked up at her. "Is that all you got? Damn, what do you really want?" she asked, lazily.

"Stay away from Steve!" Sharon burst out.

"Pfft, please, feel free to tell him that." Natasha smirked.

"HE'S TOO GOOD FOR YOU!" Sharon continued.

"Seriously? Is this all you're mad about? Why, did he not catch you when you fell or something? To be fair, I didn't want him carrying or touching me, so you'll have to talk to him about that," Natasha answered, coolly. She swear she can see the vein on Sharon's face pop.

Sharon raised her hand, ready to slap Natasha. Natasha didn't move; she didn't care enough to move. However, the slap never came. The whole cafeteria feel silent and she looked behind Sharon, who looks like she saw a ghost. Holding her arm that was about to slap Natasha was Tony Stark, who looks very, very mad. Natasha raised an eyebrow. Now, she's interested.

"Sharon, can you not? Really? I know you were the one who did that to her locker. Your cheerleaders are so easy to sing, gosh. Flash them some smile and they're ready to drop your ass. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Tony shook his head and released her arm. The football guys on his table seem to get ahold of what's going on and a stampede of shocked and confused faces started running up near their table, ready to back Tony up. "And now, you basically confessed to it too. So I have enough evidence to report you to Fury."

Natasha blinked. She must have had her mouth completely open by now. She could not believe her eyes. She looked around the table to see everyone else having the same expression. Actually, the whole cafeteria has the same expression. Sharon was so red that she just let out an annoyed squeak and ran away. Tony approached Natasha after Sharon left, put a hand on her shoulder, and quietly said, "It really wasn't me," before leaving to tell Fury about the real suspect towards the vandalism.