Winter's Widow

Chapter 68

I'm so in love with Bucky being a puppy rn omg save me

Natasha's pov:

"Hey. Give me a hug." I walk up to the soldier, and stop him in the empty hall.

He turns gives me a slightly confused look. I give him the puppy dog eyes. He looks at me in mild alarm, maybe he thought I was sad. I step closer and wrap my arms around his rib cage. He hesitantly wraps his arms around me softly in return, clearly afraid he might hurt me. He still isn't comfortable in his own body quite yet, but he is getting better. I've been getting as close as I can to him recently so that he could get to be a little more comfortable around people. He is pretty much totally comfortable around me, but there are times like this when he feels like a danger to us. I squeeze him a little harder so he gets it. He squeezes me a little more too, getting more familiar with the situation. After a moment, he gets totally with the situation and squeezes me even more. He steps back and leans against the wall, taking me with him. He presses me against his chest. We're just standing here alone in the hall, hugging. He's the greatest. He starts petting and running his hand through my hair.

Is cuddle buddies still the correct term?

I think it's a little something more now. Does he?

He lets his hand roam around my back a little. He finds it settling to know his safety spider is right here with him. I close my eyes and take in the moment. I can't believe this man is an assassin. I can't believe anyone could fear him. He's such a sweetheart, I don't know how anybody could think he's dangerous. Much less scary. Most people seem to be uncomfortable in his presence, but not me. Or Steve. Me and Steve are the only ones who dare to get this close to him. I like getting close, it makes him relax. It makes me calm down too. We are each others safety dog. I can feel his muscles chilling out. They were tense at first, but he is getting used to how close I've been getting recently. He's hugged me first before. Multiple times, he's just walked up to me and hugged me. He'll come up to me from any direction, too. He's the only person with the balls to hug me from behind. Or just hug me at all. Bucky, Clint, and sometimes Steve are the only ones brave enough to hug me. Mostly Buck, because he hugs me the most. He stands up straighter so he doesn't have to bend as much. When he stands up straight, he doesn't let go of me, so I'm lifted off the floor a bit now. He'll even tell me when he wants to cuddle too. Not with words, of course. He still doesn't really like talking much. Force of habit. Whenever he lays down on the couch, he just expects me to join him. When he wants to cuddle with me, he'll lay back on the couch and then look at me. His silent begging always gets the better of me. Always. He's seen me cuddling with Clint before, and he got kinda upset that I 'cheated' on him. He avoided me and Clint for the rest of the day. He gave Clint some dirty looks too, or so I've heard from Clint and Tony. It was hilarious. I love watching him get jealous. Even then, he wouldn't dare to do what he's doing now. He's improved so much since then. Back then, he wouldn't have touched my hair like he's doing now. He wouldn't have even thought about the back rubs. He would have been more careful, too. He wouldn't be holding me as tightly as he is now. He would have been scared. Really scared. That was only a month or two ago. To think, that we're here now. We could stand here all day.

Steve is right. He's a total sweetheart who just needs some love.

"Can you two just get a room already?"

"Tony, if he decides to spare you, I'm going to murder you myself."

"Spare him? I'm not that friendly..."

"And nobody thought you were, tin man."