Risk

Thirty Three

She smirked and took a bite of her food. "First off, I can look after myself. But you'll regret it in the morning if you shot tequila cocktails all night, trust me."

"I'll handle it if I must." He cut his steak into a smaller chunk. "What about you...uh, any dates?"

"Nope." She shook her head as she chewed her food then swallowed it. "Not one."

"Not with-"

"Not with anyone." She interrupted, looking down at her plate. "Clint and I were never going to be anything again. Ever."

The name still brought some discomfort to him, but he nodded, finding it easier to forget about the two of them together. "Alright, cool... still thought someone would have snatched you up."

That he didn't like the idea of. Someone new. Someone better than him.

She shrugged slightly, "I'm not interested in dating right now." She shut down the conversation by taking another drink of her new cocktail. "These are so much easier the second time around."

***

Together they ate, he stole fries from her plate cheekily and then fed her some of his dessert in return. Just like normal. They drank some more before stopping just as they realised they were tipsy, a fuzzy feeling clouding their minds for a little while, but not making them totally drunk.

They walked along the wooden walkway home, swaying slightly as they followed the lights that guided them along, as well as the glow from the moon.

"No, that's not how it happened!" She gasped, laughing at his forged recollection. "You were the one who didn't ask for directions!"

"You said you knew where it was! It was your idea to go to a drive in movie in the middle of nowhere." He countered, both of them now laughing at the shared memory with some fondness.

"I'm not arguing about this!" She held up her hand, still giggling and stepping off the walkway onto the sand. "Just stay over there, until you want to admit you're too proud for directions."

"Hey, I know my way around alright." He playfully scoffed, walking straight by her into the sand and towards the water. "We are staying along this way, right?"

"Idiot," she laughed, jogging after him. James had already kicked off his shoes and was rolling up his trousers so he could wade into the shallow water. Natasha also removed her shoes, holding onto them as James was and walking alongside him
with the small trickling of waves over their feet.

He stopped when they were near their bungalow, pointing to the water. "Right, you're home little mermaid, in you go."

"Original, have never heard the Ariel joke before." she smirked as she commented sarcastically and kicked some water up to splash him.

He gasped, then did the same back, starting a mass splash war between the two of them so they were speckled with salt water.

He grabbed for her, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her up before she could splash him again. She laughed, as did he, gripping onto his arms as he mimicked throwing her into the water but spun them around once instead. "Babe! Stop!" She laughed without thinking, but he didn't draw any attention to it, he barely noticed the mistake. He placed her back on her feet, but let his arms linger around her as he stood straight again, and Natasha took it as an invitation to face him.

He was smiling at her, fondly now, and honestly it was the happiest she'd been in weeks. Therefore it surprised her, when he leaned in to kiss her and that she was the one that stopped it before it could happen.

"James," she started, her head turned away until he rested his forehead on hers. "You're drunk," She sighed, "We both are,"

"We aren't that drunk," he argued.

"Enough to regret this once we sober up."

"Will we?" He murmured, looking down at at his feet.

She nodded, her forehead still on his. "You will, because you're not thinking straight. I know I'll indulge you, and then in the morning when it's awkward and uncomfortable, I'll feel like an idiot for believing things can go back, and you'll feel bad for leading me on."

He sighed softly, tucking a strand of her hair back behind her ear. "Why do you have to be so mature?"

"To protect myself." She admitted with a soft smile, pulling back a little to look at him.

He frowned in return, "I'm not going to hurt you, Nat, I-"

"You already have." She sighed, "And it's okay. I deserved it." She rested her hand on his cheek. "But do you know how hard it is to know you still love me, that you never really stopped...but you wanted to? You were so angry that you did everything to let me know you didn't want me?"

He reached up to take her hand, keeping it against his cheek as he brushed his thumb over her knuckles. "I'm tired of being angry..."

"I'm just tired." She breathed, brushing her thumb over his cheek bone. She took hold of his hand and brought it down to her side. "We can talk about this in the morning if you know still want to. When we are sober...let's just...go to bed."

He squeezed her hand and started to follow her, "like...together?" he half slurred after a moment, clearing his throat a little. "No wait, sorry that's-"

"Only if you're the little spoon." She said, glancing up at him as he gave her a confused look. She smiled slightly as she opened up the door for them.

"...I'm never the little spoon."

"You are tonight. I'm big spoon."

"That's the best spoon..." he murmured quietly, letting her take hold of his hand once again.

She laughed softly at that, leaning up and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "C'mon, lets wash the sand off our feet and get to sleep."