Summary: When Natasha and Yelena go to one of the Avengers meetings, Yelena quickly grows quite frustrated as a result of a building headache, Steve and Tony's arguing, and Peter's knee continually poking into her leg. So when Yelena and Natasha are on their way home from the meeting and a bee starts pestering Yelena and embarrasses her in front of Natasha, Yelena finally breaks. A flip-side to "On My Knees."
It had been a horrible, no good, bad day for Yelena all because of the meeting that they had earlier that day. Steve and Tony had gotten into an argument that was worse than usual, and Natasha's attempts to make them stop were not quite as effective as they would have been normally.
She had managed to get them to quiet down enough to make them at least break up the meeting peacefully, but all of the arguing had given Yelena a headache. Not to mention the fact that Peter had been sitting on the side of her that Natasha had not been sitting on, and his stupid bony knee kept poking into her leg as he moved his legs.
Yelena had been in a bad mood ever since, and Natasha had been desperately trying to cheer her up in any manner that she could.
Which was why they were heading to their house now, and Natasha had been discussing which movies to pick for their little movie marathon that they were going to have to cheer Yelena up. She had even consented to watching Frozen and Encanto for the thousandth time, so Yelena knew she was definitely serious about trying to make her feel better. Natasha had also promised Yelena a slushie on their way home, even knowing that Yelena was going to force her to take a sip of it.
It made Yelena's heart warm a little, but a large part of her was already aggravated and wished that Natasha would just keep quiet and quit trying so hard. It was taking everything within her to hold her tongue and keep from saying something she should not, her head already hurting with every noise around her and Natasha's voice somehow amplifying that feeling.
"Almost home, my sunshine," Natasha told her softly, growing quieter as they stood there at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change and allow them to cross. Yelena sighed lightly, thankful for her gentler volume as she stood there next to her and waited for the light to change.
However, she was quickly interrupted from this contentment as she suddenly noticed the small, flying bug that was rapidly approaching her. Yelena froze up a little, Natasha keeping her eyes on the crosswalk as she patiently awaited its inevitable changing.
Yelena swallowed a little, keeping her eyes on it for a moment. It kept moving closer and farther, and she was not quite sure how to react to it as the fear rose in her chest.
Yelena had always been afraid of bees. Even when she was a little girl, she had been terrified of them, and it was a fear that she had never gotten over and that thankfully the Red Room had never found out about. If they would have found out, they would have endlessly subjected her to them.
The thing grew nearer to her again, and she resisted the urge to jump away in response to its closeness.
Yelena tried her best to remain still, barely shifting her gaze in the direction of the bee that insistently kept flying around her. She continually stiffened as the creature grew closer to her, and she would loosen as it grew further away.
However, inevitably, the thing kept coming back to torture and terrify her.
The thing was that Yelena was not scared of anything. She was not scared of creepy clowns, death, or even the mental image of Tony Stark in speedos.
Although the mere idea of that last one did make her shudder.
But no. Her fear was bees, which according to logic would be quite the moronic thing to be afraid of considering the fact that they are so much smaller than her and that they only cause a relatively small sting in comparison to something like poison exposure.
"I don't get why this light won't change already," Natasha huffed a little, impatiently looking between the crosswalk sign and the traffic light.
"Y'know, poser, you don't have to be a total hero. Jaywalking is okay as long as you don't get caught," Yelena pointed out somewhat grumpily, trying her best to keep her voice level, and Natasha just huffed slightly, rolling her eyes affectionately. Yelena stiffened once again as the bee swooped in for round two.
"Well, it needs to know that we've got a date with Disney. Maybe it'll change then," Natasha commented with a slight grin, glancing barely in Yelena's direction but mostly keeping her attention on the road.
It kept hovering around her, and Yelena felt her heart rate picking up just a little as the thing grew closer to her, looking her right in the face. She stiffened increasingly violently until the thing grew so close that she was sure she was about to get stung.
At that moment, she jumped and waved her hands helplessly in its direction, trying to shoo it away as she leapt over into Natasha's space. Natasha let out a soft grunt as Yelena nearly ran her over. Natasha's hands came up to Yelena's arms to steady the blonde as Yelena's back collided into her front.
"Sweet girl, what are you doing?" Natasha questioned worriedly, and Yelena quickly turned in her grasp, ducking underneath one of her arms as she jumped around her and hid behind the redhead.
She almost screeched when she realized that the bee followed her back there. Natasha raised an eyebrow as she tried to turn to face Yelena. Her eyes locked onto the bee as she glanced between the bug and Yelena.
Yelena immediately grabbed the bottom of Natasha's shirt, pulling it out from her as Yelena dove underneath it. She pulled the shirt down over her and hid her face between Natasha's shoulder blades. She could hear it buzzing just outside of her shirt cocoon, and she pushed her nose harder against Natasha's skin, brushing her sports bra in the process as she tried to move even closer. She shut her eyes tightly.
She could feel Natasha's chuckles, and Yelena felt a flood of embarrassment coming over her as she realized how ridiculous that she must look to the redhead. Her head was also pounding hard at this point, and the skin-to-skin contact she was receiving was somehow helping and hurting it at the same time.
Natasha shooed the bee away, her shoulder muscles flexing a little with the movement of her arm, and Yelena swallowed a little, trying to resist the overwhelming humiliation that was threatening to overtake her.
"I didn't know you were still afraid of bees, detka," Natasha spoke up, and Yelena could hear the grin in her voice. Yelena narrowed her eyes a little, hesitantly coming out from Natasha's shirt. Immediately, she was somewhere between missing the direct contact and being relieved at the fact that nothing was touching her head.
Once she was out from under Natasha's shirt, she could see Natasha's playful, loving smirk. Yelena just sighed deeply, rolling her eyes as she looked at the crosswalk to see if it had changed yet.
It had not. Yelena was beginning to think that fate must just hate her today.
"I'm not afraid. I'm watchful," Yelena argued in reply to Natasha's comment, and Natasha just wrapped an arm around Yelena's neck, tugging her closer against her.
While Yelena ordinarily would have been melting at the affection, she was just so frustrated, embarrassed, and tired right now. She could feel a pressure building within her, and Natasha was just adding to it with her lighthearted cheeriness.
"Watchful. Sure... You're adorable is what you are," Natasha told her gently, playfully blowing a gentle raspberry against Yelena's cheek.
Yelena felt frustration building even more hotly within her, and Natasha nuzzled her nose against Yelena's head. Yelena felt her headache moving to the place where Natasha was touching her, and she woefully realized it was definitely one of those really bad headaches. That, of course, only served to further build her irritation, and Yelena gritted her teeth.
"My squishy baby," Natasha teased softly, and Yelena felt her frustration hit tilt as Natasha finally struck her last nerve and erased all patience she had left. Squishy was the most humiliating nickname that Natasha had for her. Especially after the huge incident with Kate figuring out about it.
Yelena immediately pushed away from Natasha, red, hot aggravation filling her. Natasha stumbled back just a little with surprise, and Yelena huffed in irritation.
"Stop, okay! Honestly, Natasha, you're so irritating sometimes," Yelena growled, and as soon as she uttered the words, an intense regret filled her. Natasha looked as if she had been slapped as she watched Yelena, her jaw slackened just a little and her normally so tall and put together stance crumpling a little.
Natasha then clenched her jaw just a little, swallowing hard and nodding a bit.
"I'm sorry," Natasha whispered softly, her eyes shifting away from Yelena's guiltily. She redirected her attention to the road as she turned away from Yelena. Yelena felt her stomach twist with pain, and the crosswalk finally changed before Yelena could say anything to even remotely try to remedy the situation.
She had hurt Natasha's feelings and made her feel bad when Natasha had just been trying to cheer her up and joke around with her. And the fact that she had used Natasha's actual name with that tone of voice had the same effect on Natasha as it did on Yelena when Natasha used Yelena's actual name. Yelena felt a pit growing in her stomach as they got closer to home.
They finally were approaching the convenience store where Yelena's favorite slushies were. However, Yelena did not really expect the both of them to stop now that Yelena had hurt Natasha's feelings.
However, to her pure shock, Natasha turned to go to the store. Yelena immediately felt her heart squeeze painfully at the sight of the redhead actually going through with getting Yelena something after she had been so ugly to her.
They went into the store, and Natasha stopped for a moment, not meeting her eyes.
"Go get the one you want, and I'll get it for you," Natasha told her softly, and Yelena felt as if she had been punched in the gut at the fact that Natasha did not even sound mad at her for her comment earlier. She just sounded heartbreaking sad and guilty.
Yelena trudged over to prepare her slushie. She picked a blueberry blast, and she headed over to the counter where Natasha was waiting. Natasha paid for it with minimal talking before heading out of the store with Yelena very hesitantly creeping along behind her.
Before too long, they were finally home, and Natasha entered the house wordlessly, heading over to the television and turning it on Disney+ to let Yelena pick the movie that she wanted to watch. Yelena stood not too far from her, trying to muster the courage to speak to her and apologize for her words that she currently felt absolutely horrible for saying in such a tone.
Once she finished setting up the TV, she headed to the kitchen, getting out some popcorn. Yelena tentatively followed her, and once Natasha had prepared the bag, she put it in the microwave, watching the appliance as it cooked the food.
Yelena let out a small breath, taking the opportunity to hesitantly approach her big sister. Natasha barely glanced in her direction before clenching her jaw just a little and keeping her attentions on the microwave.
Yelena stepped a little closer, grasping the slushie in her hand as she looked down at it tentatively. She smiled just a little bit despite the fact that her head was hurting even now. She held it out toward Natasha.
"You going to take your obligatory sip? I wouldn't feel right about it if you didn't," Yelena expressed somewhat nervously, worried that Natasha might finally get mad at her. Natasha looked up at her, her face unreadable. However, she gently placed her hand over Yelena's and guided the slushie so that she could take a sip from the straw.
Natasha immediately made a slight face, wrinkling her nose with the taste of the drink. Yelena felt the corners of her lips quirking just a bit, but she quickly turned solemn at the seriousness on Natasha's face as she looked away from Yelena again.
"Natashka, I'm sorry," Yelena apologized gently, feeling the guilt overflowing within her. Natasha glanced at her barely, and Yelena sat her slushie down on the counter nearby them. Natasha let out a small sigh, guilt evident in the way that her shoulders slumped a little.
"I'm sorry for pushing you, lapochka. I didn't mean to aggravate you," Natasha expressed gently, and Yelena shook her head, moving nearer.
"I shouldn't have snapped like that. You were just trying to make me feel better, and I just got irritated when I shouldn't have."
"It's okay... I shouldn't have called you squishy. I knew you were in a bad mood, and I pushed too far with that one," Natasha apologized again, and Yelena could hear the self-hatred and degradation in the words.
Yelena just let out a sigh, moving nearer and outstretching her hand over to the side of Natasha's neck, grasping it softly as she moved her head forward and pressed her forehead to the side of Natasha's head. Natasha turned her head slightly so that Yelena's forehead was pressed just a bit more to the center of Natasha's forehead.
"Poser, I'm the one in the wrong, okay? Let me apologize," Yelena expressed with a slight huff, and Natasha shook her head, her nose brushing Yelena's softly as she chuckled under her breath.
"Don't apologize for being frustrated," Natasha expressed to her gently. Yelena stared her big sister in the eyes, those light greens filled with so much love and guilt.
"Then don't apologize for trying to cheer me up," Yelena countered. Natasha let out a deep sigh, but finally nodded, moving her head up to press a gentle, lingering kiss to Yelena's nose.
However, they both jumped as the microwave suddenly started beeping to let them know that it had finished cooking the popcorn. They shared a glance and they both chuckled with slight grins.
"I might be scared of bees, but at least I'm not scared of a microwave," Yelena finally said, and Natasha narrowed her eyes playfully.
"You jumped, too!" Natasha shot back, and Yelena grinned, grabbing her sister and moving her face into her neck as she hugged her. Natasha immediately reciprocated the embrace.
"I love you," Yelena breathed out, and she could hear Natasha's smile as she replied to her.
"I love you, too."