Steve x Natasha
Prompts #21 and #25
Requested by @wondernewt
Worry not; there are NO SPOILERS.
Summary: Steve has feelings for Natasha. Bucky knows this. Natasha has feelings for Steve. Clint knows this. But what happens when Bucky and Clint team up?
QOTP: Have you seen Endgame yet?
Word Count: 1910
Steve has totally forgot what he's supposed to be doing. Honestly, he's forgotten where he is. He's distracted by a certain red-haired someone on the other side of the room.
She's so pretty when she laughs, he thinks, watching her laugh at a joke Clint just told her. Clint, however, might as well be out of his line of sight completely. He only has eyes for Natasha.
"Would you quit staring at her?" Bucky says, snapping him out of it. He quickly realizes where he is: the gym in the Avengers Base, running on the treadmill. It's a wonder he didn't fall off. Bucky's running next to him.
"Sorry," Steve mumbles.
"Honestly, it wouldn't even bother me if you would just tell her," Bucky replies, referring to Steve's school-boy-crush on Natasha.
Steve scoffs. "As if I would ever do that."
"Pal, you're Captain freaking America-"
"And she's Natasha freaking Romanoff."
Bucky winces a little, recalling all the times he's seen her beat the crap out of somebody. He's lucky he doesn't remember the times she fought him. "Yeah, that's fair." He sighs. "But, you should also remember that she kissed you."
"To keep a Hydra agent from recognizing us," Steve replies. "It meant nothing to her."
"You don't know that."
"It meant little to me at the time."
"But, now it means something, and you should tell her that."
"No." Steve shakes his head. "I can't. I don't wanna risk our friendship."
Bucky groans.
////
Natasha, despite her best efforts, is finding it difficult to focus on Clint. He's telling her a story about something funny Lila and Nathaniel did. She's pretty sure he's told her the story before, anyway.
"Nat?" Clint asks, realizing she's not listening. She's looking at something behind him, so he turns around to see what it is.
Or, rather, who it is.
He snaps his fingers in front of her face. "Hey, Nat? Yeah, it's me, Clint, remember?"
She sighs. "Sorry."
Clint shakes his head, half-laughing. "Why don't you just tell him you like him?"
"No! I can't do that," Nat replies incredulously. "He doesn't like me back, anyway."
"How do you know that?"
"How do you not?"
"Nat-"
She stands, moving over to the punching bags. "I'm not telling him, and that's final."
Clint huffs. When Nat says something's final, it's final.
////
Bucky, while eating breakfast in the kitchen alone, picks up his phone to text Steve the same thing he texts him every morning. 'Here's your daily reminder to tell Nat that you like her.'
Clint, still in his room and trying to motivate himself to get out of bed, picks up his phone when it buzzes and finds that text from Bucky. His brows furrow as he replies, '?????' Then, 'Nat's like a sister to me???'
Bucky nearly drops his orange, realizing what he's done. 'oh crap', he types. 'that was meant for Steve'
Clint audibly gasps, then types as fast as Pietro probably would've if he ever texted anyone. 'SHURUP' He repeats it again, spelled better this time. 'SHUT UP'
Bucky, confused, replies, 'What?'
Clint is practically reeling. 'STEVE LIKES NAT'
Bucky finishes his orange. 'Yeah' Then, running a hand through his hair, he adds, 'don't tell anyone'
Clint continues to freak out. 'NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND' Then, 'NAT LIKES STEVE'
It's Bucky's turn to audibly gasp. 'I KNEW IT' After a few more seconds of shock, he says, 'WE GOTTA TELL THEM'
Clint goes to type back, but stops. 'or...'
'or... what?'
'Or we could make this more interesting,' Clint types, smirking. 'and entertaining' Finally, he adds, 'for us'
Bucky smirks, too. 'I'm in'
////
"I know something you don't know, I know something you don't know," Clint sings, trailing behind Natasha.
Natasha rolls her eyes. "That's nice, Clint."
"Don't you what to know what it is?" Clint asks, speeding up to walk next to her.
She sighs. "No, not really."
"Why?"
"Because it's probably stupid."
"It's not stupid."
"If you think it's not stupid, it probably is."
Clint stops, putting his hand on his heart in mock offense. "I'm hurt."
"You poor baby," Nat deadpans. By this point, they've reached the living room, where they're planning to catch the newest episode of Hell's Kitchen because they like to watch Gordon Ramsay yell at people.
Bucky knows this; Clint told him.
////
Steve is currently being dragged by Bucky to the living room, much to his dismay. "What's the point of going to sit in the living room if I could be sitting in my room right now?"
"You can't sit around in your room all day long," Bucky argues. "Be social."
"I am social!"
"You're aggressive is what you are," Bucky chides.
They've made it to the living room now, and when Steve sees Natasha, he has half a mind to turn and run. However, she sees him and smiles slightly. "Hey, Steve."
"H-Hey," he replies.
"What's up, popsicles?" Clint says. Bucky and Steve roll their eyes.
Steve goes to sit down on the other side of the couch — as far away from Natasha as he can get — but Bucky takes that spot, so he has to sit next to Nat. He puts some space between them, but they're still close.
He's on edge now, but he's not really complaining about the closeness. He's just afraid he's gonna screw it up.
Meanwhile, Natasha has to admit that she's got butterflies in her stomach. He's not even touching her — they're just next to each other — but she's still nervous.
The four of them sit there for a while, watching the show and occasionally laughing at Gordon yelling at people. Then, Clint stands. "I'm headin' to the can."
"Thanks for sharing," Bucky replies.
"You're welcome, Pantene Frosty-Freeze."
Bucky goes to reply, but Clint's already gone. Steve and Nat laugh. Bucky sits back and sighs. A few minutes later, he stands. "Alright, this show's making me hungry. I'm gettin' a snack. You guys want anything?"
Natasha shakes her head, but Steve says, "Popcorn."
"You got it, pal."
After Bucky's gone, both Nat and Steve are insanely aware of the fact that they're alone. Neither of them speak, and neither of them scoot away, even with all that couch space. The TV might as well be off because they're unable to pay attention to it.
The silence is so tense, Steve feels like he's going to drown in it, so he says the first thing that comes to mind. "You ever see his other show?"
Natasha turns toward him slightly. "Which one?"
Steve, while berating himself for saying something so stupid, continues on anyway. "The one where he goes to people's restaurants and, like, remakes them overnight?"
"24 Hours to Hell and Back," Natasha says, then realizes that probably makes her sound like she's obsessed with Gordon Ramsay.
"Yeah," Steve says. "Yeah, that's what it called. It's... good."
Meanwhile, Bucky and Clint are watching and rolling their eyes. Clint sighs. "It's time." With that, he goes over to the light switch and dims the living room lights. Natasha and Steve look around, confused.
Then, Bucky takes the remote to the stereo and plays the playlist he and Clint already have pulled up on it. Nat and Steve jump when the romantic music starts up.
Realizing what's going on, they both groan. "This isn't funny, Buck," Steve says, at the same time that Nat says, "This isn't funny, Clint."
They both stop, looking at each other. Nat's brows furrow. "What? I'm confused."
"Yeah, me, too," Steve replies, panicking.
"Will you just tell each other already?!" Clint shouts, emerging from the hallway.
"Tell each other what?" Nat asks, glaring at him.
"For the love of-" Bucky groans. "You like each other!"
Nat and Steve both turn back to each other, speaking simultaneously yet again. "Wait - you like me?"
"Yes!" Clint shouts.
Steve and Nat give him and Bucky pointed looks, so they retreat into the kitchen to eat and wait for Steve and Nat to come and announce their engagement.
Steve turns back to Nat. "Um, yeah... Yeah, I really like you."
Nat never knew she could smile this wide. "I really like you, too." Just then, Gordon Ramsay begins to roast someone into oblivion, causing them to laugh as Steve turns the TV off. Nat sighs. "I can't believe you actually like me."
Steve's brows furrow. "What makes you say that?"
Nat, uncharacteristically, blushes. "Well, I mean... Peggy." She practically whispers her name.
Steve sighs. "Nat... I... I loved Peggy. And, yeah, I still think about her sometimes. But she moved on, and so did I. I like you now — a lot. And I like you for you. Not because of any quality you might possess that Peggy did, too. Remember that." Before Nat can respond, he adds. "And, honestly, I thought you liked Clint this whole time."
Nat grimaces, causing Steve to laugh. "He's like my brother. My really annoying, really dumb brother."
"Well, he and Bucky just managed to get the two of us to tell each other how we feel," Steve says. "And, hopefully, they also managed to get us to go on a date, too?"
Nat chuckles. "Smooth, Rogers."
"Well, I try."
////
Lying on the roof of the Avengers base on a blanket, looking up at the stars, is not how Nat ever thought she'd be spending a Saturday night — especially not when her boyfriend, Steve Rogers, is laying next to her. And yet, here she is.
Steve asked her to "go steady" with him a couple weeks ago on their fifth date, and this is their sixth. Steve, of course, suggested it.
Nat's head is laying on his chest and his arm is wrapped around her. She looks up at his face, wondering how she got so lucky, especially after that conversation they had after he asked her to "go steady" — about her and what she's been through. What she can't have.
And he's still here anyway.
Steve looks down at her, thinking largely the same thing. How lucky he is, how much he loves her. He's been waiting to kiss her for this long because it's the gentlemanly thing to do, but now that they're actually dating, he thinks it's about time. Very quietly, he says, "Nat?"
She's just as quiet. "Yeah?"
"Can I kiss you?"
Her heart, almost immediately, starts racing. "Yeah."
Slowly, he leans down and pulls her closer to him until their lips finally touch. They've done this before, but it's different this time. It's just the two of them, and they're doing it because they want to, not for a mission. It means something this time.
Steve pulls away, looking at her with adoration in his eyes. "You wanna grow old together?" he asks.
She smirks. "But you're already old."
Steve sighs. "Ha, ha, Nat, very funny."
She rolls over to her back, still in his arms, to look up at the sky. It's quiet for a few moments, then she says, "I would love that, though. Just... so you know."
Steve, also looking at the stars again, replies, "I'll hold you to that, Romanoff."
She smiles. "I'm counting on it."