Summary: Steve isn't quite sure what to think about the cute redhead who just so happens to be his lab partner and sits by him in nearly all his classes, but eventually he decides she's really pretty sweet. It isn't necessarily his fault he has a crush on her from day one, but he's pretty sure that's the last thing she needs right now if the subtle signs she has someone else in her life already are true. Plot twist: that someone else happens to be a toddler and Natasha definitely needs all the extra help she can get (an easy excuse for Steve to visit more often once he learns about it).
There she was again: the girl from first block English who sat right beside him even when there were at least ten other available seats. Her red hair was pretty noticeable and she had a large flask of what Steve figured was black coffee swinging from her hand. The second she spotted him, he knew she was about to head to the empty seat beside him. He casually tossed a notebook on top of the desk as another person approached him and continued pulling out his pencils for the class.
"Is that seat taken?" the girl asked, pointing to the desk with his notebook. Steve smiled and shook his head. "Then why'd you throw your notebook on it?"
"Figured you'd hunt me down and thought it'd be nice to at least try and save it for you," he replied, taking his notebook back. She gave him a small smile and sat in the seat beside him. "So, since we have at least two classes together, I figure I should at least introduce myself." Extending a hand towards her, he said, "I'm Steve. Steve Rogers."
"Nice to meet you, Steve Rogers," she said, accepting his handshake. "I'm Natasha Romanoff."
"Nice to meet you," Steve replied. Natasha started pulling out her own books and pencils while Steve carefully labeled the front of his notebook so as not to get confused by which book belonged to which class. He was about to turn and ask Natasha what she was majoring in, but the teacher walked to the front of the room and called for everyone's attention. He would just ask her later.
* * * * *
Three classes. She had three classes with the cute blond boy and he'd saved her seats in at least two of them. She had almost walked straight to the back of the class in English, but the teacher had called for everyone to take their seats and in a panic, she'd just sat in the seat closest. It had just been luck that when she walked into her afternoon class later that day, she had spotted him sitting in the middle of the room near the end of the row. Of course, by then she was intrigued and Clint had told her to try and make friends in her classes in case she ever had to miss a day, so really it had been logical to sit next to him again and befriend him. She hadn't expected to walk into her Advanced Marine Biology class on Tuesday right before lunch and see him sitting with his notebook on an empty desk beside him. After discovering three out of her five classes were with that Steve Rogers boy, she'd made the decision to try and be his friend. Even if he wasn't nice enough to get homework for her if she ever skipped, it would be nice to not sit next to a stranger every day.
"You know Rogers went to high school with us, right?" Clint said after she'd relayed the short story to him Tuesday night. Natasha frowned, not having recognised him at all. "Yeah, he was super skinny and sick the first two years, so he hardly ever showed up to class. Then he moved to New York with his mom."
"How do you know this but I don't?" Natasha argued. Clint raised an eyebrow at her.
"I have eyes and ears everywhere," he replied vaguely. Natasha clearly didn't care for that excuse and rolled her eyes. "It's true. I'm friends with everyone, so I know everything."
"Then you'll know why Nadya was asking about being Merida for Halloween even though that movie is too scary for a two-year-old?" Natasha asked. Clint promptly changed the subject.
* * * * *
By the end of the month, Natasha was really fond of Steve. He was kind, super sweet, and always asking questions either about their class or her. While she usually deflected the ones about her, she was always willing to help him out with a class or homework question. At some point, Clint asked her why she didn't want to even tell Steve where she was from, but Natasha just brushed it off with some half-assed excuse and moved on. Clint didn't pry.
"What are the different ocean zones and what kind of animals live in each one?" Natasha asked, curled up in one of the library chairs as she quizzed Steve. After learning Advanced Marine Biology had been canceled, they'd gone to the library to study for their upcoming test. It was easy, but Natasha was pretty biased since she'd always loved the ocean and had known the basics as a little girl. She didn't mind helping Steve, though. He was great when it came to English homework and studying, so it was a good trade-off.
"Epipelagic is the uppermost layer also known as the photic," Steve said carefully. Natasha nodded for him to continue, correct so far. She wasn't exactly sure why Steve insisted she help him study when he got almost all the answers to her questions correct the first time. She'd asked him once and he said it just made him feel more prepared, but she still didn't know why he went over it all many times after being quizzed.
"You're all set," Natasha said, passing him his notebook after she'd asked him every question she could think of. Steve grinned and just like she knew he would, he opened his notebook anyway to go over the information again.
"Hey, what are you doing Friday night?" Steve asked after a few minutes. Natasha looked up from where she'd been skimming over her own notes and Steve turned a little red. "There's this comedy bar downtown one of my friends is gonna be at and I wondered if you'd want to come."
Natasha bit her lip. Friday night was the one evening Clint wasn't around. He liked going out with friends after classes and considering how much he did for her already, Natasha didn't have the heart to ask him to stay in this weekend just so she could go out. As if he sensed her hesitancy, Steve immediately began to backpedal.
"Obviously, you don't have to, just if you wanted to," he said quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment. "If you have other plans, it's alright, I just thought I'd—"
"I would love to, Steve, really," Natasha interrupted. Steve could tell she wasn't finished though and didn't bother getting his hopes up. "It's just, Friday is the one evening I can't."
"It's okay, I understand," Steve said. As hard as Natasha tried to see if he was lying or trying to manipulate her into agreeing, she couldn't see anything. Steve didn't seem to be tricking her at all, he was actually okay with it.
"Maybe some other time," Natasha offered anyway. Steve just smiled and nodded before pulling out his English notebook and asking if she wanted to be quizzed. Natasha pushed aside the guilt for turning him down and allowed him to ask her question after question about ancient authors. At least he wasn't being passive-aggressive about it.
* * * * *
Steve didn't know what to think. It was the end of the quarter, they had just finished their last exam, and he and Natasha were going to a cafe to celebrate. He'd asked her out a couple more times during the last month, but she'd always said she was busy or couldn't make it. Steve tried not to take it personally, but he did feel like she was hiding something she didn't quite trust him with. That was fair, he figured. They'd only known each other two months and he wasn't going to force her to go out with him, but it was getting a little difficult to hide his massive crush on her whenever she laughed or told him some stupid joke.
They were in the middle of talking about what they were planning on doing after college when Natasha glanced down at her phone. The mood immediately changed when Natasha's face dropped and she started reaching for her bag.
"What? What happened?" Steve asked. As far as he knew, Natasha didn't have any family nearby, but she also hadn't said anything about it so he could be wrong.
"I have to go, I'm sorry," she said. She stood up before Steve could ask any more questions and was out of the cafe before he could pull his jacket on. He quickly paid for them both then hurried out after her only to discover she was nowhere in sight. A little upset she'd rushed out so quickly with no explanation, Steve started back to his dorm. He sent her a quick text (yes, he'd managed to ask for her number using some excuse about if either of them ever needed homework collected) to make sure she was okay even though he didn't expect an immediate reply.
Natasha, on the other hand, waved down the first taxi she spotted. She gave the driver her address and he sped off. It took longer than Natasha wanted to before he was stopping outside her apartment and she could run upstairs to her door. It was unlocked, but Natasha wasn't surprised. When she stepped into the room, she spotted her babysitter trying to console Nadya who was crying loudly.
"Nadenka, lubof," Natasha said softly, taking the little girl from the sitter. Nadya immediately wrapped her arms around Natasha's neck and her cries softened. Natasha nodded at the sitter, letting her know she could leave. She quietly packed up her things while Natasha sat on the couch with Nadya on her lap and asked how she was feeling.
"Bad," Nadya replied in Russian. Natasha sighed and brushed her hand over Nadya's forehead. She was really warm even though she was shivering. While she didn't have a thermometer to take Nadya's temperature, Natasha knew a thing or two about fevers from taking care of neighbourhood kids when she was little.
"Let's take a bath," Natasha suggested, standing up with Nadya in her arms. Nadya just hugged her tightly and refused to let go even after Natasha had started the bathwater. It wasn't cold and it wasn't hot, just cool enough to bring down high fevers. She promised she would stay right beside Nadya before starting to undress her. Nadya whimpered as Natasha set her in the tub and filled it with bubble bath. Instead of letting only one of two toys in the tub, Natasha dumped the entire basket in beside her and reached for one of the dolls.
"No, Mama," Nadya said, pushing her hand away. She took the doll from Natasha and handed her a duck instead. Natasha stayed by the side of the tub as Nadya played with her toys, babbling to herself happily. Once she was certain Nadya would be okay, Natasha pulled out her phone to text the sitter she would stay home tomorrow and not to worry about Nadya. She paused when she saw a text from Steve asking if everything was okay. Pressing her hand to the back of Nadya's head, Natasha sighed in relief to discover her fever seemed to be going down. She'd been in the bath for an hour, so Natasha would have worried if it wasn't helping.
I'm okay. Can you grab any assignments for me tomorrow? Won't be able to make it in.
Natasha sent the text then texted the babysitter and Clint. Nadya was horrible when she had a cold, so after such a high fever, Natasha knew she wouldn't want anyone else around. Nadya loved Clint, but not even he could keep her from wailing when she was so sick. For now, Natasha would be stuck at home with her until she was well enough to be good for her babysitter again. At least she had finished her last exam and wouldn't have to skip one.
* * * * *
When Natasha returned to classes the next week, she knew Steve had a bunch of questions. She knew he'd been wanting to ask them from the moment she ran out of the cafe and whenever he texted her a homework assignment (thankfully there was only one and she'd had the entire weekend off with Nadya). However, he was nice enough not to immediately ask. She still felt bad about not telling him, though, so after a long talk with Clint about what she should do, she ended up inviting him over after classes.
"The library gets noisy after class," Natasha used as an excuse. "Plus, my sitter made early plans."
If Steve was confused by that last part, he didn't say. Instead, he followed Natasha all the way up to her apartment and inside the door.
"Mama!" Nadya screamed. She threw her arms around Natasha's waist and Natasha picked her up, thanking the sitter on her way out.
"Hello," Natasha smiled, kissing her cheek. She was doing much better after her short fever. "Were you good for Miss Wanda?" Nadya nodded and Wanda confirmed that she was before sliding out the door.
"We played dollies," Nadya said. She bounced in Natasha's arms and twisted around to look for Wanda only to stop short at the sight of Steve in the doorway. Natasha turned to face him as well, still holding Nadya who immediately buried her face in Natasha's hair in an effort to hide.
"Steve, this is Nadya," Natasha said, running her hand through Nadya's hair. "Nadenka, this is Steve, he's a friend from school. Can you say hi?"
Nadya just raised her hand and waved briefly, keeping her head tucked away. Natasha moved into the kitchen, setting her school bag on a chair then setting Nadya on the one nearby. Steve followed suit, trying not to scare Nadya who was clearly not very fond of him at the moment. Nadya watched him closely with wide eyes, ducking down beneath the counter whenever Steve smiled at her.
"She'll warm up to you," Natasha assured him. She grabbed a banana and cut it into slices before handing the plate to Steve. "This is a sure-fire way to make her love you."
Although uncertain, Steve walked over to Nadya and set the plate of banana in front of her. She didn't immediately hug him, but Steve hadn't expected her to. What he counted as a win was the fact that she didn't disappear beneath the counter again when he looked at her.
"Once she's done with her snack, she'll go play with her toys," Natasha explained, pulling her notebooks from her backpack. "We'll only have about fifteen minutes before she wants us to join, though, so I hope you have a good idea of what you want to cover first."
* * * * *
After introducing Steve to Nadya, it was like a door opened and Natasha found everything a lot easier. She didn't have to worry about what would happen when he found out she had a little girl and she didn't have to make up insane excuses as to why she couldn't go out. He did stop asking, but Natasha refused to be offended by it. If he didn't want to date someone who had a kid, then he wasn't worthwhile anyway. As it was, she was just glad Nadya had another guy to play with other than Clint. Natasha loved Clint, she really did, but she couldn't help but worry he'd feed her too much candy or let her stay up later than she was allowed to. Steve, on the other hand, could get Nadya to eat carrots and grapes by making a game out of it.
"Mama, Steeb is a pwincess," Nadya shrieked, drawing Natasha's attention away from dinner and up to where Steve was carrying Nadya on his shoulders and wearing a frilly pink boa with a crown. Clearly Nadya had tried to do his makeup because he had glitter on his face and red smudged across his lips.
"I see that," Natasha laughed, going to help Nadya off of Steve's shoulders. She set her on the counter stool and Steve sat down beside her. "I'm almost done. How about you help Princess Steve get the lipstick off his face?"
"Come wit me, Steeb," Nadya said. She jumped off the stool and Steve caught her mid-air, setting her on her feet before allowing her to drag him to the bathroom to wash his face.
Natasha finished the food before they were done and just as she set it on the table, Steve and Nadya came prancing back out. Steve still had some glitter on his face, but that stuff never really does go away, so Natasha didn't mention it to him. Instead, she helped serve Nadya before taking a seat and dishing up her own plate.
"Mama?" Nadya asked, tugging on her sleeve. "Is Steve my daddy?"
Natasha almost dropped her fork off the table. She was more than thankful Nadya had asked in Russian so Steve was unaware as to what she'd just said. Nevertheless, he at least knew Nadya was asking about him since she'd said his name in the middle of it.
"No, baby, he's not," Natasha told her. Nadya frowned but didn't press for more answers. She turned her attention to Steve to tell him all about the adventures Wanda had taken her on earlier that day.
Later that night, after putting Nadya to bed together upon her insistence, Natasha and Steve found themselves in the living room with notebooks scattered around them and pens everywhere. Christmas break was coming up and while that meant some classes were relaxing, other classes had loads of homework being dumped on them every day. Natasha was sprawled out on the floor while Steve was lying on the couch, notebook above him as he asked Natasha question after question.
"What did William Shakespeare do before he was a playwright?" Steve asked. Natasha was half asleep already, but she still answered his question automatically.
"We don't really know, but some people think he was a traveling actor or schoolmaster."
"Correct. Will you go out with me?"
"Yeah. Wait, what?" Natasha asked, sitting up and suddenly more awake than she'd been a few minutes ago. Steve was looking at her nervously, but he didn't retract his question. "I thought you weren't interested after seeing I had a kid."
"What? Why would you think that?" Steve asked. He adored Nadya, sure, but maybe he was just fond of kids, not the women who had them. Clearly that assumption hadn't been correct.
"I don't know, you stopped asking after you met her," Natasha said, shrugging. She really should stop assuming things about Steve, she thought. Obviously, that had only led to a lot of wrong assumptions.
"I guess I just thought I should maybe get to know her better before I ask you again," Steve said sheepishly. Natasha smiled up at him. "So, will you go out with me?"
"Of course, Steve," Natasha replied. Steve grinned and resisted the urge to hug her. Instead, he settled back onto the couch with a stupid grin on his face as he tried to figure out what they should do for their first date. If Natasha wanted to keep studying, she didn't say so. Instead, she just laid back down on the floor and closed her eyes. If she fell asleep, oh well. At least now she knew Steve was still interested in her and not just being nice (Clint definitely didn't brag about being right, but at least Natasha could guilt him into watching Nadya while she and Steve went out for the night).