Abi's P.O.V.
The twins have been in the NICU for 4 weeks now and they had grown quite a bit, getting stronger every day as the doctor said. The rest of the team left four weeks ago but Clint stayed and we drove up to the hospital from the farm each day, spending hours there before the staff finally kicked us out.
"I can stay here you know, I have 2 months worth of holidays saved up, I can just us-" Clint started but I cut him off as I dumped the last of the laundry into the washing machine.
"Clint you've been here for the last 4 weeks and Fury was nice enough to give you those four weeks off. The twins and I will be fine, I'll video call you all the time whilst I'm at the hospital so you can see them, nothing is going to happen whilst you're away, even the doctors and nurses reassured us of that. The team needs you though, you know they're nothing without you." I said cracking a grin, making him smile too.
"I just don't want to leave you here by yourself." He said with a sigh, brushing a strand of hair out of my face.
"I'm not going to be here alone, Chloe is coming over to stay for a while as soon as you leave and I have these three bundles of fluff to keep me company too." I said, crouching down and instantly being jumped on by all three puppies, although they had gotten quite a bit bigger since we bought them so they knocked me to the floor.
I started laughing and Clint chuckled as he offered me his hand, I accepted and he pulled me up from the floor before the puppies could do any more damage. I watched as the three of them ran out of the house and chased each other around the fields, I loved being here but I also missed being back in New York with the others.
"She still hates me doesn't she?" Clint asked, referring to Chloe.
"She doesn't hate you, she's just really mad at you and will definitely not hesitate to punch you in the face next time she sees you." I said, chuckling as I thought back to the last time I spoke about Clint in front of Chloe and the threat she had made.
"I can't exactly blame her, I'd want to punch me in the face if I was her, maybe that's why her and Steve get along so well; he already took his crack at me." He said, making me chuckle as he pointed to the faint bruise that was still on his cheek from a few weeks ago.
"Come on you big doofus, you need to get ready to leave because the others are expecting you back soon so you can be prepped for the mission tomorrow. The last of your clothes are in the dryer now and they'll be ready in a few minutes, so you have 10 minutes to get everything ready because Chloe is getting here in 15 minutes so it's probably in your best interest to get ready." I said and we both laughed.
He disappeared off upstairs to make sure he had everything packed in his bag whilst I folded his now dry washing, leaving the stack on the table whilst I got myself a glass of water. He came back downstairs a few minutes later and put the last of his laundry back into his big duffel bag, I followed him out to the car I had 'borrowed' of Tony's when I came up here from New York and when Tony noticed I had it, he demanded that Clint drive it back when he returned to Manhattan. He put his bag in the trunk before he turned to look at me, his eyes falling on the two chains that were around my neck; one was the arrow necklace he bought me for my birthday the day after we first met and the other was a silver chain that I had put my ring on, the one that he had proposed to me with. Chloe had called me crazy for not putting away or getting rid of it, part of me believed her but the other part of me believed that there was still hope for us, I know it sounds mad but I just couldn't stop loving him.
"You still have it." He breathed, his eyes on my engagement ring.
"Of course I do, I would never get rid of it or anything like that, Chloe thinks I'm crazy but I know it'll be worth it in the long run." I said quietly, looking down at the floor.
I twisted the ring in my thumb and forefinger as I thought about what our future could look like, as long as he doesn't do anything else then I think we can work. Some people might call me crazy, but if they knew what I felt for Clint then they would agree with me and encourage me to work it out because this type of love isn't something that should be given up on so easily.
"I'm going to miss you so much, the last 4 weeks have been amazing and I still have so much making up to do but don't worry; as soon as you come back to Manhattan I'm going to fix this. I'm going to fix us." He promised.
"I... I'm going to miss you too." I said truthfully.
He caught me off guard as he wrapped his arms around me, I buried my head into his chest and wrapped my arms around him as I inhaled deeply to take in Clint's smell so that I wouldn't forget it over the next few weeks.
"I love you, so much." He mumbled into my hair as he kissed the top of my head.
There was a pause as I tried to decide what to say next, I knew what I wanted to say but I also didn't want to give him the wrong idea.
"I love you too." I whispered, my voice barely audible.
But I knew he heard me when he tightened his grip on me and let out a relieved sigh, but I was so focused on him that I didn't hear the truck pull up behind me. We said our goodbyes and Clint climbed into Tony's sports car, reluctantly driving off as I continued to wave until he was out of sight.
"You're an idiot." A voice said from behind me, making me jump six foot up in the air.
I turned to see Chloe stood there, her arms crossed as she leant against her truck and shook her head at me.
"I know." I groaned as I walked towards the house.
We both dropped down onto the couch and I let out a sigh, knowing I probably shouldn't have told Clint that I loved him but at the same time I didn't regret it.
"You and Clint really need to work things out, I-" I started saying but she cut me off.
"The only thing I'll be working out with him is his face with my fist, he treated you like crap Abi and you're letting him get away with it!" Chloe said, raising her voice a little.
"I'm not letting him get away with it, if I was then I'd have jumped straight back into his arms but I am making him work for it, he needs to build up my trust again. I'm not mad at him, if that's what you mean by letting him get away with it, but I can't be mad at him for long because I love him too much. I love him so much it hurts Chloe and every time I look at him all I see is him and that other woman, do you even understand what that feels like? It feels like my heart is being ripped out, torn into tiny pieces and stamped on repeatedly, it feels like a kick in the stomach every time I look at him because it makes me feel like I'm not good enough for him, and maybe I'm not but you will never find anyone who loves and adores that man as much as I do." I said sadly, a few tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Don't talk like that! You are good enough for him, it's him who doesn't deserve you Abi, especially after what he's done but we need to stop talking about this because it's upsetting you and it's upsetting me. Now come on, get your butt up and go get ready, we need to go and see the twins." She said with a loving smile as she thought about the twins; she absolutely adored the two newest members of her family.
I quickly got changed and followed Chloe out to her truck, climbing into the passengers seat as she hopped into the drivers seat and we set off for the hospital.
"Mom and dad were wondering when they can come and meet the twins?" Chloe asked.
"Are they doing anything today?" I asked quickly.
"Not that I know of." She said.
"Well I'll call them now and tell them to meet us at the hospital." I said with a smile.
I called Chloe's mom and she said that they would meet us at the hospital in 20 minutes, when we got there we had to wait for a few minutes but when they finally arrived I lead them all down to the NICU. We washed our hands and arms before going inside, when we walked over to the twins Martha gasped as she covered her heart with her hand.
"They're so small." She whispered sadly.
"They were much smaller when they were born, but they've grown a lot and they're little fighters, they doctors have said they are making better progress than most babies born as early as them which is a good sign." I said, smiling as I looked between my two beautiful babies.
I had promised Clint I would video call him every time I came here but I didn't want to this time as I knew he would be driving and I didn't want to cause him to crash. The thought of anything bad happening to him mad my stomach flip and my heart ache, I don't think I could handle another situation like what happened before when he was in the coma and if something worse happened, well I don't even know what I'd do. I was pulled from my thoughts when Robert started talking.
"When can you take these two home?" He asked as he stroked Axel's head through the side of the incubator.
"As long as there are no problems, we should be able to take them home in around 12 weeks as far as I know." I said with a smile, imagining taking them back to the farm and the tower in Manhattan.
"Where is home though?" Chloe asked sceptically and Martha stepped in before I could say anything.
"Chloe, not now." She said disapprovingly.
"Honestly Chlo, I really don't know." I said with a sigh.
"It's none of our business Chloe, it's for Abi and Clint to decide." Martha said, although she didn't look too happy when she said Clint's name.
Chloe's question sparked something inside of me, was it worry maybe? Where were we going to take them? The tower doesn't have enough space for us without having to make some major changes and I don't expect them to do anything like that. The farm is more than big enough but at the same time it's so far from the team in Manhattan and it meant Clint couldn't be around all the time. I have no idea what I'm going to do...