"Hey, Tasha."

I heard someone call my name over the loud Christmas music and turned around to see Clint leaning casually against the door frame leading into the living room, waving me over. My heart caught in my throat as my pulse raced a million times faster than usual, but I somehow managed to remain calm and walk across the room and up to him.

I replied with the oh-so-cool and generic response:

"Hey Clint."

He grinned at me, a bit suspiciously, I might say, so I raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"What, what?"

"Why are you acting weird?" I questioned, glaring at him and putting my hands on my hips.

"Umm...nice dress, Nat."

"Oh." I looked down at my stupid -and a bit revealing- red dress Pepper had forced me into wearing and blushed a little. "It's Pepper's fault."

"No, you look really pretty." Clint told me.

"Um, thanks?" I hoped my face wasn't as red as it felt. I mean, he'd called me pretty before, why should this be different?

But then I realized he'd distracted me and continued to further glare at him. "Stop changing the subject. But anyway, why'd you call me over?"

Clint shrugged nonchalantly. "Just to say hi. There are a lot of people here, and I figured we might not get the chance to chat later."

Oh, did I mention that Tony Stark was currently hosting a Christmas party? Yeah, minor detail… But he'd just invited some of his friends, the Avengers, some S.H.I.E.L.D. members, and then some people he knew from his business; surprisingly not too many in general, but enough where you probably wouldn't get the chance to talk to everyone there.

My eyebrows raised an inch. "Who else do you plan on 'chatting with' later? You do realize that we'll all be hanging out together, right?'

Clint rolled his eyes, but I swore he went a little red. "I meant alone, Nat, like just with you."

Oh. Shit. Well this was awkward. And slightly nerve-racking.

My cheeks flushed a little, as I inwardly cursed my stupidity, Clint for making me act this way, and Pepper for forcing me to come. "Oh, uh, right." This could be it. THIS COULD BE IT. Okay, shut up, Clint-loving voice. He's obviously not going to…

Precisely at that moment, Tony, Bruce, and Pepper stopped in front of us. "Hey guys!" Tony smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. I looked at the others, and much to my- I don't know, horror? Surprise? Dismay? - they were all looking at us in the same way.

"What the heck?" Clint and I said in unison, while looking at them strangely.

"Um, what's with that face, Stark?" I asked, my eyebrow still raised.

"Hmm?" Tony looked confused, but at the same time like he was trying not to laugh. "Oh, nothing" he said, smirking at Clint. "Nothing."

I glanced at Clint, who looked like he was about to charge at Tony and start strangling him, and got a bit concerned for his, (and Stark's), well-beings. His face matched my dress, and I honestly wasn't sure whether that was because of anger or embarrassment.

Bruce glanced up above us and then looked back down, and then all around the room, still smirking.

"Umm... okay seriously, what are you guys doing? You're acting really suspicious…."

I was getting a bit scared by the positively evil expression radiating off of Pepper's face as she did something strange with her hands. Wait, was that a heart? She couldn't mean us… Oh, but she could, alright. Oh god.

All of them were looking at Clint.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat, "Clint, do you have anything to say to this?" He looked at me in alarm.

"What? Why would you say that, Tasha?!"

"Jee, I don't know, it's just that everyone is looking at you suspiciously, and you've been acting that way since you called me over. I'm not oblivious.'

"Well." Bruce muttered.

"I resent that." I replied, rather annoyed, but not exactly in the mood to start beating him up. We really didn't need him hulking out and smashing Stark's house to bits at the moment.

Then, as if coming to some strange mutual agreement, our three so-called friends began to walk away. But as Stark walked past us, I could have sworn he whispered, "Get it, Barton", which promptly caused Clint to glare at him and slap his arm. And not lightly either.

"Explain yourself, mister." I crossed my arms, and began tapping my foot.

A strangled gulp escaped Clint's throat, and I smirked and whispered, "Oh yeah. You should be scared alright. Now why were they like that?"

"Tasha…" Clint took a step closer to me, if possible. We were almost eye level- wait, how the heck did he get tall?! No no no, he was not going to be taller than me. No way. I would not allow that.

He let out a whoosh of air and looked at me. "Look up." He said, in an almost whisper. I craned my neck up to the ceiling. Right above us, just innocently hanging over our heads, was a branch of mistletoe. And mistletoe meant… Oh.

Suddenly everything came rushing at me at once as I tried not to hyperventilate. Clint, he...he-

I looked down at Clint, who was looking away.

"Barton," I said, amusement evident in my voice. He glanced at me, but I held his gaze. Those eyes… "You want to kiss me?" I asked, my voice soft.

Clint sighed, blushing a bit. "Okay, okay, I know this is really cliché, and also pretty cheesy, but you probably know that I've liked you for a pretty long time now, and I confessed to the rest of them, and they honestly scared me because of all their "Awwwwwwww!" 's and "That's so cute!" 's and "Tell me how she is in bed..." 's-" I growled at this and Clint put his hands up in surrender, giving me a look that screamed 'Not my idea!', "But I- they…" He broke off, turning red to the point that it was actually quite amusing. But who was I to judge...

I smirked but then smiled for real, a warm feeling spreading through my body as I put my arms around him. "Well, they probably forgot to mention," I told him, "That I've liked you for a while too."

We kissed, and it probably couldn't have been more perfect.

…Except until we heard a squeal behind us. And that could only mean one thing… "Awww, you guys are so cute I'm going to cry!" And Pepper claims she isn't one for mushy romance…

Pulling away, we both whirled around to see our oh-so-kind-and-privacy-respecting friends standing there, grinning their heads off and looking at Pepper's Stark phone.

I looked at Clint, blushing yet still smiling, even though we were both dreading what was on the screen.

I slung an arm around his muscular shoulder and whispered, "Come on. Time for revenge." And with that, we charged.

*****line break*****

When the party had been long over, I heard my phone buzz. Picking it up, I saw "1 attachment' and cursed. Pepper…..

Slowly typing in my password, I bit my lip and waited for the image to load. But when I saw it, I smiled.

We were pretty cute.

Yay for Clintasha! So yeah, this is my first fanfic I've posted, and also my first Avengers fanfic, so please review and tell me what you think! :) I have a bunch of Percy Jackson fanfics written so I'll probably be posting them soon-ish.