She wanted him, so bad. She loved him so much. She had been working on becoming a better person for HIM and then he went and asked out Sharon. It hurt her so much. Natasha was meant to be planning a party with Pepper and Maria but she just couldn't stop thinking about him.

"Natasha?"

"Sorry, what?"

"What happened you spaced out?"

"Nothing, Pep. I'm ok." Natasha said, hoping she sounded convincing. "Carry on."

"Anyways, its gonna be Wanda's 21st in a couple of weeks and I think we should do something like all of us go to a bar or a club." Pepper said. Maria and Natasha nodded. "Ok, we've talked about party planning for long enough. I wanna talk about boys!" Maria exclaimed making them all laugh. "Ok. Maria, I can't help but notice that you've gotten pretty close to Sam these past few weeks." Natasha said, taking a sip from her beer.

"Ha! I wish! We've only talk!"

"Yeah right..." Pepper said laughing. They continued to discuss Maria and Sam until Maria got bored of all the gossip and said "Ok, enough about me. What about you, Nat? I notice haven't called any of the guys that have you their numbers when we go clubbing, what's up with that?"

"Nothing, they were just looking for a fling." Natasha said, hoping her friends didn't notice that she was blushing. "Nat, you're blushing. Who is it?" Pepper asked. Shit they had noticed. "It's no one." Nat was still blushing. "Really Nat?"

"Pep, he's taken. I worked for ages to be better for him and now he's dating someone else. So I'll get over him." Natasha said, a sad smile on her face. "Wait, Natasha, do you like Steve?" Pepper asked unable to keep the surprise from her voice. "No." Not a lie, but not exactly truthful either.

"Nat..." Pepper pleaded, sending Nat wasn't telling the truth. "Fine!" Natasha said, slightly exasperated. "I love him. Is that what you wanted to hear? I missed my chance. To be honest it's kinda my fault cos I kept suggesting girls for him." Natasha mumbled sadly.

"Natasha. Come on. Let's go out! You need to cheer up! He's dating Sharon. This is gonna sound harsh but get over him! Please! I want to go out!" Maria said, pulling Nat off the sofa and smiling brightly as Natasha agreed.

1 hour later and they were all in the nearest bar. Pepper and Nat were sitting at their regular booth, watching Maria order their drinks. "So Nat, who do you like the look of?" Maria asked, sitting down and handing them their drinks. "Ummm, he looks..." Her voice trailed off as she saw Steve walk into the bar, Sharon on his arm.

"Shit. I need to... I can't... he's here." She stammered and looked at Pepper and Maria pleadingly. "Ok, um, lets just stay here until he leaves?" Maria suggested half-heartedly. "I.." her voice trailed off as tears welled in her eyes. "Natasha? Hey look at us." Pepper said, shaking her.

Natasha blinked furiously and nodded. "Ok. I don't know why I'm so upset. It's not like I ever had a chance with him anyways. He always wanted some blonde, tall beauty; not a broken assassin." Natasha mumbled, and sipped on her beer. "Nat." Pepper warned. "I'm fine" Natasha said and finished her beer. The three sat in silence, Maria lookin for guys, Pepper drinking and Natasha looking at Steve longingly.

"Ok! I'm getting shots!" Natasha said, forcing herself to sound cheery. "Yas! Let's do it!" Pepper cheered. Natasha nodded, and left to get the drinks. When she was waiting to be served she felt a hand on her bare shoulder and sparks fly at the contact; she knew exactly who he was. "Hey, Steve! How's the date going?" She asked, forcibly cheery.

"Really great!" Steve clearly missed Natasha tense up and grit her teeth. "That's great!" She sighed.

"What can I get you, beautiful?" The bartender asked, this time it was Natasha's turn to miss Steve tense up. "I'll have some shots." She answered with a smile. "I'd better get back to my date, I'll see you tomorrow for training." Steve told her, walking away his expression sad.

"There you go, pretty." The bartender handed her the shots and she paid him and walked away.

"Shots are here!" Natasha said, sitting down and handing out the shots. "Nat, we saw your interaction with Steve. He looks pretty pissed when the bartender spoke to you." Maria said.

"Did he?!" Natasha exclaimed a little to excited. "Did he?" She said again, more controlled. "Yeah, he looked sadder." Pepper informed her. Natasha picked up ver shot and motioned for them to do the same. They took their shots and continued with the conversation. "I bet he didn't. He wouldn't be with Sharon if he felt that way about me." She told them sadly.

They finished their shots and left the bar; Maria with two new numbers, Pepper and Natasha with none. Natasha stared at Steve before they left the bar to go back to Avengers tower.

They said goodbye to each other and went to their respective floors. Natasha thought about Steve the entire time. Seriously what was wrong with her? She really needed to get over her feelings. But how could she when she was always with Steve and they were practically attached at the hip during work. Nat got changed and drifted off into sleep. Although her dreams were plagued with images of Steve and her.