Chapter One :
The Unwanted Roommate
Clint had turned himself into a blanket cocoon by time Natasha had arrived. She entered his apartment unannounced, but based on Clint's current state, she doubted he would have bothered to answer the door anyways. Judging by the stacks of clutter, the repugnant orders wafting through the rooms, and the fact Clint hadn't found the motivation to even brew himself coffee, Natasha highly doubted he had bothered to do anything past week. Natasha stood with her arms crossed in the bedroom doorway for several minutes before Clint was even aware of her presence.
He peeked his head above the covers, "Nat?" He groaned. "What are you doing here?"
Natasha fought the urge to reply with a string of sarcastic marks, all of which would have pointed out the obvious issues. Instead she simply sighed, and sat on the edge of the bed beside the Clint cocoon. "I'm here to help."
Clint laughed mirthlessly, "Help? If you want to help then leave me alone, I can take care of myself."
"No," Natasha spoke, some of her anger slipping into her words, "obviously, you can't. Luckily for you, Barton, I can take care of you." She gently tugged at the blankets tucked around Clint's body, "C'mon, you're in dire need of a shower, I could smell you as soon as I walked in."
"Don't wanna." Suddenly Clint was five years old again, he rolled in the bed away from Natasha, and did everything to keep his comforter and sheets firmly wrapped around him.
Natasha exhaled, "Clint, knock it off. You're taking a bath," she growled. She moved to the opposite side of the bed to face Clint, and the sight nearly crushed her. Given everything he's been through Natasha wasn't surprised, but her lack of astonishment did little to ease the pain of seeing her best friend silently sobbing into his sheets.
"Oh, Clint," Natasha spoke barely above a whisper. She moved closer to him on the bed and attempted to brush away the streams of tears with the pad of her thumb, "Please talk to me."
He swallowed noticeably, and looked up into her dark blue eyes, "Why are you here?"
"I'm here to help you," Natasha answered softly, "you're my best friend, remember?"
"Yeah, but what more than that?" Clint didn't wait for her to reply, "Kate was a close friend too but she left, and Jess was my girlfriend and she gave up on me. I'm not even angry about it, because I deserve it. I ruin everything, and eventually I'll disappoint you too; it's inevitable. Why do you stick around?"
"You're my partner," Natasha spoke evenly, but Clint still wasn't buying it.
"Oh yeah? Well Bobbi was my last partner and she divorced me," He kept pressing her for answers, "Nat, you're not telling me everything."
"Fine!" She clenched her jaw. "I love you, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Natasha was faced with instant regret upon confessing, but there was no taking back her words now. "I've loved you ever since you decided to save me when your mission was to kill me. And yes I'm still here, you dummy! It breaks my heart just a little bit more every passing second I see you like this, but I'm not going anywhere, because every moment with you is a blessing. Yeah you mess up sometimes, but who doesn't? And Clint you never let your defeat stop you. You get knocked down all the time, but you just keep standing back up. You're the bravest man I've ever met." At this point a few tears of her own had been shed, but she was mostly angry. Angry at herself for admitting her love and crying in front of him, angry at Clint for making her feel this way, and angry at Loki for doing this to Clint in the first place.
A long silence passed between them before Clint finally spoke up, "Tasha?" He actually crawled from his blanket nest to move closer to her. "Oh Nat, I love you too," and her eyes widen significantly. "Oh don't look so surprised." Clint smiled, the first genuine one he's expressed since The Battle of New York, "'You're my he's friend, remember?'" He quoted her right before pulling her close, weaving his fingers in her red hair, and kissed her better than Natasha could've ever imagined. When Clint finally pulled away, both he and Natasha grinned at each other like idiots.
"So does this mean you'll actually take a shower now?" Natasha gave a wolfish grin, and Clint laughed. It was real genuine laugh, not the emotionless chuckle Natasha had heard earlier, and it made her heart melt to hear it.