"And there's a storm you're starting now
And there's a storm you're starting"

-Halsey, Hurricane

~X~

Natasha closed her eyes and let the ice cold water wash down her body, her muscles were tense at first, but as she grew used to the feeling, she started to relax. Those moments, when she was alone and the water trickled on her ears, when she could hear or see or feel nothing but the water, those were the only moments in her life when she felt peace. True peace. Plus, water was the one thing keeping her away from the flames, from the feeling of the fire she could feel burning her skin when she was still for too long.

She moved and washed her hair slowly, lazily, she had time. She washed her body and turned off the water. Natasha wrapped her naked body on the towel, it felt warm after such a cold shower. Too warm. She let it fall to the ground and stood there, alone in the locker room all naked, allowing herself to air-dry. She took a deep breath and started moving, she reached for her bag and checked the time on her phone. She had 30 minutes to get ready. Natasha started to get dressed after her body adjusted to the temperature. She put on shorts and a tight crop top with a loose coat over it. It was a cool outfit, not too hot, not too cold, perfect for the weather of the beginning of autumn.

She got her bag and her gym bag and walked to her car. Natasha threw her gym bag on the trunk and walked to the place where the boys were playing football. As usual, she climbed to the last seat and put on her headphones, playing a deafening music. She had a weird music taste, that was mainly formed by artists no one knew about. She closed her eyes and just let the music play, humming along softly. About 5 songs had passed when she felt someone touch her shoulder.

Natasha opened her eyes and moved away abruptly without even seeing who it was. It was a reflex. She looked at Steve and took her headphones off.

"Calm down, Nat." He chuckled, "It's just me."

"I'm sorry," She laughed a little embarrassed by her own reaction. She ran a hand through her hair quickly and shrugged, "Reflex."

"Hah, it's fine." He smiled, "I just finished practice, I'm going to have a shower and then I'll meet you here again. Okay?"

"Sure, I'll wait for you by my car, okay?"

"Sounds good."

She let Steve climb down first as she put her things back into her bag and checked if she wasn't forgetting anything. Natasha stood for two or three seconds more looking over the field. It was very high and she was able to watch almost the entire town. And she realised that no matter how slow life might seem to be, it was even slower to watch it from afar. She chuckled at that conclusion and started to make her way down.

For one to go out the field, they had to pass by the men's locker room. And she could hear a little of what they talked about.

'Hey, Steve, what are you doing talking to that girl?' One of the guys asked.

'Yeah, man, she's such a weirdo, she has no friends. I heard she's a drug addict. Someone told me that they saw her doing drugs under the bleaches.' Another one said.

'Shut up, guys.' Steve said, 'She's not like that...'

'Word is she was the one who murdered her parents. An arsonist, they say.'

'You barely know the chick, Rogers. I mean, she's really hot, but I'm not sure I'd tap that. She gives me the chills, dude. Besides, I heard she's a slut, a whore, Tracy told me she saw her getting money from a man inside a car.'

'I might not know her that well, but I was raised better to know I shouldn't judge anyone based on rumors. You can think whatever you want of her, but don't try to convince me of this bullshit you heard on the hallways. People lie. You should know, right, Buck?'

'Oh, shut up, Rogers.' One of the boys - probably Buck - answered, 'When you get burned, don't tell me I didn't warn you.'

Natasha blinked. She was surprised. Though she knew what people thought of her, hearing it was different. The boys were cruel. But then, so were the girls and everyone else who lived in that town. But more than that, she was surprised to hear Steve defending her. She already knew he didn't hate her, he did talk to her after all, but it was still a surprise.

She walked away as fast as she could and stopped at her car, doing the best she could to let what she just heard go. She succeeded at that by doing mental calculations, it always worked. Natasha sat on the hood of the car and waited for Steve. It really didn't take him long to get there.

"Shall we go?" He asked.

"Yup." She nodded.

"Nat?"

"Yeah."

"Brian gave me a ride to school today, so… do you mind if we take your car?"

"Of course not, Steve. Hop in." She unlocked the car and climbed into the driver's seat. Natasha turned on the radio, her iPod connected to it.

"Whoa, is this Wolves and the Water? I love this song!"

"Really? I thought only I listened to it." Natasha laughed. But then, she didn't know anyone else, so she had no parametres.

"Me too. Apparently, I was wrong."

He smelled like only he smelled, but with a hint of old spice deodorant. His hair was still wet and she could see the small droplets of water glistening when the sunlight hit them, she noticed as she parked.

The ice cream shop was near the school, so it didn't take them long to get there. Natasha chose a cone with two flavours, orange and dark chocolate, steve chose cookies and cream in the cup. When she was going to pay, Steve got in the way and, despite all her protests, paid for her.

"You really didn't have to do that." She said as she licked the bottom flavour.

"Come on, Natasha, it was nothing." Steve laughed.

"Whatever." She laughed, "We should get to business though."

"Okay." He said taking the spoon out of his mouth, He looked at her for a moment while her lips touched the top of the first ball of ice cream, Steve cleared his throat, "So, I was planning on inviting all of the school, my house is big enough, so it's not going to be a problem. What do I need to have?"

"Food, drinks and good music. Those are the basics. For the food, any sort of snacks will do, as for the drinks, alcohol. Lots of alcohol. I can't really help you with the music though, you'll have to ask one of your friends."

"Alcohol…" He muttered.

Natasha ate some more ice cream, she licked the sides because it was starting to melt. "Yup, alcohol, if you want me to, I can provide it, we can even go shopping together." She smiled, "You'll throw the best party of the year."

"Yeah, sure." He chuckled.

They finished their ice cream and Natasha went to the bathroom she washed her hands and her face. When she was done, she placed both hands on the sides of sink and took a deep breath, she looked at her face on the mirror of the dark place. She could see flames behind her and she felt the knot on her throat tighten, so she washed her face with the cold water again and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a second and left the bathroom.

"Let's go?" Natasha put on a fake smile.

"Yeah." Steve smiled back.

She drove him home, they didn't talk much, but the silence wasn't that uncomfortable for either of them. Natasha dropped him off at his place, at the front door despite her being hesitant of being seen by the mayor. His wife was waving at the door, it was just like a movie scene, the perfect house in the perfect neighbourhood with the perfect family. Except that a small purple bruise on the woman's face almost perfectly covered with makeup gave away an imperfection, a rather large one.

Natasha waited for Steve to go into the house before taking off. She caught a small glimpse of what was going on inside the place. The woman cried and Steve hugged her. Natasha bit her lip and drove away fast, as if she was trying to forget about what she had just seen. As she got to know more about him and about his life, the more she hated the mayor and the more she liked his family. Just to know that they weren't like him, it was somewhat of a relief, but it made her mad. The influence of that despicable man made her cringe.

The redhead stopped at a gas station and filled the tank, then she went into the convenience store and bought herself a bottle of vodka with her fake id. She put her stuff in the car and went back to the house. She laid on the bed and closed her eyes, she was safe, she was home, she was in her bedroom, but she couldn't forget, she couldn't escape her demons.

There it was again, the knot in her throat, the shortness of breath. She tried to calm down, to find something familiar to hold on to, to end the panic attack that was to come before it even started.

She took slow deep breaths and reassured herself.

~X~

She woke up with a sharp intake of breath. Natasha looked to her side, she had fifteen minutes to get to school.

As fast as she could, Natasha had a shower, brushed her teeth, put on her clothes, gathered her material and left. As she drove past the streets, she took notice of the persistent pounding in her head.

Natasha sat on the hard wooden chair for a long time just waiting for the lunch break. She wouldn't skip any classes, Ivan would kill her if she did so, she took an aspirin and she was good to go.

By the time of lunch, she felt like dying, so, instead of going to the cafeteria, she went outside and sat under the bleachers, she leaned on one of the posts of it and just wished it would all go away. The sky was grey and the wind was chilly. She closed her eyes and pressed her knees to her chest and started to think of what she had seen the day before. About the purple mark on Steve's mum and her crying and then Steve holding her.

He was a good guy, whilst the mayor, wasn't. She guessed he was raised by his mum, because he didn't act like his father. She found a flaw in the perfect cover the mayor had, but it was so perfectly hidden, it would be really hard to expose it. After all, it wasn't like she could just go around and tell everyone, they would never believe her.

The wind cut her skin and the only sound was of the leaves that fell from the trees. She looked up and saw Steve approaching.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Feel free." She nodded.

He sat by her side. He looked at her and then looked away, staring at nothing in particular, just like she was doing moments before.

They sat there in silence until lunch break was over. Natasha wouldn't dare to tell him what she saw the day before, she knew it to be a delicate matter, a private aspect of his life and she didn't want to seem like she was intruding. Besides, even if in silence, having company was a good feeling.

When with Clint, she'd always enjoyed those moments.

~X~

She wiped the sweat away from her face as she locked the door behind her. She went to the kitchen and got a bottle of cold water out of it. She sat on the counter and took deep breaths.

"Hello, Ivan." Natasha said when she heard him approaching from behind her.

"Natalia!" She could hear his smile and couldn't help but smile too.

"How was your trip?" She got down the counter and turned to face him.

"The same as always. No one listens to me."

"Huh, they won't listen until all you say comes true."

"I bet." Ivan shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to have a shower and then study. How long are you staying?"

"I'm sorry, Natalia, but I'll have to leave tomorrow afternoon."

"Already?" She shighed.

"Yes, unfortunately. I'm going to Russia this time."

"Well, bring me something, then."

"You know I always do." He chuckled, "Now go do what you have to do."

~X~

"Hey, Nat, are you doing anything this afternoon after practice?" Steve popped by her side on the hallway, "I need you to help me study."

"Well, actually, I do have one thing to do, but perhaps you'd care to join me. I think it'd be fun." Natasha replied as they walked together to chem class.

"Oh really? And what would that be?" Steve raised a brow.

"I'm going to the shooting range for an hour. After that we can study, but the shooting range is not in this town."

"Sure, if I'm not going to be a bother."

"Of course not. Then we can go to my place afterwards." Natasha said, "Ivan's not there, so we're good."

"Sure." Steve shrugged and left her alone.

As she opened her locker, she scolded herself, she couldn't believe she was going to show him her safe haven. Maybe she was getting involved too quickly, but how could she not? Having a friend, knowing that perhaps she wasn't completely alone in that small town was reassuring.