I walked back into Stark towers like everything was okay.
I stalked past Tony, making sure he wouldn't follow before I ran into Steve. "Hey," I said and nodding in greeting. "Do you know where Agent Barton is?" I asked, hoping he didn't notice when my voice cracked.
He studied me and I knew he saw right though me. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yes, fine. Do you know where he is or not?" I said crossing my arms.
Steve let it drop and went to pass. "I think he's in his room, or on the roof…or in the shooting range…." He smiled before leaving.
Great, I thought. If I didn't know where he was, I couldn't avoid him. I took the stairs today and made my way up to go to my room.
When I was about to get off, I saw Clint coming down the stairs. He already saw me and went to say something but I slipped out and into the hallway.
"Hey, Nat!" He called and ran out to catch up to me. I didn't respond and he put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.
"Natasha, what's wrong?" He asked quietly and made me feel guilty for some reason.
"Nothing, I just…" I didn't know what to say so I just stopped and faced him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. I saw him trying to figure out if he did something wrong or if something happened to me.
"Well, I wanted to do something first…" I lied, in my mind, making me seem like I didn't care either way but I knew I should talk to him and figure out what changed between us. I almost sighed just thinking about it.
"Yeah, I was just about to take a shower anyways. So after we can talk." He looked at me, wanting me to agree.
"Ok, when I'm done I'll come in with you-not in the shower, I'll go in your room-I mean," What the hell? The Black Widow, fumbling for what to say and…oh god no…blushing?! I didn't want to make it awkward by looking away but the amused look in his eyes made my face burn worse.
"You do your thing, I'll be out in five minutes and we can talk." He said and I nodded, not trusting my voice to speak.
He flashed a smile and I couldn't help but stare as I took a step back.
After he shut the door I just stood there and started to think of what I would say. After a couple of minutes and when nothing still came to mind, I stepped into his room.
I heard the water running behind the closed bathroom door as I walked to the bed. It wasn't the first time I've been in his room and I've never thought much about it but now I was thinking I shouldn't sit on the bed. I walked over to the widow on the wall opposite of the bathroom and looked out.
I was lost in thought because when the door suddenly opened I whipped around. It was just Clint and I took a moment to be surprised that I didn't even notice the water stopped before I looked him over.
His cargo pants were riding low on his hips and a shirt was tossed over his shoulder. He looked shocked that I was already here as he pulled on his shirt before I could stare again.
Like I thought about his room earlier, that wasn't the first time I saw him without a shirt on but this time I knew for sure something was different, and even if I didn't understand what it was for sure, I knew it was getting harder to concentrate.
He stepped away from the bathroom and I had to take a deep breath before speaking.