Damn guys! I'm sorry this took forever! I really have no good excuse other than that I had a whole butt load of school stuff…and I was busy going to see the new Thor movie! If you haven't seen it, go see it! There's a FANTASTIC Avenger cameo ;) and Loki is a boss. That's enough reasons to go see it, right?

Chapter 5-A Homecoming Date

When Natasha got to school on Monday she immediately made a run for her art class. Her alarm clock hadn't gone off this morning so she was running really late. She made it into Mrs. Pierce's room just before the bell rang.

"Cutting it a little close today." Steve commented as she took her seat next to him.

"Yeah." Natasha said breathlessly. "I got a late start."

"How was your weekend?" He asked. "Clint said the two of you hung out."

"We did." She nodded. "On Saturday we had lunch in the park, and when he left I met…" She trailed off, remembering what Clint had said about Steve and Bucky's past.

"You met who?" Steve was only half paying attention.

"Uh, James Barnes."

"Bucky?" He said with new interest.

"Yeah, I'd sort of met him last week and then I saw him in the park after Clint left so we talked for a while. He was really nice."

"Really…" Steve furrowed his brow.

"Clint said that you all don't really get along with him." Natasha told him.

"No, we don't. Not anymore." He said. "He's not the same guy I used to know. And I have no right to tell you who you can and can't hang out with, but if you're going to hang out with him, just be careful."

She wasn't sure how to respond to his sudden show of concern, so she simply nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I will."

"Alright everyone, get in your groups." Mrs. Pierce suddenly ordered, interrupting their conversation. "You only have a few days left to complete your projects so I want to see some progress."

The class quickly did as she said and began gathering materials for a full period of work before getting into their groups.

"Good morning." Sharon smiled as she sat down next to Natasha.

"Morning." Natasha smiled back. "How was your weekend?"

"Uneventful." She shrugged. "You?"

"I, uh…" Natasha was about to tell Sharon about the time she spent with Clint but stopped herself when she saw that Bobbi was approaching. "I hung out with my mom. We spent Sunday morning searching for a ballet studio."

"I didn't know you danced. Did you find a place?"

"Yeah, I registered for lessons at a studio in midtown. I take my first class on Thursday."

"That's so cool!" Sharon told her.

"What's cool?" Bobbi asked as she sat down.

"Natasha does ballet and she signed up to take classes at a studio in midtown." Sharon quickly explained.

"Oh. Fun." Bobbi said apathetically.

Natasha glanced at Sharon and saw her shrug, looking just as puzzled as she was about her friend's attitude.

"What did you do this weekend, Bobbi?" Natasha asked, trying to be friendly.

"Well, Clint came over Saturday afternoon and we…well, let's just say things go pretty intense." The blonde shot the two girls a sly smile.

Sharon rolled her eyes and Natasha felt her face flush. She did not want to know whatever it was that Clint did with Bobbi when they were alone together.

"But after that the rest of the weekend was pretty dull." She sighed. "Natasha, Clint says the two of you had lunch on Saturday. How was that?"

"It was great. It reminded me of how things were before I moved." Natasha told her.

"That's nice." Bobbi smiled. "Did you two used to do things like that often?"

"Occasionally." She lied.

"Well, I'm glad you two had fun." Bobbi told her before focusing her attention on her part of the art project.

Natasha stared at her in confusion. She seemed to be a lot friendlier today than she had been last week.

"Clint must have said something." She decided, figuring that there must be a reason for Bobbi's change in attitude. Not that Natasha was complaining. She'd rather Bobbi pretend to like her than make it obvious that she didn't…

That day at lunch, Clint sat next to Bobbi just like he always did and listened to her talk endlessly about things that were happening in her life.

"So, I ultimately decided that the blue dress was a little too bold for a homecoming dance, which is why I think I'm just going to buy a new one when we go out tomorrow." She told everyone.

"Oh, but I really liked the blue one." Pepper told her.

"I don't know, I just feel like I need something fresh." Bobbi said as she turned to Clint. "After all it is our first dance together. What do you think?"

"I think you should do whatever makes you happy." He shrugged.

"Then I'll get a new dress." She finally decided.

Clint glanced across the table at Natasha and found her mindlessly picking at her food, not really contributing to the conversation.

"Hey, Bobs?" He whispered in his girlfriend's ear. "Have you asked Natasha if she wants to go dress shopping yet?"

"No, not yet." Bobbi replied.

"Well now is as good a time as ever." He told her.

"Okay, okay." She sighed before clearing her throat. "Hey Natasha?"

Natasha practically jumped as she was pulled from her own little world.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Would you like to come dress shopping with Sharon, Pepper and me tomorrow?" Bobbi asked.

"Dress shopping?" Natasha wrinkled her nose and glanced at Clint. "That's not really my thing…"

He gave her a serious look and kicked her leg under the table.

"But, I'd love to come. Thank you." She said with a clenched jaw.

"Great! We'll be leaving from school tomorrow so bring some cash." Bobbi told her with a smile.

Natasha smiled back and nodded before returning her attention to her lunch.

When the bell rang everyone quickly gathered their things before running off to their fourth periods.

"I'm giving you a ride home today, right?" Bobbi asked with raised eyebrows.

"Um, yeah. I guess." Clint shrugged.

"Okay! I'll see you after class!" She leaned in and pecked him on the lips, then rushed out of the cafeteria.

He stared after her for a moment and smiled as Natasha came up and punched his shoulder.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"That's for kicking me." She grumbled.

"Oh, c'mon. Bobbi was trying to be nice and you were totally shutting her down. I just want the two of you to be friends." Clint defended himself.

"You know how much I hate shopping." Natasha whined.

"I know, but this could be a chance for the two of you to really get to know each other. Please just go. For me?" He pleaded.

"Fine." She growled, crossing her arms.

"Be optimistic, Nat." He smiled and nudged her shoulder. "Maybe you'll find the perfect dress for the homecoming dance."

"Oh please. I don't even think I'm going." She rolled her eyes.

"Why not?"

"I don't have a date."

"You don't need a date." He told her. "You can just hang out with us."

"Yeah, you and your dates." She reminded him.

"If you're so concerned with going with a date then why don't you just ask someone?" Clint asked as they entered their physics class.

"Who would I ask?"

"Whoever you want. Anyone would be lucky to go with you." He said sincerely.

Natasha hid her face as a blush began creeping into her cheeks.

"Thanks." She mumbled as she took a seat.

Clint followed suit and sat down next to her just as their teacher walked in and began class.

"Alright everyone, I hope you did your homework over the weekend because guess what I've got for you?" Mr. Calvert held up a stack of papers. "A pop quiz!"

The entire class groaned in unison, adamantly voicing their protest as the quizzes were passed out.

"I bombed it. I know I did." Natasha said once the bell had sounded, releasing them from class for the day.

"I'm sure you did fine." Clint said comfortingly. "I did tutor you after all."

"I'm going to fail this class!" She exclaimed, completely ignoring his words of comfort.

"You know what I like most about you?" He asked. "You're optimistic outlook on everything."

"Shut up Clint, this is serious." She sighed.

"I know, and I promise that I'll help you whenever you need me to." He told her.

"Thanks." She said appreciatively. "Are you ready to go?"

"Actually Bobbi is supposed to take me home today." He said. "She could probably give you a ride if you'd like."

"No thanks. I'd much rather walk." Natasha denied his offer.

"But we pass right by your place." He persisted.

"Really Clint, it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow." She waved goodbye before quickly turning to exit the school.

As soon as she'd reached the sidewalk, Natasha looked over her shoulder just to make sure he wasn't following her and sighed in relief when she didn't see him. She honestly did not feel like going home with Clint and his girlfriend, especially since she constantly felt as though Bobbi was watching her out of the corner of her eye. They could deny it all they want, but she knew that something was up. She just hoped it wouldn't impact her friendship with Clint.

"Mom? Are you home?" Natasha asked once she'd arrived home.

"In here, sweetie." Her mother's voice replied from the end of the hall.

She walked down the hall and through the French doors of her mother's office and gasped.

"Oh my God, did someone break in?" She asked when she saw the hundreds of papers strewn across the room.

"No, no one broke in." Her mother told her. "I've just been pretty slammed with work."

"Oh." Natasha said in relief as she bent over and picked up a piece of wrinkled paper and handed it to her mother.

"Thanks." She sighed.

"So, are you working on the project you discussed at your dinner last night?"

"Yes, I am." She muttered in frustration. "You are not going to believe what my lovely coworkers did."

"What?" Natasha asked with interest.

"The project they wanted to bring me in on was falling through and they needed someone to take the blame for it. So, since I'm new in this office they asked me to do it."

"And did you?" Her eyes widened.

"I had to. Otherwise I would have made quite a few enemies, and that is not a desirable position to be in." Mrs. Romanoff told her. "So, now that my boss thinks I'm at fault for the screw up, he's asked me to fix it. I need to give the presentation in three weeks."

"That's not fair! It wasn't even your project!" Natasha exclaimed.

"I know, it totally sucks, but that's how this world works." Her mother shrugged.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" She wondered.

"No, just please stay out of my office and be quiet when I'm working from home, okay? I don't mean to sound rude, but I really need to get some work done."

"Okay." Natasha mumbled as she made her way towards the door. "Oh, mom? Before I leave, I was wondering if I could go dress shopping with some girls from school tomorrow."

"Sure sweetie." Mrs. Romanoff nodded. "Shopping for homecoming?"

"Yeah, although I'm probably not going to buy anything."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't even think I'm going to homecoming."

"Don't you have a date?" Her mother asked in surprise.

"No one has asked me." Natasha shrugged.

"Why don't you just go with Clint?"

"Oh my God, mom! Are you kidding?" She said in exasperation.

"What? You could go as friends." Mrs. Romanoff said innocently.

"He has a girlfriend." Natasha reminded her as she walked out of her office shaking her head.

The next day Natasha found herself walking to school alone once again. She managed to arrive on time today and made her way inside to try and find at least one of her friends to hang out with until the bell rang. However, she couldn't find anyone, not even Clint. So, she settled with leaning up against a wall and immersing herself in a game of Angry Birds to wait out the bell.

Natasha had gotten so focused on her game that she almost dropped her phone when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

"Waiting for someone?" A familiar voice asked.

She looked up and smiled when she saw James's friendly face staring back at her.

"No, I was just trying to pass the time." She told him. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. I saw you standing over here all by yourself and figured you could use some company." He explained.

"Thanks." She blushed, realizing that she must have looked like a total loner.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"Playing Angry Birds." Natasha replied with a sheepish smile.

"Nice." He laughed a little before suddenly becoming a little more serious. "Hey, I was actually wondering if I could talk to you for a minute."

"Okay, sure." She nodded.

"Forgive me if I'm being too forward, but I really enjoyed talking to you in the park the other day and I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to homecoming with me?" He asked slowly.

"Oh." Her eyes widened.

"I mean, if you were planning on going, that is. I just thought that since you're new you might want to go."

"Wow." She said. She wasn't really sure how to respond. Natasha knew how much the guys didn't like James, but she had yet to find any reason to dislike him. He was attractive, funny, charming, and kind. Sure, he'd made some bad choices in the past, but hasn't everyone?

"You know, if you don't want to go it's okay. I wouldn't mind." James suddenly interrupted her thoughts with a defeated look on his face.

"What? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking." She blushed. "It's not that I don't want to go with you, it's more like you said, I'm not sure if I'm going to go."

"Oh." He gave her a small smile. "That's cool. I should probably start heading to class."

"Wait!" Natasha reached out and grabbed his arm.

He turned back around in confusion, only to become more confused when she held out her phone to him.

"Give me your number. I'll let you know if I decide to go." She told him.

"Sure." James smiled and took her phone so he could insert his information into her contacts. "You can call me any time."

"Okay." Natasha said as she took her phone back, her heart fluttering a bit.

Just then the bell rang and everyone began to run to their first periods.

"I'll see you later." She waved to him before turning towards the art hallway.

"Bye." He responded as she walked away with a smile still plastered on her face.

The rest of the day passed quickly for Natasha and it was probably because she'd spent less time paying attention to her classes and more time thinking about James and his offer to take her to homecoming. She was so conflicted as to what she should do. She knew that the guys wouldn't be thrilled she was going with him, if she decided to go at all, that is. Then again, James seemed so sweet and appeared to be the exact opposite of the guy Clint had described to her, and she was finding it hard to come up with reasons to turn him down.

This issue kept popping up in Natasha's mind all day and continued to pester her well into the afternoon during her shopping trip with Pepper, Sharon, and Bobbi.

"Hey, Natasha. What do you think of this one?" Sharon pulled her from her thoughts and held up a pale pink floor length dress.

"It's beautiful." Natasha shrugged, only giving it a half glance.

"You've said that about every single dress that we've picked." Pepper told her as she searched through a rack of strapless gowns.

"I think they've all been pretty good." She shrugged again.

"Oh my God, look at this." Sharon suddenly pulled a gorgeous pale green gown from the rack she was browsing in and showed it to her friends. "Natasha, you would look amazing in this!"

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm going to buy anything today."

"What? Why not?" Bobbi asked.

"I'm not sure if I'm even going to homecoming, so I don't want to buy a dress just to return it." Natasha explained.

"Why wouldn't you go? It's not like you wouldn't have a date." Pepper told her, giving her a sly smile. "Rumor has it that James Barnes asked you to go with him this morning."

"How do you know about that?" Natasha was bewildered.

"So it's true then." Pepper's smile grew. "Are you going to tell him yes?"

"I don't know. Maybe." She said as a subtle blush began to creep into her cheeks.

"What's stopping you?" Bobbi asked. "Please don't tell me it's that stupid grudge war that's been raging between him and the guys since last year."

"Clint and Steve seem to think that I shouldn't get involved with him." Natasha sighed. "I guess that just makes me a bit hesitant."

"Oh, don't listen to them. They're just pissy because of the stuff that went down last year." Pepper rolled her eyes. "I mean seriously, the guy made a couple of bad choices and that somehow means he deserves to be hated for life?"

"It's ridiculous if you ask me. I haven't heard about him doing anything wrong since the whole steroids incident. From what I understand he's actually a really great person." Sharon chimed in.

"That's what I was thinking. I just wasn't sure what I should do." Natasha told them.

"You know what I think you should do?" Sharon walked over and handed her the pale green gown she'd shown them earlier. "Go try this on, then call James and tell him you'll go to homecoming with him."

Natasha stared at the gown that Sharon was holding and sighed. It was beautiful, and the fact everyone had agreed that they thought James was a decent enough guy was very reassuring.

"Fine." She finally said in defeat, taking the dress from Sharon. "I'll do it."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Pepper cheered.

"You're making the right choice." Bobbi told her.

"I hope so." Natasha mumbled to herself as she went back into the changing rooms to try on her dress.

And chapter five is done! I did it guys! And now I'm really tired because it's 2:00am on the East coast… Sorry again that this took so long. I'll try and have the next chapter up sooner, but really there's no guarantees. School is absolutely INSANE this year so I don't have a lot of free time, but I'm trying, I really am! Please don't forget to tell me what you thought! Reviews have been pretty slow the last few chapters and they're what motivate me to keep writing. Basically what I'm saying here is, if you like this story, then review it. Even if it's just one word! REVIEW IT! Okay, that's enough of my begging. Thanks for reading!

P.S. I promise things will start to get more exciting soon. I'm just trying to build things up to make them more intense!