Natasha tells Wanda and Darcy how she feels about Steve and they encourage her to tell him that she loves him.

"I still can't believe that you ran from the guy. You had such a great date and then you bail on him because he kissed you? Do you know how crazy that sounds?"

"Darcy. Enough." Wanda glared at her friend. "It's obvious that there's more to the story than that, so let her finish what she was saying."

The younger girl took off her glasses and placed them on the table, a guilty expression on her face. "Sorry, Nat. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just a...little confused."

"It's alright, Darce. I'd say the same thing if I were you." Natasha sat on one of the stools around her kitchen table with Darcy and Wanda waiting for her to speak again. Normally, the redhead was at ease when it came to talking with her friends about things, but this was different.

The feelings that Steve invoked in her left her breathless and afraid of the unknown. She'd never felt so drawn to a man before and it scared her out of her mind. That was why she had run from him three days ago. She hadn't even called him, sent him a note or visited him to let him know what was going on with her and she felt very guilty for that.

These were very embarrassing things for her to admit to her friends, however, she knew that her secrets were safe with them. So she told them everything, not leaving one detail out.

Wanda listened silently as she always did, even Darcy, which surprised Natasha because she always had something to say. Once Natasha had gotten all of her thoughts off of her chest, she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them.

The other girls were taken aback by what she had said. It was touching and sweet, almost like one of those romances they all used to be so fond of reading as teenagers. After a moment's silence, Darcy gave Nat a tiny smile. "So...you're in love with him? Are you sure?"

There was no hesitation on Natasha's part when she replied. "Yes. I know it sounds crazy, but yes. I was at his house for six hours, Darcy. We had a little chit chat at first, but after that, we just...starting baring our souls. I honestly feel like I know him as much as I do you guys. I don't usually feel so close to people, much less a person I've only known for a couple of days, and barely talked to, at that. You guys know I'm not the most trusting person in the world, but with Steve, it was...different. I can't explain it." She blushed and fisted her hands on the table.

Wanda and Darcy weren't even sure what to say. They'd never seen Natasha so...enamored of a person before. Steve Rogers must definitely be some kind of special to win her heart.

Wanda touched Natasha's shoulder and squeezed it, encouragingly. "Natasha...since you feel that you love him, you need to tell him. I mean, you told us how you feel and that's great, but you did run out on him mid-kiss. For a guy, that sends mixed signals."

Darcy patted Natasha's hand and gave her a gentle smile. "I agree. Since you're sure of your feelings, tell him. Don't be afraid that you've spoiled things between the two of you. I mean, to be fair, your relationship hasn't really 'started' per se, so you're actually in a great place to patch things up."

"But he might think I'm psychotic because of how I just ran out on him. What girl with half a brain does something like that?" The redhead bit her lip and looked at Darcy, worry etched all over her face.

"Look, I'm not saying that it'll be easy, but you can't go through this, assuming that you know what he thinks about you. From what you've told me and Wanda about last night, it's very possible that he has strong feelings for you, too. In fact...I am certain that he holds you in the same regard."

Wanda and Natasha gave Darcy a curious look.

"Uh, you wanna fill us in?" Asked Wanda.

Darcy grinned and drew imaginary circles on the table, which was an unusually bashful action on her part. "Well...do you remember Steve's friend, Sam?"

Natasha nodded. "Yeah, the one we met at the mall with the cute gap in his front teeth?"

"Mmhm. I don't know if you guys recall, but I gave him my phone number and we went out on a date the next day."

"What?! You never told us this! Darcy, you've been holding out!" Wanda's pinched her friend, half-annoyed, half-excited.

"I know, I know. I was going to tell you both today and surprise you, but I hadn't expected Nat to drop us the 'I love Steve' bomb, so I figured I'd just wait for another time to tell you."

Natasha gave Darcy a sly grin. "How was the date?"

Darcy blushed then, herself. "It was incredible! Granted, it wasn't any romantic love fest like something out of a romance film," - she nudged Natasha at this - "but it was great. We're going out again in two days."

Her two friends began to speak, but she waved her hand to stop them. "I can tell you about it later. Right now, Natasha is the one who needs our attention. Listen, when Sam and I were on our date, we talked about you and Steve a little bit. Sam was telling me how Steve called him, worried that he might have offended you and that he could have caused you to run off because of something he did."

"Oh, but that's not true! It's me who's got the problem."

Wanda chimed in here. "We know. That's why you need to talk to him and set things right. It would be unfair for you to keep the poor man worried like that, thinking that he may have scared you off. He deserves better than that, hon. You both do."

Darcy nodded and held Natasha's chin up so she wouldn't look at the table again. "You know what else Sam told me? He said that even when Steve talked to him about you, he was like a new person. He's new to the relationship thing too, but he really threw himself out there for you because he wanted to impress you. Sam was trying to help Steve come up with some clever way of apologising to you because he feels so bad about your date."

Redness grew on Natasha's cheeks and she breathed deeply. Could that be true? Steve really wanted to make this work? If he did, she'd go over there in a heartbeat and fix things between them.

"Really?" Was all the redhead could say, too overcome by her emotions to say much else.

Darcy just smiled at her and nudged her. "Oh, yeah. This guy is a keeper, Natasha. I've never been more certain of anything in my life. Go get your man."

Wanda also gave her a supportive smile. "You've heard it from your two best friends, so you know we're telling the truth. Go to his house and tell him how you feel."

Natasha's smile was one of excitement as she got off of her stool. She kissed her two friends on the cheeks. "Thank you, girls. I don't know where I'd be without either of you."

"I'd expect you'd be in your bedroom, eating chocolate ice cream and watching Hallmark movies all day, so I'd have to agree with that assessment of the situation." Wanda grinned.

Darcy laughed and gave Natasha a little push. "Well, go on. Stop wasting time talking to us and go to him! We'll lock up and you can text us about your passionate reunion tomorrow."

Natasha didn't take up another second, as her friends told her. She grabbed her tennis shoes, put them on in record time and ran out of her house like her heels were on fire. Wanda and Darcy fondly watched their dear friend race down the road until they couldn't see her anymore.

"I have to admit, that is very touching. How much are you willing to bet that she spends the night?" Darcy said to Wanda with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Wanda just swatted her on the head with a newspaper.