Oh boy, this might actually be my favorite chapter that I've written so far. It came out much better than I thought that it was going to when I originally came up with this scene. I hope that you guys like it as much as I do! Please favorite, follow, and review! :)

Natasha returned to Steve's room with a bag in her hands, her pillow tucked under her arm, and a 2-liter of Dr. Pepper. Before she even opened the door, she could smell the saltiness coming off of the butter for the popcorn. Her hands being full, she couldn't get the door open, so she gave it a swift kick once, hoping that Steve would hear it and come open it for her.

"Did you just kick my door?" Steve asked, clearly concerned as he pulled the door open.

Natasha shrugged, "I didn't have enough hands."

"You know, you could have asked for help," Steve replied, grabbing the bag out of her hands.

"I don't need a big strong man to come to my rescue, Rogers," Natasha joked.

"Oh, so you think I'm strong?" Steve gave her a smug smile before pulling his arms up above his head and flexing his muscles. Natasha laughed, though she couldn't help but notice the way that his shirt came up, exposing the dip in his hips from how low his jeans were sitting on them. Stop staring, Natasha scolded herself.

"You wish," she stuck out her tongue and turned around to set the 2-liter on the counter. She tossed her pillow over to the couch before turning around to grab the bag out of Steve's hands. "I'm going to go change and you'd better finish making the popcorn or we're both going to pass out before this movie even gets started."

Steve chuckled, "alright, well you know where my room is," he gestured off towards the left. Natasha took her bag and walked into his room, stealing one last glance behind her to look at him before shutting the door behind her. As soon as the door was shut, she was greeted with the familiar scent of his cologne, already sticking to every surface within the room though he'd only been living there a couple of days. Natasha took a deep breath, relishing in the scent. It was her favorite. She couldn't explain why or how, but every time that she smelled his cologne, she instantly felt more relaxed and safe. She sighed, dropping her bag on the floor. She opened up her bag and dug through it, finding her sweatpants from dance team senior year (which were a bit too big on her) and the shirt of Steve's that she slept in the night before. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and stood there for a moment longer before opening up the door.

Steve was still in the kitchen, pouring the freshly popped popcorn into a bowl. When he heard the door open, he looked up, meeting Natasha's eyes. God, he loved when she looked like this. For all of the things that she looked stunning in, the low back dress that she wore senior year to prom with him, her various dance costumes, her bikini, this was his favorite look. He loved seeing her in his t-shirts, and he loved when she had her hair pulled back so he could more easily admire the features of her face. He smiled.

"Alright, what's the movie tonight?" Steve asked, bringing the popcorn over to the couch.

"I was thinking action," Natasha replied, reaching over to grab a handful of popcorn.

"How about Die Hard?"

Natasha smiled, "Yippee-ki-yay motherfucker."

Steve shook his head, "you're ridiculous, you know that?"

"You love it," Natasha said, leaning against his side.

"Yeah I suppose," Steve replied, throwing his arm around her and giving her shoulder a small squeeze. He expected her to pull away after that, but when she didn't, he didn't question it. They stayed that way for about half of the movie, Steve relishing in the feeling of her beside him every time that she moved slightly to reach the popcorn bowl on his lap. He found himself having a hard time focusing on the movie, instead his mind was occupied with playing out scenarios between him and Natasha. Stop it, Rogers, he thought to himself, she's your friend. He shook his head ever so slightly, as if he was trying to physically clear the thought from his brain.

Natasha tilted her head up to look at him, "you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He looked down at her, tempted to let himself get lost in her eyes. Once he made eye contact with her, he quickly looked back at the screen. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that she hadn't looked away from him, but he pretended to be engrossed in the film.

"Steve?" Natasha said in a small voice after a few minutes, so quietly that he almost wasn't sure that she had said anything at all.

"Yeah Nat," he replied, not allowing himself to look away from the TV.

"We're always going to be best friends, right?"

Steve immediately turned his head, an incredulous look on his face. She had tears brimming her eyes. "What? Are you crazy?" He pushed himself away from her a little bit so that he could turn his body to face her. He put his hands on either other of her shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Of course we're always going to be best friends, Nat." A single tear began to run down her cheek. "Hey, hey, hey, no. Don't do that." He moved his hands to her face, cupping her cheeks and using his thumbs to wipe away her tears, which were falling at a faster pace now. He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her, and allowing her to bury her face into his chest. She began sobbing and he held her tightly, rubbing her back. Seeing her like this was breaking his heart.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, holding her to his chest while she cried, but he didn't care. He'd had a few tears fall, though he was able to stop them before they fell on Natasha's head, which absolutely would have made her feel worse for making him upset. When she finally started to calm down, she moved her head to lay her cheek against his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair, brushing the loose strands that had fallen from her ponytail out of her face.

"Nat," Steve whispered.

"Yes?" She replied, her voice hoarse from crying.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

"With every fiber of my being." He squeezed her in his arms. She hummed.

"Thank you, Steve," she said after a moment.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, Steve still running his hands through her hair.

"Nat?"

"Yeah Steve?"

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but what made you ask that?" He said. She pulled her head off of his chest and looked at him for a moment.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I guess, I'm just scared. Everything's changing, and I don't want to lose you in all of it. I mean, we've been here two days and you're already going on a date with someone. I just don't want us to change."

"How did you know that Sharon and I were going out?" He asked, brows furrowed together.

"I overheard Tony talking about it to Pepper and a couple of the other girls."

"Oh," he replied, "I was going to tell you, I just hadn't gotten-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me Steve. I'm happy for you, I just don't want to lose you along the way." She looked down at her hands, playing with them like she always does whenever something is troubling her.

Steve grabbed her hands in his, "you can't get rid of me that easily, Romanoff." She glanced up at him and saw the boyish grin on his face. She gave him a small smile back. "Come here," he said, holding his arms open for her. She scooted closer to him once more, laying her head against his chest. He kicked his legs out around her and leaned his back against the armrest. He took a deep breath, taking in the melon scent of her shampoo, allowing it to wash over him before closing his eyes.

Steve woke up a couple hours later to the title screen from the movie playing on repeat. He almost didn't realize Natasha was still laying on his chest and might have tried to get up if it hadn't been for the small snoring sounds that she was making. He looked down at her, unable to help the smile that spread across his face. Steve could feel that his leg had gone to sleep but didn't want to wake her up. Her ponytail had pretty much come out of her hair, so he pulled it the rest of the way out before running his fingers through it and smoothing it down out of her face. He drifted off again for a while longer before he decided that he should move her from the couch.

"Nat," he whispered, not really wanting to wake her up. She mumbled but pushed her face further into his chest. "Nat," he said again, chuckling a little bit at her insistence on staying where she was. He began to slide his body out from under her, she groaned, holding on to his shirt. "Come here," he whispered gently. He got his body out from underneath her, scooping her up in his arms bridal style, and pulling her safely against his chest. He carried her into his room, laying her down on his bed.

"Steve," she mumbled.

"Yeah, Nat?"

"I can sleep on the couch, this is your bed, you should sleep here."

He ran his hand along her cheek and she hummed, a smile forming on her lips. "It's okay Nat, I'll sleep out there. I didn't grab your pillow, but you can use mine. I'll just use yours," he replied.

She stuck out her bottom lip, her eyes still closed. "No, Steeviiee," she whined, her voice laced with her own drowsiness.

"Naaatttyyyy," he mocked back as he stood, walking over to leave the room. "I'll see you in the morning."

"No, stay," she said, sounding more awake than before. He turned around and she had propped herself up on her elbows, staring back at him, her emerald eyes shining, even in the dim lighting from his room.

"Nat, I-"

"Please."

Steve took in a big breath, taking an apprehensive step forward, "I don't know Nat, are you sure?"

She nodded without hesitation, "I don't want to be alone, and I don't want you to leave." Steve looked out his bedroom door and back at the couch. He should just say that he'll see her tomorrow, but he really did want to continue holding her. He felt guilty, like he was using her fear to soothe the ache that he was feeling towards her, not knowing that she wanted, needed, this as much as he did. "Just as friends, Steve. It's hardly the first time that we've slept in the same bed," the familiar teasing tone coming back to her voice. He chuckled, thinking back to when they would have sleepovers in elementary school. "Please don't leave me alone," she said once more when he didn't answer her.

Steve sighed, "alright, give me a second," he replied. He walked out into the living room to turn off the TV and the lights, as well as to grab Natasha's pillow. You still have time to stop this, he thought to himself before immediately following that thought with, but I don't want to. He made sure that everything was locked up before walking back into his room and shutting the door behind him. Natasha had commandeered his pillow and pushed herself on her side up against the wall.

"We're going to have to get nice and cozy, Rogers," Natasha said as Steve began to climb into bed.

"Oh no, whatever will I do," he replied sarcastically. He laid on his back and held his left arm away from his body, allowing Natasha to cuddle up against his chest. She wrapped her leg around his and placed her hand just below her head on his upper abdomen. He pulled her as close as he could.

She shifted for a moment before humming contently, "this is pretty good." He laughed a bit, feeling the tension in his body melt away with her cuddled up against him.

"Happy to oblige."

"Goodnight, Steve," Natasha whispered, falling back into her sleep.

"Goodnight, Nat," Steve said back, his own drowsiness sweeping him off into a blissful sleep.