AN: Sorry for the delay

I don't own the Avengers

Chapter 14

Natasha Romanoff

It was start of the week again. As per my usual endeavours I always check the bulletin board to keep me updated to the different school activities. I saw that Pepper has pinned up the teaser poster of the upcoming senior's night party that will happen on December, as Clint has suggested. It seems like Pepper has taken to account Clint's suggestion. Speaking of Clint, I wonder how he is today.

I walked to my Science class hoping that I'll see him there but surprisingly he's still not on his chair at this hour. He's always ahead of me in coming to this class. I wonder where he has been. I settled on my seat shrugging off the thought of Clint. I opened my Science book to keep myself busy while waiting for Mr Coulson, but I cannot focus on studying because I'm worried about Clint. Was something happened to him? Suddenly, Mr Coulson entered the room and collected our home works before starting with today's lesson. He looked a little bit tired maybe because of the party last Saturday but he still manages to deliver a high energy lecture as he always does in our class. Thirty minutes has passed and still no sign of Clint. I shrugged the thought out of my mind and focused in Coulson's lecture.

The bell rang and everyone gradually exited the door. I heard Mr Coulson called my name and asked me to come near to his desk. "Natasha, if you see Clint around the campus, kindly tell him I need to see him in my office, alright?" I nodded at him and then walked outside the hallways. As I stepped out of the room someone called my name, it's Anne from the school publication. "Natasha, have you seen Clint? I need to interview him for the school paper."

"Nope, I haven't seen him today."

"Oh, shucks. Do you know where I can contact him, like his mobile number?" She seemed tense and very agitated; maybe she has a deadline to beat, so I just gave her his number. "Thanks Natasha. Can I ask another favour? Please if you see him today, can you please tell him to go to my office immediately?"

"Sure."

"Thank you again, Natasha."

I traversed the empty corridor aimlessly after Anne walked away. Where to go, where to go? I decided to go to the library but immediately cancelled out the idea because the library is too cold and too quiet to my liking. So I decided to stroll around the whole campus just to kill time.

It is undeniably that today is such a wonderful day. The sun is shining brightly on a cloudless sky. The wind breezing through the open space making the leaves rattle in unison. I hear the school's marching band practicing at this in the field, tuning their instruments to perfection. Two birds flew in front of me and settled on a branch chirping happily.

And then I saw the school's basketball team but obviously Clint's not with them. They said hi to me for formality's sake and then one of them said to me. "Natasha, if you see Clint tell him that we'll have an early practice today at around four in the afternoon." That's the third favour I received today that involves Clint. Where the hell is he anyway?

I saw Bruce sitting on one of the benches reading something. Maybe he knows where Clint is. I walked towards him and greeted him like the usual. "Good morning Bruce. How're you?" I asked him. "May I?" I gestured to sit beside him. "Sure, no problem." He slides sideways, giving me a space to sit. "How're you?" I asked him again. "I'm fine. And you?" he asked back as he tentatively put down what he's reading. "Same old, same old. How's the party? I heard you got drunk." I teased him. I'm never close to Bruce but I feel comfortable talking to him. He's not intimidating as others put it. "Yeah, unfortunately. But I'm glad Clint's there to babysit me. Well before he became drunk as well." He laughed. Clint. "Speaking of Clint, I wonder, how long have you been friends?"

"Well, we've known each other since kindergarten. People didn't believe we're best friends at first because of our opposite personality but I guess we just don't care what others say. Clint's a great friend; he's actually the only person I can truly say to be my friend. But then there's Bobbi, but that's a different story. I remember there's this one time that I really, really want this toy I saw in the store. I told him what it looked like and the name of the store where I found the toy. The thing is I don't have enough money to buy it. I went on and on about it because my parents don't want to buy it for me because they deemed it useless. But when Christmas came, he hand me a package wrapped in a Christmas themed wrapper with a card saying 'To: Bruce, Merry Christmas. From: Clint'. I ripped off the wrapper and opened the box revealing the gift I've been waiting for – a red vintage toy car. I was so happy back then, not knowing where he got the money, since we're still kids then. Next thing I know he's grounded for a whole month." He gave a small laugh at the story, remembering the past. "How much was it cost? The toy car, I mean."

"$20." We burst into laughter at the revelation. "Did he tell you how he got the money?"

"Yes. And he stole it from his parents. I don't know how he did it, but he only admitted that to me when we were in 6th grade." He sighed. "That's why I love that guy, even though sometimes he's nuts and very impulsive but never did I give up on him or our friendship." He gave me a sincere smile, which he rarely gives to people. We sat there for half an hour savouring the silence and enjoying the peacefulness of the surroundings. Bruce resumed to his reading while I hum softly. "Do you know where Clint's whereabouts?"

"He didn't attend your class, did he?" I just nodded. "Maybe he's in the parking lot where students rarely park at the back of the old music room." I mapped out his location in my head. "Right. I got to go, I need to find him, a lot of people are looking for him." Bruce smiled. "Okay. Nice talking to you, Natasha."

"Same here." I began to walk to my destination when Bruce halted me. "Oh, if you find him, please tell him to call me. We have unfinished business to deal with." I nodded and smiled at him.

It's a five minute walk from the bench where I came from to the isolated parking lot behind the old music room, which is now used as storage. I saw Clint's car parked at the said open space, trunk facing the entrance of the parking lot. He's sitting on the hood of his car, smoking a cigarette. "And when did you learn how to smoke?" I greeted him. He just looked at me; his piercing blue eyes connected to mine. "Go away!"

"Is that how you treat a 'concerned' friend?"

"Did Bruce send you here?"

"Yes." He huffed shook his head. He threw the cigarette butt on the ground and attempted to light another one. I grabbed it just in time. "Hey. Give that back." He yelled. "No! You know the rules. Students are prohibited to smoke in school grounds, that's a ground for suspension, Clint."

"Fuck the rules. Give it back to me." He stood up and faced me. "I don't want you to get suspended again, not because of your irrationality." He looked annoyed. "Fine! Have it your way." He let out another stick from his back pocket and lights it. He puffs the smoke and smirked. I threw the crumpled cigarette that I was holding and walked over to him. "Why are you so stubborn, Clint Barton?" I said annoyingly while I try to snatch his cigarette out of his hand. We wrestled on the parking lot for a minute until he unexpectedly dropped it. "Ha!"

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What's your problem, huh? Why are you here? What do you want from me? Oh, that's right. You also want to kiss me, just like everyone else on the internet?" He taunts. I walked over to him and slapped his face as hard as I could. "Will you shut up?" Silence. "I probably deserve that." He said while touching his face. "I-I just want to talk to you." I said meekly. "What do you want to talk about?" His breath smelled alcohol as he speaks. "Are you drinking?" He tensed. "It's none of your business." He walked over to his car, pretending to find something. I followed him and positioned behind him. "Answer me, or else." I raised my arms again. Seeing the threat, he conceded. "Yes. Happy?"

"Not quite." He scoffed. It's now or never. "What happened last Saturday?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What's between you and Hannah?"

"So, you've seen the pictures? I was drunk, okay. I don't know it happened. The last thing I remember is I'm drinking my ass off at the bar, frustrated about the game."

"Pictures? You're frustrated about what?" I asked blankly.

"Uhh… Nothing." He straightened up. "Okay, I know you're here because you want to know if Hannah and I have a thing going on." How did he know that? "It's on the internet. Everybody wants to know the real score. To tell you the truth, we don't. I barely know her and I can now honestly say that she's obsessed with me." He opened a can of Heineken. "So, nothing? I mean you and Hannah, it's nothing, right?"

"Definitely." Suddenly, I feel happy, calm, and contented. I snatched the beer out of his hand and drink it. He sneered and opened another one. "How did you buy these?"

"Just drink. Don't ask." He commanded. Silence took over us until Clint asked. "How about you, is there something going on between you and Steve?" I felt my heart jump at the mention of Steve's name. "Not that I'm aware of. I haven't actually talked to him after last Saturday's party." I'm just afraid that it would ruin our friendship. I hope not. I don't know what to do if that happens.