Natasha wants to date Steve and tries everything to get him to ask her out.

Natasha always got what she wanted. It always had been this way and she always knew how to get her way. But then she set her eyes on Steve and everything changed. She wanted him and tried lots of things to get him but nothing worked. She wanted Steve to take her on nice dates and sent him pretty much everyday signals but he just didn't ask her! Yes, she knew that she could just ask him herself but just once in her life she wanted that the cute and nice boy asked her out. But he didn't and she tried everything!

She asked him to help her move furniture because men loved to think that they were needed by women and of course he helped her because Steve was a kind man but he didn't ask her out. And when she arched her back sexily off the couch he just asked her if her back hurt!

She made sure to wear lots of cute summer dresses around him and she did catch him looking at her legs but he didn't ask if they wanted to go on a date. She made sure to smile at him a lot and play with her hair when he was around but Steve didn't seem to get her signals.

She dragged him onto the dance floor when the whole gang went to one of Tony's clubs but as it turned out he was a bad dancer and only whipped on his feet. And he looked down right scared when he saw how the others were grinding their bodies at each other. But he did grab her waist and spun her around when another guy tried to dance with her, so that was something.

She asked Steve to draw her which he immediately agreed to (it almost seemed like he wanted to do that for ages) and she posed a whole afternoon for him and the drawing was truly amazing and she thought there was a moment where he would ask her out but no of course he didn't.

Really what did a girl around here had to do to get ask on a fucking date? She wanted the whole dating experience with the guy picking her up, dinner and movie, walking through Central Park, she wanted to get walked to her door and then get a good night kiss. And she wanted Steve to be the one who would take her on first real date. Truth was she never really was on one and she only realized that she wanted a real date when she noticed that she had feelings for Steve.

He should feel fucking honored that she admitted to herself that she felt more for him than friendship! And the thing was she knew that Steve liked her too. She knew how to read people and the signs were all there! Yet he didn't do anything! Why?

Her next plan had been to top it up a notch and try to appeal to his visual senses more. She knew that Steve came to the roof of the tower frequently when the weather was good to draw. So she chose a bikini that showed off her body and he did stare at her when he saw her and clearly liked what he saw but he didn't ask her out nor did he put sun screen on her back when she sweetly asked him to. He just stumbled something out about having to meet Tony and practically ran away. Great! Okay maybe that was a bit too much for him. He did come from a different era where women weren't so forward.

She was so desperate that she actually asked Clint for advice but all he could come up with was that she should break into his place and wait for him naked in his bed. That would probably end in sex and she wanted to go on a few romantic dates before that happened. Well, it was more likely that Steve would run away than join her in his bed. And she wasn't that desperate yet to try Clint's idea.

She didn't had the time to think about ways to get Steve to give her what she wanted because Fury needed her for a mission. She told Clint her location like they always did to get the other one out if they needed evac and she left the tower in the early morning when it was still dark outside. She thought about saying goodbye to Steve but decided against it. She practically threw herself against him in the last weeks and he probably needed a break from her. She infiltrated a human trafficking ring in Singapore in the next two weeks and helped bring them down. It felt good to get the people out of their clutches and she was proud of herself. She took a regular flight back to New York and kept looking for Clint at the airport because he promised to pick her up but the dude didn't show up. She groaned and rolled her trolley to the exit. Looked like she had to take a cab to the Tower. She was about to walk to one of the waiting cabs when a hand suddenly covered her own on the handle of her trolley. Did someone really try to take it away from her? She wanted to ram her elbow into the thief's chest but he caught it. Surprised she looked around and Steve was behind her.

He pointed at her ears. Right, she had headphones on. She pulled them off her head.

"Hey, Nat. I've been calling your name for quite some time now." He laughed. "I thought you were ignoring me."

"Sorry!" She let him take her suitcase.

"Barton couldn't make it so he sent me to pick you up. I hope that's okay."

"Of course."

They walked to the airport parking lot where one of Tony's SUV was waiting for them. She expected Happy to be sitting in the driver seat but no Steve drove himself and she had to smile to herself. She didn't know why that made her so happy. He told her on the drive to the Tower what happened in the last two weeks and apparently Tony and Bruce burned the lab down. She couldn't say she was surprised by that. Steve stopped at a drive-thru because he insisted that she needed something to eat and she could barely keep her eyes open while she ate her muffin in the passenger seat.

"Nat?"

She blinked her eyes open. Did she fall asleep? "Huh?"

"We're here."

"Okay." She stumbled out of the car. The long mission, the flight and the jet lag were taking their toll on her body. She leaned against the elevator wall and barely noticed how JARVIS welcomed her back. She also didn't really notice how Steve picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. Did he really kiss her forehead before he left or was that already a part of her dream?

She didn't see Steve in the next days because he'd gone after a lead on Barnes. Murdock needed her help with something and she ended up going on a fake date with some rich guy who had ties to the Russian mob. She hated the irony of it, she wanted for months to go on a date and here she was on one with some gross dude who didn't even try to hide how he hoped the night would end. As if she would let that slimy guy get under her dress. Murdock got what he needed and she left the restaurant but not before she poisoned the guy's drink. He sold young girls into sex slavery so it wasn't like he didn't deserve what was coming for him. She took her high heels off when she got into the elevator and told JARVIS to take her to the common floor. She wasn't tired yet and wanted to play one of Tony's video games. Steve was in the common kitchen drinking a smoothie when she walked in.

"Hey! I didn't think you were already back. Any leads on your friend?"

He shook his head. "No. But what else is new."

"You'll find him. I know you will."

He gave her a small smile. "Thank you. I think I needed to hear that."

She smiled back because she always had to when he was around.

"Did you go out?" He pointed at her dress. "You look great by the way. I mean you always do."

"Thanks. Someone needed a distraction."

"I'm sure it worked!" His eyes wandered over her body. This is the time to ask me out, Rogers! But of course he didn't and she huffed. "You okay?"

She wanted to yell at him but didn't. She did have some dignity after all. "Yup." She said instead and left to get to living room to play some video games. Steve sat down next to her when she saving a princess from an evil troll. She threw a controller into his lap and changed the game to Mario Kart. She leaned to the side every time there was a turn in the road and one turn was especially sharp and she leaned into it again but lost her balance and landed with her face in Steve's lap. Fucking fantastic! She would download every virus into JARVIS framework if he didn't delete the security footage of that. Steve froze and she wished she somehow learned the ability to teleport. She had to put her hand on his knee to get her face out off his crotch.

"Sorry!" She never had been so embarrassed in her life before.

Steve's face was only a few inches away from her. When did that happen? "It's okay." Then he closed the gap between them and brushed his lips against hers. Her brain stopped working and her lips automatically moved against his. She should have fallen with her face into his lap ages ago! Steve broke the kiss first and caressed her cheek with his thumb. She still had her eyes closed and when she opened them he was smiling at her. And then she did something she really didn't think she would do after they finally kissed. She freaked out, jumped up, threw the controller against Steve's chest and bolted out of the room. She was this close to Steve hopefully asking her out and she ran away? What the fuck was wrong with her?

She quickly ran to her floor and got out of her dress and jumped in the shower. Would Steve have asked her out and she blew it by running away? Did he just want to kiss her and nothing more? No, she was sure he liked her too. She got into a hoodie and yoga pants after her shower and didn't bother to dry her hair. She had to fix this before Steve would lose his interest in her. She ran away because she was scared that it would now get serious between them, didn't she? Maybe that was the reason he didn't ask her on a date? She realized that she could probably asked herself a thousand questions or she could confront herself and Steve. She walked back to the common floor but Steve was gone.

"JARVIS, where's Steve?"

"On his floor, Agent Romanoff."

She took the elevator to get to Steve's floor and rang the door bell and prayed he would open the door for her. There was a chance that he was mad at her and didn't want to see her.

But Steve did open the door.

"Hey. Can I come in?"

"Sure." He stepped aside and she let herself in.

"I'm sorry for earlier."

"For the kiss or running away?"

"For running away." She sighed and looked up at him. He didn't look mad more confused. "Why aren't you asking me out?"

"Because you told me when I started at SHIELD that you don't date. You said you don't date at all. And I don't want anything casual with you. I want to take you on dates and hold your hand and plan a future with you but you made it perfectly clear back than that you weren't interested in those things. I'm sorry I kissed you. I got weak."

She stared at him with wide eyes. She did say that to him when she tried to find girls for him and he asked her why she never went on any dates. Back than she meant it but not anymore. "I changed my opinion on that topic because of you."

"Yeah?"

She nodded and Steve smiled at her. "I know it's late but there is this diner that makes the best apple pies in the whole city and they're still open. You wanna go there now?" He brushed her hair behind her ear. "I don't think I can't wait until tomorrow to ask you out and take you on a date."

"I'd love to go there with you." She remembered that she was still in a hoodie and yoga pants. "I should probably change first."

"You don't have to. You look beautiful in everything."

She smiled and Steve got a kiss for that statement.

Her first real date was sharing an apple pie with Captain America in a 50s themed diner and it was perfect. Steve walked her to her door and gave her a goodnight kiss and asked her to take a tour with him on his bike tomorrow.