Author's Nte:

Thank you so much for an amazing response on the last chapters! And I absolutely loved how many ideas were given! I really appreciate them! And if they aren't used, then I'll just apologise now!

Thank you to the reviewers for the last chapter: MahhKayyLahhBarton; Guest Cruella; KnowInsight; Halle; Princess2016.

I hope you are all well!

Natasha still had mixed feelings about the move and wasn't completely sure how she felt about the whole situation. No, that was a lie - she knew exactly how she felt about it, but it would not be polite to say as much. She would rather put on the facade that she was unsure about her feelings in general than admit them to anybody else, including Clint.

Clint had always been one of the people who Natasha was more than likely to tell things to, however, the second it was about him or any information that could make him uncomfortable, distressed or upset, she closed down. The long undercover mission at Stark Industries couldn't have come at a better time - it gave her chance to avoid Clint and the whole situation.

Unfortunately, though, the mission was over and Clint was still moving, both home and job location. This meant she did have to deal with it directly, and she had almost thoroughly screwed up when she had asked him if they should break up. In all honesty, that would have been a lot easier for her, a clean slate - she'd done it before.

Natasha didn't know how to do a long distance relationship! Hell, she wasn't even sure she was doing the close distance relationship thing correctly! Or if they were officially in a relationship - although, she was pretty sure they were.

One thing that Natasha had figured out during the relationship with Clint was that she was clueless about relationships - even though she had been married before. Somehow, the relationship with Clint was a lot more complicated and peculiar than her previous one with Alexi - and she was working with the KGB at the time. She needed to remedy that, needed to open up in a whole new way and open a channel of communication between them which would enable them to not only continue their relationship but develop it even more.

At least they would be able to work together without having to work directly together - that could be a nice development to see how they stand together.

Natasha ducked in through the back door, disabling the alarm temporarily before activating it again. It wasn't very glamorous, the way she snuck in and out, but the others still didn't know how she did it - so that was fun. Her ears perked up when she heard a rather strange noise - somebody was singing.

Usually, she would be instantly alarmed at the unfamiliar sound - however, something in her recognised the voice. Stepping through the empty house silently, becoming aware that the song being half sung, half hummed was Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud'. She perched at the edge of the kitchen, with a full view of Clint singing to himself in the lounge. It was an oddly relaxing situation, although, she had to wonder why she'd never heard him sing to his children with an amazing voice like that.

"Take me into your loving arms, kiss me under the light of a thousand stars…" He hummed, then paused and looked over at her, looking mildly surprised, before smiling widely and going over to her. "Place your head on my beating heart…" He took her hand and led her to the center of the empty room before twirling her as he continued to sing.

She instantly allowed herself to fall into his rhythm, following his lead as they danced slowly and intimately. It had been a long time since she'd danced with anyone this way. She twirled again before being pulled back and pressed to him, and as they rocked back and forth she leant her head forward to rest on his shoulder with a content sigh. She wasn't a sucker for the mushy kind of romance, but this… she could get used to this. Soon she was singing along with him - she didn't know the song very well, but she loved the way their voices harmonised. Not that she'd say that out loud; that was distinctly mushy-sounding. She stopped before him and just memorised his voice.

"... We found love right where we are…" He finished, voice fading to a low hum as they slowly ended their dance.

"How is that the first time I've heard you sing?" She asked after a few minutes of enjoying the silence.

He shrugged. "It's hard to come up with a reason to sing on a mission." He replied teasingly.

Natasha let out a semi-sarcastic laugh, whacking his arm lightly. "Shut up," she muttered light-heartedly.

"But I thought you liked the sound of my voice!" Clint protested, sounding mock-offended.

"I've heard better," Natasha teased, not even pretending to be serious as her lips were turned up.

He crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. "Maybe that's why you've never heard me sing before." He stated indignantly, although he looked to be fighting a smile.

Natasha chuckled, lightly pushing his arms down away from his chest before holding him closer and swaying to the imaginary music. "Hum to me."

"I dunno… maybe we should ask one of those better that you've heard…" He teased, wrapping his arms around her.

She looked around with pursed lips. "You're the only one here… I don't mind settling."

Clint pretended to think for a good two seconds before picking up a tune and swaying to the music lightly, taking the lead once again.

Clint walked through the house at a slow pace, knowing he needed to get on the road soon but unable to just leave without doing one final walkthrough. They hadn't lived there for long, but there were still so many memories they'd made in this house. They'd come here a broken, incomplete family and were leaving it with hearts that had mostly healed, and with the chasm filled just enough by Natasha's presence. It was in this house that he had come to realise just how much he loved his partner.

While living in this house, Clint had experienced what it was like to be a normal, apple-pie dad. His kids had attended public school, had made friends, and they were free to go out and do things without fear of being recognised. His kids could brag about his 'job' to their classmates and go to birthday parties and field trips, and he could go to parent-teacher conferences and hear his kids' teachers praise the intelligence his kids had in excess. He'd never thought he'd get to experience something so mundane, and yet something still so rewarding and unique.

He paused outside of Cooper's room, where he'd spent many nights comforting both children when he would find Lila, in tears and missing her mother, had climbed into bed with her equally heartbroken brother. Many tears had been shed together in this room. That was something he would never miss.

He made his way downstairs and toured the kitchen, remembering all the meals he'd put together with Natasha, all the nights he'd spent multitasking between getting dinner made and helping the kids with their homework. In the living room memories of movie nights, playing video games and reading to his kids came to mind, making him smile. He was gonna miss this place.

Still, the pull to return to their original home was getting stronger by the minute. It was time to go.

After locking the front door behind himself, Clint climbed into his car and drove off without looking back.

Cooper and Lila were staying at a friend's house for the next two nights while Clint would head to the farmhouse, unpack the necessities and get it all ready for when they arrived. He was also planning on getting the nanny situated beforehand.

The drive was only four hours, but it felt like it was taking forever and he began to wonder if they'd moved even farther than he'd thought originally. But several glances at the clock confirmed that it had only been an hour and a half. When he finally did pull onto the gravel driveway, his heart was pounding for reasons he couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was just seeing the house where he'd spent most of his married life in, or maybe it was because he hadn't laid eyes on the place in a little over a year. Memories began to assault him as he slowly drew closer and finally parked the car.

"Well, let's see how dusty it is," he said to himself as he worked up the will to get out of the car. He'd hired a little old lady to keep the house in general working order so it wouldn't be completely abandoned, but he was certain it would definitely need some cleaning up.

The front porch creaked and groaned as he went up to the front door, and he made a mental note to reinforce it later so nobody would fall through - he had a lot of his old renovating work to do, he could already tell.

The house was dark, and when he opened the door he was hit with a wall of scents along the lines of dust and an elderly woman's perfume. It smelled like he had come to a nursing home. He flipped on the lights and began to wander around, taking in the sight of his beloved home, untouched for the most part. He'd missed this place.

Several framed photos hung along the walls, each showing images of either a much younger-looking Cooper and Lila, Clint and/or Laura, or the whole family together. At the sight of Laura's smiling face, his lips turned up in a small smile as well. Even in photos, her smile was contagious.

In the living room - which had just recently been vacuumed, he noted - he found several pieces of old furniture, well-worn from movie nights, snuggling and, much longer ago, rocking fussing newborns back to sleep. The pictures lining the walls in here were of baby Cooper and Lila, including one of Clint holding Cooper for the first time and Laura feeding a gurgling Lila a spoonful of mashed peas. Once again, Clint found himself smiling at the memories, a bittersweet feeling rising in his chest. Oh, Laura.

The kitchen was completely empty save for the bigger appliances, as was the dining room. The bathrooms were bare as well, and the bedrooms were only distinguishable by the colours of their walls. Just waiting for the things that made them work to be placed inside.

He went out to the garage to find all of their boxes from the other house - he'd had them brought here the day before. Sighing, knowing he has lots of work ahead of him and wanting the house to be home for the kids when they arrived, Clint picked up the first box and began the process of sorting through its contents.

Thank you very much for reading!

It was only now that I realised how short this chapter was, but it still does exactly what I wanted!

Happy Novemeber.