AN: This chapter is late, and I apologise seeing as it's now after Christmas, but I haven't been at home to upload and I completely forgot to do it before I left. But this chapter is extremely corny and I'm very sorry, but it's Christmas so I hope you can forgive me. So make room for some tooth rottingly sweet fluff.

"Morning beautiful." Steve's soft voice roused her from sleep, pressing a kiss to her temple. His arms were wrapped loosely around her, and she snuggled further into her side, letting out a low groan.

"Why do you have to be so corny?" She mumbled, barely coherent as she woke up.

"My code name is literally Captain America." She couldn't see, because she refused to open her eyes, but she knew he was grinning as he pressed another kiss to her hair. She made a soft noise of content, burrowing herself under the covers and pressing herself further into his arms.

He went quiet for a while, and she'd almost managed to go back to sleep when he spoke again. "Nat?"

"Yeah?" She sighed, the words barely escaping her mouth. She didn't appreciate being woken up, even if it was by Steve. It was way too early.

"Merry Christmas." He was way too excited. She didn't blame him, but she was too tired to be excited about Christmas. "Merry Christmas." She mumbled back, her eyes still closed, unwilling to open them as she begged for the warm embrace of sleep.

"Natasha."

"Yes?" Her eyes snapped open to find his face grinning at her with excitement. She wanted to be mad at him for waking her up, but how could she when he had his boyish grin lighting up his entire face.

"Do you wanna get up?" He asked, pressing kisses to her neck in a play to get her more awake. "Five more minutes." Her eyes slipped closed again, not pushing him away but she desperately wanted more sleep.

"But Nat…" He whined, sucking on her pulse point and trailing kisses along her shoulder and neck.

"Five minutes Steve." She buried her face in the pillow, sighing when he moved away letting her get her much needed sleep. She loved him, but she loved sleep more.

"I made coffee." He said, offering a cup of the offending liquid.

"Why didn't you open with that?" She chuckled slightly, finally sitting up and taking the cup. She took a sip before pressing a kiss to his lips. He could taste the coffee on her lips, pulling her back to him when she pulled away. He couldn't resist capturing her lips again, biting her lower one slightly as she moaned into his mouth, deepening the kiss. "What time is it?" She asked between kisses causing him to pull back and rest their foreheads together.

"It's almost seven." He grinned at her sheepishly as she pulled away groaning. "Steve, it's too early."

"But it's Christmas." He made a compelling point, and she couldn't help but grin at him, snuggling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. "You're lucky you're cute."

"Can we open our presents now?" He asked, unable to contain his excitement whilst pressing a kiss to her hair.

"I don't think I have a choice, do I?" She rolled her eyes fondly, shifting away form him to relax back on the pillows and drink her coffee.

"Nope." He laughed getting up off the bed and opening his underwear draw, rifling through it.

"Rogers, I swear if you're trying to find a ring…"

"I'm not giving you a ring Nat, don't worry, I don't have a death wish." He smirked at her, finally finding her gift. It was a small box that looked suspiciously ring sized, but his assurance that it wasn't a ring calmed him down. Still, she couldn't help but tease him about his words.

"So marrying me would be like dying?" She asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

"I…you're impossible." He laughed, looking at the grin on her face. "Besides, if I were to get you a ring, I wouldn't be stupid enough to hide it in my sock drawer."

She gave him a wide smile, mainly because she knew he was that stupid, and he knew it too.

"I put your present under the tree. Can you get it for me?" She gave him her best puppy dog eyes, causing him to sigh. "The things I'll do for a beautiful woman." He muttered, grabbing the box from under the tree with his name on.

"Awww, you think I'm beautiful? I'm such a lucky girl." She laughed as he joined her back under the covers, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"I think you're perfect." He murmured, resting his forehead against hers, their lips touching slightly.

"And I think you're way to happy to be awake this early." Her eyes fluttered shut, a relaxed bliss clouding over her. "Now, open my present first." She said happily, having woken up from her coffee and pulling away from him. He opened the wrapping carefully, trying to keep it in all one piece.

"Oh come on old man. It's like you're asking for all the age jokes." She laughed, trying not to tear the wrapping paper off for him. It wasn't her fault he was going at a snail's pace.

"Patience is a virtue Natasha." He chastised lightly

"And I'm not very patient. You know that." She pulled his face gently, bringing their lips together again. He finally finished unwrapping it when they pulled away from each other, frowning slightly when he saw it.

"You don't like it?" She thought she'd actually found him a present he'd want, but she was clearly wrong. No doubt, he'd gotten her something perfect and she'd messed up her present to him.

"I love it Natasha. I just…how d'you find it?" He asked, looking at her sincerely. She glanced down at the old book in his hands. She'd managed to track down where some of his belongings had gone after the war, most were just in a storage locker and had been returned to him as soon as he came out the ice, but she remembered him talking about his mother's cook book and how he wished he had a copy of it. Needless to say, she'd spent the last three months following any leads she could to find it. "Oh, I talked to the guy where all your other stuff was. Said he took it cause the recipes were so good but he happily gave it back to me." She lied. Steve didn't need to know how much effort she'd gone to. He didn't need to know how much time she'd spent trying to make him happy.

"Thank you." He said genuinely. He wasn't about to call her out on her lie, he knew how much trouble she'd gone through to find it, and he was eternally grateful for it. She blushed slightly as he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, smiling fondly at him.

He passed her his gift, watching as she tore off the wrapping paper. "This better not be a ring." She threatened lightly once again, enjoying teasing him.

"I promise, it's not. Now open it." She obeyed, slowing opening the lid to the velvet box. She saw a charm bracelet with three charms on, causing her to gasp slightly. "Steve, it's beautiful." She said, admiring it in the box. There was a small dainty spider, a small silver version of Steve's shield and a N. It was breathtakingly beautiful…No, it was more than that, it was perfect.

"Only the best for my girl." She rolled her eyes at him fondly, kissing him gently. "I love it. Thank you."

Her lips were soft as he captured them once again and his hand came up to cradle her face, each caress loving as his thumb swiped over her cheekbone. "I was gonna get an S as well, but I wasn't sure if that was a bit egotistical."

"I would've loved having an S." She pressed another kiss to his lips, smiling into his mouth. "I love you so much."

"I love you more."

Later that morning they'd peeled themselves out of bed to join the others grouped together on the couches in the common area. Natasha had curled herself into an armchair with Clint resting on the arm, letting her rest her head on his leg. None of them had bothered to get dressed, all of them in some sort of Christmas pyjamas that Tony had brought for them all. The man in question was currently giving out all the presents under the tree, giving Natasha a small box and a bag before moving onto someone else. She already knew they were off Clint and Sam seeing as she hadn't talked to anyone else about exchanging presents.

"Which one's yours?" She asked Clint, lifting her head up and pointing to the objects in her lap. He pointed to the small box, shifting so he slid down into the armchair with her, and though they were squished, it was large enough for the both of them.

"Merry Christmas Tash" Clint smiled at her as she unwrapped it. She slowly opened it to see a small charm. It was two crossed arrows in a dainty silver similar to the ones on the necklace he'd gotten her years ago.

"How did you know?" She asked Clint, looking down at her bracelet, the charm identical in style to those already there.

"I have my methods Tash."

A few weeks previously

"Clint I need help" Steve said, pulling him out the kitchen. "What do I get Nat for Christmas?" He panicked. The date was looming and he was stuck for ideas, hence why he was asking Clint. This was a last resort, he wanted to get her something that he'd thought of out of the bottom of his heart, but he'd spent weeks trying to rack his brain for anything she'd ever said to give him a hint.

"Why are you asking me? You're the one dating her." He complained. "I was going to ask you the same thing. I ran out of ideas two years ago, I've been running on fumes."

"You've known her longer." Steve argued.

"You've seen her naked" Clint argued back. Steve let out a small chuckle before quipping back, "So have you."

"Not on purpose." Clint defended, which was true. But having been partners for over ten years, they'd found themselves in many small and cramped rooms where the bathroom door didn't even lock.

"So you don't have any ideas?" Steve asked him, to which Clint only shook his head. "The woman is unbuyable for unless you get her weapons. And she has enough of those."

"And I refuse to buy her weapons. D'you know long it took me to convince her we didn't need a gun kept in the back of the toilet?" Steve laughed at the memory. They'd spent hours upon hours going through the apartment with him asking if it was really necessary to hide a knife in a ketchup bottle.

Clint perked up, seemingly remembering something. "She mentioned something a few years ago, it was probably a passing comment. Hell, she probably didn't even think I was listening, but it might be a start."

"Lead the way."

They were stood outside a jewellery shop, looking at a collection of flashy rings and necklaces. Steve didn't think any of it exactly suited Natasha's style, but when Clint pointed at a piece tucked in the corner he knew it was perfect. A small silver charm bracelet that was overshadowed by all the glittering jewels, and looked like it had been forgotten. In fact, the more he thought about it, it probably had been if it was still there after all these years.

"It's perfect Clint." Steve told him, awed at the simplicity that was perfect for Natasha. "Come on, let's go in."

"Are there any other charms available?" He asked the lady helping them. There were a lot of charms available in the store, but none of them were right, and he wanted her gift to be perfect.

"It's getting close to Christmas, so it may be more expensive to insure they arrive before then, but we can do custom charms. But you'd have to order them today."

"You got some ideas Cap?" Clint asked, to which he smirked, thinking of a perfect couple of charms.

"Yeah, a few. And I think I figured out what you can get her for Christmas."

"Steve saw that charm in the shop and he said I should get it for you." Clint's entire confession had been whispered into her ear, but she had noticed Steve and Sam migrate over to them to listen in.

"Thank you. Both of you." She looked over to Steve, smiling at both him and Clint, attaching the charm to her bracelet that was hidden under her jumper.

"There's another chapter to this story." Steve told her, grinning at Sam who had sat on the opposite arm of the chair to Steve. They were all squished up, but none of them really cared.

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows at them, sending them all a small smirk.

"Open my present." Sam said, picking up his present and forcing it into her hands. She did as she was told, and when she found an identical box to Clint's in the bag a small chuckle escaped her lips.

"You guys really collaborated on my present huh?" She couldn't hide her entertainment, which caused all the boys to smile.

"You really have no idea how difficult you are to buy for." Sam laughed, nudging her arm slightly. "Just get me a new knife or something." Clint raised his eyebrows at Steve, clearly sharing a joke that neither Natasha nor Sam understood. "Open the damn box Nat."

She clicked it open, seeing a pair of wings, presumably based of a falcon. "Thank you. These are all perfect."

They let a comfortable silence reign over them, only interrupted when Skye cut through everyone's conversations.

"Wait, there's one more present" She crawled out from underneath the tree as Sam and Steve got off the arms of the chair and sat on the floor. "Who's it for?" Steve asked, and everyone nodded along.

"Uhh, it doesn't say. Probably why it was left there."

"Perhaps I can clear things up." Tony declared, getting up and taking the box off Skye. He tossed it around in his hands before sitting back down next to Pepper. He seemed nervous, and it immediately became obvious why when he slid off, kneeling on one knee and facing Pepper.

"Pepper Potts, you are the most amazing person I have ever met. You put up with me, which can't be said for most people and I'm so lucky that I have you. I can't imagine living my life without you, mainly because I'd probably destroy the earth without you to stop me, but regardless. Marry me Pep."

Pepper didn't say anything for a tortuous few seconds in which everyone waited with bated breath. They could barely imagine how it felt for Tony.

"Yes." She breathed out, and Tony's face lit up in a massive grin, taking her hand and sliding the ring on before kissing her passionately.

"Did you know about this?" Steve asked Natasha quietly. "No, why?"

"You've made so many proposal jokes recently, maybe because it was on your mind." He shrugged, making an impassive face.

"It's always on my mind Steve." She admitted softly, and he smiled at her. "In a good way?"

"Yeah, I think so."

AN: If you have any ideas that you desperately, or not so desperately want incorporated into this story, please let me know and I'll try to write them in. I hope you enjoyed, please follow, favourite and review. Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated.