"He loves my imperfections so I tell him that I love him" ~Transviolet, Girls Your Age

K For Kids:

He's definite that he's scared her. Why else would she leave like that? So he sat at her doorstep and recalled the events of the previous day.

*Flashback*

They were lying in the bed, completely clothed. Today they had skipped the hanky-panky and instead watched a movie. Apparently Natasha was a sucker for foreign films. Thus, here they were watching 'The Seperation', an Iranian film. It was grasping, no doubt, but he also gave equal amount of attention to her hair. He loved her wine red hair and their natural curls. She often chose to straighten them and she looked beautiful but her curls were his favourite. Wild and eye-catching, just like her. So as she stuffed popcorn in her mouth and immersed herself in the movie, he ran his fingers through her corkscrew curls.

"I want our daughter to have your hair," spilled out of his mouth before he could stop himself. She stopped chewing on the popcorn and went rigid. "Uh, I mean," he trailed off.

"You want kids?" she asked, her voice strained. Of course he wanted kids, he wanted to build a family with her, it was the dream.

"Someday, yeah." He chooses his words carefully. He doesn't intend to scare her. She doesn't respond for a while. He's definite he's messed up.

"With me?" she asks so softly he almost misses it.

"Yeah." It's like he's walking across a tightrope. A little too clingy, he may scare her off, and a little too casual, she may think it's all a joke to him. To his surprise she doesn't say anything further. They finish the movie, fall asleep next to each other and he wakes up to an empty bed.

*End of flashback*

He had spent the entire morning looking for her and of course, it had been fruitless. He had eventually given up and reached her apartment. He waited till he dosed off.

Natasha climbed the stairs of the building and found the Captain sleeping at her door. The sight caused a stir in her stomach. How long had he been waiting here? She crouched down and lay a hand on his head. His reflexes kicked in and in a moment she was pressed up against the wall with his hand around her neck, capable of snapping it within seconds, but she didn't fight. When he realised who it was, his eyes widened and he retracted his hand immediately. She fell to the floor and coughed.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" he asked, his eyebrows strewn together.

"I'm okay." She looked at him as he looked at the ground. He looked tired, she was tired. "Come in," she said as she pulled out her keys and opened her apartment. Wordlessly, he followed her. Once inside, she asked "What were you doing outside my door?"

"I was waiting for you," he responded while looking out the window.

"Why?"

"Uh, I thought that our last conversation was, you know, I think we should, uh-"

"Steve," she cut him off. He looked at her and immediately looked away. She moved closer to him, their bodies nearly touching. Softly, she turned his face and forced him to look at her. "Why are you so ashamed when I'm the one who ran away?"

"I don't want to lose you," he confessed earnestly. She smiled, this man was too much for her heart, too good to be true.

"You need to know something about me first." They both settled down on her leather couch, her back on his chest, his arms around her waist and their legs entangled. She wanted to feel close to him but she was also afraid of what his reaction would be so she looked away from him. "At The Red Room, when we leave, we get a farewell gift. They make you the perfect spy, by making you incapable of having children."

Theres silence in the room. She doesn't know what to expect. She doesn't want pity, she's aware of that but does she want acceptance? Does she want reassurance, support? The only thing she knows is that she wants his love. As she starts to get lost in her thoughts and begins to expect the worst, his arms around her tighten. He's holding on to her for dear life and his face is buried in her neck. "God, I'm so sorry. I love you, you are so brave and strong. I'm sorry," he whispers, his voice shaky. Was he crying? Why? Emotions get the best of her and tears start pouring down her face.

"Steve, what am I gonna do?" She's definite he won't want her anymore. He wants a family and she can't give that to him.

"What do you mean what are you gonna do?" he asks, she remains silent. He gets up from behind her and she tries not to sob harder. Moments later, he's in front of her, wiping her tears, cradling her head. "Natasha, I still want a family with you. I'm so very sorry that you can't bear children but that makes very little difference to me. I love you, the entirety of you. We can always adopt, there are thousands of children who need loving homes. We'll be fine, I promise."

She is unable to say anything, so she tries to calm down, compose and compartmentalise. "Don't you want kids of your own? Don't you want a woman who's capable of bearing your children?" she manages to choke out.

"No, I want you," he reaffirms. Somehow, that one sentence rids her of all her fears and doubts. And she wants to believe him, so she makes an effort to do the same.