xxDustNight88 came up with the idea to write 28 drabbles inspired by fluffy, romantic prompts that she found for the month of February 2023. After consulting with her and opting not to give my muse - who has been on vacation - a choice in the matter, we talked about me writing a series of break-up drabbles. We all know that life isn't all fluff and romance, so I wanted to support the heartbreak that sometimes happens, especially this time of year. dumplingsjinson compiled a list of prompts meant to inspire "it's not you, it's me" scenarios between characters and posted it to Tumblr.

Once I found the list of prompts that I liked, I reached out to people who follow me on social media as members of my fanfiction Facebook group, followers of my fanfiction page on Facebook, followers of my fanfiction Instagram, Tumblr followers, and people on one of the discord servers I'm a member of to prompt me potential pairings for which prompt they would like to see written.

So, you will see many fandoms if you follow this series on Ao3 from now until the end of the month. There will be some days with multiple stories posted so I can use all of the prompts I found - if the muse decides to cooperate. Or if you just find yourself here for one of the stories because it falls into a fandom or pairing that you enjoy reading. I will apologize in advance for any heartbreak you may find because I have broken my heart many times while writing the stories for this series on Ao3. If you are following me on FanFiction, you will see the stories as individual stories posted throughout the month with the name Falling Starrs before the title of the actual story.

According to Urban Dictionary, a breakup is defined as "when two people have to let each other go. Despite the fact that one of them loves the other one truly. The girl or the guy in your case, decides that the two of you are not compatible for each other. Hopefully the two of the people can remain friends, though that is hard for guys to do, because we hold on. But always remember, there are more than six billion people on this planet. So though you may not want to hear it, the chances of this person being the one, are less than winning the lottery. I know it's tough but you have to move on after a break up.."

I hope you enjoy this heartbreaking adventure that we are about to embark on!

Happy reading!

Love always,

~starr

"He's safe," Natasha whispered, pacing along the length of the cottage as she waited for the little girl to return. She had found out Bruce was seeking refuge in Calcutta after everything in New York. S.H.E.I.L.D. had never stopped tracking him after he disappeared, but there were times that Natasha felt as though everyone had forgotten about him after he disappeared.

There was a rustle at the door of the cottage. Natasha took a deep breath and placed her hand on the holster of her gun. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she took a step forward. From this angle, she had a better line of sight on the door through the entryway of the room she was standing in. She let out the breath she was holding when she saw the little girl come rushing inside.

"He's in here," she pleaded, running towards the room Natasha was hiding in. "Please, you have to save my papa."

Natasha felt a pull at her heartstrings. She hated lying to him, but she knew it was the only way he'd be willing to talk to her. It wasn't going to be easy to convince him to go back. Bruce had every reason in the world to refuse to return to New York. There was a real chance that Fury had been lying to all of them, and they'd all end up trapped in a cage somewhere, never allowed to see the light of day without a leash.

"Where did you -" Bruce froze as he rounded the corner into the room and saw Natasha standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?"

"You know," Natasha laughed, taking a step towards him and reaching out to place a gentle hand on his arm, "for a man who is supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle."

"What are you doing here, Nat?" Bruce asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He took a moment to get a good look at her. She was as beautiful as ever, but she shouldn't be here. He didn't need the reminder of what he had left behind, and he didn't need the reminder that she had broken his heart.

"You aren't even going to say hello, Bruce?" she asked, cocking her head to the side as she offered a smile. "I came all the way to Calcutta to visit you, and the best you can do is ask me what I'm doing here."

"I'm not entirely sure I'm happy to see you," Bruce replied, shrugging his shoulders. "The last time we spoke, things didn't go the way I would have liked to see them go."

The smile fell from Natasha's face as she hung her head. Of course, he would bring up the last time they talked - the moment they said goodbye. "I wasn't trying to hurt you," Natasha said, glancing up at him through her lashes as a strand of hair fell in front of her face. "I'm sorry I fell out of love with you."

"You were never in love with me," Bruce said, shaking his head. He backed away from her until he felt the wall against his back. He leaned up against it and lowered his head, staring at the pebbles on the ground. He focused in on one of them that was lying beside her feet. "You were afraid of me."

"That's not true," Natasha replied quickly, fighting every urge she felt in her body to close the space between him and wrap him up in her arms. "You weren't safe in New York; we both knew that. You were going into hiding - I wouldn't have been able to see you anyways."

Bruce nodded his head slowly, thinking about that night - the softness of her lips against his and the weight of her body on top of his. He was madly in love with her and would have done anything to be with her, but she was the one to convince him to leave. The U.S. Army was ready to arrest him on the spot - all because of the other guy.

"So why are you here now?" Bruce asked, raising a brow as he lifted his head. His eyes met hers, and his heart jumped to life. It was as though no time had separated them, and they were starting right back up where they had left off.

"To bring you home," Natasha said, giving in to the urges and crossing the space between them. She reached up to cup his cheek with her hand, brushing her thumb softly against his cheek for a moment before pulling away. "No one forgot about you after Fury let you leave. In fact, S.H.E.I.L.D. and a few other agencies have known your exact location for a while now. We need your help to find the tesseract."

"That's not why Fury wants me to come back," Bruce said, a smirk pulling at his lips as he shook his head. "He wants to throw me in a cage where I belong so I can be his secret weapon when they need the big, bad, green guy to come out and finish the job."

Bruce could feel anger in his chest as he stared at Natasha. "There's no way in hell I'm going back there to live in a cage, and I'm doing good things here!" he yelled.

Natasha took a step back and pulled her gun out of the holster, aiming it at his chest. "Bruce, don't do this," she pleaded. "I just want you to come home, and don't make me bring in the tactical team to restrain you."

Bruce took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. He laughed as he caught sight of a man with a sniper rifle aimed at him outside of the cottage. "I should have known you wouldn't come alone."

"I wasn't sure how you would react to seeing me," Natasha shrugged, holstering her weapon.

"I'll come back with you on one condition," Bruce replied, taking a step towards her.

"And what's that?" she asked.

"When this is all over, we sit down and have a real conversation about what happened that night," Bruce said, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Deal," Natasha replied, nodding her head. "Let's go home."