Tony wasn't quite sure what to do. He had Natasha pinned in his embrace but he was fully aware that if she wanted to get away, she could. He desperately wanted her to stay, for this to have meant something to her but he had that sinking feeling in his stomach. Tony had been awake before Natasha had woken up and was enjoying the feeling of holding her in his arms. He had felt her wake and freeze and had shut his eyes, feigning sleep to see what would happen. He had felt her turn over and snuggle closer and had to forcibly stop the pleased grin from invading his face when he felt her pull away from him.

On instinct, he pulled her closer to stop her from going anywhere and then mumbled into her neck. Looking up into her eyes, he realised that she had no clue that he was awake and that she was going to leave him in his sleep.

Natasha looked into Tony's eyes and saw the pain and hurt and was completely shocked. Was that because he thought she was leaving, that she didn't care? Natasha was torn, it looked like he cared but she wasn't sure. She was trained to be wary and not to feel but ...

"Tasha?" Tony prompted. The nickname sounded so good coming from him that she didn't have the heart to correct him, to stop him. She closed her eyes to block out the pain radiating from Tony but he used a hand to lift her face and whispered her name gently again.

"I ... I ... I don't ..." Natasha muttered.

"Why were you leaving?" Tony asked, hurt in his voice and slight anger at her.

"I ... this didn't mean anything to you did it so I was just going to save us the awkwardness and it could all go back to normal."

"What do you mean 'this didn't mean anything to me'? How could you say that?" Tony's voice was raised.

Tony ploughed on. "How can you say that about me? You don't know that? You obviously don't know me at all? Do you think I do this all the time? Well I don't. You're special. This meant something to me, ok. I love you ..." Tony froze when he realised what he had said.

Natasha was also frozen, staring in shock into his eyes as she tried to process what he was saying.

"You know what, forget it," Tony said. He began to move away, Natasha still staring at him in shock. As he reached the edge of the bed, Natasha was startled into motion. She sprung up and grabbed his wrist just as he started to stand. Their eyes met again and she stared deeply into his, trying to check whether he meant what he said.

Tony was just about to pull away when Natasha seemed to find what she was looking for and a shy smile graced her face before she tugged sharply on his wrist. Tony lost his balance from the unexpected movement and fell back onto the bed next to Natasha.

Her next move was surprisingly gentle compared to her last as she lifted her hand and caressed his face tenderly. Tony was taken aback by the love that he saw in her eyes and, as Natasha brought his face closer, she had one last question.

"Did you mean what you said?" Natasha asked, their faces inches apart again.

Tony was shocked slightly but the gentle movement of Natasha's thumb on his cheek made him answer.

"Of course I did, why do you have to ask tha..."

He was cut off by Natasha's lips on his, strongly and firmly and fully of love that took Tony aback completely. When they broke apart to breath, still as close as they could get to each other without actually touching, Natasha spoke.

"I love you too," she muttered quietly. Tony wasn't quite sure if he'd heard correctly.

"Sorry?"

"You heard me Stark!" Natasha said slightly louder, humour in her voice. "I love you Tony. I have done since I was working as your personal assistant."

Tony was shocked at her honesty but responded in kind, a soft, sweet smile on his face.

"I've loved you since the moment you walked into whilst I was boxing with Happy. You're the reason why it never worked out with Pepper, why I dropped the playboy attitude. I love you Tasha, so much. I always thought there was something going on with you and Barton."

Natasha laughed at that. "Clint and I have always been really good friends, he saved me, but there was never anything romantic about it. I promise you."

"And I trust you."

Despite Tony's other suggestions, what?! he was still Tony Stark after all, they got up and dressed after their confessions but they didn't end up going far, repositioning to the couch on the common floor in front of the windows. Curled into each other's embrace, Natasha and Tony sat that way for hours, just enjoying the others presence and the feeling of security and love that the other was radiating. Fears had been alleviated in that early morning sleepy haze and, for now, they were content just to enjoy the fact that the other returned their feelings.

Neither Natasha nor Tony had ever experienced the comfortable domesticity, happy just to sit in the arms of the one they loved in silence. Despite the newness of their confessions and the unknown of the status of their relationship now, as it was clearly beyond the friends it had been before but they hadn't clarified it, they were happy.

Lunch time rolled around, making them leave the peace and tranquillity they had been in all morning to seek out food. After lunch they sat, once again as close as they could get, catching up on various readings and research, neither wanting to really do anything that meant leaving the other.

Light faded to night time and it was getting towards time to sleep when Tony broke the comfortable silence.

"Tash?" he questioned.

She raised her head from her reading, a small smile on her face from the nickname.

"What are we?" he asked.

Natasha bit back the snarky reply that would ruin their bubble that they had been in since the previous night and thought for a moment. Boyfriend and girlfriend sounded so ... well she wasn't really sure but the connection that they shared was much deeper than she had ever experienced. Her only problem was that she couldn't think of anything to explain that. Luckily for her, Tony seemed to understand her lack of a name for their relationship and gave her the softest smile she had ever seen on his face, so full of love and a little bit of hope.

"How about boyfriend and girlfriend for the time being and we'll go from there, yeah?" he suggested.

Natasha nodded and leaned in to give him a kiss, hoping to convey all those things that she couldn't say at the moment but hoped one day she could. If the look on Tony's face when she pulled back was anything to go by then she had most definitely succeeded!

Standing up, Tony tugged softly on her hand that he had been grasping, leading her towards the elevator. When they reached the sanctuary of his room, he leant her a well-worn, old, soft tee and a pair of boxers to sleep in, intentions clear that he just wanted to hold her tonight.

Under the covers, Natasha was close to falling into a peaceful sleep when she heard muttering into her shoulder from the man holding her snugly to him.

When he thought she had finally fallen asleep, Tony whispered quietly into her shoulder, "I love you so much Tasha, sleep tight sweetie."

Quietly, Natasha rolled over and met his surprised eyes. She was going to kill him for that pet name, he was sure of it.

"I love you too Tony, now go to sleep."

Her eyes were soft, belying the teasing hardness of the last part of her statement, before she snuggled deeper into his embrace, something she had stopped herself doing that morning and finally feel asleep. As Tony joined her in a deep and peaceful sleep, a massive grin could be seen across his face.

How they had ended up being the only two Avengers left in Stark Tower, they did know, and they knew that some when soon, the other Avengers would return home because the Tower was now home to all of them, whether they acknowledged the meaning of that or not. They were all one big family that cared about each other, although being the tough superheroes that they were, they would never admit that out loud for now.

How the rest of the situation happened though, neither had a clue, but they were more than happy with it and if they had their way, it would stay like this for a very long time. It had taken a lot for both of them to admit what they had, it was a miracle really. Normally both would have pushed their feelings away and denied everything, losing the one thing that they cared about in the process but that one moment of weakness for both of them had led to something incredible that would hopefully last for their lifetimes. Whether it had been the tiredness that brought their walls, masks and guards or whether the pent up feelings just boiled over, they would never know, but whatever happened, they were very grateful for because they now could spend their time with the person they loved, knowing that they loved them back as well.

Two more chapters to go. They'll be about the rest of the team and how they find out. Hope you're enjoying it. Unbeta'd so sorry for the mistakes