Chapter Twenty Two: Full Circle
Shay wasn't afraid to admit, to herself at least, that she was worried, Clint had convinced her hours earlier to spend the afternoon with Pepper, Natasha, and Maria; this was the longest they'd been apart and not contactable.
She'd been reluctant, to say the least, at times she wasn't sure she fit in with the other women, Pepper was classy, Natasha was, well the only word or rather abbreviation she could think of was BAMF, and Maria, well after the make shift apology Maria didn't seem too bad, though should could be just as scary as Natasha at times.
So when Clint had told her that Pepper was arranging for them to get together and have lunch followed by shopping Shay had been adamant that she wasn't going, that was until he backed her up against a wall of his apartment and thoroughly ravished her, it'd been as she was slowly coming back to reality that he'd requested she go as he had some things he needed to get done.
It probably did not bode well for her that it was barely a month into their relationship and Clint already knew how to get her to do precisely what he wanted simply by using his body, she'd made a mental note to try and work on that, though the odds were good the same trick would work in reverse.
The restaurant they'd gone to, which Shay wasn't even going to try to pronounce the name of, was definitely somewhere she'd never have even considered going, it was only Pepper's insistence that the meals were wonderful and that Tony was paying for it that had convinced her to even set foot inside the extravagant dining room.
Shay had felt uncomfortable and slightly under dressed, while Pepper, Natasha and Maria had varied meals such as Lobster and Sushi while drinking wine and champagne, she'd stuck with a simple garden salad and sparkling water.
When they'd left the restaurant to embark on the shopping trip, Shay had found out that apparently Pepper, Natasha and Maria frowned upon the fact that her wardrobe consisted almost entirely of jeans, yoga pants, flannel shirts, t-shirts and tank tops.
Shay lost track of the time while in and out of the dressing room, though she had to admit that Pepper, Natasha and Maria had excellent taste; she'd been given things from business suits and slacks to dresses to try on. Perhaps it was the quality of the clothing – after her first squawk of protest Pepper had banned her from looking at price tags – but everything seemed to look amazing on her. She tried to protest, but she had the sneaking suspicion that Pepper bought quite a lot of things and ordered them sent back to the Tower while Shay was distracted in the change room.
While she didn't normally wear dresses, unless absolutely necessary for the like of awards ceremonies that Tyler would often drag her to, she'd absolutely fallen in love with a little black mini skater dress with a sweetheart neckline; when she'd stepped out of the dressing room Natasha had cocked her head to one side, looked her over from head to toe, and walked off only to return a couple of minutes later with a pair of heeled black ankle boots.
Upon returning to the tower Pepper had insisted they all come up to Tony's apartment for drinks. Shay had made a detour by Clint's apartment first to stash her shopping bags.
She was currently curled up on one of the large armchairs with a glass of orange juice, while Pepper and Maria shared one of the couches, while Natasha claimed one of the other armchairs.
"So out of curiosity, did all the guys have things to do today? Or are they all helping Clint plot something?" her gaze drifted between the other women, who all just glanced at each other, before Natasha eventually quirked one brow upwards with a slight twitch to her lips.
Setting the glass on the floor Shay scrubbed one hand over her face, a quiet groan rolling from her throat, she really should have known Clint was up to something the moment he distracted her.
"Miss Harrison? Mr Barton would like me to request your presence in the medical wing and for me to show you the way."
Jerking upright in the armchair at the sound of JARVIS's voice Shay panicked, her breathing rapid as she wondered just what the hell had the idiot gone and done now.
Thankfully, Shay had removed the heeled ankle boots when she was in Clint's apartment, hauling herself out of the chair she hurriedly made her way to the lift her hands smoothing the material of the dress down as she went.
She was grateful that the other three women had stayed where they were seated, especially when the moment the elevator doors closed she felt her cheeks dampen, her mind was conjuring up all sorts of scenarios, none of which were good.
As the doors dinged and opened she was fighting to pull herself together, stepping out she took a deep breath and lifted her head to look down the hallway. She saw Tony and Bruce first, standing outside one of the doors at the far end of the hall.
When Clint stepped out through the doorway Shay felt the weight she'd been carrying in her chest lighten as she breathed out a sigh of relief, though in the next instant she remembered she'd just been crying, turning suddenly she shoved through the door to her left slamming it shut behind her.
After fumbling her hand along the wall looking for a light switch she blinked suddenly as the lights turned on, she sometimes forgot that JARVIS handled a lot of the Tower's systems, moving into the room she blinked as her gaze took in the shelves littered about the room, who knew Stark kept a well stocked medical store room?
She was busy rubbing the tears from her eyes when she heard the door open and Clint's voice softly call her name. Before she had a chance to answer the door had shut again and a sharp intake of breath drifted from behind her.
Shay couldn't face him just yet, on the ride down her mind had been filled with what ifs, the biggest being what if she lost him. When his delectable, muscular arms curled around her waist to tug her back against his chest she didn't resist, her gaze steadfastly on the floor.
"Never thought I'd get the chance to see you in a dress, can't say that I don't approve though." The husky rumble of his voice by her ear was like the gentle breeze that sparked a smouldering ember into a blazing fire, it had heat flaring throughout her body and pooling low in her belly.
Turning in his arms Shay wrapped her arms around him as she nuzzled into his neck, her lips unerringly finding his pulse point as her hands fisted in the back of his coat, the texture of the material beneath her hands didn't feel right though so she knew it wasn't his black pea coat nor was it his leather jacket.
Reluctantly she pulled herself back from his neck in order to lean back slightly, her dark chocolate eyes roaming what she could see of his chest, which truthfully wasn't much since he wasn't loosening his hold on her waist, the stark white material she could see registered after a couple minutes as she muttered in confusion "Are you wearing a doctor's coat? Why are you wearing a doctor's coat?"
As Clint's arms fell away and he stepped back her hands fell free of the back of the jacket, Shay watched quietly as he reached up to rub at the back of his neck, she'd noticed that was always the first thing he did whenever he was nervous. His steely eyes were uncertain as though he wasn't sure what her reaction was going to be to whatever he'd just gone and done.
"It'll be easier if I show you," was his only response to her questions as he extended one hand out.
Sliding her small hand easily into his larger one, she squeezed gently as their fingers entwined, once they made their way out through the door she fell into step beside Clint as he led them down the length of the hallway.
As Clint opened the door he released her hand, moving his newly freed one to her lower back to urge her in through the door, she looked back over her shoulder at him quizzically just as a familiar and sorely missed voice drifted through the room "Look what the cat dragged in….or should I say Hawk?"
Shay blinked as her gaze drifted from Clint's grinning face to the bed across the room and locked with Tyler's, she stood stock still in shock in the doorway with Clint murmuring quiet encouragements behind her and not so discreetly nudging her lower back.
In the end the only reason she wound up in the room and beside the bed was because Clint wrapped one of those well muscled arms around her waist, lifted her off her feet and walked over to the bedside easily carrying her dead weight.
Propping himself against the wall by the door Clint watched the pair silently for a little while as they started to catch up, he could see the change in Shay almost instantly as though a little piece that had been missing had fallen back into place.
He crept silently from the room, deciding to let them catch up alone, and made his way back upstairs to his apartment, trying extremely hard and failing to keep his mind off the way that little black dress accentuated and flattered Shay's natural curves.