Chapter 3: Change

Natasha waited patiently by Thor's silver Nissan Altima. It was getting warm outside and the spring wind felt great on her exposed navel. She was wearing a black sports bra with a red hour glass on the chest, tight black jeans, and black running shoes with purple laces. Her long curly red hair was pulled back, revealing a tiny silver arrow necklace around her collarbone. It was the early afternoon, and she was feeling a little bored. She and Clint weren't into sports, so they never attended any of Thor's games. However today she felt the need for company, and she didn't want to bother Clint.

They were still very close to each other. They were still partners, but she knew that with Tony in the picture now, things were different. They have been ever since Steve approached them in their favorite coffee shop a month or so ago. The all-American boyscout invited her and her partner to Tony's birthday party. At the time, she thought nothing of Stark other than he was a rich prick. Clint had thought the same, but Steve convinced Clint it would be fun. If Clint was convinced, that was good enough for Natasha. Who would've thought Clint and Tony would've ended up crunching hard on each other? It amazed Natasha, really. She and Clint were never a full-on couple, but he'd rarely ever showed interest in showing all sides of himself to anybody but her the past four years. He never defined himself sexually, but she always knew Clint was at least biscurious. He'd had a few drunken encounters with other guys before, but as far as affection and closeness went, it was only her. Now there was Tony. He was still kind of a prick, but he also proved himself worthy of being with her partner. Natasha was still impressed with the way he stood up to her when she confronted him about his pursuit of Clint. Since then, the two of them have become a secret item. Clint still didn't want to be called Tony's boyfriend, and their relationship was known only in their circle of friends. Natasha bit her lip at that thought. Friends. She had friends. True she was still playing favorites with Clint and talked mostly to him, but she had friends. A good handful of them. Part of her was still having trouble processing this new development, but for the most part she enjoyed it. Tony's crazy ass was almost as in-sync with Clint as she was. Almost. Steve liked to keep things under control which was nice because, whoo. Sam was funny. Bruce was welcome quiet most of the time. Too bad things weren't going so hot for him and Betty. She'd been over to Bruce's house a few times studying with those two. Bruce seemed oblivious, but Natasha knew something was up. Thor was always amusing. Loud and a bit grating with his speech, but amusing.

Thor was who she was waiting on now. Natasha had gotten used to being around people other than Clint, and she liked it. She may not have shown it often, but she did. She knew her partner and Tony were probably banging each other's brains out this very moment, so she decided to see what the friendly Asgardian was up to. She noticed that out of all her new friends, she never had any one-on-one time with Thor before. Plus, yesterday's talk at the shawarma restaurant was buzzing in her mind. Like Tony, Thor was a constant talker. The fact that he grew silent after mentioning his brother was intriguing to say the least. She wanted to know a little more, so there she was by his car in the school parking lot. The other football players were walking around from the field out back, so she knew she would be seeing Thor any second. She scoffed at the symbol on their jerseys. The Marvel High Shields. She always thought that was a strange mascot. Thor came out a few minutes later, dressed in a white sleeveless top and burgundy track pants. His crimped golden blonde hair hanging loosely down to his shoulder blades. Natasha sighed. Though nice, she wasn't that impressed with his beefy muscles. His hair however? She had a little bit of envy. You know, just a little. Thor was talking to the coach, an equally muscular bald black man named Luke Cage. She couldn't hear their conversation but Thor looked attentive while Coach Cage looked enthusiastic. Natasha shrugged. Coach Cage was probably praising him on another job well done. But Thor, like Steve, was always just so damn humble. It amazed her really. She never would've guessed on a first glance. Coach Cage gave him a pat on the back before heading back to the field. Thor adjusted his dufflebag on his shoulder. When he came closer to his car he saw Natasha, his baby blue eyes lighting up like a candle.

"Friend Natasha! This is a pleasant surprise!"

Before Natasha could greet him back, Thor pulled her into an airtight hug, and she tensed. How could she forget the guy was a hugger? She didn't hug him back but she patted his biceps, doing her best not to show how uncomfortable their contact made her. Nothing against Thor, but affection like that was only welcome from Clint.

"Hey, big guy." she said when he let her go.

"What brings you here? 'Twas my belief that you and Clint did not take interest in football." he asked, fishing his car keys out of his pocket.

Natasha smiled softly, walking around to the passenger side.

"You're right about that, but that's a different thing. I came here to see you. I knew you'd be getting out of practice around this time." she replied.

Thor bowed to her before opening the door to his car. He smiled at her.

"Well, this pleases me, friend Natasha. Please, come with me to go get food. I am quite famished."

Natasha got in the car, laughing quietly. The inside of Thor's car was clean, yet it smelled like leftover fastfood and Poptarts. She never knew if the guy ever got full. Like, ever.

"So, where are we headed? I'm hungry, too." said Natasha as Thor turned the key in the ignition.

"How does Cho's sound?" asked Thor as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Natasha rubbed her chin.

"You mean that Chinese place? Sure I guess. I think Bruce's old friend Amadeus works there."

Thor beamed. Natasha knew she and Thor had a shared love of eggrolls.

"Let us be off!"

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Natasha and Thor got their food from Cho's and went eat on the rooftop. Natasha took another bite of her chicken eggroll, trying not to laugh at Thor. He had tried eating his noodles with the chopsticks, failing to get a good grasp. She was tempted to show him how to use them properly, but she found it much more entertaining watching him fumble and grumble. Eventually he grew frustrated and thew his chopsticks on the ground, using a fork instead. He swore silently under his breath as he took a big mouthful of noodles. Natasha couldn't help herself. She giggled, covering her hand with her mouth. Thor looked at her, raising an eyebrow as he slurped down his noodles.

"Are you not hungry, Natasha?" he asked when he swallowed.

Natasha looked down at her food. She had a small order of fried rice and two eggrolls. Thor on the other hand had six eggrolls, two full entrees of sesame chicken complete with fried rice and chow-mien, and a box of noodles covered in sweet and sour sauce. Natasha nodded.

"Yeah but Thot, you do know that we have different appetites, right?" she asked lightly.

Thor wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He chuckled and nodded.

"Forgive me. Sometimes I forget."

Natasha smiled and softly shook her head. He is such a big muscular teddy bear sometimes. She took another bite of her eggroll and saw that Thor was still looking at her. She looked back at him, noticing his thoughtful expression.

"Natasha, do you like me?" he asked all of a sudden.

Natasha raised her eyebrows. Well, this is a little unexpected.

"Yeah, Thor. Why ask?"

Thor pushed some of his perfect golden hair behind his ear, and again Natasha hid her envy.

"I only ask because,...I feel like you do not enjoy being around me and our other companions at times."

Natasha pursed her lips. Oh boy. This talk. Oh well. It's kinda what I'm here for anyway.

"What makes you say that, Thor?" she asked, her voice flat.

Thor gestured his hand at her.

"Like that. The way you speak with neutrality much of the time. I can never fully know how you are feeling when you speak that way. Also, unless friend Clint is around I do not hear much from you. It makes me feel like,..." Thor looked down and swallowed, "like you only spend time with us because of your partner's new relationship with friend Tony."

Natasha took a deep breath. There Thor was wearing his heart on his sleeve, and part of it bothered her. Feelings? Emotions? Natasha was still learning how to deal with those in her own mind. Her whole life she had never been a touchy-feely type of girl, and other than Clint she had little to no friends. Until now. She hesitantly reached out and placed her hand on his arm, and he looked up at her with those bright blue eyes.

"I'm not going to lie to you Thor, that's the way it started off. You have to understand though, Clint has been my only constant for a long time now. I do like you, Thor. You, Steve, everyone in the circle we've made. But Clint always has been and always will be my partner. I'm naturally closest to him. He's the only, and I mean the only person in my entire life who has seen all sides of me."

She smiled softly at him.

"I wish I could be like you and wear my heart out on my sleeve. I really do, but it's just not the case. Even Clint sometimes has to fight to get something out of me, as I with him."

Thor licked at the corner of his mouth, grabbing a crumb out of his trimmed stubble with his tongue.

"Natasha, if we are friends, then would you mind answering a question for me?" he asked, his voice low.

Natasha closed her eyes and nodded slowly. She could guess what was coming.

"I will respect your privacy if you choose to not elaborate, but I would like to know how you and Clint became partners."

Natasha bit down on her lip and lowered her head, her hair hanging in front of her eyes. She stroked subconsciously at the silver arrow necklace she was wearing.

"Um, it happened the very first night we met. I uh, I don't want to get into the details but um, let's just say I didn't hang out with the best crowd back then. I was fourteen and a little dumb. One night I got into trouble. Big trouble. It uh,..."

Natasha squeezed her eyes closed tighter, feeling a lump form in her throat. It was a memory she never liked to think about even when Clint was around.

"it was life threatening type of trouble. Clint saw me, and without a word he saved me. We both got banged up pretty bad, but he saved my life. That act of pure selfnessness,... it just resonated with me. Clint took me back to his place. One thing led to another and we ended up talking and then um,..."

She scratched her cheek, hating that she was blushing.

"We had sex. It was both our first time."

Thor blushed deeply and his eyes widened. Natasha cleared her throat and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"After that night we became inseparable. We never dated, though. We both knew that we weren't 'boyfriend/girlfriend' type of people, but there was an undeniable attraction. A connection. We became a mixture of best friends, confidants, and lovers. We became,...we're..."

Thor smiled warmly and nodded his head.

"Partners." he finished, and Natasha nodded as well.

She felt strange. Only Clint had seen her this vulnerable before, but she knew Thor was a friend now. Friends talk. She wasn't ready to go into detail of what happened that night, but she knew that Thor deserved to know the basics at least.

"I am still a little lost, but I think I understand a lot more about your relationship." he added.

Natasha finished her eggroll and took a sip of her fruit punch. Thor went back to happily vacuuming down his noodles. When she was done sipping, she figured now it was her turn.

"Speaking of relationships, what's the deal with your brother? What did you say his name was again? Lackey?"

Thor paused after he ate his noodles, looking at her with his lips puckered some.

"Loki. My relationship with my brother is complicated."

"Complicated how? And why has he been Asgardia the whole time you've been here in America?" she asked.

In the time that Natasha befriended him, Thor never even mentioned Loki before. Thor set down his noodles, and Natasha arched an eyebrow. If Thor's putting down food then this must be serious.

"Friend Natasha, I have not always been a very nice person." he said.

Natasha frowned. The thought of Thor doing anything mean was...odd to say the least.

"Growing up in Asgardia, Loki and I never got along that well. I...I was an awful older brother. I was cocky. Arrogant. Selfish. I would always bully Loki. Call him names when he was afraid of something. Challenge him to physical contests I knew he would not achieve. Scare him awake when he slept. Show off all of the play things father got me that Loki was not allowed to have."

Thor squeezed his eyes closed and swallowed hard. Natasha wanted to hug him, but first she wanted to hear the rest of his story. This was a side of Thor she never thought he would show. Not to her.

"It only became worse when we were teenagers. I continued showing off, always telling Loki how our father favored me when in truth he loves us both equally. Whenever I went out places with my Asgardian friends Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral, Loki would beg to come along. I ridiculed him every time, refusing with taunting words."

Thor ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the gravel.

"One day, Loki storms into our home, yelling angrily at our father. He tells of how he did some research and that father was a liar. I am confused and do not know what he speaks of. Father sits us down and reveals that indeed, Loki was adopted. He tried telling Loki that he never told him because he never wanted him to feel different, but Loki would hear none of it. After that, Loki changed. He would cause mischief. Pull harmful pranks. Call our parents by their first names. I tried treating him better, but he rejected all of my affection. I have tried so, so many times to apologize for my past behavior, but Loki's grudge against me remained and he continued acting out."

"So what happened that you came here?" asked Natasha.

"My father. He is a high ranking Asgardian ambassador. He received notice of a position here in America. Mother insisted on us all making the move. I was hesitant of course, but I attempted to remain open-minded. Loki had no opinion on the matter. I tried talking to him again one night, to convince him it was good for our family. Loki told me he had no family, and that he wanted no part of ours. The following day at school, Loki's teacher caught him writing a death list in class and,...and,..."

Thor gulped again and covered his mouth with his hand. His eyes were glistening with potential tears.

"My name was included on the list."

His head hung lower, and Natasha's heart began feeling hard for him. She had no idea it was like that. Thor was quiet for a minute, taking deep breaths and blinking back tears before he continued.

"Father let the school press charges and Loki was taken to Juvenile Hall. When he was released, Loki showed no signs of remorse, and father was growing ever impatient with his behavior. Before he could do something he would regret, father made the decision that I would journey to the United States with him while Loki and mother stayed in Asgardia. He tolerated mother most, and father hoped that maybe it would help if perhaps Loki didn't see him and I for some time. "

"And now Loki's coming back. What do you suppose has changed?" Natasha asked.

"I honestly do not know. Mother says Loki continues to have problems. Years have passed since we have all seen each other, so my parents believe perhaps it is time for us to reunite."

Natasha ran her hand through her hair, realization hitting her.

"So that's why you grew quiet at the news. Loki may or may not continue acting like an asshole when he arrives."

Thor chuckled thickly, managing half a smile as he looked back up at her.

"I would not put it so crudely, but I suppose you are correct."

Natasha smiled back at him. She felt so vulnerable letting Thor in like this, but he did the same for her. She still wasn't touchy-feely, but it felt nice knowing she wasn't just Clint's confidante anymore.

"Natasha, would it be alright if I hugged you?" Thor asked.

Natasha almost wanted to laugh. He looked like a kid asking for a cookie from the goodie jar. Oh what the hell. He looks like he could use one. Natasha smiled and nodded. Thor scooted closer and brought her into a tight embrace. Natasha naturally tensed at his touch, but then she took a deep breath and tentatively hugged him back. He nuzzled his head against her neck, his stubble tickling her a little. Natasha wanted to laugh again. He really is a big muscular teddy bear. She closed her eyes and this time, she smiled at the contact. A big muscular teddy bear with great hair.