I think you guys are going to really enjoy this chapter. I know I did. I was laughing the entire time but I'm just lame like that haha. By the way (SPOILER ALERT!), for those of you that are Jeremy Renner fans but have not seen The Town, his character does die in the movie. I only mention this because Clint and Natasha watch The Town in this chapter haha. But anyways, here is chapter 12! Enjoy!
Natasha was absolutely fascinated over the fact that Clint knew how to sing. Every chance she had, she would shout out a song for Clint to sing for her. One moment he would be singing "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5, the next he would be singing "Empire State of Mind" by Billy Joel. It was as if Clint was Natasha's own personal jukebox. By the end of November, the novelty had worn off, but Natasha was still intrigued.
Since November was coming to a close, Clint and Natasha realized that they could finally come clean with their relationship to Clint's parents. Natasha was scared that they wouldn't like her anymore, but Clint reassured her that if they were going to hate one of them, it would most likely be Clint.
Clint and Natasha decided on a day after school to tell Clint's parents. Natasha would catch a ride home with Clint like she usually did, and they would tell them then. Natasha's leg was constantly bouncing up and down in the car and Clint tried to calm her down to no avail. By the time they arrived at Clint's house, Natasha was biting her nails and her leg was actually making the car shake.
It took a while to coax Natasha out of the car and into the house, but eventually she got out of car and followed Clint into the house, hanging her head in shame. Clint's parents were home early today. Natasha had hoped they wouldn't be and they could forgo the entire conversation altogether, but lo and behold, they were home and there was no way Natasha would be escaping this one.
Clint led her through the house by the hand until she pulled back outside of the kitchen. Clint gave her a reassuring look and then gently took her by the hand again and pulled her into the kitchen. Clint's mom and dad were both seated at the kitchen table, important paperwork from their jobs scattered in front of them. It was clearly a bad time but Clint persisted.
"Mom? Dad? Can we talk to you?" Clint said.
Clint's parents raised their heads and looked at Clint and Natasha. Natasha realized that she and Clint were still holding hands and she quickly snatched her hand out of his.
"Everything alright Clint?" Mrs. Barton asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Everything's great," Clint said with a smile.
How is he so confident right now? Natasha thought.
"Remember how you said that Natasha and I could date in a year following the masquerade ball?"
Clint's parents nodded so Clint continued. "Well, we couldn't quite wait that long, so we've kind of been dating since the trip to Coney Island."
"I'm so sorry!" Natasha blurted out before she swiftly covered her mouth with her hands.
Clint's parents laughed at Natasha's sudden outburst, but quickly composed themselves. They were calm but they were clearly displeased.
"Well, we're certainly disappointed in you Clint," Clint's mother said. "But I guess you guys have handled the relationship with maturity so far, so there's no need for punishment."
"Barney has done worse," Clint's father mumbled.
"Right," Clint's mother agreed. "And Natasha, honey, you can calm down. The world isn't coming to an end."
Natasha was still standing next to Clint with her hands clasped over her mouth. She feared that if she took them away she would have another outburst. With Mrs. Barton's encouragement, she removed her hands from her mouth and Clint gently slipped his hand into hers.
"I've got to admit, you two are quite clever," Clint's father said. "Keeping this whole relationship secret for several months is quite a feat."
Mrs. Barton turned to Mr. Barton and smacked him in the shoulder; she, clearly, was not pleased with this statement.
"Just don't lie to us again," Mrs. Barton said, turning back to Clint and Natasha. She then dismissed them from the kitchen so she and Mr. Barton could finish their paperwork.
Natasha had to admit that having the weight of the secret relationship off of her shoulders felt tremendous. Her biggest fear of the outcome of the conversation was that Clint's parents wouldn't like her as much as they used to but they treated her and liked her all the same. Clint found it a lot easier to talk about Natasha to his parents. Before they had revealed that they were dating, Clint's parents would ask questions about Natasha and Clint had to be careful he didn't let anything slip that would give away that they were secretly dating. Now, he could talk freely about her.
Barney was the last one to find out about Clint's relationship with Natasha. When he returned home from college for winter break, Clint told him during a brotherly bonding session the two boys decided to have at one in the morning the first night Barney was home.
"Alright Clint!" Barney said in approval. "It's about time!"
Despite his brother being home, Clint still spent the majority of his time with Natasha. Though his brother was a great person to hang out with, Barney had his own friends to play catch up with. Clint's parents were still completely supportive of the relationship, and had even invited Natasha over for Christmas Eve dinner. They had always seen Natasha as part of the family and now that Clint and Natasha were officially dating, it only seemed right to invite her over for holiday festivities. Natasha politely declined, claiming she and her parents were spending Christmas in New York with her grandparents.
The great thing about Natasha and Clint publicly dating now put Natasha in a better place with her grandparents. Though Clint was no corporate business heir, they were still approving of her relationship and thought she had found a fine young man that made her happy. The fact that her grandparents had somewhat approved of Clint made him feel a little more at ease that Natasha wouldn't be pawned off to marry some Russian boy she barely knew.
Natasha's absence frustrated Clint. Of course the school district was on winter break and he could easily hang out with Steve and Thor if he wanted to, but the absence and the distance between Clint and Natasha absolutely killed him. He couldn't wait for her to get back.
Natasha returned from New York two days after Christmas – sans parents – and Clint was absolutely thrilled. He gave her a day to unpack and organize her things before he called her in the morning the day after he return. When she answered the phone, she didn't sound too good. Her throat sounded scratchy. There was a cough here and there and she sneezed a lot.
"I feel like shit," she said. "I must have caught a cold from one of my cousins during the trip."
Clint asked her when her parents were returning from New York, and she said she wasn't sure.
"Well then I'm coming over," Clint insisted.
"No, you'll get sick too. It'll pass in a couple days," Natasha said, trying cover up a sneeze.
"I'm not going to wait a couple days to see you," Clint said. "Your parents aren't home and you don't know when they're coming back."
"They said probably a couple days after New Year's," she said, trying to suppress a cough but failed miserably.
"Either way, you're not going to sit at home, sick and by yourself," Clint said. Natasha protested several more times, insisting that she was 16-years-old and could take care of herself but Clint was persistent as well. Though Natasha knew she wouldn't be able to handle a couple days without seeing Clint, she didn't want to pass off the germs to him. Sure they were dating and they swapped saliva all the time, but she didn't want to see him as sick she was right now.
Clint asked Barney if he could borrow his car, and Barney obliged. Tony was coming over so the boys could share college stories so Barney didn't need the car. Before Clint went to Natasha's house, he swung by the grocery store to grab a few essentials. Tissues, cold medicine, cough drops, the works. He didn't know if Natasha had anything stocked in her house to fight off a cold so he bought everything he could possibly find. He also bought chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate. That was sure to make Natasha feel better.
When he got to Natasha's house and rang the door bell, she answered mid-cough. She was dressed in a long sleeved shirt and a pair of pajamas pants. She was clearly still wearing her pajamas from last night by the looks of how wrinkled they were.
"Hi," she croaked.
Clint leaned in to kiss her but Natasha moved her head to the side and said, "Not on the lips."
Clint kissed her on the forehead and she gestured for him to take a step into the house. She started coughing behind him, and ended the streak with a sneeze.
"Jesus Nat," he said.
"Shut up Barton," she said icily. A sickly Natasha was a hostile Natasha.
Clint made his way into the living room and saw that the couch was a mess of thick blankets and a few used tissues. Natasha plopped herself down on the couch and pulled a fuzzy blanket over herself. Clint sat down on the couch, gathering up some of the used tissues and placing them on the coffee table.
"Don't touch those. They're loaded with my germs," Natasha demanded. Clint just shrugged and reached down into his bag to pull out the items he had bought at the grocery store. He handed her the cough drops and the cold medicine.
"You went to the grocery store?" she asked, taking the items from him. She tore open the box of cold medicine and ripped off the cellophane wrapping to pour the liquid from the bottle into the plastic measuring cup. She downed the contents with a satisfied moan.
Clint laughed. "Yeah, I wasn't sure if you had any cold stuff here so I figured I would stop by the store and get some."
She ripped open the bag of cough drops and unwrapped one and popped it in her mouth.
"I also bought chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate and I brought movies," he said, pulling the various items out of his backpack.
"You're too good to me," she said with a half smile, and Clint returned the smile. Clint got up and went into the kitchen to make two cups of hot chocolate for him and Natasha. When he finished he returned to the living room and found Natasha rooting through his bag to find the movies he brought.
"Bridesmaids?" she asked, half-laughing. "You like Bridesmaids?"
"Kristen Wiig's hilarious," he said handing her the mug of hot chocolate and kissing her on the top of her head. Natasha searched through the movies and landed on one that she had never seen before.
"Let's watch this one," Natasha said, handing him the movie. He grabbed the case and looked at it.
"The Town? You want to watch The Town?" he asked. Of all the movies he brought, she wanted to watch the manliest one.
"Yeah, Jeremy Renner's a hottie," Natasha joked. "You kind of look like him, you know."
Clint rolled his eyes at Natasha's comment and got up to pop the movie into the DVD player. They sat there on the couch watching the movie. Natasha was wrapped up in her various blankets, while Clint sat with her legs draped across his lap. Natasha seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the movie until, towards the end, when Jeremy Renner's character was killed.
"That's bullshit! It's always the pretty ones that get killed the worst ways," she pouted, crossing her arms.
Clint laughed. "I guess I've got some competition."
Natasha unwrapped herself from the pile of blankets and crawled over to Clint's end of the couch and hugged him.
"Jeremy Renner's hot but he doesn't compare to you," she mumbled. Clint wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Clint spent the rest of the night holding Natasha in his arms, only letting go of her when he would get up to change the movie in the DVD player once they finished one. It was about 10:00 at night and they were halfway through watching Superbad when Clint realized Natasha's head was resting against his chest and her breathing had slowed to a steady pace. Well, as steady as it could be since her airways were blocked by disgusting bodily mucus.
Clint scooped her up from the couch and carried her to her bedroom. He gently laid her down and pulled the blankets on top of her. He was about to go back into the living and clean up before he left a note for Natasha that he headed home when she suddenly tugged on his hand.
"Clint?" she said exhaustingly.
"Yeah Nat?" he said, looking down at her half asleep form.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" He had to admit that he was going to have a hard time denying her. They had spent the entire day together watching movies and he had basically taken care of her. He knew that his parents would probably be mad if he stayed over, but it beat getting pulled over by the cops after 11:00 when the law clearly stated that anyone under 18 shouldn't be on the roads after 11:00 at night.
"Yeah Nat, I'll stay," he said, stripping off his sweatshirt and kicking off his sneakers before climbing under the covers with her. She rolled over and rested her head on his chest, just like she did when they were sitting on the couch. He wrapped an arm around her as she let out a sigh. It didn't take long for either one of them to fall asleep because in each other's arms is where they belonged. It felt like home.
Sunlight was streaming through the window in Natasha's bedroom, and Clint glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It read 8:47. Clint knew it was far too early to be awake, at least for Natasha in her condition. She needed her rest, so Clint just laid there holding her with her head resting against his chest and staring at the ceiling.
It wasn't much later when Clint felt his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket. He wriggled around, trying his hardest not to wake Natasha, and pulled his phone out. The screen flashed "Home," which meant that either one of his parents was calling to find out where he was. He probably should have called them before he fell asleep at Natasha's house to tell them he was staying there for the night.
He slid his finger against the screen to answer the call and put the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Clint Barton, where are you?" his mother screeched from the other end of the line.
He had to hold the phone away from his ear for a second to regain hearing. He glanced down at Natasha to see if his mother's screaming had woke her up. She was still fast asleep.
"I'm at Natasha's," he said.
"You get your ass home this instant, Clinton!" And with that, the line went dead.
His mother was definitely pissed, and he had to get home right away before she came over to Natasha's and dragged him home herself. Clint tried his hardest to slip out of bed without waking Natasha but his plan didn't work. She rolled over and rubbed her eyes. When she opened her eyes and saw Clint she smiled.
"Oh hey," she said sleepily. "You're still here."
"Yeah, and I'd hate to do this but I've got to go. I'm in a shit load of trouble with my mom."
"Oh, sorry. I should've never asked you to stay," she said.
"No, it's fine, but I've got to go, okay?" he said.
She nodded and he gave her a quick kiss on the lips, not even caring if he caught her germs or not, and rushed out into the living room to hastily gather up his belongings. As much as he didn't want to go home and face his parents, he still drove home at a speedy rate. When he pulled into the driveway, his mother was waiting on the front porch, tapping her foot and her arms crossed. She did not look pleased.
"Get in the house Clint, we need to have a little talk," she said, more calmly than she did on the phone.
Clint sluggishly climbed the steps and stepped over the threshold and into the foyer. His mother slammed the door behind her. She put his hands on his shoulders and guided him to the living room, where his father was sitting. Clint did not like this one bit.
Clint took a seat on the couch facing his parents. They sat in complete silence for a few minutes before his father broken the tension.
"Now Clint, we give you a lot of leniency when it comes to hanging out with friends and after school activities," Clint's father started.
"But now with you and Natasha dating, we had hoped that you would still respect that," Mrs. Barton interjected.
"Before you punish me, can I please give you my side of the story?" Clint asked politely, his hands held up in defense.
Clint's father gestured for him to continue.
"We were just watching movies and it got late, so I decided it would be smart to stay over instead of breaking the law and driving after 11:00 and getting caught by a cop. I'm sorry I didn't call to tell you."
"Well, okay Clint. That's understandable but we were going to direct this conversation into…" Clint father trailed off.
"'The Talk,'" Mrs. Barton said sharply. "We're going to have 'The Talk.'"
It took a moment for it to click in Clint's mind what his mom meant by "The Talk," and when it did he couldn't believe they were actually going to go through with this.
"Did you think Natasha and I had sex last night?" Clint blurted out.
His parents flinched at the word "sex" but they shook their heads innocently.
"We're not making assumptions," Clint's father said defensively.
"But we couldn't be too sure," Clint's mother said.
"Look," Clint's father continued. "We don't want to be having this conversation as much as you don't want to be having it. We just want you to know that if you did, ummm, you-know-what last night, we hope you were smart. And if you are going to in the future - ."
"If, Clinton, do you understand that?" his mother said sharply, interrupting his father.
Clint nodded vigorously and his father continued. "If you are going to in the future, we hope you'll be smart, whether it's with Natasha or some other girl. Just be smart, son."
Clint's father looked happy that the conversation was partially over but his mother was staring daggers at Clint.
"Just for the record," Clint said. "Natasha was really sick yesterday, and she still is. Her parents are still in New York so I took care of her. I don't think she was in any condition for me to, ummm, do you-know-what with her."
His parents were still completely silent. Their faces were completely unreadable, except he was pretty sure that the whole message his mother was going for in her look was death.
"Is this conversation over? Can I be excused?" he asked nervously.
Clint's father waved him off and Clint swiftly walked out of the room and up the stairs to his bedroom. He closed the door and let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding in. He heard his door open, and he turned around and flinched instinctively, expecting his mother to lash out at him.
"So…did you fuck her?" Barney said, poking his head into Clint's room with a huge grin on his face.
Clint took off his shoe and chucked it at Barney's head. Barney quickly pulled his head out of the doorway, pulling the door shut as Clint's shoe collided with his bedroom door with a loud thud.
And that, my friends, was the first F-bomb dropped in this story by a Mr. Barney Barton. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Lots of fluff but lots of humor (well, at least I thought it was funny but I'm the author so who knows haha).
As always, thanks for adding this story to your favorites, signing up for alerts, and reviewing. Please review because I love reading what you guys think!