Hmmm, I really have nothing to say like I usually do before a chapter. Oh well haha. Here's chapter 26.

The conversation Natasha had with her father after she got caught with Clint in her room wasn't a pleasant one but she was surprised at how calm he was during the entire thing. Mr. Romanoff knew something had to be going on between his daughter and Clint when she had made the decision to go on The Pill. He didn't ask questions when she made the decision and he picked up the prescription every month when she ran out. However, he just wasn't prepared for finding Natasha and Clint half-naked in her bedroom when he came home that day. Therefore, he wasn't prepared to give Natasha "The Talk," even though it was technically too late.

"Now I know Clint is a great guy and you're concerned about him leaving at the end of August but don't be stupid Natasha. You can't just go sleeping around with him because you're on that prescription," Mr. Romanoff said firmly.

"Please, Dad," Natasha whined. "Let's not talk about this."

"Yes, let's talk about this. I understand you two love each other but you can't just do, umm…this whenever you feel like it."

"Dad, I got it. Can this conversation be over now? I kind of need a shower," Natasha said.

"Too much information Natasha!" Mr. Romanoff said.

"The power went out last night!" Natasha retorted. "Can't take a shower when the power's out, can I?"

Mr. Romanoff dismissed her as he turned a deep shade of red. Natasha scampered back to her bedroom and shut the bedroom door just as she heard the muffled ring of her phone. It sounded as if it was coming from the bed so she began tossing around the blankets and pillows until it was revealed to be caught between the comforter and the sheet.

She flipped it over to see who was calling her; it was Clint and she slid her thumb across the screen to answer the phone.

"Hi," she said with a smile across her face when she answered it.

"Hey, you're still alive," Clint teased.

"Of course I'm still alive. It was you my dad would've ripped to shreds," Natasha said, flopping back down onto her bed. "How much trouble were you in?"

"Not too much," Clint said. "I'm surprised my parents aren't blatantly aware of what we did last night."

"I'm sure they are. They just won't admit it."

"The whole town is probably aware of what we did last night. You got a little rough during round two."

"Hey!" she said in protest.

Clint chuckled. "Just telling it the way it is," he said.

Natasha giggled. "I love you Clint," she said softly.

"I love you too, Nat," he said. "Umm, see you later?"

"Probably not a smart idea given recent events," she said. "But if you're making s'mores later I'll totally sneak out."

Clint chuckled. "We might not have the stuff for it, but I'll run to the store and get it just for you."

"Deal," she said.

Clint and Natasha spent the rest of their summer days roasting marshmallows and hot dogs by a campfire in Clint's backyard, taking road trips to the beach, and, yes, having sex. Just because Natasha's father told her she couldn't sleep with Clint whenever she wanted, didn't mean she was going to listen.

Sometimes it was planned. One time, Clint set up a trail of rose petals and candles from the front door to her bedroom while she was at work and her father was in the city for the weekend. When she came home, all she saw were the rose petals and candles that led a path to her bedroom. The trail of rose petals and candles ended at Clint's feet and she looked up to find him holding the last rose to hand to her. What followed was inevitable.

Sometimes it wasn't planned. There was the time they were sitting on the couch at Clint's house watching a True Blood marathon on HBO. Clint's parents were on vacation in Cape Cod with family friends and Barney was on a road trip with Tony so that left Clint and Natasha all alone to do what they pleased. Watching True Blood had, to say the least, "inspired" them and they ran upstairs to Clint's room to try something different. Unfortunately, it ended badly with Natasha kicking him in the stomach out of frustration, and Clint falling off the bed and landing with a thud on his back on the hardwood floor. To say the least, when it was planned, it went a lot smoother.

As Clint's move-in date for college grew closer, Natasha grew more and more anxious. As soon as July melted into August, she just about had a full blown meltdown. In two weeks, Clint would be headed off to State College; Penn State usually started a week before most colleges and universities did.

As much as she tried to hide her emotions, Natasha couldn't hide them from Clint. Every single time Clint saw that sad look in her eye over the fact that he was leaving, he reassured her that he would see her at least once a week. He knew that would never be enough, but it was better than once a month.

When the week of Clint's move-in came, Clint spent every minute he and Natasha had together in the days leading up to his departure. The first night, after they had been cuddling by the campfire in Clint's backyard, Clint told her that it was getting late and he should be getting her home. As Clint went to get up, Natasha grabbed his hand, and when he looked at her, she shook her head no.

That's when he led her into the house, up the stairs, and into his bedroom. They crawled into his bed and Natasha curled right up next to him, and they fell asleep instantly. That's how they spent each night for the remainder of the week. They ignored the strange looks from Clint's parents as they climbed the steps to the second floor, and then crawled into Clint's bed where they slept curled up against each other.

The night before Clint's departure, Clint decided it would be a good idea to invite Peggy, Jane, Thor, and Steve over to take Natasha's mind off of everything. Steve had already been at Notre Dame for the past couple weeks for football practice but they had given him the weekend off and he decided to come home for a visit. Thor wouldn't be leaving for another week for Temple University in Philadelphia.

Natasha had practically been living out of a bag for the past week at Clint's house, but all of that would change tomorrow morning when Clint left. They would drop her off at her house before they embarked on the journey to State College; Natasha had decided that it would be better to say her goodbyes at home rather than breaking down and embarrassing herself on a college campus.

The night before Clint was to leave, Clint, Natasha, Peggy, Steve, Jane, and Thor huddled around the campfire roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. The sun had just set and the sky was in the twilight-stage. Not daytime anymore, but not quite night yet.

Clint and Natasha were wrapped up in a fleece blanket as they roasted their marshmallows. Somehow, Natasha managed to convince Clint to strip off his sweatshirt as well and give it to her; she had no plans of giving it back. Thor and Jane were tangled up in each other's arms, and Steve and Peggy were full-blown making out.

"What do you guys say to a game of football?" Thor asked, trying to break the tension. The boys would be leaving and the girls were still stuck in town to finish out their last year of high school. The façade of their relationships were fine, but deep down, they were all suffering.

Steve and Peggy broke away from each other, and Peggy turned to Thor. "Girls versus boys?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Oh, it's so on!" Jane squealed as she untangled herself from Thor and gently pushed him away.

"What do you say?" Clint asked, turning to Natasha.

"I say bring it on. You know I don't play by the rules," she teased, pushing the blanket off of her and standing up.

While the girls strategized, Clint dug out the pigskin from the garage. Steve and Thor were huddled with their heads bent at the other end of Clint's backyard. After a couple minutes, the group was ready to begin.

It wasn't a normal game of football, seeing as the girls weren't playing fair. They were easily slipping by the boys. Whether that was due to their weak tactics or the fact that they were letting the girls slip by, it didn't matter. Either way, after a good ten minutes, the girls were winning.

After another five minutes of letting the girls play unfairly, the boys started to fight fire with fire. When one of the girls had the ball, they usually barreled right towards them, lifted whoever had the ball over their shoulder, and demanded that they dropped it. The girls wouldn't give in at first, but eventually caved and dropped the ball.

As their game wore on into the night, Clint noticed that for the first time in weeks, Natasha was actually smiling. She had resulted in putting on fake smiles for her friends and family in the past couple of weeks to hide her sadness over Clint leaving. Anyone would have bought it, but Clint never did. Therefore, she never put on a fake smile around Clint because he could always tell if it was fake. After weeks and weeks of seeing her walk around with the same sad look on her face, it was nice to finally see a genuine smile.

By 10:00, the group had worn themselves out and it was time for them to turn in for the night. As they said their goodbyes, Natasha felt a wave of depressed hit her as she realized this was the last night she would spend with Clint in a while. She watched as Jane, Thor, Peggy, and Steve drove off in their respective cars and disappeared into the night, leaving only her and Clint standing in the dimly lit driveway.

"Oh come on," Clint whined, and she turned to face him. "You finally smile after several weeks of not smiling, and now it's gone?"

Clint's comment was genuine, and she smiled. She even managed to laugh.

"There it is," he muttered, lifting her chin so that he could look into her beautiful green eyes.

"Stop looking so depressed. It's scaring me," he said, and she let out a small laugh.

"Nat, come on. The first two weeks are going to be hard. I know they will be, but you're coming Labor Day weekend right?"

Natasha nodded. When Clint had found out that not only was the first football game of the season during Labor Day weekend, but that Dave Matthews Band was also playing at Beaver Stadium that same weekend, Clint had convinced Natasha that that would be the first weekend for her to visit. Visiting the first weekend Clint was there would be out of the question since he would be preparing for classes, and it would be inconvenient for Natasha the following weekend since she would have to prepare for her senior year. Labor Day weekend was the next closest weekend they could see each other.

"Right," he agreed, "and I'm going to call you every day."

"You better call me every day," Natasha grumbled.

Clint felt a small smile creep across his face. "That's the Natasha I know," he said.

They stood in the middle of the driveway – Clint's arms wrapped around Natasha – until sleep evaded them and they retired into the house. As they crawled into Clint's bed that night, Natasha realized she didn't want to go to sleep. No matter how tired she was, she didn't want to go to sleep because she didn't want to wake up and face what emotional obstacles she had to face in the morning.

Clint pulled her closer and she felt a tug in her chest. It would be two weeks until she could feel his arms around her again. Unfortunately, in Clint's arms is where she felt the most comfortable and she felt the darkness take her under as she slipped into a dreamless slumber.

The annoying buzzing of Clint's alarm clock woke her up promptly at eight a.m. Clint reached over her head to slap the off-button and Natasha pulled the covers over her head. She wasn't ready to face the day.

She felt Clint stir next to her and pull the covers over his head as well. When Natasha opened her eyes, she was face-to-face with Clint. His eyes were bright, but they were still weighed down with sleep.

"You have to face this sometime today Tasha," he mumbled.

"If I don't, does that mean you'll stay?" Natasha asked innocently.

"I would if I wouldn't lose a shit ton of money in the process."

"I'm not ready for you to go," she whispered.

Clint reached over and kissed her. Natasha felt another tug in her chest as she was reminded that she wouldn't feel his lips on hers for another two weeks. The absence was going to absolutely kill her.

"Stop pouting," he ordered. He whipped the covers off of both of them and then he climbed out of bed. He grabbed a set of clothes from his bag at the foot of the bed and then walked across the hall to the bathroom to get changed.

Natasha glumly swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked over to her bag in the corner of the room. She pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and started to quickly undress. She didn't care at all today about her appearance, and she didn't care if Clint's mom or dad walked in on her undressing. It was that kind of day where she just didn't care.

She pulled a bra out of her bag and put it on, and then slipped into her jeans. She felt strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her close to their chest. She almost smiled when she felt Clint rest his chin on her shoulder.

"Okay, I changed my mind. I'm not going," he said.

"You better be serious, Barton," Natasha deadpanned.

Clint didn't answer, and Natasha knew that that meant that he was joking. She broke free from his grasp and pulled her shirt over her head. She ran her fingers through her fiery red curls and then started shoving her belongings into her bag.

She heard Clint move to the other side of the room and pack up the rest of his belongings. They packed their things up in silence and when they were finished, they filed down the steps. Clint's mom and dad were piling the last of Clint's boxes into their car and Clint shoved his bag into the trunk just before they shut it.

When everything was packed up, Clint and Natasha slid into the back seat of the car and they took off towards Natasha's house. The ride was particularly quick, and Natasha didn't want it to end. She didn't want to face what was to come.

They pulled into her driveway and they rolled to complete stop. Clint and Natasha got out of the car and silently walked to her front porch. When they reached the door, Natasha turned around to face him. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep the tears from spilling over.

"Two weeks," Clint said. "Do you think you can handle that?"

Natasha shook her head. If she opened her mouth, she wasn't quite sure what was going to come out. She could be a blubbering mess. She could be completely calm. She could say absolutely nothing at all, so she just kept her mouth shut.

"You can handle it," Clint said reassuringly.

"How do you know?" Natasha asked as her voice cracked.

Clint placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her right in the eyes. "Because you're Natasha Romanoff. You have gone through more hell than most teenagers have."

Natasha rolled her eyes at him.

"Seriously. Playground bullies, a parental divorce and a custody battle - ," he said but Natasha interrupted him.

"Your accident," she whispered.

"Exactly," Clint agreed. "If you can handle all that, you can handle two weeks without me. Besides, you'll probably forget about me once school starts."

"I won't forget about you," she snapped.

Clint chuckled. "It was a joke, Nat."

"Oh, yeah. Right," she said.

Clint leaned in and kissed her on the cheek and then on the lips. It was a long and passionate kiss. It was a kiss that was going to have to suffice for the next two weeks.

When Clint pulled away, she didn't want it to end and she felt herself longing for more.

"Nat," he said and she looked straight at him. "I love you, and I'm going to miss you."

Natasha nodded. "I'm going to miss you too."

"Don't you want to tell me something else?" he asked condescendingly.

"And I love you too," Natasha said with a small laugh. Clint gave her another quick peck on the lips and then stepped back from her.

"I've got to go, but I'll see you in two weeks. Okay?" he said.

"Yeah, two weeks," she agreed. She watched him bound down the steps and then slide into the back seat of the car. As Mr. Barton backed the car out of her driveway, she gave a weak wave and then turned to the door to unlock it.

When she stepped inside of her house, it felt strangely empty and unfamiliar without Clint. Her father was the only other permanent resident of the house, but it felt wrong without Clint around. She closed the door, locking it, and then walked to her bedroom.

It'll be fine, she thought to herself. Two weeks. That's not a big deal.

She stepped into her room and set her bag down on the floor. It wasn't long until she felt the sadness wash over her and she felt herself collapse down onto her bed. She didn't cry. She didn't even sob or let a stray tear escape. She sat there in silence repeating the same mantra over and over in her head.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

Natasha rubbed her bleary eyes and groaned as she heard the annoying beeping of her alarm clock go off from her bedside table. She rolled over and slapped the snooze button, immediately falling back asleep.

It wasn't long until she was woken up by the sound of her phone ringing from underneath her pillow. She groaned again and reached under her pillow to grab her phone. When she pulled it out and looked at the screen, her spirits were immediately lifted up. She slid her thumb across the screen to answer the incoming call.

"Morning gorgeous," came the familiar voice of Clint Barton from the other end.

Natasha let out a giggle. "Good morning to you too," she said, rubbing the sleep from her right eye.

Over the past two weeks, Natasha grew more accustomed to Clint's absence, but the first few days were hell. Even when he would call it would hurt, but as the days flew by, she got used to it. When she had talked to him last night, he promised her he would call her in the morning to wake her up for her last first day of high school. When Natasha had protested that she didn't need to be woken up, Clint just laughed. He knew her too well to know that once that alarm went off, she would hit the snooze button and fall right back asleep.

"You better not still be in bed," he said.

Natasha rolled her eyes, and she was sure Clint could imagine her doing it just by the silence. "I am. Don't rush it," she ordered.

"You have to rush it," he demanded, "or you'll be late."

"Shut up. I'm catching a ride with Peggy," she said, propping herself up on her elbow. "I'm not really in the mood to be ordered around by you this early in the morning so is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"Yeah. I love you and miss you," he said.

"Aw, you're too sweet. Too bad I don't miss you," Natasha teased.

"That's cruel. You're not invited here this weekend," he threatened.

"You can't deny me a chance to see Dave Matthews Band. That's practically torture," she said.

"Then admit that you love me and miss me and I'll give you back the invite."

"Fine. I love you, and I miss you. I'll even add in that I can't wait to see you this weekend," she said.

Clint chuckled. "I can't wait to see you either," he said. "Now get off the phone with me and get ready for school."

"Okay, fine," she whined, falling back against the pillows.

"Don't go back to bed."

"I won't."

"And Nat?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Natasha felt the biggest smile spread across her face. "I love you too."

They said goodbye to each other and hung up. Natasha tossed her phone onto her bed and swung her legs over the side so she could get ready for her first day of her senior year. However, she couldn't get her mind off of her phone call with Clint.

If I get phone calls like that every morning, I won't have a problem getting out of bed for school, Natasha thought to herself as she pulled a shirt off of its hanger in her closet and prepared herself for her first day of senior year.

Alright, next chapter, Natasha, Thor, Peggy, and Jane will be at Penn State with Clint! Steve won't be there unfortunately because he has to deal with football (we're thinking realistically here), but he'll be there in spirit. I feel like this was sort of a filler chapter so I'm sorry if it's disappointing or boring and uneventful.

I also have no idea how much longer this story is going on for. I know what I want to do with Natasha's senior year and Clint's first year of college, but I have no idea how many chapters it will be. It feels like (to me at least) that my story is coming to a close soon. But let's not think about that!

As always, thanks for adding this story to your favorites, signing up for alerts, and reviewing. Let me know what you thought of this chapter! I still enjoy reading what you guys think!