So you're all probably wondering after last week's chapter how Natasha really feels about this whole dating thing. You're about to find out. Also, as a fan, I have to point out...CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 comes out on Tuesday! I think I'm going to hyperventilate because I'm so excited! And AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season One! I think I'm going to pass out! If I live, I'm feeling a movie marathon coming on!
Chapter Forty-One
It was quiet the next morning. Steve and I had decided we should take a morning off from practice to sleep in, since last night we had been up for hours after the fun turn of events in the movie theater. We could barely contain ourselves as he dropped me off at my floor at two in the morning. It almost felt like we were teenagers the way we were so giddy with excitement over our mischief. I'll admit, making my uncle furious felt exhilarating. It sounds wrong, but after stepping over his over-protectiveness for so many years, it felt good to finally step on some toes.
Serves him right.
I nodded with the voice in my head as I sipped on another cup of coffee at eleven in the morning. My phone buzzed on the counter top.
Has he come in yet?
Poor Steve. He wasn't sharing my thrills from last night. This morning, his excitement had become drenched with regret, knowing that my uncle was probably going to pounce him when he set foot outside his room...or sneak in through one of the air vents. Uncle Clint did that quite often, actually. He took me along with him once, but I never did it again. I had been behind him and he broke wind right in my face. I nearly died! But seriously, nasty.
No. But I'd watch the air vents if I were you, I cautioned.
Great... There was a short pause before another message popped up on my screen. So I was wondering...would you go on a second date with me?
I grinned.
Well...I kind of had plans for Friday night...but I suppose I could fit you in.
How sweet of you. Steve's message gushed with sarcasm. Where would you like to go? My treat.
"Hmmm...the park sounds nice."
"The park it is! I'll pick you up at seven. Hope you don't mind riding on my Harley."
Again, the absolutely giddiness returned. A nice walk in the park, just him and me. Holding hands, having ice cream cones, sitting on the grass; just like you saw in the movies, only better because it was the real deal. My girlish fantasies were interrupted by JARVIS.
"Ma'am, your uncle is requesting to enter your apartment."
Ah, so now he wanted to see me. I swore he would have yanked me from my movie seat the second we kissed if Thor hadn't dragged him out of the theater. Now, I didn't know what he was going to be like; angry rage, sulky, upset? I'd find out in a moment.
"Send him in."
I hid a smirk behind my cup as he strolled in. His face deadpanned and my excitement of seeing any anger quickly died, but I wasn't about to let that ruin my moment of triumph.
"Good morning." I said all-too-cheerily.
"Morning." He muttered as he grabbed himself a cup of coffee. I waited in anticipation, the smirk still plastered on my face as I set the cup down, head resting on my hand. As he sat down, I turned my gaze to him.
"What?"
"I'm waiting." I replied smugly.
He frowned. As if he thought I'd forget last night's events or blow it off. I was a Barton. Heck no. I wasn't going to let this go without a satisfactory apology.
"About last night..." He began, his face still as unreadable as before.
"Yes?"
"I may have...overreacted a tad." The smug look on my face formed into a solid line.
"A tad?" I asked flatly.
"Maybe a lot." He averted his eyes as he admitted his guilt in typical Barton fashion. Avoid eyes, check. Admit that you're slightly wrong, check.
"And maybe you shouldn't have...oh, I don't know, spied on us?" I tried to help him along as best I could. It was like leading a stubborn horse to water, as you all probably know by now.
"Perhaps." He took a sip of coffee and was silent for a brief moment. "I'm sorry," he replied with sincerity. I nodded in acceptance.
"But your aunt told me to do it."
Ha! Like I'd ever believe that one.
"So I'm going out on another date Friday night. Do you think you can keep yourself from another embarrassing adventure?"
I swore I saw him blush, but he swallowed it down with his coffee.
"Maybe."
Friday...
"You really didn't have to pay for those." I was referring to the hotdogs Steve had just bought us. I had offered to pay since the last one had been on him, but he had dived into his wallet and forked out the cash before I could bat an eyelash.
"I'm the guy. I'm supposed to pay." I rolled my eyes.
"This is the twenty-first century, you know. Women can pay."
He was still adjusting to the times several years after defrosting. He found it odd that women would dare think about paying for anything on a date. Although I thought it was backwards, in a way I still found it sweet.
"But I enjoy doing it for you." He wrapped his arm around mine, twining them together and grasping my hand, our fingers locking. A small peck on the cheek was enough to make me blush.
"Alright. But I get to pay for dessert."
His stomach growled in response and I had to restrain an embarrassing snort.
"I think that's a yes." He replied with a grin as he bit into his second hotdog.
A While Later...
"No!" I screamed, running to the closest tree and hiding behind it.
"It's okay. It's just a lizard." Steve held the little reptile a few inches from me and I wanted to scream bloody murder. He had picked up the little critter from on top of a rock and now he was letting it weave its way through his fingers.
"Gross." I wrinkled my nose with disgust, the little creature stopping to look at me on the tip of his middle finger, as if to give me the same reply back.
"What? It's cute."
"Somehow, I don't find anything related to the reptile family cute." I shooed his hand away in distaste.
"Fine." He set the reptile down and it scurried into the nearby grass. I gave one last shudder as it disappeared from sight.
"Why are you so scared of lizards?" He asked as we continued our walk around the park.
"When I was six, my class went on a nature trail. Some of the boys thought it would be fun to play with snakes and anything with scales that they could put their hands on. When we got on the bus, one of the boys took a lizard out of his pocket and it slid down my backside. I screamed and punched the boy in the nose afterwards."
Needless to say, he started laughing. I flushed red with embarrassment.
"That's not funny." I steamed and he laughed even harder.
"It's hilarious."
"You're awful!" I started to walk off, only for him to grab my arm.
"Oh, come on. I was only joking."
Even after all the pranks he pulled, I still couldn't resist that smile.
"It is pretty funny, isn't it?"
He pulled me close to him, his arm wrapping around my shoulders.
"Did I ever mention how much I love how you make me laugh?"
Clint
"Ouch! Quit shoving, Clint!" Nat quietly reprimanded me. Hiding in the bushes hadn't been the greatest idea. They were prickly and full of bugs. In fact, I swear one was running down my shirt.
Okay, I admit, I was spying again. But it wasn't my fault! And if you don't believe me, check out the last time I spied on them. Yeah, see? I wasn't about to attempt spying on them again.
In fact, this was all Nat's idea. She had forced me out of the house, leaving the twins under Bruce's care. They were giggling, saying that mommy and daddy were going to go spy on Auntie Hannie and Uncle Stevie. On the way here, she was silent. I knew she could feel my questioning stares, but she ignored them.
Now, Nat had a pair of binoculars in her hand, keeping a safe distance from the pair as they walked through Central Park. Even after the breakdown at S.H.I.E.L.D., she had still managed to nab several pieces of the organization's equipment. And it did come in handy, especially when you were spying on your niece and her super-soldier boyfriend.
"I can't help it! It's prickly in here!" I protested.
"Then move to another bush!"
She could be so bossy when she was overprotective. Sheesh. And I thought I was the crazy one.
"I don't know why you're worried. They were fine on the last date." I mumbled. I honestly don't know what had changed since that night at the theater. She had seemed so calm, happy even, that they had managed to make a fool of me. Now all of a sudden, she was extremely paranoid at leaving them alone.
She snapped her head in my direction. "You didn't see the whole video footage of their first kiss."
It was true. I hadn't. And for good reason. Seeing them alone on Hannah's floor, making out. I think I might kill Steve. Or die of a heart attack.
"Wait, you didn't watch that until now?"
"No." She admitted. "It just...popped up on my screen."
Sure it did. And I was the King of England.
"I saw them together that night on her floor. He was all over her, so I don't trust him for a moment with her." Nat replied further.
"Seriously? He's Captain Goody-Two-Shoes. He wouldn't try to do anything."
She raised an eyebrow in response.
"He's a man. That's all I need to know."
"You didn't seem to mind when things between you and I got a little heated."
"That's different!" She objected, shifting back to her binoculars.
"Sure..."
"You know, you can just..."
It can take a lot to silence Nat when she's in a foul mood. If she wants to yell your ear off, she will. But if I can time it just right, one kiss can stop her in her dead in her tracks.
As I pulled back, I asked, "I can just what?"
"You can just...carry on."
"I don't think I want to keep kissing you in a prickly old bush, though."
She was contemplating; stay in an uncomfortable bush watching our perfectly safe niece or go home and make out on the couch with her husband? The choice was obvious.
"Let's go home."
That's all for now, folks! Thank you for reading!