17 : BAGGAGE**

Steve woke up way too early for a Sunday morning so he went for some jogging around campus. There were a few early birds who he ran past along the way, the girls couldn't resist looking at his biceps and his chest under his very tight grey t-shirt.

He stopped by the diner for some take out. He had a plan for his breakfast and the last thing he needed was his little red to join him. He banged on the door and a minute later, Natasha opened it for him.

"Wow!" Was pretty much all Steve could say when he saw her. She was only wearing a short flimsy nightgown and was rubbing her eyes sleepily. He almost fainted and started to feel something down there but all he could do was stare and keep starring at her body. Suddenly, Natasha realized she wasn't in the state to greet any one,

"Damn it, Rogers!" She muttered and ran back to her room, putting on her robe before coming back to him. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, feeling a little annoyed because of his damn smirk.

"Breakfast for two. Me and you on the rooftop now."

"Steve, it's eight am!" She said. "It's Sunday!"

"I'm well aware of that."

"Go eat it by yourself. I'm gonna get some more sleep."

"Come on! I ordered your usual just for you." Natasha was deciding whether to kick him or join him for breakfast but she wasn't the only one who mastered in using puppy dog eyes to persuade people.

"Wait here. I'll go get changed." She came back and they headed to the rooftop. Steve set the plates in front of them before they began to dig in. "Is this like breakfast in bed but Steve Rogers' way?" She teased.

"Not even close." He replied. "No one has ever had that privilege because I've never stayed the night with my random one night stands so breakfast in bed never occurred."

"Let's just pretend that you are head over heel in love with someone, will you make her breakfast in bed?" Steve stopped and thought for a second,

"Maybe. Which means I have to find the one who can make me feel again. It's hard, you know? To find the right one so I gave up for a very long time and focused only on meaningless sex."

"So you don't have to get yourself hurt?"

"Something like that." He replied. "What about you? Are you gonna get back in dating field again?"

"Not this soon. I'm not a man whore like you, Rogers". Steve pretended she had shot him in the heart and looked really hurt. Natasha laughed at his expression.

"That really hurt, Red." He said. "You just stabbed my soul with your words. Now you have to make it up to me."

"No way."

"Awww, lemme kiss you." Steve said and leaned forward to kiss her but Natasha was quicker and pinched his nose so hard that Steve yelped loudly before she sent him to the ground lying flat on his back. "Arggg!" Steve yelped again. "It's just a joke, Romanoff. And now my back's hurt." Natasha stood over him and laughed. She just kicked Captain Quarterback's ass without breaking a sweat.

"It kinda feels nice." She said. "Kicking your American ass."

"Don't get too cocky, little red." he said and got back to the couch. "Gahh! And now my back is really hurt." Natasha looked paniced when she saw pain in his face.

"Do I need to take you to hospital?"

"Nahh, just get me some ice packs after breakfast."

"But I'm not sorry for kicking your ass, Rogers."

"I know!"

"Natasha, may I speak with you for a minute?" Phil asked when he saw her in the hallway. She was about to get back to her room when Phil Coulson appeared from nowhere. Clint's roommate could be a little creepy sometimes but he was a good man.

"Of course" She replied, a little but surprised that he wanted to talk to her. Phil led her to the rooftop for some privacy. It's must be really important for him if he needed to talk here. "So…what do you wanna talk about?" She asked, straight to the point.

"You are very close with Steve." He stated. "Closer than any female could ever come near him, Natasha."

"Should I be aware of something?"

"Yes, you should." He replied. "Since there isn't many woman that is close to him like you do. You can become a target, Natasha."

"So you pulled me aside to warn me…" He nodded,

"Yes, I want to warn you that you may become a target. Both from his football friends and the girls."

"Why do they have to come after me? I didn't do anything. Steve and I are just friends."

"Natasha, it's more complicated than that. You are the only female Steve keeps close to him. You are the reason he stayed with this group. Rumlow, Rollins and Williams don't like that their friend is hanging out with losers."

"Steve chose us, Phil. And Steve knew that he could hang out with his football friend anytime he wanted because no one put a leash on him." Natasha retorted. "And those stupid girls have no right to hate me or blame me! I'm sorry that their wonder boy wants to hang out with me or maybe Steve just wanted to have a female friend who actually has brain." Phil was stunned by the girl in front of him and his respect for Natasha increased. She was right. She was the only girl who hadn't fall into Steve's bed aside from Jane, Pepper, Maria and Darcy. She's not only beautiful but she was also a smart and strong woman.

"Please, just be careful. I know Steve would do anything to protect you but if he wasn't there…"

"I can take care of myself, Phil but thanks anyway." Natasha said and her phone sounded. She looked at it, "Hmm…speaking of the devil. Steve said he was waiting for us in front of the building."

"You should go with him. I'll find another ride to the diner."

"Oh, come on! You can go with me and Steve." Natasha said and put her arm around his shoulders. The girl forced Phil to go with her. Steve just quirked his eyebrows before greeting both of them. Phil sighed in relief because he knew how his captain could be a little over protective when it came to something or someone of his.

Today's dinner was crazy when Clint and Tony announced that they would try to get phone number from girls as much as they could. The duo challenged Steve but the quarterback said he wants to stay out of this mess, which earned him a curious look from everyone.

"I just want to enjoy my dinner without stupid challenge to accomplish." Steve shrugged. Even Natasha was a little surprised when countless girls came near him but Steve didn't even look at them or give them his playful, charming smile like always. He just ate his dinner and talked to her.

"Are you ill or something?" Natasha asked. "There are tons of girl trying to flirt with you."

"So?"

"You should've headed back to dorm with one or two of them by now."

"I just want to enjoy my meal with you and our friends."

"Who are you? What do you do to Steve Rogers?"

"I just don't feel like sleeping around with random girls today. That's all. There's nothing changed about me." Natasha let it slide this time. Well, she was afraid that she might push him too far. She changed the subject immediately and now they were focusing on a list of movies Natasha should watch to keep up with 'American ass' culture. Everyone suggested movies from their favorite genre. Tony and Bruce went all Sci-Fi. Clint and Thor went all action and adventure. Darcy went with fantasy and anime. Pepper and Maria went with horror and drama. Jane went with documentary and foreign movie.

"A Walk to Remember, Sleepless in Seattle, and When Harry Met Sally." Steve said and everyone turned all attention to him. "Love Actually and Notting Hill are good too." Tony looked shocked,

"You…you of all people like chick flicks?!"

"Is it that surprising?" Steve asked, and frowned.

"I will fucking tweet about this!" Tony whipped out his phone and began to tweet but Steve snapped Tony's phone away.

"Don't do that." The captain said and gave Tony a warning glare. The group proceeded onto the biggest debate they ever had since they formed the group. Steve defended himself that a guy could watch a romantic movie without being judged. Natasha surprisingly took his side. She said it's cute for a big guy like Steve could watch a girly movie.

"Don't take his side, Romanoff!" Tony barked. It all ended up with Steve and Natasha having to admit defeat to stop their friends from prolonging the pointless debate. Steve and Natasha walked to his car after their dinner.

"Are we going to take a detour today?" She asked when they entered his car.

"Why do we need something?" He asked, confused. "Do you want to buy something to eat?" Natasha was taken by surprise again. He must have forgotten about his detours to the coffee shop but she didn't want to remind him because he had definitely made some progress on moving on with his life.

"No, I'm just—very confused today." She answered timidly. "Let's go back to our dorm." He gave her a soft smile and drove away. By the time he reached the parking of the dorm, Natasha had fallen asleep already. He picked her up in his arms and carried her all the way to her room. Luckily, Pepper was already there to open the door for him.

Steve laid her gently out in her bed and he sensed that she might begin to stir so he quickly placed a soothing kiss on her forehead but…

"What da—!" Steve yelped as his body was flung down on the bed with one swift move and a second later her knees were pressed hard on his chest and one arm pressed against his throat.

Natasha just took him down again.

"Are you a freaking Russian assassin or something?" he asked. "You just took me down with one move twice in a week."

"My mother sent me to all types of martial arts class." She replied and removed her arm from his throat and shifted to sit down on his chest.

"That's hot."

"I'm sorry. I thought you would try to do something funny to me."

"I'm not gonna do that. I might try but I'd have to spike your drink first with a sleep pollen or-ouch!" Natasha punched him at his arm. "I'm kidding and don't tell anyone that I just got my ass kick by a girl twice."

"I won't tell anyone. We don't want to see your reputation get crushed."

"Thank you and you can sit on top of me all night. I totally don't mind." He said and Natasha quickly rolled off him. Steve got up and bid her a goodnight. This time, she didn't send him to the ground when he kissed her forehead. "Good night, red. See you tomorrow."

"Umm…night night, Steve"

Natasha was trying very hard to avoid the guy she had just broken up with. After all, he only wanted her for sex, she ended it before it gone too far. She did really have a bad taste when it came to men. She was addicted to the bad boy type and this guy was the same. A jerk that would do anything just to get in her pants and she swore to herself that she will never fall for anyone again.

She did really suck in relationships. All the emotional baggage she carried just made it worst. She didn't want to trust anyone unless they earned it. Why did she find it really hard to trust a man? Oh! Because they all end up breaking her heart.

It was really hard to believe in love again and she was fooling herself that the guy could give it to her. Alexei and now, this guy broke her heart—well, not entirely but it did hurt that he just wanted her out of lust.

"Natasha!" The familiar voice came from behind her. She turned and saw the red head guy she was trying to avoid. What's with the guys that try following her around and don't understand they already ended it?

"Leave me alone!" She shouted and began to run. She really didn't want to talk to him because she knew she would end up in a very bad way.

"Just give me a chance to explain." He was fast. He managed to catch up with her and grabbed her arms.

"NO! You already explained everything to me that you just wanted to have sex!" He grabbed both of her arms and forced her to stay still. In her head, she had already come up with at least six different ways to send him to the ground before he could blink his eyes.

"I really do have feelings for you."

"You are a very terrible liar." She spat back. "When I said I wanted to wait for the right time, you were practically about to force me to have sex with you."

"Which we didn't have and I wanted to tell you I am ready to wait as long as you want."

"Sorry but I don't want to do anything with you again when your agenda is so clear and I know that you only want me back for sex!"

"You are so god damn complicated bitch!" He snarled but before Natasha could do anything, the read head guy was jerked away from her and the sound of fist landed on the guy's face.

"Stay the fuck away from her!" It was Steve Rogers and he was really angry. The guy didn't back down and tried to fight Steve back but the quarterback was too good and too fast for the poor guy to keep up with and Steve delivered a knock out blow, sending the man on the ground, unconscious. Steve panted, trying to keep his cool before turning to face Natasha.

"What are you thinking? Murdock?" He asked, frowning.

"I can take care of myself, Rogers."

"Yeah, you obviously can." He retorted. "What the fuck are you thinking dating this douche?"

"Okay, i gotta admit. I have a very bad taste in men but I can deal with them by myself."

"I know."

"You what?"

"I know you can fend for yourself, Natasha." He replied gently. "But he's a dude. I know how a man operates."

"I know too. I've dated two or three guys before. Let's just not pretend we knew nothing about love, men and women because I'm pretty sure you sleep with half of a women in this campus."

"That's not...your argument is valid. Go on."

"So you have nothing to worry. I know how to deal with a guy."

"I'm not worried about you. I just don't want to see my friend with someone..."

"You are soooo worried about me, Rogers."

"No, I'm not". He shot back in a too high pitch voice and Natasha witnessed something she had never seen before.

Oh. My. God. Steve Rogers actually blushed in front of her.

"Just admit it and I will buy you an apple pie." She said with a devilish smile. "Your favorite apple pie at our favorite restaurant two blocks away."

"You're evil. You know that?"

"Like I said, I know things." Steve sighed,

"Fine, I'm worried." he admitted. "Now can we go get that damn apple pie now?"

She giggled before broke out a bright smile.

"Let's go"

She grabbed his hand and led him to the parking lot before heading off to their favorite restaurant. They enjoyed the delicious meal and Natasha saw that Steve brought his notebook with him again and started to note things down. He ordered the whole apple pie as always but this time; Natasha took three slices of it.

Steve walked her back to her room as usual and bid her a goodnight. After he was gone, Natasha heard another knock on her door so she opened up but found no one was there except a roll of white paper on the floor.

This time it was a sketch of her eyes in many different emotions and feelings, from laughing to smiling to angry and to sleepy, it made her eyes fill with tears. The mysterious artist wrote a caption 'Oh your eyes make the stars look like they're not shining'

Natasha actually smiled at this again. Whoever this artist was, it was very cute of them to keep doing this for her.

The morning came and a loud bang at the door erupted. Natasha actually cursed in Russian and went to get the door. Pepper too was sleepily walking out of her room.

"Would you knocked—" Natasha stopped when she saw who it was. "Stark, what the hell?"

"Pack your bags, guys! We are heading to LA for the weekend!"

AN:

- Special thanks to my friend, sleeplessinbudapest. *hugs*Thanks for always help me with seriously and literally everything.

- Thanks to my beta reader, keepcalmandwrite

- Please kindly leave a review :)