Annnnd here's the end of this slightly cheesy story! :D Thanks for sticking with it, even through the months of inactivity and rough patches.

Enjoy! :)

Clint sat on the living room floor, sifting through a bin full of DVDs. He was trying to decide what they should watch, and keeping an eye out specifically for any of the Mission: Impossible movies, since Natasha had expressed an interest. It had been a while since he'd been through this bin – most of these movies, he'd didn't even know he had.

Maybe I should just wait for her to finish changing so we can both decide what to watch, he thought, pulling out one of the Bourne movies and a cheesy rom-com. Although, she probably wouldn't mind if I just picked one out. Would she…? No, of course she wouldn't. Or, I could pick out a few and let her choose between them. But what if she didn't like any of them? Or I could just pick one out and ask her if it's okay, and if she doesn't like it, she can pick out a different one…

"Made up your mind yet?"

Natasha's voice, right in his ear, made him jump. He whipped his head around, and found himself nose-to-nose with her.

"Uh, no," he stammered. He set the rom-com back into the bin. "I think this one's good, but most of these—" He broke off, flustered. Natasha was leaning onto his back, her chin nestled in his shoulder as she peered into the bin. He cleared his throat. "Most of these I've never even seen before."

Natasha reached past him and pulled one of the Star Trek movies out of the bin.

"Oh, I've seen that one, that's good," Clint said, half-turning his head to look at her.

Natasha sat back and flipped the case over to examine the back cover. Clint watched her out of the corner of his eye as she tucked her hair behind her ear, frowning down at it.

"Wanna watch that one?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to watch these movies," Natasha said, looking up at him.

"Okay, perfect," Clint said eagerly.

The doorbell rang.

"There's the pizza!" Natasha said cheerfully.

"I'll get it," Clint said, standing up.

He opened the door, and the deliveryman held out a pizza box. "Ten-fifty, please."

Clint smacked his forehead. "Forgot my wallet." He jogged back to his room, and finally located his wallet in the pocket of his jeans, which were in a heap on the floor.

When he returned to the kitchen, Natasha was taking the pizza from the deliveryman. Clint paid the man and he left.

"Okay, I'm starving," Natasha stated.

"Me too," Clint agreed. As the smell of hot pizza began to fill the room, he was starting to finally realize how hungry he actually was. Up till then, he'd been too nervous to notice it.

"So, how are we gonna do this?" he asked. "Should we eat while we watch, or before…"

"Before," Natasha said instantly. "I won't be able to focus when I'm this hungry," she explained blithely, turning toward the kitchen.

Clint followed her guiltily, heading to the pantry for beer. "Well, that's kind of my fault, so…"

Natasha smirked as she set the pizza on the table. "I'll give you 'kind of'."

"You're a good sport," Clint told her, getting paper plates.

Natasha's smile grew. "Well… I get a lot of practice."

Clint paused. "Wait. Are you saying I get in trouble a lot?"

Natasha widened her eyes with feigned innocence. "Why would I say that?"

Clint grinned and shook his head, joining her at the table. This was more like what he was used to – their playful, tongue-in-cheek banter. He slid into the seat across from his partner, passing her a beer, already starting to feel more relaxed.

"Dig in."

+)(-O-)(+

Once they had finished eating, they headed straight to the living room to watch the movie. Clint had some trouble finding the remote, but much to his relief, he finally located it underneath the couch. The last thing he needed was to lose the remote after everything else that had gone wrong.

Natasha plopped down onto the couch while Clint put the movie in. Then he lowered himself onto the couch a short distance away from his partner. Sure, he was gaining confidence and things weren't as awkward, but Natasha was pretty particular about her personal space, and he wasn't sure if she'd wand him to intrude on it.

But as soon as he sat down, Natasha scooted over to him and curled up at his side, taking hold of his arm.

"I might not be awake for the whole thing," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder (Clint's stomach performed some impressive gymnastics). "I've had kind of a long day."

Clint cleared his throat. "Well… that's partly my fault too. So it's okay."

For the first ten minutes or so of the movie, Clint couldn't focus on the movie at all because he was so aware of Natasha next to him. But it was a good movie, one of his favorites, so as time went on, he was gradually able to pay more attention to it.

And as time passed, Natasha grew heavier and warmer against his side, until Clint looked down and saw that she was asleep.

+)(-O-)(+

Clint was jerked awake by a loud clatter at the door. He blinked, wondering how long he'd been asleep. The movie had ended, and Natasha—

—Was asleep on his lap?!

Somehow she had moved so that she was on top of him, her head was on his arm, so he was kind of cradling her. One of her arms was around his shoulders, her other hand was fisted against his chest.

"I had a blast!" Kate announced, staggering into the living room. She looked disheveled and tired, but she was beaming.

"Seriously, best Valentine's Day ever," she continued; then she stopped.

"Oh my gosh," she hissed. "Is she asleep?"

Clint made a shushing motion and nodded.

Kate's grin grew wider. "Okay, okay hang on a sec, don't move." Clint eyed her apprehensively as she rummaged through her purse.

Kate produced her phone and held it up. "Okay, smile!"

Clint raised an eyebrow. "She'll kill you if you take her picture while she's sleeping," he whispered. Natasha stirred a little, and he glanced nervously down.

"Prepare my eulogy," Kate said with a chuckle, lowering her phone and smiling at the screen. "You guys are, like, nauseatingly adorable."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Katie."

Kate grinned cheekily at him and put her phone away. "Okay, night!" She headed to her room.

Natasha stirred a little again, and Clint looked down at her. Her eyelids fluttered, and Clint hesitated, wondering if he had time to slide her off his lap before she woke up.

Too late – she opened her eyes. Clint remained silent as she frowned, glancing around the dark room, taking account of her surroundings.

Finally her eyes alighted on him, and a smile crept across her lips. "Hey."

"Hey," Clint replied.

Natasha blinked slowly, looking placidly up at him. "Sorry I fell asleep on you. Guess I was more tired than I thought."

"It's not a problem," Clint said quickly. "Did you like the movie?"

"What I saw of it," she replied, smiling sheepishly.

"Good."

Natasha arched her back, stretching. "What time is it?"

Clint stared carefully at his watch. "It's after one."

"Hm." Natasha lay still for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. "Well," she said finally. "I should go home now."

She got up slowly, and Clint immediately missed her warmth.

"I'll drive you home," he offered, standing up.

+)(-O-)(+

The ride back to Natasha's house was silent. But this time, it didn't feel awkward. Natasha was laying back in the passenger seat with her eyes closed, and the hum of the heater filled the car the whole way over.

I wonder if I should go inside, Clint was thinking. That might be creepy. On the other hand, it would seem rude if I just dropped her off and left, right? Maybe I should just walk her up to the door. Would that be awkward?

Luckily, Natasha solved all his problems when they arrived by saying, "Hey, come on in and I'll give you your clothes back."

They entered her house, and Clint sat down in the kitchen while Natasha went into her room to change. He was starting to feel drowsy again, and he was worried that he would doze off in her kitchen, but luckily, she didn't take long.

She came into the kitchen a few minutes, holding the clothes.

"Here," she said, passing them to him as he stood.

"Thanks," Clint said. "And thanks for, um, going out with me." He lowered his head and kicked at the floor.

"Thanks for asking."

"And, uh…" Clint paused. "Sorry again about everything that, you know. Went wrong."

Natasha shook her head. "It's not a big deal. Everything turned out okay."

Clint nodded. The evening had not been what he'd expected, but she was right – it had been fun. And, as frustrating as all the pointless driving around had been, at least it meant that the two of them had spent more time together than they might have otherwise.

"Well," he said slowly. "I guess I should go."

"Okay, well, thanks for dropping me off."

"No problem."

"We should do this again sometime," Natasha added.

Clint blinked. "You – you really want to?" he stammered.

"Well, you know. If you want," Natasha teased.

Clint nodded mutely.

Natasha smiled. Then she stepped forward and set her warm hand at the back of his neck.

Clint froze.

Natasha rose up on tiptoe and lightly brushed his cheek with her lips. Clint stared uncomprehendingly down at her. The spot where her lips had touched him was tingling, and he vacantly raised a hand to touch it.

He must have been staring at her longer than he thought, because she chuckled, sounding slightly uncomfortable, but mostly amused. "Okay… bye," she said, nudging him gently towards the door.

Clint stumbled, then managed a smile at her as he headed for the door.

"Oh, and Clint?"

"Huh?" he turned.

Natasha folded her arms and smirked at him.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

-END-

I hope the characterization was okay - that's what I was a little unsure of.

If you liked it, you should keep an eye out for my oneshots that are coming up (hopefully within the next month or so, but ahem. You know how I am about posting in a timely manner. So I GUESS WE'LL SEE. XD).

Thanks again for reading! :)