"Nat?" Steve questioned as he walked into her quarters. For the most part, she lived with him on his floor, but, for appearances sake, she stayed on her floor when company visited the Tower. The sunlight streamed through the giant glass panes overlooking the city, illuminating her apartment. "Nat? Are you still here?" he walked further into the 'foyer,' struggling to see through the sun glare.
He heard the kids laugh before he heard Natasha reply. "We're in the living room." Steve made a left and found Natasha sitting on the floor, her back up against the (bare) couch, red hair thrown up onto a messy bun that was brightened by the sun. Her place was a mess; the couch cushions were propped up against each other and the blankets were draped over them to make some kind of a fort. Steve could hear Lila and Cooper laughing and whispering from within the fort. Clint and Laura went away for the weekend—just the two of them—and left their kids with 'Auntie Nat' at the Tower.
Natasha was amazing with the kids. She didn't see it, but everyone else did; she was Lila and Cooper's favorite relative for a reason. And Steve, well, he was enamored with the scene in front of him. There was nothing extraordinary about it, but he couldn't look away. Natasha had on dark skinny jeans and a white V-neck t-shirt that did nothing to hide her curves. She seemed so relaxed, so happy. Time seemed to slow down when Natasha looked back over her shoulder at him. Her lips pulled up into a small smile, the one she had only for him, and the sun hit her face just the right way; the green of her eyes shone bright, framed by long, dark lashes. The many shades of her hair stood out, highlighting its true color. She looked so ordinary, yet so stunning and Steve's heart swelled in his chest. She was a dream; a dream he could have every night for the rest of his life and it'd never be enough.
"What?" she laughed, pulling him from his euphoria.
"Nothing," he came over and leaned down to kiss her (longer than he should have). "You look great," he couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks, but not really," she patted the ground next to her and he sat down, pulling her close and draping his arm around her shoulders.
"Steve!" Lila squealed as she crawled out of the fort and into his lap. "You just kissed Auntie Nat."
"Hey, Lila. And I did just kiss Aunt Nat," he smiled once again.
"But you have boy germs; you're going to make her contan-in-mated," the five-year-old struggled with the last word.
"Oh, I'm sorry; I take it back." Steve took Natasha's chin in his hand and wiped his 'germs' off her lips with his thumb. All he wanted to do was kiss her again. Later, he told himself. Later and you'll have her all to yourself.
"Is that better?" Natasha asked. Lila nodded contentedly.
"I see that you guys made a pretty cool fort with Aunt Nat?"
"Uh-huh," Lila slid over to Natasha's lap. "I'm having fun."
"Me too!" Cooper stuck his head out of the fort. "Auntie Nat is the best?" He came all the way out of the fort to greet Steve.
"Hey, buddy," Steve held his hand out for Cooper to shake. "What's going on?"
"I got a new toy—it's a truck. Want to play with me?"
"Sure, why don't you—" Steve's phone interrupted him and he unwound his arm from Natasha to answer the call. "Rogers. Yes, sir. I understand. I'll be there." He hung up and Natasha gave him a questioning look. "Fury. It's a dimple raid—just me and Sam."
Natasha sighed, knowing she couldn't do anything to keep him here (with her). "Go," she stated simply, offering him a smile. "Come back in one piece."
"Yes, ma'am," he leaned in to kiss her, ignoring Cooper and Lila's gagging noises. He pulled away very reluctantly. "I love you, he smiled."
"I love you too." Before she knew it, Steve was off and she was once again alone with Lila and Cooper.
"Auntie Nat?" Natasha redirected her attention to the little girl. "I like Steve."
Natasha smiled at her. "Me too, Lila. Me too."
"I'm gonna do it," Steve stated without warning. He and Sam were on the quintjet heading to Europe for a simple extraction mission.
"Hmm?" Sam looked over at Steve. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to ask her," Steve smiled and nodded his head. "I'm going to ask Natasha to marry me."
Sam was quiet for a long moment. "Steve…Steve, this is huge, man."
"I know," Steve replied nonchalantly. "But I've never been more sure of anything in my life. I saw her today and something just clicked. I want to marry her, Sam," Steve sighed. "I need her to be my wife. I don't want to wait any longer."
Sam smiled brightly. "Wow. Congrats," he reached over to shake Steve's hand. "Dude, you're gonna get married."
"Well, she hasn't said yes yet. And I still need to find the courage to actually ask her. And it's not like I have a ring picked out."
"Steve—look at me." Steve did, making eye contact with his teammate (who had become so much more than that these past few months and years). "She's not going to say no; she loves you. Man, you guys are going to be amazing together."
"You think?"
"Hell, yeah. You already are. You marry her, and you'll have the bad guys running the other way. It's going to be great."
"I think so," Steve smiled, thinking about being with Natasha—not ah her boyfriend, but as her fiancé then her husband. She deserved a happy life, and he wanted to be the one to give her everything and more. "I love her, Sam. God, I love her so much it hurts. I'm never going to let her go. Never. I want to be her husband; desperately so."
"You two are something. Something really special. You know that, right?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. I think I do know that. She's…she's worth it. I'd give up everything for her. She is special. And I selfishly want it all to myself."
"I've seen the way she looks at you, Steve. We all have. You guys were meant to be together."
"You know," Steve started nostalgically, "After the ice I thought I had nothing left to live for. Everything I knew—everyone I knew—was gone. I had nothing. But after meeting her? I think I know why I got stuck in that ice for seventy years. She changed everything, Sam. Without her I'd be hopeless. But now? With her and all that she's shown and taught me…I think we're gonna be okay. With her and you and the team—I think the future's going to be a god one. She deserves it."
"That was deep," Sam replied with a smile. "You're going to have to put that in your vows," Steve laughed. "You deserve that happy future too, you know."
"Well, I think I'll get that if she says yes."
"When she says yes," Sam corrected.
"Yeah," Steve sighed happily. "When she says yes."
"Ant things will be great as long as I get to be your best man."
Sam laughed. Steve did too. "Let me buy a ring first. Baby steps."
"Dude, you're gonna get married!" Sam reached over and clasped Steve on the shoulder. "You're going to have a kick-ass reception. Natasha's going to look stunning," Steve smiled at that—imagining her in a white gown. "And soon enough you'll have little cap-widow kids running around."
Steve knew this would come up eventually. He didn't really want to talk about it, but he trusted Sam. "Yeah," Steve started solemnly. "All of that. But, uh…Nat can't have kids." Sam was silent, the mood suddenly turning sour. Steve shrugged off Sam's concerned look, "Side effect of the Red Room."
"Man, that's tough. Sorry I didn't know; I wouldn't have brought it up if I did."
"It's alright—nothing that anyone can do about it. And, you know what? I'm willing to sacrifice that—having kids—for her. She's worth it; I couldn't stop loving her if I tried."
Sam sighed. "I see how much she means to you, Steve. And look on the bright side; there are always ways around it."
"Yeah," Steve smiled a little, the cheerful atmosphere almost immediately returning. "But I'm going to cross that bridge when I get there. The first thing I need to do now is get her a ring."
"Sorry, man, but you're on your own with that one," Sam stated matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I figured that much," Steve smiled. "But I can deal with that later. We have a mission to focus on."
Thankfully, the mission went smoothly and Steve found himself stumbling into Natasha's apartment early the next morning. To his surprise, she was still awake, lying on her couch and watching some show on TV. He quietly propped his shield against the wall before moving to the couch and crouching in front of her. "Hey," he smiled, sweeping a lock of red hair off of her face. "What are you still doing up?"
She blinked tiredly; hazy eyes both blue and green stared back at Steve. "I couldn't sleep. It's not the same when you're not here."
"Did the kids leave?"
She nodded. "Clint picked them up right after you left." Steve felt the weight of her head on him as she leaned into his shoulder. "I missed you," she sighed.
"Me too, Nat," more than you know. He leaned down to kiss her but she turned her face away.
"Shower, first. Then you can come kiss me."
Steve did as he was told and took a shower. The hot water felt amazing after the long day he'd had and he allowed himself to stand under the spray and enjoy it for a few extra minutes.
Natasha was lying in bed, reading when he emerged into the bedroom. He went to her dresser, taking out a pair of boxers and his white "Army" t-shirt and pulling them on before crawling into bed next to her. She put her book down on the nightstand, turned off the light, and snuggled up to Steve as he pulled her into him. It was quiet for a long moment, and Steve could've sworn that Natasha was asleep.
"Steve?" Nope, guess not. "How was the mission?"
"It was fine," he said softly into her red locks. "Just a couple of want-to-be thieves. Sam and I handled it pretty easily."
"That's good. I wish you could've been here, though."
"Me too," Steve let out a small laugh. "You're so good with them, you know. Lila and Cooper."
Steve couldn't see Natasha smile in the dark. "They're great kids. Clint and Laura are really doing a great job with them."
"Hey, give yourself some credit, too. They love you, you know." Natasha just moaned in accordance in response and it was quiet for a long moment as Steve debated whether or not to pursue what was on his mind. He decided to go for it.
"Nat?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you ever want to do that?" He paused. "Have kids, I mean..."
"Steve," she said tenderly and he felt her sigh against his chest. "You know I can't. Physically—it's impossible."
"I know that, but if you could...If we could find some way around it somehow. Would you?"
Natasha didn't answer right away and Steve was afraid he'd gone too far—pushed his luck. "If, somehow, the damage that the Red Room did to me during the graduation ceremony could be undone...I think that I would, now. But it wouldn't be with just anyone; it'd have to be with someone special."
Steve smiled despite himself. "Yeah?" he asked, now hopeful.
"Yeah," she smiled to herself, knowing that he couldn't see it in the dark. "If by some miracle I could have kids, I think that you're the only one I'd want to have them with."
"Natasha," Steve said, so very touched beyond words. In fact, he had no idea how to put his emotions into words. "I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you," he breathed excitedly.
"I love you, too. But, Steve," she started solemnly, "you know it can't happen. It doesn't matter how badly I want it or not; I can't reverse what they did to me. And I'm sorry because you deserve it—you deserve so much more than I can give you."
"Hey, we've been over this before," he started. "I love you, and if the time comes, we'll figure it out. But right now? You're the most important thing in the world to me. And as to what I deserve? You don't owe me anything, Natasha. Nothing. You alone are much more than I deserve," he pulled her even tighter to his chest. "You make me so, so happy, Nat. And that's not something I take lightly."
"Well, for what it's worth, you make me happy too," she smiled again. "More so than I've ever been. I love loving you; being your girlfriend and all that mushy crap." Steve knew deep down that her statements were genuine, no matter how she tried to downplay them. He felt her eventually slump against him, her breathing evening out. Steve didn't feel like sleeping, though, there were too many things racing through his head. I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore; I want to make you my wife. I want to make you Mrs. Rogers. And with that happy thought, he finally found himself drifting to sleep.
Steve knocked lightly on the door to Pepper's office several days later. Natasha was away on a mission with Cline, so he knew that she wouldn't find out about this. Naturally, Pepper was on the phone, but she motioned for Steve to come in through the glass. He did so and took a seat in front of her large desk. Steve took a moment to observe Pepper's office while she finished up her conversation. The room was large and spacious—much larger than Steve's own office at the Triskelion—with huge glass widows that ran along two walls of the space through which one could see much of the city. The office itself was sleek, modern, and designed very much according to Pepper's taste.
A minute later, Pepper hung up the phone and focused her attention on Steve. "Hi. And sorry about that. There's always something going wrong somewhere in this company."
"You don't have to apologize, Pepper. And thank you for taking time to meet with me; I know how busy you must be, especially with Christmas coming up."
Pepper waved away his apology with her hand. "Please, Steve. You know that I can always make time for you," she smiled sweetly. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
Steve sighed apprehensively. "Well, I need to ask you a favor. But the thing is, this is pretty big, so you can't tell anyone. Especially not Tony. This is really important to me, and I want to keep it as quiet as possible."
"Steve, I've been keeping things from Tony for years," she stated proudly. "So whatever it is, rest assured, it will be safe with me."
"Okay," Steve hesitated. "I'm going to propose to Natasha." Pepper's face absolutely lit up at that as she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. "But I haven't gotten her a ring yet—and I want it to be perfect for her. And I trust your taste and judgment, I really do, and I'm way out of my element here, so...will you come shopping with me and help me pick out an engagement ring for Nat?"
"Oh my gosh, Steve! It's about time!" she proclaimed excitedly. "And I'm honored that you asked me to help—of course I will." Steve let out a sigh of relief. He knew Pepper would come through; she always did.
"Really?" You don't mind helping me?"
"Helping you shop? For an engagement ring? Steve, I would have been insulted if you didn't ask me for help," Pepper smiled.
"Okay, great!" now Steve was smiling, too. "Nat always says she doesn't want or need thing like jewelry, so I've never bought her anything like this before. But I want this ring to be really special and perfect for her because she deserves it."
"Steve, don't worry about it. I'm going to help you, and together we'll find the perfect ring for her. Okay?"
"Okay," Steve echoed, feeling relieved and newly motivated. I can do this. It's going to be perfect and she's going to love it. "But please, please don't tell anyone about this or that I was here. I want to surprise her, for once, and you know how difficult that is."
"Trust me, Steve, my lips are sealed. Does anyone else know you're going to ask her?"
"Just Sam, and that's it. I wanted to get his opinion to see if he thought I was getting ahead of myself. I'm terrified that she's going to say no."
"She's crazy about you, Steve. If there's one person on this earth that was meant to be with Natasha Romanoff, it's you," Pepper smiled once again. "So don't stress."
"Easier said than done," Steve laughed a little.
"Don't' worry, Steve; it's all going to work out. I know it will."
The following afternoon (man, Pepper works fast), Steve and Pepper were casually strolling down Fifth Avenue. Natasha was still away on her mission, thankfully, so she would have n o idea what he was up to. Steve was dressed casually in a pair of dark jeans and a beige sweater with a wool coat that kept him warm against the chill of early December. Pepper, on the other hand, was as well dressed as always in a business dress, heels, and Burberry trench coat; she looked ridiculously posh, especially with her Louis Vuitton handbag and Prada sunglasses. Steve felt hopelessly underdressed.
He also felt ridiculously out of place. The standard of living seemed to increase with every step they took down the street. Pepper blended in, of course, but Steve felt like he was sticking out like a sore thumb. Designer stored lined both sides of the street, and Steve could only imagine how wealthy some of the people he passed were. Steve grew up with practically nothing, so seeing this was a difficult thing to grasp.
"Here, Steve," Pepper stopped him in front of Tiffany's. Of course, Steve knew of Tiffany's; it was one company still remaining that predated him. But he had never had a reason (or the means) to actually shop here before. He was intimidated for some absurd reason. Nowadays, he could definitely afford to but whatever he decided upon. Nonetheless, he felt way out of place.
Steve left his thoughts behind as the two young doormen wearing Tiffany blue scarves greeted them and ushered them through the revolving door. The store was positively buzzing with people. 'Tis the season, Steve thought. "Come on, Steve, I told my friend that we were coming. She can help us out."
"Um, okay," it took Steve a moment to process that as Pepper led them to the back corner of the store.
"Alex! How are you?" Pepper suddenly greeted another woman. The woman appeared to be in her mid-thirties; she was tall and slender with long brown hair and welcoming blue eyes. Pepper turned her attention back to him. "Steve, this is my friend, Alexandria. She's always helping me pick out jewelry."
"You can call me Alex," the woman stuck out her hand and Steve shook it.
"Hi," he said dumbly.
"So," Alex lightly clapped her hands together. "What can I help you with today?"
"I, um, I want to but an engagement ring for my girlfriend," Steve got out.
"Okay, great! Why don't we have a seat over here so we can discuss it?" Alex led them over to a small table and they sat down. "Would either of you like anything to drink?"
"We'll take water, thank you," Pepper responded for both of them.
Once they were all settled, Alex spoke again. "So, Steve, what price range are you looking to stay around?"
"Honestly, I don't have a budget. I just want it to be perfect for her; the price doesn't matter," Steve answered.
"Okay, great," Alex smiled. "And, if I may ask, what is your girlfriend's name?"
"Her name's Natasha," Steve answered easily.
"And does she know that you're here today?" Alex continued.
"No," Steve laughed. I hope not. "I want to surprise her."
"Very sweet."
"And I brought Pepper to help me; I trust her opinion."
"Wonderful, "Alex continued. She brought out a piece of paper and turned it around to show Steve and Pepper. "Okay, so these are the different cuts of diamonds for our rings. The fist think I need you to do is to decide which ones you like."
Steve looked at the drawings of the diamond shapes. There were a lot of choices: round, princess, square, and heard. Emerald, oval, pear, and cushion. It was a lot to take in.
"What do you think, Steve?" Pepper asked.
"Well," Steve sighed. "I know that I don't like the heart or pear shapes. Or the princess shape."
"I agree," Pepper mused. "I don't like the round and square-like cuts either," she looked at Steve. "Natasha is pretty small; she has slender fingers."
"If she has small hands," Alex began, " I would recommend the emerald or oval cuts."
"I like those," Steve said, imaging how it would look on Natasha's finger.
"Okay, good. We'll stick with those two. Now, what color do you want the diamond to be?"
"Uhh," Steve stumbled. He didn't know that there was more than one color. "Just regular. White, I guess."
"Okay, well we have some rings that I think you'll like," Alex pulled out a case and placed it on the table. Then, she pulled out a few rings and placed them on a special mat for Steve and Pepper to observe.
It was hard for Steve to keep up with Alex as she described each ring. The first one had a plain, oval diamond with a platinum band. It was very pretty, but simple. The second ring was the same as the first one except the diamond was cut in an emerald shape.
The third ring, however, caught Steve's attention. "This one," Alex explained, "is from out Soleste collection." The ting had a large, oval diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds. Its band was also comprised of small diamonds.
"Wow, Steve. I like that one a lot," Pepper offered.
"I do, too," Steve held up the ring to better examine it. "I don't know. It's pretty, but it's just not...Nat."
"Yeah, I don't think it's the one," Pepper agreed.
"But I do think that we're headed in the right direction," Steve stated.
"Well, if you liked that one, what do you think of this?" Alex brought out another ring and Steve immediately fell in love with it. The ring sported a large, emerald-cut diamond at the center with smaller, almost square diamonds surrounding it. The ring also had small diamonds that covered some of the platinum band. "This one is also from our Soleste collection, but it's an emerald cut."
"Steve..." Pepper nudged.
He didn't know exactly what it was, but something about this ring just screamed Natasha. It was stunning without being flashy or showy. It was elegant, timeless, and somewhat vintage. It was perfect. "I...I love it," Steve said as he continued to admire the ring. Steve turned to Pepper, "what do you think?"
"I think it's the one, Steve," Pepper spoke candidly.
"Yeah, me too," Steve smiled widely. "Do you think that Nat will like it?"
"Oh, Steve, she's going to love it. Especially since you picked it out just for her," Pepper answered.
Steve couldn't stop smiling now. He kept imaging sliding that ring onto Natasha's finger; having it stay there so the world would know that she was taken.
"I thought you'd like that one," Alex stated. Now I just need to know what size you want the diamond to be. How many carats." Once again, Alex pulled out diagrams that depicted the different diamond sizes.
Steve looked over the paper for a minute. "What do you think, Pepper?"
Pepper hesitated a moment. "I think I like the two carat diamond. Not too big but not too small."
"Yeah, I like that too."
"Okay, Perfect!" Alex exclaimed. "The last thing I need to know is Natasha's ring size."
"Um," Steve drew a blank. He felt like an idiot, but he had no clue what size ring Natasha wore.
"She wears a size six," Pepper replied, glancing at Steve. "I came prepared."
"Thanks," Steve sighed in relief. Pepper saves the day, once again. "And when can I come back to pick up the ring?"
"We can have it ready for you next week. Is that alright?"
"That would be great. Thanks."
"Wonderful," Alex proclaimed cheerfully. "Now, I just need a down payment for the ring..." she trailed off as she entered some information into her iPad. "And your total comes to..."
Steve's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the large number. "Whoa..." he sighed.
"Steve...if you can't, Tony and I can—"
Steve cut Pepper off. "No. No way; she's my girlfriend and I need to do this. I can afford it, it's no trouble."
After working out the payment details with Alex, Pepper was toasting Steve and Natasha with some ridiculously expensive champagne that Tiffany's apparently kept on hand for celebrating expensive purchases. Needless to say, Steve felt somewhat uncomfortable by the time he and Pepper left the store.
"Congratulations, Steve," Pepper smiled and grabbed Steve's arm as they walked back down Fifth Avenue.
"Uh, thanks," Steve smiled sheepishly. "I still can't believe that I just bought an engagement ring. I hope Nat likes it."
"Steve, she's going to love it. You picked it out for her, so of course she will. Don't stress so much."
"Easier said than done. But I'll try."
"So...I have one more question," Pepper started tentatively, "When and how are you going to ask her?"
Steve smiled. "Okay, I'll tell you. But, again, you can't tell anyone. I'm going to ask her on Christmas Eve. And, uh, I may need to borrow the roof of the Tower."
"Of course you can use the roof!" Pepper nearly gasped in excitement. "Oh my god, Steve, I can't believe all of this. I'm so happy for you. For you and Natasha; you both deserve some happiness."
"Thanks, Pepper. I have to actually get her to say yes first. But thank you so much for all of your help. You saved my butt in there today."
"Of course, Steve," Pepper said. "I'm glad you asked me to help."
Steve smiled. "Well, now I'm one step closer. One step closer to asking the woman I love to be mine forever."
"Hey, man. Can I talk to you for a minute? In private," Steve rubbed the back of his head nervously as he spoke to Clint. It was nearly Christmas, but Steve still had one more thing he had to do before he proposed to Natasha.
"Yeah, sure," Clint responded and the two men went outside on the porch. Clint and Laura had invited the couple over for dinner and they'd gladly accepted the invitation. Laura and Natasha were cleaning up what was left of dinner while Lila and Cooper were playing in the living room.
Steve generally didn't like the cold (for obvious reasons), but in this moment he welcomed and almost relished it. "So," Clint began, leaning against the railing with a beer dangling from his fingers. "What did you want to talk about?"
Steve took a deep breath and decided that it was probably best to just cut to the chase. "I want to ask Natasha to marry me." Clint was surprised; he looked over at Steve with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.
"Wow, Steve, that's...that's huge." Clint struggled to find words. "But I don't understand why you're telling me."
"Clint, please, don't say a word to anyone about this," Steve took a sip of his beer. "And I told you because I need to ask you." Steve walked closer to Clint and leaned against the railing next to him. "Look...I know about Natasha's past and I know that she doesn't have any family. But I want to give her a real family. And I know that you're like a brother to her, Clint—you know her better than I do in some ways. You are her family, and I want to be apart of that. So, before I ask her, I need to ask you. Clint, do I have your permission to marry Natasha?"
For a long moment, Clint just looked at Steve. Steve was petrified; he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "Steve...I'm really glad you asked me. Because, of course, you have my permission," Clint smiled widely.
"Really?" Steve questioned, now feeling giddy and foolish at the same time.
"I'm flattered you even asked me," Clint turned to look out on his farm.
"Call me old-fashioned," Steve smiled.
The two men sat in comfortable silence for a minute until Clint spoke. "You know, when you first started hanging around Tasha, I was jealous," Clint laughed to himself. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. But I was jealous because you could make her so happy—happier than I could ever make her. And then I had to recognize that she wasn't all mine anymore; this new man had swooped in and stolen her heart. At first I was jealous because she's my best friend and I wanted to protect her from getting her heart broken by you," Clint paused and Steve listened intently. "But after I got to know you better—this new man in her life—I realized that you weren't just some guy. She's crazy about you, Steve, And I can see why; you're something special. You complete her and bring her true happiness, which is something that she truly deserves. You give her things that no one else, myself included, can give her. So, I can now say this with pure joy and no reservations: it's about damn time."
Clint grabbed Steve's hand and pulled him in for a hug. "Wow, Clint. Thank you; I don't know what to say."
"You two deserve each other," Clint smiled. "But don't you dare break her heart."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"You really love her, don't you?" Clint asked.
"Of course, I do. I can't help it, Clint. She's my whole world and I want everyone to know that she's mine and she's taken—I never want her to feel alone again," Steve said. "God, I know she'll never go for this, but I want her to be Mrs. Rogers," Steve laughed.
Clint laughed, too. "Yeah, well good luck with that one. I'm happy for you Steve. I think we could all use some more happiness in our lives."
"That's for sure."
"Did you get her a ring?"
"Yeah, I did," Steve stated proudly. "And hopefully I've hidden it well enough that she won't find it."
Clint laughed again. "Again, good luck with that one, man. But don't worry, my lips are sealed."
"I really appreciate it. And I'm going to ask Nat soon."
"Ask me what?" Both men turned around in surprise at Natasha's voice. Luckily, she had only heard Steve's last remark.
"Hey," Steve smiled at her. "I didn't see you. And I was going to ask if you want to head home soon; it's getting late."
"Yeah, sure," she smiled sweetly and turned to head back inside.
"Wait, Nat," Steve grabbed her arm lightly and brought her in for a deep kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too," Natasha gave him a skeptical look.
"Gross, get a room," Clint stated.
Natasha smiled. "Come on, let's go say goodbye then we'll hit the road."
"Do you know what's up with Steve?" Natasha asked Cling as they walked out of the gym at the Triskelion. It was a couple of days before Christmas and everyone was looking forward to the holiday.
"What do you mean?" Clint replied.
"I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but he's been acting...weird this week. He's jumpy or something."
"Maybe he's excited for Christmas." Don't give anything away, Clint reminded himself. "I wouldn't read too much into it, Tash."
Natasha thought about that a moment. "I don't know. He's been going on a bunch of errands lately. And he's been talking to Pepper a lot for some reason. Maybe I should follow him..."
"Natasha. Do you trust Steve?" Clint questioned.
"Of course I do."
"Then let him be. I'm sure he has his reasons."
Natasha sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'm probably just paranoid," she smirked. "Maybe he's working on getting me a kick-ass Christmas gift."
Tasha, you have no idea. "Yeah, that's probably it," Clint offered.
"I guess I'll just have to wait," she paused and smiled. "I trust him."
A/N: Okay, so I'm not actually sure how the Tiffany store functions—this is all just speculation. I got all of my information from their website. Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoys this update!