Chapter Text
Natasha was exhausted. This night couldn’t get any longer. The guilt and emotional turmoil was too much for her to handle. When she leaves James’ room, their room, she sees Clint waiting for her.
“Nat, are you okay?” He asks.
“Yeah. Why’re you still here? Where’s Laura?” She tries to avoid talking about James.
“She went back to be with the kids. What happened tonight?” Clint asks and she realises how out of the loop he was. She takes a seat next to him and he puts his hand on her shoulder.
“We messed up. Tony and I decided we were going to give us a try. That happened a week ago. We just couldn’t work up the courage to tell James and Pepper I guess,” she sighs.
“Oh, Nat. I know I always urged you to let Tony know how you feel but keeping them in the dark wasn’t fair.” Clint says with no judgement in his tone and that’s why she would always be grateful for her best friend.
“I know. I guess we were delaying whatever this was. This feels horrible. Confessing to James that this relationship never had anything tangible to begin with, that’s the hardest thing I’ve done in my life.” She admits.
“Harder than Budapest?” Clint jokes and she playfully shoves him.
“Go to sleep, Clint. This is my mess to deal with.” She says getting up.
“Where are you gonna stay tonight? Pretty sure your room is taken up,” he says pointing to the room she and James shared.
“I don’t know. I have to check up on Tony first. Is Pepper still there?” She asks hoping she wasn’t.
“Saw her leave his room a while ago.” Clint says and she nods.
She knocks on Tony’s room but he’s lost in his thoughts obviously not registering her presence.
“You need cold compresses,” she says and he finally looks at her. The look on his face meant he had clearly forgotten about his jaw. She leads him to the bed and presses the ice against where there was bruising. He stays silent the entire time opting to just watch her.
“You’re being uncharacteristically quiet.” She states. He takes a deep breath.
He removes the ring from his finger, runs his hand over it a few times before getting up from the bed and placing it on the table. He gives her a smile as he turns.
“Not between us anymore,” he says with that boyish grin of his. She moves to him, happy that he wasn’t closing himself off again.
“Are you really okay?” She asked cupping his face. He leans into the touch replying,
“On one hand I’m devastated. I hate that I hurt Pep. It’s worse when I think about everything that she puts up with for me. Then there’s this part of me which is so happy that I finally have you. Does that make me sound like an awful person?” He asks placing his hands on her hips.
“No. It makes you human.” She says. He smirks at her gazing intently into her eyes.
“I love you, Natasha,” he says with longing in his eyes.
“I love you too, baby.” They could finally admit that without any guilt latched behind their words. She averts her eyes from his feeling uneasy under his intense gaze.
“Where did you hit your head? Let me take a look....” She starts but he cuts her off as he kisses her pulling her by the hips. She smiles into the kiss getting ready to push him away until she realises she doesn’t have to. He’s all hers. She parts her lips granting him entrance as he groans like that’s the sexiest thing that has ever happened to him.
She kisses him forcefully pulling him onto the bed over her. Tony moves his head to her neck sucking a bruise which will most likely leave a mark on her. He trails kisses all over her jaw to her collarbone.
“I told you I was gonna be the one to remove this dress tonight,” he says nibbling on her ear lobe.
She presses her lips against his moaning into his mouth. She fumbles with the buttons of his shirt finally managing to pull it off him. They kiss and grab at each other until Tony starts hiking up her dress and places his hands on her ass.
“Tony,” she whispered after a sharp intake of breath.
“Do you want to stop?” He asks, his pupils dilating.
“I think we’ve waited long enough,” she says hastily undoing his belt buckle then holding onto his face as she presses her lips firmly against his. They gave in to each other again and again that night until she was tired and sore.
Natasha woke up draped across Tony in the morning. She opened her eyes to see him propped up on his arm.
“Were you watching me sleep?” She teases.
“You just look so peaceful when you’re asleep. Though I was mostly thinking about last night,” he jokes.
“I know I rocked your world,” she says giving him a lazy smile.
“Oh you certainly did.” He says leaning in to give her a kiss.
“I just wanna stay here inside this room with you forever,” she says caressing his cheek.
“I know. I don’t wanna face the world,” he sighs kissing her hand.
“Did you think about us moving out yet? I’m not sure I want to see James on a daily basis after last night,” she says hoping he has planned something.
“Yeah. We could do it today if you want. I’m not sure I wanna be around him much longer,” he says pointing to the bruise on his jaw. She has to laugh at his antics.
“Aww, you poor baby. That’s what you get for trying to kiss me infront of thousands of people.” She says pressing a kiss to his nose.
“Hey, that’s not fair. You were tempting me,” he whined.
“It’s not my fault you’re so easy, baby,” she jokes trying to get up from bed. But he pulls her back in.
“Let’s just pretend it’s just the two of us for a little while longer.” He says burying his face in her chest.
When they’re finally done packing up their stuff, they meet the others in the dining room. As soon as Clint sees them enter together, he raises his eyebrows and she has to smirk at his curiosity.
She’s sighs with relief when she sees James is absent at the breakfast table but her concern overtakes her.
“Did you talk to him?” She directs the question at Steve hoping he would understand.
“Yeah. He’s coping as well as can be expected. I sent his breakfast to his room.” Steve reassures her.
“We’re moving out. So, tell him he doesn’t have to worry about that.” Tony supplies from beside her.
Clint chokes on his bread taking a while to return back to normal.
“What do you mean moving out?” He asks.
“You know, Legolas. When a man and a woman...” Tony begins but she puts a hand on his chest to stop him. She was almost proud of how much he listened to her.
“Yeah, we are. I think it’s the best decision for all of us.” She says and Steve and Rhodey seem to agree.
“What about the Avengers? Are you both retiring or something?” Clint asks knowing she doesn’t want to stop being an Avenger.
“No. Tony is but I’ll still run missions. I just won’t stay here. Maybe come by once or twice a week to train Peter and Wanda.”
“Where are you both staying?” Rhodey asks.
“I got us a cabin. I’ll leave the address here if you guys need it. I’ll also still be making the upgrades for all of your suits and everything so don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything.” Tony supplies.
As soon as they’re done with breakfast, Tony carries all their luggage to the car.
“Take care. I’ll come visit you both every once in a while,” Rhodey says giving them both a hug followed by Clint, Wanda, Bruce and the others. She sees Tony extend his hand to Steve and she’s proud of how far they’ve come from Siberia.
When they’re finally in the car,
“You ready?” Tony asks giving her a smile.
“Always,” she says kissing him and intertwining her fingers with his.
She knows every risk that they’ve taken, all that they had to endure was worth it. Now their eternities were intertwined. She was finally with the man she loved and that’s all that mattered.