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For a long time, Bruce was scared of touch.
His childhood was marred with fear and pain and trauma that he tried not to think too hard about. Touch was often cruel, delt harshly by his father, and what little comfort he did receive was from his mother, when his father wasn't around to see it. In college, he didn't have many friends, preferring to be alone in his studies, carving his way through multiple doctorate degrees. When the gamma radiation gave him the Hulk, he was scared of touch. Not for himself - but for others around him. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt someone.
Then he met his team.
He shook hands with Steve Rogers, a man who knew who he was but didn't care about that part potentially hurting him. Tony was the first person to give him a friendly shoulder squeeze in so many years that it threw him for a loop - and he just kept doing it. Physical contact was freely given by Tony without worry.
Slowly, he got used to it - to Tony, to having a team, to having friends - and then it all went to the trash for a while.
Then he returned back to Earth, not knowing the Hulk was dormant, and initiated a hug with Tony for the first time. He had felt the other genius's shock, his worry, his fear as he hugged Bruce back - not fear of him, but fear of the why Bruce, who notoriously got nervous with physical contact, was hugging him. Pepper's hand rested against his shoulder, worry rolling off of her, and Bruce reveled in it all for a moment before pulling back, knowing that time was ticking toward disaster.
That small reprieve, that small bit of hope they could win, was crushed when Thanos snapped his fingers and took out half the population.
From there, Bruce developed himself in a way he hadn't thought possible - reaching a new understanding with the Hulk. In those five years, he slowly learned not to fear himself or the beast within, coming to terms with who they were as two people living within one body. Somehow, Professor Hulk became a beacon for happiness during that slow, painful recovery period after the Snap.
Then the people were brought back, Thanos and his army gone, and Tony's heart had restarted and having a Hulkish body wouldn't work to help him no matter all his degrees-
And the Hulk understood. He retreated back, allowing Bruce to become fully Bruce again, and he worked on Tony with Dr. Strange and Helen Cho until he'd stabilized into a coma that he eventually woke up from.
Since then, the Hulk hadn't requested to come out. They had conversations in his head, an emotional understanding between them. Hulk wanted to be a part of Bruce's life, help when needed, but would like to stay in the background after everything.
So, Bruce had to figure out where he stood without the Hulk threatening to come out whenever he released his anger or got upset, and part of that was learning to get used to receiving and giving touch again.
Maybe that was why he was here, a month after he and Natasha officially rekindled the flame of a relationship, sleepily blinking his eyes open to find his head resting on her lap, the rest of him laying across the couch in her temporary apartment while the Compound was being rebuilt - or maybe until they moved in together, whichever came first. He wasn't about to put forth the notion. Not yet. Not when they were so new.
A sound filtered into his bleary mind - a lullaby, that familiar lullaby she sang to calm the Hulk, back before he disappeared. It sent warmth rolling through him, watching her face as the television played in her eyes, her hand subconsciously threading through his lightening brown curls.
In this month of their relationship, they'd had to navigate the shift - from friends to something more. He found himself acting more awkward than normal, doing things that should have been embarrassing but she only quirked a smile at. Maybe Natasha felt awkward too, but she never really showed it. She was calm, confident, and sweet in ways she didn't share with the others, from kissing his cheek to her hand easily slipping into his.
He was brought out of his thoughts when she stopped humming. "You okay?" She asked, not looking at him. Her hand continued to run through his hair.
"Yeah," he replied, voice faint. He cleared his throat. "What-"
"You fell asleep." She replied. "I figured I'd help you get more comfortable. Wouldn't want you to have a sniff neck from sitting up straight."
Ah, he remembered now. Vaguely. He'd been watching a movie with her after their dinner date. He must have fallen asleep on accident - the warmth, the companionship, Natasha leaning against him... he wasn't sure how it would have been possible to stay awake. "Thank you." On a sleepy whim, he raised a hand and curled a strand of her red and blonde hair through his finger. "Did you get bored?"
"No, I like watching you sleep." To others, that might have sounded creepy. For him, he saw the fondness when her green eyes met his brown ones. "I like seeing you peaceful."
"Same to you."
The world was truly healing. There wasn't a threat looming over their heads. Tony had made it home to his family, alive and on the mend. His friends were alive. He was with the love of his life.
"Go back to sleep." Natasha murmured, eyes returning to the muted television. "I'll keep watch."
He dropped his hand to his stomach, eyelids becoming heavy once more. "Nothing is going to get us here."
"Maybe not, but it comforts me." She ran her hand over his face, getting him to close his eyes. "Stop talking and sleep."
"Okay..." He mumbled. "I love you."
Those three words slipped from him so easily that he almost didn't realize he'd said them. He hadn't said them since his confession in the hospital. It wasn't that he didn't believe that - he loved her more than he could understand - but because he was worried he'd somehow send her running if he said them too much.
He showed his love in making her coffee how she liked, in kissing her cheek, in braiding her hair when they were relaxed on the couch - and felt her love through similar actions. She just hadn't said those words.
And yet, in the next breath, her lips pressed against his, pulling him from his half awake state to kiss her back.
When she pulled away, her hair curtaining them, she was smiling softly in the faint light. "I love you, too."
There was nothing to say. All he could do was kiss her again, pressing all the love he could into it and hoping she understood. She did. They kissed until he'd somehow gotten her to lay down with him, curling around him with her head on his chest, his arms around her and holding her close. He moved back her hair, looking into her eyes, and almost couldn't believe where he was right now, with her.
There was a point where he thought he'd never be comfortable with touch from another person, especially someone who tricked him when they first met, who was so nervous of the Hulk-
And yet here he was, their hearts beating in the same rhythm, that flame between them growing stronger.
"I'm staying right here tonight." Natasha decided, hand resting over his heart. "Don't snore."
"I'll try not to." He cracked a smile before closing his eyes, listening to her breathe, her warmth better than any blanket.
"I love you, Bruce."
His heart skipped. "I love you, Nat."
It didn't take long for him to fall asleep after that.