Unzip Me || Romanogers || ✔️

Part 6

A second date turned into a third. A fourth, fifth, and a sixth date passed and Natasha could have sworn Sharon lived in the apartment, the number of times she came by.

Natasha found herself turning to the pantsuits more and more often so as to not interrupt the couple next door, even though she hated the itchy feeling of a blazer and the long pants that never fit right on her.

Sometimes she and Steve would check their mail at the same time and it would not feel the same as before. At least to Natasha.

He would say "hi" and she would say "hi" and he would try to continue the conversation, but she would already be gone. Steve and Sharon invited her to come over to hang out with them, but the idea of being a third wheel absolutely revolted her, even though she never had a problem being around Laura and Clint.

One Thursday night, the room next to her was silent and Natasha grew excited at the idea of Steve being alone for the day. She quickly found a dress that she hadn't worn in a while and changed into it, ready for her neighbor to zip her up.

She pulled on her stockings and fixed her hair, happy to have a reason to visit her neighbor once more. She knocked three times and waited for him to open.

"Who is it?" Natasha could hear Steve ask from behind the door.

Before she could open her mouth to respond, another voice spoke up from Steve's side of the door. "I think it's the pizza. That was quick." Sharon's voice was like knives to her chest. "I'll go get it."

Natasha's eyes widened at the sound of Sharon's footsteps coming to the door. She didn't want Sharon to see her standing in front of Steve's door with an unopened dress in the back. Even though they were technically doing nothing wrong, she didn't want Sharon to get the wrong idea and not trust Steve. Jumping back into her apartment, Natasha quickly closed her door with a quiet click and waited for Sharon to open the door.

"Huh, that's weird." Sharon poked her head out the door and looked around confused.

"What is it?" Natasha could faintly hear Steve ask from inside the other room.

"Nobody's there. Must be some kids in the neighborhood playing a prank or something."

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief from her own home and rested her head on the cool door. After a couple of seconds, Natasha decided it was time to break out the big guns. Walking into the kitchen, she pulled out the box she had hidden and avoided using for so long. The Zipper-Upper3000 was a shiny long string that had a clasp which attached to the slider and a handle to pull on.

She unwrapped the device from its cover as she walked to her bedroom. She took her dress off, attached the slider to the accessory, and put her dress back on. Now that the east part was done, all she had to do was use the string to pull the zipper up. She held the string with both her hands and pulled, but she realized that instead of pulling up, she was pulling the slider out and away. Why her hands refused to be flexible and go up, she had no idea. She twisted and turned trying to pull it up, but ended up looking like a dog chasing its own tail.

"Squawk!" Redwing sounded as he watched her futile struggles.

Natasha grimaced at him. "What are you looking at?"

Redwing's only response was another squawk, which sounded as close to a mocking laugh as any squawk could.

"Dumb bird," Natasha muttered to herself as she finally pulled the string above her head. Her head popped up and she yelled, "I did it!"

In her excitement, she had pulled too hard on the string and had pulled the slider right off her dress along with the Zipper-Upper3000. She looked at the device that had the most important piece of her zipper in complete disbelief. She had paid a whole ten dollars (plus shipping) for the useless thing only for it to break one of her favorite dresses.

She fell on her bed and stared at the ceiling, her dress still open in the back and missing a slider. In her room, she could hear the faint sounds of laughter from Steve's room. She could recognize Steve's laugh from anywhere. It was low and masculine, but almost shy. It was so wonderfully Steve.

She could listen to him laugh all day, if only his laugh wasn't being overshadowed by that of Sharon's.

Natasha pulled a pillow over her face and yelled. When she pulled the pillow off, her head turned to see Redwing rustling in his cage, studying her.

She blinked at him and he tilted his head in an almost understanding fashion.

"Keep looking at me like that and I'm eating Kentucky Fried Falcon tonight," she threatened.

If birds could laugh, that was certainly what Redwing was doing. With great disappointment, Natasha got out of bed and began to find another pair of pants and a blouse to wear for her shift at work. She could already tell today was not going to be a great day.