Next Target: Clint Barton

12 - Friends

The sound of a punching bag being struck over and over again bounced off the brick walls of the giant private gym of the Avengers tower. Sweat was dripping down Steve's forehead, staining the tight grey t-shirt he was wearing. His anger and frustration growing with every punch; every time his fist made contact with the punching bag, he felt his face getting hot with all the emotions he buried deep inside.

The same person was on his thoughts, same one as always, never giving him even a moment to just relax. There wasn't anything else in his thoughts. Nothing but her. Nothing but Natasha. All the things that he should've said but didn't, all the chances he had but didn't take, all the times he wanted to hold her tight but felt like he couldn't. One memory in particular stood above the rest: the first time he caught himself wanting to be more than just friends with her.

------------------------------------------------------

It was three weeks before the events of Ultron and the destruction of Sokovia. Tony was throwing another one of his giant parties; they were meant to be a way for the team to bond with each other and the agents of SHIELD they worked with occasionally, but it usually turned into Tony and Clint getting black out drunk and acting like total idiots, Steve hiding out in the corner, talking mainly to Natasha and Maria and Sam (if he was invited), Thor offering his Asgardian drink to strangers and Bruce being a socially awkward mess during the entire event. Needless to say Steve wasn't really looking forward to the party, but on the other hand it did give him a chance to spend some more time with a certain redhead. He couldn't explain why but he had been thinking of her more and more these past few weeks. He found himself wanting to be closer to her, wanting to touch her skin and hold her close.

The night had gone about just how he had expected: Tony and Clint were so drunk that they were beginning to slur all their words and spouting nonsense, Thor had gotten about six people wasted by offering them his Asgardian liquor, Bruce was a stuttering mess but ended up hanging out with Rhodey and his friend group for most of the night.

Natasha had ended up hanging out with Maria and a group of SHIELD agents after Clint got drunk and started getting on her nerves: Steve spent most of the night trying to find a way to talk to her, but ended up just watching from a distance and hanging out mainly with Sam and Thor. He didn't know why he was so nervous to talk to her all of a sudden –things had never been this hard before. Talking to her had always been so easy, they've come a long way as friends since the fall of SHIELD, she was helping him adjust to the modern world and was becoming one of the most important people in his life.

So why was he so nervous to talk to her now? She was his partner, trusted ally, and one of his best friends. It made no sense to him. He snapped out of his thoughts after he realized that he was just standing in the middle of the room like an idiot, luckily everyone was either too busy or too drunk to notice him. He walked to a place that he knew would be empty to find some peace and quiet after a tiring night of trying not to get swept up in one of Tony's drinking games.

He slipped out to one of the balconies on the same floor of the party to get some air and to get a pretty good view of the New York skyline. He got to the balcony and was instantly hit with a wave of cool air brushing against his skin and pushing his hair off his forehead. It was nice and peaceful, the breeze really helped calm his nerves; that was until he heard footsteps behind him. He immediately went on guard when he realized that someone was walking up behind him.

"You trying to escape Tony too, Rogers?'' A sarcastic voice asked from behind him. He turned around and was instantly relaxed again when he realized that it was Natasha behind him. He let out a soft laugh and looked at the ground; suddenly he didn't feel as nervous around her anymore.