The Perfect Girlfriend - Blackhill

Chapter 3 - Tuesday

Maria woke up on Tuesday morning to the sound of the half past six alarm on her phone.

She turned over and shut off the alarm, but when she opened her eyes, she noticed the other half of the bed was empty and the sheets were cold. She sat up and saw Natasha sitting in the armchair in the corner of the room, staring at one of the pictures on the opposite wall.

She quietly got up and walked towards her. She noticed that her eyes were distant and unfocused, her posture was tense - she was curled with her knees to her chest.

Maria knelt in front of her, gently placing her hand on her arm, to not startle her.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Natasha's eyes moved to her face but a couple of seconds more had to pass for her gaze to really focus on her.

A timid hand raised and traced the line of her jaw softly, then fell back.

"I'm okay, now."

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah." she said quietly. "It happens often when I sleep in a new place. I should have warned you, I'm sorry."

"It's perfectly okay, Nat, as long as you're all right. Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Again, a negative shake of her head.

"Do you need me to leave you alone?"

"No." Natasha's hand immediately grasped Maria's on her own arm. "I find your presence comforting."

"Alright. Do you want me to stay here? Or would you like to go back to bed?"

"Didn't your alarm go off a couple of minutes ago?" her voice was still low and a bit shaky, but a faint smile appeared on her face.

"It did. I usually go for a run. Would you like us to go together?"

"Yeah, that would be fun."

"Alright, I'll change and then we can go."

Natasha nodded. Maria stood up, grabbed her workout clothes from her suitcase and went to the bathroom. When she emerged Natasha had her own clothes in her hands and was looking for her shoes. She found them and stood up as Maria approached her.

"I'll sort out something light for you to eat so you and your fast metabolism don't pass out but also don't throw up on me. I'll wait for you upstairs."

Natasha actually laughed a little. "Alright, thank you, Mia."

"My pleasure." she said with a little smile.

She went up and cut a banana and some blueberry for Natasha to eat, making them a cup of coffee each. After the redhead was ready to go, they headed out, warmed up and started running and talking and laughing about the silliest things – like Barton's idea of an Halloween prank.

After half an hour they decided to go back, so they did a one hour run.

"I told you I would test your stamina." Natasha made fun of her, since she was panting and sweating, while Natasha was hardly tired at all.

"We're not done, I usually do static exercises as well. Wanna join?"

She nodded instantly.

"God, why is it so hot?"

"It's not that much hotter than New York, you're just not used to working out under the sun and not in your air-conditioned gym."

"Probably true. But I'm sublimating."