In the Blink of an Eye

Chapter 17

The next couple of days went by like a blur. Tony, Bruce, Steve and Vision had been busy going over the information we'd snatched from Hydra a few nights ago; from what I understood it contained some of their plans for the foreseeable future, as well as the names of some high profile members of Hydra who had previously been unknown to the group or the public. The four of them had kept the rest of us updated as much as possible, but since none of us were really one hundred percent on what we were dealing with just yet, they had decided it best to wait until they had come up with a plan of action before taking any further action against the organisation.

My head had been all over the place since the party. Despite everything else going on, I could not seem to get my mind off of that kiss with Pietro. It had been three whole days since it happened, and yet neither of us had talked about it or even brought it up at all. Sure, we had seen each other and spoken to one another, making little jokes and stuff as usual, but neither one of us had actually addressed the situation. A part of me felt that maybe that was for the best; that the kiss was nothing more than a strategic manoeuvre in the heat of the moment, and that there was no way on earth that Pietro felt anything more towards me like I did for him. However, that other part of my brain was niggling at me, saying 'what if?' What if he did feel something more?

The comments that Nat, Clint and Steve had made kept gnawing away at me. Of course Pietro and I had grown extremely close in the time that I'd been here, but in reality we hadn't known each other for that long at all. I couldn't help but feel that we didn't really know that much about each other, that he didn't really know who I was or what I'd been through to get to where I was now, and even if he did – would he still feel the same way? I had things in my past that I hadn't told anyone. Things Hydra had done to me and had made me do that still haunted me. I wasn't sure if I was ready to share that with someone yet, to be vulnerable like that in front of someone I cared about and face possible rejection and judgement as a result.

"What is up with you today? You're all over the place," Nat said as she landed another punch, this time hitting the left side of my ribcage as I winced at the sudden impact.

"Sorry," I breathed out defeatedly, lowering my arms from their defensive position in front of my face, "I've just had a lot on my mind recently."

"Oh yeah," she smirked, "that wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Pietro now, would it?"

I gave her a pointed look to which she simply raised an eyebrow and continued to smirk at me. I let out a sigh, glancing down at the floor and then back up to meet Nat's gaze before deciding to divulge to her what had happened the other night. I hadn't actually told anybody, thinking they'd probably either laugh at me or heavily tease me about it, or more likely both, but Nat had had my back since the beginning, taking me under her wing and looking out for me wherever possible. She was someone I felt I could trust, although she was definitely guilty of teasing me relentlessly from more often than not.

"Well, since you mentioned it," I began, letting out a breath before continuing to speak, "when we were on that mission the other night, something happened."

"Oh yeah, like what?" she spoke, quirking an eyebrow like she knew exactly what I was about to say. God, why was this so hard? I let out yet another sigh before turning back to face Nat so I could finally spill the beans.

"Well," I started, pausing again to collect my thoughts, "he kissed me. As we were leaving, there were security guards coming our way fast and before I knew what was happening he was kissing me, and at first I didn't understand why but then I realised it was just because we were about to get caught and needed an excuse for being there in the stairwell."

"Oh my god," Nat whispered, "Oh my GOD! I told you he liked you, what did I say? I knew it! I knew I was right."

She was laughing as I tried to explain further, "It was purely strategic though! He only kissed me because we were about to be caught somewhere we shouldn't have been and he thought on his feet and just did it. I'm sure it didn't mean anything."