Please don't say you love me

Part 13

Hi :)

A/n: (based on something I found on tumblr)
Wanda's pov

I was scrolling through my phone at 10am on a boring Wednesday when I heard Natasha sigh heavily from the other side of the couch, causing me to look up at her.

"You okay?" I asked quietly, Natasha looked at me for a split second before nodding her head. Although I was a little suspicious with how truthful her statement was, I knew there wasn't much point in pressing her, she was not a very open person to say the least, especially when it came to feelings.

I waited for a moment, giving her a small smile to try to reassure her that it was okay but when I got silence in return I went back to my phone. I could tell she wanted to say something, I thought if I gave her time she would talk to me but she stayed quiet for another ten minutes.

"Baby, you can talk to me. Are you sure you are okay?" Natasha just gives a light shrug that causes me to tilt my head. "That means no, come on detka, talk to me." Natasha seems to hesitate slightly before mumbling. "My ankle just hurts a little, I was training with Steve again this morning, I think I went too hard." I could see right through the fake smile and it upset me that Nat thought she had to hide how she was feeling. "I'm sorry, do you want some cuddles?" I couldn't help but smile when Natasha's face lit up, I opened my arms, leaving space for her to happily crawl into them.

I wrapped my arms around her before beginning to rub my hand up and down her back, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead.

It was just two days later that I found myself in the same situation. This time, Natasha and I were in bed, watching The Lion king as I thought it would help her be little. She had been upset the past few days and was insisting that everything was fine but I knew that wasn't true. I had hoped it would make her little and I would be able to help her a lot more but it didn't seem like it was going to work.

She was barely paying attention, her eyes were fixed on the movie but I could tell she was stuck in her head about something. "Nat?" I asked quietly, she gave me a small hum in response, "what's wrong?"

That same hesitation on her face was visible almost immediately. "Nothing, I just... have a stomach ache." She mumbled, giving me a fake smile. Something about the look on her face told me she wasn't being entirely truthful, but I felt guilty about calling her a liar because there was no way of me 100% knowing that, especially since she was good at masking her pain. I pushed my doubts away and slid down a little more so we could cuddle. Natasha relaxed almost instantly, she moved even closer and snuggled into my arms with a happy sigh that made my heart melt.

For so long she had fought any affection from anyone, everyone she had met had picked up on how closed off to affection she really was. Even when they would try to hug her or touch her arm to comfort her after a mission she would usually flinch or tense, and walk away as soon as she could find a reason. I couldn't help but think back to all the times I had almost given up because she would avoid me or get defensive. It would break my heart every time she would say her usual responses of "It makes you weak." and "I don't deserve it."

Those walls were still there a lot of the time, especially when she was big but she was slowly starting to accept it from me, maybe she could learn to accept it from others too. I was brought out from my thoughts by her breathing getting slower and evened out, sure enough she had fallen asleep.

I panicked when I felt a buzzing in my pocket, afraid it would wake Natasha but luckily she barely stirred. I saw that it was Steve again so I opened the message.

Steve: Hey Wanda, are you with Natasha? She asked me to train with her but I couldn't find her. -Steve

I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at him, why was he still trying to train with her if she hurt her ankle. If he just let her rest it wouldn't have been hurting the other day. I replied "yes, but she isn't training today. She has a stomach ache, and her ankle needs time to heal so please don't go so hard on her. It was bad enough for her on wednesday."

Steve: Oh, tell her I said get well soon. And why? What happened on Wednesday?"

I stared at my phone for a moment. How could he not remember? Maybe Natasha didn't tell him it was bothering her, I decided to tell him anyway because I knew she wouldn't now. "She hurt her ankle while training with you."

Steve: Are you sure it was Wednesday? I didn't train with her on Wednesday. I worked out by myself till lunchtime -Steve

I didn't give a response to that last text because I couldn't think of what to say, I couldn't shake the feeling that she was simply using her ankle as an excuse to earn affection. It broke my heart to think that she didn't have the courage to simply just ask me to hold her, but I didn't know how I was going to say anything about it because it was hard enough for her to accept hugs and be vulnerable. I also didn't want to break that trust, especially since I could have been wrong. What if she was not lying?

I kept my suspicions to myself until a few days later when yet again Natasha came to me complaining of pain, this time it was her head. Although I knew something else was going on I still tried to help. But when I offered her some medicine she said it didn't hurt that bad it was just making her tired and that she wanted to sleep it off. I decided to use this moment to talk to her about it.

No ones pov

"Natasha, look at me, I need to talk to you." The russian looked up with fear. "I'm not mad but I want you to tell me the truth, okay? Can you promise to do that for me?" Natasha gave a small nod. "Did you lie about being in pain so I would hold you?" Natasha was going to lie but she saw the soft smile on the witch's face and found herself nodding.

"You know you don't have to be injured or hurting for me to hold you, right? You can just ask." Wanda knew Nat was going to be upset by her comment so she tightened her hold, afraid the spy would try to get away. Turns out her instinct was correct, because no sooner had she said those words, she could feel the woman tense up before attempting to crawl out of her arms.

"Hey, baby, it's okay. I'm not mad, it's okay." Natasha hesitates for a moment before allowing herself to fall into her arms. But Wanda could tell Natasha was still upset, she had to be careful of what she did next. "I love holding you baby girl." Wanda smiled, kissing the top of her head. "I think I may like it more than you, you are so adorable."