Readers Assemble!

Esteem (Clint Barton x fem!reader {platonic})

You sighed as you looked in the mirror for the hundredth time that evening. You were getting ready for another one of Tony's parties and you felt terrible. You'd let Natasha and Wanda pick our your dress and you hated it. It was a nice dress, but you hated the way it hugged your curves. Honestly, you didn't even like the way you looked in jeans. Besides not liking the way you looked, you weren't really in the mood to party anyway. After all, it was celebration and you didn't feel worthy of a celebration.

You'd really screwed up the last mission. You'd had one job, protect the civilians and you hadn't even been able to do that. "Ugh!" you let out a loud groan just before there was a knock at the door. You took a deep breath, plastered on a fake smile and opened the door. "Hey, Y/N are...wow," Clint breathed out. "I'm not going," you told him, moving over to the drawers to find something comfortable to wear."The hell you aren't!" he declared. "I can't go out there like this." Clint's eyes, that had been roving over your curves, grew wide.

"Like what? Gorgeous?" You scoffed. "I'm not gorgeous, but that's not the only reason, Clint. I don't deserve to celebrate. I couldn't handle a simple job! I'm a failure and complete useless to the team!" You were sobbing now, your mascara running down your face. For a minute, Clint just stood there, arms crossed over his chest while he let you cry. When you tears died down, Clint looked at you pointedly and asked, "You done?"

You nodded once. "Good. Now you listen and listen good. You are NOT a failure and you are not useless. You are an important member of this team. You're an Avenger. You're smart, strong, quick and you've got sass that rivals mine and Tony's. You take care of us when we need you and on top of all that, you are beautiful. So don't you sit there feeling sorry for yourself and don't ever let me hear you putting yourself down again. Now, go fix your make-up and get your butt downstairs to that party."

For a second, you sat staring at him. Did he really feel that strongly about it? "Thanks, Clint," you whispered. He smiled at you before he sat down next to you and threw an arm around your shoulders. "Anytime, now get!" He gave your back a little push, indicating you should do what he said. You quickly fixed your raccoon eyes and returned to your bedroom. You exhaled deeply and said, "Okay, let's go." Clint escorted you down to the party, which was already in full swing. You stayed next to him the whole evening and when the party was over, you hugged him. "Thanks again, Clint."