Live. Laugh. LOVE. - A Romanogers fanfiction

I Love You

Steve lay in bed in his sick room in the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. After he and Natasha had arrived, he had collapsed in exhaustion and knocked out unconscious. Now he was simply trying to sleep to get some rest. Suddenly he heard light footsteps approach him. Steve lay still in his bed, pretending to sleep.

A hand reached out and stroked his cheek. It was a familiar hand, the same hand that has touched his cheek when he had been shot in the stomach. It was a thin hand, too, with long fingers.

"Hey Steve," he heard a voice say. "I know you probably can't hear me, but I couldn't possibly wait any longer to tell you this. I need to thank you right now, not any other time, for coming back for me. I need to thank you for always being there for me, even though I wasn't always there for you. I swear on my life that I will repay you someday. I swear that I will make up for all the times I wasn't there for you. I promise."

You don't need to Nat. You don't know how much you've helped me all these years out of the ice.

"And one more thing," he heard Natasha add. "Я люблю тебя. I don't say this to people a lot, but I love you." Steve drew in a sharp breath.

"Steve?" He heard her ask. Steve stayed quiet, and held his breath. One, two, three... A faint rustle sound was made as Natasha stood up and left the room.

Steve couldn't believe it. Natasha Romanoff loves him. Natasha Romanoff... He kept saying this over and over in his head. Oh Nat, if only you knew how I felt about you...

Natasha sat down on her bed with a sigh. She smiled to herself. I told him I loved him. I had enough courage to tell him that I loved him. She remembered the sharp breath that Steve drew in when she said those three words. He was awake, she knew. Steve can't possibly feign sleep in front of a well-trained spy and get away with it. I love you, Steve. I'm sorry I can't say while looking into your eyes though.

Natasha looked up as the door opened. Steve. He was standing, one hand on his still-wounded stomach, the other hand on the door.

"Steve," she said, a look of surprise on her face, then cursed herself. She shouldn't be so open with herself, not when Steve was around. "Why are you here? You should be resting." He shook his head.

"I'm fine. Besides, the serum helps me heal faster than normal people," he said. Natasha found herself once again admiring him, how determined he was to be useful even though he was injured. She nodded, then patted the spot next to her on her bed.

"Sit with me," she said. He obliged, leaving an awkward silence between them.

"You shouldn't have come back for me," she said after a while. Looking up at him, she was once again shocked by him. Instead of looking pitiful or confused, he looked angry. Not even angry - furious!

"Don't ever say that. You deserve to be saved as much as anyone else. In fact, you deserve more than anybody else," he said, a determined expression set on his face. For a moment, Natasha believed him, but the horrors came and red flashed in front of her eyes. Natasha closed her eyes and sighed.

"Steve... you don't understand. If you knew the person who I was in the red room, before I'd been taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D., you'd never forgive me. You'd hate me," she said. She avoiding his gaze, not wanting to see what he was thinking. She gave a little gasp as he took her hand.

"Nat - I don't care about who you were before. I don't care about how many people you killed, I don't care that you were a killing machine. What's important is that you had the guts to change, to become good. Most people don't have the courage to do that. But you do. And that's why I love you so much, Nat. I love you for who you are."

Natasha stayed still as stone for a few moments. Did he just say what she heard? Did he just say that he loved her? The realization seemed to dawn on Steve, too; his eyes grew wide.

"Please don't say that you meant it, Steve," she said, desperation in her eyes. Natasha was afraid, afraid that she would hurt him with her love. Afraid that he would die because of her. She didn't want to take the risk of falling in love. Not wanting to see the hurt in those ocean blue eyes, she averted her eyes from him.

"What do you mean? You know I'm always honest, Nat," he said. He was gripping her hand harder. "Look at me. Nat, look at me." Steve gently pulled her chin up.

"You told me you love me. I heard you, so don't pretend that you didn't. Was it true?" Steve had  so much hope in his beautiful face as he asked this question that Natasha thought her heart would shatter into pieces. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should be so open with him.

"Yes."

What happened next was a blur. Natasha felt herself being pulled into Steve arms and before she could say anything, his lips were on hers, silencing her. Although she was taken by surprise, she responded with passion, the fire inside her matching the fire in Steve.

She remembered kissing these lips long ago, on a mission to D.C. They were as soft as she remembered, and she could taste the faint bitterness of coffee. Steve slowly released his lips from hers, then looked down at Natasha, touching her cheek lightly.

"Then, that's enough for me."

They were again a tangle of love. Natasha's fingers reached up and ran through his golden hair. This was met with a hand cupped in the back of Natasha's neck and another on her waist.

"Wait till I tell Sharon about this!"

The two lovers broke apart, and nearly jumped as they saw Bucky Barnes leaning on the doorway, a smirk very prominent on his face. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Get lost," she said, then walked over and kicked the door closed