You Break It, You Buy It {Romanogers}

26

Natasha's POV

I stepped outside the house and shut the front door softly behind me. "Mom, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked, not meaning to sound so harsh.

"I heard about Nick."

"That was a month ago," I stated obviously. "And his funeral already ended today, so... too little too late."

"I had to track you down."

"And you didn't bother tracking me down thirteen years ago? You had already gotten everything you could out of your relationship with Dad, so you just cheated on him and left him? And me?"

"Is that what you think happened? Natalia, I--"

"My name is Natasha," I said firmly, all my resentment bubbling to the surface. "My name hasn't been Natalia since Dad killed himself," I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for it," She reached out to hold my hand. "But I'm here now. I want to know you, Natal-- Natasha."

"Then you shouldn't have cheated on Dad. I have a guest over right now, so I think you should leave."

She nodded and I averted my eyes, refusing to look at her, unwilling to face her. "If you change your mind, I'm staying here until next Monday. My phone number's on that paper, too," She handed me a small post-it. "Good bye," She turned away, walking down the stairs slowly.

I shoved the post-it note in my pocket and walked back inside the house, just in time for Steve to come down the stairs.

"Hey, was someone at the door?" He asked.

"No, it was a package meant for the neighbors," I fibbed. "So how did the call with your mom go?"

"Well, she said a lot of technical stuff that went straight over my head, but long story short, it was something about repossessing the house, and assets, and stuff, but she can work something out. Your stuff can stay here until we figure everything out, which should take at least five years, based off other houses my mom has worked on."

"That's great," I laughed. "Well, you can help me pack some clothes to bring to your house?"

"Sure," He agreed, taking the suitcase from me and carrying it up the stairs.

I watched him go up and waited until he was in my room before I pulled the post-it out of my pocket and examined it. Her handwriting looked just like I remembered. She wrote her 't' the same way I do.

"Natasha?" Steve called from upstairs. "You coming?"

"Yeah, sorry," I stuffed the post-it note into the jar of loose change on the coffee table. Out of sight, out of mind. I ran up the stairs and saw Steve staring at my closet. "What? Intimidated by the sheer volume?" I laughed, showing off my hangers.

"No, this is nothing compared to Wanda and Pepper. Tony, too actually."

I snorted and pulled down my favorite shirts and jeans, tossing in a couple pairs of socks and then my more private pieces, like bras and underwear, which Steve chuckled at.

"What? Embarrassed?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No, I just didn't think the first time I saw your undergarments it would be like this," He commented slyly.

"Oh, shut up," I laughed, tucking everything into the suitcase nicely.

"Hey, it's getting kind of late, I should get going," Steve said, checking his watch.

"Alright well, let's take my car since Tony dropped you off in the limo." Steve nodded and took my suitcase down the stairs. "What a gentleman," I chuckled, skipping down the stairs ahead of him while he carefully lugged my suitcase down the steps. He rolled his eyes and I tossed him my keys do he could start driving. "I'm gonna make sure all the lights are off, you get the engine started."

He gave me a thumbs up in response and headed out the door. I took the lid off the loose change door and grabbed the small paper, sticking it in my pocket before before heading out the door. I got in the passengers seat and Steve pulled out of my driveway to head to his house.

"Hey, so what are we doing for spring break?" I asked. "It's in like, a week."

"I haven't thought about that... call everyone else, tell them to come over and we can binge eat and decide," Steve suggested.

"Okay, but I'm telling Tony to bring at least five pizzas, because Carol gets grumpy when she has to dress up, and she stress eats," I smiled fondly at the memory of Carol stealing everyone's lunches during the weeks of the kissing booth. "Tony and Sam are in," I confirmed once they texted back. "Sam's gonna pick up Buck on the way, and Pietro and Wanda were with Carol, so they'll be there in like ten minutes. Pepper and Maria were already picking up some food, so they'll be there a little later." 

"Great," Steve pulled into the driveway, parking the car and taking my small suitcase out of the trunk. Once we were inside, he rummaged through a small dish on his kitchen counter and tossed me a small metal object. "Figured you should get your own key." 

I took it and tucked it in my pocket, feeling the post-it note. I gasped very slightly. I had forgotten it was there during the car ride over. I pushed the thought away and joined Steve on the couch. He was on his laptop, looking at different locations. 

"What do you think about--"

"Cayo Espanto? Just a thought," Tony walked in, followed shortly afterwards by Sam and Bucky. "God, I love perfectly timed entrances," He hopped over the back of the couch, taking Steve's laptop from him. 

"What's Cayo Espanto?" I asked looking at what he was searching up.

"It's a private island resort off the coast of Belize. My family rents it out from March to July, so I can take it whenever I want to, so long as my dad knows." 

"Well, that sounds solid to me, but I don't know how you're going to top that for summer vacation," I scratched my head. 

"There's always a way," He deadpanned, staring me down. 

"Food's here!" Maria burst through the door, juggling boxes of pizza. 

"Hey, I told you to get five," Tony pointed at the four boxes. 

"We did," Pepper and Maria chorused in unison, setting the boxes down on the table and joining us in the living room. 

We all frowned curiously and Maria said tiredly, "Just wait." Wanda walked in, an annoyed look on her face, holding the fifth box of pizza while Pietro and Carol both gulped down multiple slices at once. 

I nodded in understanding, biting my lip to keep from laughing at the two, who each held large bottles of soda. 

"They took five slices during the walk from the driveway to the door. Five," Wanda opened the box of pizza, revealing only five slices left in that box. "Have we narrowed down the choices yet?" 

"Young admirers," Tony plugged the laptop into Steve's TV. "We. Are going to..." Images of Cayo Espanto popped up on the TV and he turned to us, a cocky smirk on his face. "Paradise."