Still Broken

2

Third Person POV

The funeral was long and tedious. It didn't feel sad. The first thing Natasha had done with her mother when she came to Russia was make peace with the fact that she was going to die eventually. Her mother had taken her to the same burial site they were at now and they had sat there for hours, crying or confessing, and even laughing, so that Natasha felt no shame or guilt when she actually passed.

With every scoop of dirt shoveled onto her grave, Natasha felt more and more relieved. Relieved she had gotten the chance to know her mother, and that she died happy. That she had friends who were willing to travel across the world to come support her, and that her mother didn't even meet them and approved of them, especially Steve. There was no sadness.

Wanda was crying silently into Pietro's shoulder. The two didn't talk about it much, but their parents had died at a young age, and their legal guardian was their aunt, but she still lived apart from them and barely kept in touch. It had hit Wanda hard and Pietro had spent much of their lives taking care of her. Pietro had warned Natasha she might be upset and reassured her it would be okay.

Natasha said her last words and then just stood there, not knowing how to proceed. As if on cue, snow started falling from the sky, lightly sprinkling down on the group. Natasha chuckled softly and reached out, letting the flakes fall into her hand. "Come on," Natasha said, smiling softly. "Let's go back to the house before we start freezing to death, and then Pepper can use her extreme OCD skills to help me pack."

"Yessss," Pepper whispered excitedly, clapping her hands.

"You guys start walking back to the limo, we'll catch up with you quickly," Natasha said, and the group departed while Steve and Natasha stayed.

"I really want to have this talk," Steve spoke first as the two walked under the shelter of a tree to escape the now quickly falling snow. "But I don't wanna overstep if you're still hurtin--"

Natasha grabbed him by the neck and kissed him hard on the lips, his hand automatically falling to her waist. "I love you."

Steve's eyes widened and a smile creeped his way onto his face. "What?"

"I love you. I wasted so much time not saying it, and then Nick died, and then my mom. I used it as an excuse. Because I was scared. But life's too short, and I want you. When you were away, you didn't call or text, and that was fine because I needed time to recover, but I missed you with all my heart and soul. Sometimes I'm so in love with you it hurts, and I just--"

This time it was Steve's turn to silence her with a kiss. He didn't pull away for a long time, and if it wasn't for Natasha's lips turning blue, they would have stayed there forever. "Natasha, I, um... I don't know if I can say it again," Steve said, now serious.

"Oh," The color returned to Natasha's face. "I um... Well, if you wa--"

"Kidding," Steve grinned, effectively earning a punch to his shoulder.

"Don't scare me like that again," Natasha grumbled as Steve wrapped his arm around her, walking side by side to the limo.

"I won't. You already know I love you. I don't think I could stop if I wanted to."

|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|

"Finally!" Wanda squealed. Pepper and Carol were hanging out with the rest of the girls in Natasha's room and they all, even Carol, giggled excitedly. "I'm so happy for you guys. He was kind of a mess while you were gone."

"Really?" Natasha asked skeptically.

"Oh, yeah," Carol smirked.

"Yeah. He went to the gym like, every single day just to distract himself. I'm pretty sure he gained like ten pounds of muscle," Maria said, lying on her back on her air mattress.

"Which made up for the five pounds he lost from not eating any real meal for a week," Pepper said, filing her nails. "Honestly, I don't know how he got by without you."

"Oh! You know what I just realized?" Wanda slapped the mattress excitedly. "You're gonna be back in time for the homecoming dance! Senior year together! And prom! Oh my god, that's so exciting! You guys have to let me make your dresses."

"Sounds good," Carol said, knowing it was better to just go with her. "We're really glad you're coming back with us," She added sincerely. "Obviously not the ideal circumstances, but we seriously missed you. Tony even showed more emotion than sarcastic or horny."

"Flattered," Natasha laughed. "I'm gonna go check on the guys downstairs. I don't know if I trust them in the same area as the fireplace." She jogged down the stairs and saw all the guys huddled around something. "What you boys up to?" She announced her arrival. Their heads all snapped up quickly, making Natasha suspicious. "What?"

"Um," Pietro stood, glancing at the boys, then her. "Do you have any more snacks?"

"Yeah, in the pantry there's some microwave popcorn, why don't you go make some for everyone?" Natasha said, unmoving.

"Good idea," Pietro said, running off, leaving the boys on their own.

"So, what are we looking at?" Natasha approached the couch.

"Just tell her," Steve muttered, making Bucky sigh.

"Fine," He yielded. "But you can't tell anyone about this." The boys deformed their human shield and revealed his phone. "I've been saving up to get these earrings to ask her to homecoming."

"He stole the idea from me," Steve said jokingly, slapping Bucky's back.

"She was talking about this black dress she wanted to wear and how well her white shoes would go with it, so I figured I'd get her these earrings to match." He passed his phone to Natasha who smiled inwardly.

"She's gonna love these. It's like her favorite brand. Plus, she loves roses," Natasha said, looking down at the small white roses.

Bucky nodded excitedly. "So what do you think?"

Natasha bit her lip. "The white on her shoes already matches to her earrings, so I'd get her the rose gold ones to match her shoes. Plus they're a couple dollars more expensive, and with Wanda, every dollar counts," She smiled. "Obviously, don't leave the price tag on, but she'll definitely know the brand and karat, so she can make a guess." She handed his phone back to him. "She's gonna love it. She's already talking about making our dresses, and she's gonna expect a proposal at least two weeks in advance, so I'd order now just in case there's a shipping error." Natasha looked up and saw all eyes on her, including Pietro's who had just walked back into the room with the popcorn. "What?"

Pietro pulled out his phone and flopped down onto the couch next to Natasha. "Repeat all of that again, slowly."

"Are you serious?" Natasha rolled her eyes. "None of the rest of you have thought of your homecoming proposals?" Her eyes fell on Steve and she raised her eyebrows.

"I think you will be pleasantly surprised by my plans," Steve said calmly, and Natasha relaxed.

"What about the rest of you? Tony? Pietro? Not even you, Sam?"

They all scratched their heads guiltily and Natasha grabbed a pillow, making herself more comfortable. "Okay, Pietro, go get another bag of popcorn and bring this one up to the girls. Tell them I'm talking to Steve and I'll be there soon. We have work to do."