The Meaning of Trust: Brutasha

Heart to Heart

PLEASE READ THE THIRD MESSAGE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. Thanks :)

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In the next couple of days, Bruce tried his hardest to avoid Natasha. He had admitted something that he had tried hard to keep a secret and now the one person Bruce really wished did not know about his true feelings, knows about them.

Bruce had planned on taking a small vacation just so he could be alone, but Tony wouldn't hear of it. Tony claimed that "it would be a greater mistake to leave than tell her you were going to propose" and constantly reminded Bruce that "just because someone asked does not mean you have to answer."

"Yeah, I know, Tony. You can drop it."

"Have you even talked to her about it?"

Bruce shakes his head, "Why would I? It doesn't seem like she wants to talk to me. Besides, it's been too long now."

"If you weren't a bad liar, I'd believe you."

"Haha," Bruce shoots a stern look at Tony. "What would I even say? 'Hey, Nat! Wanna go out to eat? Oh, but I don't plan on proposing, so don't expect it.'"

"You have two, well, three options. First, continue ignoring her until you forget about everything and not just your last conversation. Second, man up and ask her to talk about it. Or, third, just move along and she'll pick it up." Tony opens and closes his mouth before finishing his speech. "All three of those can have dreadful ramifications but one option will dig you into a ditch so deep you will need more than a rope to get out of it."

"Tony?"

"Bruce, I'm not going to tell you which is which."

"Tony," Bruce says now a little more panicked.

"No, pal. I'm sorry but you're-."

Bruce interrupts, "Tony!"

"What, Bruce?!"

"Your sleeve is on fire!"

Tony panics for a moment and flails around the laboratory while Bruce reaches over to the open flame from the bunsen burner to turn it off.

"Idiot," Bruce mumbles softly to himself.

Later that day, Bruce was drinking a cup of coffee while reading another one of his favorite books when he hears light footsteps approach him.

Bruce doesn't pay much attention to them despite the fact that he was in one of the furthest parts of the Avengers' Facility.

"Bruce?" A cautious voice calls.

He looks up from his book and, to his surprise, finds a young child he has never seen before.

Caught off guard, Bruce fumbles for words, "H-How can I help you?" He quickly gets to his feet.

"So you are Bruce Banner?" She asks more confidently.

"Yes, I am. Are you lost?"

"No," she shakes her head. "Tony just told me that I could probably find you somewhere over here."

"Tony? Wait- why are you looking for me?

"Tony told Peter that you were being distant and you were 'greatly worrying him.'"

"Stark said that about me?"

The girl nods.

"Who are you," Bruce asks as politely as he can.

"MJ," she extends her hand to Bruce. "Peter and I are- well, we're together."

MJ's sudden shyness when she mentioned Peter reminds Bruce of something- no, someone familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

After some more small talk, Bruce walks alongside MJ to find Peter.

"So, MJ, why did you agree to come check on me?"

"For the most part, I've heard Peter go on and on about you, so I figured you must be a great guy. He calls you the smartest man all the time but then goes back on it and says Tony is still smarter."

Bruce smiles, satisfied with second place in Peter's mind.

"Anyway, whatever you've got goin' on is messing with Peter. He's been spending a lot of time trying to come up with a way to help you despite him being too polite to even ask you what's up. That's why I'm here. I found you so I could tell you to talk to someone and figure out whatever has you down so I can have Peter back."

Bruce stops walking and extends an arm to the wall next to him for support. "Peter's really worried for me?" Bruce questions quietly.

MJ nods. "I'm sure you're a great guy, Dr. Banner, but I would like my boyfriend back."

Bruce is slightly taken-aback by 'boyfriend.' Peter has a girlfriend! Bruce laughs to himself before quickly returning to the conversation at hand. "What should I do?"

"Call Peter, of course. Either tell him thanks for the concern but there is no problem or tell him how he can help you."

Bruce nods to himself and then again to MJ.

"Before you do that, though. Will you promise me something?"

"Of course."

"Remember you aren't alone." MJ's tone shifts from concerned-friend to solemn-stranger in a matter of seconds. "I know that you are more than double my age and have a lot more life experience than me, but I do know what it feels like to bottle up your feelings and say everything is fine. Those civil wars we fight with ourselves always catch up to us. The only difference between someone else and us is that they deal with them face on, always accepting help. Us, we deny there is even a battle being waged and force ourselves to ignore the ongoing fights until, one day, they turn into a massacre and both parties lose."
Bruce is unable to move or speak, overcome by the truths spoken by a seventeen-year-old.

"It's okay to depend on others every once in a while too, y' know."

Bruce smiles. "That's been a hard lesson for me to learn, but I think I understand it now. Peter is very lucky."

"So is Natasha."

Bruce blushes and turns his head towards the ground. "I'm luckier than her."

"Whatever ya' say, Dr. Banner."

"Please, call me Bruce."

"Alright, Bruce. Call Peter and don't forget my words of wisdom."

Bruce chuckles, "Never. Bye, MJ." He watches the teenager find her way through the halls until she turns a corner leaving Bruce alone in one of the most secluded areas of the Facility.

"Now what?" Bruce asks himself as he lets his back slide down the wall.

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Please forgive me! It' been way too long for me to ignore this project, but I've been feeling rundown recently and haven't had much time to think let alone write. So, I hope this mediocre, so-so chapter helps. It's about a 1000 words, so I hope it's enough to hold y'all over for just a little longer while I wrap this story up.

Now that I've mentioned it, this story will be coming to a close rather soon. BUT DO NOT FEAR (if you enjoy my stories), I will be and have been using whatever spare time I can find to plan out multiple new stories. Some of them will be short, some will belong.

That is where y'all, the readers, come in. I know that this has been a very Brutasha heavy page, but would y'all read things about different ships and fandoms? They'd mainly be part of Harry Potter and Doctor Who.

Anyway, thanks for reading the mass of words I have been able to put onto a page in only a few minutes. Time flys when you're having fun, I guess.

Love y'all! <3 <3