Broken

Chapter 12

Natasha's POV

—————1 month later—————

I notice Charlie has been getting a lot closer with Peter, which is good, I guess. I'm really happy that she's started coming out of her shell and making friends for possibly the first time in her life, but I'm not a fool and I see the way they look at each other, even if they don't. He has helped her get closer to the team though, and she's a lot more confident talking to them, although that took a while to overcome.

I'm currently making food for the team in the kitchen. From where I am, I can see the lounge, which is exactly where both of them are. The rest of the team are doing God knows what, so I'm just making sure they're okay. Ya know, like a good mother.

I'm so invested in the way Charlie giggles at everything Peter says that I don't even notice someone walk behind. "Stalking your own kid, Nat? That's a new kind of low," I jump around quickly in a defensive stance, only to see Bucky chuckling lowly at me.

"I'm just, making sure she's okay," I say with a shrug. We make eye contact and both burst out laughing at the obvious lie. I don't know what it is, but with Bucky, I feel like I can just be myself, like I can tell him everything. I've never felt this way before, hell, not even with Charlie sometimes. I feel like I'm always trying to be something I'm not, except when I'm with him.

I shake the thought and continue making lasagna for the team. "Hey, do you need a hand?" He says joining me.

"Well, it looks like you're not gonna take 'no' for an answer," he does that gorgeous yet incredibly sexy low chuckle again- wait, what?!

"Damn right," he goes to my left and opens the cutlery draw, laying the table ready for everyone to eat later.

"Uh, do you mind passing me the spatula?" I ask, in a world of my own, doing a mental checklist. I turn around to grab some plates to serve the meal, but I didn't notice Bucky had leaned over from my left side to my right, meaning that he pretty much had me pinned to the table.

"Damn," he breathes out, our faces inches apart. "Ya know, I could get used to this," I feel my breathing become shallow as we hold eye contact for what feels like hours, but I know is only a matter of seconds. "Gotta say, love the apron," he looks down briefly and so do I, only just realising that I chose Steve's 'Kiss the cook' apron.

I start to blush furiously, trying to distract myself from the obvious tension between us. "Aha, yeah. Uh- it's Steve's and was kinda the first thing I saw in the draw an-," I look back up and the next thing I know, I feel his lips on mine. I stand in shock for a second before reciprocating the action, deciding that I should be allowed to do something for myself for once, without worrying about anyone's judgements.

Once he pulls away, I find myself wanting more, wanting him. I restrain myself from pulling him back into another kiss, while he looks at me with those gorgeous steel blue eyes. He moves a strand of my hair out of my face and I lean into the touch, reminiscing the feeling of his lips on mine. "I won't lie to you, Nat," his voice is low and husky, the one that makes me weak at the knees, the one I'm sure he's never used with anyone else. "I've been crushing on you for a while. And I hope you have too, or this is gonna be very awkward later," I giggle at him and he does that low chuckle again. "So, uh, will you, um... will you be my girlfriend?" I see the nervousness in his features and I can't help but fall in love with him just that little bit more. I stand there looking at him for a little too long, and he starts to apologise. "Sorry, I uh- I've never really uh... done this before," he releases me from our previous position and turns around, his hand on the back of his neck. "I uh- probably shouldn't have- uh..." he sighs to himself. "Uh... never mind," he tries to head back out of the kitchen but I run in front of him and capture his lips once more, my hand on his cheek. I'm amazed how he can go from being so confident to so awkward so quickly.

This kiss is a little shorter than the first, but a lot more passionate. I pull away, my hand still resting on his cheek, "I would be honoured to be your girlfriend," I whisper to him. His face lights up again and he kisses me once more. I pull away quickly though and he looks at me confused.

"Shit, did I do something wrong? I'm so sorry I-."

"Shut up, you dork. The lasagna!"

"Oh shit, yeah," he grabs the plates and I dish out equal portions onto each of them, asking FRIDAY to notify the team that food is ready.

Charlie's POV

Once all the team is seated and has started eating, I turn to Clint and Tony. "Barton, Stark, cough up," everybody looks at us confused except Peter, knowing exactly what we're talking about.

"No," Clint's face drops and he looks at Mom and Bucky. "No, no, no, no!"

"You don't have any proof!" Tony says, his face as pale as Clint's.

"You know it happened and you could just check the footage but that's pervy. Cough up, both of you." Clint looks like he is about to cry, whereas Stark just hands over $100 in cash. "You too, Barton."

I feel Wanda poking around in my head and I quickly push her out, but I know she's already seen it. She squeals and turns to Mom and Bucky. "Congratulations!" She says excitedly, accent thick.

"What is going on?" Mom says, looking confused yet mad.

"Oh, we made a bet," I said simply.

"On what?" She says through gritted teeth.

"On how long it would take you guys to kiss," I say it as if it was obvious. "I bet you would do it within two weeks, Clint said within a month and Tony said over a month. It has been 12 days which- last I remember, is under two weeks," I smile sweetly at Barton. "Cough up."

"You bet on us!?" Bucky says, trying to be mad but I know he finds it funny.

"Yup," I say, popping the 'p'. He winks at me and we start giggling, but Mom hits his chest and we stop immediately.

Clint nudges me and whispers in my ear, "I told you, you shouldn't have let your Mom find out about the bet."

I lean over to him. "Starting to see that now," I whisper back. Mom gets up from out of her seat and stalks towards me. I try to stay seated for as long as possible but panic when she gets closer to me. I get up and run out of the room, avoiding daggers being thrown across the room as I exit up the stairwell. When I get to my room (Tony had it ready for me when we told the team) I lock the door and burst into a fit of giggles. My parents have finally got together!!!

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