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“Tell me again how our spring break turned into a group trip?” Natasha griped, slinging her bag into the back of her beat-up old car.
“We get to stay there for free, Tash,” he said. “Thor’s parents were nice enough to let us stay at their cabin. It’s not like we’re going with a bunch of strangers.”
Sighing, Natasha leaned against the trunk that she had just closed and folded her arms over her chest. “That’s not the point, Clint. I wanted to be alone with you for once.”
It wasn’t that she wanted to be difficult, but it really felt like they never had time to themselves. A couple nights at her place or if Thor wasn’t home, at his, but that was about it. The rest of the time they were together was usually with one or more of their friends. Work never afforded them any real one-on-one time and sneaking off to the back only raised Fury’s suspicion. He already was starting to catch onto their relationship no matter how professional they tried to keep it during business hours.
Clint walked over and placed his hands on her upper arms, rubbing gently. She ducked her head, leaning it against his chest and felt some of the anger slip away. Somehow the tiniest gesture from him always snapped her out of a bad mood.
“I promise we’ll get time alone,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “We have our own room, at least.”
Without any other free options at the last minute, Natasha resigned herself to the fact that they were going. Granted, it wasn’t her ideal spring break, but Clint’s point about going with their friends wasn’t going to be so bad. It was definitely better than trying to find a spot without hordes of other college students taking their usual Thursday through Sunday drunken antics to warmer locations. Though Thor and Darcy would be more than happy to fill that void. Natasha had the distinct feeling that beer pong would be on high on the list of spring break activities while they were at the cabin.
Just then, a shiny silver SUV pulled up beside Natasha’s little black car, making it look even sadder than it already did. Where had all those extra rust stains come from anyway? The rest of the gang spilled out of the vehicle, with Thor getting out of the front seat. He normally drove a truck, so she had to assume this was also on loan from his parents.
“Ready to go?” Thor asked with his usual booming voice.
“Yeah,” Clint said and turned to face him, his arm dropping down to Natasha’s lower back. “Did you get the supplies?”
Rather than giving a verbal response, Thor walked the two of them over to the rear of the vehicle and opened the door. The entire back of the SUV was stockpiled with cases of beer and a couple coolers. Natasha’s mouth dropped open as she looked at the startling amount of beer - even for them it was a lot.
“Tell me that you bought food,” she deadpanned.
“Don’t worry, I made sure there was something other than pizza,” Jane answered, patting her shoulder. “I couldn’t let Darcy and Thor go shopping for all of us.”
“Pizza is a vegetable serving, the government said so,” Darcy interjected. “And beer is basically liquid bread, so I don’t see the problem.”
Natasha exchanged a look with Jane before returning to her car. This was going to prove to be an interesting trip, at least.
* * *
When Natasha had been told that they were staying in a cabin, she had expected a smallish, wooden house nestled up in the woods... certainly not what they drove up to. There was no way this could be classified as a cabin. The three story wooden structure looked more like a mini-mansion that just so happened to be up in the mountains. She knew that the Odinsons were well-off, but not this wealthy.
Thor led everyone inside from the garage and let them pick out where they wanted to stay. Out of the two largest bedrooms, he had saved one for Jane and himself and the other Clint and Natasha. Steve and Darcy picked a pair of rooms across from each other. Natasha was taken aback by the gorgeous view of the lake from their room and quickly forgot how annoyed she was that she had to spend her spring break there. The room itself was the size of her apartment and had its own ensuite bathroom and television.
“You didn’t tell me Thor’s parents were stupid rich,” she said, sinking down onto the massive feathery mattress.
Clint shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. C’mon let’s go look around.”
Being a creature of habit, Natasha had to unpack her things before she could do anything else. There was a walk-in closet (of course there is, she thought) that had more than enough room for her entire wardrobe plus Jane’s and Darcy’s clothes. Once she was settled, Natasha joined Clint out in the living room. The floor-to-ceiling windows afforded them an amazing view of the snowcapped mountains and forest that surrounded the house. Everything was almost too nice and Natasha had to wonder why Thor’s parents even let a group of college kids stay in it unsupervised. She looked around for security cameras hidden up in the corners of the room.
“C’mon, this place is pretty sweet, Tash,” Clint said, putting his arms around her.
“I’m afraid to touch anything,” she replied, only half-joking.
“Looks like they could afford to replace it,” he replied with a laugh. “I think there’s a hot tub out on the deck.”
With everyone settled into their rooms, Thor gave them the grand tour of the house. Natasha was more interested in the gorgeous scenery than the satellite TV or the hot tub. There were little lounge areas on the same floor as the bedrooms that looked like they would make for quiet, cozy areas where Natasha could read something that wasn’t assigned for once. The furniture in the great room with the massive windows was all done in rich, brown leather and wood that gave the place a slightly more inviting feel than she expected. She appreciated that someone in Thor’s family had turned half of the home office into a library.
“What’s up with Robert Smith?” Darcy asked, pointing at a posed family photograph on one of the bookshelves.
“That’s my brother, Loki,” Thor answered. “He’s still in high school.”
“Ah, the good, old fashioned high school goth phase. I remember it well,” she said, nodding. “We all liked H.I.M. at some point in our lives.”
“I’ll have to tell my mom that there’s still hope for him yet,” Thor added and continued down to the basement with the group.
It opened out onto the property, so it didn’t quite feel like a basement so much as another living room. They had turned the space into a game room with a pool table, a poker table, and another massive TV with every game console known to man hooked up to it. She spied a couple board games tucked away on the shelves. The bar, as Thor pointed out, was recently added and fully stocked. Though his parents let them have full run of the house, they did have enough sense to keep the really good stuff under lock and key. Outside, there was ski equipment and a snowmobile in the shed. It was an impressive amount of stuff that Natasha had to concede was, in fact, pretty sweet.
Too tired to want cook anything, they decided to break into the frozen pizzas and put on a movie in the great room. Somehow the movie ended up being the remake of Friday the 13th. Naturally, it was full of every horror movie cliché, but Natasha did laugh pretty hard when the Rich Asshole Stereotype Guy met his long overdue demise. Darcy won the bet she had placed at the start of the movie that the Shy Virgin Girl would end up dead before the credits rolled.
“Oh c’mon! The virgin always survives,” Steve complained. “That’s horror movie rule number one!”
“Pay up, boy scout,” Darcy beamed, holding her hand. “A knife to the head was her reward for not banging Jared Padalecki when she had the chance.”
Steve produced a five dollar bill and placed it in Darcy’s waiting hand with a grumble of defeat.
Natasha retired to their bedroom before the rest of the gang decided to put in another bad horror movie. While she was washing her face in the bathroom, she saw Clint walk in and sprawl out on top of the comforter. She finished up and went into the bedroom to curl up beside him. His hand was warm against the small of her back and his heart beat steadily beneath her ear. This was exactly how she wanted to spend her week - quiet and cuddled up together.
“This is going to be a really dick thing to do, but,” Clint said after a long moment, “I’m kinda turned on here. Can we do something about that or should I take it to the other room.”
Natasha laughed and looked up at him. “Go make sure the door’s locked.”
“You are the best girlfriend ever,” he said with a grin.
Clint kissed her quickly before getting up and locking the door to the bedroom. He disrobed in record time and then jumped back into bed, making Natasha nearly bounce off the side. Giggling, Natasha pulled him back down for another kiss and let him remove her t-shirt. Together they sank down into the mattress, arms and legs entangled.
Bright and early the next morning, Natasha was startled out of sleep by the sound of Thor’s announcement that everyone should join him on a hike in the mountains. Clutching the sheet over her naked body, she barked at him to leave and come back at a decent hour, preferably noon. Thor’s cheerful disposition not to be shaken, he moved onto the next room. From the sound of the horrified shriek, it was Darcy’s room.
“I thought you locked the door,” she groaned, turning her face into the pillow.
“I did... but then I got up to get some leftovers after you fell asleep,” Clint said sheepishly.
Natasha slapped ineffectively at his arm and tried to get back to sleep. Thankfully, she didn’t get up again until much later that morning. Clint was already out of bed and watching cartoons with Darcy in the living room when she made her way downstairs.
“You got the Thor Alarm too, didn’t you?” Darcy said, noting the tired shuffle of Natasha’s walk.
“That guy is entirely too cheerful for six in the morning,” she answered.
“I don’t even notice it,” Clint said.
Natasha looked up from pouring her bowl of cereal. “Because you could sleep through a hurricane, Clint.”
She brought her breakfast into the living room and perched on the arm of the couch beside Clint. Still feeling sleep-deprived, Natasha munched quietly and stared at the TV. It took her brain a few moments to realize what they were watching.
“Why are we watching My Little Pony?” she asked.
“Darcy hid the remote from me,” Clint grumbled.
“I have a deep abiding love for Pinkie Pie and don’t act like you didn’t like ‘The Cupcake Song,’ Clint,” Darcy said, gesturing at him with her spoon.
Later that day, Natasha nestled herself in one of the small lounge areas with her iPod and a book she had found in the library. Everyone else had occupied themselves around the house or outside. Darcy was acting as referee for Clint and Steve’s basketball game in the backyard. Jane and Thor had returned from their hike and disappeared into the master bedroom for a few hours. Natasha turned up her iPod a little louder when she spied them retreating to their room.
A few pages from the end of her book, Clint and Steve came upstairs to shower off with Darcy trailing behind them. Natasha caught her staring a little too long at Steve’s retreating backside. She smirked and cleared her throat.
“See something you like or just browsing?” she asked.
Darcy looked at her, blinking. “What?”
“You’re kinda ogling Steve’s ass.”
“I... I was appreciating it,” she replied, her cheeks beginning to redden. “It’s a nice ass.”
“I can’t really disagree with that,” Natasha said, giving her a knowing look.
Quickly recovering, Darcy announced she would be in the basement playing Wii if anyone needed her and made herself scarce. That little exchange confirmed Natasha’s suspicions that she had about something going on between Darcy and Steve. At first, Natasha had brushed it off because of Darcy’s flirtatious nature. Judging by the blush that had crept up Darcy’s face - this was a little more than flirting between friends.
Showered and changed, Clint came out of their room and wedged himself into the oversized armchair with her. Mid-jostling, Natasha ended up sideways in Clint’s lap. Somehow she managed to keep her place in the book during the process.
“Good book?” he asked, reading over her shoulder.
“Yep and I’m almost done, so hush,” she said, settling back against him.
Clint allowed Natasha to finish her book in peace before he began kissing her. Setting the book on the floor, she turned around to face him, legs straddling his thighs. His hair was wet against her fingers as she threaded them through it and returned each kiss.
“So what do you want to do this afternoon?” he asked.
“This is pretty good,” she said between kisses.
“Maybe we can take this back to our room.”
Natasha grinned against his mouth. “That is an excellent idea.”
Holding her close, Clint stood and carried her, arms and legs wrapped around his body, back to their room and kicked the door shut behind them. Natasha wiggled loose and made sure the lock was turned before joining him on the bed. His hands ran up beneath the hooded sweatshirt she wore, finding her breasts as they kissed. She mewled against his lips when she felt his touch.
“Did I mention how much I love it when you wear my clothes?” he moaned.
“Mm yeah, couple of times,” she said with a smirk.
Natasha loved wearing his shirts when she stayed the night at his apartment, but she had laid partial claim to his oversized school hoodie. It was soft from wear and smelled like him. She made sure to let him have it back a few times so it would retain that smell of laundry soap and cologne. He tugged the sweatshirt up over her head, only leaving her in a thin camisole.
“I’d say that you could wear something of mine, but I don’t think anything would fit,” she said.
Clint nosed aside the fabric so he could get his mouth on her breasts. Gasping, she grabbed a fistful of hair while her other hand clutched at his shoulder. His lips worried at the sensitive tip between his lips and smoothed it over with his tongue.
“I think I’d look adorable in that little black skirt of yours,” he said, releasing her nipple with a pop and grinned up at her.
“You do have the ass for it,” she purred, leaning down to kiss him again.
They ended up spending the better part of the afternoon in bed re-learning the feel of each other’s bodies. It seemed as though Clint had been researching new things to try out before they left on vacation. Natasha was very pleasantly surprised and rewarded Clint with a couple new tricks as well.
If it weren’t for both of their stomachs protesting, they would have stayed there until the following day. From the sound of digital bowling pins being knocked over, Natasha gathered that everyone was playing with Darcy in the basement. Jane had been nice enough to leave two plates of leftovers covered in tin foil for them. There was a note in her neat script: “So you can keep your strength up” followed by a little winking smiley face.
Clint and Natasha ate their dinners at the kitchen island, still invading each other’s personal space even though they were on two different chairs. Clint’s foot was propped up on the bottom rung of Natasha’s chair while her own was resting on his chair. The baked chicken, asparagus, and mashed potatoes that Jane had left for them hit the spot. It seemed as though Jane’s expertise in the sciences had translated pretty damn well into cooking. They were quiet as they chewed away on their meals until the plates were empty.
“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” Clint said, pushing his plate to the side.
Natasha looked at him, about to open her mouth to speak when she was interrupted by Darcy’s voice.
“About time you two came up for air! Natasha, us girls need you to help beat the guys’ asses,” she said, hands planted firmly on her hips.
“We’re in the middle of something, Darcy. I’ll be down in a second.”
Taking Natasha’s words with the exaggerated huff of a terminally bored 14 year old girl, Darcy returned to the basement. Natasha playfully rolled her eyes before turning back to Clint. She caught him fidgeting with his hands - a sure sign that he was nervous. The expression that he wore made her stomach knot up.
“What is it?” she asked softly, reaching up to rub at the furrow between his brows with her thumb.
Clint took her hand between his before he continued. “I’d like to ask... if you would like to move in with me this summer.”
“I... oh,” Natasha said, her brain catching up with what Clint had actually said after anticipating something else entirely. “I would, but won’t it be a little cramped though?”
“Our lease is up and Thor and Jane wanted to move into her place. I figure if we have a two bedroom, there’d be extra room for all of your books and stuff,” he said as he traced his thumb over the back of her hand. “So you really want to move in with me?”
Natasha reached up to cradle Clint’s face with both hands. “Of course I do,” she replied, kissing him.
Clints arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her in as closely as their chairs would allow. The idea of living with someone had always turned Natasha off. She valued her privacy and alone time above all things, but with Clint... she couldn’t explain it but she wanted him to share that space with her. Her past boyfriends had never made her feel this way. Clint was something special.
“We should go downstairs before Darcy comes back up here and drags me off,” Natasha murmured against his lips.
“She’s little, I could fend her off,” he said, sneaking another kiss.
She grinned. “I dunno, she fights dirty. Everyone under 5’6 does.”
“Good point,” Clint replied, matching her smile and led her downstairs to the basement.
As expected, Natasha was immediately recruited to the girls’ team for Mario Kart. She was never that skilled at driving games and inevitably went off road two seconds into the start of the race. This time around, she was a little too preoccupied with what had happened in the kitchen just moments earlier and finished behind everyone else. They gave it a good try, but the guys took them to the cleaners on Mario Kart. However, the girls’ team more than made up for their loss when they switched over to GoldenEye on Thor’s N64. No one could beat Natasha when it came to shooting games.
Steve clapped a hand on Clint’s shoulder after Natasha had taken him out. “Don’t ever cheat on her, man.”
Leaving the guys to lick their wounds and to let them (attempt) to challenge Darcy to a round of Just Dance 2, Jane and Natasha took their skills to the pool table on the other side of the room. Natasha picked stripes and let Jane break while she fetched a couple beers from the bar fridge. She landed two cue balls in the corner pocket before Natasha returned to the table.
“So, Clint asked me to move in with him this summer,” Natasha said as she lined up her shot.
“Oh good, I was wondering when he was going to ask,” Jane answered.
Natasha’s ball bounced off the edge of the table, missing the pocket entirely. “You knew?”
“He wouldn’t shut up about it for three weeks,” she said. “He asked me more than once if I thought you’d say yes. That guy is, in my scientific opinion, butt-crazy in love with you.”
Natasha glanced over at her adorable, shaggy-haired boyfriend who was dancing his ass off to Jamiroquai’s “Cosmic Girl” and bit back a grin.
“Well, the feeling’s mutual.”
The games went well into the night until only Darcy and Steve remained in the basement after the others had gone to bed. Natasha curled up against Clint in bed, both too tired to do anything else. They were content to wrap themselves up in each other in the darkness. Jane’s words echoed in her mind. Had he really worried over this the past couple months, she wondered. She looked up at his face and smiled. Of course he had.
“I was thinking that we could use your bed since it’s bigger and my old one can go in the spare room in case someone wants to stay over,” he told her. “And the couches were Thor’s, so he’s taking those. I like your couch better anyway.”
Natasha felt her smile widen and she shook her head incredulously.
“What?” Clint asked, looking a little defensive.
“Nothing, you’re just very adorable,” she said, touching his face, “and I love you.”
It was Clint’s turn to smile brilliantly. Natasha’s insides melted at the sight.
“Love you too, Tasha.”
* * *
A very naked Steve strolled out of Darcy’s bedroom with a strategically placed bundle of clothing in front of him.
“Morning, guys,” he said, giving them a jaunty little nod and continuing to his room across the hall. He didn’t bother covering his ass.
Clint and Natasha stood in stunned silence for a long moment. If it hadn’t been for Darcy emerging from the room equally disheveled but considerably more dressed, Natasha would have thought that she had imagined it. They exchanged looks, both still trying to process what they had just witnessed. Jane came down the hallway with a cheerful greeting that went quiet when she saw the odd looks on their faces.
“You guys okay?” she asked, shifting her bag to her shoulder.
“... Steve and Darcy hooked up,” Clint said, continuing to stare at the empty space where their friends had just been.
Jane blinked and cocked her head, not unlike a confused puppy. “Oh.”
“Have fun driving back with the new happy couple,” Natasha said and patted her on the shoulder.