Author's Note:

An amazing response over the last chapter or two! Honestly, it's amazing! Thank you every so much!

I'm going to give a shoutout to all those who review in the two chapters: STEELERS; Baibe; grossly-sweet; princess2015; Amy Hamato; Sportsfan64; supesfan18; Sanctuaria; RukiaDeathKuchiki :D

ThisVioletofMine - Beta + Co-writer!

Natasha was sitting on her bed, wearing loose jogging bottoms and holding a towel over her chest as Clint was putting cream on her and replacing her bandages.

"Shit, Nat, how badly did you get 'slightly grazed'?" Clint demanded as he applied more salve to a particularly nasty wound.

"Don't," Natasha grumbled. She was grumpy because it was surprisingly tough to sleep on her front- it wasn't really the pain that annoyed her as much as the fact that she always slept on her back, and was unused to sleeping differently. "We both know I've have worse, and you have, too."

"Yeah, but at least my wounds were more aesthetically pleasing than this gory mess! I don't think this even counts as a back anymore- just one big burn." Clint shot back, annoyed at how dismissive she was being.

Natasha turned her head around to look at him. "You do remember that I was the one who found you after you were stabbed in both ears with arrows, right?"

He shuddered and finished taping a bandage in place. "Don't remind me. I'm just saying, this looks really bad."

"It's because they're burns- just hurry up," Natasha muttered impatiently; her back was painful and itchy like crazy. "It looks worse than it is- and I don't want anybody else seeing my back."

He raised an eyebrow and continued smearing cream on her back. "Why the rush? Oh, are you expecting lover-boy soon? You don't want me to be a third wheel?"

With a roll of her eyes, she whacked his leg. "No. I don't want anybody seeing my back." She repeated. "Also, it has come to my attention that it is not common to change in front of people, even if you gave them a warning beforehand. I want to get dressed in case anybody comes knocking on that door."

It was Clint's turn to roll his eyes. "Lemme guess- your definition of 'beforehand' is 'two-to-three seconds before dropping your pants'? Because, outside of our little best friend circle, that's not considered an appropriate warning time."

"I figured that out," Natasha sighed. "Are you done yet? How long does it take?"

"Hang on, hang on, don't get your leather panties in a twist. I'm just… about… done! There, all bandaged and hidden from sight."

Natasha stood up. "Warning," She muttered before dropping her towel and pulling on a top, then a hoodie, which she zipped up immediately.

Clint, used to this sort of thing by now, had turned his head the moment she spoke and was only now looking at her again. "What's with the getup? You're not going anywhere, are you?" It was both a question and a reminder that he wouldn't let her get far if she tried to leave.

"I have kids to coach and I wanted to check on Wanda and make sure that Sam and Rhodey are alright after the small incident yesterday." Natasha spoke. "And- fuck off, I can take care of myself." She added, although her sly smile showed she wasn't actually annoyed with him; it was just empty words.

He nodded slowly before sighing. "You heard about the Grapefruit Debacle? I thought you were delirious yesterday."

"I know everything." Natasha informed him. "You should be heading home right now, don't let me hold you here. You're only worrying the kids- they were expecting you last night."

At the mention of his children, he smiled. "That's just playing dirty, you manipulator!" But as he said it, he began packing up his things to leave.

"Thank you," Natasha said before walking out of the room. Neither of them were much for the traditional 'goodbyes' others seemed to do.

Natasha poked her head into the gym, it being the third place she had checked- why she hadn't thought to come here first was beyond her. It was obviously the most logical place. She watched Steve coaching Wanda and kept to the side, silently observing.

Wanda was the first to see her, as Steve's back was to her. "Natasha! You're here!" She exclaimed, darting past Steve to run over to her- so much for watching them train. "How are you?"

"Yeah, feeling better?" Steve added, approaching in a much slower and calmer manner. "I thought we'd agreed that I'd come to you."

"I'm fine, Wanda, thanks. How are you?"

"Great! Happy to see you!"

"Do you mind if I steal Steve for a little while?"

Wanda shook her head, backing off a few steps before exiting the room, leaving her and Steve alone.

"Everything alright?" Steve asked conversationally, taking a swig of water from his water bottle.

Natasha stepped into the gym; she didn't think anybody would let her train right now. "Yes, I was just bored… but mainly feared what movie you might be forcing me to watch; thought I could help with the selection process. I didn't mean to interrupt the training session."

"Oh, it's fine. We were just working on patching up a few of her defensive positions, not too important. And, uh, sure, your help would be great! Anything specific you wanted to watch?" He asked.

Natasha shrugged. "Not a clue. Do you know any ballet movies?"

He smiled in amusement. "Well, considering ballet was never something I've focused on, and considering I missed out on several decades' worth of movies, it's safe to say I don't."

"Ballet was around in the forties-it hasn't changed at all," Natasha pointed out. "How about we find a laptop to actually search for movies? Unless you have any in mind you wanted to watch?"

"My list mostly consists of things like Star Trek and Star Wars, so it'd be safer to just search on a laptop- you'll have to do most of it, though, considering I have a hard time figuring those things out still." He said somewhat sheepishly.

"I'll show you- it's not that hard. Come on," Natasha said before exiting the gym and heading towards all the bedrooms.

"Alright, sounds good." He agreed, following.

Natasha followed Steve into his bedroom, pausing for a few moments to analyse her surroundings, memorising all of the exits, possible weapons and hiding places. She continued smoothly and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Alright, Stark gave me this thing," He said, producing a laptop from underneath a book on his nightstand, "a few months ago, and I haven't used it more than once." He blew off a layer of dust for added effect.

She rolled her eyes as she took it from him and opened it, turning it on. "Did he give you a charger, too?"

"Um, yeah- it's around here… somewhere…" He ducked down and searched under the bed, letting out an "Ah-hah!" when he found it. "Here."

Natasha plugged it in, waited a few seconds and then turned it on. "You should really have this password-protected." She commented casually. "Come here so I can show you how to search for movies; I'll pull up my Netflix account."

Steve scooted closer and peered over her shoulder. "I don't need to password-protect something that has no information on it whatsoever." He argued distractedly.

She sent him an 'are-you-serious' look. "There is so much to teach you," She pulled up what she needed and scrolled down. "How about this one? It's new out and I have no clue what it's about."

"Um, sure. So you can just watch it? With no physical copy of it? Stark was telling me about that, but I still can't quite believe it."

"Just click on the film and hit play," Natasha instructed as she put the movie on and placed it at the bottom of the bed. She then turned up the volume and crossed her legs. She positioned herself so she was half facing the screen, half facing Steve- it wasn't like she cared about the movie, anyway.

"That's really cool!" He exclaimed before noticing her looking at him. "Oh, are we going to talk while the movie's playing?"

Natasha gave him a patronising nod. "Yeah. Most people don't give films their full attention; too much to do."

"That's fine; a movie called 'My Heart Yearns' can't possibly be too incredibly interesting." He agreed, shifting to face her a little.

"Exactly," Natasha commented, but didn't say anything further. She had asked him to talk and then went out of her way to find him so they could talk… but now that she was here, she had no clue what to say.

Steve was apparently having the same issue. His eyes were blankly fixed on the tiny woman dancing on the screen, but his mind appeared to be elsewhere. "So… you wanted to talk about 'us'." He finally said.

"Did I?" Natasha questioned immediately. No, she berated herself silently. She was not going to run and hide like a little girl. "I did. I do want to talk about us." She confirmed.

"Me too." He replied. "I honestly think that, given time and patience, we could work out. I really do, and I really want to try." He confessed.

Oh god, maybe this was a bad idea. Could she actually do this? She glanced at the screen for a few seconds before looking back at him. "Work what out? What did you want as an endgame?"

He blinked. "No, I meant work out as a couple. I want to… Well, I want to try being in a relationship with you."

"Yes," Natasha spoke, pausing for a moment. "What endgame did you want out of this… relationship?"

"I…" He faltered, looking a little insecure. "I want… Well, I want to marry you, if everything works out eventually, but if you're not interested in that, I guess the one thing I really want is for you to love me back. That's all."

"Back? Love you back?" Natasha questioned, her eyes widening as she stared at him, completely at loss of words or what to do. Love him back? What did that mean? He loved her? That was impossible, she was… unlovable. She had no place in the world.

He blushed a little. Then he stared at the screen again, and Natasha did too, gazing at the woman who was now fainting for some reason or another. Then he returned his gaze to her with determination. "Yes. Back. I… I love you, Natasha, and I have for a while."

"No… no… no, no," Natasha muttered. "Even normal relationships don't happen like that… you're supposed to date for months before dropping the 'I love you'. You're just confused right now- probably got hit in the head or something. You can't love me."

He blanched and looked away again. "No, you're confused. We've known each other for a long time now, Natasha, and each and every day I've fallen a little more in love. You don't need to be dating for that to happen."

"No, no, you do." Natasha informed him. "Because when the 'I love you' is dropped, then comes the engagement and then marriage and the kids and a picket fence with two dogs running around and…" She stopped suddenly. She was definitely getting off-track right now. She turned her attention to the screen- great, two women were kissing.

"Not… Not necessarily, Natasha… I'm saying that I possess the feelings of love and that's why I want to try a relationship with you. You don't love me yet, and that's what the dating would hopefully change. I just wanted to test things out and see if you could learn to love me." Steve said quietly, narrowing his eyebrows when one woman's boyfriend walked in and began another musical number about abandonment. This movie made no sense.

"That's…" Natasha sighed, her composure deflating slightly as she let go of the fake expression/composure/facade. "Fine, I'll give it a go." She agreed. She was definitely not about to tell him that she might actually share his feelings; but if this was what he wanted, then she could let go and give it a shot- what was the worst that could happen?

His eyes widened exponentially and his mouth gaped. "You-? Really? You will?" He whispered in shock. It was clear he hadn't been expecting her to agree so soon.

"But we are keeping this between the two of us, or at least to a limited amount of mutually decided individuals- agreed?"

"Y-yeah! Agreed!" His smile was a mile wide and his eyes were positively sparkling.

Natasha stood up suddenly, and his face dropped for a split second. "Stand up- let's dance." She leant down and turned up the volume- the song was halfway through already, but she didn't care.

Steve's face was absolutely priceless. His mouth was agape again and he stumbled to stand in front of her. "May I have this dance?" He asked with exaggerated charm, extending a hand.

Natasha had to force herself to not roll her eyes again. "Yes, you may." She laid her hand in his and pulled him towards her.

His hand slipped around her waist to her mid-back and he held her hand with the other. She started to lead him with slow steps- it was mainly swaying after a few minutes, since the music had ended and they had no rhythm to go from.

"I already like this more," He told her softly.

"Like what more?"

Steve stopped moving and she looked up at him. "Us. This is already much better than when we were pretending to date."

"Real life if always better than undercover work," Natasha replied, the words honest. Being undercover as Steve's girlfriend was fun and entertaining, but it wasn't real. She was about to enter into something real, and she was terrified- not that she'd admit that. She leant into his embrace and they swayed to their own rhythm.

They were still dancing long after the film had stopped.

End

Author's Note:

Okay! Don't panic, this isn't the end. It's going onto a new story, continuing directly from this point!

I felt it was important to start a new story, a sequel, as this story isn't about being Undercover as Steve's Girlfriend; she's just agreed to actually date him (And I'm going to clarify, there was no trick when she agreed to date him; she just did it.).

Anyway, I want to give a really, really long note thanking everybody individually like I do at the end of most long stories, but this isn't the end and I doubt any of you want to read it all!

Please, Please review! I'd love it! I'd love to see how you thought about this!

And then, feel free to make your way over to the new story, continuing from this point. It's called: Learning To Love

It can be found at the following link: s/11721020/1/Learning-To-Love

So, this basically mean, because I've decided to move it onto another story and work with a different story arc: You get two chapters in one day! :D