Title: Coming Home
Author: untapdtreasure
Rating: K+
Summary: Not only had he left them all with no word as to where he was going, but he had left her after they'd shared so much. Even that kiss.
A/N: written for a prompt I received on tumblr.

Bruce knew that coming home would be one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. Not only had he left them all with no word as to where he was going, but he had left her after they'd shared so much. Even that kiss. While she might forgive him, he had reason to suspect that she would never forget the hurt his leaving had caused.

Yet, here he was. His hand was poised to knock on her door, but it swung open in front of him. Their eyes met and locked as he took a step back. He forced himself to swallow the hard lump that had risen in his throat and offered meekly, "Natasha."

She couldn't do anything but stare at him. She'd imagined this moment so many times, and she'd imagined exactly what she would do if it ever happened. Now it had happened, and all she could do was stand there. She wanted to turn him away, to make him feel as small and as alone as she had felt in his absence, but she suspected that he had felt that way, too. And for whatever reason, she refused to add to his heartache.

Her feet moved her forward, taking her into space. Her arms moved around his neck, crushing their bodies together in a hug that had been months in the making. Her heart beat so loudly in her ears that she had been certain that he heard it, too. Her eyes filled with tears the moment she felt his hands move tentatively up her back and finally to wrap around her in a crushing hug.

"I'm home," he breathed as he turned his head to bury it against her neck. "I'm home, and I'm through running. Natasha…" His voice became lost as all he wanted to do was feel her against him.

"I adore you," she breathed as her hand moved into his hair. It had gotten slightly longer with what seemed like more curls in his absence, and she tangled her fingers there, holding him to her as if it to tell him that he was indeed home.

She was his home. And he was hers.