Alright, here's the final chapter. Part of it is based on "Sparks Fly" (again). Then I also incorporate "You Belong With Me," and then the last part is based on "Long Live." (Disclaimer: I don't own ANY of these songs, all of them belong to Taylor Swift.)
So here it is. It's a little short so I hope it isn't too disappointing. But enjoy!
Natasha ran her fingers over the silver medal as she made her way out of the locker room. It had been a long day, a long and exhausting day. It was eight o'clock at night and she desperately wanted something to eat. She would settle for a cheeseburger if that was all she could get. Just as long as she ate something, she would be content.
"Alright, now we need to start strategizing for nationals," Ivan said as he followed her out of the locker room. "I want you to win nationals. I don't want you to come in second place. We want gold not silver…" Natasha had stopped listening the moment she looked up to see Clint leaning against the wall further down the hall with his arms crossed. She stopped dead in her tracks while Ivan took a couple steps forward before realizing Natasha wasn't by his side anymore.
He turned around to see Natasha's gaze fixed on Clint. He closed the distance between them and stood in front of her, blocking her view of Clint. "Don't hurt his feelings," Ivan joked.
Natasha rolled her eyes as she felt a smile spread across her face. "I promise I won't hurt his feelings."
"Because that boy loves you," Ivan said.
"I know. The whole arena knows thanks to his little stunt," Natasha said with a smirk.
Ivan nodded and then clapped a hand on her shoulder before walking off down the hall. Natasha waited for Ivan to disappear around the corner before closing the distance between her and Clint. Clint pushed himself off of the wall to meet Natasha halfway.
"I believe congratulations are in order," Clint stated.
"Thank you. Anything else?" Natasha asked.
"You should've gotten a higher score for the floor exercise."
"And?"
"And that medal looks really heavy."
"And?" She was going to coax it out of him if she had to. He pretty much showed the entire arena his feelings for her, but now he was having a hard time actually saying it. She was going to give him that push he needed.
"And…I'm kind of, sort of, maybe in love you," Clint said.
"Kind of, maybe, sort of?" she asked teasingly.
"I am. I'm in love with you," Clint stated. He let out a breath of relief, as if he was happy to have finally said it out loud.
"That's cool, because I'm kind of, maybe, sort of in love with you," Natasha said teasingly.
"Kind of, maybe, sort of?" he said mockingly.
"Yeah, kind of, maybe, sort of," she said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. It was obvious that she was teasing him.
Clint chuckled. "So where do we go from here?"
Natasha pursed her lips as she shrugged her shoulders. "Oh I don't know…" she trailed off. "Maybe you could…I don't know…"
"Are you asking me to kiss you?" he asked, arching one of his eyebrows. He knew it had to happen at one point. There had been one too many failed attempts and he desperately wanted to kiss her. He actually found it kind of funny that she was asking.
Clint didn't receive any sort of response from her so he just leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. He wasn't quite sure what to expect, but there was definitely sparks. No, it wasn't just sparks. It was the grand finale of a fireworks show. He felt her fingers tangle into his hair and he reached his hands up to gently touch the sides of her face.
"Well, that went a lot smoother than I expected," Natasha said when they finally pulled away from each other. "Considering how past attempts have gone."
Clint chuckled. "Well, Bobbi's not here now, so…" he trailed off.
"Stop trying to make it seem as if Bobbi was trying to hold you back. You were just being a wuss," Natasha teased.
"Was not," Clint shot back like a four-year-old.
Natasha giggled at Clint's response as she bowed her head to look at her silver medal. "I'm really glad you came, Clint," Natasha mumbled.
"Anything for you," he said. Natasha lifted up her head and gave him a smirk.
"By the way, I have something to show you when we get home," she said as she grabbed his head and led him down the hall.
When Clint and Natasha returned home later that night, Natasha grabbed Clint by the hand and guided him into her house and up the stairs to her bedroom. The moment they reached her bedroom, Natasha let go of Clint's hand and made a bee-line for her desk. Clint stood in the doorway while he watched her wrench open the desk drawer and root around in it. After a few seconds of searching, she pulled out a crumbled piece of paper and turned around to face Clint.
"Since you decided to share your message with me, it only seems fair that I do the same." She hesitated as she looked down at her own "I love you" message before turning it around for Clint to see. The big bold letters mimicked Clint's message and he smiled.
Everything was coming together. He would never admit that he knew she was in love with him, and she would never admit that she knew he was in love with her. Clint leaned in one more time to kiss her. He knew there would be no interruptions. Bobbi wouldn't intervene. Her parents knew better than to interrupt. There weren't secrets between them anymore; there weren't any boundaries.
When Clint pulled away from her and stared into her vibrant green eyes, he realized he was foolish to have ignored her after all this time. She understood Clint. She liked his humor. She liked the same music as him. She'd been in front of him all this time and he was so blind. It was so obvious. He belonged with her, and she belonged with him.
3 months later
Natasha stood on the second lowest part of the podium as he ran her fingers over the silver medal. So she hadn't earned the gold medal like she wanted. Or more like Ivan had wanted. She was perfectly fine with another silver medal. Being second in the country really wasn't such a bad title.
From her right, the girl who won the gold was beaming with excitement as she waved to her family and friends in the stands. That could've been Natasha. She could've won the gold and advanced to the international competition in which she would compete against girls from France, China, and her native country, Russia. The international competition would even give her a chance to be considered for the next Summer Olympics.
But it was obvious that she was perfectly content with her silver medal. She already had a gold medal from the regional competition, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with winning silver. It was just another medal to add to her collection of awards, medals, and trophies.
Maybe this was the end of her gymnastics career then. There was nothing that she wanted more than to be a normal high school student who went to dances and hung out with her friends. It's not like she would forget moments like this when the crowds in the stands went wild over the winners. She would remember the feeling of accomplishment she would get every time she placed at a competition.
As she lifted her head, she scanned the crowd for her own cheer team. She hadn't had time during the competition to search for them, and Ivan didn't even point them out to her if he knew. Row by row, she searched for them and her eyes stopped on the sign that Clint was holding up. She smiled as she giggled at his sign written on the notebook paper that was reserved only for her.
Prom?
Some things never change.
And there you have it. The final chapter of You Belong With Me. I hope it wasn't disappointing. Thank you all for reading this fic and for enjoying it. A shout out to all of the reviewers: fromPoetrytoProse, BLUEDYNAMO12, agent-HAWKEYE, yolynnjones, soccerkeeper6, solargirl29, Cassandra S. Fisher, mellbell12123, ellabella89, Who Says It's A Rebellion, Waterlilies, Hamsta97, dontstopthelove15, Hecobiza, Abstractly Sydney, Jaymie, little-black-blue-hood, All4TheBest, Megan, It's a Story, Emilia Rachana Cooper, Amber-Jade James, random-writer-grl, LittleMissMia123, AlexanderLudwigIsMyObsession , fanboyReader, flarey phoenix, Ninjababe09, thesmartblonde23, beccabearlove, WielderofBlade, Lollypops101, collective2220, jitrenda, AvengerGal, Rammerjammer14, and me and him vs the world.
Thank you guys so much for sticking with this story, not to mention sticking with it for being a story that ties in Taylor Swift songs haha. Not everyone likes Taylor Swift but thank you for reading this despite it.
Like I said, I return to school on Saturday so updates will be sporadic after that. I still have until Friday to update some stories so keep an eye out for updates to Never Let Me Go and What Happens in Vegas. I can maybe fit in at least two or three updates in the meantime. And that's a big MAYBE.
But anyways, thank you guys so, so much for reading my work. It really means a lot. I love you all! Thank you!