Natasha rolled over in her bed, groaning and pressing a pillow against her ear and face as someone pounded away at her apartment door. The sharp raps echoed through the quiet apartment, making them seem louder than they really were.

"Natty!" Clint called from out in the hallway, pounding once more on her door. "Natty! Natasha! I know you're in there, Nat! It's not like that one time when I had the wrong floor!" He pounded again, ignoring the annoyed, angry, and sleepy glares coming from her neighbors that had gotten up to see who was making so much noise at this hour. "Come on, Nat, open the door! I left my key at home!"

Natasha groaned louder, slamming her eyes shut, as she tried to ignore Clint's incessant pounding. With each second that she laid in bed, the loud raps of Clint's fists seemed to grow louder and louder, until Natasha couldn't take it anymore. In addition to Clint's shouting and pounding, she heard the more muffled yells of her neighbors pleading with her to open the door. With a loud, exasperated, and exaggerated sigh, Natasha threw off the covers and stomped out of her room to her door, throwing it open and sending Clint a glare.

"Morning, Princess," Clint said, pushing Natasha aside and stepping into her apartment. He walked into her kitchen and started digging around in her pop tarts. Natasha glared at him more, crossing her arms over her chest. Clint took a pop tart, opened it and started eating it, looking back at her. "What? Did you just get up?"

Natasha ignored his question and sent him one of her own. "What the fuck are you doing here, Clint?"

"What? I can't come and visit my best friend?"

"You call first, Clint. And don't wake me the fuck up."

"Well, like I said, I left my key at home. Figured you'd let me in..."

"You still call first, Clint. Especially since I didn't answer right away." She walked out of the kitchen and sat down at her dining table, the that was left by previous owners when she moved in and didn't use because...well, she never needed to. She never had company and all her dinners were eaten on the couch while she watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine. "What if I wasn't home? Or if something happened and I couldn't come to the door? Would you just sit outside pounding away at my door, irritating my neighbors?"

"Probably not. I think at some point, I would've just kicked down your door and made myself at home and wait for you to get back." He took another pop tart from the box and bit into it, Natasha glaring at him. She stood up and marched over to him, snatching the pop tart from his hand and stuffing it back in the box, before placing it on the counter.

"Can you not eat all my food? I haven't gone food shopping in a while and I'm almost out."

"Wow. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today..." Clint's voice held a playful tone that only incited more frustration in Natasha.

"Considering that you woke me up, count yourself lucky I haven't ended your life. Keep in mind, the only reason you're still living is because I love Laura too much to leave her alone with two young kids." Though she was kidding, her harsh glare sent a wave of fear through the archer that had him recoiling and losing his playful tone.

"I'm sorry, Nat. Next time I'll call."

"You fucking better," she grumbled, making herself a cup of coffee.

The mood in the apartment calmed down considerably since Clint first came, and after careful begging and apologizing, Nat made him a cup of coffee and gave him the rest of the pop tart that he started eating. As Clint settled on her couch, Natasha went back into her bathroom and threw herself together, brushing her teeth and brushing out the birds nest that was her hair, before finally sitting next to him with her coffee and a cereal bar. Her phone sat under her thigh on the couch, and as they ate and drank in near silence, a muffled tone rang out, alerting the both of them to the incoming message. Natasha picked up her phone and smiled when she saw who it was from.

Eden [8:24] Good morning, Beautiful! 😘🤗

Clint looked over at her, and feeling curious, stretched his head over to sneak a peek at her screen. Nat jerked her phone back and grimaced at him. Clint chuckled and held up a hand, signaling his defeat.

"What's got you grinnin' like the Cheshire Cat?" he asked, finishing off his coffee and wiggling his thin eyebrows. Natasha glared over at him before looking back at her phone, watching as three little dots appeared in the lower left corner.

Eden [8:25] How's your morning going? Probably better than mine tbh

Nat [8:25] Clint stopped by. wouldn't stop pounding on my door. thought my neighbors were gonna fuck him up 🙄

Eden [8:26] HI CLINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Natasha giggled at Eden's text, and Clint snapped his head over to look at her. Did she just fucking giggle? Catching his eyes staring at her, Nat looked over at Clint and muttered, "Eden says hi."

Yes, Eden Clarke had met the childish Hawkeye and the two quickly got along. A few weeks after her and Eden's first date, the two of them were just hanging out at Natasha's apartment when Clint came barging in unexpectedly, and then ultimately stayed with the two of them once the awkwardness was out of the way. Since then, whenever the two of them were hanging out and he was free, Clint was called to join in on the fun. It was safe to say that Clint liked Eden and vice versa, and while her and Natasha hadn't labeled anything yet, it made the redhead quite happy to see them getting along.

"Hi Eden!" Clint yelled with happy excitement as he sat up and wave at nothing in particular, like a dog wagging its tail. Natasha shook her head and began typing.

Nat [8:27] Clint saya hi

"So..." Clint mused, wiggling his eyebrows again, causing Natasha to groan. "Eden's got you grinnin'? That's so cute. You two are so cute." Natasha winced slightly at the tone of his voice as his pitched heightened and grated on every one of her nerves, reminding her of when a person coos at their child.

"What are you even talking about?"

"Eden. She makes you smile like a dork. Someone's in love." Much like his baby voice, Natasha bristled at the new sing-song lilt to his voice.

"I am not in love," she muttered, turning her eyes back to her phone.

Eden [8:30] Work is driving me up the fuckign wall 😫 I really need to be rescued.

Nat [8:30] Whats going on with work?

Eden [8:31] my boss is beign a fuckign prick 😒

Nat [8:32] When's your break?

Eden [8:33] Not until 12:30 😫

Nat [8:34] Tell you what. You tell your boss that you're taking a long lunch and I'll come steel you away. Give you some breathing room. Think you can make it?

Nat [8:34] Steal*

Eden [8:35] Will you bring lunch?

Nat [8:35] I'll bring your favorite. Plus a little something extra for desert 👅🍑💦😏

Eden [8:36] Peach cobbler? My favorite 😋

Nat [8:37] So I'll see you at 12:30?

Eden [8:37] Yes you will 😊

Nat [8:38] I'll see you soon, baby

Eden [8:38] see you soon

"You know," Clint said, looking over her shoulder to look at her phone, reading her messages, "for someone who claims they aren't in love, you sure are acting like you're in love." Natasha shot a glare at Clint.

"I don't love Eden. We're just..." What the hell even were they? This is the downside to not fucking labeling anything. Were they dating? Were they just friends that sometimes had hot make-out sessions that ended with out of breath kisses and light groping? Clint looked at her, expecting her to finish, to prove his assumption, but no matter what she said, it didn't change anything; she was adamant that she didn't love Eden. "We're together. That's it. On a scale of things, we're probably not that far off from friends. But it doesn't matter. I don't love Eden."

Her voice was strong and forceful and didn't waver in the slightest, and Clint—though he cracked a smile of probable knowing—raised both hands in defense and slinked down the couch to his original seat. Natasha turned her phone screen off and placed it on the coffee table next to her empty mug, then she got up, taking both her mug and Clint's, and walked into her kitchen to place them in the sink. She began washing them out when Clint followed her and leaned against the counter behind her.

"So, all humor aside, how are you and Eden? You two seem pretty serious..."

"We're not labeling anything. We're...testing the waters. But she's good. We're good."

Clint smiled. "You like being with her?"

"Yeah, I guess. She's good company, and whenever we're together, everything feels peaceful or something...she makes me feel safe and secure. I don't know, Clint. I've never dealt with this before. I've never been in a relationship before."

"I know, Nat. It's refreshing, you know. To see you act this way with someone."

"Act what way?" Natasha turned around and raised her eyebrow, her hands perching on her hips.

"Happy."

Natasha looked at the floor. She often thought about how Eden made her feel, and while she noticed that she felt happier when she was with the black haired woman, she never once considered that it carried over to when they were apart and she was reading a text. Or even thinking about her. A smile crept onto her face, a small one, hardly noticeable if someone wasn't paying attention or used to seeing such signs from the redhead, but it was a smile, nonetheless.

"Yeah. I guess she does make me happy."

"That's good, 'Tasha. You deserve to be happy; you know. And I'm glad that you found someone that can make you happy." Clint smiled at her and stepped forward, pulling her into his arms for a tight hug. She chuckled and gave his torso a slight squeeze. "Oh! Now that I'm thinking about it, Sam owes me $50."

Natasha peeled her head off of Clint's chest and raised an eyebrow in question, though smiling. "Why?" Sam was notorious for making bets with the other team members. And losing.

"A while ago, after you had first started hanging out with Eden, he and I made a bet that you and she would end up dating. He bet that you two were just friends. Said, 'I can't see the Black Widow as a lesbian.' Man, I can't wait to put him in his place." Clint laughed victoriously, sending the shockwaves of his laugh to rumble though him, reverberating into Natasha, causing her to laugh as well.

"He's such an idiot," she laughed, but then, she got an idea. A perfectly beautiful idea, that would certainly rile the archer up significantly. She loved ruffling his feathers more than anything. "You know, I told you...me and Eden aren't actually dating, right?"

"You know what, Nat? Get out of here with your facts."

"It's the truth though, Clint. You can't get the money because you haven't actually won yet."

Clint froze for a moment, the gears in his mind turning as he though through the situation. Then his eyes brightened and a smile slowly spread across his scruffy face. Man, did he need to shave. "You know, if you keep quiet, it would be the perfect way to get Sam to shut the hell up."

"Share the money with me."

Clint sighed, though he was still smiling. "Fine."

"Then Clint Barton, we have a deal."

○○○

The rest of her morning went by fast, though not as fast as she would have like. At around nine, when Natasha figured that Clint wasn't leaving anytime soon and going back to sleep wasn't an option, she got dressed in her causal work-out gear, and her and Clint made their way to the Tower to get in some practice time to help the time fly.

Clint held firmly onto the punching bag, peeking out from behind it to look at Natasha. She ignored him, zeroing in on the bag in front of her. Her hands, tightened into fists, were held up in front of her face in a defensive position. Her mind reeled as she calculated her attacks, strike here, punch there, kick there. Her face was focused, only paying attention to her target.

"Nice, Nat," Clint praised when her fist connected hard with the bag, sending him back a few inches. She huffed in response, hitting the bag again with more force. A shooting pain shot up through her hand, but she didn't care; she was familiar with the pain.

Natasha panted and sweat dripped down her face and neck when her phone went off with the alarm that she had set when they arrived. She snapped out of whatever trance she was in, wiped her face, and relaxed her stance. Clint walked out from behind the bag and place a hand on her sweaty shoulder.

"How'd I do?" she asked, gathering her breath and placing a hand on her chest.

"Good. Could probably work a bit more on your kicks. The last ones seemed pretty sloppy."

"How sloppy?"

"Just...your stance was kinda off. And when you landed, you were off balance. I could tell you weren't focused and that you were rushing."

Natasha nodded her head and took a big gulp from her water bottle. She swallowed with a sigh and dumped a little bit of water on to the back of her neck, helping to cool her off.

"Okay, well, thanks for the critique...wish I could stay longer, but I have just enough time for me to go home and take a shower before I have to leave to grab Eden's lunch." As the two of them walked out of the training room, Natasha felt relieved that she thought ahead and ordered their lunch early so that it would be ready by the time she left.

Clint dropped her back off at her apartment, and when she walked in, she ran towards her bedroom and threw open her closet doors. What did she even wear for this? Was it a date or were they just hanging out? They've hung out many times before and it wasn't a date, so was this another time? Should she wear something nice or comfy?

"I'm wasting time," she muttered to herself, and sighing, Natasha walked into her bathroom, figuring it was better to shower now and figure out what she would wear later.

About forty-five minutes later, Natasha's phone rang with another alarm, and the redhead cursed loudly and hopped out of the shower, doing a shitty job at drying off her hair and body. She rushed, tripping on her pant leg as she tried to pull them up and falling on her face, but somehow still left her apartment on time. Speed walking down the street and to Dominique's, Natasha's heart pumped quickly. She took her phone out of her pocket, checking the time, and sent a text to Eden, letting her know that she was on her way.

It was twenty more agonizing minutes later when Natasha finally exited the subway and walked around the corner to Eden's building. She walked in and past the reception desk where the secretary, Sarah, smiled when she saw her and waved her over. When Natasha walked closer to the desk, Sarah leaned up on the counter and crossed her arms. She was smiling, but had an uneasy look about her that Natasha couldn't place.

"Hey," Sarah greeted her, "I'm so glad you're here."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Let's just say today's been rough."

"How is she?"

Sarah scoffed and shook her head. "She's about to blow her fucking lid."

"That bad?" Natasha raised her brows and frowned when Sarah nodded, a sad frown taking over. Over time and through spending time with Eden at her job or with her in general, Natasha learned that—on a good day—Eden hated her job. On a bad day, like today, Eden would often mutter threats about burning the building down with everyone locked inside as she walked away flipping them off. Natasha would always laugh, knowing that she would never do it, but being there on what she learned was a bad day, she could almost believe it.

Sarah, Eden often expressed, made being there worth it. When the slightly older dark-skinned woman first started, Eden was in charge of training her and the two got on quick. Eden didn't have a lot of friends, and while that sounded unbelievably sad, she was fine with it. Despite her rather extroverted nature, Eden preferred to be by herself or with a small group of really close friends. Having Sarah as a friend allowed Eden to not blow the metaphorical gasket and when Natasha got to know her, she was grateful.

"Do you know where she is? It's her lunch break and I'm here to help her relax," Natasha said, a small smile and a flash of heat creeping onto her face. Sarah smiled too and gesture to the right, down a hallway where Eden's workspace typically resided.

"Last I saw her she was in the bullpen."

"Thanks Sarah," Natasha said, waving goodbye and walking in the direction that Sarah sent her in.

Entering the main floor, dubbed the bullpen by other employees including Eden, Natasha's soon found Eden. The black haired woman was sitting at a desk off to the side of the room, her head hanging low with her hands shoved into her hair, grasping tight painful looking fistfuls. Though she was hunched over, Natasha could see the quick rise and fall of her chest and back and the slight tremble of her shoulders. When Eden picked her head up, her face was red and her eyes glistened with tears. What scared Natasha about the sight was that she wasn't sure if she was sad and crying or angry and crying.

Natasha had only seen Eden angry once and it wasn't a pretty sight. To put it simple, Eden was downright scary when she was angry. There are different levels of angry: there's the violent type, the loud type, the hysterical type, and the calm type. Somehow, Eden managed to embody all of them, though she was the scariest when she was calm, scary enough to frighten the Black Widow.

Nat rushed over to Eden's desk, and when she saw her coming, she sat up in her chair and held her arms out for a hug. Natasha enveloped her and Eden buried her face into her chest, nuzzling deep into her, and let her tears fall into her shirt.

"Hey, it's okay," Natasha whispered as she knelt down on the floor, putting herself more on her level. "What happened, baby?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now I need to get out of here." Her voice was tight and strained, and Natasha didn't fight her. She nodded, helped Eden gather her stuff, and walked her out of the building.

They rounded the corner and passed a few more buildings before Eden tugged on Natasha's hand, stopping her and directing her to a park about half a block in the opposite direction. Sitting down on a metal bench, Natasha took Eden's hand and worked out her tight fist, intertwining her fingers and giving it a gentle squeeze. Eden took several deep breaths and within a few minutes, the angry red tint in her face calmed down to a subtle pink, and after a few more minutes, she was somewhat back normal.

"I'm sorry about all that," Eden whimpered, "I just needed to leave before I did something that would get me fired...or worse, something I'd regret."

"So what happened?"

"Just some argument with a stupid Jeff that just...exploded and before I knew it, the entire bullpen and H.R. are ganging up on me telling me that I'm 'acting like a bitch' or that I'm 'overreacting'. Fucking Jeff." She ran a frustrated hand through her hair, causing it to stand up and ruffle in places, but not caring about how she looked at the moment. "Not to mention that for some reason my boss keeps breathing down my neck about a big account that I'm not even in charge of! I'm only advising the person in charge, but he only talks to me. It's annoying and I can't breathe."

Natasha drew her close, moving her hands to her hair, running her fingers through her ebony locks to soothe her and smooth down the places where her hair stood up. "Can I ask what the argument was about or is it too triggering right now?"

"I just work in an office with a bunch of sexist homophobic pricks..."

Natasha held her tighter, feeling her getting worked up some more, and kissed her cheek and neck. Eden sighed and relaxed into her hold. Her head fell back onto her shoulder and her hands grasped the hem of Nat's shirt.

"Thank you...for everything. You literally made my day."

"I think I can make it better."

Eden lifted her head off Natasha's shoulder and furrowed her brows, confused. Natasha smiled and held up the plastic bag that sat beside her on the bench behind Eden. When Eden still looked confused, Natasha rolled her eyes playfully and opened the bag, pulling out Eden's favorite lunch: an Italian hoagie on toasted bread, with extra tomatoes, spicy yellow peppers, onions, and extra bacon. Eden's eyes widened and an ecstatic smile formed, replacing whatever angry look took over her being.

"You brought lunch!" she exclaimed in a happy and sweet voice. Natasha laughed and kissed her cheek, handing her the sandwich.

"I promised, didn't I?"

Eden pressed her lips to Natasha, giving her a quick loving peck. "Thank you."

"Of course, baby."

They ate in near silence, Natasha working hard to take Eden's mind off her awful day at work, at least for the time being before she had to go back after her break. It made the redhead happy to see Eden's mood improve and it made her even happier to know that she was the cause of her mood. As they sat and ate, Eden was no longer frowning and seething and all-in-all ready to snap, no now, she was smiling and laughing and the only red tint in her face was caused by her blush rather than her anger.

When it was time for her to return to work, Eden was in a much better state then when she left. Not wanting to lose any time with her, Natasha walked her back, and when they entered the small building, she eyed everyone in the bullpen with such ferocity that she hoped to silence anyone that may make any kind of comment the moment she left.

Sitting at her desk, Eden smiled, whispered a thank you loud enough for only Natasha to hear, and leaned forward, catching the redhead's lips in a soft, quick peck. Natasha smiled, blushed and headed out of the small insurance company, taking the subway back to her apartment.

The dirty subway car jostled and rumbled on the underground track, blurs of orange light whizzing by creating hurls of fireballs that shot past the windows. Natasha rested her head against the window and took out her phone, opening Eden's messages. Though she had just seen the black haired woman a little over a half hour ago, she was slowly coming to realize that she missed her. Her apartment felt a little quieter and emptier whenever Eden left, or she would feel a little bit colder when Eden wasn't touching her.

When she was with Eden, her good mood and everything positive about her seemed to spread to her, enveloping her, and allowed her to feel them as well. She noticed she was happier, more at peace, and her defenses broke, letting her to let go of her worries that the Black Widow carried and just let herself be Natasha.

But...when she was alone, the shadows of her past caught up to her and chased away the good feelings that Eden brought, and whatever persona she was with her vanished and she became the Black Widow once again.

Her fingers moved quickly over the digital keyboard, typing out her thoughts fast before she changed her mind, and when she was finished, she didn't take the time to read over what she wrote, and instead hit send.

Nat [2:15] It'll get better. Hope your day gets better 😘

She locked her phone and let it drop into her lap, releasing a long sigh. For some unexplained reason, her heart hammered against her chest, like it was trying to break out. This was the effect that Eden had on her, able to make her nervous without even trying. No one had that effect on her, and now knowing that someone did, it made Natasha even more nervous.

Her phone pinged, snapping her attention away from the passing fireballs, and she looked down. She unlocked her phone and automatically smiled when she saw Eden's response.

Eden [2:20] Thank you for today. Youre the best 😍🙏 I'll be over after work, dinner date? I'll cook?

Unlike many times before, she didn't freeze when confronted with Eden's straightforwardness. Instead, she smiled, blushed, and typed again on her phone, biting her bottom lip.

Nat [2:20] It's a date 😘