Erica closed her eyes while laying lazily on the couch. She waited a total of thirty seconds after Liam left before speaking again. "I hope you brought food, Clint. I'm starving." There was no reply. "You're going to make me do this the hard way, aren't you?" Still, he said nothing. A groan escaped her lips as she stood up and walked into the kitchen.

She opened the fridge knowing it was a trap. Sure enough, Clint threw a punch from behind her. She dodged it just in time, his fist missing her face by less than an inch. He threw punches left and right and she blocked every single one of them. She never got the chance to hit him because he came on so fast. Fortunately, Erica was unnaturally strong, but she lacked speed.

Clint got her in a headlock, so she elbowed him in the ribs then tossed him over her shoulder using only a quarter of her true strength. He grunted but quickly got back on his feet. Before Erica knew it, she laying on the ground wheezing.

"You need to work on your offense." He claimed, getting a bag of peas from the freezer.

"I noticed."

He handed her the bag. She sat up on her elbows and rested it on her left shoulder. Erica watched as he took ingredients out of the fridge. "Grilled cheese okay?"

"What are you sucking up for, Barton?"

"Who says I'm sucking up?" Clint stepped over her legs to get to the stove.

"You only make my favorite foods when something bad is going on." She accused.

"You're going to be a great agent someday; you always find the ulterior motives behind even even the even the most simple of gestures."

He didn't answer her question, but she decided not to push it. She was sure she'd find out what it was sooner or later.

"Go finish your homework and then we'll get back to training." Clint said as he started cleaning up the dishes.

"My homework is already done."

Erica exchanged the bag of peas for broccoli and walked down the short hallway to her bedroom. She changed into black leggings and a pale blue tank top before heading to the living room. Clint's body was curled up on couch. "What the hell. I thought you said we're training!"

"We are...but since I just kicked your ass, I've decided that it can wait until tomorrow."

"Amen." Though she was angry with him for not telling her before she had to wince her way into new clothes, she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Plopping down next to Clint, Erica began surfing through the channels. There was practically nothing on, so she settled with Crazy, Stupid, Love. Clint groaned in annoyance, but she ignored him.

Slowly her eyes started to close. However, a knock at the door interrupted her. Moaning in pain, Erica pushed herself off the couch to get it.

"Liam?" She gasped. "What's wrong?"

Liam's face was bright red and wet with tears. His clothes were drenched as if he was pushed in a pool. Since it was still raining outside, she assumed that was the real reason he was wet.

He stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. "She's cheating on me."

"What?" They started walking down the hallway to her room. "What happened?"

Erica shut the door behind them. Liam collapsed on the bed, falling apart into into a fit of silent sobs. The only thing that felt useful was rubbing his back until he calmed down, so that was what she did.

"You were right," he croaked.

"What happened?" She repeated.

He sat up. "I got to the restaurant where she made reservations and saw her sitting there with some other guy. I think he was was a junior, I don't know. I went up to her, asked what was going on because for all I knew he was was a cousin. She didn't say anything, just stared at me like I had two heads."

Erica wanted nothing more than to tell him 'I told you so', but she knew it wouldn't help the situation, so she didn't.

"It'll get better. You'll be hurting for a while, but you have to embrace it; let the pain mold you into into a better person. Don't let it consume you, but allow it to change you."

He smiled at her, chuckling, "You've never been in a relationship, Erica, how do you know so much about them?"

"Probably all the fucking chick-flicks I watch with my mom."

Liam laughed at her, her job was done for now.

Erica walked to the dresser, pulling out a t-shirt and pair of sweatpants that he kept there. She had a respective outfit in his apartment too.

"Change quick," She commanded. "I'll get us some food."

He smiled, "Thanks Eri."

"No problem."

She heard swift scraping noises heading down the hall as she got closer to the door. When she opened it and saw nothing there, she knew Clint had been listening on them. She walked into the kitchen, ignoring Clint as he attempted watch her from the shadows.

Erica grabbed strawberries out of the fridge, "It's not nice to eavesdrop, you know."

"I just wanted to make sure I didn't have a boyfriend to beat up." He excused.

"I'm not really the dating type, or did you forget?" She started rinsing the berries off in the sink. "Liam is just a friend, more like a brother, actually..." She set the berries in a bowl, "and I can take care of myself, thank you."

"I'm just looking out for you--"

Erica snapped. "Well, I don't need you to! It's not like you're my dad, Clint!"

"I'm the closest thing you have to one." Her heart leached. He was right and she knew it but didn't want to admit it. A long silence ensued--her staring at the bowl, him at the floor. He cleared his throat, finally ending it, "training at the usual time."

"Yeah, okay." The defeat was heavy in her tone. She walked back toward the hallway.

"Goodnight."

"Night."

Erica turned away, barely hearing when he said, "Love you, kid."