Natasha and Steve have had something between them for weeks now but Steve has a really hard time understanding her actions. 

Natasha had never been good with expressing herself. She hated feeling emotional and often relied on her actions to show the people she really cared about how she felt. 

It worked most of the time. The few people that she did care deeply about knew that the words 'I love you' were simply not in Natasha's vocabulary. 

That didn't mean she didn't feel love, because everyone knew that she did. 

She just relied on actions to show it. 

Unfortunately Steve was terrible at interpreting her actions, despite how clear they were to everyone else. 

Their relationship was strange...Steve wasn't sure how they would be described. He supposed that the closest thing to it would have been friends with benefits but it was more then that to him. 

He was sure that he loved her. There wasn't any doubt in his mind about his feelings for her and he longed for her to feel the same. 

At times, he felt like she did. When she kissed him in the middle of the night without making any notion to deepen the kiss, he could swear that they were in love. It felt real in those moments. Sometimes, he even found himself thinking that maybe when he woke up the next morning, she'd still be lying next to him. 

But every morning he was greeted with a cold bed and a small sticky note with yet another excuse as to why Natasha had fled before he could wake up.

It was moments like those when he wondered if maybe she really just did like the physical aspect of their relationship...if she really did consider them nothing more then friends with benefits. 

He longed to ask her on a real date and find out, but he was terrified that she would reject him and that he would lose her completely. 

As selfish as it might be, he simply couldn't risk that. Not at first at least. 

But as time went by and her morning departure began to sting more and more with every short note, he couldn't let himself fall more in love with her without knowing if she even had any feelings for him beyond friendship and lust.

She had come by late one night looking exhausted making Steve almost decide against his plan to just ask her how she felt about him. 

 "Hey," She whispered, walking into his apartment and letting herself relax onto his couch as he sat down besides her. 

Steve tossed her his remote and raised an eyebrow, "You alright?" 

Natasha nodded, opening up the next movie he needed to cross off his list, "Yeah. Just a little tired." 

"Long mission?" Steve asked, knowing that she had been on a two day long solo mission and had only just gotten back today. 

Natasha shrugged, shifting closer to Steve and resting her head on his shoulder, "No worse then normal."

Steve nodded and found Natasha's hand. She intertwined her fingers with his and Steve closed his eyes, allowing himself to imagine they were a normal couple even if it was just for a moment. 

"You're never going to understand the movie if you don't stop staring at me," Natasha teased, looking up at him as she paused the movie. 

Steve blushed slightly, "Sorry. Guess I just missed you." 

Natasha smiled but Steve could swear there was a flicker of fear in her eyes before she could mask it, making his heart sink a little bit, "I was only gone two days Rogers."

Steve forced a small smile, "Yeah well, I've gotten used to being around. It's not the same when you're gone." 

Natasha didn't respond, opting instead to simply give his hand another light squeeze as she rested her head on his shoulder again. 

"Nat?" Steve asked tentatively,  "Can I ask you something?"

She looked up at him again, although still not moving away from him, "I get the feeling you're going to anyways." 

Steve breathed out a laugh and looked down at her, his blue eyes bearing into her curious green ones, "What are we doing?" 

Natasha looked unsure of how to answer his question. For the first time since Steve had met her, she looked caught off-guard, "Right now? Well I thought we were watching a movie but you seem to prefer talking." 

Steve shook his head, "No, I mean what are we doing? I know how I feel about you Natasha, and I'm attracted to you in more ways then just physical, but I can't read how you feel about me, and frankly, it's driving me crazy." 

Natasha's smile faded and she pulled away slightly, still holding Steve's hand in hers, "Steve..."

"I don't need a confession of love or anything Natasha. I don't even need you to want anything more then what we have right now...I just need to know if you could ever feel the same," Steve said, shaking his head and looking down. He was really struggling to find words right now. 

Natasha leaned forward and cupped Steve's cheek in her hand, moving to practically sit in his lap, "I'm not good with words Steve." 

Steve brought his hand to cover hers, "That's okay."

She met his gaze for a few moments before leaning into his touch and pressing her lips against his in a slow kiss. 

Even if she couldn't verbally tell him how she felt quite yet, she hoped that she could show him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself into his lap, letting both of her legs drape on either side of his hips. 

"Natasha," he mumbled against her lips, his pupils blown wide. 

She shook her head, pulling his head back to hers in another kiss.

"No more talking," She said, more as a plead then an order. 

If Steve had the willpower to argue, he might have tried, but with her lips moving against his and her hands combing through his hair, he couldn't think straight enough to remember his own name.

She eventually led him to his bedroom and for the rest of the night, he didn't care about their future. Because in that moment, he felt loved. 

The next morning when he woke up, he was pleasantly surprised to find Natasha still laying in his arms, her eyes were open and she was combing her fingers through his hair gently. Her skin was glowing in the dim lighting of the room and Steve swore that he fell in love with her all over again. 

"Morning," He whispered, not being able to hide the smile growing on his features. 

She smiled back letting her hand fall to his jaw as he bent down to kiss her softly, "Morning."

Steve rested his hand on her bare hip and smiled, "No early training today?" 

Natasha shrugged, "I figured skipping it for one morning wouldn't do too much harm. It's not like we didn't get plenty of exercise last night." 

Steve chuckled and brushed a piece of hair from her face, resting his forehead on hers as she let out a content sigh. 

"Steve," She whispered, "You know I care for you, right?" 

Steve looked up, unsure what she meant. 

She searched his eyes, "Whatever this is between us...it's not just lust. I can't say that it's love yet, but I know that I'm pretty damn attached to you Rogers, and if you really want to start a real relationship with me, I'm all game."

Steve smiled again, leaning forward to kiss her again, "Well in that case I'd love to take you out to dinner tonight...on a real date."

Natasha smiled, "Six-thirty?" 

Steve nodded, "Sounds perfect." 

"In the meantime, I think you ought to help me burn the calories I would've burnt had I not skipped training," Natasha said with a smirk.

Steve grinned, leaning over her, "Yeah? How do you supposed I do that?"

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Like this," She whispered, pulling his head down to her to kiss him passionately. 

Steve laughed into the kiss and responded with as much passion as he could muster. Maybe Natasha didn't think she was good with words...but she was certainly more then an expert at letting her actions speak for her. 

Hey guys. To be honest, I'm not really sure what this is, but I hope you all enjoyed it lol. If you did, please comment and vote and like always, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy!

Also, I just finished re-watching The Winter Soldier and I'm so angry at the Russos for what they did to Nat and Steve. Literally killed one and destroyed the arc of the other. The audacity.....