Natasha has to go on a mission right before Christmas and she and Steve are both upset about it

"I'll be home soon,"Natasha promised, pressing her cheek to Steve's chest and sighing.

"Will you be back for Christmas?" Steve asked, looking down at her with a frown.

Natasha gave him a weak smile, "You know I'll try to be."

Steve nodded and sighed, embracing her tighter, "Just promise me you'll come home safe. That's really all I care about."

"I'll be careful. I promise," Natasha said, pulling away from Steve's chest so she could look into his eyes.

He took her hands in his and gave her a small grin, "I'll still wait up for you Christmas night."

Natasha laughed, "You have to stop doing that. You know that if I get home in the middle of the night I'll wake you up."

Steve shrugged, "You and I both know I'm gonna keep doing it so it's pointless to try and talk me out of it."

Natasha rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the smile on her face from spreading, "You're difficult."

"Sorry," Steve said with a laugh, moving to hold Natasha's waist as his forehead rested on yours.

"I'm really gonna miss you," He whispered.

Natasha sighed, "Yeah, me too. Nick has terrible timing."

"I'm starting to think he's doing this on purpose," Steve joked, giving a small laugh.

Natasha huffed out a laugh and wrapped her arms around Steve's neck, "Save some of those cookies for me to help you decorate when I get back alright? I'm gonna be pissed if I come home and there's none left."

Steve smiled, "I'll stash them away til you're home. We can just postpone our holiday festivities a few days."

"Good. I'll be looking forward to it."

She smiled up at Steve and he leaned down to kiss her slowly, wishing he could freeze the moment and not have to say goodbye to her.

A few minutes later, Natasha pulled away, glancing at the clock and sighing.

Steve frowned, "Do you really have to go?"

"You know I do."

Steve sighed but nodded, holding her hand as they walked towards the door.

Steve handed her her bag and gave her a small smile, "Be careful."

Natasha nodded, "I will be. I love you."

"I love you too," Steve said, gently kissing her again.

Natasha smiled and opened the door, tossing Steve a little smirk, "See you soon."

Steve smiled and watched as she left their apartment.

The door shut behind her and he couldn't help but feel a little resentment for Nick.

He was sending Natasha out on a mission four days before Christmas. Not to mention, it was going to be Natasha and Steve's first Christmas together since they had started dating and he had really hoped to go do all the normal holiday traditions with her.

Steve locked the door and shuffled back to he and Natasha's bed, laying down on his side and staring longingly at her empty pillow.

He still hated seeing her leave on missions and they had been dating for nearly a year, so you would think that he would be used to it by now.

But everytime she left he felt like there was a piece of himself missing.

Pulling Natasha's pillow to his chest and sighing heavily when her sweet scent washed over him.

He closed his eyes and let the lingering touch of her lips coax him to sleep.

The next few days where as hard as they normally were. He went on like normal but couldn't help but constantly miss Natasha and worry about her.

He knew she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but she was also selfless and wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice herself if it meant completing the mission.

He waited up on the couch besides their Christmas tree every night and hoped that she would walk through the door. Even if it was unlikely.

On Christmas Eve he was even more hopeful. Hopeful that maybe she would walk inside with a small smile, tell him merry Christmas, and then they could fall asleep together and enjoy all of Christmas day together.

She never came though, Steve watched the door carefully and sat up straighter at every creak he heard, hoping it was her, but it wasn't.

Christmas day, he had tried to busy himself by watching Christmas movies and making food just in case she did come home in time for Christmas dinner.

Every few minutes, he would glance over at the door, hoping it would swing open to reveal the only person he really wanted to spend Christmas with.

At noon, she still wasn't home. Nor did she arrive at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine.

Steve was sitting quietly on their couch drinking a hot chocolate, waiting patiently for her to come home.

His eyes glanced to the clock and he frowned. Steve's eyelids were becoming heavier and the lack of sleep since she left was really catching up with him.

Around ten-thirty, he accidentally drifted off to sleep, his empty mug dangling over the side of the couch loosely from his hand and his neck bent at an awkward angle from trying to be able to see he door at all times.

At excactly eleven forty-five, the door unlocked and Natasha opened the door quietly.

She saw Steve sprawled out on the couch and couldn't help but fall a little bit more in love with him.

Dropping her things on the ground by the tree, she walked over to the couch where Steve was sleeping and bent down to press a light kiss onto Steve's cheek.

His eyes fluttered open and he smiled when he saw her, making Natasha's heart beat a little faster.

"Hey there. Merry Christmas," Natasha said with a small smile.

Steve sat up and smiled taking Natasha into his arms and kissing her, "Merry Christmas."

"You miss me Rogers?" Natasha teased, tracing her fingers along Steve's jawline and through his hair.

"You know I did," Steve said, laughing little, "How'd the mission go?"

Natasha shrugged, "It was successful. Fury's gonna be pissed I didn't report back to him tonight, but I wanted to see you before midnight so I could at least wish you Merry Christmas before it's over."

"I think he'll get over it pretty quickly. He owes us."

Natasha laughed, "Yeah he definitely does."

Steve glanced over to the clock and saw that there was still five minutes until midnight, "I know Christmas is almost over but what do you say we each open one gift from each other before we go to bed?"

Natasha smiled, "Sounds great. That silver one with the red ribbon under the tree is for you."

Steve reached down and grabbed it along with grabbing a gift for her.

"You wanna go first?" He asked her.

Natasha shrugged, "Sure."

She began opening the gift and Steve bit his lip, hoping she would like it.

Natasha opened up the box and looked at the canvas inside with a smile and twinkle in her eyes, "Did you do this?"

Steve nodded, "Do you like it?"

Natasha nodded, "Are you kidding? This is amazing!"

Steve smiled and kissed the top of Natasha's head as she examined the drawing.

It was a drawing of the time the two kissed for the first time in the mall and Natasha couldn't help but smile when she looked at it, remembering how in denial she had been about her feelings for him.

Now she was openly in love with him and she was honestly happier then she had ever been.

Natasha turned to face Steve and smiled, "This is amazing. Thank you. Now open yours."

Steve smiled and began to do so. He opened it and smiled, laughing a bit.

"How did you know?" He asked, pulling out the vintage record player.

Natasha grinned, "I know you hate using your phone for music and your old one got ruined. Plus you talk about how many records you still have all the time."

Steve laughed and kissed Natasha, "Thank you. I love it."

Natasha smiled and kissed him again. "Merry Christmas Steve."

Steve sighed in contentment and nodded, "Merry Christmas Nat. Now let's go to bed, I'm exhausted."

Natasha laughed, "Yeah me too."

They went into their bedroom and laid in bed together, Steve's arms wrapping around Natasha while she curled up against his chest.

"Goodnight. I love you." Steve whispered, kissing her forehead again.

"Night Steve, love you too." Natasha whispered.

Steve smiled and closed his eyes, falling asleep quickly, just glad that Natasha had indeed made it home for Christmas.

Hey guys. Another extra long chapter for you. Only a few more days until Christmas so expect a few more updates! Probably multiple every day😂

I hope you all enjoyed this, if you did, please comment and vote!