Tell Her About It
Tell her about it; tell her everything you feel
Give her every reason to accept that you're for real
- Billy Joel
Steve came over and sat next to Natasha at their favourite spot in the city: the water fountain. They had confided a lot of things to each other by that fountain. Many things, both deep and personal, trifle and superficial, had been revealed between the two of them here, which is just as it should be with best friends.
This time, Steve had something very important to tell Natasha, but he wasn't sure how she'd take it. What he had to tell her was something he'd never told anyone else in his entire life and telling her would put him in a very awkward position if she responded unfavorably.
The redhead looked up when she heard him approach and smiled. "Hey, friend."
"Hey, Nat," he replied. There was an intense look on his face because of the thoughts bouncing around in his mind. This serious expression was not lost on Natasha and she cocked her head to the side. "Penny for your thoughts, Rogers," she said.
Steve smirked and rolled his sleeves up, exposing his tanned arms to the sun. "Nat...we've been friends a long time, haven't we?"
She nodded and crossed her legs under her body. "Yeah, ever since elementary school." Natasha wondered what he was bringing that up for. Her birthday was two months away, so he couldn't be giving her an advance birthday gift - although, if he did, she wouldn't complain about it.
He took in a deep breath before going on. "Right, and I was thinking that maybe we could spend some time together tonight."
Natasha's green eyes were filled with confusion and she pursed her lips. "Steve, we hang out once a week, and usually, at night. What makes this so different?"
"It's different this time because...I like you." He took her hand in his, eyes locking onto hers.
She chuckled lightly and squeezed his hand back, unused to such a display of affection from him. They were very close, always giving each other hugs, pats on the back, kisses on the cheek, but Natasha couldn't recall the last time they held hands. It had most certainly been years.
"Well, I'm glad that you do like me. Here I was, thinking that you were just hanging around because you hated my guts." She teased him gently, nudging his shoulder and he laughed in response. As she watched him, she saw there was something in his eyes, a new light that she'd never seen before. Suddenly, the intensity of his gaze made sense to her and she realised that by 'I like you' he meant 'I like you'.
Her cheeks got as red as a tomato and she gasped, feeling so foolish for not noticing his feelings sooner. "Oh, Steve...I never knew. How long have you felt like this?" She now ran her hand over his, holding it like it was a cherished possession.
"From the first day I met you. In elementary school."
"Really?!" Now she felt like a big fool. How could she have been so blind? Steve Rogers was her best friend and she was completely clueless about him. If there was any moment in her life that felt like a cliche in a stupid romantic comedy, it was now.
"You must think I'm an idiot..."
Steve rubbed her shoulder with his free hand and laughed. "No, Nat. I would never think that about you. I hid my feelings from you because I was afraid that you'd be mad. That and I wasn't confident enough to believe that you wouldn't laugh at me if I told you."
"Well, I'm glad you finally got the guts to ask me out now! Like the saying goes, better late than never, right?" Natasha gave Steve a pensive look for a few seconds, trying to decide something. Silently making her decision, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.
Steve froze for a moment, taken by surprise by this action, but he quickly got over it and kissed her back. He moved his hands to her cheeks, caressing her face gently.
Natasha would have been lying if she said that she'd never imagined what it would be like to kiss Steve Rogers. If any girl had a best friend who looked like Steve, they would one hundred percent, without a doubt have daydreamed about kissing him.
Daydreams can't hold a candle to real life, she thought to herself, contentedly.
After a while, they both had to pull back to catch their breaths. As they did, they just looked at each other, with big goofy smiles on their faces. They may have looked silly to passerbys, but that didn't matter at all.
Steve touched Natasha's cheek and she placed her hand over his. Once she was able to calm her heart from pounding like a drum, Natasha spoke. "So, after that, I definitely think we should go out tonight. In fact, I can't wait until tonight. Let's go to Willie's Diner." She stood and tugged on his hand, pulling him up with her.
Steve entwined his fingers with hers and they started walking. "Sounds like a plan. We could share a large strawberry and vanilla milkshake-"
"And eat a ton of chilli fries." Nat interrupted and licked her lips in anticipation.
"Agreed. I'll do my best not to eat most of the fries this time."
"Good! And I'll do my best not to sneak sips of the milkshake when you're not looking."
"I should have known all of that slobber on the straw came from your mouth." Steve shook his head and slipped his arm around Natasha's waist.
Warmth ran through Natasha and she sighed happily, enjoying the feel of Steve's strong arm around her waist. All her life, as long as she'd known him, she always liked how safe he made her feel, how protected, but this caress was even more special. She raised an eyebrow cockily and poked him on the chest.
"Yeah? You weren't too concerned about my mouth when you were kissing me a few moments ago~"
"That's right. I wasn't. You have nice lips, Nat." Steve stopped walking and she followed suit. He ran his forefinger along the outside of her upper lip, a smirk present on his face. Natasha's eyes widened and she parted her lips in surprise. Once she did this, Steve leaned down and pressed his lips against her upper one, sucking on it, gently.
He moved his lips over her sensuously for a few seconds before pulling back, the same smirk still on his handsome face. "No. I don't have a problem with your lips at all," he whispered in her ear and tugged her gently as they began to walk again.
Natasha was flustered and she touched her lip, still shocked that he actually kissed her like that. If his arm hadn't been around her, she would have fallen down to the ground because her legs were trembling from the desire that ran through her.
That was completely unfair, the way he sneaked that little kiss in and got her all mixed up. "Steve Rogers, you are a tease!" She hissed at him, smacking his arm. He only gave her a side glance and a small smirk. Finally, they reached Willie's Diner and he gave her a kiss on her forehead.
"Trust me, Romanoff. If you think that is teasing, you haven't seen anything yet."