So she’s trying this whole new thing called ‘getting her shit together’ and so far, she thinks it might be working. (This, of course, is her, so her long-term outlook isn’t really positive. That’s another thing she’s working on.) She’s gotten rid of her cheating boyfriend, while still possibly remaining friends? (Apparently at no point is her relationship with Clint Barton ever not going to be complicated.) She’s no longer as mad as she was at her best friend for failing to become a martyr and succeeding in becoming an amnesiac. And- and!- she’s finally moved all her crap out of her quarters in Stark Towers and into her very own apartment.
Also (and this is kind of a big one for her) she’s making friends. One being a scary yet ridiculously badass spider-lady, and another being the currently not-big and green rage monster walking her home.
"You really didn’t have to do this, Bruce." She says, not for the first time, because it’s been a long night and it’s late and they’re both beat black and blue from the mission they just ended.
He shrugs, and fleetingly she thinks of how ridiculous it is for a man under seventy to wear such a cardigan in public. She also thinks of how much it suits him. “My apartment’s not far from here.”
"Thanks, though." She tells him, lightly bumping his shoulder as they walk. "I appreciate the company."
He smiles, and she smiles, and it’s all so damn comfortable that it would have sent her running (no,flying) away in terror had she not been going through a Major Lifestyle Change. So instead she just smiles down at her feet, like he does, and stays close enough that their arms continue to brush as they walk.
Three blocks later, she nods towards her building and stops beside the steps. “So, this is me.”
“This is your apartment building?” Bruce’s eyes are wide and he almost looks like he wants to laugh.
Jessica bristles. “I know it’s not much, but-“
"This is my apartment building.”
"You must be joking."
He snaps his fingers in recognition. “You’re the one that moved across the hall from me, the one that’s been playing the music so loud.” He laughs and holds the smile, and really, he should do it more often. “You’ve been driving me crazy.”
She should smile more often too, she thinks, because it feels pretty fantastic. “Let me make it up to you. I’ve got a half-gallon of Blue Bell I just put in the freezer this morning. I might even have spoons. Somewhere.”
He laughs again and follows her upstairs, and this, this is definitely what having your life together feels like.