Clint
After meeting with your therapist, you made your way to the kitchen. It was late afternoon and your stomach was growling by this point. The kitchen was deserted, while you were in your appointment, the rest of the team had been called away on a mission. Steve had left you a message saying don’t worry they had it under control, but guilt still ate at you for leaving the team down a member. You didn’t feel like cooking, so you settled on making a simple sandwich. As you gathered everything and placed it on the counter behind you, Clint sauntered in.
He jumped up to sit on the counter, his legs swinging and a mischievous grin on his face, “I hear Cap grounded you too.”
You hesitated for just a moment before you nodded, unsure of what Steve had told everyone. The idea that he might have told everyone the truth left you nervous. it was going to be hard enough dealing with Steve being weird around you, you didn’t need everyone treating you differently.
Clint laughed, seemingly unaware of your nerves, “I can’t believe you forgot to file your report. In all the years you’ve been here, this is the first time. I’m so proud of you for coming to the dark side”
Relief flooded through you at his revelation of Steve’s cover story. “Yeah well, we all make mistakes. I won’t forget again.” You shrugged, as you finished putting together your sandwich, “So why are you grounded?”
“Me? Oh, well, just the usual. I was too handsome of course.”
You merely cocked your eyebrow, and waited for him to tell you the truth. It only took a moment for Clint to cave in the silence and he let out a long-suffering groan.
“I may have accidentally bet Thor I could hit a tree with an explosive arrow during the last mission. We thought we’d cleared the area but apparently we didn’t because the tree went kaboom and then Hydra came pouring out of a hatch in the ground like ants from an anthill. Thor was shot in the arm - he’s okay though!”
“Dumbass” you chuckled, putting away the ingredients. As you grabbed your sandwich and began to head back to your room, Clint followed along like a stray puppy. He chattered about his latest prank plans for Tony as you went back to your room, and it wasn’t until you reached your door and turned to look at him that he stopped talking.
“How long are you planning on following me?” you sighed, exhaustion beginning to creep in.
“Well I was thinking that since it’s just you and me we could have a movie night?” Clint’s voice was pleading.
The idea of being alone right now wasn’t something you enjoyed, but a movie night meant you’d be even more sleep deprived tomorrow. With a heavy sigh, you stepped aside so he could come in too, “Fine but we’re watching movies in here.”
“Deal!” Clint raced in and jumped onto your bed, grabbing the remote in the process.
As you settled yourself against the headboard, he sprawled out, his head towards the foot of the bed as he began to flip through the channels. Clint’s voice filled the silence, your occasional hums of agreement were enough to keep him going as you ate. By the time you’d finished your sandwich, Clint had settled on The Lion King, and you moved to lay next to him.
Clint sang along to every song during the movie, and you found yourself revelling in his presence. His attitude was infectious, and you were grateful you hadn’t turned him away when he asked for a movie night. The positivity was something you needed, and his presence felt like the anchor keeping your thoughts from floating off into troubled waters.
As movie night progressed though, your thoughts began to wander in a different direction, and began to feel guilty for lying to Clint. It wasn’t a big lie, saying that you’d been grounded for not doing your paperwork, but you’d never lied to him before and you weren’t sure this was something you wanted to start. When the movie drew to a close you sighed and bumped his shoulder with your own. He turned to look at you questioningly, but you spoke before he could ask.
“I wasn’t grounded because of paperwork.” your voice was soft, almost too quiet to hear over the opening of the next movie.
“I figured” he bumped his shoulder against yours in return, “But I figured you’d tell me if you wanted to.”
You flashed him a grateful smile, and leaned over to rest your head on his shoulder, “I asked Steve to pull me” you took a moment to gather your thoughts before you continued, “I’m not suicidal, but i’m not not suicidal.”
He didn’t speak for a moment, but his arm found it’s way over you and pulled you into his side. “I know what it means to be haunted by those thoughts. I’ve been there before.”
You moved closer into his side as he told you about his battle with depression when he was younger and how even now he still had bad days. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that right now sucks but you’ll get through this - you’re a hell of a fighter, and you’re stronger than your darkest thoughts. And if you ever feel like you can’t win, just come get me and I’ll help you kick your own ass.”
A soft laugh escaped from you as he finished his speech and you curled yourself into his side. He pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, and you turned on the next movie, Brave. For the rest of the night you traded soft jokes and playful insults with one another. When you finally fell asleep two movies later, you slept comfortably in Clint’s arms, grateful that you had friends to rely on when the dark got too hard to see in.