Between Friends

You woke up to the sun streaming into the room and Chris nuzzling your neck as you lay on your back, "Morning, beautiful."

You smiled softly and blinked without moving, "Morning." You noticed he was being a bit more affectionate and forward than usual, probably because he had missed being close to you over the last couple weeks.

You turned your head to your other side to see that Sebastian wasn't in the bed and heard the usual noises of someone taking a turn to make breakfast out in the kitchen.

Chris kissed your head and got up to pee, get dressed and brush his teeth. You heard the guys exchange morning greetings, the bathroom door shut, and then you heard bare feet approaching.

Sebastian entered the room and ripped the covers back, "Come on, sleepy head! You're burnin' daylight!"

You rolled over and groaned, pulling a pillow over your head, your voice muffled, "It's Sundayyyy..."

He layed behind you, space between you, propped up on an elbow, "Okay," he chuckled, "Then I won't make you run with me today. Come on.", he leaned close to the pillow on your head, "I made freeench tooooast."

You perked up just enough to let the pillow clear your face, "Will you bring it to me in bed?"

He laughed, "No. We gotta get moving. We're going to the park with the gang today; get some sun and play some volleyball!", he got up on his knees, hunched over you and started tickling you mercilessly.

You screeched and screamed, the pillow flying away from your head in your struggle. You curled up in a ball as best you could while laughing, "Seb! Stop!" ...and he did, just like he said he would anytime you told him to stop anything.

Chris's voice travelled from the cracked door of his bedroom, "Everything okay in there?"

Sebastian let you answer and you shouted, "Yes!"

He was grinning when he leaned over you, "You're such a fun doll to play with.", he kissed your head and helped you off the bed.

You looked at him and cocked your head to one side noticing that he was in need of a haircut, seemed he let it go for longer than usual, "You need me to cut your hair?", you gently grabbed a fistful on the top of his head and pulled upward, letting the strands fall, or stick up, where they may. "You're getting kinda crazy- crazier than usual up here, Stan."

You did nails, but you knew how to cut hair too because you took the full cosmetology course and you would love an excuse to touch his hair more.

He smiled down at you, smoothing his hair back with a hand, "Nah, gonna try something new, grow it out."

Now that you thought of it, his face was looking a bit more scruffy than usual too, like he skipped a couple days of shaving. You made a light pinching motion on his dimpled chin with yor thumb and finger a couple times, "This too?", you chuckled quietly.

"Maybe a little.", he looked at you, his face soft. He was really enjoying these touches from you.

You both went to the kitchen while you continued, "At least let me keep the underside kept up until it grows out enough. Otherwise you'll have a funky looking mullet."

He laughed as he put his hand to your lower back as you both walked further into the kitchen, "No party in the back for me, huh?" He was going to turn that joke into an innuendo by playfully smacking your ass, but he controlled himself.

You laughed and stopped at the coffee maker as he went to the stove to dish up breakfast. Chris came out of his room and went straight to you. He curled an arm gently around your neck and pulled you to him and you placed a hand on his forearm. He dipped his head down and planted his lips firmly on your cheek. He gave you a quick succession of kisses, his lips never breaking contact as you giggled. He traded contact with your cheek to rest his forehead against your head as you poured coffee, "Just makin' up for lost time.", he gave you one more on the head, "And one to grow on.", he took the coffee cup you handed him. "Thanks, hon. Oh, my bad. You're done growing.", he chuckled.

"And I stopped at the perfect height, I think."

"I agree.", he smiled. You weren't terribly tiny, but still short compared to their respective six feet of height.

Sebastian had just sat after getting the full plates to the table. You and Chris headed to the table with coffees in hand, you had Sebastian's as well as your own. Chris put a hand next to his mouth and mock shouted as you followed him, "Pocket sized polisher comin' through!"

You all laughed.

After breakfast, you helped Chris clean up, rinse dishes and load the dishwasher while Sebastian went downstairs to get himself ready for the day and gather some stuff for the park.

Chris grabbed the last of the dishes off the table and walked to the sink where you were rinsing. He set the plates down next to the sink and reached to take the rinsing brush, "I can rinse, you load."

You chuckled and swiped the brush away, "No."

He put an arm around you and pushed into you to move you over and tried to get the brush again, "Come on."

"No." You were both laughing. You were really no match for him but you put up a good fight.

He stopped and stepped behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder, pleading, "Please? You're better at loading than me. I can never make everything fit right."

Your stomach did a little flip flop in response to his actions. "Well, when you ask like that.", you laughed and handed him the brush.

He knew the attention he was giving you was more than usual, but he really did miss you like crazy when he was with Sharon. You could be right next to him, but he couldn't touch you; instead you'd be in Seb's arms. He always knew that you and Seb had a slightly closer bond than you and he, through no fault of anyone. He could also tell that his friend had become closer with you during his own time with Sharon. He felt he might be overstepping some unspoken boundaries, so he told himself that he just had to get this out of his system because he'd been without you. He didn't know what was going to come of any of it, he just knew he needed to be close to you right now.

Sebastian had come to the top of the stairs. You and Chris hadn't heard him coming up over all your noise. He saw the way that Chris embraced you... a lot like he had himself just a couple nights ago outside the restaurant. It made him a bit uneasy, but he did his best to shake it off. 'He just missed her. He'll chill out. She isn't yours anyway, so you need to chill... But she should be... Give it time.'

He spoke up once you and Chris switched tasks, "You guys almost done so we can go have fun?", he put on a smile and entered the kitchen.

"Yep!", you chirped.

You were both done after a minute, so you headed to you room to change and gather anything you might need as Chris started loading his car with the volleyball net, ball, camping chairs, towels and a cooler with some drinks.

Sebastian followed you into your room and when you got to your dresser and opened the drawer, you felt his arms wrap around your waist and his cheek against the back of your head. He said nothing. You knew it was him. He had become even more familiar since you had moved in. You rested your arms over his and just enjoyed it.

He closed his eyes and took in the smell of your hair. Why did he feel the need to figuratively mark you by being the last one to touch you, hold you after seeing Chris with you like that? He didn't want to be left behind, squeezed out of the picture. That's why. His thoughts were interrupted by your voice and you reaching up and placing a hand on the back of his head.

"You okay, Sebby?"

He opened his eyes, but didn't move, "Yeah. Last night was just really bizarre. Things feel different- not as different as they did when we first went to bed last night, but different. I need to be close to you. You feel so familiar to me, like we've always known each other... And I need to be close to that right now."

Tears came to your eyes at hearing him use the same word and description as you the way thought of him. You held them back, hoping he wouldn't notice and you swallowed. "Yeah I felt that weirdness too, but it seems to be getting better." You rubbed his arm lightly, "If you need to hold your dolly to make you feel better, I'm really okay with that.", you chuckled, "It's gonna be okay, Seb. Maybe even better than okay. Just give it time."

Now he was the one contending with looming tears as he thought to himself, 'Just give it time. Jesus. How can she be so in sync with me? I am giving it time, baby. Whatever you need. Just please don't be too long.'

He sighed and gave you a squeeze to level himself, "Make sure you wear layers you can take off, it's gonna be hot today." He kissed your head and left to help Chris.

You changed into your bikini; a colorful Aztec print. Then you slipped on jean cutoff shorts and a teal t-shirt that had the neck hem and sleeves cut off to make an open, loose tank top. You slipped on your favorite flip flops, put your hair in a high messy bun and grabbed your bag.

You didn't live near a beach, so this was the closest you all got. The city park was amazing; 100 acres of soft green grass, some hills, huge mature trees, a pond with two islands, paddle boats, an aviary, playgrounds, a splash pad, restrooms, picnic areas, horseshoe pits, basketball courts, tennis courts, bocce balls courts, seasonal amusement rides with a 1.5 mile jogging path and parking circling near the perimeter. It was one of your happy places.

Chris parked near where Nat had texted you they would be. Her, Bruce, Tony and Pepper were the first ones there. Sebastian got out of the back seat and opened your door while Chris went to get stuff out of the trunk, you and Sebastian followed. Just then Thor and Jane pulled up in their Jeep next to the three of you. You all greeted each other as they got out to get their own stuff.

Chris handed you your bag, then he and Sebastian continued grabbing stuff out.

You held out your hand, "I can carry more."

Chris looked at you as he picked up as much as he could manage off the ground and as Sebastian closed the trunk, Chris said, "Nope."

"Come on.", you begged.

Sebastian bent to pick up the volleyball, he straightened and put it in your open hand, then pressed your hand and the ball to your chest so it wouldn't drop as he gave you a sarcastic closed mouth smile. He then picked up his share of the load and you all starting walking towards the grass.

"Why do you both insist on keeping me weak and helpless!?", you called after them.

Sebastian threw his head back laughing and Chris called over his shoulder, "To guarantee that you'll always need us!"

Thor and Jane were not far behind the three of you. You reached the clearing in the park where the others were, there was some shady places under the trees that circled a large sunny spot the group had claimed. It wasn't crowded at the park that day, but there were enough people around to give a sense of community.

Everyone put their stuff near the edge of the sunny area. Sebastian took a couple steps toward you, turned his baseball cap backward and put a hand on your lower back, "The real answer is simply that we're gentleman, doll." He kissed your head and followed Chris to help him set up the net in the big sunny patch.

You watched your boys walking away and your heart fluttered, God you loved them so much... And they were pretty hot too, which sometimes made other things in you flutter. Did you really believe that it was going to be this way forever though? It can't be, everything changes. Right?

Nat approaching you from the side and giving you a hug snapped you back to reality, "Hey! My sister from another Mister!", she stepped back and had her hands on your upper arms. "How you doing today?", she beamed.

You nodded and lifted your eyebrows from behind your sunglasses, "I'm good. I actually feel really good... And calm today. It's weird. Maybe something good is coming my way.", you chuckled.

She gave you a closed mouth smile, "I really hope so." She hooked arms with you and led you to where the others were sitting along with Jane and Thor setting up chairs. You greeted everyone and they greeted you back.

Everyone talked for a few minutes. As the guys were nearly finished setting up the net, Pepper popped out of her chair, "Oh! (Y/N)!", she tip toed to you in her bare feet while you pushed your sunglasses up onto your head to make eye contact with her, "So-", she put her hands on your shoulders and you couldn't help but think, 'Damn, she's tall.' She continued, smiling, "My assistant called me this morning and just up and quit on me. She's moving out of state for some guy she met on the internet or something." She shook her head to get herself back on track, "Anyway, so it turns out I have an opening for an executive assistant", your face started to light up as she kept going. "If you want it, the job is yours. You can start tomorrow... Or anytime up until the following Monday, whatever you're comfortable with.", She smiled so big and waited for your answer.

You felt like you were going to cry when you hugged her, "Oh my God, Pepper! Yes, I'll take it! Thank you!" You had pressed your hands together and opened them just enough to cover your nose and mouth in excitement and you started to cry. Pepper put her arms around you and hugged you again, "Aw, sweetie."

Chris and Sebastian had started back to the group when they noticed you crying and Pepper holding you. They jogged to you, worried. Chris reached you two seconds before Sebastian, so he spoke first as Pepper released you and he put a hand on your back, "Sweetheart, what's wrong?!"

You opened your hands from your nose and mouth, but still held them close to your face and you were still crying, "I got a job!"

Nat shoved her fists in the air and shouted, "Woohoo!"

"That's awesome!", Chris shouted, hugged you tight and kissed you on the cheek.

Sebastian was smiling ear to ear when Chris released and you went to him. He picked you up off the ground in a hug, kissing you all over your face as you laughed, "I'm so happy for you, babe!"

Once all the excitement came down you explained who you'd be working for and what position you were taking.

The guys both hugged Pepper enthusiastically, Chris whispered as he hugged her, "Thank you so much. You may have saved our girl." Pepper smiled as he pulled away.

Clint, Laura, their kids, Sam and Maria showed up shortly after. The remainder of the time at the park was spent playing volleyball of course, people rotating through playing, laying out in the sun and talking in the chairs that were set up. When you striped off everything but your bikini to lay on a towel in the sun, Chris almost got hit in the head with the ball, almost. Sebastian was looking too, but he was more smooth about it. Though remembering touching your amazing legs distracted him for a moment. Luckily, no ball was coming his way then.

A few minutes later, Chris took a break and grabbed himself a water out of the cooler and he came to lay next to you on the grass and propped himself on an elbow. By this time, all the guys in the group had their shirts off. He could see your eyes closed under your sunglasses, "Hey, hon."

You lifted your head and shielded your eyes to look at him, 'Oh my God. Hello, muscles!' "Hey.", you smiled and relaxed back down closing your eyes again.

His eyes traveled over your body behind his own sunglasses; he found himself fighting the urge to lean over and softly kiss your stomach or to even just softly drag his fingertips across it. He really wanted to know if it felt as soft under his lips as it looked, "You wanna go grab something to eat?" He had already asked Sebastian who said he didn't know what he wanted so he'd get himself something shortly.

"Yeah, sure. I could use a corn dog.", you got up and pulled on your shorts and flip flops and started to follow him to the concession stand when he stopped and waited for you, then he put a hand softly on the small of your bare back to guide you. He had put his hand in the same spot a thousand times before... But never without a barrier of clothing. He discovered that your skin was so much softer than he expected and now he wanted his lips all over you. He sighed heavily.

"You okay?", you turned asking him.

"Yeah, it's just hot.", he smiled.