Unexpected Romance

Chapter 27

Valerie:
I haven't left my bed in a couple of days, only to do the necessities like using the bathroom.

"You've been in bed for three days. Are you feeling okay?" Natasha barges into my room to ask.

She flicks on the lights and it blinds me so I pull the covers over my head to hide.

"My lord, you are dramatic," she chuckles.

I hear her walk over to the bed and I feel her hands on my body. She rolls me onto my back and carefully pulls the comforter off to expose half of my torso.

"Hey, baby. Welcome back." She giggles while leaning down to kiss me.

I smile up at her and kiss her back, running a tired hand through her hair.

"So what's going on?" She asks again, getting herself in bed next to me.

I slip my arms further into my hoodie sleeves and turn to my side. She wraps her arms around me and I dig my face into her neck and rest my top hand on her chest. I hesitate before responding.

"I just don't feel great," I lie.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Do you need anything?"

"No. Just you," I whisper.

"Well then me you shall have." She kisses my head while rubbing my back.

Her touch is comforting and warm. I feel safe. Almost happy. I want to stay in her arms forever.

"Agent Walker, Agent Romanoff, dinner is ready and your presence is requested," FRIDAY informs us.

Nat slowly releases me, getting up to go to dinner. I stay in my place.

"Val?" Nat questions me as she stands near the door.

"I-I'm not hungry," I reply, a lump forming in my throat.

She comes back over to me, climbing back in bed. "Then neither am I."

"No, please go eat," I try.

"Being at the table without you every night doesn't feel right."

"I don't want to be the reason you don't eat."

"I have a solution. I'll bring dinner to bed. Be right back." She kisses my head then rushes out of the room.

Natasha:
I skip into the kitchen where the rest of my team are filling their plates with food. I grab two plates, one for me and one for Valerie.

"Where's Valerie?" Steve asks me.

"In bed."

"Not joining us again?"

"No, and neither am I. We're having dinner in bed. Is that a problem?"

"No."

After filling our plates, I head back to Val in her room. When I walk through the door, I notice Val discretely wipe her face before looking up at me with a small smile.

"Dinner is served," I smile, handing her a plate and sitting next to her.

I watch her stare at her food in her lap.

"Don't worry, no one poisoned you," I joke, only earning a tiny tug of the lips from Valerie.

She picks up her fork and pokes at her meal, eventually, slowly lifting a small piece of chicken. I turn on her TV and let it play anything. As we eat, I rest my head on her shoulder, focused on the television.

Valerie:
As we sit together, the lump in my throat comes and goes. I want to eat but I can't. I want to tell Nat how I feel but I can't. The single piece of chicken upsets my stomach.

"I'll be right back," I whisper to Nat.

I leave my plate on my nightstand and go into my bathroom, locking the door behind me. Just so I can mask my sounds, I run the tap while I quietly force myself to throw up into the toilet. It hurts.

When I finish, I sit back against the wall and get a glimpse of my razor in the bathtub. I shake my head, trying to get rid of my thoughts. Now isn't the time to do anything. Not with Nat right on the other side of the wall. I weakly stand and go for the door but before I can open it, a tear falls.

"Fuck," I cry silently with my forehead pressed against the door.

"Hey, Val, movie night starts in a few. We should go," Nat calls from my room.

I don't respond since I'm too busy sobbing.

"Val?"

Knowing she'll probably bust down the door, I take a deep breath. "Yeah," I squeak.

I wipe my tears and walk back out. Nat looks up at me and furrows her eyebrows at me.

"Val, are-"

"Let's go," I cut her question short.

I grab my barely eaten plate of food and lead Nat to movie night, throwing out my food on the way. I sit us in the back of the screening room, like always, getting us comfortable in our joint seat.

"What are we watching tonight?" Wanda asks when we're all settled in our seats.

"I discovered this movie a bit ago and I want to watch it," Tony says as he's switching on some action movie.

The first bit of it is not that interesting since we've all seen that stuff before. But about halfway through, there's a moment where someone is being tortured. Suddenly, flashbacks of being in my torture room come flowing in. Being in a similar situation as the character in the movie. The only difference between me and this character is that I was actually tortured and almost killed.

The memories shoot through me a mile a minute and I can't stop them. Not wanting to make a scene, I abruptly scramble out of the room and I don't even make it back to my room. I collapse in the middle of a hallway against a wall. I close my eyes tightly, begging for the memories to stop. I can feel everything they did.

Natasha:
Valerie runs out of the room unexpectedly in the middle of the movie. Confused and worried, I follow her out shortly after. I assume she went back to her room so I make my way there. Before I make it, I find her curled in a ball against the wall in a hall. I drop next to her. She's heaving and crying.

"Hey, I'm here," I coo to her.

"Make it stop," she sobs.

"Make what stop?"

"I can feel it. I can feel everything."

I now know what she's talking about and it breaks my heart.

"You're safe. No one is going to hurt you," I assure her.

She looks up at me briefly then reaches an arm out to wrap around my neck. That's when I notice it.

"Valerie." I grab her wrist gently.