Summary: You are scared to come out to Natasha as non-binary after previous bad experiences.
Rating: Teen
Tags: fluff, coming out, pride, mentions of past discrimination, happy ending, acceptance
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"Okay, Y/N, what is it? You've been distant ever since I got back from my mission with Clint last week. Did something happen while I was gone?"
You shook your head. "Nothing happened."
"Then why are we here?" Natasha gestured around the small cafe.
You always used to come here when you and Natasha had first started dating. It was away from the prying eyes of others (both the rest of the team and the general public; both were incredibly annoying and invasive when it came to your relationship) and it had felt good to do something as normal as just getting coffee and enjoying each other's company.
After a while, it begun to feel like a safe space. You could only associate good memories here - your first kiss, making up after a particularly vicious fight, hearing the words 'I love you' - so whenever there was something weighing heavy on your minds this was where you came. Things only ever worked out here. It seemed the only place you could speak the truth without fear.
Natasha reached across the table and took your hand, lightly tracing a thin scar on your knuckled. "Please, milaya. You're scaring me."
That was a big admission for her to make. She buried her emotions so deeply but was more open, more vulnerable, with you than anyone else in the world. And if she, the ever composed Black Widow, could admit her feelings then so could you.
"While you were gone, I had a lot of time to myself to think. We're okay," you rushed to assure her, recognising that look in her eyes. Her shoulders were tense and every inch of her body was screaming that she was about to bail. You squeezed her hand tightly and repeated, "We're good, I promise. Please don't leave me. There is no one in the world I love more than you. Believe me."
"Then what?"
All the ways you'd practised expressing the truth in your mind seemed stupid now. You couldn't remember the words you'd chosen to say. Your carefully planned out explanation was just a big, blank ball of nothing. Picking at your cake, struggling to find the right way to start, you said, "You're a woman."
Despite the nervous tension in the air, Natasha's lips turned up in a slight smile. She leant back in her chair, her shirt stretching tightly over her chest as if to emphasise your point. "The last time I checked, yeah. Your point?"
"You're sure about that."
"Being a woman? I'm pretty certain."
"Well, I'm not. I mean I'm sure you are a woman but I'm not."
Natasha's teasing expression levelled out as she grasped the seriousness of your revelation. "So you're not a woman." You nodded. "Not a man?" You nodded again. She tapped the edge of the table, searching her brain for the right word. "Non-binary?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah. It can't have been easy for you to share that with me, so thank you. And because you were honest, I'm going to do the same."
You closed your eyes and braced yourself for the worst. The only people you had ever told had either laughed in your face or invalidated you completely. You knew Natasha better but couldn't shake the fear that she would do the same. Your stomach was knotted so tight, your chest weighed down by the crushing load of your worries, that you could hardly breathe.
The silence was deafening.
You nearly screamed when Natasha crouched down beside you chair. Brushing her hand over your cheek, she pressed a soft kiss to your lips and continued to do so until you stopped shaking. Every kiss drew away a little more of your fear, pulled it like poison from a wound and replaced it with a warm feeling in your heart because Natasha loved you.
"Nothing will change how I feel about you, Y/N. I won't lie; I have a few questions but they can wait. I will do anything I can to help you be happy and comfortable in yourself because you deserve nothing less. I'm not going anywhere and if you were scared that I was going to run like Clint after curry night then I have failed you as your girlfriend and I am sorry. I'm so happy you're - Oh, sweetheart, please don't cry. I'm sorry."
She wiped the tears from your eyes and kissed you softly once more. "You are my family, my heart, the one I want to spent my life with. I really do love you, Y/N."
"Thank you, Nat," you whispered, burying your face in her shoulder as she held you tightly against her body. "For understanding and accepting and being so perfect."
"I am pretty great, aren't I?"
You kissed her as you drew back and smiled at her beautiful smile. You were so lucky to have this woman all to yourself. "Yeah, you really are."
