meet me at our spot | n.r x oc | ✓

7 - i don't need fixing

2 months since the Snap
[natasha's pov]

Steve shuts the trunk of his car and I smile sadly, meeting his eyes.

"Please take care of yourself, Steve."

"I should be saying that to you."

Steve looks behind me to the windows on the second floor of the building, where Stefaniya could be seen behind the glass. She had refused to acknowledge me when I asked her to come down, but I knew that she wouldn't pass up the chance to see Steve off.

"She'll be okay,"
Steve assures, seeing my worry visible on my face. I can only muster up a fake smile.

"I know she will. I just don't know how long it'll take for her to get anywhere near 'okay.'"

Steve closes the distance in between us and hugs me. I rest my head against his shoulder, breathing deeply.

"We'll miss you around here."

Steve pats my back twice before letting go and walking to his car.
"I'll come visit."

I wave to him as he drives off, leaving just me and Stefaniya at the facility.

"That's what they all say,"
I whisper to no one in particular.

Everyone was gone. It's been two months and there's nothing else we can do. Honestly, I considered leaving, too. But I realized that I don't have anywhere to go. Neither does Stefaniya. Besides, there were enough of us to keep an eye on the world-- in Carol's case, the universe-- and all I had to do was stay behind at the Avengers facility for support if anyone ran into any problems.

I turn back around, glancing up at the windows again to see an empty space where Stefaniya previously occupied. I exhale sharply, more in sadness than annoyance, and begin my walk back into the building.

I find myself walking the path to the kitchen and run into Stefaniya drinking vodka straight out of the bottle. She's sitting on top of the kitchen island with earbuds in, the volume so loud that I could hear the muffled classic rock music from where I stood.

"Stef,"
I call quietly. When she doesn't move, I walk closer.

"Stefaniya."

She peers up through her dark eyelashes, raising an eyebrow. I make a motion with my hand, telling her to pull out her earbuds. She only takes another swig of vodka and looks back to her phone. I slowly move my hand out to grab the glass bottle out of her hand, but she swiftly blocks my hand.

"Leave me alone,"
she says.

"No, thanks,"
I reply, even though I know that she can't hear me.

I tilt my head around in various angles to put my face in her view. She avoids me until I've managed to piss her off-- which seems to happen a lot, lately-- and pushes herself off of the counter. In her inebriated state, she stumbles, and I instinctively put my arms out to catch her. She immediately recoils from my touch and my heart clenches.

"Can you just back off, Natasha?"
she raises her voice angrily, her words very slightly slurred.
"You keep telling me that I need to grieve and process my feelings and all that bullshit, but I can't do it if you're constantly hovering over me!"

"I'm just worried about you--"

"You don't need to be. I was fine before I had you, and I'm fine now."

I walk after her.
"You're not fine, Stefaniya."

"I am! I'm great, I feel great,"
she smiles to sell her story, but I'm not dumb enough to see through it.
"Stop treating me like I'm a charity case."

"How?!"
I'm fed up.
"How am I treating you like a charity case?"

"I'm literally a stray that you took in, Natasha! I'm your sister's best friend and you just felt the need to keep me around after she dusted. You don't really care about me. Why would you? You have the perfect life and the perfect family and the perfect job. You don't care about me."

...That was a stab to the heart.

"I do care about you! I care about you, more than you know!"

--I'm in love with you, Stefaniya.

"--You're hurting, and it's hurting me. I just want to help you get through this."

Stefaniya puts a hand up.
"Don't bother. I may be broken, but I don't need fixing."

My shoulder sag.
"Why would I fix something that's already perfect?"

A tear escapes from Stefaniya's eye and she wipes it away quickly.
"I'm not perfect. I never will be."

Don't say that. Yes, you are. You're the most perfect person in the world to me. I wish you knew.

Her bedroom door shuts in my face. I hear a clink of the vodka bottle hitting the door and her footsteps moving further away. I stand there for a few more minutes before rendering my efforts as useless and walk away. It was then when I hear muffled sobs behind her door, and my own tears are streaming freely down to my jawline.

I subconsciously barge into Steve's room to talk to him, looking around for fifteen seconds before I remember that he left just a while ago. I yell loudly, grabbing the nearest object and throwing it at a wall. The glass encasing the small candle shatters, the block of ocean breeze- scented wax falling to the floor with a thump.

Steve's room is far enough from Stefaniya's, so I cry to myself with no restraint.

I don't know what to do.

A/N: I figured i needed more angst... sorry.