Lab Partners

The drama that comes with going home

After their weekend at the beach was over, Nat had to return to her normal everyday life. Unfortunately, a large part of that life consisted out of school.

"I can't believe my mom is getting married in 48 hours," Nat shares as she stands at her locker with her group of friends. "I mean, I like David and I'm happy for them, but it's still a bit weird," She adds.

"Think on the bright side, David probably isn't a 50-year-old perv who marries your mom to get to you and your sister," Steve said and immediately got freaked-out looks from the rest of the group. "What?"

"That's like the last thing you need to say right now, idiot," Carol replied and gave him a slap on the back of his head.

"I'm just-I'm just going to forget about that part of this conversation," Nat shook her head. "You guys are still coming, right?" She asked just to be sure and luckily got four verification nods. "Thank youuu," She responded and that was when the bell rang, causing every single person standing in the hallway to grunt as they reluctantly made their way to their room. Nat and her friends were no exception. Thankfully she didn't have to go alone because Clint was in the same class.

....

"I think I missed an entire chapter...I have no clue what he's talking about," Nat whispered to clint as she flipped through her book in an attempt to get a little mnemonic.

"Guess you should have spent your weekend differently," He replied and normally Nat would've laughed away a comment like this, but she turned to look at him. The way he said it, there was a slight hint of judgment she didn't really like.

"Um, something wrong?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow of confusion. Clint gave her a brief glance before bringing his attention back to the teacher.

"You should pay attention," He replied instead, leaving Nat frowned and staring at him for a few seconds before slumping back into her chair.

"Are you mad at me or something? Cause if so, I would appreciate you telling me why because I have no idea what I could have done that could make you mad at me," She decided to continue her questions, not in the mood to ignore whatever it is that's going on with him. Clint was tapping his pen in his palm as his eyes stayed on the teacher. "Really? Silent treatment? Wow-okay," Nat chuckled in surprise at how one of her best friends is acting towards her. She leaned forward with her arms on the table and turned to look at him. "I swear if you're not going to tell me what's going on I'll tell Steve about you what you said to me about his mom," Nat whispered and his eyes shot immediately to hers. "I'm not joking," she clarified and he rolled his eyes before leaning back, Nat mimicking him. "So?..." She asked.

"I just don't understand why?" He whispered as he looked straight ahead of him.

"Right okay, because that's very specific," Nat replied with sarcasm lacing her voice. Clint glanced at her and sighed.

"How can you forgive so quickly and forget what Wanda did to you?" He clarified and this was way more specific than Nat thought he was going to be. "I just-I don't know Nat. I honestly think you made a mistake by giving her a second chance. I'm actually 99% sure you did," He added and Nat just looked at him with surprised eyes by what he was saying. She slowly turned her focus away from him and looked straight ahead.

"I appreciate your concern. But please never again decide on what you think I did wrong or not. You don't get to do that, and don't need you to either," Nat spoke with little to no emotion behind her words. Trying her best not to get mad at her friend right now for saying something like that.

"I just think you deserve better," Clint decided to add anyway.

"Clint, with all due respect, but please shut up." Nat turned to look at him. "I want Wanda, I have Wanda, and I can't be happier because of that."

"And for how long will that be? Next party she might find her way back into Tony's mouth??" He started to talk a little louder and Nat quickly glanced around to see if others were involved in their argument. Thankfully this wasn't the case yet, but she wasn't going to risk it either. She got up and pulled him along. The two of them made their way to the door to leave the classroom.

"Ms. Romanoff?! Mr. Barton?! What do you two think you're doing?!"

"He's getting nauseous I'm making sure he gets to the school nurse safely!" Nat replied to her teacher without second-guessing herself. Before she even could get a response, she'd gotten her and Clint out of the classroom. She pulled him to the corner of the hallway and turned herself around to face him. "What's wrong with you?!" She snapped at him and he looked everywhere except her eyes. "Wanda and I talked about what happened, and yeah I was pissed at her for that really shitty thing she did, I don't think I ever felt more hurt than then," Nat started and Clint already rolled his eyes. "BUT I decided to give her a second chance, I decided that not you, not you or whoever, I did. Because it's my decision to make! And hell I'm pretty glad I made it because I've never been happier than when I'm with her! ....Does that mean that I have completely forgiven her for what she did? no, I have not, There's still this little part in me that wants to get mad all the time because of what she did, but I'm working on that and she gives me a reason every day to continue working on it!"

"She. kissed. Someone. In. Front. Of. You," Clint spat. "You were a crying mess! And who was there for you? I WAS! Not her??" He walked closer towards her. Nat pinched her eyebrows together as she grew more and more annoyed by the fact that Clint didn't seem to hear what she was telling him.

"Clint seriously-" She was about to say, but stopped mid-sentence and took a deep breath instead. "...I appreciate how you were there for me. You don't even know how much I appreciated that. But that doesn't give you the right to start interfering with my relationship??" She tried her best to explain it in a more controlled voice that simultaneously didn't sound too patronizing. "Just-" She wanted to add something but was surprised by his hands that suddenly placed themselves on her cheeks. She hadn't even processed that yet and before she knew it she felt his lips crash on hers. She stood there frozen and when he ultimately pulled away she stayed frozen for a little longer. "What the fuck was that?!" Nat quickly took a step back as she processed the whole thing.

"...She doesn't deserve you." He took a step closer and Nat reacted to that by taking one back. "I can-"

"Please just-just stop talking-" Nat shook her head and continued to walk backward. "we don't talk about this...with anyone." She said, still confused about the whole thing. "And...never... do that again," She added before turning herself around and trying, as quickly as possible, to get the distance between her and Clint as big as possible.