Juliet
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"Come on, you know one day I'm going to get some self respect and stop asking?" Caleb smirked at me as he leant against the reception desk.
"Caleb." I sighed, unsure if I even wanted to turn him down again.
He'd been asking me on a date periodically for the last year, since his little sister Lila had started ballet lessons.
He was handsome, handsome in the way that was so in your face and obvious, in a way that he totally knew how handsome he was, but he liked to pretend it came as a shock when someone told him. He was cocky and had curly blond hair that he'd push back a few times per conversation, flexing his bicep as he did it. But he was also pretty sweet. He was so supportive of Lila, always made conversation with the other dance moms, complimenting them and making them feel special when he flirted with them, and he always asked me on a date while Lila grabbed his car keys and darted for the door, she liked to be the one to open the doors and jump in before he could get there, and he always let her with a smile on his face.
"Come on, just one date, you can pick the time, place, and who knows Juliet, you might even have fun?" He taunted.
I sighed, "Fine. I'm off Wednesday night, I want to try that new Mexican restaurant that opened up right next to Washington Square on Sullivan, you know it?" I asked, pushing the folder I'd been using back into the rack.
"I know it, what time should I pick you up?" He asked, I didn't look up at him until I could contain my own smile.
"I'll meet you there at eight." I looked up at him.
"I'll see you Wednesday then, beautiful." He smiled, winking at me as he pushed himself back from the desk, jogging backwards towards the doors.
I shook my head as he darted for his car, wondering if I'd just made a huge mistake.
I tried to think of all the reasons I'd said no to him for the last year, and seemed to be coming up blank.
I knew I shouldn't be taking the risk with the Red Room active again, I'd been dragged to the Avengers compound for a reason but it had now been a month and nothing had happened.
Yelena and Kate hadn't found anything in Wisconsin and had moved straight on to Lexington after talking to Tony and Bruce for an hour, they seemed to have found a pattern in the information I'd given them, and teamed with some criminal patterns that Tony had found they'd thought there was something there.
I tried to stay out of it, I still refused to try and help, I'd talk to Yelena when she called, I'd call her but I'd keep our conversations short, as soon as she started trying to talk to me about the Red Room I shut down and moved her onto talking to Nat again.
I wouldn't do it, I would not be dragged back down into it, I'd meant what I'd said to Steve when I'd first turned up at the compound, if I helped, if I stated I wouldn't be able to pull myself back out again and I was already struggling just to tread fucking water.
Talking to Bucky a few weeks ago had helped, slightly. Not a lot. Kind of not at all.
It had helped in that I was now confident if he snapped I could take his arm down, it hadn't helped beyond that. I still felt the adrenaline causing through me whenever I saw him, I still felt the awkward and desperate desire to flee a room if we found ourselves somehow just the two of us left alone, but I didn't actually leave.
We didn't talk, he tried, I'd nod, he'd give up.
I was fully aware I was the problem, he was trying, he'd tried, he'd showed me something he'd thought could help, he was cautious around me, his movements slowly, he'd try and talk to me when everyone was in the room, casual replies to conversations that were taking place around us, but I was a stubborn bitch and just couldn't let him in, couldn't let him try.
