The Heart Thaws In Its Own Time (Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff)

Chapter 13 - Milkshakes And A Tour

"It's funny you called Barton's place home," she teased him.

"Well... It's kind of home, right?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess it feels the most like home - besides when we all lived together at the compound."

"I miss those times, everyone laughing," Steve confessed.

"Sam pranking Tony," she laughed.

"I don't miss Tony trying to scare Bruce though," he shuddered playfully.

"I really need to get my own place... or at least get out of Clint and Laura's hair," Natasha said quietly. "They've got three kids, they don't need a fourth. It's kind of hard to look for a place when I don't know what's going on right now. I'm not really in a regular groove."

"Yeah, timing's not so great for you right now," he said gently.

Steve turned the truck into a parking lot. The ice cream stand had lots of brightly colored lights and there was a small crowd waiting. They jumped out and got in line.

"What's your poison?" he asked her.

Natasha tilted her head back to look at the flavors posted above. Steve watched as the bright lights reflected off her eyes and softened the skin on her face. She looked so beautiful and happy, he could watch her like this forever but he turned away so it didn't get creepy.

"I'm thinking strawberry..." she looked back at the sign just to make sure she didn't miss anything. "Yeah, I think strawberry." She looked at Steve and asked "What about you?"

"You know, you're going to make fun of me but I really love vanilla. There's something so simple about it." He was cringing waiting to see what she'd say.

"No, no, it's a good choice. I like vanilla," she said as she smirked at him.

The line moved fast and Steve stepped up to the window. "One strawberry milkshake and one vanilla, please."

They chatted about the old ice cream stand while they waited and after a few minutes, Steve turned around with two styrofoam drink containers. "You want to go for a ride?" he nodded to the truck.

"Sure," Natasha said. "What? - are you taking me to lover's lane or something?" She joked with him but she truly was only joking. Steve made a little noise in his throat and she could tell he choked a little on his milkshake. "I was only kidding!" she laughed as she put her hand around his bicep.

Steve grinned and opened her door. "No... that wasn't what I had in mind exactly."

***

"Where in the world are we going?" Natasha asked with anticipation. They were driving slowly down a long, dark road. The windows were down slightly and she took note of the noise the tires made on the road beneath them. It sounded like there was a good bit of loose gravel.

Steve smiled to himself while watching the road through the blackened night. "Can you give me two minutes?" he asked sweetly. "We're almost there."

She sat back in her seat and sipped her milkshake. "You're such a big tease!" she laughed. "We are really in the middle of nowhere!"

"Sure, it looks that way, I guess." He turned down a gravel road which looked to Natasha to be a driveway. She could make out some light in the distance. As they got closer, she realized it was a lamp in a window.

It was an old, sturdy house with a wide front porch and white siding that had seen better days. It had a second floor with dormers, although it looked to be on the small side. There was a garage and it looked like someone was in the middle of a construction project as there was a part of the building with plywood only and no roof shingles.