I Trust You

Chapter 3

Natasha slowly became aware of her surroundings. It was dark. There was no light coming from behind the curtains and it took her a minute to remember she was not in her own bed. She took a deep breath and suddenly realized that there was a strong arm wrapped around her. She tried to stay relaxed as she slowly turned her head and saw it was Steve's arm that was tightly wrapped around her middle. His face was firmly pressed into the crock of her neck and she could feel each breath he took. He was having a nightmare, she realized that was what had woken her.

Steve was mumbling in his sleep. He was gripping her tighter and his breathing became ragged. Natasha was so caught off guard she didn't know what to do. She didn't know why Steve was in bed with her or how long she had been asleep. Steve began trembling and gripped her tighter. Natasha decided to snake her hand into his and gently peeled his arm up so she could turn to face him. She could see tears glistening on his cheeks.

She gently placed her hand on the side of his face and quietly soothed him. "Shhh," She whispered. "It's alright. You're safe." She didn't know what demons he was facing in his dreams, but her soothing words seemed to calm him down. His breathing eased and he stopped trembling. She studied his face and moved her hand away from his face. Steve shifted slightly in his sleep and nuzzled closer into her neck. Natasha made a decision to let Steve hold her close. It wouldn't do any harm and she and Steve had gotten closer during the events on the past week. She let herself ease into him. Natasha didn't know how long they stayed that way, she had drifted back to sleep. She opened her eyes and felt Steve stiffen next to her.

Natasha opened her eyes to meet his. She almost laughed to herself when she saw the almost terrified look in them. He didn't speak until he saw she was awake. "I'm sorry." He untangled himself from around her and rolled onto his back. He was stiff and sore and didn't move with as much ease as he normally would have.

Natasha stretched herself and rolled onto her back switching on the lamp on the side table. "You want to tell me what happened?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, still staring at the ceiling.

"You were supposed to wake me up." She rolled over to face him.

"I tried." He said, almost defensively. "You were.." He cleared his throat, "..um...you were sleeping pretty hard." He rubbed his jaw. "You've got a mean swing."

Natasha's head snapped up, "Did I hit you?"

"It was more of a slap," Steve explained.

Natasha laughed as she covered her face, "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"No," He chuckled back. "I think you did insult my mother though. I can't be sure, I don't speak Russian." Natasha continued to laugh.

She looked at him and asked, "How did you end up in bed with me?"

"Oh," Steve blushed. "I uh...I took some pain pills after you went to bed. They didn't really do much for me. So I took some more."

"How many did you take?" Natasha pulled herself up and threw the blankets back.

"About half the bottle I guess." Steve replied.

"Steve!" Natasha cried.

"I know," Steve rubbed his hand through his hair.

"Did they help?" She asked.

"Yeah," He chuckled. "I guess." He cleared his throat and furrowed his brow. "After I tried to wake you up ... I took a shower...and that's when I took the pills…I don't remember much after that."

Natasha climbed out of bed and fished her phone from her jeans pocket. She eyed the time, "Damn." It was nearly 1:00am. "I didn't mean to sleep this long."

Steve pulled himself up and winched, he clutched his bandaged stomach. Natasha headed into the bathroom, "How you feeling now?"

"I'm getting there," He sighed as he pulled himself to the side of the bed. He grabbed the glass of water that was next to the bed and gulped it down.

Natasha came out of the bathroom and stood in front of Steve. "Let's see how you are healing up." Steve let her peel back the badly wrapped bandages that he attempted to put on himself after his shower.

The wound in his stomach was almost completely closed. It was still deep purple in the immediate area of the exit wound and surgical incision, but the larger area had already turned a pale shade of green that indicated it was healing. The wounds in him arm and leg looked about the same.

He let her wrap new bandages around the wounds and she found the bottle of pills. She dropped a few pills into his hand. "Here's hoping this is enough medicine to help knock out the pain but not enough to knock you out." She grabbed the empty glass and took it into the bathroom and filled it with water from the sink. She returned it to Steve and watched him wash them down. "Thanks." He moved to the closet and pulled out a clean shirt and struggled to pull it over his bruised body.

"Man I'm starving!" Natasha exclaimed. "You want a pizza or something?"

"Yeah, there are take-out menus in the kitchen." Steve replied.

"You in the mood for anything?" Natasha called over her shoulder as she made her way to the kitchen.

"No," Steve called behind her. "Whatever you want is good."

Natasha found a stack of take-out menus stacked on top of the microwave. She was looking over one when Steve appeared in the kitchen. "I've been encouraging myself to try new foods. Take out is a good way to do it. I can eat it in the comfort of my own home without a bunch of people staring at me eating alone." Steve smiled. He meant for the statement to be funny, but it made Natasha sad for some reason. The idea of Steve being alone all the time, not even having anyone to go to dinner with, even just as friends.

She thought back to their conversation on the way to New Jersey. Steve had just told her she could be his friend. She finally understood, at 1:00am dressed in his clothes that were too big for her, bathed in the florescent light of the kitchen that Steve had really been alone ever since he had been thawed from the ice. He may have been in the company of other people, but he was truly a man out of his time.

She laid down the menu and took both of Steve's hands in hers and looked him in the eyes. "Steve," She said quietly. "This may sound strange but I'm going to say it anyway."

"Ok," He eyed her with a smile.

"I know that I haven't been the best partner for you in the past. I know that you haven't had the easiest time adjusting to your situation and that I didn't always take that into account when we were working together. There are things that I have done that if you knew them, you probably would be disgusted to even look at me.."

"Natasha," Steve cut her off.

"Let me finish," She snapped. "I want you to know that I am trying to be a better person. I don't have many people I care about and the list of people that care about me is even shorter, but I want you to know that I would do anything to help you. I am going to be a better friend to you."

"Natasha," Steve placed his hand on each of her shoulders. "You don't have to work so hard to prove yourself. We have all done things we are not proud of, myself included, but I can see that you are trying. That's what matters most that you are trying. I hope you count me on both of those list because I care about you too." She looked at the floor. "Hey," He pulled her chin up so she would look at him. "You may be stubborn and annoying sometimes, but I really do care about you."

Her eyes began to burn and she felt a tear run down her cheek. Steve gently rubbed his thumb across her face to wipe it away. "Hey now," She allowed him to pull her close into his chest.

She felt her arms loop around him almost involuntarily. She hugged him tightly for only a moment and then pulled away. "Thank you Steve." She wiped her eyes dry and returned to the stack of take-out menus. "Now," She began. "What's something new you want to try?"

Steve leaned on the counter and crossed his arms. "How about you pick? I will eat whatever you pick out for me?"

"Are you really that brave?" She teased.

"No," He replied, 'But I trust you."

The end ❤❤
Reviews please