To Find Love: Romanogers One-Shots

It's Been a Long Two Weeks

Summary: Steve's been coming home late recently and Natasha isn't stupid.  She's seen Sharon Carter at the Compound more often than usual.  However, as it turns out, there's been a horrible misunderstanding in what's been going on.

Natasha was getting restless. It was getting late into the night and Steve still wasn't home. He hadn't said anything about what he was doing other than that he was going out with Sam for the night. Usually, she wouldn't be worried, but it was day five or six of him staying out late and not coming home until she'd fallen asleep. Not only that, he seemed more distant and out of it.

Natasha knew Steve was a good guy and so she didn't want to assume anything, but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe he'd found someone else recently. She doubted he would intentionally cheat on her, but what if he was? She'd noticed Sharon at the Compound more recently and she knew what had happened many years ago during the Accords fall-out. What if Steve had realised Sharon was the better choice and wanted to break up?

Natasha curled up on the couch in her blanket, staring at the ground. She could call Sam and see if Steve really was with him. If he was, though, it would look like she was monitoring him and she didn't want to seem like she was mollycoddling him. Nonetheless, she couldn't stop herself from reaching for her phone and tapping on Sam's contact. For it being nearly 10PM at night, Sam answered rather quickly.

"Hey, Nat. What's up?"

"Is Steve with you?" she asked. She could almost see Sam's face scrunching up in confusion at her blunt question. "It's just—he's not back yet and he said he was going out with you for the day. Is everything alright?"

"Well, as far as I know, everything's fine," Sam told her, sounding a little hesitant. "But I haven't seen Steve since training this morning. I'm sure he'll be home soon," he promised.

"Okay," she replied, running a hand through her hair. "Thanks, Sam."

"No problem," Sam said. He was in the middle of saying something else, but she hung up before she could process the fact that he was still talking. She immediately felt bad but set her phone aside rather than texting back to apologise for cutting him off.

Steve wasn't with Sam like he said he'd be. Sure, he was an enhanced super soldier who could take care of himself if he was attacked, but she wasn't worried about an attack. She'd ask Steve when he got back and if he tried lying, she'd have her answer. She was just really, really hoping Steve had a reasonable excuse for why he'd lied to her.

The front door opened quietly and Natasha turned her head to watch as Steve walked inside. He turned around and blinked in surprise when he saw her still awake on the couch. She didn't say anything as he took off his shoes and hung up his jacket. He moved to sit beside her on the couch, but she didn't move for him to sit down, keeping her arms wrapped around her knees. He sat at her feet and twisted to face her, reaching out and running a hand up and down her leg.

"What's up? Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked tenderly.

Natasha felt her chest constrict at the thought of confronting Steve about her worries and her arms wrapped tighter around her legs.

"Where were you?" she asked, ignoring his question and staring at him.

Steve frowned. "I was with Sam, I told you—"

"I called Sam," she interrupted. Steve immediately looked both shocked and worried. "He said he hasn't seen you since training. Where were you?" she repeated.

Steve didn't answer right away and Natasha felt fear start to swallow her up. He was cheating. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have hesitated or lied to her.