Second Chance - Romanogers

13

Steve Rogers was found on his couch in his apartment, per usual.

The television in front of him kept shifting in and out of focus as he fought back the wave of sleep that tried to consume him.

Finally, he just decided to listen to his body and shut off the tv, leaving him in the overwhelming silence of his apartment.

His body might've been exhausted, but his brain was as awake as ever, and his wonders couldn't be stopped. Once one thought entered his mind, it set off a branch of new ones.

It was nights like this he wondered why he was even living in the past. It was a waste of time. He'd left his friends in a different timeline for Natasha, and he wasn't even hanging out with her as much as he could!

He left Sam, and Bruce... and Bucky. He left Bucky to be here.

Maybe it'd be best if he just took off. He was sure Natasha wouldn't really mind. There was already a Steve Rogers in this timeline so there was no need for another.

Steve felt selfish. He left his friends.

And so it was decided. He was going back home. Tomorrow.

His thoughts slowly shifted back to Nat, as they often did when he became zoned out.

What was he doing? What was his plan?

If he left he would never seen Natasha Romanoff. Never again.

How could he just move on from something like that?

Well, the little voice in his head piped up, you did get over Peggy Carter, there was a time when that seemed impossible.

Yes he did, but that was different. Sure he loved Peggy, maybe he still did a little, but his love for Natasha was different. He'd known Peggy for, what, a year at the most?

He knew Natasha for a long time, about 7 years. And in this case he had no idea if she even reciprocated his feelings.

In Peggy's case she had fallen in love with him as well, but with Natasha he didn't know how she felt, and now he never would.

Unless...

A crazy thought crossed his mind. Or maybe it wasn't so crazy... maybe it was a brilliant idea.

All this thinking and questions made his head hurt. And so Steve finally decided to call it a day and go to sleep.

...

The Next Morning, Natasha Romanoff's apartment:

Natasha had been up for most of the night.

She never slept well, not really. Memories kept her up.

And so the spy was very weary when a energized knock sounded from her door.

She could think of one person who would visit her apartment at this time in the morning.

"Hey." She gave a weak greeting as she opened the door and let her friend step inside.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Clint Barton said before making himself comfortable and started to rummage through her fridge.

"You haven't said 10 words to me and you're already stealing my food." Nat rolled her eyes and shooed his hands away from her fridge.

"Precisley." Clint smirked and was able to grab an apple before she closed the door completely.

"What's up, Barton?" Nat asked. Normally she'd be happy to see her friend but after the sleepless night she'd had there was no energy left to talk.