Echo| Natasha Romanoff

2. Chapter 14

Andrea's p.o.v

"Okay, come in," she rushed, almost excited at my words. I held back my smile as I strolled into her room. I tried to imagine what it would look like. My first thought was classy, black and white, expensive furniture. Then I couldn't help but think about the fact that she probably had red undertones somewhere, red being her signature color.

"Do you want to sit down?" She asked, her voice raspy with her words. "Uh yeah sure. Can you...?" I trailed off. "Y-yeah definitely," she stuttered and I couldn't help but be shocked at her nervousness. I felt her soft hand hold mine as she led me to a couch she had in her room.

It was soft, and I tried to guess the color. I was sure it would be a neutral tone, she was never afraid of wine spills. "Do you want a drink or?" She quizzed. I let out a small laugh and a large breath. "Nat, sit down," I told her.

I tried to hide my smile as I felt a dip in the couch next to me. "Are you sure you're ready to talk? I don't want you to feel rushed or-" she began, but I cut her off with a shake of my head. "I've had four months to think this over. 2 were spent drinking and getting up to god knows what, and the other 2 I actually started thinking," I joked.

"Okay. Alright. Where do you want to start?" She asked. "One thing that's stopping me from wrapping my head around everything is that I still can't understand why you cheated on me," I let out. I heard her take a sharp intake of breath at the words and a moment of silence whilst she thought about how to put it.

"I'm not using the Redroom as an excuse, I know what I did was wrong. But I can't disregard the fact that from a very young age I was taught that love was for children. Everything was about getting the kill at any means necessary, which meant sleeping with the victim to get closer to them. It was implemented in my brain that anything that we were doing was wrong. When I got out of the Redroom, Clint and I worked so hard to get the brainwashing out of my head. I guess the love part never came out though, because every time we were together, their words would scream in my head, telling me it was wrong. It wasn't like that at first, in the beginning everything was genuine. And then I started to feel more, I started to feel love. That's when their words started repeating in my head. I just wanted it to stop. If I loved it meant that you could hurt me, I couldn't be shown as weak. So I did the only thing I could do, I stopped loving you. But when you kept loving me back unconditionally, I felt guilty. I needed to be the bad guy so you'd break it off. I didn't know how far it'd go, I didn't know how deeply I had fallen. Rea, you are the only one who has changed all of this for me, who has made me feel things I've never felt before. I was terrified," she explained.

"Are you attracted to Bruce?" I insecurely asked, attempting to look in her direction like I had been trained to do more recently. "No, god no. That's the truth. I've only ever seen Banner as a friend. But in my messed up mind he was an easy target, someone who I was sure would reciprocate because he was desperate to have some kind of love in his life," she confessed.

"When Bruce gets back from wherever he is, you need to apologize. What you did to him, and to me, it was so wrong," I sighed, leaning back in the chair to get more comfortable. "I know, god I know. As soon as I realized what I had done to you I regretted everything. When you left, I kept looking out for you, but I didn't follow you like you asked, so you could have space. I've been going to therapy, working through these problems. I know I'm nowhere near being mentally healthy, but I'm on my way and I realize that now," she expressed.

When I didn't say anything, I heard her lean forward and then felt her soft hand grasp my own. "I am so sorry Andy. For everything I did, it was wrong, it was stupid. I'm just hoping one day you can forgive me and we can be friends again. I miss being friends." My heart clenched at her words. Friends. I know what she did to me was wrong but I can't help but wish for more than that. I did care for her deeply, I was even close to telling her I loved her. Those feelings don't just go away.

"Can I touch your face?" I quizzed out of the blue. "Huh?" She responded in confusion. "Sorry, I should have elaborated," I chuckled, and turned in her direction once more. "Sometimes it helps to feel someone's face to picture it. I did it to Steve, the poor man awkwardly sat there when I did it. You don't have to though," I explained.

"No, no, I don't mind," she stuttered. I felt her hands that were on my own lift them up and slowly place my palms on her cheeks. I couldn't help but let out a shaky breath as I suddenly felt nervous at what we were doing.

Slowly, I trailed my fingers carefully over her cheeks, feeling the smooth skin as I did so. They glided along her sharp jaw that always amazed me. Then I felt her T-zone, her nose that I always thought was cute. And finally her lips. My thumb trailed over the bottom and I heard her take a sharp intake of breath. Her lips were slightly chapped but perfectly kissable. I tried to remember what it was like to kiss her, the plump lips were like clouds and they never ceased to stop the fireworks that erupted inside me.

My palms landed back on her cheeks once more as I felt my heart racing. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it when I slowly found myself leaning in, and I couldn't help the gasp that escaped me as our lips were only millimeters apart. And then I couldn't help when I closed the gap, my eyes fluttering closed as I tilted my head to the side and kissed her passionately.

I heard her moan into the kiss and I couldn't help but want to go further. It didn't take long for her to be in my lap, straddling me and grinding down slightly as our tongues collided with each other. And when I heard another beautiful moan escape her lips as she trailed small kisses down my jaw I couldn't help but pull away.

"We need to stop," I sighed, however not showing that I actually wanted to stop. "I know," she whispered in response, but her forehead met mine as I assumed she gazed into my eyes.

"I-I think I'm willing to try Nat, as more than friends. But we gotta take it slow, I don't know if I trust you anymore so I need to build that back up," I confessed, my hands trailing along her cheeks once more as I spoke. I felt her nod slowly. "We can go at whatever pace you want. Perhaps I can take you on a date, we can get to know each other again," she suggested.

I nodded back, biting my bottom lip in response. I felt her hand come up to my lips as she released the bottom one. "God I want to kiss you," she revealed her feelings. "I want to kiss you too, but we can't," I replied.

She slipped off of my lap and held my hand in her own once again, interlocking our fingers making my heart swell. "I, um, I promised Wanda I would watch a movie with her. You can come and join if you want," I offered. "No it's okay, I don't want to bother sister bonding time. I've gotta go and train with Sam before I eat dinner anyway," she responded.

I acknowledged her answer and then stood, pulling out my cane once more. "I'll show you out," Nat told me, I could tell she was grinning as she spoke. Once I had walked out the door and strolled down the hallway, I hadn't heard the door shut yet, which meant she was watching me. But, as soon as I heard the door shut, I slammed my back against the wall and grinned widely, a blush arriving on my cheeks. I felt like a teenage girl who had her first kiss from a crush.

I finally had closure, I finally understood what happened. We were going slow and I couldn't help but feel giddy about that. And god that kiss was electric. A part of me felt that perhaps she was using me once more, but I suppressed that feeling and I knew I would talk to her about it in a couple of days. But right now, I knew that she was going to therapy, taking care of herself and bettering herself, and that to me suggests her dedication to me, not her using me.

When I strolled back into my room with a bright smile on my face, I heard a giggle. "What's gotten you so smiley," Wanda spoke from my bed, I guessed she was smiling. I sighed and flopped on the bed beside her. "I spoke to Natasha," I confessed.

"Are you back together?" Wanda quizzed, her tone turning to worried, probably because she didn't want me to rush into anything. "No, not yet. We're taking it slow," I assured her.

"Okay, just be careful I do not want you to get hurt," she mumbled. I could tell she was becoming protective, but she didn't need to be, I could protect myself. "What was Sokovia like?" I questioned.

"It wasn't ideal. It's a poor country and we were not rich. But mama used to make me and Pietro the best Paprikash. I can make it for you some time, and teach you how to," she informed me. I smiled widely at her words. "I'd love that."

"Has Stark found out anything about making you see again?" The brunette asked, knowing it was a sensitive topic. "Uh, no. I'm starting to think it's not such a bad thing though. Ever since I became blind, I've never seen more clearly."