Chapter Text
James walked back into the room and froze for a moment as he watched Clint and Nat locked in a pretty heated kiss. Sure, he had just kissed Clint, but there was a pang of something inside him when he saw them. James watched as they pulled back and Clint brushed a thumb over Nat’s kiss-swollen lips. There was a glint in Clint’s eyes that told James enough; Clint definitely liked Nat, and James was pretty sure the feeling was mutual between them. If he hadn’t been invited here by Clint, James had no doubt that the two standing before him would most likely end up together.
James, however, wasn’t one to back down from a fight - not that he wanted a fight - so he needed to talk to Nat and find out exactly what was going on. With a nod to himself and a quick shot from the bar for luck, he made his way over to the pair.
“Ok, I think it’s my turn for a dance with our gorgeous lady,” James said as he got closer to them.
James watched a hint of disappointment cross Clint’s face as he stepped back from Natasha’s embrace. James couldn’t help himself when he leanned himself up onto his tiptoes to press a quick kiss on Clint’s lips. James kept his eyes on Clint to gauge his reaction, and he smiled slightly when he watched Clint’s face go a little dumbfounded. Clint nodded, and James was pretty sure that Clint was trying to calm himself down. Good .
“Yeah, I need to sit down, these shoes are pinching my feet,” Clint agreed.
James smacked Clint playfully on the arm. “Hey! Those are expensive shoes.”
“Yeah, I know,” Clint laughed, “I paid for them!”
Nat’s hands crept up both mens’ chests. “Ooooh, have we got a sugar daddy, James?”
James really liked Nat. It was like they were the same person, and it felt like she was ‘playing along’ with this as much as he was.
James smirked. “Maybe, though, it is only the first night,” James replied. “There’s still plenty of time to find out.” James looked up at Clint and gave him a wink, trying not to laugh at Clint’s hopeless face, which Clint tried - and failed - to keep straight.
Nat pushed Clint’s shoulder. “Go sit down and rest up, let me have this dance.”
For a moment, James stood still, watching Clint as he left the dancefloor. He knew he was being super obvious about it, but he couldn’t help but stare at the way the muscles in Clint’s broad shoulders moved as he swung his arms gently - silently thanking himself for buying such a well-fitted suit. James’s eyes traveled down and followed the curve of Clint’s ass as he walked; the trousers left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
A smaller body slid its way under his arm and made James tear his eyes from Clint, who had just reached a seat by himself on the edge of the dance floor in perfect view of them both. There weren’t many other couples currently dancing, so there was no hiding from each other. James turned to Nat and smiled in apology, placing his hand on the small of her back and pulling her against him. He held out his other hand for Nat to take, wiggling his fingers invitingly, which pulled a small laugh from Nat as she placed her smaller hand in his; she rested her head gently on his shoulder.
They started to sway to the music with surprising comfort. Although, while they did know each other, they had only ever actually spent time together with Clint between them. Other than the times when Clint would excuse himself to go to the bathroom, or to the bar to get the next round, James and Nat hadn’t ever really been alone together… Just the two of them.
Nat lifted her head and looked up at James with a smile. “You were a little distracted, weren’t you?”
James tried to fight the blush that wanted to creep over his cheeks. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He gave Nat a smile, which made her laugh again.
“You don’t need to apologize, sweetheart,” Nat grinned. “Our boy is pretty damn distracting in that suit.”
James glanced over at Clint again, and he found that Clint was watching them intently with an unreadable expression on his face. It wasn’t bad, but for the first time, James really couldn’t work out what Clint was thinking. The weight of Clint’s gaze, however, was something that almost short-circuited James’s brain, which meant that he wound up speaking before his brain could actually realize what he was saying.
“Yeah, he really is,” James agreed, his words coming out way more of a sigh than he normally would have said them, had he been in his right mind.
“So, how long have you been into him?” Nat asked.
James wanted to freeze as Nat’s words washed over him, but she took control of the dance, turning so that James’s back was to Clint; so that his body was shielding Nat from Clint’s lip-reading. As he continued to sway along, James wasn’t sure what to say… While he didn’t want to just lay all of his cards out at that moment, there was something in Nat’s eyes that filled him with an unexpected amount of trust.
“Since the day I met him,” James admitted. “That argument we had had in my shop just… I don’t know… All I knew at that time was that I needed him in my life and in any capacity. That’s why I gave him my number.”
Nat nodded in understanding. “So, why not ask him out? It’s been years.”
James shrugged. “Beats me, to be honest. I’m usually this self-assured guy who can get whoever I want, but there’s always been something in the back of my mind that’s scared I’ll ruin my friendship with Clint by saying something, and I just can’t do that. I… I couldn’t risk losing him.”
Nat nodded again and pulled James tighter. They swayed together in mildly uncomfortable silence, both processing what James had just admitted. Nat tried to keep her head tilted down, but James still had a perfect view of her face. In the short time that he had known her, Nat had always been someone who James struggled to read. It wasn’t that she was unfriendly - completely the opposite, actually - it was simply that where Clint was an open book, wearing every hidden thought on his face and in his eyes, Nat could expertly hide anything she wanted. But this time, it was different.
James could see the understanding on her face, and he could also see a hint of what appeared to be jealousy hiding behind her eyes. It wasn’t an angry kind of jealousy, though, because there was more of a sadness running through it all that James didn’t expect to see. It confirmed everything that he had thought; she liked Clint too.
“So, how about you?” James asked.
Nat looked at James with a shocked expression, which made him laugh out loud.
“Oh, come on! I told you mine, you gotta tell me yours,” James pleaded with a grin.
Nat sighed with a smile. “Well, I guess it started in college. I was at a frat party, and he was the only guy who came over to me that wasn’t trying to get in my pants…”
“Conceited much!?” James laughed.
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t,” Nat retorted, slapping James playfully on the arm.
“Fair point.”
“Anyway,” Nat continued with a satisfied smile, “we seemed to have an instant connection and, while I always appreciated how good looking he is, there wasn’t anything sexual that fueled our friendship. So, that’s how it all stayed for a long time… just friends.”
“And…?” James prompted.
“And, after a while, I started to see him dating and having fun and, while I was happy for him, I was also jealous that it wasn’t me. It took me a long time to work that out and accept it, but that’s where I was.”
“So, why didn’t you go for it? It’s obvious that he likes you too,” James asked.
Nat blushed a little at James’s admission. “Exactly the same reason as you. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. He’s honestly the best friend I have ever had, and I was too scared to risk losing that.”
Nat and James continued to sway together to the music, both in their own thoughts after their pretty deep conversation. They had both admitted to having feelings for the same person, who they both had a deep friendship with and had now both kissed. The dilemma that they were currently working on was… what would they do now?!
“We really are a bunch of idiots, aren’t we?” Nat laughed. “But, what can we do, right?”
“We could… give this whole thing a go?” James suggested. “I mean, we both have feelings for Clint, and I’m pretty sure that Clint feels the same about us both.”
“But what about you and I? We barely know each other,” Nat remarked.
James smirked. “Well, we could get to know each other. I know that when I first met you, I thought about asking you out.”
“You did?” Nat asked.
“‘Course I did. Nat, you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met, I’d be an idiot not to want you.”
Nat smiled up at James. “Well, you’re not so bad yourself,” she replied.
Without another word, James leaned down and pulled Nat in for a kiss. He was hesitant, at first, but when Nat immediately responded, he let go completely. James held onto Nat tightly as their lips moved together in a comfortable and familiar way, despite this being their first kiss. It was like heaven for the both of them, and the only thing that could possibly make it any better would be to have Clint with them too.
“Are we really doing this?” Nat asked as she broke the kiss.
“I think we’ve kept quiet long enough,” James replied. “It’s about time we actually did something about it, right?”
Nat nodded and took James’s hand, leading him off of the dancefloor and over to their, hopefully, soon-to-be-real boyfriend.