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“Nat, that’s our exit,” Bruce said, looking anxiously at the GPS and the sign for their exit that was three lanes over.
Natasha didn’t respond, bobbing her head along to the song playing loudly through the car. Bruce bit his lip and looked back out the window at the approaching exit and the traffic they had to get through to make the exit.
“Natasha,” Bruce said again, hands clenching the loose fabric over his knees with a white knuckled grip. “The exit.”
She muttered something in Russian he didn’t understand before flooring it and cutting across three lanes of traffic. Bruce closed his eyes and grabbed the “oh shit” handle and only opened them when the car slowed down significantly.
They’d merged successfully onto the next highway that the GPS said they would continue on for over a hundred miles. Bruce relaxed against his seat and glanced over at Natasha who only had one hand on the wheel, still bobbing her head to the music. Still entirely unaffected. He sighed and stretched his legs back out, closing his eyes. Maybe he could get a nap in while the road was relatively calm.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he heard Natasha say with a sigh.
Bruce cracked an eye open and turned his head to look at her.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” she scoffed, taking her eyes off the road a moment to raise an eyebrow at him. “And you were the one that said we should drive.”
It was true, it had been his idea to drive. They were headed to the White Mountains in New Hampshire for the long weekend and it just made sense to take their own car. Now that their lives didn’t revolve around the next global crisis, Bruce made a list of places he’d always wanted to visit, when he wasn’t under threat of being detected by the government and Natasha added her own here and there. Their summer was packed with one adventure after the next and it seemed they all started with the same argument, who was going to drive.
They settled it like they always did, with rock paper scissors. Natasha won and now Bruce would spend the next five hours clutching his seat for dear life. He kept telling himself the rest of the trip would be worth it. Five hours wasn’t that long.
“I’d just like to get there in one piece, that’s all,” Bruce said casually, he shrugged and closed his eyes again.
“You should’ve been a comedian, Banner,” she grumbled under her breath.
Bruce decided to let that one go and felt himself start to drift off.
He wasn’t sure how long he slept for, but when Bruce woke up it was already dark outside. They were getting closer to the cabin they’d rented for the weekend, he could tell from the tall trees lining the winding freeway. He blinked a few times and straighten his glasses to look at the GPS. They still had a little under two hours left in their drive.
“How was your nap?” Natasha asked, reaching to turn down the radio.
“Not bad actually,” he answered and saw her try to hold back a yawn of her own, but she failed miserably.
“How’s the drive been?”
Natasha shrugged. “Alright. There was some traffic about an hour ago, but it didn’t set us back too much. I need to stop for gas soon though.”
She yawned again, this time not even bothering to hide it. He watched her blink a few times and felt guilty about his little nap.
“I can take over when we stop if you want to sleep a little,” he offered.
“I’m fine,” Natasha said, rolling her head over to look at him. “I just need to get some coffee and walk around for a little bit.”
“Okay,” Bruce said and reached over to squeeze her hand that was resting on the center console.
They found a gas station about fifteen minutes later. It was starting to get late, later than most people in tiny cities in New England stayed out, and there were no other cars out front when Natasha pulled up to one of the pumps. Bruce got out of the car with her and hurried around the car before Natasha could think about pulling her wallet out of her pocket.
“I got this,” he said. “Go get your coffee.”
Natasha nodded and backed away from the pump. She headed toward the store, and looked over her shoulder.
“Do you want anything?” She asked.
“Maybe a small coffee,” he answered and she nodded, heading into the store.
Bruce finished pumping the gas and got into the driver’s seat. Whether Natasha wanted to admit it or not, she looked exhausted. He’d give her the break and let her sleep the last couple hours of their trip. The only way to do that was to force her to relax and enjoy the ride.
Natasha came back out of the store a couple minutes later, two coffees in her hand and a bag of gummy worms hanging from her pinkie.
When she saw him in the driver’s seat, she raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.
Bruce rolled down the window and accepted the coffee she offered.
“Thank you,” he said and tried to roll the window back up, but her hand stopped him.
“You’re in my seat,” she said, leaning down to peer at him through the window.
Bruce sipped his coffee, made just the way he liked, he noticed. “I thought I’d take over from here. You look like you could use some rest.”
Natasha chuckled and shook her head. “No chance, I’m fine.”
“Natasha,” he said quietly, tilting his head. “It’s just two hours.”
“Fine,” she huffed and walked around the car. She got into the passenger’s seat and crossed her arms over her chest.
Bruce smirked to himself and started the car back up. He pulled out of the gas station and back onto the freeway easily. Beside him, he heard the crinkling of Natasha candy wrapper.
“Want one,” she offered, holding the bag out for him.
“No thanks.”
He watched her shrug from the corner of his eye and pick a few out of the bag and eat them, washing them down with her coffee. He made a face at the combination.
“That doesn’t make your stomach hurt?”
She shook her head. “Nope. You should try it.”
“I’ll pass, but thank you.”
Natasha shrugged, and finished off the bag of candy. She set her coffee in the cup holder and leaned back in her seat. She was quiet for a long time and Bruce looked over to find her eyes closed.
“I can feel you watching me,” Natasha said, keeping her eyes closed. “It’s creepy.”
“I thought you weren’t tired?” he asked, looking back at the road.
“I’m not,” she argued around another yawn.
“If you say so.”
Bruce let her be and turned the radio on, flipping to the classical music station. He hummed along to the piece he recognized and got lost in the music. A half hour later, he heard soft snoring coming from the passenger seat. Natasha’s head was resting against the window, her mouth hanging open slightly.
He smirked and shook his head. She was stubborn, that was for sure, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.