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A gala. A fucking gala.
An event where you had to wear a dress and look beautiful while shaking people's hands, and smile sweetly as if you didn't have anything better to do.
"Damn Stark for making me wear this godforsaken dress," you grumbled as you walked into the ballroom on Bucky's arm. Bucky chuckled. "You look beautiful though, does that make a difference?" You looked at him, a frown on your face. "No." Bucky only laughed as he guided you through the crowd.
You stopped in front of a big stage, where Tony was already preparing for his speech. He smiled and waved at you, and you nodded at him, not in the mood for a smile.
"I'll help you up the stage," Bucky said, and you pulled up your skirt as you stepped up the three stairs. You let his arm go and grabbed Tony's, who was coming over to help you. His arm circled around your waist as you walked up to the small group of men on stage, who were discussing something animatedly.
"Gentlemen," Tony said with a big grin, "let me introduce you to the Avengers' Crystal Lady." The men regarded you with curiosity as you bowed your head with a polite smile. "It is an honour to meet such famous scientists," you said as you lifted your head again to look them in the eye. The men nodded. "It is our honour to meet such a famous hero," one of them spoke up. He was about your age, and had handsome features. He smiled, taking your hand and kissing it.
"...and we are of course incredibly grateful for our friends' large donation to the foundation. They gave the foundation no less than ten million dollars!"
The room erupted in applause as Tony thanked the man by shaking their hands. You stood next to him, repeating the gesture and explicitly saying thank you to every single one of them. Then the young man who'd kissed your hand stood in front of you, smiling widely. He grabbed your hand and leaned over to kiss your cheek, letting it last just a little bit too long. He stepped back with a smile and squeezed your arm, winking at you. You smiled back politely.
When you turned again to look into the room, you saw a figure in a red dress standing in a corner. She was obviously tense, and gritting her teeth. Her green eyes were glittering with an emotion you could not exactly place, and so you turned around to whisper into Tony's ear, "Can I go down now?" He flashed you a bright smile, showcasing his bright white teeth - something that you still weren't quite used to. His whole personality just changed as soon as there were cameras around.
"Of course you can darling," he said, kissing your cheek. His hand held your elbow softly - it was a comforting gesture. "And if that guy tries anything, call me, and I'll clean it up." He grinned at you, winking, and then he let you go. With the help of Bucky, who was still standing there, you descended from the stairs.
Once on the floor, several reporters stopped you to ask questions. You answered them politely, with smiles for the cameras, and tried to hide your growing irritation.
"Hello-" you started, leaning over to kiss Natasha on her cheek; she grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you out of the ballroom, pushing you in a small alcove in the wall. "What the hell?" You asked, when you suddenly felt her lips on your ear, and her hands grabbed your waist to pull you tightly against her. Her right hand found the thigh-high split in your tight dress, and slipped under the fabric. You almost moaned out loud by her touch, but stopped yourself just in time.
"N-nat," you groaned, "we can't do this." She mumbled something against your shoulder in Russian. You quickly pushed her away, and tried to fix your dishevelled hair. Then you looked at her with a disbelieving look in your eyes. "Wait a minute," you then mumbled, as the puzzle pieces fell into place, "Are you jealous?" She avoided your eyes while straightening her hair with her hands.
You ignored the happy feeling pooling down in your belly, and tried to frown. "What the hell, Nat?" You asked. "You can't just pull me away from the event like that. It's not as if anything happened between me and that guy on stage-" she quickly silenced you by putting her hand over your mouth. You glared at her as she stepped even closer.
"It was not just him," she whispered, "it was all the guys in the room who couldn't take their fucking eyes of you. I hate it. Why are you so beautiful?" She took a lock of your hair and twirled it around her finger. Your cheeks heated.
"And he couldn't stop touching you." She almost hissed it, shaking her head and stepping back. You quickly took her wrist and pulled her back against you.
"We could stay here for a few more minutes," you suggested innocently, and she nuzzled your neck. "This is why I love you," she whispered, and you only smiled as her warm hand slipped under the fabric of your dress again. "I love you too," you whispered, closing your eyes as you bit back a moan and a wonderful tingling feeling spread through your belly.