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You groaned, rolling to your side in the crumpled sheets. Your head was pounding as the sunlight filtered through the curtains, and you slowly pushed yourself up on the mattress.
As you did, your hand touched warm skin, and immediately, you snapped away.
What the hell? You looked at the sleeping form beside you with big eyes. What had happened last night?
You rubbed your temples, trying desperately to remember.
There were flashes of colourful lights, and hard music ringing through your ears. Soft voices, lingering touches and wet kisses on your neck.
Your head snapped to the stranger in the bed again, and you frowned. Then you looked at your naked form. "Oh shit," you whispered, squeezing your eyes shut. You'd slept with him, even though you'd promised your best friend to stop doing one-night stands and find a real relationship.
He rolled over, humming contently, and then you noticed there were small purple hearing aids in his ears. You almost reached out to touch them, but refrained at the last second. He sighed deeply, opening one eye.
"Good morning baby," he said, with a groggy voice that sounded really, really sexy. You couldn't imagine your voice sounding like that in the morning.
"Morning," you greeted him with a smile, while your mind was working quickly. How could you get him out?
"You know," he groaned, propping himself up on one elbow, giving you a sight of his beautiful muscles. "I didn't expect this to happen. You seem like a girl who's in it for the long haul." You couldn't help but chuckle at that. "One-night stands are kinda more my thing."
"Hmm," he let out, scratching the back of his neck as he sat upright in bed. "Can I try to convince you to stay with me for the day?"
Your eyes widened. "Just to see if I can convince you to go on a proper date with me." He had a crooked smile, tilting his head, and he looked suspiciously much like a puppy. It was an adorable sight. Judging from the warm feeling in your belly, you couldn't say no. You nodded. "You can."
"Alright! There's something that I want you to see."
He pulled you out of the bed, and then you noticed you weren't in your own house.
You groaned, looking at the skin-tight dress on the ground. He chuckled. "My best friend sleeps over sometimes. You can borrow something of hers."
He lead you to another bedroom, where you could pick out an outfit.
You gawked at the sight of all those clothes. "This is... a lot," you managed to say, and the stranger laughed. It was a warm, nice sound.
"Nat won't mind if you take it, she doesn't wear most of it anyways." He left the room with that, and you looked through the closet to find something suitable.
You eventually went for a top and some tight pants, with high boots and a leather jacket.
Then you brushed your hair, and braided it quickly. The woman named Nat had also left some make-up in the bathroom, but you left it there. It would be rude and unsanitary to use her make-up.
As you walked into the living room, you scrunched your nose, trying to remember what his name was. You were a hundred percent he'd told you last night. What was it again? Something with a C...
Then you saw him. His blue eyes shone beautifully because of the sunlight, and he had his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He was wearing a white t-shirt whose sleeves seemed to fit very tight around his biceps. You weren't sure if he'd done that on accident or on purpose. Judging on the grin he gave you, it was the latter.
It was Clint! His name was Clint, you remembered now.
Smiling, you extended your hand. "Well," you said, "let's go."
It was only a short walk to the trainstation, but you happily held Clints hand and listened to his rambling about dogs and bows. You weren't sure how those two subjects went well together, but it seemed he loved them both dearly, and so you smiled and nodded along to his story.
He bought you both a ticket, and then he pulled you into one of the trains quickly, just before the doors closed. You chuckled as you followed him, and he showed you two seats that were next to each other.
Your fingers were laced together now, and you held on tight as Clint turned to look out the window.
When he looked back at you, you had brushed your hair out of your face and smiled at him.
"Do you do this often?" You asked him, and he smiled widely.
"No," he said. "Not much. I'm not much of a one-night stand kind of guy. But I like you. I feel like we have a connection.. you know?" You smiled happily and nodded.
There was something about him that kept tugging you towards him. He had a lovely smile, and a gleam in his eyes that almost made you drown, and he had a nice build - only a bonus, your voice warned - and he was nice. He hadn't pushed you out of his apartment. He'd told you that he wanted to try something, and you were more than happy to go along with it. After all, what could the harm be?
The train ride wasn't that long, and before you knew it, the two of you walked on the streets again, out in New York City.
Clint pulled you along with him in silence, and you let him, trying to keep up pace.
He stopped in front of a café, and bought the two of you some food to go and two smoothies, before handing it to you. "Alright," he said, grinning, "now comes the fun bit."
He lead you into an old building in a deserted alleyway, and together with him, you climbed the stairs before reaching the top.
Clint held your hand as you walked across the roof, and then he helped you sit down on the edge of the rooftop.
"Aren't we going to fall like this?" You peered down, where people were still walking and cars were honking and racing through the streets. Clint chuckled. "Of course not. And besides, I'll be there to catch you if you do." You smiled at him, before biting into the soft bread he'd bought.
The two of you enjoyed your late breakfast, and after every bite, you asked each other a question.
"Where do you come from?" Clint asked you when he finished his piece, and he took his smoothie in his hand. You smiled tentatively.
"LA," you answered. "My father died when I was young, so I don't remember him. My mom worked herself to bits to keep me and my brother alive, and we repaid her in full before moving here." You gestured to the city beneath you. "It was a hard life. But it was good." You smiled, thinking back to those times when you'd ran on the street, screaming with glee as you kicked the ball away from the boys and towards your own friends.
"You?" You bit into the last bit of your sandwich, enjoying the rich taste of the turkey.
Clint answered in full detail, telling you about the circus and his brother Barney. You listened intently, watching him as he talked. He let himself sink on the floor, and sighed deeply once he was finished.
"You sound like you've had a tough childhood," you said, taking his hand. He looked up, smiling at you. "It's all better now," he said. "I'm happy with my life."
A comfortable silence stretched between the two of you.
Much later, you made your way back to the trainstation.
Clint and you were holding hands, and you were walking as close to him as you could, shivering a bit. He draped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you close, pressing a kiss to your hairline. "Once we're at my place I'll warm you up with some tea," he smiled at you as he said it, and you smiled back, stepping into the train.
You found seats next to each other. The train was quite full by the time you were almost there, and you leaned against Clint, almost falling asleep. His hand was on your leg, slowly making circles. It was relaxing.
Suddenly, you felt him tense. You lifted your head, and looked at him. He looked back, with growing concern in his eyes. "There is-" he started, but he was cut off by a loud explosion, and then you felt hard wind tugging at you. You looked up, and saw that the front part of the train was gone. There were a lot of noises - everyone was screaming and yelling, and there was a faint smell or burning flesh. You trembled in your seat, squeezing Clint's hand. He was tense, and looked alert.
"If we're fast, we can get away," he said, pulling you up. He locked his arms around you. "Just hold-" then there were gunshots, and everyone was screaming again. You looked at Clint, panicked, but then you noticed the colour fading out of his cheeks.
"What- no, Clint, no!" You said, and he fell down. You fell on your knees next to him, and you didn't even notice the other gunshots ringing through the air, and the thuds of bodies hitting the ground.
"No," you whispered, caressing his cheek. Why did this happen? Why did it have to happen to him? He didn't deserve an end like this.. Nobody did.. You bowed your head, allowing hot tears to roll down your cheeks.
You took his hand and squeezed it, hard, before there were more gunshots and felt a sharp pain in your back. You gasped, widening your eyes, and then your world faded to black.
The Avengers were only a small part of the people that had decided to help clean up the rubble and find more bodies underneath.
Natasha was slightly panicking. Clint had sent her a message that morning, that he would go out with a girl, and that he wouldn't be in the Tower until tomorrow. He would have taken this train, and she had called him, but he hadn't answered. She was scared he had gotten caught in the attack.
"We found two more!" Someone yelled, and Natasha immediately ran that way, Steve following close behind her.
Her breath caught in her throat as Steve lifted the stones from the bodies, and she saw Clint's pale face. His eyes were closed, and one of his arms was loosely draped around a woman's shoulder. She had short hair, and she was dressed in clothes that Natasha recognised to be hers. She swallowed away the lump in her throat. The two were holding hands, and the woman lay draped half across Clint's body. Maybe she had tried to shield him from the bullets?
Natasha didn't even want to think about it. Her best friend lay there. And he was gone.
Just a few days ago, she'd been joking with him about hiding in the vents on the couch. And now he was here. And he was never coming back.
She turned around to run away, but Steve caught her in his arms. There, wrapped in his safe embrace, she cried.