Chapter Text
Adam stared out of the warehouse window, training his eyes on one spot outside, while he tried to ignore the way his chest constricted.
Ever since that fateful night at the carnival, when he and Natasha held hands, he had been trying to avoid seeing her, the simple act of affection enough for him to want more, but he had resigned himself that he should never follow those feelings.
And even he knew that was what as best for the both of them, he saw the hurt in Natasha’s eyes as he again and again avoided talking to her, and it was starting to tear him up inside.
Why did this have to be this hard?
Today was also Natasha’s birthday, and Nate had spent most of the morning lecturing him to just be nice to her, and Felix had wasted no time pressing his buttons about it, so for them to finally leave him alone, he agreed to get the cake for the party that Felix was organizing.
He looked down at it now, it a plain white cake, with the words “It is your birthday”, written in plain black letters. The worker at the local bakery had snickered a little when she read the order form he filled out, but he did not see anything wrong with it, it was perfectly simple.
Of course, Felix thought it was hilarious, and had been making fun of Adam all morning about it, and even Nate and Mason had laughed when they saw it, but he was not going to let them deter him, he had gotten the cake, and that was all that was needed.
He then heard the sound of a car, and he turned to see Natasha’s silver hatchback driving up to the warehouse, the car just about falling apart on the dirt road, and he swallowed hard, trying to keep his focus in check as she got out and walked up to the warehouse.
The door opened, and before he could stop himself, as her gaze went to him, he could feel himself speak.
“Natash-Detective”, he said, correcting himself, and he watched her as set her bag down on one of the room’s armchairs. She is was dressed as professionally as she was every day, her navy blazer crisp, her long caramel colored hair tied back in a low bun, and he watched as her artic blue eyes filled with hope at the mention of her name, but then shattered again at the use of her title, and even though Adam did not want it, he felt his insides feel like they were twisting from that look in her eyes.
“Commanding Agent”, she said in response, the professional mask back on her face, and even though he knew he should feel fine about the use of his title, the reversion back to his title ever since the carnival seemed to be her way of putting distance between them, and he did not understand why that bothered him.
He continued to stare at her, drinking the sight of her in, and while his heart wanted to say a thousand words unspoken, he kept his focus straight, clenching his jaw to keep anything that he knew he should not say from escaping.
Adam was not sure how long they had stood like this, but it was broken when Natasha shook her head.
“Right, good talk”, she whispered under her breath, and he was not quite sure whether he was supposed to hear it or not, and she turned to go, and he finally let himself say something.
“Happy birthday, Detective”
Natasha then turned back to him, and she forced a smile on her lips, “Thank you”. She then seemed to notice the cake on the table, which she stared at for a bit, and then back at Adam, and then back on the cake again, and she put her hand over her mouth as if she trying to stifle a laugh.
“Did you do this?”, she finally said, her gaze meeting back at Adam’s, who could feel his heart pound at just her gaze, and he nodded.
“I did”, he said simply, and he watched as the normally stoic detective snorted in laughter.
“I don’t know quite what I was expecting”, Natasha said in-between laughs, “But this is definitely not it” She then paused, and looked back at Adam, genuine amusement in her eyes, and in panged him on how long it had been without seeing that in her eyes, “But it is really sweet of you to do so, thank you”.
“You do not need to thank me”, he replied, and Natasha smiled at him, which only furthered rush of feelings had, and just as soon as he got the urge to get closer to her, a voice broke through the moment.
“Natasha! You’re here!”, Felix called out, breaking the moment, and he came striding over to them, and Adam resisted the want to turn his head back to the window, instead watching as Felix wrapped Natasha into a hug.
“I am indeed here”, Natasha laughed, and Felix grinned, and then turned his attention to Adam.
“Everything alright?”, Felix asked, and Natasha nodded.
“Better than they have been in a while”, she said, turning back to him, which made Adam’s heart pound, and from the wide grin on Felix’s face, he had heard it.
“I’ll get the others”, said Felix, who almost sprinted back into the deeper parts of the warehouse, and Natasha collapsed on the couch, meeting his eyes again.
“Really, thank you Adam”, she said, and the use of his name made a weight lift from his chest he did not know was there, and he was unsure it that was good thing or not, but at the moment, he decided it was a good thing, and gave her a small smile.
At least she seems to be in better spirits.