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“Have you been sitting there since I left?” Natasha asked as she walked back into the apartment.
“Yes,” Clint said gloomily. He was sitting on the kitchen counter, his feet pulled up. “I’ve counted six more since you left. What did the landlord say?”
“Well,” Natasha said. “Apparently the whole building is infested, not just our apartment. So I convinced him to call in a team of exterminators, and he’d going to take a hundred dollars off of everyone’s rent this month.”
“Okay…” Clint said cautiously. “Then why are you still frowning?”
“Well, first of all, there’s a mouse running across the top of the cupboard behind you.”
Clint yelped and jumped to the other kitchen counter.
“And,” she said. “Everyone in the building has to leave for the week while the exterminators work.”
Clint groaned. “But we just moved in!”
“I know,” Natasha said. “Which is why he’s taking another hundred off of our rent for the month.”
Clint narrowed his eyes. “Did you threaten him with physical violence?”
“Of course not,” Natasha said innocently. “Anyway, now we have to figure out where to go for a week.
“We don’t have the money for a hotel,” Clint said slowly. “I mean, you can go back to your parents’ house.”
“My parents hate you, though.”
Clint sighed. “I know. You could go, though, and I can figure something else out.”
“No,” Natasha said firmly. “We just moved in together. We’re not going to immediately go our separate ways. And you are definitely not sleeping in your car for a week.”
“So no hotel, no car, and no to your parents’ house.”
Natasha raised her eyebrows. “Bucky and Steve?”
“Bucky and Steve.”
Natasha pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll call them. You start packing.”
She called Bucky as Clint jumped off the counter and went into the bedroom.
“Nat, they’re in the drawers too! There’s one in my sweater!” Clint yelled.
“Kill it,” she called.
“It’s too fast!”
Natasha sighed as Bucky answered.
“Hey, Nat,” he said cheerfully.
“Hi,” she said. “Are you busy?”
“Nah. What’s up?”
“Can I ask you for a favour?” Natasha asked. A mouse ran across her foot, and she kicked it off impatiently.
“Of course. Steve, jesus, turn the light off before you take the bulb out!”
Natasha frowned. “What are you doing?”
“We’re trying to change the lights in the kitchen. What’s the favour?”
“So apparently our new apartment is infested with mice,” Natasha said. “I convinced the landlord to take care of it – “
“Did you threaten him?”
“No,” Natasha said impatiently. “Anyway, the exterminators are coming to deal with it, but we need someplace to stay for a week.”
“Come here,” Bucky said immediately. “You can stay in the other room.”
“Are you sure?” Natasha asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Shouldn’t you ask Steve?”
“He’ll be fine with it,” Bucky said.
“Ask him anyway.”
“Fine,” Bucky said. “Steve! Nat and Clint need somewhere to stay for the week, can they come here?”
Natasha waited.
“Yeah, he says its fine,” Bucky said. “He literally dropped everything and went to clean up the guest room.”
“Okay,” Natasha said. “We’ll be there soon. Thanks, Bucky.”
“No problem,” Bucky said cheerfully. “I don’t know where the vacuum is, Steve, when was the last time we actually vacuumed? Do we even still own a vacuum?”
Natasha hung up. “Clint? They said its fine.”
“Of course they did, it’s Steve,” Clint said as he walked back out with two backpacks. “Come, let’s get going before the mice get their shit together and murder us.”
“There’s one crawling on your leg,” Natasha said. Clint bolted for the door.
They made it to the house by six that evening. Clint parked behind Steve’s car in the driveway, and then two of them made their way up the stone pathway to the house.
“Hey,” Bucky said as he opened the door. He was holding a piece of pizza in his hand.
“Thanks again,” Clint said as he followed Natasha inside.
“No problem,” Bucky said through a mouthful of pizza. “Come in, put your stuff down, there’s pizza on the table.”
“Bucky, are you eating already?” Steve called from the kitchen.
“No,” Bucky said.
“Liar.”
“I got hungry!” Bucky protested. “And it was getting cold! Besides, they’re here now.”
“Hi, guys,” Steve said with a sigh as he walked out of the kitchen. “There’s pizza for you. Although apparently there’s less pizza than there was.”
“There’s plenty left,” Bucky said as he wandered over to the table.
“Hell yes,” Clint said as he dropped his backpack on the floor. He followed Bucky over to the pizza boxes.
Natasha sighed as she picked up his backpack and placed it near the stairs, instead of in the middle of the hallway.
“So mice, huh?” Steve asked.
“Yes,” Natasha said. “We thought it was just the one mouse at first, so we set up some traps. Turns out that the whole building is infested.”
“It could be worse?” Steve tried. “It could be… rats or something?”
“Maybe,” Natasha allowed. “But mice carry diseases… it’s just gross.”
“Well, you can stay here as long as you need,” Steve said.
He wandered over to where Bucky and Clint were arguing about the best pizza toppings. Natasha smiled and then followed.
After dinner and one very long, very angry game of monopoly, Steve went to bed and Bucky gave Natasha and Clint the official tour of the house.
“I know where everything is,” Natasha said. “I’ve spent a hell of a lot of time here.”
“I know,” Bucky said impatiently. “But now you’re an official guest.”
Natasha rolled her eyes, but followed him up the stairs.
“We’ve only got the one bathroom,” Bucky said. “So me and Steve will wake up earlier so you two will have time to shower.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Clint protested.
“No point in trying to convince Steve otherwise, and he’ll wake me up anyway,” Bucky said. “Embrace it, Clint. Embrace being a guest.”
“Fine,” Clint said. “Then I’ll expect breakfast to be ready exactly at 7:30.”
“No, shh,” Bucky said hastily. “Steve will do it. He’ll make you breakfast if you ask. Don’t let him hear you.”
Natasha rolled her eyes and followed Bucky into the guest bedroom.
“All the blankets and sheets have just been washed,” Bucky said. “The closet and dresser is mostly empty, so you can throw your stuff in there. There’s towels on that chair there, if you need them.”
“Was this Steve’s mom’s room?” Clint asked. He was looking at a small framed picture of Steve and his mother that was sitting on top of the dresser.
“Yeah,” Bucky said.
“And he doesn’t mind us staying in it?” Natasha asked as she set her bag down next to the bed.
“Nah, he’s fine with it. My family stayed in here, remember? Steve says that she would have wanted her room to be used, rather than leaving it sitting here gathering dust.”
Clint was still frowning, staring at the picture. Bucky and Natasha exchanged a glance, and Bucky wandered back out into the hallway.
“Goodnight, guys,” Bucky said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight,” both of them said. Bucky closed the door behind him.
Natasha went over to the large window, resting her arms on the windowsill as she looked out at the ocean.
“It really is a beautiful view from here,” she said quietly. “I love this house.”
“Yeah,” Clint said, although he sounded distracted. He grabbed some clothes out of his backpack and started putting them in the drawers.
Natasha sat down on the bed and waited.
Sure enough, Clint turned to her a moment later.
“I still can’t believe he didn’t tell me when she died,” he said. He glanced at the picture of Steve and his mother again. “I mean, I liked her a lot. I would have gone to the funeral. I would have helped, you know?”
“I know you would’ve,” Natasha said.
“I don’t even think he told anyone,” Clint said. “I mean, we didn’t even find out that she’d died until Bucky mentioned it.”
“Did you know she was sick?”
“Yeah,” Clint said quietly. “But I mean… I didn’t know it was that bad. She seemed fine every time I saw her, and then Steve just kind of… dropped off the map for a while. He stopped inviting me over, he transferred to the college in town… I dunno, I just thought he was kind of doing his own thing for a while. Focusing on himself, you know? Figured he was too busy to hang out much.”
“If he didn’t tell you, Clint, there was no way you could have known.”
“Yeah,” Clint said with a frown. “But I feel like I should have asked or something. He just… he always seems fine. It wasn’t like he was breaking down crying all the time or anything.”
Natasha raised her eyebrows.
Clint groaned. “I know, I know.”
“You could try talking to him about it now,” Natasha suggested.
“I tried, remember? We ended up yelling at each other.”
Natasha sighed. “Okay, well, don’t do that again.”
“I know,” Clint said again. He put his hand over his eyes. “I mean, he’s been better since he’s been with Bucky.”
“Yeah, but Bucky can’t be everything to him,” Natasha said. “He needs other friends too.”
“I know,” Clint said. “I really am trying.”
“Does Steve know that you’re trying?” she asked as she rolled off the bed and started rifling through her backpack.
“Ugh,” Clint said.
“I’m going to shower,” Natasha said. “You think of how to be a better friend to Steve.”
“I am a good friend!” Clint said dramatically as Natasha left the room.
“Shut up!” Bucky yelled from behind the closed bedroom door.
Natasha laughed as she turned the shower on.
Sure enough, both Steve and Bucky had already left for work by the time Clint and Natasha got up. There was a note on the fridge saying “Help yourself to any of the food!!!” in Steve’s handwriting. When Clint opened one of the cupboards, there was also a note on one of the cereal boxes saying “Don’t eat this. This is mine” in Bucky’s handwriting.
“We should buy them groceries this week,” Natasha said as she made herself some toast. “To thank them for letting us stay here.”
“Have you seen how much they eat?” Clint asked in disbelief as he drank the last dregs of orange juice. “We’d go bankrupt.”
“They mostly eat ramen and spaghetti though,” Natasha said. “They’re not exactly eating fancy meals every night.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Clint said. “I’ll grab some groceries after work.”
By the time Natasha got back to the house that evening, she could hear the sound of Bucky’s laughter even through the front door. She let herself in, raising her eyebrows as she walked into the kitchen.
Steve was sitting on the floor in front of the oven, staring through the oven window sadly. Clint was standing behind him. He also looked sad.
Bucky was sitting on the counter behind them, cracking up.
“What’s going on?” Natasha asked as she took her shoes off.
“Clint got groceries,” Steve said sadly. “And he got stuff for lasagna, so…”
“We tried to make our own,” Clint said morosely.
Bucky started laughing again.
“And?” Natasha said. All three of them just pointed at the oven.
Natasha leaned down behind Steve.
“That… doesn’t look like lasagna,” she said slowly.
“I’m afraid to open the oven,” Steve said. Bucky started laughing again.
“This isn’t funny, Barnes,” Clint said. “This is a tragedy. This is a disaster.”
“I’ll go order pizza,” Bucky said.
Natasha wordlessly handed him some cash.
The pizza arrived half an hour later, and Natasha and Bucky ate in the living room while Clint and Steve tried to clean the oven. Bucky left to drop something off at his mother’s house, and Natasha flipped through channels on the tv.
When she finally turned the tv off, she heard Steve and Clint talking in the kitchen in low voices. Natasha was not above eavesdropping at all, and she moved closer to the kitchen so she could hear what they were saying.
She was casually listening to their conversation when Bucky appeared out of nowhere. He grabbed her around the waist and tried to tug her away from the kitchen. She tackled him back, just as silently, and the two of them grappled in the floor in the living room.
“What,” Steve said. “Are you two doing.”
“Okay, which one of you was eavesdropping,” Clint said.
Natasha looked up from where she’d pinned Bucky face down on the floor.
“Neither of us,” the two of them said together. Clint rolled his eyes, and Steve sighed.
“Let me up,” Bucky said into the floor. Natasha sighed and rolled off him.
“How’d it go?” Natasha said brightly that evening. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed as Clint looked through his backpack.
“Fine,” he said. “Although you probably heard most of it.”
“Nope. Bucky caught me in time.”
Clint sighed. “I just told him that I was sorry. For not being there for him, you know? And that I’d try to do better.”
“Aw,” Natasha said. She reached over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer. “That’s sweet.”
Clint shrugged. “He didn’t say much, but I mean… I hope it meant something.”
“I’m sure it did,” Natasha said.
Natasha made dinner the next night, to the boys’ relief. She made them all eat at the table, too.
“So, how was everyone’s day,” Natasha said as she took a bite of food.
“Fine,” Steve said. “Nat, I saw you at work like an hour ago.”
“I know, I still want to know how everyone’s day was. Clint?”
“Boring,” Clint said through a mouthful of food. “But fine.”
“Bucky?” Natasha said.
“What?” Bucky said, looking up from his food with a frown.
“How was your day,” Steve said.
“Oh,” Bucky said, turning his attention back to Natasha. “Good. How was yours?”
The conversation drifted to different topics, but Natasha watched Bucky carefully. He was just poking at his food.
“I can make you something else,” Natasha said.
Bucky blinked and looked at her. “What? Why? This is good.”
“You aren’t really eating.”
“Oh,” Bucky said. “Oh, sorry. No, it’s really good.”
He started eating more quickly, and then Steve kicked Natasha’s leg under the table. She looked at him, and he caught her eye and shook his head slightly.
“I’ll eat the rest of yours if you don’t finish, Buck,” Steve said quietly. “I’m pretty hungry.”
“Okay,” Bucky said, not looking at any of them.
“Have you guys seen that new movie that’s in theatres? The one with the dragon?” Steve asked, quickly changing the subject.
“Yeah,” Clint said. “It’s terrible.”
Natasha felt her heart sink as she watched Bucky more closely. His face had slowly grown more and more pale, and he was just pushing the food on his plate around by now. His eyes weren’t really focused on anything, either.
Clint offered to wash the dishes after they finished eating, and Natasha helped him carry the plates back into the kitchen. When she walked back out, Bucky and Steve had gone upstairs.
Natasha didn’t sleep well that night. She drifted in and out of sleep, and was awake when she heard Steve walking around at 3:00 am. He was talking in a low voice, clearly trying not to wake Natasha and Clint up.
She finally couldn’t take it anymore. She got up and opened the door slightly.
“Steve?” she called. “Is everything okay?”
“Nat? Oh, sorry, did we wake you up?” Steve asked, as he came up the stairs again. Natasha didn’t miss the fact that he was holding a bottle of painkillers in his hand.
“No, it’s fine. Is he okay?”
“Yes,” Steve said firmly. “Sorry for waking you up. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Natasha got the message, and pulled her door shut again. She had a hard time going back to sleep, though, only managing to grab a few hours just before the sun rose.
She didn’t have work that day, but she went downstairs for breakfast anyway. As she’d expected, Bucky was nowhere to be seen. Steve was hurrying around the kitchen, with dark circles under his eyes and exhaustion written all over his face.
“Good morning,” she said cautiously. She started making a cup of coffee.
“Oh, hi,” Steve said distractedly. “Do you have work today?”
“No,” she said. “I was planning on just hanging out here all day. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, of course,” Steve said, his shoulders relaxing slightly. “Would you mind checking in on Bucky, then? If you’re going to be here anyway? He had a rough night.”
“I don’t mind at all,” she said firmly.
“Okay,” Steve said. He took a deep breath. “I called his work and let them know he wouldn’t be coming in today. He’s got everything he needs, and he should be asleep for a while, and – “
“Steve,” she said as she poured the coffee into a travel mug. “We’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. I’ll be here all day. Go to work, don’t worry about it.”
“I always worry,” Steve said with a tight smile.
“I know,” Natasha said as she handed him the travel mug. “But that’s what you’ve got me and Clint for. So you don’t have to worry quite as much.”
“Thanks, Nat,” Steve said as she literally pushed him out the door. Clint hurried down the stairs a moment later, grabbing an apple from the counter and hurrying out the door with a quick kiss on her cheek.
Natasha cleaned up the breakfast dishes, and then wandered around the house for a while until she couldn’t stand it anymore. She crept up the stairs quietly and knocked softly on the bedroom door. When there was no reply, she carefully opened the door and went inside.
The room was dark, with heavy shades pulled over the large windows. Bucky was curled up in the bed, sound asleep. She glanced at the nightstand. There was a tall bottle of water, a small handful of painkillers, and Bucky’s cellphone all within arm’s reach. Steve was clearly practiced at making sure Bucky had everything he needed.
Natasha cautiously climbed up onto the bed next to Bucky, but he didn’t stir at all. She actually did fall asleep for a few more hours, comfortable in the warm and dark room.
Steve texted her a few times, and she replied immediately. He seemed assured by her responses, and Natasha waited patiently.
Bucky woke up late in the afternoon. He stretched and rolled over, opening his eyes slowly.
“Hi,” Natasha said quietly.
“Nat?” he said slowly. “Where’s Steve?”
“He’s at work,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” Bucky said with a small smile. “Stop, you’re wearing the same expression Steve does sometimes.”
“Which expression is that?”
“The one where you’re worried about me when you don’t need to be.”
Natasha frowned at him. “Neither of us can help it.”
Bucky smiled at her and sat up slowly. “Yeah, I know. I really am fine, though. This is the first bad headache in… a month? Maybe? I just need to sleep it off.”
“You’re sure?” Natasha asked. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying!” Bucky protested as he got up. “I’m really not. Nat, I swear that I’m fine. Come on, remember when you used to get those migraines back in college?”
“Yeah, because I was drinking way too much caffeine every day.”
“This isn’t even as bad as those,” Bucky said as he slowly rolled up the window shades. “It’s nothing like it used to be, okay?”
“Okay,” Natasha said finally. She had a pretty good eye for lies, and she felt fairly confident that he was telling the truth.
“Come on, help me make the cupcakes for Ethan and Rebecca’s birthday party,” he said. “I told my mom I’d have them made by Saturday.”
“Aw, they’re going to be so old now!” Natasha said as she followed Bucky downstairs. “Are they having a party?”
“Yes. You’re invited, by the way.”
Natasha laughed. “I would have been offended if I wasn’t.”
“My mom said that she needs you there to help her handle the horde of screaming children.”
“I am an expert screaming-child wrangler,” Natasha said solemnly as she walked into the kitchen. “Do I need to bring a present?”
“Please don’t,” Bucky said desperately. “They’re already getting so many presents. I think they invited more people just so they could get more presents.”
By the time Steve and Clint got home from work, Natasha and Bucky were carefully icing trays of cupcakes.
The party was two days later. They ended up being twenty minutes late, simply because Steve and Clint apparently had the same kind of shoes and spent ten minutes arguing over whose shoes were whose. Natasha had finally picked up both pairs of shoes and thrown them off the porch down to the ocean below. Both Steve and Clint were now wearing Bucky’s old shoes, and Clint was sitting in the trunk of the SUV so he could hold the trays of cupcakes steady.
They finally pulled up in front of the Barnes household. The lawn was already filled with children screaming and chasing each other, balloons tied to their wrists. They parked on the street outside the house, and Steve hurried to open the trunk so Clint could get out.
“Oh, thank god,” Winifred Barnes said as she appeared next to the car. “You made it. Thank god.”
“Cupcakes!” one of the children screamed.
Bucky hastily passed his mother one of the trays. She frantically ran back into the house, followed by a trail of happy children.
“Nat, take the other,” Bucky instructed. Natasha grabbed the other tray of cupcakes and followed Winifred.
“Bucky!” Grace shouted, climbing over the fence and latching onto his leg. “And Steve!”
“Hey, Grace,” Steve said as he walked around the car. Grace reached over and wrapped her other arm around Steve’s leg, resolutely sitting on the ground so they couldn’t move.
“Ethan and Rebecca are having a lot of fun,” she said very seriously. “But no one will play with me because they say I’m too little.”
“What?” Bucky said, pretending to be horrified. “Nobody wants to play with you?”
“Nope,” Grace said sadly.
“Good thing we’re here then,” Steve said. “We were worried that you’d be too busy to come hang out with us.”
“Never!” Grace said, eyes wide. “Come on, come see all the presents inside. There are so many, although Mom says that’s good because right now we don’t have very many toys.”
She stood up and grabbed one of Steve’s hands and one of Bucky’s, pulling them behind her into the house. Clint trailed behind, trying to care all of the presents at once.
It was even more chaotic inside. More children were scattered all throughout the house, and Winifred was frantically running from room to room making sure that everyone was happy. Natasha was expertly setting up the cupcakes on the kitchen table.
They spent most of the party entertaining Grace. Bucky and Natasha helped with the food and the cupcakes and cake, and Steve was put in charge of rounding up all of the kids. Clint’s job was to stand in the yard and make sure that none of the children wandered out into the street.
They passed Grace off between each of them. She was content to stand behind them and watch the chaos unfold.
All together, the party was a success. Parents finally came to collect their tired children, and the house was finally quiet. Rebecca and Ethan both fell asleep on the couch as soon as the last guest left, but they stayed to help Winifred start to clean up. She finally sent them on their way with a wave of her hand, thanking them for their help.
“Children are so exhausting,” Clint said as they walked back into the house.
“Clint, you stood in the yard all day,” Steve said as he shut the door behind him.
“Standing in the yard was tiring,” Clint said loftily. He threw himself on the couch, and Bucky slumped onto the other one.
Natasha’s phone rang, and she went into the kitchen to answer it. It was her landlord.
By the time she finished the conversation, she walked back out into the living room to find Steve, Clint, and Bucky all staring at her with horrified expressions.
“What?” she said.
“I’ve never heard you sound so scary,” Steve said with wide eyes.
“What did he say?” Clint asked.
Natasha sighed. “It’ll be at least another week before we can get back into the apartment.”
Clint groaned, but Steve and Bucky seemed unphased.
“That’s fine,” Steve said. “You two can stay as long as you need.”
“I’ll give you the money I would have otherwise spent on rent,” Natasha said. She pulled her wallet out of her purse and started searching through it.
“No,” Steve and Bucky said at the same time.
Natasha rolled her eyes. “Come on. Just take it.”
“Nope,” Steve said. “I’m not taking your money, Natasha.”
At that moment, Clint tackled him and pinned him onto the couch. “I’ve got him, Nat!”
Natasha ran over and tried to shove the bills into Steve’s pocket. Steve yelped and managed to scramble away, running for the stairs.
Natasha turned on Bucky, but he scrambled after Steve and the two of them ran up the stairs. A frantic chase ensued, but it turned out that Clint and Natasha couldn’t open the bedroom door if both Steve and Bucky had their weight against it.
“Fine!” Natasha said dramatically. “At least let me buy the groceries.”
She heard Steve and Bucky whispering behind the bedroom door.
“Okay,” Bucky said. “Deal.”
Natasha rolled her eyes, but eventually went back downstairs to join Clint on the couch. It appeared that they were in this house for the long haul.