EstrellaNómada

“When are you finally going to tell her?” Yelena confronted you, leaning lazily over the back of the common room sofa. You choked on your water.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You wouldn’t meet her eye, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot like you were about to bolt from the room.

“Oh please, you are so obvious. You follow her about like a little, lost dog,” As you opened your mouth to deny her claims, Walker entered the room.

“What’s obvious?” He plopped himself down on the sofa, sinking into the plush cushions with a comfortable grunt.

“That they have a huge crush on Ava,” Yelena stated.

“Oh yeah, it’s so obvious,” Walker nodded his head in agreement. Shrugging at you with an indignant ‘what?’ when you shot him a glare.

“Guys,” You put your hands up in defence, forcing a laugh. “I don’t have a crush on Ava. I just admire her.”

“Admiring is putting it lightly; you stare a lot.” John laughed. Yelena joined in, grinning at you as she continued her torture.

“Yeah – like when you were watching her fight and almost got stabbed because you were so distracted,” You felt your face growing hot at the pair’s teasing. To make matters worse, Alexei barged into the room.

“What is happening? Am I missing super-private meeting?”

“No-” You were interrupted by Yelena.

“We’re trying to get them to accept their crush on Ava.” Alexei bellowed out a loud belly laugh, stepping behind you and putting his hands on your shoulders.

“Ah! Young love!” You tried to wriggle away from him, refusing to look at anyone as you curled in on yourself in your misery. “Do not be embarrassed, little one, I will help you.”

You heard Yelena stifle a cackle as she encouraged the loud man. “That is a great idea. Tell them how you would confess, Dad.” You groaned into your hands, which were now covering your shame-filled face, and dropped yourself to kneel on the floor.

“It is easy! Women love big acts – you should announce your feelings in front of everyone!” You heard Walker immediately burst out laughing. You crawled over to the couch he was on, socking him in the side of his thigh. Alexei scoffed in offence at the blonde man “You think you know better?”

“Actually, yeah, I do.”

Yelena sniggered at John. “Then what’s your advice Walker?”

He paused for a moment; you could literally see the cogs turning in his head. “Well, when I asked Olivia out, I took her flowers.”

“You think Ava is a woman who wants flowers?” Yelena’s critical tone set John off. The group started arguing as Walker insisted that his method was better than Alexei’s, and Yelena stated they were both terrible. You saw movement in the corner of your eye. Bucky was watching from the sidelines, eyebrow raised, and arms crossed. The trio went quiet.

“How much of that did you hear?” You questioned Bucky with wide eyes and horror visible on your face.

“All of it,” He shook his head. “Just tell her, you know Ava would prefer the direct approach,” Bucky said it like it was the easiest thing in the world, tossing the comment over his shoulder as he left. You groaned in defeat.

“Maybe I’ll just run away?”

“You’re a literal assassin, you nearly die every day, and you’re scared of telling Ava you like her?” Yelena chuckled. You sent her a sideways glance.

“This is not my area of expertise.”

“Clearly.”

Three attempts. Three failed attempts at telling Ava you liked her. Miserable, you slumped into one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

“I can’t do it; I’ll just never tell her.” You whined. The blonde Russian watched you judgmentally from the other end of the table. Saying nothing as you monologued about the unfairness of life while she peeled an apple with her knife. You paused. “Is that the knife you use to stab people?”

“It’s clean,” she shrugged.

“Is it ever really clean, though? I mean it’s literally been inside someone-” You started bickering with her, focused on the hygiene of an inanimate object.

“Hi,” A voice beside you made you jump. Your stare caught bright green eyes.

“Hi… oh- uhm, hi Ava,” You struggled to sit up straighter, stumbling over yourself in your attempts to seem normal. “What’s up?” She leaned over your shoulder, face inches away from yours.

“A little birdie told me that I make you nervous…” Ava smiled, tilting her chin down as she studied your face. You slowly looked at Yelena, wide-eyed.

“And that’s my cue to leave.’ The blonde practically fell out of the chair in her attempt to stumble out of the room, leaving you alone with Ava.

“Whaaaat? What are you talking about?” You leaned back a little, looking around wildly for an escape.

“So, my source was lying to me?” You mentally cursed Alexei.

“Well… You’re supposed to be a bit intimidating- right?” She raised a brow at you. “Fuck- wait, no. I mean, it’s part of the job sometimes.”  She smirked, moving around so that she was between you and the table, leaning on the edge of it. Your breathing was fast, and your heart felt like it was going to explode from your chest. She still wasn’t saying anything, so you conceded. Shyly trying to anywhere but her face. “You make me nervous when you look at me like that…”

Ava tilted her head, placing her hands on her knees to support her as she leaned closer. She was inches away from your lips. “Look at you like what?” she whispered, breath fanning over your face. You felt your eyelids fluttering closed as you instinctively leaned into her, pressing your lips together. Her kiss was surprisingly gentle, and so was her touch as she brought one of her hands up to caress your cheek. When you parted, you were left with a breathless feeling – like you had just run a marathon.

“I’m gonna guess that means you like me back?” You felt a smile twitching across your face.

“No, I hate you,” She deadpanned, rolling her eyes at you as she stood up straight. You stayed silent for a moment, mentally preparing for the pain of the question you were about to ask.

“So, how much did Alexei tell you?”

“Actually, it was Walker.”