|
Girls
Aug 24, 2015 15:15:50 GMT -7
Post by Ray on Aug 24, 2015 15:15:50 GMT -7
Barton steps forward and places his palms flat on the counter top of the kitchen isle. She isn't looking at him. In fact, she's created an entire wall with her back and it only makes his brows furrow deeper. "I have an arrow in my door and you want me to leave it?" He says, words laced with both frustration and absolute disbelief. Even working for SHIELD he at least knew why people were shooting at him, but Teresa seems adamant to not tell him a damn thing. The only other time she's avoided him like this was back when she was injured in the first place, but he knows for a damn fact that she isn't hurt physically.
"She's nice, I don't..." He says out of the blue, trying to figure out why T is acting like this. He waves a hand towards the door but turns up short on words again. It's not like Layla is a threat to him or Teresa. He doubts Lucky would be so friendly if she was. "Did I do something?" He asks, dropping his hand back onto the counter, thinking that's the only viable option. He wasn't exactly open and warm when Layla showed up, but only because it really was the worst time in the world.
"T, you gotta talk to me, alright. This isn't like you."
|
|
|
Girls
Aug 24, 2015 15:28:55 GMT -7
Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 24, 2015 15:28:55 GMT -7
Teresa felt herself tense up and she was trying her hardest to concentrate on the targets that were in front of her rather than Barton who was behind her. She had never done anything like this and was slowly starting to wonder what the hell was wrong with her. She was fine right up to the moment that Lola - no wait Layla came to the apartment.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes actually glad that she no longer had the bow in her hand. Teresa wanted to groan when he started to talk about Layla once more. She might very well be nice but at the moment she could feel her stomach tighten and it wasn't a feeling that she was used too.
Then Teresa came to the conclusion that there was only one thing wrong with her and it was something that Barton couldn't ever find out, even if she was sure that he would find it out right now. She dropped her hand from the bridge of her nose and opened her eyes "No, Barton" she said softly. "You didn't do anything" Yes you did, you got a damn girlfriend.
She cleared her throat before she turned on the spot and moved back towards the island and grabbed her coffee once more, and she felt her hand shaking. Even seeing it as she reached out for the mug that she was sure she would actually drop. Barton was right, this wasn't like her and she wasn't sure if she could admit it. Butt she kept her eyes off him and on the top of the island.
Teresa took a sip of her coffee and found that she really didn't want to drink it, in fact she really didn't want anything right now.
|
|
|
Girls
Aug 24, 2015 15:53:35 GMT -7
Post by Ray on Aug 24, 2015 15:53:35 GMT -7
She denies it, again, and Barton feels like banging his head on the counter. Instead, he just watches her, blue eyes focused on her face as she finally turns back towards him but only for her coffee. She isn't looking at him, like she hasn't since she nearly shot him. He remains silent, but his mind churns noisily. He really doesn't get it. Teresa never had any issues with Nat, who has always been essentially his work-wife and the closest person to him. She's never had a problem with Bobbi, his ex-wife and still good friend. And, even though she never met them or...really knew about it, Barton had dated plenty of women during the time they've known each other.
And then something hits him. Something small. The same something that had made him nervous to introduce her to Layla in the first place.
He swallows a little bit, and lowers his eyes away from Teresa. He's silent for another moment before he drags in a deep breath into his lungs, and forces himself to let it go. "Right. Anyway." He murmurs, turning towards the fridge. He yanks it open and tugs out two ice-cold bottles of beer. "Want one?" He asks, setting both of them on the counter. He digs through a drawer for a bottle opener. "We could order a pizza if you want. Lucky probably wouldn't mind."
|
|
|
Girls
Aug 24, 2015 16:08:20 GMT -7
Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 24, 2015 16:08:20 GMT -7
Teresa could feel his eyes on her but she couldn't bring herself to even look at him. It was as if he could see right through her and it wasn't a feeling that she liked. It was like having Graeme looking at her and him seeing her soul and it was a very overwhelming feeling especially when she tries so hard to keep things from him, for his own good rather than for her.
Then without warning he moved away from the island and she lets out a breath before putting her coffee down on the counter. She can hear him getting something out the fridge and she moves her brown eyes over to the fridge and sees two cold beers on the counter. Teresa feels the sick feeling in her stomach and she wasn't even sure that she could drink let alone eat but she had forced herself before and she was sure that she could do it again.
"Yes" she said softly and then looked over at the beer. Teresa moved away from the island and then grabbed for the bow before she put it back up on the wall that she had got it from before she pulled her lip in between her teeth. Her dark hair falling around her face as she moved off the couch and then ran her fingers through it and then sat down.
God, she hoped that nothing like this would actually change their relationship. He was her friend and that's all that mattered right now. Maybe apologising would do some good but everytime she tried to do that, the words felt like they were choking her and she hated it.
|
|
|
Girls
Aug 24, 2015 18:33:55 GMT -7
Post by Ray on Aug 24, 2015 18:33:55 GMT -7
He pops the top off of both of the beers, and slides the nearest one to Teresa. Lucky has perked up incredibly at the mention of pizza, leaving Barton no choice but to follow through. He whips out his phone, leans forward to rest his elbows on the counter-top, and opens the delivery app. Around here, the closest place is a Pizza Hut about three streets away. By now, they know his name and his apartment without really having to ask when he calls, but he feels too lazy to talk on the phone. Especially after all of this.
"You're getting better, though." Barton murmurs as he taps on the phone, putting together their order. "Take your mind off of the injury and nothing can hold you back." He flicks his blue eyes momentarily up to meet hers, before glancing back down to the screen. He lifts a shoulder a little in a shrug and gives a mock frown. "Just...don't aim for my head, next time." Barton teases a little. He finalizes the order and sets the phone down, reaching now for his beer.
He sips at it a little, his blue eyes finding Teresa again as the realization continues to sink in. He drills it into his own head, in the second of silence, to keep conversations about Layla at a minimum. Instead, he turns to a safer topic. "How's...your summer? So far." Barton winces a little internally at the question. It's not like he hasn't spent most of her summer with her, but it was better than asking about Graeme.
|
|
|
Girls
Aug 24, 2015 18:44:31 GMT -7
Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 24, 2015 18:44:31 GMT -7
Teresa couldn't help but let herself scoff when he says that she's getting better. In honesty she didn't feel like she was getting better but she knew that it would take time and it would be something that she had to keep at if she wanted to get back to how she was before. Graeme told her to keep at it, even after what the doctors had said, that she would get it eventually but after every practice she found herself ever more frustrated over the fact that it was probably nearly a year and she was still having trouble pulling the string back without her shoulder actually shaking.
It felt like hell but it was something that she was going to have to conquer if she wanted to get back to how she wasn't. Teresa found a smile pulling at her lips when he said about not aiming at his head next time. She found herself looking in the direction of the door and saw that the arrow was still lodged in the door. "Come on, you have to admit that it was two out of two" she muttered before taking a sip of her beer.
Teresa still might have the sick feeling in her stomach, she still might hate the fact that he had a girlfriend but she was slowing getting back to how she was before. "Summer has been pretty long" she admitted and then bit on her lip as she put the beer bottle down on the counter. "Trying to keep out the way of my dad, although I did actually go on a road trip with him for a few days and thankfully it wasn't a hunt." Surprisingly she had fun but the rest of the summer had been hell, trying to find things to do that didn't consist of archery, but she found herself more and more at Barton's place or with Lexi and surprisingly Graeme didn't mind. Or if he did then he never said anything.
|
|
|
Girls
Aug 25, 2015 15:15:45 GMT -7
Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2015 15:15:45 GMT -7
"Well that's good." Barton replies. She seems nonplussed by the sudden, and slightly strange question, and actually looks a little relieved. It eases the tension in his shoulders, along with the help of the cold beer, and slowly allows the atmosphere of the room to return to normal.
It might be debatable at times, but Barton really isn't an idiot.
He doesn't exactly know when he came to the realization that he liked her, only that it came with the sudden and inevitable oh shit that usually floods through his mind whenever he starts to like a girl. For a while, he blamed it mostly on the jokes from everyone around them. Sam is almost convinced that they really are dating secretly on the side and doesn't stay quiet about it; since apparently having an equal obsession with archery is enough to spur tabloid gossip. He spent a lot of time trying to convince everyone else that it wasn't true that at one point he started to realize he'd stopped convincing everyone else, and had instead focused on trying to convince himself. He's since stopped really denying it, but he's also done nothing about it.
Teresa is nearly a decade younger than him. And more than that, she has a boyfriend and a life that doesn't need to be dragged through the shit by getting any more involved with Clint Barton, the life-ruiner. Barton has done some stupid shit in the past, but starting an affair with a college student was even beyond him. It isn't like some bad romance novel. He doesn't suffer silently or write poetry or fantasize about what would happen if they could be together. He's old enough, and decent enough, to let it go. She's his friend. And that's all she ever needs to be.
But until just now, he never really thought that Teresa felt the same way about him. Sure, she flirts at the same time she makes fun of him, but Barton has plenty of experience with flirtatious women that only ever remain flirtatious women. And more often than not, Barton was more concerned about staying alive than figuring out the middle-school question of does she like me or like-like me. Yet, Barton can pick out a scorned and jealous lover out of a crowd any day, and he thinks nearly giving Barton the Boromir treatment was plenty indication that Teresa isn't just flirty.
It doesn't matter. It doesn't change a thing. Except now, Barton knows to be a little bit more careful.
|
|
|
Girls
Aug 25, 2015 15:47:41 GMT -7
Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 25, 2015 15:47:41 GMT -7
The room starts to go silent once more and she can hear her heart pounding in her chest and she's sure that it would actually jump out of her chest and do a dance for Barton. She grips the beer bottle tighter and looks down at the counter before she clears her throat. What the hell did she say now?
Teresa pulled her lip in between her teeth and thinks once more that maybe staying here was the worst thing she could do right now, maybe making some excuse about a date with Graeme or the fact that she has to work might get her out of this situation but she knew that when she next came to see him, whenever that would be, it could be much more worse and she doesn't know if she could handle that and the last thing she wants to do is lose her friend over something stupid.
She had lost too many people over stupid decisions already and she couldn't let that happen at all. Almost catching Barton with the arrow was a stupid decision. Teresa opened her mouth to say something. Anything. But the more that she wanted the words to come to her, the more her throat closed over. The more that her throat closed over the more she started to shake once more and she wondered if she was starting to have a panic attack and that was the last thing that needed to happen in front of Barton.
Teresa needed to calm her heart down but she found herself bringing her eyes over to him and finally getting the words out. "I'm sorry" she said after a moment and watching him. "For being an idiot and for acting the way that I did and you're one of my greatest friends and I don't want to lose you over the fact that I tried shooting you which really was a stupid thing for me to do" she said and then felt out of breath that she needed to take a big drink of her beer and closed her eyes.
|
|