A/N: Since I haven't updated in a really long time enjoy this really long update😊

-

Most of us were hanging out in the living room when Tony asked for a team meeting wanting us to gather in the living room which was great for me since I didn't have to leave from my spot.

"This better be good." Natasha says from down the hall as she comes closer.

I make room since she usually sits next to me on the couch. What took me by surprise is she takes a seat next to Bruce on the smaller cough to which the green giant already takes most of it.

'Huh. That's odd.' I think to myself.

Bucky jumping over the back of the couch and dropping down next to me brings me out of my thought.

"Hey sis." He presses a kiss on my temple.

"Gross." I wipe the area playfully to which he gives me an offended look making me laugh.

"Hey little bro." I kiss his temple making him nod with a satisfied smile.

'Such a child.'

"Is everyone here?!" Tony asks loudly as he arrives.

"No need to yell, Tony." Steve tells him.

"And yes we're all here." I sigh.

"Perfect! So as you all know my annual Halloween party is this weekend and I thought it would be fun if we did something different and fun." He smiles.

"Ohhh great." I say making the others laugh.

"Let me finish, grandma." He emphasizes making me glare at him.

"So half of our names are in this hat. The other half are gonna pick out a name and that pair is going to do a pair costume. It's something different." Tony says as he shakes the hat he has in his hand a bit.

My phone then dings getting my attention. I check it seeing it's Ariana asking if I was still down to hang out today. I quickly reply to her message.

"Your turn J.D." Tony says getting my attention stirring the hat around making me look up.

I sigh sticking my hand in the hat and pick out a small piece of paper.

'Please be Nat. Please be Nat.'

I open the folded piece a paper and see the name

"..*sighs* Tony." I announce.

"Yes! I already have so many ideas!" Tony says giddily.

"Alright Nat, you got the last one." Tony tells her and the blonde reaches in.

"Bruce." She says looking to the man next to her making me roll my eyes.

"Well this was fun, but I need to get going." I say getting up from my seat.

"We'll talk about our costumes later." Tony tells me.

"Yeah, sure, Tony." I nod patting his back then go to leave.

~

"Pleaseeeee you gotta come." I beg Ariana to come to the Halloween party.

"I don't know, Barnes." She says unsure as we were eating at a restaurant.

"It's a costume party." I tell her.

"Is that supposed to make me change my mind?" She asks amused.

"Thought I'd give it a shot." I shrug making her chuckle.

"Parties aren't really my thing." She says and I raise a brow.

"Really? I would've thought otherwise." I say.

"Oh really?" She raises a brow and I nod.

"It'll be fun." I insist.

"Maybe, but I make no promises." She makes clear.

-

Halloween Party

The party has started and I made my way towards the party floor of the tower. My costume of the night, Toy Story's Woody. The elevator stops when I get to Tony's floor so we can get there together. When the doors open my eyebrows raise when I see his costume.

He then reveals his face from his helmet.

"Cool, huh?" He smiles.

"You have way to much time on your hands." I chuckle as he steps in.

When we get to the party floor we step out and join the party. We go over to the bar and get drinks. I see Natasha's costume and my mouth goes dry, little red riding hood. And this version was, different, than from the child's tale.

"Nice outfit, Romanoff." Tony greets making her turning her around.

She chuckles when she sees us.

"Nice costumes." She says as she hands us some shots.

We take them and Tony goes to mingle with the other party guests leaving Natasha and I alone. The first time we've been a alone in the last few days.

"Hey." I smile.

"Hey." She returns a smaller one.

I then look around to see Bruce in a lumberjack costume.

"Thought he'd come as the big bad wolf." I comment and hear her chuckle.

"We tried but he has that lumberjack build." She replies and I nod slightly in agreement.

"So how you been? I haven't really had the chance to talk to you." I ask.

"I've been good, sheriff." She teases adjusting my cowboy hat.

"Good, good." I nod pouring another shot.

"What about you and Ariana?" She then asks.

"We're cool. She's a cool friend. I invited her to the party." I say downing my shot.

"Oh really?" She raises a brow.

"Yeah, but I don't think she'll show. But if she does, I hope to introduce you guys. I think you'll get along." I nod to which she hums.

We then go our separate ways to enjoy the party. It was fun, playing beer pong or joking around with my friends. I was hanging out with Sam, Bucky, Maria and Bruce when I see Nat on the couches talking to this guy I haven't seen before.

"Didn't know you came as the Hulk, J.D." Sam chuckles who is dressed up as a prisoner, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I ask confused.

"Green ain't your color girl." He continues with a shake of his head as he takes a sip of his drink.

"I'm not jealous." I scoff.

"Good, cause you have no right to be." Bruce playfully tsks popping a chip in his mouth.

"Oh go chop wood." I huff.

"Come on, J.D. you wanted to be just friends. You can't be acting like a jealous ex now. " He points out and I purse my lips.

"I'm not being a jealous anything. I'm just looking out for her as a regular friend, making sure that guy doesn't step outta line and that she won't get hurt." I emphasize and the others hum unconvinced.

"I don't think anyone can hurt her like you have. Vice versa." Sam tilts his head making me roll my eyes.

"I thought this was Halloween, not National Bash J.D. Day." I roll my eyes pouring myself a drink.

"It can be both. Now stop glaring at them or they'll disintegrate." Maria tells me in her nurse costume.

"Whatever." I grumble.

"Who is that guy anyway?" I ask.

"His name is Robbie. He's one of my lab assistants. He's a pretty nice guy." Bruce says and I can't help but keep my gaze on them.

"Would you look at that guy, I mean how long has he been talking to her. It's like, back off buddy she's dressed as little red riding hood not a geisha." I shake my head.

"I think she's okay." Bucky comments and I look towards him, clad in his 20s gangster costume.

We then see Natasha laughing, putting a hand on the guy's shoulder.

"Look at that, look at that, see how she's pushing him away and he won't budge. Alright, I'm gonna do something." I say going towards the pair.

I go and take a seat next to the guy making the two look at me. Natasha surprised and the guy smiles warmly.

"Hey." I greet.

"Hello, I'm Robbie." The man greets extending his hand out.

"J.D." I reply taking it, maybe squeezing it a tad bit to hard for the regular man.

Natasha notices and sends me a minor glare.

"So Bobby, I haven't seen you around here before." I tell him.

"It's Robbie." Natasha tells me.

"It's okay, Bobby is also a nickname for my name. Robert." He chuckles placing a hand on Natasha's knee a bit.

"I'm a lab assistant to Dr.Banner. So I don't really get out much. I've only talked to Natasha since he introduced us." Bobby says and that takes me by surprise making me look at Natasha who's finishing her drink not looking back at me, instead looking around the room.

"Did he now? Well wasn't that nice of him." I chuckle.

"Robbie do you mind getting me another drink, please." She asks the man.

"No problem. Would you like one J.D?" Robbie offers.

"I'm all set, thanks." I give a fake smile raising my glass a bit.

"Okay, I'll be back." He says leaving.

"Okay, take your time. *turns to Nat* You're welcome." I tell her.

"What?" She asks confused.

"I was saving you." I explain the obvious.

"Saving, saving, saving me from the pleasant conversation with the interesting man, saving me?" She asks not understanding.

"Oh, see from where I was sitting-"

"Okay, J.D, listen to me, I am not yours to save." She says.

"But, you are." I say.

"What?" She furrows her eyebrows.

"Well you're, umm, you're my lobster." I tell her.

"Okay, is that like a 40s reference?-"

"No, no. You're uh, you're my lobster. See um, lobsters, uh, in the tank when, when they're old, they get with, uh, they walk around holding the claws. In the tank, ya know, with, with the holding and-  *looks back* Buck! You wanna help me out with the, the whole lobster thing?" I ask my brother for back up.

"*mouthful* Do the claws again!" He says doing the hand motion from last time as he munches on chips.

Natasha raises a brow confused as she turns back to me but I shake my head.

"Nat. Okay, forget, forget the lobsters okay. Let's talk, what about us?" I ask.

"J.D, there is no us, okay? We agreed to be just friends." She tells me.

"I know, but-

"No, listen to me it's just not worth it right now. I don't want us to get hurt anymore." She says softly.

"But-

"No but J.D. We can't happen again, Ok. We just can't. Accept that." She practically pleads.

"E-except, except that what?" I try.

"No, no, ACC-cept that." She emphasizes.

I lick my lips lowering my gaze while I swallow thickly.

"Alright, I'll leave you guys to it." I nod slowly getting up from my seat and go towards the bar.

I've been sitting at the bar drinking shots as I sigh. She's right. We did agree to be just friends. I even pushed her to it first. I can't be jealous, but, I didn't like seeing her with someone else that wasn't me. Why do I have to be so complicated?

"Why so down sheriff? Got a snake in your boot?" I hear as I down another shot.

I turn around to face the owner of the voice.

"Ariana?" I question surprised seeing her costume.

"I thought parties weren't your thing?" I tease with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I had nothing better to do and thought you could show me a good time." She smiles.

"Want to go dance?" I ask seeing the semi packed dance floor.

"Show me your moves, Barnes." She says extending her hand out for me to take.

We dance to multiple songs and as each one passed our dancing got more closer and intimate. I wasn't expecting my relationship with Ari to go this far but if I wasn't going anywhere with Natasha, might as well give this a shot.

Ariana was grinding back into me and I'm pretty sure that she could feel that I was enjoying this. She turns around to face me.

"Let's go back to my place." She says using one of her hands to cup my face, her thumb rubbing my jawline.

"Can't we just go down to my room?" I husk not wanting to wait that long.

"That depends. Do you have toys and other fun items you can use on me?" She asks, her lips grazing my ear lobe making me groan.

"..No." I admit and she releases a giggle.

"So..?"

"Your place." I nod and she grabs my hand and leads me towards the elevator so we can leave the tower.

Not liking how things just ended between herself and J.D, Natasha looks for the super soldier through out the party.

"Bruce have you seen J.D?" She asks.

"She um, left." He tells her.

"To her room?" The blonde raises a brow.

"I don't know but she left with a girl." He shrugs.

~

Despite the party happening around them Natasha and Bruce have a serious talk in a more secluded corner of the party.

"Trust me you're gonna be fine, Nat. You just can't see it now because you haven't had any closure." Bruce tells her.

"Yeah! Closure. That's what it is, that's what I need. God, you're brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? How do I get that?" She then asks downing her drink.

"Well, you know, there's no one way really, it's just, you know, whatever it takes so that you can finally say to her, "I'm over you." He explains.

"Closure, that's what it is. Closure." She mumbles and gets her phone out.

"Wait- what are you doing?" Bruce questions.

J.D's phone rings and buzzes in between cushions on the couch that she occupied earlier when talking to Natasha.

Going to voicemail, Natasha leaves a message.

"Joey hey, it's Nat. I'm just calling to say that um, everything's fine and I'm really happy for you. You're moving on and so am I, so it's safe to say. I am over you. I am over you and that, my friend, is what they call closure." She then hangs up the phone.

-

Next Morning,

I wake up groggily, slowly opening my eyes. As my vision focuses and I don't recognize my surroundings I quickly sit up. I look over next to me and see brown locks. I then remember the events that lead me here.

"Morning." Ariana mumbles waking up.

"Morning." I reply.

"Look I gotta get back to take a shower and stuff." I tell her.

"Do you want a ride back?" She offers but I shake my head.

"I'm okay thanks. Shit I think I lost my phone somewhere at the party." I say as I get dressed.

"You sure?" She asks.

"Yeah don't worry about it." I say zipping up my pants.

"Do you want a ride to the meeting?" She sits up.

"Yeah, sure if you want." I nod then bid her goodbye and leave.

~

When I get back to the tower I go to the party floor to look for my phone. When I get there I see Natasha.

"Hey Nat." I greet and she rubs her head.

"Hey." She mumbles.

"How was the rest of the party?" I ask seeing the aftermath around the room.

"Umm, I think there was dancing... I know there was vodka.." She trails off.

As I look around I notice Natasha looking at me.

"What? Why, why are you looking at me like that?" I chuckle.

"I don't know, I, I feel like I had a dream about you last night but I, I don't remember." She shakes her head.

"Okay. I hope it was a good dream." I joke.

"Did we speak on the phone last night? Did you call me?" She then asks.

"Umm no, I actually I left my phone somewhere around here. Which is why I'm here looking for it." I explain.

I keep searching until I find it in between couch cushions.

"Found it! Nat, I got a message from you." I see as I check it my phone.

Natasha goes to leave to her room but stops finally remembering what happened last night.

I start to listen to the voicemail.

"Oh my God. Oh my God J.D, no, hang up the phone, give me the phone J.D, give me the phone, give me the phone, give me the-

She jumps on my back, trying to get the phone away from me and does but not before I finish hearing the voicemail.

"You're over me?" I ask quietly.

"Ohhhhhhhh God." She drags as she gets off of me setting my phone down.

"Wha- you're uh, you're- you're over me?" I ask again.

"When, when were you- under me? Nat. Natasha do you, I mean, were you, uh- What?" My mind is all over the place right now.

I'm so confused.

"Ok, Ok, Ok, well, basically, lately, I've uh, I've uh, sort of had feelings for you. And not that I haven't had them before but they've been more prominent lately. But I've been pushing them away hence..last night." She explains.

"You've had feelings for me?" I ask clearly.

"Yeah, what, so? You still have feelings for me." She motions to me.

"Woah. Huh. You know about my, I mean, you know I...you know?" I stammer.

"Bruce told me." She licks her lips.

"Bruce. When did he- when did he- when did he?" I ask.

"When you left the party.." She sighs.

"Party." I nod along.

"With a girl." She continues.

"A girl?..Ariana. Ariana. That. Oh God. Ari, right. OK, I need to lay down. No, ya know, I'm gonna stand. I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna walk, I'm walkin' and I am standing. OK so you uh, and now wha- and now, now, now you're over me?" I question.

"Are you over me?" She asks.

A moment of silence falls upon us as I don't respond right away. My phone rings and I grab it to see the caller ID.

"It's, it's Ariana- Hey, Ari." I answer the phone.

...

"Yeah, found my phone, the meeting? Yeah no I didn't forget, yeah I'm on my way down." I nod in a perky tone.

I then hang up closing my eyes then go to leave.

"Wait, so, you're going?" She asks.

"Well, Ok, I uh, I have to. I can't deal with this right now. I mean, I've uh, y'know, I've got a meeting- and my girl friend- I mean girl space friend waiting for me downstairs." I pace around.

"Ok, Ok." She nods softly.

I leave down the stairs not bothering to wait for the elevator.