Clint answered the touch of her hand gladly, soft caresses dancing over her narrow wrist, glad that she wasn't somehow annoyed or taken aback by his confession. At that time, being with her for more than an occasional night of passion had still been completely out of question, every word, every thought of more personal kind of feelings quickly shot off. Back then it would probably have made her very uncomfortable, knowing he was staring at the moon somewhere somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and think of her smile to not go crazy.

Her own explanation made it a little easier to think back of these days, and now his smile didn't look embarrassed anymore.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database was never safe from your hacking skills", he chuckled before pulling her hand close for a long tender kiss on her knuckles. "Wish I could have written to you at least. But maybe it's better I didn't. At that point... It would have made things worse between us. I guess I..."

He hesitated for another short moment, but really... Nothing she didn't know. And now these kind of words shouldn't hurt anymore.

"I always knew I loved you, but when you spend months alone on a boat, or in a foreign city... You really get to think about the things you don't have in life. I wouldn't have wanted to burden you with that."