This house had the thinest walls in existence, Natasha was sure of it. He wasn’t supposed to hear her, but then what had she really planned on doing if he didn’t? She couldn’t stay in here forever, and the second he looked at her he would have seen she had been crying. She was being irrational, this whole situation made her irrational, and she thought she hated that more than anything.

She wasn’t sure why he was apologizing and she didn’t care. Leaning into his embrace she tried to lose herself in his warmth and comfort, but when he suddenly stiffened she knew something was wrong. That was when she felt him gently tug the picture in her hand so he could get a better look.

Shit.

He wasn’t supposed to see it, she had made sure that he didn’t even know she had it, but it was too late to snatch it away now, too late to keep him from looking. She tried to breathe, tried to form even a few words, but he spoke before she could and his words were like a punch to the stomach. It was one thing to truly realise it herself, but to hear him say it aloud, to hear him confirm it, made it all too real.

Nodding at the question she choked down another sob as she forced herself to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry, I had to see it,” she rushed out quickly. “I had to know. If I was going to get rid of it I had to see it, had to face it.” Don’t go into an op without all the information, don’t make a decision without knowing as much as you can. That’s how they were trained, right?