Clint sounded so sure, so determined, and it was exactly what Natasha needed right then. If she had any chance of getting through this at one piece it was with Clint there to hold her together. Returning the embrace again she felt her worries subsiding for now, along with her embarrassment at her silly behaviour. It didn’t matter, not when they were together. Clint understood, just as she understood him. It was only a minor stumbling point, and she would not let it ruin their night.

Finally pulling away, Natasha was glad that the couple that passed them seemed to think they had just been making out in the stair well, and she quickly followed Clint’s lead. Stopping to remove her shoes once more, she took his hand as they stepped out onto the sand. With the sun down the sand was slowly growing colder, and she liked the feel of it under her toes.

“Tomorrow we should look through those books and figure out what we need to know and do right now,” she said. Clearly they couldn’t avoid talking about it, so maybe if they made a plan and knew what to expect and what not to do it would make everything easier. A plan should at least set her mind at ease a little.

The ‘tomorrow’ bit was very important, though.