One Month

Chapter Fourteen

Peter and Natasha slowly worked their ways up throughout the month. It took a week for Peter's bruises to get to a bearable ache, but he was too focused on his work with Natasha to take notice.

They kept to themselves and continued only dancing mornings and nights while everyone slept. They participated in team exercises and would then disappear to the studio, where Natasha would hide the two away. They would continue from wherever they had left off the class before.

Nearly three weeks in, Peter brought in his pointe shoes. Natasha had been shocked, and he had just smirked smugly in response.

"It's not often a male dances en pointe," she noted and Peter only grinned. "How did you convince your teacher to teach you?" Peter had frowned then, and he and Natasha had just continued the rest of the day.

The day after, Peter came out to Natasha. "I took any role I could get back then, so I learned nearly everything they could teach," Peter had told her. He was fearful that Natasha would be upset, but she had just hugged him tight. Peter reveled in the physical touch.

They continued afterwards, and by the end of the month, Peter was nearly dancing anytime he had free time. His fire for the old hobby had been reignited, and, in all honesty, it helped him much more with his job as Spiderman.

Wanda was the first to question his sudden change in attitude, something all of the team had noticed. His spells were much more spread apart, his sass not as notable, and he talked to Tony about everything when he wanted to go somewhere. Tony had even accompanied Peter to Aunt May's grave on an extremely hard day for him. When they had returned to the compound, Peter had returned to Natasha.

"Breathe, Peter," Natasha whispered as Peter tried to pause his stance. It was an exercise Natasha had to do when she was little, and Peter was finding it extremely difficult. He inhaled and his body shook before he tried to steady himself. "Relax."

"It's kind of hard to relax, Nat," Peter said before his ankle twisted and he dropped to the floor with a "thud." He rubbed his elbow and Natasha helped him up. "I should have relaxed."

"Of course you should have," Natasha continued his joke before she restarted the classical music they had been using to "dance to the music." Another exercise Peter hated. He liked well, thought out choreography, not making it up on the spot, but -- he had to admit -- he was getting pretty good at it. "Begin again."

They continued, and Natasha grinned as Peter got better and better at stopping at her designated time, then random ones. He'd hold his pose for a minute, sometimes two, before Natasha unpaused the music, and he would act like the stall didn't faze him as he continued.

Natasha was proud of Peter, and she grinned as she came back from the city one day with a paper in her hand. She didn't try to hide what the flyer was when she pushed it to Peter during lunch, gaining a few stares.

"What's this?" Peter asked as he picked it up. He read over it before his eyes widened. "For real?" He peeked over the top at Natasha. She grinned as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"I'm auditioning," she told him, and without hesitation, "you should, too. You'd knock half those guys out with just walking in." Peter wasn't self-centered, but he knew that Natasha's words were true. He was one of the few men -- that he knew of -- in New York to dance en Pointe even if males beginning to learn was becoming popular.

"Okay," Peter said as he laid the flyer down. "I'll bite." Sam grabbed the flyer, curious, and Wanda peeked over, too.

"Ballet?" Sam asked, and Peter had forgotten all about his fear of them being upset. He simply nodded his head as the anxiousness came rushing back. "Cool, I didn't know you could dance."

"Is that why you and Nat have been running off for the last month?" Wanda asked, and Natasha grinned as she nodded.

"Can't go a day without training, sweetheart," Natasha replied, and Wanda smiled at her. Peter was glancing between the two as Steve and Tony came downstairs. They immediately stopped as they took in everyone's expressions, and Steve noticed the flyer in Sam's hand.

"What's that?" Steve asked and Sam grinned, looking proud.

"Auditions for a ballet performance," Sam told Steve, who looked slightly concerned. "It's not for me, doofus."

"Oh, Nat?" Steve asked, sure that she would be the one to audition.

"And Peter," Natasha pointed. Steve and Tony glanced at him, and Peter just smiled. "Little spider's going to get to dance with me."

"Assuming you both are put on for the performance," Tony chimed in. Natasha glared at him.

"Bold of you to assume I won't threaten my way in," Natasha told Tony, and Peter laughed as he gave her a look that all-too-well said, "Really?" She just smiled in response.