Valentine’s Day.

It was a day that had never really meant much to Natasha, just a silly consumer holiday meant to deprive people of their hard earned money just to validate their love for someone with frivolous gifts and gestures. Why this one day? Wasn’t that something that was more special when done randomly over the course of the year, not on a single day because it was expected? Shouldn’t love be expressed in looks and words and actions all the time? And if someone chose not to do anything on this day, did that mean that they loved their partner any less?

It was all rather ridiculous in her mind, but this was the first Valentine’s Day that her and Clint would be spending together, as “a couple”, and he seemed so excited that she didn’t have the heart to tell him how she felt about the holiday.

It had all started two weeks ago when he had told her that she better dust off one of her sexiest dresses because he had made a reservation at a fairly fancy (and fairly expensive) restaurant and he planned on treating her to a night of wining and dining. It had come as a surprise; they were as far from traditional as possible, and a date for them usually consisted of takeout and a movie or doing something silly like playing tourist for the day. She had protested, saying it was too much and she didn’t need anything special, but Clint had insisted saying that nothing was too much for her. It was a line she had heard countless times before so she reacted the same: she smiled and kissed him and treated him like she would a mark in the past. It made her stomach turn, treating Clint like one of them, but she didn’t know how else to react, it was the only way she knew.

Read more on Ao3 (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1185376)

Awww!! I love how Clint *tries* to be romantic with the ritzy dinner and all the little gifts but it just doesn't go quite to plan. Hee. So adorbs.

This was so cute and just perfect to wake up to :) I love how they both try to give the other what they think is required of this holiday, but end up being totally out of their depth. Lovely <3