Excuses, excuses, excuses

"No, I am not happy to see you at all." replied Natasha in irritation.

"Not even a little?" asked Pete as he sounded a little bit disappointed and Natasha scoffed at him.

"Not even a little bit, why would I be happy to see someone who abandoned me?" she asked as she scoffed.

"I ever abandoned you Natasha, you know that I can never abandon you, never." he said strongly as he frowned.

"Yeah right, you never called to check on me, you never texted me, you never came to see me, you made no attempt to reach out to me, you threw away all our long years of friendship just because of a woman." she said angrily, giving an insight to how hurt she actually felt.

Pete sighed as he felt bad, he had thought that Natasha being the strong woman she always was, did not need him at all. He had assumed that she was happily living her life without him as she always did, he did not think that this had hurt her as much as it did.

"I'm sorry Nat, I thought that you didn't want to see me, you made that very clear... you said that I betrayed you, when in truth I never." he said sadly.

"Oh but you did... it sure felt like you did, and it's very typical of you to just abandon me when you have someone else in your life." she said as she looked away.

"Hey, hey, Nat, look at me, you know me, I would never abandon you, never... we've been through too much for me to abandon you because of one person. You are important to me, and you know that you are, so forgive me please Nat, I can't handle you being upset with me, I haven't seen you in ages and the least that I was expecting was a smile, because I missed you." he said as he stretched out his had and reached out for hers as she did not refuse his touch.

"I'm sure you missed me as well." he said as she scoffed.

"Don't flatter yourself so much." she said as he laughed.

"Oh come on Nat, you know that you can't stay angry at this my very loveable face, it's just too damn cute." he said with a smirk as she scoffed at him.

"Continue saying that nonsense and your too damn cute face will be ruined." she replied.

"Ouch, still as feisty as ever, you would think that you would be more careful with your words since y we are in a public place." he joked.

"You're such an annoying person Pete." she said.

"Oh finally, you said my name." said Pete happily, she called him by her nickname for him, and that was a good sign.

"You're such an... you are very... annoying, you didn't even send me a text, not one single text, and you call yourself a friend." she said very annoyed.

"I didn't think that you would want to hear from me." he said.

"Hmm, excuses, excuses, excuses." she replied.

"But it's the truth, you can get really intense when you want to, besides, I called Dom to ask about you, I thought that he would tell you judging from how close the two of you seem tonight." said Pete causing Natasha to scoff.

"Oh please, you of all people should know that's a farce, it's just a show, me and him are far from being that lovey-dovey couple." she said as she almost gagged.

"Besides, you should also know that I don't require him to tell me every single thing that goes on in his life, we live together yes, but we have different lives." she said.

"Alright, I get it, you're right, I'm sorry about that." said Pete.

"Anyway, what are you doing here in the first place?" she asked curious.

"Dom invited me, and I didn't want to go initially, but then he convinced me that it would be a good time to talk to you." said Pete as Natasha scoffed looking visibly irritated. 

 "Why do you call him Dom as if the two of you are suddenly great friends??!" she asked as she mimicked the way he called 'Dom' it irritated her a lot.

"Well because we are friends, and he is a really cool guy." said Pete as Natasha scoffed.

"Since when?? You hate him remember?" she said.

"No, I hated him, you have to take into account that one, I hated him because he hurt you, and two, I hated him because he married you back when I was still in love with you, but I've moved on, and we've moved past that, he's a nice person, a little idiotic when it comes to love, but overall nice." said Pete as Natasha could not believe that Pete of all people was actually defending Dom right now, a man that he had hated for over five years.

"Judging from your speech, you didn't come alone, she's here isn't she?" asked Natasha as Pete smiled.

"If by she you mean Lia, my girlfriend, then yes, she is here, she too was invited." said Pete as he smiled.

"Just great... I expected this to be a drama free evening, but I was wrong." she said as she sighed.

"Hey, Nat, relax, I know you, and I also know that you have better things to do than to continue to hold a grudge against someone." he said.

"Now, I am going to give you a hug, don't break my hand." he said as she laughed and he hugged her.

"You're right... I did miss you Pete..." she said as she hugged him.

"I know..." he replied.

"I hated feeling like you chose her over me..." said Natasha as he broke their hug.

"I didn't chose anyone, I just stated the truth, I'm sorry if it felt like I was leaving you, I knew that you needed some space Nat, you're my very best friend, and I missed you a lot." he said as she smiled.

"Look at you, dressed in full red, what happened to your dislike of the colour?" asked Pete as she laughed.

"Well some annoying store clerk insisted that it would look good on me, and Dom was there with me and he agreed." said Natasha as Pete shot her a knowing look that she ignored.

"You do know that red is his favourite colour, no wonder he agreed, you do look spectacular in it though." he said.

"I don't care that it's his favourite colour, thank you for the compliment." she said.

"I like your blue suit." she said as he smiled and winked at her.

"So how have you been lately?" he asked.

"Good, good, life can get oddly repetitive sometimes, so this party was the perfect break in routine." she said as she ate.

"I agree. I never have occasions to dress fancy like this." he said as they both laughed.

"So how's work?" she asked him.

"Oh well it's good, cases here and there, some easy to solve, the others turning your head upside down, but you know the drill." he said as she smiled and nodded.

"And... how is... your personal life?" she asked.

"It's good, I'm happier than ever... being in a relationship really changes you, now you actually want to get off work early because you know you have someone who is dying to see you and you feel the same." he said as he smiled and Natasha smiled sadly.

"I'm really happy for you Pete, really I am... I just want you to be happy, and if you being happy means being with Lia... then I can accept it." said Natasha.

"Oh Natasha, you don't know how happy that makes me feel. To hear you say that... I just want us to be friends, the three of us." he said as he smiled and she smiled.

"You deserve happiness Pete, you really do." she said as she held his hand.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked as she nodded and smiled.

"I am planning to propose... I want her to marry me." said Pete as Natasha went completely still and silent.

"Come on... say something, what do you think?" he asked.

"Do you want the fake answer or the real answer?" she asked.

"I just want the honest answer." he replied.

"Alright then, I think it's too soon, you've been dating her for like four months or what? You barely know her, I can't vouch for her, we thought we knew her but we were wrong." she said.

"But I do know her, I know the real her, I know her likes, her dislikes, her struggles and how she prays every single night for your forgiveness." he said as Natasha scoffed and looked away.

"I'm just saying, marriage is a really serious ordeal, just look at Dom and me? We are both ruined from it. Don't make a rash mistake, take your time, that's my advice." she said.

"I see, and it's really valid and it has been duly noted." he said with a smile as she shook her head at him.