Alexei made sure to write Natasha every week during the summer and Natasha happily returned the favour.  Steve and Natasha did have fun together during the summer, but every time Natasha received the thick envelope from Russia, Steve would leave the house for a couple of hours.  He wasn't mad at her or Alexei for the letters, he was mostly mad with himself for getting jealous.  He and Natasha had been friends so long he couldn't remember a time without her.  It was still weird seeing her become so close to another boy.

"You straightened your hair,"  is the first thing Steve says on their first day of school.  Sure enough, Natasha's shoulder-length red hair is perfectly straight.  She hadn't grown an inch over summer much to her chagrin and this time, Steve's a few inches taller than her.

"I woke up on time,"  she replies, elbowing him.  Steve elbows her right back but that only starts a fight to see who can push who over first.  Steve wins when Natasha stumbles off the sidewalk and trips over the curb.  He's quick enough to grab her, making sure she doesn't actually fall, and Natasha smiles.

"Couldn't let you scrape your elbows on the first day,"  Steve teases.  Natasha rolls her eyes and leads them onto the bus toward their regular seat.  Just as he always does, Steve pulls out his sketchbook and starts to draw.  A few minutes later, he realises Natasha's on her phone rather than reading and asks what she's doing.

"I'm texting Alexei,"  she answers.  Steve resists the urge to sigh.  Even their normal morning routine is ruined by Alexei's ever-growing presence.  "What are you drawing?"  She peers over his shoulder and Steve blushes when he remembers he'd been drawing her latest dance recital.

"Like it?"  he asks, shifting so she can see the page better.

"I love it!"  Natasha exclaims, grabbing the notepad to look at it closer.  Steve watches happily as she looks over his art in awe before carefully handing his sketchbook back over to her.  "Can I have it when you're done?"

"Sure,"  Steve replies.  He'd been planning to save it and add it to his collection of art he'd done revolving around her recitals and dances, but he supposes giving her just the one drawing won't hurt.  Besides, the collection was going to be her birthday gift anyway.  Might as well give her something a little early so she's even more excited when she sees the real gift.

* * * * *

Of course, the day Natasha's birthday rolls around, Alexei shows up at lunch.  He'd been joining them more often, sitting behind Natasha in class even though he knows that's where Steve always sits.  He hands her a small box and urges her to open it right then.  She does and Steve watches as she unwraps the gift.  Inside is the autobiography of one of Natasha's favourite ballerina's and a sterling silver necklace with a pointe shoe charm.  Natasha lets out a small gasp and a second later, she's pulled Alexei into a hug and is thanking him in rapid Russian.

"How did you know I've been wanting her book?"  Natasha asks in Russian, gently fingering the book like it's made of gold.

"I asked your Mom,"  Alexei admits.  Steve just busies himself with his sandwich.  He didn't need to ask Ms. Romanova (now fully divorced thanks to her trip back to Russia) to know Natasha had been eyeing the book ever since it was pre-released.

"Well, thank you,"  Natasha says, carefully stuffing the book in her backpack.

Later that day, once Alexei's left and it's just Steve and Natasha upstairs in Natasha's bedroom, Steve pulls out the gift he'd made for her.  It's bulky as he had struggled to find a way to put together all the art he'd done, but he's proud of it.  When Natasha first unwraps it, he's worried she hates it because she doesn't react.  Slowly, she opens up the handmade scrapbook his mother had helped him put together and looks at all the pencil drawings Steve's done of her dancing over the past year.

"You like it?"  Steve asks nervously once she's finally closed the book.  Natasha looks up with wide eyes and hugs the book carefully.

"I love it,"  she whispers.  Steve grins and hands her the second package.  This one is bigger, but it only holds one piece of art and Steve is particularly proud of it.  Natasha carefully unwraps it to reveal an abstract painting of a ballerina.  There are bright colours covering the page but it isn't hard to make out the perfect ballerina on the right of the canvas.  Stretched in the most beautiful arabesque, her arm and leg fully extended, is a red-headed ballerina in a white tutu.

"It's from Swan Lake last spring,"  Steve explains.  Natasha nods and gingerly fingers the painting.  She remembers it.  Her ballet studio had put on a production of Swan Lake in the spring and although it was hell studying for finals and practicing for the dance, Natasha had been cast as Odette.  It had been one of the proudest moments of her life.

"It's going to hang right over my bed,"  Natasha tells him, getting up to set it on her desk until she can put a nail in the wall.  The scrapbook is set right beside it and before Steve can process what she's doing, Natasha's thrown her arms around his neck and is hugging him tightly.

Steve just laughs and hugs her back, happy his gift made her so happy.  The reminder that Alexei had gotten her a much more expensive gift doesn't even cross his mind.  She had absolutely adored his gifts and that's all that mattered at the moment.

* * * * *

It's spring break and Steve is busy reading in his room when his phone rings.  Natasha's contact flashes across the phone screen and he doesn't bother sticking a bookmark in his book before answering.  He's unable to say a word before she's talking.

"Alexei and I are dating!"  she exclaims.  Steve's mouth goes dry and he can't form the words he wants (if he even knew what he wanted to say).  "I know I've been secretive recently but that's because Alexei wanted to see if we could actually work out before making it official.  I wanted to tell you, but I haven't even told my mom yet, so you're still the first to know."

"Um,"  Steve stutters, forcing himself not to be upset she hadn't told him she'd been going out with Alexei earlier.  "Congrats."

"You don't sound very excited,"  Natasha replies and Steve can practically see her deflating even though she's halfway across town right now (probably on her way home from a date with Alexei now that he thinks about it).

"I'm just surprised,"  Steve says, which isn't a complete lie.  He is very shocked, but he's also kind of upset.  His Ma had only just revealed to him the reason he's been so jealous of Alexei is that he had a crush on Natasha.

"So you're alright with it?"

"Of course,"  Steve lies through his teeth.  He knows how much Natasha values his opinion, but right now his opinion is just going to hurt her and he will not let that happen.  "You know I don't control what you do."

"I still want you to be alright with it,"  Natasha says quietly.  Steve can't help but smile at the sentiment.  Even if he couldn't be her boyfriend, he wanted her to be happy.  Just because Alexei gave him a weird vibe and made him annoyed didn't mean he was bad for Natasha.  Steve had met plenty of people he didn't get along with very well; it was just unfortunate Natasha's boyfriend happened to be one of those people.

"I'll be alright with whatever makes you happy,"  Steve replies and even though it kills him that he's not what makes her happy, he's never said anything truer in his life.

* * * * *

Before the school year ends, Steve has made two new friends in his classes (the ones without Natasha).  He supposes Sam and Bucky had always been acquaintances, people he'd hang out with in middle school but never devoted as much time to as he did Natasha, but now they're friends.  Sam is funny and Bucky is kind and the two of them is the exact kind of chaos his Ma would discourage.  She mentions Natasha every now and then after particularly rough nights with the two boys over, but Steve just reminds his Ma she's been busy with dance and Alexei.  They're still friends and he still walks her to the bus stop and to her first class after homeroom, but it's not the same as it had been three months ago.

"Buck, you can't expect to get away with everything,"  Steve says after Bucky fondly recounts the tale of why he had skipped English and been in the principal's office instead.  Steve has tried to tell him before that pranks on teachers don't end well, but Sam does the exact opposite.

"Next time, you just have to hide your face when you set it up,"  Sam suggests.  Steve glares at Sam who grins in return.

"Hey, next year,"  Bucky suddenly exclaims, drawing their attention away from pranks and bad ideas.  "We should try out for soccer."

"Why not football?  No one cares about soccer,"  Sam tells him.  Bucky rolls his eyes and throws his notebook at Sam (they were supposed to be studying, but that plan had been thrown out the window with the first wad of paper that had been thrown two hours ago).

"Because soccer is the national sport of every country except America,"  Bucky reminds him,  "Besides, I have a good chance of making Captain and I don't want to be out there alone."