Summary: Steve never liked celebrating his birthday after coming out of the ice. It always reminded him of what he'd lost and how he would never truly fit into the modern world. Luckily for him, Natasha won't let this day pass without making him enjoy it.

Steve was jolted awake by someone jumping on top of him.  Out of instinct, he grabbed his attacker and flipped them underneath him.  He blinked in surprise to see Natasha under him, looking a little annoyed at his sudden reaction.  She grimaced slightly, something he wouldn't have noticed if he didn't know her so well, and tried to pull her hands out from his grip.  When he realised how tight he was holding onto her, he let her go immediately and apologised, rolling off her and back onto his bed.

"And here I thought you'd wait to attack until after I threw the cake at your face,"  Natasha grinned, propping herself up on her side to grin at Steve.

"Wait, you're going to throw a cake at my face?"  Steve asked, frowning in concern.  She shrugged.

"Not anymore,"  she replied, smirking.  "Now I have to do something you won't be expecting.

"Very reassuring,"  he deadpanned.  She grinned and sat up abruptly.  "Hey, leaving so soon?"  Steve whined as she tried to leave his bed.  He sat up and wrapped an arm around her, something he wouldn't have normally done but found himself confident enough to do right then.

"Well, I have to tell Sam he can throw the cake at Tony now that I've ruined the surprise,"  Natasha said, combing her fingers through Steve's hair.  He frowned and tightened his hold on her.  "You're pretty confident for someone who thought they were being attacked a few minutes ago,"  Natasha murmured, not fighting when he pulled her back down to the bed.

"Yeah, well it's my birthday,"  Steve defended.  Natasha laid on her side and staring at him blankly.  "I can do whatever I want."  He grinned, praying he wouldn't regret this tomorrow when his confidence had worn off.

"Does that include capturing helpless women and forcing them into bed with you?"  Natasha teased.  Steve rolled his eyes and purposely ignored the fluttering in his stomach at what she had implied.

"Sure, when the helpless woman isn't actually so helpless,"  Steve replied cheekily.  They both knew very well that Natasha could get away if she wanted, so the fact that she wasn't fighting him at all was both exciting and a little terrifying.

"Is this a special 100th birthday thing or is it going to become a new normal?"  Natasha asked.  Steve paused, not quite sure what she meant.  "Should women stay clear of you on future birthdays or is today just an exception?"  she teased, poking his ribs with her finger.

Steve jerked away, grabbing for her hand to keep it from continuing to poke at him.  She used her other hand to poke at him and he held both her wrists far enough away she could no longer pester him.

"They should really only be worried if they keep assaulting me,"  Steve told her.  He put both her wrists in one of his hands and used his free hand to poke her.  She squawked, a very un-Natasha like sound that made him grin.  He poked her again and she squirmed away only for him to pull her back and continue his attack.

"Stahp!"  she laughed, rolling out from under him to escape the incessant tickling.

She yelped as she fell off the bed, throwing her arms around Steve and accidentally pulling him down on top of her.  He stopped himself from landing on top of her, propping himself on his hands above her.

"Well, this is awkward."

Natasha sat up to look over Steve's shoulder and he twisted around to see Sam standing in the doorway with a cake in his hand.

"Oh, yeah,"  Natasha said, glancing at Steve then back at Sam.  "You can throw that at Tony.  Steve already knows we were gonna throw that at him."

"You told him?"  Sam whined, sagging visibly knowing he couldn't surprise Steve with a cake in the face.

"He attacked me!"  Natasha exclaimed in defense.  Sam frowned in annoyance.

"So you told him about the cake?"  he asked.

"Oops."  Natasha shrugged as Sam groaned and threw his head back.  He turned around and wandered out of the room, shutting the door behind him.  A few seconds later, the door opened again and Sam peered back in.

"By the way, I'm telling Tony about this,"  he said, motioning between the two of them.  Before Steve or Natasha could protest, he slammed the door shut and left them alone.

"This is your fault,"  Steve told her, looking back down at Natasha.  She frowned.

"How is this my fault?"  she asked, looking up at him in disbelief.  "You're the one that forced me into bed with you."

"You didn't fight me,"  Steve pointed out. 

Natasha opened her mouth to defend herself but came up empty.  Steve grinned down at her and kissed her cheek quickly before climbing off her.  He unwrapped the blankets from around them and laid them back on the bed while Natasha sat cross-legged on the floor and watched him.

"Steve?"  Natasha asked, watching as he dug through his closet for something to wear.

Steve hummed in reply, glancing over his shoulder when she didn't immediately say something.  She wasn't looking at him, staring down at her lap as she picked at her fingers, something she didn't often do.

"Nat, what's wrong?"  he asked, tugging a shirt over his head.  She looked up at him then, a quizzical look on her face.

"What?  Nothing,"  she answered shortly, standing up so she was no longer on the ground.  "It can wait; don't want to ruin your birthday,"  she teased. 

Steve gave her a look but she didn't drop the act.  He sighed and walked over to her, shocking her by reaching out and wrapping an arm around her waist.  Her eyes widened but she didn't pull away like he worried she would.

"Nat, what's up?"  he asked again, brushing her hair out of her face and tangling his fingers in her hair.  "It's gonna bother me all day and you don't want that, do you?"

He knew he was being a little unfair and manipulative by phrasing it like that, but she'd done the same to him before so he didn't feel too bad.

"What do you want from me?"  she asked, looking up at him more intensely than he'd expected.  "We go out together and flirt all day, but you never actually make a move and it confuses me about what you want from me."

The confidence Steve had seemed to have earlier suddenly disappeared and now was probably the worst time for it to leave.  It was easy to pretend things were normal between them when they were alone, wrestling and teasing each other.  He supposed he'd always known they'd talk about it eventually, he had just hoped he'd have more confidence than he currently did when the inevitable conversation came up.  Now, on his birthday, they were going to end up talking about things and he wasn't even fully dressed.  He really did have the worst luck with timing.

"This is why I didn't want to say anything,"  Natasha mumbled, gently pushing Steve's arms away from her and stepping back.

Steve snapped to attention, realising he'd been quiet for a while and Natasha was probably panicking.  He reached for her wildly, grabbing her arm even as she tried to evade him.  He didn't give her any time to think before pulling her close and kissing her.

Natasha tensed as his hands moved up to cup her face, but moments before he was going to pull away and apologise, her arms gingerly wrapped around his waist and she pressed closer to him, kissing him back.  Steve smiled against her lips and pulled back slowly, pecking her lips again before pulling back further to look at her.  The light blush on her cheeks made him smile and he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.

"Okay, so I wasn't expecting that,"  she murmured, ducking her head to keep him from seeing the blush he knew was growing on her cheeks.

"I can tell,"  he chuckled, moving his hands from her face to around her shoulders.  He hugged her tightly and rested his chin on top of her head.  "I'm sorry for confusing you, but you're kind of an intimidating person and I didn't want to scare you off."

"Do I look like someone who scares easily, Rogers?"  she teased, looking up and resting her chin on his chest.  Steve grinned.

"No,"  he admitted, running a hand over her hair.  "But you tend to disappear if someone even thinks about starting a relationship with you, so I played it safe."

"Yeah, well next time, don't,"  she advised seriously.  Steve smiled and nodded, ducking his head to kiss her briefly again.

"Yes, ma'am,"  he agreed.  She rolled her eyes and pulled away from him, pushing him towards his closet and telling him to put on some pants.

"I'm going to make sure Tony and Sam aren't pulling each others hair,"  she said.

Steve watched her leave his room then quickly pulled on his pants and followed her out of his room.  Even if the day had barely started, he was pretty sure this was the best birthday he'd ever had.