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Clint shoots arrow after arrow, hitting each target directly. He doesn’t know how long he’s been at the range for, but he doesn’t care. He needs to take his frustration out on something so he doesn’t start yelling at one of his friends. They don’t need to start thinking that something’s wrong.
“Mr. Barton, dinner is ready. It’s required you be present for team dinner tonight,” Friday’s voice speaks, finally getting Clint out of the focused state he’s been in for God knows how long.
“I’m not hungry,” Clint says, shooting another arrow. “Tell them I’ll eat something later.”
It’s quiet for a few moments as Clint goes to reset all of his targets.
“Sir, I’m afraid the team is insisting you be present. They’re not starting without you,” Friday alerts him.
Clint sighs. “Dammit, Friday. Grow a pair, and tell them I’m not coming to the fucking team dinner,”
Friday doesn’t say anything after that, and Clint feels bad for how he spoke to Friday, This is exactly why he’s been avoiding talking to anyone around the tower, so he won’t take his anger out on them.
Ten minutes later, Tony arrives at the range. Clint has already started shooting again. Tony sighs as he leans against the doorway, crossing his arms against his chest. “Hey birdbrain,”
Clint immediately turns, pointing his arrow directly at Tony. He sighs when he sees that it’s just Tony, and lowers the arrow. “Dammit, Tony. Don’t sneak up on me like that. I could have shot you!”
“Unlikely,” Tony replies, unphased. “You comin’ to dinner, or what?”
“Um, no? I already told Friday-”
“I know what you told Friday,” Tony cuts him off. “But, it’s a team dinner. Fridays are always team dinner, so you’re coming whether you’re hungry or not. Even Thor is here. Don’t make me bring Steve down, and I think that’s something neither of us want to happen.”
Clint’s eyes widen at the mention of his boyfriend. “Tony, you don’t understand-” He begins.
“I think I’m understanding perfectly. This has to do with Bucky, right?” Tony asks, raising his eyebrows.
“It’s complicated,” Clint mumbles. “And, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be around them right now, which is why I’m not coming to team dinner. I’m sure you’ll be just fine without me.”
“Clint,” Tony sighs. He walks over to Clint and grabs his arm, and starts pulling him out of the way. “Friday, lock the range. Bartin is not allowed to use the range for the rest of the night.”
“Done Boss,” Friday replies.
“Tony!” Clint shouts, and Tony doesn’t seem to care that he’s still in his training gear, with his arrows.
The two arrive at the common floor, and walk into the kitchen, where everyone is waiting for them. Steve looks over and frowns when he sees Clint struggling to get out of Tony’s grip. Steve can instantly tell that something’s going on with Clint, although he doesn’t say anything.
“Honestly, you couldn’t have let me take a shower first,” Clint huffs, finally freeing himself from Tony’s grip. “I’ve been at the range for hours. I’m sweaty, and probably stink terribly.”
“You smell fine. And, I don’t think I could have trusted you to come up when you finished said shower,” Tony rolls his eyes, and then he claps his hands. “Alright, team. Now we can start dinner.”
Steve watches as the team starts getting their plates ready, and then he walks over to Clint. “You okay?”
Clint looks over at Steve, trying not to tense too much. “I’m fine,” he lies quickly.
“We’ll talk later, when you can be a little more honest,” Steve says, gently squeezing Clint’s shoulder.
Clint instantly glares at him, but doesn’t get a chance to reply because Steve walks away and heads over to Bucky. Clint glances at Bucky, and quickly looks away when he sees Bucky watching him worriedly. Clint doesn’t want to be here right now, and desperately wants to run, but it’s not like he can really leave, so he heads over to Sam and Natasha, who are best at distracting Clint from his thoughts.
“What’s going on, Clint?” Natasha asks softly, she knows Clint better than anyone, even better than Steve, so Clint doesn’t even need to say anything to her to let her know that he needs help.
“I just need distracting tonight,” Clint mumbles, resting his head on Natasha’s shoulders.
“If you need me to beat up that boyfriend of yours, you know I will,” Natasha tells him.
Clint chuckles, and shakes his head. “No, you don’t need to beat him up. Not yet, at least,” he says. “Just… can I hang around you and Sam tonight?”
“Of course you can,” Natasha says, gently kissing his forehead. “You hear that, Sam?”
“Don’t worry, fellow bird friend. We’ve got you,” Sam says, gently patting his back.
Bucky frowns as he watches Clint, though he can’t hear what they’re saying. He looks over at Steve, and gently taps his shoulder to earn his attention. “What’s going on with Clint?”
“What do you mean?” Steve asks, glancing over at Bucky.
“Clint seems a little upset tonight, shouldn’t you be with him?” Bucky asks. “I’ll be fine by myself for a bit.”
“Yeah. I- I don’t know what’s going on with Clint. He’s been distant from me lately,” Steve admits quietly. “I’m gonna talk to him later, don’t worry. Let’s just give him some space right now, okay?”
Bucky slowly nods. “But, don’t forget to talk to him,” he warns softly, leaning against Steve.
Steve looks at Bucky with fondness in his eyes, and chuckles. “Don’t worry, Buck. I won’t forget,”
Clint grabs his pizza and a can of Pepsi, and heads over to the couch where Natasha and Sam are.
“Hey,” Clint blinks a few ties as he looks over and sees Bucky walking over to him. “Wanna sit with me and Steve?” Bucky looks hopeful, and Clint really doesn’t feel like being a third wheel tonight, but he wants to be with Steve and Bucky. He just feels so awkward coming between the two of them.
“I-” Clint begins. “I was going to sit with Tasha and Sam.”
“It’s okay, Clint,” Natasha’s voice comes from behind him. “You go sit with Steve and Bucky.”
Clint looks over at Natasha and frowns at him. “Nat-” He begins to protest.
“Go,” Natasha encourages him. “Sam and I will be just fine by ourselves. Go sit with your boys.”
Clint sighs, and looks back over at Bucky, before slowly nodding. “Okay,” he says, following Bucky over to the chair where Steve is setting up a place for him and Bucky. He looks over and stands straight when he sees Bucky with Clint. Clint can’t tell if he’s happy or not that he’s around him and Bucky.
“Clint’s going to sit with us,” Bucky tells Steve, grinning.
Steve raises his eyebrows at Bucky, and then looks over at Clint, and smiles. “That’s more than okay,”
Clint lets out a breath that he doesn’t even know that he was holding in. “Okay,” he says.
“Great. Clint, you sit beside Stevie,” Bucky says, pushing Clint closer to Steve.
“I-” Clint begins, looking over at Bucky with wide eyes. “I thought you-”
“He’s your boyfriend,” Bucky says. “Now sit down. I’m hungry, and that pizza smells really good.”
“You’re so weird, Buck,” Steve chuckles, before placing himself down on the couch. He looks up at Clint, and pats on the spot next to him. “You heard the man. Sit.”
Clint rolls his eyes, and then sits down next to Steve, finding himself unintentionally leaning against him. Steve’s always been warm, and gives amazing cuddles.
Natasha raises her eyebrows as she watches the three with amusement, before looking over at Sam, who seems to be doing the same thing that she’s been doing. “Honestly. What are we going to do with them?”
Sam looks at Natasha and chuckles. “Beats me. That’s a whole ass mess I don’t wanna get involved in,”
“New question. What am I gonna do with you?” Natasha shakes her head.
“Alright,” Tony begins as he walks into the living room. “Movies. Start throwing out suggestions.”
Everyone starts throwing out movie suggestions, even Clint. They do this for every team dinner.
“I heard Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Excellent choice, Sam,” Tony says, before taking a seat next to Rhodey. “Friday? Play the movie please.” He grabs his pizza, and makes himself comfortable.
Clint finds himself getting comfortable, sitting next to Steve. This is exactly what he didn’t want though, because he knows that Steve will most likely end up breaking up with him to be with Bucky permanently, and Clint doesn’t know if he’ll be able to handle the heartbreak, which is why he’s been distancing himself from both Steve and Bucky. He has to get used to not being with Steve everyday, like he’s used to.
Natasha looks over towards Clint and the two super soldiers, and sighs when she sees Clint and Bucky have both fallen asleep, but Steve is still awake. Clint’s now curled up beside Steve with his head on Steve’s chest, while Bucky is comfortably asleep next to Clint. The three fit perfectly.
Natasha glances around, and sees that everybody else is either asleep, or not paying attention.
“You gonna do something about Clint?” Natasha asks suddenly, startling Steve slightly.
“What?” Steve asks, quickly calming himself before he wakes Clint or Bucky. “What are you-?”
“I see what you’re doing, Steve, and I don’t appreciate it. Clint is a great guy, and he deserves more than what you’re giving him. So, if you’re going to break up with him to be with Bucky, then just do it already. Quit leading him on,” Natasha warns. “Clint is my best friend, and I will kick anyone’s ass if they hurt him.”
“What are you talking about?” Steve asks, frowning. “I’m not breaking up with Clint.”
“You aren’t exactly being subtle about your feelings towards Bucky either,” Sam mumbles, eyes closed as he’s curled beside Natasha, though fully paying attention to the conversation.
“I-” Steve sighs. “Okay. Yes, I have feelings for Bucky. I always have, since we were teenagers, but it’s not like I could do anything about it with how things were back in the forties. But, that was in the past, and now I have Clint. But, I still have feelings for Bucky. I just don’t know what to do. I- I really don’t want to hurt either of them. They’ve both been through so much shit in their lives. They both need me.”
“Well, you need to make a decision fast, because Clint-” Natasha begins in a serious tone.
“Christ, haven’t you people ever heard of polyamory?” Tony also speaks up, lifting his head up from Rhodey’s shoulders. “He doesn’t have to choose. If you want both, then you can have both.”
“Are you- what?” Steve asks. “Isn’t that a little selfish of me?”
“Not really, no,” Tony replies, shaking his head. “It’s obvious Bucky wants Clint too, and I’m betting that Clint would be more than happy to be with Bucky. Have you seen those together?”
“I guess I haven’t been paying as much attention as I should be,” Steve mumbles.
“Steve Rogers, you’re an idiot,”
Steve looks over and frowns when he sees Bucky’s awake now too.
“Shit. Buck, I didn’t mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep,” Steve tries.
“I’m fine,” Bucky assures him. “What Tony said is correct. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Clint, but… I’m not exactly good with words or emotions these days, you know?”
“Okay then,” Steve clears his throat, suddenly feeling awkward talking about his personal relationship with nearly half of the Avengers. “Then we’ll talk to Clint tomorrow. The sooner the better.”
“Thank fuck,” Sam says, earning a giggle from Natasha.
“You’re all the worst,” Steve groans, leaning his head back. “Why am I friends with any of you?”
“Because you love us,” Tony sings, smirking at Steve. “You’d be absolutely lost without us.”
Steve looks over at Tony and glares at him, and then he grabs a pillow and throws it at Tony, to which Tony immediately throws it back at him. It nearly hits Clint instead, but luckily Steve blocks it with his hand and it falls to the floor. Clint stirs slightly and clings onto Steve more, though he doesn’t wake up.
“Is he always that clingy?” Tony asks, watching with amusement in his eyes.
“Yeah, sometimes,” Steve replies, nodding, and then gently runs a hand through Clint’s hair smoothly. “Depends on what type of mood he’s in. Some days I can’t even hold his hand if he’s in one of those angry moods. But, I prefer when he’s clingy like this. It’s adorable.”
Natasha snorts. “If Clint heard you calling him adorable, he’d chew your head off,” she says.
The next morning, Steve finds himself being on edge as he waits for Clint to wake up so he and Bucky can talk to him about their relationship. He even goes for a longer run than usual to distract himself, although it doesn’t necessarily help. But, Steve wants to talk to Bucky and Clint, make things right.
It’s around ten in the morning when Steve finally makes it back to his apartment in the Avengers tower, where he finds Clint and Bucky eating breakfast at the kitchen table.
Steve frowns, and looks over at Bucky. “You started without me?”
Bucky looks up and gives him a pointed look. “Breakfast? Yeah. Your plate is over there,” he says, pointing over at the plate setting on the kitchen bar. “It should still be warm.”
Steve sighs in relief, and makes his way over to the kitchen bar to grab his plate, and then he makes his way over to the kitchen table, where he sits across from Bucky and Clint. He looks up, and can’t help but smile a little at seeing his two favorite people sitting like this. Steve wishes it could be everyday.
“How was your run?” Clint asks calmly, taking a drink of his coffee.
“It was good,” Steve replies, trying to remain calm. “Took a longer run. Sorry I’m late for breakfast.”
“It’s fine. Me and Bucky were just talking,” Clint tells him, giving him a small smile.
Steve relaxes, and after that, the three are able to maintain small talk amongst each other while they eat breakfast together. This doesn’t normally happen, but Steve hopes it will help with the conversation that he and Bucky need to have with Clint, which is a much more serious conversation.
“Thank you for breakfast,” Steve says after he and Clint put the dishes away in the kitchen. He gently presses a kiss to Clint’s forehead. He glances over and sees Bucky waiting for him, and then he places a hand on Clint’s arm. “Hey, do you have a minute?”
“I might,” Clint replies, looking up at Steve curiously. “Why?”
“Me and Buck wanted to talk to you about something important,” Steve tells him. Clint instantly tenses, which Steve notices almost immediately. “Hey, it’s okay. Relax. It’s nothing bad.”
“Cut the bullshit, Steve,” Clint snaps, surprising Steve by his harsh tone. “Just get it over with already, because I know you’re going to break up with me so you and Bucky can be together.”
“Clint, no, that’s not-” Steve begins, shaking his head.
“Actually,” Bucky begins, walking closer to Steve and Clint. “Quite the opposite.”
“What?” Clint asks, blinking a few times as he looks over at Bucky. “What are you talking about, Barnes?”
“Clint, trust me when I say, Steve isn’t going to break up with you,” Bucky assures him. “I mean, he’d be an idiot if he did that.” He smirks when Steve glares at him. “But, um, we do want to talk about us three-” He gestures between the three of them. “Do you want to go sit somewhere more comfortable and talk?”
“I-” Clint takes a deep breath, and slowly nods. “Okay.” He heads into the living room, where the three then settle themselves down onto the couch. “So, talk then?” He looks up at Bucky and Steve.
Steve sighs. “Clint, I love you,” he begins.
“But?” Clint adds, already feeling himself getting sadder, knowing where this conversation is going.
“What? No. There is no buts, Clint. I love you, so damn much. I also love Bucky. I care about both of you, and I don’t want to choose between either of you. I know that sounds selfish for me to say, and I’m sorry, it’s true. This came up last night when for some reason, the others decided to butt into our relationship, and Tony mentioned a little something called polyamory. Have you ever heard of it?”
Clint blinks a few times. “That where there’s more than two people in a relationship?”
“Oh good, you have heard of it,” Steve says. “So, you know where we’re going?”
“You’re telling me that you want us three, to be in a relationship?” Clint asks, and both Bucky and Steve nod in response. “I- I don’t understand. How would that even work? How could both of you want me?”
“Clint, how could you even say that? There are so many wonderful things that we both love about you,” Bucky argues, though his voice is soft. “I mean, we can name them if you want us to…”
“No!” Clint exclaims, earning a chuckle from Steve. “No, we don’t need to do that.”
“Clint,” Steve sighs softly, then he scoots closer to the archer and takes his hands. “I know it’s a lot, and it’s totally okay if you wanna take a few days to think about things. But, just know that we both love you and care about you. We both want you.” He squeezes Clint’s hands.
“I- I’m feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I need to think about this,” Clint says.
“Of course. Whatever you need. Just come talk to us when you’re ready,” Steve says softly.
“I’m- I’m sorry,” Clint says. He lets go of Steve’s hands and stands up. He glances at the two super soldiers before he hurries out of the apartment before Steve and Bucky can say anything else.
Bucky looks over at Steve with worry. “Did we do the right thing?”
“Absolutely,” Steve replies instantly. “Clint’s miserable right now, and I can’t let him continue like this, and this is the thing we all need right now. I just don’t know what will happen if Clint says no.”
“You’ll stay with him, obviously,” Bucky says without hesitation.
“Bucky,” Steve replies with a frown. “But, what about you?” He reaches over and gently grabs his arm.
“I’ll be fine. You’re still in my life, and that’s all that matters to me. Right now, we need to focus on Clint. And, he had you first. I’m not going to steal you away from him,” Bucky says.
“Well, technically… you had me first,” Steve mumbles.
Bucky rolls his eyes. “That doesn’t count. We were never official,” he mumbles.
“We were, we just couldn’t go public with our relationship,” Steve says, leaning back in his chair.
“Whatever. Let’s just hope Clint chooses both of us, so we can avoid any complications,” Bucky says, before standing up from the table. “I wanna go down to the range. Wanna join me?”
Steve grins. “Hell yeah. Maybe Natasha can come down and spare with me,”
Bucky blinks a few times. “You spare with Natasha? I thought you were against hitting a woman?”
“I am normally,” Steve nods, trying to hide his excitement of Bucky remembering something about him from their childhood. “But, Natasha is... something else. Just wait until you see her in action.”
“I’ve heard many things about the Black Widow. Haven’t gotten a chance to see any of you in action. Besides you, but it’s been a long time,” Bucky says. “Come on, now you’ve got me excited.”
Steve laughs, and follows Bucky out of the apartment. This will help keep his mind off of Clint for a while.
****
Steve and Bucky don’t hear from Clint for a total of three long and agonizing days.
Clint marches into Steve and Bucky’s apartment after the third day, finding Steve and Bucky getting ready to make themselves dinner in the kitchen. But they both stop when they hear the door slam open.
“Clint-” Bucky begins, his eyes widening in shock.
“I’ve made my decision,” Clint announces. “I’ve done a lot of thinking. Way too much thinking for my brain to handle, but I wanted to make sure that I made the right decision. I’ve had a lot of shiity relationships, and Steve is the first person to show that he really cares about me, and then you had to come along-” Clint points at Bucky, ignoring the way Bucky gulps at him. “And ruin everything in the best possible way.”
“Clint, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Steve asks, dropping the spoon he had in his hands.
“I fucking hate you both,” Clint grumbles before storming up to Steve and kissing him with all the passion that he has in him, surprising both Steve and Bucky. Clint pulls away from the kiss a moment later, and takes a deep breath as he stares at Steve. “Does that answer your question?”
Bucky stares at the two with wide eyes. “That was kind of hot,” he says.
Steve rolls his eyes fondly as Clint looks over at Bucky.
“Don’t think you’re being left out of this,” Clint whispers, leaning over and kissing Bucky as well.
Bucky instantly melts into the kiss, because he feels like he's been waiting years for this moment, even though that’s not true at all. Bucky’s not even known Clint that long, but that didn’t stop him from falling in love with the archer, and Bucky can’t help who he falls in love with.
Clint pulls away from the kiss. “Sorry I waited so long to do this-”
“We told you that you could take time to think about it,” Bucky reminds him.
“I mean, before all this happened. Natasha kept telling me that you guys had some sort of feelings for me, but I didn’t believe her, even though I was already dating one of you. Sorry Steve,” Clint mumbles, glancing over at the super soldier shyly.
Steve chuckles, stepping closer and wrapping an arm around him. “We need to work on your self-esteem, babe,” he whispers, kissing the side of Clint’s head. “We love you, so much. You have no idea.”
“I have a little bit of an idea,” Clint grins. Maybe they’ll have to take things slow at first, but Clint’s okay with that, and he knows that Steve and Bucky are okay with that too, and he’s grateful for that.