All it takes is one heartbreak to ruin a person's life.
For Loki Odinson, that heartbreak came early in life.
It was the beginning of freshman year. In early September, he'd been walking in the cafeteria alongside his older brother Thor, who was rambling on about something sports-related, when he was struck by the beauty of what he considered to be a goddess. A petite blonde sitting alone at one of the sticky round tables, she herself preoccupied with the contents of a thick novel. Loki, who never once understood love, was so shocked that he ceased moving altogether. He only snapped out of his daze when Thor grabbed his elbow and pulled him along so they could sit with the latter's friends. During the rest of lunch hour, Loki continued to stare at the girl.
Later in the month, Sif caught on to Loki's behavior in the cafeteria and gave him valuable information. Her name was Sigyn. She was the same age and in the same grade as Loki. Her grades were amongst the top five in the grade, higher than Loki's were at the time, despite her first language not being English, but a different, European language. (Sif noted that with the amount of rumors spread around their school, it was no surprise that the actual language Sigyn spoke was unknown.) Her hobbies didn't seem to venture from reading and studying, although it was speculated that she had some kind of hidden artistic talent. She didn't seem to have any friends, but it didn't seem like she minded. When Thor and the three other over-sized, obnoxious boys at the lunch table were in the middle of a heated debate over who was the strongest, Sif whispered in Loki's ear advice for how to get her attention.
So the next day, before school started, Loki purposefully picked a fight with Thor and continued to pretend to be enraged with his brother during their lunch hour, so he'd have an excuse to not sit at their usual table. Instead, he approached Sigyn and tapped her shoulder. The blonde jolted and looked up from her book, large baby blue eyes staring back at his jade green orbs.
Just his luck, he noticed the title of the book she had been reading: Lodsen og hans Hustru (The Pilot and His Wife) by Jonas Lie.
"Jonas Lie. En av den Fjerde Store. Han er en utmerket forfatter," he said with a smile. Sigyn's eyes grew even larger. Her lips parted slightly.
"Du snakker norsk?" she asked.
"About as well as I speak English," Loki replied. He took this as an opportunity to sit down beside her. His messenger bag slid on the floor beside hers with a loud plop as he became immediately engrossed with Sigyn. "How about you?"
"English isn't my favorite language to use," she admitted, making a small face that made Loki laugh, "but the language barrier is worse."
"Du trenger ikke å bekymre deg for det med meg," Loki purred. Sigyn blushed a bit, and during the rest of lunch, they talked in Norwegian and bonded over several things. Right as the bell rang, they exchanged phone numbers and promised to call - yes, call, not text - each other after school.
He thanked Sif later for setting them up, then apologized to Thor for his unnecessary behavior earlier that day.
The rest of his freshman year revolved around Sigyn. They spent as much time as they could together. She was always welcome over the Odinsons' home; Frigga, his mother, was thrilled that one of her sons had a lovely girlfriend (especially one who spoke Norwegian, as did the whole Odinson clan), and Odin, his father, was grateful that Loki was able to date, after the shock of Loki having a girlfriend before Thor wore off. Unlike other couples, they spent their time not trying to be as sexual as possible, but lied in bed (fully clothed, and never under covers unless it was too cold inside) and talk for hours about whatever came to mind. Once in a while, they said nothing and held hands with shy smiles on their faces. It was young love at its finest and strongest.
Then in May, something hit them both: Sigyn's family would be moving back to Norway in July.
Neither knew how to handle this. A break-up seemed out of the question, but the distance in their relationship was overseas, something they both knew was going to bring nothing but pain to both of them. One night, Sigyn crumbled under the stress and pressure and broke down in Loki's arms, causing the equally emotionally distressed boy to cry with her.
They chose to remain to friends. Before her leaving was official, Loki kissed her for the first time. It was short and chaste, but everything they were afraid to say out loud was known by the short touching of their lips. That innocent kiss led to them making love in Sigyn's room.
They promised to write to each other every time they had a chance. The day before Sigyn left, Loki confessed his love to her in a very lengthy letter and sent it, hoping it'd arrive in Norway not much longer after she settled in. The day she actually left, he received a letter in the mail. Apparently, she had the same idea as him.
That day, Thor cancelled his plans with his friends and sat with Loki in his room, holding his brother and letting him cry in his arms until he fell asleep. Never had he seen his brother so hurt before. Never again did he want to see Loki so destroyed by love.
Through letters, Loki and Sigyn kept in touch. He learned that he had impregnated Sigyn, and that her parents refused to let her return to America so they could raise the child together, or let him come to Norway, either. Every other month, he'd send whatever money he had to help support Sigyn and their son, Nari. In return, she'd send updates about their son's growth and accompanying pictures. He had a scrapbook filled with photos of Nari.
No one, not even Thor or Frigga, knew about his son.
Finding out was a complete accident.
Thor and Loki were applying online for jobs around their area, yet neither boy knew their social security numbers well enough to type them. The documents were in Odin's office, a place very few dared to venture, other than Frigga, of course. Loki was less afraid of being caught than his brother, meaning he had to go into their father's sanctuary and locate their social security cards. He searched through the filing cabinet, each of the four drawers containing the records of the family members. He went through his first, the bottom drawer, and found the documents with his social security number on it near the bottom. When he slid the papers out, a manila folder beneath them caught his eye. Curious, he pulled it out as well and peeked inside. Then read them. Then reread them. Three more times.
Suddenly his entire world came crashing down.
"FATHER!" he bellowed as he stormed downstairs into the living room. Odin and Frigga, who had been watching a George Romero movie, both turned at the sound of their youngest son with confused looks on their faces.
"Loki, why are you yelling?" Frigga asked with concern.
The dark-haired teen held up the folder. "Would someone care to explain what this is all about?" he hissed. Both of his parents froze at the sight.
"Were you snooping in my office?" Odin demanded.
"You aren't in any position to question me, Odin!" Loki threw the folder on the ground. His adoption papers scattered around the room. Both parents froze momentarily, before Frigga picked them up hastily, while Odin continued glaring at his son with his one eye.
"This wasn't how you were supposed to find out," he admitted. "We were going to wait until you were older."
"How much older, Odin? I'm nearly sixteen now, is that not old enough?" Loki cried. "And did you not think of the consequences beforehand?"
"I certainly did not expect this much of a histrionic reaction!"
"My response to this information is completely reasonable!"
"Don't you backtalk me, I am your father!"
"No, you're not!"
"Loki, sweetie, please, calm down," Frigga begged. She set Loki's papers on the coffee table before collecting her son in her arms. "You're upsetting all of us, especially your father."
Loki shoved Frigga away. "That man is not my father!"
"If he's not your father, than I'm not your mother!"
The boy paused to let her words sink in, before growling, "You aren't my mother." Frigga gasped and choked back a painful sob.
"How dare you address your mother in such a way!" Odin boomed. "Who do you think you are?"
"I have no clue who I am, seeing as I have lived my entire life as a complete lie!"
"What is going on?" Thor demanded as he entered the room. "I heard shouting."
"Did you know?" Loki asked.
"Know what, brother?"
"Did. You. Know?"
Frigga sighed shakily. "Loki has discovered his adoption papers in your father's study." When Thor paled, Loki knew the answer to his question.
"Are you serious?" he whispered. Then, at a much louder volume, shouted, "Are you fucking serious?"
"Loki, language!" Odin warned.
"Brother, you must know how sorry I am that you found out this way," Thor apologized. "You should understand how your adoption means little to how I value you as my brother. It changes nothing."
"No, Thor, this changes everything!" Loki cried. He pointed an accusing finger at each family member. "You all were set to let me live a life as a naïve ignoramus, weren't you? Let me live in the dark until the light diminishes completely? Was that your goal all along?"
"Loki, darling, please -" Frigga began.
"Quiet, Frigga," the raven-haired boy hissed. At that moment, Odin snapped. He grabbed his younger son by his neck and threw him onto the floor. Frigga shrieked and bawled at her husband's reaction, shouting at him several obscenities before crumbling on the floor like a young child. Thor, however, responded by shoving his father away from Loki, soon leading to a fist-fight between the two large men.
Loki remained still on the floor, watching his life shatter before him. He tried closing his eyes. Maybe it was all a terrible dream, and soon he'll wake up in his bedroom and learn that everything is all right.
Tears fell from his eyes when he reopened them.
Less than a year later, Loki found himself staring at the face of another Odinson: Baldur. So many relatives cooed over the baby. How the baby had some feature of Odin or Frigga's. How the baby looked like his big brother - Thor, not Loki, the sour teen reminded himself. He refused to watch after or give the baby the time of day. Baldur was just another reminder that he would forever be the black sheep of the Odinson family.
