Loki combed his fingers through his hair and glanced over to the clock. 11.30pm. Tony was four hours late for their dinner. The waiter walked over again, Loki had lost count of how many times, and asked if he'd like to order something. Loki politely shook his head as he stood up and gave the man tips worth enough to dine at a restaurant as posh as this everyday for a whole month. He didn't need the money anyways, they were meant for dinner, the dinner he didn't have. It shouldn't never have to be this way, but Loki was disappointed to say that it was an occurrence he was starting to get used to.

He flipped up the collar of his coat and pulled it close to his body to shield himself from the strong, cold winds as he walked back to the tower. Half of him already knew what to expect, the other half was lost. Another gush of wind hit his face and Loki had to pull the coat over his face to prevent the biting pain. The street was littered with bright decorations for the season, and it was crowded with people shuffling together.

Maybe Loki only saw what he wanted to see, but he couldn't peel his longing gaze away from couples huddling together or holding their hands tightly. His hand instinctively went for a grasp, but all he caught was the cold winter wind. He sighed, Tony wasn't with him, so why was he disappointed when there wasn't another pair of warm hands in his hollow grasp? He was being stupid, he chided himself, stupid and naive.

He took the long route home by choice, avoiding the issue that was about to present itself. First time it happened, Loki addressed it harshly. Yet a second occurrence followed by the third, a fourth and soon Loki began to ignore the problem all together. Maybe this was how it was meant to be.

Loki inhaled deeply as he pushed the front door open and hesitated slightly before hitting the floor number in the elevator. It'll come, in time, no matter how much he didn't want to acknowledge it. Tony hanging at the bottom of the thinning thread as Loki desperately tries to pull him up towards him.

The strain was felt on both ends, except Loki had to support both his and Tony's weight. Loki's fingers are getting weaker as the force tugging between them grows stronger, and he fears that one day, the string will finally snap. And Tony and he will no longer have need for each other.

The elevator doors opened, revealing a quiet, dimly lit common area. There was no greeting from Jarvis, nor did the room light up when he stepped into it. Loki lets out the breath he had been holding. Throwing his damp coat onto the floor, Loki dragged himself into the bedroom, exhausted from a reason Loki couldn't think of.

The door to his room was ajar, and Loki's eyes lit up with hope. Perhaps Tony had a surprise installed for him? But even he wasn't one to remember dates. His heart hammered in his chest in anticipation. Until it was dashed by a soft thud of something dropping onto their carpeted floor together with quiet, overlapping panting that Loki failed to catch before. Then someone moaned lewdly. The hand on the door handle clenched tightly as Loki steadied his breathing.

He didn't understand why he was upset, afterall, this was what he had expected. It was the usual, he should have been numbed to it. This, after all, had been on his mind for the entire evening. It was a part of Tony's reputation, a word he had used to freely to describe himself, a term the world was accustomed to. Loki closed the door and went to fetch his coat once more. Angry tears flooded his eyes but he refused to let them drop. At least not here, not where someone else was occupying his place in his sheets. Tony brought people home to bed all the time; Loki let him be.

This was the first time Tony had brought them into their bed. Not the guest rooms; Loki would tolerate as much as he could if Tony screwed anyone over in the other rooms, but to bring them into the space where he had once lovingly shared with Tony…

The wind had picked up since he entered the building a couple of minutes ago and rain had began to fall. Loki watched the dark sky, his coat still in his hand, and with the rain, hot tears began to drip down his face. He was angry at himself for being so emotional, angry at himself for being too conscious, angry for the things that had happened and for the reasons they happened. Sentiment, it was something Loki often said was what made humans weak. Loki was angry at sentimentality.

It was then Loki felt the string snap with a powerful tug that jerked his body forward. Kneeling in the rain, looking down at his empty hands and tears rapidly falling from his face was not a sight Loki expected to see from himself. Yet here he was, in the crowded streets of New York city, crying out for the things he should have kept closer to himself.

The string had snapped and Tony was too far to reach. And the one truly falling was Loki himself.

"It was supposed to be our first anniversary. " Loki said to no one in particular. Loki fumbled in his pockets and pulled out his phone and the keys to the tower. Loki stood up shakily and entered the building once more, hopefully for the last time. He handed the goods to the receptionist, and a surge of emotions rushed through him. This was it. There was no turning back.

Loki exhaled deeply as he stepped through the large glass doors of the Stark Tower. From this moment on, Tony Stark and Loki will have no relation to each other any more than a stranger would.

He just didn't know what else to do.


A/N: Reviews are always welcomed.