Part I

"It's been two years, Loki."

Loki heaved a sigh and looked at Sif with a warning look. She handed him a plate after rinsing the soap off and Fandral, Sif's husband, came up beside Sif to put a plate in the hot soapy basin of water.

"Sif, leave Loki alone. He is aware of how long his brother has been gone," Fandral said.

"That's not my point, F," Sif said and began washing the plate. "He's been pining for Jane all this time while Jane has been pining away for Thor."

"She loved him, Sif," Fandral said. "They were married. Of course she's…pining. She's grieving, Sif."

"Look, I love Jane, I do. She's part of the family even now and I accept her and I accept that, but what I don't accept is the face that Loki has put his life on hold along with Jane."

"Jesus Christ, Sif," Loki muttered. "You act like Thor was just a dog that died. He was her husband. .Who are any of us to put a time stamp on how long it takes to get over that?"

"And if it takes her another two years?" Sif demanded. "What are you going to do? Wait it out until she's ready to date and fall in love again and hope that because you've been there for her she'll choose you? What if she never chooses you, Loki?"

"Just butt out, Sif," Loki snapped and handed the dish towel he'd been using to Fandral. "I'm going to see if there are any more dishes."

"Loki," Sif said on a sigh.

But Loki didn't stick around to hear what else Sif had to say. He made his way out of the kitchen and into the living room. His father and mother were showing a couple guests something on the fireplace mantle and so Loki ducked into the dining room and found Jane collecting some dishes. "Jane, you don't have to do that," he told her and rushed over to help her.

"I'm not a guest anymore, Loki," Jane said with a little laugh. "I haven't been one for a while now."

"Still, my mother would throw a fit seeing you cleaning up," he told her as he knelt down and helped her pick up the forks.

Once the forks were on the plate again, Jane looked down and sighed.

"Jane?" Loki asked. "What's wrong, darling?"

She looked up at him and the solemn expression on her face gave him pause. "Loki, it being Thanksgiving and all, I just wanted to tell you how thankful I am for you."

He smiled tenderly. "And I am thankful for you as well, Jane."

"Uncle Loki!"

Loki jerked forward and he was forced to brace himself on his hands as his niece launched herself on his back. For a sprite of four she was certainly strong and spry.

"Izzy Odinson, do not do that to Uncle Loki," Jane reprimanded and got to her feet.

Izzy climbed off Loki, unfazed.

"Apologize," Jane told her.

"Jane it's fine," Loki said as he got to his feet.

"No, it's not fine, Loki. This is not the time for roughhousing."

"It's my fault she likes to roughhouse though," Loki said and ruffled Izzy's blond hair. "Isn't that right, Iz?"

"Yeah," she said with a grin and then ran off.

Loki looked down at Jane and grinned. "So I hear there are a lot of sales going on tomorrow. Not really sure what that's about."

Jane laughed. "Yeah, I've heard a rumor about that. I think Iz and I will be staying in and avoiding what is sure to be madness."

"Hey, me too," Loki said with a laugh. "So, how about I come over after for dinner? I'll bring wine."

Jane opened her mouth and then clamped it shut.

Loki arched a brow. "Unless you don't want me to come over?"

She looked up at him. "No, no, tomorrow night is perfect."

He grinned. "Perfect."

xxxxxxx

Loki didn't much care that Sif was concerned about him and his relationship with Jane, or the lack thereof as the case may be. Did he wish he could hold Jane in his arms? Of course. Did he long to kiss her? Most definitely. Did he fantasize about making love to her? All the time.

But he wasn't so stupid as to push for something she wasn't yet ready for. He knew how much Jane had loved Thor. He'd watched the two together during their two year marriage before Thor had been killed in a car accident. They had been deeply in love.

After, Loki had watched Jane fall apart and he'd made sure to be there in every way he could for her and Izzy. And for Thor. He and Thor may not have always seen eye to eye on everything, but Loki had loved his brother and knew Thor would have wanted Jane and his daughter looked after.

It was just that Loki hadn't planned on falling in love with Jane while doing just that. It had happened slowly, noticing little quirks and things he found endearing. And then one day it was as though someone had hit him over the head with a sledgehammer and he'd realized that he had fallen head over heels in love with his brother's widow.

But how could he tell her how he felt without scaring her off? She was in mourning. One didn't just get over the death of a spouse just like that. It took time and Loki knew that. Sure, two years was quite a long time, but as he'd told Sif, who was he or anyone to tell someone how long it should take?

She was doing well in every area of her life except for the fact that she had no interest whatsoever in dating. She had told him about some friends who had tried to set her up with a man here and there and Jane had flat out told them no. She was afraid, she'd admitted, and on some level she still felt as though she would be cheating on Thor.

With that in mind, how could he tell her how he felt? He was Thor's brother for crying out loud. He could just imagine how his parents would feel…and what about Izzy? How would they explain that to Izzy?

No, he was fine with how things were. Just fine.

Really.

Until she opened the door and smiled at him as he walked down the walk to her house. His heart swelled in that moment, the way the sun hit her caramel-colored hair, the way her eyes brightened at the sight of him. He convinced himself that her smile was his special smile and that she never smiled at anyone else that way.

Christ. He loved her. He loved her so much he ached with it.

Maybe he should tell her. Maybe he should risk it. One never got anywhere in life without taking a few risks, right?

But then the door opened again and out came a woman with long dark hair and a curvaceous body. Like a needle sliding off a record abruptly, everything came to a halt. This woman had ruined the moment and he hated her for it.

"Loki, this is Darcy Lewis, a friend of mine from work," Jane said, stepping between the two.

Darcy held out her hand. "Hello, Loki. Jane has told me a lot about you."

Loki looked at the woman's proffered hand and then back up at her face. He then looked at Jane. "If you were planning to have other people over you could have called me."

Jane laughed, that kind of fake laugh one does when they're uncomfortable. "Loki, no, it's not a problem at all. I just thought we could all have some dinner and wine. Iz is at your mother's for the night."

Loki was slowly putting the pieces together. This wasn't about Jane just having a couple friends over. This was about Jane setting him up with Darcy. He wasn't easily fooled by people, and could typically see right through any shenanigans. Something was definitely rotten in the state of Denmark.

What had brought this on?

He felt the earth tilt and there was a roaring in his ears. Had she overheard what Sif was saying in the kitchen the day before? Jesus fuck. If she had and then decided to do this…did that mean she was letting him know that he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell with her?

She touched his arm. "Loki? You all right?"

He nodded numbly.

"Great, let's go inside and decide what we want to eat," she said and they all trooped into the house together.

"I'll grab menus in the kitchen," Jane said. "You guys can just sit in here while I get them."

Loki was having none of that. He followed Jane into the kitchen while Darcy stayed behind in the living room. "Jane, what the hell is this?" he asked. She looked surprised to see he'd followed her.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "What are you—"

"Are you setting me up with this friend from work? Funny how I never heard about her until now."

She made like a guppy for a minute before narrowing her eyes at him. "So what if I'm trying to set you up? She's nice. She's funny and smart. She has a great body—"

"Do you want to date her?"

Jane shot him a look. "Why do you sound so angry with me?"

"Because I am."

"Why?"

"You overheard Sif and I talking in the kitchen yesterday didn't you?"

She pursed her lips together and went to the fridge to pull off a menu. "So what if I did?"

He was definitely pissed now. Not to mention hurt. He didn't answer her and instead went back into the living room. Darcy looked up and smiled at him. "Hey, sexy. Come to keep me company?" she asked.

"Darcy, you see like a very nice, if not a bit forward, woman," he told her. "However, you should know that I'm utterly in love with Jane. It would seem hopelessly too, considering the idea of being with me in any capacity is so abhorrent to her that she's decided to set me up. I imagine she'll have a lot to say to me now on the matter but that's fine because I have a lot to say to her. Do you mind leaving now so that she and I may chat?"

"Loki!" Jane exclaimed, coming up behind him. "Darcy, no, you don't have to go."

"Well, no, you don't have to leave Darcy, if you don't mind hearing me and Jane hash out our relationship," Loki said matter-of-factly.

"I'm going," Darcy said quickly and jumped up. She pointed at Jane. "Don't ever set me up again. Bye!"

She ran as though outrunning a fire. Loki looked at Jane pointedly and she glared at him. "You didn't have to do that," she told him.

"So I should have feigned interest in her to – what – make you feel better about not wanting me?"

"Loki, it's not that at all."

"Then what is it?" he demanded.

"I care about you so much and I don't want you to waste your life waiting on something I might never be ready for! You have been there for me ever since Thor passed on and I've taken advantage of that. I let you come here almost every day and never thought that you're missing out on your own life to take care of Izzy and me. We're fine now, Loki, I don't need you to do that anymore."

"I come here because I want to, Jane. I come here because I love you and I love Izzy—"

"We love you too, Loki."

Loki shook his head and raked a hand through his hair. He looked at Jane, tears in her eyes – and fear. He saw fear there, too. But he had to tell her. He had to or he never would. "I'm in love with you, Jane. I have been for a long time."

"Loki—"

"I don't care that you might not be ready for anything more. I'll wait. I don't care about dating. I don't want to date. I want you."

"I don't want you to wait. I don't want you to waste your life—"

"I'm not—"

"Yes, you are." Jane reached up and framed his face with her hands. "You're a wonderful man, Loki, and you deserve to have someone that sees how amazing you truly are. You deserve to be loved the way you want to be loved."

Loki leaned forward, intent on kissing her, but Jane moved her head away. "I don't want anyone else," he said in frustration. "Goddammit, Jane, I don't want to find someone else. I just want you."

"I'm sorry, Loki, but no," she said sadly and looked up at him with tears in his eyes.

She may as well have reached into his chest, pulled his heart out, and tossed it in the blender. He actually stumbled back as though she'd dug her hand in his chest and was attempting to do just that.

So of course he slid into anger.

"So what are you going to do then? Sit in this big house and wallow about what you lost? We all lost him, Jane, not just you. You going to pine away for someone that's dead? That will never come back? You going to store up all that love you have and smother Izzy with it? You're a coward, Jane Foster. News flash: Life goes on. Even yours. You can't crawl into his grave and die with him, but it appears that's exactly what you've done."

He wasn't even surprised when she slapped him across the face. He glared at her and stormed out. It wasn't until he was halfway home that he regretted every word he said and felt the tears of rejection stinging his eyes.