Chapter 1: Your Walls Are Up; Too Cold To Touch It

I was curled under my covers, all the blinds closed so no light came in. I wasn't in the mood to be dealing with anyone today. I don't even think Thor noticed my mood, and he normally picked up on when I wasn't really myself. He simply got up, dressed, and acted like it was another day at Stark Tower. Though I did pretend to be asleep.

The moment I was sure Thor was far enough from our room, I used my telekinetic energy to shut the door.

I wanted quiet.

Closing my eyes, I tried forcing myself to go back to sleep. I wanted to have a nice dreamless sleep and just have the day pass by without anything going on! It wasn't a lot to ask for, but I wouldn't have minded it.

Except I couldn't go back to sleep. My mind was spinning with all these thoughts and memories and heartache. Why? It was fifth anniversary of my brother's death. Out of the five years my brother, Damien, had been dead, I'd never felt this bad about it before—at least not for a few years. I had gone to therapy to help with the depression—it got bad at some points and I was terrified on what I'd do—but lately, I've been able to handle the depression and any other negative emotion that came with it.

But for some reason, I felt like absolute shit.

Maybe it's because everyone else is so happy, I thought solemnly. It's just another day for them.

It was something to consider.

I snuggled further into the blankets, burying my face into my pillows.

A soft knock on my bedroom door made me silently groan. "Go away," I called.

"Zelda," Thor's door rang out, "I brought you breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

Before I even had a moment to react, the door was thrown open and I saw Thor standing there, balancing a tray of food in one hand. I groaned, pulling the blankets over my head. "I'm not in the mood," I muttered.

I heard Thor's heavy footfalls come into the room before I felt a dip on the side of the bed. Thor gently removed the blankets from over my head and gently brushed some of my dark brown hair away from my face.

"Today is his anniversary," Thor murmured. I looked up at him. "I remember you talking about it. I wanted to figure out something to help you keep your mind off it."

"It's fine," I sighed. "Thanks anyway."

Thor adjusted himself on the bed so he was sitting against the headrest with me laying my head across his lap. For a couple minutes, neither of us said anything. Thor gently brushed hair away from my face and I tried figuring out ways to keep myself occupied. That was when I really started to smell the food that was brought in.

"Are those pancakes?" I asked, looking up at Thor.

He nodded, the corners of his mouth turning up into a small smile. "Sam made them," he murmured, brushing his hand against my cheek.

I felt something stir in my chest. "Do they have bananas and pecans?" I murmured, squirming a little. He nodded again. Sam made the best banana pecan pancakes—so when it came to his turn to make breakfast, whenever he visited, I always asked if he could make them for me. Sam found my appreciation for his cooking to be humorous and heartwarming, so he'd always say yes.

Slowly sitting up, I stretched a little before Thor handed me the tray of food. I felt a childish happiness bubble up in me when I saw how many Sam had made fore me.

"I asked him to put extra pecans and bananas in them," Thor rumbled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

I gave the demigod a slight smile. "Thank you," I murmured. "I'll have to thank Sam, too."

O.O.O.O

By the time I finished breakfast, Thor somehow managed to convince me to join him and the others in the rec room. Thor took my dishes and told me to wait for him while he washed them.

"Why're we going to the rec room?" I murmured. I had one of the blankets wrapped around me, not having even bothered changing out of my pajamas.

Thor looked back with a smile as he put the last of the dishes away. "Stark said something about showing a film to Steve," he said.

It had become custom to show Steve as many movies and television shows—whether modern or classic—as possible. So far, Steve had gotten himself entangled into the Harry Potter series. While there was some arguing on having Steve see the movies before reading the books, or reading the books before seeing the movies, Steve said it didn't really matter to him which he did first. Somehow it ended with the films being first, the books second.

I followed Thor to the rec room, where the lights had been dimmed and everyone had found a comfortable place to sit somewhere in the room.

"Nice of you to join us," Tony exclaimed, feigning exasperation. "Now we can get this party started."

Sitting beside Sam, I kept my blanket wrapped around me while Tony got the movie set up.

"You OK?" he murmured, nudging my shoulder.

"I'm getting there," I sighed. "Thanks for the pancakes. I really loved them."

Sam chuckled. "Anytime," he said.

Thor sat next to me after a moment. I leaned my head on the demigod's shoulder and we all quieted when the movie started. It ended up being a better distraction than lying in bed all day.

Author's Note:

If this was weak or poorly-written, I apologize. Let me know if there's any way I could improve it. Otherwise, I'll continue with this the best I can.

Nothing in 'Marvel' is mine. All I own are my characters and the air conditioning in my home.

For anyone who hasn't read my Thor story 'Counting Stars', I'd suggest reading that and then possibly reading the Avengers sequel 'Let the Flames Begin Rewritten'. While there may not be a lot of Thor/Zelda moments in those stories, it kind of gives an idea on how their relationship got started and how it's progressing.

The little title that came after Chapter 1 is from the song 'Love Lost'. After each chapter heading, I'll have a little song lyric, though I have a feeling it probably won't matter to you guys.

If you guys decide not to read my Zelda stories, I'll give you a brief description on my OC, Zelda Benningfield.

1. Zelda is a telepathic/telekinetic Mutant.

2. Her parents kicked her out of the house after finding out.

3. She's good friends with Jane, Darcy, and Selvig.

4. She is an Avenger.

5. Zelda, at this point in her little series, has limited control over her telekinesis.

6. Zelda's appearance: dark brown hair; medium build; she's in decent shape; brown eyes; relatively pale skin; tiny compared to the others.

7. Her older brother, Damien Benningfield, died in the Military [he died from Stark's weapons].

8. Read the stories to find out more.

Before I wrap this up, let me know if you've got any ideas on future one-shots for this story. I'll be happy to include them.

Leave a kind and helpful review, please!

Thank you.

Susan Strong