All mistakes are mine.

Darcy followed Loki back to his bedroom, a tightness on his back told her it wasn't going to be an easy conversation. She was drawing her own conclusions and they weren't pretty, but she thought she had it; the reason why Loki was fighting with his parents, or as the little evidence presented to her told her, not his parents.

It all made sense in her head, the fact that Loki looked nothing like his parents, Thor looked very much like them but not Loki, she experienced it herself when she thought Loki was going to be a mini version of Thor not the dark hair guy that she wouldn't pick out of a line up to be Thor's brother. Loki's words of being sent back from where he came from, clearly the words of someone who thought they didn't belong.

Darcy was shaken out of her thoughts when Loki opened the door to his room and motioned her in, she didn't hesitate to sit on the bed and take off her heels, a sigh of relief on her lips.

Loki chose to sit on the leather desk chair, as far away from her as the room would allow him to go. He was flexing his hands, something she recognized as a nervous gestured because she had seen Frigga doing it while they were talking in the dining room. She had a fleeing thought that Loki would be a great argument for nature versus nurture before Loki turned to look at her.

"You weren't going to tell me." But then they both knew he never planned too, she was an annoyance for his parents, something to throw at their faces.

"No, but I wager you have already figure it out." Loki gave her a small bitter smile.

"No, it didn't take me that long to get it." She suddenly felt very cold, a numbness settling somewhere in her chest.

"It took me thirty one years." Loki was looking at the closed laptop on his desk, hands firmly planted on his lap. "Thirty one years of not...feeling like them, of being like them. I used to get looks from other people, they knew and I didn't."

She always got an odd feeling when she remembered she wasn't the only one in the world who suffered, the few times she bothered to go to a psychologist she had mentioned the odd feeling and the kind woman had recognized it as shame. She had nothing to be ashamed of, not of her selfish feelings and certainly not of her own suffering so she brushed off that explanation and the kind woman along with it.

"I'm sorry." Because she didn't have anything else to say, what else could she say?

"It's a very odd thing to know your entire life is a lie." Loki continued, like she hadn't talked at all. "They were never going to tell me you see, they didn't want me to feel different but I am different, I'm not like them. I was meant to be their dirty little secret forever. But that's the thing about secrets, is it not? Secrets never stay secret."

She wanted to cry for him, felt it was the right thing but she hadn't found the tears to cry for herself in a long time and for more than she looked, she couldn't find any for him either.

Loki didn't say anymore, lost in his pessimistic thoughts.

Darcy knew now was the time to pull out, get out while she still could but she recognized some of herself in that sad, pathetic picture Loki painted. There would be repercussions when everything was over, when she was back in her own world, Loki would still be here facing his parents, on his own.

"I'm not leaving, I should but I'm not. I'm going to stay and help you." Her words seemed to shock Loki because he turned to give her a startled look.

"I...would appreciate it." Loki's face broke into a genuine smile and she thought it might be good for him to smile like that more often.

She decided that for the next couple of days that would be her mission, Loki's smile would be her number one priority.

Loki was kind of enough to close the blinds in his room and let her sleep, she slept in the uncomfortable dress because getting up and looking for pajamas sounded stupid when she was already in the bed, she did have enough thought to take out her contacts first though.

She was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth when she woke up, she didn't remember covering herself with the comforter when she fell asleep but there it was, looking for the culprit she found him sitting besides her on the bed on top of the covers, laptop balanced on his knees.

Darcy watched him while he worked, he was close enough that he was only blurry around the edges and she could hear the tip tap of the keyboard keys, he was a fast typer and his long fingers moved elegantly across the keyboard.

"What you doing?" To his defense Loki only jumped a little at her question even if she thought he had to be more startled than that, Darcy let out a small chuckle.

"How long have you been awake? You could have just said so." There was still light pouring from behind the curtains, an unfriendly reminder that the horrible day still wasn't over.

"I just did." She moved to sit up and hissed when the metal in her bra poked her, she disregarded Loki's gaze as she undid her bra all while leaving her dress to cover the goods.

"Women have the neatest tricks." He said, once she had popped out the bra from the front of her dress.

"Hell yeah we do." She reached for her purse on the bedside table, fishing out her glasses.

She leaned back into the enormous pillows and enjoyed the sensation of a bed she would never be able to afford. She had taken her out her phone along with her glasses totally intending to check her facebook, but the bed was so damn comfortable she leaned back and closed her eyes again. Loki didn't say anything, he simply went back to his laptop the tip tap of his writing coming back.

Darcy found it super weird how comfortable this was, she wondered why there wasn't more embarrassment between them, deep talk aside the situation was unconventional to say the least and by all means taking off her bra in front of him should not have even crossed her mind. Yet, here they both were, like they had shared a bed a million times before.

"It is late? Did we miss dinner?" She asked, eyes still closed. If luck was on her side he would say yes.

"It's close enough to dinner time, however my pa-Odin and Frigga had a prior engagement with some of his business associates. So we are not expected for dinner." He hesitated with his parents names, and she wanted to make a comment on it but that would probably not be well received.

"Oh thank God, I don't think I could've survived more time with them. Odin has the whole scary pirate look down. Does that mean we have to fend for ourselves?" Because as much as she looking forward to not wearing the uncomfortable dress anymore, the thought of having to look through a stranger's kitchen was not pleasant either. She hoped Loki didn't expect her to cook for him.

"No, Thor is making dinner." Which if the apprehensive look sent her way was anything to go by, it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Darcy was able to change before Thor called them down, she sighed in relief when she took off the dress and switched it for some jeans and loose t-shirt, Loki told her to not bother with shoes since no one else would bothered anyway. Loki himself was only wearing socks once they descended down the stairs.

Dinner was more lively than lunch had been, though it wasn't that hard to top the frosty lunch. They ate in the living room, watching some corny cartoons since the two little devils were in the room and the food wasn't as bad as Loki made it seemed, Thor did confessed everything came out of a box though.

Ethan and Erik cornered her for candy as soon as dinner was done, Jane gave her a mock disapproving look but Darcy just shrugged before taking two jolly ranchers out of her pocket. Two jolly ranchers couldn't do that much damage anyway.

The time listening to Thor and Loki tell stories of their childhood was nice, Loki looked relaxed sandwiched between Ethan and Erik who looked at him with rapt attention as he told a story of the two little boys who broke a Christmas tree. Thor laughed from his spot on the couch as Loki's story continued to get more wild by the second.

The spell was broken at, ironically enough, midnight when the front door opened and two shadows passed in front of the living room from the dark hallway.

They all quietly said their good nights, Thor carrying a sleeping Ethan while Loki carried Erik, the two little devils falling asleep somewhere between the story of the spilled eggnog and the story of the evil snowmen.

She had enough time to claim the giant private bathroom in Loki's room before he came back, grabbing whatever she saw first in the drawer Loki had claimed was just for her sleepwear, god forbid she mixed them with anything else. She skipped the underwear, Loki and her were sharing the same bed but she liked to sleep in the nude and the shorts and tank top were a compromise to not make Loki feel uncomfortable, not that she would tell him he she wasn't wearing panties.

Darcy took her time in the shower, silently cursing herself when she realized in her rush she forgot her toiletries in the small carrying on bag on the floor of the closet. Having no option, she used Loki's shampoo and conditioner and thankfully they weren't too heavy on the 'manly' aromas.

Loki's bathroom had a towel warmer rack, something she had only seen in movies, but worked wonderfully well because the towel on it felt like a fluffy warm marshmallow.

Loki was on his laptop when she got out of the bathroom, sitting on the bed like he had before already dressed for bed, though he was more appropriately dressed than her in his pajama bottoms and white polyester shirt.

"Bathroom's free, but I still have to brush my teeth!" Darcy grabbed her bag from the closet and returned to the bathroom, taking out everything so she wouldn't have to shower with Loki's stuff again. Loki brushed his teeth as she settled her stuff around, for a second she felt weird invading the entire bathroom since she also had her make up, creams, hair accessories and appliances with her. Loki didn't comment though and she shrugged it off before grabbing her own toothbrush and toothpaste. She noticed Loki used a whitening one while hers was for cavities, she wondered if that meant something.

They brushed their teeth in silence, before Loki rinsed his mouth and walked out. Once Loki was gone she used the chance to finish her night routine and wash her face, she decided against drying her hair and went to join Loki in bed.

There was a sizable space between them, each at their own end of the bed. Darcy played on her phone while Loki kept on writing on his laptop, the tip tap soothing to her ears and drawing her to sleep.

She felt soft fingers brushing hers as her phone disappeared from her hand and the sudden warmth of the comforter covering her shoulders, and settled into a content sleep.

She woke up first.

The first hints of sunlight were peeking through the dark green curtains, drawing the room into a soft light. She could hear distant chirping and the soft giggles in the hallway from two little devils who were already causing trouble.

Loki was snoring softly behind her and she turned her body to face him, realizing too late that Loki was closer than he appeared. They were practically face to face, if she moved another inch she could touch his lips with her own, she felt the blush in her cheeks at the thought and squashed it away in favor of looking at Loki's serene sleeping face.

Darcy didn't know how long she stayed like that, just looking at him and praying Loki didn't move an inch closer. They were close under the covers too, his body heat reaching hers and making her body hyper aware.

It was a relief when Loki's eyelids started to flutter, something inside her warned her to move away but she stayed firmly where she was. During her Loki gazing she discovered she hadn't moved from her spot, Loki had and maybe she felt a little smug about it.

Loki looked adorably confused for a second, only backing slightly when he noticed how close he was to her.

"Morning." She gave him a cheeky smile, his cheeks tinted with pink and she tried to laugh at him.

"My apologies." His voice was hoarse, but he wasn't moving away and they just kind of stared at each other until little fist pounded at their door.

"Uncle Loki! Aunt Darcy! Get up! It's time for Christmas tree!" Two loud voices chorused, Darcy was confused at her title and Loki raised his eyebrows in equal confusion.

"What does a gold digger wear in cold weather?" Darcy asked much later, when she was staring blankly at her clothes in a complete lost.

"I'm told gold diggers are immune to cold weather." Loki told her with a smirk as he debated on his own clothes.

"Well fuck, I'm going to freeze to death then." She did have two outfits selected for the outing, one was another dress but that felt too much for going to have a kid friendly place. The other was skin tight skinny jeans and a shirt a size too small that would definitely make her boobs spill over. It didn't matter which one she wore, she would be cold either way.

She decided on the second outfit if only for the jeans and because it allowed her to wear her flat boots and she was taking her comfort where she could get it, even it meant being happy about shoes. She over exaggerated her make up like the day before, switched her glasses for contacts and curled her hair until perfect little ringlets fell down her back.

Loki was wearing a navy button down shirt and black slacks, he looked effortlessly cool and elegant, and warm. She might have been bitter about it.

"You look great." Were Loki's first words when he saw her in her tight outfit.

"I can't breath and I'm pretty sure my organs are squishing each other." She miscalculated on the shirt because it was too tight and she knew if she moved too fast she would rip it open.

Loki opened his mouth to say something else but shut it just as fast, he shook his head and motioned her to the door.

They went down the stairs together, by the noise near the door they were the last one to arrive. Ethan and Erik were jumping in excitement near the door, Thor and Jane were talking quietly and to Darcy's horror Odin and Frigga had their eyes planted firmly on her.

Loki had his hand on her back, moving up and down in a statement of silent support. Darcy sent them a big smile, Loki's hand never stopped moving.

Loki's parents stopped looking at her and she almost sigh in relieved except the shirt was making anything more than basic breathing a little hard, they rounded up Ethan and Erik and left the house in a flurry of disbelief and disappointment.

"Hey Loki, you're driving us today." Jane told him with a kind smile, she was wearing more layers and seemed prepared to face a blizzard. Darcy was, once again, bitter.

"That's alright, here." Loki helped her into her coat and she was grateful that is warmer than it looked.

"How you holding up?" Jane asked as they waited for Loki to pull his car from the side garage, Thor going back inside for his forgotten phone.

"Fuck Jane, what did you get me into? If I wanted this much family drama I would've stay home and watch all those crappy dramas in my netflix queue." The cold was seeping in through her coat and she already done with the entire day.

"My list." Jane said softly, guiltily if Darcy was any judge.

"What?"

"They changed it from queue to my list." Darcy was only a little surprised Jane would use netflix not to talk about the actual situation.

Thankfully Loki chose that moment to pulled up and Thor came out, closing the door behind him. Thor guided both of them to the car, opening the back door but before Darcy could get in he motioned her to the passenger seat. Before she could get go around and get in, Loki got out of the car and guided her to the passenger seat before opening the door and closing it after she gotten in. Thor did the same for Jane and then both brothers circled around the car to go to their respective spots.

She turned around to give Jane a 'what the hell' look but Jane just smile and shrugged.

"Was that worth the trouble?" She had to ask.

"Thor and I went to etiquette school." Loki told her, as he started pulling out of the huge driveway.

"Of course you did." Because of course two kids of influential parents would go to etiquette school, the only time she had been taught to be proper was when her foster mom would slap her hand away when she was trying to grab a cookie.

After that there was silence, but since she was in the passenger seat instead of Thor there was less fighting about the music and more fighting about the way the heater was too low. It looked like Thor and Loki always found something to fight about, but since she didn't have any siblings and therefore no frame of reference, she didn't know if it was because they were brothers or if it was just a Loki and Thor thing.

The tree lot was vibrating with color as little figures in colorful outfits ran from around the trees, the small parking lot to the side was full but they found parking thanks to the jolly man dressed as Santa Claus who was guiding traffic. Loki made her wait in the car as he went around to open her door, and she and Jane shared an amused look when Thor went around to do the same.

"Does he always do that?" She asked as the brothers circled around the car for a second time.

"Yeah, it's still as thrilling as the first time." Jane said happily as Thor opened her door and held out his hand to help her out.

Darcy could see what Jane meant she said it thrilling, because she been told time and time again that boys were suppose to be gentleman. The first time Loki had helped her she had been a ball of nerves, the second time she was amused by the whole thing, because people didn't do that anymore but now she wasn't nervous or amused, she wanted to see if she found as thrilling as Jane.

To her utter amazement, she did. It was thrilling when Loki offered his hand to help her out and he way he made sure to hold on to it while he close the car door with the other, and it was very thrilling when he moved the hand from hers to the small of her back and guided her to the front of the car where Jane and Thor waited for them.

A part of her, the feminist one, was upset at liking it but she decided to brush it off because the trip was hell enough, she was going to enjoy as much as she could of it.

"We must move before Ethan and Erik find a tree before we do." Thor looked intense and he was quick to pulled Jane to the entrance of the tree lot.

"What was that?" She asked as Loki walked them to his own pace.

"They have a competition with the boys, whoever finds the perfect tree first gets to decorate it however they wish."

"This isn't one of those cutesy things where you let them decorate it even if you win, is it?" Darcy could see Thor entering the tree lot, Jane stopping at the entrance to talk to a guy behind a wooden stall.

"Oh no, we are far too competitive for that." Loki gave her a smirk as they catch up to Jane, who seemed to be lock in a whispered fight with the skinny Santa Claus behind the stall.

"I know you have them in the back." Jane whispered furiously at the Santa Claus.

"Listen lady, I told you all the trees we have are out here. We don't hide trees." Said the skinny Santa Claus in a desperate voice.

"Jane." Loki said in a stern voice.

"Fine, but this isn't over." Jane dusted off her jacket and went inside to join Thor.

"And that was?" Darcy was beginning to realized that even the family by marriage was crazy, though she always suspected crazy tendencies from Jane.

"A desperate attempt to win the competition, Jane doesn't want transformers as Christmas decorations you see." Loki lips twitched but he held back the laugh he obviously wanted to let out.

"Who came up with this bet?" Even as she said it she knew her answer, because if Loki convinced the little devils to TP their own house he could convinced them of this too. Loki gave her a beaming smile as if to confirm her thoughts.

The tree lot wasn't big enough to miss Ethan and Erik hanging on their grandmother's hand, while their grandfather inspected a tree.

"Whose side are they on?" Darcy asked, noticing how good Frigga was at keeping the little devils in check. Loki was quiet for a minute before he answered.

"Not mine."

It was a heartbreaking answer, one that seemed inappropriate in a crowded tree lot where kids played among the happy adults. Darcy wanted to say something, anything empathetic rather than sympathetic but her own suffering was so different than Loki's that empathy wasn't an option.

She was saved from answering when Ethan and Erik spotted them and ran away from their grandparents to them.

"Uncle Loki, will you help us pick a Christmas tree?" Ethan and Erik asked together in perfect harmony, something Darcy still found creepy as hell.

"No, you know I'm not allowed to interfere." Loki told them, some form of forced cheer in his voice.

"Aww, please? Looking with grandpa is boring." Erik whined and Ethan nodded in solemn agreement.

"Well, I'm not part of this bet. I can help." Darcy told them, she didn't mind transformers as decorations. Maybe they would add a little flair.

Ethan and Erik cheered and each grabbed one of her hands to her to the trees, Loki trailing behind them. Darcy was enjoying the time spent with the little devils, her shoulders lost some of the weight she had given herself ever since she agreed to the whole charade and she was more than happy to kneel and whisper to the boys about the perfect Christmas tree.

The search proved more difficult than she imagined, it turned out that Loki had set guidelines to the perfect Christmas tree. It had to be at least eight feet tall but no more than ten, the perfect triangular shape was required, the bark had to be perfect and have no cuts in any way and Odin would have to approve it. The last one was the most difficult since there was no way Odin would approve a tree she chose.

Loki seemed content to follow them around as they looked, sometimes he would wander off to look at a certain tree but would come back closed mouth and empty handed.

Ethan and Erik became less cheery as time went on and Darcy knew they would have to find a tree soon or risk two cranky kids, she looked back at the tree she had been spying since they started their hunt and decided maybe it was the only one that would make the cut.

"My Christmas senses are telling me, that one is the perfect Christmas." She pointed to the tree and Ethan and Erik let out a cheer as they ran towards it.

"Have your Christmas senses ever been wrong?" Loki questioned her as they started walking towards the tree.

"Once, but in my defense I didn't know he was allergic to mistletoe." The kiss had been good even if the trip to the hospital hadn't.

Loki looked shock by her answer before he started to laugh, it was a pleasant sound and Darcy was glad to hear it. He gave her a look while he laughed and her stomach twisted into something good because of it.

The tree was fine, it was barely eight feet but by the triumphant yell Thor gave from across the lot, it would have to do. Loki called two of the workers and had them haul to tree to the front where Odin and Frigga waited. Thor and Jane standing next to a pretty looking tree.

Ethan and Erik ran towards their parents, happy words about their parents' tree leaving their mouths. Darcy smiled warmly because they were kids and everything was obviously a big adventure to them, which is why she knew that even if they lost the twins would still be happy to have a tree to decorate.

Darcy still wanted the twins to win though.

"Isn't like so pretty?" She said in a cheerful tone, big smile on her face. She could feel Loki's questioning gaze but ignored it.

"Ethan and Erik were so good but babe found the tree, like he just knew, you know? That it was like, the perfect tree and stuff." Loki had said they didn't care, but she was willing to bet they did care, maybe if it was just a little.

"Did you? That's great Loki." Frigga told him with a warm smile and Darcy was happy to be right, even if it was just for a second.

"Indeed." Loki put his hand around her waist and squeezed, an obvious threat that told her to shut up.

"I believe the boys have done a better job of finding us a Christmas tree." Odin said, in a tone that forbade any argument. Darcy wasn't sure he had even looked at the trees.

Darcy didn't dare look at Jane while Thor paid for the tree and while the workers loaded up the tree on top of Odin's car and she for sure didn't run for Loki's car after the tree and the little devils were ready to go in Odin's car.

"You're going to pay for this." Jane told her threateningly, once she was inside the car.

"I didn't do anything." Darcy said, buckling her seat belt and ignoring the fact that Loki and Thor were quiet about the whole thing.

"Babe saw, he just knew." Jane said in a mock tone of Darcy's voice.

"Jane, do you think maybe you're taking this too seriously?" Which she thought was a fair question, Thor muttered an 'uh oh' from the backseat and Darcy knew she was screwed.

"Do you know what's going to happen? We're going to get back and the boys are going to dig up every toy they have and dump it on that tree, and then you know what's going to happen? Every year from here on out, your babe won't let us forget that one year we had freaking Sponge Bob as a Christmas decoration. And not even a Christmas Sponge Bob." Jane lost steam as she gave her mini rant and by the end she was leaning back, eyes closed and whispering the words in despair.

There was an awkward silence, only reinforced by the cheery Christmas song singing about family and friends on the radio.

"I was really hoping for transformers." Darcy said in mock sadness.

Jane groaned from the back and Loki only swerved once after he started laughing.