Chapter 1

It was 8:48AM when Tony Stark was woken up by his Black Sabbath ringtone. His head was pounding and his mouth was dry from the hangover he was dealing with. Who in the hell is even up this early, he thought when his brain registered the time shown on his phone. Of course, it was none other than Loki Odinson, presumably just back from a morning run by his heavy breathing.

"Hey, Stark?"

"Loki…? The hell is wrong with you? Do you realize it's like… before 9 on a Sunday morning? Why are you even up?"

"Sorry… did I wake you up? I just got back from a run… I didn't even think about you being still in bed…" Of course…, Tony grumbled internally.

"Well, Loki, what's up? Is it important because you kinda woke me up and I'm not exactly sober at the time, so… if this can wait until I can function properly, that'd be great…" Tony tried not to sound too cross with his future roommate, but he knew he was failing at that. Miserably. He also knew that Loki would understand.

"Yeah, sorry. I just wanted to let you know that I found a futon for our room and since you already have a microwave, we just need a fridge…"

"Oh… 'kay. I think I might be able to get my hands on one of those. I'm going to go back to sleep now though. Like a normal person. So, I'll call you back when my head doesn't feel like it's being pulverized okay?"

"Yes, of course, that's fine. I'll talk to you later I guess then…"

"Ok, sounds good Loki…"

"Oh and…. Tony?" Loki's voice came out hesitant, although Tony figured that was probably just a figment of his hangover-induced headache.

"Hmmm?"

"I… I miss you." Loki's voice was almost a whisper at this point and Tony didn't catch what he said.

"Mkay, Loki, goodnight," and with that Tony hung up, rolled over in his sheets, and fell asleep.

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Loki looked at his phone after Tony hung up for a few moments before tossing it on his bed across the room. He did feel bad for waking his friend up, but he'd really been hoping to get more of a conversation out of him. He wasn't surprised though, he knew that Tony wasn't built to wake up before 11AM on a weekend. Running his hands through his hair, he gingerly lowered himself onto his desk chair and exhaled heavily when he felt a dull pain coursing through his lower back and hip.

Without having to look at the skin beneath his shirt, he knew that it was a violent combination of red and purple. Various other bruises were dotted on his legs and arms, but these ones were smaller and he didn't notice them with his attention focused on the painful one on the left side of his back. Although he wouldn't have told Tony, this was the real reason Loki wanted to talk with his friend… needed something to get his mind off of the previous night.

Loki was outside with Clint and the two of them were carrying a dark green futon from the back of Clint's truck to the Odinson's garage. The crunching of stones informed the young men that Odin's black Porsche rolled up the driveway, bringing the man and Frigga back from the symphony. Clint immediately started frowning. He knew that he was still not looked upon kindly by Odin for supposedly "corrupting" his younger son. They hurriedly got the futon settled in the garage and said their goodbyes while Loki's parents went inside.

Loki closed the garage door and made it halfway through the garage to the house when Odin slipped out the door. His eyes narrowed and Loki would not meet his gaze.

"What did I tell you?" Odin hissed through clenched teeth.

"We weren't doing anything; he was just helping me with the futon. Besides… if you recall, he's dating Natasha now." Loki replied coolly, an almost-smirk playing on his lips. A sharp crack rang through the room and the pain took Loki completely by surprise as Odin dealt him a swift backhand to the face. He saw stars for a second and could feel blood trickle from his parted lips.

"You dare talk back to me? I've had enough of your insolence, Loki. While you reside under my roof, you will abide by my rules, and under no circumstance is that foul boy allowed on my property." Odin spat at his son.

"Luckily, not for very much longer…" Loki half whispered. Unable to bite his tongue, the words spilled from his lips before he'd even realized what he was saying. Two hands suddenly bunched the collar of his shirt and threw him forcefully against the wall. His back and hip collided with a heavy shelving unit, bringing it and its contents down with him. Containers and tools rained upon his head and he raised his arms to protect himself.

Pain exploded in his side and wherever falling debris made contact with his body and Loki curled in on himself in an attempt to lessen the pain. He didn't have to look up to know that Odin had already left, the retreating footsteps and slamming door all without saying a word almost hurt Loki more than the physical pain. Almost being the key word. He knew that his father previously had few positive feelings towards him but this… this was crossing into new territory. Even the time his wrists were bruised by the older man's fingers wasn't this bad, and he'd even gotten an apology from Odin then. That was him grabbing Loki too hard on accident. This… this was something different all together and Loki didn't know what to do.

He sat on the floor of the garage for a long time; the sound of his breathing was the only thing keeping him company. It was only after he was sure the rest of his family was in bed that he gained the will to move from his spot. His muscles ached and he could feel the dull pain of multiple scattered bruises begin to set in. Jiggling the doorknob, he discovered it was locked. Eyebrows furrowed, he dug the spare key out from an otherwise empty coffee can that had fallen on him and opened the door to the cold, dark house.

Loki tiptoed to the bathroom to clean up. His face was pale, as usual, except for a couple of forming bruises and a raised line of skin across his cheek that was dotted with blood; a scrape from something that probably fell off the shelf. Dried blood was on his lips and streaked down his chin and his eyes were brimming with unshed tears. Shoulder-length black hair was disheveled but he paid it no mind while he ran the water and carefully washed away the blood on his face. Unfortunately the bruises would take more time to heal, an ugly reminder of his father's unexpected rage.

Returning to his room, the first thing he saw was the screensaver on his open laptop. It was a slideshow of pictures from his freshman year of college and the one he walked in on happened to be of him and his future roommate. Tony Stark. It was a picture Natasha had taken of them. Loki was talking to the other, a smile on his face and his hands animated in the effort of storytelling. Tony's head was thrown back in a laugh that showed most of his teeth and crinkled his nose.

The photo gave Loki a strange, new feeling in his chest and for the first time ever, he considered telling someone about the situation with his father. That feeling was short-lived, although he still desperately wanted someone to keep his mind off what had happened. Realizing it was after 3:00AM, he decided to try to sleep and call Stark in the morning. Left alone with his thoughts and nobody to distract him from them, he was kept up tossing and turning all night. It was four long hours later when he decided to forget trying to sleep and go for a run, just to get out of the house. He changed quickly, slipped out of the house quietly, and when he ran, he finally let himself go to the world of music and the road.