A/N: Thank you so much for all the great reviews! You guys are the reason I keep writing. As I promised, I have finished chapter 3 and 4 :D I hope you enjoy, and as always please review and favorite and whatever :D I love hearing from you guys :3
Chapter 3
"Happy Birthday Darcy!" I nearly started crying of happiness when I walked into my apartment. There were people everywhere. My parents, Jane, Tony and Pepper were at the forefront of them all. Behind them stood the rest of the Avengers and (shockingly) Agent Coulson and Nick Fury. The rest of the crowd was people that I barely knew, but was still happy to see. I scanned the apartment and saw dozens of smiling, laughing, talking people and my heart swelled with warmth. Nobody had ever planned a surprise party for me.
After the initial shock of it all wore off, I decided find the party planner. I confronted Jane, Pepper and my mother at the same time. "I know one of you had to do all this. Just tell me which one of you it was so I can proceed to hug you violently." They all looked at each other an laughed at some sort of inside joke. Pepper spoke first, "We didn't do anything, Darcy." Now I was thoroughly confused, "Well then, who did?" Jane said, "Please direct your violent hugs to the man with the arc reactor heart." Tony Stark planned my perfect birthday party? I turned around and spotted him talking to Steve and Bruce. "Tony!" I yelled across the room. He looked up at me and just as my face lit up, his resembled a deer in headlights.
I charged at him as he shielded himself behind Bruce and Steve. They moved out of the way at the last minute and Tony was left to catch me as I jumped into his arms and hugged him...hard. "Dude, you are the best person ever!" I said laughing. "Well you deserved at least a little party for your twenty-fourth birthday," he said trying to act like it was nothing. "This is the best party I've ever had! Every person that I could possibly want is here…" I said as my mind trailed off to one person that wasn't at the party.
A couple weeks had passed since the night at the club. You're mine now, Darcy. Those words had been seared into my brain, along with every single detail of his face. I could never, as long as I lived, forget the way he looked at me that night, or how I felt about him. But, since that night, I haven't seen or heard from him...at all. I know he works at SHIELD now, mainly so they can always keep an eye on him, but it bothers me that I haven't seen him once. "Loki," I whispered to myself.
Tony must have known who I was thinking about, "I invited him. I promise I did. He said that he wouldn't be able to make it to the party, he had a prior engagement." I sighed deeply and smiled, "It's okay, Tony. I understand. I'm more than happy with who showed up." Well, that was mostly true. It still hurt that...he...didn't seem to care. Pull yourself together, Darcy. You have more important matters to worry about than moping over some stupid guy.
Overall, the party was absolutely wonderful. Everyone ate and drank and had a great time. I had too many presents to count and the cake was HUGE. It was taller than I was (which isn't really saying anything. I'm only 5' 3") and looked like a rainbow had vomited on it. I didn't even want to think about how expensive a cake like that had to be. After they forced me to cut the cake, people started making speeches. For some unfathomable reason, everyone who knew anything about me decided to center their speeches around the most embarrassing moments of my life. From my mom telling childhood stories to Jane spilling the names of every guy I have ever had a crush on...most of them were in that room. (Note to self: Keep Jane away from the alcohol.) It was when Tony started talking about when I fell out of my chair after seeing...Loki...for the first time that I actually started contemplating murder.
The party ended around 2:30 in the morning and by 3 o'clock I was completely alone in my apartment. I was slightly tired but not exhausted. My body ached so I took a bath. The water was wonderfully hot and relaxing. I let the water works it's magic on my body, not caring if I looked like a prune. I felt so good that I actually started singing. It was time to get out when I could barely hold my eyes open and the songs were being slurred together. I wrapped a huge black towel around my body and went to my room to change into the most comfortable clothes I had: an old Green Day concert shirt and bright yellow pajama pants. By now I had become too exhausted to stand so I curled up on my bed, without even pulling a blanket over myself, and I was asleep in seconds.
I awoke a few hours later wrapped in a blanket burrito and smelled coffee. I didn't remember covering up and I definitely didn't remember setting the coffee pot. I managed to get out of the bed and noticed a piece of paper on my pillow. It was handwritten; I had never seen more beautiful writing. I apologize for not coming to your party. I'm sure you were breathtaking. I made coffee for you and left a small present on the counter. I'll see you soon.
I had to remind myself to breathe. Although there was no signature, there was no doubt in my mind as the origin. Loki was here...in my apartment. He watched me sleep. Why didn't that bother me? I lingered on the last words. I'll see you soon. With the paper clutched to my heart, I walked into the kitchen and fixed a cup of coffee. I looked down at the counter and saw a little box wrapped in black with a green bow on top. I carefully tore open the paper and slowly opened the box. Inside was the most gorgeous jewel I had ever seen.
It was green. Actually, it was the exact shade of green as his eyes. It was about the size of a dime, meaning it was definitely noticeable. A chain was attached to the jewel so I put it around my neck. It was cool against my skin...much like his fingers. I went into the bathroom to see what it looked like and I was speechless. It was the most beautiful necklace anyone had ever given me. He was totally forgiven for not coming to the party.
I remembered the note said he would see me soon, and if he was then I needed to look more presentable. I jumped in the shower and washed my hair. The promise of seeing him again made me excited and nervous all at the same time. I spent more time fixing my hair than I have ever spent in my life. I wanted it to look perfect. When it came to makeup, I decided to go with the same look I had that night at the club. Hair and makeup done and a towel still wrapped around my body, I went to dig through my closet for something spectacular.
And spectacular it was. I chose a black button-up shirt that I left unbuttoned just enough to show off my boobs (which were being enhanced by my new totally awesome bra) and a pair of dark skinny jeans. I made sure that his necklace situated perfectly on my chest. Yes, I was showing off my -ahem- assets just a bit but I wanted to look nice for him. Now I'm not the type of person that compliments themselves but damn I looked sexy. If I was a totally gorgeous god of mischief, I wouldn't be able to resist me.
A few minutes later there was a knock on my door. My heart immediately started fluttering and I had a huge smile on my face. I tried to calm myself as I walked to the door. As gracefully as I could manage, I opened the door...and almost cried. "Pepper! What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" My words became a jumbled mess of shock and disappointment. I invited her in and we both sat on the couch.
"Yeah, everything is fine. Tony left on a business trip this morning and he won't be back for a few days. I just wanted someone to talk to," she seemed a little depressed, so I asked her if everything was okay between her and Tony. "Oh yeah, he's great. He took me out to dinner a couple of times and he's been more romantic lately, but I just worry that this - whatever this is between us - won't last. You know how he is with women," she sighed. I grabbed her hand, "Pepper, Tony loves you more than anything. He would be lost without you. Yes, I know how he is with women but I also know how he is with the people he loves. He would never do anything to hurt you, he loves you too much. Just be patient with him and, if you have to, make a move. Don't leave everything up to him." She smiled and hugged me, thanking me for making her feel better. I offered to let her stay here and hang out for a while but she said she had other things to do.
I let her out the door and sighed, relieved that she never questioned me about my choice of clothing. By this time, I was getting pretty hungry, I had completely forgotten about breakfast in my quest to look good for Loki. I rummaged around in the kitchen for something satisfactory, but eventually settled on a fried egg sandwich. I was relatively calm while I was cooking...until I felt something cold brush against my neck and chest, right where the necklace rested. Naturally, I freaked out. Said freaking wouldn't have been so bad, if it wasn't for the fact that when I screamed I also dropped the cup of coffee I was drinking. The hot drink easily soaked through the thin shirt and burned my skin, effectively unleashing an ungodly stream of curses from my mouth.
I immediately ripped the shirt off my body and ran to the bathroom to cool my skin. I placed a cool rag against my bare (except for my bra) chest and sighed with relief. Not bothering to put another shirt back on, I went back to the kitchen to check my eggs and clean up the mess. I knew it wasn't customary to walk around without a shirt on when you were expecting an extremely sexy god of mischief to appear at your door at any moment, but right then, I didn't care if the man appeared out of thin air right in the middle of my kitchen.
"Do you normally walk around your apartment half naked? Because if you do, I'll be sure to stop by more often." I heard the silky-smooth voice behind me and shivers went down my spine. I slowly turned around and found myself staring into the emerald green eyes of Loki. As usual, staring into his eyes put me into some kind of trance where my only thoughts were of him...stripping...slowly and what he would do if I licked every part of his delicious body.
"Oh fuck me sideways," I said when I realized that Loki was standing in my kitchen, and I was in my bra. He laughed and said, "Well I would, but I thought we should get to know each other first." That comment threw me over the edge and I screamed, "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK LOKI?! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO COME INTO MY HOME, WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, WHEN I AM HALF NAKED?!" He just stared at me as I yelled at him, "So if you were fully clothed, you wouldn't mind me being here right now?" I screamed and walked back to my bedroom without saying anything.
I knew exactly what shirt I wanted to wear. I pulled on a tight black tank top and eyed myself in the mirror. It hugged my body and showed off my chest in a good way. Yes I still wanted to look sexy for Loki...so sue me. I walked back into the kitchen, but he wasn't there. Disappointed, I fixed my sandwich and a new cup of coffee and went into the living room. It was there on my couch that I found Loki, absentmindedly going through the movies on Netflix.
"And here you are going through my TV," I said as I sat as far away from him as possible on such a small couch. He suddenly looked very serious, "I'm sorry for invading your privacy, Darcy. I must say though, I do prefer your previous attire to what you are wearing now." I looked over at him and saw that he was smirking. "So you're saying that you enjoyed looking at me in my bra?" He laughed and simply said, "What man wouldn't?" I took a sip of my coffee and said, "But, you're a god, not a human." Suddenly, Loki was standing right over me; his face mere centimeters from mine and he whispered in my ear, "Trust me, Darcy. I am a man." He planted a kiss on my jaw and vanished.