Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Pairing: Loki/Darcy. Thor/Jane. Others mentioned.
Summary: Darcy should know that one-night stands never stay that way. Especially when said one-night stand is her best friend's soon to be brother-in-law. And best man to her maid-of-honor. Awkward. AU.
Everything is relative
vii.
I will remember your face
Because I am still in love with that place
When the stars are the only things we share
Will you be there?
Benjamin Francis Leftwich- Atlas Hands
She wakes up on her bathroom floor. Her body is exploding with pain (tiles are seriously uncomfortable), her head feels heavy and her mouth is dry. She looks up and sees Natasha sitting against the bathroom wall, staring at her. She gestures her head to the bottle of ibuprofen and glass of water and Darcy struggles to get up, but when she does, she takes a couple pills and downs them with water. "Thanks." She says, her voice hoarse.
Natasha shrugs. "You okay?"
Is she okay? No. Probably not. It takes her a minute to remember what happened and when she does, she grimaces because, holy fuck, she was never that girl. She promised herself that she would never become that girl. And crap, she's seriously got to stop drinking alcohol. Darcy knows this is a lie. She'll probably drown herself in booze tonight at the wed-"the wedding." She says and she groans as her joints pop when she stands up. "We need to get ready for the wedding."
Natasha nods, "calm down, we're going to be fine. What I want to know is if you're going to be fine."
"Why wouldn't I be?" Awesome, Darcy. Play dumb. Like that'll work. Especially against Natasha.
The older woman rolls her eyes, "Darcy-"
Darcy shakes her head and then stops. Oh, she needs more ibuprofen, quite possibly a shotgun. "It doesn't matter. Today isn't about me and my dramatics. Today isn't even about me period. It's about Jane and we have to go. Like three hours ago."
Which, okay. Darcy can do this. She can get through this entire day with breaking down. Man up Lewis, Jane is counting on you.
Jane looks to be nearing tears when Darcy and Natasha walk through the door. Pepper, Frigga, Sif (retract claws Darcy, now is not the time) are all there, rushing around the apartment. When Jane catches sight of Natasha and Darcy, she breathes deeply and then promptly bursts into tears.
Darcy winces, drops her bag and garment bag, crosses the room in three strides and envelops Jane is a large hug. "Jane, why are you crying? You're getting married!" Think positive, stay happy. Everything will be alright.
"What if I'm making a mistake? What if Thor decides I'm not good enough? What if I'm not the wife-type? I don't even know how to be a wife!" Jane blubbers, "what if one day Thor wakes up and realizes he's made a big mistake?"
Oh, self doubt, I can so work with this, Darcy thinks to herself. She unwraps herself from Jane and slings an arm over her shoulders. "He's not." Darcy says softly.
"How do you know?"
"Because Thor loves you. He would do anything for you. He would probably kill himself if he knew you're doubting him."
"I love him." Jane confesses, "I love him and I'm scared because I don't think I've ever loved anyone this much before in my life."
Yeah, Darcy knows all about that. And it sucks. Love really fucking sucks. Crap, think positively Darcy. "And he loves you just as much. Want to know how I know? Because he's moving to New York City for you. Everything he's doing right now and for the rest of your lives is for you. He's going to put a ring on your finger and promise you forever and you're going to take it because it's kind of disgusting in a really sweet way how much you two love each other. I mean, stories are written about you're love. It's like Romeo and Juliet, except with a happy ending. Because that shit was just sad."
Jane laughs and rubs at her eyes. "I'm a mess."
"Kind of." Darcy admits but then she smiles because holy shit, her best friend is getting married. Like soon. "But you're the bride and you're allowed to have a mental breakdown." They're silent and Darcy lets Jane lean into her for more support. They don't pay attention to the other women in the room and Darcy kisses Jane's temple. "You ready to get married, boss lady?"
Jane nods. "Yeah." She turns her head and looks at Darcy. "I honestly have no idea what I'd do without you."
"Live off of pop tarts and really shitty coffee, of course."
Darcy is putting in her earrings when Jane emerges from the other room. Darcy is speechless. Tears sting her eyes and she huffs them away. "You look beautiful." And she does. Jane looks like a goddess. She's wearing a simple long white dress, no frills, it's just simple with exquisite beading around the chest and straps. Natasha comes out from behind her and grins. "Christ Jane. You're getting married."
Jane lets out a laugh and nods. "I know. It's crazy and I just…wow." She looks at Darcy. "How are you? Everything's been so hectic, I feel like I haven't even been paying attention to you-"
"You're not supposed to." Darcy reminds Jane. "This is about you."
Jane shakes her head. "No. No. I'm worried because I know that you really really liked him and I just…how are you?"
And because Darcy can't lie to Jane, she opts for the truth. Her shoulders deflate and she sighs. "Humiliated. Embarrassed. Shocked. Numb. I don't know. Take your pick. I just…I have no idea what got into me and I just flipped right? I lost my cool and it hurts. It really fucking hurts because all I can think about are the what ifs and damn, who am I going to have awesome sex with now? And it's just-no. No. I'm not doing this. Not now. Not here. What's done is done." She waves her hand through the air, signifying that she's done with the conversation (heart, hey you, the thing that keeps trying to jump out of my chest? Stop it. You don't get to have a say).
Darcy claps her hands, "Now, who's ready to get married?"
"Thank God for cooperating weather." Darcy mutters to Natasha as they pull up in front of the building.
Jane frowns. "Darcy, what are we doing at work?"
Darcy grins. "You'll see." She ushers Jane into the elevator, laughs and smiles at the security guards who shout their congratulations. As soon as all the women are on the elevator, Darcy takes a deep breath, glances at Jane and presses the R button.
"Why are we going to the roof?"
No one says anything and it takes a couple of minutes to get to the top but those couple of minutes has Darcy making sure that Jane's bouquet is okay and that her dress is still in one piece. As soon as the elevator doors slide open, they see Clint and Steve; both look dashing in their suits and their matching grins. They get out of the elevator and they follow the two men out the door.
It works out better than Darcy expects. The sky is dark, the stars shining and the sliver of crescent moon hangs over them. There is a warm breeze, signaling the hail of the coming summer and Darcy has to hand it to herself. She's a fucking pro. The chairs are white with rose petals littering the white cover on the cement. It's a simple wedding. Exactly what Jane wanted. At least Darcy hopes. She takes a glance at her boss. "What do you think?"
Jane is shocked, her mouth open and she smiles brightly. "You did this?" She asks.
Darcy nods. "Well, we all had a hand in it."
"She's lying." Natasha says, "it was all Darcy, we're merely pawns."
Darcy rolls her eyes, "fine. It was all me. I figure because you love stars and Thor loves you and it's small, just a close gathering and-Jane-Jane, say something." Oh God. Did she screw this up? Of course she screwed this up. Darcy manages to screw everything up.
"It's beautiful."
Or, maybe she's not a complete screw up.
Darcy smiles, smoothes Jane's hair and nods towards the makeshift altar, where Thor is standing, hands clasped and eyes bright as he looks at Jane. (Only at Jane. Only ever at Jane). Next to him is a tall handsome man with black hair and green eyes and he takes Darcy's breath away. She feels her heart flutter and she wants to kiss him. Or take him onto the elevator and pull the emergency stop button and have her way with him.
She doesn't. Instead, she gives Jane a nod and a squeeze on the arm and walks down the white aisle covered with rose petals and takes her place on the other side.
She can feel Loki looking at her. She can feel him staring and it takes Darcy all she has not to return his gaze.
Darcy never thought she'd be the type to cry at a wedding. She's never cried at other weddings, but apparently it's different when you actually care about the person getting married. So, she's happy to say that she's not bawling her eyes out like a little baby (Steve, you man-child, you) but she is tearing up and thank God for waterproof…well waterproof everything.
When it's done and over and Thor and Jane have pledged to love and care and be there for each other for the rest of their lives, they kiss and it's sweet and loving and Thor cradles her face as if she is the Holy Grail. Their arms are wrapped around each other as they walk down the aisle and Darcy steps in line with Loki, who is looking at his brother with softness.
He bends down to whisper in her ear, "we need to talk."
"Not today." She hisses back. And she won't, not today. She doesn't really ever want to relive what happened because she's not lying when she told Jane that she's embarrassed about the way she acted and still hurt. She figures that she'll talk to him someday. Not today, probably not even tomorrow, but someday, when it stops hurting so much and she's not liable freak out.
She sees Thor stop and frown, "so, where to next?"
And Darcy smiles because this-this-she can handle. "Follow me."
Jane squeals in delight when she sees Freddie and Freddie opens his arms wide as Jane rushes into them. Solomon's is closed just for them and Darcy knows that this was the right decision. Even though Thor's side of the family don't know Freddie, don't know about his awesome food and would probably prefer anything with five stars, Darcy knows that this was the right choice because Jane looks so fucking happy.
In a city where Jane and Darcy didn't know anyone, Freddie was the first one who welcomed them with open arms and a warm heart. Freddie looks up and opens his other arm and Darcy falls into them, the three of them laughing and blubbering and probably even crying.
"You look like a princess, Jane." Freddie tells her.
Jane blushes and Darcy bumps her with her hip. "Don't tell her that, her ego will get huge!"
Freddie laughs and lets them go to shake Thor's hand. "Take care of her, or I'll hunt ya down."
"I'll give you permission." Thor answers quickly.
Darcy giggles and sees Coulson standing next to Natasha. "Hey, Tash-"
"Don't call me that." She replies automatically, "ever."
"Can I speak to Coulson for a minute?"
Natasha frowns but nods.
"What do you need Miss Lewis? Spectacular job by the way, I am very impressed-"
She gets to the point because she's tired and doesn't want to beat around the bush anymore. "I want vacation time."
He looks startled but nods slowly, "we have procedures for that. Fill out a form and-"
"No, you don't understand. I need the vacation, like tomorrow." She interrupts him and he looks sort of pissed but-meh-he can live with it.
His face softens, as if he knows what's going on, and Darcy is past the point of even caring how the fuck Coulson of all people knows about her personal life. So, he nods, says he'll make it happen, she thanks him quietly, promises to bring him something back from San Fran and leaves his side.
"So," Tony says as he stands next to her, "want me to kill him? I can you know. I can even make it look like an accident."
"How'd you-Pepper." She says with understanding. Then she laughs softly, "nah, it's good. My fault anyways, right? Don't fall head over feet. Or feet over head. Or it may actually be don't fall in love period but whatever. Thanks for your concern."
He shrugs and nudges her, "where you going for vacation?"
"What? Pssh-I'm not-how the hell do you even know?"
He rolls his eyes, "Hello? I'm Tony mother fucking Stark. I know everything."
Darcy snorts, "San Fran. Figure I've been away from my parents long enough."
He nods, "you know, I can have my private jet ready for you in like three hours." She starts to argue but Tony cuts her off, "don't argue with me. Just…take it. And don't tell anyone I was nice. I'll deny it. Vehemently."
Darcy grins, "aw, Stark, you do care."
He groans. "You know Pepper once said that you're like the little sister I never had but always wanted. I can officially tell Pepper that she was out of her damned mind when she said that."
She shrugs and glances at the tall black haired green-eyed man talking to his parents and old childhood friends. "I guess we're all a little out of our minds."
She tells Jane and Natasha that she's leaving for a little while when the three of them are in the bathroom. They look at her and try to protest but Darcy tells them that this is what she needs. This is what will be good for her. She'll be back. She loves New York too much to not be back but for just a little while, she wants to go back home. She wants to crawl into her childhood bed (if her parents haven't already transformed her room into something else) and sleep. She wants to see her parents and she wants to see the places where she grew up but most of all she just wants the west coast, even for just a little bit.
Jane's lip trembles and she pulls her into a hug. "But you are coming back right?"
Darcy nods. "I'll be back sooner than you know it." She looks at Natasha, "hold down the fortress for me?"
Natasha nods. "Of course."
She's walking out the back door when she hears her name being called. She freezes, knows who the voice belongs to and sighs. "Hi, Loki."
"Will you talk to me now?"
She puts her arms at her sides and shrugs. "There's nothing to talk about. I get it, I do. Your business is your business and I was just some mindless distraction and I'm okay with that. Well, no, I'm not. But I should be. Because we haven't known each other for long and I shouldn't have freaked out and I'm being the big person apologizing, which let me tell you, is new for me. And I'm tired and I just want to go home."
"Sigyn-"
Yeah, she's kind of still not over it seeing as how she winces at the name. "Loki-please, let's just forget this ever happened, we can forget anything and everything you want but I really don't want to rehash this."
"You should do what she says." A male voice says, clapping his hand on Loki's shoulder.
Through the lights, Darcy can make out Clint and Steve's figures. It's Steve's hand on Loki's shoulder and Darcy gives them both a pointed look.
Clint shrugs and continues to eat his sandwich. "Dude, seriously, this pastrami is delish."
She nods her head, glances at Loki. "Maybe, if things were differently and I weren't a complete nutcase and you weren't still in love with your ex-fiancée we could have worked. But for now, we should probably part on friendly terms. So, Loki Odinson, goodbye for now but not forever because you really are a cool guy, nonetheless, my vagina will miss you."
Clint chokes on his sandwich. "Oh. My. God. Why do I even stick up for you?"
"Because you're supposed to be a gentleman." Steve replies, his voice irritated.
The best thing about a private jet is that Darcy doesn't even have to worry about the endless lines or the long wait for her luggage. She walks down the main steps of the jet (seriously, what is it called, a ladder? No, that seems so…common, oh God, now she thinks she's a celebrity, wonderful) and into the bright sunshine that is San Francisco. She takes a deep breath and breathes in the warm west coast air. She's missed this. Now that she's here, she allows herself to miss the place where she grew up and yearned to get out of.
There's an old beat up station wagon a few feet away from the jet and Darcy smiles. She knows that old beat up station wagon. She first learned to drive in that car. (She got to second base in that car, not that she'd ever tell her father that). Next to it, there are two people. A man and a woman. The man is tall with dark haired streaked with gray and the woman is the same height as Darcy, her wild black hair pulled up in a bun and huge breasts. Genetics are such a marvelous thing.
The woman shrieks with joy and crushes Darcy in a right hug. "Oh, you're home! You're home. My God, you're beautiful. John! John, tell you're daughter she's beautiful. How are you? Have you lost weight? You're not working too hard are you? It's been so long and…and…oh, you're home."
Darcy inhales her mother's perfume and buries her head in her neck. She ignores the stabbing pain in her heart and sighs, "yeah, mom, I'm home."
Her father joins in on the hug and the three members of the Lewis family relish in the fact that their family is together for the first time in years.
(They don't say I love you and but Darcy knows that the sentiment is there and to be honest, she doesn't mind. Not at all).
Chapter seven. There's going to be one more chapter and then it's done. But fear not, there is a happy(ish) ending in sight!
Thanks so much for everyone's reviews, they mean a lot and huge shout out to my reviewers!: Cj, BlindingFirefly, Asgardian-Candy, Mushroomking98, Selene Illuisnia, Trini Li, Lady Draconian, Chuuulip, dhauren, scarletwitch0. You guys are awesome! If I missed anyone, I apologize!
Any mistakes are mine and mine alone and I apologize if they offend anyone.
Much Love,
Bex.
