Things continued on like that for three months. They talked on the phone every night so they could tell each other about their days and share what they'd been doing. Both were quite busy, but they tried to see each other as much as possible- typically twice a week.
He had called her that night, as usual.
"You sound stressed," he'd said. He was always concerned that she was doing too much, and spreading herself too thin. It was true sometimes, and it was actually good to have the reminder. That night though it had irked her. "You should take a few days off. Unwind a little. Come over to my house- I'll feed you." He was always trying to get her to eat. It worked a lot of the time, too, because he was a really good chef.
It made her flash back to early days with Keith, and how he was always really sweet and would be so nice to her. That was why she had fallen in love with him, she was sure. He treated her like something special, and she'd needed that after the way things with her parents had gone. But then he'd started getting hyper-critical of everything she did- her clothes were too showy, she ate too much, she spent too much time studying and didn't love him enough, she didn't do this, and she should do that...it went on and on. It had been exhausting, living with him. So then to have Thor tell her, essentially, that she should take some time off of work to be with him- it hit an old button.
"I love my work," she said testily, "and I'm necessary there. I can't just take time off whenever I want to, Thor. It would be unprofessional."
"You work too hard though. What good are you to them if you aren't well? You're first responsibility should be to yourself."
"I'm perfectly fine, Thor. I'm just a little tired, but it's nothing-"
"It's not nothing, though. It's important. All other areas of life suffer when someone goes without sleep. You're a scientist, Jane- you should know this."
That tone of voice- the overbearing I-know-what's-best-so-do-as-I-say- it was Keith all over. It infuriated her. She'd left him! Finally! After being with him for far longer than she should have, she'd gotten away. And for what? To have another man just replace him and start trying to control her life again? No. She was so angry that she couldn't think straight. Couldn't even argue at this point. But it was important, she remembered, to keep whatever control she had, because once she gave it up then it could be a long time before she got it back.
So she did the only thing she could think of. She hung up.
Thor tried calling her again many times over the next couple days, and she wouldn't pick up. He was equal parts annoyed, confused, and worried. Just what the hell had happened? He hadn't thought anything really awful had been said, and yet there was silence from Jane. How could he try to fix whatever had happened when she wouldn't even tell him what it was?
"Well, the thing I've learned is that when Darcy and I fight, I'm always wrong," Loki told him when Thor called for advice, much though it lowered him to ask his younger brother for dating advice. "So just work from the point of Jane being right, and maybe you can figure something out."
"That makes no sense," Thor pointed out. "Because I was right. And what are you even talking about? You and Darcy don't fight." They were ridiculously perfect for each other.
"Well, yeah. That's true. But there's been one or two times it was kind of close."
Thor snorted. Kind of close. His brother's relationship confounded him.
They talked for a little longer, but it became pretty clear that Loki didn't really have any real advice to give Thor.
What was he supposed to do? He'd never had this problem before, because he'd never cared before if someone was mad at him, aside from Loki that is- and see how great he'd been on that occasion to mend things. It had taken ten years! And it had been Loki who'd contacted him, anyways. Thor had just been resigning himself to the fact that his brother probably would never want him in his life again and had been moving on. But not this time. He liked Jane a lot, and he was not going to be letting her go without giving up a fight.
Jane microwaved a chicken pot pie and yelled at herself. Again. She'd been too harsh on Thor, she realized it now. He'd meant well. It actually probably would be good for her to take some time off, and she was a little ashamed that it had taken him telling her for her to realize it. She'd been tired and forgetful at work, and it wasn't a good combination of things in a lab. When she'd yelled at him, it hadn't really been because of what he was saying, but more the memories that it stirred up. And she'd reacted badly to it.
It was so confusing now. She wasn't sure where to go from here. She hadn't had a very good record with arguments, and how to to work through them. Between her parents basically ignoring all protests she made and Keith just using any defense as one more instance of her incredible selfishness, she just...she didn't know what to do. He kept calling her, and after the first day her anger had faded and she was left just feeling foolish and guilty. The poor guy. He was probably so confused. She meant to call, but...she was too chicken. She didn't want to be yelled at- and how could he not be angry?
The microwave dinged, announcing her food to be done. She didn't really have an appetite though. It was seven thirty on a Friday. People who had lives were probably out partying or socializing or what have you, but not Jane. She and Darcy had actually become pretty close, which had surprised and delighted Jane, but Darcy was with Loki she was sure. They typically kept to themselves on nights.
Suddenly getting fed up with herself, she grabbed her purse and headed out. Well, almost. She wrapped the pot pie in saran wrap, put it in the fridge, checked her hair and make-up quickly, and then grabbed her purse and headed out.
It was so simple. She would just go see him. Surely she could do this if she could see him. She took the T over to the stop near his apartment. She didn't have a car because the lab was right off of the T, too, and a car was just unnecessary- she never really went anywhere outside of Boston.
The whole ride over she tried to think of what she would say when she saw him, but she came up with nothing- her mind just buzzing excitedly at the thought of seeing him again. Apparently she'd be winging it.
He didn't answer the door for a while after she knocked, making her belly sink at the thought that he might not even be home and what was she thinking just coming over unannounced- wasn't that a thing that guys hated? Didn't they want warning? So just what the hell was she doing, and why would he be happy that she'd just crashed his Friday night?
But the door did open a moment later, and there he stood and any words that she might have said were forgotten at the look of intense relief and the immediate bear hug that he gave her.
God, it felt so good to be held by him. So right.
"I'm sorry," she said, feeling like a complete idiot about the whole thing. "You were right. I should take some time off. Bad things could happen if I'm not paying attention at work- I deal with some pretty delicate chemicals sometimes, and it could just turn into a huge disaster. I'm so sorry."
"Jane, Jane, my sweet Jane, you don't have anything to apologize for," Thor said fiercely. The endearment gave Jane's heart a thrill. "It's I who's sorry. I can be a little overbearing, I know. I will make an effort to catch myself."
Awww. He was so surprisingly sweet at times. She never would have thought it on that first night they'd met in New Mexico, but she was so glad that chance had had them meeting again. When she was with him she felt like she could breathe- she hadn't even realized how strung out she'd been before him. But he was good for her. He was really good for her. And she thought she might be just a little good for him, too.
Jane spent the night again. They'd talked for a long time, and talking had led to other things, and by the time they realized how late it was, it would have just been ridiculous for her to leave. It was only the second time she'd slept over- usually one of them was keeping track of making sure they got back to their respective houses because they hadn't wanted to move too fast. But falling asleep with Jane felt right. Thor loved that he could just reach his arm out and there she was, all smooth and soft and Jane.
He smiled to himself as he drifted off. She made him so happy. He couldn't remember ever feeling this good before.
A/N: And that's all for now. Sorry! I know it's a bit rushed and not that satisfying, but I find it harder to write them now than it was at the beginning and I'm really wanting to write Darcy/Loki. I may write more on this eventually, but if I do it won't be for a long time, so I'm marking this as complete for now.
You can still see Jane and Thor in the fic I'm currently writing, though they're not the main characters. They should be in it a fair bit- and they have kids! So that's exciting =P
Again, sorry- and thank you for reading/reviewing! You guys have been very supportive, and I appreciate it. =)
