Tony stormed into his room a slammed the door shut, ignoring shouts from Bruce, and punched the wall, something he didn't do often.
Bruce ran into Tony's room, he'd heard the door slam, only to find Tony collapsed on the bed clutching his bloody hand.
"Tony? Shit, what did you do?" Bruce asked, concerned for the well-being of his friend. Tony had locked himself in his room for the past week, refusing to speak to anyone. Bruce suspected it had something to do with Loki, as both had been acting oddly lately.
Tony groaned and looked up. "I punched a wall."
Bruce sighed exasperatedly. "Why, Tony, would you punch a wall?"
"I was angry." Tony admitted.
"Look, you need to get that fixed. If you've broken something, and it doesn't heal properly, you'll be in agony." Bruce said, his medical skills kicking in.
"Can't you fix it?" Tony whined. He hated trips to the hospital.
"I can see if it's broken. If it's not, I'll go get some ice and wrap it up. If it is, I'm taking you to the campus hospital. Deal?"
"Deal." Tony repeated, sitting up and allowing Bruce to tend to his hand. He pressed down on bone joints, pleased to see that nothing was broken, probably just badly bruised.
"Well, nothing's broken. I'll go get some ice and I'll be back in a minute." Bruce promised, leaving the dorm.
As he was walking back from the first-aid room, he ran into Natasha, who was walking back from the gym.
"Oh, hey Bruce. Did you do something to yourself?" She asked, gesturing at the bandage and ice in his hand.
"Hey Nat. I'm fine, Tony's bruised his hand." He said in a nonchalant tone.
Natasha laughed. "How did he do that?"
"He punched a wall." Bruce smiled.
Natasha stopped laughing. "Did he say why?" She asked, walking back with Bruce.
He shrugged. "He said it was because he was angry."
He watched as Natasha muttered something along the lines of "What did he say now".
"What did you say?" He asked inquisitively.
"Hm? Oh, nothing. I hope you don't mind if I go see Tony now." She said, more of a statement than a question.
"Free country." He shrugged in response, before handing her the ice and the bandage and opening the door for her.
"Took you long enough." Tony grumbled as he heard the door open, assuming it was his room mate entering.
"Speaking of time, have you found any to apologize to Loki in?" Natasha asked, rolling her eyes as Tony threw a pillow at her.
"What do you want, Romanov?" He sighed, placing the ice on his knuckles.
"I want to make things right between us. I shouldn't have made you leave or assumed that it was all your fault." She said.
Tony smirked half-heartedly. "Is this an apology from Miss Romanov?"
Natasha whacked his uninjured arm. "Mention it again and it won't be. So what's happened since I saw you last?"
Tony sighed, and looked slightly ashamed. "I went to talk to him."
"And…?" Natasha prompted.
"It didn't end well." Tony admitted, ducking his head.
Natasha's eyes narrowed. "What did you say, Stark?"
He took a deep breath. "I may have told him that I never had feelings for him..."
Natasha now saw why Tony had punched a wall. "Dammit Stark, why would you say that? He's insecure enough as it is!"
"What the hell was I supposed to say?" He cried out.
Natasha sighed. "The truth."
"What? Despite the fact we were only together for 24 hours, I really, really miss you and I didn't mean anything that I said, I want you back and right now I really want to kiss you? Was I supposed to say that?" Tony burst out.
Natasha smiled softly, it wasn't often that Tony discussed his feelings. "What stopped you? Everything would've been fixed if you said that, and you know it."
Tony huffed. "There was an…issue."
"Enlighten me."
"He…He wasn't very nice about the way he said things."
"God, Stark, you're not in elementary! And what was that with Amora? Were you hoping to make him jealous?" Natasha said, getting tired of Tony's attitude.
"Sort of…"
"But Amora? Really, Tony?" Natasha said skeptically.
Tony moved away from her. "To be fair, he slept with another man."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "He what?"
"That Fandral guy. I walked in on them just before."
"Is that why you punched the wall? Natasha said, pointing at the dent in his room.
"One of the reasons." Tony admitted.
Natasha sat down next to him on his bed. "Tony, you need to listen to me. Like I said, I don't know what happened between you two that caused this rift, but if you want to fix it, you need to let him come to you, not the other way round. I understand your feelings for Loki, and I know they're stronger than you're willing to admit. So please, for yours and his sake, let him come to you."
It had been three days since he slept with Fandral, and Loki was still regretting it. It sounded cliché- but everything reminded him of Tony. He'd go sit in their usual spot at lunch, only to be reminded that there was no one to sit with. Their usual study sessions were no longer on, for obvious reasons, and Loki found it harder to do his homework, with no one to suggest ideas to him.
The worst part, was in second-year training. All second year students were randomly put into groups once a month to practice their Defence skills with others. This month, when the training was on, Loki was close to losing, after making a slight mistake. He'd underestimated his partner, and only just managed to roll away from him before any lasting damage to his pride was done. As he stood up, he waited for some small quip from Tony, telling him how ridiculous he looked doing a certain move, or how he must me getting old to be forgetting how to duck.
These comments never came.
This was the start of everything, the temporary depression Loki sunk into, and the end of his whatever-it-was with Fandral.
The last part, happened in the library, Loki's favourite place in the school. Natasha wasn't talking to him, nor was Tony, and he didn't really have many other friends. As he was reading Pride and Prejudice, a pair of hands obscured his vision.
"Hey beautiful," Fandral purred, after Loki shoved his hands away. He hated people coming up behind him, especially in one of his sacred places. A voice in his head nagged at him; Tony wouldn't do that.
Loki tried to ignore it.
"Fandral." He nodded politely.
Fandral bent down to try and kiss him, but Loki turned away.
"What's wrong, baby?" Fandral cooed, repulsing Loki.
"I just want to be alone, alright?" Loki said, turning away from him.
"We can be alone together…" Fandral hinted.
"No." Loki said firmly. "Actually, I think it's better if we aren't together any more." Yes, it was harsh, but Loki was sick of his company.
Fandral frowned. "What do you mean?" He said, backing Loki up against a bookshelf.
"You heard me." Loki said, standing his ground.
"Who are you leaving me for?" Fandral growled.
"Has it really not occurred to you that maybe I don't like you?" Loki sassed back, ignoring the danger alerts his brain was telling him.
"I can make you like me." Fandral smirked, closing the distance. Loki pushed him off.
"Don't touch me again." He said, attempting to push past him.
"But you like me touching you though, don't you pretty boy?" Fandral snarled, placing a hand on Loki's waist and attempting to pull his shirt off. Loki could escape, yes, but if he did, who was to stop Fandral coming after him again, or worse, Tony?
"I am warning you, get off me! I will scream." Loki warned.
Fandral laughed. "But there's no one here to listen."
Loki looked around the library, as Fandral did extremely inappropriate things to his body. It was 6pm, and the library was almost empty as everyone was leaving for dinner. No one would be around. He was close to relenting, and letting Fandral all but rape him, when out of nowhere, an arm twisted around Fandral's neck, and pulled him away from Loki. Loki seized this opportunity, and kneed him in the stomach, causing him to double over, and Loki swept his feet from under him, leaving him lying on the floor in a ball. Loki looked up to see who his savior was.
It was Natasha, who looked ready to murder Fandral. She placed her foot on the nape of his neck, and ground into it, making him cry out in pain.
"Stay the hell away from us." She snarled, before kicking him in the temple, almost knocking him out. "You have two options. Leave now, and never come back, and we'll let you go without consequences. Or I can make you leave. You'll find I can be very persuasive." She growled.
"I-I'll go." He stammered.
"Thought so." Natasha smiled, before spitting on him and leaving. Loki followed suit and stood on him as he walked out.
"Never take advantage of me again. I promise you, you will regret it." Loki promised.
