Apologies for the Christmas theme seeing as it is only November :)


Chapter 21

To say that Monday at school was awful would be an understatement. It felt like torture. That day Loki had triple psychology which just so happened to mean that Tony also had triple psychology to. For so long now they'd made the habit of sitting side by side in the class and Loki was worried that this was going to cause problems. In some ways he hoped that Tony would make the choice to not sit beside him, but instead he was forced to endure three hours beside Tony in total silence. The tension was palpable and Tony was frosty in not only his ignoring but also in his speech to other people. In some very selfish way Loki was pleased to see that Clint was apparently being ignored to. Something that displeased him, however, was that the only people Tony appeared to be speaking to were Bruce and Pepper, someone Loki hadn't seen him speak to in weeks.

He didn't want to be jealous, he really didn't. Yet he was. But only a little. And that was okay, right? That's what he told himself anyway. Did it help to ease his mind or his mood? The answer would probably be a no. It was worth a try though. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Tony, he just had no idea what on earth to say and he still wasn't sure if he would be listened to anyway.

After that the days past in slow succession, one after another until the weekend came and Loki finally felt like he could rest. Even if it was just for two days. The week had been exhausting. Not only because of the stuff going on with Tony, but also with exams and how the teachers would not stop talking about them. He knew they were getting closer, why did they have to remind him every freaking day?

It was distinctly unfair how quickly the weekend passed in comparison to the week. Before he knew it, it was a few days from the end of term and his life very much sucked. It had been over two weeks since he and Tony had shared a proper conversation. During their project meetings they obviously had to talk but Tony spoke stonily, never making direct eye contact. Their last meeting of the term was the worst, though.

Everyone was in high spirits because it was so close to Christmas and it was also the last day of school. They were all either singing obnoxious Christmas carols or else throwing sweets around the room or just generally making a lot of noise. It was blatantly clear they weren't going to get much work done. Snow was falling thickly outside the windows and the majority of them were itching to get outside to either, build something resembling a snowman, or else, begin a huge snowball fight that would probably result in injury.

"Hey, earth to Loki."

A hand was waved in front of his face and he blinked, his eyes refocusing on the person to which the hand belonged to.

"Yes 'Tasha?"

"I will forgive you calling me that because of the excuse that you are mourning but in a few weeks don't expect me not to start hitting you if you use it again," She warned, taking a seat on the table beside him.

"Mourning? I'm not mourning," he argued, though he lacked energy to make it convincing.

"Oh is that so? Because I'm pretty sure I keep seeing you glance over at him. I know you think you're being sneaky but you look as sad as a tree and are making no effort to talk to anyone."

"No I...wait, trees don't even look sad."

"They do when they are about to be chopped down."

"Well as long as no one cuts my legs off I think I'm okay."

"Come on," Natasha whined, bumping her shoulder against his. "It's Christmas." And with that she forced a Santa hat on his head before he could stop her.

For a few seconds they both just stared at each other, Loki's expression emotionless. Then his facade cracked and they broke into fits of laughter. Even though the humour was short lived and the moment soon over, it was nice to laugh. It felt good.

"That's the spirit," she smiled. And it was so rare to see a genuine smile from her. He couldn't help smiling back.

She stood up, giving him a kiss on the cheek before heading off towards Clint who met her with a warm smile of his own.

He knew it was stupid to get so cut up over a stupid high school relationship and that he and Tony had only been together a few months but still, as his eyes drifted back over to the man, he couldn't help feel another pang of sadness as he watched him laugh and joke with Steve. Didn't he feel anything either?

Loki wanted him to rage, wanted him to shout and hit him if he needed to, if that would make him feel better. If it would make any of this better. The situation had been fixable at the start. But then Loki had made the mistake of saying something horrible and then making it worse by using Tony's best friend to try to sort it. Even if it was in front of all these people, all of their friends, he didn't think he would mind if Tony shouted. They would all just be thoroughly confused. Hardly any of them even knew about them dating. They'd probably sensed the tension between them already but it had been like that when they'd first met so it could almost be considered nothing new for them.

It was when Pepper trotted over to Tony and was greeted with a loose one-armed hug, he decided that he'd had enough. They were getting nothing done during this meeting anyway so he doubted anyone would miss him. Shouldering his bag, Loki took a quick glance back over to Tony. The other was too busy in conversation to realise he was leaving. Without more hesitation, he left and didn't look back again, not even when he was outside school in the freezing early evening air. Having no car, he set off at a brisk walk down the school steps and out the front gates, turning right and walking in the direction of his home.


"I need to talk to you."

"What, like right now?"

"Yes now." And without further ado, Darcy grabbed hold of Tony and forcibly dragged him out the room, ignoring the curious and perhaps even concerned stares that followed them.

"Ow ow ow, okay loosen up on the grip a little bit," Tony complained as the door swung shut behind them and he tried to remove her hand from his shirt.

On request, she relented her hold of him. That made Tony smile, though it was only short lived, because when he saw her un-amused expression his smile abruptly slipped away.

"You," she said, jabbing a finger into his chest. "Why are you letting Loki slip away like that?" He tried to answer but she cut him off before he could get even one word out. "You didn't even notice he'd left, did you?"

He actually felt guilt creep up inside him as he shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to sort this mess out with Loki, he just had no idea where to start. He may have accidentally started this mess, but he had not been the one to react badly and he had not been the one to his best friend to check up on him. That was all on Loki.

It seemed that Darcy didn't need him to answer in order for her to keep berating him. "I don't know what happened between you two but you need to sort it out or you're going to lose him."

"It's not really your business anyway," Tony said, as politely as he could manage. Damn her for being so attentive to people.

"When you hurt my friend it is."

"Aren't I your friend too? And don't go thinking he's all innocent in this," Tony snapped back. "He hurt me to."

Darcy's expression seemed to soften at that. She rested a hand on his shoulder, not a condescending way, more a gesture of friendship. Of kindness.

"Look," She said, her tone lowering. "I get you're pissed off at him and I'm pretty sure he gets that too, he looks pretty pissed off at himself to be honest. Anyway," she shook her head to get back on track. "The point is you need to talk to him at least. You need to sort this out. So what if you didn't start it," Stopping Tony's protests before he could start. "I don't care if you did absolutely nothing wrong. If you don't want to date him anymore at least bloody tell him so." Tony opened his mouth to talk again but she held up her hand to silence him one last time. "He just left, maybe if you hurry you can catch him, and if not, there's always tomorrow."

Then she gave him a reassuring smile before brushing past him to re-enter the noisy classroom filled with exuberant teenagers. Tony was left standing in the empty corridor, not quite sure of what to do. Did he want to still date Loki? Of course he did. Did he even think they had broken up? Hell no. He just assumed it was a stupid fight but apparently, at least according to Darcy, it was something more than that. He thumped his head against the wall. See and this is why he didn't do relationships. They were always so complicated.

Still he supposed he should follow her advice. He may not be good with feelings or whatever but at least he could recognise when they needed to be discussed. Making the decision, he hurried towards the front door and out into the ice-cold air. It took him a minute to locate Loki, and when he did he thought that he wouldn't be able to catch him seeing as he was already rounding the corner, exiting through the school gates. He tried to run after him but the path was icy. He slipped and slid as he made his way out of the school grounds.

Some kids were messing around on the opposite side of the street, playing around in the fresh snow. They seemed to be in the midst of an intense snowball fight. Unfortunately they grew bored of throwing them just at each other so decided to look for a more entertaining target. Tony guessed what was going to happen only a second before it did leaving him hopeless to stop it. They all turned, five of them, and aimed at Loki. Three made direct body hits while the others only brushed his sides. Still collectively they did enough to disorientate the man enough to make him slip and go crashing to the ground. The kids erupted with laughter, clutching each other for support.

"Hey, what the fuck is wrong with you?" he yelled at them.

"Didn't do nothing," one of them replied with a smirk.

"Yeah right, why don't you piss off?"

The kid made a rude hand gesture then gestured to his friends who followed him as he headed off down the street. Tony shook his head. Kids these days. Then, remembering why he was there, he jogged over to Loki, who was still on the ground, though at least sitting now.

"Need a hand," he said, offering Loki his hand.

Loki looked up at him then at his offered hand. To Tony's relief, he took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"Thanks," he muttered, brushing some of the snow off his jacket and out of his hair. For a moment they both just stood there staring at each other, yet not quite meeting the other's eye.

"Loki, I-" Tony began but was cut off for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Don't worry about it."

"What?"

"Look, I...I don't mind...just, don't worry, okay. Everything's fine."

Then he turned on his heel and walked away.

"Hey, Loki, wait," Tony called after him.

He didn't understand what Loki meant but he really wanted to find out. See and this is why he didn't do feelings. He did complicated in the form of science problems and mathematical equations, not the meaning behind someone else's words. He wasn't Shakespeare. He wasn't Byron. He didn't know anything.

"It doesn't matter," Loki said firmly, turning back to face him.

"What doesn't? Loki, I don't understand, you're not making any sense."

"If it's worth anything, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I said."

Then he started off down the street again and this time Tony didn't stop him. He was now even more confused than he had been before and was pretty sure he hadn't even made the situation any better. On the contrary, he felt worse. Was that even possible? Apparently so.

He scrubbed his hands over his face, taking a deep breath in. When he released it, his breath came out in a white stream that dissipated into the air, no longer visible. The best thing to do would probably have been to go back inside, spend some time with his friends and question Darcy on exactly what was going on and what he should do next. Instead, he pulled out his car keys, found his car in the dark car park and drove home.

For the last day of term, he thought when he closed the front door behind himself, it had been completely lousy. It was a shame really considering the start of the school year had begun with such promise.


Just a few days later it was Christmas and Tony could honestly admit that he hadn't tried to contact Loki once. Yes, he was a terrible person for not at least trying. He could have texted, he could have phoned, he could have even dropped round. He knew where Loki lived and it's not as though he was strapped for time. All he did was sit in his garage all day, tinkering with his projects or taking apart and fixing one of his three motorbikes. His homework wasn't exactly priority seeing as he could do it in his sleep (not meaning to brag), he could probably do it a day or two before the school holidays ended and still get full marks on it all.

A week later it was New Year and boy was that a night to remember. Having not been able to convince Rhodey to hold a party, Clint had stepped up to do it instead. Pretty much their entire year and extras had been invited. Luckily Clint's next door neighbour was also in their year so they made an agreement to sort of collaborate for the party meaning both their houses were used, that way neither got too overwhelmed with the amount of people.

There was no dress code, no specific rules except bring your own alcohol and anything you break you pay for. They were simple and effective, having been laid down by Clint's parents before they left for a weekend away with distant relations. He'd just been happy that he hadn't had to go along with them. Instead he got to spend New Year with his friends, best friend and girlfriend. Hopefully a good start to the year, at least, that's what they all hoped for.

Tony arrived just after eight having been able to convince Rhodey to give him a lift. He'd already arranged with Clint that if he helped set up then he could crash at his for the night. After all, drinking and driving was illegal. Natasha was already there and was the one who opened the door to him after he knocked. The party wasn't technically due to start until nine, though people would continue to arrive throughout the evening. As soon as he graced the kitchen with his presence Clint set him to work putting up some last minute decorations while the man himself continued to blow up balloons.

"Why do we even need balloons?" Tony questioned, tying the end of one that Clint had handed him.

"Because they're fun," he replied, as though it was the simplest answer in the world.

Tony took advantage of his lapse in concentration to hit him around the head with the balloon. Clint had a point, these were quite fun. That, unfortunately, escalated into an all out balloon war that culminated with Natasha using a hair pin to pop the majority of the balloons, leaving them both whining and grumbling like children.

At around nine-thirty people actually starting arriving and, an hour later, the house was full of loud music and laughter. The furniture in Clint's living room had been moved to the sides to allow for a makeshift dance floor, the large kitchen a place to refill their cups and everywhere else as just places to chill and escape from the blaring noise from the other room. Despite it being midwinter the garden was occupied with a good number of people, namely the ones who were smart enough to bring some kind of jacket or coat.

"I'll see you in a bit," Natasha said to Clint after checking her phone.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Loki's here, I'm going to go and meet him with a drink, try to loosen him up."

"He needs loosening?" Tony said casually, trying for a nonchalant approach but not really pulling it off.

"Yes, family drama and other stuff..." she replied, drifting off at the end and not making eye contact. Tony got the point, the 'other stuff' meaning his rather complicated relationship with Loki at the moment. "Anyway," she continued. "My aim is to at least get him laughing by the end of the night and I thought what better way than to get him at least mildly tipsy yet refrain from getting him flat out drunk."

"Good plan," he commented.

"Yes well," Natasha said with a sly look. "We all know what happens when he gets drunk when you're around. Hey, if it happens again, you never know, it might solve this petty communication issue between you two."

"Yes because ending up naked in bed together solves all the world's problems."

"It could solve this one, you'll have to wait and see."

With that she winked at him and left the room, both men staring after her as she went.

"I honestly can't decide if you dating her is the best or worst decision you've ever had."

"I'm gunna say best," Clint laughed, handing him a drink. "I'm always one for optimism."

That made Tony snort with laughter as he downed the drink. "Either way, I'm not sure whether she's left me terrified or strangely exited about tonight."

"Let's go find out," Clint said and proceeded to shove him unceremoniously out of the room and in the direction of the front door. Which also happened to be the direction that led to Natasha. And, of course, Loki.


And a well done to me for updating fairly quickly...who's excited for the next chapter? Please review?! :)