Chapter 27

Loki hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath until the young woman who opened the door smiled at them both kindly. He released it slowly when the knowledge set in that it was not Obadiah who was coming to greet them.

"Please come in," The woman said, stepping backwards to allow them entrance. "I'm sorry to say that Mr Stane is already in bed for the night but he left instructions for you both to make yourselves comfortable and that he will see you tomorrow morning."

"Thank you," Tony replied, smiling too. "How is he?"

"The doctor came to visit him again this afternoon and said that he is recovering very well. He just needs to rest and relax from the stresses of work but unfortunately that is posing difficult as Sir absolutely refuses to take more time off work. I believe he even plans to go in tomorrow, just for a short while."

Tony shook his head. "He'll be ill from overwork next," he commented sadly. "But thank you again Marie. It's late so I think we'll both head up to bed as well."

"Of course. Your rooms are on the first floor, up the stairs and the first and second doors on the right. I'll go and get your bags."

She hurried away as Tony turned on his heels and began to ascend the grand staircase that led to the upper floors. Loki followed him, keeping his mouth shut despite his urge to gape at the wondrous mansion he had just entered into.

It was huge. The floor was covered in polished dark wood that matched the carved banisters that ran parallel up the stairs perfectly. The walls were a soft white that, in the glow of the artificial light, took on an orange tint that gave the wide hallway a feeling of homeliness despite its grand size. A plush red carpet cushioned their feet as they made their way upstairs, Loki deliberately dawdling in order to take in every detail. He knew his family was well-off but this was very near decadence. At the top of the stairs the carpet continued its flow across the landing and up the next flight of stairs to the left. Tony and Loki turned right instead, away from its intriguing path.

At the first door on the right, Tony turned the golden handle and pushed opened the door unceremoniously. He led the way inside still completely oblivious to Loki's wonderment. Only when he had dropped onto the immaculately made queen-sized bed did he look over at Loki who was still standing in the doorway.

"What?"

"I just can't believe this, I can't get over the fact that someone actually lives here."

"It's not that big of a deal. When I graduate it'll be mine again and I'll probably just sell it."

"You own this?" Loki said incredulously, taking another sweeping glance back into the hallway.

At last the extent of Tony's wealth was starting to sink in. Loki knew that when he came of age he would inherit his father's multinational company which was worth billions but he didn't know he'd been left his own private jet nor did he know that he owned – there were no other words to describe it - a mansion.

"Wait a minute, you said again? You owned it before?" Loki asked.

"Yeah it was sorta mine, well my parents owned it legally but when you live in a house even when you're a kid you always refer to the house as yours."

"You grew up here?"

"Yes I did. In my parents' wills they left me everything; well everything important anyway. I was too young to stay here alone but there was no full time guardian to take care of me willing to move here. Rhodey was first choice both from my parents and from me so I went to live with him. Obi cares about me but he just isn't the parent type. Much like my dad really," Tony added as an afterthought.

Finally Loki stopped standing in the doorway, sitting down instead beside Tony on the bed. They were silent until their attention was drawn by a noise at the door.

"Sorry to interrupt Mr Stark but I have your bags here."

"Thank you so much," Tony said hurrying over to help her carry them inside. "And we go through this every time, please call me Tony."

"Yes Tony sorry, it's a habit." After the bags were settled in a corner out of the way, Marie turned to Loki. "May I show you to your room, Mr...?"

"Loki, please just call me Loki and-" He was unable to finish by Tony's sudden interruption.

"He's staying in here with me," Tony said quickly, before slowing and taking on a more tentative tone as he spoke again, "If you're okay with that?" Directing his question at Loki.

"Of course it's okay," he replied with a reassuring smile.

Beside them Marie gave a small, obviously fake, cough successfully gaining back both their attentions.

"Is there anything else you need?" she asked, a small smirk playing on her face. "Or will that be all?"

"We're fine. See you in the morning and thank you for everything," Tony said, his eyes following her as she walked out of the room, hurrying a 'good night' before she shut the door.

At once Tony's eyes snapped back to Loki and there was definitely something darker playing in them. Something that looked like mischief if Loki didn't know any better. And seeing as mischief was Loki's middle name, he had a good idea of what Tony was thinking.

"Seriously? Here?" Loki said, not moving as Tony took a step closer to him

"You don't want to?"

"I do, really I do but what if...what if they hear?"

"They won't, no one else is in the house except us and Obi. Marie'll be going home soon like she's a great maid but she needs sleep, she's not a machine."

Tony was much closer now, barely centimetres separated them. Drawing in a tight breath, Loki met Tony's eye and in that look was enough to know that he had his assent. Surging forward, their lips met in a searing kiss. There was no gentleness. It was all rushed. Lips. Tongue. Their clothes were shed in the same rushed fashion, left strewn across the floor to worry about in the morning.

This was nothing like their first time. There was no careful curiosity. No gentle experimentation. That had all been replaced with a fervour that could only be quietened by them being as close to each other as possible. In a tangled mess of limbs they collapsed onto the bed, Tony on top. He took control of the situation immediately; Loki more than happy to relinquish power in this situation.

A slicked finger pressed at Loki's entrance and he gasped in surprise. How had Tony done that so quickly? Loki hadn't even noticed him retrieving any lube. That was probably due to the fact that the man in question had been sucking on his neck at the time and Loki had been a bit preoccupied whining and moaning to pay much attention to anything else.

In no time at all there were three fingers buried deep inside of him and Loki was writhing on top of the bedsheets.

"Please," he managed to gasp. "Now."

And Tony wasn't one to keep his boyfriend waiting. Especially when he asked so nicely. Angling himself, he pushed inside slowly, watching Loki's face closely for any sign of discomfort.

"You okay?" He panted.

Loki nodded and Tony began to pull out before thrusting back in. One hand he left tangled in the sheets for balance; he took Loki's hand with the other, entwining their fingers and pushing them into the bed. He increased his rhythm and Loki arched up with a desperate whine.

Neither lasted much longer after that with Tony's constant press of his lips on every inch of Loki's skin he could reach and the moans that it elicited. Tony collapsed onto Loki in a tangled of limbs and rushed breaths. Loki drew his arms around him and pulled him closer, uncaring of their sweaty skin pressing together nor of the harsh hot air washing over his skin as Tony worked to calm his breathing.

It had become increasingly rare for them to get this time together and knew that it would get even worse when their exams really began. They were only a few weeks away, a month at most, and neither were looking forward to them. Not only because they'll have to cut down on the time they'd be able to see each other, but also because they all had secret anxieties over what would happen if they failed. And finally, exams signalled the end of the year and then they would be off to university. After their first argument over the subject it hadn't been broached since. But they both knew how difficult it can be to keep a relationship going when you go to different universities that aren't even in the same state.

Instead of thinking about that, or voicing their concerns, they just burrowed closer and fell asleep with their arms around each other.


It was Loki who woke first in the dim morning light. He blinked away sleep and sat up, acknowledging the still sleeping form beside him. Looking down into Tony's face, completely relaxed in his unconscious state, Loki doubted whether he'd ever see anything else so calming. There was nothing quite like waking up beside one of your favourite people in the whole world and just take a moment to watch them in their silence and appreciate every slow breath, every slight movement. Loki wasn't at all sure what it was like to be in love but, in that moment, he was positive that that was as close to it as he had ever been yet in his life.

Doing his best not to disturb Tony, Loki shifted into a more comfortable position and took to staring around the room. A clock ticked on the wall but the time was wrong. The room had an air of neglect about it. Though it was clean, it did not feel homely. It was as though someone had frozen the clock some ten years previously and now the room was destined to remain in a continuous loop of that forgotten time. On the chest of draws opposite sat a selection of picture frames each containing within it a faded photograph.

The first was of three beaming children, Tony in the centre and, Loki guessed the other two were his friends, stood beside him. They had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders, eyes scrunched tight as they smiled. The smallest frame held a photo with Tony slightly older this time. His hair was shorter, his face older. A tall man stood beside him with a hand resting on his left shoulder and, though he wasn't smiling, there was something in his eye that told Loki he was happy he just wasn't entirely sure how to show it. Lowering his gaze slightly, Loki saw that clutched in Tony's hands in the photograph was a large trophy but the print was too small to make out what it was for from this distance. The central photo which, incidentally, was the largest, captured a beautiful moment of Tony hugging his mother tightly while she laughed. He looked grumpy but her face was full of sunshine as she held onto her son.

"That was taken a few weeks before they died."

Loki jumped, turning to meet Tony's gaze.

"I didn't know you were awake."

Tony didn't say anything. He got out of bed and padded across the room, picking up the central frame, before getting back into bed. When he was settled he passed it to Loki who took it gently, careful not to put any fingerprints on the glass. He didn't want to be responsible for tarnishing such a perfect moment. It was near impossible to believe that the beautiful face smiling brightly up at them would die so tragically not long after.

"Let's get some breakfast," Tony said a minute or so later, his voice an octave lower than normal.

Loki wanted to do something, to comfort him in some way but he had no idea what to say or do. Instead he agreed and followed Tony downstairs. On his descent down stairs he didn't find the house as wondrous as he had the previous day, perhaps because he now realised how much pain being here caused Tony that it didn't seem so perfect anymore.

Luckily throughout breakfast Tony brightened up and, by the time Loki was finished, he was talking animatedly about everything they could do for the day. There were so many suggestions that he found it difficult to keep up with every new idea thrown his way.

"I thought you wanted to see how Obadiah was?" Loki managed to cut in through Tony's continued ramblings.

"He's gone to work, we won't see him till dinner tonight and I refuse to sit around here all day waiting for him to get back. Now run go get ready," Tony insisted, ushering Loki out of his chair and to the door of the dining room.

"Aren't you coming?" Loki asked.

"I'll be there in a sec," he replied, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before darting off towards what Loki guessed was the kitchen.

Puzzled but thinking it best not to question, Loki headed upstairs alone. Tony, on the other hand, bounded into the kitchen, startling Marie where she stood by the sink. Her hand flew up to her chest where it rested on her beating heart.

"What is the matter?" She cried, clearly believing something significant had happened.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"Of what? Tony I'm so confused."

"Of Loki." He took a few more steps into the room and pulled himself up to sit on the kitchen island facing Marie. "I know I didn't tell you before about him and I'm sorry, there just wasn't a good time when I was here a few weeks ago. I didn't want you to find out how you did yesterday but..." he shrugged, leaving his sentence hanging.

Marie smiled kindly. She put down her dishcloth and moved over to lean on the island beside Tony.

"You don't need to explain yourself to me. I'm happy for you, I was just surprised yesterday that's all. I wasn't expecting you to suddenly announce you were sharing a room with this boy I'd never met before."

"Sorry," Tony mumbled, clearly believing he'd upset her in some way.

"Don't be silly," Marie laughed, shoving him playfully. "So tell me everything, how long have you been together?"

Tony smiled. "About three months that we've been a definite thing." At a curious look from Marie, he continued, "well there was some problems and miscommunication where we were sorta together but not really. Now, luckily, we have sorted it all out and are very much a thing."

"And people at school? Is everyone okay about it?"

"Mostly, I think. Our friends are completely fine and the rest, most are either cool about it or else they don't care. No one's been a dick about it...that I've heard anyway." He chose not to mention the incident with Pepper. Marie was well aware of his history with her – which was probably why she was so shocked when first discovering his and Loki's relationship – and he was honestly worried about how she would react seeing as she had always seemed to really like Pepper. He didn't want her to be hated, no matter what she had done.

"I assume," Marie said, disturbing Tony from his thoughts. "That you intend to tell Mr Stane later."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Do you think it's a good idea?"

Marie stood silent for a moment, thinking. "Well I've worked for him for a fair many years now and I've never picked up on him being particularly against it, the topic's never really been mentioned, to be honest." She saw Tony frown and rested a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "I'm sure it'll be fine, he loves you Tony, I don't think he would ever hate you over something like this. I don't think he could hate you no matter what you did."

At that, Tony managed a smile, still feeling the nerves prickling away inside of him at the thought of telling Obadiah. Though he had come here this weekend in order to check in on Obadiah to see how he was, he also had the ulterior motive of wanting to tell him about Loki. Besides Rhodey Obadiah was all he had as a parental figure. Tony trusted him with almost everything in his life, everything significant anyway, and this was definitely significant. He wanted Obadiah to know.

There was a noise outside the kitchen followed by a brief knock on the open door. Loki stood dressed and ready to go out in jeans that made his legs look so good that Tony was hit with the sudden urge to skip going out for the day and instead drag Loki back upstairs and shed him of all his clothes.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, just a sec," Tony said, snapping out of that dangerous line of thought.

Dashing past Loki, he hurtled upstairs to get changed into some fresh clothes and brush his hair enough to make it look reasonable. Loki was left to hover awkwardly in the kitchen doorway while Marie began to tidy away all the pots and pans. He was not forced to endure the pain too long thankfully as, a few minutes later, Tony reappeared, grasped his hand, and pulled him out of the house only sparing a second to call goodbye to Marie.

They spent their day in constant motion, Tony wanting to show Loki everything and Loki not having the heart to tell him to calm down. The only time they slowed was when they sat down to have lunch but, less than an hour and a half later, they were up and moving again. From shops to small parks, they walked everywhere and, by the time they arrived back at Obadiah's mansion, they were both equally exhausted and very hungry.

Their few purchases of the day were left haphazardly just inside Tony's bedroom and they both collapsed on his bed, releasing huge sighs of relief as they rested their feet. They hadn't been there long when they heard the sound of the front door opening and a male voice speaking.

"Obi's home," Tony whispered, unsure of why he was talking so quietly. It wasn't as though Obadiah could hear him. Maybe it was because of the sudden rush of anxiety as he remembered what he planned to tell him at dinner.

Footsteps could be heard climbing the stairs and then Marie appeared in the doorway.

"Dinner will be ready in about five minutes," she said, before heading off back down to the kitchen.

Steeling himself, Tony got up, followed closely by Loki, and made his way into the dining room where Obadiah was surely waiting. Sure enough, as they entered, there he sat at the end of the table, a glass of wine in one hand and the day's newspaper spread out in front of him.

"Tony," he greeted loudly, standing up and giving him a brief hug.

And so ensued a surprisingly pleasant dinner consisting of excellent food (courtesy of Marie), good conversation, and one light-hearted argument between Obadiah and Tony concerning overwork. It was only after they had finished an excellent dessert and a comfortable silence had fallen that Tony plucked up the courage to say the thing he had been so nervous about.

"Obi," he began hesitantly. Loki tensed beside him, obviously guessing what he was about to do. To reassure both Loki and himself, Tony took his hand under the table and entwined their finger, squeezing gently. Loki gave him a small smile and a nod of encouragement.

"Yes Tony?" Obadiah replied, frowning at his serious tone. "Is there something wrong?"

He fidgeted awkwardly in his chair, unable to meet his eye. "No, not really. I just, I need to tell you something."

"Is it about that sweet girlfriend of yours Pepper? I was thinking that perhaps something had happened seeing as you've brought your friend along instead," Obadiah said, gesturing towards Loki but not looking at him. "So what is it, you two had a fight? Broke up? Look I'm sure everything will work out, you were perfect together."

"No," Tony spoke defiantly. Obadiah fell silent, staring at him in surprise. "No Obi, that's not what I wanted to say. Yeah me and Pepper have broken up, we did months ago and, before you say it, no we're not getting back together. Actually I've been dating someone else."

"And who is the lucky girl then, do I get to know a name? See a picture of you two?"

"They're not a girl."

Slowly, Tony lifted the hand that was holding Loki's own and brought it up to rest on the table. Obadiah sat in shocked silence, staring at their hands. Then suddenly he burst into a fit of laughter. Tony and Loki shared a bewildered look before turning back to the still chortling Obadiah, clearly at a loss of what to do.

"Um, what's funny?" Tony tried but he was unsure whether his question was heard.

"Well Tony," Obadiah finally managed. "Thanks for that, I haven't laughed like that in months."

"It's not a joke. I'm serious. Me and Loki, we're together, we have been for months."

In return he received an incredulous look. "Yeah right, I've known you since you were a child, I think I would know if you were..." He nodded his head at Loki. "That way inclined."

Tony couldn't believe what was happening. He thought this would go well, he thought everything would have worked out fine. He'd supposed that perhaps a little explanation would be necessary but then he'd imagined everything would be fine and dinner would be the beginning of an exceptionally perfect evening. Apparently he was wrong. He knew maybe Obadiah wouldn't be as accepting straight away as Rhodey had been but he hadn't expected to be laughed at and mocked as though his feelings were some kind of joke.

After a few beats of silence Obadiah seemed to sober, finally allowing the idea to set in that Tony was very serious. "So you and him, it's really a thing."

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "Look I'm sorry for not telling you sooner but I wasn't really ready for anyone to know yet and when I came down a week or so ago it just wasn't the right time."

"I understand Tony," Obadiah said, though he still didn't look very impressed by the situation. "Well, as long as you're happy, then I suppose that's what counts. And, I suppose you never know what the future will hold."

"Are you inferring that perhaps this is just a phase or some trial and Tony will suddenly be strictly into women as soon as he graduates or something?" Loki said suddenly, surprising both Obadiah and Tony.

"Loki what-" Tony tried but he was interrupted.

"Like I understand that in the future Tony may want to date a girl again and that's totally okay but from what you just said about the future implies that he can only like men or women and you seem to be rooting for the latter. Has it ever occurred to you that he could like them both or-"

"I don't think I like your tone young man. This is my house and I expect people to talk to me with manners."

"Well I expect people to not laugh in others' faces when they are clearly trying to tell them something very important but you seem to have forgone that one."

Obadiah looked like he had been slapped. He glared at Loki and Loki glared right back. Tony sat beside him in confusion, having no idea how to stop this dispute. In the end, Tony managed to convince Loki to go upstairs and leave him to talk to Obadiah. He returned to his room almost an hour later to find a livid Loki pacing up and down beside his bed.

"I'm sorry," he said at once, as soon as Tony entered. "I didn't mean to snap at him but I was so angry, how could he treat you like that? It was so wrong."

"Look, it's fine. I was angry too, I just know better than to shout at him."

"Is everything sorted out now?"

"More or less," Tony replied, sitting down on his bed and letting out a deep sigh. "He's says he's okay with it, me dating a guy, I just don't think he likes the fact that it's you now."

"I've ruined this weekend haven't I?"

"No, no," Tony insisted, wrapping his arm around Loki's waist and pulling him closer. "I think I just chose the wrong moment is all. Don't worry, we can leave early tomorrow so you don't have to put up with him much longer."

Feeling the guilt gnawing away inside him, Loki stared sadly at the floor. No matter what Tony said to console him, he felt like a complete idiot. To his surprise he felt lips press against his cheek and then down to his jaw. He turned his head and their lips connected in a soft kiss.

So the weekend hadn't gone perfectly but in life rarely anything goes entirely to plan. Tony wasn't angry at Loki at all, he honestly thought he had a point about Obadiah and his reaction, but luckily they only had to stay in his house for a tense breakfast before they packed up and left. After that fiasco they were glad to be home and the incident was soon forgotten. There were now far bigger, more important things to think about. Like exams. Their results. Prom. University. The future.


I hope you enjoyed and I apologise for Obadiah being so mean (this is setting up for the sequal just fyi). Just as a reminder, next chapter will be our last so I hope you're all ready for that and as normal, I am so sorry for the time it's taken to update, life is hard and so is writing. Anyway, I'm off to Austria for two weeks tomorrow so this is my parting gift to you. Thankyou for reading and if you have a moment please review?! :)