Author's Note: I don't really have much to say. But I love this story. I hope you guys are liking it too. Catchathief, callieandjack, Demigod-GallagherGirl, and ALL others, thank you so much! I love you all! Please, if you enjoy it as much as I do, feel free to leave me a review. I know a lot of people say that, but it honestly does make me feel great. In my neighborhood, I'm one of the only writers, so I don't ever get a lot of feedback from people like me. You guys are so awesome 'cause you guys give me feedback!

On another note, this chapter is good, but the next chapter is where it gets really good. Enjoy!

Loki put his tongue between his teeth when I walked out of the elevator in the brown dress wearing my comfortable but dressy moccasins. "Who are you and what have you done to my tomboyish girlfriend?" he asked cheekily. I laughed and kissed his cheek.

"Wait till you see the other one," Callie exclaimed vehemently, coming out of the stairwell across Steve's shoulders. He must have been doing some sort of stair workout and needed weight pushing down on him to make it harder. Or they were just being strange. To be honest, I'd lived in the same building with them for so long that neither would have surprised me.

Loki's eyebrows shot up. "What does it look like?" he asked.

"It's a surprise!" I said before Callie could put anything in. Loki thoughtfully stroked the silk sleeves with his thumbs.

"I want to see it," he decided. I beamed.

So, five minutes later, I came out of the elevator to Steve and Callie on the sofa chilling out, and Loki pacing. When the ding resounded off the hardwood floor and the bare walls, he whirled. I stepped out into the open in the orange dress and silver sandals. Little silver star earrings hung from my ears. I hated dangly earrings because I had sensitive ears, but they didn't dangle very far so they wouldn't hurt as long as I didn't touch them. I gave him a little spin. "What do you think?" I asked. I was expecting a smile and a nod of approval—much like the one I got from Pan in the dressing room. But I should have known not to expect anything living in the Tower for almost four years.

Loki's jaw dropped to his chest. He crossed to me in one stride and pressed his mouth to mine. I tried not to recoil, but I was shocked. When he broke away, my breath came a little heavier.

"What was that for?" I breathed.

"That's a reminder to you that you're mine and I'm yours. For tonight when some young cousin of Jane's starts to flirt with you," he replied. I grinned, cradled his narrow, knife-like face between my hands, pulled him closer, and kissed him again. This one was gentle and soft. He smelled like morning frost on pine needles. I held him close to me for several long minutes. Pan being close was awkward, but Loki was comfortable. He was just as much home to me as the Tower was.

"We thought we'd let you decide which dress I should wear to the party tonight," I told him.

"The orange one, definitely."

"Seriously? You can do that?" I asked Natasha.

"When my hair was longer I wore it like that to several different parties. Because a) it keeps it out of the way and b) it's stylish," she replied, toying with my wet hair. I was sitting in my desk chair in front of the mirror in my bathroom with a towel over my shoulders to keep my soaked locks from dampening my dress. Natasha was standing behind me, looking down at the thick curtain of brown in front of her that I was letting her do.

"But the movie only came out a year ago!"

"What, you think they invented that hairstyle?" she retorted sarcastically.

"Touché," I remarked, keeping her tone in mine.

She started to braid my hair in one long thick rope down my back. I watched her deft fingers in the mirror. She worked at it quickly. I'd worn my braid almost every day, but I still missed the way my mom did it—she could do a French braid that kept my long mane under control. Come to think of it, I just missed my mom.

It took about a half hour for her to get my hair to cooperate, and then another five minutes to do my makeup—which consisted of black mascara, sparkle eye shadow, and peppermint lip-gloss.

When I walked out of my apartment, Callie was already waiting for me in a pale blue dress that drifted delicately to the floor. It had lace sleeves down to her elbows. A silver chain with one of Steve's dog tags hung in the center of the small V-neck. She wore silver heels that were just high enough to stay practical. Her lips parted in surprise when she saw my hairdo. I gave her a slightly concerned smile. I knew for a fact that my hair was looking good tonight, so I didn't know what her surprised face was for. She lifted her hand up and touched where my braid circled the top of my head.

"Elsa's hairstyle?" she asked. "The coronation one?"

Oh. That's what had her so shocked. I beamed and nodded. "Yup!" I smirked. "And I plan on giving a full performance of Let It Go tonight, including the hair thing and a full on dress-change." Since I used sarcasm so much, it was often difficult for people to tell if I was being serious or not when I said stuff like that. Callie looked at me like she was trying to decipher my sincerity in my face—which years of carefulness kept blank so no one got any clues there. He-he-he. I'm not even going to tell you.

We got in the elevator together and started to head down. "Excited?" she asked.

I nodded. "Oh!" I shouted, so loud it made her jump. "Right! If—by chance—a song plays that you think is a little out of place, I had nothing to do with it."

"Cass…" Callie warned.

"I mean," I continued, "Tony's music tastes are slapdash at best, so really, I didn't have anything to do with it." I was talking very quickly on purpose. If she thought I was lying she'd spend the entire night in anticipation for the out-of-place song, they may or may not actually be in the evening's playlist.

The door opened on the second floor. We both stepped out. Loki and Steve were waiting for us. Loki was in his silver-green-and-black formal armor, silver horned helmet on his head. Steve was in a nice suit with the pale blue tie he'd shown me earlier. I gave Steve a smile and a wave before taking Loki's arm and kissing his cheek. "Good evening, my prince," I greeted him.

"Good evening, my angel," he replied. I chuckled. Usually it was "Fireball."

"Lokster!" Tony shouted, approaching us. He gave me a hug and attempted to give Loki a high-five—but that failed epic-ly. "Do you like the party?"

There were already about two hundred people on the main ballroom. Since the place could hold like… a thousand, it didn't look crowded yet, but I was already starting to feel a little claustrophobic. And everyone who was invited hadn't even arrived yet. My skin began to crawl, so I pressed myself closer to Loki and gave Tony a very noncommittal grunt. As soon as I got up to the small mezzanine overlooking the ballroom, where only a few people were allowed, I'd feel better. "Can we go up?" I whispered to my boyfriend, nodding towards the balcony. He looked down at me and gave me a tiny nod of his head.

"Of course." We crossed the ballroom, giving people polite greetings. When we reached the stairs, Loki let go of my arm. "You go on up. I must go speak with my brother." He gave me a reassuring kiss and I stepped quickly up the stairs.

On the level up there was a small table out of view of people. I went over to it and sat in one of its chairs. How I'd managed to live in a city of eight million people for the last three years was a mystery to me. I remembered going to ComicCon where there was a hundred and thirty thousand people and not feeling this freaked. Maybe it was just because at ComicCon I was among people like myself—nerds. The people who never really grew up.

Speaking of never growing up…

"I like that one on you. Makes you stand out," a British voice commented.

"Thanks," I replied, turning to see Peter Pan leaned up against the far wall. He had changed his clothes from the wild-looking greens and browns to a pair of nice black trousers, white button-up collared shirt, and a vest with a gold front. It was impressive really, how good he looked in this new outfit. "Because the last thing I want is attention."

"Are you giving your performance from up here?" he asked.

"I don't even know if I'm going to perform. There are too many people."

"And they're not even all here yet."

"I know," I muttered.

"Have you never been in large crowds before?"

I sighed and stared right at his eyes. This was so weird. He was supposed to be a character in one of my favorite TV shows. He wasn't supposed to be here making comments on my dress and people-phobia. "I have, actually. But they were nice people. These are New Yorkers. They're nice, but not that nice." He smirked and took the seat next to me. His eyes, in this light, were blue and sparkling with humor and what I was pretty sure was mischief. I couldn't quite tell because he was pretty good at hiding it, but I could guess something was up.

"You look beautiful, Cass," he told me. He was being sincere.

"Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself."

"Well, this is an outfit I save for special occasions."

"Cass, get away from him!" Loki's voice ordered.

End Note: Oh snap. What's gonna happen? Of course, I know, but I won't tell you until next time! Stay tuned! Love you guys!

Thanks for reading!

~Cass