Aaliyah opened her eyes though how she managed to sleep was beyond her. When she looked around she recognized the decorations of her room. Her posters, pictures. and her tiara from prom. Good, she was still home...and she had five minutes to get to work! She muttered a curse under her breath and raced down the stairs after having thrown on clothes. Once she was outside she hopped on her bike. At least most of the ride was downhill. Once she got to her work she hopped off her bike and rushed into the store, tied on her apron and washed her hands. Then she set to work on washing the shake machine and that marked the start of her shift. After a while there was nothing to do, she worried her lip between her teeth before she wandered to do the dishes, Loki invading her every thought. What happened the night before was just a dream...wasn't it?

"Aaliyah, can you help the front?" Karlee called from the shake machine.

Her coworkers voice shocked her from her thoughts.

"Sure." Aaliyah called back as she dried her hands. The front counter was flooded! Aaliyah was caught up in the flow as the day went by in a mad blur as she scooped ice cream and desperately tried to keep up with the flow. Before she knew it her shift was over. She said a few words to her fellow workers as she grabbed a large plastic bin and walked out from the kitchen to bus the tables. She lifted her head and was shocked to see a rather large blonde man sitting at one of the tables.

"Hi. Can I help you?" She chirped.

The man stood, a smile slipping easily onto his chiseled face. "Yes I suppose you could. Could you tell me where I can find a woman called Aaliyah?" He asked.

"Yes..." she answered carefully, just who was this man and what did he want with her? The man looked at her expectantly. Aaliyah took a deep breath "but she's out of town right now can I take a message?" she added.

The man nodded. "Yes. Please, just tell her to stay away from Loki." This man seemed entirely earnest, but the mention of a certain man made her stomach twist in knots.

Aaliyah blanched for half a second before catching herself. "Stay away from Loki. Got it." She faked a smile "and you are?" She asked.

The man's lips peeled back to reveal a flash of white as he smiled. "My name is Thor. Loki is my brother."

Aaliyah faked a laugh. "Your family must be really into Norse mythology." She managed, the words seeming to fall off of her tongue like lead.

The man seemed not to have heard her as he bowed slightly blonde locks falling into his face as he did. "Thank you for your service...what is your name?" He asked, the honest edge to his voice still there.

"Liliannah." She answered quickly, hoping the name wasn't too odd as she had just pulled it from thin air.

"Thank you Liliannah." Thor said and grabbed her hand with his, lowering his lips to press against the smooth skin on the back of her hand as he kissed it.

"Sure thing." Aaliyah smiled again before pulling away and turning to continue to scrub down tables. Thor inclined his head and turned to pay his bill and then finally left the store. "Do you guys mind if I leave a bit early. I rode my bike in today." She called to the back after the man had left. Her shoulder slumped as she managed to relax a bit. Not quite on edge anymore.

"Go ahead." Alveda called back.

Aaliyah quickly threw off her apron and head outside and lifted her kick stand. It was almost pitch black outside except for a sliver of moon hiding behind the clouds. She hated riding her bike home at night because there were no lights on her way home. The dark streets only held hints and whispers of danger, but it was more than enough to make her uneasy. She held her breath as she sped down the dip. She couldn't see a thing. Her bike lurched as the tire hit a dip in the road, the impact was enough to unseat her and send her over the handlebars. The impact with the road didn't hurt as much as she had anticipated, but it still stung a bit. What left her motionless and quivering was the word that had escaped her lips as she fell. A single word that held so much power over her. Power she didn't want it to have.

"Loki..." She murmured, the name seeming to burn her tongue. Just saying his name sent her stomach to twisting into pleasurable knots again. She slowly got up and brushed the loose asphalt from her hands and started pushing her bike up the hill. She didn't go home, that was the last place she wanted to be right now. Instead she went to the park and sat on a swing, the park gave her peace even in the middle of the night. Her head whirled around as she saw a shadow move out of the corner of her hair, the hair on the nape of her neck prickled. She swore she was being watched. Her body almost seemed to not be hers as her muscles bunched and she slid off of the swing and walked towards the shadow.

Just what was she doing?