A/N: So, I've been gone for two years? Kinda? I'm a terrible person, I'll admit. No, I got busy, but this story was always on the back burner for me. But I'm here, and so is this story, and it isn't going anywhere now. Please enjoy this especially fluffy chapter about Peter's birthday, and all that comes with it. Enjoy. Xx

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Chapter Eight
Never Let Me Go

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The morning of Peter's sixteenth birthday, Loki woke up to kisses being pressed against his neck, slow and soft. He whined a bit, curling his toes and pressing closer to Peter, who let out a noise of amusement and moved to kiss Loki's mouth gently. Loki's eyes fluttered open then, and he smiled lazily at Peter, who was hovering over him.

"Happy birthday," Loki said softly.

Peter kissed him again, pulling away after a moment. "Thank you. It's weird, you know. The big one-six. I feel like an old person."

At that, Loki snorted and rolled away from him, sitting up against the pillows and stretching his arms above his head. "Peter, you're seriously a year older than me, and Matthew and Markus are older than you." He stepped out onto the cold floor and shivered a bit. "I smell pancakes. You coming, hot stuff?"

"I believe its Sir Hot Stuff to you, mister."

Loki looked at him, one eyebrow raised, before crossing his arms against his chest. "Really? Is that what it is, now?"

Peter blushed, and moved to the edge of the bed to pull Loki onto his lap. "Well… I guess for you I'm just Peter, huh?"

"Just Peter is everything I need," Loki responded, turning his head to nuzzle against Peter's temple. "Now let's go have breakfast, you dork."

They walked out to the kitchen hand in hand, and Peter wasn't surprised when he was automatically tugged into a tight hug, sandwiched between Tony and Steve. He hugged back as much as he could, a grin stretched across his face. It was tradition on his birthday – when he was younger, he called it the Mighty Birthday Squeeze, and the name still stuck.

Steve pulled away first, smiling down at Peter. "Happy birthday, kiddo."

"Yeah, happy birthday, Petey," Tony ruffled his hair and tried to hide the fact that he was tearing up the smallest bit. "Did you sleep well? You want coffee, orange juice, water?"

"Coffee, please, Dad," Peter said, hugging Tony again quickly, letting himself relax to the hum of the arc reactor and feeling comforted by the familiar scent of his aftershave. "I slept just fine. Like a rock, actually. I didn't even wake up when Loki came in, which is weird, let me tell you."

Tony patted Peter's back before going to make his son's coffee. "What about you, Loki? You sleep okay?"

"After I got down here, I slept just fine," Loki said from his spot at the table. He already had a glass of orange juice and a plate in front of him, stacked with chocolate chip pancakes. "Just… the nightmares seem to be getting worse the older I get." He shuddered, remembering for a moment. "But, as soon as I'm with Peter, I'm just fine."

"Just Peter," Peter said softly, looking at Loki and smiling.

"Exactly," Loki smiled dopily at him.

Tony and Steve looked at the boys and then at each other, smiling. It was obvious, already, just how much Peter and Loki loved each other. It was deep and soft and precious and all theirs. Tony finished up the coffee and offered the mug to Peter. It was an ugly thing, but Tony's favorite: Peter had made him and Steve a matching set for Father's Day when he was seven, and Tony used it so often that it had to be fixed (twice).

"Thanks, Dad," Peter said, grasping at it and moving to sit next to Loki at the table. "You sure you got enough sleep, babe? You look sleepy."

"I'm not, though, I promise. You were awfully snuggly last night," Loki blushed a little and intertwined their fingers under the table. "I was warm and cozy, and slept very well. I promise you."

Peter brought Loki's hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to it. "Breakfast, and then movies?"

"I'm glad we can agree on today's plans. Do the cousins know?"

"Oh, of course."

OOOOOO

The living room was set up just how Peter wanted it. There were four air mattresses pressed together on the floor, blankets spread everywhere, and almost two dozen pillows for a perfect, comfortable nest. Birthday Movie Marathons were important to him (as they were to the rest of the cousins). The movie queue was already up on the screen, and Peter was setting up snacks and such all over the low coffee table, pushed against the wall.

"Pete," Tony said. Peter looked up from his task and smiled. "Your Pops and I are going out to get a few last minute things for the big birthday dinner. We'll be back later, alright?"

"Yeah, I'll hold down the fort." Peter reassured. "Love you, Dad."

Tony smiled, tearing up a bit again. "Love you too, Pete."

Loki walked in a few minutes later in his favorite pajama pants (TMNT themed) and one of Peter's t-shirts, hair wet from his shower and fuzzy socks stuck on his feet. "You want to get in a shower before the cousins come down?" he asked.

"Nah, I took one last night," Peter replied, turning to face him. "Mm, you look cute."

"Oh, shush," Loki said, blushing nonetheless. "Everything's all set up, it looks like. Whatever are we to do now?"

Peter walked forward quickly and pushed Loki down onto the blankets, moving to straddle him. "Are you asking for trouble, young man?"

"Definitely." Loki spread his knees apart so Peter could move and settle between them, their chests pressed together, and he reached up to tug a bit at Peter's hair. "I'm always asking for trouble, aren't I?" He grinned. "How long do we have?"

"Uh," Peter glanced at the wall, "half an hour, tops."

Loki kissed him then, hands pressed to Peter's cheeks, and Peter smiled against his mouth.

OOOOOO

"Happy birthday!" Chloe squealed, throwing herself at Peter as soon as he stood up. "Oh gosh, you look even taller than yesterday. I didn't know birthdays could have such an effect on you, Pete."

Peter hugged each of his cousins in turn before they all took their spots. Peter was sitting up against the couch, Loki settled between his legs, resting back against his chest. Markus and Chloe were stretched out across the mattress, lying on their stomachs. Matthew and Tasia were curled up against each other, blanket settled over their laps.

"What are we starting with, dude?" Markus asked, turning a bit to look at Peter.

"I was thinking The Shining. Anyone have a problem with that?"

Tasia pressed even closer to Matthew. "As long as the second movie isn't horror, then I'm fine."

Peter looked at her and smiled. "I picked a very cheesy romantic comedy for the next movie. No worries, Taz. Start the movie, please, Jarvis."

"Of course, Master Peter."

Tasia moved closer and closer to Matthew as the movie went on, eventually sitting on his lap and moving to shove her face against his shoulder whenever she got scared. Matthew rubbed a hand across her lower back, trying to soothe her as best he could. Usually, he would sing (but, unfortunately, that would interrupt the actual movie-watching, so he refrained), but the back rub seemed to help, at least a bit.

Both Matthew and Tasia were a little glad when the movie ended, Tasia letting out a sigh of relief, but making no move to leave her perch on his lap (he didn't mind at all). When Chloe found out that the second movie was 50 First Dates, she fake-gagged, and Peter didn't hesitate to kick her lightly.

"Be nice," he said, "I love this movie."

"Peter, this movie is crap," Chloe responded, sticking out her tongue. "But you're cute, so I guess I'll put up with it, just for you."

Hours and movies passed by quickly, with the six teenagers talking and cracking jokes, and occasionally taking breaks to snack and talk about more "serious matters" (which, to them, meant college and leaving the tower – Chloe was worried the most, being the youngest). Eventually, Tony and Steve walked in to join them, talking with the kids for a few minutes before going back to Peter's birthday dinner preparations.

By 6:00pm, all the Aunts and Uncles were present, pulling Peter into hugs, kissing his cheeks, and patting his back. He felt so completely surrounded by love, but Loki never left his side, holding his hand, and that felt better than anything else could. When they sat down to dinner, Tony remained standing, holding his glass of lemonade.

"I propose a toast," he started, "to Peter Stark-Rogers. Peter, your Pops and I have loved you since the first time we saw you, but I can honestly say that we're growing more and more in love with you every day, and more and more proud with every passing moment. Happy birthday, kiddo. We love you."

"Love you too, Dad," Peter said, tearing up himself.

Steve and Tony had teamed up to make a proper feast with all of Peter's favorites (including a large platter of fried rice, most of which Peter ate himself). It was followed by a huge cheesecake with sixteen candles (that Peter blew out all in one go) (he felt very proud of himself). He moved his seat back a bit when Loki indicated that he wanted to put his feet in Peter's lap, and ate his slice of cake as Loki got comfortable.

Presents were opened and Peter spewed so many thank you's he didn't know what to do with himself. Eventually, the only people left in the apartment were Bruce, Darcy, Loki, and the Stark-Rogers clan.

"So, Peter," Steve said, "We weren't entirely sure what to get you for your birthday… That is, until your Uncle Bruce approached us with an idea."

Peter looked to Bruce, confused. "What do you mean?"

Bruce cleared his throat. "Peter, your Aunt Darcy and I know how much you love our son. That's no question at this point." Peter blushed and looked down at his lap. "And Loki loves you just as much, if not more. And we know how much you worry about him, and his sleeping patterns, and… we've tried everything but this. So, we've decided… no more nightmares."

"Dad, I always get nightmares," Loki said, "they won't just stop because you want them to."

"No, Loki, they will if you start out the night with Peter." Darcy said softly, reaching across the table to grasp her son's hand. "We think, all four of us, that it would be a good idea if, from now on, you sleep with Peter. Every night."

Peter's mouth dropped open. "You mean… he would just share my bed, all the time?"

"That's right." Steve said. "To be honest, we weren't sure it would be a good idea, especially since you two are involved romantically now. But then we all realized that we were being idiots. We trust you two – you're young but you're smart."

Loki felt very emotional, tears dripping down his cheeks. "Mom, Dad, I…" He stood up and moved around the table to hug them. "Thank you. Thank you so much, thank you, thank you."

OOOOOO

That night, Loki got ready for bed, as usual. He kissed Darcy and Bruce goodnight, and gave Chloe a huge hug. But then, he grabbed his phone and phone charger from his bedroom, and headed down to the Stark-Rogers floor at 9:30pm (much earlier than usual). He grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, saying goodnight to Tony and Steve, and then went to Peter's room.

He'd never had the pleasure of seeing Peter like this: sleepy, but not yet asleep, propped up against his pillows and looking incredibly comfortable underneath his thick comforter. He was reading his book rather sleepily, stopping every few moments to yawn or rub at his eyes. Finally, he caught Loki looking, and smiled at him.

"Hey," he said. "You ready for bed?"

Loki's heart fluttered at that, and he nodded. "Yeah. I am."

OOOOOO

Loki had no nightmares that night, for the first time in his life.

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