The tangled mass of hedges that was Frigga's garden was nearly impossible to navigate. That was why everyone but the royal family stayed out of it; everyone but Taylor Stark. She had managed to successfully navigate through the tangled green and make it to the middle of the garden, though, and from there, she was trying to figure out where else to go. She was supposed to meet Loki in here, but he hadn't specified where, and she was getting tired of picking through vines and flowers, as well as thorns. The garden was well kept, but the occasional thorn bush had worked its way in here and there, and they were getting annoying.

"Mother freaking thorns," She mumbled under her breath as she looked down at her torn shirt, as it caught on a thorn and she'd jerked it loose. Navigating the maze had not been as easy as she originally thought, and she had gotten slightly lost. During her searching, she'd managed to fall seven times, run into to six rose bushes, and disturbed the birds that had been roosting for the night. She was beyond frustrated, and that was obvious when she rounded the corner, mumbling swears under her breath as she pulled leaves from her hair. She froze in her steps naught but five feet later, though, her eyes landing on Loki, who was grinning like mad at her, clearly amused at all the trouble she'd had trying to find him.

"Trouble finding your way I imagine." He said in his usual charming tone, his green eyes still filled with amusement as Taylor started over.

"Um… yeah. It might have helped if I had, y'know, a map or something." She dusted herself off and walked over to him, crossing her arms and staring up. He was much taller than she was.

"Where's the fun in that?" Loki chuckled as the Midgardian rolled her eyes. "It was just a bit of fun really."

"For you maybe, this was my favorite shirt!" Taylor tried to hide the smile that was forming on her soft, pink lips, but Loki had noticed it right away.

"I meant no harm." He spoke with an amused tone and took her hand in his own. Taylor blushed furiously, her blue eyes gazing into his green orbs. The night was cold, and Taylor had no jacket, and now that she had stopped walking, she noticed the cold. She shivered a few times, and Loki noticed this as well. He frowned slightly at her shivering and gave her his leather jacket to keep her warm; she was grateful. So grateful in fact, that before she knew it, she was pushing herself up onto her tiptoes and pressing her lips against his. He didn't kiss her back at first, but after a few seconds, his lips were moving against hers, and she was melting into a puddle right then and there. It wasn't long before Taylor was lying on her back on the ground, Loki on top of her. She stared up at him while he tucked her curls behind her ear.

"You are quite beautiful, Taylor." The young girl blushed as he spoke, and he grinned.

"T- Thank you, Loki." She managed to get in a few words in between her deep breaths, and she was about to say how thankful she was that he had helped with her dress earlier that evening, but her train of thought was derailed as she felt his lips upon hers. Loki wasn't exactly sure why, or how, he managed to get himself into such a position, but…he liked it. When he pulled away, both of them were blushing up a storm. He opened his mouth to speak, but Taylor attacked him with another kiss. In a matter of minutes, Loki had managed to get Taylor's shirt off. Taylor, still oblivious to this, pressed herself against him, gasping slightly as she felt the cold metal against her arm skin.

"Are you all—" Loki froze mid-sentence, his eyes going wide.

"Loki? What's the matter?" She tilted her head some, her voice a whisper as she stared up at Loki.

"Guards…I can hear them…" Loki jumped to his feet and ran to the edge of the hedges, peering over the top and waving Taylor over.

"W- What?!" Taylor scrambled to her feet and dove for her shirt in Loki's hand, slipping it over head as she hid behind him. "How did they find us?"

"Probably the birds you disturbed… Get down!" Loki jerked her to the ground as the guard passed, oblivious to Loki and Taylor behind the bushes only a few feet away. After all was clear, he pulled Taylor to her feet and grabbed her hand. "Follow me…" He started to make his way out of the garden stealthily, and Taylor followed, but she tripped on a tree root, catching herself on a small statue to keep from falling. When she grabbed the statue, though, it slipped from her hands and toppled to the ground, shattering on the tiles.

"Oops…" Taylor, pushing her hair from her face, but her bottom lip. She was clumsy, but she didn't mean to be. Loki just stared at her in disbelief before dragging her out of sight, and over to the garden wall. "I'm really sorry, Loki!" She squeaked, following him as best as she could.

"Save the sorry for when we're safe!" He said in a hissed whisper as he lifted Taylor over the garden wall, the blonde not protesting the slightest bit. She landed with a thump on the hard ground, though and she whined, rubbing her backside as she stood up.

"Ow!" She glared at Loki as he dropped to the ground with ease, crossing her arms again. "That hurt!"

"I know, and I apologize. But what you like to explain to my mother what we were doing in her garden?"

"What were we doing…?" She questioned, then waited patiently for his response, but was met with none. He thought for a long while about what to say, but he didn't give her a response. That was unusual to him. After all, he was a silver tongue. But somehow, this Midgardian had managed to make his mind leave him, if only for a few seconds.

"Loki…?"

"…What?"

"You okay?"

"I'm fine…" He nodded, glancing towards the garden, before back at Taylor. "Perhaps we should return to our own chambers for the night." Taylor nodded in agreement, but said nothing. "Then let's go." Offering her a small smile, he grabbed her hand and led her back o the castle. Once they were back, Loki headed for his room, and Taylor headed for hers.

Taylor sat on her bed tending to her cuts and bruises, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail and her shoes thrown by the door. She had gotten a washcloth from the bathroom, and she was trying to clean off the dried blood from a cut on her arm that she had gotten from a thorn bush. It hurt, but she needed to clean it, otherwise, it would get infected.

"Stupid thorns…" She mumbled to herself while cleaning out the cut, huffing a sigh before throwing the washcloth on the bed. She was tired, and she was sore. She was also running the night's events with Loki over in her head. She started at the ball, and ended with them in the garden, a light pink tint on her cheeks. Just then, there was a knock at her door, and she looked up, blushing even more before getting up and silently padding over. Pulling the door open, she grinned when she saw Loki, and stepped aside to let him in.

"Hi.."

"Hello." He offered her a smile as she closed her door back, folding his arms behind his back. "I went back to the garden to make sure we didn't forget anything."

"..And?"

"And, I found this." Loki held up a golden heart-shaped locket, and Taylor's eyes widened, one hand moving to her chest where it normally hung. It wasn't there.

"It must've come off when we were…" She trailed off, a blush tinting her cheeks again, which only made Loki smirk.

"May I?" He held up the locket and smiled at the blonde. She nodded slowly and turned around so he could put her necklace back where it belonged, holding her hair up off of her neck. Taylor's eyes widened slightly as she felt his lips against her neck after the locket was back on her, though, and she suddenly felt warm all over. "Loki…" She breathed the word out, and he slowly spun her around, staring down at her for a moment, before pressing his lips to hers. She snaked her arms around his neck in response and his arms around her petite waist. She was melting against him again, and he was, once again, taking advantage of that, breaking the kiss and trailing kisses down her neck. Taylor tilted her head back with a soft whimper, moving one hand up into his hair and allowing her eyes to slip shut.

"Do you wish for me to stop?" He mumbled the words against the hollow of her throat, and she shivered, but shook her head. It was then that he picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing a kiss to the place he had mumbled, before moving to kiss her again.

"Lock the door…" The blonde mumbled, and Loki smirked, using his magic to lock the door, before carrying Taylor over to the bed and gently laying her down. After that, he crawled over her, and she blushed again, slipping her hand back into his hair, but staying quiet. Loki, though, wasn't quiet.

"..Are you sure?" She got butterflies at his question, but she nodded anyways, her blush only deepening.

"I'm sure…"