This will be a monster of a chapter guys so I suggest you make some tea and settle in.
Tony:
The next morning Tony lies in bed, smile fixed on his face as he replays the events of yesterday, that perfect, wonderful day.
They had still been staring at each other after that kiss, caught up in each other's eyes but then a car horn sounded behind them and Tony realized that the light had turned green. Loki snickered and leaned across Tony to stick his middle finger out the open window. When he drew back Tony realized that the sophomore was giggling, actually laughing, giddy almost.
"Drive will you?" Loki said, smile still on his face and expression more open then Tony was used to.
"What a rebel, flipping people off left and right, maybe you'll even skip doing homework tonight." Tony laughed as he turned into Loki's neighborhood.
"Oh no, I'd never go that far." The sophomore smirked as they pulled up to his house. Tony turned the car off and turned in his seat to face Loki, the boy was gathering up his messenger bag and untangling his headphones from the shoulder strap before shoving them in his pocket. Loki obviously felt his heavy gaze because he glanced up at Tony. "What?"
"My turn." Then he was leaning across the car and kissing Loki, kissing him the way that he had never been kissed, the way he had always wished someone would kiss him, soft and gentle. He wanted him to feel things that Tony had never been able to feel. Loki's mouth opened easily as Tony sucked on his lower lip. There was that taste again, coffee and mint, and something else, some sort of fruity Chap Stick on his lips.
Loki was grinning into the kiss, his eyes were wide open and crinkling at the corners, when Tony pulled back he could see just how large the younger boy's smile was. "What?"
"I must be really good at this huh?" His green eyes twinkled with humor.
"God yeah." Tony said, smiling back and leaning forward to peck him again, just a quick, chaste kiss this time but they both relaxed into it. Tony placed his hand on the back of Loki's head and pressed their foreheads together, his fingers threaded through black waves. "You should always have your hair like this, the curls are great."
Loki laughed "Really?" he kissed Tony's top lip. "That's sweet."
"It's true." He took Loki's hand and raised the knuckles to his mouth, lips grazing the soft skin. "You probably should leave before I lock the doors and keep you forever."
"Dear you wouldn't have to lock the doors; I'd stay for as long as I live if I didn't have to deal with this horrid thing called real life."
"Oh it is horrid isn't it?" he smiled and squeezed his hand "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning?"
"Sounds good." Loki opened up the car door and stepped outside, it was actually sunny for once, the weather matching Tony's mood perfectly.
He watched Loki walk up the driveway and to the door; he turned and gave him a little wave and a grin as he stepped inside the house. As soon as he was inside Tony shoved his fist into the air and turned on the radio, switching it over to the classic rock station, he already was feeling like he was in an 80s movie, all he needed now was the soundtrack to go with it.
Tony laughed outright in joy and sat up in bed; hurrying downstairs, when he got to the kitchen Jarvis already had a mug of black coffee and his breakfast ready for him. "Thanks, oh could you get Pepper on the phone please?" he asked, taking a sip of coffee and pushing his mop of dark hair back from his eyes.
"Of course sir, and also your father wanted you to know that he should not be disturbed in his office today and he'll be gone again by tomorrow."
Tony chocked on his coffee and stared up at the butler with wide eyes "Fathers back? Since when?"
"He got back yesterday while you were still at school and has been hard at work ever since." Jarvis's voice was detached and respectful but Tony could see the sympathy flash in his eyes before he turned away to get the phone. 'Of course father couldn't bother to even say hello after weeks of no contact.' Tony thought bitterly to himself. In a perfect world he would be having breakfast with his father right now, they would be laughing and talking about all that had happened in Tony's life lately. He would tell his dad about his classes, new friends, Loki, and the older Stark would actually be happy for him. But he didn't live in a perfect world, far from it.
"Miss. Potts, call from Mr. Stark." Jarvis said in a monotone into the phone, Tony could hear Pepper's high pitched voice saying something in response and the butler almost smiled. "She accepts your call sir." He said handing Tony the phone.
"Thank you Jarvis." Tony pressed the phone against his ear "Hello Pep."
"Why hello Mr. Stark, still can't dial a phone for yourself?" She was giggling into the phone and Tony could picture her in her bright yellow room, surrounded by mountains of blankets and books as she huddled on her bed.
"Um yes, you know how delicate I am."
"That I do. How's public school life treating you, not being tossed into lockers I hope?" He could hear some concern in her words and Tony smiled, Pepper watched to many TV shows about how scary public school was and how bad bulling was for gay kids.
"It's wonderful actually." He drawled, taking a bite of toast and washing it down with more bitter coffee.
"Hmm….that sounds suspicious. You haven't found someone to replace me have you?"
"No one could replace you Pep, I have found someone though." He grinned as Pepper shrieked into the phone.
"Oh my god finally! Tony I'm so happy for you! What's he like? It is a boy right?"
"Yep, his names Loki, totally gorgeous, smart, dramatic, good taste in music and clothes, you'll love him."
"Oh I'm sure I will! When can I meet him?" God Tony adored this girl; she actually sounded really sincerely happy for him and excited to meet someone who could make him sound so hopeful.
"Hm, maybe next weekend…I'll have to ask him but he wants to meet you too."
"Great" he could hear the change in her voice then, the smirk that was probably creeping across her face. "kissed him yet?"
"I actually do have news on that front." He grinned, noticing how Jarvis was staying in the room, cleaning up things that probably didn't need to be cleaned, an amused, barely noticeable smile on his face from the conversation that he was overhearing.
"Well don't keep me in suspense Tony!"
"Ok so yesterday I was driving him home and…I was telling him about the last few years…..how I used to act you know."
"Yeah" Pepper's voice was soft; she certainly remembered how it had been, those nights when he had gotten fucked up at some party and she would have to drive him home and carry him inside, slap him or pour ice cold water over him just so he could wake up from his drunken stupor. Or the time he had gotten high right before her birthday, she had cancelled her party just so she could sit with him and make sure he didn't kill himself. What would he have done without her?
"So I suppose I was getting really insecure and dramatic cause I was talking about how I'd never been with a guy and then we were at a stop sign and he kissed me." Tony smiled softly and leaned back in his chair, soaking in the memory. That had been the first time a kiss felt right, not forced, just right.
"Shit Tony that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard." Pepper crooned into the phone.
"God Pepper, it was amazing. And then in the car later….." He trailed off and Pepper laughed.
"I'll let you continue daydreaming, call me once you're done with school or something kay?"
"Alright, bye Pep."
"Talk to you later Tony" The girl was giggling again, probably at how out of it and dreamy he was acting. "And hurry up and get to school, it's already 8:00."
Tony sighed "Oh fine" he hung up the phone and handed it to Jarvis a wry smile on his face as he looked up at the tall butler "I trust you won't be repeating any of that to father."
"Of course not sir."
Tony finished his coffee with a gulp and grabbed the half eaten piece of toast off his plate. "Thanks Jarvis!" he called as he headed back upstairs to get ready for the day.
Logan:
"But I don't want you to leave Logan!" Sara cried into his shirt and Logan felt a shot go right through his heart, why was life like this? He gently removed her hands from his shirt front.
"I'm sorry Sara I but I have to go to school; don't you want me to graduate? Then I can wear a graduating costume." As he had known it would, the idea of a costume magically dried Sara's tears and she looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Really? Can I help you pick it out?"
"Of course you can hunny, now I need to go ok? Be good for your parents today and I'll bring you home a present." He smiled when she did and sighed gratefully, running a quick hand across her pink cheeks to wipe away the tears before he walked out the front door, as much as he loved Sara that house really was suffocating him.
He walked the short distance to school and as he was crossing the parking lot saw a somewhat familiar pickup, Loki's brother's truck. And Thor was getting out of it, pushing thick blonde hair out of his eyes as he leaned back in to grab his backpack. Suddenly Logan was caught up in the need to do something; he had to talk to him about what Loki had said yesterday. Sure they didn't like each other but he was sure that if anyone would know why Loki was acting so odd it would be his older brother.
"Thor!" He called crossing over to the senior's truck.
The teenager straightened up and glared at him and Logan was suddenly struck by their similarities. They were about the same height and just as muscular and imposing looking, though in different ways. While Thor looked like a hardcore football player that could destroy you on the field Logan looked like the type that would be beating people up underneath the bleachers and not paying any attention to the game.
"What?" The blonde growled and Logan leaned against the side of the car, feigning an ease that he did not feel.
"I wanted to talk to you about Loki."
Thor's face goes white, paper white and old-looking, as if he is much older than 18 and Logan knows that he was right, Thor defiantly knows something, but what?
"I've told you before Logan, back off my brother, he doesn't like you like-"
"Like that, yes I know, believe me he's made that painfully obvious." The bitterness in his voice is evident so that even Thor can't help but hear it. "But there's something wrong with him, and don't get defensive." He adds as Thor starts to blow up with anger. "I'm not attacking him, I just want to help, but...he refuses to tell me anything and the only person that he trusts more than me is you so I figured that you and I ought to talk."
Thor blew out a huge breath of air and glanced around to make sure that no one was near them. He looked like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff, choosing between two terrible options and Logan's heart sank, what could be so bad? "Yeah, I think we should. But Logan you can't flip out or anything ok? I get the feeling that the situation is more complicated then I know. Loki has barely told me anything."
Logan heard the desperate tone in the senior's voice and steeled himself for something awful; it must be terrible to have worked both Thor and Loki up so much. "Promise" he said softly, looking Thor right in the eye. For the first time he saw a similarity between the two brothers, there was oddness stirring in Thor's gaze and he recognized it from those scary times when he had crossed some line with Loki, held him a little too tightly for it to just be friendly or watched him a bit too intently. Something dark and shifting was hiding behind their eyes, something weird and different. He could see it in the way they would never hold someone's gaze for too long, like they were embarrassed to be seen. But that was ridiculous, they were both so beloved. Though it was in completely different ways everyone admired Thor and Loki, the two beautiful brothers, like the sun and the moon.
"Ok" The senior muttered "Come on." he gestured towards his truck and Logan got in the passenger's seat. The bell had rung and students were streaming inside the school. Logan thought he caught a glance of Loki and Tony caught up in the mass of teenagers but he couldn't be sure.
"Do you remember that party that Bruce Banner held a few weeks into the year?"
That's how Thor started off his story and Logan just stared at him, and stared and stared some more, Thor didn't seem to get it so the junior finally rolled his eyes. "Do I look like I go to those stupid parties full of skanky cheerleaders and drunk off their asses' football players?"
Thor shifted in his seat uncomfortably and Logan remembered that they were supposed to be allies right now. "No I guess not." The blonde muttered.
"Sorry, go on." Logan said, wondering what had changed so drastically in him that he would be saying sorry to someone like Thor.
"I convinced Loki to go; I thought that he had been cooped up in his room for too long so I brought him along. Then I guess I didn't keep him close enough, I went off with Steve and Sif and….the cheerleading team." The senior looked embarrassed and Logan smirked. "So Loki was alone, I didn't see him for maybe an hour or two then I got a text from him."
Thor trailed off, his gaze fixed on something far off that Logan couldn't see, his eyes were narrow with concentration. Blue and blonde had never looked like such a cold, harsh combination to Logan and he remembered why he had always preferred darker colored features. "What happened?" The junior asked in a quiet, concerned voice.
"He told me to come get him, he was in a bedroom, so I went there…..and fuck he was…someone had done something to him. But he was all by himself, and he was so shaken up…..I know he didn't want whatever happened, I could tell, but he flat out refused to tell me anything."
Logan can't speak for a full minute, he just sits there, in that worn out seat in Thor's truck wondering at the clusterfuck that his life has become. His mouth hangs open and he stares hard at Thor. "Are you saying…..that…..he was..?" he can't say that evil, terrible word, he can't, not Loki, something like that couldn't happen to the boy that he had loved since middle school.
"Yeah, he won't admit it to me, for some reason he's protecting that sick little shit that did it, I don't know if he threatened him or what but Loki refuses to tell me who it was."
Victor:
He had no idea where Logan was and it was starting to freak him out, he was sitting in history class not really paying attention, just staring at the substitute for Lehnsherr with a half asleep look on his face and a blank notebook in front of him.
"Vic…." Loki whined quietly, leaning towards him and tugging at his sweater. "Thinking about a certain tall, dark and brooding?"
Victor smiled, reminded of the way that he had introduced Logan to Tony, back when the idea of Logan as more than a friend had just been an abstract thought, not quite realistic yet.
"What did he tell you?" The boy murmured back, scribbling down a few notes when the teacher turned to glare at their corner of the room.
"That the two of you have been…..hanging out, flirting, all that jazz. You like him a lot don't you Vic?" Loki sounded hopeful and Victor knew somehow that he realized now how much Logan had been pining after him; Loki didn't want his best friend to end up alone.
"Yeah." He said softly, unable to stop the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth. "But he's crazy for you Loki. You know that right? You're the only one he sees."
Loki glanced away and traced a circle on his desk, avoiding Victor's too keen gaze. "I know that now, I don't know….I suppose I never wanted to confront it so I pretended that I didn't understand." He looks up at Victor, eyes imploring him to understand and sympathize. "But he has never paid so much attention to anyone else Victor. You know how it was with all the past people he supposedly liked, Jean, Scott, with them he never gave them the time of day, barely even talked to them. With you…..he talks to you, your important to him Victor. I can tell."
Victor felt his throat close up with emotion, maybe he and Logan…..maybe it could work, and maybe he should call him when class was over. He had been a little harsh with Logan; it would be hard to get over someone that he had liked for years. He was just opening his mouth to thank Loki when the substitute stopped talking mid-sentence and cleared his throat, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Care to share what is so very engaging with the rest of the class boys?"
They muttered apologies and buried their faces in their work, both with heads full of tall, dark haired juniors.
Thor:
He and Logan were sitting there in his car, both thinking over what had been said.
"So you really have no idea who did it?" Logan finally asked, his face was tight and he was obviously trying really hard not to break down.
"None, but….Loki…..he let slip that it was one of my friends." Thor's voice shook, the fact that it could be someone that he liked and respected tore him up inside, it had been all that he could think about, it had kept him awake night after night. He would lie there and stare up at the ceiling, thinking, wondering, who could it possibly be?
"One of your friends?" Logan repeated as if in a daze "But who?"
"I don't know. I need to know though; this has gone on long enough. I will sit him down and force it out of him if I have to." His words were harsh but his tone was soft, Thor hated this, the fact that he would have to force his baby brother who had gone through so much to tell him something that he obviously didn't want to, but what other choice did he have?
"I'll help you." Logan said, he had turned to Thor with a fierce look in his eyes. "I need to help him come to terms with it."
"You think he hasn't?" The blonde asked in surprise.
"I know he hasn't, Loki…he's been two different people lately hasn't he? Sometimes he's normal Loki, like he's forcing himself to be what we remember and then sometimes he's a zombie. He needs therapy Thor. He needs to understand that it wasn't his fault." Logan's voice was raw and Thor looked at him with a new respect and understanding.
"Ok, we'll both talk to him than."
Raven:
So here she was in Professor X's office after 1st period, Erik leaning against the opposite wall and Professor X sitting in a chair in front of her.
"So" he started off "what are we going to do about this?" his gentle brown eyes were carefully avoiding Eric and focused only on her.
"Please don't tell the principal" she pleaded "I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to put this behind us. I just…I can't have my parents knowing." She felt her face burn with shame at the thought of what her parents would think, how could they even look at her again? Knowing…..knowing that she had kissed a teacher, a married adult, she was the reason that two people who had been together for years weren't even looking at each other.
"That's our last resort I think." Professor X said quietly "This…..goes against absolutely everything that I should be doing. I really ought to turn Eric in, but then all of our worlds would explode, and that won't be good for any of us. Raven, I want you to request a transfer to a different history class, say that the students in class aren't helping you learn or something. Eric….." he finally turned to look at the man and Raven couldn't help but follow his gaze. Poor Eric, he looked absolutely disgusted with himself and Raven felt her cheeks burn, how was it that a kiss, so gentle and innocent feeling, could draw out such intense emotions? If only she wasn't so young, if only Eric wasn't a teacher and committed to someone that she couldn't hate no matter how hard she tried, if only things could be easy and uncomplicated.
But things were complicated, hell things had gone past complicated a long time ago, her life was completely insane.
"Eric" The smaller man said again, still staring at his partner, looking so confused that it made Raven's heart hurt, she stood up abruptly.
"I think I'll let you two talk. And Professor, I'll transfer classes like you said. Thank you for being so understanding, I know it's more then I deserve." She said in a subdued voice to Charles and with shaky hands picked up her backpack and hurried out the door. In the hallway she stopped for a moment and fought the urge to creep back at listen in on their conversation, but that was such a child-like impulse. She shook her head, revolted by herself and walked quickly away from the office, done with school and people and emotions she didn't understand, at least for that day.
Charles:
He nodded to Raven as she walked out the door and then turned back to continue glaring at Eric. The man had dark bruises under his eyes and Charles knew that he had to be aching after spending the night on their uncomfortable couch, but Charles couldn't feel too much sympathy for him now. He couldn't remember ever being this angry at Eric, normally they settled whatever argument they were having within a matter of hours and some sort of cliché apology gift, followed by gentle, comforting kissing and cuddling as they watched crappy TV. But this was different, this wasn't something that he could forgive Eric for, this hurt couldn't be kissed away. He hadn't even spoken to Eric last night, he hadn't talked to him at all since that horrible phone call yesterday, and eventually the man had taken the hint and stayed out of his way until this meeting.
"Please just let me explain Char." The taller man began in a desperate tone, walking the few steps over to Charles and dropping to his knees in front of the psychology teacher.
"What can you say Eric?" Charles said, trying to push back the flood of emotions, he schooled his face into the practical, apathetic expression that he used for counseling students. "What could you possibly say to make this situation better? You could go to jail, I could lose my job for not reporting this, that poor little girl would be ruined if this got out, you know how cruel her peers would be about all of this."
"Please darling listen to me, I know….I know how bad this is for all of us…..but…..thank you."
"For what?" Charles asked, so surprised that he could no longer keep his clinical mask on, it slipped away from him and he was staring at Eric with a vulnerable expression and love swelling in him. Because no matter what he couldn't help but adore this cynical man, no matter what Eric did, no matter how terribly he screwed up, Charles couldn't help but want to save him.
"For still loving me, even if you don't like me very much right now at least I know that you're still on my side." Eric reached out and took Charles's hand, intertwining their fingers and gripping him tight even when the smaller man tried to pull his hand away.
"But honey I don't know if I can trust your side." He replied, giving in to Eric's warm hand and the familiarity that loosened his tension despite his ominous words.
"I know I could say sorry a thousand times and it wouldn't change what I did. I fucked up Charles, I realize this. I was weak and allowed myself to be driven by a terrible impulse; it's my fault, everything that happened, and I really am sorrier then you could know."
Charles took a deep breath, he needed to tell someone about this, someone in a uniform who could take over and make things normal again. But…..he had promised Eric a long time ago to be there for him always, to stand by him…..he had to protect him.
"Ok, I'm on your side. But stay away from her, if anything happens like this again….if I even suspect you getting too close to a student I will testify against you in court Eric, I'll get you help. Because…..because this is wrong….what you did is wrong."
"I know." Eric whispered, looking like he wanted to end it all there "I had a moment…where…..I didn't think of what was right or wrong, I didn't think about anything."
Charles sighed in despair and leaned forward to graze his lips against Eric's forehead, wanting to comfort his partner, but he couldn't touch his lips, not when those lips had touched those of a 16 year old girl.
Loki:
When school was over Loki had met up with Tony in the commons but then the junior had gone to go pick up some worksheet that he had forgotten in his English class so Loki was going to his locker, picking up random books that had been gathering dust in his locker for months, the hallways were completely deserted, really he shouldn't have been as caught off guard as he had been, he should have expected what would happen. After all it happened almost every time he was alone or actually starting to be happy.
He heard Fandral walking towards him before the senior even said anything, Loki tensed all over, wondering why he hadn't just gone with Tony to his English class, there was safety with Tony.
"Come here often?" Fandral smirked as he leaned against the locker next to the sophomore.
"Leave me alone."
"But you are alone babe, why would Tony leave you so alone and vulnerable? Not the mark of a good toy if you ask me, he should be glued to your side."
"He's not a toy, he's my boyfriend." Loki snarled, glaring at him with an expression like ice, he was in the history hall, he knew this place, he was used to it, he was strong and secure here, and there were still teachers around to save him right? There must be.
Fandral laughed mockingly "Oh he's your boyfriend now? What justifies boyfriend Loki? Kissing, fucking...? Or..." he leaned down to Loki's level and dropped his voice, expression playful "what you did for me a couple days ago?"
Loki is shaking, full body tremors at the tone in Fandral's voice and that dark look in his gaze, how is that he's the only one that sees the sickness? That black, bitter disease that is eating away at Fandral, he's not a jerk or a player, nothing so minor, he's not the product of childhood abuse, he's just sick, horribly wrong and disgusting and no else is noticing.
"Please just go away Fandral."
"Not until you tell me Loki. Are you messing around with him?" The words would sound almost vulnerable if anyone else had said them but Fandral had caught at his arm and was holding him tightly, fingers closing around the skinny limb hard enough to bruise and there was a possessive tone to his voice that was evil and shocked Loki to his core.
"No, I promise, we haven't done anything." His voice dropped to a whisper and the ice left his words as Loki bent his head in shame, and the worst part was that he felt a sort of comfort in saying what Fandral expected and wanted, there was a normalcy in bowing his head and shivering in fear. But then he shuddered inwardly at himself, when had he become so skittish and submissive?
"Good." The senior muttered, his smile a flash of to-white teeth, Loki tried to edge away from him but Fandral still had a hand encircling his arm. "Oh come on Loki, why leave so soon? I was just starting to have fun."
"Believe it or not my life doesn't revolve around your disgusting interpretation of the word fun."
"Well we'll have to fix that now won't we?"
Tony:
He's going to meet Loki at his locker when he hears low, rushed sounding voices, Tony peeks around the corner and sees Loki, he's standing in front of his locker, looking as if he had seen a ghost his face is so shocked and pale. He is staring up at a tall blonde guy, and Tony thinks it's Thor until he sees the man's face and the hand that's holding Loki in place. Tony pulls out his headphones and listens closely; he's only about 15 feet away but their talking so low it's hard to hear.
"Oh come on Loki, why leave so soon? I was just starting to have fun." The blonde says with a smirk on his face that makes Tony's skin crawl, the way he's looking at Loki...
The smaller boy is trying to edge away from the blonde, a terrified look on his face which he obviously tries to mask with disdain "Believe it or not my life doesn't revolve around your disgusting interpretation of the word fun."
The tall blonde laughs, inches closer to Loki, his other hand twitching towards the sophomore's waist. "Well we'll have to fix that now won't we?" There's something possessive and owner-like in the way he says those words that Tony despises so he steps out from behind the row of lockers and crosses the few steps over to Loki and the blonde. With his famously charming smile plastered on his face Tony stood beside Loki and raised his eyebrows at the hand still on Loki's arm.
"You ready dear?" His words are soft and directed towards Loki but he continues to watch the tall boy, and the look he gives him is hard as rock. Loki quickly steps back and his hand is immediately sliding into Tony's, he's shaking, Tony can feel the tremors going through his body.
"Yeah" Loki's voice is short and thin but he gifts Tony with what is meant to be reassuring smile and pulls him away without a word to the blonde. Tony can't help but look over his shoulder to see the guy, his eyes are still fixed on Loki but as if he had sensed Tony's glance his gaze shifted and he winked at the junior before turning and walking away.
"Who was that?" Tony asked concerned, his hand tightening on Loki's.
The sophomore turned to him with a shaky smile."My brother's friend, no one important."
"He was hitting on you." Tony's voice is flat and emotionless and that really scares him. That's the way he used to sound when he was so messed up and felt like the world was against him.
"No he wasn't." Shit now Loki sounds mad, he is pulling his hand out of Tony's and crossing his arms over his chest as they walk out to the vacant parking lot.
"Yeah he was Loki." God he's tired. "I'm not accusing you of anything but…"
"But what?"
"Was there ever…anything between you two?" He feels so damn vulnerable saying that but he thinks Loki appreciates the rawness in his voice because the boy is sliding his hand back into Tony's and bumping their shoulders together as they walk.
"No, he means absolutely nothing to me." There's something final in Loki's voice that Tony likes so he smiles and when they reach the car he doesn't open the door for Loki like he normally does. Instead he reaches over and pulls the younger boy towards him, brushes their lips gently together, very careful not to go too far.
Loki:
He smiles when Tony pauses at the car door, already knowing what he's going to do. When Tony pulls him close Loki tangles his arms around the taller teenager's neck and lets himself fall boneless into Tony, letting himself be held up and utterly vulnerable. He banishes all thoughts of Fandral and darkness and Thor and just let's himself get caught up in Tony, Tony, Tony. Who's kissing him so gently it's as if he thinks that Loki is going to shatter.
He understands why Tony is acting like this though; he can feel the tension in the older boy and knows that he's holding back, trying not to take advantage or overstep some boundary. Well right now Loki could care less about all of that, Tony is getting rid of the frightening knot in his stomach and the shivers that race through his body, remnants of his conversation with Fandral. Tony is making everything bright and fixed in his world, the least he could do is give him something back right?
Loki pulls away from Tony with a final, soft butterfly kiss on the corner of his mouth. Tony sighs and mock glares at him. "I don't think I could ever get enough of you."
"Want to come over?" he asks in a rush, blush rising to his cheeks at the surprised look on Tony's face. "Just for a little bit, we could….my parents won't be home."
"Oh" Tony blushed as well, and opened the door for Loki as he seemed to think it over. When he got into the car he turned to Loki with a contemplating look. "What about your brother? What'll he think?"
"I doubt that he's home and if he is I don't care; I just want to be with you." He smirks at the look on Tony's face and leans forward to peck him again "And I'd like to kiss somewhere away from your car."
"Oh please, you love my car."
"Your hipster car?" Loki laughed and turned up the radio, he leans out the open window as Tony drives out of the parking lot and heads down the road. He folded his arms on the door and rested his head on them, letting the wind whip his hair back and forth. The chill soothed him and brought him back down from the extremes that he had been going back and forth between. Fandral's tone as he talked down to Loki, acting like he was a pet and those eyes imagining things that Loki didn't want to think about, and then Tony, Tony being wonderful and perfect and kissing him like he was something to be treasured. Two crazy extremes, feeling rotten and used then lovely and beloved, both feelings were too intense to be very healthy so Loki let out a deep sigh of relief as the weather and familiar landscape brought him somewhere in the middle.
Tony:
When he pulled up to Loki's house there was a tense silence for a second or so then Loki laughed and glanced playfully over his shoulder at Tony. "I thought you were supposed to be a player or something, where did the smoothness go Tony?"
"Far, far away, it left the second I met you." Tony murmured and grinned at him as he got out of the car. Loki took his hand and pulled him up to the door but Tony couldn't help but notice the lit up windows in the house. "Lo, are you going to sneak me in or something?" he asked, a little terrified of Loki's incredibly protective big brother and how he might react to Loki dragging him away to his bedroom.
"No, we're not doing anything wrong, you're my boyfriend aren't you? It's perfectly normal." Loki didn't appear to notice the lights on in the house; he was too caught up in driving Tony crazy.
"I'm your boyfriend am I?" Tony grinned, having never heard him say that before. "Will it be becoming Facebook official?"
"Would you like it to?" Loki smiled and stopped at the door, slipping his fingers through Tony's belt loops and tugging at them playfully.
"I would indeed." The taller boy grinned back and took his hand, turning it over and kissing the center of his palm, dark eyes darting up and staring at Loki who flushed and gazed back at him, green eyes smoldering.
"Ah, there's the player that I was expecting." Loki smiled and attempted to pull his hand back but Tony held tight, his eyes still staring hard.
"Not a player, just charming and falling hard." There it was, there was the truth, finally, it had been a long time since he had said something in that voice. Normally only Pepper could draw such a tone out of him.
"I'm not as charming but I think I may be falling too." Loki whispered, finally pulling his hand out of Tony's tight grip and opening the door. Once they were inside he turned to face the older teenager, backing him up against the closed door, Loki bit his lip as he gazed up at Tony. "But I'm not good at this…this….normal relationship thing."
"Well neither am I, so I suppose we're perfectly suited for each other." Tony grinned and gently rubbed his thumb against Loki's pale cheek, leaning against the door and getting all tangled up in those bright eyes with the long lashes smudged with black eyeliner. He was obsessed with those eyes.
Thor:
He heard the door open and close and he and Logan both jerked their heads up from their phones and stood up.
"Do you….want to get him?" Logan asked with a nervous look on his face. They had both left school early, having decided that it was best to allow Loki to go through the day and then meet him at his house and talk to him. The whole day had been spent halfheartedly playing video games and sitting on opposite ends of the couch awkwardly.
"Sure" Thor gave him a meaningful look and Logan nodded, they had gone over what they would need to say over and over again, Logan knew what he needed to do. And then they had also gone over a few things that were somewhat unrelated…
"How long have you liked my brother?" Thor asked, hitting pause on the game and turning to look at Logan, the younger teenager had thrown off his leather jacket and was only wearing a wife beater underneath. Thor had seen the swell of muscles and felt the familiar tug of anxiety, he didn't want someone so obviously strong and dominant trailing after his baby brother.
"Since middle school."
"I thought you had been dating that little friend of Loki's lately." Thor said without much interest but at Logan's sudden tensing his gaze sharpened and he leaned forward, a little more intrigued.
"Victor? What made you think that?" he asked, his voice carefully uncaring.
Thor grinned, suddenly not caring quite as much that Logan had a crush on his brother because it was obvious who he really liked from the way he said his name. "Well you immediately knew who I was talking about didn't you?"
Logan glared at him and Thor decided that he liked this guy a little more now. If Logan wasn't flirting and fantasying over Loki then Thor didn't really have a problem with him. "Oh piss off." Logan muttered, sounding so much like Loki that Thor almost burst out laughing. How was it that buff, badass guy like this could have so much in common with skinny, sensitive, way too smart for his own good Loki?
"Victor seems nice." The older boy offered, throwing him an encouraging smile which Logan reluctantly returned.
"Yeah…..yeah he is."
Thor gave Logan the most reassuring look that he could and headed for the kitchen.
What he saw there shocked him, and yet it didn't. Tony was leaning against the closed front door and practically holding Loki up as the sophomore kissed him. Thor felt anger rise up inside him and his hands balled up into fists as he fought down the urge to grab Tony and beat him to a bloody pulp for having his hands all over Loki. That was Thor's baby brother; no one else was allowed to be near him! But he needed to stay calm and controlled if he wanted to get some answers out of Loki so he cleared his throat loudly and forced a serene expression on his face.
Loki jumped away from Tony and turned to face Thor, dread clear on his face. "Sorry, I…..we didn't realize you were home."
"My car is in the garage." He said in a stoic voice "Can I talk to you in the living room Loki? It's important."
"Should I leave?" Tony asked in a small voice, reaching out to take Loki's hand (Not a smart move in Thor's opinion, his self control really wasn't that great).
"No, stay Tony. We'll hang out once Thor is done with his deep talk." Loki grinned at the junior and Thor was really freaked out by his brother. This was not normal behavior; old Loki would have been so embarrassed to be caught in the act, especially by Thor, the way Loki was acting now with all the blatant flirting was so obviously fake that Thor really wanted to call him out on it. But he couldn't, Loki had to trust him.
Loki:
Thor turned and walked out of the room and Loki glanced over his shoulder at Tony and shrugged before following him. When he got into the living room Loki could feel his jaw hit the floor he was so shocked. Logan was sitting on the couch, in the same room as Thor, what was going on? Logan glanced up at him and smiled waveringly, stuffing his phone in his pocket.
"Hey Loki" he said, nodding at Tony as he noticed him standing next to Loki, the sophomore tightened his grip Tony's hand, a little scared by the way that Logan and Thor were looking at him with the exact same look on their faces.
"Logan…." He said, narrowing his eyes at Thor "What are you doing here?"
"We wanted to talk to you brother." Thor cut in before Logan could respond, sitting down beside the junior on the couch and gesturing for Loki and Tony to take seats.
"Tony and I were actually were kind of busy….." Loki said cautiously, the tone in Thor's voice was scaring him…..and that serious look in Logan's eyes….hell for the two of them to be sitting in a room without killing each other was extraordinary on its own.
"Yeah I noticed." Thor said dryly, scarping his overgrown blonde hair with a large, golden hand.
Oh ick did that twist Loki up inside, why did he have to feel so guilty about Tony? He hadn't done anything wrong; he had done much worse things before. But kissing Tony…..Thor seeing it…he felt like he had betrayed his brother, no matter how ridiculous that seemed, even though Thor was just being what he thought of as a good brother Loki felt as though he had cheated on him. God this was insane, could his mind please stop exploding from all these weird emotions?
"No need to be rude to him." Tony said, glaring at Thor with a superior look on his face as if he knew just how easily he could take the older brother down in a battle of the wits.
"Wait what happened?" Logan was looking back and forth between Thor, Tony and Loki, rising halfway from his seat looking conflicted.
"Logan why are you even here? I thought you were Loki's friend, not Thor's." Tony said rudely, looking at Logan like he had done something absolutely horrible.
"I just don't see why you need to do that in my house." Thor was saying to Tony, voice starting to build in volume as he stood back up, his hands balling into fists, Loki sighed and stepped into the middle of the room.
"Boys" He said sharply, effectively putting a stop to the confusion and testosterone building up in the living room. "Enough already, Thor be nice to Tony, we're dating, deal with it. Tony, try to ignore my brother as much as you can. Logan…what did you want to talk to me about?"
Logan:
He felt his phone buzz again, Victor calling him again, Logan had texted him earlier that he would be gone all day and Victor being the intuitive genius that he was could tell that something odd was going on and had been texting and calling him all day. He ignored it, like he had before, he would call Victor later that night to apologize, or maybe go over to his house and climb through his window, he had a feeling that Vic would appreciate that. Then he would talk, he would tell him everything, Logan would tell Victor that he had replaced Loki in his heart. But then Victor most likely already knew that, he probably had known for a long time, he had just been waiting for Logan to figure it out.
But enough about this boy that had waltzed into his mind and made himself comfortable, he needed to focus on the here and now. He needed to focus on his best friend who was so obviously trying to hide his rising panic with a smirk.
"Sit down Loki." Logan said quietly, feeling Thor sit back down beside him on the couch. Tony sat down on the chair next to the couch and stared at Logan, his eyes wide but solemn, he understand that something big and desperate was happening here, even if he didn't know exactly what that was. Loki raised his eyebrows at the three older boys but at their continued silence shrugged and sat in the large loveseat, leaning back and crossing his legs.
"So talk." Loki practically hissed, his voice cold and venomous, he was staring at Thor through narrow eyes, as though he already suspected what was going to be said and knew that his brother must have let something slip. But Loki was smart and he knew that he couldn't run anymore, no matter how much he may want to; he couldn't, not with these three people sitting around him and watching him so intently.
WELL. THAT TOOK WAY TO LONG TO WRITE. This wasn't even as long or intense as I wanted it to be but I felt so bad about leaving you all hanging for so long. Next chapter will be the conversation, and….I think that will be the last installment of this story. I'm already working on the sequel so hopefully that will be up fairly quickly after this is done. Thank you all so much for sticking with me through the shit writing and unnecessary angst….I really appreciate it.
And please, please, please review. I hope that everyone is liking this but I really won't know unless y'all give me some feedback!