You've continued reading! I appreciate it a whole lot. Bunches and bunches. I hope you've enjoyed it thus far and that the rest of this holds up just as well. I'll also be trying to stay more active on my tumblr, because I dropped off of there for a little while.

Also I've noticed that the breaks I put in don't make it into the published chapters, so if things sound choppy or jump around without making a lot of sense at first, that's why. I apologize.

"That was a great practice, everybody," the coach called when everyone had gathered. Clint stubbed out his cigarette and casually walked right up to Loki.

"Hey, there," Clint nodded upwards. "How you doing?"

"Sweating like a pig, and yourself?" The sentence was simple, yet he had an air of eloquence behind it.

"Now there's a way to get a guy's attention, huh?"

"My mission in life," he responded sarcastically. "Clearly, I've struck your fancy, so the world is right again." Loki stepped away, drifts of uncaring practically floating off like steam away from soup. Clint picked up his feet to follow him.

"Pick you up Friday, then?"

"Oh, right, of course. Friday. Uh-huh."

"The night I take you places you've never been before."

"Sure, like the 7-Eleven on Broadway? Do you even know my name, jackass?"

"I know more than you think," and he did. Clint didn't show it, but he noticed a lot of things around him. He knew the names of a lot of people, he knew who hated who, who wanted who, and many other things. He didn't particularly care, he just paid some attention the world around him. Not as if he had anything better to do.

"Doubtful." Loki strode away, his long legs taking him away quickly.

"You're no prize either, sweetheart!" Clint shouted at Loki's back.

"We are not getting anywhere." Steve observed from across the green field.

"Don't give me such a pessimistic attitude,"

"We are not getting anywhere!" Steve brightened his tone and pasted a big smile on his face.

"There we go,"

Loki straightened in the mirror, lifting a clean towel to his face. His long hair was pulled back out of his way, and he was about finished drying his face when Thor peeked around the corner.

"Have you ever considered a different style?" Thor pulled at Loki's strands and twisted his fingers in them before dropping the dark hair. "Honestly, brother, you could have so much potential if you wore less . . . dark, uninviting clothing. Under all your hostility, a smile would make you look so much better. You could get anyone in the world."

"Yeah, and I have the potential to smack the crap out of you," Loki dropped the towel on the counter and turned towards the door, pushing Thor away.

"Could you at least stop wearing combat boots?" Thor raised an eyebrow, partially hopeful and partially mocking. Loki slammed his bedroom door shut instead of answering.

Loki was by his locker the next day when Clint showed up again, a grin plastered across his face. Loki blew him off completely.

"You hate me, don't you?"

"I don't think you really warrant that strong an emotion," Loki answered snidely.

"Then say you'll spend Dollar Night at the track with me," Clint replied smoothly.

"Why on earth would I do that?"

"Come on - the ponies, the flat beer, you with money in your eyes, me with my hand on your ass . . ."

"You, covered in my vomit."

"Seven-thirty good, then?" Clint's smile only widened. Loki sent his locker door flying shut with a crash before leaving the sandy haired male hanging again.

Later that day, Loki went to the record store. He browsed a while and picked out CDs, and after paying he stepped outside. The CD bag was gripped between his teeth and his attention was downward, his hands digging in the deep pockets of his jacket in search of his keys. With an air of triumph he pulled them out and looked up to find Clint sitting on the hood of his car.

"Nice ride. Vintage fenders," Clint nodded, his aura emanating approval.

"Are you following me?" Loki's voice dripped with irritation and disdain.

"I was at the Laundromat across the street and saw your car and thought I'd drop by and say hello,"

"Hi," Loki tossed sarcastically, opening the car door and getting in, starting the engine.

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

"It's not as if my fenders are apt to send me into a verbal frenzy. It depends on the topic." Loki shifted into reverse. Stark pulled up directly behind and cut his engine. He and his friends step out and start to make their way towards the liquor store when Loki pipes up, beyond agitated. "Excuse me, do you mind?"

"Not at all," Stark's mouth pulled up in one corner and he kept walking. Loki shakes his head, his last nerve out the window. He backs into Tony's car, not giving a damn about the ramifications. Clint observed from the sidewalk, a brilliant look of amazement and joy across his face. Tony flies out into the street, anger distorting his face.

"You fucking bitch!" Stark shouted; Loki smirked. He pulled forward only to drive right back into the side of Tony's car, a sugary smile on his lips.

"My insurance does not cover pissed off teenagers," Odin's voice was surprisingly low.

"Then tell them I had a seizure," Loki shrugged.

"Is this about college? Is this your way of trying to punish me?"

"I thought you were punishing me."

"Why is it that we cannot agree on this?"

"Because you are trying to make my decisions for me."

"As a parent, that is my right."

"So what I want does not matter?"

"You are eighteen. You do not know what you want. You will not know what you want until you are forty-five and by then you will be too old to have it."

"I want to go to the East Coast, I want to make my own decisions, I want you to trust m-" Odin's pager beeped.

"Christ, I want a night where I am not staring morose parents and STD ridden teenagers in disbelief in the face." Odin departed, leaving Loki by himself.