"Quite the ostentatious display," Loki commented on the organza draped around the room and the muted pastel balloons hanging around everywhere. Arm in arm, they froze when a cowboy two-stepped in front of them, dragging a mildly reluctant girl around the dancefloor with him.
"Look, he even wore his good boots," Clint joked lightly. Loki smiled a little and only smiled more when he spotted Thor and Steve swaying with one another, cheek to cheek. Clint looked up when Natasha came rushing over, her deep red skirts clutched up around her so as not to drag them on the ground or step on them.
"Have you seen him?" Natasha questioned Loki with urgency.
"Who?"
"William!"
"Oh, honey, please don't tell me we have progressed to full-on hallucinations?" Loki looked genuinely concerned for his best friend's mental health. Clint figured out what was going on and tapped Loki's shoulder before gesturing towards the doors, where Bruce stood in Elizabethan menswear. Natasha followed their gazes and her face lit up, and Bruce chose then to swagger up to her.
"May I have this dance?" Bruce took Natasha's offered hand and looked to Clint. "Good sir." Clint rolled his eyes at Bruce as he went hand in hand with Natasha closer to the center of the dancefloor. Loki snickered before letting Clint lead him off onto the floor.
Thor asked Steve to excuse him while he went to use the bathroom, and when he neared the bathrooms the ladies' room door swung open and he bumped shoulders with Sif.
"What are you doing here?" Thor frowned.
"You think you are the only sophomore at prom?"
"I did."
"Well, just so you know, my date does not plan on spending half the evening in the backseat of his car."
"What are you talking about?"
"Tony Stark is only after one thing, Thor. Your virginity. He practically made an announcement to the entire school." Sif still sounded high and mighty, but she looked the slightest bit apologetic. "I tried to tell y-" Thor pushed past her with disgust on his face, not caring what she had to say. Minutes later, Thor found himself telling Steve all about it. Steve helped him calm down and told him everything he needed to hear. Loki and Clint, unaware of Sif and Thor's run in, continued to slow dance when Tony burst in with a few of his asshole friends. All of them were smashed.
"My grandma's." Clint spoke out of nowhere.
"What?"
"I don't know Marilyn Manson, and I haven't screwed a Spice Girl. I was not here for a year because I was sitting on a couch with my grandma, watching Whose Line is it Anyway and eating canned soup every day." Clint looked over Loki's shoulder, almost embarrassed that there were all of these stories surrounding him and the truth was completely lame.
"That is adorable." Loki grinned and meant it.
"Oh, it gets worse," Clint assured him. "D'you still have your freshman yearbook?" Loki was about to answer when Tony broke in.
"What the hell is Thor doing here with that shithead? I didn't pay you so that weasel could sneak in and take Thor!" Tony shoved Clint by his shoulders and left Loki off to the side, a mix of emotions forming in his eyes but the rest of his face remaining blank. Bruce turned in time to see it all happen, and he instantly urged Natasha to follow him to their friends.
"Feces hitting the fan, let's go," Bruce nudged Steve and left Natasha standing next to Thor as they made their way over to Clint. "Tony, pal, buddy, let's just take it easy, okay?" Bruce spoke as soon as he was close to Stark.
"You two are in big trouble," Tony growled. Steve looked him straight in the eye.
"Face it, you lost, and it was all Thor's decision." Steve didn't falter. Tony glared before throwing a punch, connecting with Steve's nose. Steve grimaced and immediately brought a hand up to pinch his nose as blood started to drip down. Tony turned his attention back to Clint and Loki, his eyes glittering.
"Just so you know, Loki'll only spread his legs once." Loki's gaze kept sweeping back and forth between Clint and Tony, quickly making sense of it all. Thor came up, unnoticed by Stark as he continued to snarl nasty things at Clint. Thor grabbed him by the shoulder and punched him in the eye.
"That is for Loki," Thor raised his fist again and hit Tony square in the nose. "That is for making my date bleed," he went in for one more punch, this time aiming to split Tony's lip. "And that is for me." By this time, Loki had run off, throwing the doors open and hightailing it out in anger and hurt.
"Wait!" Clint called, running out behind Loki.
"You were paid to take me out! Not only that, but by the one person I really, truly hate. I knew it was a set up!"
"It wasn't like that!"
"Oh, what was it like then? Some money here for a date, and a bonus if you slept with me?"
"I didn't care about the money!" Clint caught up to Loki and stood face to face with him. "I cared about-"
"You are not what I thought you were." All of the anger seemed to have left Loki in place of nothing but sorrow. His eyes betrayed pain and Clint's heart ached at the look. Thor watched from a distance, guilt weighing him down. He had been in on the plan just as much as the others, even if he had not exactly been aware of their methods.
Loki sat on the porch, wearing calf-length sweatpants and a black tank top, nose deep in a book. Thor stepped outside with a cup of tea and took a seat next to his brother.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Thor was in a zip up hoodie and shorts, ready to go to the beach with Steve.
"I am sure." Loki barely looked up from his book.
"You looked wonderful last night, brother." Thor offered Loki the tea. Loki considered it a moment and accepted it, setting the book on his leg.
"So did you." Loki smiled as best he could, even though he wholeheartedly meant his words. Steve arrived and stood at the bottom of the stairs. Thor pulled Loki into a hug and kissed his forehead before standing and joining Steve.
"Is he okay?" He asked Thor about Loki's state as they departed.
"I hope so."
Moments later, Odin came out of the house. He looked worried.
"Was that Thor?"
"Oh, yeah, he just left with a bunch of grizzly bikers. Full of sperm and disease." Loki placed his book in his lap again as Odin took a seat next to him.
"Funny." He paused before continuing. "So, how was that dance? Was it fun?"
"Parts of it."
"Which parts?"
"The part where Thor beat the hell out of Tony Stark."
"He did what?"
"What's the matter? Are you upset that I am rubbing off on him?"
"No... I am impressed." Odin paused again. "You know that, as a father, I do not care to admit my children are capable of running their own lives? It means that I have been reduced to a spectator. You put me on the bench years ago; Thor still lets me play a few innings. When you leave for Sarah Lawrence, I will not be able to even watch the game."
"When I go?"
"Oh, Christ, please do not tell me you have changed your mind? I sent in the first check last week." Loki leaned in for his second hug that morning, wrapping his arms tightly around Odin.
"Loki?" Steve asked shyly of the taller male, standing in line for lunch. Loki looked at Steve, waiting for him to continue. "I would like to apologize."
"For what?"
"I didn't mean for you to get h-" he looked down. "When Thor asked me to find you a boyfriend, I didn't mean for it; I had no idea it would get so ugly. I never would have done anything to-" he looked up, but Loki was already gone.
Thor was in English when Loki stormed in, grabbed him by the arm, spat "Family emergency," at the teacher, and roughly pulled him out of the room. Loki pinned Thor against a locker outside the door.
"Let me go!"
"You set me up!"
"I just wanted-"
"To completely damage me? To send me to therapy? What?" Loki allowed some silence so Thor could respond when Coulson interrupted.
"Gentlemen? Shall we take this to my office?"
"So, you're a real bitch." Coulson stated, directing his words to Thor after he finished telling the entire story. Loki was still fuming in the chair next to his brother.
"Yes, I am a real bitch. I wanted Loki to date someone so I could, and I did not think that was so terrible," he looked at his brother. "But I swear I did not know of the money. I did not know Stark was even involved, and I am sorry I hurt you. I would never intentionally do that."
"Do you care to respond?" Coulson asked Loki.
"What? Am I supposed to feel better? As in right away?"
"Just hit him." Coulson shrugged. Thor rose from his chair and made Loki stand with him, and they left Coulson's office. "What, no hug?" He called after them.
"That man is a complete fruit loop," Thor commented once they were outside.
"Okay, I think everyone has had more than enough time to compose their poems. Except for Stark, who is still in the ICU." Fury seemed pleased with the idea. "Anyone care to read theirs out loud?" Silence covered the room and no one volunteered, until Loki stood up.
"I will." Clint was on time, and he looked up at Loki as he strode to the front of the classroom, notebook paper in hand.
"Here we go," Fury rolled his eye. "Continue."
"I hate the way you talk to me
I hate the way you cut your hair
I hate the way you drive your car
I hate the way you stare." Loki took a brief pause.
"I hate your big dumb combat boots
and the way you read my mind
I hate you so much it makes me sick
It even makes me rhyme." Loki took a deep breath and looked at Clint, who stared at the ground.
"I hate the way you're always right
I hate the way you lie
I hate it when you make me laugh
and even more when you make me cry," Loki's face was a deep shade of red and his eyes were glistening. He bit his lip and continued, hands shaking.
"I hate it that you're not around
and the fact that you didn't call
but mostly I hate the way I don't hate you
not even a little bit
not even at all." Loki could no longer hold back the tears, and they trailed down his face as he looked Clint straight in the eye. Clint's face is stoic, but his eyes are dark and beyond sorry. Loki swept past everyone and out of the classroom. He exited the school entirely, striding through the parking lot to his car. Clint had left the classroom a few paces behind Loki, moving silently.
Loki opened his car door and found the blue-black Fender Stratocaster he had picked up in the store perched on the driver's seat. He picked it up and it was familiar, turning it over in his hands and looking closely at every part of it. He turned around and Clint was behind him, a sheepish grin on his face.
"You bought this?"
"Thought you could use it when you start your band," he stepped closer. "Besides, I had some extra cash. Some rich dickwad paid me to take out this really great guy."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, but then I fucked up pretty badly. I fell for the guy." Loki looked down at Clint's words, pink spreading in his cheeks. "You know, it's not every day you'll find a guy who will flash his ass at a teacher to smuggle you out of detention." Loki looked up slowly, and Clint put his hands on Loki's face, pulling him down for a kiss. Loki indulged in it for a moment before pulling away.
"You can't just buy me a guitar every time you screw up, you realize?"
"I know," Clint replied before pulling him into another kiss. Loki broke away again.
"And don't just think you can-"
"There are other instruments in a band. Who knows, maybe you'll even get a tambourine one day!" Clint snickered and Loki kissed him again, not breaking it off too short this time.
Congratulations, you read the entire thing! A sequel WILL happen eventually. I've got another idea I'm currently pursuing, but this is not the last of Clint and Loki in this universe.