Another update. Yaaayyy! For those of you who are being super patient for some action I promise that it's coming up very soon. And then I'll stab you all in the chest shortly after. Sorry, it's just how this story goes. Love you~

Disclaimer: Do not own Marvel Universe

Warning: Umm...none really. Wow and this chapter has Darcy...good for me.

Loki's suspension came to an end as well as his house arrest. Neither he nor Thor could go to the game so Darcy called them from the public phone at the field. She and Loki hadn't had a chance to talk for over a week so she nearly missed the halftime show. Frigga spent her Saturday in the city shopping; Loki and Thor spent the day in a truce both silently agreeing not to bring up the night Thor spent in his room despite their mother's questioning looks. Despite not speaking of it…Loki couldn't remember much of what had happened. He knew he'd given in, his addictions had been stirring for some time over the week and he'd only taken a small hit but something was wrong. The high that he usually got was euphoric but this felt twisted and black; his body felt like it was rejecting him. Thor told him he'd gotten sick. Loki remembered the pain in his stomach and chest, he remembered Thor coming home and coming into his room, and he remembered waking up…

Now it was Sunday and Darcy had dragged him to the mall.

"Slim pickings," Loki comments while Darcy looks through the homecoming dresses. For some reason she suddenly decided that she wanted to go to the dance that was coming up; that reason of course being Steve. As of today he was still not going with anyone and Loki unfortunately kept being updated. She makes him help her carry her choices into the dressing rooms and chooses a stall while Loki attempts to find comfort on the padded seats against the central mirrors. There was still a sinking feeling in his stomach from not telling Darcy that he knew Steve wasn't interested. Well…not really knew but he could tell that Steve didn't look at her like she wanted. Darcy tries on her seventh dress and Loki glances up from his book. "I thought this was a costume party. You know—for Halloween?"

Darcy does a turn in front of the mirror. "Well, I figured whatever I buy you could spruce up a bit for a character. Use your master sewing skills, you know?"

"You do realize this is a little short notice."

"Oh, please, you don't have a life. You're in a mall full of hot guys and cute shoes, and you're reading." She pulls her hair up and does a half turn in front of the mirror. "I don't like this one either…" Darcy retreats into the dressing room with a dramatic sigh.

"Darcy…it's a costume party; just pick a character and then find a dress."

"But it has to be cuuutteee!" she whines. Loki lets out a mocking laugh. "Okay, fine…cute or sexy, I'll settle for either."

Loki rubs at his arms; his scars were itching like crazy and he couldn't even remember why he made them. Thor didn't tell him why. He tries to concentrate on his book but it really was one of the most boring things he'd ever read. If he didn't finish it though he'd have to live with the fact that Thor did and that didn't settle right with Loki.

Darcy comes out and laughs at herself, covering her face with her hands. "Oh, God…I look like a fucking plum." Loki puts down his book.

"There're children around." She did look like a plum though. "You could be a sugar plum? Or the Sugar Plum Fairy from that ballet? The Nutcracker?"

"Ah, yes, that'll get me laid," Darcy snorts. "Being a character from a play called The Nutcracker."

"Ballet."

"Whatever." She closes the door.

Loki was ready to give up on the ramblings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. It wasn't that the book was bad or poorly written…he simply had no interest in the romanticism of the main character's crime. When it came to reading Loki was not particularly fond of a romantic undertone unless it blossomed in the purest and simplest of ways.

It was also why he was only fond of a few movies.

"Darcy, why don't we just go to a costume store?"

"Because I'm not degrading myself to something as menial as a preplanned costume! That's like your mom buying off the rack, it does not happen and it will not happen."

"You're being ridiculous…"

Darcy comes out of her dressing room carrying everything she'd tried on and sighs. "Let's try somewhere else, I'm not feeling any of these." She hangs all of the dresses up on the return rack and grabs Loki's arm—he winces—and loops it with hers. "Maybe I should just buy a pair of animal ears and throw on some lingerie. I'm sure half the girls are doing that anyway."

Loki snorts. "So much for cute."

They continue walking around the ladies' section of the store, Darcy having to stop and look at all the shoes—her true weakness. Loki wondered if he should come clean; she would want him to, that way it didn't seem as though he was babying her or lying about talking her up even though he was trying Loki just wasn't good at talking to guys about girls; especially to guys he somewhat got along with about girls he didn't always recognize as girls. Then there was Steve who wasn't giving him any kind of leverage in this. He was as thick-headed as Thor. Loki wasn't making it easy but the guy needed to catch a hint because Loki was running out of good things to say about Darcy. He watches as she falls over trying to pull on a pair of boots. At least she was funny in a nonconventional sort of way. Loki wanted to help, he did, but Steve wasn't interested; he didn't know how to tell her at least part of him didn't. The other part wanted to wait this out, see where it would go; Loki wasn't so convinced that Carol actually liked Steve and not Bucky, and if Carol made a move towards Steve Loki wanted to see how it would play out.

Darcy sits up abruptly when Loki's phone goes off; she'd been using his phone for her social needs. She yells aloud and half-somersaults her way over to him to grab his bag. "Give it! It could be important!" Loki lets her jack his phone, looking at her like she was crazy to play up the moment. Darcy flips through the notifications. "Who the hell cares what you had for lunch?! God, I hate Facebook…false alarm, go back to business."

A rather disgruntled looking man walks over with a scowl and tells them to keep it down.

"You're insane, you know that, right?"

"Hey, just because you're not pining to go with-" Darcy stops her sentence short. "Oh my God…I didn't even think of that…who are you going to go with? You can't third wheel, you're too socially awkward and you'd be filled with the hatred of the thousands of souls who have ever been third wheeled, I can't deal with that."

He shrugs. "I don't have to go."

"Yes you do! Who's going to be my wingman?"

Loki snorts, taking his phone back from her. He was obviously missing something. "Darcy, if you're already planning to go with Steve, why do I have to be your wingman?"

"Hello? How else am I supposed to have sex?" She rolls her eyes and holds out her arms like he was supposed to know that.

"Give him all the right signals? Say all the right things? And Darcy…don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself? He hasn't even asked you yet…or vice versa."

She waves him off and puts the boots back where she found them. "Details, details, all I know is that Steve works fast and I need a cute dress that flaunts my figure." Loki rolls his eyes. He didn't know who Darcy was talking to but Steve did not give off the essence of a sexual being. "What do these boots remind you of?" They both take a step back to look at them. "David Bowie from Labyrinth? I mean that's what I see but then again I was more sexually attracted to those boots than I was his bulge."

"Darcy—you could be Sarah…from that ballroom scene. We could find an old white 80s dress and I could bedazzle it a little."

"I don't know…it's not cute or sexy but…"

"It's kind of sexy. Sort of—OW! What the hell?!"

Darcy had punched Loki sharply in the arm and he scowls at her. "Christine and her royal court are right behind us." Loki glances back; Christine and a few girls were walking over to them, including Carol Danvers.

"Well hello, Darcy. I thought I heard you from across the store."

Christine smirks, flicking her hair back. Loki didn't understand why people hung out with her except that high school was high school and social rank meant everything. They pay him the curious glance but nothing more since they were all scared of him now. He didn't understand why everyone questioned what he wore it wasn't like he was wearing anything offensive—just a long skirt and a sweater.

Darcy flips her hair back, crossing her arms. "Hi, Christine, so nice to see you out and about. Looking for dresses? Can't all be wearing the same thing, can we?" Loki would have to add jackass to Darcy's list of positives.

"Oh, Darcy, you always make me laugh," Christine sighs. She looks over her nails and looks back up at them with a smile. "I didn't even know you were going to the dance. The two of you—I'm assuming?"

Loki snorts.

"I haven't asked my date yet," Darcy replies, mimicking Christine's posture.

"You'd better ask fast, Lewis, before all the decent ones are gone."

"Well…make sure your date knows your name before anything happens, Christine." Darcy smirks as she turns to Loki, walking away. Christine scowls at them. Darcy pulls on Loki to follow her, making him stumble on his skirt. He swats at her to get off while he fixes himself, Christine and her friends whispering amongst themselves; he heard the word 'twink'. Loki could feel his face burning as Darcy drags him away.

"Careful you and Laufeyson don't end up wearing the same dress, Darcy." The girls giggle, walking in the opposite direction.

Loki crosses his arms defensively. They needed a break; Darcy buys him an ice cream at the food court sitting with him while she thinks aloud. She seemed to like his idea and was naming off all the places they could find some old white dresses. He wasn't really paying attention. Carol was with Christine in the store. What if she was already going with Steve? Loki could always go with Darcy, he wouldn't mind; besides it would be his fault for not trying harder to hook them up. Loki still didn't understand why Darcy couldn't just approach him herself. It was all giving him a headache.

"Loki." Darcy laughs, handing him some napkins. "You're dripping all over yourself. What's going on?" He shakes his head and mops up the ice cream.

"Maybe I should third wheel with you Saturday…"

"You don't have to if you don't want-"

"No, no, it's just-" Loki bites his lip. He laughs lightly, cleaning off his hand. "You're a mess, you know? You probably need me to get you laid more than we think." He twists his hands together, his stomach churning. "Darcy…this is just a crush right?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…you won't go completely off the edge if nothing happens, right?"

Darcy laughs, stopping when she realizes he's being serious. "Oh…well, I—I mean it's not like I think we're soul mates or anything…Steve's just really, really ripped and I want to lick things off his body…" she shrugs. "And he's really nice and polite and that's hard to find in guys our age. Sure I'll be upset, but I'll get over it."

An hour after they get home—empty handed—Facebook notified Loki's phone that Carol Danvers had asked Steve to the dance. He'd said yes.

Darcy didn't want to go anymore.

The restaurant he chose wasn't very busy for a Sunday night. Loki stirs his drink, waiting impatiently for his waiter to show up again. He'd known what he wanted for over half an hour. Family owned restaurant, not busy on a weekend, half the customers were seated at the bar, and the dumpster he walked past was filled with partially eaten food…Loki should've just ordered he and Darcy a pizza but he wasn't doing so good trying to cheer her up. She just wanted to go home so Thor drove her and Loki found himself somewhere quiet; though he was hoping more for quiet not dead.

Loki was feeling guilty. He should've tried harder, he should've just put the idea in Steve's head he was good at that. At least then Darcy may have gotten one night out with him and everyone could move on and be happy platonic friends. Why did everyone in high school have to like someone? It wasn't like Darcy ever enjoyed the relationships she got for more than a day.

His waiter walks by and Loki holds up his glass for a refill. He tries to disguise his groan as a sigh, grabbing the glass and throwing an internal fit on the way to the bar. Loki seemed to be the only customer in his section; he'd make sure to take advantage of that.

"Loki?"

Steve had a bin of dirty dishes on his hip and he had to double take past Loki's table since some of the lights in the restaurant had gone out a while ago. Loki laughs dryly to himself, his waiter handing him his drink and walking away. "Hello, Steven…of course you work at the one restaurant I walked into."

"Nice to see you too." He looks around. "You're…here alone?"

"You obviously have a lot to learn about me."

He laughs, setting the bin down on an empty table. "Is your food not out yet? I could go check for you."

"The queen of Sheba over there hasn't taken my order yet." Steve looks towards Loki's waiter and snorts.

"That's Jimmy. Sorry, he's not very good at his job…actually none of us are but at least I get all the dishes off the table." He shrugs, grinning. "The spaghetti is edible enough, comes with meatballs and bread…sound good?"

"Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad." Loki smiles lightly.

"Back in one second." Steve takes his bin and disappears into the kitchen.

Loki sips his drink slowly. He was too much of a lightweight to down more than three glasses of coke and rum. The universe obviously hated him though; why the hell did Steve keep showing up when he was down in one of his moods? And worse he somehow made him feel better. Loki groans. Steve comes back out and sets a salad down in front of him with a cup of dressing on the side. Fancy.

"Excuse me, sir, but this isn't what I ordered."

Steve slides into the booth opposite of him with a water and laughs. "All entrées come with a salad…compliment of the chef."

"And here I thought everyone knew you were supposed to dress the salad before bringing it out." Loki smirks, trying a bite. It wasn't bad. "Aren't you going to eat anything?"

"You know I don't think everyone is as cultured as you," Steve teases. "I had my dinner break earlier. What are you drinking, by the way?"

He shrugs. "Coke and rum."

"Did Jimmy even check your idea? Because there's no way that he though-" Loki pulls a card from his pocket and hands it to Steve. "You're twenty-two? Wait—is this even real? No way you're twenty-two…"

"I'm fifteen, Rogers, you've known me since I was ten." He takes the ID card back. "And no, it's not-" Loki lowers his voice, "-real by technical definition but it lets me get into clubs with bars and get drinks from certain restaurants. I don't flaunt it though." He stirs his drink slowly, done with the salad. It wasn't good enough for him to finish it.

He really wasn't all that hungry anymore. If Loki hadn't decided to sit back and observe, Darcy wouldn't be at home pouting—she didn't usually cry over boys they weren't worth it. Maybe it was because of Amora; Loki didn't torment people like he could, like she thought he could, and he did just let everyone walk over him. Even Thor had pointed that out. He'd snapped though, beat up Harry Osborn, made everyone back off…they'd be back though.

One of the chefs comes out with his spaghetti. Loki thanks him without looking up.

Things were certainly feeling different. Loki felt guilty about not helping Darcy out—last year he would've shrugged it off and called his experiment a success. What was wrong with him? Something had made him soft; people just stopped caring about what he did; when he acted out nobody cared but when he tried to do something right everyone freaked out. How was that fair? Thor was failing half his classes, Darcy mouthed off to everyone, Harry Osborn got away with throwing slanders at whoever he wanted…Loki was being as polite and quiet as he could manage. Sure he snuck out and sure he smoked in the girls' bathroom but he knew better than to deal drugs or snort coke off the desks. And yeah, he didn't turn in most of his work but he passed all his tests—except for history—and did all of his papers. Just because he wasn't a complete psychotic like Amora made him soft?

This was giving him a migraine.

Amora was trying to get inside his head like she always did but for what purpose? Thor had shown complete disinterest in her advances so it wasn't like she was trying to get him. Was she trying to make Loki prove himself? So he prevented Darcy from getting her date with Steve…he didn't mean to do that. Darcy was his, what did she care what he did with his things? Steve was the one that threw him off; he didn't know what it was, but Steve had to be lying or hiding something. Maybe Steve did like Carol; but that didn't make sense because if Steve liked her he'd be a stuttering mess around her and he wasn't, he was only like that with Loki. Yeah, Loki got into a fight with Harry Osborn but that wasn't any kind of proof either, he was finally done with all of Osborn's bullshit so they beat the crap out of each other. Then there was the party…Amora wasn't even there—at least not that Loki saw—and nothing even happened he stood on the balcony with Steve until they got tired.

Loki was mashing the hell out of his meatballs. He barely notices when Steve slides a penny across the table to him. Idiot. He could just ask what's on his mind instead of being so cheesy. Loki looks at it and sighs, pocketing the coin.

"Are you feeling okay?" Steve asks. "You look…exhausted."

He sighs. "May I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Would you have taken Darcy to the dance?" Loki picks at the edible portions of his food, not looking up.

"Darcy? Yeah, I guess so. We're friends." Steve furrows his brow. "Why?"

"Darcy…she does this thing where she'll like someone but always ends up getting disappointed when they date someone else or aren't everything she imagined. Honestly, I think it's because she's not attracted to the idea of a relationship, she just thinks she is." Loki sets down his fork and pushes his plate away. "You see…I was supposed to get you to go with Darcy to the dance but you're going with Carol and now she doesn't want to go."

Steve frowns, looking down. "I didn't know Darcy liked me…" He looks back up at Loki and smirks. "Is that why it seemed like you were trying to sell her to me?" Loki groans and flops his head down on the table. Steve's face falls. "Is she really that upset? Why didn't she just ask me herself?"

Loki sits up and throws his arms out dramatically. "EXACTLY! Thank you!" A few people turn their heads to look at them. He sighs, rubbing his temples; at least someone understood. "I should've just been blunt about all of this but—I knew you liked someone and I didn't want to just throw Darcy at you…"

"Y-you-you know who I uhh—who I like?" Steve stammers nervously and rolls his shoulders.

"Well, yeah, Rogers…you said yes, didn't you? At least Carol's got a personality compared to some of the other girls in our grade." Loki stabs at his food. "She's smart and attractive too so at least you won't be bored."

Steve nods. "Right…I like Carol…" They sit in uneasy silence, Steve chewing on his lip; Loki was still stabbing at his food, obviously done with it. He clears his throat. "I don't get off for another hour but…if you want to wait, I could drive you home?"

Loki shakes his head.

"No, thank you. I walked here, I'll walk back." Loki pulls out his wallet and lays money on the table. Steve stares at him.

"We're ten minutes from your house—that's a long walk. I can drive you, really." He frowns.

Loki brushes himself off and smirks. "Relax, Rogers. You think I'd walk here without packing some heat?" He lifts his sweater slightly; a pair of scissors was sticking out of the hem of his bottoms. Loki was a weird kid. "Besides you'd just have to drive back this way to get home."

Steve nods. They both stand, Loki offering him a tip; he refuses but Loki sticks it into his apron pocket when he's not looking. Steve walks him to the door both not sure what else to say. Loki turns to him and smiles lightly, his arms pressed against him and itching like crazy. "I'll see you, Steve."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow I guess." He waves him out and notices that Loki was wearing a skirt again.

Steve felt his heart jump.