*gasps* Another chapter already? But it's only been a few days!

Yeah, I know, I updated fast this time. Not...really sure how since I had to do two research papers this week...oh well! Hopefully the next chapter will be just as fast. No promises though. I am however heading towards the end of my semester...so you never know.

Disclaimer: Does not own Marvel Universe

Warning: I think just language

Comments/critiques are welcomed! :D

"Hey, Steve."

"You go swimming this weekend, Rogers?"

"Did you have a nice swim?"

"Was the water cold this weekend, Steve?"

Steve hadn't even gotten to his locker and nearly everyone he passed made some sort of swimming reference. He knew he fell in the pool at Thor's party…but the weekend was a bit of a blur. He'd woken up so hungover on Saturday that he was still drunk and the weird part was that he somehow ended up at Clint's house.

"Sure that pool wasn't full of booze, Rogers?"

"Maybe he saw Laufeyson's ass in the water."

Speaking of…Steve glances shyly to his right where Loki was dumping his textbooks into his locker. Loki was wearing his usual get-up, the only difference being that he had his glasses on today. He couldn't exactly remember what was said but he knew he got into a fight with Loki…and not remembering why was making him feel worse than the idea of actually fighting. A few more people pass by to taunt him, Steve sighing and biting his lip. At least no one was making fun of Loki that was a plus. Steve clears his throat. "Hey, uhh—Loki-"

Loki doesn't even look at him as he slams his locker shut and makes his way towards Darcy's. Steve's heart drops into his stomach. If Loki wasn't actually mad at him before he definitely was now. Steve slowly closes his locker and sighs. He glances up to see Thor passing by on his way to Jane and gives him a small wave. Thor just responds with a tiny smile. Steve could feel his heart drop out of his ass. Even Thor was mad at him. But worse…the depressing kind of mad. Steve could probably handle getting punched in the face but he hated the puppy eyes.

"Steve, my brother!" Bucky punches his shoulder playfully and gives him a shake. "Oh my shit, man, you were so wasted this weekend!"

"It was hilarious, dude," Clint snorts, grinning. "We saw the whole thing, you're such a fucking freak!"

Steve scowls at both of them. "So you saw me make an ass of myself and you didn't do anything?"

"What?" Bucky laughs, shaking his head. "Nah, man…someone took a video!" He pulls out his phone and scrolls through to find the item he wanted, holding it up to Steve. "See? Check it!" Steve watches himself shouting and grabbing at Loki, his blood running cold when he grabs Loki's ass and the camera pans over to Thor. Bucky and Clint both start laughing when Loki shoves Steve into the pool. "Oh my God, oh my God—that's the best part," Bucky wheezes, holding his sides. "He just pushes you! He doesn't even hesitate!"

"What did I—say to him?"

"To who? Loki?" Clint shrugs. "Who cares? All I know is you get really affectionate when you're drunk, dude. I hope that uhh—special friend of yours doesn't see."

He furrows his brow. "Special friend?" Steve blinks. That's right—he'd sort of admitted to seeing someone. Although technically he was…or at least—had been. Steve wasn't so sure Loki was going to let him bounce back from this. "Oh…right…I'm sure they already have…"

Bucky gives his shoulder a squeeze as the bell rings, guiding him towards their first class. "Don't sweat it, Steve…if they can't handle seeing you drunk then they can't handle you at all."

"Yeah, well," Steve laughs dryly. "I think they'd rather not handle me at all right now."

Loki flicks his cigarette to the ground and sighs. He was too irritated to sit through classes today. It was cold outside due to the snow but that's why Loki wore layers. Darcy however had zipped her parka up to her nose and was wearing her knit cap that made it look as if she had cat ears. She hated the cold. He stops walking for a moment when she falls behind his pace and sighs, holding out his arm for her to loop it with his. She mumbles a muffled thanks, digging through her purse to offer him a chocolate. Loki shakes his head. Darcy unzips her coat for only a moment to pop her candy into her mouth and zip her coat back up.

"You know, I did tell you that you could stay inside," he sighs again, lighting up another cigarette. She makes a disgruntled noise as if to disapprove him smoking so soon after the last. Loki ignores her. "I know you're cold out here, I don't know why you came." She mumbles her response through her coat. "What?"

Darcy responds again and Loki furrows his brow. She tries saying it louder this time but he still had no comprehension of what she was trying to tell him. All he could gather was 'you' and 'cold.'

"Will you please just unzip your coat?"

She does so and lets out a groan, frowning at him. "How are you not cold? It's fucking freezing!"

"I just told you that you could go back inside," Loki exhales.

He climbs onto the first step of the bleachers and walks along it, shoving his hands into his pockets. Darcy walks in the slush and mud beside him and hums quietly to herself. She hadn't been to Thor's party on Friday. Her excuse had been that she had to work which Loki understood—Darcy didn't like skipping work unless she had to—but he'd ended up sticking with a group of burn outs. He didn't particularly care for their company but none of them were very smart so getting free hits from one of them was inevitable. It wasn't his best idea though…

Loki didn't take into consideration how apparent it was that he'd been avoiding Steve. Normally he was much more subtle but Loki couldn't even look at Steve without freaking out. Seeing him naked wasn't something Loki thought would bother him but it was becoming painfully apparent—Loki actually liked Steve. The physical attraction was obvious. Loki marveled at Steve's body and quite honestly seeing him in the showers the way he had was like a thrill ride but the internal distress it had caused him was why Loki was instinctively avoiding any kind of interaction.

"Can I ask why we're out here?" Darcy asks, her breath coming out in visible puffs. Loki stops walking to look down at her. She finishes her thought before he can respond. "Is it because you're mad at Steve? I mean…I get it, especially since you're such a sensitive little fuck when it comes to stuff like this, but you guys seem to be getting along so well…can't you just cut the guy a break? He was drunk."

"He grabbed my ass and called me a tease."

Darcy snorts out a laugh, Loki scowling at her. "Yeah, I know…I've watched like five different videos on Facebook. Thor's face though…it's my favorite. He looks like Steve Carell staring at the camera in The Office."

"Thank you, Darcy, I'm grateful that you're so sensitive to my feelings about this." Loki hops off the bleachers and walks along the track, Darcy having to jog to catch up to him.

"Stop," she pants. "Stop, why are you so fast? Damn your beautiful legs…" Darcy thanks him when he stops walking, taking a moment to catch her breath. "Look, Loki…I understand that you're mad at him, okay? And you'll probably be mad at him for the rest of your miserable little life…but you know who else is going to be mad at him? Thor."

Loki sighs, rolling his eyes. "What are you talking about, Darcy?"

"Think about it—you're mad at Steve for acting the way he did and unfortunately Thor had to witness it too. Thor would probably take an apology and understand, especially since Steve's like never drunk and he's drunk all the time—and because you are kind of a tease—but if you stay mad at Steve then Thor's going to feel obligated to stay mad at him too. Steve's like his best friend—and—and—if Steve's no longer his best friend who's Thor more likely to hang out with?"

Her argument was moot. Loki had already recognized the great amount of stress this had put on Thor's relationship with Steve. In fact he'd already come up with ways for Steve to patch things up with Thor without Loki directly becoming involved. And it had better work…the last thing Loki wanted was for Thor to spend all of his time with the Three Stooges and the manic bitch. Though he was only doing this because he'd feel too guilty being the one wedged between Thor and one of his friends all because Steve had to go and be amazing… He grumbles, Darcy linking her arm with his for warmth. "I'm sure Steve will attempt to make peace with me first, I'll speak with him then."

"Fair enough," Darcy shrugs, smiling. "I heard a rumor going around anyways…"

"Oh? I suppose I don't have much of a choice on whether or not you're going to tell me what it is."

Darcy giggles, grinning and keeping up with his pace. "I heard from Tasha-" Loki frowns at the nickname for Romanoff. Also not someone he wanted to deal with… "-that Steve is officially off the market."

Loki quirks a brow. "Did Rogers tell her this?"

"Yeah. Apparently he admitted to seeing someone at the party on Friday—before he was drunk, so it must be legit."

He hums, shrugging. "Well…I guess Steve's seeing someone then. How do you feel about that?"

She snorts and laughs. "All I know is—I've seen him naked. That's all I ever wanted."

Steve hadn't seen Loki all day. He supposed that could be a mix of Loki avoiding him and Loki simply skipping altogether but he was hoping to at least catch him at some point during the day—no such luck. He'd made numerous attempts to talk to Thor but he wasn't interested either. Bucky and Clint however stuck to Steve like glue all day, making jokes and jabs at him about swimming and drinking and having an eye for butts. Of course if they weren't joining in with everyone else to make fun of him for Friday, Bucky was hounding him on who this secret girlfriend of his was. Steve had no interest in telling him anything though. In fact he was trying to avoid any questions he received about this "girlfriend" of his. The last thing he wanted was to slip up and word vomit that his girlfriend was actually Loki…then Thor would really want to hit him. Loki probably would too.

The final bell rings and Steve shuts his locker. He looks around, Loki nowhere in sight—though Steve didn't expect him to be. If anything Loki had followed Darcy to one of her numerous clubs. He knew Loki wasn't with Thor since Thor and Jane seemed to have skipped out of class early. Loki didn't seem very partial towards third-wheeling. Steve waves to Bucky and Clint as they make their way to their own afterschool activities—Bucky was in the Russian Club with Natasha, and Clint did archery with Bobbi. It was a relief for Steve since it meant he didn't have to deal with them again until tomorrow. He also didn't have work which for Steve seemed to be a bonus.

He makes his way down the nearly empty halls to wander around. Steve needed to apologize to Loki. Prolonging it until tomorrow or the next day or the next day would make it seem like he didn't care that he'd obviously embarrassed him and would probably lead to a bigger fight. Finding Loki however was more anxiety inducing than it should be. In order to find him he'd have to find Darcy and he'd have to convince him to speak with him alone…or convince Darcy to give them a moment. Steve passes by the lecture hall and pauses, glancing at the door. It was Monday…didn't the Debate Team meet on Mondays? He partially opens the door to check, Darcy's voice instantly carrying over everything else. Steve rolls his eyes and slips into the room, silently making his way towards the front where everyone was congregated around Darcy.

"We're not using that as a debate topic, Wade," Darcy sighs, crossing her arms.

"Why not?! Tacos are a serious issue!"

"Moving on…how about we do a warm up debate today?" The group grumbles amongst themselves, Darcy scowling at them. "Shut up, I'm team captain, so we're doing a warm up. We lost the last match thanks to Major Stutter over here."

Steve glances at the boy she motions to—a freshman—who squeaks and pouts at her. "That's not fair, D-Darcy, I get nervous! Why do you always pick on me?"

"Because your name is Peter which is also a term for 'penis…'and it may be because you only joined debate team so you could bone Gwen Stacy over here even though you've epically failed at that. It's also because you're a guy with a very weak personality and I'm a girl with a strong personality and it just makes it easy to pick on you." Darcy grins and ruffles his hair. "In short, it's because I lub you, Petey, and I want you to get better!"

"You just need someone to kick around…"

Darcy scoffs. "Nonsense!" She motions for them to get up. "Now split into teams and I'll decide on the topic-"

"Hey—Darcy," Steve smiles shyly, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt…do you have a minute?"

"Steve Rogers as I live and breathe," Darcy grunts, grinning at him. She turns to her debate team when the majority of them—being freshmen and sophomore girls—sigh dreamily. "Back off, he isn't interested in you hussies. Now pick your teams and figure out how to debate—Batman vs. Superman. GO!" She motions for Steve to follow her towards the back of the room, smiling pleasantly at him. It was a little eerie…he was sure she'd seen the videos and heard firsthand from Loki…why was she in such a good mood with him? "What can I do for you, handsome?"

He blushes lightly and laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I—I was h-hoping that Loki would—would be with you…"

She smirks. "You weren't really hoping that."

"N-no, I guess n-n-not…"

"Steve, relax, I'm not mad at you," Darcy smiles, giving his arm a squeeze. "I'm also not going to make fun of you like your asshole friends have been all day. I'm sure you've heard enough jokes today involving pools and butts. Although you did breech the water like Ariel in The Little Mermaid, not everyone can do that."

"You're…not mad?"

"No. Why should I be? You were drunk. I've done stupid stuff while I was drunk. Half the people in our school lost their virginities while they were drunk."

"I-I just meant…Thor's mad at me."

"Yeah, well, you grabbed his little brother's ass and called him a tease. He's gonna be a little mad."

"Yeah, but-" Steve sighs, biting his lip. "He's not reacting like he's mad…he's just ignoring me. I'd rather he punch me and get it over with."

Darcy smirks. "But then you'll have a big welt on your face and you won't be pretty anymore. Trust me though…this whole thing will blow over in a day. Besides—most people are starting to talk about how you're apparently off the market." She grins, Steve's face paling slightly. "So who's the lucky lady, Steve? I guess she doesn't go here or she'd be bragging about you."

"I uhh…heh, you know, Darcy, I was actually looking for Loki-" Steve swallows the lump in his throat. "I wanted to apologize for the other night, if—you know—he's willing to talk to me…"

"Well I can't say for sure if he's willing…but you've gotten him talking before so I guess anything is possible," Darcy shrugs. She glances back at her groups and frowns. "Wade Wilson, if you don't stop shooting goldfish at the girls' cleavages I'm going to knock you back into next week! Now sit down, your group just got stuck arguing Superman!" The rest of the group groans, Darcy rolling her eyes. "I don't know why I got stuck with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, fucking ridiculous…" She sighs and gives Steve a smile. "Loki's down in one of the painting rooms."

Steve smiles and slings his bag back over his shoulder. "Thanks, Darce. I'll talk to you later." He slips silently out of the room and shakes his head with a smile as Darcy turns her attention back to her debate team and addresses them as the 'fruits of her womb.' Steve could've just kept walking, really. His next guess would've been one of the art rooms. Maybe subconsciously he just needed to prepare himself. The way Darcy dismissed his reservations did make him feel a little better…so did talking to someone who didn't make some kind of jab or ridicule him in anyway. He was still nervous as all hell. And quite honestly if things didn't go well with Loki during their talk Steve was thinking about taking a few days off. The last thing he wanted to be reminded of during school was that he put all this work into getting Loki to open up only to be shot down for making a stupid mistake…he was drunk and frustrated and jealous and confronting Loki at all while he was like that was stupid and he should've just listened to Natasha when she told him to take it easy and to Loki when he wanted to be left alone. At least Steve knew what he'd done wrong…

The trek towards the art department felt like the longest walk of his life. Steve was exhausted before he even made it to the room he was looking for. What if Loki refused to even acknowledge him? He didn't want this to be the reason they broke up. It hadn't even been a month yet.

He knocks hesitantly on the door, waiting for some kind of answer. There's no answer. This was only creating more anxiety for Steve. He knew he had to talk to him today or else he'd be forced to—Steve shudders—call him. That was probably worse than waiting for another day to talk. It meant that Steve couldn't play off any kind of subtle body movements or twitches Loki may let slip past his walls.

Steve wasn't even sure what he was going to say. What was there to say? He opens the door just a crack to make sure it's the room Loki's in.

It was empty other than Loki sitting towards the front, his back to the door. Steve closes the door quietly behind him, though he didn't really need to—Loki had earbuds in. He glances around the room once more to make sure they're alone. At least the initial air in the room was neither suffocating nor pleasant. It was simply neutral. Loki seemed extremely content in his work and was not yet aware of Steve's added presence to the room. He watches him for a moment and sighs. Steve didn't want this to be the end and yet he'd understand if it was. Loki still had such a graceful, beautiful, and mysterious way about him. He intrigued Steve every day, he interested him, when he was with Loki he was never bored—even when Loki was avoiding him the week before Steve wanted to know why. Every piece of Steve cared what Loki was thinking especially about him.

After setting his bags down by the door, Steve slowly approaches Loki and stands off to the side, watching him paint. He'd never seen Loki paint before, only sketch, and even then he didn't see him sketching all that often. Loki was normally writing. However, he'd mentioned his interest and general passion for it before—if Steve was recalling correctly—and he could understand why. He was amazing; much better than Steve had ever been at painting. And as expected the colors were all dark and gave a sense of depth.

Steve takes a deep breath and touches Loki's shoulder. He cringes slightly when Loki glances back at him. There's an audible look of dissatisfaction as Loki pauses his music and takes out his earbuds with a sigh. Steve wrings his hands together. Loki looks him over briefly but continues painting, Steve straining to hear as he mumbles a bitter greeting. "What can I do for you, Rogers?"

"I-I-I uhh—I-I-I-" he tries to swallow down his anxiety, the lump in his throat sticking fast. "…hi."

There's a small awkward silence, Loki hesitating in his work. "Hello."

He continues to stand awkwardly at Loki's side and bites his lip, taking a moment to think about what he wanted to say. There were way too many things going through his head. He watches Loki paint and smiles lightly. Steve could tell it was some kind of solar system or a constellation but that was all he could gather. It was beautiful though.

"What are you painting?"

"The Canis Minor and Monoceros," he replies cooly, continuing to blend the colors of the dark sky together. Steve furrows his brow and cocks his head to the side, trying to look at the painting from a different angle. Were those stars or…? He was afraid to ask. Loki sighs as if he could physically hear Steve's confusion. "They're constellations, Rogers."

"Oh…it's beautiful."

"Thank you."

A knot twists in Steve's stomach. Loki wasn't…mad. Or at least he didn't seem like it. He just seemed disappointed like Thor was. Steve wasn't sure if he liked that more or not. With Thor, Steve just wanted him to hit him and get it over with…with Loki—with Loki it felt more like he was trying to rip his heart out of his chest.

"Are you…mad?" Steve bites his lip. Loki doesn't answer at first he just ponders over the question, his paintbrush even hesitating to touch the canvas.

Loki sighs. He sets his paintbrush aside and takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. "No…no, I'm not mad. I stopped being mad more or less…I'm just—upset."

"Loki, please, I—I shouldn't have gotten drunk on Friday, okay? That wasn't the way to handle what was going on between us and it was a bad move on my part, and I'm so sorry about that-"

"I'm not interested in your apology, Steven," he puts his glasses back on and stares down at his hands. "If that's all you came in here to say then please leave-"

Steve crouches down on his knees to sit on the floor next to him, wanting desperately to touch his arm but knowing it would be a poor move. "Loki, wait, please, I—I didn't come here with a plan and I should have…but I know there are things that need to be said…" Loki sighs and turns his head away from him. "Please, Loki, I—I know that the way I treated you this weekend is unforgivable and that I should have never taken any of my aggressions out on you…especially while I was drunk…but I didn't—I didn't know what was wrong, I didn't know—I didn't know what to do or what I had done, I just—I don't know…" He takes his hand gently in his, Loki not giving any signs of pulling away. "I don't know how to express how sorry I am, I feel awful, I—I had to watch that damn video at least 20 times today and wanted to stab myself in the face each time…you were so upset and I only made things worse-"

"I'm not upset with you, Steve, I already told you that…" Loki mumbles, Steve straining to hear what he was saying. "And I accept your apology because I did have a hand in your insecurities-"

"But you're still upset." Loki shoots him a look as if to warn him that he didn't want to repeat himself again, Steve sighing and furrowing his brow. "Loki—despite trying to hide it I can tell when you're upset, okay? Especially when you're acting like this…why can't you just tell me when something's wrong?" He watches as Loki pulls an envelope out of his bag and holds it out to Steve. There's a hesitation. Taking the envelope could mark some kind of acceptance that Steve wasn't willing to give. "Wh—what's this?"

"It's for you and Thor…" he mumbles, turning his attention back to his painting. "I'll be sure to put in my good word with him but I figured a formal apology from yourself as well as a peace offering was the best way for you to patch things up with him."

Steve opens the envelope and furrows his brow, gaping at him. "You—Loki how did you get these? This show's been sold out for months." He shrugs, Steve shaking his head and holding the envelope back out to him. "I'm not taking these."

"What do you mean? I thought you and Thor both enjoyed AWOLNATION?"

"No, I mean-" Steve pulls his hand away from Loki's, frowning, "-I'm not taking these if it means you're breaking up with me. I don't want to patch things up with Thor if I can't make us work too. We're both going to make mistakes in this relationship, Loki, okay? It's barely been a month and you already want to give up-"

"I'm not giving up, Steve-"

"Then what would you call it? Taking the easy way out?"

Loki stares at him incredulously and scoffs. Steve's frown deepens when Loki turns away. "I don't want to have this conversation with you, Rogers, please just take the offering and go."

Giving in was only going to give Loki what he wanted, Steve knew that, but at the same time giving Loki space seemed to be the right thing to do…but if he did that nobody was really winning. He places the envelope back in Loki's lap and stands, hardening his gaze. "You've accepted my apology, you've told me you're not mad, you want me to patch things up with Thor—you're acting extremely calm about all of this and yet you're sitting here, bluntly telling me without any kind of explanation that it's over and I can't help but feel that you're not telling me what's really wrong." Loki stares down at the envelope Steve placed on his lap. "I'm not taking the tickets. And I'm not apologizing to Thor. Not until you tell me what's really going on."

"Nothing…"

Steve furrows his brow. "I don't believe that and neither do you. Not for a second."

"There's nothing going on!" Loki snaps, snarling at him. "I just don't want to do this with you anymore!"

"I don't understand, Loki. Why do you keep doing this? Why do you say you aren't mad when you really are? If something's wrong, just tell me." Loki shakes his head and turns away, staring at his work. "If you aren't mad at me for Friday than why are you mad-?"

"Because you made fun of me!" Loki tosses his paintbrushes and the envelope aside and covers his face with his hands. "I could've brushed off you being drunk and yelling at me in front of Thor or even picking a fight with me in front of a group of your friends—but you mocked me, Steve, you—you called me names and then laughed about it like some horny frat boy…then you started cornering me and I didn't know what to do-" Steve's heart sinks in his chest. It plummets into his stomach when he realizes Loki's crying. "And I couldn't—I didn't—I had to avoid you, Steve, I didn't know how to react because I—I don't know…I realized that I liked you. I realized how much I actually liked you and spending time with you and it made me physically sick, I didn't know what to do…" He sniffles and chokes out a small sob. "I realized that I liked you and you had to go and act like an asshole and now I'm just—I'm confused, Steve…"

He doesn't know what else to do but to watch Loki for a moment, pulling up a chair to sit back down next to him. Steve sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I'm…I'm sorry, Loki…I never meant to—I didn't want—I didn't want to upset you-"

Loki sniffles and shakes his head, taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes with his sweater. "I'm not upset with you, Steve, I told you that…" He sighs and sets his hands down in his lap. "I'm upset with myself…I—I realized how much I liked you and then I pushed you into getting drunk and hurting you and then Thor…and I knew—I knew hanging around that guy at the party was wrong but you're not even mad at me, Steve, you're not even mad-"

Steve hums and bites back a little smile, taking Loki's arms in his hands and pulling him towards him. He had been mad, yes, but Loki had already apologized. Loki willingly places his face against Steve's chest as Steve places his chin on top of his head and kisses his hair. "You're so stupid, Loki," Steve chuckles. He sits Loki back up and wipes his eyes, handing him his glasses. "You do realize that liking me while we're going out is actually a good thing, right?"

"Shut up, Steve," Loki wipes his face off and gives him a small smile.

Despite feeling awful for stirring up such negative emotions in Loki, Steve couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself. Breaking some of these barriers Loki so religiously guarded himself with was sort of the point if he ever expected to get anywhere with him. Although…his heart was still heavy…

"I am sorry, Loki." Steve takes his hand and gives it a small squeeze. "You know that I—I'd never purposely try to make fun of you like that…right?"

He nods, bending down to collect his paint brushes and the envelope, giving Steve a small smile. "I know…and I knew that some of the things you'd said were more out of spite for me hurting you than anything. I probably would have thought it was funny that you were drunk if I wasn't already in a bad mood…or if Thor wasn't there…"

"Right…Thor…" He still wasn't sure how to handle that situation. Steve blinks when Loki holds out the envelope to him.

"Call it an early Christmas present. It was already my intention to give them to you so why not now? You and Thor could use some time, I'm sure. Despite having Jane, he does still harbor some jealousy towards your fascination with me." Loki smirks at him, Steve taking the envelope.

"Thank you, Loki." Steve smiles when Loki nonchalantly waves him off, starting to gather his supplies and put them away. He brushes his thumb over Loki's knuckles. "No, really…thank you. I'll find a way to make it up to you. For everything." Steve watches Loki put his supplies away. Loki stands, Steve playfully pulling him down into his lap. He hums and grabs the hem of his shirt, pulling Steve towards him to brush his lips against his, making him grin.