AN: Guys, I am so sorry I've made you wait so long for this chapter. It's been just under three months since I've updated and I am all sorts of shit for not posting sooner. I would like to explain why though. I am not giving up on this story by any means, I just didn't know what I wanted to write in this chapter for a while. That was the first problem, then, life decided to be a cunt and fuck shit up for me with my relationship. So I was trying to fix that at the time too. Next, I moved in with my mother, who lives with my stepsister and her boyfriend as well as my stepfather. It was super stressful, not having my own home, let alone my own room. That's right, I had to share a room with my parents, it was that or sleep downstairs and be woken up early every morning my my stepsister and her boyfriend. Then my dad moved, so I had to help him move into his apartment and then I've got auditions this Friday thru Saturday so I've been busy preparing for that as well. Anyway, all I can say is I'm sorry for the wait, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. I'm praying there won't be as long of a wait for the future chapters. I love you all!

Eris POV

I woke up the next morning to the overwhelming smell of smoke and the sound of the the smoke detector going off. I winced at the shrill beeping and got up quickly, stumbling out of my room and into the living room/kitchen. I stopped in my tracks, staring as I watched Loki trying to fan the smoke away from the blaring device. Ronni sat at the table, calmly sipping from his favored, metal coffee mug with an amused smirk on his lips. I walked past Loki and into the kitchen, finding the burnt remains of what must have been pancakes at some point on the skillet. I grimaced and shut off the stove before scraping the charred food stuffs into the trash can. I placed the skillet in the sink and ran cold water over it as I returned my attention to the two men that had caused the fuss. "What the hell guys?" I barked, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Well, we were trying to make you pancakes for breakfast-"

"And by that, of course you mean you left Loki to figure it out while you just watched?" I hissed, crossing my arms as I walked over to the blond.

"Mhm." Was all Ronni mumbled as he took another sip of his coffee. When he set the mug down on the table, I smacked him on the back of the head as hard as I could. "Ow! Jesus, Eris!" Ronni howled, rubbing the spot where I'd hit him.

"Idiot. You know how to cook, you could have helped him." I growled, walking back over to the sink to try and scrub off the cooked on batter. I listened to someone walk into the kitchen but I didn't turn to look, I was far too busy furiously scrubbing the shit out of my favorite skillet that I was now sure had been ruined.

"I'm sorry for the mess I've made." I heard the god say behind me. I glanced over at the spilled flower and broken egg shells that littered the counter. I shook my head with a sigh.

"It's okay, Loki, you didn't know what you were doing. It's Ronni that I'm pissed at. He knows better." I grumbled, scrubbing harder at the stubborn black stuff still stuck to the skillet. "You guys are gonna help me clean this up, then I'll show you the right way to make pancakes." I told the raven haired man. I walked around him for the third time that morning and went into the living room. "Ronni, you're going to get you pale ass in here and you're going to help us clean, or so help me god, I will make you regret the day you were born." I snarled, yanking the mug from his hands and proceeding to melt it with my fire. The young man stared at the puddle of molten metal with wide eyes as I glared down at him as intimidatingly as I could. The blond quickly shot up from his chair and darted into the kitchen, passing a very pleased Loki as he did. The Aesir smiled at me and crossed his arms.

"Remind me never to make you too angry." He chuckled, following me into the kitchen. I watched as Ronni did the rest of the dishes as quickly as he could before speaking.

"What do you mean, 'too angry'? Don't ever make me angry." I said, collecting a handful of flower and a few egg shells in my palm.

"I say too angry because you're actually very cute when you're upset." The god confessed, helping me clean off the counter. My brow furrowed and I frowned in irritation.

"I am not cute. I am scary, I am deadly, fear me!" I roared, letting my hands catch fire so I would seem more terrifying. Loki just chuckled and pointed at my face.

"That! That, right there, is what makes it so hard to take you seriously when you're upset." He said, giving my nose a good poke. I blinked, confused, and felt my nose to see if something was wrong with it.

"What are you talking about?" I asked defensively, worried that there might be a pimple or something on my nose. The raven haired man laughed a bit more.

"It's something you always do with your face," He began, wrinkling up his nose a bit with a smile. "You scrunch up your nose like this, and it makes you look like what Midgardians call a bunny." He explained, again demonstrating the face I didn't know I even made when I was angry. I frowned, huffing with a pout. He wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Oh yes, you strike fear into the hearts of men, but you could never threaten a god like me with that silly face." Loki cooed into my ear. I rolled my eyes and elbowed him in the stomach.

"Whatever, princess. Just help me clean this crap up." I growled, going over to pick up more flower. Once the counters were cleared off and disinfected, I showed Loki the proper way to make pancakes. And of course he did very well when he was taught how to do it, he was a fast learner it seemed.

After we all ate breakfast, I kicked Ronni out of the apartment and got ready for whatever it was Loki was taking me out to do. I hadn't had time to show the god how to drive, so he improvised-taking us to the bus stop instead. When we got on the bus, the raven haired prince covered my eyes. "Why?" Was all I uttered, irritated by his playfulness-I was still pretty upset from last night and I didn't want him touching me.

"Because I want this to be a surprise." He said simply. The ride to where ever we were headed was silent, at least on our part, the rest of the passengers were noisy as ever. After what felt like five stops, I was led off of the bus and told to open my eyes. I opened them slowly, taking in the bright sunshine and swarm of people around us. We were at the entrance of one of my favorite places in New York: the New York aquarium. I grinned and looked at the god next to me. "Ronni suggested I take you here, but he failed to explain what it was exactly." He said, staring at the building with a perplexed expression.

"It's an aquarium, they keep aquatic animals here, like fish, sharks, squids, stuff you never see on land." I told him as we walked up to buy our tickets.

"And you like this aquarium because...?" He inquired, raising a brow at me.

"I like to look at all the different animals and learn about them. My favorite part is feeding the stingrays and petting the starfish." I explained, opening a map of the aquarium. It'd been so long since I'd last been here, I'd forgotten were everything was. There were different attractions now, but I was glad to see that they had kept the stingray petting and feeding pool at the end of the aquarium.

Loki's POV

I wasn't exactly thrilled to be here, what with so many children running around and just humans in general all over the place. The first exhibit, as Eris had explained, was the North American Wilderness. There were creatures of all different colors and sizes swimming in strange tanks full of water. Eris seemed particularly excited when we reached something called an otter. They were odd, with long, furry bodies and little hands to grab things with. I couldn't grasp why being here made her so happy, but it made me happy too, to see her like this. I smiled as I watched her giddily go around taking pictures of the animals and fish, even saying hello to some.

When we came to the end of the exhibit, we had to continue through a dark cave to get to the next exhibit. Thunder and lightning flashed within as we passed through before gallons of rushing water tumbled over itself in our direction. Eris grabbed my hand and quickly pulled me out of it's path just as it spilled out over the tank. I stared at it in confusion for a moment before looking back at Eris for an answer. "It's supposed to be like a flash flood thingy, it used to scare the crap out of me when I was kid because I never saw it coming." She told me as she continued to walk forward. She still hadn't let go of my hand, but I didn't really want her to.

The next exhibit had a desert theme, tanks with snakes and various other reptiles lined the walls. I didn't mind these animals as much, I actually liked the snakes. It wasn't long before we were going through another exhibit, this one actually containing sea creatures like Eris had described. Marine life of various sorts swam overhead and around us, and my friend stared at them all in wide-eyed delight. I found it difficult not to enjoy the time we spent here, but that was mostly due to the infectious joy spreading from Eris to me. Possibly the worst part for me, and the best part for her, was when we went to feed these strange looking animals, which reminded me of misshapen pancakes. "I'd rather watch." I declined politely when she handed me a small fish to feed to these stingrays. I didn't exactly trust these Midgardian animals, especially since I couldn't actually see their mouths. "Where does it even go?" I pondered quietly while Eris giggled at the over excited sea creatures, trying to compete for the fish between her fingers.

"Their mouth is underneath them, where their belly is, and the don't really have teeth so it doesn't hurt when they take the food." She said, answering my question. I raised a brow, leaning over the shallow pool to get a better look. "They're harmless little sea pancakes. See?" She continued, trying to ease my reluctance. I narrowed my eyes down at the animals.

"I still don't like them. They feel strange; I don't see why you enjoy them so much." I argued, crossing my arms. Eris rolled her eyes.

"You're just jealous because you don't have sea pancakes in Asgard." She pouted, crossing her arms. I shook my head with a small smile.

"You can keep your precious 'sea pancakes'. I much prefer the pancakes you showed me how to make this morning." I retorted, nudging her with my shoulder.

Eris' POV

Loki held my hand as we left the aquarium, but only after he was sure that I had thoroughly cleaned my hands. Once I had agreed to wash my hands, he was happy to hold them. We decided to walk back to the apartment, since we weren't in any hurry. As we walked down the congested sidewalk, talking about just about everything that came into our heads, I spotted a small ice cream shop. I steered us in the direction of the shop, dragging the confused demigod behind me.

"What is this place?" He inquired when we entered the shop. The place was mostly empty, and I was thankful for that, knowing of Loki's tendencies to get anxious when surround by more than 3 humans at a time. I was actually surprised that he made it through the aquarium without punching any of the kids in the throat for being too noisy.

"Well, I've been meaning to show you more foods, ice cream being one of them. This is one of the places to get ice cream." I explained with a smile. Loki gave a nod of understanding and I walked up to the glass case to see what flavors they had. I should probably just let him try whatever he wants, I thought as I remembered they would allow customers to sample the products before choosing a flavor. The god joined me and looked at the tubs of ice cream skeptically.

"You can try as many as you like." I told him, placing my hand on his back reassuringly. And as it turned out, he ended up trying, and liking, almost all of them.

"You know," Loki began as we sat down at a table with our frozen treats. "We have something similar to this ice cream in Asgard." He stated, taking a spoonful of his ice cream into his mouth. I raised an eyebrow curiously at him.

"Really?" I asked, a little surprised. The god didn't reply, narrowing his eyes at me in concentration. "What is it?" I inquired, furrowing my brow in confusion. He still said nothing as he leaned in closely to my face, no change in his blank expression. I blinked several times, trying to will my blush away when, finally, his index finger swept across the underside of my nose, collecting a bit of ice cream that had settled there.

"There..." He stated softly, a small smirk pulling at his lips when he noticed the deep red of my cheeks. It was moments like these that I was most afraid of-it was in these moments that I didn't know if my self control would hold up. Anytime he got this close to me, I was unable to think clearly, and I feared that one day that would be the end of me. A voice pulled both of us out of our staring and we turned to see a young woman standing next to our table. She was a fair height, not too short, but not really tall either. Her skin was a light alabaster that rivaled my own pale complexion, her blonde, almost white hair matching her perfectly. Her eyes were an intriguing color, they looked to be purple, but she must have been wearing contacts to achieve such a shade. In short, she was beautiful, the kind of beautiful that struck envy into the hearts of other women, including me.

"Kara, what are you doing here?" Loki inquired, not standing to greet her like I would half expect him to in this situation. Kara simply smiled more, her hands clasped behind her back in a patient manner.

"Oh, I was simply out for the day and came in here to get something sweet. But when I saw you, I decided to say hello." She answered innocently. There was something sickening in her voice, something I couldn't quite read. She turned her gaze to me, her eyes changing to something almost sinister will her lips stayed curled in a gentle smile.

"You must be Eris, Loki has told me so much about you." She greeted me sweetly, in a way that was almost impossible to really be genuine. But I shook it off for the moment and smiled back at her, standing to shake her hand.

"That's me, it's nice to meet you, Kara." I lied as convincingly as I could. Being the god of lies, Loki could probably smell that bullshit from a mile away but he said nothing.

"Likewise," Kara said with a nod of agreement. She moved closer to Loki now, placing a seemingly delicate hand on his shoulder. It looked more like an act of possessiveness than one of affection. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion but turned my attention elsewhere to give them a moment.

"Why don't we get out of here for a bit, hm?" I heard her whisper to him. My eyes widened in surprise, but I refused to look their way in fear of seeing something I really didn't want to see. What scared me was that I didn't know what Loki would say in reply to Kara's offer. Would he accept and leave me here alone on a day that he had promised to spend with me and me alone? Or would he decline her advances and stay true to his word. My fears were confirmed when I saw Loki stand out of the corner of my eye. I looked to both of them casually, making sure to keep my bubbling rage in check as I kept a cool exterior for show. Kara smiled at me once again in a patronizing way that made me want to punch her right in the face.

"I'll be sure to send him home before midnight." She said quickly, making her way out the door with Loki in tow. I squeezed my eyes shut until I could no longer feel the entire store's eyes on me. When I opened them again and looked around, everyone was back to their own business like nothing had happened. That's the exact moment I felt something I hadn't felt since I was seven years old. The warning signs, the alarms going off in my head, the feeling of wanting to destroy everything and everyone around me.

I stumbled out of the ice cream shop, the lightheaded feeling overwhelming me. Shit, shit, shit, shit! I hurriedly pulled out my cellphone and dialed Bruce, hoping my phone wouldn't melt before I could get out what needed to be said. "Eris? What's going on, you never call me on my cell-"

"I think we're about to have a Code Blue! I need the tank, bring backup, anything you can! I'm four blocks from the tower but I...I can't move, it's too dangerous-" The line went dead as the device in my hand began to warp and melt from the heat of my body. Damn it! I tossed the melted scrap to the ground with a growl and trudged into an ally, at least the buildings would take the brunt of the explosion if Bruce and the others didn't make it in time. I leaned against the wall, inhaling and exhaling as calmly as I could but my thoughts were racing. Angry, hurtful things played over and over in my head, making it impossible to calm down. Why, why did he leave me? Why did he leave me for her? It was supposed to be our day and he abandoned me again! How can one girl make him so stupid and inconsiderate?!

My head burned with the all to familiar heat and rage that I've felt in times passed. I gripped my skull, somehow thinking it would cool the burning as my body caught fire entirely. It's like he's not even the same person anymore, how could she make him so weak? Is this what love really does? Does it make you weak and helpless to the other's demands? It doesn't seem right, something about that girl just isn't right! I gritted my teeth in pain, tears running down my face as I tried to breathe deeply. I shuttered violently, the agony ripping through my torso as I tried again, only to collapse. The last thing I could focus my eyes on was a pair of sterile white shoes, white figures behind them, and what sounded like Bruce and Tony yelling something at someone. I don't want to be awake anymore, I thought. I just want this to be over.

So, I'm sure that you've noticed that I formatted this chapter differently. I want to know what you guys think. If you like it or it's easier to read let me know.