FOURTEEN

It's a harder way and it's come to claim her

And I always say, we should be together

And I can see below, 'cause there's something in here

And if you are gone, I will not belong here (belong, belong, belong)

And I started to hear it again

But this time it wasn't the end

And the room is so quiet, oh oh oh oh

And my heart is a hollow plain

For the devil to dance again

And the room is too quiet, oh oh oh oh

- "Breath of Life," Florence + The Machine

Loki was getting restless. He hadn't been off the grounds in several weeks, and Alana could see that in his short temper.

So, she decided to go to the beach.

Loki looked rather confused when she tossed a pair of swim trunks at him and said, "Go change, we're going to the beach."

He started to question her, but she cut him off. "No time! We can talk in the car, but I want to beat traffic."

Several minutes later, Loki came downstairs in a black T-shirt and the swim trunks.

"I still don't understand why we're going to the beach."

"Because you're as white as paper and because it's a fun, normal, human activity in the summertime, that's why."

"But I am not human," Loki responded, "and therefore do not have to follow your foolish traditions."

Alana rolled her eyes. "Come on. You mean to tell me that people don't go swimming on Asgard?"

Loki scowled.

"Fine, fine… but you can swim, right?"

Loki walked out the door. Alana sighed. Men.

When they arrived at the beach, Loki looked around, curiously.

"Why are there so many people?"

"Because this is a popular beach, that's why. Now, put on some sunscreen."

"What?"

"Sunscreen. It keeps your skin protected from the sun," she said as she rubbed it into her arms.

"On Asgard, we have magic for that," Loki scoffed.

"Well, we're not on Asgard. Now, take off your shirt and turn around."

"What?"

"You need sunscreen on your back."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No."

Alana gritted her teeth. "Loki…" she said warningly.

"Fine."

He pulled off his T-shirt and flinched when Alana plopped sunscreen on his back.

It was cold; it was very, very cold. And it felt weird, too, but was that the sunscreen or the feel of her hands on his back? Alana rubbed it in, then handed him the bottle.

"Here, you can do the rest."

She twisted her hair up into a ponytail, and then stepped out of her shoes.

"Finished?" she asked, and then laughed as he turned around with a blob of sunscreen on his nose. "You've got some sunscreen… on your nose."

Loki looked surprised and rubbed his nose.

"There, now you've got it."

She smiled at him and took the sunscreen. "Get my back for me, would you?"

She pulled off her shirt and shorts and turned her back to him, waiting.

Loki hesitated. It was not the first time he had touched a girl, but all the same, this seemed different, somehow… but why?

"Come on, Loki! I promise I won't bite," she laughed.

He put some sunscreen in his hand, and cautiously touched her back with it. He slowly rubbed it into her back, covering every inch as she waited patiently, holding her hair out of the way. His fingers ghosted over her back like butterflies. Alana shivered involuntarily, and felt a strange sense of loss as he finished and handed her the sunscreen.

"Thanks," she said.

Loki gave her a hint of a smile.

Shaking off her feelings, she ran into the water, with Loki close behind.

"COLD!" she yelled as she hugged her arms to her chest. "It's freezing in here!"

"Really?" Loki asked. "It feels fine to me."

"Well, give me a minute," she said, then dived under an oncoming wave.

Loki dived through it too, twisting and turning in the water. He remembered this; from childhood days spent swimming in Asgard's lakes. But this seemed better, somehow more exciting, and more fun.

Plus, Thor wasn't there, nor the Warriors Three to taunt his pale chest and lean frame.

He shot up out of the water, grinning and brushing his salt-soaked hair out of his eyes, the same color as the sea.

Alana was nowhere to be seen.

"Alana?" he asked tentatively.

No response.

Panicking, Loki dived back into the water, searching through the gloom. Had she hit her head on something? Not been able to come up for air? She was nowhere to be found. His head told him to make his escape while he could, but his heart told him something else.

He swam up to the surface, treading water. "ALANA!" he cried out.

Someone put their hands over his eyes. He snarled. If this was the thing that had taken Alana, he would make them pay. He would make them all pay. He grabbed their wrist and whirled around, ready to fight.

Alana looked surprised. "You okay, Loki?"

Loki deflated a bit as he saw who had "attacked" him from behind, then reinflated himself and asked furiously, "Where were you?"

Alana looked at Loki curiously, and said, "Just underwater. I can hold my breath for a really long time."

Loki looked upset. "You…I thought you were…"

Alana said gently, "You were worried?"

Loki averted his eyes, then looked up, smiled smoothly, and said, "Not at all."

Alana smiled and said, "Well, you're not getting rid of me that easily, buster."

"Buster?" Loki furrowed his brow. "I do not understand."

Alana laughed and splashed him. Loki spit out water, and then grabbed her around the waist, lifting her into the air and throwing her into the water. She shrieked and came up spluttering, then splashed him again, saying, "Not fair!" Her hair had come loose, and it cascaded down her back like a waterfall.

It was beautiful.

Alana looked at Loki questioningly, seeing a change in his eyes, and feeling a change in her heart rate.

"Throw me again?" she said, softly, turning over her shoulder to look at him, feeling as if something between them had changed, too.

Loki treaded water behind her, then his hands cautiously curled around her waist.

It was all she could do not to gasp at the feel of his hands and the strange shock that ran through her that emanated from his fingers.

And then, he threw her, and the moment was broken, as she came up laughing and began to swim for shore, Loki close behind.

By the time she reached the sand, she had pushed the feel of his hands on her skin to the back of her mind.

The two of them spent a very enjoyable day on the beach, swimming and relaxing in the sun. Loki built a sand castle of Asgard while Alana collected shells. Alana read a book she brought while Loki read over her shoulder unnoticed.

The sunscreen bottle was emptied.

As time passed, Alana grew tired and fell asleep on her towel. Loki lay down on the sand next to her and looked at the clouds. He quickly decided that the big one looked like his helmet, while a smaller one looked like that weird ornament on Alana's car keys. And that one… that one looked like a bilgesnipe.

Alana rolled over and put her head on his chest, curling up next to him.

Loki froze. This was unexpected. Not only unexpected, but also strange. Unfamiliar. What should he do?

Alana let out a little mumble in her sleep.

Loki let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Why was his heart leaping? And why was he smiling like an idiot?

He tried to deny it, but the truth slowly emerged as time passed and he lay watching her sleep curled up next to him. He had feelings for Alana.

Romantic feelings.

He hated that he felt this way, but couldn't argue with it. She was unlike any other mortal he had ever known. Not that he had taken the opportunity to get to know any others, but… well. She had something hidden inside, just as he did, and was troubled but tried to hide it. She was sassy, and gentle, and guarded, and beautiful.

He attempted to convince himself that it was only friendship, nothing more, but his thoughts were interrupted as Alana shifted, her hand splaying out on his bare chest. Electricity seemed to course through him and his heartbeat increased once more.

Damn it, he was in love with Alana Cooper.

Alana smiled in her sleep, then said, "I love you, too."

Loki's heart leapt into his throat, and he smiled.

Alana added, "Goodnight, Oliver."

His heart plummeted, his smile disappeared, his body stiffened.

Always. Always abandoned, rejected, cast out. The loner, the shadow. No one who mattered. No one would save him. She would not save him. He had fallen from the Bifrost and now his heart fell too. He thought that she had been different, been special. Been like him. But no, Alana had someone else, someone else to hold her and kiss her and laugh with her. He was nothing, always. Nothing.

Always alone.

Alana suddenly rolled off him and curled up into the fetal position, whimpering.

"Alana?" Loki asked cautiously. Despite the revelation of her indifference, he was concerned. He shouldn't be, she didn't love him, she didn't care. He was alone.

He sighed as he realized his concern showed his unrequited love for her; rejected, he loved her still.

When she didn't respond to her name, he shook her, gently, then harder. "Alana! Wake up!"

When she did not, he decided that they needed to leave, and quickly. He threw her towel over his shoulder, used his magic to put her sweatshirt on her, and gently and carefully picked her up in his arms. She was light, too light, but the way that she was curled made it hard for him to carry her.

She put her arms around his neck, still whimpering, brow furrowed, as if she had responded to his thoughts. A tear dripped out of her clenched eyelids.

She clung to him like a child, burying her head into his sandy chest.

Loki kissed her on the top of her head, gently, cautiously, hating himself all the while.

He had to get her back home.