A month later
Natasha strode up to the door of Tony's room, and knocked on it twice before standing back and waiting for it to open.
Tony flung it open, annoyed that he'd been interrupted from inventing another life-changing gadget. He brightened up slightly, when he saw who it was.
"Natasha, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Tony greeted warmly. He hadn't had much time for socializing, being busy with exams and all, but now that they were over, he was looking forward to just relaxing, although that meant more time to think of Loki.
Nat shrugged. "Just waking past and I thought I'd say hi. You gonna invite me in?"
Tony opened the door wider. "Yeah, sure. Want a drink?' He asked.
"Vodka and soda, please." She responded, sitting herself down on the couch.
Tony rolled his eyes. "The obvious choice."
She smirked. "You seem happy."
"Yeah." He nodded. "Exams are over, and I'm almost certain I aced them." He said, pouring the drink.
"What's this almost I hear?" Natasha teased, taking the drink from him.
Tony raised his shoulders. "Got to at least try to be modest."
Now it was Natasha's turn to roll her eyes.
"So how about you? How were your exams?" Tony asked.
"I think I did pretty well, no major mistakes that I can think of." She shrugged.
Tony made the most of a lapse in the conversation. "So, heard from dear old Laufeyson lately?"
She shook her head. "Not since he got back from recovering in Chicago."
Tony raised an eyebrow. Loki had been sent home to recover, so that he wouldn't be distracted. He'd arrived back to school just before his exams, so it wasn't surprising that he hadn't been seen, but Tony had at least expected Natasha to have spoken to him.
"Has he said anything to you about our last conversation?" Tony tried to ask casually, as he sat across from Natasha.
She though carefully before replying. "I got the general idea. Love me or hate me, right?"
Tony nodded. "Basically."
"Are you still waiting for him?" Natasha asked curiously.
He sighed. "I'm close to giving up. I didn't really expect anything else, I suppose. But there's always hope, no matter how much of a stubborn ass he is."
Natasha smiled softly. "Believe me, I know. Anyway, speaking of stubborn asses, I promised Barton I'd help him study, so I better be going." She said, standing up and preparing to leave.
"Of course, Clint takes priority." Tony teased with a smirk.
Natasha resisted the urge to hit him. "Shut up, Stark. See you later." She blew him a kiss and left, allowing him to get back to work.
It was 7pm, and Tony was working rather intently on his AI, when someone knocked on the door for the second time that day. Tony paused his music as he yelled out to his roommate.
"Bruce, can you get that?"
There was a muffled sigh as Bruce stood up and trudged to the door, throwing it open with a bored expression on his face.
"Loki? How are you feeling?" Bruce exclaimed, all boredom forgotten once seeing him.
"Better, thanks." Loki peered over his shoulder. "Is your roommate in?" He inquired.
Bruce nodded. "Yeah, he's in his room-"
"I do not intend to offend you, Banner, but I need to talk to him urgently and in private." Loki cut off as gently as he could.
Bruce looked shocked. "Um, okay. Yeah, I'll just go get him…" He trailed off, leaving to go and get Tony, whilst leaving Loki in the snow.
"Tony? Someone's at the door for you." He shouted over the music.
Tony paused the song, halfway through Helena by My Chemical Romance, and sighed irritably as he opened his bedroom door.
When Bruce returned, saying that Tony would be out in a moment, he scooted past Loki and outside, muttering that he'd be back later.
Tony emerged, failing to hide his surprise at seeing Loki. Loki was shivering, as the temperature was about three degrees outside.
"You came." Tony said stupidly.
"Obviously. May I come in? It's freezing out here." Loki replied slightly irritably.
Tony nodded, dumbstruck. He'd lost all hope that he'd see Loki again, yet here he was, at his door.
Loki walked inside and Tony shut the door behind him. "Um, feel free to sit down, if you want." Tony offered.
Loki accepted and sat down on one of the couches, Tony following suit.
"I take it you weren't expecting me then, judging by your attitude." Loki said, the corners of his mouth twitching up slightly.
"Yeah, well can you blame me? You were on your deathbed, and you were arguing with me, Loki. Doesn't exactly reassure me, you know." Tony said with his voice raising.
"I know, I know. I'm not exactly-"
"And then there was Fandral, and no Loki, I don't think your helpless, believe me, I've seen you in your Defence class, but I was worried about you, okay? Seeing you almost die gave me the push I needed, it kind of scared me into my feelings. But you just shot me down, as usual. I tell you that I'm in love with you, and you just turn away, so forgive me for not expecting to see you. Because this, how I feel about you, terrifies me. And it scares me even more to know that I could lose you, just because neither of us will admit our feelings. But here I am, admitting mine." Tony ranted breathlessly, startling both Loki and himself.
Loki took a deep breath. It was now or never, really. And quite frankly, he didn't want to lose Tony either, he never had.
"I- it's not just you it scares... " Loki began quietly. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly the warm fuzzy feelings type." He grinned sheepishly. "I just don't know how to do this... I suppose we'll muddle through together."
Tony took a sharp intake of breath. "So what are you saying?"
"I guess what I'm trying to say is…" Loki looked at him, his eyes finally meeting the chocolate brown ones he loved. "That, er, I'm in love with you too. And I'm sorry. And I missed you. And right now," He laughed weakly, "I really, really want to kiss you." Loki confessed.
Tony just continued to stare at him, shocked and happy at the same time. So Loki liked him back, which was good, right? Then how come he didn't know what to do now?
Loki smiled weakly. "I understand if you want to think for a bit. I'll leave you to your thoughts." He said, jumping up and walking to the door.
Tony stood up and followed him to the door, before muttering, "No."
Loki turned around. "What did you say?"
"I said no. I don't want you to leave." Tony continued.
Loki frowned. "Then what do you want? He asked, leaning against the door.
"To do this." Tony whispered, before leaning forward and pressing his lips to Loki's gently, with Loki eagerly reciprocating. Both men kissed back hungrily, it had been far too long. Loki's hand was gripping the back of Tony's neck, and Tony was holding him firmly by the waist. They both pulled apart, both of them breathless and flushed.
"So we're good?" Tony panted.
Loki rolled his eyes and nodded, before guiding Tony's mouth to his.
When they finally broke apart for good, both boys were grinning widely.
"You doing anything later?" Tony murmured, nudging Loki's cheek with his nose.
"Nope."
"You want to stay with me?" Tony offered, but when seeing the look of panic cross Loki's face for an instant, he added, "Purely platonically, I promise."
Loki smiled, and kissed him again.
Well, thought Tony, maybe not completely platonic.