Author's note: Hey guys, updating early again because my exams start tomorrow (I'm screwed ahaa) so might not get a chance to post this weekend! Hope you're enjoying this, and wish me luck for tmrw I'm really gonna need all the help I can get ugh. Byee :)

...

Another week passed as quickly as the first, but this time you had made more than twelve words progress with Loki. You would be pushing it if you said you considered him a friend as you did the rest of the team now, but he wasn't a cold stranger anymore. You'd settle for 'acquaintance'.

For now.

It was a Saturday, and this morning you'd gotten up a bit later than usual as you had a day off from training (thank god, your body ached from the amount you'd been doing over the past couple of weeks). When you finally emerged from your room and went into the kitchen, you encountered Natasha and Pepper looking at something on a laptop together at the kitchen table. They were dressed and fully made-up, per usual; you suddenly felt self-conscious in your pyjamas, and ran a hand through your bed hair. The only other person in the room was Bruce, who you were pleased to note was still in his pyjamas too, and who gave you a wave from behind his newspaper and coffee on the sofa which you returned with a smile.

"Hey Y/N, glad you're up, get some breakfast down you and then we're taking you out." Natasha told you, looking up from the laptop.

"Oh? Why's that?" you asked.

"We're taking you shopping after your abysmal attempt at buying things last week." she replied.

"You need some more furniture for your room, and a dress and shoes for tonight, Tony's throwing a party." Pepper explained.

Yes! Everyone had heard of Tony Stark's legendary parties, and now you were getting to attend one for real. And were being taken out on a girls shopping trip by Natasha Romanoff and Pepper Potts in preparation for it. Not a bad Saturday.

You quickly had breakfast, showered and dressed, and then Happy drove the three of you to Fifth Avenue. This was going to be expensive; you didn't mind spending money this time because, one, you couldn't see the price tags while Pepper and Natasha were whirling the clothes around your head and two, you weren't the one spending all the money.

By the end of the trip (which, incidentally, took four hours), you had a bookshelf, desk and pinboard for your room, an entirely new wardrobe ("hoodies, jeans and trainers aren't the only things you can wear" Natasha had told you sternly), and a ridiculously gorgeous dress with matching shoes for the party this evening. You were sure the price would have been even more ludicrous, but the minute you stepped out of the dressing room with it on Pepper had insisted on buying it for you. It did look... nice, on you, dare you say it. 

You returned to the tower at half past three (after stopping for some lunch on the way back), and were barely able to get in the elevator with all the bags in one go. Once upstairs, you piled all of your bags into your room and made your way back to the lounge to collapse on the sofa.

"Busy day?" Tony asked, watching you fall on to the sofa from the kitchen table where he was sat with Bruce.

"Yes, actually, being dragged into at least a hundred different shops and trying on every item of clothing they stock in less than four hours is quite a stressful business." you replied, massaging your aching feet.

"Well, you'd better be lively again by tonight. It's gonna be a good one." Tony told you with a grin. "Why don't you go get some shut eye? It'll be a late night... morning." he corrected himself after a second thought.

You pointed at him.

"Excellent idea. See you later." you said, standing up to make your way back to your room.

You glanced at Loki's door as you went into your room, briefly wondering where he was, before pressing the button on the wall to put the blinds down over the window wall and lying spread eagled on your bed. You loved the blinds: they made the room dark enough to sleep even in broad daylight, but you could still see out of the window. You loved almost everything about your life at the moment, considerably more than you had done two weeks ago. It was that happy thought which stayed in your mind as you drifted off to sleep.

...

"Y/N, wake up, time to start getting ready."

Nat's voice invaded your peaceful sleep, and you blearily opened one eye so see her pressing the button to lift the blinds. The sun was just starting to drop in the sky.

"What time is it?" you asked, yawning the minute you opened your mouth.

"Half five, we have an hour and a half until the guests start arriving so you'd better get yourself showered and ready for us to do your hair and make-up."

"I can do my own hair and make-up, thanks though." you told her.

She just looked at you.

"What?"

"Since you came here, I haven't seen you wear any make-up, and your hair has either been down or in a pony-tail. Let us do it for you." she said. Well, at least she was honest.

"Fine. But you're not touching my eyebrows."

"Deal."

You showered, washed and dried your hair, threw some leggings and a hoodie on and then ventured down the corridor to Nat's room, carrying your dress and shoes. As you entered, you saw Pepper emerging from the en-suite, wearing a tight blue dress which she was smoothing down uncertainly.

"Are you sure it doesn't make me look..."

"If you're about to say fat I'm leaving to do my own hair and make-up." you threatened before she could finish her sentence.

"Nope, too late." Nat said, kicking the door shut behind you and plonking you firmly in a chair in front of the mirror.

"Pepper, of course that dress does not make you look fat, don't be ridiculous. Now, Y/N do you want your hair straight, curly, up, down...?" Nat said.

"I don't mind, just make it look nice." you replied, looking at your slightly damp and tangled Y/H/C hair in the mirror unenthusiastically.

"Curly I think, with some parts tied back, what do you think Pepper?"

"Yes, and for make-up we should have..."

You tuned out as you closed your eyes as you enjoyed the feeling of Nat's hands gently untangling and brushing out your hair. It was so nice... you'd never had anyone do your hair for you before. You'd never even been invited to a party before as far as you could remember. Suddenly there was a huge swell of emotion in your chest.

"Y/N? Are you okay?"

You wiped the tears which had been about to fall away swiftly and smiled at Nat and Pepper in the mirror.

"I'm okay. I just... this is nice."

Pepper squeezed your shoulder and Nat continued to brush your hair.

"We're you're family now Y/N, you're gonna have to get used to people doing nice things for you." Nat told you.

You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak.

Your hair and make-up ended up looking... good? You hardly recognised yourself when you looked in the mirror. Getting your dress on over your head was a tricky business, but you eventually managed it, and when you did you couldn't help but stare at your reflection some more. You didn't look like Y/N, you looked like some sort of celebrity ready to hit the red carpet. The scariest part was that that's almost what you were, a friend of the Avengers going to one of Tony Stark's acclaimed parties in the Avengers Tower.

"Y/N! Let's see!"

You stepped out of the en-suite; Pepper clapped excitedly and Nat gave you a satisfied smirk.

"You scrub up well. I love the dress."

The dress was purple: a tribute.

All of a sudden it was seven pm and you were quickly shoving the heels you had bought earlier today on to your feet, and wobbling to a standstill as you straightened up. Thankfully they weren't very high, you'd never worn heels before and didn't understand why anyone would. They were so uncomfortable.

After a couple of laps around the bedroom with some coaching from your hair and make-up artists you stopped staggering around like a new-born giraffe and managed to look like you weren't wearing heels for the first time.

"That'll do, you can take them off when the dancing starts anyway." Nat reassured you, standing up in heels that were at least twice the height of yours and walking to the door in them as though she'd been born in them. The three of you left the room and headed down the corridor together towards the elevator, which took you down several floors.

You'd expected the doors to open to reveal another corridor, but instead it opened up to a huge room which looked as though it took up the whole floor. It was decked out for a party, with a huge stage, DJ booth, lights, a disco ball, dancefloor, the lot.

"Wow." you said.

"Hey ladies. Pep, you look ravishing my darling." Tony said, appearing to kiss Pepper, who pushed him away playfully. Then he turned to you.

"Kid, you look great! The first guests are arriving, I want to introduce you."

"Uh, Tony? Is that such a good idea?"

You turned to look at Nat with a frown. Why did she not want you talking to people? You might be about to meet some famous people and you weren't about to let anyone get in the way of that.

"Why not?"

"Well, people might wonder..."

"There are no journalists here, I triple checked the guest list, and anyone who isn't on there has no chance of getting in. Relax!" Tony told her firmly, much to your delight.

"Okay, but... just be careful what you say, alright? We just got Y/N, we don't want to lose her already."

What did that mean? Tony was already dragging you away, nodding distractedly as Nat trailed off.

"Don't worry about her, she's just paranoid." Tony told you, and then started introducing you to some people, unfortunately no one you recognised. By half seven, the place was starting to fill up a bit more as people arrived 'fashionably late'. The lights had dimmed and the music had started, considerably quieter than it would be later on, you suspected.

Eventually you managed to escape from Tony's arm, leaving behind a most riveting conversation about some boring man writing a book on politics, and made a beeline to the bar and Bucky.

"You escaped." Bucky grinned, waving the bartender over.

"Eventually. Does this get any more exciting?" you asked, eagerly accepting a cocktail from the bartender.

"Just wait until later. I can promise you it gets better than discussions about things you don't understand, I've drunk my way through enough of them." he told you; you laughed.

You stayed there chatting for a few more minutes, before you were interrupted by a very tired looking Thor.

"Hey, what's up?" you asked, sighing when Thor glanced at the ceiling.

"Sorry. How are you?" you rephrased, trying not to laugh.

"Weary. It is not fun trying to convince my brother to do something he does not wish to do." Thor said, accepting a huge bucket of something that looked like beer from the bartender.

"What happened?"

Thor didn't reply, instead choosing to take a large gulp of the drink he was holding; he just gestured across the room, which was slowly filling up, and you turned to see Loki sat alone at a table by the wall, looking furious.

"Oh." you said, turning back to Bucky, who was still craning his neck to see what Thor had gestured towards.

"What are we looking at?" he asked.

"Don't you see Loki? He's exuding rage, over there, alone on that table." you said, nodding your head in his direction, not wanting to point in case he saw.

Thor choked on his drink, and you both turned to him anxiously.

"How do you know that's Loki?" he rasped, eyes streaming as Bucky smacked him on the back.

"...well, because he's sat there?" you replied.

"I don't see him." Bucky said.

"You're not meant to see him. You're meant to see an unattractive twenty-year-old in an ill-fitted suit." Thor said.

"That's Loki? No wonder he looks so angry." Bucky laughed.

"We didn't want anyone approaching him." Thor countered.

"I can see him. It's my magic, it can see through illusions." you said thoughtfully. This was helpful.

"Is it safe to go and talk to him?" you asked, swapping places with Thor before he had even replied.

"I suppose it depends what you say. Be careful."

You were already weaving your way through the crowd of people, eager to share your new-found information with Loki.

Thor and Bucky watched you go.

"He likes her. I can tell. He doesn't talk to anyone else voluntarily unless it's absolutely necessary." Thor said, still watching you.

"He asked me to pass him the butter the other day." Bucky replied, and then "Oh."

"I'm glad. He needs someone to talk to after all that time locked away, and he certainly won't talk to me."

Bucky gave Thor a sympathetic look, just before they were joined by Steve, and the conversation moved on. Thor glanced over at the table where you were now sat with Loki, talking intently to him.

He hoped you knew what you were doing.