(Originally written 10/30/23 22:09 Mon)

A/n: I wrote this way back in October so forgive it's terrible quality😅. Hope you still enjoy it regardless though<333

Loki x reader
Warnings: slight angst, fluff
Summary: You're stuck between a rock and a hard place when you realize you have feelings for two different people and you know deep down you should choose one or the other. But which one of them will actually reciprocate your feelings?
Key: H/n - his name

—

    How do you tell someone, who you know doesn't have the same mutual feelings as you do for them, that you love them?

    I've liked—alright, more like loved—Loki for a long time. But I've also liked this other guy.

    It's a constant war of emotions in my head and heart.

    Loki isn't my best friend but he's at least pretty close with me.

    H/n, the other guy, is charming, charismatic, and he teases me a lot, but he's a good friend.

    I can never tell whether either of them cares or not, though.

    H/n, especially. But I've had the same problem with Loki, too.

    H/n and I talk a lot over text messages. He doesn't talk all that much in person, which kind of bothers me.

    I still wonder whether it was a good idea to send that first message to him way back when.

    Sometimes he takes forever to reply. Sometimes he replies immediately. But I'm sick of it. I'm torn between letting H/n go and actually trying with Loki. Or continue trying with H/n and move on from Loki.

    I sigh as I these thoughts swirl around inside my head while I pour some hot water into a mug in the kitchen, preparing to make myself some tea in hopes of relaxing a little.

    Although, with the way each worried thought only provokes more anxiety-inducing concerns, I highly doubt relaxing will even be possible anymore.

    Opening the cabinet above me, my gaze slowly skims up the cabinet until my eyes meet the box of teabags—second to the top shelf.

    Of course.

    "You gotta be fudging me," I mutter to myself, huffing a short breath of annoyance before moving my mug aside as I begin to climb onto the counter.

    This is a bad idea, this is a bad idea, this is a really bad idea, I repeat to myself, proceeding to continue regardless.

    Now on my knees on the countertop and slowly standing to my feet, I reach for the tea box. Without warning, one of my socked feet slips, and I'm falling backwards before I can catch myself.

    I mentally prepare for the hard contact with the floor and imagine the amount of bruises—and possibly a broken bone or two—I'll receive until I feel a pair of strong arms catch me instead.

    Looking up at my savior, I lock eyes with none other than the god of mischief himself.

    "Are you alright?" He asks with a quirked eyebrow, slight amusement sparkling in his green irises.

    "I—I'm—yes, I'm fine," I reply quickly, sliding out of his arms as he gently sets me down.

    "May I ask what you were attempting to achieve by scaling the countertop?" He asks with a teasing smirk.

    I scowl at him. "Nothing that concerns you."

    "Oh really?" He says, reaching up with ease and grabbing the tea box from the high shelf, only needing to stand on his toes slightly in order to do so. All while keeping eye contact with me.

    I totally could've gotten that myself, had I not slipped and fallen.

    He holds it out to me with a smug smile. "This what you were after, love?"

    I huff a sigh of irritation—and perhaps a slightly wounded pride—reaching to snatch the box out of his hand, which he dodges so I follow his hand in an attempt to grab from him again and, in the process, manage to knock over my mug of hot water that spills over the side of the counter.

    And onto my arm.

    The searing hot temperature of the water quickly burns the surface of my skin.

    "Ow, ow, ow, fudge, fudge, fudge," I hiss, shaking out my arm and squeezing my eyes shut as I bite my lip to try to stop myself from crying at how much it hurts.

    Loki curses, setting the tea box on the counter, instantly regretting our brief little game as he tries to reach for my arm to help.

    "Don't," I grit out the second I feel his hand brush my arm, my eyes still closed tightly in pain. "I'll be fine."

    "Nonsense, come here, darling," he says, his hand gently grabbing my elbow and guiding me somewhere. I slowly open my eyes and see he's leading me to the sink, turning the knob, cold water immediately rushing out of the faucet.

    Slowly and carefully, with my forearm gently grasped in his surprisingly soft hands, Loki guides my arm under the cold water, letting the burn run under the cool liquid for a few minutes.

    "I apologize for that, love, it wasn't my intention to hurt you," he says guiltily.

    I open my mouth but nothing comes out. I'm not sure what to say. I don't wanna make him feel worse than he already does.

    Plus, I doubt it'll even come out right even if I did find the right words to say.

    Observing my lack of response, Loki begins to dismiss himself. "Well, I will leave you to it," he says, pausing very briefly to glance at my slightly red forearm with a hint of worry in his typically stone cold expression, before turning and heading out of the kitchen.

    "Loki," I call after him, making him turn around, brow quirked in curiosity. "Um, thank you."

    "You're welcome, darling," he replies, giving me a soft smile that utterly melts my heart, before turning and walking out of the kitchen.

    "Well, fudge," I mutter, sighing and cursing my stupid heart for falling for two people.

    Feeling quite down and aggravated with my indecisiveness, I hide in my room for the rest of the day, eventually ending up sitting curled up in a blanket in front of the large glass window beside my bed, staring out at the thousands of city lights, bustling crowds, and rushing vehicles far below.

    It's already dark, which makes the electricity lights down below even more prominently contrasted against the dark night sky above, almost as if to mimic the almost taunting beauty of the twinkling stars.

    A soft knock on my door diverts my attention, but I don't remove my gaze from where it's comfortably fixated.

    "Who is it?" I ask dully, all emotion drained from my tone after spending all day drowning in them.

    "It's me, love," I hear Loki answer softly.

    Great...

    "Yes, Loki?" I don't even flinch when he opens the door.

    "May I come in?"

    "Door's not locked," I remark dryly.

    He shuts the door quietly behind him, stepping inside the room, before padding his way over to me.

    "May I?" He gestures to the spot beside me.

    I lazily sweep my arm at the empty space beside me in confirmation.

    "Is something the matter?" He asks as he sits down, turning to look over at me, forearms resting on his bent knees in front of him.

    I sigh. "Why does it matter?"

    "Why would it not?" He frowns at me in the corner of my eye.

    "I don't know," I mumble, shrugging.

    "There's dinner prepared downstairs, love," he mentions, clearing his throat.

    "I know," I answer softly. "Jarvis told me."

    "Ah."

    I heave another sigh, turning my head to look at Loki, instantly meeting his eyes as they were already fixated on my face.

    "Alright, Loki, what is it? Have I done something to annoy you?" I ask indifferently.

    Loki frowns in confusion. "I didn't come here because I wanted something, dove. Nor have you done anything even remotely wrong."

    "Then why are you here?" I scan his face suspiciously, searching for any underlying motives.

    "I simply figured something must be wrong considering you did not show up to dinner," Loki admits, breaking eye contact to stare down at his hands.

    Something is wrong. But I'm never gonna tell him that.

    H/n's been giving me one worded answers, taking forever to reply to my messages.

    He used to reply right away or within a couple hours.

    And then I figured out the reason for his sudden change in behavior. A friend told me he has a girlfriend.

    I thought he liked me. He even said so himself last December—that he liked me but he didn't want to date in high school.

    Well, we're both still in high school. And he's dating someone a year older than him.

    Did he lie to me? I don't know. That's what's been bothering me, and making me wither on the inside, as well.

    The bitter gnawing disappointment in my chest never ceases to remind me how attached to him I've become these past few months.

    Did he ever actually care about my feelings the way I always cared about his? The way I always tried to make sure his feelings were validated during our conversations?

    Did he ever actually care about me? If not, I've already made the terrible mistake of opening up to him about my personal life. Which I now realize is probably, by far, my biggest mistake.

    It always seemed like he never quite validated my feelings the way I've always respected his feelings and opinions, unless they were directly contrary to my beliefs—but even then, I remained as civil as I possibly could in those rare circumstances.

    "Like I said before," I mumble, looking away from him and back out the window, "what does it matter?"

    "And just as I said previously," he counters, "why would it not, love?"

    I sigh heavily again. "Please, just go, Loki. I really don't need this right now."

    "Define 'this'?"

    "Arguing, pestering, nit-picking—whatever you wanna call it," I state plainly with a wave of my hand.

    "Y/n, what happened, dove?" He turns to sit facing me, giving me his full attention, a worried frown on his face.

    "It doesn't matter," I murmur, my heart squeezing in pain at the pet name as I curl my knees closer against my chest and wrap the blanket tighter around me and pull the hood of my sweatshirt over my head, burying my face in my crossed arms.

    I hear shuffling beside me, before I feel Loki's hands on my upper arms, turning me to face him.

    "Tell me, who do I need to kill?" He growls, anger evident in his dangerously low tone.

    I remove my face from my arms, looking up at him, tears welled up in the corners of my eyes, a few escaping and sliding down my cheeks.

    His fuming expression immediately softens the second he takes in my tear-stained face, his lips parting in surprise. "Y/n . . ."

    I bite my lip, my face crumpling in despair as I duck my head to hide the tears now streaming down my face.

    "Please go away, Loki," I whisper, my voice wavering and catching on the last syllable.

    Instead of fulfilling my weak request, he moves forward to wrap his arms around me and pull me into his embrace.

    I freeze in utter shock, my tears ceasing for a split second, too surprised to continue, before I relax and completely melt into his arms, letting go of all the tears I was holding back as I lean into his chest.

    I hide my face in his shoulder as he pulls me into his lap so I'm sitting sideways against him, feeling slightly better now that I'm in his arms. But the tears keep coming, still falling down my face, trickling down my cheeks in thick rivulets.

    "Shh, it's alright, love," he murmurs softly. "You are alright."

    He rubs my back gently as he begins to hum softly.

    The rumble of his chest against my ear as he hums steadies my racing heartbeat, slowing my breathing.

    Once I've finally stopped crying, Loki glances down at me.

    "Feeling better, darling?" He asks softly.

    I sniffle, wiping my nose with my sleeve. "A little."

    "Do you want to talk about it?"

    "No," I whisper very softly, my voice still fragile.

    "That's alright, love," he murmurs, resting his cheek against the top of my head, breathing deeply. "You don't have to talk if you're not ready to."

   
(Loki's Pov):

    What in Valhalla has caused this angel such pain?

    . . . Or rather who?

    If anything or anyone dares to hurt her—touches a single thread of hair on her head—I swear I'll rip them to pieces, both their body and their soul, make sure they never see a wink of happiness ever again.

    Glancing down at the sniffling girl in my arms, I brush a stray piece of hair out of her face.

    My heart clenches in pain when a single tear slides down her cheek. With the gentlest touch, I wipe the tear from her face with the swipe of my thumb.

    Anger bubbles inside my chest at the inability to know the source of Y/n—my sweet, precious Y/n—'s hurt.

    "Darling," I say as calmly as I can, despite the burning need to hunt down the very person causing her such undeniably terrible pain and kill them in the most slow and painful way possible. "I need you to give me a name."

    It comes out more of a low growl, but I've long given up trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

    "Loki," she sighs, "you know I'm not gonna do that."

    "If someone has hurt you, dove, I must ensure they suffer tenfold."

    She smiles. A very small one, but a smile, nonetheless. It gradually cools the burning fury inside of me, replaces it with a blooming warmth I always feel every time I see her smile.

    "Loki, I appreciate that you'd do that for me, but...this isn't your problem. You shouldn't have to deal with it."

    I sigh, closing my eyes briefly as I curl my arms tighter around her and pull her closer against me. "It is my problem if they've hurt you, darling."

(Y/n's Pov):

    After hearing how far Loki seems to be willing to go to protect me, I immediately realize that H/n just isn't worth it.

    He never was.

    But Loki is.

    And I should've realized it sooner.

    What an blind idiot I've been...

    "Loki," I say softly, slightly afraid of what I'm about to tell him.

    "Yes, darling?"

    "I...well, the person who—albeit unintentionally—hurt me..."

    "So someone did hurt you?" He practically snarls, pulling away to look at me.

    I bite my lip, nodding. "But it was unintentional. They don't even know they did it."

    "Intentional or not, dove, I am still going to make them regret their actions."

    "Loki," I say firmly, staring him dead in the eyes. "I care about him, okay? I don't want you to hurt him."

    "'Him'?" His brows raise in surprise and...something else I can't quite identify.

    "This guy—I thought he liked me," I start. "He, um, well, he admitted it last year...but he said he didn't want to date in high school."

    "I see," Loki murmurs, suddenly avoiding my gaze.

    "But," I swallow hard, "he apparently has...a girlfriend now..."

    Loki's piercing green eyes snap up to meet mine as he says in a dangerously low tone, "What?"

    I nod, shrugging as nonchalantly as I can pretend. "I don't know whether he lied to me or what. But...I guess I didn't mean that much to him. I'm starting to wonder whether I ever did."

    Tears pool in my eyes and spill down my face as I heave a sad, heavy breath.

    "Whoever this person may be, as much as I want to make him suffer for what the imbecile doesn't even realize he's done to you," Loki takes a visibly careful breath to calm his anger before he continues, "I will withhold my desire to do so—though only because you've requested that I don't."

Warmth floods my chest at the sincerity in his words.

"But he is a blind and insolent oaf," he practically spits, before his face softens as he shifts his gaze to me to admit, "if he cannot even see the bright and beautiful young woman flourishing right before his eyes."

    I look up into his eyes in surprise, seeing a warmth in his soft gaze that I've never seen before—or maybe I've just never noticed until now—as he gently puts his hands on either side of my face and presses a soft kiss to my forehead.

    I rest a hand over one of his. "Thanks, Loki," I whisper.

    "Anything for you, darling," he whispers back.

    It suddenly hits me as I realize...could this man, this god, actually have feelings...for me?

    A brief flash of something shines in his eyes as he stares intently into mine, before he averts his gaze and says, "You should eat dinner, love."

    "Okay," I agree with a nod.

    He helps me stand up. "Do plan on bringing that with you?" He asks, pointing to the blanket still wrapped around me.

    "No," I chuckle, smiling as I take it off and toss it on my bed.

    We make our way down to the kitchen in silence. But not an uncomfortable one.

    "What do you think about watching a movie after you are done with dinner, darling?" He suddenly asks me while we stand side by side in the elevator.

    Turning my head to look up at him, I immediately meet his eyes already watching me and gauging my reaction.

    A slow smile spreads across my face. "What movie did you have in mind?"

    "Whichever you decide you would like to watch," he replies with a glint in his emerald green eyes.

    "I see," I say with a slowly forming grin, a certain movie in mind already.

    "So, what will it be, dove?"

    Dove......I'm starting to wonder if he knows how much I love the pet names he uses...

    "I'm not gonna tell you," I reply, shooting him a look as if offended he even has the audacity to try and ask. "That would ruin the surprise."

    "I suppose I do like surprises," he admits with a smile that highlights the cute dimples in his cheeks.

    "Good." I return his smile.

    We stand there in the elevator exchanging a shared, perhaps even tender, gaze as the elevator descends a couple floors below.

    Once we reach our destination, we step off the elevator to grab something for me to eat, before relaxing on the couch to enjoy one of my favorite Disney, Pixar films: Ratatouille.

The end!☺️

A/n: *sigh* why was this actually so hard to edit? Stupid wp wouldn't copy and paste right so it took almost twice as long😑

Anyway, thanks for reading bbs!!!<333333

(Lemme know if there's something—like a scenario with Loki—you'd want me to write! It's helpful if you could add specific but still pretty basic details with the scenario idea cause I'm really bad at writing from super generic scenarios😭)