NO REGRETS [l.laufeyson]

FOUR

     "You're a wizard!" Evelyn was amazed at Loki's ability just from conjuring up a cloak to keep her warm and to hide him from the public eye.

"A sorcerer, darling." Loki chuckled at the overly excited girl. "My mother taught me."

Evelyn watched him, knowing that talk of his mother upset him. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry love, it wasn't you that ran her through with a sword."

Evelyn and Loki walked in silence for a few minutes feeling awkward about the mention of Frigga. Loki had mentioned the troubles in his family but never spoke of his mother, it only brought back memories. They turned a corner and appeared onto one of the busier streets. It was filled with people dancing and singing, celebrating Thor's return. Loki rolled his eyes as the Asgardians were chanting Thor's name, but as he looked over to Evelyn, he noticed how happy she was. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of everything going on. This was when Loki remembered that her parents moved her away from the city when she was young. She probably hasn't seen anything like this since. Seeing how happy she was made him happy.

Without realising, Evelyn had started to wonder off from Loki. She was so mesmerised by everything that her body took control. She started to well up at the memories before she got ill. Loki watched carefully, keeping a close eye on her. He wasn't sure what but something about this girl felt familiar.

A parade had started making his way down the street, the people departed to the side of the street to make way for it. Loki had to pull Evelyn out of the way and out of her trance. When she realised what was going on she quietly thanked Loki, feeling a like a fool for standing there in front of everyone. The two watched from the side as the parade passed. The streets were filled with dancers and coloured powder being thrown. It was chaos but it was amazing. One by one the townspeople started getting dragged in by the dancers to join them. One dancer in particular grabbed ahold of Evelyn to pull her into the centre. Loki reached out to try stop them but it was too late. He remembered what her mother had told him. She loved to dance, but doing so made her weak.

Evelyn didn't realise how much she missed this feeling. She was passed from person to person, dancing like there was no tomorrow. The music went on for some time and when it was drawing to an end, she was spun out into the crowd. She kept twirling around enjoying the feeling of the sun on her skin and the wind in her hair. As the music closed she stopped spinning and bumped into someone. She opened her eyes to see Loki had caught her. She hadn't realised how close the two were, their noses were almost touching. They stood there for a few seconds gazing into one another's eyes. Evelyn felt her cheeks turning red and awkwardly stepped backwards away from his hold.

"Sorry." Evelyn mumbled. She forgot her manners and got completely distracted. She fiddled with her fingers as Loki smirked at her. He found it funny how easily flustered she got around him. Once the streets had cleared a bit, they could see the dress store in front. He gestured her towards it and when she walked to the store, she turned and realised Loki wasn't following her.

"Are you not coming?"

"I want to be surprised when I see you tonight." Evelyn felt her heart racing as Loki smirked at her again. "Go ahead. Find the one you like and I'll come pay for it when you're ready."

"Okay. Thank you, Loki. This is ever so generous of you." Evelyn pulled him in for a hug. Loki was shocked by her gesture and froze, he had never been shown kindness like this before. Eventually, he slowly wrapped his arms around her small body pulling her closer to him. As they pulled apart she smiled once more before running off to the store. He felt a warm feeling in his chest, it was unfamiliar but he liked it.

~

"Thank you again Loki for today, I appreciate it."

"You don't have to keep thanking me Evelyn, you know I don't mind."

"I know, sorry."

"And you've got to stop apologising." Loki chuckled. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I promise I would tell you if I was ever feeling unwell." Since the parade earlier Loki had started worrying about her health again. She however was able to convince him otherwise. Loki had taken her back to her cottage just a few hours before the ball began.

"Are you sure you don't need me to escort you to the palace later on?" Evelyn was about to open the door when she was held back by Loki. She lived far away from the palace and Loki wondered if she would be okay finding her way there.

"I'll be fine."

"Then at least let me send one of the palace carriages out for you." Evelyn knew she wouldn't win this battle so politely accepted.

They stood there in silence once again gazing into each other's eyes. Evelyn found her heart was racing again as Loki brushed away a strand of her hair. This time she didn't pull away and he cupped his hand on her cheek, pulling her closer. Something about this felt right to both of them. It felt normal. Evelyn could feel his breath on her as their lips brushed. Before they could both fall into the kiss, the door swung open and the two very quickly pulled away.

"Father? You're home early." Evelyn shuffled in her spot feeling awkward about her almost kiss. She played around with her hair to avoid anyone seeing her bright red face. Loki himself started to feel embarrassed. He hasn't felt anything for anyone in such a long time, and now this girl comes into his life and has changed his mind.

"Yes... business was slow today due to Prince Thor's arrival so I decided to shut early and spend some time with my favourite girls." While Evelyn's father was talking, he never stopped glaring at Loki. Loki felt her father staring daggers at him, but he didn't back down and only glared back.

"Father this is-"

"Prince Loki Odinson. Yes I know." Her father did not sound impressed.

"Loki, this is my father-"

"Erik... your mother has already mentioned him."

Evelyn didn't know what was more awkward, the fact her and Loki almost kissed or the meeting of him and her father.

"Anyway..." Evelyn pushed her father into the house as she walked in through the door herself, turning to Loki again before shutting the door. "I'll see you tonight."

The two smiled at each other before she shut the door leaving Loki standing there. As he walked away he rubbed his hands on his face feeling humiliated. Sure, he's been with girls in the past but this feeling was different.

Loki mounted onto his horse and rode back to the palace, looking back at the cottage one last time as it became distant from him.

"What is wrong with me?"