My Best Friend's Brother

Chapter 24

My head wasn't really in the right mental space for a ball. Alder had returned for the weekend and was accompanying our eldest brother, Sage, and myself to the ball. Thor asked nothing when I brought a rose for a man to clip on his shirt with me; my guess is that he already had an idea of what was going on. That, and I didn't know if it was appropriate for a woman to give a man an engagement ring. Sage said it was. But there was only one way to find out.

The ball was packed full of society's high elite. Ever since Prince Dewitt confirmed it was in fact a guy, Sage had been determined to discover the true identity of Lady Boylen. I personally could have cared less about all that, though I knew he'd likely have a new announcement tomorrow morning. I looked at my empty suitcase. I had planned to go back to Midgard for a month so I can sort out all the adult jobs. like giving up my flat. It was high time I went back to Midgard; I'd been away for too long and it'd been a rather rocky experience. Even if I was only going to be gone a month before I returned to my PhD programme, I can't wait to see everyone's faces when I turn up at the door.

We entered the ballroom, Alder with Sage and Thor with me on his arm. We separated off from one another, my heart sinking once I noticed my brother go over to merrily greet Loki. Prince Dewitt was nowhere in sight, but he texted me he was there. Feeling dejected and wanting to escape before Loki had the chance to speak to or even at look me, I slipped out into the empty corridors. Heh, you'd think I'd learn not to wander off around here by myself by now.

Walking down the dark hall with rose in hand, my eyes kept repeatedly drifting down to the ground. It was like being on cloud nine and terrified constantly. The idea of marriage hadn't really sunk in yet but the concept of PhD had. I was already mentally preparing myself for the transition; I would be starting a new academic journey. I'd write another, much longer thesis; hopefully, get some papers published. I'd be in my element, so happy. How lucky am I? To do what I want for four years? Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps. That's why it was easy to overlook the other side of it. The darker side I'd ignored for fifteen years.

By then I'd reached this room with a light still on. It was very much like the room I found Loki in the last time we were at the palace, only this one was vacant. It was chalked full of paintings though, these ones strictly portraits. Why the door was left ajar or the light on, who knows? But without really thinking about it, I entered leaving the door just as it was behind me. As I walked along, absent-mindedly gazing up at the portraits one by one, I considered everything to myself- and I do mean everything. Before I realized I was doing so, my hand was clenching the rose stem very, very anxiously. All these lifeless eyes just seemed to stare back at me apathetically, which didn't help matters.

My free arm flung out at my side. I can't get married! I have no idea what it is to be married! What if we grow to hate each other? Is he going to resent me for not being able to have kids? I can't speak whatever language the people of Muspulhiem speak; is that going to be a problem with his family? What if I don't like Muspulhiem? It's just the people I'll live with there. my eyes going directionless. My heart was pounding like a drum at this point. I was on the verge of having a full-on freakout, all in the middle of a bare palace portrait room. My head tossed back, angrily so. No one else has this stupid marriage condition hanging over their head. Alder could get a PhD without getting married; Heath could get a PhD! But me? There was no chance in hell. Thanks to my lack of a cock, I have to be punished for wanting to have a life of my own, for daring to have my own dreams. Screw that! I didn't choose to be born this way. And while we're at it, I didn't decide to have a heart condition either, so you can't use that as an excuse to force me to get married! Father had a heart condition- no one forced him to do anything! It's all cause I'm a woman! Something to be petted and passed around and ignored! My arm flung up with brute force yet again.
"An arranged marriage; who in their right mind would agree to something like that?!" Then I finally realized that I was standing in front of a painting of a really old royal lady. She had this stoic expression, just like the rest of them. I looked at her for a minute, calming down slightly. It was Thor's great-great-grandmother. She had also agreed to an arranged marriage. Only hers turned out to be full of love. Why can't the rest of us get it right?

I continued strolling down the wall examining each of the portraits in a detached sort of way. This quiet smile drew across my face, only to instantly melt at one of the last portraits hanging close to the door. It was at eye length, which is the first time I saw him at eye level. The moment I clapped my eyes on it, I immediately stumbled back a few steps. My free hand clenched my shirt as my breathing increased, horrified. The plack underneath the painting read: King of Alfhiem, Hawthorne Featherwine.

I felt like I was going to be sick. I thought Odin had every portrait of my Grandfather removed from the estate. I don't think I even owned a picture of him. I hadn't seen an image of him in years, Not since we fled Alfhiem. I was honestly shocked at how much I'd forgotten his face. He was younger in this portrait; maybe in his late forties or so. He didn't look much like the man I knew, but I could tell it was him. One look at the malicious, scheming eyes and I knew. My heart was beating so loud, you could practically hear it. My hand didn't dare move an inch away from my chest, I was that afraid. I forgot how scared of this man I was. It all came back to me in a flash, and I wanted to vomit.
"I hate you," I spat at my Grandfather's portrait. I forced my firm posture to relax somewhat. After all, it was only a painting; he couldn't hurt me anymore. Only he did... He still found a way. This disobedient smirk reluctantly rolled across my lips; if I was conscious of it, I wouldn't have done so "Look at you... the man who tormented our family for so many years. I hate you... You did this to our family. You said that this rule has been in our family for so long. Is that why you had forgotten that it was written by a sad, delusional old man because no one would marry him or into such a wicked family," My voice trailed off a bit, though my mouth didn't close. I was studying his eyes in particular; his sharp, grey, loveless eyes. I remember the last thing I ever heard him say.
"He had her just to spite me. Five generations of only male-born Featherwines down the drain. He should have stopped with Alder." My own eyes narrowed onto his "You are mine, and you be mine until the day you get married. Then you'll become your husband's problem; everything you are, everything you own will be his. You are nothing without us, and all you will ever be is a sack in the sheets,"
"Yeah, I was aware why he hated me so much; you knew it too. And he's won; he's won the battle- doesn't get much better than a prince status-wise. But I've won the war." My hand balled into a fist "He was wrong, father. I've become so, so much more than merely a wife. I'm going to be the first Featherwine ever to get a PhD- a female Featherwine is going to be the one to break that record. I'm not his property anymore; I've crawled my way to freedom and there I'm going to stay. I could never live with a tyrant worse than him. I'm going to be a doctor."

I ranted to the portrait for a solid twenty minutes. Saying all this out loud was a great stress reliever, but it was like venting to a wall. No matter what I said, he still glared at me with those cold, unfeeling eyes. Nothing had changed, and nothing would ever change when it came to us. He despised me; he died hating me, and there's nothing I can do about that. Still, I didn't want this man to control me. He simply sneered down at it and deemed it unworthy of his attention. I was unworthy of his attention in his eyes. If only I had gotten the chance to poke them out. Thinking about it only made my legs tremble slightly. I hated that I was related to that man. The one I looked most like in the family. The one that claimed I was the greatest disappointment he had ever seen.

I bolted out of the room so fast, you'd think I saw a ghost. I didn't; just couldn't stand being in there anymore. I ran with no idea as to where I was going; I merely ran as fast as my feet could carry me. My attention was so single-minded that I didn't see anyone when I rounded the corner. I shot around the bend, only to crash into someone. We both stumbled back a few steps from the impact. My eyes winced shut.

"Sorry, sir! I didn't see you there." I lowered my head.
"Willow?" My head lifted at the sound of the person's voice. Prince Dewitt was standing there, ogling me wide-eyed.
"Prince Dewitt! I'm sorry!" I couldn't stop gasping for much-needed air.
"You can bump into me anytime," He was now very concerned, coming closer to me. I sucked in a few more deep breaths before answering. 
"Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine. I just needed to get away. From a memory," That was sort of half true. I needed to get as far away as possible from that painting. Prince Dewitt put his hands on my shoulders, holding me steady.
"I've been looking all over for you. Your brother said you've likely stepped out for some air."
"He was not wrong. Sorry. I meant to come to say hello sooner..." Once again, my voice trailed off on its own accord. Prince Dewitt continued to eye me worriedly.
"You sure you're ok?" I wasn't. I went to clench my fist again. That's when I recalled the rose in my hand. I glanced from it to Prince Dewitt's face, grinning very timidly along the way. Grandfather may have won the battle, but I'm going to win the war.
"Didn't you say you wanted five minutes alone in a room with me tonight?" Prince Dewitt only gawked my way for what felt like a solid minute. But soon enough, as if a flip had been switched, he suddenly took hold of my hand. With a quick peek down the hall to make sure no one was watching, he then proceeded to lead me to the first available open and lit room he could find. This one was a much smaller sitting room, complete with an old-timey sofa and fireplace. He let me go in first, coming in immediately afterwards. I saw him shut the door behind us, though wasn't sure if he was able to lock it or not. Either way, he slowly spun around on his heels so to face me.

I'd never been in any situation like this before with a guy. How far would we go? How far did I want to go? I bristled at the thought, banishing it from my head. I didn't know what to expect in a moment like this. But I was determined to get ourselves on the right footing. This would be the first night of the rest of my life, after all.
"Willow," Prince Dewitt took a single step toward me like he was shy himself. It was the first time I saw him this way. But I responded with a gentle grin. It was I who approached him next. I held the rose so he could see it. His eyebrow rose up a bit surprised "What's this?"
"Here, I brought you a rose to pin to your shirt. Red was the only colour they had; I hope you like it."
"You got this for me?" I nodded, my grin growing a tad. He didn't do anything as I went to pin it onto his shirt, neither of us making a sound as I did so. Prince Dewitt's eyes looked down upon me "But aren't roses your favourite flower?" And I simply gazed up at his very large red eyes.
"Yes," That's all I said; that's all I had to say. Prince Dewitt flinched at this, his arms stiffening at his sides.
"Willow," But I cut him off by raising up my hand.
"Before you say anything, let me tell you something. I have to be honest with you: I don't love you, and I don't know if I ever will," my eyes gently lowered, him still staying silent for a moment. My smile deepened just then before I went on.
"But I like you, and I think we can grow to very fond of each other, Prince Dewitt. You said once that I don't have a manipulative bone in my body; well that's simply not true. I need you to be a means to the end that I want," I paused to take in a deep, deep breath.
"Go on," Prince Dewitt crossed his arms.
"While I am unsure that I will love you I promise you that I'm going to do my best to make you happy. I don't want you to be unhappy, not when I am going to be so indescribably happy. That's not fair to you, and I don't want to treat you that way. I promise I'll do what I can to make you not regret your choice. I'm not going to use you so callously; I would never do that to you or anyone. You won't regret it, Prince Dewitt, I'll make sure you won't."

For what felt like an eternity, the prince didn't make a peep. He just continued to stare down at me with those gigantic, absorbing eyes of his. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was a bit awe-struck. But again, that didn't last too long. Before I knew what was happening, I was being thrown up against the wall. But not in a violent way. Not a second after my back hit the wall, both his arms were at each of my sides, locking me in place. He stood in front of me with one arm planted on the wall on each other. My eyes opened from wincing shut to see him there, very near me. My heart skipped a nervous beat and a drop of sweat rolled down the back of my neck. Nothing happened for a second, then Prince Dewitt began to bring his head closer to mine.

It took about five seconds to understand that he was about to kiss me. He closed his eyes though so I thought I should do the same. My eyes slowly shut and I braced myself for my very first kiss. But no kiss came. After a moment of nothing pressing against my lips, I felt his forehead land on my shoulder. He didn't say anything right away but chuckled very gently to himself. "Prince Dewitt?" My eyes reopened confused. His arms were still up around me.
"I can't do it. I can't do it to you." This both shocked and alarmed me. He couldn't kiss me? Why not? What was wrong? Did my breath smell funny? Was there something on my face? Prince Dewitt gradually lifted his head back up so as to see me again; his expression much, much softer this time. Once more, our eyes locked onto each other's "Why did you have to be this way, Willow? Why'd you have to go and complicate things?"
"Me?" I had no idea what he was talking about, which I think he knew and made him chuckle more.
"You really have no idea how wonderful you are."
"Prince Dewitt," my eyes widened a tad surprised.
"I've loved so many women before, but you are the first woman I've ever liked. I didn't know I could enjoy a lady's company so much... with our clothes on."
"Prince Dewitt," He chuckled, giving his head a shake.
"You're too good for me, my lady. And I'm going to do the first honourable thing since I got here. Ever since I first laid eyes on your beautiful face. I'm going to let you go, so you might find someone better than me... Someone you rightly deserve." Now my heart was beating very, very loudly. I placed my hands on his arms frantically "And we both know who your heart truly wants,"
"Prince Dewitt, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you can and should do better. You are too pure for my world and you deserve someone just as new who will be just as loyal. You'll find it; I have no doubt you will," grinning ever so tenderly, he leaned in so he could rest his forehead on top of mine "You have such a beautiful light around you... You better take good care of it." the instant Prince Dewitt said that it all suddenly made sense to me. He really did want me but he's putting me first now. Realizing this made my hands give his arms an affectionate squeeze. This wonderful rouge of a man.
"Thank you, Prince Dewitt." He smiled brighter.
"Don't ever change. You're amazing just the way you are."
"You too. You're a really good person, Prince Dewitt. deep down. I'm so thankful I was able to meet you and be your friend. You are my friend. There'll always be room in my heart for your friendship." His thumb reached up to caress the side of my cheek.
"Same. You're more than just a brief chapter in my life. There's a whole book in the library of my time with you," I smiled and he mirrored this. Our eyes shut one more time, with his head coming back into mine. Instead of kissing me on the lips though, Prince Dewitt kissed me on the forehead. His lips rested on my forehead for a good minute; both our eyes stayed closed the entire time. Then he pulled back, finally taking his arms away- and yes, this was a symbolic jester. Of course we were each still grinning at the other.
"Don't be a stranger."
"Yeah; you shouldn't be either." Then both our postures softened in unison. Our eyes lowered ever so gently "Goodbye, Willow,"
"Bye, Declan." I put my hands behind my back.
"Nope. Still weird," With that, I unhurriedly walked over to the door. Turns out it wasn't locked; I was able to turn the handle. I glanced back to Prince Dewitt one last time over my shoulder.
"Safe journey back to Muspulhiem." He could read between the lines, responding with a simple smile.
"I'll always be in the wings, Willow." The prince straightened out his jacket "Now, I just have to tell my aunt,"
"I have to tell everyone else,"
"Good luck," We both spoke as we watched each other for a second more before I exited the room.

My heart sank deeper and deeper with every step I took down the hallway. That unmistakable sensation of nausea crept up again. Don't get me wrong; I was very flattered by what Prince Dewitt did for me! The only downside was I was starting from square one again and there wasn't any time. What am I going to do now? How am I going to get out of this problem? Slowly my feet picked up the pace until I was running again. All my thoughts were on what a nightmare this was becoming.

I ran and ran. I ran right past the ballroom where I didn't think anyone would have time to see me rush by. But someone did see me. My speed didn't slow down onto I was on the patio outside, only stopping before I crashed into the railing. It took me a second to gather that I wasn't out there by myself, someone had followed me out of the ballroom to the gardens.

"Lady Featherwine." Oh, my heart. Why? Why did he, of all people, have to follow me out here? Why couldn't he have let me escape back to the continent without having to face him again? Why did the sound of his voice still quake every inch, every cell of my being? I took my time spinning around. Loki stood there, not daring to take another step towards me; a wise move on his part. He looked just as unhappy and upset as I was feeling right now. I too, was deeply frowning in his direction.
"What are you doing out here?"
"I heard you're leaving soon," Loki noted with some reluctance. My lip twitched.
"That's right. I'm going back to Midgard," Albiiet, it was only going to be a short while "But that still doesn't tell me why you're here."
"I came to say goodbye," he fumbled with his words a little.
"To who?" I asked before thinking; stupid question, I know. His eyes grew crisper on mine.
"To you." This made me scowl. I was in no mood for any of this. not after what just happened with Grandfather's portrait and Prince Dewitt just now. I held my head up.
"Your goodbye is wholly unnecessary. We are not friends. As you made abundantly clear the other day we never were."
"And I am sorry for that."
"Please do not apologize; there is no need. You're right; you're not my friend. A friend would never hurt me the way you did," My lips sputtered open for a second, but it took two more for more words to come out. My body was starting to tremble at this point "I'm going back to Midgard, and I'll likely never see you again. You should be glad of that." I doubt that. He is Thor's brother so I might just see him again. But a month away will give me time to heal.
"I am sorry. As I've said before, I never meant to hurt you," He breathed. I flashed him a bitter glower.
"But you did," I snapped "Why should I believe you? What have you done to earn my trust? You had everything, me, us. All of it. You had it and threw it away because of a vow you made to the man that gave you away," Loki's gaze dropped My hands balled into fists before I went on "Once I'm back in Midgard, Where I belong, and I'm going to be very happy there." He stared at me, his eyes revealing everything.
"Will you be happy?" Loki said this, and my resolve began to falter. Cracks showed in my face as contempt turned to sadness.
"Why would I not be? Unlike you, I know what I want, and I'm going to get it."
"So you're willing to marry someone you don't love?" He dared to inquire. My eyebrow twitched a tad, suddenly enraged again.
"Firstly, How dare you question my choices? They are my choices to make; not yours. I don't question you and your lonely choices, so don't dare question mine. I do not have to explain myself to you; I don't owe you anything. Not a single goddamn thing! Do you hear me? I'm going to get what I want and no one- not you nor Thor nor Grandfather- is going to stand in my way. I'm going to be a PhD!" My foot literally stomped along with this last sentence "And secondly, yes, I would have." The whole time Loki didn't utter a peep; he just kept watching me with those sullen, forlorn eyes of his. It was all proving too much. both my hands raised to cover my entire face. By now tears had already started streaming down the sides of my cheeks, landing on my palms and fingers. When my mouth opened to breathe, it was an ugly, crying inhale. Breathing had suddenly become so taxing and pained. In that instance I was nothing but raw, pure emotional- I was an emotional wreck, which was proven by what I said next.
"Willow..."
"I wish I'd never met you." I heard Loki's lips part in a stunned gasp. Even my own eyes widened as my hands slowly lowered off my face in comprehension. But it was too late- the floodgates had been opened and there was no stopping the word vomit now "I wish we never met. Everything hurts. Life was so much easier before I knew what." It was then that my brain finally kicked into gear, stopping my mouth from daring to say anymore. But Loki... His eyes were gigantic and looking right at me. I saw his own lips open a sliver, pausing a moment.
"Before you knew what?" Loki verbally saying that out loud made the blood in my veins stop. I realized I loved him a while ago but this was like learning it for the first time all over again. My hand lowered and lowered, unable to do any other motion.
"Before I knew what it was like to love someone so much," Loki held his breath as my feet quite unexpectedly twirled right around. Before I knew what I was doing, I was walking. more like slow running- down the steps and into the garden. Away; I had to get away. That's all I knew right then. I heard Loki call out for me, but my legs wouldn't let me stop moving forward.

"Lady Featherwine!" I picked up the pace when I heard Loki chasing after me. I then heard him curse.
"Lord Loki, Please leave me alone" Why wouldn't he just leave me alone?! Leave me to suffer alone.
"Come back to the party," that sounded desperate. I did not stop nor reply "Stop walking!" That sounded even more desperate.
"Stop following me!" That was my tort response.
"It is not safe out here," He thinks that is going to stop me. I just need to get away "I forbid you to go any further!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" My own tone was growing more upset. By now we had reached a part of the garden that was out of public view.
"Willow! Will you stop and bloody listen?!" I let out an audible gasp when he snatched my wrist, pulling me with enough force to not only stop me but make me turn around so to face him. Our eyes met under the moonlight; Loki still clasping onto my arm. For a moment we did nothing but stare into each other's gazes. His lips opened a sliver and mine immediately followed suit. His foot slid even closer to me "Willow..." the second time he said my name was in a whisper.
"Loki..." I whispered with an equal amount of tenderness. Before I knew what was going on, He threw both arms around me, bringing me into an embrace for the very first time. He held me so close, so near. From the moment he brought me into him, everything froze. Strong arms cradling me with more protectiveness and tenderness than I knew was humanly possible. I felt so safe and treasured all at once. I also realized how small my frame was compared to his. I could fit happily in his pocket. I honestly could have spent the rest of my life in his arms like that, and happily so. If I died right then and there, I would have died happy.

I'm sure Loki would have been trembling if he wasn't holding onto me so hard. I felt his arms clench behind my back.
"Forgive me. I was wrong; so wrong." I'd never heard his voice shake so much before. My eyes widened in surprise and alarm "I was wrong, Willow. I thought that if I let time pass. that it would make things better; that it would heal both your and my broken heart. But I was wrong. By God, was I wrong." And he drew in this long, long breath. His hands shook ever so lightly "Time won't fix anything because it's stood still since we've been apart. I can't stop loving you."

The planet stopped spinning in orbit. My brain literally couldn't process those words- those sweet, sweet words of love and tenderness- he'd just said to me. I couldn't even begin to imagine. He loves me... Loki Odinson loves me. This has to be a dream. I love Loki but I never thought that he might return my sentiments. It doesn't seem possible. This is too good to be true. This sort of stuff only happens in plays or books but not for regular people like me. I already had my dream, and it was obtainable. But this was a whole other kind of joy. A feeling that I've never known before. This can't be real; this can't be happening to me. Life doesn't get that good, it just doesn't.

Of course, Not nearly ten seconds after Loki had told me that sentence I'll never forget as long as I live, another more angry voice filled the night air.
"Bastard!" Loki had mere seconds to push me away from me before Thor slugged him across the face, hard. Loki went tumbling to the ground while Thor firmly positioned himself between himself and Loki. not taking his sharp glare off him the whole time.
"Thor!"
"How could you?! I let you get close to Willow and this is how you repay me? By accosting my best friend?! How dare you?! I trusted you! I trusted you with Willow!" Thor bellowed, blinded by rage.
"It is not what it looks like," Loki picked himself up from the dirt, wiping the blood from his lip, I too was seeing red by now. I was so done. so done with all this stupid, idiotic nonsense. Thor blinked when I marched over to his side in a fit of anger now myself.
"Thor, stop it!"
"Stay out of this, Willow." Thor pushed me away. That was the wrong thing to say to me right now. If my hands weren't already clenched into fists, they would have done so. I was so angry that my hands started to vibrate.
"Enough!" I flung my hands up and trapped Thor in vines just in time before he battered Loki "I've had enough of this! I'm sick of all this! Stop trying to tell me what to do and how to live my life! I can hug Loki if I want to!" I used the vines to pull Thor 6 feet away from Loki.
"You weren't hugging him; he was hugging you," Thor had the gull to correct me. My eyebrow twitched incensed.
"And I hugged him back!" I walked in front of Thor, stepping between the brothers "Thor, when will you understand that I'm not your property? I'll decide who I spend time with, who can talk to or dance with me, and I'll decide who can embrace me! It's my decision and mine alone," I stamped my foot. Thor held his hand out and I knew he was summoning his hammer. I said as the stupid thing came flying. I used my vines to catch it "I don't think so," I said calmly even though I was shocked. I somehow caught Mjolnir. Thor was just as shocked. He stretched out his hands, trying to call Mjolnir back to him. The hammer trembles in my vines. It looked like a mini-game of tug-o-war. But ultimately I kept possession.
"What the...?" Thor stammered as he dropped his hand "I don't understand. That is not possible." Loki frowned. Smirking, I walked over to my vines, picked Mjolnir up by its handle and Spun it around.
"You, Father, and Grandfather have controlled me all my life, and now it is enough. I don't care what any of you think is best for me; I am perfectly capable of choosing that for myself. I will take care of myself! I don't need you or anyone else watching over me, and I certainly don't need you sticking your nose in on my behalf. This isn't the Dark Ages anymore; I'm a modern woman and you better treat me as such!" I was yelling louder now than either of them. Thor blinked at me in disbelief, as did Loki. I had to stop to take in some air, giving the chance for some silence to slip in. When Thor spoke next, his voice was lower and not as mad as you may expect.
"Willow, I understand you're upset, but you're not thinking straight. This man has dishonoured you; he dishonoured you, he dishonoured me, and your family name! You think your father would ever forgive me if I stand by and let him get away with it."
"Get away with what? For someone who had an expensive education, you really are thicker than pig shit, Thor. All he did was hug me, that's it." I sighed, heavily. Thor fought against my vines but my power was stronger than him "And last I checked, it's not your job to defend my honour."
"I say it is! That's what your father told me to do and I intend on seeing it threw. You are my best friend and my father's ward." More eyebrow twitching on my end.
"I don't need you to look after me. I have other younger siblings that need more attention than I do"
"Willow, Loki has betrayed us both. I'm not going to let him hurt you anymore. I will never let a man hurt you."
"You're the one hurting me now!"
"Because I love you and I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect you! That's the promise I made to your father!" I froze yet again; my arms were now stiff as boards at my sides. I don't think I've ever looked at my best friend the way I did at that moment. Nothing but rage, fury, anger. I glared at him, making no sound for a sheer minute. I then released him from the vines. He fell to the thor with a loud Thor. He held his breath a little as my feet suddenly stepped over to him so I was right beside him. I dropped his hammer right by his head.
"I'm going to Midgard" Having said that in a very low, dangerous tone- even for me- I immediately spun around and started to march away. The horrified expression on Thor's face just then. I don't know how serious I was with that threat because of this, but Thor knew things were bad since he'd pushed me that far. His arm extended out in my direction in a desperate plea to stop me.
"No, Willow! Willow, wait! Come back!" But I did not come back. I made a wall of vines appear behind me as I marched myself right out of the garden and straight home, not uttering a single noise the whole way there.

I need to leave this place and I need to do it soon.

Cassia, Rowan, and Oak all anxiously watched me fly around my room, angrily tossing things into the open suitcase on my bed.
"But you weren't supposed to go for two more days," Rowan nervously bit his finger.
"Sorry, but I have to leave. I've had enough of this city; I'm going back to Midgard- today."
"But... you can't... What about your thing with Prince Dewitt or Loki?" Cassia asked. Little Oak tried to take things out of my suitcase and put them away.
"Prince Dewitt and I were never a thing and as for Loki, He will get over me quicker than he can take a bath," I had just gathered together and tossed in all my research when Oak's mouth opened to say something. But before he got the chance my phone started vibrating. Thinking it was Thor, I foolishly decided to ignore it for a second. Or at least I did until I got a look at the screen. My three youngest siblings were surprised to see me scramble to answer it all of a sudden "Hello?" I said, brushing a few stray hairs off my face.
"Hello, Is this Lady Willow Featherwine?"
"Yes?"
"I'm Dr. Maria York. I'm calling on behalf of the University of Asgard."
"Oh, hello. How can I help you?" I tucked my hair behind my ear.
"Congratulations! We would like to make you an unconditional offer into our PhD programme."