His True Kingdom

Chapter Twenty One - Bittersweet:

You let out a deep sigh as you stared at yourself in front of your mirror. It'd been almost three hours since you locked yourself in the bathroom with your dress. Your talent with hairdressing was no match for what you could do with makeup. You were wearing a satin blood red dress. It was strapless but you decided to sacrifice the discomforting feeling of it for superior looks. This was a party after all—when else were you going to look your best if not now? Your red dress felt quite tight against your body but you nevertheless were very satisfied with your look. You checked if the colors of your eye shadow blended together perfectly once more before you sprayed your hair to make it puffier. You made a three sixty around yourself.

"Looking good" you mumbled and smiled. "I wonder what Loki will think of me..." you thought and butterflies fluttered in your tummy.

You slowly opened the door and took a step outside—only to spot a man in a black suit who was staring out the windows across the second level of your house. He immediately spotted you and took a couple steps towards you very gently. As the weak light of the setting sun shone on him from the windows, you were once more lost in his bluish green eyes. Even if you spent the eternity with him, you probably would never be able to decide the true color of them. He glanced at you as he imperturbably smiled, his eyes observing you from head to toe.

"You look stunning" he quietly said, you instantly blushed and hoped that your make up was enough to cover it up.

"Thank you, you too." You giggled when you realized Loki's bow tie was a little tilted. You reached out with both your hands to fix it. From the corner of your eyes, you could see that his eyes were glued on yours. Your heart rushed causing you to have trouble fixing the tie—you just made it worse with your excitement taking over you. Loki put his hands on yours and brightly smiled. His touch made you shiver, but you'd never felt a feeling quite like this. You gave him a queer stare.

"Parties really do make you nervous" he said as he supported your slightly shaking hands that were almost finished with fixing the tie up.

"I hope I live to regret this you know..." you frowned. You wanted to move your hands down since you were done but Loki's grasp was too strong, he kept holding your hands and stared into your eyes.

"You will, I promise. I will protect you no matter what happens" he said without hesitation. You knew both of you were aware of what was going on between you two. For some reason, you couldn't name it, none of you could.

"And this is very uncomfortable" Loki said as he pulled out the bow tie entirely, unbuttoning his shirt for a breather.

"Ah man! And I tried so hard to fix that!" you complained and stomped your feet. Loki chuckled.

"Come; let's go before it's too dark. Sophie's expecting us" he said. As you two went downstairs his hand was on your waist until you reached the entrance of your house.

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You arrived at the ballroom with your brand new car Loki got you a while ago. You didn't give thought to how people were going to perceive that. Everyone knew your father was not rich—but still made a good amount of money at Stark Industries. Yet you knew the car you were driving was totally out of your league. You gave Loki a worried stare and he smiled at you. It was packed and there was a long line of cars trying to enter the parking lot which was flooded, you guessed about a hundred of them were already parked.

"This is a moment I wish to get out and be the God of Mischief" he frowned.

"What the heck do you mean?" you smiled as you slowly made your way into the parking lot.

"You know... intimidate them so we can pass" he sighed.

"Patience Loki, patience" you mumbled and pulled over.

You stopped the car but you just didn't want to get out. You knew everyone that you went to school with and hung out with in the last year was going to be there. You hated the fact that you would be obligated to explain yourself to people, you didn't want to and you already knew every single person you run into was going to ask who Loki was. You became mournful when you imagined how Sophie was going to just... freak out and scream with happiness when she'd see you and draw the entire room's attention on you.

"Come on, it will be fun" Loki said, his voice was just so positive that it made you get out.

You started walking towards the crowd; you saw that the ballroom was not completely an enclosed area. There were people that were beyond the building hanging out outside as well. You pulled up your dress a final time and held onto Loki's arm as he led you inside. It was dimly lit and a red color was dominant—perfectly matching your dress color, your hopes went up about passing most people unseen. You turned to Loki who was giving out smiles to everyone. You looked around, very annoyed, and saw that every face in the room was either looking at Loki or was failing to hide that they were looking at him. You saw a couple of your girl friends who were talking to each other as you passed them. No one really said hi to you, you doubted if they even saw you since everyone's attention was on the man on your arm. You couldn't blame them as you agreed with their astonishment. He was so flawless.

"What's with the odd music?" Loki asked as slow dance music was echoing in the room but it was pushed back by the constant chattering, clinking glasses and laughter. You just wanted to go home so badly.

"____(y/n) you made it!" Sophie shouted as she approached you with her glittering and extravagant pink dress.

"Been waiting for you guys for an eternity! Oh my gosh hi there Michael! How are things?" she widely smiled at Loki and he landed a kiss on her hand. Okay, you were totally furious now. When did Loki even talk to her that they got so close like this anyway?

"You guys go on, I will get a drink" you rushed away from them without even awaiting for a reply.

"This is so dumb. He brought me here and now every living female here is going to flirt with him. Why am I even here?" you thought and headed towards the bar to get a drink, something very strong.

"Hi ma'am, what would you like to get?" the bartender asked politely as you settled down with a disappointed face. You rested your elbow on the bar and looked away with dreamy eyes; you were surprised to see there were many mirrors in the corners and open places. You'd seen many odd parties with meaningless themes before but mirrors? That made no sense to you at all.

"A vodka tonic please... extra fast" you mumbled as you placed a dollar bill into the glass filled with tips and realized how the slow dance music was so annoying to your ears.

You slowly looked back to where Loki and Sophie were standing before you left them; your tummy stirred when you saw no one was there anymore. You almost felt sick as the bartender brought your drink. You chugged it down without thinking. A couple minutes later you couldn't help but feel slightly disoriented. Though it was just one drink you had, it was a bit too fast. Your heart sank as you reviewed your life since its forced reboot.

"How can I make the very same mistake twice while knowing I'm making it?" you thought and let out a deep sigh. You turned once again to where Loki and Sophie had stood. Your eyes quickly detected who they were desperately looking for. Loki was swimming through the crowds of people; his face lacked any emotion while he walked towards you with a cold glance. You made a weird gesture that was a mixture of annoyance and pain as you turned your back to break away from his captivating eyes.

You felt a tight grip on your shoulder and you didn't even have to look back to know who it was, the frigid feeling made it too obvious.

"Come, let's go outside" Loki murmured and came closer.

"Why don't you... go with 'Sophie'?" you babbled. Loki frowned and quickly grabbed your empty glass—sniffing it in displeasure.

"How much did you drink?" he firmly said, his face was cross.

"Pffft, just one" you said.

"Come, fresh air will help you" he pulled you by the hand and took you to the backside of the ongoing party you terribly felt unattached from.