Fear

I love you too

You slowly opened your eyes and groaned.

'No, it's not time to wake up yet.'

You closed your eyes and rolled over to fall back asleep, but you rolled into someone. Your eyes flew open again.

Loki was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling with a steady rhythm. Your eyes feasted on his body for a moment before you noticed something else; a long, pink scar. It stretched from his side to his stomach, where it ended abruptly a few inches from his navel. Eir had probably outdone herself to get Loki free of his bandages so quickly. But then again, according to Frigga, Eir was "the master."

You reached out and traced a finger along the scar. It hit you how much it must have hurt, having a sword cut your skin up like that. And Eir had said all wounds were deep enough to kill...

He could have died from that, you knew as much.

'But he didn't die.'

You tried hard not to imagine life without Loki, but there was no escape. You held a sob back. There would be no waking up in his arms, no raspy "good morning", no warm body to cuddle up next to, no wonderful kisses and no calming heartbeat. You laid your head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It did calm you, somehow, to hear it. You traced a finger along another scar, a shorter one which seemed to have been caused by a dagger stuck into Loki's abdomen. How he survived you did not know, but you were happy he did.

He muttered in his sleep and you pulled back as he rolled over towards you. A lock of hair fell down into his face.

Smiling, you reached out and brushed it away. He groaned and his eyes fluttered open, his features softening as he saw you. You smiled at him and he pulled you closer with one strong arm around your waist. You kissed him softly, and when you pulled back his eyes sparkled with joy, but then he frowned and the smile he had been wearing faded. You saw his jaw move as he bit the inside of his lip and frowned as well. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and opened it again.

"There's something I need to tell you," he said, slowly and tentatively. You raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

He bit the inside of his lip again and took a deep breath.

"Many of the things you have heard about me are probably true- the women, that is. When I want someone I usually take them, either seduce them or force them to come with me. Those are cruel actions that I do not fancy at all when I think back..."

You sighed at the lump that formed in the pit of your stomach and Loki continued hurriedly.

"But I love you, and I... I want you to love me. I don't know how to be romantic, or how to treat a woman right, but I know that I want you and I just want you to love me back. I don't want you to feel forced into being with me or uncomfortable with my presence, and I don't want to use you. I want you to love me back." he repeated with a sigh.

You lay still for a while, pondering what Loki had just said. He had admitted he loved you twice now and you had yet to figure your feelings for him out. You had been close to telling him you loved him, but did you really? Did you feel something as strong as love for this man? He rolled away from you and laid still, his back turned to you, obviously regretting what he had just said. You crawled after him and laid an arm around his waist.

'Tell him, tell him, tell him', your mind urged you to say those three words.

'But what if I don't love him?'

'You're in love! He's driving you mad, woman, and you know it! Just think of what you did yesterday! Now tell him!'

"Loki?"