Heaven Sent (Loki/Asgard Fanfiction - Aislinn's Story)

Chapter Three

Aislinn couldn't remember the last time she slept past ten o'clock. But then again, she also couldn't remember the last time she only got home at dawn. Only this time, she didn't have to worry about angry parents demanding to know where she'd been.

The kiss on the boardwalk went no further than that. They walked a while longer, then found a diner, where they sat talking, over coffee, until the first pinkish streaks of daylight split through the early morning. And that led to a stroll down the beach and something she would have thought so corny before meeting him. They sat on the beach and watched the sunrise.

It felt so perfect, sitting there on the cold sand, her head against his shoulder, as the night gave way to coral and pale lemon light, and the sky went from velvet black to purple, to light. Steve kissed the top of her head and whispered, "I'll have to thank Jake for being such a jackass."

She smothered a yawn, saying, "Jackass is too kind a word."

"Hey, if he wasn't, I wouldn't be sitting here right now."

She'd picked up her head and smiled at him. He looked sleepy, his eyes heavy-lidded, his hair blown into near-black peaks by the ocean breeze. "I've had a real nice time, Steve."

"Me, too." He reached over to brush her hair away from her face and she had to fight to keep her eyes from closing. "So, dinner tonight? I'll pick you up around seven."

"Okay."

And with that, he'd kissed her again and then they strolled back toward Jenkinson's, where he insisted on walking her to her silver Volkswagen Jetta. There, he leaned in to kiss her again, this time nuzzling her as he whispered, "I'll see you tonight, Aislinn."

Her eyes closed as his hair brushed her cheek. It was silky soft and cool, and as it grazed her, it was almost a caress in itself. "Yes, you will."

He pulled back and raked a hand through his hair. "I wonder if any of those putzes even realized I never came home."

"Well, they'll probably think you got lucky."

His eyes darkened slightly. "I did. Just not in the way they'd mean."

"Not yet anyway." The words were out before she could stop them and the slow grin she received was enough to make her blood warmer.

"There are four of us sharing a house. I'm not so sure I'd want to bring you back there to be subjected to them."

"My brother and his wife have four kids under the age of nine."

"They're probably better behaved." He caught her face in his hands, his thumbs moving lightly over her cheeks. "We'll worry about it when we get there. If nothing else, I drive a Denali with plenty of room in the back."

She couldn't help but laugh. "How could I resist an offer like that?"

His laugh came warm against her lips. "I know. I'm a charmer, right?" He kissed her once more, then stepped back. "Go home and get some sleep, Ash. You look beat. Beautiful, but beat."

"Ash?"

"You don't like it?"

She beeped off the Jetta's alarm and tugged open the door. He pushed it closed, waiting for her to lower the window and when she did, he leaned in, kissed her again and said, "If you don't like it, I won't use it."

"No," she smiled up at him, "it's fine. I like it."

"I'll see you later then, Ash."

"See you later, Steve."

And with that, he moved to the sidewalk and she backed carefully from the spot to make her way home.

The house on Ocean Avenue overlooked the ocean, three stories high and weathered to blend into the scenery, with plenty of windows and an open floor-plan. Her father bought the house when she was about three, and he and her mother gave it to Selig as a wedding gift eight years ago.