It felt like I had been floating on a cloud for the past couple of days and it was the best feeling ever. I felt like nothing could touch me, upset me or hurt me ever again. Not that much could in Asgard, I swear it was the most peaceful place on Earth. Or the Universe. Or wherever it actually was. I wasn't going to stretch my brain trying to figure it out.

The main thing was that I was happier than I had ever been before, and I never wanted it to end. I couldn't believe that four simple words could have that effect, but I wasn't complaining. Loki wasn't either, he was happier than I had seen him before too. Even Frigga had commented on it one afternoon when she was walking around the castle grounds with me.

"I told you that all you needed to do was talk to him." She smiled down at me.

"It was kind of messy at first though." I pointed out with a wince, looking down as my feet as they stepped over the weather-worn grey cobblestones in the courtyard.

"You were just emotional." She shook her head. "That's completely normal. And you had every reason to be, that was something vital that he was keeping a secret. No wonder you were surprised when you found out."

"Do you think he should have kept it a secret?" I couldn't help but ask. I had gotten over him keeping it a secret, not that there was much to get over, but I was still curious.

"I think he was just being protective of you." She replied after a couple of moments. "He was doing it out of love and care, rather than spitefulness or with the intent to hurt you. He loves you a lot, and he's happier with you than I've seen before."

"I realised that." I nodded with a small smile. "I probably would have done the same for him."

"Then you know your answer." She replied with a smile.

While he might not be one to go over the top with emotion, I could tell Loki was happy too. He didn't leave me alone for the next couple of days, not that I was complaining, and if he had to, it was with much hesitation. He doted over me much more than he did before and while it was hard at times to feel like I wasn't taking advantage of it all, I tried to enjoy it as much as I could.

Eventually, Loki suggest leaving Asgard to go back home and while I was going to miss Frigga and the pure beauty of this place, I was more than happy to go back home. I had to repack my bag, which was more difficult than last time because Frigga had insisted that I take some stuff back, and I was down in the courtyard in what Loki deemed to be record time. Thor was already there, massive grin on his face as soon as he saw me.

"I heard my brother loves you." He chuckled, the sound deep and comforting.

"Thor." Loki groaned but I just laughed softly, gently squeezing his hand in encouragement.

"I heard he does as well." I smiled happily, looking up at Loki for a moment before I looked back over at Thor. "Did you hear that I love him back?"

"I certainly did." Thor's grin got even bigger and he opened his arms up wide.

I didn't hesitate to untangle my fingers from Loki's and launch myself at Thor, who chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me. The sound rumbled in his chest and filled my whole body with a soothing warmth. I knew Thor would have been bursting with happiness when he heard the news, and I did pity Loki a little who wouldn't have been able to cope with the overwhelming emotion, but I was more than happy to deal with it. I squeezed my eyes shut as I wrapped my arms around Thor as tightly as I could. It felt right for him to be the first to know out of everyone what Loki and I had said to each other, I knew how much he loved his brother and wanted him to be happy, and I was glad I could do that.

"We should be going." Loki said dryly from where he was still standing a couple of steps behind me, a hint of softness in his otherwise bored tone.

I reluctantly pulled away from Thor, who kept grinning down at me. Loki tugged me back towards him, spinning me around carefully to look over me.

"Don't worry." I laughed softly. "He didn't squeeze me to death."

"Good." He murmured, gently pressing a kiss to the top of my head as he gently ran his hands over my arms. "Do you want to hold on to me?"

"I don't think I want to end up splattered over grass." I nodded, pulling a face.

"Don't joke about that." He gave me a soft look, but smile softly too.

I threaded our hands together and we followed Thor towards the Bifrost. The Rainbow Bridge never failed to amazing me and I was sure I slowed our pace down by a fair bit just because I was staring at it constantly. But we did eventually reach Heimdall and the big spinning colour portal thing that immediately made my stomach churn. Thor stepped through first with ease and I looked up at Heimdall as I hesitated, unable to ignore his bright gold gaze.

"You will be fine." He dipped his head, his deep voice washing over me in comfort. "I look forward to seeing you next time."

"Thank you." I smiled, cursing myself for not getting to know him better in the time that I was here.

I looked back up at Loki, who gently kissed the top of my head before we walked together towards the spinning Bifrost. I took a deep breath and let the colours sweep away my body. I squeezed my eyes shut as we tumbled through the colours, Loki somehow managing to pull me closer to him as we hurtled downwards. My nails dug into his shirt and seconds later, his whole body jolted as we landed. I hesitantly opened my eyes, finding my head completely buried in his chest. I slowly peeked around us and unwound myself from his arms, letting my shaky legs touch down on the grass outside of the compound. He straightened from where he had landed in a crouch, keeping a steadying hand on my waist as he let me get my bearings.

Thor had already moved ahead of us, opening up the compound doors for a couple of seconds before several bright faces appeared. I broke into a shaky grin, my heart rapidly thumping as I recognised Nat and Wanda's faces. They called something out that I was too far away to hear and all of the other Avenger's came rushing towards the door.

"Are you ready to face them?" Loki murmured softly, looking down at me as he scanned my face.

"Of course." I nodded eagerly, slowly walking forward as the last of the ringing in my ears slowly died down.

He somewhat reluctantly let go of me and I quickly rushed forward just as Nat reached me. She wrapped me up in a big hug which Wanda didn't hesitate to jump in on. I squeezed my eyes shut and a strangled laugh escaped my lips as I melted into their familiar embraces.

"Can I just say that you look absolutely stunning?" Wanda pulled back, holding my shoulders as she leaned back and looked over the clothes I was wearing. "What is this made of? It's gorgeous!"

I looked down at the clothes I was wearing, a pair of pale green pants with knee high brown boots and a similar coloured button up vest with a white shirt underneath. I smiled softly, running my hands over the soft fabric. This was probably the most casual clothes that Frigga had managed to find, but I could see that the shining gold buckles and belts were probably throwing them off.

"Thank you." I smiled, looking between them both as Nat pulled back too. "This isn't even that fancy, you should see some of the other stuff I brought home."

"Oh yes please." Wanda nodded eagerly and I couldn't help but laugh softly.

"Hello lover boy." Nat spoke up and I turned around to see Loki approaching us, a tight smile on his face.

"Hello Natasha." He murmured and I threaded our fingers together again to try and comfort him.

"Come on, lets go inside." I smiled brightly, not wanting to increase the tension much more. "I'm dying to sit down. I think my stomach has gone through a washing machine."

Thankfully, all of them were more than happy to agree and Wanda tugged me forward eagerly, Loki giving me a comforting nod before he unwound our fingers and let me be dragged towards the compound. The others were hovering around the entrance way and I was soon being swept up into too many hugs to count. Not that I was complaining because it felt so good to finally be back home around the people that I knew loved me lost.

I managed to get into the compound and the girls grilled me about everything that had happened in Asgard while I remained curled up against Loki on the couch as the others listened on. While I was happy to tell them everything, leaving out the part about what happened between me and Loki, I couldn't help but worry about what they had all gotten up to when I was away.

"Tell me about what you guys did." I asked when there was finally a break in the questions.

There was a painful pause of silence before everyone burst into random excuses of what they did. Loki gently squeezed my hand and I looked up at him before I took a deep breath and I turned my eyes back to them as they rambled over the top of each other.

"I know guys." I murmured, my tone soft but it was enough for them to all pause and look straight at me before they all looked over at Loki accusingly. "Hey don't look at him like that, he did the right thing in telling me." I couldn't stop the sharp hint that worked its way into my tone.

"We asked him to keep it quiet to keep you relaxed." Tony spoke up as everyone else looked away guiltily. "And we didn't want to risk HYDRA somehow finding out through you."

"I was in a place HYDRA doesn't even know exists." I gave him a firm look before I took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Look, I've gotten over it now, but please don't ever do it again. I don't want you guys to go behind my back and get hurt."

"None of us got badly hurt." Wanda squeezed my other hand with a soft smile.

"Who got hurt?" My eyes snapped up, releasing the hidden meaning behind her tone.

"I just got shot once." Nat spoke up, a tight smile on her face.

"The rest of us was a couple of bruises and scratches." Steve added.

"You got shot?" I breathed, looking down at Nat from where she was sitting on the floor next to the couch, leaning up against it. "Where?"

"It's just my side." She lifted up her shirt slightly to reveal the thick square of gauze taped to her skin. "Really, I've had worse. Sure, it hurt at first, but I'm okay now."

"I'm sorry." I murmured, breathing out a heavy sigh.

"No, don't be." She shook her head immediately, letting the shirt drop back down as she faced me fully. "You didn't do it."

"She's right Em." Loki murmured softly into my ear, thumb rubbing over the top of my hand. "It's not your fault, please don't go down that path."

I nodded and took a deep breath, leaning intoLoki's comforting warmth more as I pushed back all of the worry before it wouldeat me up inside.

AN:

Well, here is the first chapter! What do you guys think so far? 

I don't really have a strict releasing schedule, as you all probably know by now, but I try my best to release once or twice a week, depending on how much time I get. It'll probably be around once now that I'm at school. 

I hope you're all excited for this book!