Love in a Winter Wonderland

[innitmarvelous_og]

Eva has always been like her father in so many ways, and so like him, she has never been a morning person. But when she opened her eyes to see the snow falling outside her window, it was enough to make her get out of bed earlier than she originally felt like. After she wrapped herself in a thick robe, she then headed to the kitchen to make herself some nice, hot mocha coconut coffee. With her mug in hand, she stood at the kitchen window staring out the window at the winter wonderland outside lost in her thoughts until she heard a knock on her door.

"Who in the world?" she muttered, as she walked to the door.

Eva checked her door camera first, and she couldn't believe who it was she was seeing standing on the other side of her door. She felt her heart pounding as she reached out, and opened the door. "Loki! Oh my gosh!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

He was obviously stunned for a moment as he neither moved nor spoke, but then he lifted his arms to hug her back. He murmured in her ear, "Why I came to see you," he replied, "Of course."

The hug lasted for another few seconds then Eva pulled away, and gestured towards the interior of her home. "Please come inside!" He nodded, and stepped into her house, his eyes scanning the room.

As she followed him inside, and offered to take his long grey coat from him, Eva couldn't help but feel a little flustered. She and Loki had been friends for years, but lately in the last few years, there was always an underlying tension between them that she couldn't quite explain. "Do you want some coffee? It's mocha coconut!" she asked, motioning to the Keurig.

Loki nodded, and Eva made him a cup, savoring the warmth of the mug in her hands. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, watching the snow fall outside.

Finally, even he must not have been able to take the tension in the room as Loki broke the quiet to ask her. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

Eva hesitated. It was freezing outside, but something in the way he asked made her say yes. They bundled up in their coats and hats and stepped outside into the snow.

As they walked, they talked about everything and nothing, the snow crunching under their feet. Eva felt her cheeks grow warm, and not just from the cold. She couldn't help but feel drawn to Loki, despite the fact that they had always just been friends.

Eventually, they found themselves at a park that was close to her house, and Loki led Eva to a secluded spot. "I have something for you," he said, pulling a small box out of his pocket.

Eva's heart began to race as she opened the box. Inside, she found a beautiful necklace, the pendant shaped like a heart. "Loki, it's gorgeous," she breathed, feeling her face grow hot.

Loki smiled, taking the necklace from her and fastening it around her neck. "It's not as beautiful as you," he said, his eyes locking deep into hers.

At that moment, Eva was finding it hard to breathe. She had never seen that look in his eyes before. She realized in that moment that what she had been feeling all these years was mutual. As she watched, Loki started to lean towards her, and before she knew it, his lips were pressing against hers. Eva immediately deepened the kiss, and cupped his face with her gloved hands. Suddenly, Eva found herself almost face down on the bench when Loki pulled away, and sprang up, walking away from her at a fast pace.

Eva was stunned for a second, and then sprang up to hurry after him, catching up to him quickly. "Loki, is something wrong?"

He didn't slow his pace, and he nodded. "Yes, I've ruined

everything!"

"Ruined everything how?" Eva asked in a breathless tone as his fast pace was starting to get to her, even as fit as she was. "Loki?"

Loki stopped suddenly, and without facing her answered her. "I-I shouldn't have kissed you!"

"Why shouldn't you have kissed me?"

He sighed, his head dropping. "Because you see me as only a friend, nothing more or less. For me to kiss you, that is a betrayal of our friendship, as I am trying to turn it into something it is not. I'm sorry, Eva. It will not happen again." With that said, he started walking again, this time at a much slower pace.

Eva shook her head, and went after him. She walked beside him in silence, trying to figure out how to word what she wanted to say to him.

"If you wish to return the necklace, I will understand, as it was a presumptuous gift on my part," he said, sounding utterly defeated.

"Oh for crying out loud, would you just stop being an idiot already?!" she exclaimed.

Loki stopped walking once more, and looked at her. "I beg your pardon. What did you say?"

"I said would you stop being an idiot already?!"

"I am not being an idiot!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are, or you wouldn't have ended one of the most epic kisses ever until we were both out of breath!"

Puzzlement crossed Loki's features. "'Most epic kisses ever'? Am I to understand that you are telling me that you were enjoying my kissing you?"

Eva took a step closer to him. "Yes, you big dolt! That is exactly what I am telling you! Believe me, if I hadn't been, mythical god of mischief and chaos or not, I would have knocked you out cold with the right cross my Dad and all of my Uncles helped me to develop, and left your butt there on that bench to wake up on your own!"

"You would have?" Loki said.

"Yes, I would! Loki, I... I love you!" she exclaimed.

His eyes widened, and then he closed the gap between them. "You what?"

"I said, I love you!" Eva muttered, dropping her head. "I have for a long time, I think." She bit her lip, hoping now she wasn't the one to destroy everything between them.

He placed a gentle hand underneath her chin, and lifted her face up. "Eva Stark Anthonysdottir, I love you too."

"You do?" she asked in a whisper.

Loki nodded. "Eva, there are so many things I love about you. I love the way you see the world. You have this unique perspective that I can't help but find so fascinating. Ever since we met, you have challenged me in ways that no one else ever has. You've made me see the universe in a new light. You make me want to be a better person."

As she stared into his eyes, Eva felt her knees going weak. She knew without any doubt that Loki is the one she loves without every part of her heart. She knew with all that she is, he is her soulmate, and they will be together forever. With this knowledge and certainty, she is the one who initiated their second kiss.

For a long time, they stood there, kissing in the snow, with the hot intensity of their passion keeping them warm. As they finally parted, Eva couldn't help but feel grateful for the unexpected, snowy morning that had brought them together.

In from the cold - Part 2

[innitmarvelous_og]

He started to tell the little girl not to tell the man he was in there with her but two things stopped him. First was the look of terror that crossed the child's face, and second, was the appearance of the voice's owner at the door. He was a big, burly man with a shaved head, tattoos all over his face, and a looped belt grasped tightly in one of his meaty hands. He didn't see Bucky at first when he entered as he stalked straight towards Annie, raising the belt over his head.

"Girl, when I tell you to do something, you better do it!" he snarled, bringing the belt down towards Annie.

Annie threw up her hands to shield herself, shrieking and cowering away from him.

But the belt never lands its target, as Bucky stepped forward, and seized it with his metal hand. Tommy, he presumed, looked at him with a shocked look on his ugly face. When he opened his mouth to snarl at Bucky, it was then Bucky smelled reek of alcohol on the man's breath.

The man's eyes blazed as he asked, "Who the h—"

Bucky cut him off by cold cocking him, and as Tommy fell unceremoniously to the floor, he turned to check on Annie. "Are you okay?" The little girl stared at him, stunned by what he'd done. He knelt in front of her, and tried to get her to hear him. "Annie, doll, are you okay?"

Annie blinked, and looked at her mother's boyfriend's crumpled form. "Did you kill him, mister?"

He shook his head, "No, I didn't kill him. He's just knocked out right now."

"I wish you would've killed him, mister."

What a horrible thing to hear such a sweet looking little girl say! "Why would you wish for something like that?"

"'Cause when Tommy wakes up, he'll be super mad, and he'll... he'll..."

Bucky didn't need for her to finish her sentence, and he shushed her. It' had been such a long time since he'd touched another person with such gentleness, but he was gentle as he could be when he pulled the child into what he hoped was a comforting embrace.

"He's not going to hurt you again. I promise you that he's not going to hurt you again. Now, do you have school today?"

Annie nodded. "Uh huh... and he'll be waiting for me when I get back home today too!"

Bucky guided her towards the barn's door. "Then you go on, go to school, and by the time you get back home, Tommy won't be taking any of this out on you."

"What are you gonna do, Mister?"

Truth was, he didn't know yet what he was going to do about Tommy, but he wouldn't fail the little girl either. "You don't worry about it. Just go to school."

***

Bucky kept his word to Annie.

When Tommy woke up, he wasn't happy to find himself all tied up by the Winter Soldier, but he was even less thrilled to be questioned by him. Still, Bucky got him to tell him the whole situation. As it turned out, Annie's mom Laurie was a nurse who worked sixteen hour shifts at a time, and wasn't home often while her daughter was still awake. Since they had no family close by, and Laurie had no friends she could depend on to watch out for Annie, she'd asked Tommy to move in with them. In return for taking care of Annie, Tommy had room and board as well as free access to Laurie's bank account.

Yep, the lowlife was even living off of the woman whose daughter he was supposed to be caring for, not abusing. When Bucky learned all of this, he grabbed the man's throat with his metal hand, and told him in no uncertain terms that he would be leaving that day with nothing but the clothes on his back.

"But what about my stuff?" Tommy asked in an outraged tone.

"Consider it repayment for all the free things you've wrongfully taken from Annie and her Mom. Now, hit the road, pal, and do not ever come back!"

Tommy started to protest but one hard, cool look from Bucky silenced him, and he started down the road leading from the farm house. Bucky watched him until he disappeared, and he made a note to make sure the guy had actually left before he left himself. Speaking of leaving, he knew he shouldn't leave until he had a chance to talk to Laurie.

She'll probably call the police on me, he thought, But that's a chance I'll have to take. He just needed to be sure that Annie was there when he did it, so she could back up all the claims of abuse against Tommy. He hoped that when she heard it all, she wouldn't be angry with Annie but with Tommy, and would then try to work something better out for her daughter.