Fated Marks

“Tell me about your friend.” Kevin said.

It had been a few weeks, almost a month since I had started seeing Kevin, my… therapist. I had cracked about two weeks ago and started talking to Will. I hadn’t completely forgiven him but we could sit down and have dinner together without me being tempted to stab him with a fork.

The mood swings were still there but the meds were helping… sometimes, other times whatever was going on was stressing them out which stressed me out and well, random bouts of crying in front of the television while eating rocky road happened. Of course no one knew about these sessions and I was keeping it that way. No one new about the anxiety pills or the sleeping pills either, I was actually considering quitting them. They worked, I didn’t get anxious when I took them they just made me numb. It was like I was watching myself go through my day but not actually being there. Things with the soulmates were okay… I guess. They definitely weren’t like they used to be I mean we talked but I was really careful with what I said. They noticed but didn’t say anything. All in all I was pretty miserable, was I ever going to admit that to anyone? No.

“Will?” I asked. “What do you want to know?”

“Start from the beginning, How’d you meet?” Kevin asked.

“It was a couple of months after I moved here. I was living with Tess and after we met Liam, her soulmate at a club she set us up on a double date. Of course they didn’t know Will was gay so obviously nothing happened. We talked and became good friends. We hung out, went out, slept over each other’s places when our roommates kicked us out for some alone time. By the time Tess and Liam got married we decided to move in together, been inseparable ever since. I’m not going to say we never fought because we did but at the end of the day we were all each other’s got hence why I have his name tattooed on my arm.” I said.

“Then why is it so hard for you to forgive him? From what you said you’re other co-worker Ginger (Pepper) also knew but you forgave her. Why can’t you forgive Will?” Kevin asked.

“Ginger, is Toby’s ex but also happens to be one of his closest friends. She’s loyal to him so I get why she didn’t tell me. Will’s my brother more so than my actual brother. I trusted him with things I never told anyone else. I was loyal to him and even went through a really uncomfortable Thanksgiving with his family because of that and I thought that went both ways but no, he didn’t he lied and even set me up with someone else.” I said.

“But you’re also keeping secrets from him, from all of them.” Kevin said.

“That’s different.” I said.

“How so?” Kevin asked.

“Let’s just say that’s something that’s better left in the past.” I said.

“You’re very defensive.” Kevin said.

“I’ve been called worse.” I said.

“Okay you mentioned your brother, let’s talk about him.” Kevin said.

“We’re not talking about him.” I said.

“Why?” he said.

“We’re just not, so if you’re going to dig into my past find something else to focus on.” I said.

“You know this only works if you actually try?” Kevin said.

“Oh look at the time, looks like we’re done here.” I said standing up.

“Not so fast. I got homework for you.” Kevin said.

“Dude I’m a college student taking more than the normally allowed classes and I work, I don’t have time for more homework.” I said.

“Yeah you do, I want you to do a few things before our next meeting. One I want you to spend some time with Will, watch a movie reconnect and I want you to tell him what you told me. Get past this. You’re going through hell right now and I understand you’re not ready to open to your soulmates but you need a support system. Secondly Valentine’s day is on Thursday…” He started.

“Uh, it’s not even a real holiday. It was invented by the greeting card industry to make a profit during tax season.” I said.

“It may not seem important to you but it is a big deal to some people especially if it’s the first one after they met their soulmate. I want you to celebrate with your soulmates. I’m not saying go all out on the romance maybe just have dinner together or watch a movie as a group. See them outside of work somewhere where you’re comfortable and feel in control.” He said. “You said you feel better when they’re around, maybe you’ll finally be able to get some sleep without taking the pills.”

“I do miss getting more than four hours of sleep.” I said.

“Give it a try.” He said. “Have a good week.”

“Thanks you too.” I said. I walked out of there and went to go pick up the usual coffee order before going to work.

I walked into the common room where everyone was having breakfast.

“Morning.” I said. “I got the usuals and I also checked the calendar and everyone’s free.

“Awesome.” Tony said grabbing his espresso.

“Are you joining us for breakfast Hayley?” Steve asked. Since I came back to work I had actively avoided group meals or any one on one time. If they noticed they didn’t say anything but that didn’t mean they didn’t feel anything about it.

“Sure, if you don’t mind that is?” I asked and everyone immediately stood up and moved to make space and set a spot for me. “Thanks” I said as I sat down.

Everyone chatted happily and ate. It eventually got quiet and figured it was now or never.

“So… uh you guys have anything planned for Thursday?” I asked.

Everyone stopped eating and turned to look at me.

“No.” Natasha said.

“It’s been pretty slow and we weren’t sure if…” Clint started.

“We didn’t know if you would be okay with doing something… with us.” Steve said.

“I was kind of thinking… we get out of the tower for the night maybe you guys could come over and I could make dinner?” I offered.

“At your apartment?” Tony asked.

“Yeah?” I said.

“That sounds nice.” Bruce said timidly.

“Does Seven sound good?” I asked.

“Yes! It is a date!” Thor cheered.

“Okay then.” I said and continued eating. None of them could take the smiles off their faces. After breakfast I went to do my usual chores and then went to my ‘apartment’ in the tower to work on some things for school until something came up. I was in the zone when Jarvis notified me that Thor was having trouble with the TV again. I went up to his floor and helped him set up Skype. As I was working on it, the app started working and a brunette with glasses appeared on the screen.

“Darcy!” Thor cheered.

“Pikachu, how are you? Gotten hit by any cars lately?” The brunette asked.

“I’ll leave you to it.” I said.

“Wait, I would like to introduce you to my friends.” Thor said.

“Uh, okay.” I said awkwardly.

“Darcy, I would like you to meet Hayley, my soulmate.” Thor said.

“Hi.” I said.

“Get out, you’re seriously his soulmate?” She asked.

“Darcy what’s going on?” Another woman asked.

“Thor found his soulmate.” Darcy said.

“Oh, hi.” The other woman with light brown hair and doe eyes said awkwardly. I turned to look at Thor and he gave me a smile. Not his usual beaming smile, this was different.

“Hi.” I said.

“h-hi Thor.” She said.

“Jane, you look well.” Thor said and that’s when I realized what this was. Jane and Thor had a thing before he met me.

“It was nice meeting you both but it’s time for me to take Lucky on his walk. If you need me just have Jarvis call me.” I said.

“Bye Thor’s soulmate.” Darcy said as I walked out. I’m going to say this is one of those cultural differences that Thor still hasn’t grasped, when you introduce the girl you’re interested in to your ex you’re suppose to give them a heads up.

I walked into Clint’s apartment where he was talking to Natasha about something.

“Hayley.” He said.

“Hey Just came to take Lucky on his mid day walk.” I said just as Lucky came over to me with his collar in his mouth that he dropped in front of me before He sat down and waited. “Who’s a good boy?” I said scratching behind his ears “Be back in a bit.”

“Actually we had a question about dinner.” Clint asked.

“Sure, what’s up?” I said.

“Do you want us to bring anything?” Natasha asked.

“No just come with an appetite.” I said. “Oh And if you have a movie you want to watch after bring it with you. I have to get going, someone really has to go.”

With that I was off. I took lucky on his walk, picked up Tony’s dry cleaning and I decided to start working on making thing’s right with will so I picked him up a sandwich from his favorite deli. I got back to the tower and stopped by the legal department. Will was in his cubicle typing away when I popped in.

“Hey.” I said.

“Hales and Lucky. Aren’t you adorable.” He said petting Lucky.

“We just got back from our mid day walk and I picked up your lunch.” I said handing him his sandwich.

“Awesome, I’ve been craving this like crazy.” Will said.

“So what are you doing on Thursday?” I asked.

“Going out with Jake why?” Will asked.

“I kind of need the apartment to myself. I have a date I guess.” I said.

“A date? With who?” Will said.

“All six of them.” I said.

“You have a date? On Valentine’s day?” He said shocked.

“Yeah, I’m making dinner and then we’re watching a movie.” I said.

“We need to go shopping you don’t have anything to wear.” Will said.

“It’s casual, just jeans and a top will do.” I said.

“Hayley.” Will whined.

“You can raid my closet and pick out my outfit.” I said.

“Hales.” He said whining again.

“My classes got cancelled tomorrow morning so we can go look at a few stores.” I said.

“yay!” He cheered.

“I have to go take this little guy home, I’ll see you later.” I said.

“Thank you.” Will said as I left.

I got back upstairs and dropped off Lucky at Clint’s apartment before heading down to the lab with Bruce and Tony’s lunch. They were working on some project and they were so into it I had to set reminders to get them to eat sleep and shower.

Today was weird. I walked in and they both stopped what they were doing. I put the food down and they both sat down.

“How’s the project going?” I asked.

“Good.” Bruce said.

“Great, mind looking at the programming?” Tony said handing me a tablet.

“Sure.” I said taking it and looking it over.

“So quick question… do you prefer rubies or sapphires and would it be better in silver or gold?” Tony asked.

“No gifts.” I said.

“It wasn't for…” He started.

“You don’t clear your search history.” I said flipping the laptop so he could see that he left it on when he passed it to me. He actually googled gifts to get soulmate on first Valentines Day together. It was nice but no, Tony tended to go over the top for gifts hence the forty foot stuffed rabbit pepper got for Christmas. “I don’t want any gifts. Just show up with an appetite and whatever movie you want to watch after. I’m serious, I’m in charge of picking up everything for you, I will know if you try to get me something. Don’t do it.”

“How about flowers… they’re not…” Tony said.

“No gifts of any type.” I said. “No exceptions.”

“Oh come on its our first valentine’s day.” Tony whined.

“Technically Valentine’s Day isn’t even a holiday.” I said. “The only present I need is you all showing up. Now can I see the actual coding?”

“Right…” He said sliding the tablet over to me again but he was looking at me weird. Then I started getting these weird fuzzy feelings from him and honestly it was weirding me out. I didn’t say anything romantic or corny. Then Bruce gave me the same weird look and I started looking for a quick getaway.

“Looks good.” I said. “Thought I think it would be better if you move that over here and add this instead.”

“Right.” Tony said.

“Okay then, I’ll get back to work.” I said walking out of the lab.

Third Person’s POV- Later that Day

The Avengers were sitting down for dinner talking about Hayley’s invitation.

“Is it just me or does Hayley seem… off?” Clint asked.

“She’s adjusting it’s normal.” Bruce said.

“We broke her trust and she said it, things just can’t go back to the way they were before.” Steve said.

“She’s trying though, she actually invited us over for dinner. That’s progress.” Tony said.

“Aye, I even introduced her to Darcy and Jane.” Thor said.

“What?” Natasha said.

“We talked on the television.” Thor said.

“You introduced Hayley to your ex?” Tony said.

“You do see how that might be awkward for Hayley right?” Clint asked.

“No?” Thor said confused.

“Pointbreak you introduced your soulmate to the woman you had feelings for before you met her. A woman who by the way you skyped to break up with by introducing her to your soulmate without realizing it.” Tony said.

“That does explain why Jane was upset.” Thor said

“oh boy.” Steve said.

“I must apologize to Hayley at once.” Thor declared.

“No!” they all said.

“It might be a better idea to wait until tomorrow.” Bruce said. “Let her cool off.”

“Good idea.” Steve said.

Hayley’s POV-

I got home and took a shower before changing into my PJs. Will made dinner so we sat down and ate as he started talking about his plans with Jake for Valentine’s day.

“So how are the soulmates?” Will asked.

“Good, met Thor’s ex today.” I said.

“What? How?” Will said.

“Oh they skype. He was having trouble and I set it up. He introduced us. It was kind of awkward he probably forgot to mention me or something.” I said.

“How do you feel about that?” Will asked.

“I’m fine. He’s a demi god that’s thousands of years old. Chances are he has a library full of little black books or whatever the Asgardian equivalent of that is. Past is the past.’ I said.

“Wow that’s really grown up of you.” Will said.

I shrugged. “We all have a past Will, I mean it’s no secret Tony used to sleep with anything that moved, Bruce’s ex girlfriend ended up in the hospital after he hulked out, Steve had Peggy Carter, Natasha definitely had someone even if she’s never said anything, and Clint’s getting divorced. Minus the one giant lie, they’re pretty much open books.” I said.

“If only you’d return the favor.” Will said and I gave him a look. “Hey just a suggestion.”

“Never going to happen. The past is in the past. What matters is what’s happening now and what’s coming.” I said.

“Speaking of, you ready for your hot date?” He said.

“It’s just dinner and a movie.” I said.

“It’s the closest thing to an actual attempt at mending the rift you’ve made since you got back.” Will said.

“What can I say, I’m in a generous mood.” I said.

“I don’t buy it.” Will said.

“You don’t have to buy it just go with it.” I said as I grabbed a notepad and started going through what we had in the kitchen, making a grocery list of everything I was going to need.

“Are you by chance going to make dessert?” Will said.

“Uh is the sky blue?” I retorted.

“Can you maybe make some of those cookies I happen to like?” Will said.

“Uh I don’t know…” I said.

“All wash all the dishes you use tomorrow.” Will said.

“Deal.” I said. I was going to make those cookies anyway but at least now I don’t have to clean. Will has no idea what he’s in for.

The next day was kind of weird. Thor kept following me around like a lost puppy. He went with me on Lucky’s walk. And then when I sat down to study he sat down and pretended to read a book. He spent most of the time looking at me or trying to say something but changing his mind and pretending he read some really good plot detail.

At some point when I realized he wasn’t going to give in I decided to have some fun. I got the rest of the day off from Tony who was on a lab bender and didn’t even bother to look up at me. I also got the next day off which was great since it would give me plenty of time to cook and go buy something to wear.

Since Thor was being oddly clingy today I decided to drag him with me to run some errands. I grabbed my coat and we were off. Well almost…

“Thor, I don’t think you’ll be needing Mjolnir.” I said.

“It is better to be prepared.” Thor said.

“For battle yes for errands no. Put it down.” I said.

“But…” He started.

“One…” I started.

“I could use it for repairs.” Thor suggested.

“Two…” I said.

“Or I could show you this new…” Thor started.

“Thr…”

“I’ll put it down.” He said putting Mjolnir on a table and giving me a smile.

“Let’s get going.” I said holding his hand and leading him out. It was about half way down to the lobby that I realized Thor had a huge smile on his face because I was still holding his hand. I let go and got a sad feeling from his mark but didn’t let it bother me. Okay it totally bothered me, stupid empathy.

I decided to start with something no guy liked doing no matter how much they liked a girl, we went shopping. Maybe I had a lot of shoes and boots but you can never have too many shoes, especially when they have a sixty percent discount.

“Thor what do you think Brown leather lace ups or short tan wedges?” I asked.

“Lady Sif wears some like these.” Thor said.

“She has great taste then. Brown lace ups it is.” I said grabbing the boots. “Oh heels.” I said handing the boots to Thor before heading over to the other shoe rack.

“Hayley, how does this fit in as an errand?” Thor asked.

“I need comfortable shoes to walk around to do errands. Also it’s a one day only sale.” I said. “Which ones?”

He hesitantly pointed to the black ones.

“Good choice.” I said. I paid for the shoes before heading out to our next stop. I was wondering how much he could take before he finally cracked and said why he was so clingy today. I didn’t mean it was a bad thing. It was actually kind of nice having someone around but it was out of character for him.

I took him to look at outfits, I even showed him a bra to see if I could get a reaction out of him. He blushed and said it was nice but no dice.

Finally I took pity on the guy and went to do an actual errand. We went to the grocery store and I started pilling it all in for dinner. I decided I was going to make a bit of everything. I knew they would eat anything and that I’d have to make a lot since the six of them ate enough for an army.

Thor picked up all the bags with ease and followed me back to the apartment. We went upstairs and I started putting everything away while he looked around. He paid extra attention to the photos.

“You and Will are very close.” He said.

“What gave it away?” I said with a smirk.

“Hayley I believe I owe you an apology.” Thor said suddenly getting very serious.

“What for?” I said confused.

“Yesterday when I introduced you to Darcy and Jane I…” Thor started but I stopped him.

“Thor it’s okay.” I said.

“No it is not I did not think…” Thor started but I stopped him.

“You didn’t know. I’m guessing some of the cultural differences between here and Asgard made the social context of the situation a bit vague and hard to follow.” I said.

“That does not excuse my lapse of judgment. I have hurt your feelings.” He said making me laugh. “Did I say something funny?”

“Thor I’m not jealous or offended. You genuinely wanted to introduce me to your friends. You have a past, we all do only difference is that your past is a couple of thousand years more than most people.” I said.

“I can assure you that in my entire life none of my past flirtations meant a thing until I met you. I may have thought they did at the time but since my eyes met yours you became the center of the nine realms…” Thor said trying to explain. I had heard them all. He could be very poetic and corny but once he started he kept going.

“I know, but I’d rather not have an ovary explode at whatever you come up with so can we just leave this conversation as it is?” I said.

“Aye.” He said giving me a smile.

“Though you should probably call and apologize to Jane, you did really take her by surprise.” I said.

“I shall as soon as we finish running errands.” Thor proclaimed.

“We’re just about done. How about we go downstairs and get some burgers and a beer before we head back?” I offered.

“Yes!” He cheered making me laugh.

I put away everything before we went downstairs. As soon as we walked in Carl perked up.

“No breaking glasses or you’re both out!” He shouted.

“I promise.” I said as we sat down. We ate and Thor did not break anything thankfully. As we walked to the subway I didn’t even realize he had his arm around my shoulders and we were walking in a side hug. I debated getting out of his hold but it was cold and he was warm. As if he could sense how weird I felt about this he let go and just held my hand. I didn’t let go until we got to the tower just as Will was walking out of the lobby.

“Here we are.” I said.

“Yes.” He said looking a bit sad.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said.

“Aye, tomorrow. Good night Hayley.” He said taking my hand and gently kissing it.

“Good night Thor.’ I said blushing. Crap I was supposed to be mad at him. Stupid empathy. It’s not my fault he’s so damn lovable. Wait did I just…

“Someone had a good day.” Will said coming over.

“I did. I checked out that shoe sale, got a great deal.” I said.

“And that smile had nothing to do with the gorgeous god that spent the entire day with you?” Will said.

“Now why would you think that?” I said making him laugh.

“Could you two be any more obvious?” He said.

“Oh shut up it’s not like you saw me jumping his bones. Unlike other people I do have self control.” I said.

“Too much.” He said.

“Will.” I said giving him a warning he was going into dangerous territory.

“I’m just saying, I keep condoms in the bathroom I’ll give you a box to keep in your room and you should probably make an appointment with planned parenthood…” Will started.

“Okay stop. It’s one good day it doesn’t mean we’re going to live happily every after and start screwing each other senseless.” I said.

“Why the hell not? You’re obviously into them and…”

“Stop, we’re ending this discussion before we start fighting again.” I said.

“Why are you so afraid of letting them in?” Will said.

“It’s complicated.” I said.

“Look around Hayley the world’s complicated. You have seven soulmates, six of whom are super heroes and are crazy about you. Aliens invaded New York. What can be so bad that’s more complicated than any of that?” Will said.

“Will that’s a can of worms we are never going to open.” I said walking towards the subway.

“Come on Hales you’re met my insane family. You know everything about me. Can’t you just open up just a bit?” Will said pouting.

“Nope. Now drop it.” I said.

“Okay how about this. How about I guess what your super deep dark secret? If I guess correct you say so and then we never speak of this again?” Will offered.

“Let’s go Will.” I said.

“Are you a sleeper agent of some sort?” Will said.

“How would I know if I was a sleeper agent?” I said.

“Huh that is true.” Will said.

Third Person’s POV-

Thor walked into the common room with the biggest smile. Everyone immediately noticed the demigod’s great mood.

“Any bigger and that smile will pull a muscle.” Tony said.

“Someone had a good day.” Clint said.

“How’s Hayley? Did you apologize?” Steve said.

“Aye, she was very understanding.” Thor said.

“Didn’t know an apology could take all day.” Natasha said.

“I accompanied her on some errands and we had dinner together.” Thor said with a smile. Everyone was happy that Hayley was starting to open up but they felt a bit jealous it hadn’t happened with them.

“That’s good, it’ll make dinner tomorrow easier.” Bruce said.

But as always, nothing ever went according to plan…