Finding Jane

Chapter 5

Jane awoke the next morning feeling more exhausted than she was the night before.

Note to self: Don't celebrate the night before going into work.

Squeezing her eyes together tightly for a few seconds, Jane silently gathered her bearings. She was in Sigyn's room, her clothes were in the washer (Please let someone have put them in the dryer for me!), and there should be an aspirin container and a bottle of water for her on the side table next to her. Her lashes fluttered as her eyes adjusted to the light and she slowly sat up in bed. Turning so her feet were dangling off the side, she dumped out two aspirin tablets and swallowed them down with a large gulp of water before quietly creeping towards the bathroom. After using the facilities and brushing her teeth, Jane opted to take another quick hot shower before heading towards the kitchen.

The trip was a bit more awkward in the light of day – or perhaps it was the slight pounding of her hang over. A soft smile curved her lips regardless at the sight of her clean, dry clothes neatly folded on top of the dryer. Slipping on her socks and pants was simple enough, but Jane found herself slightly hesitant at removing Loki's jersey, so she settled for slipping her bra on under it. Taking her shirt with her, Jane went about making a pot of coffee, and crept back upstairs to Sigyn's room while it peculated.

She couldn't help but grin at the sight of Sigyn's normally perfect hair hanging every which direction, covers twisted oddly around her body. Shaking her head, Jane set about quietly getting her boots on and gathering her purse (which she shoved her shirt into) and her jacket and heading downstairs. She was glad the coffee was ready when she reentered the kitchen, and instantly grabbed a cup and drank it black. Her eyes couldn't help but drift towards the island countertop.

"So it did actually happen."

"Fuck," Jane gasped out, jumping from fright and sloshing a little coffee onto her hand. Placing her mug down and shaking the liquid from her injured hand, her eyes sought out the source of the sound – Loki. "What actually happened?"

"You and me," he purred as he walked closer to her, "last night."

"I was drunk."

"And I was half a sleep," he quipped. "Didn't keep me from ravaging you."

"I recall doing the ravaging, actually," she sassed. "And Sigyn seemed to have stopped you well enough."

He smirked and stepped towards her. "True, I didn't think she'd appreciate the sight of our embrace near as much as I enjoyed participating in it. So," he asked, his eyes looking her over heatedly, "are you wearing me to work today?"

"Wearing you..? Oh," she laughed lightly as she glanced down towards the jersey. "Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Why would I," he responded, and Jane could have sworn his chest puffed out ever so slightly.

"I figured no one would noticed I'm wearing the same outfit if the shirt's different," she explained, dumping the rest of her coffee out and setting the mug in the sink before stepping away from Loki's slowly advancing form. "I should call a cab. God only knows when Sigyn will get up."

"Don't be silly," he teased lightly, pulling some keys from his pocket. "I'll give you a ride, Foster. Unless you're scared to be alone with me." He smirked then, and Jane found it irritating and arousing in the same breath.

"Get over yourself, Laufeyson," she scoffed, picking up her purse and quickly following him to his car.

The car ride had been comfortable, and yet charged with something so intense, Jane found herself disappointed when it ended.

"I'm assuming your car is here, or do you need me to pick you up later," Loki asked, his eyes looking straight out the windshield in an effort to not look at her.

"It's nearby," she answered, her eyes looking him over curiously. "I'll be fine, thank you, Loki."

She got out of the car, adjusted her purse strap and was just about to close the door when he called out to her. "And Jane," she turned, bending at the waist to look inside the car, "you really do looking fetching with my name all over you."

Jane blushed. Uncertain as to what to really say, she said nothing , shut the car door, and headed inside to prepare for her first class. It was at lunch time, after she found out that Sigyn had called in that day, that Jane called a cab and collected her car from the bar's parking lot. She'd even picked up some quick, greasy drive-thru on the way back to campus (something Thor would never let her do) so that she could eat and grade papers until her next class. Of course, thoughts of Loki would filter through her mind almost constantly, but she told herself she wasn't dating anyone – no matter how much they liked her – just yet. She needed to rediscover herself, be her own woman first. But was there any reason that couldn't include what Jane was certain would be mind blowing sex?

Loki wasn't just some random hottie, she scolded herself. He was her friend's brother, and… Weren't there rules against that or something? Darcy was always going off about some "girl code" that even in high school had eluded Jane. Maybe she should talk to Darcy? No, as much as Jane loved her, she'd tease her mercilessly over this. And Sigyn was obviously out. She heaved a heavy and pushed onward with her day, deciding the best thing for her to do was to avoid being alone with Loki for the time being.

A/N: Next chapter will skip a head a little bit, as I doubt any of you really want to read the several months she actually does manage to avoid being alone with him. Nope, we're going to jump ahead to when Loki calls her on her behavior, which I'm sure is a much more entertaining read.