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"You know, I could convince the man of Iron to have you take his private jet."
It was 3 am and Loki was driving Hazel to the airport for her early 5 am flight. She was about to go on a solo adventure that she's been dreaming about since she was a teenager.
"I wouldn't want to bother Mr Stark. Plus I already paid for my ticket," her leg was bouncing in either joy or anxiousness as she looked out the window, and he gently set his hand on her knee to still her movements.
"Are you nervous?" He glanced at her before returning his eyes to the road.
"A little. I've been planning this trip for a long time and I just want everything to go smoothly," she grabbed his hand and held it in between both of hers.
"You will have a fantastic time." He brought the hand holding hers up to his lips to place a comforting soft kiss on her knuckles, then let their hands drop comfortably back into her lap for the remainder of the drive.
He parked in the short term parking lot since he was just dropping her off, and they walked to one of the airport entrances with her wheeling her suitcase and he had her backpack on.
He wanted to help with whatever possible and if it meant waking up early to drop his girlfriend off at the airport and carry a heavy bag around for an hour, he would absolutely do it.
He also had to be in disguise since security would most likely not take a liking to an alien war criminal serving his sentence out on earth in their airport. He had short and styled blonde hair, blue instead of green eyes, a long sleeve blue shirt and a silver watch.
"I'm not checking in anything, we can go straight to TSA."
"Once again, I am telling you that Stark can reimburse you for your ticket and you can take his private jet to avoid all...this." He gestured to the frantic assembly line of people in the TSA line, preparing to take everything out and put it into a bin.
"I love that you would convince him to do that for me, but this is something I want to do on my own. It will fulfill my dream. Plus, I'm just a regular civilian, there would be no need for me to be spoiled with access to my own plane."
"You deserve to be spoiled," he murmured and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, dropping his hand to her cheek.
Hazel leaned into his touch and turned her head to kiss the center of his palm. "Are you going to be fine without me?"
"I'll be in agony but don't let that stop you," he huffed and she sighed.
"Are you sure you can't come with me? We would have a lot of fun! Sure it's supposed to be a solo trip but I'd rather you come with me than anyone else."
He looked between both her eyes and gave her a sad smile. "I have to stay here, Stark would never let me leave. I'm still facing a sentence." She drew her brows together and pouted. He chuckled and smoothed her furrowed expression with his thumb, kissing her forehead. "Don't worry. When I am a free man I will take you to any destination you would like to go, and we can go together."
"Promise?" She clasped both of her hands in front of her in hope.
"I promise." He smiled and she threw her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. Loki reciprocated the hug, knowing this was the last bit of affection he would get for the next couple weeks.
"Thank you," she murmured.
They stayed like that, in each other's arms, for a moment before he realized she was going to be late if she didn't leave now.
"I think you need to get going," he whispered into her hair and pressed his lips against her head, not actually wanting her to go. She pulled away and quickly wiped her watery eyes. "There's no need for crying, sweetheart. We will see each other again," he murmured and wiped her tears.
Hazel used her sleeve to dry her wet cheeks and laughed. "You're right. As always."
He laughed with her and helped her to put the backpack on. "Alright. Go on. Off you go on your adventure. You better come back and tell me everything," he gave her a pointed look.
"Yes, sir," she gave him a mock salute and turned to leave when he gently caught her wrist.
"Wait..." he bit his lip and knew it was now or never, "...I love you."
Her face lit up and she brightly smiled at him, grabbing his hand. "I love you too." He sighed in relief and pulled her in for one last hug and a kiss goodbye.
"Stay safe," he said as soon as he released her.
"I always do," she joked, knowing she in fact continues to find herself in little messes that he helps her get out of.
After their goodbye, Hazel got in line and Loki waited the entire time until she was cleared, to her surprise without a hassle, and she gleefully waved from across the barricades.
He waved back and returned his hands to his pockets, standing still until she was out of sight. He missed her already.
With an iced drink in hand, she sat at her gate, waiting to be called up to start boarding. She missed him already.
—
Two full weeks had gone by, for Hazel it felt like a blink of an eye, while for Loki he felt a piece of him leave when she left. But he knew today he would get her back.
Her trip to the mountains was therapeutic for her and she knew her younger self would be screaming and crying in joy that she was finally able to save up enough money to go.
She had hundreds of pictures, multiple souvenirs, and lots of stories to tell. She was only able to contact him a few times during the entire trip, since reception was spotty and sometimes nonexistent, to her dismay.
Part of her was relieved to be back and have full bars and actual working wifi, while the other half never wanted to leave in the first place.
Her flight was long, and she was tired, as it was another early flight. Around 10 am, her plane had landed in New York and she made it through the terminal, down to the escalators where she saw the valets holding up signs to pick their respective ones up.
Halfway down Hazel scanned the area, noticing Loki was already staring back at her, holding up a sign that said 'Welcome home.' Her eyes lit up and she bounced on her feet, wanting nothing more than to push past people on her way down but she knew she had to wait.
The second her feet reached solid ground, she made her way over and ran into his welcoming arms. They encircled her waist as she hugged him and he lifted her off the ground, to which she laughed at.
"You're home," he whispered and pulled back, immediately placing his hands on her face.
"What, you didn't think I was gonna come back?" She teased and he laughed before tilting her chin up and leaning down to capture her lips in a searing kiss.
She missed his affection, which was odd, since he absolutely hated PDA, but he couldn't help himself now that his love was back with him.
Loki pulled away but not entirely, staring into her eyes, his fingers still gently grasping her chin.
"People are looking at us," she whispered but didn't look away from his intense yet loving gaze.
"They can see I am glad to have you back." She smiled and looked down at their feet, and he noticed a tinge of pink in her cheeks. "Are you hungry?" He asked and took her backpack from her, which was way more heavy and made her sigh in relief.
She stretched after feeling the backpack weight dissipate and she nodded. "Starving."
"Well then, my dear," he held his hand out to her, "shall we?"
Hazel grinned and intertwined their hands, walking to the many restaurants inside the airport. The entire time of waiting in line she laid her head on his arm as she looked at her phone, only looking up when it was time to order.
As they stayed to the side he went behind her and loosely wrapped his arms around her, keeping her close to him.
She noticed a good few stares from others, knowing it was because of his actions and looks. He was very handsome after all. And he was all hers.
They were each others and nothing could change that.