Chapter 4

Olivia, my older sister by seven years, stood in the door, staring at a surprised Loki. I jumped on her, wrapping my arms around her neck. She laughed and hugged me back.

"Hey, Eb!"

"Hey! Surprise visit again!" I grinned up at her.

"Yeah, we figured it was about time for the annual bug Eb fest." She laughed. She raised an eyebrow and nodded subtly towards Loki. I turned to find him standing by the table. I waved him over.

"Liv, this is Loki. Loki, Liv."

He held out a hand, managing a brief smile. Liv grinned. "Sup?" She said. He was about to reply when a car door slammed outside.

"Where's my favorite writer?!"

I screamed and ran outside, tackling a tall redhead to the ground. "Robby!" I wrapped him in a bear hug and then scrambled to my feet. He stood slowly, a grin stretched wide across his face.

"Miss me..." He trailed off as Loki stepped outside. They locked eyes, green and blue battling for some kind of dominance. I rolled my eyes. "Yo, who's the giant?"

I swallowed my smile. Little did he know... "Loki is just an old friend crashin' here for a bit." I walked to stand by him as I said this. He smiled and looked at me as Robby broke eye contact.

"Literally." He murmured. I smothered a laugh and led them inside. Loki fell on the couch and Liv and Robby took the armchair, their favorite chair to share. I went to the kitchen to get some food but not without noticing the intense stare down that Loki and Rob had going on again.

Lately, Robby had been trying to get a little closer to me, calling more often than usual. Liv claimed he was hoping to "make something more" out of our perfectly comfortable friendship. I just hoped he wasn't going to be weird with Loki hanging around.

Olivia and Robin used to be in a band together with Samantha and Aly, way back when they were freshmen in college. Knowing the girls, they'd gone straight to the new outlet mall and would come by tomorrow. I had to entertain Liv and Robby in the meantime. I grabbed a bunch of junk food, figuring beer could wait until it was at least noon.

I went back to find Loki staring at the TV, his mouth slightly open. He was lying across the entire couch, his long legs hanging over the sides. I sat on him and took the remote, turning it to SPIKE. Star Wars was on. I grinned and settled back, throwing a bag of chips to Robby and Liv. I turned to Loki. "These are the aliens we're used to."

He watched a battle with raised brows. "Well...he certainly is an ugly one." He murmured, looking at Darth Maul. I laughed. We settled on the couch. He refused to move so I sat on his feet.

"Do you wanna move over?" I asked. He shook his head and waved for me to be quiet. I rolled my eyes.

"So, Robby." He looked up at me, one chip hovering by his mouth. "What's the plan for the week?" It was sadly familiar at this point. They came unexpectedly and Robby and Liv crashed in my living room to watch movies while Sam and Aly shopped. Then we went out to dinner and they all stayed a week to "breathe actual air" and "experience life in the sticks," as Robby liked to say.

"We're actually gonna drive down to Atlanta in a few days but wanted to say hey."

"Oh cool! Why ATL?"

"Battle of the bands, baby!" Liv cheered. "So freakin' excited. I heard Ohio State is coming."

They gave me a rundown of their plans and I tried to remember some good sights and places to eat while they were there. The Coke factory, obviously, and the aquarium. There was this darling little cafe that I told them had pancakes to die for. I turned to check on the oddly silent Loki and found him fast asleep. I remembered suddenly that he was still drained and his bruises and cuts were probably killing him. Getting up, I found some Advil and went to shake him awake.

"Hey," I said softly, kneeling beside him. "Take this and go sleep in my room for now."

He didn't have a sassy remark, just swallowed the Advil and trudged to my room. When the door closed, Robby swooped in for the kill.

"Who the heck is that, Eb?" He folded his arms and glared at me.

"A friend, jeez Robby, chill. He got in with some bad people, job let him go, lost his house. I just wanted to help him out."

"Yeah but you barely know him! We've never heard of him!"

"He's from high school! He's okay, I guess. I couldn't just turn him away." I looked back towards my room. What would have happened if I had just gotten back into my truck and drove off? My house was the closest to his crater and there was a trail. So he probably still would have ended up here. I'd done the right thing, even if he was crazy. "Besides, I'm armed and he knows it."

"He's huge, Eb." Liv joined in now. "He can take you out easy."

I rolled my eyes and pointed towards my gun. "What about bullets doesn't resonate with you? I'm fine." They had every reason to be concerned but I could take care of myself. Or so I kept telling myself.

They let it go for now but I knew I'd hear about it again soon. We caught up with everything else, news, movies, jobs, crazy stuff that happens that you file away to tell those friends you only see once or twice a year. I grabbed the beers around one and we settled into a movie.

About halfway through, Robby got a text from Aly. He stood and cracked his back with a loud groan. "Aight, Ebster. We're going to Bonefish."

I pouted. "I have the invalid. I'll see y'all later."

They hugged me quickly and left, but not before Robby quietly told me to call him if anything happened. I waved him away and went to check on Loki. He was fast asleep and didn't look like he would be moving anytime soon. I had a student coming at four and a meeting with one of the journalists for the Cornelius Herald at five so I was hoping he'd behave and I wouldn't have to throw him out.

My student, Lillian Jones, with bright red hair to match her adventurous name, was just as bouncy as always when she arrived. She leapt through the door and made a beeline for me.

"Miss Gray, Miss Gray!"

"Lily!" I lifted her onto my back and smiled at her dad. "Hey, Mike!" He waved quickly before driving off. I shut the door.

"Miss Gray, I did my homework."

"You did! When?"

"When I got home. It was easy. Just English. I righted sentences."

"Wrote."

"No, righted."

I laughed. "Oh you corrected them!" She nodded quickly and slid down to her feet. "Okay, show me. Did you have math?" Shaking her head, she pulled out her notebook and then a golden brown teddy bear. I took him and set him down on the couch. "How is Watson?"

"He's good! He likes math more than me."

"Maybe he can help you." I sat down on the floor with her, crossing my legs and leaning over to see her homework. The bedroom door opened and Loki stepped out, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Who's that?" Lily asked loudly. He blinked at her before turning to go to the kitchen.

I sighed. "That's Loki. He's a friend."

Lily's eyes widened and she smiled mischievously at me. "Is he your boyfriend, Miss Gray?"

I heard a snort and laughter before Loki left the kitchen. Apparently he had watched enough tv by now to know what that meant. He shoved his boots on and left the house, still laughing. I rolled my eyes. "No, he's just a friend."

"Oh okay. Missus Hemmel kissed Mister Anderson today. It was nasty. They're getting married." She stuck her tongue out and squeezed her eyes shut. I ruffled her hair absently, looking out the window to see where Loki was going. He found the trail and started walking. I hoped he knew it would be dark soon.

"Anyway, that needs an apostrophe." I pointed to one of her words. "How's Mama?"

"She's okay. Daddy has to go out so Sherly promised to take care of her."

Her mother had been sick on and off for a few months now and I had started babysitting Lily. Sherly, the dog who Lily had decided to rename Sherlock, was apparently looking after Mrs. Jones. Sherlock was a girl but Lily didn't really see how that changed anything.

She looked up at me suddenly, her eyes going wide. "Miss Gray, can I stay with you next time Mama gets sick? I don't like staying with Grandpa."

I nodded. "Course! Just call me before you do, okay?" Her grandfather was nice, I had met him a couple of times. But he was strict and believed in the power of the wooden spoon. Lily wasn't the kind of kid you could spank and expect to learn anything. She had to be reasoned with. So staying with me sounded like a much better option.

Lily grinned and turned back to her paper. "I got them all right, see? 'Cept that one."

"Okay, let's see what's going on here."

Lily's lessons always ended after an hour but she almost always stayed for dinner. Loki didn't come back for a while. Lily ate and watched tv, hugging Watson tightly while she anxiously watched Scooby Doo. My meeting with Shonda, one of the new journalists, lasted twenty minutes over Skype and by then, Mike had come to pick up Lily.

As if he had been watching from the trees, Loki emerged as soon as they drove off. I held the door open and smiled at him. "Thanks for leaving."

He grunted. Smiling still, I reached up to pick some sticks from his hair. "I fell." He muttered miserably.

"Oh boy. Alright, let's see those cuts then." He sat down without much protest and I decided that now we had found a common ground, we might actually manage to get along pretty well. For the God of mischief, he was pretty tame.