Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/5088001. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: M/M Fandom: British_Actor_RPF, Thor_-_All_Media_Types Relationship: Chris_Hemsworth/Tom_Hiddleston, Loki/Thor, Prince_Hal/Magnus_Martinsson Character: Chris_Hemsworth, Tom_Hiddleston, Loki, Prince_Hal_(Shakespeare), Adam_ (OLLA)_-_Character, Other_Minor_Characters, Magnus_Martinsson Additional Tags: Anal_Sex, Daddy_Kink, Crossdressing, Underage!Tom, Unrelated(ish)!Tom, Healthy_Polyamorous_Relationship, Harem, Playboy_Bunny_AU, Threesomes Series: Part 2 of Bunnies Stats: Published: 2015-10-27 Words: 14474 ****** Bunnies, Part 2 ****** by Xqueenie Summary It's been a year since Tom ran away from home, and life couldn't be better-- or could it? Are his housemates hiding things from him? Tensions run high, and it seems like crisis after crisis, and sex scene after raunchy sex scene. The much-awaited sequel to my previous piece of filth, Bunnies! This time, with 50% more sex! Notes So, I sort of disregarded the "wet dream" thing and went with a sequel because it turns out, I love these fucking characters so much that it's weird. So! Just ignore the fact that the last one was just a dream, and let's have some fun! (please_consider_donating_to_this_Gofundme_for_me_and_my_girlfriend to_get_together ) I am also now taking requests for writing_commissions! Follow me on tumblr or watch me on dA to submit requests! See the end of the work for more notes Heavy breathing. Whispers in the dark. Loving kisses and sweet nothings and-- “Ah! Oh, Daddy~!” ….also that. Clenching his fists again, it took all of Tom’s restraint to not pull too hard on the handcuffs that kept him stretched across the bed. They weren’t more than a year old, but they were horribly overused and at the end of their life (Chris kept saying that he needed to order new ones, but he seemed to be waiting until these ones finally gave out to order new ones). His breath came in ragged gasps, his throat raw after the hours upon hours he’d spent in Chris’s bedroom. He was covered in a mixture of lube, lovebites, hickeys, and dried cum- - although, he couldn’t see any of it. He’d been blindfolded for the past hour and a half. His ass, red and stretched from the numerous objects that had penetrated him that evening, probably would have stung like a motherfucker if he hadn’t been completely immersed in pleasure. “What is it, baby?” Chris’s voice, the only thing seeming to keep Tom anchored to reality, was husky with an insatiable lust. “Tell me what you want~” Tom was very sure that even if he could remember the words he needed, his voice was too hoarse to get them out. He felt Chris’s hot breath on his ear, which never failed to send jolts of electricity directly to his groin. “Tom, baby,” Chris purred, “You have to tell me what you need, or else I can’t know~” Fuck you, you know exactly what I want, Tom wanted to say, but he knew better than that. He swallowed, trying desperately to wet his throat. “I want...” he croaked, “Wanna come, Daddy. Please.” Tom could almost feel Chris grin as his lips grazed Tom’s ear. “As you wish, my little baby bunny~” Then, there was the familiar buzz of the 6-inch vibrator turning on high--how in the bloody hell had the batteries in that thing not given out yet? The question was fleeting, as all of Tom’s brain melted into a sticky pool of goop as soon as Chris pushed the vibrator into him. Already, Tom could feel the familiar build in the pit of his stomach, and the same high-pitched moans he’d been making all evening. And then, he felt something else prod at his entrance. He gasped, squirming. “D-daddy…?” “Ssshhh, I’m almost finished baby. Let’s come together.” God, Tom loved him so much; even in the midst of a filthy fucking, he was the sweetest guy Tom had known. And he would have voiced this, if his voice didn’t cut out just as he felt Chris’s dick stretch him even further than he’d been stretched all night. A strangled moan left his throat as Chris began to move in and out of him. The vibrator, the stretch, the movement-- “Fuck!” He gasped when Chris’s thrusts pushed the vibrator straight into Tom’s sweet spot. Chris groaned, his voice still amused, “Fuck, baby, you’re so hot when you moan for me….” Tom whined at him, pulling at the handcuffs again, “Daddy, I want to look at you.” His wish was Chris’s command; seconds later, the blindfold was gone and Tom gazed up at those piercing blue eyes. Chris plowed into him over and over, pushing him closer and closer, sending him careening towards his climax at incredible speed. True enough, they came together; Tom saw white as he threw his head back, jaw stretching in a wordless scream, and heard Chris groaning over him as he spurted deep inside, filling him up. For a few seconds, neither of them moved. Both were breathing hard, revelling in the shining, post-coital bliss for a moment. Chris moved first, to pull both himself and the vibrator out of Tom, and turn the toy off. He then took care of Tom, as he always did once they were finished. Tom let him clean them both up, a blissful smile on his face as Chris swiped a wet towel over his body, making sure to be gentle. When he was done, Chris encased Tom in a warm embrace and kissed him sweetly. “You take such good care of me, Daddy,” Tom grinned sleepily, nuzzling Chris’s cheek. “Of course, love,” Chris replied, kissing Tom’s temple, “You deserve only the best~” Tom chuckled and rested his head against Chris’s chest, listening to his heartbeat. His eyes slipped closed, and Chris chuckled. “Tired, baby?” “Mhm. You tired me out, Daddy.” Tom smiled. “You ought to stay with me tonight, then, baby.” Tom forced his eyes to open, grinning and worming his way out of Chris’s arms. “Sorry, Daddy. If I stay in here tonight, I’m afraid I won’t be sleeping much.” He laughed and kissed Chris’s nose, slipping off the bed to pull on his panties and one of Chris’s t-shirts. “Little minx.” “You love me~” “Oh, I do, my darling.” Chris petted Tom’s hair as he leaned in for another kiss. “Sweet dreams, baby.” “Good night, Daddy.” Tom grinned as he waltzed out of Chris’s bedroom, closing the door behind him. It had been nearly a year since Tom had run away from home. He kept a picture of himself tucked in the back of his underwear drawer; an old school photo from the year he’d run away. The only picture he had of himself from his life before Chris. In the school picture, he still had his braces, and his lips stretched awkwardly over them in a forced smile. He had bags under his eyes, colored dark from all the nights he’d stayed up crouched in the upstairs bathroom, hiding from his mum’s boyfriend’s drunken rages. His skin was pale and covered in acne, as one would expect from someone who spent all his time inside, and he was much thinner and ganglier--as he had just hit puberty and his body had still been adjusting to the hormone imbalances. He kept the photo to show himself how far he’d come: from an awkward, pale, skinny little wimpy teenager, to a healthy, happy, slightly older teenager. Since he’d moved in with Chris and the Bunnies, his acne had cleared up and his skin tone had shifted to be much more sun-kissed (thank the gods for the Florida sun), he’d gained a bit more muscle mass, and he’d become much less self-conscious. Like a caterpillar emerging a butterfly, Thomas Hiddleston had metamorphosed into an entirely new person. Life in the house seemed to exist out of time, like they were within their own little world. In the year Tom had been in the house, he couldn’t believe his luck. It felt like a lifetime, and his life with his mum felt so long ago. He didn’t miss it, not one bit. He loved this life, and he thought about it every time he saw one of his housemates smile at him and greet him with the nickname they’d all adopted (but Hal still retained credit for)-- “Twinkie Pie”. On his way back upstairs to his bedroom, he passed the living room, where Loki was watching TV. He grinned as Tom limped past him. “Well, look who made it out alive.” Tom grinned back at him, “Shut up. I heard you and him the other night, screeching like a pair of monkeys.” “No, sorry, that was me and Mags,” Tom turned as Hal walked past him, patting the small of Tom’s back in greeting. “Titanic? Again, Loki?” “Shut up!” Loki threw a pillow at Hal, dabbing at his raccoon eyes. “It was on TV.” “Sure it was.” Hal flopped onto the couch beside him, pulling out his phone and patting the seat next to him. “Twinkie Pie, come on. If your arse doesn’t hurt too much, maybe you can suffer through the rest of this movie with us?” “Maybe tomorrow, Hal,” Tom smiled at him. “Chris tired me out.” “So I heard. ‘Daddy, more~’!” “Shut up, ass!” “ ‘Oh, Daddy, I love your cock so much!’” “Shh!” Loki smacked Hal with a pillow again, and Tom laughed as he shuffled up to go to bed.   *          *          *   The next morning, Tom woke to the sound of the doorbell ringing incessantly. He groaned as the events of the previous night came back to bite him in the ass. Literally. His ass was killing him. He got up and managed to limp out of his room, only to come to an interesting sight at the top of the stairs. Along the walls at the top of the stairs were gathered his housemates, and their heads all snapped around to look at him as he reached the landing. Adam was the one to grab him and hold him back, clapping his hand over his mouth, while Hal pressed a finger to his lips in a silent ‘shh’ motion. Tom furrowed his eyebrows at his housemates, and to answer his unanswered question, Adam led him a few steps closer to the stairs so he could hear what was going on downstairs. “--sir, we just want to know if you’ve seen this boy. He might have been by here about a year ago; we have reason to believe he stayed with you for a time.” Tom’s eyes widened as he heard Chris answer the men at the door. “And I’m telling you I haven’t seen him. It’s been a year; how come you’re only just looking for him now?” “That’s police business, sir. May we search your house?” “Do you have a warrant?” “No, but you don’t want us to come back with one--” “No, I don’t want you to come back at all; you’re cutting into my workday. But I’m not letting you search my house without a warrant.” Tom couldn’t breathe. “It’s alright, sir. No need to get angry. Have a nice day-- and let us know if you remember anything about this kid.” Chris didn’t reply to him, and slammed the door shut as the men left. Adam took his hand off Tom’s mouth, but Tom clung to his arm. His knees buckled, and Adam held him as he collapsed to the floor. His housemates all gathered around him, but Tom barely took notice. All of the fears he’d had that had vanished in the last year came crashing back down on him. What if the officers came back with a search warrant? What if they found out what was going on in the house, and arrested Chris? What would happen to the Bunnies if Chris went to jail? Would they all scatter to the winds? Would they all be forced to go back to where they’d come from? No--no, Tom couldn’t go back there. He couldn’t go back to his mum and her boyfriend, he couldn’t stand another moment in London, if he was found out-- he would do anything to stay here, with Chris. Anything. His heart was beating too fast. His lungs constricted. If he’d had anything in his stomach, he might have thrown up right then. “Tom,” He heard Adam’s low voice next to his ear, “Tom, breathe.” “Deep breaths, Tom, darling. It’s alright.” He heard Will say. Tom began hyperventilating, even as the rest of his housemates uttered words of assurance to him. “Tom?” He looked up when he heard Chris’s voice, still in the midst of his panic attack. The others gave him a little room, and Tom flung himself into Chris’s arms as he began to sob. Chris embraced him tightly, mumbling into his ear, “You’ll be alright, baby. We’ll protect you. They won’t take you away, I won’t let them.” Once Tom had finally calmed down, Chris lifted him up and carried him down the stairs, and the others trailed along behind him, Will announcing that he was going to make them all breakfast. Tom’s stomach was still upset, and his ass still hurt from last night. Despite Will's gentle coaxing that he ought to eat something, Tom kept refusing. He felt like if he ate anything at this point, he'd throw it back up. “Tom, stop worrying. Your hair will start falling out, and I swear to the gods I am not vacuuming up your little blonde curls.” Loki rubbed his eyes, trying to pull a strand of unkempt morning hair out of his face. “Have a little sensitivity, Loki.” Hal nudged him. “Besides, lord knows you don't help around the house.” Came Will's voice from the kitchen. Mags glanced at all of them before scooting closer to Tom. “I can help you, Tom.” “Help me?” Mags nodded. “My father was a cop. I know a few ways to evade the law. I can help keep you safe if they come around here again.” Tom swallowed nervously, but nodded. “How?” “First, we need to keep the house clean. Wear gloves around the house-” “Gloves? It’s June!” “At least latex ones, then! Or else you'll leave fingerprints everywhere. And if you have to have your hands free, make sure you wipe down anything you've touched.” Mags continued to explain to Tom the different ways to disappear in the eyes of the police. Most of it involved cleaning up possible DNA: cleaning his hair out of the shower drain and his comb, trimming his fingernails over the trashcan- - even washing his dishes directly after using them (not to mention washing the sheets directly after sleeping with Chris). Aside from minimizing DNA, Mags also had everyone clear out all pictures of Tom; physically and digitally. The digital copies he cleared from all of their computers and put on a USB for safekeeping. He put the drive with all the physical photos in a shoebox, to be buried in the sand under a tree where they could find it again. The last thing they could do was to make sure Tom didn’t go out much after the cops visited Chris’s house-- Mags said they would have obviously asked around town and shown a photo of Tom, so someone in town might recognize him. During this whole process, Adam never left Tom’s side. Tom was still terrified, and had a panic attack when he would get lost in his thoughts, and Adam would just hold him silently and wait it out with him. Tom couldn’t be more grateful towards the older boy. The day that Tom was terrified would come, came on a Tuesday. Chris answered the door to the same cops from that morning, who served up a warrant. Tom fought another panic attack, but Adam grabbed him and quickly smuggled him out the back door. The cops had come alone, so there was no one out front to see them as they came around the front of the house to escape. Tom’s hair was wrapped in a bandanna, and he'd borrowed a pair of Loki's sunglasses to hide as much of his face as possible. Adam crouched him down in the jungle of ferns in the front yard and sat with him. They waited ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Half an hour. It was nerve-wracking. Tom was shaking; he kept his knees hugged to his chest, and Adam kept petting his back, offering silent support. Finally, the police cruiser pulled out of the driveway past them and onto the road. Adam paused another minute, then quietly told Tom to stay. “Adam-” “Shhh, stay put. I'm going to look.” Tom could feel another panic attack coming on, but it went away when Adam came right back. “It's alright, Tom, they're gone.” “We did it!” Hal was saying when Adam brought Tom back into the house. “They didn’t find a single damned thing! Thomas, dance with me!” Hal swept Tom up in a joyful tango, which left Tom laughing as he stumbled over his own two feet. He could hardly keep happy tears from falling. Now that the police hadn’t found a single thing, they were gone for good! Tom’s future was solidified in this house, with these beautiful men. And Chris, oh Chris was so happy. Chris nearly bent him in half with delighted kisses. And then, he nearly bent him over the kitchen counter, but Will complained that he'd just cleaned the kitchen, so they were forced to move to the dining room. Tom was so elated, he came after just a little bit of dry humping over the table.   *          *          *   “Mags?” Mags blinked himself out of his thoughts. As his eyes came back into focus, he turned his head unconsciously toward Hal, who had called him. A slow hum was his only response. “You listening, babe?” Mags had to hold back a bit of a wince. Come on, he thought. Just like you’ve trained yourself to do. Brush it off. “Sorry, I zoned out for a bit. What were you saying?” “Will’s play? Opening night is on Friday. Chris is going to get us tickets.” “Oh, sure…” Mags had already turned his attention away from Hal, back to his computer, where he had been messing around on a game. He pretended not to notice as Hal gazed at him with a furrowed brow. “...And I was wondering where you’d like to eat afterwards.” Mags shrugged, still not looking at him. “Anywhere’s fine.” “...you alright, love? You seem a bit off today.” Mags winced. “M’fine.” “I saw that.” “Saw what?” Now, he was just getting annoyed. “You flinched at me.” A shrug. “...Magnus--” “God, what?!” Mags snapped, finally turning to face him. “Why do you keep pestering me?” Hal frowned. “Because I’m concerned for you, Mags. Because I care about you? What’s wrong with you, huh?” “Only--” Mags stopped himself. Don’t bring it up. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with me, I’m probably just hungry or something.” “We just had lunch.” Hal deadpanned. “I don’t know, just drop it!” Mags shut his laptop and stood from the couch. He was about to leave when Hal, still a few inches taller than him (despite Mags’s recent growth spurt), stood in his way. “Magnus, talk to me. Please.” While he knew Hal could be forceful, and he’d entirely expected him to be in this moment, Hal’s voice was soft and pleading. Mags wouldn’t meet his eyes. “...I can’t.” “Why? Did something happen?” “I just can’t, alright?! I’m really trying to make this-- this whole sex bunny thing work, but I can’t!” Mags tried to storm past him, but Hal grabbed his shoulder. “Hold on, what?” No matter how Mags tried to wrench himself out of Hal’s grip, the older boy had him. Mags tried to turn his head away as Hal tried to get him to look at him, and fought the tears welling up in his eyes. “Mags, talk to me. It’s alright if you don’t want to be a bunny anymore, but you have to tell me-- ” “No, that’s not…” Mags rubbed at his eyes. “Not what I said…” “What are you saying then, babe?” Hal’s voice was too sweet-- how the hell did he even do it? “Come sit and talk to me.” Mags shook his head. “No, I--” “Mags,” This time, Hal’s voice was firmer, “I’ll never know what you want me to know unless you tell me. And if you’re uncomfortable being a bunny, or if you want to stop, or anything, you have to let me know-- or at least talk to Chris about it!” “That’s not what I said! You’re not listening to me!” “There’s nothing to listen to if you won’t tell me anything!” “God, just-- just leave me alone!” Now, it was Hal’s turn to get mad. The kid wanted to be difficult, he could play at that game too. He let Mags go, finally, and as he ran off, shouted after him: “Fine! Go be on your own, and shut out someone who’s trying to help you!” “You’re the one that needs help!” If Hal was hearing correctly, he could have sworn he heard a sob somewhere in that sentence, but his anger was already fired up, so he noticed it too late. “You know, shutting yourself off won’t help anyone, Princess Elsa!” “Fuck off, you goddamn sex hound!” Mags slammed his door shut and nearly tossed his computer across the room. His face was red and his eyes were now streaming tears. Why couldn’t he do this? Was he still too immature? How the hell did Tom handle it? They were supposed to be emotionally detached from each other-- how else would they be able to sustain what they had here? Sure, they were all glorified friends with benefits, but it was never meant to spawn any kind of real love. Was it? A knock came at his door, and he angrily chucked a pillow at it. “Go away, Hal!” “Mags? It’s not Hal, it’s Tom.” Oh great. Just who he needed to see. But Mags wasn’t angry at Tom, just at Hal; and he didn’t want to get mad at the younger teen for something he wasn’t responsible for. “...c’mon in.” He mumbled. The next second, Tom opened the door and poked his head in. “You alright, mate?” Tom asked. “We heard screaming.” Well, that was embarrassing. Will and Chris were both at work and Adam had gone to town to troll through the music shop, so that left Tom and Loki in the house to witness Hal and Mags’s fallout. Mags sniffled and buried his face in his pillow. “M’fine.” “You want to talk about it?” Not really, he wanted to say. But instead, he shrugged, and Tom came to sit beside him on the bed. “What happened?” Mags paused before sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. “How do you do it, Tom?” “Do… what?” “Handle this house! The bunnies! Everyone fucking everybody! How do you handle it without getting too friendly with everyone?” Tom seemed to be looking at him like he’d just dropped from outer space. “What do you mean, too friendly?” “You know,” Mags said, motioning with his hands as if that would help, “how do you have sex with people without getting emotionally attached to them?” “...I don’t?” “Huh?!” Tom raised his eyebrows at him, trying to look sympathetic. “You’ve been here longer than I have, Mags. I thought you knew this already?” Mags’s head was spinning. “I have gotten emotionally attached to everyone. And that’s okay. Chris doesn’t love me any less, and neither does anyone else. Whether I sleep with you or not-- I love you guys.” He smiled at Mags, and for once, Mags believed it, “I really do. You guys are my family now, and I love all of you. Maybe not physically, like the way I love Chris, but I still love you. This whole thing was supposed to be about emotion, right? Everyone loving and helping each other?” Mags felt entirely blown away. This kid was two years younger than he was, and he was spouting some incredibly wise shit. It was easy to forget that Tom was only seventeen. “I can’t, though,” Mags sniffled, resting his head in his hands. “I’m afraid that if I get too attached to one person that I won’t be able to handle everyone having sex with him-- or with me. What if I can’t handle being polygamous once I attach?” “Well,” Tom mused, “I don’t think you can stop your feelings. You’ll feel one way or another no matter what you do. But… I don’t know, I know that Chris sleeps with everyone in the house, but… I don’t feel like he loves me any less, because he still treats me as lovingly as he does anyone.” “You think it’s possible to be in love with more than one person?” Mags asked. Tom shrugged. “You love Chris, right?” “Y-yeah…” “And you love Hal?” “I…” Mags folded his hands. “...yeah, I think I do.” “Well, there you go, that’s two.” Tom grinned at him. Mags chuckled. “But isn’t it more complicated than that?” Tom shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be. This is our house, in our little world. It can be anything we want it to be. I can wear frilly panties, Chris can have six boyfriends, Adam can collect vintage music, Will can act, you and Hal can love each other, and Loki can dress like RuPaul all he wants.” “I heard that!” Came an angry voice from the hall, and Tom and Mags broke into a hysterical fit of giggles. Mags flopped back and gazed up at the ceiling. “...I love Hal.” Tom nodded. “Mhm. You do.” “I… I love Hal. I love him!” “Well, don’t just lay there like a slug, go tell him!”   *          *          *   “Fuck off, you goddamn sex hound!” Hal stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and the next thing he heard was the slamming of Mags’s bedroom door. Okay, that one actually hurt a little. But he knew something was definitely up with Mags, and he was incredibly frustrated that the teen refused to tell him. What had he meant, that he “couldn’t” be a bunny anymore? Why did he always seem to get uncomfortable when Hal was affectionate towards him? Miserable and swamped with questions, Hal trudged up to his own room and shut the door quietly. He spent a few minutes pacing around, restless. He loved everyone-- just like they were supposed to. He loved Chris. He loved Will and Loki and Adam and Tom. And he loved Mags, probably more than he loved anyone. Chris had Will, and their relationship hadn’t faltered since they’d gathered their little warren- - so why couldn’t Hal do that with Mags? What had Mags meant by that? Hal was afraid he meant to leave the house; he had no power to stop him, but there were so many things he would miss about him if he were to leave. The sex wasn’t the only thing; it wasn’t even the major thing. Hal would even take a vow of chastity if it meant he could keep Mags-- He stopped pacing. Had he really just thought that? What was going on with him? This wasn’t like him at all, but the more he thought about what he would give up to get Mags to stay, the more sure he became that he would do literally anything to keep the gangly computer nerd around. Hal groaned as he tossed himself onto his back on the bed. Not a few seconds later, there was a knock and his door opened. Sarcastically, he uttered, “Don’t come in, I’m naked.” “Bitch please,” Loki said as he leaned against the doorframe, his shimmery black top gleaming in the low light, “Speaking of bitching, that’s not at all the kind of screaming I expected from Mags tonight. The fuck did you do?” Hal sighed. “I don’t know.” “...no, really.” “I mean it!” Hal sat up, “He won’t talk to me! Almost two years he’s been here, and he still hasn’t opened up. Do you think he’s actually happy here, or no?” “I think he’s happier than he’d be out on his own,” Loki cocked an eyebrow at him, “Why?” “I don’t think he actually wants to be a bunny.” “He doesn’t have to. Chris offered to let him just stay here, the way he did all of us. It was our choice to do this thing.” “I know, I know,” Hal groaned, laying back and throwing an arm over his eyes. “But… I don’t know. Do you think he knows it’s okay to be affectionate?” “Why would he not?” “He flinches when I call him ‘babe’.” “... you call everyone--” “I know.” Loki sighed and stepped further into the room, uncrossing his arms. Setting his hands on his hips, he stood just at the edge of the bed, to where he loomed over the younger man. “Look. You obviously care about him, right?” Hal sighed wistfully, “So much so that it wouldn’t even bother me to go celibate just to keep him here.” Loki rolled his eyes. “I’d hold off on joining the Night’s Watch just yet.” “You’ve been watching Game of Thrones again, haven’t you?” “Yes. Shut up and listen. Just wait an hour and go talk to him. If you really care about him, you have to tell him exactly what you think and feel. ...and stop crawling into my bed whenever you feel like it.” “Aww, but I’ll miss your post-sex snuggles. Mags won’t kick me out of bed so perfectly like you do.” “Alright, cut out the sarcasm, jackass.” Hal grinned. “I mean it!” “Yeah, yeah, blow it out your ass.” Loki chuckled and headed out of Hal’s room again. As he passed Mags’s room, he was just in time to hear the end of their conversation. “...you and Hal can love each other, and Loki can dress like RuPaul all he wants.” Scowling, Loki shouted, “I heard that!” through the door. He couldn’t help but shake his head and smile a little when he heard Tom and Mags laughing. Twinkie Pie had already become part of the family. A year goes by so fast. Hal couldn’t wait a full hour. He lasted maybe about fifteen minutes before he made the decision to go talk to Mags again, but the moment he opened the door, he found Mags standing there, poised to knock. “O-oh… sorry.” Mags mumbled, looking down. “No, it’s, uh… it’s fine. Come on in.” Mags nodded, and Hal shut the door behind him. As he turned around, Hal began to say, “Look, Mags, I’m--” but Mags threw his arms around Hal’s neck and buried his face into Hal’s collarbone. Hal smiled and slowly wrapped his arms around Mags’s thin frame. “Hal, I’m sorry, I just…” Mags took a deep breath and sighed. “I just thought we were getting too close, and--” Hal chuckled and nuzzled into Mags’s hair, “Mags, babe. I just need to know if you want to be here. Because if you leave, I… I don’t know what I’ll do.” “Of course I wanna be here!” Mags looked up at him, “I thought that if I got too attached everyone would get annoyed at me.” “Mags?” “Yeah?” Hal smiled and hugged Mags tighter to him, dipping his head down to kiss Mags sweetly. “...I love you.” A happy grin spread across Mags’s face, and he kissed Hal back. “I love you too, Hal. I mean it.” Hal smirked at him, and stroked his back as he captured his lips again. A happy sigh bubbled in Mags’s throat, and he melted into the kiss. Their lips meshed, slow and languid, and time came to a steady halt. Hal’s warm, gentle hands slipped under Mags’s shirt, making him shudder. Mags cupped his hands over Hal’s cheeks and tilted his head, deepening the kiss even further. His tongue traced Hal’s bottom lip, and Hal’s tongue darted out to meet Mags’s. Their tongues twisted and rubbed together, and their hips rolled together, drawing moans from both of them. Hal pulled back, leaving Mags with half-lidded eyes and halfway-parted lips. “Look at you,” Hal murmured, brushing Mags’s hair out of his face, “So beautiful…” Mags smiled sheepishly, his cheeks turning pink. “Such a sweet-talker, as always.” “Sweets to the sweet~” Hal purred into his ear, nibbling his earlobe. “Think we ought to lock the door?” Mags’s voice had become husky and breathy from arousal. “Darling, I doubt I’ll even make it to the bed,” Hal chuckled, slipping his hand down the front of Mags’s shorts. “I need you so badly, I might just rip your shorts off and fuck you against the wall.” Mags shuddered, smirking, and began taking initiative, ripping both of their clothes off. They were half naked in less than thirty seconds, and Hal was mouthing his way down Mags’s neck and collarbone. Mags moaned loudly as Hal’s tongue and teeth met his nipple, and Hal’s thigh pressed up against his crotch. Hearty moans and the wet sounds of tongue on skin filled the room for a moment, until Mags grabbed Hal’s shoulders and pushed him down on the bed. Hal grinned up at him, hungrily drinking in the sight of him. “Fuck, Mags…” Mags smirked down at him as he straddled his hips, rubbing their barely clothed erections together. “Isn’t that the plan, babe?” “Oh, very much. Until you’re so hoarse you can’t even whimper.” “Fuck, I need you, now.” “Not much foreplay, eh, love?” Hal chuckled as he reached over to the nightstand to grab the tube of lube. Before he could squirt it on his own fingers, Mags snatched it up. “Saves time, doesn’t it?” Mags asked, smirking as he coated his fingers. Hal watched him, unbelievably turned on, as Mags began to prepare himself. He groaned and squirmed and whined, as he fit one, two, three lubed fingers inside. “God damn, Mags…” “Ah…” Mags gasped, biting his lip at the stretch and burn. “A-ah, shit, Hal…” “That’s it, get yourself nice and open for me…” Hal swore he could have come just watching it. While he watched and waited patiently, he left one hand to stroke Mags’s thigh comfortingly, while the other helped Mags angle his fingers a bit more until- “AH!” Yep, that was it. Hal slowly pulled Mags’s fingers out and shifted positions, pressing Mags down onto his hands and knees. Breathing shakily, Mags waited, letting himself relax as Hal pressed up against his entrance. Without either of them needing to speak, Mags let out a low whine as he felt the familiar burn of the first stretch. It faded oh so quickly, however, as Hal sank in to the hilt. An unbridled groan escaped Mags’s throat, and as much as he hoped that would communicate his desire for more, if Hal understood, he didn’t comply. The wait was driving him mad, to the point where he had to press his face into the pillow before his arms gave out. His ear was suddenly met with a hot, wet tongue, and he shuddered at Hal’s low, husky growl: “Tell me what you need, darling,” Oh, how that voice taunted him, “tell me, or I’ll never know. Shall I go slow and steady for you, or shall I fuck you until you scream yourself hoarse?” Mags didn’t know if he had it in him to force the words out of his throat. His breaths came in ragged puffs, and his entire body was now shaking. He needed it. “I… want you to fuck me…” “What was that? You want me to what now?” Well, now he was just teasing him and-- ohh. Slowly, ever so agonizingly slowly, Hal pulled his hips backwards, dragging his cock out to the tip. Mags whimpered. “Please, Hal…” “Please what, darling~?” “Fuck me!” Mags nearly screamed, “Oh, please fuck me!” Hal chuckled and bit down on Mags’s shoulder, and at the same time, thrust back into him. Mags cried out, rocking his hips back to meet Hal’s as he began to thrust. The first few were slow, to gain a nice rhythm, but Hal soon began to gain momentum, snapping his hips forward, just as smooth as they were quick. Mags became completely lost to his pleasure, bucking into every thrust with mewls and moans guaranteed to be heard all throughout the house. “Fuck, yeah,” Hal grunted as he began to pound faster, “yes, ungh--” “Hal-- fuck!” Mags squealed, “Yes, please! More!” “Beautiful,” Hal muttered, leaning close to huff into his ear, “you’re so beautiful when you scream for me.” “Ah, ah, yes! Hal! Ohhh~ I’m so close…!” “That’s it baby, be a good boy and come for me… scream my name, let everyone know you’re mine.” Pleasure built and built, until finally a scream erupted from his throat as he was plunged over the threshold of his climax, his whole body quivering from the force of it. He clenched up as it hit him like a semi, and the constriction dragged Hal down with him, shooting deep in him. “HAL!” Afterward, neither moved as the aftershocks rattled through both of them. Panting, Hal managed to pull out as he was softening, and Mags collapsed onto his side, shivering. Hal began peppering him with feather-light, loving kisses, making him smile.  Mags hummed, content, but not for very long. Hal chuckled when he glanced down. “You are positively insatiable, babe.” “You’re the one that promised to make me hoarse~” “That I did, and the evening has only just begun.” Downstairs, Tom and Loki casually munched on excessively-buttered popcorn, popping Tom’s Game of Thrones cherry. Both of them hardly looked up when they’d heard the rough coupling upstairs. They had both silently trained their eyes back on the screen as someone’s head rolled, and given each other a high-five.   *          *          *   Friday came. Will had been at the theater all day, preparing for opening night. Tom was bouncing he was so excited, and the others were buzzing around with the same amount of excitement. Chris not only planned to take them all out to dinner after the show, but he’d also rented them a limo for the night. It would be Tom’s first ride in a limo, and he figured he wanted to look classy enough to ride in one. “Duh,” Loki had said, “I’ll help you dress.” “Classy, Loki. Not flashy.” “You know what, Hal--” “Take it from me, Twinkie Pie,” Hal said, “nice trousers, button-up, loafers. That’s all you need.” Loki rolled his eyes. But Tom took Hal’s advice anyway. Aside from Loki (who wore a shimmery dark green tank top, his leather jacket, and tight leather pants), the others dressed in a similar fashion: nicely pressed pants, collared shirts in multiple colors-- Hal even threw on a vest. Chris was wearing a full-blown suit and tie, that Tom wanted so desperately to rip off of him. Chris would look sexy in just about anything. They went over to the theater thirty minutes early, so they could get seats together. Chris made sure they were all comfortable before taking a bouquet of roses and disappearing back into the dressing room area, into a room marked “William”. Will was doing his stage makeup at the vanity when Chris walked in. He lit up when he saw him. “Chris!” He got up, set the stuff down, and went to hug him. Chris hugged him tightly and nuzzled into his hair. “How are you feeling, love?” “I’m-- oh, roses!” Chris chuckled and handed them over. Will grinned and kissed him lovingly, and went to go set the flowers next to the others he had collected already. “I just came to give those to you. And to wish you good luck tonight; I know how much this meant to you, getting back into the acting world after what happened.” Will’s smile held a large range of emotions: a little sadness, a little happiness, and a bit of regret. “You know that wasn’t your fault, Chris.” Chris sighed and moved closer to him, setting his hands on his cheeks (careful not to smudge the makeup) and pressing their foreheads together. “It is, though. I’ve been monopolizing your time ever since even Loki showed up.” “It also didn’t help that I couldn’t nail an audition for a while when I hurt my shoulder, remember?” “Yes, but…” Chris sighed and pulled back to look at him. “It’s been nearly four years, my dove. Besides your injury, I feel I’ve kept you from your dream job because we adopted the Bunnies. I just… I wanted to spend enough time with you to know that you’re just as important to me as when it was just the two of us in that big old house. I know you’re anxious, Will. Don’t think I can’t see it.” Will was already tearing up. He tried to dab at his eyes, but he was already going to have to redo his makeup. “Chris, I… it was partly me, too, darling. It wasn’t because I didn’t think you would fall out of love with me. It was… Well, I lost my love for acting for a while. It started long before my last show-- I was in a rut. It was exhausting. Then I hurt my shoulder, then Loki came along… then Adam, then Hal, then Mags and Tom, and…” Chris’s eyebrows knit, and he smiled softly. “...they gave you the break you needed.” Will smiled and reached up to run his hands through Chris’s hair, “I love you, my darling Christopher. And I love the life we have. And I’m finally ready to go back to doing what I love to do--maybe not show after show after show, but perhaps every once in a while, I’ll audition again.” Chris chuckled. “That’s it? No pre-show jitters?” “Darling, there’s always pre-show jitters. I’m not anxious, I’m excited.” “Well, break a leg, sweetpea~” Chris stroked his sides and leaned in for a sweet kiss. Will grinned and leaned into him, wrapping his arms around his neck and going in deeper. Chris chuckled and grabbed his ass, but before it could go any further, Will pulled back to mutter into Chris’s ear: “If I get a standing ovation, there’s much more where that came from.” “You’ve got it, love.”   *          *         *   Will was amazing. The play went off without a hitch. Dialogue and delivery, blocking and presence, intention and inner thought-- it was all stunningly brilliant. And no star could have shined brighter than their dear Will; even a supernova, for all its hot intensity, would have fizzled out in shame compared to him. He seemed at his happiest: so dug into his role that Tom was brought entirely to tears. After the final curtain, Chris lead the rest of the boys backstage to meet Will. "That was amazing, Will." "You were fantastic!" Will was positively pink, blushing at his housemates' praise. "I gotta piss." Loki announced, patting Chris’s arm as he took a sharp turn down the hallway towards the restrooms. He moved quickly, making sure to give a sneer to the woman standing next to the corner who gave a judgemental look to his high heels. He made it quick-- cos he was hungry as fuck and ready to eat. But as he was drying his hands, he glanced up in the mirror, and his stomach dropped. Something he’d been running from for so long he’d almost completely forgotten about it was now staring right back at him. There, in the mirror, gaping at him like a big idiot, was his fucking foster brother. Thor. If there was any better reason to run in high heels, Loki didn't know it. "Loki, wait!" Loki clomped down the hall and barreled right into Adam, who knocked into Hal in turn. "The fuck?" Adam grunted. "Okay! Let's go. We have to go. Now." Loki said, looking around at the others. Chris raised his eyebrows. "Alright?" "Hungry there, Loki?" Tom laughed, taking Will's hand as the group walked their way out of the building. "Yup. Haven't eaten all day." "Haven't been eaten all day, either," Adam grumbled, "probably more excited for that." Loki only relaxed when he breathed the free, humid night air. They'd lost Thor, as far as Loki could tell. What the fuck was he doing here? How did he just happen to be in Miami on the same night? Loki left him behind; him and his goddamned foster father, and that entire life. He left that entire life behind, and here it was, staring at him with big blue puppy eyes in the bathroom mirror. Fuck. He tried to shake it off, as they made their way back down the street to the parking garage. Adam walked along beside him, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. He knew something was up. Adam always did. But Adam also always let everyone speak in their own turn, never asked. He just walked along next to Loki, only pausing when he bumped into someone. "Sorry." "Adam?" Adam froze. "Loki!" Loki froze next to him. They both turned around, and their housemates all stopped further down the sidewalk. Thor had followed them out of the theater, and was storming down the sidewalk towards them. The girl Adam had bumped into had stopped a few feet away from them, and was gaping at him. At the very same time, Adam and Loki muttered, "Shit."   *          *          *   "Oh my gawd! Adam!" Adam looked like he was trying in vain to pull off the young auburn-haired woman clinging to his chest. "Ava-" "Where have you been? What have you been doing-" "Ava." "I mean, I haven't seen you since Detroit! No one has. You just kinda... disappeared?" "No shit!" Adam shouted, finally prying Ava off of him. "Fucking Christ, get off!" He scowled, but felt regret blooming in his chest as he saw the dejected look on Ava's face. "Adam?" Adam sighed and turned around at the question. His housemates were all looking at him, confused. He sighed, rolling his eyes. "...this is Ava. Ava, this is... everyone." He gestured to the others half- heartedly. "Ava is my-" "Sister-in-law!" "...late wife's younger sibling." There was a pause, and then the others broke out with variations of "what?!" "Your wife? Your late wife?" Hal said. "What the shit-" "Adam," Chris interrupted, furrowing his eyebrows at him, "You never even told me about this." "It's a long damn story, and I don't like talking about it." Adam snapped. “Just like Loki doesn’t ever mention the family he left behind.” “Hey, fuck off, Vlad!” Loki, who had been trying to hide behind Will and Chris, shouted back at him. “It’s nobody’s damn business!” “Loki?” Loki cringed as he tried to hide behind Will again, but it was too late. Thor had seen him again. “I thought I’d never see you again… You disappeared so suddenly, without even a note. Without a goodbye.” “Alright, alright, everyone hold on,” Chris held up his hands, trying to still the situation. “Loki, Adam, it’s obvious you both need to explain all this. One at a time now, please.” Tom glanced at both of them, and realized he really didn’t know anything about either of their pasts. Hal, Mags, Will-- they were all open books. Chris had told Tom all about himself when they’d first met. And they all knew Tom’s story. But both Adam and Loki had been keeping things from even Chris. Tom could imagine they had their reasons; none of them had to bother with their pasts when they entered each other’s lives. But he’d never even considered what lives they might have been running from before they met Chris. He kept his silence, as the others waited for Adam or Loki to begin. Adam sighed. “I was married for a period of about two months.” Hal snorted, most likely involuntarily, and fell silent again when Adam just about killed him with a glare. “We were both runaways. We’d been together for years. But she was dying.” Adam’s voice had always been rather soft, but this time, it was more exposed and vulnerable than any of them had ever heard it. “I legally married her within the last two months of her life, because ...I didn’t want her to die alone.” Tom just about burst into tears. Ava offered Adam a small smile, and took his hand, before looking over to the others. “My sister had AIDS. A bad accident on a vacation in Tangiers-- she needed a blood transfusion. It left her with the virus.” She looked back to Adam, tears pricking her eyes. “But you didn’t have to run away, Adam. Eve wouldn’t have wanted-” Adam, perhaps throwing the wall back up, yanked his arm away and stepped away from her. “Fuck what she would have wanted. She’s dead, that’s the end of it.” “Adam-” “Go home, Ava.” He began walking down the sidewalk again, toward the limo waiting on them. Ava sighed, and gave the others an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. He’s never really liked me. I wasn’t looking for him, if he asks. It was an honest coincidence.” She gave a little wave and looked back at Adam over her shoulder as she began her way in the opposite direction. Chris looked at Will, who nodded. He followed Adam to the limo, and Tom watched as Will didn’t say a thing, only leaned on the car next to him. Will put an arm around his shoulders, allowing Adam a moment to calm down. “Loki, who the hell are these people?” The attention of the remaining group shifted to Loki, and the blonde puppy he’d suddenly acquired. “Why do you need to know-- Hell, why are you here?” Loki spat at him, “We’re a long damn way from fucking Suburb-gatory, New York.” “I came looking for you!” Blonde Puppy said, gesturing wildly at Loki, “I’ve been looking for you for four years, Loki. Ever since you disappeared without a single trace! I’d almost given up.” “Not soon enough.” Loki grumbled, mostly to himself. Chris had to step in again, and command the situation before it got out of hand. Again. “Loki, who is this?” Loki pouted, crossing his arms, and wouldn’t look at Chris. “...he’s-” “I’m his brother.” “My former foster brother,” Loki corrected, his tone icy, “Thor.” “Jesus fuck, I need a drink.” Hal groaned. “Hal, shush.” Mags elbowed him. Loki rolled his eyes, “Long story short, I ran away from home. I might’ve forgotten to leave a note. Whatever. Can we go now? I’m fucking starving.” Without waiting for an answer, Loki stomped off to the limo, where Adam and Will were waiting. Dejected, Thor looked like he wanted to go after Loki, but Loki was gone before he could follow. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and started trudging back up the street, and it was then that Chris’s heart twinged. He remembered when he was in Thor’s position: young, wanting to connect to someone, and falling unbearably short. He ushered the others towards the limo, then he quickly turned back and hurried to catch Thor. “Chris?” Tom called fleetingly after him. Chris gently grabbed Thor’s shoulder and Thor turned. He glared at Chris when he saw him. “What do you want?” He growled. Chris, holding his hands up in surrender, spoke softly, “Look, I want to give you a chance to make up with Loki.” “...why? Aren’t you his-- pimp, or whatever?” Chris, ignoring the jibe, politely corrected, “Technically, I’m merely his boyfriend. He lives with me, that’s all.” With a pen he’d retrieved from his pocket, he scratched his address on the back of a business card, and held it out. “Here.” And that was that. Chris said no more after Thor took the card, only put the pen back and went back to the limo. As he crawled in next to Will, his Mother Hen cocked an eyebrow at him. “What did you do?” Will asked. Chris shrugged, a small smile at his lips when he told the driver to go. “I don’t know what you mean.” Will gave a little knowing smirk as he settled into Chris’s shoulder.   *          *          *   The next few days, the house was relatively quiet, compared to their normal life. Will, delightfully cheery as ever, was always trying to spread his eternal good mood among his housemates. Chris immersed himself in work, sometimes disappearing for the entire day and only appearing again at dinner. Mags and Hal tried to act normal, like Will, but unlike Will and Chris, Mags and Hal were inseparable. Literally. Every time Tom saw them, he saw them together, intertwined in some way. Hands, arms, legs-- even rubbing their feet against the other’s below the dinner table. Tom was glad for them, that in each other they had a little solace from the tense atmosphere that permeated the very walls of this house. Tom was most connected to Chris, who was barely around. Will was just like ever, but he was just as worried as Tom was about Adam and Loki. Neither of them had left their rooms in three days. Tom and Will made sure that they had meals, but they didn’t see them at all. Tom was bored out of his fucking mind. He had to get out of the house. He didn’t care if he had to fucking walk around, but he couldn’t possibly wander the grounds again, he’d go absolutely stark-raving mad. So he told Will he was going to wander down to the shops for a bit. Will, who was reading on the couch, only nodded and told him to make sure to text him if he needed anything. The weight on his shoulders lifted as soon as the sun hit his back. He adjusted his sunglasses and stuffed his hands into his shirt pockets as he walked down the drive, headed for the main road. Even the walk itself was enough to shake off the tension in the air within the house. It was hot, as it always was, and he was sweating in minutes, but he still had a smile on his face the whole way down to the square. The problems were still there. Loki and Adam were still upset. Chris seemed upset too, and Will was worried about all of them. They all had issues they needed to resolve, but it was nice to have a tiny little break from it all. It’s always nice to take a break when you’re stressed out, no matter how happy you are with your life. Tom wasn’t there to buy anything. He’d seen these shops plenty of times over the year he’d been here, he knew who had what. But just being here was good enough. Or it was, until he noticed the jewelry shop clerk watching him a little too closely. Tom had his hands out of his pockets, only looking, browsing through the glass cases and looking at the watches-- maybe considering getting one for Chris for his next birthday, since it was coming up-- very obviously not trying to steal anything. Maybe the guy just took his job a little too seriously. He didn’t think anything of it at the time, but as he left the shop, his stomach turned. It was that sort of bad feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, when nothing should be bothering you, but something just feels off. And the more he thought about it, the worse it got, until it felt like his stomach was doing somersaults inside him. It got so bad that he finally decided to go back to the house, sending Will a text message that he was headed back. “Thomas Hiddleston?” He froze. His hands shook, and his stomach felt like it was turning inside out. He finally turned around, and he should have run right then and there. Instead, he stood there like a deer in headlights as he was approached by the same detectives that searched Chris’s house not a month before. Run. Run! Come on, feet, move! One of the detectives held up a photograph-- and Tom nearly vomited when he saw his old school picture. That wasn’t him. That hadn’t been him for over a year now. “That’s him,” the detective with the picture said. “Son, we’re detectives Sun and Hernandez. We’ve been looking for you for over a year now. Your mother wants you to come home.” Tom tried to find his voice, but when he did, it was small and weak. “I… I won’t, I won’t go back-- Please,” He started backing up, wondering where he could run. If he tried to run back to the house, Chris might get in trouble for lying to these detectives. If he stayed here, the detectives would send him back to that awful place he never could call home. “Please… don’t make me go back there, I--” “Thomas, you’re seventeen. You’re legally a minor, and your parents-” “They’re not my parents!” “In the eyes of the law, they are. And you need to go back to them, at least until you’re 18. Your mother’s worried sick.” Tom highly doubted that. But he didn’t see another way out. He couldn’t outrun these detectives, and if he took one more step back towards the house, that would mean Chris would get in trouble. He couldn’t get his Daddy in trouble- - not when the other Bunnies needed him. It was probably the stupidest thing he’d ever done, but he had no other choice. He shut his eyes to hold back his tears as Detective Sun took his arm to gently lead him to their patrol car.   *          *          *   “William, you’re going to pull all your hair out.” Will, disregarding Chris’s comment, ran his hand through his hair again and gripped it in his fist. He continued to pace back and forth in front of the table, and Chris tried in vain to stop him. “How can you be so calm about this?!” Will nearly shouted, “Tom texted me two hours ago that he was headed back! So why is he not here?!” Chris wasn’t calm. He was just as worried as Will was-- hell, even more. If something had happened to Tom, he would blame himself to no end. Tom must have been feeling neglected recently-- especially with what had happened last Friday, and the fact that Chris was busier this week than usual. Will had told him that Tom was just going down to the shops for a bit, to get out of the house; now he was missing. Hal, who was sitting at the bar, piped up, “Should we call the cops?” “And tell them what?” Mags said, “ ‘Hey, you know that kid you were here looking for a month ago? Yeah, he’s actually living here and now he’s missing.’ Yeah, that’ll-...” Everyone froze. Will looked at Mags, eyes wide. They all glanced around at each other, and it was obvious they were all thinking the same thing. Chris whipped out his cell phone and dialed Tom’s number, as if they hadn’t tried that already. He pressed his forehead into his hand, listening to the ring and praying (for the first time in a long time) that Tom would pick up the phone and be okay. Just be okay. Don’t be dead in a ditch somewhere, don’t be kidnapped, don’t be in police custody. Please, just be okay. “D-daddy?” A quiet, croaky voice answered. “Baby!” Chris straightened up, and the others gathered around him, trying to hear Tom on the other line. Chris held his phone in his palm and put Tom on speaker. “Daddy, I don’t have much time to talk. I couldn’t let you get in trouble because of me-- I’m in a group home in Miami, they’re gonna make me go back to London. Please-- I-I don’t know what to do, I don’t want to go back there, but they won’t listen to me--” Mags looked ready to jump into action, grabbing Chris’s phone and speaking into it. “Tom, it’s Mags. Don’t let the police get anything out of you, we’re gonna help you. Hang in there. We love you and we’ll help you get back to us.” “Stay strong, Twinkie Pie.” Hal added. Tom gave a little half-chuckle, and Chris was the last to speak. “I’ll come for you, baby. I love you.” “I love you too, Daddy. I love all of you.” Chris sat down at the table, defeated. Mags quickly hung up the phone. Hal raised his eyebrows at him, “Got a plan, babe?” “Fuck yeah I do. They might be able to pull the records on that call, but it was less than 45 seconds, so Tom might be able to claim that it was a wrong number dial. If-” Mags paused and glanced, surprised, behind the others at a newcomer in the room. Adam, tight-lipped, had obviously heard this entire conversation. His eyes trained on Mags as he joined the little circle, willing him to continue. “If… If we’re lucky, since they were here before and found no evidence that Tom was staying here, they shouldn’t be able to search here again, and that phone call wouldn’t hold up in court.” “Tom also said he didn’t want to get me in trouble,” Chris said gravely, “he… must have sacrificed himself-” “That’s a good thing, darling,” Will said, taking his turn to comfort Chris this time, “it means he loves you, loves all of us, and will do anything to keep us all safe.” Will kissed Chris’s head, holding him close. “And it means he’ll do anything to keep anyone from pressing charges, too,” Mags added, nodding at Will, “So we’re most likely safe. When is Tom’s 18th birthday? February?” “February 9th.” Chris nodded. “Good. Means we only have to wait six months until we can bring him home.” Will furrowed his eyebrows. “Six months? We won’t see Tom for six-” “I didn’t say that.”   *          *          *   Loki wasn’t ready to come out of his room yet. He ate whatever food Will left for him, and slept most of the time. Or binged on Netflix or HBO. Sometimes, when a marathon of Game of Thrones or Law & Order didn’t work, he’d sneak down into the kitchen to have a good drink, until he was at least relaxed enough to go to bed. The only thing that could have possibly snapped him out of it at this point was if Cersei Lannister herself burst into his room and called him a whore. (Then of course, he would be required to slap the shit out of her. Then he would be alright.) Or it would have been, if Adam had not come to his door and informed him that Tom was gone. At that, Loki threw open the door, however awful he looked in his boxers and t-shirt, and demanded to know who he had to kill to get him back. It had been almost a week since his ugly confrontation with a bit of his past he’d rather forget, and now he was remembering why he ran in the first place: not because he thought his family hated him or because he thought he hated them, but because they didn’t deserve to have a messed up kid like him ruining their perfect family. He didn’t want that life of school carpools and football games and barbeques; mowing lawns and painting fences in the suburbs of New York. He was so out of place. It all felt so wrong. Not to mention he had the major hots for his foster brother. Okay, honestly, who wouldn’t? What fifteen year old (with a preference for guys) wouldn’t want to get in on that perfect golden-retriever-with-the-body- of-a-god? It was so infuriating, to be a confused teen going through puberty and imagining the guy who was supposed to be his “big brother” every time he had wet dreams. And it wasn’t like Thor turned him down completely, either. They hadn’t known each other for most of their lives like blood siblings would have-- and Loki was only two years younger than Thor was--and they met when Loki was fifteen. Loki had once thought that maybe Thor had just liked the attention and thought Loki was adjusting well to living with him and his parents. It broke Loki’s heart, because he couldn’t tell him; it would ruin another home for him, his seventh foster home in his short sixteen years. So at the age of sixteen, he left. He stole as much money as he could and ran, making his way from homeless shelter to alleyway to park bench to homeless shelter, until he somehow ended up in Miami. Chris and Will helped him. Chris and Will saved him, from what would have been an awful life peddling for money and hitchhiking-- and brought him into this amazing life with these amazing people, and he didn’t ever want it to end. They all loved him. He loved all of them, too; it was how this thing worked. Even if he only really slept with Chris, occasionally both Chris and Will (and then there were a couple of times with Hal, but Hal was strictly for Mags now and that was okay too). It was still more of a family than he’d ever belonged to before. But now… Now he was being forced to face the life he ran from. The man he really loved, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself. (and if he thought Thor was gorgeous at 17, he was even more impossibly divine now at 22.) He wasn’t even surprised when Thor showed up in his room one day. Loki was sitting at his vanity, trying on a some new makeup he’d asked Will to get him, when his door opened and Thor was just there. Like he lived there. Like they were a married couple who was finally talking after sleeping in separate rooms for a few days; like it was no big deal. Loki glared at him through the mirror before going back to powdering his nose. “The fuck do you want.” Thor stepped in and closed the door behind him. “I want to talk to you. Can I not want to talk to you after thinking you were dead for four years?” “Sarcasm isn’t your thing, dear brother,” Loki sneered, trying to focus on his contouring instead of the tight blue shirt Thor was wearing, “Go on, out with it. Lecture me on how I ‘shouldn’t have abandoned the few people that truly cared about me’, or how ‘I should come home because you all still love me and forgive me for running away’, blah, blah, blah.” “You should come home.” “That wasn’t home, Thor,” Loki sighed, switching to his liquid eyeliner, “that was just a house. With a bunch of people I couldn’t call family even if I wanted to. Especially-...” He sighed as he cut himself off. “No, ‘especially’ what? Especially me?” “Never mind.” “Do you really hate me that much, Loki?!” “No! Just- Just go home, okay? I won’t come back.” “No.” Thor said firmly, stepping further into the room and clenching his fists like he reeeally wanted to hit something. Loki knew that stance-- he’d seen it more than enough. That was the stance of a man not as good with words or feelings who was fighting to keep his cool. “I won’t leave without you. I’ve searched for you for all these years, I’m not giving up on you now.” Loki pressed his fingertips to his temples, leaning his elbows on his vanity as he fought a stress headache. “What is with you? Why can't you just leave me alone?” He raised his head again to glare at Thor in the mirror. “It's been four years since I ran away, you really think I would want to come back now?” “What is with me?” Thor nearly shouted, flailing his arms. “You ran away! Without telling anyone anything! Do you even care about any of us? About mom, about me? Do you imagine how upset she was? Hell, sometimes she still cries about you! We all thought you were ...dead in a ditch or something!” Loki’s heart shattered at the thought of his foster mother crying, but he couldn't back down from this. He wouldn't dare. “I had only been there for six months! You people could not have possibly cared for me that much.” “Maybe you can't start caring about someone so quickly, but some others can! We opened up to you but you barely did it in return!” “I would have rotated out anyway! That's what was constantly happening to me! And you're angry because I found a loving, permanent home?!” Sick of just looking at him in the mirror, Thor crossed the room to the vanity and turned him around, his grip tight on Loki's shoulders once they were face to face. Loki tried to wrench away from his grip, to no avail. “And what if you didn't find this ‘~loving and permanent~’ home, huh? Where would you be? Dead? Living in some sort of brothel? Working the goddamn streets, Loki?!” Loki snarled at him, refusing to give up struggling. “What the fuck does it matter what could have happened?! It didn't happen!” “But it could have happened!” “But it fucking didn’t! I'm happy here, leave me alone- dammit, let me go, you great oaf!” “God, you're so... UGH.” In a rush of… fury? Frustration? Adrenaline? Whatever it was he was feeling, he cradled Loki's nape and leaned forward to kiss him, letting out a soft hum. Loki was caught completely off-guard, and his anger completely dissolved. His eyelids fluttered shut, and his hands came to rest on Thor’s chest as he melted into the deepest, most emotional kiss of his life. As they pulled back, his heart was thudding in his ears, and his eyes slowly drifted open to stare at Thor in utter shock. “I love you, alright?” Thor sighed, “Even though you're such a shit, I fucking love you, Loki. Always did, always will.” Loki, still utterly dumbfounded, tried to form a coherent sentence. “You…” And he paused a while, then tried to say something again, but his words failed him. Then, he nearly tackled Thor, smashing their lips together again. Frustrated by the argument, but feeling the bloom of rekindled happiness to be with Loki again, Thor wrapped his arms around him as he kissed back, squeezing him tightly. Loki had been alive, safe and loved all this time and that was all that mattered to him now. ... Loved, though. Groaning, he pulled away and ran a hand over his own face with a sigh. “I'm sorry, we shouldn't do this here. It's Chris's house and you're his lover now, I should just-- I should just go.” Loki groaned in frustration, clinging to Thor's neck. “Thor, it’s not like that-” “Then what is it?” “Thor…” Loki sighed, trying to explain his life for the past four years in the fewest words possible, “It’s… dammit, you just can't leave now. Chris- he- he just wants me to be happy, and…” He sighed, resting his head on Thor's shoulder. “...If I'm being absolutely honest... I left because I love you too. And... no one would have let me if I'd stayed.” “You should've told me,” Thor replied, nuzzling Loki's temple, “We would've worked it out, maybe hid it from mother and father for a few years, until we moved out... But it's in the past.” Smiling lightly, he cupped Loki's cheeks, stroking them gently with his thumbs. “I have my own place now, obviously. It's not as big and fancy as this mansion but it's pretty decent and two people can easily live in it. And I don't make as much money as Chris but I could take care of you just as well.” Loki gazed up at him, tears forming in his eyes, and yanked him back down for another kiss. "Fucking dammit, if you don't get inside of me right fucking now I'll start crying.” Thor couldn't help chuckling after kissing back. “Alright, alright. Always so impatient~” His hands quickly made their way under Loki's tank top as he kissed his neck. He felt a bit guilty regarding Chris, but- Chris wouldn't be alone if Loki left. He'd be alright. Chasing him from his mind for now he pulled away just long enough to sit on Loki's bed and pull him onto his lap, removing his top while he was at it. “I can't believe how much you've grown, you're so gorgeous, Loki.” A blush spread across Loki’s face, and he subconsciously hid it in Thor’s shoulder. “...You don't think how I dress is too... weird, do you...?” Usually, he wouldn't give a single fuck if anyone cared how he dressed. He did before he ran away, and he only cared now because Thor's opinion mattered more to him than anyone else's. “Of course not. It suits you and-- “ Giving him the sweetest smile, Thor gently ran his hands up and down his sides, “To be honest, I like it.” Loki gaped at him, then ran his hands through his hair. “...Fuck me. Right goddamn fucking now.” And that night, the room never lacked for emotion. Moans of pleasure, declarations of love, pleas for more-- more touching, more kissing, more fucking, more everything. It was near impossible for either of them to put out any more love than they did in those few hours before they fell asleep in Loki’s bed, happy tears drying on Loki’s cheeks as he lay in his puppy’s arms.   *          *          *   Tom had almost forgotten that he’d had a routine. Get up, throw on clothes, hop on his bike, and head to school. Suffer through the day, pick at lunch, dread the ride home. He’d get home, go straight up to his room, and mess around for a bit, until he got hungry enough to go down to get something to eat. Then, fuck around on his computer, scribble out his homework, and go to bed to avoid an incident with Greg. It all came back to him, as his mum picked him up at the airport, ignoring the two detectives flanking him to nearly tackle her son. He’d forgotten, also, how small his mum was compared to him-- or maybe he’d grown a foot since he started living with Chris and the Bunnies. No no, don’t think about that now, Tom. Don’t let your mother see you cry. He hugged her awkwardly, letting her sob into his shoulder, blubbering about how much she missed him and how worried she was and she thought he was dead and ‘i’m so so sorry baby i’m so sorry’, blah, blah, blah. The detectives said they’d be in touch to make sure he was alright, but Tom only glared at them until they left the terminal. His mum walked him back to the car, blabbering on about how she had a new job, one that paid much better and had better hours so she could be home more often, and weekends off so they could spend more time together. “I couldn’t help feeling like it was my fault,” she was saying on the way home, as if Tom didn’t feel guilty enough for leaving his poor little mother at the mercy of her dick boyfriend, “I wasn’t around, and Greg was mean to you-- he doesn’t live with us anymore, I kicked him out. Got tired of him not helping me out around the house, and he wouldn’t get off his arse and get a real job.” Tom glanced over at her, and suddenly, he saw a new glow underneath her skin. It took him leaving for a year-- some really catastrophic thing, seeing as it was enough to rock her world to the core and cause changes that Tom never could have made if he had stayed here. “He’s… you mean Greg’s gone? For good?” The glow died, and Tom’s face fell. “Well… You see, love, he’s changed too--” “Mum, he beat me.” “...Tom-” “No, Mum! He stole money from both of us, he drank, gambled, and he beat me! One time so hard I had to lie to the school and tell them I got mugged!” His mum wouldn’t answer, and Tom’s mood had soured. Some things never change. Tom might have changed; become more confident, more secure, more grown up. But he didn’t think his mum would ever be strong enough to tell Greg to fuck off. So he’d have to. His routine was completely thrown off, of course-- his mum said he didn’t have to go back to school if he didn’t want to. He could go back and finish High School whenever he wanted; that running away and “living on the streets” for a year (as he’d told the cops he’d done), was a horrific enough experience that he could wait and adjust before going back. So he was stuck sitting around the house all day, pining for Florida, for his house, for his fellow bunnies, for his Chris. He’d cried enough; now he was just numb. When he got the call, about two weeks after he’d left the States, he nearly went over the moon. “Daddy!” “Hey, baby. Everyone else is here too.” There was a collective: “Hi!/Hey, Twinkie Pie!”, and Tom nearly burst into tears. “I miss you guys so so much! This house is lonely and mum works all day, and there’s no one to help me with my makeup!” “You should be able to do it by yourself now!” He heard Loki shout. “No one does it like you do, Loki.” “Damn right.” “How are you doing, Tom?” Will asked him, “Are you alright?” “Yeah, have you decked your mum’s dick boyfriend yet?” “Hal, shush.” Tom chuckled, a tear streaming down his face at the thought of his housemates, all missing him, all wanting him back. They were just the same as always, and he wanted to go back so badly. “No, I haven’t had the chance. She kicked him out, but apparently still sees him sometimes.” “Don’t let him come near you.” Adam! Tom hadn’t seen or heard Adam at all before he left! “Actually, it’s legal for you to go get a restraining order by yourself,” Mags piped in, “You can get one that says he can’t come within 500 feet of you or your place of residence, and as long as you stay with your mum, he can’t bother you.” “Magnus, I love you.” “Hey, get in line, Twinkie.” Tom could almost hear the grin in Hal’s voice. “Baby,” Chris cut in, sounding concerned, “for how long does she leave you alone?” Tom fidgeted, pausing for a bit. “...Well, she has work from 9 until 5, but sometimes she stays later…” There was a second of somber silence, then Tom added, “but it’s not as long as she used to be, and Greg isn’t here anymore, so…” “Hold out for me, baby. I’ll come get you the minute you turn 18.” Tom thought he would, before he’d ever see Chris again. But he didn’t. In fact, it wasn’t two days later that after his mum had left for work, that Chris showed up on his doorstep, dampened from the rain and absolutely dripping with cuteness and sex appeal. Tom jumped him right then and there, and Chris held him as he sobbed into his already-wet jacket, clinging to him like his life depended on it. “I-I thought I wouldn’t see you until my birthday!” Tom sobbed as Chris set him on his feet back inside the house. “Aw, baby,” Chris purred as he peppered Tom’s face with kisses, “there’s no way I could stand to be away from you for that long.” Tom grinned and clung to his neck, pressing his entire body to his slightly damp billionaire boyfriend. “Of course not, Daddy~ I probably would have died of thirst.” Chris gave a laugh and tried to shrug off his jacket with Tom still clinging to him. “Maybe you would have-” He laughed, trying to pry Tom’s arm off, “-Baby, you gotta- you gotta let go for a second-” “Noooooooo,” Tom whined, grinning and giggling as he clung on, “I don’t wanna ever ever let you go again, Daddy~” “Well, if you don’t let go, I won’t be able to undress and fuck you properly~” Tom gasped, scandalized. “Here? In my mum’s house?” “On every available surface, baby. She doesn’t come home until 5, does she?” Tom grinned. Later, as he and Chris were laying together in Tom’s bed, panting, he figured he would be alright. These six months until his birthday? Chris could visit him. He could still see his Daddy, and he would be okay. His mum was okay, Greg was pretty much gone, and… he would be okay. Chris couldn’t go even a month without visiting Tom again. He always came to see him when Tom’s mother was at work, and they would snuggle and kiss and fuck all they wanted. One night, Chris even took him on an amazing date: dinner, a hotel suite in the city, and a warm body sleeping next to him all night (he’d told his mother he was spending a night at a friend’s house); what more could he have asked for? Chris even arranged for the entire house to Skype call with Tom on Christmas. “The house is so lonely without you here, darling,” Will had said. “Loki’s got a new apartment with his brother-” “Former foster brother! We weren’t related!” “And with Chris either working or visiting you, my nest is feeling just a little bit empty.” Tom laughed warmly at his fellow Bunny. “Worry not, Mother Hen! I’ll be there in two months, more or less. Keep the nest warm for me.” “Happy Christmas, Twinkie Pie!” “Happy Christmas.” Tom uttered, warmth growing in his chest as he gazed at his housemates.   *          *          *   The last time he saw Greg, he’d finally patched things up with his mum. A year of resenting her for not helping him, and that had done nothing to make it better. He had begun to wonder why he blamed her at all; she was his mother, and she was hurting after his dad left. Greg only hurt Tom whenever she wasn’t around, and that wasn’t her fault.  It was Greg’s. Tom hated him even more now. He hadn’t seen him in two months, and suddenly, one afternoon, there he was: drinking a beer on Tom’s mother’s couch like he still owned the place. Tom had just been down to the shop with his mum getting groceries, and a bout of rage shot through him as he saw Greg. “What the hell are you doing here?” Tom growled. Greg gave him a sneer without taking his eyes off the TV screen. “Needed a place to crash. Diana, you don’t mind, right?” Tom’s mother, never confrontational for a second, shook her head as she disappeared into the kitchen. Tom, however, did very much mind. “You have to leave. You can’t stay here.” He said firmly. “Kid, this ain’t your house.” Greg tipped the beer into his mouth, eyes trained on the football game in front of him. “Your mum makes the rules, doesn’t she? So just scurry off and play your video games and leave us to it.” “No.” Finally, Greg looked at him, narrowing his bloodshot eyes. “The hell’d you say?” “I said ‘no’, Greg.” Tom said, balling his fists, “You’re not allowed to stay here.” “Are you takin’ a fuckin’ piss?” Greg got up from the couch, his shirt hiking up his gross beer gut, “You ain’t gonna tell me what to do, Tommy Boy.” “Don’t call me that.” “Excuse me?” “Don’t. Call. Me. That.” Greg began stalking toward him, the TV remote clenched in his fist like a club. “Listen, boy-o. You’re headed the right way for a good whipping, you are.” “Gregory Higgins, if you take one more step towards my son, I will call the police.” Tom turned around, mouth agape at the sight of his mother, standing tall and proud in the doorway to the kitchen, holding their landline. Then, he broke into a grin. Finally, it seemed that his mother was not only standing up for him, but standing up for herself as well. Greg was just as shocked as Tom was, but shock turned to anger very quickly. He raised the remote to hit Tom, but Tom was ready for him. One swift kick to his nasty beer gut, and Tom laid Greg out on the floor easy. Thank you, Adam. He thought to himself. His mother quickly dialed the police hotline, and the last Tom saw of his mother’s ex was of him struggling as two uniformed officers dragged him out of their house.   *          *          *   Nothing could have made his birthday better. Tom had been packed for weeks now. And then, at ten A.M. on his birthday, Chris showed up at his doorstep. Tom, not even caring if anyone saw, immediately jumped on him and kissed him. No one could stop them now, and no one ever would. Finally, finally, they could be together, Tom could go home- “Tom?” Tom turned around to see his mother standing there, gaping at him and Chris. He looked back at Chris, then tugged his hand gently to bring him into the house. “Mum… I’m sorry I left you behind. I’m sorry I left you with Greg, and I’m sorry I didn’t bother to write a note before I ran away. I regret all of that.” His mum, still rather confused, waited for him to go on. “What I don’t regret is running away in the first place,” Tom went on, “I was all sorts of unhappy here, none of which is your fault. But when I went to Florida, I met Chris.” He looked up at Chris, who smiled softly at him. “He took care of me, he showed me every kindness I never knew, he took me in when I had nowhere else to go…” He looked back at his mum, whose face had fallen into a mixture of misery and elation. “Mum, I love him. I loved him then, I love him now. And… I’m going to go back to the Keys to be with him.” Tom’s mum looked like if she opened her mouth, she would burst into tears. She held out her arms for her boy, and Tom fell right into them. “You’re eighteen now, Tom,” she whimpered, “I can’t stop you, but… God, I don’t want to lose you again…” A few tears leaked from Tom’s eyes as well, and he hugged his mother so tightly, like he thought he would never see her again. “If I may,” Chris said gently, “I know of a little flat in Miami where the views are beautiful and the rent is… nonexistent.” Both mother and son turned to gape with tear-filled eyes at the millionaire standing in their tiny foyer. Chris smiled at them and continued: “If you can be ready to move in a week, Ms. Hiddleston, I guarantee you will never be more than a hop, skip, and a car ride away from your son.” “Chris…” Tom found it hard to speak around the lump in his throat. “But why would you do this for me?” Diana asked him. Chris shrugged. “Simply put, madam, I love your son. From the beginning, I’ve done all I can to make him happy, and I’m not going to stop that now.” Oh, Tom couldn’t have loved this man more. And when their plane touched down in Miami, and he was tackled by his fellow Bunnies, he realized that no matter what the future held, no matter what trials he was to face from now on, he would never, ever be alone again. “Loki, hand off my ass.” And who would want to be alone again, with friends like the ones he had?   End Notes AND NOW NOW I AM FINISHED THANK YOU FOR READING! Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!