selene // thor odinson

XII

new asgard

one week later

I took Mrs Kalista's advice and left for New Asgard.

All the fear I felt, all the rejection, the hatred, the worry, I pushed it all away as I stood in front of the white house that I had learnt to call my home. I nibbled furiously at my lip. It'd taken a lot to leave the village and get on that plane but this step, knocking on the door was the hardest.

The few plants outside of our house had began to wither, a few already greyed and dead but one, just one, was thriving, the tall, ruby one that was perched right on the step to the door.

I slowly rose my hand, bringing it to the black knocker. I stopped, realising my fingers for a moment thinking, was this the right thing to do? But I pushed those ideas back and knocked thrice on the door. 

I stepped back, breathing heavily as I waited for Thor to answer. This felt so foreign. I hardly ever even knocked on this door, I always used the key but I had left them inside and now I was forced to play the waiting game. I tapped my grown out nails relentlessly against each other, making the small, meaningless motion to get my mind off the fact that Thor still hasn't opened the door. The clicking and tapping began rapid as I munched on my lower lip, drawing blood as I tasted the iron.

There was a creak and I snapped my head up instantly. The door was slowly opening so I eagerly stepped forward, surprising myself at my sudden wave of confidence. The door was now fully open revealing Thor who looked just like I had left him but in that moment, I didn't care. The fact that his electric eyes met my stormy ones with that connection that was so familiar to me, I stepped into the hallway and pulled him into a hug.

I could feel the tears brimming my waterline as Thor responded gladly to my hug, his arms snaking around my waist as mine went to loop around his neck. I rested my head on his chest, the bristles of his bread tickling my cheek and he nestled his head atop of mine and I could feel his soft breath very slightly on my hair.

"Oh, Selene," came Thor's raspy voice, it was thick with sorrow and I could hear his deep swallows to try and contain himself which only made me more emotional. "I'm so incredibly sorry, Selene. Everything I have done to you leaves me with so much regret, I'm so angry at myself for hurting you and you never deserved any of it."

I turned my head, now resting my chin on his chest. His features had never looked softer and I knew that he was speaking the truth. Thor's shoulders were dropped and his eye bags were as prominent as ever. When he spoke his lower lip trembled and his face quivered very slightly.

I felt a sharp sting of melancholy and the tears left train tracks down my cheeks. My throat thickened as my mouth gapped open, trying to say something but no words came out. Thor and I's relationship had always been fiery, our love, passion and energy we had with one another was part of who I was. That fire that had been slowly dwindling and dying out within me had relit. In that very moment, there was hope. That fire started to spark and crackle and burn just like the Eternal Flame.

"I-I understand if y-you feel you can't forgive me but I just need you to know that I...that I still love you," he said and I looked at him, our eyes interlocked in a heated gaze and I hung on to his every word, optimism burning bright. "I love you so much, my love and I always will. I'll forever be sorry for the way I treated you and if you don't feel that same way anymore then I understand and I deserve to be regarded with hatred."

"Oh no, baby no, don't say that," I said, shaking my head furiously as I reached up, taking his tear streaked face in my eyes. I leaned upwards, rising on my tip-toes and brought his head down, touching his forehead to mine. I wiped away his tears with my thumbs while rapidly blinking away my own, wanting to see him without the gazed blur. "I-I too was inconsiderate...you're not the only one who made mistakes, I did too and I'm so sorry for not pushing harder like I did before because we could have avoided this mess."

"It wasn't you, my love. I've finally realised that. I should have been there for you," Thor said, tutting at himself and wiping my tears with his hands. "You deserved so much more."

"I did," I said, laughing softly. "I did deserve more and I'm glad that you've realised that. That's a big step forwards in making things right again."

"I have," Thor nodded. "And I'll continue working endlessly on myself, and on us, to make this right again."

"I forgive you," I chuckled through the tears, happiness of our reconciliation flooding through me. "We were both totally stupid."

"So stupid...not a bit of common sense between us," Thor teased.

Silence rung out for a moment and the two of us just sat in the moment.

We felt alive.

A feeling that we hadn't felt in such a long time. The strains that we've been through was immense, impossible almost but the fact that we were able to retie that invisible string connecting our two souls was all that we wanted from our lives.

"You're all that matters to me, Thor," I whispered, lying my head back on his chest, listening to the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat. "After everything, I've truly realised that."

Thor took my chin in his hand and gently twisted my head to face upwards. He placed a soft kiss on my forehead then pulled me into him again.

"Child or no child means nothing if I'm not with you," he said tenderly. "You are the single most important thing to me. Without you, I feel utterly empty. The pain I felt while you were away was nothing compared to any other I've felt. You complete me, Selene. I am forever grateful that I have you in my life."

Elements of Thor and I's past may be wrapped in barbed wire but we chained our demons together and managed to weave the wool of the season to strengthen our one single gold thread that tied me to him and that was just so beautiful to think.