There's A Spark

Part 15: Just another crush

"Hey Y/N" James smiled as he approached her at her locker. He had been the new addition to her friend group as he had been hanging out with them more and more in the past month. "Where are the others?" He asked, putting an arm around her shoulder. She had started getting used to it and he knew that she didn't like to be touched on bare skin. She never really told anyone why of course, but she made her boundaries very clear. No matter how much Bruce would train with her, she was still afraid to hurt someone. It wasn't certain if she would ever trust herself touching another human being, skin to skin.

"Cindy and Jo went to the bathroom before class and I haven't really seen anyone else today." She shrugged, turning out from under his arm so she can face him. "Good, then there is more of you for me darling." He stated matter of fact, making her laugh. They had been messing around like this ever since they met. They weren't ever seriously flirting but most people didn't really seem to get that. "Stop calling me darling. You're giving people the wrong idea." She shoved him lightly.

"Is that so bad?" he winked and she rolled her eyes jokingly.
At that time the group of three made their way through the halls. "He's such a douchebag." Ned scoffed. "Who?" Peter was oblivious to where Ned was looking. Mj scoffed "He's talking about James." Her finger pointed to where the two stood talking. 

"I don't know. He doesn't seem like a bad guy." Peter shrugged. MJ gave him an unamused stare. "Peter, you're an absolute idiot. Hey Y/N!"

James noticed them before Y/N could even react. He took her by the hip and quickly threw her over his shoulder, careful not to hurt her. "No, she's mine until the bell rings!" Yet time was not in his favour. To his surprise the bell rang as soon as he said so and cursed to himself. "Let me go you jackass!" Y/N slapped his back, her hair falling unflatteringly in front of her face. He set her down on her feet and brushed her hair out of her face, careful only to toch her hair. That was the main reason she liked him so much. He cared enough to respect what she's comfortable with and not ask questions. "See you soon." He smiled, leaving to class and she walked to the other three to go with them. "Good morning guys." she smiled. Ned walked past her without a word however, making his way to class by himself. Her eyes fixated to his back in a sad gaze. "Don't worry about it, he'll get over it." MJ gave her a pat on the shoulder.

Ned ignored her for two days after that. She hoped that MJ was right, and that they could be good friends again soon. It had only been a few months but she had felt more at home in this school than anywhere else. Ned was part of the reason. But she worried about him. She was hyper aware that he had a crush on her and even though she cared about him, she didn't have feelings for him.

"Nice watch, by the way." Peter stated, pulling her out of her thoughts. A silence had fallen over their table in the cafeteria. Only Johanna and Cindy at the end of the table were talking about a project they had together, that left Mj reading a book and Ned intently staring at his food to then result into Peter and Y/N sitting there awkwardly as James had decided to sit with 'da boys'. He obviously had noticed the awkward tension that hung above the group.
"Thanks" she smiled, looking it over herself.
"Is that the one you were working on a while back?" he questioned. Peter went to reach out for it to get a closer look, but decided against it, pulling his hand away again.

"You made that yourself?" Ned finally spoke with a frown. A grin formed on her face in response. "yeah pretty cool huh. I like doing little projects like this. I'm just not sure what to do next." she shrugged. The conversation finally started to pick up again and hope returned to her. She knew that one day she'd find someone and that he would actually have to deal with that, but that day was far from now and nothing to worry about.

"Y/N, will you go to prom with me?"
Maybe not that far after all.
"James, I, uhm..." she tried to mutter a reply. She didn't have anyone to go with, that much was true, but she honestly didn't want to go through the whole drama with Ned again. And she liked James, very much so, but did she like him as a friend or more, that much she didn't know. And as much as she didn't want to break Ned's heart, she didn't want to break James' either.
"Come on Y/N. I don't want to go alone and you're one of my only female friends and God knows I am not taking tweedledee or tweedledumb." She laughed at his tasteless reference to Jo and Cindy but most of all was relieved. "Oh thank God." she sighed leaning against his shoulder.

"What? You thought I was full on asking you out?" James chuckled, very amused by her reaction. "Well obviously, you big flirt!" she laughed. "You got a rose and everything."

She looked up at his amused grin, reaching eye to eye. His green eyes sparkled as they showed her hazy reflection. "Well I thought I should at least try to be a little proper. It's plastic though." he tapped the rose on her head a few times as if to prove his point. "So, your answer?"

"I'll think about it." she smiled "but I will be taking that." She snatched the rose from his hands with a swift swipe and walked away with it bouncing in her hand, knowing  her dad or Happy would be waiting to pick her up.

She plopped down in the car with a grin, to be met with a different face than expected. "Bruce, hi, what are you doing here?" she questioned, putting on her seatbelt quickly after she put her bag between her feet.
"Everyone else was busy, so I offered." he shrugged, starting the car.
"Well then I'm glad, good to see you out of the ho..." she ended her sentence with a squeal as the car abruptly stopped again. Bruce cleared his throat "It's been a while. Don't tell you dad." he stated. "Anyway, what's with the rose?" he asked as they got to driving properly.

"James asked me to prom." she smiled, scrunching her nose in amusement at the thought of the encounter. "So, you've got a date huh?"

"No, I told him I'd think about it. I was honestly just going with my group of friends so I don't know yet." she explained. Though Bruce wasn't really a man of the people if you know what I mean, she could talk to him about anything. They had spent many hours together, so why not.

"Well, between you and me, your dad definitely won't mind that. He wants you to find someone who can protect you." Bruce admitted. Tony always went to him with his worries about her. So boys was definitely a subject that had come up in the past.

"The only ones that could protect me, when I can't protect myself, are the avengers." she scoffed "maybe I should date Natasha." Her face was blank and serious, as if truly thinking about it.

"Hey, hands off alright." he grinned. She had seen what was going on between the two of them sooner than he himself even knew. So now she had been playing matchmaker for the two. Though it hadn't really been working.
"What? Someone has to make a move."