I'll Love You from Afar...

The Prompt of Realization

Peter's POV

"Ok... so, how does one go on a date?" I said, fidgeting with the sleeves of my tuxedo. May sat down in front of me, pulling my hand away from my sleeve.

"It's a lot simpler than it seems, you just talk to the person, exchange a few jokes, flirt." She chuckled and winked.

"That doesn't sound very easy..."

"Look, you have an advantage that most boys your age don't." She smirked.

"And what is that?"

"Your guardian is a woman that you're comfortable talking to, which means I'm capable of giving you all the ins and outs of a flirtatious girl."

"But May, girls are different from when you were my age!" I whined.

"Oh my stop being such a Debbie Downer and let me do my thing here." I nodded with a sigh and let her continue. "Thank you. Now, one thing she's gonna..."

***

I stayed in the lobby of Stark tower for about thirty minutes. The only thing going through my head was everything May had taught me this evening. I checked my watch again —thirty-one minutes— she's late. May said that was a good sign, but what if she doesn't wanna do this? What if she calls me in the next five minutes and cancels? Why did I decide to go through with this? Why am I so stupid? More importantly... Why am I so nervous?

I jumped as the ding of the elevator rang throughout the lobby, jolting me from my thoughts. When I looked up my eyes were met with a beautiful girl in a sleek black cocktail dress. Her hair was tied back with a claw clip and her side bangs were pulled down, perfectly framing her face. She was beautiful, I mean I always knew she was, but now it felt like I was seeing her in this new light, she was stunning.

"Shall we go?" She asked, making an obvious effort to not look me in the eye. I furrowed my brow, she was acting strange... was she nervous?

"Yeah. Hey listen, so as you know I don't have a license or my own set of transportation anymore." I cracked a smile but she didn't even look up. "Well um, I got one of those uh, horse drawn carriages. And I know what you're going to say, but don't worry about it! I've never done this before, ok?" I said with a nervous laugh, stumbling over my words.

"Wow, so glad you managed to find it in you to do something kind of special for your practice date." She rolled her eyes. Something is definitely wrong. She's never like this. I have to figure out what's going on. Without thinking, I laced my hand with hers, trying to be some sort of comfort to her. She tensed, her jaw clenching slightly.

"Come on, let's get going. I'm going to make sure this is the best night of your life." I managed to get her lips to curve up a bit with a wink, but she quickly wiped it away.

Once we mounted our fashionable ride I decided to ask her what was up.

"What's wrong, Bunny, you seem unhappy?"

"Look, I just don't want you to waste all of your savings on me if I'm just a practice for the real thing," she snapped.

"Y/N, it's not like that-" I started, but she cut me off.

"Isn't it though? I mean I genuinely thought you were asking me out, and then you threw this at me," She pouted.

"Threw what at you?" I asked, raising my voice a bit. Why can't girls ever just spit out what's bothering them?

She scoffed, "You know what? Whatever, let's just get this night over with so I can go home." Ouch.

We sat in an uneasy silence until we reached our destination; Delmar's. Mr. Delmar and I had a little discussion about my plan to make this one of the best nights of Y/N's life in sort of a 'Hey you've helped me through so much here's your present in return' sort of way. So we decorated the deli as if it were a dance with fairy lights and streamers. We bought microwave dinners for later in the night once we start getting hungry. Which I know is hardly complimentary but give me a break! I wasted most of my savings on the horse drawn carriage. Once we arrived, Y/N stared quizzically at Delmar's.