Breaking the Void

Chapter 35 - A Surprise

(Your POV):
"They talking about you?" MJ asked, nodding to Ned and Peter huddled together in the corner of the classroom.

I didn't take my eyes from them as I answered, "yep and they're not being very subtle about it."

As though to prove my point, the boys glanced over at me, panicked, then turned back in towards each other. MJ shrugged, "I don't think they know how to be subtle. I hear you to have a big day today."

"Let me guess, Peter won't shut up about it?"

"Yep," MJ replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice, although I sensed that she actually didn't mind.

"I've got no idea where he's taking me, but I'm sure it will be fun." Realization washed over me all of a sudden and I turned to MJ, "you're not in this class with us, why are you here?"

"I just like to wander from class to class, it makes all of the other students very confused and they usually think they've walked into the wrong room when they see me sitting there. It's quite entertaining. But I probably should go, my class is on the other side of the school. Good luck with those two."

"Thanks, but I'm pretty sure they'll be ignoring me until class starts," I replied before MJ slipped out of the classroom, leaving me alone to watch Ned and Peter chat once again.

I began to get curious about what Peter had planned for our one year anniversary with all of the side conversations and glances that Ned and Peter shared. I didn't think I would grow so anxious about it, but I just wanted to know. It was Peter's fault, really. If he didn't insist on making everything a goddamn surprise all of the time, I wouldn't be like this.

However I managed to survive the day and went back to my apartment immediately after to complete all of my missions before it was time for our date. I didn't have much time once I had completed them to rest up or get any homework done, it was soon time for me to get ready to go.

He had been very vague about where we were going or what we were doing, but he told me only that I should dress warm. Heeding that advice, I threw on jeans and a nice sweater and fixed up my makeup a bit so that I could at least impress him with that even though I was wearing simple clothing.

Still not having told him that my parents knew that we were together, I met him at his apartment with my anniversary gift for him. May was the one to open the door with a smile, "(Y/N), it's so great to see you again, come on inside, Pete's almost ready."

"Thanks, May," I replied as I stepped inside, enjoying how comfortable I had become around her. To be completely honest, she had become more of a mother to me than mine ever was and it was nice to know that someone cared.

"Hey, (Y/N), you're early, as always," Pete greeted me with a teasing smile.

I shot right back, "well if I'm always early, then you should know by now to get ready earlier so that I'm not waiting around for you."

In response, he pressed his lips against my cheek, causing me to blush slightly at the action when May was still standing in the room. Peter noticed the present in my hand, "you can leave that here, if you want. I have somewhere that I want to take you."

"Come on, Pete, you've kept me in suspense all day, can't you just tell me where you're bringing me?" I begged as I placed the present next to the couch.

"Well that would ruin the whole point of a surprise, wouldn't it?" He then turned to May, "we're going to head out, is everything else set?"

She nodded, "you two have fun and (Y/N), don't be so nervous, I'm sure you're going to love it."

"Really? You told her but you won't tell me? God, you're so annoying," I huffed as Peter began to lead me out.

"Don't worry, you won't have to wait for too much longer."

Peter held my hand in his as we left the apartment building and he began to lead me down the streets of New York, everything fully decked out in Christmas decorations. This was the first time in a while that I could truly appreciate the beauty of all of the lights; they had always been a nuisance to me since starting my missions as they often ruined my cover with their bright shine.

We continued walking for a while before Peter had me turn into a building last minute, not giving me enough time to read the sign before ushering me inside. The sounds of chattering and a strange scraping sound filled my ears as I realized that Peter had brought me to an indoor ice rink.

Peter looked over me, hoping that I approved of his decision and he immediately beginning to explain, "I know you said that you've never gone ice skating before, so I was thinking why not have your first time be with me."

"Oh, Pete, are you sure about this? I know you've skated before and I'll just be slowing you down," I muttered nervously, hoping that I wouldn't make too much of a fool of myself in front of him. However I was excited to try to skate, it had been something I wanted to try when I was young but my parents had never let me.

"Don't worry, (Y/N), I have a feeling you'll pick it up quickly and I will happily be right there by your side as you learn."

"Alright then," I replied as I broke into a smile. "Let's go skating!"

We rented skates to wear, resulting in me forcing Peter to let me pay since he had done all of the planning for the evening. Not to mention I had plenty of money to spend on things like this. But I began to grow more nervous as I laced up the skates and found myself uneasy even on the regular floor. I immediately took Peter's hand for balance as he helped me into the rink and I realized that there was no turning back now.

I felt completely unstable on the ice, something that I was very uncomfortable feeling and my hold on Peter tightened as he tried to calmly tell me what to do. I took a deep breath and nodded, slowly moving a shaking foot ahead and wobbling slightly as I brought the other foot up to meet it, moving perhaps about an inch forward.

Peter was incredibly patient with me as I tried to learn to skate with him and with his guidance I was able to grow a little more confident. Although we remained close to the rail on the side, we began to pick up pace and I stopped worrying about every little step and let myself trust in my legs and in Peter.

We remained on the rink for as long as they let us before having to get off so that they could Zamboni the ice. I was a little out breath as we stepped onto the flat ground again and my ankles a little sore, but I was proud of how much I had achieved. Throughout the entire time, I had not fallen once, although that was more likely due to Peter's stable presence than me being a natural skater.

"So, what did you think?" Peter asked as we changed back into our normal shoes.

I thought about it for a moment before replying, "I have to admit, I was really nervous at first, but it was actually a lot of fun. I obviously have much to improve on, but I'd love to do this again."

"Well no trip to the skating rink would be complete without a cup of hot chocolate. Wait here and I'll go get some for us," Peter spoke as he stood from the bench, although I had a sneaking suspicion that he was up to something more than just hot chocolate. For someone who had to hide his identity from the world, he was truly not subtle about trying to be inconspicuous.

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(A/N): Ok for the rest of this book we'll be jumping around a bit. As you can tell, we're in December now and we'll stay there for a couple of chapters and then jump forward to May, where the book will end! I hope that you don't mind me jumping, but I felt that adding more things to fill in the time gaps would end up weighing the story down and I had a very specific timeline for the events about to unfold!

And now, speaking of jumping, shall we transfer over to the weekly discussion of AOS? I'm not going to say much because everything I want to say are spoilers but like what a stressful episode. Like super stressful. I actually really liked the black and white but it made it a bit more ominous and then the music in the Hotel Rosevelt was actually killing me and let me tell you if anyone says music isn't important to movies/films let me begin with just this episode discussing that scene but as the *SMALL SPOILER* hydra theme earlier on. Anyway, yeah that's all I'm going to say because that was truly a very, very important episode and I think it took ten years off my life.