Throwing Caution to the Wind

Chapter 33

Peter looked in the mirror. He was currently trying tie his dark blue bow tie to his plaid blue button up. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be. The bow tie kept coming out lopsided.

"Peter, MJ will be here soon, you should hurry up," said May knocking on the other side of the door.

"I'm trying to figure out how to tie a bow tie, it's tricky," Peter said his hands undoing it for what felt like the millionth time that night.

"I can help with that," came a voice from their front door.

"Mr Stark, what are you doing here," Peter said abandoning the tie in favour of opening the door to greet his mentor.

"Baby's first date, I had to be here for it," Mr Stark said with a cheeky smile.

Peter's face turned red and he burried his face in his hands.

"Not a baby," he mumbled.

"Sure you aren't," May said. Peter could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Get in front of the mirror if you want my help Underoos," Mr Stark said walking into the bathroom.

Peter stood in front of the mirror while Mr Stark quickly did the knot for him.

"I'll show you how to do to on your own soon," Mr Stark promised smiling at the wonderous smile on Peter's face.

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door. Peter quickly ran to the door before May had a chance to.

"Hi MJ," Peter said excitedly feeling a blush creep up his face.

"Hey dork, you look nice," she said. Peter could tell she was trying to sound bored and uncaring like she usually did, but he could hear the edge of nervousness in her voice.

They stared at each other. MJ taking in the sight of Peter in a pair of dark jeans and a plaid shirt with a bow tie, while Peter took her in. She was wearing a dark red dress that went down to her knees. The dress had a slight shimmer to it, making it look alive with the light. The red complimented her skin colour beautifully. He could see that she was wearing some light makeup, including a bit of highlighter that shone proudly on her cheeks.

"Picture time," May declared clapping her hands from behind, snapping them out of their trance.

Peter and MJ posed akwardly while May and Mr Stark tried to encourage them to get a bit closer.

"My baby's growing up," May said wiping a fake tear from her eye as she looked at the photos she had taken.

Mr Stark approached them as they were leaving.

"Pete, I know you don't really like accepting money or things from me, but for once in your life, please, just take it," he said practically shoving 2 20's into Peter's hands.

"Mr Stark, I ca-," Peter started.

"For your date, use this for flowers or for dessert or something. Just take it. You work really hard all the time, you deserve a nice night out with your girlfriend," Mr Stark said

Peter relented and put the 20's in his wallet along with the 15 dollars already there that he had been planning to use tonight.

"Ready to go MJ," Peter said jokingly sticking out his elbow like he had seen in movies.

"Ready," MJ said surprising him by taking his elbow.

They stepped out of the appartment heading down the hall to the elevator.

"I didn't want to say this with May and Mr Stark around, but you look gorgeous tonight," Peter said shyly once they got in the elevator.

MJ bit her lip, her cheeks turning a gentle red.