Chapter Text
It’s no big deal.
It’s a date at the carnival. Peter can handle this. He can so, so, so, handle this.
He’s Spider-man. He took Captain America’s shield. He can do this.
But it’s his first date. His first date with her.
He stood in the mirror one last time, trying to stand tall as he assessed his outfit choice. Did girls even care what they guy wore? They did, right?
The jean jacket he was wearing suddenly looked ridiculous as he checked himself again in the mirror. There was also way too much hair gel for one person to be wearing—he ruffled his hair and took a deep breath, urging his nausea to subside.
He was fine. He could do this.
He finally texted her that he was on his way to her apartment complex; he was sweating for a good five minutes before she finally texted back. She had sent back a smiley face and a heart emoji—his heart was soaring over damned emojis.
Peter had known Y/N for as long as he could remember. She was just a few blocks away, always crashing with him, Ned, and Aunt May every other weekend. Every morning, the three high schoolers would take the same route to school, just as they had for years. She was the glue that held the trio together, and that’s the way it always was.
Suddenly, the girl next door became something more, and no matter how many times Peter insisted that he wasn’t falling for his best friend, Ned and May finally pushed him to the damn thing and ask her out.
And there he stood, awkwardly standing against her locker in attempts to cool, finally releasing the breath he’d been holding for weeks as those beautiful, wonderful lips of hers curled up to a smile. She said yes.
“Okay, it’s a date,” Peter breathed nervously. His palms were clammy, and he swore he was about to faint from giddiness. But it didn’t matter. She said yes.
“You bet it is, Parker.”
He finally arrived at her door, ready to introduce himself to her parents, even though he’d also known them for years. Her mother smiled affectionately as Peter stumbled through an embarrassed hello, and her father chuckled as Peter shook his hand for far longer than he should have. If it had been anyone else’s parents, Peter would have been mortified, and he silently thanked every known higher being in the universe for the fact that her parents were such understanding people.
She finally came out of her room, smiling widely as she saw Peter in the doorway. She looked a little different; she wasn’t wearing her glasses anymore and a hint of pink stained her lips. He could barely hear her bidding farewell to her parents, and he was still in such a shock as she held his hand on the way to the carnival. He was still nervous, but he felt a little better knowing that his fingers were intertwined with hers.
Once they were finally at their destination, Peter felt better. He was finally with her, and it was finally just the two of them. As much as he loved when the trio was together, he wanted to be with her. Just her.
“Hey, Pete,” she said softly, squeezing his hand, “Let’s play that game over there. I want to win the giant teddy bear.”
And of course, the lovesick teenager spent all his cash playing the ridiculous game to get her that teddy bear. He’d never hear the end of it from May, but the smile on her face was worth it. If it was for her, it was always going to be worth it.
After greasy carnival food and more rounds of games, she took him to the Ferris Wheel. Peter’s stomach dropped for a moment, but he smiled anyway as she paid for tickets for the ride.
He was swinging from buildings last week. Surely, he could handle going on the Ferris wheel with her. He was fine—he could do this.
The view of the city was beautiful, but he could only look at her. The way the glow of the city lit up her skin, the way she pointed out people from below and giggled. His heart almost stopped as she finally faced him. Why was he sweating? He swore he saw her eyes flicker to his lips, and he nearly passed out.
“This was really fun, Peter.”
He choked out a laugh. “Y-yeah. Tons of fun.”
She inched closer to him, squeezing his hand and smiling. They were reaching the top of the Ferris wheel, and she was still inching closer and closer—God, he wanted to kiss her, but what if it sucked or his breath smelled weird or—
An odd whirring sound echoed, and the passenger cart came to a harsh stop. They were so close to each other that the halt caused them to bump heads. He was mortified for a moment, but eventually she was laughing again, falling against his shoulder. He wondered if she could feel his heart beating out his chest.
Peter peeked out of the passenger cart, shouting down at the people below. “Uh, what’s going on?”
Carnival workers were now gathering below, and people murmured in confusion as the wheel remained motionless. He felt nauseous for a moment, growing worried that being stuck atop the ride might become awkward. He turned to her, finding some relief that she was still smiling.
“I guess we’re stuck together for a while.”
“That’s okay. At least it’s with you, Parker.”
And suddenly his heart was soaring, and he didn’t care that he screwed up his first chance at a kiss. She was leaning on him, quickly getting drowsy as the night carried on. Nearly an hour had passed before the ride was functioning again, but she was pressed against his chest, sound asleep.
Peter eventually walked her home, kicking himself for not trying to kiss her even though they were stuck in the Ferris wheel for almost an hour. He kicked himself for not trying to kiss her as they stood at her doorstep, but he felt a little better when she hugged him before bidding him goodnight.
He was going to get it right the next time.
~
Mr. Stark knew all about Peter’s “little crush,” as he liked to call it. Peter wasn’t sure if it could even be called a crush—it wasn’t the right word. She was the sun peeking out from the clouds after a storm. She was the warm glow of the sunset at night. She was not just a crush; she was everything.
“You could bring her to the gala,” Mr. Stark suggested one afternoon at the compound, “Pepper is holding a fundraiser next week. Bring your girlfriend, it’ll be fun.”
Peter’s face felt extremely hot. Even the thought of her being his girlfriend made his stomach drop. “Mr. Stark, she’s not—”
“Pete, you’re a good kid. Really. But boy, do you suck at lying. How May believes that you’re actually at an internship—I’ll never know.”
So, Peter asked her anyway. He was relieved that she ended up saying yes immediately. She was ecstatic, gushing the entire walk home. She bid the boys goodbye and hopped up the steps.
“I’ll text you when I find a dress,” she said excitedly, “Make sure you match with me, Parker.”
His voice was stuck in his throat as he laughed anxiously. He finally choked out something in agreement before smiling to himself the whole way home. Ned shook his head and sighed.
“You got it bad, dude.”
“Shut up.”
When the night of the gala finally came around, Peter was pacing his room again. He shouldn’t have been so nervous; he’d been on a date with her before. It was fine. But this wasn’t a simple date—it was a fuckin’ Stark party. He adjusted his maroon tie nervously before going down to the kitchen with May.
“Pete, you look so adorable!”
He sighed. “Are you sure I look okay? This is Mr. Stark’s party after all, I don’t want to look stupid. I don’t want her to think I look stupid either.”
May squared his shoulders in the mirror. “You look great, and I mean it. Let’s go pick up Y/N.”
Peter could barely breathe when he finally saw her. Her lush hair fell in wonderful ringlets, and the maroon lipstick matched her dress and his tie. She stood a little taller in heels, evening their height with one another. She was damn near ethereal, and the moment she smiled, Peter almost fell to the ground.
“Hey, Pete. You look really nice.”
He laughed. “Me? You—look at you! You look amazing! I mean, you always look amazing, but today, tonight, y-you look—”
“Thanks, Peter.” She giggled and slipped her arm around his waist as May took countless pictures of them. It was such a simple action, but Peter had to force himself to smile and take deep breaths.
She glanced at him for a moment, trying not to laugh as she saw that her best friend was flushed so red that the hue on his cheeks matched the color of her dress. She always adored Peter, and seeing him like this only made her affection grow.
Upon arriving at the gala, Tony Stark clapped a hand on Peter’s shoulder.
“Glad you could make it, kid!” Tony said with a smile. He finally turned to Y/N, giving a warm smile to the awestruck teenager. “Nice to finally meet you, Y/N. Peter talks a lot about you.”
“Mr. Stark—!”
“All good things, I hope?” She asked, shooting a teasing look at Peter. He thought he was going to faint on the spot.
Tony winked at Peter. “Oh, of course! Alright, enough chit-chat. The real fun is inside, let’s go.”
Peter had never really been to one of Mr. Stark’s galas. He had always been invited, but now that he was finally attending one with her, it was a little nerve wrecking. She sensed Peter’s nervousness and squeezed his hand.
“Look, there’s a table with food. Let’s fill up my purse so we can bring some home to Ned and May.”
Peter smiled as she pulled him towards the food, and soon, the two were giggling like children in a candy store as her purse was filled with all sorts of hor d'oeuvres. Once they got their fill, they returned to their assigned table for the night. A familiar song echoed across the tower, and she took his hand into hers.
“Hey, let’s dance!”
Peter froze. “Mr. Stark said they’re going to be serving the main courses soon.”
“Parker, we stole a bunch of fancy hor d'oeuvres. We can eat them later, I want to dance.”
And of course, he wasn’t ever going to say no to those beautiful, pleading eyes. They danced like fools all night, and Peter couldn’t focus on anything else other than her beautiful laugh as he danced like an idiot. It felt as if the whole world melted away, and the only thing that mattered was her.
Finally, a slow song played, and Peter felt himself blushing again. “Do you…?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yeah, I do.”
At first, Peter was standing quite a sizable distance away from her, not sure of how close he shouldn’t be standing. His hands sat awkwardly on her waist, barely touching her dress. She giggled a little, and she adjusted his grip on her waist. He tried not to focus on the fact that his hands sat low on her hips now, and with her arms around his neck, their faces were very, very, close together. He almost swore that she looked down at his lips, too, and he had to take another deep breath to compose himself.
“This is a pretty great second date,” she said softly.
Peter nodded. “Mr. Stark said it would be fun. I’m happy I-I got to be with you.”
She smiled silently in agreement, resting her head against his shoulder as they swayed slowly. He felt her humming along to the song, and his heart melted. Every time it seemed impossible to adore her anymore, she managed to make him fall even harder.
As the song ended and another ballad began, she faced him once more. Her eyes flickered down to his lips again. She couldn’t help but smile as she noticed Peter’s gaze lowering to her own lips.
Holy shit, okay. Can’t mess this up now. You can do this, Parker.
He moved slowly at first, barely breathing as he saw her eyes fluttering to a close. Maroon lips were so close to his, it was going to be his first kiss at a fuckin’ Stark gala with the girl of his dreams, and he was so close—
“Hey, kiddos!”
Both of them jumped away from each other in surprise as Mr. Stark happily clapped his hand on Peter’s shoulder again. The billionaire happily sipped champagne before smiling at Peter.
“Are you having fun? Didn’t I tell you you’d have a great time?”
Peter sighed. “Yeah, Mr. Stark. We’re, uh…we’re having a blast.”
Pepper finally came around, rolling her eyes upon seeing Tony. “Will you leave these poor kids alone, Tony?”
Tony chuckled as his wife led him away to mingle with other guests. Peter usually adored Mr. Stark, and he knew he should be thankful for everything he’s done for him, but at that moment, he felt like strangling the man. He was so close.
He was going to get it right the next time.
~
It was easier the third time around, asking her on a date.
It wasn’t so easy on this date because they were finally alone. May was working extra shifts that weekend, and Peter had the apartment all to himself. It may have been easier to ask her out, but it never got any easier once he saw her. Once they were in the same room together, it was like the air left his lungs and the temperature in the room went up twenty degrees. He felt lucky that she was still saying yes with such enthusiasm.
It was a casual date. She insisted that they stayed in, watched movies, and ordered junk food all night. He wasn’t complaining—he just wanted to be with her.
The movie date was one of the best things he had suggested. They were huddled together on the couch, fleece blankets draped over them. She was pressed against him, laying comfortably under his arm (it had taken Peter half an hour to muster up the courage to put his arm around her, but it was no big deal). Eventually, her head rested on his shoulder, and her hair tickled his chin as she shifted to get comfortable.
Half way into their third movie, a gentle snore sounded rhythmically from her lips. Peter chuckled to himself to find her mouth slightly agape, hair falling across her eyes. Even when she was sleeping, she still managed to look perfect. Before he could stop himself, he gently pressed his lips to her forehead, breathing in the familiar coconut scent from her hair.
Peter’s heart nearly stopped beating as he saw her eyes fluttering open. She sat up and faced him, still groggy and a little embarrassed that she had fallen asleep.
“Was the movie too boring?”
“No. You were just so warm, I fell asleep. Sorry.” She was the one to be flustered this time, deep pink rising to her cheeks. She suddenly realized that she must have been snoring, and she was mortified to know that Peter had caught her like that.
“It’s okay! It was—it was cute.” God, he was so fucking awkward, part of him just wished he didn’t say anything at all.
“Really?”
“Y-yeah, really. You’re always really cute.”
He was so awkward, holy shit.
Still, the awkwardness was enough to make her smile, the smile that always knocked the wind out of him, the smile that he wanted to kiss so, so, so badly.
In the blink of an eye, his lips were finally on hers. It was a quick peck, causing her to gasp a little when she felt his mouth on hers. After finally feeling her lips, it was like the only thing he ever needed to breathe again. Once pulled away for a moment and saw her gaze back on his lips, he leaned in and kissed her again. His hands found the back of her neck, tangling in her hair, and he smiled as he felt giggles erupting from her mouth. He rested her forehead on hers, trying to catch his breath. She exhaled nervously, giggling uncontrollably.
“I’ve been waiting so long for you to finally do it, Parker.”
“Third time’s the charm, I guess.”