Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

19. An Actual Double Date

It started out as a joke, May and Harper wanting to take Caden and Peter out on a double date, but soon Peter realized it wasn't a joke anymore. And, how could he say no to May?

He had to call Caden - with May eyeing him from the kitchen - and invite him to a double date after Valentine's Day. It was really nice of May and Harper, but as his aunt reminded him of the daily countdown, all he could do was flush red in embarrassment.

If he was late to his apartment, that meant he'd be late getting ready which meant May would freak about missing their reservation at some fancy steakhouse that was a half hour drive. Peter couldn't afford to mess up any scheduling, so he raced off of the subway and into his apartment, his backpack thumping against his back down the hallway.

"Please don't wear the purple dress," Peter begged May as he saw her getting ready in her room, "we all know what it means now."

May's head snapped around, and Peter could see a faint blush on her cheeks. She let out a breathy laugh, a smile growing on her lips. "I have other things to embarrass you with, don't worry, Peter."

"Oh, believe me," Peter breathed out, a small grin on his lips, "I know."

"Caden and Harper will be here in a few hours, so get everything you need done out of the way... it'll be nice to see you not so uptight." May gave him a smile from her view as she looked in her mirror. "Caden's changed you. Made you looser."

"Oh, don't say that," Peter mumbled, his cheeks burning red. He raced into his room, closing the door with a slam.

Peter puffed out his cheeks, letting out a long sigh. He shook his head at May's comment, a smile growing on his lips. He took off his backpack, throwing it deep into the back of his closet on top of discarded Lego boxes and childhood projects from school.

Hanging on the top of his closet door was his freshly ironed red dress shirt and a pair of gray pants. He smiled to himself as the memory of getting his first suit came to mind.

-

"Hey, Lion, what about this one?" Ben knocked on the dressing room door, a stupid smile on his face - the one uncles use to laugh to their wives without actually laughing.

He held a bright red suit, a dark blue shirt underneath the red, and neon blue shoes to match its striking tie. As hoped, Peter opened the door and immediately tried to close it after glancing in the suit's direction with an eye roll.

"That's so bad," he laughed out, leaning out of the small room to see if May was witnessing the moment.

She watched with a smile and flipped through suits and mismatched pants and shirts on a rack near the dressing room exit. "Do you know what color scheme MJ is going for, honey?"

Peter gulped, turning to the mirror to self consciously run his hands through his recently cut hair. He turned to see Ben watching him with furrowed brows, his heart beat racing in his chest.

"Uh, n-no," he finally answered, licking his dry lips. He glanced at May, shaking his head rapidly. "No, I mean... c'mon, May. It's MJ we're talking about, do you really think she's gonna have a color scheme at her bat mitzvah?"

May hummed softly, finally nodding after close consideration of the question. "I guess you're right. I wish she had though... it would be so much easier to pick out a suit for you."

That would've been the part where just a month ago, Ben would suggest to May about looking in the dress aisle, knowing there were way more options. Peter overheard that conversation a month earlier, and he almost came out to them right there. He needed this suit. It was his only hope.