Irondad and Spiderson

How Do You Do This Whole Dating Thing?

    “You have a date?” She exclaims. “Peter, that’s fantastic!”

    “I’m really excited.” He laughs, scratching the back of his neck. He can feel his face going red, but Pepper doesn’t seem to notice.    

    “So, who’s the lucky person?” She winks at him. Peter grins shyly. “Well, MJ asked me out earlier today, and I said yes.”

    “MJ?” Pepper cried. Peter realized, with a small laugh, that Pepper was even more excited about this then he was.

    “So, I know that you’re probably better at this than Tony is…” Peter says awkwardly. Pepper grins proudly down at him. “Do you want me to help you get ready?”

    “Yes!” Peter gasps thankfully. He didn’t know if he was ever going to actually say the words to ask.

    “So, when is the date?”

    “We’re going to have dinner and see a movie on Friday.”

    “Well, today is…” Pepper ruffles through some papers, reading the date on one, and finishes, “Wednesday. That doesn’t give us a ton of time.” She thinks for a moment.

    “What are you supposed to wear on a date?” Peter says worriedly. Maybe this is a much bigger deal than he originally thought. It’s concerning that he originally thought that it was a huge deal.

    “Oh, something nice.” Pepper waves it away. “Tell you what, let’s go shopping right now. Do you have a lot of homework?”

    “Uh, no.” Peter says, taken aback. Pepper can’t be dropping everything to take him shopping for his date, right?

    “Good!” She says, standing up from her chair and heading for the door. “I’m dying to get out of this office anyways. Let’s go!”

    Ten minutes later, Pepper and Peter are driving together to go to the mall. Peter bounces in his seat happily, answering Pepper’s barrage of questions about MJ and his date.

    “So, how did she ask you?” Pepper grins. It seems that she hasn’t stopped smiling since Peter had told her about the date.

    “Well, she kinda just walked up to me and like… demanded that we were going out on Friday. She said, ‘Alright, Parker. Movie and dinner on Friday. Sound good?’ and then I gave a confused response saying yes, and then she pretty much said, ‘Great, then it’s a date’.” Peter smiles happily at the memory.

    “Peter, that is so sweet.” Pepper says. “I’m so psyched for you!”

    “I’m pretty excited too.” He beams. A second later, they pull into a parking spot at the mall, and they head into the first store.

    “Go crazy, kid.” Pepper smiles, standing and staring at Peter.

    “I… Uh,” He looks at the ground then up at Pepper, hoping he won’t have to say what he’s thinking.

    “It’s alright, we’ll look together.” She lightly grabs his arm and directs him to the teenage boys’ clothing section. They browse for a few minutes, before deciding that all the stuff in the store was too casual. They head out the large door, and into the large walking area of the mall.

    A memory surfaces to the top of Peter’s brain suddenly, of him and Aunt May walking through the mall laughing at a cheesy joke he had told. He doesn’t know why the memory sticks out so easily in his mind, but it sends a wave of pain into his heart. The same pang that he always feels whenever he remembers a memory with May.