BROOKE WAS WEARING NED'S SWEATSHIRT. He had given it to her when she had gotten to school, the boy practically throwing it at her, and refusing to give her an answer as to why he wanted her to wear it. Liz had given her a few, rather uncomfortable theories, but the two decided that Ned was much too naive and soft spirited to be possessive, especially since he was too scared to kiss her half the time.
"It's so big on you, that's so cute," Betty Brant cooed, because Liz had dragged her sister to sit with them during lunch, because she felt bad that Brooke had to sit with River during break, since Ned was retaking quizzes during break and lunch.
Brooke smiled as she glanced down at the jacket that was drowning her, looking at the slightly too long sleeves that she had to pull up to show her hands, and she couldn't help but laugh at the fact it was themed after the second Robin from Batman.
"Liz won't tell us why she's going to Homecoming with a sophomore, could you tell us?" one of Liz's other friends asked, and Brooke paused, unsure of how to reply.
She glanced towards her sister who, upon first glance, didn't seem too fazed by the question, simply continuing to eat her apples, texting on her phone, most likely talking about Homecoming which was the next day, and it was a surprise the girl was even eating lunch with them at all.
But upon closer inspection, Liz had frozen up, trying to seem nonchalant as she ate, but was clearly on edge, her movements too rigid despite wanting to be uncaring, her shoulders closer to her ears and her whole body turned in on herself.
"Peter's had a crush on Liz forever, and he's a really shy guy, so, you know, wouldn't you wanna be nice and just agree to go with him? He's not the worst date ever, he's a sweet guy," Brooke explained, and she saw Liz relax, taking a sip of her juice, looking relieved.
Betty didn't seem as convinced as her other friends, glancing over to Liz who caught her eye, the two holding it for a moment before going back to eating, turning their attention back to Brooke who averted her gaze, going back to eating herself.
She wished she had a relationship like Betty and Liz did. It seemed nice.
"Are you going to Homecoming?" the junior asked, and she shrugged, pressing the sweatshirt sleeve to her mouth in thought, resting it against her cheek.
"I don't think so, I don't have a dress or anything," she admitted, and the girls all gaped at her with varying degrees or shock and appall.
"Ned hasn't asked you?" Betty demanded, and Brooke shrugged, shaking her head as she glanced to her lap.
Truthfully, she hadn't thought much about it, especially since she and Ned had started dating two days prior, she wasn't thinking too much about Homecoming or anything other than actually doing the dating thing correctly. Neither of them knew much about it, but they could try.
"We're going on our first date today, we didn't really think about a school dance," she explained, not looking at any of them, which meant she didn't see the way Liz motioned for her friends to ease up and leave her alone.
"That'll be fun," Liz tried, giving her an encouraging smile, and Brooke tried to give her one back, burrowing deeper into Ned's sweatshirt, glancing at the clock on the wall.
Maybe it would.
º º º
Ned was wearing a suit.
Brooke was walking out of the bathroom where she had changed out of her ripped jeans and comfortable loose shirt she had gotten from Target into some of Liz's clothes, a thin sweater with a short skirt and thigh high socks. They were comfortable clothes, but she wasn't sure how she felt about wearing them herself.
But it was a date, and she wanted to look nice.
She held Ned's sweatshirt in her hands as she looked for him, debating on whether she wanted to stuff it in her bag or just keep it in her hands. She opted on the latter, which was fortunate for her, as she was going to need something to hold onto when she caught sight of Ned waiting for her at the bottom of the steps.
The boy was wearing the same hat he had worn on the day they first met—while it could have been symbolic, it was most likely because it gave him confidence, as he always mentioned—and a black suit with a flower in the pocket and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. There were some people looking over at him, whispering and staring, but he didn't seem to mind, smiling nervously at her.
It could never be said that Ned Leeds didn't try his best.
"Hi," he greeted once she remembered that she was the one he was waiting for and had functioning legs to get herself to him, hugging his sweatshirt to her chest, her face red.
"Hi," she whispered, glancing down at her hands, then at his, "Do you want your sweatshirt back?"
"Oh, uh..." he began, trying to shrug off his bag which seemed to have things inside, so she grabbed his hand, shaking her head.
"I can hold it, I'll wear it if it gets super cold," she reasoned, glancing around at some people who were taking pictures, giving them a dirty look, some blanching when they realized that 'Oh God, that's Liz's sister.'
Sometimes, having a popular sister had its perks.
"Where are we going?" she asked, glancing towards the bouquet which he still held in his hands, the boy handing it over to her as he pulled out his wallet.
She watched as he checked inside, as if to make sure that all his money was still there, before saying, "We're going to l'Arlequin."
She couldn't help the way her jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she stared at him. l'Arlequin was the most luxurious and high end restaurants in Manhattan. Located right across from Central Park, it was where the likes of Tony Stark and Norman Osborn frequented. The likes of those not part of the social elite could frequent there, but it was only ever for large events, like wedding proposals or celebrations.
"You're joking," she scoffed, and Ned immediately began to panic, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I mean, if you don't want to go—" he tried, but she shushed him, shaking her head.
"No, I want to, I'm just surprised that you even—I mean, that place is really expen—I'm just really surprised, Ned," she finally finished, because she didn't know his financial situation, nor did she even know why he wanted to do this in the first place, and the last thing she wanted was to seem ungrateful.
Ned simply shrugged, motioning down the street. "So, uh...do you want to go?"
Brooke could only nod. "Yeah. Sure."
º º º
They didn't wind up eating at l'Arlequin. The two had arrived in the middle of a harrowing debate on whether or not their English teacher kept a dungeon at the bottom of the school, their conversation coming to an abrupt stop once they stepped through the large glass doors, as if the power of the restaurant had forced them into a reverent silence.
It was still early and the restaurant actually wasn't serving anyone just yet, as it opened at eleven and closed at two for brunch and lunch, then closed until six for dinner. They did open two hours prior to actually serving so people could make last minute reservations in person, as they didn't adjust or make reservations in person over the phone. It was a very intense ordeal.
They stood in line, and Brooke felt incredibly self-conscious as she looked around at the people waiting to also make reservations. They weren't dressed incredibly nice, but much nicer than she was, and they were all adults, casting her bemused glances before turning their attention back to other things.
She glanced to her right, relaxing when she caught sight of someone dressed as casually as her leaned against the wall, seemingly unfazed by the aura of the restaurant. To her surprise, it was Phillip Prince, the boy's backpack slung over his shoulder. They didn't talk much, though they were partners in their English class for their project that would start in two weeks.
"Hey, Phillip," she called, unable to help herself, her heart pounding as he looked towards her, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Hey, Brooke, what're you doing here?" he asked, trailing off when he caught sight of Ned in his suit, fiddling with his wallet, "You're making a reservation? You know, you might just get one tonight, Fridays are a hit or miss sometimes, some people like Saturdays more."
"Thanks," she said softly, glancing over to Ned who was watching them, looking unsure whether to speak, "Ned, this is Phillip, he's my English partner."
"Hi," Ned greeted, and Phillip held out his hand, giving him a pretty smile, and that only seemed to intimidate Ned more.
"What are you doing here?" Brooke asked, hating the way Ned seemed to power down, Phillip unfortunately oblivious to the power he held in comparison to the boy.
"My mom works here, I'm just waiting for her to sign some papers, then I'm out of here. My mom set me up with the son of her friend's. Let's hope he takes me someplace as nice as this," he said, giving Ned an appreciative nod, and the younger boy seemed to shine underneath the praise, flushing.
A waiter approached them, holding Phillip's papers, and the boy gladly took them, saying goodbye to the two before hightailing it out of the restaurant, running a hand through his growing hair.
"He seems nice," Ned said, sounding almost sad, and Brooke pressed a kiss to his cheek, because she knew he was self-concious and the tall, pale, and skinny Phillip Prince didn't do much to help.
"He is nice. And so are you. Just because he's rich and isn't afraid of this place doesn't mean he's better than you, especially in my eyes," she said, and he blushed, ducking his head as he nodded in understanding.
As the two drew closer to the front of the line, they began to fidget. Brooke began to play with the hem of her skirt, wishing she had gotten something nicer, debating on whether she wanted to call Liz and ask her to bring her a nice dress. Ned began to fiddle with his hat that he had taken off when they stepped inside, fiddling with his suit jacket.
Just as the person began to finish adjusting their reservation, Ned asked, "Be honest, do you want to eat here?"
Brooke sighed, shaking her head, "Not really, no."
"Great, me neither, let's get some burgers," he said, grabbing her hand and tugging her out of line, rushing out of the restaurant and out onto the sidewalk.
Ned groaned, pulling his hat back onto his head. "I should've worn this inside," he muttered to himself before raising his voice and addressing her. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," she said, breathing deeply at the chilly Manhattan afternoon, "Honestly, I don't really...I mean, I don't know much about dating, but I don't really want to go to a fancy restaurant. At least not now..."
"That's okay!" he said, nodding earnestly, "I mean, I don't know about dating either, and I looked up good ideas, but I didn't know if I was supposed to do something different, because I wanted it to be good, you know?"
"It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive to be good," she said softly, tilting her head, "Like, I love Midtown, but my parents don't realize that I could be just as happy and successful at a public school. It all depends on who I'm with and the experience I have."
"What do you mean?" he asked, giving her the same confused look that made her smile just as much as his usual dopey smile did.
She leaned forward and kissed him softly, praising herself for putting on chapstick all through the day, barely having to stand on her toes to reach him. "I don't need a fancy restaurant to have fun, I just need to have you."
º º º
Brooke glanced underneath the table, glad to see her sneakers resting next to Ned's sneakers. The boy had changed in the bathroom of the burger joint in SoHo that Ned had asked Peter about, the boy replying that it wasn't Five Guys, but it was pretty good.
"...if I had a girlfriend, I'd take her there," Peter added just as Ned hung up, and the two had blanched at his comment.
The two were seated in the ground level half, seated in a booth in the corner, sipping on large milkshakes. The restaurant was known for their milkshakes, and their burgers were a lot to write home about.
"I'm so glad we didn't go to l'Arlequin," Brooke said, taking a long sip of her milkshake, and Ned nodded in agreement, taking a bite of his burger.
"Honestly," he said, ducking his head, "I didn't even really had that much money for it, I was planning on just thinking on the fly if I didn't get to pay for everything."
She choked, coughing as she stared at him, shaking her head. "What were you thinking, Ned, do you know how much trouble we could've got in?"
"I saw online that I could've washed dishes that night to pay it off," he said, and she laughed, trying to cover her mouth as she fell into her booth, not caring that some people were looking over, because she couldn't believe that she was dating him.
"Ned," she said, shaking her head, "What were you thinking?"
"I just wanted to be a good boyfriend, that's all," he said, ducking his head, "I don't know about this dating thing, I had to Google a lot of stuff."
She nudged his foot with her own under the table. "You're a pretty great boyfriend already. I don't think we have to really do anything different."
Ned licked his lips and nodded. That was the thing about him, he wanted to be liked without changing himself, but he was more than willing to go above and beyond to make sure that they did. It sounded exhausting to Brooke and she liked him just well enough on his own, but there wasn't much to change his mind now.
So she just had to stick with him until he figured it out.
"Hey," she said softly, glancing down to his sweatshirt which she had put back on—she had overheard him whispering to Peter on the phone about how excited he was that the sweatshirt would smell like her now, and she tried to pretend she hadn't heard and that it hadn't make her smile—"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," he said, and she found that she wasn't even nervous to ask him.
She took a sip of her milkshake before asking, "Do you want to go to Homecoming with me?"
His smile was breathtaking. It was wide and brilliant and and beautiful and it was something she could stare at even though it was blinding. It radiated joy and it was just a bigger version of the smile he always gave her, but it was still just as amazing as she knew it would be.
He raised his milkshake to her and she smiled, tapping hers against it, grinning just as widely as he replied. "Brooke Margaret Allan? I would love to."
Brooke giggled, grinning around her straw as they each took a sip, still looking at each other. It looked like she was going with Ned to Homecoming.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
( 08.24.18 )
I hope this was alright, I don't know how to feel about it, but I'm fairly proud.
This was their first date and I wanted it to be different than Peter and Diana's. Those two were more friends when Peter was Spider-Man, so it was a lot more different for Ned and Brooke. They get along better when they're just being friends and it's just a very different animal for the two of them and their personalities, so yeah...
Also yeah Phillip was partners with Brooke in English, the same class where Aurora and Peter were partners. For those who don't know, those are the characters in my platonic Peter fic 'Sleeping Beauty' and there's gonna be a platonic Ned fic that's already published called Little Mermaid.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!