"Oh before I forget, here." Tony said. I turned to him and he was handing me a shield. Not just any shield; Steve's shield.
My jaw dropped. "Is that...?" He nodded. "He's letting me borrow it?"
"He said you can't be Captain America without a shield."
I cautiously took the shield in my hand. I felt so powerful.
"Tell Steve I said thanks!" I yelled as Peter and I left.
We walked down the long driveway as the sky was turning a dark blue colour, then headed for our first house. I ran toward the first house and Peter laughed at me, then I waited impatiently on the step for him to catch up and rang the doorbell. I hadn't been trick or treating in years, the people at the orphanage used to bring us kids when we were really little, but they stopped when I turned 6 or 7.
The door opened and Peter and I held out our bags. "Trick or treat!" We said in unison.
"Captain America and Spider-Man, what an honour to have you at my front door!" An older lady smiled at us. She placed a can of Coke and two full size Kit-Kat bars in each of our pillow cases.
"Thank you!" We smiled and turned around. I loved this neighbourhood already, the houses close to the orphanage used to give out one gum-ball per person, this was the gold mine!
The two of us continued on to the next house, which was a big white house surrounded with flowers and garden gnomes. We rang the doorbell which, instead of a regular ding-dong sound, played a cheesy little song instead, then, an old lady answered and smiled at us.
"Trick or treat!" We said once again. This time, the lady, who we learned was named Mabel, gave us double the candy because she told us not many kids were around this part of the neighbourhood, and that she would rather us have it then her husband.
So far, the night was going great, until about half an hour into trick or treating. We did the same routine, except this time, the lady who answered gave us a sour look.
"Aren't you two a little old for this?" She scowled and then looked at her watch. "It's past 10pm."
I frowned up at Peter, were we? I didn't even think about it beforehand, I assumed with myself being 12 that it was socially acceptable to continue trick or treating, but maybe I was wrong.
"I apologize for the late timing ma'am, but my friend here hasn't been trick or treating for a long time, she's only twelve." Peter explained.
"What's your excuse, Spider-Man?" She looked him up and down disgustedly. If she only knew.
Peter sighed, looking down at me. At that point, I think both of us knew we weren't going to get anywhere with this lady. We turned around and headed for the street, and as soon as I heard the door close, I began speed-walking ahead of Peter.
"Victoria, slow down!" But I didn't listen, I just went faster, with my half-filled pillowcase clutched in my fist.
When I'd reached the sidewalk, he finally caught up to me and grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around.
"Is that the only reason you came, because I was a poor little orphan girl for the majority of my life?" I peered up at him.
He removed his mask, his hair messy, and swallowed hard but didn't say anything. I spun around and sat down on the edge of the sidewalk, hiding my face in my hands.
"Ugh, I'm so embarrassed!" I yelled into my palms.
"Victoria, don't be embarrassed. I'm having a lot of fun! That wasn't the reason I came with you tonight. Of course I knew you hadn't been trick or treating in a long time, Tony and I talked. But I also love spending time with you..." Peter sat next to me and placed his hand on my back. "Plus, look at all the candy we got."
I peeked out from my hands, letting out a small giggle which made his smile grow bigger. I could tell Peter really cared about me, and it made my heart swell. Before I could think otherwise, I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his neck. He was shocked at first, but soon put his arms tightly around my body and held me tight as well.
"Thank you." I said.
He pulled away and looked into my eyes. "For what?"
"For caring about me."
I could tell there was something happening between us in that moment, but instead of acting on anything, I just wrapped my arms back around his neck.
We decided, then, to head back home. My legs got tired and Peter offered to piggy-back ride me back to the house, which I gratefully accepted. I ended up falling asleep on his back and only woke up when we got back home and he laid me on the couch.
"Let's pig out!" I yelled, popping up and nearly scaring the crap out of Peter and Tony, who I just noticed was here as well.
"You weren't asleep!" Peter pointed a finger at me.
"I was, but I didn't want to get off when I woke up."
Since it was Sunday night, and our pre-show of Beauty and the Beast was tomorrow, Tony wanted me to go to bed before 11:30. He let Peter and I eat candy and watch a movie until then, but, of course, I ended up falling asleep once again, cuddled closely into Peter's side on the sofa.
...
The next morning, I woke up in my bed. I was disoriented at first since I remembered falling asleep on the couch with Peter, but assumed Peter or Tony must've carried me up here. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and read the time. 8:12am.
I hopped up and began rushing to get ready for school. If I didn't have the pre-show today, I probably would have stayed home due to my massive candy hangover, but I knew I couldn't miss it, and I prayed Tony wouldn't either.
I picked out the first articles of clothing I saw, which just happened to be a pair of black leggings, a Rolling Stones tee-shirt, and my Gucci sneakers. I also wrapped a blue button down shirt around my waist just in case it got cold out. It was November 1st after all.
I finally grabbed my phone off the bed and ripped my door open, running down the hall, the stairs and to the kitchen. On my way out, I grabbed a brown paper bag with my name on it from the counter where Tony usually had them laid out for me, since he was almost always in the workshop before I even got out of bed. I ran down the driveway in just enough time to catch the bus.