I'm laying down my cards.

IV.

Days had passed since Elly took Peter home, and not once did their plans not cross her mind. She knew he was still a kid, and though she was technically was too, she was just excited to have more genuine social contact from someone closer to her age. Granted, he was still a "person of power" being a potential recruit of the Avengers, but he was entirely different from the rest of the team. Being younger made him seem so much more earnest and humble. The day had finally come and despite it being a Saturday and Elly having the day off, she threw herself into her work to keep herself busy. Majority of her morning was spent developing different functions of his web shooters for his suit. Another good portion was spent on developing his artificial intelligence assistant, but it proved to be a challenge. Both her and her father's assistants had been personally created to cater to their master's needs and, as excited as she was to be seeing him later tonight, she didn't know very much about Peter. From what she gathered so far, he was just overly excited to be an Avenger, but he wasn't quite there yet. She decided it would be beset to hold off on the personal touches until she got to know him better. It was relatively early on in the afternoon, being that it was only one o'clock. Regardless, Elly figured it would be a good idea to start getting ready know.

She was definitely a very punctual person, even if it meant she had to start pampering herself pretty early. So in her luxurious jet soaker bathtub she sat, the pressure working out knots in her lower back. Her favorite part about her bathroom, or her entire room even, was that she could swim in her bathtub. And she always did if she wasn't rushing in the shower to get ready for the day. It wasn't until after she had become shriveled like a prune that she decided to get out of her tub, which had been enough to kill another hour. Adorning a fluffy white bathrobe, Elly wrapped her hair in a towel turban before exiting to her room to sit at her vanity. As she sat and stared at herself in the mirror, she was unsure of how to go about how to doll up for the day. They were just hanging out...right? He seemed so nervous to even ask her but maybe he was just shy. She wasn't even sure if she should be getting ready at all. They were just hanging out. That didn't require make up and anything more than jeans and a tee shirt, right? Still, come internal feeling in her gut made her believe this was more than a casual get together but she almost refused to believe it. She shouldn't even want it to be more than something casual—she was moving onto college while he was going into sophomore year of high school. He was also freaking Spider-Man for fucks sake. But the memory of her and Peter singing and dancing in the car—or rather her and Peter recording her—warmed her heart. She had fun and enjoyed his company, and she wanted to chase that feeling again. Elly wanted to stop feeling so alone.

After settling on faux natural make up, ripped dark wash jeans, and a long sleeve crop top, Elly laced up her white Doc Martens before heading up to the lab to grab her car keys from her dad. "Oh, you're going out?" Tony asked, much to his surprise. He always held onto her keys, and all of the household car keys for that matter, as a way to check in with his daughter and to make sure he knew when she was absent from the Tower.

"Yeah, Peter asked me to hang out."

"Parker did? The same cheeky little kid that's been coming here for training? Do I need to have a talk with him?" Elly rolled her eyes.

"No, dad. We're just hanging out."

"There better not be anything hanging out!" She groaned, not needing her dad to go into over protective mode. Hearing him do so only made her anxiety rise again as she couldn't stop herself from thinking that this was potentially something more. "I'm having a talk with him." Tony said firmly.

"Cool, whatever. Can I please have my car keys?" He sighed in response before reluctantly handing them over. "Thanks, dad. Love you."

"Love you too, princess. Be careful!" She ignored the double meaning before taking the elevator down to the garage and made her way to Queens. Traffic wasn't as bad as it had been earlier in the week, with it being the weekend. It was still over thirty minutes, but Elly had made it in under an hour and was only a couple minutes past six. She buzzed the Parker apartment and was immediately let in through both doors by May who hugged her in greeting.

"Peter! Your girlfriend is here!" She called out. He immediately burst out of his room, ready to protest against his aunt's statement but the minute he saw Elly standing there, his words failed him.

"Uh, h-hi." Aunt May was shoving a small basket in his hands, gushing to him about how lovely the teenage Stark looked and a few other things that Elly couldn't quite hear. "I got it, May." He grumbled, taking the basket before choking back his nerves. "You look great, Elly. Ready to go?" Peter's last words came out rather quick.

"Yep! What's the plan, Stan?" The two said goodbye to May while he was carrying the picnic basket in one hand while his other brushed the small of her exposed back.

"It's a surprise." He replied cheekily as they walked the streets of Queens. They were close enough that with every step, they walked in sync with his just barely touching hers.

"Really? I mean a picnic basket is kind of a dead giveaway." Elly teased, now purposely brushing along his hand. Peter indulged in her banter as they arrived to quiet park with a creek on the outskirts of Queens. Opening the basket, he pulled out a large blanket and laid it out for the two to sit on and began pulling out a spread of food that he had prepared earlier in the day. Along with those, he pulled out candles, hoping the wind wouldn't blow out their flames.

"I-I know it's nothing fancy, but I wanted to keep today simple. I'm a pretty simple person." Peter said, offering her a soda. She opened the bottle and took a swig of her drink.

"Simple, says a web slinging superhero." The two laughed together in harmony before digging into their plates. Sandwiches, pasta and potato salad; Peter wasn't joking when he said nothing fancy. Elly was relieved that it wasn't some form of a grandiose dinner date that she was accustomed to; that she had grown so bored of over the years. She didn't need to try to be done up or super polite or talk about how excited she was to be attending Empire State in the fall. Nothing more than a jeans and a tee kind of affair, she thought to herself, remind herself of the nerves she had earlier. "So how exactly did...you happen?" Elly asked, swallowing down her bite. "I mean, I read the file that dad has on you probably close to a million times, but I'm sure there's more to the store than just being bitten by a radioactive spider."

"Well, that is what happened. And I mentioned needing something to cover my eyes, right?" She nodded before Peter took a small bite as he pulled out his phone, briskly typing something in. He showed her an image of a generic color hex code palette. "So you see all these colors on here?" By now he was leaning into Elly, their shoulders and arms touching as they looked at the phone screen together. She nodded in response. "I can see every pixel that is creating each color on this spectrum. I just woke up and saw everything, it felt like I could do anything. But then I found out I could climb walls after Flash threw me against one and I got stuck to it."

"Holy shit, that sounds like a headache." Again, they laughed together, Elly subconsciously leaning further into Peter. As their chuckles died down, the gears in his mind began rapidly turning as he contemplated crossing the imaginary boundary line yet again. He had already crossed it once, and it got them to this very spot. He figured it was worth taking a risk.

"It is, but sometimes I love being able to see everything. Like when I look at you," Peter was staring straight into her eyes as he said this. "I can see a tint of green, amber, and gold in your eyes instead of just blue. It's a really pretty combination." Elly looked away bashfully, attempting to hide the faint blush creeping up on her cheeks. For the first time in probably a long time, she was at a loss for words. Being the daughter of Tony Stark had molded her to be quick witted and always have a reply at the ready, but not this time. When she said nothing, fear began to make Peter's heart race—did he go too far? "I-I-I'm sorry, that sounded really stupid. Forget I said anything." It was his turn to look away and, in doing so, he pulled away from their barely there contact.

"No, it wasn't stupid." Elly's voice was quiet. "I'm just not used to compliments. I'm not even used to being acknowledged. Dad's always in the spotlight, while mom and I hide in the shadows." Peter looked at her, one of his hand resting delicately over top one of hers. He gave her a reassuring squeeze to let her know that he was listening. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to unload my personal family drama."

"Hey, I don't mind. Really. You, um..." His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, treading carefully on how to phrase his next sentence. "You said you lost your best friend, and that you don't really have any other friends. I just wanted you to know that if you ever need to vent about your parents, I'm here to listen." He hoped that didn't sound as condescending as he thought it did. When Elly rested her head on his shoulder with their bodies pressing side by side, he felt reassured.

"She suffocated." Her voice came out as a whisper after a long pause. "S-she did, um...some not so good things. A lot." Elly's voice was so soft that if it weren't for Peter's heightened sense, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to hear her.

"She was constantly huffing keyboard duster. Her autopsy report said it ended up crystallizing her lungs, and she suffocated." Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she recalled the day she lost her best friend. "She was an idiot and I kept telling her to stop but goddamn it, nobody ever made me feel as normal as she did." Peter's body reacted before he could process that his arms wrapped around her frame as she cried silent volumes. He no longer cared if he was overstepping his boundaries—this was a pain he knew all too well. The loss of a loved one was something that could never be truly eased and over time, he learned that the only thing that dulled the hurt was having someone to share the weight of the burden.

"I was only ten." Peter started off quietly. "I was at school and stayed late for band practice. Aunt May was picking me up from school, and someone broke into our house to rob us, they ended up shooting my uncle Ben. He was the closest thing I had to a father, a-and if May didn't pick me up from s-school that day..." He couldn't finish his sentence, hanging his head in shame as he sobbed.

"But if May had been there, they could have gotten her too."

"But she also might have been able to call the police a little bit sooner to stop them!" The volume of his voice shocked Elly. She moved away slightly in retaliation, but held onto his hand that was supporting him as she sat.

"We can't dwell on those 'what ifs'." Elly choked back tears she felt forming in her throat so she could speak. "My mom told me that when Rebecca died, the more I dwell on what I could have done to save her, the more I disturb her rest. And at first, I didn't believe her since obviously my dad and myself are people of science and logic. But I always had dreams of seeing Rebecca in a meadow and she would always tell me she wasn't sick anymore and she finally found her peace and that I needed to stop worrying." Peter's arms wrapped around the Stark daughter once again, the both of them crying as they bared their raw souls. "So when I stopped thinking I needed to save her, the dreams stopped. My mom was right, or at least that's what I believe." The two sat in silence, the aching in their hearts speaking volumes for them. Neither of their minds were on the fact that he was holding her or her arms were gripping his.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin our...date." Elly said quietly. Peter only squeezed her just a little bit tighter.

"D-date, yeah." He said awkwardly, making her think she may have overstepped her boundary. "Our date isn't ruined. I'm happy you shared that with me." He declared. From behind her, he wiped away the streaks her tears left on her cheeks as well as the bits and pieces of mascara that had run down all as he held her. The sun was setting on them as they embraced in silence. "We should get going, it's getting dark." Peter helped Elly to her feet and began packing up the picnic set up. When he finished, he held a hand out for her, which she took with hesitation.

"So, you said you'd have the whole day planned, what else did you have in mind?" He simply grinned as their fingers laced before leading her down the streets of Queens once again. When he said nothing, Elly figured this would be another surprise. Peter stopped once the two of them ended up outside of a retro arcade, waving to the doorman as they entered. The doorman greeted him by name. It didn't really surprise Elly that an arcade would be on the agenda, but she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips. This was so much better than a fancy dinner date. She pulled away from him, gravitating to a classic Street Fighter arcade machine. "Do you want me to embarrass you or go easy?" She teased. Peter pulled his wallet out and put a couple of dollars in to start playing.

"Oh, you are going down." The two were overtaken with intense concentration. As the two battled on screen, they were tilting and shaking the machine all around, with Elly nudging him occasionally to throw off his movements. "Hey, no cheating!" Peter yelled out, trying to defend his hands from her.

"I don't need to cheat to beat you!" She retorted playfully as her player delivered a final blow. After their match, the two moved from various machines, ending their night at one of the open billiards tables. It was another game Peter couldn't win at.

"You know, when I planned all of this, I didn't think you'd beat me at everything." He pouted as Elly sank the eight ball again.

"You shouldn't underestimate me, Parker. I have too much free time on my hands." She teased. It was beginning to get late, so Elly suggested they should be getting home to avoid breaking curfew. "I had a ton of fun today, Peter." She said, holding his hand that he held out loosely intertwined fingers. "We should do this again sometime."

"R-really?" Unintentionally, he squeezed her hand ever so slightly. "I-I mean, yeah for sure." Elly let out a small bubble of laughter, stopping in her tracks as they arrived to the Parker residence. Their hands were still laced together as they faced each other. Anxiety filled Peter as he came to understand that he didn't want this night to end. What if she never wanted to see him ever again and she was just being polite? How was he supposed to arrange this again if the only place they saw each other was at work? Elly could see him getting lost in thought. His lips always pursed into a thin, hard line and his brows furrowed ever so slightly when his mind took over, she observed.

"Call me when you got a plan in mind?" She offered, holding out her phone with a blank contact form for Peter to put his number in. He grinned a bit when he noticed she had his name put in as Spider-Boy with a little spider emoji after it. After he saved it, Elly called his phone. "Now you have my number. I'll be seeing you, Peter Parker." Before he could process her goodbye, she kissed his lips very hastily, turning away to get into her car and left him utterly dumbfounded.

Author Note: Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.