It was a beautiful fall afternoon. Not too hot, not too cold, when the leaves were still mostly attached to their branches, but almost fully turned to their stunning shades of orange and red in preparation for their annual drop. It was the perfect day to sit outside in a comfy sweater, drinking a pumpkin spice latte, and enjoying the fresh air before the biting cold would send them inside. However, instead of doing any of that, Sylvie found herself in a crowded mall dress shopping for the Homecoming dance that would take place the following Friday.

At least Wanda and Nat were there with her. Even though the other two girls had never hung out together before, they seemed to be getting along pretty well, and Sylvie hoped over time they'd help bridge the gap between her two friend groups. Which was such a new problem for her that it still caused a grin every time she thought about it.

They'd been to four different stores so far, none of which had had the perfect gowns. Sure, they'd found pretty ones, but they'd been too plain, too gaudy, too long, too short, too expensive, out of their size, or Nat knew someone else had already bought that one and they absolutely could not wear the same dress as someone else! It was absolutely essential that the fifth store have perfect dresses for all of them because it was the last store in the mall that had any stuff for Homecoming at all.

"Shit, is that it?" Natasha asked when they saw the measly rack labeled 'Homecoming Dresses!' next to the clearance section.

"Maybe there will still be something," Wanda said, clearly trying to be positive even if she herself didn't seem convinced.

Unfortunately, their initial impression had been correct, and there wasn't even a single dress worth any of them bothering to try on.

"Well shit," Sylvie sighed. "What now?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Wanda answered. "Come on, I know where we can go."

The three girls stopped for coffee on the way out of the mall and back to Wanda's car, so at least Sylvie got to enjoy the weather and her pumpkin spice on the long drive to wherever Wanda was taking them with the windows rolled down and music blasting from the speakers. A few places already had their Halloween decorations up, and Sylvie wondered if maybe she should start thinking about a costume. She'd never dressed up for Halloween before, but this year nothing was stopping her. Maybe she'd even have something to do that night, like a Halloween party or maybe some friends wouldn't mind going Trick or Treating with her? Even if they were a little old for it.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked after a solid 40 minutes of driving.

"You'll see," Wanda answered with a grin. Something told Sylvie this wasn't such a 'desperate measure' after all.

Sylvie opened her to-go coffee cup for the second time, irrationally hoping she'd somehow missed a last swig of deliciousness despite her previous check, and sighed in defeat when she was forced to admit a miracle hadn't happened after all. She sat it in the cup holder and glanced back at Nat. "Who are you going with anyway? I'm guessing Peggy wasn't an option."

"Unfortunately not," Nat answered, giving a dramatic sigh. "But I'm going with Clint. I don't know if you know him, he's in track."

"Oh, I think I have fourth hour with him. He's cute," Sylvie nodded in approval.

Nat nodded. "He is. We were best friends in Kindergarten, but haven't hung out much recently, it'll be nice."

"So is it like a date, or just a going-as-friends thing?" Wanda asked.

"I don't know," Nat admitted. "I don't think he meant it as a date, but I also wouldn't mind if it was? I guess we'll just see what happens and whatever it is will be fine."

"That's good," Sylvie said, "no pressure that way."

"True. What about you, excited to go with Val?" Nat grinned, saying the name pointedly.

Sylvie found herself blushing slightly, but looked out the window to try to hide it. "Well yeah, you know I've had a thing for her!"

"I mean, not gonna lie, I was a little surprised you just dumped your boyfriend for her. But then again, it was Loki of all people. What was with that?" Nat asked.

"Hey, Loki's a good guy once you get to know him," Wanda defended right away.

Nat put her hands up. "Not saying he isn't, I just thought it was weird that him and Sylvie got together. I mean, was it, like, a rebound?" she asked Sylvie.

"Yeah, I think so," Sylvie nodded. That was an easier explanation than the truth. No, Nat. I just thought it would be a great idea to fake date him to make Val jealous, apparently it worked! Yeah, like a weirdo.

"How'd Loki take it anyway?" Nat asked Wanda. "He seemed to really like her."

"He took it fine," Sylvie answered instead. "We weren't really working out anyway, and I think he knew that."

But both Nat and Sylvie saw Wanda's look reflected in the rear view mirror. "...right?" Sylvie asked her.

"Well…" Wanda trailed off, looking between Sylvie and Nat through the same mirror.

"Right?" Sylvie asked again. There was no way Loki was actually into her, he couldn't be! But then again…She thought back to that kiss in her driveway. How right it had felt. How he hadn't had any reason to kiss her back, they weren't in front of anyone, they didn't have to pretend to be together in that moment, but he had. What if all those little romantic gestures hadn't been just part of the show after all? Was that why Vis had suggested the ploy, to try to hook them up?

Did Sylvie…want him to be into her?

Finally, Wanda pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall, with one huge store as its crown jewel in the center. "We're here!" she announced a little louder than necessary, desperately trying to change the subject. Sylvie let her, she didn't want to think about the prospect of Loki having real feelings for her anymore.

"A thrift store?" Nat asked, not seeming thrilled about the idea.

"A damn good thrift store," Wanda grinned. "It's seriously the best place to buy prom dresses. People usually only wear them once anyway, and this thrift store is far enough away that we won't have to worry about accidentally buying a dress someone else from school wore last year. Besides, this is a ritzy neighborhood, I bet they'll even have some designer stuff."

"Then why didn't we go here in the first place?" Sylvie grinned. "I love thrift stores."

"I've never been to one," Nat admitted, but seemed at least curious now.

"You'll love it," Sylvie assured her. Especially if it was a good one, and she trusted Wanda's judgment on that. Though she didn't have to just trust for long because when they walked through the doors, Sylvie knew that this wasn't just a good thrift store, this was the best thrift store she'd ever seen.

First of all, it was huge, at least the size of a Walmart, maybe bigger, with racks and racks of clothes as far as the eye could see. Sure, it had that typical thrift store smell, but the floor was spotless, and every section was labeled with a large sign in perfect condition hanging from the ceiling. Just from a quick glance she could pick out a few designer items, including a Gucci sweatshirt and a Louis Vouton tank top hanging on the closest rack. "Woah," she grinned, looking around. "Okay, next time we're skipping the mall and just grabbing coffee on the way."

"Let's actually find some dresses first, before we decide that," Nat pointed out as she looked around the space with an uncertainty in her expression.

"Come on, the dresses are this way," Wanda said as she started off through the aisles. Several things caught Sylvie's eye as they made their way towards the back corner of the store. She mentally noted to come back to them because Wanda was on a mission at the moment and Sylvie didn't want to pause to browse and lose her. The three girls finally got to the last row of clothing in the back to find an astonishing amount of fancy dresses hanging on racks that were packed to overflowing. There were at least seven times as many dresses than at the last store in the mall, maybe more dresses than were still left at the mall total. "Ta-da!" Wanda grinned as she held her arms out towards the long row of gowns.

"I think we might have a chance," Sylvie grinned.

Wednesday morning, Loki was finally able to catch Nebula alone, sitting at one of the tables in the library reading a large book about robotics with all kinds of diagrams Loki couldn't hope to begin to understand on the cover. He slid into the seat across from her, and cleared his throat softly to get her attention. Nebula took her sweet time finishing the paragraph she was reading and lowering the book to let her eyes slowly wander up to him. "Yes?" she asked, not seeming particularly happy to see him, or to have her reading interrupted.

"I need your hel-"

"No," she cut him off, lifting her book so it was a barrier between them once again.

"I need your help ruining Peter Quill's life," Loki tried again.

Nebula lowered the book again. "Go on."

"All I need is an invitation to your place when he and Gamora will be there, and for you not to let anyone know about this little plan of mine," he gave his most charming grin.

"What is this little plan of yours, exactly?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I can't tell you that," he answered.

"Which means I won't like it."

"You'll like the outcome," Loki assured her. "Isn't that enough?"

Nebula frowned as she thought it over. "What's in it for me?" she asked after a significant pause.

"I know you're failing home ec., I'll bake a pie while I'm over and you can take the extra credit points," he answered.

"Not good enough," she answered in a flat voice.

"Then what is it you want?"

"The pie will be payment for the invitation, but in exchange for my silence–and for me to not ask any questions–I want you to take me to homecoming," Nebula answered.

Of all things, Loki thought he would have been less shocked if she'd opened her mouth only for a swarm of moths to fly out and eat him alive. "Why, exactly, do you want that?"

"Don't take it wrong," Nebula rolled her eyes. "I don't like you or anything, but I don't want to deal with daddy's little princess having a date and me being all alone in the pictures. I expect you to pick me up, bring me a corsage, smile for as many photos as my dad wants to take–there will be a lot. The whole deal, got it?"

Well, Loki hadn't exactly been planning to go to the dance. Seeing Sylvie happily in another person's arms wasn't high on his to-do list, but some sacrifices would have to be made. At least Nebula wasn't horrible to be around. "Then we have a deal. Should I wear a specific colored tie?"

"Blue," Nebula smirked. "Pleasure doing business with you."