Throughout the rest of class Flash keeps attempting to swipe his credit card back, but I hide it in my pocket, where I then transport it through the shadows. It's impossible for him to get it now.

"Please give it back!" He starts begging as Peter, Wanda and I leave. "My dad will see what you buy, he'll kill me if he sees girly stuff on there!"

"That's your own problem, not mine," I shrug. "You shouldn't make bets if you can't afford to pay the price if you lose. Everyone can confirm you agreed."

This information does give me some ideas, though.

As we're walking off, I stop off at a shop or two after getting rid of the others, buying some stuff that Flash's dad will find... interesting, to say the least.

After catching up with the others, we soon reach the tower. Stark's waiting for us once we reach the Avenger floors... well, more specifically, he was waiting for me.

"Carmen, come with me. Time to start work," Stark announces, walking off. "Give me strength," I mutter to the others as I walk after him, making them chuckle.

Stark gives me a list of stuff to do for him and a Stark pad. "Here's your work, get on with it. It's got your weekend stuff as well. Enjoy." He walks off. Clearly he's being super nice, if you note my sarcasm. Sighing, I glance through my to-do list.

It includes lovely features such as working on Stark internship applications - basically saying who gets in and who doesn't - and cooking for the Avengers.

Heaving another sigh, I turn on the Stark pad and get to work.

~•~

When Peter and I finally manage to slip away (thanks to Wanda, of course) I'm amused to find him gaping at my appearance.

"Wow... Carmen, you look beautiful..." Peter murmurs. I chuckle. "Thanks. You're looking pretty good yourself."

I peck his cheek, making him turn bright red. "Are you ready to go?" I ask him. "Er, Uh, Yeah..." he nods, then blinks as if remembering something. "Oh, right, I uh, I got you this. If you don't like it you don't have to take it, though. I kept the receipt so you could return it."

He hands me a small, flat, rectangular box. I open it, smiling when I see a beautiful silver necklace with a small web charm - including a shiny silver spider - on it. "Peter, it's beautiful. Thank you."

"No problem!" He smiles, the red in his cheeks fading slightly as he grows more comfortable. "Do you mind helping me put it on?" I ask. "Oh, sure," he agrees, taking the necklace and moving behind me. I feel his fingers brush lightly against my neck as he moves my hair over my shoulder.

After he fiddled with the clasp for a minute, I feel the cold metal fall against my skin. "There," Peter smiles, breath lightly fanning my cheek. "Thanks," I smile, admiring the necklace.

"Don't worry about it! Are you, uh, ready to go?"

"Of course," I nod, taking his hand. He flushed again, but starts leading me out. "So where are we going?" I ask him curiously, but he only smiles. "I was gonna keep it a surprise."

"Oh, okay," I nod, trusting him. "I think you'll like it," he assures as we walk. I gently squeeze his hand, making him quickly look away to hide his grin. I chuckle at how cute he is.

"So... Uh..." Peter fumbles to make conversation. "How have you been lately?" "Quite good, actually," I reply. "Bucky's a nice guy." "You guys are... pretty close now, aren't you?" Peter comments. I chuckle. "You could say that. You jealous of a century old man, Parker?" I tease. He laughs at this. "I don't think even you would try to flirt with him! Well, maybe flirt, but you wouldn't actually do anything else. He's nearly one hundred!"

"Do you mind me flirting with other people?" I ask him. "Obviously I'd never go beyond flirting unless it's with you, but I can stop flirting with other people if you'd prefer."

"Well..." I could see Peter struggling. I watched him for a moment. "You're allowed to say you don't want me to, Peter," I assure him. "I understand, it's perfectly reasonable. Don't be afraid to tell me no."

"You sure?" Peter asks. "Of course," I nod. "If you're not comfortable with me flirting with others, I'll stop flirting." "Thanks, Carmen," Peter smiled sheepishly, relieved I'd agreed. "No problem, Spider Child," I reply in a singsong tone, pecking his cheek again.

When we arrive at a grand building, I realise what his plan was.

"Ooh, a museum..." I look up at the architecture in awe. I've always loved museums, even if the  only time I ever entered them was to steal priceless masterpieces or something to fund illegal experiments and weapons trades. If I'm honest it's one of the things that got me into art in the first place; one look at how I could create so much and, if I'd had the opportunity to be, I would've been completely hooked.

"Do you like it?" Peter asks me uncertainly. "I know most people would think it's kinda boring, but I know you like art and stuff, so I thought you might like it... nevermind, Sorry, this was a stupid idea, I'm stupid. We can go somewhere else if you want and-"

"No!" I say quickly, then hug him. "Peter, I love museums. You're not stupid, you're the best." "Really?" Peter smiles and hugs me back. "Really," I confirm.

We head inside, Peter paying to get us in. I attempt to object, but he insists, claiming 'the man's supposed to treat the woman'. "Ignoring the blatant sexism, you're not even a man, you're a child," I point out, making him pout cutely. "See? No man is that adorable. Point made."

We compromised on splitting it.

Walking through the museum was like looking through windows into other worlds. There was beauty everywhere I looked: in paintings, sculptures, ancient pottery, armour, weapons and especially in the brown-haired, doe-eyed angel beside me. I could tell he was only able to enjoy the beauty of the work without greater meaning, though of course I wasn't about to steal his thunder on it. Not everyone's as in depth about art as I am.

Our hands stay clasped gently but firmly together the whole time, neither of us parting from the other. I can't believe he actually brought me to a museum of all places. It's so thoughtful and sweet of him. He really knows me.

I rest my head on his shoulder, making him blush and glance down at me. I smile up at him. "Thank you for this."

"No problem, Carmen," he replies with a small smile of his own.