A little prom season story

"Name?"

"Y-you know my name, Mr. Stark."

"That may be true, Parker, but arguing with me might not be in your best interests right now."

"Right, of...of course...yeah..." Peter stuttered, shifting his stance uncomfortably. "My name is Peter Parker...sir. Which, you knew..."

"What did I just say?" Tony snapped, looking up from his tablet, completely straight-faced and stern.

"Sorry, Mr. Stark, I wasn't arguing...I swear."

"Mmm hmm, sounded like arguing to me. Didn't it sound like that to you, Cap?"

"Certainly did," Steve agreed readily. "Is there a problem with authority that we need to be concerned with, Mr. Parker?"

"What?! No! No, Ste-Captain...sir. No problem whatsoever!"

Steve smiled curtly and took the tablet from Tony's hands, doing his best to not smile at the poor kid, knowing that the men of the team were just giving him a hard time, and that maybe they were taking their roles a little too seriously. Pete had asked to take you to his prom months ago, and was given their permission almost right away, but ever since the team had all but adopted you as their own a few years before, every one of them took full advantage of any chance to play authoritarian.

"You a virgin?"

"Buck!" Steve snapped, looking up at his friend, completely aghast at the question. "That's really none of our business!"

"How do ya figure?" Bucky shrugged, taking measured steps towards Pete with a steady gaze on the young man. "He's taking our girl to prom, and you know how boys think. I'd been around the block a couple times by the time I was his age."

"Yeah, me too," Clint joined in, standing up from his seat at the bar to join Bucky, looking equally concerned.

"I was around a couple and a half, at least," Tony concurred.

Sam had to finish choking on his drink before he could respond, tears in his eyes from both the struggle and his laughter at the situation, feeling absolutely no remorse and no urge to save the poor kid from the situation. "Shit," he snickered, "I owned the block."

"Okay, but still," Steve argued, "I don't think that's really an appropriate-"

"How many times had you circled the block by his age, Cap?" Tony pushed, the mischievous grin practically lighting the room around him. "I mean...I assume that you rounded a corner at least, right?"

"That's definitely none of your business, Stark."

"Come on, Rogers, share with the group. Consider it...team bonding."

Steve made his first mistake in looking to Sam to save him, only to find his friend eager to hear his magic number as much as Tony was. Turning to Clint, he found much of the same, seeing inquisitive eyes and unsupportive smirks as his only response. Even Bucky was getting in on the fun, but Steve had already known better than to even consider his best friend as a source of safety. "Alright, Parker, I think the interrogation is over," he finally groaned, tossing the tablet heavily onto the table at his side, "I'll just go get (Y/N)." The room filled with boos and grumbles about not playing along and how Rogers was an old fuddy-duddy, but he did his best to ignore them as he left the room; at least until you and your date were long gone so that you wouldn't have to witness the carnage that the Captain was sure to unleash.

~~~

Getting ready for one night out shouldn't be this ridiculous, you thought to yourself, watching in the mirror while Natasha circled you incessantly to be sure that your hair was just perfect, dodging Wanda and her hand full of makeup brushes. More than once you had fallen victim to one of those stupid tools poking you in the eye or jabbing into your cheek when the two women got into each other's way; you had said more than once that you were fine to do this all on your own but they wouldn't have it, and now you felt like the embodiment of a department store mannequin.

Cautiously lifting the hem of your dress while trying to not move too much, you looked down at your feet and the painfully pinching shoes that you had chosen, cursing yourself under your breath for not taking more time to break them in. The tips of your toes were a lovely shade of red under the pressure, but if you were lucky, any minute now the blood flow would be so constricted that they would just go numb and take away your misery.

"What? What's wrong?" Pepper jumped in, her eyes wide with concern. "Don't they fit? Do they hurt? I can have Tony run out and get new ones if you need him too, I know he won't mind. He can throw on a suit-"

"Pep, I'm fine," you hurried to calm her, reaching out for her hand, "but you need to take a deep breath. You're freaking out."

"I'm not freaking out," she smiled weakly, her body shaking with the inhalation that was meant to soothe her nerves, "I'm good. I just want this to be perfect for you." Her voice settled and grew quiet, and before you could protest, the familiar rim of tears again built along her lashes and threatened to ruin her own perfect makeup. "This night is just so special...I never went to my own prom..."

"Oh my god, please stop," you groaned, "we've already done three rounds of tears. Aren't you guys dried up by now?"

"At least you had a chance to turn down going to prom," Natasha added softly with Wanda nodding emphatically in agreement. "I knew over a hundred ways to kill a man by your age."

"Okay, my experience was a little different, and with less murder," Wanda interrupted, "but nonetheless, I never had a prom to attend either."

"You guys, it's not that big of a deal. I mean, okay...maybe it is, but come on, you all are acting like I'm getting married or something. It's one night and I can guarantee that these stupid shoes are gonna be in a pile under the table before the dance even starts." You sucked in a pained breath, clenching your teeth when the edge of your shoe pinched your little toe again, wondering to yourself how you were ever going to make it to the event at all.

"Hold on, I have an idea," Nat smiled, scurrying away and out the door of your room towards her own. You looked at the remaining two women with a shrug and waited patiently, all eyes on the door until she returned with a pair of her own shoes in hand; a glowing white pair of Converse that looked as if she had yet to wear them herself. "I think these should fit," she smiled, hurrying to remove your dress shoes, "and if not, they still have to be better than these torture devices, right?"

"Right," you sighed, feeling immediate relief as your feet were freed. You leaned down and rested a hand on her shoulder to steady yourself as she worked until she stood again with a look of pure accomplishment.

"There! Problem solved!" She stepped back, her expression filled with pride; at least until the pattern that you had grown to know too well repeated and her eyes began to glisten. "You're just so beautiful, (Y/N)..."

"Okay, we're done here," you commanded, stepping down from your perch to head towards the door, "I'm putting a stop to this before you guys get dehydrated. And here I thought that Steve cried too much..."

"What?" Nat sniffled in disbelief, running a quick swipe of her sleeve past her nose before giving chase. "Steve? Steve cried? Hold on, (Y/N), come back, I need to hear this...I could use this information...hold on..."

~~~

With three misty-eyed women following closely behind, you met Steve in the hallway just outside of your room, taking his arm readily to allow him to lead you to your date. If you were reading him correctly, he looked to be just as anxious to get this moment over with as you were, and you made a mental note to come back to that topic later. Even though his hand was gently resting over yours as you stood together in the elevator, his fingers were securely pressing into your skin as if he was unsure of letting you go, and for just a moment, you worried about his intent.

"Cap? Something wrong?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled absentmindedly, clearly lost in his thoughts until he startled from them. "Oh! Oh, no, (Y/N), nothing's wrong at all. Just thinking."

"Care to share?"

"No...well, I guess I was just thinking...how time flies..."

"Please tell me that you're not gonna cry too," you grumbled, turning to face forward and away from him, "not again. Haven't you cried plenty?"

"I'm not," he nudged you sharply with his elbow, "give me a little credit. I can do this."

"Can you?"

"Yeah...I can...maybe." When the crack in his voice gave away the fact that he could not, in fact, keep from letting his emotions take over, you silently thanked FRIDAY for opening the doors right on time to release you from sniveling Steve's grip and letting you hurry across the lounge towards your date once and for all.

"Hey, Pete," you smiled, hurriedly turning your head to allow a kiss on your perfectly blushed cheek. "We gotta get out of here."

"You look-"

"No time for that," you interrupted urgently, "tell me in the car. I swear, if one more person cries, I'm gonna lose it. This is for their safety, Pete. Let's go." You grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door, feeling the reluctance in his muscles to follow despite his mind's eagerness to get out of there as quickly as possible; it certainly wasn't the best experience for him either.

"Wait! What about pictures?!" Tony shouted from the far side of the room, his voice joined in agreement from everyone else.

"Crap, pictures," you muttered, glancing back to your date with a pained smile. "Okay...okay...but only one, so get it right the first time," you warned the group as they rushed forward, practically pinning you in place with no clear means to escape, their phones thrust out in front of them. The flashes began almost immediately, leaving spots in your vision that you were sure wouldn't be gone for hours; thankfully they weren't affecting Pete's eyes like they were yours because it was now completely up to him to lead the way everywhere.

"Alright, I think we should go," he broke in for you, putting a tremulous hand up to halt the group that scared him to his very core. "Pretty sure you've blinded my date, so thanks, everyone."

"Hold up, slinger," Bucky stepped out from the crowd, "what time will you have her home?"

"He had better say midnight," Clint nodded, joining his teammate.

"Midnight?" Tony scoffed. "Eleven."

"Guys, this is prom," Natasha pushed out and to your defense, "she's not gonna be home until the sun's up."

"Woah, hold on right there, Red. No way in hell."

"Tony, don't you remember this age? Let the kids have some fun."

"Yeah, I do, and we've already covered this topic while you four were up there making her look...like that. He already can't keep his hands to himself, look at him!"

"Mr. Stark, I'm not-"

"Tony, come on, we're not going to do anything-"

"I'm a virgin."

The group silenced, their mouths agape and eyes wide in shock as they turned in unison towards Steve at the sound of his surprise admission that left them forgetting all about you and your equally astonished date. Your heart sunk at the sight of the poor guy, his face bright red and his shoulders hunched in embarrassment, but when his eyes met yours, he did his best to give you a reassuring wink; he was sacrificing himself so that you could make a run for it.

With the gift of Nat's shoes, you ran like you might never come back.