"I see you ate Ned," Anna asked casually, returning with the drinks.

"He's getting coffee and then joining us. I'm sorry, he's not usually like this but I think he might be a little, you know... Starstruck," Peter admitted with a grimace.

"Starstruck? By what?" Anna asked curiously.

"Not what, who," Peter corrected; "By you, Anna."

"By me?" Anna repeated confused before a look of realisation dawned upon her face; "Ah. Because I know the avengers."

"Well that, and... You know," he finished with a shrug.

"What?" Anna asked, warming her hands on the cup.

"We're kind of, you know, nerds. I mean, sure, the avengers thing, but, in general he's not that used to talking to pretty girls," Peter explained.

"What? Ned is like the cutest thing on earth. He feels like he'd be the perfect hype man on any occasion," Anna told honestly; "Besides, it's not like I'm that pretty."

"Say what you want, Anna. He's not going to be the last guy who notices your looks," Peter commented, looking at her.

"Peter, you look like you could be the lead in a movie franchise, you don't get to talk about pretty," Anna told, sending him a small smile.

"Okay, okay, try this one for size," Harry's voice interrupted their chatter as he placed both his hands on the end of the table and looked at Anna; "I'm no barista, but I bet I could make your heart race as much as a double espresso."

"Harry! What are you doing here?"

Harry sent Peter a wink, not answering as he smiled widely while waiting for her reply.

"I'm sensing we're back on coffee?" she asked, laughing slightly.

"Well, I just like you a latte," he tried instead.

"Sit down, you dork," Anna ordered, still laughing.

"Harry," Peter greeted; "I didn't know you knew Anna."

"I didn't, not until we met and fell madly in love a few minutes ago," Harry explained, sitting down while glancing towards the counter, evidently waiting for his coffee.

"He mentioned he knew you, I told him he could sit with us," Anna admitted quickly; "I hope that's okay."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely," Peter stuttered, nodding slowly.

"It's been a while since we've hung out anyway," Harry commented to Peter; "I feel like you haven't had any time to catch up."

"No, ha, I, uh," Peter said, clearing his throat.

"He's actually been helping me," Anna commented, the lie coming out as casually at they always seemed to do for her these days.

"Helping you? With what?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, I'm going to be applying to college, and apparently Peter is an expert, he's been helping me prepare practically every day," she replied.

The face of Ned Leeds appeared and sat down beside the group, completing the quartet.

"Hey," Peter greeted him, sending a nod.

"How about this..." Harry turned to Anna. "You must be a banana, because I find you very a-peeling."

"Mh, I'd say it was pretty equal to the others," she told, taking a sip from her coffee; "Less fitting to the subject, though."

"No, no, we're just at a new subject, that's all. Also, I think you're barbe-cute," he told.

"And I wish you were barbe-mute," Anna teased.

"What does that even mean?" Harry asked while laughing.

"That I wish you were mute! You know, quiet," Anna explained while dramatically waving a hand.

"Well, I wish you were loud. I could make sure of that," he offered.

"What's going on?" Ned whispered confused to Peter, who shook his head.

"I don't know," he admitted quietly.

"We've passed food-puns, huh?" Anna questioned right as her phone started ringing. She looked at the screen before looking shortly at Peter while mouthing 'Tony'.

"I gotta take this, it's my dad," she explained to the group as she stood up and pressed the green button.

Peter watched her intently as she walked away from the table to take the call from Mr. Stark.

"Peter, you can't keep girls like that to yourself, it's not fair," Harry joked, drinking from his cup; "Anway, we really should hang out sometime. How about a movie night?"

"I'm not sure Peter has time for that," Ned replied, seeing as Peter himself was too caught up in keeping a watchful eye on Anna.

"Alright. A bite to eat, then?" Harry suggested instead.

"She's leaving," Peter realised, quickly standing up; "I gotta go."

"Peter, she's probably just-" Harry began before stopping, seeing as Peter had already left both his coffee and friends to chase after Anna, who was still on the phone, just right outside the big glass windows.

"That was weird," he said, looking at Ned.

"Was it? It was? I, I don't think so. It seemed very normal to me. Very, very... Ordinary, to me," he told, attempting to cover for his friend, knowing that he wasn't supposed to leave Anna out of his sight.

"Anna!" Peter called, quickly catching up with her right outside the shop. She pointed to her phone to show that she was still on a call, so he nodded and waited patiently.

"Okay. Okay. I will, yeah. Okay. See you," she finished, ending the call before pocketing her phone; "Sorry, Tony just wanted to check in."

"No, no it's fine, I just, I'm not really supposed to leave you out of my sight," he admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh, right. I forgot, I'm sorry," she admitted. She looked behind Peter where Harry walked towards them, Ned rushing panicked after.

"Hey, guys, you can't just ditch us to go share secrets and make blood pacts alone," Harry pointed out.

"Right, it's actually good you're here then, because that's exactly what we were about to do," Anna told, nodding to support her claim.

"See? Told you the two of them were up to something," Harry said to Ned, gesturing to Anna and Peter. Anna smiled slightly at Harry, who she felt she was actually managing to befriend (or he befriended her), and Peter eyeing everybody passing them on the sidewalk.

"Anyway, I have a new one," Harry told Anna; "Do you want to get a flat white? Because you're my perfect blend."

"Nice try, but I'm more into latte," Anna rejected him jokingly, only making him smile wider.

"Great, I'll buy you another one of those then. I have to head home, but are you free tomorrow?" he asked quickly.

"I..." Anna began, but stopped when she realised she had no reply. Did she want to make a friend? Yes. Did Harry seem nice? Yes. Did she want coffee? Yes. Actually, maybe the answer seemed quite obvious.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Peter commented; "Remember, Anna, your dad said that, uh, that thing?"

"Oh, come on, the old man won't mind her going out with some friends for a cup of coffee," Harry laughed; "Are you guys coming, too?"

"Uh, I, uh, would, but, Peter and I kind of have plans," Ned stuttered out; "You see, I just got the new LEGO-"

"I'll come," Peter interrupted him, straightening his back.

"We can go?" Anna asked him excitedly.

"I have to get going, but we'll meet here tomorrow?" Harry suggested, making Anna nod happily, the two exchanging a few words before saying their goodbyes.

"Dude, I'm sorry, Mr Stark sai-"

"But I just got the new death star! I thought we were going to put it together!" Ned complained to Peter.

"I know, but Mr Stark said to look after her," Peter repeated; "I can't let her go to a cafe alone!"

"Bye!" Anna said to Harry before turning to Peter and Ned, only then realising that the two seemed more serious than they had a second ago.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Anna asked, looking between the two.

"No, not at all," Peter quickly claimed.

"Apparently not," Ned stated coldly before rushing away.

"Peter, I'm sorry-"

"It's not your fault," Peter interrupted quickly; "We should head to the tower."

The hangout had ended rather abruptly, Peter leaving the second he'd returned Anna to the tower. With a weird feeling in her stomach she had headed to her room to grab a book for Loki, only to be interrupted by Tony, who wanted her to help out in the lab with things entirely necessary. She felt as a kid holding the flashlight as she handed him the occasional screwdriver or trinket, and otherwise just sat there mutely until it was time for bed, Tony wiping his hands on a cloth before joining her in the armchair.