Trapped in the Shadows

Chapter 48 - Date Night

"Where are we going?" Peter asked me as I led him through the compound.

I looked back at him coyly and replied, "no where."

"C'mon, not just one little hint?" He whined, trying to use his adorable puppy eyes to get me to spoil the surprise.

"No and if you keep looking at me like that I'm going to turn around and you're never gonna find out what I have planned."

He huffed in frustration, but stopped persisting and trusted me to lead him up to the roof of the compound. I had set up a table and two chairs lit by candle light and doused with rose petals. He turned to me in confusion, "wow, this was not what I was expecting. Since when are you the cheesy romantic type?"

"My cheesy romantic boyfriend brings it out of me," I replied, kissing his cheek. "Now come on, I don't want the food to get cold."

I dragged him over to the table and uncovered the small mince lasagne that I had made for the two of us to share, watching his eyes light up. If there was one thing I knew Peter enjoyed, it was my cooking so I had spent a while making one of his favorite dishes from scratch. Now that we were legally allowed to drink, I also decided to treat him to a bottle of Nero d'Avola in an attempt to cure his ignorance of wines.

As I served him some lasagne, he asked, "so what's the occasion? Our four year anniversary isn't for another two weeks, if we are still counting the time that spent apart."

"I say we count it, it sounds more impressive to say that we've been together for four years and not, what? One year? A year an a half?" I wondered, trying to do the math of how long we had actually been together when I was not being tortured or going on killing sprees. "Anyway, this is just because I wanted to treat you. You stuck with me when I was at my lowest and helped see me through to happier times. You never gave up on me and believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. You are genuinely the most amazing person that I have ever met and so I wanted to do a little something for you, although it doesn't even somewhat compare to everything you have done for me."

"I've done nothing for you, (Y/N), that you wouldn't have done for me if I were the one taken by Hydra. I mean, you have saved my life on numerous occasions. However, I am touched that you would do this for me and this lasagne is amazing," he replied, devouring the portion I had served him. "I really can't ever move back in with May, I've grown too used to your fabulous cooking for that."

I smiled, "I'm sure she will be happy to order take out for you whenever you want. And of course you are always invited over here for meals after everything that you have done for us."

"Speaking of family, have you thought anymore about your mother?" Peter inquired, causing a sigh to pass through my lips.

"I don't know. Her story seems to check out and I did a DNA test and she is indeed my mother. But still, I can't shake this bad feeling I have about her. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, I suppose that's what you get living this kind of life. I'm thinking about bringing her to the compound, obviously keeping her somewhere where she doesn't have access to anything important and can be easily locked up. But perhaps one of the other Avengers could get a better read on her, particularly Natasha."

He smiled, "I'm glad that you are giving her a chance, despite everything. Coming from someone who has lost too many of my parental figures, I'm happy that you are not completely dismissing her due to our paranoia."

"Well you know that you always have a family here, in addition to May, of course. And I can tell you for a fact that Tony thinks of you as his son."

I noticed a slight prickling of pink painted across Peter's cheeks, but I knew while he appeared embraced, Tony's love meant a lot to him. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other's company and laughing the night away. After finishing the main dish, I revealed that I had also made one of Peter's favorite deserts: chocolate soufflé. It certainly wasn't the easiest to make, but for Peter I would be happy to spend hours in the kitchen trying to perfect it for him.

Once we finished desert, we continued to drink wine as an excuse to keep the night going. However the air turned colder as we plunged deeper into the night, so in order to keep from freezing, we decided to finally return to the warmth that indoors provided us with. I cleaned up everything that I had set up, refusing to let Peter do any of the work as I wanted this night to be solely a treat for him.

Before leaving the rooftop, Peter approached me and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, "thank you for all of this, (Y/N). But I do believe that I should be treating you like a queen, not the other way around."

"Mm, I think the most loving man in the universe deserves to be treated like royalty as well," I replied, bringing my lips to his. My eyes fluttered closed as we made contact, my heightened senses enjoying the lingering flavor of chocolate left on Peter's lips. He pulled me closer to him and broke away, staring into my eyes with so much love held in his eyes that I felt I might explode right then and there.

I shivered slightly in the cool wind, or at least that was what I blamed it on, I suppose it could merely have been due to Peter's passionate gaze. He cupped my cheek as he commented, "we should probably get inside before you freeze on me."

We reluctantly pulled our gaze away from each other as we interlaced our fingers and returned inside the walls of the compound. However, I was not ready to give him up quite yet. I led him into my room and pulled him into another kiss. I ended it by pushing him onto my bed and crawling on top of him. "I hope that you will let me continue treating you like royalty for a while longer."

Peter flipped my over and grazed his lips against my neck, "I think it is time that I let you wear the crown."

He lifted my shirt over my neck and proceeded to kiss every scar that remained from Hydra. He claimed that every time he kissed them, they would fade more and more and although I knew that the idea was absurd, his feather light touch certainly seemed to contain magical properties.

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(A/N): There's been a lot of action going on, so have this nice little chapter of fluff as a reward for sticking around with this story! I hope that you enjoyed it!