But I Didn't Know What to Get You
LOCATION → Store in Blue Valley
TIME FRAME → Christmas Eve at 3:45pm
GENERAL NOTES → This is just a solo para I got the idea for. Peter is out shopping about and he runs into a certain neighbor that he is currently infatuated with.
Sometimes, very rarely he might add, Peter was willing to admit that perhaps maybe he wasn’t the smartest scientist in the lab, and today was one of those days. After asking his aunt how she felt about candles Peter had made his way into the city. While he had finished most of his shopping yesterday, which had been as terrible as he imagined it to be, he had neglected one person. They say to save the best for last, and Gwen was pretty great, but she was a difficult person to shop for as well… at least difficult for Peter. His uncle and aunt were simple, he knew them like the back of his hand, and should he ever just for a moment wonder about what to get them he could just ask. But Peter was trying to surprise the blonde, which meant no asking her, besides he was pretty sure even if he did ask she would have just told him not to worry about getting her anything. So with his aunt’s reassurance that girls did, usually, like candles he was taking Barry’s idea to heart and braving the crowds for Gwen.
Pushing his way into a store, Peter wondered blindly around until he stumbled into the candle section of the place. Taking in what seemed like millions of candles Peter visibly paled. “Why are there so many candles,” he whined quietly to himself as he tried to recall the exact scent Barry had mentioned to him. Drawing a blank he ventured deep into mix of display tables and shelves. Peter went around peering at the names on the label, grimacing at the likes of Riding Mower and Man Town deciding to completely skip over those, and lifting the ones that sounded slightly pleasant up to be tested. Peter had just set down Apple Crumble when someone directed a question towards him. “Shopping for your girlfriend, Parker?” The voice was recognizable enough to make him quickly turn around, almost knocking over a table in the process. “What?” He questioned the red head across the display table.
Mary Jane apparently found his actions and words amusing seeing as her smile grew more prominent as she stared at him. She side stepped the table and her hair sway side to side as she did so. Peter absent mindedly wondered if there was a special shampoo that made it move like that, or if it was just as flawless as the girl herself. He was leaning towards the later. Her voice broke him out of his thoughts, “I asked,” she paused for a moment, “if you were shopping for your girlfriend.” Peter’s eyes widened slightly, “What? No- what?” He sounded like an idiot; he could hear it in the higher pitch of his voice. He was turning into that idiot that couldn’t string words together to form a sentence. “No girlfriend here, completely alone you know-well you probably don’t know because I mean look-“ Peter cut himself off before he also became that idiot that also had a foot in his mouth. Mary Jane placed a hand over her mouth, obviously trying to keep her laughter in. A warm blush spread across his face as he cleared his throat and drug one hand through his hair.
"So no girlfriend then.” She smiled as she spoke, and Peter was grateful that she didn’t expand on what came out of his mouth after that tidbit of information. “Yeah,” he nodded his head in agreement. “I have this friend, Gwen, um we go to school together and I wanted to get her something. Barry, he’s my best friend, said I should go for a candle but I don’t know what to get. I mean there’s so many, like did you know they had this many candles?” He was rambling, which is what he did best whenever he talked to his neighbor. “I knew they had this many, but I just like candles so I’m expected to keep up.” Mary Jane looked Peter up and down before biting her lip and turning to some candles on the shelf Peter hadn’t gotten to yet. She picked one up and read the label before handing it to him, “Get your friend this one it’s my favorite I’m sure she’ll like it too.” Peter took the candle and looked over the label, Winter Snow was the name. “Thanks.” He smiled at her thankful that he could finally stop sniffing so many candles. She simply smiled at him and shrugged before announcing she better go find her mom. “I’ll see you around Parker.” She turned to head out and Peter mumbled to himself, “Yeah, see you around."
Before she was completely out of sight though, something made Mary Jane pause and look back at him. She looked as though she wanted to say or ask him something but decided it was better not to. Seeing as instead she just waved and went back to searching for her mom. Peter looked back down at the candle and uncapped the lid; he took a whiff of the candle. His nose crinkled together and he frowned. He wanted to like it, after all Mary Jane had said it was her favorite, but there was something off about the scent that made him want to set it next to Man Town. Peter glanced around, not seeing the familiar red head in sight he placed it back in its spot. Beside it though he noticed a candle simply called cinnamon. Peter liked cinnamon; it was a nice smell, so he picked it up. The candle didn’t fail him, it smelled perfect. With it in hand he made his way through the people and stood in line for a while before buying it. He almost had them wrap it there for him. After all, it was only a dollar extra. But he remembered the talk with Gwen how she always knew what presents were hers because her dad wrapped so horribly. So he declined the offer, paid for the candle, and headed home to wrap the small gift himself.
