She looked at him for a second and smiled as well before taking his hand and guiding him towards something.
"Come, I know a great place. They make the best sandwiches in New York."
_________________________________
'It's not near my place, but maybe I could come here more often. These sandwiches are fucking delicious.'
"So"
She said, interrupting his thoughts.
She had guided him through New York to a small shop in Queens. Despite being dubious of the establishment, Arthur was almost certain it was a front for laundering money. Their sandwiches were excellent.
He looked up to answer, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"Where did you go? What did you do?"
Curiosity shining in her eyes, she leaned forward above the table. He smiled, then shrugged before replying and taking another bite of his sandwich.
"Paris, tourist stuff."
She looked surprised for a moment before her excitement took over.
"Really? How was it? Did you see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower? Are they really all wearing red berets and carrying their baguettes everywhere? Did you love it? What did you prefer?"
He eyed her strangely before she laughed, so he followed her, realising that she wasn't serious.
"Of course they don't wear berets everywhere, Gwen."
He continued.
"I visited both the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, but for me, nothing made me love Paris more than simply walking through the streets. Almost no corner of the centre of the city is ugly. The stone buildings are omnipresent in this city. It's got this ancient feel to it, but not in an out-of-style way. Just full of history."
She groaned and replied in a slightly jealous tone,
"It's one of the places that I dream of visiting. You make me want to go on vacation two days before we start university."
He chuckled.
"The reality check is coming fast, huh?"
She glared at him before huffing.
"Did you buy me a gift at least?" she asked haughtily, not really expecting him to have bought her anything.
He smiled at her mischievously.
"Of course I did. You will love it. I put it in my backpack so it wouldn't encumber us during the visit."
"Oh, I wasn't expecting you to. It was a joke, you know."
She blushed shyly and he laughed at her.
"Don't worry, I know, but I also know you will love it," he responded, hiding his nervousness. He was almost certain that she would love his gift, but he couldn't help himself and be a little nervous.
'Will she think it's too much too soon?'
"I will give it to you at the end of the day."
"Okay, I'm eager to see it."
He smiled at her before changing the subject.
"So how did you discover this place?"
She seemed to look a little nostalgic before replying.
"One of my friends made me come here once when we were in high school. I will introduce you two. I think you'll get along well. He will also be starting his first year at ESU."
"Cool, I don't know anyone in New York, so any friend is welcome at this point."
"Where were you in school before for you to not know anyone?"
"In New York, I think, but I was in an accident. Do you remember the attack on Stark Expo last year?"
"Yes, of course. I hesitated to go, but my father wanted me to be home for a family dinner."
"Well, apparently, my parents took me to see the expo for my birthday. During the attack, one of the exploding drones was beside us. My father managed to save my life, but both my parents died, and I was injured. My arm was broken and I lost some of my memories."
The truth was that Arthur didn't lose his memory in that accident. But the original Arthur, after the death of his parents, was wrecked by guilt. For him, his parents died because HE wanted to go see the Stark Expo, so the year following it, he stayed closed off, not speaking to anyone and drowning himself in guilt and self-hate.
But invoking memory loss instead gave the new Arthur some explanation for why he would be unable to remember people he was supposed to know, even if this situation hadn't presented itself to him yet.
Her eyes softened and she took his hand in hers from across the table. She squeezed slightly as a show of support.
"You don't have to talk about it. I'm sorry about your parents."
"Thank you, Gwen."
He smiled at her before sensing the gloomy mood and asked,
"Sorry, my story ruined the whole vibe. Do you want to go walking for a bit after we finish?"
"Yeah, sure."
They finished eating shortly after and unanimously decided to extend their date to Central Park.
On this day, Central Park was crowded. It was one of the last days of summer vacation for schools. There wasn't a cloud in the blue sky and the sun was shining brightly. They sat under the shade of a tree and continued talking. Gwen talked about science, about her family and her friends. Arthur talked about his passions and his expectations for the coming year.
When they exited the park, the sun was starting to set. They walked back to where Gwen's father was supposed to pick her up.
As they were a block away from the meet-up place, Gwen stopped and turned around to face him. Looking up into his eyes, she smiled.
"Thank you for today, Arthur. I would like to do this again someday soon."
"Me too. I hadn't had a more fulfilling day in, well, in ever, I guess."
He smiled hesitantly before reaching for his backpack and taking out the gift bag. He handed it to her.
"Could you wait to be home to open it?"
She eyed him strangely for a few moments before slowly nodding.
"If you want, yes."
"Thank you, Gwen."
She seemed to hesitate for a few moments before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, Arthur. See you at uni Monday."
She blushed as she quickly turned around and left.
Arthur was left standing like an idiot on the sidewalk, looking at her retreating back with a dazed expression on his face. He muttered,
"See you Monday, Gwen."
____________
That evening,
Arthur was showering when his phone started ringing. When he got out of the bathroom and looked at his phone, he saw:
Gwen: 5 missed calls, 10 missed texts
He stared at his phone in confusion for a few moments before opening his texts.
______
Gwen:
Arthur !!!!!
Wtf did you gift me?
It's too valuable.
How did you even know I loved The Strokes anyway?
Where did you find it?
How much did you pay for it?
I can't accept it.
Even if I wanted to.
You're crazy.
Answer me right now.
Arthur:
Of course you can accept it, I bought it for you.
You told me you liked early 2000s rock.
I found it in a small shop in Paris.
Sorry, I was busy and didn't hear my phone.
______
Arthur smiled, looking at his text.
'I'm glad I waited before giving her the gift.'
He hummed a Strokes song as he got ready to sleep, ignoring Gwen blowing up his phone, hoping she would have calmed down by tomorrow.
_____