Let the world know Michelle Jones Watson did not wake up at the asscrack of dawn.
That is, of course, until she moved in with Peter Parker during freshman year of college. However reluctantly, she miraculously began to join him in his morning person activities. Classic golden retriever and black cat duo. No points for guessing who’s who.
On an unimportant Saturday morning, MJ blearily wakes up to the sound of loud, cheery David Bowie and the smell of bacon and eggs. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, MJ sat up and rubbed the back of head, mussing up her curls as she yawned freely. Blinking like crazy, the corners of her mouth quirked up at hearing the voice of her high-school sweetheart boyfriend, singing along to the radio as he cooked.
Stomach growling, MJ stood up and stretched like a gymnast. When she felt her back crack, she heard Peter’s wince from the kitchen (darn his super-hearing) which made her chuckle slightly. He hated it when she cracked her bones. “You’re gonna get arthritis Em!” He always protested strongly.
She softly padded over to the kitchen, watching affectionately from the doorway as Peter sang and cooked. She smiled gently at him, a rush of adoration racing through her blood. Peter Parker. The corniest, dorkiest, prettiest boy on earth. The one boy she felt she could love without compromising her own self. The one boy who could turn everything and anything into a nerdy science pun. The one boy who could rave on about star-wars and lego for hours on end and still capture MJ’s heart with the excited sparkle in his eye and grin made out of pure joy. The one person who could get her to slow-dance in the rain without music, dancing to the melody of the pouring rain and their own unadulterated laughter alone. The one boy who could make her feel the cheesiest, most cliche things ever, all while still loving her for her broody, sarcastic self.
Damn, that’s so fucking cheesy, MJ felt herself cringe internally. But it’s all worth it to see the pure smile on Peter’s face. Sometimes MJ wonders if he’s made out of sunshine. That would explain the toasty feeling she gets from head to toe when she sees him. Peter looks at her, eyes sparkling, “Morning sleepyhead” he playfully teases and MJ can practically feel her love for him running through her veins.
“Respectfully, shush, it's too early in the morning to deal with your nonsensical cheeriness” MJ groans, wrapping her arms around Peter’s waist as he cooks and resting her head on his shoulder tiredly.
“Ouch” Peter gasps dramatically, clutching his chest “you wound me MJ”
“Yeah, yeah, alright bug boy.” MJ sighs, standing up straight again to lean on the kitchen counter.
“Uhm, spiders are arachnids actually so...” Peter corrects her, pushing pretend glasses up his nose and raising his eyebrows.
“Nerd” MJ snorts
“Anarchist”
“Webhead”
“Pessimist”
“Masked Menace”
“Hater” Peter says with a dab
“First, don't ever do that again” MJ points her finger at Peter accusingly “Secondly, SpiderMan. Without the hyphen.”
Peter gasps dramatically, hand over his heart as he stumbles backwards in mock-shock. “Are you trying to kill me, MJ?.”
MJ rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the way the corners of her mouth were creeping upwards in a smile at Peter’s dumb antics. “Yes. It’s my plan for world domination. Take down Spider-Man by making you fall for me then I use you to do my bidding until the Avengers bow down to me.” MJ replies in a deadpan voice as she starts to collect plates and cutlery for the two of them.
“That’s fun. Do you have step number 4?” Peter turns around and looks over at MJ in amusement, his eyes crinkled up as he smiles at her.
“Hmm, obviously I then cold-heartedly slaughter you and the others.” MJ looks over at Peter with a small smile “No offence”
Peter laughs out loud, a truly happy noise that MJ would kill if it meant she could hear it again and again until her final breath. “None taken, just happy to be a part of the plan. Real flattered you think I’m powerful enough to bring down the avengers.”
MJ points a finger over at Peter, raising her eyebrows “Only with my control. You would be utterly helpless on your own.” She smirks as she walks over to Peter, slightly taken by surprise as he pulls her into his arms, their faces so close together she can count all the freckles on his face and watch as his eyes twinkle.
“Of course, what am I without my MJ?” He says, a goofy smile plastered on his face
MJ rolls her eyes, knowing by now he takes it as a loving gesture “You’re fucking corny as shit, you know that? Real cheesy guy.”
Unoffended in the least, Peter only looks at MJ like she’s worth more than anything in the world, which to him she is. More than any diamond, any black dahlia necklace. “Well, that’s super tough cause I’m your fucking corny as shit cheesy guy and I don’t think you’re getting rid of me anytime soon.” Peter cheerily smiles.
MJ tries to keep the amusement off her face but fails as her face slowly slides into a smile. She sees Peter open his mouth, no doubt about to make a smug remark about how he's clearly way funnier than MJ would ever admit, before she cuts him off with a kiss. As they pull apart she sighs “I don’t think I can get rid of you anytime soon anyways. Bad for business. You’re essential for my evil world domination scheme.” she shrugs.
“Oh definitely.” Peter nods, trying to adopt a serious expression on his face before his nose wrinkles in distaste “Damn, what’s that smell?” He turns around, looking for the culprit before an expression of dismay invades his face. “Oh man, the eggs! The bacon!” he whines mournfully, turning around to look at MJ with his face looking like that of an upset puppy. MJ exhales, blowing the hair out of her face as she shrugs, “I think we've got some cereal and some milk, I can use my gourmet chef skills to combine those together.” Peter smiles again and soon they’re both sitting down at the coffee table (the only table they have, they’re college kids for pete’s sake) contently eating milk and unbranded cereal, in a tiny apartment that smells like burnt bacon and eggs as they proof-read each other’s essays in silence. And the funniest thing is, MJ truly couldn’t think of anywhere else she’d want to be.
Fuck that’s cliché, MJ grimaces. But as she spares a glance out of the corner of her eye at the boy next to her she shrugs. There are definitely worse things than being in love with someone who makes you happy, MJ decides. And if that’s cliché, MJ can live with that.