Chapter 2
Peter had insisted that they go to the highest possible balcony, so here they were. Jess turned to face the wind, looking down through the glass siding of HQ. She watched the spider-people milling around while Peter struggled with his watch.
Somehow , Jess thought, Peter could always work the watches correctly when he needed to, but the minute there was no pressure, he seemed to have no idea how they worked. She listened to his annoyed muttering for another minute before she turned around.
“Why don’t I just open it?” She asked, as gently as she could. Peter was always touchy when he couldn’t get the watches to work.
“That won’t work,” He said, distracted and poking arbitrarily at buttons on his watch. “If you open it, Miguel will wonder why you’re going to my dimension.”
“Just tell him I went to visit Mayday,” Jess said. It was a logical explanation. Most of the time when Jess wasn’t working, she was at home. The rest of the time, she was at Peter’s home, with Mayday.
Peter sighed, stopped fiddling with his watch, then made a wide sweeping motion in Jess’s general direction. She grinned, reaching for her watch. In a few seconds, the portal appeared. Peter smiled at her begrudgingly and they stepped through together, soon finding themselves on the roof of one of Peter’s favorite restaurants.
They took a seat on the edge, overlooking the town. It was close to sunset here, and Peter squinted against the light. Jess pulled her sunglasses down.
Peter cleared his throat, and Jess looked at him.
“Okay, so, you remember how you promised not to laugh at me?” He asked. Jess nodded. He looked at her long and hard, then continued. “So, uh. I kinda lied, before. I told you we kissed, but it was more like I kissed him.”
Jess stared at him. “Please tell me you’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”
Peter looked horrified. “No, of course not!”
“Thank God.”
“It wasn’t like that- not at all. I asked him first, if it was okay, and he said yes.”
“Okay, then what was the problem?” Jess was relieved that the issue here wasn’t one of consent, but now she was wondering how else Peter could have made a fool of himself.
“I kinda- ran away after,” Peter said as if it were a huge admission, and he didn’t look at her when he said it. Instead, he stared out at the setting sun, watching how the light reflected off the top of the moving cars.
“You ran away? ” Jess was flabbergasted. “How? Why? How long after?”
Peter’s ears flushed pink. “I know, I know, it was stupid. I was just- flustered, I guess. You, of all people, know how long I’ve liked Miguel. I finally got my chance, and now I’ve gone and screwed it all up.”
He looked up when Jess placed a gentle hand on his forearm. “It’s Miguel, Peter. You’ve known eachother forever. Just talk to him about it. I’m sure it’ll work out.”
“You’re the one that was saying how angry he is,” Peter said self-pityingly. “I think he’d kill me if I went to talk to him now.”
He sounded so genuinely upset that Jess felt bad.
“Aw, Pete, c’mon. You made a silly little mistake, that’s all. Miguel will understand that. Just tell him why you took off.”
Peter rubbed at his face with one hand. “It’s embarrassing.”
Jess chuckled. “This whole thing is embarrassing.”
He sighed, slowly pushing to his feet. Jess stayed sitting. She knew very well that there was no way they were leaving yet. Peter needed to build up his courage before he went to go talk to Miguel, and she was going to help him. They watched the sunset together, until the only light was the fake fluorescence of city signs.
“Do you think I should talk to him tonight?” Peter asked. It was the most unsure Jess had ever heard him sound, and it surprised her. Peter had been married before. He’d been divorced, and then he’d learned how to co-parent with MJ as friends. Hell, he had a kid. He’d seen more of the dating, and marriage, world than most people.
The fact that he was this flustered over Miguel made Jess smile. It was about damn time Peter re-started his love life.
Jess shrugged. “You know him better than I do. Is he still going to be at HQ when we get back?”
“Hell, he practically lives at HQ. It’s like pulling teeth to get him to leave on something other than a mission.”
“There you go, then. Talk to him tonight.”
He muttered something about alcohol and courage before sitting back down beside her. Pulling his legs up to his chest, he lay one of his arms on top of them and propped his chin on top of that. Jess thought he looked awfully like a teenager who was trying to convince himself to ask somebody out. Either that, or he was a pouting toddler.
“What do you think I should say?” Peter asked, uncertainty painfully clear in his voice.
Jess stared out at the shining lights of the city. “Tell him why you left. And not some bullshit version, the truth. Tell him you’re sorry, and that you like him and care about him. Then tell him you’ll make it up to him.”
“How do you know so much about this?” Peter asked. Jess looked at him, trying to figure out if he was mocking or genuinely curious. She decided on the second.
“It’s what I would want my husband to say to me if he pulled a stunt like this.”
Slightly startled by Peter’s raucous laugh, she raised an eyebrow at him.
“What?” She asked.
“Nothing, nothing. That's just not what I expected you to say,” Peter said, laughter still clear in his voice. “If that apology has been sanctioned by the great Jessica Drew, then I guess it’ll have to work.”
“You should get going before you lose your confidence,” Jess said, poking him in the side.
Peter groaned. “Oh, don’t say that. I’ll end up never going.”
Jess prodded him again, and they stood together. Peter successfully opened the portal this time, and he looked back at her right before he stepped through.
“You coming?” He asked.
“I was going to go visit MJ and Mayday,” Jess replied. “Besides, I think this is a conversation that you two should have in private.”
“Not sure how private it’ll be with Lyla around,” He said, chuckling. The end of the sentence faded away as he stepped through, back to HQ. Jess turned, swinging towards MJ’s apartment. She shook her head and smiled as she went. Peter was going to be absolutely insufferable if this worked out, and she meant that in the best possible way.