Mixed POV
MJ's POV
Michelle paced backwards and forwards, her heart still beating rapidly from running and the still present anxiety coursing through her veins. She was on her and Peter's rooftop and had been for the last hour. She muttered under her breath, reciting math equations in her head in an attempt to keep her thoughts quiet, but it wasn't entirely working.
_________________________________________
"Hello, Michelle."
They stared at each other for what felt like hours. Her breath became shorter and her heartbeat louder as everything felt like it disappeared except for him. A smirk was still plastered across his face, eyes daring her to say something but glinting with the knowledge that he knew she wouldn't.
He slowly patted the seat next to him on the couch. The same couch where he hurt her in every possible way. His grin turned taunting.
"Why don't you sit?"
The question sent her reeling backwards, knocking into her mother who subsequentially let out a squawk as she fell into one of the walls.
"What the hell," she slurred, glaring at Michelle. "What are you doing?"
Michelle continued backing away, not daring to take her eyes off of the man whose name she didn't know.
"Michelle," her mother demanded, grabbing her arm. "Go sit down. David wants to meet you."
So that was his name. She shook her head rapidly, wrenching free of her mum as fear bled into anger.
"No, mum. We've met
Her mother's eyes narrowed as she grabbed her again.
"I. Said. Sit. Don't be rude. It's impolite."
She shoved Michelle forward, but she kept moving, fear and adrenaline filling her. Stumbling initially, she had one resounding thought as she made a break for the door.
"I need to get out of here."
Her mum was too drunk to stop her. David just seemed pleased to have got to her. Neither of them stopped her as she went barrelling out of the front door.
She didn't think; couldn't. Her mind was blank as she let her legs carry her anyplace else than here. If she was being honest, she had no memory of how she got here except now she was. When her feet hit the rooftop, she collapsed to her knees and began to sob. Her body shook from the tears but also the panic. Air was still hard to take in and she clutched her knees to her chest as she rocked back and forth. When her breathing calmed only minuscular, she had the sense to grab her phone, praising the gods that she had it in her pocket. She didn't really think as she quickly picked out Peter's name from the contacts. She tried to stop her crying as she listened to the dial tone and rapidly typed out text messages as she waited for him to pick up.
He's here.
I'm on the rooftop.
I need help.
Please come.
Peter.
Parker.
Spider-man.
He didn't pick up so she tried again. And again. And again. When her call went to voice-mail the fifth and final time, she left a voice message. At any other time, she would be embarrassed at the fear and panic in her voice and the sheer patheticness of it, but right now all she could think about was the help she needed.
"Peter," she sobbed into the phone. "I'm on the rooftop. Please come. He's here. Mum brought him back and I... I can't stay there. I don't know what to do. I need help. Please call me. Please come."
The voicemail abruptly ended and she glanced at her phone to see it died. Great. She hoped he got it. With a sigh of frustration and a more raw sob, she tossed the phone onto the ground and paced.
And paced.
And paced.
_________________________________________
"Do some math," she continued to recite to herself, mumbling. "Do anything. Think anything. You can do this."
She continued her pacing as she looked out at the city, desperately hoping Peter would make an appearance soon.
PJ'S POV
"Pick up, pick up, PICK UP," Peter ground his teeth in frustration as he made his way across the city. He was beginning to panic with each passing ring. When it went to voicemail, he instructed Karen to call her again.
"It looks like MaJestic is not answering," Karen told him. "Would you like me to leave a message?"
"No," he ground out. "No, it's fine. I just need to get to the rooftop."
"You are on the fastest route to your destination, Peter."
"Thanks, Karen," he muttered, willing his body to move faster.
"Would you like to listen to her message?" Karen asked.
He didn't realise she had left one. He knew whatever it contained would be difficult to listen to, but instructed Karen to play it anyway.
"Peter," His heart instantly dropped at her sob and the obvious panic in her voice, and he took a building sharper than he usually would.
Move, move, move.
"I'm on the rooftop. Please come. He's here. Mum brought him back and I... I can't stay there. I don't know what to do. I need help. Please call me. Please come."
Tears of frustration were burning behind his eyes by the time he finally reached the building. She was facing away from him. He couldn't quite hear what she was saying but she was mumbling as she paced.
"MJ," he ripped his mask off and ran towards her. She whirled around at his voice and his heart dropped impossibly further at how red and tear-stained her face was.
"Peter," she sobbed as he caught her in his arms, clinging to her as she began to cry into his chest.
"I'm so sorry," he pressed his face into her hair. "I'm so sorry I took so long."
Her fingers clutched at his suit desperately.
"It's okay," she managed to say. "I knew- *sob* I knew you'd come."
Despite the circumstances, his heart melted somewhat at her comment. At least she knew she could count on him. That meant everything to him.
MJ was like a dead weight in his arms so he pulled her to the ground, not letting go in the slightest until they were kneeling on the rooftop.
"I've got you," he told her, rubbing his hand in comforting circles over her back while the other skated through her hair. "I've got you."
It surprisingly didn't take that long for her sobs to quieten into whimpers and Peter mildly regretted it when she pulled away and stood to her feet. He jumped up in front of her, body only slightly disconcerted from the lack of her body heat.
MJ wiped her eyes and began to rake her own fingers through her hair.
"I don't-" her voice cracked. "I don't know what to do. I can't go home."
"No, you can't," he told her firmly. At any other time, he'd be running away with the fear of a thousand armies at the mere thought of telling Michelle what she could or couldn't do, but this was non-negotiable. "You're coming home with me."
He whipped out his phone, fingers flying over the screen as he typed out a message to Aunt May.
"I'm with my friend. She needs a place to stay for the night. I'm bringing her over now."
"I don't want to be a bother," she said quietly and he looked up to see her staring hard at the ground. "I'll be fine-"
"You're not a bother," he said softly. "You can't go home, but you can come home with me. We can sort something out tomorrow but it's late, it's Winter and you're cold."
She stared at him and he got the distinct idea that she was considering arguing, but in a rare moment of vulnerability, she gave a simple nod.
Peter's phone buzzed and he looked down to see Aunt May's reply.
"Of course. I'm cleaning your room so she can sleep there and I'll do the couch up for you. Hot chocolates await."
"Let's go," he told her, pulling on his mask and approaching her cautiously. She didn't argue when he pulled a jacket out of his backpack and wrapped it around her and she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, face pressing into it. He allowed himself a small smile at the contact, his own arm wrapping around her waist before jumping from the roof.
"Karen," he instructed his AI. "Activate the heater."
He wasn't cold but he knew she was. She had to be freezing. She only had a t-shirt and sweats on. He felt her murmur a sigh at the heat pouring from the suit and he felt himself relax as she did as he made their way across the city.
It felt like it took forever and yet no time at all by the time he reached the apartment. Holding MJ gently, he pulled open his bedroom window and climbed through, careful not to hit any of her body parts on the walls before setting her down in his room.
She pulled away from him instantly and glanced around, taking notice of his space. He knew he shouldn't be but he was mildly embarrassed that a girl was in his room for the first time, especially with the circumstances. He took his mask off as he made his way for the door, pulling it open before glancing back.
"I'm just going to get Aunt May. I'll be two seconds."
She simply nodded as she made her way to his bookshelf, fingers reaching out to trace the various titles.
Classic MJ.
He found Aunt May in the kitchen, appearing to not be surprised at his arrival. She spoke in a hushed voice.
"Is this the friend?"
"Yes," he whispered back. "But she doesn't know I told you and I'd rather not... spring that on her tonight."
"I get it," she patted his shoulder before heading for the kettle. "Bring her out. I'd like to meet her. I promise not to make it awkward."
He kissed his Aunt on the cheek with a thank you before heading back to the room. MJ was sitting on his bed, looking down at the floor with a furrowed brow. He cleared his throat and she quickly shot to her feet.
"Sorry," he told her. "Didn't mean to scare you."
She let out a nervous laugh and again touched her hair. Maybe it was something she did when she was nervous.
"It's okay. I like your room. I can definitely tell it's yours."
"I'd hope so," he smirked. "I've only been sleeping in it for over a decade."
"What a way to make us sound old," she groaned and he let out a chuckle.
"Aunt May is making us hot chocolates," he told her, gesturing for her to follow him. He began walking until he realised a second later she wasn't following. He glanced back to see the vulnerability back in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I'm...," she bit her lip and looked away. "I'm so tired. I don't know how I'll handle-"
"Aunt May has a great understanding of boundaries," Peter reassured her. "I think she just wants to say hi and then she'll probably go to bed. It is late after all."
A glance at the clock revealed it to be midnight. It wasn't late for them, but Aunt May didn't need to know that.
Michelle took a breath before stepping forward.
"Okay."
MJ's POV
Michelle sat on one of the kitchen tables, a warm steaming cup of hot chocolate in her palms as she watched Peter begin to set up the sofa bed. His Aunt, May, sat across from her, sipping a cup of tea as she gave Peter instructions.
"Put the cushions over there. No, not there! There!"
"The blankets are in the cupboard. Top shelf. I said top shelf!"
Despite the wicked evening she had, she couldn't help but smile as Mrs Parker and Peter bantered, Peter faking exacerbation and Aunt May frustration. She sipped on her chocolate, practically humming at the warmth in her chest.
She didn't know what Peter had told his Aunt to allow her to stay. Whatever it was, she was grateful and she was glad that neither of them seemed interested in broaching the conversation.
Instead, Mrs Parker asked about school, her hobbies and they quickly fell into a discussion about the recent Liane Moriarty book release. When Peter was done setting up the couch, he fell into the seat across from MJ, drinking his hot chocolate eagerly. He had changed out of his suit into a pair of long sweats and a loose graphic t-shirt after Michelle made it as clear as subtly possible to him that she was comfortable being left alone with his Aunt. If you told her yesterday that she would appreciate Peter's clinginess and concern, she'd have snorted and told you to fuck off. But she appreciated it now.
"All done, Pete?" Mrs Parker interrupted her thoughts as she reached out tousle Peter's hair. He rolled his eyes, letting out an exaggerated sigh.
"Yes. That's my workout done."
"Not like you need one of those," the words left MJ's mouth before she could stop them, feeling heat redden her neck with embarrassment before Mrs Parker giggled.
"A sense of wit. I love it. Us girls need that wit to survive the world of Peter's," she nudged Michelle's shoulder with her own and MJ relaxed, appreciating the contact and the sense of comradery.
Peter feigned woundedness.
"I can take you on, one on one but it's not fair to have two people coming at me at the same time. I won't survive that!"
Mrs Parker let out a loud laugh and Michelle felt herself smile as well. The conversation, mostly jokes and a discussion on Decathlon practice and where Michelle hoped to take it as the team leader, carried out for a few more minutes before Mrs Parker stood from the table with a yawn.
"Alright, kiddos. I need to sleep." She leant down to hug Peter and Michelle smiled inwardly when she saw him kiss his Aunt on the cheek. It was great to see family so affectionate with each other, especially when her own was the opposite.
Michelle felt herself go stiff when Mrs Parker leant down to hug her too, arms coming up to awkwardly return the hug before May pulled away with a smile.
"Let me know if he's too annoying and if there's anything you need. My room is just across from the bathroom."
The smile she gave Aunt May felt blinding.
"Thanks, Mrs Parker."
"Call me May," she replied as she headed for the kitchen. "Don't stay up too late," she waggled her finger at Peter.
Simultaneously Peter and Michelle said goodnight to her before standing to go to the kitchen.
"Would you like to shower?" he asked her as they washed their cups in the sink. "It's my turn to lend you clothes."
She chewed on her lip, thinking for a moment before shaking her head.
"I'll pass on the shower, but I'd appreciate the clothes."
She followed back to his bedroom and watched as he rifled through his cupboards, eventually throwing her a t-shirt and some long pants.
"I hope they fit," he told her, looked quite concerned for such a small issue. She gave him a tired, reassuring smile.
"Thanks, Pete."
He left her alone to change into her room and she did so quickly, shivering as her body was exposed to the air before being covered again. Peter's scent enveloped her as she pulled the shirt over her head and she let out a satisfied smile as it filled her head. She hadn't quite realised how comforting it was for her, but it somehow felt like a promise. That he was there. That she was safe. Just like he told her on the rooftop.
She glanced over at the bed, frowning before leaving the bedroom, finding Peter in the kitchen on his phone. Her own phone was charging in the kitchen but she hadn't checked it yet. Her mother likely hadn't called and she frankly would rather just pretend this apartment was its own little world for the moment. Everything could wait for tomorrow.
"Everything okay?" he asked her, looking her over with a goofy smile. "Wow, those clothes looking way better on you than me."
"Obviously," she feigned confidence and crossed her arms. "I was... I was wondering if I could sleep with you again
His eyes widened slightly before softening.
"Of course. Whatever you feel comfortable with."
Her hands unconsciously flew to her hair as she looked away, suddenly embarrassed by her own weakness.
"I don't want to be alone," she eventually admitted.
Peter stood from the table, eyes trained on her as he made his way over until he was standing in front of her. After a moment's pause, he pulled her into a tight hug which Michelle felt herself relax into instantly.
"You're never alone, MJ."
Peter's POV
It was two o'clock. They were on the couch in his living room because it had a bit more space than his own room and it would freak out Aunt May less to find them together in the morning. Michelle had fallen asleep almost immediately. They didn't talk about what had happened. There was an unspoken agreement to wait until tomorrow.
At her request- actually demand is the more accurate description – he had her back pulled against his chest and his arm over her waist. He wished he could see her face, but her soft breathing told him she was, for the moment, at peace and relaxed. His nose was buried in her hair but he didn't mind. Her scent was everything and combined with the sound of her breathing, it didn't take him long to begin to drift off.
Perhaps mindlessly, but definitely intentional, the last thing he remembered doing was pressing a soft kiss to her shoulder before drifting off completely.