Peter
“How’d you know where I live?”
Peter scratched his neck as he cowered under the suspicious glare of MJ, who was peeking through the crack of her front door, refusing him entry.
“Um…I’m Spider-man?” He answered nervously. Her eyes narrowed further.
“And you use your genetically enhanced abilities and multi-million-dollar suit to stalk me?”
“What?? No!” Yes.
“Geez relax, I was kidding,” she sniffed, finally opening the door to reveal her dishevelled hair and Rudolph-the-reindeer nose. With the blanket on her shoulders and the scowl on her face, she looked so positively adorable that he could have wrapped her in a hug there and then. Key word: could have. She’d probably claw his face off and hang it on her front door as a warning to potential huggers. “What’d you come here for anyways?”
“I got some tea for you,” he gulped, reaching into his backpack for that package of tea leaves that he’d swung 20 minutes south for. “After I heard you were sick I-”
“You mean after I texted you,” she interrupted, staring at him straight in the eyes.
“Ok, yeah after you texted m-”
“After you bombed my phone with 23 calls and 317 texts.” Her gaze was unwavering, and very unnerving. Very.
“I was worried!” He argued. “I’ve never seen you miss school and-”
“While I was asleep.”
Ok, he had nothing. Shifting his weight from leg to leg, he gingerly offered the bag of tea to her, smiling shyly. “I got you a book too,” he tried.
It took her 15 seconds of silence (he counted) before she rolled her eyes, sighed and let him in. He took it as a win.
“What book is it?” She asked, bolting the door and shuffling to the couch, snatching the tea from his outstretched hand and taking a sniff.
“Oh it was this tea book that the lady at the store recommended,” he hurriedly reached into his backpack and pulled it out. “It was on sale and it’s where I knew what tea to buy for a cold. Also the author's name is Mary Jane, but that’s also MJ, so I-”
“That’s my book.”
“Um, I know,” Peter quipped, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “I’m giving it to you.”
“No,” she took a breath. “I wrote that book.” At his bewildered silence, she rolled her eyes. “I’m Mary Jane, okay? I couldn’t very put Michelle Jones as the author of a tea book, or everyone’s gonna think it’s a detective novel.”
Silence.
“You wrote a tea book??” Peter finally squeaked.
“Wow, that’s your takeaway from this?” She rolled her eyes.
“And it’s a bestseller!”
“I’m well aware, thank you very much.”
“Can I have an autograph?”
MJ froze. “Excuse me?” She seemed to glare at him harder and he knew he’d overstepped his boundaries.
“I mean I’m sure if you’ve written one bestseller you’re gonna write many more in the future and since you wrote the book I’m not gonna give it to you, and if I had an autograph I could brag that I was the first to get it.” Yep, he was rambling. Yep, he was digging his hole deeper with every word. So he wisely kept silent, and waited for the storm to pass.
A very tense ten seconds passed before MJ stood up with a huff and grumbled a string of incoherent phrases. He heard the kettle being filled and placed on the stove before he saw MJ return with a sharpie in hand.
“You’re lucky I love you,” she muttered.
This time he froze, eyes wide and heart thumping thunderously in his chest. “Wha-what?” He coughed out.
“I said, ‘you’re lucky I love the tea.’ Now gimme the book.” She replied without missing a beat. The expression on her face was so irritated and bored that he really had to wonder whether he’d heard her wrongly.
“Ri-right,” he stuttered as he shakily handed her the book. This was bad. How was he so in love with her that he was hallucinating her confessions of love? Did that even happen to people? Did he need to get checked?
“Here you go, Loser,” she sighed as she handed it back to him. On the front page was written ‘You’re such a loser’, followed by her signature.
“Thanks,” he smiled fondly. That’s was the closest he’d probably ever get to a confession of any sort of affection. “Oh yeah I’ve got some homework for you from Chem and some class notes from History today.” He pulled the respective worksheets from his bag as he stuffed the tea book back in. “Ned says hi, but he couldn’t come cuz he has to help his mum cook.”
“Hmm,” She hummed, taking the stuff from him before plopping on the couch and studying them intently. Even while sick, MJ was still the most diligent person he knew. Goddammit, get a grip, Parker.
“Anyways I’d love to stay and try the tea but I really gotta go,” Peter spoke up, getting up to leave. “Cuz I gotta get some web hours in before dinner tonight.”
“Oh um, ok,” MJ put down the papers, looking a little startled, but otherwise unaffected, before her eyebrows knitted together in disbelief. “Hold up, did you really just say ‘web hours’?”
“Yep see you get well soon bye!!” He chirped and closed the front door behind him. He read the whole book that night.