MJ
“Got it Jake?” MJ asked with her arms crossed.
“Yeah,” the large footballer grinned gleefully. “Prom and then paper.”
“Exactly,” she sniffed, satisfied.
“Oh my gosh, this is actually really exciting,” Jake gushed. “You guys ware gonna be so cute.”
“Oh please,” MJ rolled her eyes before spotting the Love of her Life. “Okay shut up here he comes. BABE!!”
She flung herself at Peter with as much gusto as she could muster and wrapped her arms around his neck like an octopus.
“Play along and I’ll make you cookies for a week,” she growled in his ear. “Don’t, and watch me make your life a living hell.”
She heard him gulp nervously and concluded that he’d made the right choice. She could feel his heart pounding against his chest and, therefore, hers. Once she was satisfied that he was afraid, she released him and turned around.
“Sorry Jake,” she cooed, congratulating herself on how genuinely fake she sounded. “I know what I promised, but I don’t think my boyfriend will be very happy if I don’t take him to prom.”
“Wha-prom??” Peter squeaked, but MJ shushed him.
“I know,” MJ sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. “But it was before us, I swear!”
“Um-”
“You goddamn bitch!” ‘Jake’ yelled, garnering unwanted attention from surrounding students. His demeanour had completely changed from the teddy bear persona he’d emanated earlier. “You made a deal.”
She felt Peter stiffen for a quick second before he slipped out of her arms and positioned himself strategically in front of her.
“Whooaaah whoa whoa whoa,” he interjected, throwing his hands into the air. “What’s going on?”
“Your girlfriend here promised that I could take her to Prom if I did our science project by myself,” Jake growled out in reply. Good job Jake, MJ mused. Colour me impressed.
“That was last year!” MJ rolled her eyes. Never in her life would she imagine this to be so much fun.
“A deal is a deal, Jones,” he bit out. “Never took you for a liar.”
“Okay now listen here, Igor,” Peter stepped in. Oh no, MJ perked up. His Spider-Man is coming out.
“What the fuck did you call me?” Jake’s face was growing increasingly redder.
MJ had no idea whether Jake was just an outstanding thespian, or in fact enraged by Peter’s quips.
“I know you’re still hung up about things that happen in the past,” Peter continued, unperturbed. Peter, please stop. MJ pleaded mentally. “But you need to move on if you want to grow! Mind you, you should actually stay off the steroids, it might be hurting your brain.”
“You little shit-”
“But one day I’m sure, Hodor, you’ll come to realise that there’s so much more to life than forcing dates out of pretty girls and bullying people smaller than you.”
“My fucking name’s Jake!!”
“That’s what I said, Wun Wun,” Peter rolled his eyes. “C’mon, stay with me here. I’m trying-”
“MJ, I’m so so sorry, I didn’t mean to take a swing at him, I just didn’t know how to-”
Jake was immediately apologetic to MJ, and was afraid he’d ruined her plan of taking Peter Parker to prom.
“Dude,” MJ scoffed. “It’s fine, he can take it.” He’s Spider-Man.
“I know, but I feel so bad, cuz he was just protecting you and being a nice guy.” The poor guy was still pulling out his hair.
“Hey, it worked didn’t it?” MJ smirked. “I got him to go to prom with me.”
“Why didn’t you just…ask him like normal people do?”
At that, MJ’s face fell a little. “Cuz he doesn’t like me like that, and he’d get all weird if I just outright asked him.”
Jakes expression softened into an amused smile. “Oh my dear Michelle Jones,” he whispered as she turned and left. “Ever so observant, and yet ever so blind.”
“I don’t appreciate that you called him Wun Wun,” MJ grumbled as she entered the roof deck of her apartment complex. She also didn’t want things to get so out of hand, but no one died, so that was a plus. Peter sat on the ledge of the roof, stuffing his face with a pout.
“What??” Peter exclaimed through a mouthful of cookies. “But he was being a dick!” She stared at his puffed-up face and indignant glare. It was strange to want to kiss someone so badly, yet here she was, staring at the crumbs on his face.
“I know, so don’t disrespect one of my favourite characters like that,” MJ smirked in response, passing him the ice pack and getting comfortable on the ledge.
Peter just grinned in response and accepted the ice pack, gingerly placing it on his bruised eye.
“Why didn’t you fight back anyways?” MJ grumbled as she hugged her knees, although honestly, she was glad he didn’t fight back. “You coulda trashed him - you’re fucking Spider-Man.”
“Language,” he warned.
“Okay Captain America,” she rolled her eyes, half tempted to push him off the roof. “You’re freaking Spider-Man. Better?”
“Much,” he grinned cheekily, before looking into the skyline. She opted to keep looking at his face, trying to drink in every detail and soothe her pounding heart. He was beautiful, even with that bruised eye and chocolate stained mouth.
“I don’t know,” he said after a while. “Probably for the same reason that I don’t fight back when Flash picks on me.”
MJ didn’t say anything, she knew he’d continue in his own time. She knew he was comfortable talking to her, and somehow, the favour was returned wholeheartedly.
“It probably sounds stupid,” he mumbled, grabbing another cookie. “But I mean, fighting fire with fire doesn’t actually work. Nobody became a better person because they got beaten down by someone stronger than them. Most people become bullies after they got bullied anyways.”
MJ shifted to take a cookie as well. She lived for moments like this, when Peter’s soul was revealed in his speech, not just his eyes. Moments where he wasn’t just cute or funny, but he was such a good person.
“And anyways,” he took a gulp of milk, “if they can’t pick on me, they’ll probably pick on someone who can’t take it, right?”
She didn’t answer, just reached over and took a sip of milk. And then she smiled at him.
Her heart felt as if it was going to explode, but she had to hold herself before she burst into song like a Disney princess. She smiled at him with as much hope and joy as she could muster, wishing with all her heart she could sweep him up into an embrace, and force another cookie into his mouth. She wanted to tell him she loved him, that he was the best person she knew, that moments where it was just the two of them was all the social interaction she would ever look forward to. But she couldn’t express her love, because he didn’t love her back, and anything that even remotely drifted past the boundaries of their platonic relationship could sink the ship, so she did the next best thing.
“I love you for using Game of Thrones references, though,” she smirked, eyes still pointed to the sky.
And there, her heart ached as she almost let slip her deepest secret, teasing it with revelation and tempting it into exposure. One day, she promised, one wonderful and blissful day, she would say it while looking at him square in the eyes, raw and stripped of all disguise. One day, she would say it true, and he would say it back. One day.
“So,” he cleared his throat. “I guess we’re going to prom?”