Chapter 4
peter
In three seconds, MJ goes from perfectly calm to pushing him out the window with as much force as she can muster. He stumbles over a pile of clothes she left on the floor as her small hands continue to shove and pull and Peter can hardly get any words out. “What the hell, M?” he said once he was sitting halfway on the windowsill.
“If my parents hear me talking to you, they’ll kill me. This is not the time to discuss…” she searches for the right word but never comes up with one. “If you feel guilty, tell Gwen. Hell, tell the whole world, just leave my parents out of it.” Michelle looks scared.
“But I don’t want to tell Gwen.” She’s trying to peel his leg off of her wall, even though it’s a lost cause, and Peter feels her pause for a second when he says that.
“Then what do you want me to do? Do you want me to do it? Because I will if you just get out of my house .” Michelle isn’t letting up on his leg and he’s starting to understand that she’s serious about this.
“I’ll go. But, MJ, I don’t want Gwen to know.” Peter takes her hand off of his leg and swings it over to the otherside. It’s hurting his neck to look over his shoulder to stare at MJ, and it doesn’t bother him that he’s basically dangling off a six story building, he just considers it mildly unnerving.
Michelle, stuttering, seems to immediately forget how desperately she wanted him to leave. “Uh, w-what’d she say to you? After school, at the, um, football field.”
“She never got the chance to talk, actually. I kinda was freaking out about you,” Peter was going to end the sentence there, but as he watches her face turn rigid, he quickly adds, “And then Karen alerted me of an assault and battery that I had to attend to, so…”
A silence falls between the two. Eventually, Michelle sits next to Peter on the windowsill. He knows she’s scared of heights (one of two reasons why she didn’t go on the Washington Monument,) but she knows Peter would never let her fall to her death. She trusts him fully, and as he watches her watch the stars he wonders how he ever let her get away from him. “You have to stop doing this, Peter,” she eventually says, not taking her gaze off of the night’s sky.
“Doing what?” he asks, even though he knows what she’s talking about.
“Putting me before Gwen. It’s starting to piss her off, I think. If you want to keep her, you need to prioritize her. Also, stop looking at me like… that.” There’s a long pause between her finals words where she turns her head and looks Peter in the eye. A pause where she bites her lip, something she does when she’s nervous. Peter wants this pause to last forever. “It’s really-- It’s just, you shouldn’t be looking at me like that. It’s unfair.”
“To who?”
“To Gwen, obviously.” Michelle breaks eye contact and returns to looking at the sky.
“Obviously.” Peter doesn’t fail to note the hesitation before she answered his question. “Michelle, what do you think Gwen would do if I broke up with her? Like, hypothetically speaking.”
She whips her head around to look at him again. “You’re so stupid. I’m going to have to tell her you said that, you know.”
“I said hypothetically . And why would you have to tell her? And answer me, please.” Yeah, he probably shouldn’t have said it, but Peter was afraid Michelle was going to try to kick him out again. She looks so pretty in the moonlight.
“Because she’s one of my best friends, and you’re her boyfriend. Anyways--”
“But I’m like, your bestest friend, so don’t I outrank her?”
MJ punches him in the arm. “Let me answer your hypothetical scenario. Honestly, it could go one of two ways, I think. One, you dump her nicely and respectfully, say something like, ‘If the villains find out who I am, that would put you in danger, and I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt,’ and she won’t tell anyone and maybe you’ll still be friends. Two , you try to do it nicely, but you turn into the stammering idiot you are, maybe accidentally call her gross and ugly, and she snitches to her father who puts out a warrant for your arrest. Take a guess at which one is more likely.”
“ Har-har ,” he sarcastically remarks as Michelle laughs. “I just don’t think Gwen is the one for me.” Swiftly, hope glimmers in her eye, and a small smile creeps on her face. But just as fast as it occurred, she wiped it away when she untucked her hair from behind her ear.
“Of course she isn’t. We’re in high school. We aren’t meant to meet our soulmates now, and who knows if we ever will? There are seven billion people on this planet. I don’t think we’re going to be lucky enough to even meet one percent of those people.”
“You’re destined to meet your soulmate, M. I think that’s why Aunt May has never really moved on from Ben’s death, because he was her person. They were supposed to live a lifetime together, and I guess I kinda messed that up for them.” Peter, now overwhelmingly sad, looks in the opposite direction of Michelle, who gives Peter’s hand a quick squeeze before returning to her own bubble.
“Peter, it wasn’t your fault. What I said last year, I didn’t mean it. It was so fucked up. I was so fucked up, and I need you to tell me that you know that it’s not your fault.” He wishes he never brought it up, because he doesn’t want to cry in front of her, not right now.
Peter pulls his mask over his head. He hears (and feels) Michelle crawl back into her apartment before he stands up, declaring, “I’m gonna go to--to, uh, Gwen’s house. You’re right. I need to get my priorities straight.”
Before he hears her say goodbye, Peter swings away from her apartment complex. He’s going to break up with her. It’s the right thing to do, even if MJ thinks it’s going to go terribly wrong, Avengers are supposed to do the right thing. If he says the thing about not wanting to put her in danger, it’ll go fine-- except he can’t really remember the exact thing she said, that memory was quickly replaced with how Michelle’s face practically lit up when he said, “Gwen isn’t the one for me.”
As long as Peter can remember, or come up with something similar, it’s a soundproof plan.
“Peter!” Gwen exclaimes when he knocks on her window. She opens it up and when Peter takes off his mask, she smashes her lips into his. “God, I missed that feeling. And before you say anything, I’m really sorry for not supporting you with this whole thing,” she points to his suit, “right off the bat. And maybe it was too soon to say I love you, so I’m sorry about that, too.”
“About the Spider-Man, thing, Gwen--” Peter climbs into Gwen’s bedroom, ready to dive into the speech he made while coming over here, but she cuts him off before he can get anywhere.
“Peter, I don’t care. Really. I think it’s amazing! And, listen, I know it’s a long time away, but since we’re dating I guess it really isn’t an issue: wanna go to homecoming with me, Peter Parker?”
Shit.
___
one year ago
“What are we doing, Peter?” she said from underneath him as she tried to stop him from kissing her jaw. “Seriously, Peter, stop.”
He groaned and buried his head in the curve of her neck. “Sorry, M.” Peter sat up, on the farthest area of the couch from her, and grabbed a pillow to put over his lap to rest his arms on. Peter was pretty sure Michelle wouldn’t believe that, but it was worth a shot. “What do you mean?”
“ Us , Peter. You keep calling Ned and I over to hang out, but whenever Ned leaves you won’t keep your hands off me. What’s up with that?”
“It’s not like you’re innocent, Michelle. When Ned went to the bathroom you stuck your tongue down my throat. What’s up with that ?” Three weeks had passed since prom night, and MJ was totally right: he didn’t want to keep his hands to himself. That first kiss with her, despite being surrounded with his annoying peers, was enchanting. And so was every kiss after. It had turned sort of addicting , honestly.
MJ’s face went red. “Says the guy who’s hiding his boner right now.” She pointed at Peter’s lap, and he lightheartedly flipped her off. “Peter, you know what I mean. What are we?”
“Fuck buddies?” he joked, and she kicked him hard in the side. The farthest they had gone at that point was underneath the bra, not that he was expecting more. If they stopped there, that would be enough for him to live on for a lifetime. “What do you want us to be?”
“I like you, Peter. Maybe a little too much.”
“I like you a lot, too,” he said, and he probably should’ve waited to say it, because at the same time MJ told him, “But I don’t want anything serious.”
“You’re a great guy, Peter,” she continued on. “But we’re sixteen, and I’d rather know you for the rest of my life than to be your highschool sweetheart.” Peter grimaced. “Did that sound mean? I just meant that if we become, like, ‘boyfriend-girlfriend’ and it doesn’t work out, then I would never be able to look you in the eye again. And I want to be your best friend until I’m so sick of you that I literally die to get away from you.” She smiled, trying to get the nasty expression off of Peter’s face.
As hard as it was, he ignored it. “But what if this ‘fling’ or whatever ends badly, and you still can’t look me in the eye. Then what?”
“Then… Then we build a bridge and get over it. As long as you never feel entitled to meet my parents, then I think we’ll be able to do that.” Peter didn’t know what to think. Maybe she was right. He really wanted to be able to grow old with her, in love or not. On the other hand, though, he didn’t want whatever they were to stop. “Peter, promise me something.”
“Okay,” he said, a bit too fast, as MJ throws the pillow off of him and crawls into his lap.
“Promise me that, no matter how hard it is,” her grin was cocky, and her fingers started to curl around Peter’s hair. “You’ll never fall in love with me, for the sake of our future friendship. And because if I tell anyone that Peter Parker fell in love with me, I might just have to throw myself off a cliff.”
“As if you’re any better.” He brought her head down, feeling a desperate urge to kiss her, but she stopped him and threw her pinky out. “Really? You want to pinky promise?” MJ nodded. She looked radiant tonight, and he was considering dragging this conversation out as long as possible just so he can see her smile more. “ Fine . I, Peter B. Parker, pinky swear that, no matter how hard it is, I will never, ever fall in love with you, Michelle-something-Jones, for the sake of our future friendship.”
She leaned down, but instead of her lips against his, he felt them graze his ear. “Michelle Ruth Jones. It’s a family name.”
Peter broke his promise within twenty seconds. He was, undoubtedly, going to fall in love with that girl.
___
michelle
She hasn’t heard from Peter since he lept from her window last night. He wasn’t in school, and because it’s Friday, she doesn’t have any plans to see him until Monday. Which is fine , but she at least expected a text. He usually tells her, or Ned, when he’s out of commission.
Stark probably rolled out of nowhere with an offer to train upstate again. He’s been AWOL for what-- six months? And he always had a knack for poor timing, Michelle has found out, so if he chose now to return it wouldn’t really surprise her.
From the impression she got last night, Peter was going to break up with Gwen. Michelle probably shouldn’t have talked to him for that long, nor should she have felt butterflies when she sat next to him, or when she noticed him looking at her like he always used to. Everything just feels so much brighter when she’s with him. And it’s really hard to want to let that go. God, she feels like she’s pressing repeat on the same thoughts every day and it’s driving her mad . The “girl who steals her best friend’s boyfriend” is someone Michelle never thought she’d identify as, either, and it’s not like she’d actually do anything with Peter when he’s with Gwen. However…
She’s in love with him.
And it really sucks.
Gwen, who was absent at lunch, catches up to Michelle before Decathlon practice. She latches onto Michelle’s arm and tries to rest her cheek on Michelle’s shoulder, but Gwen would have to stand on her tiptoes to do it. “Are you busy tonight?” Gwen says, a dreamy smile on her face.
“Nope. Why?” They round the corner that leads them to the library, to see that they’re the only ones there so far.
“Peter’s out of town this weekend, and I feel like I haven’t spent that much time with you lately, MJ. Girl weekend!” Gwen hoists herself up to sit on one of the tables. She swings her legs back and forth like an enthusiastic child.
Oh. “So you and Peter made up?” Of course they did. How could Michelle set herself up to expect anything else? Gwen Stacy has a charm that could convince the mafia to leave New York, and even with his superpowered antics, Peter is just a boy.
“He didn’t tell you?” Gwen questions, shocked. “Peter said he left to go share the big news with you and Ned. Whatever, it’s better this way. I get to tell you the whole story tonight at my place. If you want to come over.”
Michelle rolls her eyes. “ Fine . But if your mom doesn’t make the raspberry cheesecake I’m leaving.” Mrs. Stacy’s raspberry cheesecake is the best thing Michelle has ever tasted, and Gwen makes a habit of telling her mom to make some whenever Michelle comes over. “Hey, uh, where is Peter, anyways?”
“Oh! He’s upstate. Uh, with May and her-- her new boyfriend! Yes. Tony Stark.” Gwen is an unbelievably bad liar, worse than Peter, and that’s ignoring the fact that everyone in the world knows about Tony Stark and Pepper Pots’ engagement.
“What about Tony Stark?” Flash yells as he walks into the library. “Is Parker feeding you lies again? You know, he doesn’t actually know him.”
“Shut up, Flash,” Ned says from the chair next to Michelle. When did he get here? “We get it, you’re envious of Peter.”
“Am not!”
“Flash, can it.” Betty rushes into the library with a few other team members as soon as Michelle finishes talking. “Alright, let’s get started with today’s practice.”
The only eventful thing to happen at practice was when Charles tripped over a stray book, and took a whole row of books down with him. He has to stay after to pick them up. Otherwise, it went like it usually did. Ned and Betty held hands underneath the table and Gwen made vomit actions to Michelle when they noticed. Peter’s absent didn’t go unnoticed, it never did when Flash is always on alert for him. Mr. Harrington was disinterested and flirted with the librarian whenever Michelle had the reigns, but today she actually flirted back. Score for Mr. Harrington.
Also, Michelle only thought about Peter twice during practice. That’s a new record.
“Michelle, do you mind if we walk to my house? This might be one of the last few good days we get before the cold sets in.”
“It’s September 10th--” Michelle begins to argue, but is cut off before she can say that it’s a thirty minute walk to Gwen’s apartment complex.
“Awesome! Let’s go.” Gwen takes Michelle’s hand as they walk the streets of Queens, Gwen always a few paces in front of her friend. They take a wrong turn eventually, so she decides to turn around and backtrack instead of pulling out their phones and asking Siri. All together, the trip takes forty-five minutes.
At least they had constant conversation. Gwen was talking in a fast, high pitched voice and everything, and hardly let Michelle talk. “Cindy convinced me to leave campus for lunch. We got hot dogs from that weird vender down the street. We would’ve invited you but I know that you can’t stand him. Also, you’re too tall to sneak out of the building, I think.”
“Gwen, wait. How about you tell me about you and Peter now?” She finally manages to say twenty minutes in. Curiosity was killing her.
“Right. So he climbs into my window at like, nine thirty-- from the fire escape!” Gwen quickly recovered, “And I was basically just like ‘I forgive you, Peter, and I get how fast we’ve been moving and I didn’t realize that it was scary for you,’ and then I asked him to homecoming. And he said yes!”
“Just like that?” Michelle asks.
“Just like that!”
Maybe it is time for her to stop hanging out with Peter. It’s getting to be too much to handle all by herself, and there’s no one she can turn to to help her out. Her two best friends are dating, one of whom is the one she’s in love with, and then her third best friend has an undying loyalty to Peter and would never keep a secret from him in his life. The one mother figure Michelle has is May, but May doesn’t know about the two of them and Michelle wants to keep it that way. “Hey, I devirginized your nephew” isn’t the best conversation starter.
Or, she could tell Gwen about everything. Peter would be so pissed it’d probably drive him away anyways, but maybe after the initial shock Gwen wouldn’t be that mad. Afterall, she’s apparently cool with Peter being Spider-Man, and that’s a bigger secret than Peter and Michelle. Michelle feels like she’s going to burst-- into tears or anger-- if she doesn’t tell someone. And as Gwen starts to unlock her apartment, Michelle builds up the courage to say, “Gwen, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Can it wait?” she replies as she swings the door open, turns the light on, and thirty people pop out of nowhere to yell, “Surprise!”
A happy birthday banner is hung up on the wall. Gifts are stuffed in a corner and there’s a table full of random treats-- cheetos, punch that for sure isn’t homemade, a crystal bowl full of gushers, and at the very end is Mrs. Stacy’s raspberry cheesecake. And covering a whole wall is pictures of Michelle. Michelle by herself, with her team, with her friends, with Peter. It must have taken forever.
Everyone on the Decathlon team is here, along with a bunch of people Michelle casually hangs out with and a small amount of the drama kids showed up. She’s never hung out with them before, she just assume they’re Gwen’s friends.
“I know it isn’t much,” Peter says from the front of the crowd. Michelle, her jaw still touching the floor from shock, looks over to Gwen, who shrugs her shoulders cockily. “But, it is very last minute, and I spent all day doing this, so if you hate it, that means you must hate me.”
“It isn’t my birthday--”
“Which is what makes it such a good surprise party!” Ned chimes in, “Also, the one person here who actually knows your birthday wouldn’t tell us. He just vaguely said ‘mid-September’ and wouldn’t say anything else.” He lightly bumps Peter in the shoulder.
“I convinced my parents to give us the apartment tonight. The only thing is that we have to include my little brother, so just make sure he drinks the right punch and it’ll be okay,” Gwen says, her enthusiasm bouncing off the walls.
“Michelle Jones, legal adult, would never approve of underage drinking,” Peter jokes and grabs a beer from the counter. He holds it up to Michelle. “For the birthday girl?”
When she takes the beer from him and takes a drink, everyone cheers. Gwen is looking between her two best friends with such love, which makes Michelle’s stomach rip apart. Tonight she’s going to tell Gwen. It’s time she knows about Peter and Michelle.