Comforting
Old Michelle would never have done this. Old Michelle who stuck to the sidelines and observed at a distance never reacted to information, at least not any more of a reaction than an arched eyebrow raising and a slow once-over. No, old Michelle had enough know-how to avoid being pulled into situations like this. That, however, was not this Michelle.
She was sure her face gave away her realization and she saw the boy’s eyes widen in panic. He looked over his shoulder quickly before urging her backward toward the door that was behind her. Old Michelle would not be in this situation, but if she had she would have stopped Peter by mentioning that the door was to a small pantry. However, MJ didn’t realize this until they were both plunged into the dark and she heard a few boxes of cereal fall as Peter tried to find a light switch.
MJ blinked, the darkness suddenly becoming light as she realized the small cupboard made her stand oddly close to Peter. She turned slightly to try to make room for her to at least halfway sit on one of the shelves, she had a feeling this was going to be a long conversation.
“Look, you can’t tell anyone! Okay, MJ? I promise I’m just helping. Mr. Stark even gave me this suit so I could do it better and I’m sorry I missed so many things, but there are people out there that need me. So many people look for Spider-Man when they’re in trouble, it’s not that I don’t want to spend time with the team- And I’ve been feeling like shit all day for bailing on you all and then you show up with a war criminal dropping you off and-!”
“Breathe, Parker.” She reminded him reaching out to grab his elbow. The boy had a habit of talking with his hands and she didn’t want anything else falling around them. “I won’t tell anyone. No speak slowly and clearly.”
Peter stared at her. “You just found out I’m Spider-Man. How are you not more freaked out than me?”
She sighed. “I’m madder it took me this long. I heard you and Ned talking about stuff like Spider-Man but I assumed it was a video game or some larping thing.” She shook her head. “Now, speak clearly. This time without the flailing. The louder you are the faster the others will find us and I’m guessing you pushed me in here to explain.”
He finally seemed to realize he had pushed the girl into the small pantry closet and she could see his face match the red of his mask. “I-I… I’m sorry, Michelle. I panicked. I really shouldn’t have pushed you in here, I didn’t want to scare you. I’m sorry-I.” He looked up to see an exasperated look before sheepishly apologizing again.
“I’m sorry I’ve been missing team stuff. I honestly just didn’t think about it, I’ve been patrolling. There was this guy with alien tech I was worried about finding, which is why I missed the meet- which I’m sorry about too- and then Mr. Stark found out and took me off the case. After D.C. he’s been giving me updates about the F.B.I. finding the guy and he wired my suit so he knows if I’ll try to get involved. He even helped me make these spider cams that can patrol the city while I’m working on homework and tell me if I’m needed anywhere. He wants me to focus on school and social interaction first, so I’ve been trying to and-.”
“Breathe,” Michelle encourages when she sees him start to talk himself into a worry. Peter looks at her oddly.
Well, this has worked with Liz before so-…
Without thinking too much about it, Michelle snakes her arm around Peter and starts moving slow circle on his back. It wasn’t like it was extremely charged or anything. She’d done this before for Liz when the stress of a final exam was too much, she’d done this for Abe after the monument, she’d even done it to reassure her mother every time there was an attack on their city. But, with Peter, it felt different.
He had tensed at the comfort for a moment. She didn’t realize for a moment that to him she may just feel like a stranger and having someone who you didn’t know touching you could make it worse. Right as she was about to moves her hand she felt him relax. He sent her a small smile, “Thanks, MJ.”
She nodded. “I take it you haven’t talked to someone about this?”
“I mean, I told Mr. Stark about the guy with the weapons. I talk to Ned about plans.”
“Try talking to Ned about the emotional stuff too. Or see if Stark will get you a therapist or something. I think you freaked out like that because of anxiety. I’m here if you want to talk but I don’t exactly have a degree.” She explained it slowly, as though Peter was a small deer. “What you’re doing a great, but you can’t worry about everything alone. The world won’t end if you act like a teenager once in a while.”
She let out a small chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood and the next moment she found herself being hugged by the boy in spandex. She slowly reciprocated, feeling like there was something fuzzy and warm inside her chest. “We have to get back out there, loser. We can talk ab-.”
The small room’s door was swung open with enough force to make the doorknob slap into the wall on the other side. Both of them looked up, eyes wide. They had jumped apart in the heat of the moment, making a few bags of chips fall as they did so. Betty and Flash stood before them, looking just as shocked as they were.
“Wh-Wha-Penis Parker!” Flash stuttered out before being smacked in the arm by the blonde girl harshly.
They barely had time to process before they heard footsteps clamoring toward the kitchen. Michelle, assuming Peter was frozen and would probably not move, took the time to jump off the shelf and prod him out of the pantry along with herself.
“Will you two stop overreacting? Everything is fine.” She insisted though she felt her face turning red under her façade.
Betty looked at her in astonishment as the others made their way to the kitchen. The team looked around confused, but the tension in the air seemed to make everyone straighten.
“Betty, what’s-?” Liz started slowly.
Betty opened her mouth to speak when Flash interrupted, pointing between the spider kid and MJ. “They were in the closet together, their arms were around each other and everything!”
Ned blinked a few times before glancing between Flash and the air. “This is a joke, right?”
Betty shook her head, crossing her arms. “No. I saw it too.”
Liz looked at her friend then back to the girl in question, who had started to shift at the intense scrutiny. “Wait. MJ, was it, Peter, you were meeting before school today? Is that why you were late to class?”
“What, no-!”
Ned looked between them, finally settling on sending Peter a slightly hurt look. “I mean, Peter did walk her to her locker and to lunch today…”
Peter’s gapped for a moment. “It was on the way and we were already talking! It-!”
“Why else would you two be in the pantry closet holding each other if you weren’t together?” Charles asked looking around the room. Abe and Flash nodded in agreement, though all of them still looked shocked.
“We aren’t together.” Michelle insisted, looking at their looks of amusement and shock. She suddenly smacked Peter’s arm lightly. “Tell them, loser.”
Flash rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Penis Parker. Tell us all about your logical explanation why you were holding onto Ms. Moody if you aren’t together. Go ahead. Let’s see if you can lie your way out of this one.”
In all honesty, MJ should have known better than to put Peter in the driver’s seat when it came to this. He didn’t do well in social pressure situations.
“I asked her to homecoming and she said yes.”