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She’s not obsessed with him. So what if she’s seen just about everything he’s ever been in twice. They’re all really good films (only some of them aren’t but she still watches them anyway).
But then, they’re both at some awards show, and somehow meet.
“Michelle Jones,” She introduces, holding out her hand for him to shake (and mentally chastising herself ‘cause who shakes hands!? ).
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” His eyes widen at his mistake, but less than a second later he’s grinning and laughing at himself, “I mean,” He shakes her hand, “Peter Parker, nice to meet you.”
MJ laughs, “Nice to meet you too.” There’s a pause as she attempts to decide whether or not she should try to continue this conversation (she decides yes, it is worth it to continue talking to him). “Are you always this awkward?”
His grin ( how are his teeth that white?! ) somehow grows even wider. “Pretty much.”
Another pause.
“I’ve just seen a lot of your work- you’re really amazing by the way- so I kind of already know who you are, but… yeah, I’m kind of awkward.”
She’s grinning now too, “I can see that.”
He nods, “It was really great to finally get to meet you,” he says, and MJ suddenly notices how close they are to the venue's entrance.
“Yeah, you too.”
Then they part ways.
But that, however, is not the last time they meet.
It’s not like she doesn’t expect to see him here. The directors have been talking about wanting to get him in on the project, but she hadn’t really thought too much about it. Peter Parker’s a busy man, she tells herself, but then he shows up, and it’s both expected and unexpected.
“Nice to see you again,” he says, grinning ( Is he always grinning? ), and she smiles a real smile because it is nice to see him again .
“Likewise.”
Then, there’s a chemistry read between the two of them (turns out they have really great chemistry, who knew) and it's only sort of awkward.
He ends up getting (and taking) the part.
It doesn’t surprise her (nothing ever does), but it does excite her. He’s great actor and MJ really does think that he’ll add something to the film and she’s looking forward to working with him.
(And maybe he seems a little like good friend material.)
(It turns out that he is great friend material.)
“So, Michelle-”
“My friends call me MJ,” She says hoping that he picks up on how what she’s trying to say is that they’re friends (and that it’s not to early to call themselves friends).
He grins, but he always seems to be grinning, so she’s not sure whether or not that’s a good sign (it is), “So, MJ …”
Ned Leeds, who turns out to be friends with both of them, also get’s a role in the film.
“Wait,” Peter says, turning to face MJ after she let Ned hug her (she almost didn’t, but she hadn’t seen him in forever and she knew that he’s a hugger so she was already ready for his greeting), “You know Ned?” I do have friends Parker.
She nods, “Yeah, we met on the set of this one indie film that was snubbed at the Oscars.”
“Oh.”
“You know him too?” She asks and he nods because obviously he knows him .
“We went to the same high school,” Ned says, as if to remind them that he’s there (something he’ll have to do quite often in the future).
MJ smiles, but she always seems to be smiling when she’s in Peter’s presence, so it’s not that odd, “That’s cool.” And it’s not even that sarcastic.
Fast forward to one of their first days on set, in which they are only filming scenes that involve the two of them (meaning Ned is not there and instead most likely sleeping, lucky ). They’re both incredibly tired since it’s really early in the morning.
Peter spots her first from across the set and waves to her with his free hand (he’s holding coffee in his other hand).
“Hi,” Peter says when he’s close enough to her for it not to seem weird.
“Hey, you ready to start filming?” Again MJ, way to be awkward (only it’s not and she’s just being overly critical of herself).
“Sure.” She laughs and then he laughs and then she ignores that weird feeling at the bottom of her stomach (and the fact that she just laughed at a comment neither witty or even somewhat humorous).
“It’s early,” AKA her excuse for laughing so hard at something not very funny said by her insanely cute costar.
“Yep,” he agrees, and then they laugh some more for seemingly no apparent reason ( Oh my god, we’re both idiots aren’t we? ).
On set, they’re very quickly known for ruining takes with sudden outburst of laughter.
“Cut, cut, cut!” The director yells, looking more and more annoyed by the second. “You two,” he points at MJ and Peter, “pull yourselves together.”
They both yell sorry in between fits of giggles and promise themselves it will never happen again.
(Spoiler alert, it does.)
It’s not much better with Ned on set. Together, the three of them ruin way too many takes, and constantly mess with one another, but they also help create a beautiful movie so it all kind of evens out.
And Ned; sweet, precious, Ned, ships MJ and Peter way before the internet does.
“Oh my god,” Ned says, cutting off MJ and Peter’s current argument (it was about what type of doughnut was the best. Maple bars, obviously). “You two need to get a room.”
MJ rolls her eyes (but she’s still blushing. No I definitely am not ), “And you need to get some sleep.” And that’s how she plays off Ned’s accusation that they’re flirting by telling him, reminding him, he’s sleep deprived (he is, though, they all are).
“We could all use some sleep.” Peter says, attempting to sober up for the scene. But mostly Ned since he’s starting to imply that we’re flirting even though it is very obvious that we are not .
Peter and MJ spend the rest of the time that they’re filming hanging out with the cast and flirting (in a weirdly oblivious way).
They meet up again, professionally, after filming and reshoots are both done for the press tour amid dating rumors (they hang out a lot after initial filming is over and live sort of close by to one another).
Very quickly, MJ becomes sick of the rumors.
“Why can’t a guy and a girl just be friends!?” She asks, pacing back and forth in front of Peter. She seems to do that a lot when she’s angry.
(“ Where else I am supposed to pace? In front of a wall like a boring person, or in front of one of your best friends who is pretending like they’re listening? ”)
It doesn’t help that Ned’s gotten out of most of the press tour because he’s shooting some other film, meaning that it’s mostly just her and Peter.
“I don’t know MJ,” Peter says, almost as exasperated as her, almost . It gets annoying really quickly when you’re repeatedly asked if you’re dating your (incredibly cute) costar.
But, they somehow learn to ignore it, and soon, they’re laughing it off awkwardly at interviews.
(But maybe it’s a bit weird having people thinking that you’re dating someone when the person in question still hasn’t realised that you have a gigantic crush on them.)
(Just in case you didn’t know, above paragraph applies to both of them.)
So what, if they meet up weekly for coffee, or regularly see movies together and are constantly being spotted outside one another's apartments (they live really close by and sometimes, due to lack of sleep, they fall asleep at each other's places). All of this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re dating.
However, it does really confuses the press.
It’s definitely not a date, though, when they go to the Oscars together, since they had to go with one another for the film (so what if they were going to go together anyway).
“It’s getting late,” Peter says, yawning near the end of the show. Thanks Captain Obvious.
“Yep, it is getting late,” she deadpans, but she yawns too And it’s all his fault .
“Best Actor is coming up after the commercial break,” he reminds her, not sounding the least bit nervous (he is though, she can tell), and she purses her lips at the thought of it (Best actress is announced after that, a category that she’s nominated in).
“So I’ve heard.”
It’s not like she’s nervous or anything. ( I’m not!) She might win, she might not win, it doesn’t matter (It does matter, however, whether or not she wins. The award she’s most nervous for is the Oscar for best actor, because he deserves that award ). I
But then Peter grabs her hand, and, for reasons unknown, her winning matters just a little bit. (Maybe ‘cause she wants to win for him.)
(Also his hands are really soft.)
“What are you doing?” MJ asks, glancing between her hand and Peter’s (they’re being held together so it kind of looks like one big hand, only it also doesn’t) and trying not to freak out on national ( International? ) television. The press is going to have a field day if they spot this.
“Holding your hand,” He says, as though it’s the most natural thing in the world (and maybe it is), but he’s still blushing a little. I hate you, Parker (she doesn’t really).
“ Why are you holding my hand?” I am much too tired to be dealing with this.
He rolls his eyes, ( don’t you dare roll you eyes at me, Parker)
In case you can’t tell, MJ is really tired.
“Because you're my best friend and I’m nervous.”
She’s about to further tell him off when she’s shushed by Ned (who has watched the whole exchange with a tired smile) because they’re back on the air and about to zoom in on the nominees.
The presenter for Best Actor (last year’s best actress winner) comes on stage, he will win , and Peter squeezes her hand nervously.
She talks for a second about how all the nominees are phenomenal and all of this other stuff that MJ’s heard before. Then, she takes out the envelope.
Oh my god this is taking forever!
Just open the damn envelope!
“And the winner is…”
Read the name!
Peter squeezes her hand a little tighter and everyone seems to be holding their breath.
“Peter Parker, Superhuman.”
Holy shit, he just won.
She stands up, eyes wide, and Peter immediately pulls her in for a hug. “You won!” She says and he grins even wider.
“I’ll see you backstage soon,” He replies and the sureness in his voice makes her think, for just a second, that she might win too
Ned hugs him next and says some sort of congratulations before Peter’s being nudged towards the stage.
He gives an amazing, articulate, coherent acceptance speech, that’s ten times better than hers would be and MJ has never been more proud of anyone.
In what feels like seconds (it’s not, but now she’s sort of excited), the presenter for Best Actress is on stage and MJ’s holding her breath (everything seems to be going by faster than when Peter’s category was being announced).
She takes a deep breath.
“And the winner is… Michelle Jones, Superhuman.”
She standing up again, freaking out ( because Oh my god, I just won an Oscar ) and it feels weird not having Peter right next to her.
Ned hugs her first. He’s grinning, looking insanely happy (his two best friends just won Oscars!) “Nice job MJ.”
“You should’ve won, Ned,” she replies (someone else won the award for best supporting acto,r and they probably deserved it, but Ned deserved it too ).
MJ doesn’t get to hear his reply since she’s being ushered towards the stage by a bunch of celebrities congratulating her.
When she gets to the stage, it’s really loud and it takes a moment for it to quiet down enough for her to be heard.
Shit, that’s a lot of famous people.
“Wow! This is amazing.” MJ’s grin is even wider now and she’s pretty sure she’s visibly shaking. She glanced backstage and spots Peter, and somehow her grin gets even wider.
“I want to start off by thanking the Academy and the other nominees in this category. You all are amazing and I look up to each and every one of you. It’s an honor to even be in the same room as you, much less nominated in the same category. To my wonderful parents who have supported me every step of the way, I could never have done it without your love and support. And my amazing sister, Gayle, who somehow put up with me while growing up. I want to thank the cast and crew of this film for making it happen. Peter Parker, Ned Leeds, thank you so much for making me laugh and being two of my best friends. And I also want to thank the films amazing director, Nick Fury for putting his heart and soul into this project.
“And lastly, I want to thank Hollywood for making some sort of effort, even if it’s not always for the right reasons, to create movies with more diverse casts. But, we’re still not at the point in which it’s normal for a big budget movie to have a diverse cast, or for multiple men or woman of color to be nominated for best actor or actress. We need it to not be a big deal anymore. We need to show the next generation of actors and actresses that your success depends on your talent and work ethic, not the color of your skin.
“Thank you to anyone who’s ever helped me along the way. I’ll try my hardest to find you all and thank you personally. I’m eternally grateful for this and the opportunities I have been provided. Thank you.”
She exits the stage and is still in shock.
That was a mess.
Peter seems to be waiting for her and he hugs her as soon as she gets backstage. Very quickly, they’re both crying harder than they care to admit. It’s all so crazy ( “We’re Oscar winners!” ) and they’re both insanely happy.
Nothing can ever ruin this moment.
(They still have to fight off dating rumors after they hangout together (and with Ned, don’t forget about Ned! ) and give interviews during the after party.)
(But then, weeks later, Peter confirms that he would like to maybe go on a date and MJ feels incredibly oblivious.)
“So um MJ, do you want to maybe go out to eat on Friday?” Peter asks. He looks nervous, ( why the hell is he nervous? Parker what did you do?! ) which is odd since they go out to eat all the time.
“Yeah, sure,” she says (‘because that’s the obvious most normal answer).
“But, like, as a date.” He looks at her with hopeful eyes and a nervous smile and she’s not entirely sure she could say no even if she wanted to (in case this wasn’t already apparent, she wanted to).
They’ve been on the edge of dating and not dating for a while now. The press has pretty much given up on them and, in a way, so had she.
He’s her best friend.
“Okay.”
Later, they’ll watch their films with one another on the couch in their living room. MJ will say that it’s probably unhealthy to spend this much time in front of a TV and Peter will throw popcorn at her.
(They’ll also try not to think about how it’s sort of weird to be obsessed with your best friend.)