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“Aw, Peter, you look so handsome!” Aunt May cooed as she watched Peter fix his hair in the bathroom mirror. “I can’t believe tonight is your last school dance! Where has the time gone?”
Peter smiled at her in the mirror, pushing the last few strands of hair into the perfect position. “Thanks, May. Do I really look good? Like I look fine?”
“Yes, my handsome boy,” May smiled lovingly. “We should probably get going in order to be on time for pictures, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll meet you in the car,” Peter replied. “I need to grab my stuff.”
Once May exited the bathroom, Peter took one last look at himself in the mirror and smiled nervously. He closed the door behind him and grabbed his phone, wallet and keys and stuffed them in his pocket. Peter then turned to his dresser and opened the top drawer, moved some loose socks out of the way in order to retrieve the small plastic container he had stashed away. He nervously evaluated the corsage one last time and prayed that MJ would like it; or at least not make fun of him for being too cheesy, before he placed it carefully in his opposite pocket. Peter joined May in the hall to wait for the elevator down to the lobby of their apartment building. During the car ride they chatted about Peter’s classes, how prepared he feels for the end of high school, and in true May fashion, if he’s going to spend his whole summer preoccupied with Spider-Man stuff instead of preparing for college.
Once they stopped in the parking lot of the park the group had agreed to meet at, Peter felt his nerves increase, despite his best wishes. Aunt May, who Peter swore was psychic sometimes, rubbed his shoulder reassuringly as they walked towards Ned, Betty, their moms, and MJ in the distance. He had figured they’d be the last ones to show.
“Hey guys,” Peter greeted once they were in earshot of everyone else. “Sorry we’re a bit late.”
“It’s no problem, don’t worry Peter,” Ned’s mom assured warmly. Aunt May made her way to join the other women in conversation as Peter moved towards his friends.
“Peter! You look so nice!” Betty exclaimed using her hand not enveloped in Ned’s to give Peter a zealous thumbs up. He smiled at her kind words and he gave her a careful hug to avoid any wardrobe disasters in the minutes before pictures. Next he turned to Ned and broke out into a huge grin at seeing his best friend dressed up in a suit. Ned momentarily released Betty’s hand so the boys could perform their handshake.
“Nerds,” Michelle shouted which was followed by a laugh from Betty. Her announcement caused Peter to turn to face her and he nearly dropped his jaw in shock.
Peter took in her appearance: first her dress, which was a lace and sequined floor length black dress. He eyed— briefly — the deep V neckline before his gaze travelled to the slit on her right leg that stopped just above her mid-thigh. Jesus Christ she looked amazing. Peter approached her to envelope her in a hug (because they’re friends , that’s what friends do) and the closer he got the more details he noticed.
“Wow, MJ, you look amazing,” Peter breathed when they pulled away. Taking a step back on the grass, he noticed the way her hair was styled. Silver glittery pins kept half of her hair from covering her face to lay against her back while the other side was allowed to flow down her front and across her shoulder and arm.
“Thanks, Parker. I guess you clean up nice for a giant dork.” She squinted, though Peter knew there was no malice behind her teasing comment.
“I, uh, I got this for you,” Peter stuttered, clearing his throat as he pulled the corsage from his pocket, hoping none of the adults had started paying attention to them again. “I know you’re not my date, or whatever, but I thought it would still be nice. Senior prom and all.”
He nervously removed the corsage, careful to not disrupt the intricate ensemble of white roses. He left the matching boutonniere in the box in case that was one step too far. Peter was so worried about what MJ would think about the corsage because he had asked Betty what would go best with the dress MJ had chosen and he didn’t want to disappoint. Michelle stuck her left wrist out and watched Peter tie the simple yet delicate ribbon around her. She quickly glanced over to Ned and Betty when she heard one of them whispering, but rolled her eyes when they pretended they weren’t paying attention. Michelle looked at the box Peter was holding under his arm and saw a matching boutonniere sitting inside. She grabbed it from him and pulled the flower and pin out and motioned for Peter to face her. Even though she tried to focus all her attention on pinning the rose to Peter’s lapel she could see the faint blush stain his cheeks. It probably didn’t help that she could see Ned sneaking pictures of the exchange from the corner of her eye.
“Parker, you do know the symbolism of white roses, right?” MJ questioned, a smirk playing at her lips.
“Uh, no,” Peter muttered dumbly. “Is it bad?”
His response made Michelle laugh. She opened her mouth to tease him more but was stopped by Betty’s mom calling for them to get a move on with pictures already. Michelle started to walk over to the picture destination, a concerned Peter at her side.
“MJ, what do they mean? Did I just give you a death corsage or something?”
“I’ll tell you later at dinner. I can’t talk and walk in these heels at the same time.”
The four of them assembled in front of a beautiful, ivy covered wall which gave a unique yet professional backdrop to their pictures. The lighting was also perfect, they weren’t struggling to smile with the sun in their eyes. He should have known because MJ had picked this spot.
Peter watched as Ned wrapped his arm around Betty’s waist and she smiled up at him. He smiled to himself at how happy his best friends seemed just as MJ took her place next to Betty. Peter shyly shuffled next to MJ and smiled towards the several cameras pointed in his direction. He stood slightly awkwardly next to the rest of his friends before Michelle noticed, and subsequently grabbed his wrist and moved his hand to rest against the small of her back. Peter stiffened but eventually relaxed when she seemed to not make a big deal about it, which is good. Because they’re friends. And he totally didn’t notice MJ’s corsage clad hand resting against her thigh, front and center, as she posed. Everything was going great so far.
After the four of them had taken normal, cliche and silly pictures as a group, Peter and Michelle moved so Ned and Betty could take their couple pictures. Peter stood at May’s side as everyone watched Ned place a sweet kiss to Betty’s cheek and MJ grabbed her vintage film camera to take her own pictures. Once Betty’s mom was done snapping pictures of her daughter, Michelle brought Ned and Betty together again to take their picture. Peter watched her face squint as she looked through the lense in concentration and he couldn’t help a fond smile from taking over his face. His thoughts were interrupted by Michelle’s voice calling him.
“Parker, get over here. I need to take a picture of your dumbass.” He laughed and made his way to where she was standing.
“Where should I stand?”
“A step that way… there. Don’t move.” Michelle aimed the camera at him and he squirmed. “Stop moving. Just act natural.”
“I don’t know what that means, MJ.” Peter whined making her lower her camera and sigh.
“Just think of something funny and smile.”
“Okay but I can’t think of—”
“Last year at Flash’s end of the year party. He got super wasted, jumped into his pool in his self-made Spider-Man suit that he secretly sewed for Spider-Con, then once he resurfaced he immediately started screaming that he quote ‘ruined his masterpiece’ unquote.” MJ recounted, once again framing the shot around Peter. He couldn’t help but smile at her as she brought up the memory. Peter almost didn’t hear the shutter of the camera as he was too focused on watching her small smile that was nearly blocked by the camera. Peter watched Michelle gingerly lay her camera around her neck and smiled again as he made eye contact with her.
“Peter, why don’t you come over and take a picture with Michelle?” May states, waving her nephew over. “I haven’t gotten a picture of you guys yet!”
“May,” Peter warns, unsure about his aunt’s motives. She had been talking to Ned earlier and Ned was known for his “accidental slip ups” when it came to Peter’s confidential information. May opened her mouth to reply but she was interrupted my Michelle walking towards the others.
“C’mon, nerd, it’s just one picture,” She quipped, turning to look at him from over her shoulder. “Plus, we have to document this sweet corsage you got me.”
Peter felt his ears burn, he hoped she wasn’t going to bring it up around May because it was strictly a friendly gesture, and he knew his aunt would read more into it than necessary. He looked away quickly from MJ to hide his reddening cheeks, and in doing so he mistakenly made notice of May’s inquisitive yet knowing look. Damn it.
Once Peter’s teenage boy hormones were back in check, he joined MJ back in front of the ivy. She sidestepped closer to him, and standing on solid ground, he realized just how many inches she had gained from the heels she was wearing. Not that Peter minded, he secretly loved that Michelle was a bit taller than him normally, and she looked especially gorgeous in her dress and heels tonight. Peter shyly wrapped his left arm around Michelle’s waist like before as May readied her phone camera.
“I know I said this earlier, but you look really pretty MJ,” Peter said quietly as May proceeded to take picture after picture. He continued to smile, hoping MJ didn’t take his compliment in a weird way.
“Thanks, Peter,” Michelle whispered. “And despite my teasing, I do appreciate the corsage. It’s really beautiful.”
He smiled, genuinely this time, as MJ didn’t often refer to him as his real name, only when she wanted her point to be taken seriously.
“Michelle, if you want, since Peter got you that corsage, you guys could do that pose where you rest your left hand on his lapel, where his boutonniere is pinned. Or do you want me to take one with your camera Michelle?” May asked, pointing down to Michelle’s camera around her neck.
“May, it’s okay, we probably have to—”
“We’re fine, Peter, it’s just one more picture.” MJ stopped him from rambling by placing her hand on his chest. “That’s a good idea May, thanks for the suggestion.”
Michelle walked over to May to show her how to operate the film camera before resuming her position next to Peter, but this time placing her palm on his suit jacket. Peter smiled, trying to stop the heat from creeping up his cheeks for the picture.
After what seemed like years, the three women decided they had enough “memories” of their children’s big night, and the teenagers were finally allowed to pile into their cars after saying goodbye.
“The roses were a good choice. Also Peter, let me know if you’ll be home later than midnight.” Peter rolled his eyes, partly in embarrassment but also because of how amazing his aunt was, at May’s parting comment when she enveloped him in a hug. Ned and Betty made their way to Betty’s car and Peter braced himself for a car ride alone with MJ. Since Ned and Betty were the ‘official couple’ of the night, Michelle and Peter had let them make dinner reservations. MJ plugged in her phone for navigation then handed her phone to Peter so he could play the music.
“Is there something in particular you want to listen to?” Peter asked, figuring he’d offer in case she thought of him as rude for only playing his music.
“No,” Michelle answered. “I don’t care. I’ll listen to whatever you want, Parker.”
With that he scrolled through her recently played, deciding to choose something from her library while he brainstormed Michelle worthy songs. Peter saw Michelle had been listening to Solange and he recognized one of the songs. Peter glanced at Michelle from the corner of his eye as ‘Stay Flo’ played from the speakers. She snorted.
“Cheater.”
“I’ll have you know, I actually know and enjoy this song, thank you.” Satisfied that MJ wasn’t disappointed with his choice, Peter queued more songs that he thought she would approve of.
Before Peter realized it, they had parked in front of the restaurant next to Betty’s car. He got out of the car and walked behind it to wait for Michelle. He wasn’t paying that much attention until he saw Michelle had opened the back door and was grabbing her pair of worn high tops before sitting back in the front seat. He raised an eyebrow when Michelle tossed her heels to the back seat and slipped on her other shoes. She stood up and locked the car before turning to see Peter’s amused expression.
“What? If I’m gonna be in this dress all night I’m putting on more comfortable shoes.”
“Fair enough,” Peter shrugged. The two of them walked to the door and Peter held it open for MJ. She quietly thanked him as the two of them made their way inside the restaurant, surprised to see that it was totally not what either of them were expecting. There were about seven large grills all surrounded by counters and connecting benches which provided seating. Peter and MJ exchanged a look as they hadn’t been expecting a hibachi restaurant for their prom night dinner. It was a welcome surprise nonetheless. Peter was caught up in marvelling at the decor and atmosphere of the restaurant that he hadn’t realized Michelle was already conversing with the hostess.
“...No we’re actually looking for the rest of our party, thanks though.” Michelle smiled politely at the hostess as she spotted Ned and Betty seated at one of the grills.
“Damn, Parker, were you just going to leave me to defend for us alone?” MJ laughed, confusing him as he was brought back to reality.
“What? What did I miss?” Peter questioned, growing weary of the smirk that was showcased on MJ’s lips.
“Nothing, it wasn’t important.”
“Okay…” Peter responded, dropping the subject as MJ sat down next to Betty. She had left space for Peter to sit on her other side and he happily obliged (although Peter had attempted to hide his elation from breaching his face, he could tell by Ned’s expression that it was not working).
Peter started quietly scanning the menu as MJ and Betty talked to his left. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he pulled it out to read May’s text in the group chat with him and Ned.
Aunt May: I want a picture of you all at dinner! And before you get into the dance!
Peter: Selfies fall under Ned’s department, May
Ned: On it!
“Okay guys, let’s take a dinner selfie!” Ned exclaimed. Betty and MJ complied by looking towards Ned’s phone and smiling. Peter followed suit and leaned his elbow on the table to be seen around the others. Ned quickly snapped the picture and within seconds Peter’s phone lit up with another message.
Ned: Aw Petey and MJ sitting together at dinner! It’s love! [image attached]
Aunt May: How sweet! Have fun!!!
Peter: Ned, I’m going to kill you
The rest of dinner went by fairly smooth. Peter nearly spilled his water on the floor, but that was because MJ had shifted to look at something on Betty’s phone and their thighs had touched under the table. Besides that, dinner was great. After they had paid their bills (Peter offered to pay for MJ’s dinner and to his surprise she agreed) the group journeyed to their cars again before they headed to the location of the dance.
“Alright, we’ll see you guys there!” Betty squealed excitedly, waving before she ducked into the driver's seat.
“Are you getting excited about the night ahead?” Peter asked as he buckled his seat belt.
“I mean, sure, but I guess I’m more excited about the post-prom food we’re gonna have after. I’m thinking Denny’s…” Michelle trailed off before turning to smirk at Peter. He laughed and nodded in agreement despite how he couldn’t fathom being hungry right after they had eaten dinner. Honestly, he would go wherever Michelle wanted to.
As MJ trailed Betty out of the parking lot and onto the street, Peter racked his brain for more songs to play to fill the car so he didn’t blurt out something asinine in front of Michelle. He found he was prone to making a fool of himself in her presence.
“I hope they don’t play shitty music at prom,” Michelle stated, her words cutting through the silence. “But I know it’s bound to happen because it’s a school sponsored event and everyone is lame.”
“Yeah,” Peter heard himself saying. He cursed at how dumb he sounded, his inflection implying he was going to continue talking. To his relief MJ just laughed and increased the volume of the radio a bit. Peter avoided MJ’s eyes the rest of the car ride by mindlessly browsing his phone. When MJ killed the engine he immediately got out of the car and searched the parking lot for Ned and Betty. How had he been friends with MJ for three years now and he could barely hold a conversation with her? Was it because he was avoiding confronting his more than friends feelings? Or was he just a dumb teenage boy? Or option C, all of the above?
Peter patted his pockets one more time to make sure he had all his belongings before he followed his friends to the line forming on the sidewalk. He talked to Ned while they waited behind Betty and Michelle and about 150 other classmates. They hadn’t even planned to be there a little early so Peter was relieved when the line started moving. Several teachers who were the chaperones of the night stood by the line to tell students to have their student ID’s and tickets out to make the line move faster. Peter watched as MJ searched in her bag for a few seconds before sighing. She turned to Betty before quickly walking back in the direction of the parking lot.
“Where’s she going?” Ned asked.
“She forgot her ID in her car. She told us not to wait up.” Peter rolled his eyes, that was such an MJ thing to do. He realized they were approaching the front of the line and despite what she said, he decided to wait for Michelle. Ned and Betty smiled knowingly as he stepped out of line and opened his phone when it was their turn to go inside.
Peter scrolled through Twitter while he waited for MJ outside but was interrupted by Flash calling his name. Or rather his nickname.
“Penis Parker! Waiting for your non-existent date to join you, I see.” Peter just ignored his comment, he’d been dealing with Flash’s teasing since 7th grade, he could survive two more months.
“I’m pretty sure I existed last week, Flash, when you were asking me to verify your decathalon membership for your college applications.” MJ replied smoothly, walking up to Peter and taking his right hand in her left, making sure Flash caught a glimpse of her corsage. She squeezed Peter’s hand for half a second before smirking over at Flash’s stunned expression. Peter quickly sped past Flash with MJ in tow to avoid any further conflict before the night had even started. Once they were inside the gates to the venue, Peter realized that their fingers were still interlocked and that it was probably weird at this point. He dropped her hand as he handed over his ticket to the underclassmen working at the table. MJ followed suit and then they made their way to where the music was already playing loudly in the distance.
“Thanks for that back there,” Peter started. “I don’t care about what Flash says anymore, but it’s always nice to see him shut up for once.”
“I’m just banking on the hope that one day you’ll end up saving him from some dumb shit he’s doing and then he’ll figure out you’re behind the mask of his man crush and he’ll have a major existential crisis.” Peter laughed in response to her crazy proposal.
“I can’t imagine what he’d do if he ever found out.”
As they kept walking the music got louder, Peter could hear the early 2000’s club music clearer now, and he couldn’t help but notice that their hands brushed together every couple of steps. He tried to convince himself that he didn’t miss the feeling of their fingers intertwined or the feeling of pulling her after him. She wasn’t just one of his best friends, she was an F.O.S., a constant in their group, decathlon team captain; he couldn’t risk anything other than friends with MJ because there was so much to lose. Peter was fucking tired of losing people.
“I see Betty and Ned. They found an open table thank God,” MJ said, interrupting his thoughts about her. She pulled out a chair once she reached the table and accepted the plastic cup of water Betty handed her. When Peter reached the table and sat down he finally got a chance to look around at his surroundings.
Where they were now was a big space covered in green grass and about 35 tables, above them string lights illuminated the tables of food, refreshments and an increasing number of people. To his left was where they had just walked from, a long stone pathway that was connecting the front sector of the venue to the main section in the back. In front of their table was a short staircase that led down to the covered dance floor which was alive with lights, loud music and about 40 people jumping in their fancy attire. Everywhere he looked was covered in fresh bouquets of flowers, presumably to follow the dance’s theme of “A Night in the Garden.” They lined the walkway, the staircase, and even the string lights above everyone’s heads. The longer he explored the more he was amazed at how intricate the decoration was.
“Wow they really went all out this year.” Betty gawked after she took a quick look around. “It’s so beautiful!”
After a little while of sitting together and talking the group decided to head to the dance floor once more people had made it into the dance. Betty grabbed Michelle’s wrist to lead her down the stairs, she assumed the boys would follow. Peter and Ned removed their suit jackets because they’d been noticing that the people that came up from the dance floor were flushed and sweaty due to so many bodies crammed into a small space to dance. Plus it was a good way of saving their table.
“Are you gonna ask MJ to dance tonight? Or are you going to chicken out like you did for actually asking her to be your date?” Ned questioned. Peter groaned. He looked ahead and saw the two girls laugh with each other as they walked towards the stairs. Peter got kind of sidetracked looking at MJ’s smile until Ned poked his upper arm.
“I don’t know, Ned. I don’t want to mess things up. I can’t mess up what I have with her, okay?”
“Okay, man. But I really don’t think MJ would ever stop being your friend. I have a strong feeling we’re stuck with her for life.”
Peter sighed, everything would be so much easier if Betty never pointed out the distinction between friends and friends . It had kind of been torture the past couple of months to avoid blurting out his feelings for her instead of answering a question in decathlon practice or when they’re heading to study together in the public library and she asks if he wants to stop at the cafe first.
“Parker! Leeds! Get your asses over here and jam with us!” MJ yelled as ‘ Yeah! ’ by Usher began playing from the giant speakers surrounding the DJ. Peter laughed loudly as Ned started dancing with Betty, the two of them looking ridiculous yet adorable together. He turned to MJ who started singing the lyrics to him and he followed, flashing back to dancing with Ned to this song at their 7th grade winter formal. Peter forgot about the classmates surrounding them as he and Michelle switched between over exaggerated dance moves and laugh-singing lyrics to each other. They probably continued like that for 5 or 6 songs, just deciding to live in the feeling of dancing with one of your best friends at prom, the music pounding and the multicolored lights flashing.
“Jesus, I’m about to die of thirst. Parker and I will be right back!” Michelle shouted to Ned and Betty as she grabbed Peter’s hand for the second time that night and led him up the stairs away from all the commotion. When they resurfaced they saw about 40-50 people either sitting at tables or milling about the grass talking. Peter looked down at their still connected hands until they stopped walking and Michelle used her hand to grab another small plastic cup.
“This is terrible for the environment, not even a recycling bin in sight. Anyway, dip these in that chocolate fountain for me.” Peter grabbed the plate full of strawberries and laughed before he side stepped to stand in front of said fountain. He felt Michelle’s eyes watching at him as she continued to sip her glass of punch. When Michelle had deemed her strawberries to be covered in enough melted chocolate, Peter followed her back to their table. Right as they sat down they heard the DJ speaking then immediately followed by the opening notes of the night’s first slow song.
“Slow dancing, gross. Glad we made it out of there in the nick of time.” Michelle commented as they watched a steady stream of students leave the dance floor.
“Yeah, gross,” Peter said back, stealing a strawberry off of the plate.
“Shut it, Parker. I know if you had a date tonight you’d be down there right now having a deeply romantic moment.” MJ smirked. Peter knew she was right, but he also knew Michelle was the only person he’d consider a romantic moment with. Somehow his mouth, deciding to disconnect from his brain’s rational train of thought, began spitting out a challenge to her words.
“I bet I could totally have a platonic slow dance with someone, easy.”
Michelle narrowed her eyes from across the table, challenging Peter to back down from the bet he had imposed. When his gaze didn’t waver from hers she figured he was serious about his words, and she conceded.
“Fine,” MJ quirked an eyebrow. “By the end of the night, you and I are slow dancing. Twenty bucks says it ends in you falling head over heels for me.”
Peter scoffed at her wink in order to play up his nonchalant response to her proposition. Though in reality, it was very possible his resolve will crumble while they dance and he professes his feelings. But that was a problem for two-hours-from-now-Peter. He shook her outstretched hand to solidify their agreement.
“Hey, you never told me the symbolism behind white roses earlier.” Peter suddenly remembered. Michelle laughed quietly before speaking.
“Traditionally, giving someone a single white rose is used to declare your love for them. Though I don’t know what a corsage made up of white roses translates to.” Peter clenched his jaw to stop it from falling open at the words coming from her mouth.
“Probably just a friendly gesture,” Peter squeaked, not at all believable. Michelle just hummed and placed her drink to her lips, satisfied in her ability to make Peter squirm.
“Hey guys,” Betty interrupted as she flopped into a chair, out of breath. Peter had never been more happy to see her.
“Hey,” MJ replied coolly, like she hadn’t just implied Peter admitted his love to her. “Having fun out there?”
“Yes! Of course…” Betty trailed off.
“But?” Peter asked when she left them hanging.
“But... we’ll probably be leaving early because it’s been like 45 minutes and my feet are already killing me.” Betty finished, directing a sheepish smile at the two non-dates. Peter quickly flitted his eyes down and saw the baby blue heels still strapped to Betty’s feet.
“You didn’t bring shoes to change into?” Peter questioned suspiciously. It was out of character for Betty to be unprepared in any situation.
“No, I’m not a genius like Michelle. Only non-decathlon member present, remember?”
“Well, Parker and I were thinking of hitting up Denny’s for some food if you guys want to join us.” Michelle piped up before biting into her last strawberry.
“Oh no no no!” Betty rushed out. “We don’t want to disrupt your guys’ plans for tonight! We were just letting you know.”
With that the two of them headed over to the food and refreshments table. Once they were out of earshot Michelle leaned over to Peter.
“That totally sounded like they are leaving early to go have sex.”
“What!? No way! Do you even know our friends?”
“Yeah, you’re right Parker, too cliche.” Michelle pondered.
“Thank you—”
“But you on the other hand… you’re a total cliche. So if it was you and your hypothetical date sneaking away, I wouldn’t question it.” Peter spluttered, again, at her frank accusations. And also the fact that she had thought of him in some sort of sexual capacity was not helping . “So that leaves the question, what are their motives?”
As the words left her mouth, Peter’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and quickly read the text from Ned.
Ned: You better make a move with MJ tonight when we leave or so help me God…
“What’d Ned say?” Peter whipped his head up to meet her inquisitive stare.
“How’d you know Ned texted me?”
“Because as soon as you pulled your phone out he gave a thumbs up to Betty and put his phone away. Why do you still question my observation abilities, Parker?”
“I don’t, I don’t!” Peter conceded as she tried to catch a glimpse of his phone. “He just said something about how we should all meet up tomorrow for brunch or something…”
“Or something…?” Michelle giggled breathily as Peter seemed to stop talking in the middle of his sentence.
”Anyway, let's all go dance again before they leave.”
Michelle lifted an eyebrow when he pocketed his phone after standing up. (He deftly managed to forget mentioning to Ned the bet he had just gotten himself into.) Nevertheless she stood as well and the two of them journeyed back to the flashing lights and pounding music. Peter tried not to focus on the fact that her hand was wrapped around his for the third time that night (and he hoped she’d start making a habit of dragging him everywhere like this).
A song neither of them really knew was pumping through the speakers, but that didn’t stop Michelle from dancing. She started off by smiling and dancing how she had been earlier, swaying her shoulders and occasionally jumping, but soon she shifted. Peter noticed as she slowly lost herself in the beat of the song and stopped paying attention to the world around her. He watched her go from dancing mostly as a joke, to moving her hips in sync with the beat and letting the music move her body. He was enraptured with the movement of her body, he forced his body to keep moving when all he wanted to do was stop and stare at the way MJ moved her hips. Peter nodded along to the beat, jumping occasionally to the never ending bass, and watched as more people took notice of Michelle’s hypnotic dancing.
“MJ,” He breathed quietly, trying to get her attention. She turned back around with a glint in her eyes and a raised eyebrow.
“What? Are you not having a good time or something ?”
He opened his mouth to respond but was cut short by her arms draping over his shoulders and her hands clasping behind his neck.
“Because I’m having a great fucking time.”
He nearly stopped dancing in response to her bold actions, but her swaying accompanied with her arms around him forced him to keep moving. He placed his hands on her waist to keep himself in tandem of her rhythm. Peter listened as each song faded into the next, the bass lines merging into one continuous thrum. The lights above them illuminated Michelle’s face every so often in hues of fuchsia, purple and blue. Peter forced himself to muster every last fiber of willpower he had to stop himself from pulling her closer and kissing her deeply.
“I’m having more fun now,” Peter whispered, the small distance MJ maintained between them allowing for his quiet voice to be heard over the DJ. She smiled when she met his eyes and saw the sincerity lying deep in his brown irises.
“I’m glad. You deserve it, Peter.”
“Thanks, MJ. I, uh—“
Just as he met her eyes, he felt a sharp jab at his side. He and MJ simultaneously turned to see Betty being pulled back into Ned’s grasp, a sheepish smile on his face.
“Sorry about that! There’s lots of people around…” Betty shouted over the music.
“It’s okay,” Michelle laughed. She removed her arms from around Peter’s neck and he dropped his hands back to his sides when she moved to grab Betty’s hands. As the girls turned to dance with some others from Academic Decathlon who have finally come to the dance floor, Peter turns to Ned with his eyes wide.
“Ned, what the hell?”
“I am so sorry! We genuinely did get pushed into you guys, I don’t even know what happened!” Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
“It’s fine. Probably better anyways I was close to kissing her…”
“Peter! That’s great!”
“No, it’s not! It’ll fuck everything up between us!”
“Dude, I promise you, everything will work out fine. You need to go for it.”
“Yeah? Well then why did I bet her that we could have a platonic slow dance at prom and come out the other side unchanged?” Ned gaped at Peter’s confession.
“You did what?!” Peter nodded and put his face in his hands. “You’re an idiot, man, a complete moron!”
Peter narrowed his eyes when Ned started laughing incredulously at his idiocy. Peter was about to yell at him back but was stopped by Betty and Michelle rejoining them.
“Betty’s feet are really killing her so we came back to you dorks.” Michelle piped up while glancing at Peter’s unreadable expression.
“Are you ready to go, babe?” Ned asked.
“Yeah,” Betty replied. “The dance is over in like an hour and a half anyway, so I don’t feel too bad for leaving early.”
Peter watched as the two of them waved before stopping at the big group of Aca Dec students to say goodbye before resurfacing from the dance floor. Peter turned to Michelle who was dancing again and he joined her.
“When do you want to leave?” She shouted over the music, her arms flailing as she danced wildly.
“I don’t know, whenever my Uber feels like it, I guess.” Peter bumped Michelle’s shoulder with a laugh.
“Shut it, Parker! If I was really pretending to be your Uber, I’d charge you gas money for every time I drive your annoying ass around.”
“Fair point!” He smiled as Michelle returned one before resuming dancing.
They continued for another 10 minutes, the heat of many bodies crammed together on a dance floor pricking sweat at their hairlines. Peter’s mind wandered to exactly when the inevitable slow dance would occur. Almost as if he had summoned the song, the DJ cut the loud dance music and announced the last slow song of the night was happening. Peter watched as nearly all of their fellow Academic Decathlon members left the dance floor, leaving only about 40 other couples swaying slowly to the piano medley. Peter sucked in a breath as he made eye contact with Michelle, surprised to see her looking at the ground nervously. Her indecision sparked something within him, and he took her left hand in his right and gently pulled her closer. Michelle was stunned at first, but then she quickly linked her arms around Peter’s neck like she had before, silently relishing in the feeling of his warm palms on her hips once again.
They started off cautious, Peter’s movements barely leading them in a slow circle. Eventually Peter remembers Ned’s words, how he should go for it, and how MJ danced with him earlier of her own volition. Peter remembered Michelle’s face as she told him she was glad he was having fun, how he deserved it. MJ seemed to notice he was getting lost in his head because she said is name quietly while running her hand through the short hairs at the nape of his neck to grab his attention.
“Peter, you okay? Do you wanna stop?” She asked, searching his eyes. Her words seemed to bring his focus back to the present and he shook his head.
“No, I’m good. I’m good.” Peter met her gaze and smiled again to reassure her. He felt her eyes casting an electrifying wave over his whole body, he was acutely aware of everywhere her body was touching his. It seemed like her interlocked fingers resting on the nape of his neck seemed to weigh 2 tons yet nothing at the same time. Goosebumps broke out across Peter’s skin as he thought he saw her eyes drift to his lips for a split second while the first slow song transitioned into another.
“Okay, good. I thought I’d lost you in your head there for a second,” she breathed as one of his hands moved to rest against the small of her back, pulling her closer ever so slightly. He hummed, almost like he dared her to make the next move.
“Did you hear what the hostess at the restaurant said to us earlier?” MJ said in order to stop herself from doing something stupid, like kissing Peter Parker in the middle of their high school prom. That’d also make her lose the bet, and she did not need to give him another thing to gloat about.
“No, you told me it wasn’t important,” Peter snorted in response, obviously missing where she was taking the conversation.
“Well it wasn’t, I just thought it was funny she thought we looked like a cute couple.”
“Yeah, funny.” Peter said. “Dunno why she would think that though.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Parker… maybe because we have a matching corsage and boutonniere, which is a very cliche prom tradition among dates .”
“Would you have said yes?”
“What?” Peter sighed, he couldn’t believe she was making him ask again.
“If I had asked you to be my date to prom, would you have said yes?”
Michelle reeled back a bit in shock, not expecting him to be so bold. She softened when she saw the nervousness wrinkling his forehead and creasing his brow.
“What do you think I would’ve said?” MJ asked quietly, bring her forefinger to trace the hair at the nape of his neck again.
“I don’t know, MJ. Sometimes you're very hard to predict.” Peter whispered. She laughed quietly at that. Their eye contact seemed so intimate that Peter never wanted to look away.
“Peter, I would’ve said yes in a heartbeat. I probably would’ve said yes even if you asked me with a cheesy poster in the middle of the hallway.”
“Really?” Peter asked breathlessly as her small smile inched closer.
“Of course, you dork.”
Peter’s breath became caught in his throat as she moved closer still. MJ could hear his shallow breaths leaving his nose in quick succession. It seemed like time stopped as she decided, fuck it, I’m going for it. She leaned her forehead on his, hoping he would get the message. MJ celebrated internally as Peter fluttered his eyes shut and she did the same.
It seemed to last forever and in slow motion: the way he leaned in, one hand tightening on her hip as the other pulled her closer. Then all of a sudden they were interrupted by the loud dance music starting up again. Michelle felt more than saw Peter jerk back, rational thoughts flooding both their brains again. Michelle sighed deeply, knowing their moment was completely ruined, and noticed Peter realizing the same thing. She saw his lips move, muttering something to himself along the lines of what the fuck just happened? Michelle couldn’t agree more. Peter turned in embarrassment and he watched as a big wave of students rejoined the dance floor.
“Are you ready to get out of here?” Michelle shouted as she glanced at her phone to check the time. Her screen displayed a glaring 10:20, meaning this shit show of a night would be forced to end in 40 minutes anyway, the bright light cut through the dark atmosphere.
“Yeah,” Peter agreed, ”let’s get out of here.”
The two of them quickly walked up the stairs and to their long forgotten table, Peter getting slapped in the face with the fact that MJ was not dragging him by the hand, let alone looking at him. Michelle was relieved to see no one had been an asshole and moved their stuff. She watched as Peter shrugged his suit jacket back on, trying not to watch his biceps flex with the movements. Peter smiled awkwardly, signaling he was ready to go, and Michelle turned on her heel and began speed walking to the entrance.
They didn’t talk for the next 25 minutes, except to communicate they both still wanted to stop for food at Denny’s. Peter played more music on the drive, songs he wished had played at prom, and left his jacket on his seat before following MJ into the nearly empty Denny’s. Granted it was almost 11pm.
The only person who was working besides the kitchen staff was a middle aged hostess, who smiled at them when they came in and told them to sit wherever. Peter gestured for MJ to choose and she laughed before choosing a booth in the corner of the restaurant which was about as far from the only other customer as possible.
“Hey,” Michelle wiggled her eyebrows when Peter slid in across from her. He smiled shyly, still unsure of what to say to MJ after the incident on the dance floor. Peter was about to respond but was interrupted by the waitress bring over their menus.
“Welcome to Denny’s, my name is Anne. Can I get you two something to drink?”
“I’ll get a Coke, please,” Michelle asked.
“I think... I’ll have a strawberry milkshake,” Peter said as he glanced at the menu.
“Oh wait, Parker here has the right idea, I’m gonna change my order to an Oreo milkshake instead!” The waitress, Anne, smiled as she took down their drinks and left them to take a look at the menu.
“Why am I so hungry right now?” Michelle spoke quietly.
“I have no clue. I’m supposed to be the one with superhuman metabolism and yet I’m doing just fine…”
“Shut up,” MJ laughed, attempting to shove Peter from across the table. “I basically burned my whole dinner off sweating on the dance floor, asshole!”
Peter snorted before bringing his attention back to scanning the menu, hoping MJ couldn’t spot the reddening of his cheeks at the mere mention of being on the dance floor earlier. Peter couldn’t help but think almost kissing was worse than actually doing it because it seemed completely plausible that he was even more anxious around Michelle now than he was before.
“Oh my God, they have mozzarella sticks… I think I might cry.”
“Em, if you order those I’m definitely going to be stealing one.”
“No,” Michelle whined (like actually drawled out like a toddler, Peter couldn’t believe it!) “just order your own, dummy.”
Peter sighed, feigning defeat, and smiled. He watched as Anne’s return with their milkshakes brought a smile to MJ’s face, her expression shifting to a satisfied smirk when Anne took down her entire order. All 6 items, including a cheeseburger. Why was Michelle Jones so fucking adorable for? It was making everything in his life more difficult than necessary.
“I’ll just have an order of french fries, please,” Peter said, handing his menu over. He shrugged when Michelle teasingly booed his simple order. Obviously she didn’t understand he’d probably end up finishing her jalapeno poppers and half of her cheeseburger.
“I know it’s not that busy in here, but there’s only one chef working this late at night, so I apologize if there are any delays,” Anne said as she placed her notepad and pen back into her pocket.
“It’s not a problem, we understand,” Michelle expressed, smiling at Anne before she turned to go place their orders.
Michelle immediately grabbed a straw from the table and stuck it in the middle of her milkshake. Peter followed suit and sighed as the refreshing strawberry flavor hit his tongue.
“This is exactly what I needed,” MJ said. “Denny’s is always the best late at night!”
Peter snorted before replying, “what does that mean?”
“I’ve had my fair share of late night Denny’s trips, usually during finals week or winter break or something, and their food is a hundred times better after like 10:30 at night.”
Instead of replying Peter just took another sip of his milkshake. He watched as MJ reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. Peter cursed to himself that he couldn’t think of a way to engage her in conversation without being insanely awkward, so he resounded to just open his own phone.
He scrolled through Twitter and Instagram, deciding to switch very briefly to his verified Spider-Man profile, finding a masked selfie he took while on patrol earlier in the week to post. He smiled at the memory conjured by the picture. It was actually one he had sent to MJ after he took it because earlier that day she’d been studying non-stop for an exam she had that week. He was surprised at her prompt response because he’d texted her at nearly 1:30 in the morning. Apparently his gesture had been impactful because she brought him a warm cup of coffee the next morning, placing it on his desk with a sheepish smile.
“What are you smiling at, you dork?”
“Uh, nothing, just reading the comments on Spider-Man’s most recent post,” Peter said, turning his screen to her. Michelle snorted when she read the caption and tapped on the photo to see who he had tagged.
@webslingingslasher : Really craving some pancakes right now… [Tagged: @Dennys]
“Parker, this caption has nothing to do with the picture you posted!”
“Hey, I wouldn’t be judging, this baby already has fifteen thousand likes. And a comment from both Denny’s and IHOP so…”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Michelle said, opening her own Instagram to see what Peter meant.
Sure enough she scrolled to Spider-Man’s picture and the highlighted comments showed Denny’s approving emojis followed by IHOP claiming Spider-Man should try their superior pancakes.
“What can I say, he’s an icon.” Peter replied, leaning back with faux smugness.
“Pff, whatever. You’re still the biggest loser in New York,” MJ teased and stuck her tongue out at Peter when he failed to drop his amused expression.
A few minutes later their waitress returned to interrupt their comfortable silence with several plates of food. Peter watched as MJ grew more excited as more food was placed on the table.
“That should be all of it,” Anne smiled. “Is there anything else I can get for you two?”
Peter shook his head, responding for the both of them as MJ was already two bites into her hamburger. He grabbed a couple fries and dipped them in his shake. MJ eyed him suspiciously before doing the same and shrugging, her nonchalant seal of approval.
As expected, Michelle ate about half her burger and the plate of jalapeño poppers before sliding the leftovers to Peter’s side of the table. He ate a few bites as MJ moved onto her order of mozzarella sticks. He quickly darted his hand out to grab a mozzarella stick and quickly took a bite before MJ could yell at him. She just narrowed her eyes and moved the marinara sauce out of his reach.
“Hey! No fair, you know that’s the best part!”
“Well, then you shouldn’t have stolen a stick, sir,” Michelle retorted.
“Fine,” Peter said. “Just know that what I’m about to do is on your hands, Jones.”
Michelle watched as Peter dipped his remaining mozzarella stick in the leftover ranch from the jalapeño poppers. Her face contorted in mock disgust as he ate the offending combination.
“I bet if you posted that on Instagram you would immediately be banned from the platform.”
Peter snorted loudly, nearly spewing the sip of strawberry milkshake he’d taken to wash down the cheese all over the table.
“Touche.”
Michelle continued to eat the food she’d ordered. Amazingly she finished nearly everything, save for the leftovers she had given to Peter and a few bites of pancake left on the plate. After about an hour of sitting and eating, the two of them lazily got up from their booth. Peter walked to the register where Anne stood and pulled out his debit card to pay for their food. Michelle tried to force Peter to get separate checks but he refused.
“Peter I swear if you keep paying for my food, I’m going to have to kick your ass.” She smiled with accomplishment when Anne let out a little laugh.
“Consider it payment for driving me around all the time,” Peter dismissed. The card reader beeped and he put his card back in his wallet. MJ crossed her arms in defeat.
“You two have a great night,” Anne said as she handed Peter his receipt.
“Thanks,” They both replied. MJ grabbed her keys from her small bag and followed Peter out of the diner.
“Are you actually ready to go home?” Peter asked nervously while sliding into the passenger seat.
“No. Are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Great, because I have the perfect place.” Michelle said.
“MJ, how do you expect us to get up there? All the entrances are locked.”
“Peter, you’re literally Spider-Man.”
“Yeah but I can’t just swing us up there, I don’t have my mask.”
“It’s like 12:30! No one will see us! Plus this alley has no cameras, I checked.” Peter huffed, still considering the pros and cons. “C’mon, please! It’ll be so pretty from up there, totally worth it! Peter, trust me.”
“Okay, okay,” Peter conceded, crossing his wrists to activate his web shooters.
“I still can’t get over that,” MJ said while shaking her head.
“Hold onto me please, I don’t want to drop you.”
“You better not, Parker!” Michelle wrapped her arms around Peter’s neck and maintained a firm grip.
“You’re gonna want to bend your knees when we get up there.”
“Okay, whatever! Just go already!” Michelle said as she kept her eyes scrunched shut. Peter huffed out a laugh which earned him a small slap on the shoulder from the girl in his arms. He yanked his right arm to use his webs to pull them halfway up the building. They landed on a fire escape and Peter felt Michelle relax again as her feet touched something solid.
“Woah, okay, halfway there.”
Peter shivered slightly as she held onto him again before focusing on reaching the top of the building.
“Going up!” Michelle laughed in Peter’s ear as the wind whipped past them until they landed on the roof of the building.
Peter watched as Michelle stepped away to take a look at her surroundings. The bright lights of the city always seem clearer and more prominent from up above. MJ looked at their roof before deciding to walk to the opposite side to sit on the ledge facing the Empire State building and Central Park.
“It’s so pretty from up here. You’re lucky you get this view all the time.”
“Yeah I guess that’s one perk of the gig.”
They sat in silence for a long time before Peter turned to MJ. He looked at her peaceful expression, studied her movements as a slight breeze picked up and blew her hair enough that she had to push it back out of her face.
“Peter?”
“Yeah?” She paused. He waited for her to respond but she kept looking out at the busy streets.
“MJ, what—“
The sudden feeling of her lips on his interrupted the rest of his statement. Peter stilled in shock but he quickly caught on and softly gripped her face to bring them closer. Michelle moved her lips in tandem with his, sighing quietly in the kiss. They broke apart and Michelle smiled sheepishly, meeting Peter’s eyes.
“I, uh, had something important to say but I forgot.” Peter admitted which made Michelle laugh. She shoved his shoulder.
“You’re such a dork! I can’t believe I like you as much as I do.”
“Yeah, well, that’s your own fault!” Peter defended. Michelle hummed in agreement before kissing Peter again softly.
Michelle grabbed Peter’s hand and shifted to lean her head on his shoulder. He moved to lean against her as well, the two of them sitting in silence contently. A long time passed before either of them realized they should probably be going to bed soon. Michelle yawned which made Peter remember he had no idea how long had passed.
“What time is it?” He muttered sleepily, reaching for his phone. He turned it on to see the display read 1:15AM.
“Damn, it’s really late,” MJ said while glancing at Peter’s phone.
“I forgot to tell Aunt May we are out late. She asked me to text her if I’d be home later than midnight.”
“I’m sure she’ll understand.” Michelle argued. She leaned against Peter again, reveling in the warmth his proximity awarded.
“You know what I just realized?” Peter said, seemingly to no one. Michelle hummed to indicate she was listening. “Ned and Betty are gonna freak out when we meet them for brunch.”
Michelle laughed loudly, turning to bury her face in Peter’s shoulder. Her laughter caused Peter to giggle as well, the two of them in a fit of hysterics in the aftermath of their eventful evening. Peter realized that there couldn’t have been a more perfect way to end his cliche night than this moment with MJ on the top of a random building.