Archive of Our Own

An extra blanket

Flash Thompson doesn’t see himself as a bully. More like a prankster really. A very smart one, and good looking as well, obviously. And tonight is his night. The night of his prank masterpiece.

“Do you think they’re doing it?”

Ned and Cindy answer at the same time, Ned going for the apparently mandatory “eww Flash shut up!” and Cindy with a deadpanned “Obviously.” Flash cannot wipe off his triumphant smirk at his friends’ reactions. Abe and Charles are doubled up from laughing too much, and Sally is shaking her head in disbelief. Flash is extremely proud of himself.

Who else but a genius could come up with such a master plan?

‘Accidentally’ giving the same room to Peter Parker and Michelle Jones? Flash thinks he’s clearly out-done himself this time. Maybe they’ll end up beating each other up, ah yes, that would be pretty amazing.

x

“Flash set us up.”

“I know.”

MJ frowns, waiting for Peter to elaborate. When he doesn’t, intently looking down at his shoes, she feels even more annoyed than she previously was. “So? What are you waiting for?” she snaps, and Peter finally looks up to meet her eyes with a frown. Her heart is pounding, her mind racing, her hands sweaty and shaky too. This cannot be happening right now.

“What do you mean?” Peter asks, and she sees he’s trying to sound polite to hide how annoyed he really is, and it pisses her off even more. She raises her eyebrows expectantly, nodding to the door, and Peter’s frown deepens. “Oh no no no. Nope, if you think I’m gonna go ask him for another room, then I’m sorry but you’re crazy. He’s probably in bed by now and tonight is not the night I find out Flash Thompson sleeps naked or something.”

He’s shaking his head and gesturing around like crazy, and MJ has a hard time not laughing from nerves. She understands his reluctance, she does, but it doesn’t solve their problem and she needs it solved because obviously this cannot be happening right now. “Well you’re gonna have to,” she tells him sharply, “because this is my room and I’m not moving.” To emphasize her words she sits down at the end of the bed and crosses her arms over her chest, staring at him with as much bravado as she can muster. She can do this. This is nothing.

She’s not alone in a bedroom with Peter Parker in the middle of nowhere on a snowy night.

Stupid Decathlon team retreat.

She watches as Peter hesitates, and for a second she thinks she did it, but then apparently the prospect of seeing Flash in his Spider-Man pajamas is too much for him and he shakes his head again. “Well I’m not moving either,” he retorts, siting down on the edge of the small desk and mirroring her position. “And you’re gonna find that I can stick to one place quite well,” he then adds smugly, and yes, MJ rolls her eyes.

He must think he’s so smart with that little private joke of his. Is now a good time to tell him she’s figured out his little spider-secret? She considers it for a minute as they stare at each other, both trying to intimidate the other into giving up. She’s pretty sure he already thinks she’s gonna win eventually, because that’s kind of the vibe she’s giving off to everyone. She’s resolute and stubborn and she’s demonstrated it multiple times, she thinks.

What he doesn’t know though is that there’s a large part of herself that’s rendered completely and utterly stupid whenever he, Peter Parker, is involved. She’s managed to mostly avoid the problem until now, but she should have known her ineptitude around him would eventually come back to metaphorically bite her in the ass. She’s trying to look obstinate and stern, but it’s like her brain cannot focus on rational thoughts at all.

All she can think about is how she’s alone in a bedroom with Peter Parker. The possible out comes resulting in this particular situation are endless and sending her mind in a swirling storm of panicked thoughts and yes, alright, some slightly fantasized ones as well. That’s alright, she figures. Perfectly natural reaction. That’s what you get when you’re 16 and alone in a bedroom with your long-time crush.

Oh crap, don’t think that word. No, no, no. Bad idea. Stupid brain, shut it.

Say something.

“We can’t both stay here,” MJ blurts out, and she honestly has no idea for how long they stared at each other without talking. “There’s only one bed.”

Peter’s entire face reddens instantly at that statement, and he reaches to scratch the back of his neck, just like he always does when he’s embarrassed. “Right,” he stammers without meeting her eyes. “Well I’m not um, I’m not gonna go and ask Flash for another room, that’s one sure thing, but um, uh maybe I could just, sleep in that chair?”

He’s pointing to the chair in the corner of the room next to the window, and MJ doesn’t even try to hide the surprise on her face. “You would rather sleep in a chair than go ask Flash for another room?”

“Of course,” Peter exclaims like it makes perfect sense, “that’s what he wants me to do, and I will not give him that satisfaction because he’s a jerk.”

“Yeah, you’re giving him too much credit,” MJ retorts, “I’m pretty sure he was just hoping we would beat each other up or something.” Peter snorts at that, shifting awkwardly in his position, and she can’t help being offended. “What? I could take you.”

A various set of emotions crosses Peter’s face at that, surprise, shame, amusement too, and MJ is once again blown away by how expressive he always is. “Really?” he asks, and there’s some teasing in there, but he’s also being careful too, like he’s testing the waters, and it sends shivers down her spine for some reason.

“Maybe not with brute force,” MJ tempers, eyeing him from head to toe and relishing in the way his cheeks blush instantly because of it. “But there are other ways I could beat you, I’m pretty sure I’m smarter than you for example.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that,” Peter admits with a shy smile, and there’s no teasing behind his words this time. MJ is very thankful that her blushing isn’t as apparent as his. Hopefully he doesn’t realize how giddy it makes her feel to hear him say that she’s smart. Not that she needs people to tell her she’s smart, she knows that already, it’s just… it’s him. Telling her she’s smart. Complimenting her.

Is there an equivalent to blue screen of death for brains? Because MJ’s pretty sure she’s experiencing one right now. Come on, forcing reboot. “So what should we do?” she asks, cursing her exceptionally dry mouth at the same time. Peter is looking at her like he has no idea what to do. He’s also biting his lower lip as he apparently thinks, and that’s just super rude, MJ thinks. Alright, time to take the matter at hand, otherwise they’re gonna stand there like idiots for the rest of the night.

She lets out a long sigh, kicks off her shoes then sits cross-legged on the bed. It’s like Peter was waiting for a signal from her and his shoulders slightly loosen up. She hadn’t realized how tensed he was before. His arms are still crossed over his chest, and she can see the bulge of his biceps even under his blue Midtown sweatshirt. Damn it, don’t look at his biceps you idiot. “Alright, so we obviously don’t want to give Flash what he wants,” she states seriously, looking up to meet his puppy dog eyes.

“So that excludes a fight to death and begging him for another room then,” he nods as seriously as her, but there’s a slight hint of laughter in his eyes and it sends her heart flying in her chest for some reason. Focus.

“Right, so what are the other possibilities?” she asks, glancing around the room then back at him. Seeing his eyes fly to the chair behind her she rolls her eyes again. “And don’t say sleep in that chair, I’m not letting you sleep in that chair Parker, I’m not heartless.”

Peter bites his lower lip again, and there’s the slightest hint of relief in his gaze. MJ forces herself not to think too much about it because clearly that’s just distracting. “Thanks, what do you suggest then?”

This is it. When did her life become this? What did she do to deserve this? She’s not even sure if it’s deserve in a bad way or in a good way. Stupid Flash, stupid Harrington, stupid Decathlon team, stupid Peter Parker and his cute stupid face. MJ looks around her uselessly, then back at Peter who’s looking more and more nervous by the second. She wonders if he knows where this is going. She wonders what he’s gonna say to that. There’s only one way to know for sure. “Well… I mean,” – she points to the bed with her thumb – “it’s a king size bed so I guess that’s… mostly okay?”

The tips of Peter’s ears are extremely red by now, and she cannot blame him because she’s deeply mortified by the whole situation too. “Are you sure?” he checks hesitantly, nibbling at his lip. “Really I don’t want to–”

“Do you see another solution, dork?” she cuts him a little more harshly than intended, and Peter makes a face, eyes set on his feet. The air is tensed around them, and MJ feels the urgent need to lighten up the mood, which is very weird because usually she doesn’t care one bit if people are uncomfortable. Peter is not people though. “Unless you actually want to share a room with Flash? ‘Cause there would be no judgment from me at all if you do–”

That actually does the trick and Peter’s expression switches from uncomfortable to absolutely revolted – with a hint of amusement as well. “Oh my God stop talking you’re gonna give me nightmares,” he whines, and MJ doesn’t fight her smile at that. They stare at each other for a moment, and MJ really wishes she could guess what’s going on inside his head right now. She, for her part, tries not to think too much about the whole ‘situation’. It’s so much easier to just ignore things really. Is she in denial? Oh yes absolutely. “So, are we really doing this?” Peter asks quietly after a while, and MJ raises an eyebrow at that.

“We’re not doing anything.”

It’s quite funny how quickly Peter’s face freezes in absolute panic, MJ admits it. “Right, no, sorry, I’m so sorry wrong phrasing I–”

“Relax dork,” she cuts him with a light chuckle, “I’m messing with you.”

“Oh.” He lets out a small, relieved laugh, and they stare at each other for a few seconds before looking away at the same time. The silence around them is very tensed and heavy, and MJ feels the urge to break it again but isn’t sure how to. She had been tired twenty minutes ago, before all this happened, when she was just a girl having moderate fun with her Ac Dec teammates, not a girl preparing herself to sleep in the same bed as her stupid crush. Oh wow she’s stressing out.

“I’m gonna…” she starts, and Peter looks up to her instantly, his cheeks still a little pink. She points to the bathroom door and clears her throat. “Ahem, I’m gonna go put on some pajamas in there so… yeah.”

“Right okay,” Peter nods, so fast he kind of looks like a bobble head. “I’ll uh, I’ll just wait then.”

“Okay.” MJ grabs her overnight bag and almost runs to the bathroom, heart pounding in her chest. She closes the door quietly, meeting her own eyes in the mirror over the sink. She looks a little freaked out, but it’s mostly alright she thinks. She looks tired too, with light rings under her eyes, so she figures she can just blame it all on that, if anyone asks too many questions tomorrow morning. Too tired to reach out, didn’t want to see Flash’s ugly pajamas, it was cold and I needed an extra blanket so I figured I could use Parker instead. Oh God, this is nuts.

Shaking her head vigorously, MJ turns on the water and splashes some on her face to try and get her shit back together. She can do this. She’s just gonna put on her pajamas, head back there, get in bed and sleep until tomorrow morning. Nothing weird about sleeping in the same bed as someone else. She’s done it before. With her sister. Her mom. Her cousin. Alright, only girls before, but that’s alright, Peter is not gonna try anything anyway, he’s a good dude.

He is a good dude. A good dude she’s had a crush on since the first period of their Freshman year, almost two and a half years ago now. This is fine. She doesn’t have to be that stressed out. Why is she so stressed out anyway? She’s not even sure what terrifies her the most. Him trying something, him not trying something, her trying something, her not trying something, honestly her brain is just a complete mess right now.

She’s just gotta focus on easy things. First step, getting undress. Do not think about Peter in the other room. Second step, putting on her pajamas. There is nobody outside this bathroom. Third step, washing teeth and brushing hair. She’s doing great ignoring everything, this is perfectly healthy and a normal thing to do. Fourth step… yikes, fourth step, getting in bed. That’s alright, that’s easy, she can do this, she’s got this.

When she opens the bathroom door, Peter is standing by the window. He turns to her and she instantly feels very self conscious. She’s very thankful to her past self who packed a large t-shirt and some leggings to use as pajamas. “Alright, your turn,” she says, pointing behind her. She tries not to think about the fact that she has to walk past him to get to the bed. That’s nothing.

“Awesome, thanks,” Peter says shyly, and thank god he moves from his spot near the window to grab his discarded backpack. MJ rushes to the right side of the bed while he does so, setting her things next to the side table and plopping down on the comfortable mattress. She has to give it to Flash – or more like his parents really – that is some good bedding right there. Too bad she’s gonna be too nervous to sleep all that well.

Stupid Flash.

Peter walks to the bathroom and waves awkwardly at her before closing the door behind him. She’s pretty sure she hears a self deprecating groan afterwards, and she bites her lower lip. He seems almost as nervous as she feels, which is definitely… interesting. Not that she intends on taking the leap or anything, because obviously that’s just mortifying. She hears the shower turning on and her mind freezes for a good minute as she tries not to think about Peter Parker naked behind that door. It proves to be extremely difficult, to say the least.

She still has things to do though, before he comes back. Mainly, decide if she’s gonna sleep with or without her bra. She usually never does, because bras are stupid and uncomfortable, but then again she never sleeps with boys either. Oh god she’s gonna sleep with a boy. No no no, no thinking about that. Bra, pros and cons, go. On one hand, wearing one would make things less weird she thinks, on the other though, she’s obviously already gonna be very uncomfortable from laying in bed a couple of feet away from her stupid crush, so why add a bra to that? Alright, no bra it is.

She takes it off and slides it out of the large sleeve of her t-shirt, tucking it at the bottom of her backpack for good measure. Alright, it’s probably gonna be weird tomorrow morning, but she’ll figure something out. She’ll just run to the bathroom before he can open his eyes or something. Yes, good plan. Smart. Sensible. Yes.

Now there’s pretty much one thing left to do. She hears the water turning off, and pushes away the pesky thought of Peter getting out of the shower – god, teenage hormones are the worst. She slides inside the cold covers, shivering, and lays down on her back, heart pounding. She’s definitely hugging the side of the bed here, but she figures that’s the sensible thing to do once again. She reaches for the side table and turns off the overhead lights, only keeping the smaller ones on. She can hear Peter shuffling in the bathroom, probably drying his hair with a towel.

Why, why would she interpret the sounds she hears, why? Zero self preservation. This whole thing sucks.

She almost jumps out of her skin when he opens the door a couple of minutes later. Hopefully he doesn’t notice. She on the other hand notices the mist coming out from the open door, the nice comfortable smell of shampoo. Maybe she should have showered too. No, no, absolutely not, she showered this morning, why would she shower again tonight? That’s bad for the planet. Be respectful of Mother Earth.

“Hey again,” Peter says very quietly, and MJ shivers for no reason at all. He sounds very nervous again. What has her life become? “Um…”

“Just get in bed already, Parker,” she mumbles, intentionally keeping her gaze fixed on the ceiling.

“Right okay.” He’s breathless, careful. MJ can’t think, she’s too busy freaking out. She hears him put his stuff on the ground next to the bed, then feels him carefully move the covers to get in bed. It’s a king size bed, so without even looking MJ knows there’s the equivalent of a no man’s land the size of Texas between them. It’s fine. She’s fine. Everything is very quiet now. She can barely hear him breathe, and wonders if just like her he’s kind of holding his breath. Oh wow this is absolutely terrifying. And also quite ridiculous really. They’re both laying on their backs with the lights still on like two idiots, what’s up with that?

“This is weird.”

She hears him turn his head to look at her, but she keeps her eyes on the ceiling. “Good weird or bad weird?” Peter asks hesitantly after a minute. “Because if you–”

“Shut up,” she sighs, reaching to turn off the lights.

“Sorry.”

It’s a quiet whisper from the other side of the bed, and it makes her grin in the dark. She doesn’t try to hide it. They didn’t close the curtains but it’s still pretty dark. She can see the faint moonlight coming in the window. It’s stopped snowing then. The view is gonna be gorgeous tomorrow morning. Good, focus on meteorology. That’ll help you forget the small matter of being in the same bed as Peter Parker.

Good weird or bad weird?

Why does he have to be so sweet and nice all the time? Ugh.

“Not really bad weird,” she whispers after a while, and she hears Peter shuffle on the other side of the bed. “Just, new weird I guess?” She likes this new concept of talking in the dark. It feels approximately one thousand times less mortifying. It’s still very much terrifying though.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve never been…” The words come out of her mouth and she doesn’t even remember thinking them beforehand. She’s on a roll. She has no idea what’s going on. Oh god this was a huge mistake.

“Yeah me neither.”

That’s cool. Shared admission of lack of experience. Now what? Now nothing, because nothing is gonna happen, she has to remind herself. They’re just two dorks sleeping in the same bed because Flash is an ass. That’s all. She needs to relax. Control her breathing, slow it down, close her eyes and then she’ll fall asleep. It’s as easy as that. She can do this.

“I don’t think I’m gonna be able to sleep at all.”

And now he’s ruining all her efforts to try and sleep, that’s just rude.

“Overwhelmed by my magnificent proximity, loser?” she retorts, and then makes the mistake to turn her head to look at him. It’s dark, but she can still see the contours of his face, and the moonlight reflecting in his eyes. And crap, he’s looking at her too. She hears his chuckle, and it’s hard not to smile at that sweet sound.

“Something like that, yeah.”

And that’s just. Like. She cannot think anymore. Her brain has left her, she’s just a body now. He hasn’t just said that. He hasn’t just agreed to her stupid joke. That’s not possible. Because if he really just said that. If he really just admitted that he’s not gonna be able to sleep because she’s here next to him, well then it can mean so much. She can’t ignore this. She can’t brush it off as nothing.

“Do you mean that?” Her voice is very quiet, so quiet she’s half sure he’s not gonna hear her. That would probably be better anyway, if he didn’t hear.

But apparently his super secret identity comes with super-hearing or something, because he does hear her. “I mean yeah,” he says very quietly too, and she can almost hear him blush, “I mean, it’s you, you’re, I’m –”

His breathing is short and quick, and she can feel his nerves even from where she is, even in the dark. Her brain has left her again. She figures that’s why she does what she does next. No more brain equals reckless decisions right? That, plus the absolute lack of self-preservation she apparently has around Peter Parker.

She starts very slowly, sliding her hand that was under the covers alongside the cold mattress, reaching across the Texas-sized no man’s land between them. She hears him catch his breath, but when he says nothing she keeps going. What the hell is she doing? Is she going mad? She has zero idea. She only has to move her body a couple of inches to the right to come in contact with something, and then his fingers are lacing with hers and she lets out a shaky breath.

“MJ…” His voice is low, almost begging, and goosebumps raise all over her skin.

She doesn’t say anything and starts moving sideways until there’s no more stupid no man’s land between them. Until her toes brush his toes, until she can see his dark pupils in the faint light of the moon. They’re facing each other now, breathing the same air, hands interlocked in between them. They stay very quiet, very still for a moment, and then he speaks. His voice is quiet and a little raspy, and a shiver runs up her spine. “I can hear your heart.”

It’s pounding really hard in her chest, like it’s about to beat out of her, but she figures it still confirms the super hearing hypothesis. “Stop listening then, perv,” she retorts, and Peter lets out a chuckle. The small puff of air flies to her, warming her cheeks, and she stops breathing for a second. She’s pretty sure she’s gonna faint now. Oh god what is happening? Say something. Anything. “I know.”

“You do?” his voice is barely a whisper, one she wouldn’t have heard if she hadn’t been inches away from him. They’ve never been this close before, her hazy brain points out. But then again, they’ve never hold hands before either, so there’s that. She does not trust herself to speak right now, so she just nods to Peter’s question. He takes a sharp breath, like he’s trying to decide something, and even in the dark she can feel his eyes roaming her face. She’s not even sure if she’s breathing anymore or not. “How much do you know?”

She’s not even sure what they’re talking about now. She hesitates for a moment, gathering her thoughts, trying to make sense of the situation, but honestly her brain is too far gone to be of any help. She guesses they might be talking about him being Spider-Man, that would make sense because he’d just admitted that he could hear her heart which is kind of weird right? Oh wow she’s stressing out, her mouth is so dry it’s very uncomfortable. “Enough,” she whispers back, and to be honest she has no idea what she’s saying. He’s too close to her, too overwhelmingly here, and wow he smells so good too and ugh, it really is her own damn fault for reaching out to him right? What’s wrong with her initiating things like that uh?

Peter stays silent for a moment, and MJ’s cheeks feel like they’re burning. His fingers are intertwined with hers, and it doesn’t seem like they’re gonna let go anytime soon. When he speaks again, his voice is quiet and hesitant, and yet his eyes are fixed and determined, even in the pale light of the moon. “Do you know about this?” he murmurs, and for a second MJ is completely lost at what he means.

Then her heart stops when he starts leaning forward, indubitably aiming for her lips. He does so very slowly, probably to give her time to stop him if she wants to, and maybe she should but wow, she really doesn’t want to. She doesn’t move, waiting anxiously for the moment their lips will touch, lazily closing her eyes when his face is less than an inch away from hers. He presses a soft kiss on her parted lips, and a thousand butterflies burst in her stomach instantly. When he goes to move away she moves with him, keeping their lips locked, and she can feel his smile for a second before they start kissing more intently.

It’s like she’s floating away, like she’s a cloud trying to fly back to its rightful place in the sky and the only thing anchoring her down are his lips dancing with hers and their clamped hands in between them. She can’t breathe and doesn’t want to either way, because that would mean she has to stop kissing Peter Parker and that’s not something she finds herself willing to do just yet. She figures it’s okay. Breathing is cool, but have you ever tried kissing the person you’ve been crushing on for the last two years of your life? She can die doing just that, she thinks, that would be a pretty neat death. Oh wow, maybe she’s a little delirious right now. It makes sense for her to be though, right?

She’s kissing Peter Parker.

Kissing. Peter. Parker.

His free hand moves to cup her cheek and she gasps at the sudden touch. Peter backs away just a little to study her face with wide puppy eyes and a worried frown. He goes to move his hand away but she clamps it back on her cheek, shaking her head lightly, and watches as relief wash over his cute face. He smiles, a very small, shy smile, and something tugs inside her belly, pushing her to dive for his lips again. She thinks she might have let out a moan from how amazing kissing him feels, which could prove to be a little embarrassing she thinks, but she’s not sure anyway because her heart is pounding so hard in her ears she cannot hear much. She lets her trembling fingers slide from the hand she’s just secured on her cheek, alongside his ridiculously firm forearm, and she can feel goosebumps raising on his skin. It fills her with an incredible thrill of mixed strength and vulnerability, and she has to break the kiss for a second to draw in a shuddering breath.

When he slowly drags his nose along hers, lightly resting his forehead on hers, MJ’s pretty sure her heart is about to explode. She needs to diffuse the tension right now or else she has no idea how she’s gonna survive any of this. “Okay,” she lets out in a way too breathless voice for her taste, “I admit I did not know about this.”

Peter lets out a small chuckle, shyly removing his hand from her cheek and this time she lets him, removing her own hand from where it stopped on his elbow. “You really didn’t know?” he asks with a nervous laugh, moving back just a little to look in her eyes. They’re still holding hands, fingers interlocked tightly, and she cannot believe any of this. She just shakes her head in response, scared that her voice would betray her if she speaks, and watches in awe as Peter bites his lip. “Ned kept telling me I was being too obvious.”

“Really?” That is clearly something. How did she miss such a crucial piece of information but at the same time still figured out that he was Spider-Man? How could she be that oblivious?

“Maybe you’re not that observant after all then.”

MJ opens her mouth in shock at his cheeky tone. Even in the faint moonlight she can see his eyes gleaming in amusement as she realizes that Peter Parker is teasing her. And that’s just, wow. Her surprise quickly switches to amusement too and she smirks. Oh he’s messing with her uh? Well he’s definitely messing with the wrong girl then. “Oh really?” she says, raising an eyebrow at him, feigning annoyance. She’s pretty sure he can see right through it because his smile doesn’t drop. “Well then,” she sighs, “I guess I’m out.” She drops his hand and turns her back to him, pretending to go back to her side of the bed, and her cheeks hurt from smiling too much when he instantly reaches for her arm to hold her back.

“Nooo, please don’t go,” he begs lightly, his voice filled with laughter and her heart jumps in her chest. She turns back to him, catching his stupidly delighted smile, and honestly she would say screw this guy for being so cute, but then again she’s lying next to him in a bed so maybe that’s not the phrasing she’s looking for right now. Her heart is pounding again.

“You come to my room,” she retorts in a fake mumble, scooching closer to him as she does, “sleep in my bed, insult my observation skills…” By now Peter is openly laughing, which sends jolts of something in her heart and wow she’s such a lost case it’s actually insane. Then he stops abruptly, and her smile drops too, because apparently they just realized at the same time the position they’re in right now.

Somehow she ended up wrapping her arms around his neck while she was joking, which is definitely not a conscious decision from her part, and his hands both landed on her waist which, from his shocked expression she guesses was not exactly premeditated either. It’s like their bodies moved on their own accord while they were joking around like the two dorks they are, and honestly she cannot be too mad about it because it feels amazing. She’s never been close enough to anyone to actually touch them like this, she’s never even danced with anyone during proms or whatever at school. His hands are warm through her shirt, and it really just feels like she’s about to melt under his touch.

She’s at a loss of words, and he seems to be too, his eyes roaming her face like he’s trying to read her thoughts. They stay quiet for a little while, and it’s a tensed, expecting silence, MJ thinks. She also thinks it would probably be better to break it, but apparently her quick wit left her the moment she realized her arms were around him like that. Oh wow this is nuts. “Hi,” she breathes out after a while, then flushes at how stupid it was to say that of all things.

“Hi,” Peter says back with a light chuckle, his right hand shifting slightly on his waist, which effectively takes her breath away. “I uh, just for the record, I didn’t mean that.”

She figures he’s talking about how he said she wasn’t that observant – hopefully that’s what he means, and not something like he didn’t mean to kiss her or something. She’s pretty sure he did mean to kiss her, and everything afterwards too, and it’s exhilarating really. “I know, loser,” she nods with an amused smirk, and he chuckles again. There’s another silence, and MJ feels her eyes drawn to his lips, which she tries to make not too obvious but she’s not sure she’s managing that so she takes a quick breath and asks: “So um, do you wanna–”

“Yeah,” he nods before she can finish, and she snorts.

“Dork,” she coughs, and Peter bites down his smile.

“You were about to suggest kissing again right?” he asks a little hesitantly after a beat, and MJ cannot help it. She throws her head back to laugh, her heart skipping a beat when one of Peter’s hands moves a little higher on her waist as he pretends to whine: “You’re making fun of me.”

“Am not,” she retorts looking back at him through amused eyes. She likes the look in his eyes at that, although she can’t quite pinpoint why exactly. “And yes, I was indeed about to suggest we should kiss again.”

“Right, that’s cool.” His voice is a little breathless, she can feel his shoulders tense under her forearms too, and she feels a pang of nervousness as well at the prospect of kissing Peter again. Which is overall quite ridiculous because they’ve done it just a few minutes prior right? Nothing to be nervous about. Or at least that’s what she’s trying to convince herself. She wonders if he’s doing the same thing.

“Unless you don’t want to?” she asks after a little while, only then realizing she’s been nibbling her lower lip anxiously. “I mean I’d totally get it I–”

“No no I want to,” Peter assures, nodding his head insistently.

“Cool,” MJ smiles, her mouth suddenly very dry. They’re being very awkward, and she doesn’t really know why. It probably has to do with both their lack of experience in that particular domain, she guesses. Which, honestly, shouldn’t be an issue because the kisses they exchanged a few minutes ago were pretty perfect in her opinion. Maybe she should tell him? Or maybe just show him? Peter is still staring at her, and she can feel his hesitation and the nerves behind it. Or maybe it’s her nerves and hesitation she’s feeling. Gosh, she has no idea, she’s probably– no, definitely overthinking all this, which–

Peter’s lips are suddenly on hers and MJ completely loses her train of thoughts, which she finds pretty neat to be honest. She thinks about praising him for his initiative, but then again they’re too busy making out, and anyway she doesn’t want him to get all smug about it or anything. Not that she thinks that’s something Peter would do. She’s not sure she’s ever seen him smug about anything really. He’s too freaking nice for that.

She realizes she’s been thinking too much when Peter’s tongue timidly brushes her lower lip and her brain goes absolutely blank. After that, MJ lets go of any rational thought and focuses all her attention on what it feels like to kiss Peter Parker. Their tongues meet a little hesitantly at first, then more intently, and it feels amazing. She’s pretty sure Peter actually moans when she moves her fingers through his brown curls, and that’s definitely something she wants to hear again. She moves closer and he does too, and then their bodies are flushed against one another and MJ completely loses track of time.

They only pause for a second when MJ feels him pressed against her inner thigh, and she stammers breathlessly against his lips: “I’m, I’m not ready– for more, I think–”

“Yeah no me neither,” Peter nods messily, and she can’t help her smirk when their noses bump because of it. “Sorry…”

“That’s fine,” she breathes, diving for his lips again, and Peter chuckles against her mouth, which sends delicious shivers down her spine. They kiss for a long time after – or maybe not that long at all, MJ doesn’t really know because she’s floating on a cloud. Part of her wants to take it further, because his lips moving against hers are making her feel all kind of new, exciting things, but then again she really meant it when she told him she wasn’t ready for more. Plus he said he wasn’t either. She thinks it’s the right thing to do anyway. They have time. Well, maybe the opportunity to sleep in the same bed won’t arise in the near future, but still, she doesn’t want to rush things. She’s perfectly content with things as they are.

She really did not see this coming. She feels kinda dumb about it. From the way Peter is kissing her, it really feels like he’s been thinking about this for some time already – she wonders for how long, and if she’s beaten him to it or not. Ha, more questions for him. She cannot believe she didn’t see it. And Peter said Ned kept telling him he was being too obvious…

“Oh my God.”

“Hmm?” His eyes lazily open as she moves back to look at his face. Damn, he’s such a cute dork.

“You could have slept in Ned’s bedroom instead of staying here.”

Peter’s mouth opens in surprise, and MJ watches in amusement as he tries to come up with a response. “R-right, wow, yeah, can’t believe we uh, didn’t think of that.”

“You planned this,” she says accusingly, poking him slightly in the chest, and his eyes widen in panic. She has a hard time not laughing at his face.

“I didn’t!” he retorts, trying to sound offended but ultimately failing – maybe it would have worked on anyone else, but too bad for him because she’s not just anyone.

“Relax nerd,” she chuckles, “I’m just messing with you.”

“Oh.”

“Can’t believe you associated with Flash to make this happen.”

“Yeah no that was, that wasn’t me, I swear,” Peter shakes his head, and she knows he’s telling the truth. “I mean, I really like you but owing anything to Flash of all people, well that’s just, big nope.” She doesn’t say anything to this, keeping her chuckle to herself – also, she might be a little, or rather completely, amazed because Peter Parker just said that he really likes her, which is, just, wow. “I just uh, I thought about going to Ned’s room when I realized he put us in the same room, but I just, didn’t mention it?” He scratches the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle, and MJ barely resists the urge to kiss him again.

“You’re such a dork,” she tells him with a sigh, but from the look on his face she knows he hears the fondness behind her words.

“Yeah,” he nods, biting down his smile, “you like it though, right?”

MJ studies his expression for a while. His brown, earnest eyes, his slightly swollen lips, his ruffled hair. She’s always thought admitting things like this would be tough for her. Because it’s not like her, it’s never easy for her to get close to people. She’s had her share of crappy encounters and betrayals before, making her more guarded and careful around others. Staying away from them as much as she can, because that way she couldn’t possibly get hurt. Being a loner at school just to protect herself.

That was before Peter Parker though.

Somehow, her next words come out of her mouth very easily:

“Yeah. Yeah I do.”