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“No, no, no! Aw, c’mon!”
Peter’s car sputters and slows to a stop.
“No, c’mon, you can’t do this to me,” Peter whines. He slams his forehead onto the steering wheel and groans for a long twenty second.
“Okay. Okay! Let’s see what’s wrong.” Peter pulls on his coat and exits the car.
The crisp, chilly December air gives him goosebumps, his body shuddering at the cold.
With a shivering hand, he slams the door shut and the car jolts, bursting into flames.
Peter’s eyes go wide. “Shit, shit, shit!” He pops open the back and pulls out his baggage at lightning speed before running away from the car. “Great. This is just wonderful. Fantastic. Just my luck. Exactly what I need.” He waves his fists exasperatedly at the sky. “Thanks a lot, universe!” He sighs and buries his face in his hands, whining once again in exaggerated cries.
Knowing that he’s in the middle of nowhere Massachusetts miles away from civilization, he begins to strip from his layers so he can put on his Spider-Man suit that at least has a heater.
Thankfully, no cars pass while he’s in the suit and he’s able to pull on his civvie layers over the skintight suit.
“Okay, just gotta call…” He slips his hand into his pocket and freezes. “Nooooo.”
His gaze turns to his car, now fully ablaze, with his phone still plugged into the aux.
Peter groans louder.
It takes him an embarrassing amount of time to realize that he has an AI in the suit that he is wearing that can contact the outside world, but right when he was about to rummage through his bag for his mask, a car begins to head his way.
As if on cue, a hoard of bunnies begin to cross the street, standing in the center of the road.
The car rolls to a stop.
Peter, seeing the opportunity, runs to the car.
“Hey! Uh, my car kinda blew up. So, if you could get me to, like, the nearest bus station or…” He stills, jaw dropping. “MJ?”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Peter?”
“How are you— what are you— you’re— uh,” he runs his gloved fingers through his hair. “H-hey. Hey! You look— it’s great to— I, uh, hey.”
“Wow. I… hey. It’s been a while,” she says.
“Yeah,” Peter replies, bobbing his head awkwardly. “Since Betty’s graduation party.”
MJ's lips press into a thin, tight line. “Right.”
Peter curses himself silently. “I, uh, I’m sure you can see, but my car is kinda the blazing inferno right now, so I just need a ride to, like, the bus stop or something and I can make my way back…”
“Well, you still live in Queens, right?”
Peter pauses. “Uh, actually, May moved to Manhattan.”
“Oh?”
Peter nods. “Yeah. She moved in with Happy. He, uh, works in Manhattan. Obviously. And his commute is kinda important because he has to be close for… security stuff. And May kinda wanted something new, especially since her and Happy are… new. Uh,” he chuckles awkwardly, “God, sorry, it’s been like .5 seconds and I’m already oversharing.”
“It’s refreshing,” MJ says. “People are too often wasting time with pleasantries. It’s nice to just… skip it.”
“It’s easy to just fall back into it with you,” Peter says. “I mean, since we— because it’s just—”
“Relax,” MJ interjects. “I get it. I… yeah, I get it.”
“Cool.”
They both stare at each other in silence for a long moment.
MJ’s gaze strays to his car. ”Wow. It’s… really on fire. That’s... really on brand for you, actually.” She shrugs. “So, you gonna get in or are you just gonna stand there and stare at me?”
“Oh! Right!” Peter picks up his luggage from the snowy ground and pops open her trunk. “So, uh, still at Harvard?”
“Yeah.” MJ drums her fingers on the steering wheel.
“How’s that going?” Peter closes the trunk as carefully as he can and makes his way to the passenger side.
“Good. It’s… it’s actually great.”
Peter grins. “I’m glad. You deserve some greatness in your life.”
“And, uh, MIT, right? How’s that going?”
Peter’s grin grows wider. “It’s phenomenal. It’s everything I could’ve dreamed of and more.”
“You’re a double major, right?”
Peter nods. “Chemical engineering and business.”
“And your brain isn’t a flaming pile of mush yet?”
Peter laughs. “It definitely keeps me busy.”
MJ peers over the window, checking if the bunnies are gone, and starts the car again. “I can imagine.”
“You busy too?”
“Very,” MJ says. “Besides classes I’m also part of the BSA and the drama club.”
“Drama club?” Peter repeats.
“Prop master and set designer.” She smiles softly. “It’s the fun stuff. With props you’ve gotta get creative. We’re working with a budget of basically nothing, so we’ve gotta work with nothing. Our last show, we needed to have dance trophies, so we took two barbies and spray painted them silver and held them up on spare pieces of broken two by four and wooden dowels.”
“Wow. Did it look good?”
“From afar. That’s all that matters. It’s kinda a motto we have. If it looks good from the audience, then it looks good.” She shrugs. “Obviously I do my best to make it look its best, but there’s no point in perfect little details when the audience can’t even see it.” She drums her fingers on the steering wheel again. “I spent hours meticulously shading this intricate fireplace and then I took… maybe? Three minutes doing random squiggly lines in red, orange, and yellow for the fire and you know what everyone was enamored by?”
“The fire?” Peter guesses.
“The fire! They were praising it as if it was artistic genius, and not one person said anything about the fireplace itself.”
“You’ll have to show me pictures, then,” Peter says.
“You have no eye for art.”
Peter scoffs. “I do.”
“Your tacky, aqua blue and neon green pinch pot from senior year art begs to differ.”
“I happen to like aqua blue and neon green together. It was for a miniature beach.”
“A miniature beach?” MJ repeats.
Peter’s mouth snaps closed.
“No. Now you’ve gotta tell me.”
Peter grumbles incoherently. “Okay. Okay. Fine. When I was little, I used to have this affinity for collecting little umbrellas. It was my goal to find the most unique ones. So the bulk packs from the store had the least amount of value and then, like, ones you would get at a restaurant were better. Ones you get at hotels are even better because they’re from farther away. And, so, I have these little beaches on my desk filled with sand that display my little umbrellas in, like, their own little habitats. Or something.” He rubs his neck. “I, uh, also keep little ceramic animals under them. Like they’re at the beach on vacation or something.”
“That,” MJ says, “is adorable.”
“Shut up. It’s not adorable.”
“It is. That is the most wholesome thing I’ve ever heard anyone say. I’m pretty sure I noticed them but never really knew what they are. Well, now that I know, it is even better than anything I could’ve thought up.”
Peter crosses his arms over his chest with a pout. Suddenly, realization hit him. “Shit! My car!”
“Is that just hitting you now?”
Peter glares at her. “It doesn’t always hit me right away.” He gasps. “Oh my God, it literally just exploded. I cant believe it. That sucks.” He groans and slouches in his seat. “What am I gonna do? I can’t just leave it there.”
“Then don’t. Call for it to be towed.”
“It’s barely salvageable.”
“Then have it sent to the junkyard. Get it out of everyone else’s way. Don’t be a jerk.”
Peter sighs. “My phone was inside.”
MJ hands him her phone, unlocking it with her thumbprint. “Don’t snoop. Just search for the number and call.”
“You really think I’d snoop?” Peter questions.
She smiles apologetically. “Force of habit.”
Peter pulls up Safari and starts typing. “So,” Peter says conversationally, “so far, all I know about your experience at college is that you’re a busy bee with lots of clubs and friends that snoop through your phone.”
MJ snorts.
“Oh? Is that not an accurate assumption? Are they only acquaintances?” He gasps dramatically and leans in. “Are they enemies? Have you made enemies in college?”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Your idiot,” Peter says automatically.
A thick silence falls.
Peter clears his throat and points to the phone. “I’m gonna call now.”
MJ nods and puts all of her focus onto the road, trying not to focus on his phone voice.
She hates that it still invokes that same fluttering in her chest that it did in high school. He didn’t use it often, not when he was on the phone with people he knew, but when he would order takeout while they were watching movies, his voice would just… change. It was deeper, stronger, and uncharacteristically confident.
They used to joke about his phone voice, Peter insisting that he needed to sound like he had more authority than he actually did because for some reason, he felt like he needed to impress the pizza man.
And maybe it made MJ swoon a little bit, Peter’s sound matching the way she always saw him. Great. Amazing. Worth so much.
And she would be lying if she said that the phone voice doesn’t still affect her.
“Alright. Uh huh. Mhm. Yup. Thank you. Thanks. Yup. Thanks.” Peter clicks the phone and sets it in the cup holder beside her seat, turning the GPS back on. “All set.”
MJ gives him a tight smile. “So, how was your first semester? College kicking your ass yet?”
“Prerequisites definitely are,” Peter admits. “I got a bunch of them out of the way at Midtown, but that meant I was stuck with politics and econ my first semester.”
MJ hisses. “Yikes. That sounds like a nightmare.”
“It was.” Peter laughs. “It was an absolute nightmare.” He lets out a soft breath. “What about you?”
“Well,” she says, biting her lip and bobbing her head slightly, “I have read an ungodly amount of Shakespeare and my word count has probably hit a million words in just the last four months. So, I’d say I’m ready for a break.”
“What was your favorite?”
“Hm?” she glances at him with confusion.
“Shakespeare play. What was your favorite?”
“Macbeth,” she replies quickly. “Strong, dark, complex female main character, themes of ambition uninhibited by morality, commentary on power and corruption. I don’t know.”
“It sounds interesting,” Peter says.
“It can be. It can also be grueling.”
“I can imagine.”
Silence settles again.
“Do you mind if I…?” Peter motions to the radio.
“Oh!” MJ’s eyebrows shoot up. “Go ahead.”
“Thanks.” He turns up the volume and MJ’s music begins to softly play from the speakers.
The two sit and listen to the music, staring out the windshield in an uncomfortable quiet, both struggling to find the right words.
“I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch,” Peter finally says.
“It’s okay,” MJ reassures. “I didn’t either.”
“Still. You meant a lot to me and I should’ve put in the effort. Mean a lot. You still do.”
MJ’s cheeks flush with warmth. “That means a lot coming from you.”
Peter’s face scrunches.
“What?” MJ questions.
“Don’t say it like that.”
“Like what?” she asks.
“Like my words have… weight.”
“They do. All words have weight.”
“But, I don’t want them to have weight with you.”
“Well,” she straightens, “sucks for you. Because your words have always had weight. Lots of it.”
Peter sinks in his seat. “Oh. I… oh. That’s… oh.”
“Does it really surprise you that much?”
“I,” Peter swallows, “yeah. Honestly.”
“For someone so smart, you can be really dumb.”
Peter chuckles. “Yeah. I’ve been told that a lot.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I guess it’s like, sometimes I don’t realize that existing is a two-sided thing. Like, I know that you impacted and changed my life but like… that probably meant that I probably affected your life too.”
“You did.”
“Huh.”
Peter startles when MJ lets out a loud, boisterous laugh.
“God, Peter,” MJ says. “I’ve missed this.”
“I’ve missed you.”
MJ meets his eyes in the reflection of the mirror before she focuses back on the road.
“We should all get together during the break,” Peter says. “We haven’t had everyone together since…” He cuts himself off. “It’d be nice to see everybody.”
“Yeah. It would,” MJ nods. “You still talk to Ned?”
“Oh, yeah. Totally. Ned has kept me sane.”
“That’s good,” MJ says. “You two were practically inseparable. I can’t imagine you two drifting.”
“I think I might combust if I didn’t have him. He just… gets me. Even if he doesn’t get it. You know?”
“Not really, but I wish I did.”
Peter frowns.
“What? What’s that look for?”
“You don’t have anyone?” Peter questions.
MJ sighs. “I’ve got friends. Just… no one like Ned. You know? Maybe it’ll get there one day, but right now it’s like… it’s hard. Because a lot of people are decimation survivors. They don’t get what it’s like to come back. We all had to stick together when we came back. There’s just… this… divide. Between the people who lost but lived and those were decimated and returned to a world they didn’t know. You know? And it’s like… we were thrown into this world that’s so different and unfamiliar and we just had to keep living. College doesn’t even feel real when we’re still rebuilding after a universal crisis. We’re just supposed to readjust as if it’s not completely…” She cuts herself off.
“No. I totally get that,” Peter says. “When I… when I got back, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Who I was supposed to be. I tried to go back to how it was before, but I just… couldn’t. There were too many expectations. Too many people trying to fit me into something that I’m not meant for.” He stops. “I mean. Maybe I’m meant for it. Maybe that’s exactly what I’m meant for. I mean… shit, I… he left me every—” He snaps his mouth shut.
“He left you everything?” MJ repeats.
“I shouldn’t have said that,” Peter says quickly.
“Left you what?”
Peter presses his lips tightly together, eyes squeezing shut as he takes a long breath. “His legacy. His empire. His shoes to fill.”
MJ doesn’t respond. “Haven’t seen Spider-Man around in a while.”
Peter’s head jerks. “What?”
“I heard he got snapped. And that everyone thinks he’s going to take up the Iron Man mantle.” She shrugs nonchalantly. “But you know, I think that it’s unfair to put the pressure of replacing a billionaire who was the founding superhero for over a decade and a half. It’s unrealistic to expect that of someone. Especially a hero who has less than a third of his experience, both in the suit and out of it. I think that Spider-Man, wherever he is, will step up to the plate in his own way. He’ll make his own legacy. He’ll change the world in his own way.”
Peter swallowed down the lump in his throat, blinking fast. “Well, I think that that would mean a lot to Spider-Man to hear that.”
MJ grins. “Good.”
As they begin to approach a town, Peter squawks in interest.
“Ah! Civilization!” He turns to MJ. “You mind if we stop for a bite?”
“Not at all.” She reads the upcoming road sign. “What are you hungry for?”
“Anything. Somewhere not too expensive. I’m… really hungry.”
“Well, I don’t support big chains and greedy corporations. How about we get some real food?”
“Real food sounds… great.”
They end up pulling into a little local Thai place.
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve eaten good Thai food,” Peter says.
“I know how much you love it.”
“It’s filling. That’s what’s so great about it. Heavy but also… refreshing? Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” MJ smiles. “It does make sense.”
They find a table and scan over the menus.
“I swear,” Peter says, trying to decide between chicken or beef, “half of my inheritance goes to food. I won’t be surprised if I blow it all on Panda Express and Panera Bread.” He stills, realizing what he said.
MJ doesn’t acknowledge it, though. “The cafeteria food any good at MIT?”
“Each dining hall has something different that’s good about it. I pick and choose depending what I’m in the mood for.”
“Well, anything is better than the slop at Midtown.”
Peter laughs. “You’d think that it’d be better but it really wasn’t.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
They both laugh again.
The waiter comes over and they both order, and MJ’s heart spikes as Peter uses his restaurant voice, a close relative to his phone voice.
They decide to share a plate of spring rolls while they wait for their entrees.
“I’m really glad I ran into you,” Peter says. “I mean, not only because I was deserted in the middle of nowhere at below freezing temperatures.” That earns a snort from MJ. “It’s just… really really good to see you.” His fingers that are fiddling with his straw wrapped freeze. “I’m sorry. About what happened.”
“You’re… sorry?” MJ questions.
“I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that. You were tipsy and I was sober and that’s not okay.”
“Tipsy,” MJ repeats. “Not blackout drunk. I knew what I was doing, Peter.”
“Still, that wasn’t… I shouldn’t have done that. I just… you knew how I felt about you. And I know that you were humoring me because it was most likely the last time we’d really see each other and…”
“What do you mean I knew how you felt about me?” she interjected.
“Uh,” Peter says awkwardly. He chuckles uncomfortably. “C’mon, MJ. Don’t have to rub it in my face.”
“Rub what in your face?” she asks, suddenly extremely invested.
“My huge crush on you! I mean, c’mon. I was head over heels for you. It was pretty obvious. But, I mean, you turned me down for prom. I tried to kiss you on New Years and you made it very clear you didn’t want to. Every time I tried to take you on a date, it’d never end well. It was pretty obvious that you weren’t interested.”
“I wasn’t interested?”
Peter rubs the back of his neck. “Well, yeah.”
“Peter,” she says firmly, almost speechless. “You thought I wasn’t interested?”
“I mean, you weren’t. Were you?” Peter asked.
MJ buries her face in her hands with a long sigh. “God. Maybe I’m the idiot.”
“Hey. You’re not an idiot.”
“Apparently I am!” she says with a slightly hysterical laugh. “Almost as big of a one as you!”
“Uhm, ouch?”
“Peter. Could you really not tell that I had a crush on you?”
Peter’s brain short circuited. “Uh… what? You— but— huh?”
“I didn’t want to go to prom because I knew how overwhelmed you get in crowds. And the music would be unbearable for you.That’s why I thought going out to dinner and staying in to watch one of your geeky sci fi movies that I hate would be better.
“I didn’t know you wanted to kiss me at New Years because I was a little distracted by you smearing barbecue sauce all over my cheek.”
“I was trying to be romantic! Do the whole, cup your cheek and lean in.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Well, maybe you should’ve wiped your hands off first.”
Peter blushes, embarrassed.
“And, as for these ‘dates’ you apparently took me on, they must’ve not been very obvious to me because I figured we were just hanging out.” She takes a breath. “Listen, Peter. It’s really hard for me to get my hopes up about things because it’s really hard to let myself hope. I’ve been let down too much. So when I started falling for you, I didn’t think you’d ever feel the same way. So, I didn’t let myself read too much into it. I was happy being your friend. I was happy having you in my life at all.
“You were… are… amazing, Peter. You’re amazing and intelligent and benevolent and selfless and you’ve got too big of a heart, too big and bright, to ever be with me.”
“Hey. That’s not true. You… you’re so amazing, MJ. You blow me away with your insight. You are so smart and empathetic and funny and beautiful, inside and out. You… gosh, how could you not know? Not know how amazing you are?”
MJ ducks her head, her hair falling in her face.
Peter tilts her chin up gently. “You are amazing, MJ. You are beyond amazing.”
“We wasted a lot of time didn’t we? Pining because of miscommunication like some crappy early 2000s romcom characters?”
Peter laughs. “Yeah. I think we did.” He grabs her hand across the table, rubbing his thumb in light circles. “Well, you know, maybe that means we could, I don’t know, rethink, all of the, uh—”
“We could try dating?” MJ interjects.
Peter lets out a high squeak. “U-uhm, I mean, yeah! That’s— that would— I’d totally— only if you want to, I mean, it doesn’t have to be straight away or anything, not if you’re not totally up for it—“
“I think I’m up for it.” MJ smiles softly.
Peter bobs his head, lips falling into a smile too. “Yeah. I think I am too.”