Chapter Text
Peter is jealous of the gingerbread man sitting on the display shelf. It has a gingerbread house and gingerbread friends. Peter has a tiny apartment and no friends.
He used to have them. The most amazing friends a guy could have, but fate has always been cruel to him. Just like fate had been cruel to spiderman #2 and spiderman #3.
A gingerbread cookie didn't have to worry about staring at a display shelf to avoid staring at his former girlfriend instead.
She wore her pastel work clothes over a long sleeved striped shirt, her curly hair was tied into a loose ponytail. Someone had managed to convince her to wear a christmas hat on her head. The only other person who ever succeeded in that endeavour was Peter, when he was still with her, last christmas. Crazy how much time had passed.
The christmas hat was not the usual red and white, instead it was red with green stripes and the white fluff.
Even though she looked mildly irritated, she looked as beautiful as ever. Absolutely radiant.
It's not fair that she becomes more beautiful every time that he sees her.
It’s like the universe was bullying him. Oh you like her? Look at her being beautiful and you cant do anything about it.
He can’t believe she used to be his.
MJ would kick his ass if she heard his thoughts. She didn’t belong to anyone. He knew this. But he can’t believe she used to look at him and think: Yes that guy, this is the guy I want to be my boyfriend.
Peter is the luckiest guy in the world.
Oh
Peter was the luckiest guy in the world.
At least it all turned out great for Ned and MJ, that is all he ever wanted right?
Peter took a deep breath and went inside. He just wanted to talk to her. Perhaps that would make it hurt less, for just a moment.
The doorbell rang and he felt the warmth of the room embracing him like a warm blanket. He had been lost in his thoughts so long he had forgotten how cold it is outside.
MJ was making coffee for a customer, an espresso by the looks of it. She had her lips pressed together, as they often were when she was concentrating.
She used to glance at the door whenever someone came in, her face lighting up in recognition when she would see Peter.
Peter wanted to tell her that he missed her, reassure her that he is still figuring out what to do. He wanted to talk with her on rooftops like they had done so many times before.
Sure things were messy and terrible when everyone knew who he was, but at least they had each other. Now the loneliness was killing him.
MJ finished her espresso, added a donut and brought it to the customer.
When she finally noticed him she did a double take. Peter could hear her heart skip a beat.
Had he scared her?
She walked back to the counter and wiped her hands on her apron.
"Have we met before?" MJ asked, taking Peter completely by surprise.
His brain spun in short, frantic circles, trying to come up with a response that wasn’t just a variation of “uh…meh?”.
He only hoped he didn’t look at her with his mouth hanging open, his mind completely blank.
“Sorry forget it, I know you are a regular, but I mean before that? You just look really familiar, but I don’t remember ever meeting you…”
She smiled faintly and looked down. “Sorry. It’s just strange. Normally I’m very-”
“-Observent.” Peter finished.
They made eye contact for a moment. There was something behind her eyes. A flink of recognition. Almost like the battle of liberty island never happened. But just as quickly as it sparked up it also quickly dimmed.
“Yeah.” She gave him a shy smile.
“Maybe you have seen me around Queens? I used to live there.” Peter offered, knowing damn well that it wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but what was he supposed to say?
No actually I am your former boyfriend, or current boyfriend since we technically never broke up, but you don’t remember me because I erased your memory to save our reality from almost ripping into shreds!
She would never want to speak to him again and would probably get a restraining order.
MJ stared at him, and he could almost see her brain scrambling the puzzle pieces together, only to find that none of them fit.
“I don’t think so…” Her thoughts wondered off.
“Nevermind this must have been an odd question.” She brushed it off and leaned against the counter with her palms. A strand of hair escaped out of her low ponytail.
He wanted to reach out and tuck that strand of hair behind her ear.
It was the awkward flirting stage all over again.
Wait… flirting?
"You probably just want to order. I’ll restart.” She adjusted her posture.
“Welcome to Peter Pan’s Doughnuts and Pastry shop, what would you like to order?”
Peter smiled.
“Can I get an warm chocolate milk and a waffle?” he answered.
“Can I get your name?” she asked.
“Peter.”
She looked up for a moment. Her brows frowning ever slightly.
“Okay Peter, your number is twelve.”
Peter almost asked if he could get her number in return, but thought better of it. Too cheesy, too abrupt. Using his better judgement, he sat down to wait for his order.
The other customer had left the bakery. Only an old couple remained in the corner, minding their own business as they worked on the crossword puzzle in the paper.
“I forgot to ask, Peter. Would you like to take your order to go or eat in?” MJ asked.
“I’ll eat it here.” Peter replied.
“Okay, noted.” She swiped the strand of hair behind her ear, something she did when she was nervous or flustered.
MJ poured the milk into a glass and dropped in three blocks of chocolate. She then picked a waffle from the showcase.
Carrying them over, she set the plate and glass in front of him.
“Here are your waffle and chocolate milk.”
Peter noticed the swirl of whipped cream he hadn’t ordered. He had read that it cost like 2 dollars extra.
“The whipped cream is on me,” MJ said with a quick smile. “But if my boss asks, you paid for it yourself, okay?”
Peter opened his mouth, then simply said, “Thank you.”
He missed her so much.
The chocolate milk was in a christmas themed double glass. The inner glass shaped as a christmas tree and the outer glass made it look as if it snowed. The chocolate blocks inside had already begun to melt. It wouldn’t take long. He stirred the chocolate to spread through the milk before taking a bite out of his waffle.
He grabbed his phone while he ate. These days he barely looked at his phone. It reminded him of nobody caring about him anymore. He never got a text, except from his landlord asking for rent. Why would he get a text? Nobody remembers him.
His social media’s were deleted or he just had no followers. Yet every number still lived in his phone. He could call anyone he wanted, and nobody would even know who he was. Peter Parker is dead, only spiderman remained to this world.
Spider-man’s social media, though, was alive and thriving. The good and the bad, just like before the reveal. Only now J. Jonah Jameson unfortunately remembered that he hated Spider-Man’s guts for some reason. Resulting in J.J. spouting insults and conspiracies at people’s heads.
Menace. Jonah calls him. It’s honestly better than liar, murderer and killer.
Certified Wallcrawler @Officialspiderman
Going on patrol at 11:00 AM if anyone needs my help just reply. Missing cat, missing bike or even fixing a TV, your friendly neighborhood Spiderman is up to the task!
Sent at 10:00 1k replies 5k retweets
I
Celeste @beansinabag3
Hey spider-sir does a couple of mysterious men holding the mall hostage count? My mom is a police officer and it sounds pretty serious :/
Sent at 10:42 5k replies 10k retweets
I
Miles’s art @grafittienthausiast
Holy shit. She is not kidding, the whole block is closed off!
Sent at 10:48 10 replies 20 retweets.
Peter choked on his waffle.
Shit.
He stuffed the last remaining bit of the waffle in his mouth. Then chugged the chocolate milk down his throat, immediately regretting that decision when it burned his mouth. At least it wasn’t scorching hot.
He coughed and stood.
MJ frowned at him. Peter remembered that it might be rude to just leave. He still needed to pay too.
“I’m so sorry, I just realized I have a project due tomorrow.”
“It’s christmas break…” MJ muttered.
“A personal project.” Peter corrected.
“Okay..” MJ’s shoulders hung slightly.
Why did she care? Peter wondered.
He finished the payment and rushed to the door, praying that the police could keep the criminals busy.
Then he stopped.
Oh.
Ohhh.
Peter turned around and saw MJ looking at him with her head tilted in curiosity.
He calmly walked back, trying hard to not make it any more awkward than it already was.
“Would you like to go out with me?”
“Do you want my number?”
They spoke at the same time. The next second fell in silence. They both looked at each other wide eyed.
“Yes.” They both repeated in synch again.
They chuckled. MJ tucked the non existent strand behind her ear with a smile.
“That settles it then.”
It’s crazy that even though MJ does not remember him, Peter could still feel this strong connection with her.
MJ teared a piece of paper from her notebook and wrote her number down with a pen, the number Peter already had saved in his phone. At least now it wouldn’t be a stranger calling her.
“I will call you.” Peter said.
“Text?” MJ offered.
“I will text you.” Peter corrected.
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
“Goodluck with your project.” MJ added.
“You too!” Peter smiled.
“Goodluck with work I mean.” he added.
She chuckled slightly.
“See you.” MJ replied. At least one of them knew how to not make a complete fool of themselves.
With that Peter left through the door, the bell ringing behind him as it closed.
He jogged to the nearest alley and rested against the wall for a moment.
He literally fought villains and criminals every day. He even fought a fucking purple nut-faced alien on an entirely different planet once, but asking out his girlfriend for the second time was somehow the most terrifying thing he had ever done.
His heart throbbed in his chest, he could feel it beating in his throat as well. His palms felt sweaty.
He had done it. He really did. He managed to get the most beautiful and smart girl to go on a date with him for the second time.
How?
No clue.
Maybe she thought awkwardness was endearing.
Peter sorted out his thoughts. He needed to focus on rescuing hostages. Not romance.
Yet Peter’s head still blushed like a tomato.
He looked around to make sure there were no cameras and hid behind a dumpster. There he changed into his spiderman suit. He stuffed his jacket, watch and trousers all in his backpack and webbed it stuck on the inside of a vent. This way he was sure nobody would steal it, like they would in his highschool years. He even installed a track system. He didn’t have money to buy a new backpack right now.
Once he secured everything he jumped to the top from wall to wall.
He raised himself over the edge of the roof. His feet touched concrete again and he studied his surroundings to latch his webs onto.
Peter cracked his neck, stretched his arms and legs. When his muscles felt light and lean he began jogging in place, reading himself for take off.
He sprinted to the edge of the building and jumped off.
With a jolt Peter caught himself as the web latched onto surrounding buildings. In an instant he found himself above the cars. He swept between them, waving back to the children from within the car.
He pulled out his phone and opened twitter.
Miles’s art @grafittienthausiast
@Officalspiderman maybe hurry a little it’s getting worse.
11:00 AM 3k replies 6k retweets
Shit.
A truck honked at him as he almost hit it.
“Look out Spider-man.” The trucker yelled.
“Sorry!” Peter yelled back. Catching his phone again with his web.
He put some more distance between him and the cars on the road.
He slung himself all the way up and let himself speed up by letting himself fall back down, arms wide, back turned to the pavement as he soured through the wind, weightless.
He had forgotten how much he loved being spider-man when the whole world hated him. The stress of going anywhere had taken the fun out of being a webslinger. Also the fact that nobody knew who the slinger was, it just made him feel so free.
He stretched out an arm and caught himself on the side of a building. Running sideways along the windows and greeting the employees watching him swing by.
At the edge of the building he kicked himself off and swung through the streets.
A train passed below him.
He smiled to himself and let himself tumble down to it’s eyesight. He landed on the top of the train.
Much quicker this way.
The wind soared past him, but he held on.
He moved to the side of the train to catch less wind. Passagiers gaped at him and Peter gave the peace sign to the ones who took pictures of him. He did a couple selfies too while he was at it. He remained on the train for another ten minutes until he was nearly there. That’s when he released his grip and swung through the buildings until he saw it, the square mall.
On first sight nothing seemed wrong, but on closer look you could see the dozen police cars surrounding the building. He could count 13 police cars from this angle.
He dropped down in front of the building just behind the barrier.
“Spider-man! What are you doing here?” The policeman in front of him called out. Hand going to his gunholster instinctively.
“Here to help, sir.” Peter said with his arms up. “Don’t shoot please.”
“Of course not.” The officer relaxed his hand.
“Officer Davis, you can call me Jefferson.”
“Spider-man” Peter shook his hand.
“We got a serious hostage situation on our hands. We don’t have much time for smalltalk. These guys are in there, no communication with hostages and we are afraid what they will do to them if we go in.”
“What do you want me to do?” Peter asked.
He had found that the best way to work with police is just to ask them what you already were planning to do, so they don’t shoot you when they find you inside the building.
“Normally I wouldn’t advise this, but try to sneak in, perhaps through the vents or the roof. Don’t show yourself and just tell us what you can see through this.” Officer Jefferson handed him an earbud.
“Now listen carefully Spider-man. Do NOT engage. If you want to work with us than trust us to do our jobs.”
“Yes sir.” Peter said, debating if he was actually going to listen to that advise.