Archive of Our Own

There were people who contemplated their life choices on the brink of death. There were people who did so when they were just feeling stuck in life, with a job they hated or friends they didn’t know how they ended up having.

And then there was Michelle Jones who contemplated her life choices while being curled into a small ball underneath the counter of a small flower shop that was almost invisible between a huge café and the best library in New York (it was open 24/7, which was perfect for Michelle). It was dark in there since the worker in the shop slid a door to cover her from view. Honestly, Michelle figured that was a great time to look back on her life and try and understand how she ended up in this place in the first place.

Oh, right. Brad. He’s been annoyingly clingy lately, trying to stay close by, in her line of sight. He read her favorite books and poems and then talked about them as if they were the most interesting thing in the world AND he’s been defending her in front of their classmates every time someone mentioned her or tried to mock and tease her. Now, to every high-school girl this would be a dream come true. Brad was considered all kinds of cool, handsome and smart. He was the guy girls in Michelle’s school were pining after. But she just… she didn’t like it. Not one bit. The whole thing made her skin crawl because it felt wrong to be the center of his attention. And, come on, couldn’t he tell she was not interested in the least? Sure, he was a good friend, but nothing more.

She didn’t want him to read her favorite books because they were HER favorite books and meant nothing to him. She didn’t want him to talk about the great hilarious/depressing movies out there, because they were movies SHE liked and he just hitched a ride with her. It wasn’t who he was. He liked sports and talked like an eleven-year-old every five seconds from excitement over something that she couldn’t care less about. He loved the Avengers but pretended to be skeptical about them around her because Michelle thought they weren’t all that great.

And now he was trying to walk her home after school and… no. Nope. No way in hell was she going to let him, so when she noticed him waiting for her near the school gate she just took her feet and fled, aware of his footsteps behind her. He wasn’t going to hurt her, she knew that, but she wasn’t into him and she didn’t want anyone to come over to her place. Not now, not never. Especially Mr. Perfect Brad.

There was void in Michelle’s brain back then, when she tried to escape her classmate, so she couldn’t really concentrate on where she was going off to until she was already inside the little shop she hoped Brad wouldn’t notice and tucked under the counter, the reassuring smile of the teenager running the place the last thing her eyes saw before darkness took over.

And then she waited. And she tried to be as quiet as possible when the bell of the door rang, announcing someone got inside the shop. She held her breath and wanted to groan out loud at the voice of Brad asking whether or not she was there.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s just you and me in here, dude.” An unfamiliar voice said calmly. The teenager. He sounded young, like he was around her age. His voice kinda broke in the middle of the sentence, so he was in the middle of puberty or something. But he sounded nice. Kind. Caring. And maybe Michelle was biased since he did help her, no questions asked, when she was nothing but a stranger to him.

Brad grumbled. “Do you mind if I look around?” It was a stupid question since the shop was so small, he didn’t even have anywhere to look for her. Except for under the counter, that is. Obviously, the teenager agreed, sounding carefree and not worried in the least.

There were footsteps around, shaking the wooden floor slightly. Michelle wondered what Brad was doing. Looking into pots, hoping to see her? What kind of people hid in pots of flowers?? Then the footsteps came closer and closer and Michelle realized the guy was allowing Brad to go behind the counter to look for her. Was he stupid or what?? Brad would want to open the door and –

“Ugh, I must have confused her with someone else. Sorry to bother you. Thanks.” And then the bell above the door ringed out again and there was silence apart from the quiet snickers of the teenager. A few moments later the door slid again to reveal him and Michelle blinked at the light attacking her eyes before frowning at the smug looking guy.

He offered her his hand and helped her onto her feet, still smiling like this was the most fun he’s had in his entire life. “I felt like I was in one of those episodes of Avatar, I won’t lie. Like… when Uncle Iroh and Zuko hid in this flower shop in the desert, and…”

Michelle let his words wash over her while dusting her clothes. She narrowed her eyes at the blabbering teenager and found her hand itching to get to her pencil and notebook so she could draw him. He looked so… she couldn’t describe it. The light from the window of the shop illuminated his face and his brown curls fell onto his face, bouncing at his words. He looked… he looked kind of cute. Here, she said it. She thought he looked cute.

After a moment she realized he stopped talking and was just looking at her expectantly. She blinked her eyes, her expression as neutral as ever, and tilted her head slightly. “Sorry, what?”

The most adorable grin Michelle’s ever seen graced his face, making him look as innocent as can be. “I asked what this guy wanted from you. I mean… I don’t wanna be nosy or anything because this is clearly none of my business, but I kinda feel like this is a red flag I shouldn’t ignore just like that.”

Oh. Oh, he was just worried about her. Which was strange because most people didn’t even give her a second glance. “He’s in my class. I just didn’t want him to walk with me.” She shrugged and glanced at the door, making sure Brad wasn’t coming back to second check this place. “Umm… how come he didn’t just open the door under the counter, by the way?”

“Oh, look. It’s actually pretty cool.” The teenager sounded enthusiastic, closing the door under the counter again and stepping back to let her see. It was covered in a large mirror. The plants near the wall behind the counter reflected in it, making it look like there was nothing in there and you could just see through the space to the other side of the counter. Alright, so it was like a magic trick.

Weird. “Why do you have it in a flower shop?”

At that the boy rubbed his neck sheepishly, looking at the floor for a moment before biting his lip. “You’d be surprised at how many times I’ve hid things in there.” He said and then sat back on his stool and let his legs swing back and forth. “I’m Peter, by the way.”

She narrowed her eyes at him before reaching out and taking a flower and giving it to him. “Here, Peter. I’ll buy you a flower as a thank you for helping me with this guy.” And when he blushed and stuttered an objection she just ignored him and reached into her backpack to try and find her purse. Her purse… the one she remembered leaving on her desk at home since she figured she wouldn’t need it today at school. Oh, God. “Umm…”

She could always take it back and just thank him like a normal person before going away. She wasn’t going to see him again, after all. Like, ever. She wasn’t a flower person. She didn’t like the gesture of giving people flowers because there were better things to give. Things that weren’t just pretty. But something about this guy… something about Peter made her want to write poems about all the kind of flowers that matched the color of his eyes or his rosy cheeks. His smile felt like pure sunshine and she felt like… she felt like giving him a flower.

But she didn’t have the money to pay for it, damn it. The glint in his eyes let her know he understood what was going on and his smile turned into a knowing smirk. He grabbed the flower and smelled it, grinning like a little demon. “A Periwinkle! How wonderful of you!” He sniffed it again. His eyes crinkled around the edges, letting Michelle know he was really enjoying this. “However did you know? I LOVE Periwinkles.” He lowered it. “Did you know they symbolize faith, trust and – “

“Pixie dust?” Michelle cut him shortly. “If you’re going to say pixie dust, know that I will never speak to you again.”

He huffed out a laugh. “And everlasting love.” He said pointedly and then looked at the flower. Michelle found herself staring at him with widening eyes because… no, she didn’t know that and she certainly didn’t think about that while handing him the closest flower she could grab. “Oh, and it costs three bucks.”

She growled at him, not liking the way it seemed to amuse him, and rolled her eyes in an attempt to seem nonchalant. “Fine, then don’t take it. I guess you just don’t deserve a flower for hiding a costumer in a creepy magic closet.” She crossed her arms and when she looked back at Peter his grin eased into a comfortable smile. He looked at her like she was the only thing that existed in the world and that made her shift in her place, aware of everything wrong about her. Her hair was a mess and she was sweating a little after running from her school all the way to this shop. Her shirt had tiny holes near the hem. Her pants were torn, and unlike her classmates, she didn’t buy them this way. Her coat was too big, making her frame look smaller and worse.

Normally, she wouldn’t care about her looks, but… but this Peter guy… when he looked at her, her heart started beating faster and her appearance suddenly mattered because she didn’t want him to look at her and think she was neglecting herself or like she wasn’t worth his time.

It was stupid. So very stupid.

She turned to the door and grabbed the handle already when he spoke again, softer than before. “Or…” Wait, no… he sounded… awkward. That wasn’t him being gentler. That was him being embarrassed. She glanced at him over her shoulder and lifted one eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. He swallowed. “Or you could, maybe, leave your name and number and bring the money some other time and in case you don’t show up until next week, I’ll just… give you a call.” He was blushing so hard, he looked like a tomato. “If you want. I mean,” He widened his eyes suddenly. “I can pay for it. For now. If you’d like. You don’t have to, of course. Oh, God, that was a terrible idea, right?”

She found herself smiling at him. Actually smiling. Michelle wasn’t used to smiling around people. Her classmates were pretty awful and Brad… yeah, he didn’t particularly make her want to smile as well. And yet this person, Peter, was able to get a smile out of her just like that, because he was flustered.

And that was the only reason she strolled back into the shop, scribbled down her phone number and her initials, smiled at him one last time and left. Because she was curious to see what else this boy could do that others couldn’t. That was it. The only reason why she did it. And she’d deny anything else.

The fairy lights in her room made Michelle feel slightly dreamy. Usually, she kept them off, but these last couple of days she found them relaxing and she needed this. She needed to stop thinking too fast for a few minutes and just breathe. It was good, it was healthy, and it stopped her from running off to the flower shop on the other side of Manhattan.

The stupidest, most ridiculous, worst, dumbest flower shop. And she wasn’t exaggerating, thank you very much.

School was boring, which meant she read most of the time or found herself dreaming about walking into the shop and finding that same smiling teen, Peter, sitting and sniffing flowers. Well, that was silly of her to assume since he was probably already sick of flowers, but… she couldn’t stop imagining the smirk he had on his face or the way he stammered while practically asking for her number.

It was actually surprising to find out he didn’t use it. He didn’t call, send a text or leave her any voice messages. He didn’t abuse what she’d given him and it brought an unwanted smile to her face. He was probably waiting for the end of the week, like he said, but she could imagine him just choosing not to bother her because if she didn’t come back, maybe she had a reason to. Maybe she was just being ridiculous, though… she did owe him money for the flower.

Periwinkle. Ever lasting love. Ha, as if. He was practically a stranger and she didn’t know him enough to even trust him. So to love him forever? That was ambitious, alright. Although, it WAS her choice of a flower. It wasn’t like it was his fault that was actually the meaning behind it. And yeah, she made sure he wasn’t making things up, and he wasn’t. Unless the internet decided to lie to her, all of a sudden.

Her eyes drifted to the drawing she made the day before. She put it on the edge of her bed, not sure she was satisfied with it quite yet. It was Peter, with his soft smile and the strange glint in his eyes, like he was seeing the good in everything in life. It was the only drawing she had of someone that wasn’t in crisis and she thought it was… nice. Not perfect, just nice.

She shouldn’t go. She shouldn’t go back to that shop because her brain was already acting up at the mere thought of that boy and she didn’t like it. Michelle liked being in control. She didn’t want to feel like falling, especially when she didn’t know what was at the end of that fall. But then again… she did owe him money.

Swallowing, she grabbed her purse and ran out of her house before she could change her mind again. She had a train to catch.

The bell rang when she pushed the door open and her eyes immediately landed on Peter. He was sitting near the counter with a textbook and a pencil held in his right hand. He twisted it there as his eyes roamed the pages in front of him with something akin to laziness.

Then he looked up and his face brightened. He put the pencil down and shoved the textbook away, smiling at Michelle as if she was his best friend. Which was… not possible. He must have had, like, tons of friends. He seemed too nice and friendly to be a loner like her.

“MJ!” He called, voice cracking. “I was beginning to think I’d actually have to call you.” There were freckles dotting his face and Michelle watched them for a moment before blinking away her thoughts. She made sure to keep her emotions at bay and his behind her usual blank expression. It didn’t seem to throw Peter off, though.

She wrinkled her mouth in a way that was similar to a grin but not quite. “This place is too small, I couldn’t find it.” She lied and she knew he could tell she was lying by the spark in his eyes alone, but he didn’t hold her on to that. “But I’m here now.”

The teasing smile was back on his face. “With those three bucks, I presume?”

She opened her wallet to pay. She really did. After all, that was what she came here to do, right? But then her eyes landed on the small, blue flower on the counter. It was the Periwinkle. Peter must have put it in a pot. And he watched it pretty well considering it looked really good. Michelle would have killed it by now. It’s been, what? Five days? Lots of time to kill a single, miserable flower.

But that didn’t really matter to her. What did matter, on the other hand, was that Peter KEPT it. He cared enough to plant it in its own vessel and then he cared enough to water it and who knows what else. Was he supposed to do anything else to a flower? Michelle had no idea. But her hand froze with her fingers laced around the money she was about to give him and suddenly she couldn’t do it.

Bringing him the money would mean not coming back. Not having a reason to come back, and despite the voice in her mind telling her it was stupid to be here in the first place because emotions were a disease she did not want and a weakness she saw other people fall for, she wanted to come and she needed those three bucks with her because if she gave them back… she’d go away and never return.

And so, without actually thinking, she reached for another flower. What she came up with was a white flower with five, kind of sharp, petals. It was small and yet seemed nice, compared to a stupid flower. Michelle gulped, not really sure what the hell is going on with her and handed it to Peter.

The poor teen was clearly dumbfounded and blinked at it with wide eyes, his hand reaching out to take it despite obviously not understand what’s going on. She watched as he held it close to him, observing the petals and the vine before looking up at Michelle again, questioning eyes sparkling with what could have been hope. Michelle didn’t want it to be that, so she just decided not to read too much into it.

“I came to buy this flower.” She declared, trying to go for certainty but failing miserably and sounding more like she was questioning all her life choices. Again. “For you.” Thankfully, Peter smiled at that and he let his finger trace the shape of the petals gently.

He cleared his throat and bit his lip in a clear attempt at holding back a wide grin. “Amsonia.” He said, raising the flower slightly. “It’s also called Blue Star because it looks kinda like a star, see?” He brought it up again and Michelle found herself actually looking. Who thought Michelle Jones would find herself staring at flowers, huh? “Do you know what it symbolizes?” He smirked in her direction and Michelle snapped her eyes back to him, trying to look indifferent.

She crossed her arms. “Annoyance?”

He narrowed his eyes, taking his time to answer. “I don’t actually know a flower that means annoyance. Petunias mean anger, though. So that’s close enough, right?” He smiled again. “No, this one means endurance and determination. Oh, and strength.”

Looking at the innocent flower, Michelle felt her heart beating faster. Determination, huh? The world really liked messing with her choices. First a flower about love and then a flower about determination? She should probably check the meanings BEFORE handing them to Peter. Why did she keep giving him flowers anyway?

“So, what’s this one for?”

Think fast! “Not paying for the teriwinkle from last week.”

“Periwinkle.” He corrected her, no judgement in his voice. He also ignored it when she called him an idiot. “Are you actually going to pay for this one, though? Because as much as I like getting gifts from pretty girls, it IS sort of feeling weird getting gifts that aren’t really gifts and more things you stole.”

He thought she was pretty? He was clearly avoiding her eyes after saying that, probably realizing what his mouth had let slip, but Michelle was too busy trying to control herself to care. So she nonchalantly leaned forward, making him look back at her at once, eyes wide, searching.

Talk, her mind screamed at her. Just talk and make this moment go away already! “Didn’t you pay for the peri-thing-y?” She countered, lifting her brows to try and look more intimidating.

The annoying, rude and somewhat cute boy laughed. “So then I bough a flower for myself, is that it? It wasn’t from you, it was from me. Should I have written a note to go with it as well?”

“I don’t care what you do in your spare time, Peter.” And she raised her wallet. “But this one I will actually pay for, if you’re going to be this annoying about it.” She looked to the side and checked how much the flower cost. Two bucks. She was aware of Peter watching as she pulled the dollars from her purse and put them on the counter between them. Then she shut the purse closed and put it in her back pocket.

It was almost cute, how big Peter’s eyes got. He was gaping at her, clearly not sure what to do now. Michelle thought maybe buying him another flower for no good reason was really crossing a line. But when she opened her mouth to take it back, he beat her to it.

“Seriously, I swear I saw at least twenty bucks left in there.” He motioned around for the purse no longer in sight. “And you, what? Pretend like you can’t actually pay for the Periwinkle? Are you kidding me? Are you TRYING to make me get fired?”

Michelle hesitated. “Will you get fired over this?”

His cheeks darkened and he rubbed the back of his neck. “No… but that’s beside the point!” He pointed a finger at her but his smile gave him away. He wasn’t really angry or upset. He was just confused. Honestly, Michelle was just as confused as he was, probably. Maybe even more. He met Michelle’s eyes and despite the blush creeping up his cheeks again, he didn’t look away.

Feeling like she had no other reason to stay in this little space with Peter anymore, Michelle started walking backwards. Peter’s eyes widened slightly and a shadow crossed over his face for a moment.

“You’re leaving already?”

He sounded sad. Upset. Let down. Michelle bit her lip and twisted on her toes, not sure what to do with these emotions swirling in her gut. She wanted to hate them, but… but she couldn’t. They were actually kind of nice. And if being close to this guy was all it took for her to feel that way, she was willing to suffer his presence.

“Well, I bought a flower, so I don’t really see any other reason why I should stay here any longer, right?” She replied but as a response Peter’s eyes sparkled and he showed off his new flower.

His excitement almost made Michelle giggle. GIGGLE. What a stupid notion. But his smile almost made her rethink about her opinions about everything the world had to offer.

Peter pointed with the flower at the Periwinkle. “Help me plant the Amsonia!” He suggested as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and Michelle hesitated for only a moment before nodding slightly, enjoying the way his face brightened.

Turns out, Michelle could NOT take care of flowers, not even with Peter’s help. She managed to almost kill the poor flower five times before they even finished filling some of the new pot with dirt. Peter didn’t seem to mind, though, and just took control, talking to Michelle the entire time without making her feel useless or like a burden.

And, frankly, watching him wasn’t half bad. He clearly liked working with flowers. He told her the shop belonged to his family and that he was working now most of the time because the other employee was sick. He lived with his dad because the rest of his family was gone, but he also had plenty of people who looked out for him that weren’t family. Aunts and uncles Michelle didn’t get much information about.

He was a nerd. One smart nerd. He liked chemistry, mostly, but physics and biology weren’t too bad either on his opinion. He was a part of his school’s Decathlon team and, apparently, they’ve won nationals the year before and survived the whole thing at the Washington Monument. Despite Michelle’s first assumptions, Peter wasn’t popular and didn’t have lots of friends. He had barely one friend, but they were clearly really close. They liked Lego sets and Star Wars.

Seriously, Peter was talking a mile a minute while working and Michelle didn’t mind. She took in the information and catalogued it in her brain, keeping it for later. And every time Peter lifted his head to look at her she could swear her heart stopped. His smiles were sweet and innocent, as if he wasn’t aware of what was going on under the surface.

And when Peter asked, Michelle obliged and told him about herself as well. She was an only child. No, she didn’t live with her parents even though they were both alive. She moved to Queens to stay with her Aunt Anna because her parents were just… too much. Yes, she went to school at Manhattan and then had to take the subway to get back to Anna’s. She failed to mention, though, that her school was seriously far away from this flower shop. Peter didn’t need to know that she had to walk out of her way to get to him.

She told him about her books and how important they were to her, and even mentioned which ones were her favorites and why. He didn’t judge her even once and only spoke up when she mentioned a book that he’s heard of, his excitement almost too much for her to handle. She told him about her sketchbook and he actually seemed enthusiastic about it, claiming he couldn’t draw a thing to save his life, but he could take mean pictures. She believed him and promised to get her sketchbook with her the next time if he’d have his camera. That deal made her smile wider than before because that meant they were really going to meet again. She could tell Peter was happy because of that as well.

When Michelle told Peter she didn’t like flowers that much, though, he gaped at her. Actually gaped. The flower was long forgotten, safe in his pot and Peter rested his dirty hands on the counter, not caring in the least about the mess he caused. Michelle thought it was cute and she hated thinking that in the first place.

“What do you mean you don’t like flowers??? Are you just being mean to me, or are you serious?”

She kept her expression still. “Dead serious.”

He frowned and looked around the shop, eyes scanning the flowers before his frown deepened and he tapped his fingers absentmindedly on the wooden counter, deep in thought. Michelle watched, silent, and swallowed a smile. Not now. Emotions later.

Eventually, Peter looked her in the eyes, determination flaring behind his brown irises. It was the most beautiful thing Michelle’s ever seen. “You just haven’t found your flower, yet.” He stated matter of faculty. “But I’m going to find it, if it kills me.”

“Dramatic much?”

He smiled sheepishly at her but shrugged. “You’ll see.” Was all he said.

They didn’t decide when they’d meet again, but Michelle knew Peter had her number in case he wanted her to come sooner than later and she knew where to find him. Probably. Besides, he went to Midtown. She could always go there and try and find him over there, right?

So she left the shop, waving at Peter before walking away, noting the way he put the flowers she had given him at the front of the counter, as if wanting to show them off. She didn’t care whether or not he would find her the flower of her dreams or anything like that, but… it was nice knowing someone cared about her…

Peter told her he didn’t have school on Fridays, so Michelle made her way Friday morning towards the shop, hoping to find him there. She had a field trip today and knew she wouldn’t be able to come and visit him after school like they did every day lately.

She didn’t have much time, so she ran as quickly as possible, ignoring the sweat and smiling slightly while pushing the door open. The bell dinged above her head lightly, announcing her arrival and she heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the sleeping teenager at the counter. His head was on his arms and his chest was rising and falling with each breath he took.

Ripping out a page from one of her notebooks, she scribbled an explanation quickly for him to read once he woke up and watched him for one moment longer before getting out. She wished she could speak to him, but he seriously needed this rest. Especially after the previous night.

He didn’t tell her he was Spider-man, but after he ditched her over ten times when sirens blared outside and watching him supporting bruises and injuries it wasn’t hard to figure out. Michelle was very observant. She didn’t tell him she knew his secret, but she didn’t really try to hide it completely. She wanted to see him squirm. She was mean, alright? Besides, his lies were terrible.

But today she felt forgiving seeing as he did fight this Green Goblin guy all night long and still found the time to save her from three guys who tried to take her wallet away. Maybe they wanted something more, she didn’t know. Spider-man showed up before things could really deteriorate and stopped them, asked if she was okay and then bid her goodnight and turned back to his fight.

So he deserved to sleep, alright? On second thought…

She entered the shop again, grabbed a flower she knew was named Campanula. It was blue and looked like a bell, which was why it was also named Bellflower. She thought it was cute, compared to a flower. But the meaning given to it was the most important thing. She’s been reading about flowers’ meanings and this one’s was gratitude. And Peter deserved it. So she put it next to his head along with three bucks to pay for it and tucked one of Peter’s curls behind his ear before smiling to herself and leaving.

Okay, going to Stark Industries wasn’t THAT bad, okay? There, she said it. It was actually pretty fun. Science wasn’t her passion, not like reading and drawing, but it was something she was good at and she liked seeing where the world was going to take her next. Besides, Tony Stark made sure his company was all about safe environment and the least pollution possible. They were working with green energy and that was admirably.

Her classmates thought the Stark phones were the best things this company had to offer. Michelle begged to differ. Sure, the electronics were fantastic and Tony Stark didn’t try and sell bad devices that would only last three years tops to gain more money. He actually put thought behind his work and offered things that would last around five to ten years. They weren’t cheap, but they weren’t for millionaires either, so that was process.

What Michelle liked the most, though, was the area left for interns in the building. At first she thought the interns would bring coffee and be useless. But apparently the company didn’t see things that way because the interns had their own personal floor where they could mess around with their projects and try and perfect them before showing them off to their superiors in hopes of getting some more points. They were actually given the chance to prove themselves and Michelle appreciated it. She hoped she could intern here once she finishes school. Was she smart enough for this? She sure hoped so.

“They’re coming.” An intern announced, making the others lift their heads. Michelle was wandering around the lab after their tour guide told them they could walk around and watch the interns if they didn’t bother them. And it really was interesting, but what was happening now? It looked like all of the interns were suddenly tongue tied. She looked over her shoulder at their tour guide who smiled brightly at the class, calling for all of them to gather around him.

Michelle obliged, her eyes scanning the lab. The interns were freaking out, obviously. They were running around with their projects, whispering and mumbling and being generally chaotic. One of Michelle’s classmates asked what was going on and the tour guide smiled knowingly.

“Once a week Tony Stark likes to come down here and see the work for himself. He wants to give the interns the chance to really impress him, but it’s always a surprise. So… they’re trying to be ready at all times for his visits.” He said, amusement in his voice. Michelle raised an eyebrow and watched as one of the interns ran in circles, looking for something and not being able to think straight, obviously. “I guess he’s decided to come now. That’s good. You’re our third group to meet him during a tour.”

And then the elevator dinged and everyone turned to look at the doors opened and a voice cut through the chaos. A young voice that clearly didn’t belong to Tony Stark. Michelle’s eyes widened slightly because she knew there were rumors about Tony Stark having a child, but that was just… too weird. The man had never shown his kid nor has he talked about him for over three seconds straight. He seemed to be dead set on keeping away from the public.

Suddenly the NDA’s they all had to sign made sense.

“Dad! Dad, come on! Dad! Dad! Dad!” The young voice nagged and Michelle frowned, trying to put a face to the voice while not being able to see the figures coming out of the elevator thanks to the see of people around her. But… God, he sounded familiar. “Dad!!”

“No.” And THAT was Tony Stark. Michelle tried shoving some people to get a better look. She wanted to know why she recognized his son’s voice. “I told you – you can’t enter the lab. No lab privileges while being grounded.” He groaned. “It’s your fault and you know it.”

Pushing one of her classmates (who cursed her, but whatever), she’s reached the front and her eyes almost bugged out because the kid trailing Tony Stark had brown curls and brown eyes filled with warmth and he was dragging his legs like a frustrated five-year-old who didn’t get his candy.

Oh, this boy had lots of explaining to do.

Sighing, he moved past Tony stark and towards the interns, eyes shining. Apparently, they were used to his presence there because the interns let Peter look at their inventions and talked to him like they were old friends.

“No, please. Ignore me for him, why not.” Tony Stark grumbled but all he received was Peter’s laughter and a couple of awkward laughs from the other interns. “Oh.” And then he noticed the tour group. Michelle blinked at him when the man observed them all before sighing. “Oh, I’m too tired for this…”

Peter’s head perked up and he left the inventions to look at Michelle’s class, clearly surprised to see strangers in there. And then his eyes landed on Michelle and she could almost hear his panicked “Oh” from her place on the other side of the room. He was blushing furiously, staring at her from his spot.

And then Tony Stark came up to the group and let them ask him questions. Michelle didn’t care, though. Her eyes were fixed on Peter. The boy was gaping at her for a few minutes before he closed his mouth, muttered something to the interns surrounding him and went towards a corridor. Then he looked back at her and widened his eyes, as if telling her to follow suit. And then he was gone.

Swallowing, she turned to the teacher who joined their class today and asked to go to the bathroom. She looked at her like Michelle was crazy – which… yeah, probably. Because she was, apparently, friends with Tony Stark’s kid and wanted to leave a Q&A with the famous man to go and pee. She didn’t really need the restroom, though, and she was going to talk to Peter, so… all in all, it seemed reasonable to her.

Stepping away she could feel the interns’ curious looks trained on her. She didn’t know if it was because she was going to the same place Peter ran off to, though, or if it was because she was willingly walking away from Tony Stark. Pointedly ignoring all of them, she turned around the corner and almost collided with Peter who stumbled backwards before grabbing her hand and pulling her away. Michelle whispered that she could walk by herself, thank you very much, but Peter didn’t listen. And she knew he could hear her because he was Spider-man!

They walked all the way to a dead end and then Peter finally turned to face her. He had bruises on his face, she could tell now that she was close enough to see through the terribly done makeup. She winced at that and thought about how horrible it must feel to act normal while supporting so many injuries. She wouldn’t last a day.

Neither one said a word for a couple of moments until Peter ran a hand down his face and sighed. “Alright, lay it on me. What’s going through your brain? I can’t tell what to answer to without you asking.”

So she licked her lips and looked down at her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

“I did tell you. I just… never mentioned my last name or my Dad by name.” He sounded guilty despite trying to prove his innocence. “Ugh… I don’t like people knowing. It makes things really awkward because most people wouldn’t give me a second glance unless they know I’m a Stark and then they suddenly want to be around me or be friends.” He frowned. “So I work extra hard on friendship because I want to always make sure it’s real before I tell people who I actually am, you know? I didn’t mean to lie to you or anything, I swear. I was just…”

She laced her fingers together. “I get it.” She let a small smile onto her face but kept her eyes away from Peter. “So… your name is Peter Stark…” She pursed her lips. “How do you hide something like that at your school, though?”

She could practically feel his smile. “Well, my Mom’s name was Parker, so I just use this one.” He shrugged. “She died when I was seven and my Dad was going to sign this thing and give me away to some family… but then he saw me and we talked for a while… I’m pretty sure I just asked him about whether he liked cats or dogs. Something stupid like that. And… I guess he didn’t want to give me away after all.”

Michelle looked up and found Peter already staring right at her, grinning brightly as if the memory was the sweetest thing in the world. If she was him, she would have been upset over the fact that her Dad wanted nothing to do with her in the first place. Of course, her Dad really didn’t want anything to do with her, but that was beside the point.

Peter fidgeted with his hands anxiously. There was dirt under his nails so he had probably already planted the Campanula before coming back to the tower. “Umm… are you really mad at me?” He asked in a low voice.

And… no. Michelle was upset because she found out who he was by accident and not from him, but… she wasn’t mad at him. She was just surprised. And shocked. What kind of a billionaire would even give her a second look? Peter treated her like an equal when he was both a superhero and someone from the high society. He treated her like a friend.

“Were you going to tell me eventually?”

His eyes shined strangely, like the question made zero sense to him. “Of course, MJ. I was just trying to figure out how to do it without messing things up.” His gaze fell down to their hands when Michelle took his in hers and squeezed slightly. She didn’t care if she now had dirt on her palm.

“I’m not mad, Peter Stark.” She rolled her eyes and noticed the way his lips stretched into an even wider smile at his full name coming out of her mouth. “And, umm… my name is Michelle Jones, by the way. I don’t think I’ve ever told you this before.”

“Michelle Jones…” He tested the words and then nodded. “It suits you. And now I’m a step closer to finding your favorite flower. I can feel it in my bones.”

She snorted. “You’re ridiculous.”

He swinged their joined hands back and forth and bounced on his feet. “Says the girl who bought me a flower when I was asleep.”

He was right, but she didn’t want to admit that out loud, so she just huffed, let his hand go and walked back towards her group. “Dork.” She called over her shoulder and he laughed, racing towards her.

The rest of the tour, their class was joined by Peter who stayed away from Michelle and interacted with the others, smiling and talking enthusiastically about things most of her classmates could barely even comprehend. But every once in a while he looked over at her and smiled like he shared a secret with her, and her alone. And for some unknown reason, that made her chest tighten and her stomach to somersault.

It felt nice, though.

“Come onnnnn I need you help! Just point at the flower you think is more – oh, hey MJ!”

Michelle entered the little shop and watched as Peter shoved a book away, hiding it under the counter. Beside him sat another teenager with dark hair and skin. He looked bored and at the sight of her, he perked up.

“Oh, you’re MJ?” He asked and Michelle found herself being the center of both of their attentions. Then the guy turned to Peter and his eyes widened. “Dude.”

Peter pursed his lips. “Ned… shush.” He warned quietly.

“DUDE.”

The name of the boy made Michelle understand who he was, at least. Peter’s best friend from school, Ned Leeds. They were, according to Peter, literally the same person, only from different background, with different names and… one of them was Spider-man while the other wasn’t.

A flustered Peter got up from his stool, covering Ned’s mouth with one hand and smiling awkwardly at Michelle. “Hi. Sorry about that. Umm, that’s Ned.” He pointed the obvious. Then he frowned at his friend. “And yeah, that’s MJ. Now shut up.” And he took his hand away.

Apparently, Ned thought this whole thing was amusing because he smiled at the two of them expectantly, his hands messing around with the flower pots Peter lined up at the front, showing off MJ’s gifts for him. She wondered if Peter told Ned about how they met in the first place. He probably did. And… yeah, that was awkward.

But she didn’t care about that, because she had other things on her mind. So she sat down at Peter’s stool and buried her head in her hands, letting out a frustrated sigh. Then she felt the light pressure of Peter’s hand (she hoped it was Peter’s) stroking down her hair and she smiled, although he couldn’t see it.

“What happened?” He asked.

MJ peeked from behind her fingers and glared at him. “Tell me, what is so great about prom? I just… Brad just asked me to be his date and… I didn’t really have anyone else to go with to this stupid thing, so I said yes even though I don’t even want to go. I think it’s silly and useless and pointless and – “

“And you don’t like things that are fun.” Peter finished for her. She just kept on glaring at him until he rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. “So… what? You’re going to tell Brad you don’t want to go after all?”

Ned suddenly sighed behind them. “I would ask Betty if I could…” He said dreamily. “But she’s probably going with someone cool already.”

Michelle noted the unimpressed look on Peter’s face. “Dude, she’s been hanging around us for a week now, hinting about not having a date to prom yet.” His voice was flat. “Literally, all you have to do is ask her and she’ll say yes.”

Narrowing his eyes, Ned pouted at him. “And you know this because you’re so great with girls? Oh, wait, you don’t have a date either.”

Peter scoffed. “I’m not going to prom.” He announced. “And for the record, Betty told me so herself when you were busy trying to hide in the restroom.” He ignored Ned’s protests and turned back to Michelle, his eyes shining in some weird way, like he wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure how. “Ooh, maybe you could tell Brad to come here for a corsage! I can help him find something you might actually like.” He winced. “I’m still working on that favorite flower thing, though.”

Sighing, Michelle leaned back. It hurt, that Peter didn’t even seem to feel bad about Michelle going with someone else to prom, but she couldn’t really expect anything other than support from him, right? He was nothing more than a friend to her. Nothing beyond that. She just wished there would be more…

And now she knew there wasn’t.

It was pouring rain and Michelle was soaked to the bone. She ran with her heavy clothes and almost tripped on her way to the shop, stopping only for a moment because she thought she saw someone in trouble. Turned out it was nothing.

She kind of felt bad entering the cozy, warm place and getting the floor wet, but the moment her eyes landed on Peter she felt all better. He was reading this book about flowers, trying to find the perfect one for her. At first he tried to hide it from her, but eventually he gave up and let her pass through the whole thing with him. It was nice. The flowers weren’t special or anything, but she liked watching Peter try so hard. And for her, of all people.

Now he looked over at her, smiled, and then lowered his eyes back down before doing a double-take and letting his jaw drop. He got up so fast it was a blur and stopped right in front of her, his eyes worried.

“Oh my Gosh, are you crazy? You look like you went swimming in your clothes. Don’t you have an umbrella? Or… a coat?”

The truth was, she forgot her umbrella at home and her coat was torn apart, sadly. So… no. She had neither of those things. And she was miserable and felt so, so lonely and had no one to run to because Anna was at work and she didn’t have any friends other than Peter, so she ran in the rain all the way here and now she was just trying to hold back the tears.

She was probably doing a horrible job hiding her emotions because Peter’s alarmed face turned to concern and he furrowed his brows, hesitating before gently resting his hand on her shoulder. “MJ, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

And at his voice she just broke down and collapsed into his arms, shaking with sobs and trying desperately to still hold it in even though it was useless. Peter didn’t let her down, at least, and wrapped his arms around her, humming and hushing and soothing her quietly. She was dazedly aware of his hand reaching out behind her back to flip the sign on the door to closed.

There was something calming about the fact he didn’t ask her again what had happened. He just let her break down, let her cry it all out, no questions asked. And despite the pain and hurt and whatnot coursing through her body, Michelle found herself satisfied with the fact that Peter was actually close. That he was there. So she found herself leaning into him even more, counting on him to keep them upright despite everything.

She didn’t know how long it took her to compose herself enough to not wail into his shoulder, but eventually it was just she and him, standing together and listening to her hitched breaths.

“You don’t have to tell me, MJ,” Peter whispered. “But… just…” He considered his words for a moment and Michelle hoped she could lean back and watch his face. “No one hurt you, right?”

A watery laugh escaped from between her lips and she shook her head. “Nothing physical that you can fix, Spidey.” She whispered right back and for a moment Peter remained quiet, probably thinking about her words and trying to ground himself or to think of an excuse as to why he couldn’t possibly be Spider-man.

He didn’t say anything about that, though. When he opened his mouth, he completely surprised her. “I think I know what flower you’d like.” And then, “I’m taking you to my place.”

At that she pulled away, eyes probably red and puffy and face flushed. He was… what? She scanned his face but he looked determined, as if he was ready to fight her on this and, honestly, she was too drained to go toe to toe with this stubborn dork, so she just nodded slightly. Her eyes followed the movement of his shoulders as he let them drop. He was clearly surprised by her acceptance but decided not to ask her about it.

And so, without so much as a glance, he picked up his backpack, held out an umbrella, locked the shop and led her away. Michelle thought the umbrella was really mostly for him since Peter was dry while Michelle was frozen and dripping and just a complete mess. But Peter insisted on keeping the umbrella above the two of them, and she didn’t have the fire inside to fight him on this either. That made him eye her worriedly as well. Was she really arguing with him that often?

They were about to enter the lobby of Avengers Tower when Michelle stopped dead in her tracks, her gaze locked on a lady selling flowers under a tiny roof. She had plenty of flowers Michelle could recognize from Peter’s shop, but also… some kind of flower that was new to her. She left Peter without explaining herself and walked up to the lady, Peter’s footsteps following her from behind.

“How much for one of those?” Michelle pointed at the strange flower and the lady smiled kindly at her and at Peter. And then she just pulled out her wallet and handed the money to the lady. Then she hesitated. “And this one?” And she took the two flowers before spinning around and holding the flowers up to Peter’s face. He blinked at them once before smiling.

He looked at Michelle and then at the flowers again, a strange smile tugging at his lips. For some reason it almost made Michelle want to cry. Peter looked sad. Why did Peter look sad? Then he snapped out of it and looked back at her with so much… SOMETHING in his eyes, it made her head spin and her chest ache. He held up the pink flower, with its tiny, sharp petals. “That’s a Chrysanthemum.” He explained. “It has plenty of symbolizations.”

Michelle sniffed. “Like what?”

He contemplated it for a moment. “Friendship. Loyalty. Sadness. Devotion. Beauty.”

Thinking about it for a second, Michelle nodded. “Loyalty sounds good.” She decided and Peter’s smile widened a little bit before Michelle’s eyes drifted towards the second flower and he deflated a little bit. “I didn’t give a flower that symbolizes death, did I?” She worried but he laughed it off and shook his head, the sadness in his eyes masked by false happiness.

But she knew him. She could tell the difference.

“It’s…” He gulped. “Its name is Malva, or Mallow. It… symbolizes happiness.”

It sounded so much like a lie, Michelle didn’t believe him for a second, but she decided not to push and just shrugged and moved back under the umbrella, letting him lead her into the tower. The looks she got from the employees were kinda of unsettling, but with Peter by her side, no one doubted her presence in there was welcome and so they made it to an elevator and Michelle collapsed against its wall once the door closed.

Peter didn’t say anything. He was still holding onto the flowers while looking like his entire life was out of balance. He was clearly in his own world, sad and gloomy and yet still with this stupid, wrong smile Michelle hated so much. She wanted to say something that would snap him out of it but couldn’t find the right words. So she kept her mouth shut and just let the silence engulf them.

That is, until the door opened and Tony Stark spoke up. “Peter? Is that you? Happy said the shop was closed and I figured you went out to do your little rebellious act as a teenager or whatever it is you are. You do remember you’re grounded, though, right? Because I – “ Then he cut himself off and Michelle looked up and found the man looking straight at her with shock written all over his face before he moved slowly to face his son.

Peter only shrugged. “The trust you have in me is endearing. Seriously, Dad.” And then he walked out of the elevator with Michelle following him like a puppy. “We’re going to my room, by the way.” He added. Michelle heard Tony Stark yelling something about keeping the door open but Peter closed it anyway. When he looked at her questioning look he smiled. “I was born because he closed the door. He doesn’t get to tell me to keep it open now.” Was all he said and then he entered the little bathroom connected to the room and Michelle found herself staring at his room for the first time.

It wasn’t huge. It wasn’t, like, the kind of she’d expect from a billionaire. Or… the son of a billionaire, honestly. The walls were filled with posters of movies and video games. There was a double bed with Iron-man sheets that made Michelle chuckle and next to it a messy desk with textbooks, books, pencils, pens, alarm clocks (why did he need more than one?) and anything in between.

She was just admiring a Star Wars poster when Peter returned with a dry towel and a jumper and pants in hand. He looked slightly uncomfortable while handing them to her, but when Michelle sent him a grateful look he just grinned back, a little bit more confident.

It didn’t take long to dry off and get into her (Peter’s) clothes in the bathroom. She was well aware of Peter’s presence over the door, pacing around like this was the end of the world. But she came back out he looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

“I want you to know that I’m definitely keeping this.” She pointed at the jumper. “It’s comfy.” And she felt better when he blushed furiously at her words. She probably looked tired because Peter offered for her to rest on his bed, which… yeah, that was something she could do now that she was actually in his room and not in a flower shop. So after protesting lightly, claiming she didn’t want her hair to wet his pillow and his arguing right back, she relented and lied down, her eyes closing for a moment before she opened them again and felt her throat goes dry.

There, on the ceiling, were pictures and paintings. So many, she could barely count them all. She recognized the drawings because she was the one to make them. She gave them all to Peter since… what she possibly do with paintings of him in the coffee shop? The pictures were polaroid ones, of nature, of New York and its building and sunset. Of people. Of the Avengers and Tony Stark and Peter smiling or laughing. Of Ned or other students from Peter’s school. Of Michelle. She stared at the pictures of her. There were so many, she couldn’t even remember when he took them all. Her laughing, her smirking, her snorting, her blank of emotions, her looking somewhere off camera, like there was something amazing behind it. Probably Peter.

She wet her lips and stiffened for a moment when Peter sat down beside her, getting comfortable and staying away from her, and yet letting his fingers brush hers. She looked at him as he scanned the photos as well with a thoughtful and faraway look on his face before he turned to look at her, his normal, cute, adorable smile back.

“You really are good at this.” She said, not looking up.

“So are you.” Neither did he.

His irises were interesting. Their shapes so… complicated and yet simple in the purest, most perfect way. Michelle thought it suited him and her hand itched for a pen so she could draw him but she didn’t move. She just kept on looking, memorizing his features.

And then he itched a little closer and Michelle realized what was going to happen and even though she wanted it, oh so much, she found herself trying to deflect. She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready just yet. She still needed more time to reflect.

So she said, “My Dad showed up at my aunt’s house today.” And Peter’s head snapped back as if he’s been hit and the disappointment and confusion on his face made her feel bad. He looked so lost, like he didn’t know what to think anymore. Honestly, neither did she.

For a moment he looked away from her face, creating more distance between the two of them, before he looked up again, hurt and pain in his eyes, but also worry and doubt and reconciliation. He pursed his lips for a moment before nodding.

“Your dad… you said he was kind of a jerk, didn’t you?”

Wipe away that expression from his face. Oh, God, she wanted it gone. She didn’t want him to reconcile with anything because there was no decision made. It was just Michelle freaking out but he looked at her like she just shut a door in his face. She should bring it up. She should explain. At least TRY.

But instead she nodded her head and looked away from his face, playing with the hem of his jumper. “Yeah. He showed up and I just… I guess I freaked out because the next thing I remember is running towards you. I had no one else to come to.” She sniffed and watched as he hesitantly grabbed her hand and squeezed, smiling gently when she didn’t push him away again.

Idiot.

“Do you know what he wanted?” Peter asked, and when Michelle shook her head he sighed. “I don’t really know how to help you here, MJ… this is really out of my depth. I’m not a counselor or anything. I’m just…” He furrowed his brows and then turned onto his back, leaving her hand. She wanted him to hold her again. “I’m not even sure what I am to you.” He said sadly.

Michelle should have said something. Should have said he was everything to her. Her family, her anchor, her friend. Maybe… maybe more than that. But she just kept her mouth shut and turned back to face the ceiling.

Such an idiot.

The knock on her door made her feel worse than ever. Her Dad left the day before, finally. Apparently, he wanted some money from Anna to gamble some more. Anna refused to give it to him but agreed to letting him sleep a couple of days under her roof. Such a pure soul…

But somehow her stomach dropped even more now because the person behind this door was even worse than her Dad, in a way. She knew her Dad and could expect certain things from him. Brad, however… Brad was someone she just didn’t want to see right now. Or ever, actually.

And yet she dragged her feet towards the front door, plastering a smile over her face and opening the door to reveal a suited-up Brad Davis. He smiled perfectly at Michelle and she knew every other girl in her school would have swooned over it, but all Michelle could feel was the pit in her stomach because this wasn’t the guy she wanted to go to prom with. Not even close.

But she let him inside the house, anyway, feeling naked with his presence around the areas she kept to herself. She didn’t like strangers in her house and despite knowing Brad for years now, she didn’t want him here. She watched silently as he observed the pictures of her Anna put up on the walls and the smirk that crawled onto his face at the sight of a three-year-old Michelle. She frowned, though.

Anna was excited even though Michelle told her it was anything but a date. She took pictures of Brad with Michelle (she made her dress a stupid dark-red dress that was really pretty but felt wrong now. Michelle wanted this dress to be special and now she was going to spend her first evening with her on alongside Brad. That everything BUT special) and complemented him on his good looks, because of course she did. And when Brad was busy fixing his tie in front of the mirror, she tried to cheer Michelle on slightly, a reassuring and a little bit sad smile on her somewhat old face. Honestly, Michelle thought Anna was the best, even if she thought something could bloom out of this not-date. With Brad. Couldn’t she tell they were so wrong together?

And then, right before they were about to leave, Brad remembered to bring out the corsage and Michelle watched as he pulled out the most beautiful flower she’s ever seen. It was small, with three soft-looking, white petals. They were pointed down, as if the burden of the entire world was on their shoulders. But… God, it was so beautiful. She took it from his hands before he even handed it over and stared at the flower – the purest thing she’s ever seen – with watery eyes and a choked-out throat.

“Where did you get it?” Her voice sounded raspy and strained but she didn’t care whether Anna or Brad noticed or not. She was too busy falling in love with the flower. She observed it carefully, trying to study it and send her love towards it because she knew it would die soon and she just couldn’t bear to stand by and watch it go after such a short time being alive.

Brad huffed. “Oh, you actually like it? This guy from the flower shop you told me about said you’d like it. I thought he was crazy. It doesn’t even really match your dress. And it’s so small, it’s ridiculous but he insisted and, I mean, he probably knows better, right?” He rolled his eyes. “Besides, he just gave it to me. It was right there, ready for me to take it and he didn’t charge me. Seriously, the weirdest dude ever.” Brad shrugged. “Told him your dress was red but he didn’t care.”

It went perfectly with her dress. It was white. It would have looked great with anything. And the corsage wasn’t too small. It was just right. Michelle never wanted a corsage in the first place, and yet now she couldn’t imagine not having one. She laughed. Or maybe cried. She couldn’t really tell, and honestly, who cared? But then she noticed a note stuck to the bottom of the box supporting the corsage and Michelle tore it off and unfolded it, recognizing immediately the messy handwriting of her favorite person in the entire world.

Hey,

No, wait, that was really awkward. Let me start again.

To MJ, the most amazing, brilliant, beautiful, snarky, smart and observant person I’ve ever met.

Should I have written Michelle Jones instead of MJ?? God, I’m terrible at it. Can you tell? Anyway, I hope you’re going to have fun at prom tonight. I really hope you do, ‘cause you’ve been kind of down lately and I miss your tiny smiles you think I don’t see (I’m not THAT oblivious).

I considered giving you a Black Dahlia because the story behind it really interested you. Plus, it would have looked amazing with your dress (not that I’ve seen it… but I’m guessing). But… Dahlias, as interesting as they are, aren’t the kind of flowers you’d LOVE. They’re pretty but…

So I really, REALLY hope I’m right about this, because this could be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. But. This is the flower I stumbled upon one day and thought: ‘Gosh, MJ would love this one’. I actually didn’t know what it looked like at first. I just read the name and thought, WOW. The name of this flower is Snowdrop (Galanthus, if you wanna know its ugly name. I would never call it that, though). It’s small and gentle. It blooms right when Spring starts and sometimes during Fall. If there’s snow on the ground, it would just pierce through it, and it is breathtakingly beautiful when it does.

Remember I asked you what you thought your favorite flower’s symbolism might be? This one is pretty much spot on. Here, I’ll write it all down.

Modesty, hope, innocence, purity, rebirth, renewal, fertility and new life. Also, apparently in Victorian England they connected him with death and bad luck, which only adds to it, in my opinion.

We don’t sell Snowdrops in the shop, sadly, so I had to go from one place to another until I found one. And it was hard finding one that was an early bloomer as well, seeing as it’s not Spring quite yet.

I hope it was worth it. Now I have a pot with Snowdrops in it inside my room and my Dad might just kill me.

Love,

Sincerely, Peter.

Stark. Peter Stark.

“Dork.” She muttered under her breath with a smile.

The bell jingled cheerfully above the door and Michelle stepped into the tiny shop. Peter was at the counter, his back to the door and his phone held up against his ear. He lifted one finger without looking back, singling for her to wait a second and she didn’t mind, so she just closed the door, blocking the cold weather from entering and waited.

“Yes, I told you – I am happy for you. That’s great, Ned. Good for you.” Peter mumbled tiredly. “What do you mean, why didn’t I tell you Betty would say yes??? I told you that, like, a bazillion times over the last month, dude!” He groaned and Michelle held back her laughter. “No, I’m not going to prom. I told you that already. Besides, I don’t wanna be third-wheeling you and Betty. You should just have fun and tell me later how amazing it was. Yeah, you said that already.” The eyeroll was almost audible. “Ned, can you call me back later when you’re not love sick? It’s too late for me to be able to deal with this.” He heaved a sigh. “Yeah, g’night.”

And then he hung up, and with all the grace in the world turned around and smacked his head against the counter, groaning again. “Why is life so terrible?” He muttered to himself, voice muffled by the wooden counter and his hands.

Michelle smirked. “I don’t know,” It was funny, how fast Peter’s head snapped back up. He owlishly blinked at her, as if not believing she was actually there, in the shop, at the night of her prom in her whine-red dress. “I kinda disagree.”

His initial shock disappeared and Michelle noted the way his eyes roamed over her body, his mouth slightly agape. “God, you’re so beautiful.” He mumbled and then the familiar blush covered his cheeks and he locked eyes with her after lingering a moment too long at her wrist, where her small corsage was. He didn’t smile. He just stared. “W-what are you doing here? What, prom ended already? If so, it must have been REALLY disappointing.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Nah. More like… I bailed on Brad and took a cub here. By the way, do you have a tissue? I feel like my face is made of water at this point.”

“It rained?” He sounded unsure as he rummaged through his stuff before handing her a box of Kleenex. When she shook her head and started wiping her still puffy eyes she noted the way he almost bolted out of his chair to run up to her. He was in front of her in less than a moment, concern and worry etched onto his face. “What happened? Are you okay? Did something happen? What – “

And before she could reconsider, she leaned forward and crushed her lips against his. It lasted only a second but when she pulled away Peter’s eyes were half lidded and he seemed to chase her, as if not wanting to let go just yet. She smiled fondly. “Those are tears of joy, loser.”

He blinked once. Then twice and she could almost see the wheels turning inside his head, trying to make him snap back from the daze she sent him into. He shook his head and then bit his bottom lip, staring at her with searching eyes. “You liked the flower?”

“I love it.” she admitted and the smile it brought to his face was worth it. “And… its symbolisms… they remind me of you.” She added like an afterthought, not sure whether she should have said it. But God! It was true. She read those words over and over again on her way here and all she could think about was Peter. This flower was basically him in the form of a plant. And she loved the Snowdrop even more because of that.

Peter furrowed his brows. “I bring death and bad luck?”

“Well, you are Spider-man.”

“Touché.”

A beat past where the two of them just stared at each other, smiling brightly and feeling content in their little bubble. And then Peter spoke again, voice snarky.

“Are you going to pay me those three bucks now, though?”

She hit him in the arm before kissing him again, and if he pouted about it later, she didn’t care.