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Michelle looked over her shoulder at Aunt Anna who picked her up from the house to drop her off at the school. She had to knock at least six times before her dad opened the door, and even then the only greeting Aunt Anna got was a slurry word and a stinky exhale that was a mix of whatever Michelle’s dad had late the night before and alcohol.
Unlike a lot of other adults, Aunt Anna never did seem to pay Michelle’s parents’ antics any mind. Instead, she immediately turned her beaming, calm and kind face to her niece, gesturing for her to come along and join her like she told them to do. If there was one person Michelle liked in the world, it was her aunt. Because whether or not Aunt Anna was busy, she always made sure to be with Michelle if needed. And Michelle’s first day of school was important to the girl, of course. Even if she did try to hide it from everyone around her the best she could.
It scared her, to be honest, which was alarming all on its own, since Michelle Jones did NOT fear anything. She grew up in a house where her parents argued constantly, unless they were both passed out on the floor or their bed or the couch in the living room. She didn’t live in the best neighborhood and could hear people yelling every once in a while, yet there was nothing she could do to help. Frankly, Michelle would have probably ended up dead long ago had Aunt Anna not taken it upon herself to care for the girl the best she could.
And now she was here, smiling at Michelle as the girl made her way towards the other kids in her class. They were all huddled into small groups of friends – old and new alike. Which meant Michelle had no idea where to go. She wasn’t the most social person out there and interacting with others always made her feel weird, like her insides were turning and twisting in this unpleasant way Aunt Anna promised wasn’t going to permanently hurt her.
In all honesty, all Michelle wanted to do was isolate herself and keep others out. She didn’t need friends and she didn’t need to fight against her natural instinct to stay on her own. But one look in Aunt Anna’s direction made her exhale lowly. She did promise her aunt she would at least give those kids a chance. She knew Aunt Anna wanted her to have friends so she wouldn’t be alone, and it was probably a good thing she cared so much, but Michelle just didn’t need it. Yet… she promised. So she had to at least try this out once.
Dragging her feet towards the closest group of kids, Michelle stood behind one of them quietly, trying to listen in on their conversation. They were chatting about a TV show they were all interested in. Care Bears. Michelle’s parents did own a TV, but they never let her watch anything, always yelling at her when she switched the channel. So she had no idea what they were talking about, nor did she care. But she promised.
She glanced back again and noticed Aunt Anna was gone. Great, she was all alone with those kids she didn’t know.
That was gonna be fun.
It wasn’t fun.
By the time their teacher came and told them to split into pairs to work together on shaping a mug from clay, Michelle’s been around all of the groups and found herself distancing herself from all of them. They were just so… boring. And she didn’t feel like she could connect to them. She did try, but it didn’t end up well. First off, the kids all looked at her ragged clothes and messy hair and decided she wasn’t even worth a try. And secondly, Michelle tried to talk to them, but they were all so insanely stupid. She felt like she was the only one who actually KNEW stuff out of all of them, which frustrated and flattered her.
But now she had to work with someone when all of them seemed to either dislike her or bore her? She stared at the clay in front of her and furrowed her brows. What was she supposed to do now? Could she maybe do it alone? She could shape it on her own – she didn’t really need anyone else to help her. Someone else might actually stand in the way rather than assist. But the teacher was very clear about the task…
“H-hi!”
Eyes widening a bit, Michelle turned her gaze to the boy that seemed to approach her sheepishly. His hair was messy, too, and the curls fell into his eyes before he pushed them away with a flustered grin. His cheeks were rosy and his clothes a little too baggy. There was a mathematical joke on his T-shirt – one that he wore over a white shirt with long sleeves. He looked like a nerd already. His jeans were a little too long, almost tripping him.
With a quizzical frown, Michelle pointed at the joke on his shirt. “Do you understand that?” She asked bluntly. A moment later she regretted it because she was pretty sure no other kid would approach her like this kid did, and being rude to him would probably make him leave, too. And she promised her aunt she’d TRY. She had to do better if she wanted Aunt Anna to be proud of her.
To her surprise, the boy grinned. “Yeah!” He bobbed his head and his curls went flying up and down as well, bouncing like springs. She smiled back shyly. “I picked this one because it was funny. My Uncle Ben asked me to explain it to him when I asked to get it because he didn’t understand the joke, but it was really simple so I think he was trying to mess with me.” He blinked and then shuffled his feet sheepishly, clearly realizing he just blurted to her something about his family despite not knowing her. “S-sorry. My name’s Peter.”
“Michelle.” She answered and then watched as Peter smiled and sat down next to her and in front of the desk. He looked like he was actually excited about the task ahead of them. Michelle found herself a little excited, too. “So…” Michelle watched as Peter hesitantly picked up the clay and began to mess with it, his tongue sticking out as he tried to turn it into the shape of a glass. “Do you have any siblings?”
Peter frowned at the blub in his hands. “Wha?” He blinked and glanced at her before smiling again. “Uh, no. It’s just me, but I always wanted a little brother. Or maybe a sister. I don’t know, I haven’t decided, yet.” He pressed his fingers again the clay again in concentration. “But Aunt May said I won’t get a sibling since my parents are gone.”
Wait. “Gone?” Michelle echoed.
“Yeah. They went on a trip and haven’t come back yet.” He showed the clay off. It looked a little better, but it was obviously not something Peter was any good at. Well, Michelle could probably take it from here, right? She lifted her hand towards Peter and the boy seemed to get the hint because he handed her the clay without any hesitation. Michelle began to work on it. “I live with my aunt and uncle now. Mommy said I’m going to stay with them until they come back. I miss her and Dad a little, but it’s okay. May and Ben are fun.”
Michelle refused to take her eyes off the clay, but her mind was racing. She knew most kids were strangers to the concept of death. Their families usually sugar-coated it whenever someone died. But Michelle lived in a house where the TV displayed adult shows and she knew exactly what death was. And what Peter was describing… well…
“When did they leave?” She asked quietly. “Your parents, I mean.”
“A week after my fourth birthday!” He said with a grin and Michelle had the feeling Peter was a lot older than that by now considering she was already five. Gulping, she concentrated on the clay that actually looked like a glass, like the teacher wanted. Peter awed at it. “Wow, Michelle! This looks great!” He cheered.
She put it down and smiled, too. “Thanks.” Then she ducked her head when the teacher moved past their table, commenting about how well their glass looked. Peter seemed to glow at the compliment and told the teacher that it was all Michelle’s work. Once the woman left, Michelle stared at him. “Why did you say that?”
He didn’t even hesitate. “Because it’s true.” He shrugged. “And Uncle Ben always tells me I have to tell the truth.” He used this strange voice when he said the last words, as if he was trying to mimic his uncle. Michelle giggled and Peter’s lips stretched into a wider smile. “Besides, I’m good at other things, and you’re really good at crafting things. I always make a mess when I try to draw or paint.” His eyes lit up. “You should come over sometime to paint together! I bet Aunt May would put your paintings on the fridge.” He rolled his eyes. “She never puts mine on for over a week. She says they’re perfect but Uncle Ben told me that she just doesn’t understand art. I know he lied.”
“I thought he told you to say the truth.”
Peter was quiet for a moment after that before he shrugged again and leaned towards her to whisper a secret to her, and her alone. “Actually, I do sometimes lie.” He looked sideways, as if afraid his aunt and uncle would pop up in the classroom to berate him for that. When nothing happened he relaxed a little. “I guess Uncle Ben does, too. It’s not on purpose, though. He’s good.” He cringed when his hand smashed against the glass of clay, sending it off the table and to the floor. It got squashed, losing its shape. “Oops.”
Looking up at him, Michelle found herself smiling despite herself.
“Why do we never go to your house?” Peter asked her one day in the playground. His aunt and uncle were sitting on a bench not too far away, watching them peacefully from the side as they swayed back and forth on the swings. Other than them, there weren’t plenty of people around, which meant the two of them had an almost private conversation.
Pursing her lips, Michelle stared at the ground that moved back and forth underneath her. “Trust me, you don’t wanna meet my parents.” She promised him in a tone that let him know she wasn’t kidding. He bit the inside of his cheek but didn’t object. “And besides, your apartment is so much better than ours. My house is smelly and messy and loud and yours is so… not.”
Peter snorted a little. “You’ve seen my room. Aunt May has to tell me to clean it all the time because I forget to put things back before starting something new.” He scratched the back of his neck with one hand but it made him lose his balance and he stumbled from the swing to the ground. “Ow!” He whimpered and Michelle stopped swinging back and forth immediately, her legs reaching for the ground before she dug her heels in the dirt.
Before she could so much as ask him if he was okay, his aunt ran forward and helped him up, cooing softly at him as she led him towards the bench and her bag. Michelle stayed in place, not sure about what to do now. She watched from afar as Aunt May let Peter sit down, wiping his tears gently and looking for a plaster in her bag to cover up the scratch on his knee.
“You okay, kiddo?” Michelle looked away from Peter and realized his uncle was right there, standing beside her with a kind smile. She was surprised he wasn’t next to Peter. After all, he was the one who’s gotten hurt. And when she voiced this thought, the man’s eyes crinkled with an amused smile. “I think May can deal with it, for now.” He said and then observed her for a moment. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Michelle replied immediately but then she noticed the genuine concern shining in Uncle Ben’s eyes and her shoulders slumped a little as she hugged herself tightly. “No.” She said, recalling the fact that Peter’s uncle wanted the boy to tell the truth. Michelle didn’t want to upset him with a lie. “You really care if he scraps his knee a little?”
Uncle Ben’s eyebrows shot up, but only a little. “Of course we do. He’s family, and we will always care about him, even if he only jabs his pinky into something. If he feels bad, we feel bad, too.”
Looking down, Michelle frowned and stared at her hands thoughtfully. “My parents don’t help me if I get hurt.” She said and moved her hair when it fell into her eyes. Beside her, Uncle Ben shifted a little. “This one time I found a bag on the floor and I put it on my head to see what everything looked like through it, but I accidently walked into a wall and banged my head.” She rubbed the spot as if she could still feel the pain, even if it was ridiculous. “And my parents just kept on shouting at each other.” She looked up and saw the strange expression on Uncle Ben’s face. “Peter says he really, really trusts you.” She pressed her lips together. “Is that true?”
“I sure hope so.” The man replied, though his voice sounded a little strange. Strained, maybe. Like he was fighting to get it out. He didn’t take his eyes off Michelle. She shifted a little in her place, squirming unsurely. And then Uncle Ben bent down and locked his kind, wide eyes with her. “You can trust me, too, you know.” He said and his words rang true.
Taking in a deep breath, Michelle kept on squirming, her fingers tugging at one another as if she was trying to pull them out, but she didn’t, not really. She didn’t want to get hurt, after all. She didn’t know whether or not she should speak about her parents with someone else. Aunt Anna always kept quiet about it, but Aunt Anna wasn’t always around and Michelle was. And Peter really did speak about Uncle Ben like he was the bestest person, so… maybe…
“Mom and Dad always fight.” She whispered, her eyes glancing over the man’s shoulder to see Peter being hugged by his aunt. This only reassured her. It was like the push she needed to get it all out. “And sometimes I see Dad hitting her. They don’t hurt me,” She added hurriedly at the glint in his eyes. Uncle Ben nodded and gestured for her to continue. “B-but it’s scary. And sometimes they both go to sleep for hours and they disappear at night and they smell from alcohol and – “ She sniffed. “I don’t know what to do. Aunt Anna helps me, but when she’s not around… what do I do?”
For a few moments Uncle Ben didn’t say anything, and then he smiled at Michelle and nodded. “How do you feel about having a sleepover with Peter today?” He asked and even though this caught Michelle off guard, she nodded hesitantly. Uncle Ben looked pleased. “Good. I’m sure Pete will be thrilled. Now,” He got back up, his knees popping. Michelle stared up at him. “I’m going to talk to May for a moment, but I promise you – I’ll do whatever I can to help, okay?”
At her nod, Uncle Ben turned to Peter’s aunt who let go of Peter at the expression on her husband’s face. After being released, Peter raced back towards Michelle, a beaming smile on his face. He pointed at the plaster he had attached to his knee excitedly. “I’m okay. May said she wouldn’t have to chop it off after all.” He said and Michelle blinked at him.
“Your uncle invited me to a sleepover.” She said and Peter’s eyes grew wider before he jumped enthusiastically in his place, clearly overjoyed. Behind him, Uncle Ben finished whispering something to Aunt May. The face of the woman contorted with anger for a brief moment before she seemed to notice Michelle’s eyes locked on her. Her anger smoothed away and she smiled at the girl softly, as if trying not to scare a wounded, wild animal. Michelle didn’t know what to think about it, but she really hoped Peter was right about his aunt and uncle and that they would be able to help.
Her father ended up in jail and her mother was sent to rehab. Michelle herself was handed over to Aunt Anna who received full custody over her. It was strange at first, to not live in the house where people always screamed or where the TV flickered to show inappropriate scenes throughout all hours of the day. It was strange to sleep in a quiet, peaceful room in a house that was clean and organized and that belonged to Aunt Anna. It was strange to live with someone who actually seemed to care about Michelle.
But it was good. She didn’t take long to get used to it. She loved her aunt and she loved being able to invite Peter over or to watch TV and the shows that SHE chose rather than things others insisted on seeing. Of course, some things Aunt Anna didn’t let her watch claiming they were for adults. Michelle didn’t see what the fuss was about after seeing things that her parents didn’t seem to mind her watching, but she didn’t argue. It was just another thing she had to get used to.
Michelle never did figure out what exactly Peter’s uncle did to help her out, but whatever it was, it worked. She got out of the house with the scary people that haunted her dreams and moved to live with her beloved aunt. And when Peter met Aunt Anna and seemed to approve of her, Michelle decided she could trust his judgement, even if she already knew her aunt was okay. Peter was just good when it came to judging people, even if he never seemed to notice it.
A month or so after moving into Aunt Anna’s house, Michelle came over to Peter’s house, found Uncle Ben and thanked him. And she was extremely glad that she did, because not too long after that Ned Leeds moved to their school and Michelle, feeling like she had to, distanced herself from Peter and stopped socializing with either him or anyone else. At first the boy seemed confused about it, still trying to reach out to her, but after a while of getting the cold shoulder, he dejectedly left in favor of spending his time with Ned.
And then the years seemed to pass by in a blur and suddenly Peter entered the classroom again, fourteen and gloomy after Mr. Harrington informed all of them that his uncle – Uncle Ben – was murdered. Ned was immediately by Peter’s side, offering the boy his support and compassion. The other students in the classroom did their best, too.
All except for Michelle.
She wanted to, she really did. She owed Peter’s uncle so much for helping her with her parents. Even if her mother came back to live with Aunt Anna and Michelle, looking a little like a ghost who didn’t know what to do with her life. Uncle Ben did so much for Michelle, she felt like she owed Peter at least a few words. Yet whenever she came close to the boy, his eyes seemed to locate her and she would fearfully change her mind and move past him instead of stopping in front of him.
Was she a coward? Yes. Was he going to hate her for it? Absolutely. She wasn’t sure Peter even knew about how much Uncle Ben helped in changing Michelle’s life, but even if he didn’t, the boy probably still did remember how often Michelle came over to his house. She knew May and Ben so well, she called them Aunt and Uncle even though they weren’t her family. She considered them family when she was a kid. Even after cutting her friendship with Peter. She HAD to say something to Peter.
She couldn’t.
Somehow Peter managed to warm his way into her life again. Michelle honestly thought she would never again speak to him unless they had to, and yet ever since he and Ned became aware of her sitting around the same lunch table as them every day, Peter seemed to be unable to just let it go and before long he managed to make her sit WITH them during lunch and not just next to them. Suddenly her attention was split even more between the books she wanted to read and the boys talking to each other over their food on their side of the table.
She had no idea how lonely she’s been until she started spending time with the two boys, but the moment she found herself sitting in Ned’s room on a Friday night to watch a geeky movie with them she knew she wouldn’t be able to give all of this up in a million years if she tried.
And she didn’t want to.
There were roaring chickens outside and Michelle had no idea how, but her mother was still asleep in her bed, her clothes smeared with different colors from the paint she used to draw throughout the entire night. It was like a therapeutic thing for her. Sadly, it usually kept her up for hours, meaning she collapsed during the day, but at least she didn’t turn back to drinking and God knows what else she used to do before she was taken away from Michelle.
Once, a few weeks after her mother moved back in with them, Michelle overheard a conversation between Aunt Anna and her mom. Her mother admitted that she was more than a little tempted to turn right back to what she knew could take away her misery and pain. At least, the things she KNEW that could do just that. But when Aunt Anna began to scold her for even thinking about it, Michelle’s mother whispered heatedly that she wouldn’t do that, because she wanted to be a part of Michelle’s life.
It was touching and all, and her mother really did hold herself back, refusing to touch anything that could take her away again. But she still wasn’t really too active in Michelle’s life. She barely even talked to her. Michelle didn’t mind that much, but it would have been nice to see a little more of her mom when the woman wasn’t exhausted after restless nights. Alas, that was what life had in store for the girl.
And now she had roaring chickens out in the streets, tearing her eardrums with their loud roars. Seriously, why the heck did anyone just wake up one day with the need to attack New York and decided roaring chickens would do nicely? Were they lonely? Were they trying to get some attention? If so, they certainly got Michelle’s. Stumbling around the house, Michelle opened the door of her aunt’s room and picked up her earplugs. They didn’t silence the roars, but they made it a lot better.
And now that she was safely protected from going deaf, Michelle opened the window of the living room, the one overlooking the street, and watched the Avengers as they fought the chickens left and right, blasting, cutting, beating and punching them to get them to SHUT UP.
Spidey was there, too, webbing up chickens more than actually trying to hurt them. She watched as he stayed close to Iron-man. The man in the tin can didn’t seem to mind the chickens at his feet, but Spidey certainly did because he kept on flinching away from them as if on instinct, his body moving faster than was humanly possible. Yup, that was Spidey, alright. And Peter, if you didn’t ignore the fact that they were the same person.
Did it shock her that one of her classmates, a nerd and a geek from a school for genius kids was a vigilante in his free time? Yes. It certainly did. Did it shock her that Peter Parker, the kind and gentle soul that she knew dressed up in a colorful onesie every day to fight crime and protect people he didn’t even know? No. It really, really didn’t. She knew it should have been a shock to her since people usually didn’t find out their old (and new) friends had superpowers, but Peter was an exception.
First off, he grew up with Aunt May and Uncle Ben as an example of what people should be like, and they were like angels in Michelle’s eyes, always so considerate and kind. Second off, Peter was such a good person, it made sense that out of everyone in New York he would be the one to get superpowers and suddenly choose to use them to help complete strangers who didn’t even appreciate what he did. A lot of people actually treated him like he was a parasite rather than a helpful vigilante, but Spider-man still went out there to help, even the ones who didn’t support him.
One of the people who didn’t like Spidey was Aunt May, Michelle knew. The woman disapproved of him, clearly not recognizing him as her own nephew, and claimed he was a menace that should have been taking off the streets ages ago. Michelle wasn’t sure whether the woman disliked him so much because he helped mutants – which she didn’t like even more – or because she just didn’t like the idea of a vigilante in Queens. Whatever it was, Michelle pitied Peter who probably had to hear his aunt’s rants about it more than once a week.
Peter didn’t tell her about his aunt’s opinion of Spidey, of course. No, that was something Michelle discovered on her own when she went over to his house when he wasn’t around to talk to his aunt after a long conversation with Ned. Apparently, Peter’s been dealing with quite a lot without letting anyone help him and he finally snapped and revealed everything to his best friend, resulting in Ned consulting with Michelle about how to help the silly, stubborn and unraveling boy.
Ned volunteered to help with the school, making sure Peter didn’t fall behind on whatever they were learning in class. Plus, he talked to Tony Stark after Michelle snatched the number from Peter’s phone. They figured that even though they cared a lot about Peter, an adult had to be involved, and if Peter didn’t want his aunt to know a thing, then Tony Stark was the next best thing. Even if he was a mess of a person himself.
But once that was taken care of, Michelle realized there were still two more things that needed to be taken care of. One was that Peter was grounded because his aunt was worried about him always sneaking off in the middle of the night and coming back with injuries. And two was that Peter, apparently, suffered from a recurring nightmare about the night Uncle Ben was murdered, which meant he always woke up in the middle of the night, after getting barely enough sleep, and stayed awake until his alarm went off. Meaning he barely got any hours of sleep.
Deciding to step up, Michelle took care of those things. And she had an idea. She wasn’t sure it would actually work, but she decided it was worth a shot. So the next night she checked the internet, made sure Spidey was already off the streets, and then called Peter. She really hoped she wouldn’t wake him up because that would have been exactly the opposite of what she was trying to do. But then he answered, sounding tired but very much not groggy from waking up.
After she made sure she didn’t wake him up, she ignored the confusion in his voice and just began to talk about a book she liked, elaborating to Peter about it. For a few minutes he remained confused about what she was doing, but eventually he seemed to get with the program and Michelle kept on talking about the breaths from the other side of the line became even and slow. He fell asleep. The next day he thanked her with sparkling, slightly more awake eyes, telling her he slept like a baby through the entire night. So she kept on calling him every night to chat with him until he fell asleep.
The second thing she did, was talk to Aunt May. That was awkward. Even more awkward than talking to Peter every night for long periods of time. She had to wait until Peter had a session with the Black Widow before she went over to his apartment. His aunt was in the house and opened the door for her, looking surprised to see Michelle there. At first she told the teenager that Peter wasn’t home and that she could wait for him inside since he shouldn’t be too long, but when Michelle told her she was there to talk to her, the woman stepped aside with a frown on her face.
Michelle wasn’t sure whether it was a good or a bad thing that May Parker seemed to remember her. She welcomed Michelle in warmly, if a little stoic from the surprise, with a seat in the living room and a cup of tea. But then they both quieted down and awkwardly avoided each other’s eyes. Eventually, Michelle cut the silence with an apology. An apology about the first thing that came to her mind – how she never even thanked Ben Parker for helping her. Aunt May smiled at that and accepted the apology with a dismissing wave of her hand, though it clearly made her shoulders uncurl a little as a smile tugged at her lips.
And then Michelle jumped right ahead, telling Peter’s aunt that the late nights outside and the injuries weren’t his fault but hers. She told the woman that she asked Peter to keep it a secret because she didn’t want anyone to worry about her, but that she sometimes almost felt suffocated from how lonely it got at night and that Peter offered to keep her company for a while.
When May asked about the injuries, Michelle claimed it was make-up that she had in her house. She said it was just an option she had for the future – working as a make-up artist. She could make wounds look real and she practiced on Peter whenever he let her because it relaxed her. Maybe he was just too tired to take it off. And since Peter had an enhanced healing ability, the lie explained to May how the bruises always seemed to disappear overnight.
Reluctantly, Aunt May’s grounding was lifted off of Peter and Michelle thanked her with a relieved sigh before asking her to not tell Peter she told him about it. It was both because she didn’t want Peter to stumble through a conversation he knew nothing about, and because some of it was true. Even if she used the phone calls to help Peter officially, they helped Michelle, too. Even if sometimes Peter was too tired to say much back to her, Michelle could hear him on the other side, chuckling at her words or breathing calmly, and it made her feel that much better about what she had to go through, even if Peter didn’t know about that.
“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” Spidey’s shout snapped Michelle back to the present and she stared at the vigilante as he fought off chickens with Iron-man trying to talk to him. Michelle couldn’t hear the man above the roars and with the earplugs in, but Spidey was obviously shouting at the top of his lungs because she could definitely hear him. “Sorry!” He lowered his tone a little when Iron-man flinched away from him. “I can’t hear anything – these stupid things ruined my ears!” He took care of a few chickens before focusing on Iron-man again. “Do you have a plan?!”
Michelle cringed when their plan was, apparently, to just get rid of the chickens. She didn’t exactly know what it was like to completely lose one of your senses, but she had the feeling it wasn’t fun. And she knew for a fact that Peter’s senses were enhanced, meaning he was used to a lot of information given to him at all times. With his hearing gone, or damaged for a while (hopefully), how was he holding up?
Good enough to take care of all of the chickens, that’s for sure. The Avengers and Spider-man got rid of them all, breathing heavily by the time the street was chicken-free. Michelle carefully unplugged her ears and smiled in relief when silence (relative silence) greeted her. But then the smile evaporated when she noticed Spidey. He looked around him as if he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. The Avengers were talking to each other and Black Widow and Iron-man spoke to him, but he didn’t seem to hear them.
She could tell he was panicking over the loss of his hearing now that there was nothing else to focus on because his body began to shake a little before he collapsed to the ground, his hands digging into the ground until there were small craters in the cement. Michelle frowned and pulled away from the window before running out of the house. She saw Iron-man and Black Widow with their hands outstretched towards Spidey, but his body flinched away from them, shaking even more than it did before.
“I can’t… I… I can’t breathe.” He gasped out and Michelle was fairly sure he wasn’t even aware of the fact that his hand came up to pull his mask up to his nose, allowing more air to enter his lungs. Pushing through, Michelle told Iron-man and Black Widow to step away and at the sight of her Iron-man seemed to understand, because he pulled Black Widow away and let Michelle get through to Spidey.
Peter – because it wasn’t Spider-man, but her friends and classmate – looked up from the ground when she crouched in front of him and even though she couldn’t see his eyes, Michelle could tell he was taking her in, from her messy bun to her casual, worn-out clothes. His entire body seemed to relax a little, though he was still shaking and out of breath. Under his intense gaze, she began to breathe deep. She made a show of it, trying to make it as obvious as possible for Peter, so he’d know what she wanted.
He got it, eventually. At first his attempts at following her were almost ridiculous. He tried to breathe, but what came in were almost gasps instead of lungful of air. He fought to get anything in and he fought to let it out afterwards. But gradually, it became easier. His body’s shaking limbs calmed down and he kept on staring at her, though now his body looked a lot less tense. After a couple of minutes he smiled a little, grabbed her hand and squeezed it in gratitude.
A smile flickered onto her face for a split moment and she ignored the way Peter’s lips stretched a little wider at that. “You’ll be okay, loser.” She said slowly, moving her lips just a little bit more than she normally did to make sure he understood.
He did, if his nod meant anything. Michelle didn’t take his eyes off of Peter when he lowered his head again, only a little, looking absolutely exhausted. She didn’t even turned to look as Tony Stark – now without his armor – walked up to Peter and put a comforting hand on his back now that the teen was calm again. Peter leaned into the touch, if only a little. His face was still directed towards Michelle, though, which meant that she was pretty sure he was looking at her.
“Yeah…” He murmured, his voice hoarse and weak. “I know.”
They were together in the bedroom upstairs. Honestly, Michelle would have been a lot more into meeting Wild Mutants – Peter’s friends and practical family – had it not been for the boy looking like a zombie. The bags under his eyes had bags of their own. He was just so extremely tired, yet he insisted on meeting up with Ned, Wild Mutants and her as if everything was fine.
Ned and Michelle tried to object, telling him it was fine. Especially after Michelle told Ned Peter barely got enough sleep that night. She actually found herself asleep before him. And Peter – the genius that he was, never hung up. Michelle knew the guy was worried – he had a lot on his mind, especially now that Black Widow knew who he was. Oh, and she couldn’t forget how he, for some unexplainable reason, agreed to training with Captain America, too. He was such an idiot sometimes, she had to wonder how he even got into Midtown.
Despite their arguments against doing anything together, Ned and Michelle found themselves in the house of Wild Mutants, watching Star Wars with the team. Ned fawned over them all over again despite already meeting them in person at least once, but Michelle kept her face as blank as possible, not wanting to let anyone know she was assessing the team with fascination, wondering who could win Peter over and make themselves a part of his life.
There was also that Danielle girl – the one who was the year above Ned, Peter and Michelle in Midtown. Michelle already knew that she was a friend of Lauri Dot, but it was still interesting to see the two of them side by side. While Danielle was eccentric and bubbly, Lauri was quiet and shy, keeping mostly to herself. Michelle would have thought she was like her, but unlike her, Lauri seemed to like people. She was just extremely anxious around them. Which wasn’t exactly what Michelle felt about other human beings.
Reilly Knight was exactly like Peter described him, all smiles and sunshine. He had the air of an older brother about him that seemed to come out especially around the other teammates of him and Peter. Amanda Bennet was a loud person, too, though she mostly reminded Michelle of the girls in their school that walked around, not going unnoticed by anyone. She was like a prom queen, only without the dress and the crown. Though there had to be something about her that warmed its way into Peter’s heart, because the boy always talked about her fondly, too.
And lastly, Charlie Lean. The guy was quiet, but not as quiet as Lauri. He spoke up from time to time, his voice loud enough to be heard around the room but not enough to make people believe he was comfortable speaking up. Peter mentioned the boy had some emotional problems that haven’t been sorted out yet. And considering Peter found Charlie in an alley when the boy wanted to take his own life, Michelle figured it was a mild way of calling Charlie depressed. She really needed to get ahold of Tony Stark and ask (demand) him if he could, perhaps, get a therapist for those teens. They all had some emotional baggage, she could tell. Peter didn’t share with them everything, of course, but it was pretty clear to her.
But after getting those thoughts sorted out, the first thing Michelle did was pull Reilly aside to ask him if there was a place Peter could take a nap at in the house. The reply was that there was, in fact, a bedroom that belonged to him – he just never used it. So when Michelle got bored of the movie and felt Peter’s head dropping onto her shoulder, his breaths coming out slowly, she decided it was time to get him somewhere quiet where he could actually close his eyes without being awoken by the loud movie.
He objected, of course, and claimed he wanted to spend time with all of them because he didn’t get to do that too often. Which made sense – Peter was a social person and he liked being his friends. It was obvious to Michelle even when they were both kids. But now… well, they were together, but with Peter asleep it wasn’t much of a change than just hanging out without him. And so Michelle just dragged him to the room upstairs.
Somehow, they ended up with Michelle sitting next to Peter who snuggled comfortably under the covers. Her back was supported by the head of the bed and one of her leg kept swaying back and forth over the edge. Despite being on top of the cover and not actually touching Peter, she was conscious of every part of her body that was close to him, feeling the warmth that emitted from him. It was nice and made her blush, which meant she quickly went on to speaking to Peter about whatever came into her mind.
Well, sort of to Peter. When she said it felt different with them being in the same room and not speaking over the phone, Peter used his cellphone to call her with a goofy smile on his face. She knew he could see her own amused and content smile, but he had the decency to try and pretend not to notice.
“I have a question.” Peter mumbled into his phone, his voice reaching Michelle twice in a way she’s gotten used to already. She hummed quietly, her own eyes feeling heavier after calmly talking to Peter for what felt like forever. She was lying on the bed, on top of the covers, by now instead of sitting, her body too tired to hold her up. Peter shifted a little but didn’t comment on that. “That second time to ran into Spider-man – before you knew it was me… you called me. Like, you wanted me to come over just to thank me for the last time.” He was quiet for a moment and then he shifted his head to look at her, his bright, brown eyes seemingly looking into her soul. The hand with the phone fell to his side, forgotten. “Why?”
Michelle looked away from his intense gaze. Usually, she was the one to question him or to not relent about eye contact. She felt like it made him nervous enough to open up to her if she needed him to admit to something. But now he used it against her and it was working. Her eyes glanced at her hand which was still holding her phone uselessly. She could probably let it fall, too, but she didn’t feel brave enough to stop with this silly game of pretend.
Licking her lips, Michelle stared at the closet in the room instead of Peter. “When we were little…” She said attentively and noted the fact that Peter pulled his phone back up, as if realizing she needed this. She felt relieved. “My parents were really messed up. I didn’t think it was too weird, just mostly scary ‘cause I never knew what to expect. But then I met you,” She waited to try and hear if anything about him was different. It wasn’t – he was giving her all his attention. “And your family was so normal and warm and I didn’t want you to see what my life looked like. And I guess your uncle suspected something was wrong.”
“He helped.” Peter muttered and Michelle’s face snapped to him, eyes observing him carefully. He offered her a small, almost apologetic smile. “I know about that. They tried to hide it from me, but as oblivious as I was, it was too big for me to miss.” He said and Michelle wanted to correct him and say he was still oblivious to this day. She didn’t. “I know Uncle Ben helped. And I knew it was a secret so I didn’t say anything.” He shrugged awkwardly.
“Thanks. For not mentioning it.” Michelle elaborated after a moment and Peter finally averted his eyes, turning his head sideways. Michelle could be wrong, but she thought she saw a brighter red hue on his face. She suppressed the urge to smile. “Anyway… I never got to thank him. At first I was just busy adjusting to life with my aunt, but then I just pulled away from you and it felt awkward to think about approaching him just to say thank you. So I didn’t.
“And then he died.” She gulped and watched as Peter’s body shifted a little, as if the mention of Uncle Ben’s death made him uneasy. Considering it was something he kept on reliving in his sleep (unless Michelle managed to calm him down enough before falling asleep), it made sense that the subject made him antsy. “I never did get to thank him for everything he did. And then those guys tried to mug me and you popped up out of nowhere and scared the hell out of me,” Peter chuckled self-consciously. “And you left before I could snap out of it and thank you. And… I don’t know.” She frowned and finally let the hand holding her phone fall by her side as she stared at the ceiling. Peter pulled his phone away, too. “I felt like I had to say thank you before I lose that chance, too.”
For a few moments they were both quiet, breathing together in the room that looked like no one’s ever walked into. Seriously, even if Peter wasn’t planning on living here, he could at least make the place a little more personal. Michelle didn’t look when the covers shifted a bit along with Peter, but she was stunned, blinking owlishly at the ceiling, when Peter’s hand – now on top of the blanket – found hers and squeezed lightly.
Unlike the time with the roaring chickens, now Peter wasn’t thanking her for somehow calming him down. He was perfectly safe and relaxed in his own bed, tired beyond relief. And yet he still took her hand in his and Michelle’s heart skipped a beat before it began to race, faster than before. Peter’s quiet and breathless chuckle let her know he could hear it. Because of course her luck made her like the only boy her age who could HEAR her heartbeats. Why not?
She thought Peter would comment about how red her face was, but instead he said something unrelated to the way her body reacted to just a squeeze of her hand. She was so pathetic, really. “Uncle Ben bugged me about where you were for years, you know.” He commented lightly. Michelle was delightedly surprised when he didn’t let go of her hand. “He kept on asking what happened and why you stopped coming over until Aunt May made him stop since I didn’t really have an answer to give him.” He shifted in his place again. “He really liked you.”
When her face turned back to look at him, she found Peter already looking at her, his body turned to her completely. He smiled at her uncertainly, like he had something to say but he wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to actually say it. Michelle found herself twisting until her body was facing him, too. She didn’t need to ask what he wanted to say – she knew already. And she wanted to cut to the chase and say it first, but her lips wouldn’t move. So instead, she just nodded at him. His eyes sparkled.
“I really like you.” He said, though it was so quiet and unsure, Michelle figured it was more of a whisper than anything else.
She opened and closed her mouth, her voice not cooperating. She knew her heart was racing even faster than it did before, and even though Peter could probably hear it, he didn’t tease her about it. He just looked at her with this hopeful, lopsided smile on his face. And when Michelle struggled to form words, he pulled his phone back up to his ear. She did the same with a relieved sigh when his eyes closed, as if giving her the privacy she needed.
Bringing her own phone to her ear, Michelle listened to Peter’s echo-y breaths coming through the line and finally her heart seemed to come back to its senses and calm down. And with that out of the way, it was so much easier to think properly. “I really like you, too.” She whispered into the phone.
Instead of opening his eyes again, Peter smiled giddily and kept quiet until Michelle noticed his features relaxed and his breaths evened out. He finally fell asleep, and by the looks of it, he was really content about it. She considered going back down to join Ned and the others, but with Peter sleeping in front of her, his hair falling onto his face and his lips tugging up in an unconscious smile, she found herself unable to move or even look away. Instead she just kept on holding the hand he still had wrapped around hers. The grip was loose, but Michelle held it to make sure it didn’t slip away.
A few minutes later she fell asleep, too.