Chapter Text
These past few weeks got MJ absolutely fucked up.
It's a miracle she’s managed to put up with everything that has happened this well.
So, to recap: she's been subjected to mind-control, thrown off from a roof, lowkey kidnapped, and then it was revealed to her (from an at least questionable source) that she has been under a spell for years at this point.
Oh, and to make matters worse, she's emotionally cheating on her boyfriend (she thinks? she doesn’t even know anymore).
Otherwise, well, how would you call it? How does one refer to the act of dreaming of being held, so tight and warm and safe, in the arms of another guy? A guy that’s most certainly not your boyfriend? A guy that also happens to be the masked vigilante commonly known as Spider-man?
So yeah. It's been a tough few weeks.
………
It all started with a dream.
It was a rainy night. She'd fallen asleep with the sound of raindrops hitting the glass on her window. Some lightning too, for good measure.
Michelle Jones had never been much of a dreamer. At least, not that she remembered. Any images or stories would always be gone by the time she opened her eyes. However, even if ever so slightly, a feeling of deja vu would linger, which she sometimes interpreted as having dreamt of a recurring thing. A theme she at her core was able to recognize, perhaps.
But tonight, things would be different.
She's on a rooftop, and these neon lights around her are too big and too bright for her to see properly. Somebody is talking to her. It's a man, but she can’t tell who he is: his face is covered.
The man and her are having a conversation, but she can't quite make out what it's about. She's moving away from him, walking backwards. It's windy up there, and she feels it hit her face. Mostly her mouth, because her lips are wet.
She is now falling. The neon lights keep getting further away from her line of sight. Her body keeps awaiting the feeling of the eventual ground hitting her back, but it never comes. She just continues to fall.
Suddenly, she's safe again. There’s no image for this part of the dream, just sensations. Sensations like her face, warm as it is pressed against something firm. It's a shoulder. Her nose picks up the smell of blood and sweat. Her legs are wrapped around this person holding her, and they ache. They ache at her thighs and at her feet, because she's trying to hold herself up and wrapped around this person’s waist.
It's that man, from the rooftop. He was wearing a mask, but she is now feeling hair prickle against the inside of her nails. It's so soft on her fingertips.
She is kissing this man. She can tell from the inside of her own mouth, as her tongue is pressed to her teeth, awaiting an opening.
MJ jerks awake, eyes open to the darkness of her room. She takes a deep breath, the memories of her dream now burned in her mind, and they refuse to leave her. The kiss that never was still lingers, and she brings the tip of two fingers to her lips, as if to make sure that his are not still there too.
Shame pools on her lower stomach, because without a doubt, she is certain she just dreamt of kissing Peter Parker.
…….
This Peter Parker guy is getting on her damn nerves.
Ever since that day in which he'd hung out with Ned and her at their apartment, he has not stopped showing up.
He comes through the window, at any random time of the day! It's completely unpredictable. And it drives MJ insane that Ned doesn’t seem to mind it. Not one bit.
Why would he, anyways? Together, they do everything Ned’s always begging her to do. They play like little kids, with their million piece legos. Sometimes she feels like she’s become a babysitter against her own will.
And the worst part is that he’s just so… nonchalant. So nonchalant about not being nonchalant at all.
You know how people say someone wears their heart on their sleeve? Well, for all MJ knows, Peter Parker might as well be wearing his own heart in a necklace, the way he’s just obvious about his feelings for her.
Because, the cat’s outta the bag by now. MJ has read the letter, Peter has confirmed everything it said, been there, done that, bought the damn t-shirt.
But ever since, he's been acting like none of that ever happened. Well, it did happen, that's why he's there with them isn’t it? She means more like… Well…
Why the hell is he so chill about it?
MJ is completely baffled by this. He won’t mention it, he won't ever bring it up, and he just treats her the same he would treat Ned.
It's such bullshit. It's a total facade! And it is driving her insane. Does he think MJ is stupid?
If he truly loved her like that letter said he did, then how could he be acting like this? Keeping his damn distance for four years, then confessing everything all at once just to get rightfully rejected. What kind of psychopath just moves on from that, and acts like everything’s fine?
MJ doesn't even wanna think about how she'd react if she tore her heart open in front of the person she’s in love with, only to be rejected.
But you know what? Today is not gonna be about Peter Parker. That man is not gonna plague her thoughts today. She is gonna have a nice coffee date with the man that's actually her boyfriend, and she's gonna have a great time okay?
……
“Did you see the news today? Spider-man just saved eight people trapped in a burning building.” Paul said, excitedly scrolling through his phone.
She'd forgotten that Ned is far from being the only person in her life who suffered from a severe case of Spidey-obsession.
“Wow that's neat.” She replied uninterested. “Didn't have time to check the news today.”
“Oh that's fine! I’ll just read it out to you.” Paul said, as he was about to start reciting the whole article he’d just read from the beginning.
“That's okay babe.” MJ said as calmly as she could, while softly putting her hand on his, where he held his phone, making Paul lower it.
They were sitting at a cozy coffee shop, their table next to the window, with a beautiful view of a busy street on a gloomy day in New York.
This should be nice, MJ thinks. Nicer is maybe the better word.
Her boyfriend Paul is sitting across from her, their drinks between them. He’s still looking at his phone, oblivious to any of the things she's thinking about. MJ is clearly fixated on this: she is for once not actually on her phone while on a date with Paul, and she feels somewhat offended that he hasn’t noticed and/or dropped his.
You know who wouldn't be looking at his damn phone right now? Stop it.
This is so dumb. She's on her phone all the time when she's with Paul, it's completely normal. It's a totally okay thing that happens when they’re together.
Matter of fact, you know what? She will be grabbing her phone. Yeah, because it's fine! This is her boyfriend, and he's fine with her grabbing her phone on a date. Who cares?
She opens Instagram, and as she's swiping through some stories, she thinks that her mug (which she's barely drunk from) looks awfully cute next to the window.
She snaps a quick picture of it, and posts it on her story. She looks up at Paul, who’s now showing her a funny meme.
“This is so you!” He laughs, smiling at the picture of a cat, labeled “June”. He's showing her what cat she is according to her birth month. God, this is so lame, she thinks.
She's faking a little laugh to please her painfully unfunny boyfriend, and as she takes a sip from her coffee, a notification pops up on her phone.
pbparker_01: im literally a block away lol
Not this guy again, MJ thinks, frustrated. It's literally been 5 minutes since her story was posted.
earthtomj: lol cool
How colder could she be, without bordering on mean? She's on a date with her boyfriend, for fuck’s sake. Like seriously, does this guy got no shame?
She takes a quick look at her story again, and realizes she has failed to tag Paul, or include his mug in the picture. So basically she's omitted any clue that could indicate that she's on a date. Huh.
pbparker_01: if you look to the window right now, you’ll see me. im about to swing by
MJ scoffs at the message, loud enough that Paul looks up from his phone. He probably thinks she's about to show him something funny. She waves her hand to signal that it's nothing.
Take a load of this guy! Who does he think he is? How cocky do you have to be to think someone is gonna stop on their tracks and look out to see if you’re swinging by?
It would be pretty cool if we actually saw him tho, the annoying voice at the back of her head says, before she pushes it out of focus again. She is, however, looking at the window.
And there it is: the now unmistakable to her sound of the spider-webs shooting from Peter’s wrists. Spider-man comes into view, high in the air, hanging from building to building. He's very quick, but still, people on the street look up to greet him. He swings close to the ground. Too close, MJ thinks.
She swears he looks straight to her. The white goggles on his mask point directly to her eyes, even if it's for less than a second.
Spider-man shoots another web, and now he's out of view. Gone almost as if he'd never been there at all.
“Oh my God did you see that? Spider-man just passed by!” Paul excitedly exclaims, as he has now finally abandoned his phone, only to turn his attention towards the window. Seems like he's hoping he’ll catch a glimpse of the masked vigilante again.
She nods and gives him a little smile.
“It was so cool, right?” Paul is so fucking giddy about this Spider-man sighting it hurts.
“Yeah, so cool.” She tries to sound convincingly genuine. Paul does seem to buy it, fortunately.
MJ seizes the distraction and sneakily opens her Instagram again. She stares at Peter’s last message. There’s no real need to reply anything right? They clearly locked eyes.
She decides to like the message and leave it at that.
She also promptly decides she does not feel weird about the red little heart that pops up.
………