Chapter Text
The heavy wooden door clicked shut, and Peter stepped out into the dim, drafty apartment hallway. He only had to take three steps across the linoleum floor before he was back at his own door. His hand shook as he slid his key into the lock, the muffled music and laughter from MJ and Ned's housewarming party still leaking through the walls. Seeing MJ and...her new boyfriend...standing together—him caressing her cheek, kissing her—was a physical blow. He slipped inside his dark, quiet room, leaning his back against the door, entirely crushed.
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Back inside MJ and Ned's apartment, the atmosphere shifted almost immediately after Peter exits. MJ is standing near the kitchen island, staring blankly at the front door. A strange, heavy sensation settles in her chest, an unexplainable wave of longing that leaves her momentarily breathless.
Three of her new friends from the city—Chloe, Maya, and Tali—walk over to her, holding their drinks. They glanced between MJ and the door.
"Hey," Chloe says softly, nudging MJ’s shoulder. "Who was that guy who just left? The one who said he lives across the hall?"
MJ blinks, trying to shake the fog from her head, "I...I don't know. He said his name is Maynard. He was just introducing himself as our neighbor."
"He was looking at you," Maya countered, leaning against the counter. "Like, really looking at you. When Ethan kissed you, that guy looked like his entire world was crushed. Are you sure you didn't know him back in high school?"
"No," MJ says, though the word feels like a lie in her throat. Her eyes drift back to the peephole on the door. "I've never seen him before in my life."
Tali sighs, taking a sip of her drink, "Well, whatever it was, it looked intense. Speaking of intense...where did Ethan disappear to?"
"He went to the bathroom," MJ replies, her tone instantly flattening.
The three girls exchange a knowing, weary look. They’ve been hearing about MJ's relationship drama for the last few months.
"Are you guys still having the same problems?" Chloe asks gently, dropping her voice so it doesn't carry across the room. "Because honestly, MJ, it's been two and a half months of this. Ever since you guys hit the four-month mark, it feels like you've been stuck."
"We are still having them," MJ admits, crossing her arms defensively. "He told me right before people got here that he feels like I’m a closed book. That I’m 'withholding.' He says it feels like there’s a wall up between us that he can't climb over."
"Is he wrong?" Maya asks, not unkindly. "Things were great at first, but for the last two and a half months; it looks like you've been actively keeping him at a distance. You still won't let him completely into your life. You haven't even..." She trails off, letting the unspoken implication of sex hang in the air.
"I just can't," MJ says sharply, her voice tightening. "Things were fine when we were just hanging out, but the moment he wanted to get closer, the moment I tried to force myself to feel... more... everything inside me just froze. It’s like my brain is telling me that the space next to me is already occupied. But that's crazy, because it's not."
"It's not fair to him, and it's definitely not fair to you," Tali says. "You've been miserable for over two months trying to force a spark that isn't there."
Before MJ can answer, Ned walked over, holding a plate of snacks. He caught the tail end of the conversation and immediately rolled his eyes.
"Are we talking about Ethan again? Because I've said it for the last two and a half months: the guy is a total jerk. He complains when you're sarcastic, he puts his needs before yours, and honestly, he just doesn't fit."
Ned sets the plate down, looking at MJ with genuine, protective concern. "MJ, you've been forcing this relationship to work since the honeymoon phase ended. You're miserable. He's miserable. Just end it."
MJ looks from Ned to her friends, then back to the front door where the strange neighbor from across the hall had vanished. The unexplainable ache in her chest didn't go away; if anything, it sharpened. She realizes her friends were right. The roadblock she hit two and a half months ago wasn't a temporary rough patch—it was her soul refusing to move on.
The next afternoon, the chaos of the housewarming party was completely gone, replaced by the quiet hum of a Sunday in Manhattan. Sunlight streamed through the apartment windows, illuminating the half-unpacked cardboard boxes scattered across the living room.
Ned was sitting on the floor, using a pocketknife to slice open a box labeled KITCHEN, when the front door clicked open. MJ walked in, carrying a cardboard tray with two iced coffees. Her posture was completely different from the night before—the heavy, tense slope of her shoulders is gone, replaced by a calm, quiet resolve.
She set the coffees down on a stack of books and slid one toward Ned.
"Ethan and I broke up," MJ said directly, not wasting any time on small talk.
Ned froze, a roll of bubble wrap halfway out of the box. He looked up at her, blinking in surprise, before a massive, unpreventable grin spread across his face as he set the knife down. "Wait, seriously? Yesterday? Right after the party?"
"Yeah," MJ said, pulling up a wooden folding chair and sitting down. "Right after he came out of the bathroom. I pulled him into the hallway and just told him. It was over in five minutes."
"Oh, thank-thank-thank the heavens," Ned breathed, dramatically throwing his hands in the air. "I am sorry if you're sad, MJ, I really am, but that guy was an absolute anchor on your life."
"I'm not sad," MJ admitted honestly, taking a sip of her coffee. "That's the weirdest part. I thought I'd feel guilty, or lonely, or at least a little bit crushed after seven months. But I just feel... lighter. Like I can finally breathe again."
Ned leaned forward, his expression shifting from celebratory to genuinely curious. "So, what happened? Was it the 'withholding' fight again?"
"Exactly that," MJ nodded, staring down at the plastic cup in her hands. "He wanted to talk about moving our stuff into the bedroom together, taking that next step. And the second he said it, that same wall just slammed down in my head. I told him it wasn't fair to keep dragging him along when I knew, deep down, I was never going to let him in all the way."
"Good for you," Ned said softly. "Seriously. You've been fighting that relationship for two and a half months. It’s like you were forcing yourself to play a part in a movie you didn't even audition for."
"Yeah," MJ murmurs. Her eyes drifted toward the apartment's front door, her mind instantly flashing back to the night before. "But Ned... something else happened right before that. That neighbor from across the hall, Maynard?"
Ned frowned, trying to place the name. "The guy who stopped by for like two minutes? What about him?"
"When he was standing in our living room, looking at me... I swear everything in the room just froze," MJ said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "And after he left, the ache in my chest was so loud; it’s the only reason I had the courage to dump Ethan. I don't know who that guy is, Ned. But my brain felt like it was screaming at me that I know him."
Ned stared at her, the humor completely fading from his eyes as he realizes how intensely serious she is.