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For the first time in a long while, Peter was doing absolutely nothing. It wasn’t by choice. He really wanted to be out of the house, and not just to do Spider-Man things. The last few days, Peter had a lot to deal with it because of the Jean Grey situation. And during that, he had to learn the hard way that being Spider-Man while neglecting the “-Man” part of himself wasn’t the way to go.
And he was starting to really see how much his personal life suffered because of it.
He wanted to swing by Ned and MJ’s apartment so they know he’s okay, but he wasn’t quite sure if it was okay for him to pop up unannounced. Even with that aside, he was still recovering from the gunshot. So, staying home, he wanted to pass the time. He mostly did light chores and went about remaking his suite from scratch. But after that, he didn’t know what else to do. So, sitting on his bed, he looked around his home with a grimace. He noticed that he didn’t have much, if anything, in the way of leisure. No novels, no movies, no gaming system… he didn’t even have a deck of cards.
“Jean is right,” he muttered to himself, remembering what she had to say about his residence. Even though he was sure she just said it to get into his head at the time, there was no denying the truth in her words. “…I need to change that soon.” After he said that, his stomach rumbled. He looked down at it. “…But for now, dinner.”
About thirty minutes later, he heard a knock on the door. After checking his surveillance system, he made his way to the door and opened it. In front of was the pizza man.
“I take it you’re Peter,” the man said. Peter nodded as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some cash. The man handed over the pizza box with a brown paper bag on it to him. “One large shredded pepperoni and a can of Coke.”
Peter carefully took the box with one arm before handing over the money. “Thanks,” Peter said. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks. You…” The man trailed off for a moment. He then blinked. “Peter, you have a moment to talk?”
Peter froze for a moment. It took him a moment to realize what was happening.
“Jean?” he uttered.
The man nodded. “Yeah.” He frowned. “Um… do you mind if I jump inside of you? You’re his last delivery and he’s had a very long day.”
Peter smiled slightly. Before, Jean wouldn’t have cared one way or another about a person’s well-being. To see her showing a bit of courtesy was definitely a good sign in his book.
“Sure,” Peter replied.
Within a moment, he felt something in his head and felt himself lose control of his body. He trusted Jean. But it was still a freaky feeling, probably even weird than the time his soul was outside of his own body.
That was certainly a time.
In front of him, the man was back to normal as he spoke.
“…have a good night.”
“You too,” Jean spoke through him.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this, he thought.
I don’t think a lot of people would, Jean commented.
Using Peter’s body, Jean closed the door and locked it. She made her way to the fridge and opened it. After placing the food inside, she closed the fridge before making her way to Peter’s bed. She laid down, making sure Peter’s body was on its back. That was when Peter’s eyes closed.
Within moments, Peter and Jean were sitting inside of Peter’s old room from before The Snap. Peter looked over at Jean, who smiled back at him.
“Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey, yourself,” Peter replied. “Is everything okay?”
“It is. I just wanted to check up on you and see if you’re okay.”
Peter thought about it as he looked forward. “I’m getting there. I heal well, but that was the first time I’ve ever been sniped.” He looked at her and smiled wryly. “I’d like that to be the last time.”
Jean made a sound that was something between a scoff and a laugh. “I hope I never know what that feels like.”
Peter shook his head. “It doesn’t feel too good.” He decided to change the subject. “How about you? Everything going well now?”
Jean smiled slightly. “I’m in a better place now. I can’t talk much about it, but I’m better off than I was before. I… think I made a few friends as well.”
Peter smiled. “That’s awesome, dude!”
“It is.” Jean’s smiled faded as she looked forward. Peter saw the look on her face. She looked a bit nervous.
“What’s wrong?” Peter asked,
Jean sighed and looked at him. “I… I want to ask you something but… I don’t know if I should?”
Peter sighed. “Okay, I confess. This isn’t my real hair.” He smirked at her. She glared at him, but he could see her fighting off a smirk. “But seriously, what do you want to know?”
She frowned. “I just want to know why.”
Peter raised an eyebrow. “Why what?”
“Why did you spend so much time making the world forget about Peter Parker?”
Peter frowned. He slowly stood up and walked away a few steps. He tried to think of the best way to answer that. He sighed as he turned around.
“After I beat Mysterio, my identity got exposed. And I handled it horribly. I thought going to Doctor Strange for a spell would have helped… and maybe it would have… but I kind of screwed that up, too. Things went sideways from there and my Aunt May died because of it.” He pressed his lips together. “I had a letter that I was supposed to read to MJ when it was all over. That was the plan Ned, MJ, and I came up with before their memories were lost. I even promised MJ I would. But, when I was about to read the letter to her, I couldn’t help but think about everything that happened at that time. I’m not talking about the stuff that happened to me. But I’m talking about the stuff that happened to those close to me. My Aunt May… Ned…”
“And MJ,” Jean added.
Peter nodded. “Yeah. That’s when I decided not to tell them. And for years, I thought it was the right decision.” He raised his eyebrows briefly. “Emphasis on ‘thought’.”
Jean blinked slowly. “You really do love her, don’t you?”
Peter nodded. “I do.”
Jean frowned. She stood up and walked up to Peter.
“…I don’t think I ever apologized for what did to you that night,” Jean whispered. “I didn’t care at the time. I even laughed about it. I thought it was pathetic. But after you saved me, I realized how shitty it was what I did. Not just to you, but to MJ.” She shook her head. “I’m surprised you didn’t try to kill me.
Peter grimaced. “I don’t kill, even if a part of me wanted to.”
Jean smiled sadly. “I’m glad for that. Still, I’m sorry.”
Peter nodded. “What you did was fucked up. But, at the same time, if that didn’t happen, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to really reconnect with Ned and MJ, and maybe I’d still be trying my hardest to bury an important part of myself.” He smiled slightly. “It’s water under the bridge, Jean. Now that we know better, we have to be better.”
Jean smiled. She then stepped forward and hugged Peter. Peter hugged her back tightly. They held each other for some moments. After a while, Jean pulled away.
“Go eat, Peter,” Jean whispered. “It might be a long while, but we’ll talk again.”
The next moment, Peter’s eyes opened. He furrowed up his eyebrows as he looked around. Realizing that he was back in his room, he sat up from his bed and turned his body.
“Yeah, that’s still weird as shit,” he muttered to himself. He then tilted his head briefly. “But I’m glad she’s okay.”
His stomach rumbled again. He looked down at it. He then stood up.
It was time to eat.