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Peter exhaled in exhaustion, opening the door to his and MJ’s apartment. He tried to blink the sleep out of his eyes, though he quickly realizes he can’t.
After not getting any rest in the past two days: not sleeping a wink, due to his spider-man responsibilities, and adding that onto full classes at MIT, he’s just about ready to pass out there and then.
Peter shrugged off his jacket with a faint wince as the motion pulled at the sore muscles in his shoulders, hung it up, and set his satchel on the floor next to their shoe-bin.
He shuffled further into the apartment and stifled a yawn wide enough to spring tears to his eyes. “M’back,” Peter called into the open space, scanning the room for his girlfriend but not finding her.
His eyes flit over the living room and kitchen (not at the couch, the table, counter..) and failed to locate her.
He traveled further into the apartment and opened their bedroom door, and found MJ positioned at her desk with her laptop wide open, completely enveloped in whatever work or assignment she was completing.
It was clear she hadn’t noticed him enter, otherwise she would have swiveled around and welcomed him home.
Peter walked forward and hugged her from behind, wrapping his arms around her as he slouched, burying his face in her neck.
MJ jumped at the sudden contact, tensing but quickly relaxing as she realized it was only her boyfriend. “Hey, Peter,” She said with a small laugh, leaning into his unorthodox embrace, and raised her forearms to set her hands on the back of his head, running her fingers through his curls.
“Long day?” She asked, pressing her lips into his temple for a long moment- enough to make Peter wonder if she was still kissing the side of his head or just resting her face there- before retracting.
All Peter could manage was a miserable little grunt, releasing his hold on MJ as she turned her chair around to get a better look at his face.
MJ now fully faced Peter, as he came to a kneeling position before her chair, her hands finding and cupping his face before anything else.
The first thing MJ can see as that Peter is obviously worn out. Purple crescents sit beneath his eyes like two separate black-eyes, his brows are slightly pinched together in a seemingly permanent suffering expression.
His eyes aren’t fully open- half-lidded and partially cloudy, obscuring their usual bright emerald to a muted olive.
“Babe, you look absolutely horrible,” MJ said flatly, narrowing her eyes in criticism but unable to keep the tone of worry out of her voice.
“I’m fine,” Peter sighed, smiling faintly and raising a calloused hand to set it on hers.
MJ shook her head. “We have two different definitions of fine, spider-baby.”
Peter audibly groaned. “Don’t call me that, I’m definitely not a baby. I’m 21,” He added for extra convincing.
“Mhm,” MJ hummed sarcastically, sliding out of her chair and pulling Peter to his feet, intertwining their fingers as her hands drop from his face and dangle at a resting position between their hips. “Definitely not. Now, c’mon, you need to get some sleep,” She said, guiding the exhausted hero to his bed.
Peter frowned in protest. “MJ, I’ve got homework. And patrol.”
“Oh, no you don’t. Have you looked in a mirror recently?”
Peter slumped once again and shook his head. MJ smiled sadly and gave him a gentle nudge to their mattress, and he reluctantly sat down. She hated how tired he looked- why hadn’t she noticed yesterday?
MJ was a deep sleeper, so she asked: “When’s the last time you got some sleep?”
Peter shifted across the blankets and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Uhm… Monday?”
MJ dropped her hold on him immediately, jaw dropping in synchronization as she stared at him incredulously. “Peter!”
“‘M sorry!” Came his immediate, yelped reply.
MJ sighed loudly and shook her head, closing her eyes briefly and praying above for patience to deal with her insomniac boyfriend.
“Why don’t you talk to me about these things?” She then asked, frowning and sitting on the bed next to Peter, setting a hand on his.
Peter heard the hurt in MJ’s voice and winced, looking over at her as he responded. “I… I dunno. You know how I hate being vulnerable.”
“I know, I know,” she whispered, raising her other hand to swipe away a few locks from his face. “But I'm here for you, and that’s what being in a relationship means, okay? I don’t care about seeing you hurt. It worries me, yeah, but it’ll only hurt me more if you keep it secret.”
Peter exhaled, knowing she was right as he leaned into her palm. “Okay,” He responded in the same hushed tone. “Okay,” he repeated, just as soft.
“Good,” MJ approved, smiling sadly. “How about you get some sleep now? I can help you do your homework, and New York can handle one night without their amazing Spider-Man,” She offered, tapping Peter’s nose with the tip of her index, making him flinch slightly.
Peter knew he should probably go on patrol- what if someone needed him? He knew he should do his homework- how selfish was it of him to make his girlfriend do it?
But seeing her reassuring smile, plus the thought of resting his head, nearly made him cry in relief. “Alright,” Peter sighed, shifting to lay down. His movements felt slow and sluggish, and now that he’d agreed to get some sleep his body and mind had synced up on the fact, prepping him for his upcoming slumber.
MJ nodded with the same, relieving smile, and pulled the blankets up for him. She knew how hard it was for Peter to give in like this- he must have been truly exhausted.
She would make it as easy as possible for him, not letting his brain manifest any other reasons for why he shouldn’t go to sleep. While she was at it, she should probably list reasons why not getting sleep would affect him.
“Thanks for agreeing, Peter,” MJ expressed her gratitude. “I like being able to take care of you.”
Peter had settled under the covers with several blankets over him (he must have picked up the inability to thermoregulate from the spider all those years ago), and his eyes were already drifting shut. “Yeah,” he yawned, “No problem.”
MJ grabbed her laptop and crawled into the bed beside him, only covering her legs with the comforter. Resting her device on her thighs and pulling Peter to curl in and rest his head on her hip, she was pretty much trapped- though not like she was going to move anyways now that she’d finally gotten Peter to stay still and close his eyes.
MJ continued to work on her essay, fingers sliding along the silver keyboard and filling up the silence of their space, Peter slowly going from a light doze to full-asleep.
She noticed it through the signs she’d learned to look for: tiny twitches in his fingers, the little crease between his eyebrows disappearing, and his breathing evening out and going steady. Even in sleep he was vigilant, still alert, but at least his mind could be at rest for a little.
She noticed, however, whenever she was there, Peter always slept better and fully. That did something to her heart, squeezing it in that way that only he could have managed.
And now, Peter was finally asleep- breathing deep and even as his head rested against MJ’s side, dark shadows under his eyes already not seeming so stark, the furrow between his brows nearly gone.
MJ pressed her fingers on the little crease, smoothing it out and it stayed like that. She felt the corners of her lips tug upwards and she allowed them as she stroked his nose and traced his whole face with her eyes, burning the memory into her mind.
“I’m always here,” She whispered, and as though Peter heard it through his subconscious, a smile of his own lifted the edges of his mouth.
MJ leaned down to press a kiss to Peter’s forehead before shutting her laptop and setting it to the side, then scooting down and under the blankets so she could fall asleep too.
The essay could wait for now.