Summary: Okay so, before you ask, no, he is not a stalker. He is a concerned friend looking out for the safety of another close friend and makes sure they get home ok. Stalkers are creepy for one thing, they have truly horrible intentions and are just awful people. They're constantly watching your every move, leave creepy notes on your door, memorize your schedule. All of which Peter is not doing, so, yeah, he's not. No matter how much Ned insists he is.

Whatever, he's never doing anything nice for Michelle ever.


Okay so, before you ask, no, he is not a stalker.

Stalkers are creepy for one thing, they have truly disgusting intentions and are just awful people. They're constantly watching your every move, leave creepy notes on your door, memorize your schedule. All of which Peter is not doing, so, yeah, he's not.

(No matter how much Ned insists he is.)

Karen looked up the definition (a person who harasses or persecutes someone with unwanted and obsessive attention; in case you were wondering) and assures him that he does not fit the description at all.

He thanks her, feeling much better.

It started out little- honestly, it did- by casually coming across MJ during one of his patrols. Peter instantly spotted her wild mess of curls in between the crowd of people, her earphones in and thick novel in hand as she strolled down the street.

He figured he might as well make sure she gets home carefully. After all, she did live kinda far so that by the time decathlon practice ended and her bus finally dropped her off, the sun was already setting. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him checking in on her. Not that Michelle BAMF Jones couldn't handle herself, but still, he was trying to be a Good Samaritan here.

And if he were being honest with himself; Peter always felt a little bit better knowing she was upstairs safe in her room, reading books by authors with long complex Russian surnames. Not that he'll be admitting that anytime soon.

Now, unfortunately, it was just becoming routine.

Leave practice (with MJ as captain he wouldn't dare be missing any meetings)go behind the dominos near the school since they rarely take out the trash there, suit up, patrol, find MJ at her bus stop, make sure she got home okay. Patrol for a bit more, go home and hang out with May and Ned for the rest of the night. Toss and turn all night and fail to find sleep.

He would watch her from the rooftops, amazed no one had yet to notice spiderman following a teenage girl, but he was so not complaining. He already had enough embarrassing pictures of spiderman leaving an outhouse with toilet paper stuck to his foot and videos of him falling on his ass in slow motion, thank you internet.

But then he noticed that she would lend her arm to an older person having difficulties crossing the street. And for as cool and indifferent as MJ appeared in school, she never failed to wink and stick out her tongue at any kid she caught staring at her. That always got a good laugh out of them and a grin out of their parents.

("Michelle seems very nice." Karen teased, not at all subtle. "Very nice.")

And, she would always be caught reading on the bus without fail, as if she were beyond motion sickness. And once she got off she would reach into her jacket, pull out an ibuprofen bottle and pop in two in her mouth and swallow as if they were candy. Peter would watch as she hummed along to whatever song she was listening to that day, as she once told him during gym, varied on her moods.

It was weird how she slowly started getting closer and closer to him and Ned as the year advanced. Opening up bit by bit until one day Peter looked up and saw MJ sitting right across from them at lunch, desperately attempting to hide a smile behind her thick book.

And before he knew it MJ was sitting crossed legged on the floor of his apartment, her socked feet splayed across his lap as she discussed with Ned over what an actual ass Snape was. And how bullshit it is that Harry had the fucking audacity to name his kid after that douche when Hagrid was an actual gem and deserved better, fight me on this Leeds.

("But that's the point of Snape! He's supposed to be a grey character! Not a good guy, but not a horrible man!" "Ned, actually fuck off!")

The more he started to consider her a friend, the less creepy he felt whenever he 'walked' her home. He told this to Ned, after making him swear he wouldn't tell Michell.

Big mistake.

"Still kinda weird dude," Ned said through a mouthful of chips. "Like, if it was anyone else doing it, it would totally be stalking, no offense."

Peter pouted. "Whatever man."

"Okay but like, why don't you follow me home?"

"Because you're always at mine." Peter teased, taking a long swig from his energy drink, running on three hours of sleep eventually took its toll.

Ned glared at him doubtfully, clearly not convinced. "No," He then pursued his lips and cocked his head to the side in thought. "Is it because you like her?"

Peter spat out his drink, coughing hysterically as some of it went down his throat. Once he managed to compose himself, he smiled stiffly at the students who looked over and wiped the liquid that trickled down his chin. "What? No way! Why would you even ask that?"

"Holy shit!" Ned murmured in awe."Holy shit no fucking way! You do! You totally do!"

"Ned shut up, no I don't," Peter stammered frantically. "I don't like her!

"Whom?"

Michelle asked out of seemingly nowhere, having already sat down and opened her book without either of them noticing. Peter smiled briefly at her shirt which read in bold red print Make America Mexico Again. She quickly eyed the spilled energy drink with distaste. "Gross."

Ned couldn't feel his mouth moving, or him talking. "Uh, y-"

Petter kicked him under the table, hard, efficiently shutting him up.

"Pepper Potts!" Peter spluttered, a sudden warmth beginning to spread across his cheeks as he looked anywhere that wasn't MJ's perceiving eyes. "I was telling Ned that I saw her last time I went over for the, uh, the Stark Internship. And he was just being stupid."

Ned massaged his sore ankle as Michelle's scrutinizing gaze took in all of Peter's pitiful excuse of a cover. She then shrugged her shoulders and stole one of Ned's chips and popped it into her mouth. "No offense to your sugar daddy dude, but she so could do better."

After that, the conversation divulged into Peter's internship, with Ned stealing glimpses at Michelle whenever Peter would talk. She would lift her chin and unconsciously begin to lead forward. She would bite the inside of her cheek so as to not grin as Peter rambled on and on, instead choosing to raise an eyebrow.

It sucked how obvious they both were, if only he had paid more attention.

"Did you meet any of the Avengers before they broke up?" Michelle asked after Ned stated how cool it was for Peter to have Iron Man in his contacts.

Peter went starry-eyed.

"I talked to Cap for a little bit, Rhodey's really nice too, he always talks to me whenever I see him. Black widow kinda ignored me the one time I saw her, but," He shrugged, not at all insulted and apparently considered blessed enough. "Vision's a little weird but, he has these really cool powers. And I didn't really meet, meet Scarlet Witch or Falcon, but I uh, saw them fight once. And Hawkeye smiled at me too! But I only saw him once too. They're all just so great." He sighed contentedly as if he hadn't fought most of them nearly five months ago.

Ned leaned forward. "I met Spiderman!" He perked up at Peter's wilting stare. "He signed my all my posters and took a picture with me," It was his lock screen, Peter still in costume giving a thumbs up as Ned's beaming face took up half the screen. "Have you ever seen him?" He asked Michelle slyly.

She pursed her lips in consideration. "When he saved you guys in Washington," She shoved another handful of Ned's chips into her mouth. "And he follows me home every day."

"What?"

"No fucking way."

"Yeah," She waved off their reactions, taking a sip of her drink and pretending not to notice Peter and Ned gap dumbly at each other. "Whenever I get off the bus I see him on top of buildings just like, following me. Don't know why but," She shrugged.

Ned couldn't stop beaming, not even noticing Michelle had stolen his bag of chips. "That's actually the coolest thing ever."

She rolled her eyes, all smug looking. "Kinda creepy but, okay, go off."

Peter fumbled with his thumbs under the table."I think he probably just wants to make sure you get home safe, y'know?" He admitted, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I don't think he's trying to weird you out or anything."

Michelle turned to stare at him, Peter felt himself start to shrink in his seat under her intense gaze, feeling very much like a child about to be punished.

"You think?" She asked, a genuine smile working it's way onto her face.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows in bewilderment. "Y-yeah?" It was Ned's turn to kick him. "I mean-totally Yes! Yes!."

"I guess," She ate the last chip, throwing the bag at Peter who caught it effortlessly, shrugging on her backpack, Michelle smirked at him. "Maybe you can ask next time you're over for your internship?"

The bell rang before he could respond.


Peter didn't know if he should look out for Michelle today and just not, but decided against it. Because Peter was the one who she told, Spider-Man was completely unaware and just trying to do the right thing. Ned explained to him, that if Spiderman didn't follow her the same day MJ told them about it, then it would really be suspicious.

Although now, as he leaped over buildings to keep up with Michelle (he never noticed how fast she walked), he wondered if it was just because Ned wanted to push them together.

Probably.

"Michelle has made a sudden right turn into an alleyway," Karen's voice disrupted his thoughts. "This is not part of her usual route home."

Peter cursed himself for not paying close attention. "No, it's not," His heart sank deep into the pit of his stomach at the thought of her in danger. "I'm going in."

Quickly making his way to the alleyway Karen pointed out, he landed down immediately. He looked around for a moment, quickly assessing the alleyway for any sight of a struggle before he felt a hand wrap around his wrist, twisting it behind his back. A hand clutched the back of his head and shoved his face into the brick wall, he felt a knee drive against his calf and had it not been for his powers, he would have been rendered utterly powerless.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"Why have you been following me?"

Mj's voice was obvious enough for Peter to go at ease. He felt himself grin as her fingernails drilled deeper into his suit, and while he could have very easily flipped them over without breaking a sweat, he just, didn't.

"I-I haven't!" She hardened her grip on his arm."Okay, okay! I just wanted to make sure you got home safe! Can you please let me go?"

MJ scoffed before breaking free of him, cleaning her palms on her jeans she blew a strand of hair from her face. Running a hand through her hair, she winced when she came in contact with a frizzy strand before crossing her arms and scowling at Spiderman who didn't seem at all afraid.

Nope, not at all.

"Why?" Michelle asked.

Peter lowered his voice. "What do you mean why? That's kinda my job ma'am."

MJ pointed an accusing finger at him. "Your job is to help lost old ladies and stop carjacking, not to make sure a random ass girl makes it home," She jabbed a finger at his chest and snarled. "I can take care of myself just so you know, I take self-defense and I have pepper spray," Tilting her chin up, Peter internally cursed the extra height she had on him. "I'm good."

He forgot how frustrating and self-relying she could be sometimes.

Peter inhaled deeply before speaking, forgetting about keeping his voice low. "Look, I know you are okay? I just," He stammered. "I just really don't want you to get hurt. And if I can do this one little thing to make sure that doesn't happen, then it's worth it."

He froze as soon as the words left his mouth, while very true, it would only raise more questions as to why spiderman cared so much about her. Peter thought for sure he just outed himself out in a disgusting alley and was already thinking up a great apology filled with him taking off his mask and everything when Michelle smirked.

And blinked a couple of times. "Still creepy dude."

Relief could not even begin to describe what he was feeling. Chuckling soon turned into quiet laughter he was attempting to subdue. Karen was oddly silent as he motioned for them to move deeper into the alleyway, he was a little too close to the sidewalk for his liking. Once they were a safe distance, he turned to her, head turned in confusion.

"How'd you even see me?" Peter couldn't keep the fascination out of his voice. "I stayed on the roofs the whole time."

"I'm observant," She shrugged off her backpack and kicked it on the floor. "And you literally have the ugliest colors ever, they're bright as all hell." She teased.

Peter placed a hand to his chest in mock outrage. "Hey! Mr. Stark- Iron Man- made it for me."

"Well then your sugar daddy to pick better colors then."

They fell into a fit of giggles and stupid jokes, Karen informed him that it was almost six and that he promised May that patrol would end at five thirty. Glimpsing up at the darkening sky, Peter flushed at his next idea.

"So, uh," He murmured to the ground, kicking a can out of the way. "wanna-want a ride home?"

MJ's eyebrows lowered. "Like your car?"

"Nope." Peter winked.

He hoped popping the 'p' would make things start to click. And of course, they did, because Michelle is just so smart and the minute she figured it out her eyes widened and she smiled an actual, real, textbook definition smile. And why had he been denying he liked so much again?

"No way," She muttered, already grabbing her backpack and slinging it on, she fixed her hair up in a bun. "Badass, come're."

She motioned for Peter to get closer, which he did a little too fast for his liking. Michelle wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself flush against Peter's chest. He prayed she couldn't hear his thumbing heart that seemed to hate him at this very moment.

"So, are you gonna do the thing or?" She pretended to shoot a web from her hands and that's when Peter realized it had been a good twenty seconds of him eerily staring at her and breathing heavily.

"Oh! Right, yeah, sorry-silly." He faltered before squaring his shoulders. "Hold on Okay? I've never done this with a passenger." He shot a web at the top of a building.

"Wait," Her smile instantly vanished. "What?"

And then they were off.

Peter never heard MJ scream, he's heard her shout at Flash for making snide comments, and yell at him across the gym because she was too lazy to walk all the way over. But for the first few seconds that they were in the air, that's all he heard. She hugged him closer and dug her head into the crook of his neck, her apple-scented shampoo and hand sanitizer filled his mind the entire ride.

She started to enjoy herself not long after, raising her head high so that the wind slapped her face. Laughing at the many swoops and dives, and loudly cursing at Peter when he let them fall, before quickly pulling up. Michelle whooped and hollered as they swung throughout the city, not noticing that Peter was not at all making his way to her apartment, instead of taking the time to enjoy her pressed so close and smiling so much.

Peter had never seen her smile this much, never.

He then spotted her apartment complex, a shoddy little building decorated with bright graffiti and vines growing alongside it. Michelle didn't really like talking about her home life, although proudly showing him and Ned pictures of her adorable baby niece, she kept her mouth shut about her parents.

Which was fine, she told them she was okay and she never him any reason not to believed her.

Peter swung to the back of her apartment, not really wanting to deal with the Spider-Man craze right now. The second they touched the ground, Michelle walked back to place a wobbly hand against her chest, Peter couldn't hide the disappointment at her lack of warmth.

"Son of a bitch" She let out, her voice airy and content. She laughed at herself and began to run a hand through her hair.

Peter joined in, rocking back on his feet proudly. "Cool right?"

They feel into an uncomfortable silence, with only police sirens in the background keeping them company.

"So," Peter began, already preparing to leave.

"Thanks," MJ blurted out, cringing at her weirdly pitched voice she coughed. "For stalking me I mean."

He grinned. "No problem," Peter wished he could take off the mask if only so she could see how much he worried. "Do you-do you want me to stop?"

Michelle squinted.

"You don't want to."

He stepped forward. "But I will if you do."

It was only a few seconds before Michelle spoke, but to Peter, it might as well have been ten years.

Shaking her head, Michelle chuckled to herself before smiling wide. "Thanks, Peter."

Relieved, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, anytime."

"Practice is canceled tomorrow," She cocked her head to the side. "Remember?"

They both knew he didn't.

"Yep!" He coughed, chuckling at his own antics. "Yeah I do, thanks."

MJ rolled her eyes fondly. "Night loser." She waved before turning on her heel and walking to the front of her apartment.

Peter stayed as he heard her look for her keys, and as he heard her enter and close the door. "Night MJ." He whispered into the air.

After checking his phone, Peter almost forgot to feel ashamed when he saw it was already six thirty. Not wasting a second, he ran alongside the building and shot a web up at the next one, swinging himself on and on.

"You seem very happy Peter," Karen's was almost sly. "I'm glad the situation worked out."

"Me too Karen."

He never stopped grinning, it fell the instant he stepped into his room.

May had left out a plate of Mac n cheese for him on his desk that he knew he didn't really deserve, but nonetheless ate. Once he finished, he went to check on May to let her know he was back and safe and that he didn't need a trip to the hospital, again.

He found her sprawled out on the couch, clearly passed out from exhaustion. Peter smiled at the sight, and carefully so as to not wake her up, took off her glasses and draped a blanket over her sleeping form. Picking up the files scattered on the floor, he threw them on the coffee table before leaning over and pressing a chaste kiss on her forehead.

May stirred slightly, before settling and smiling in her sleep.

Scampering off to bed, Peter quickly brushed his teeth, swallowed his meds, and sent Ned a quick good night 'I'm still alive' text, (string of spider emojis following) and flopped on his bed with a loud squeak.

Peter buried himself under his blankets, inhaling the off-brand detergent May likes so much, and let his eyes droop to a close. For once in weeks, he found himself actually tired and in need of sleep. Maybe this is the night he actually makes it through the night without waking up?

It took all of two minutes before he was sitting up in a blind panic.

"Shit!"


Michelle wore a baggy Spiderman shirt the next day and a Stark Industries pin on her backpack.

And she absolutely refused to stop calling Mr. Stark his sugar daddy.


AAAAA

hope you guys liked it, again, i tweaked some parts here and there and added more stuff. not that much, but enough for me. it's weird having to re read my old stuff but i hope this was fun

this is part of a series so be on the look out for the other stories

Thank you all so much for reading,

-Goodnight