It happens so fast that Peter can barely keep up with it.
It's been almost two months, and they've been the best two months Peter has ever had. Yes, that includes the first two months of being a superhero, suddenly being ripped, being a YouTube sensation- those months were great, sure. But they were nothing compared to the seven-and-two-thirds weeks that Peter had spent as Michelle Jones's boyfriend.
Ned knew, of course, as did May. They were the two people that Peter and MJ knew they had absolutely no chance of fooling, especially since they had already been dropping hints that they suspected something. After a quiet midnight discussion while Ned was sleeping, however, they agreed upon something: they would tell May and Ned, but they wouldn't let the new of their relationship get any farther than that.
It isn't that Peter is ashamed of MJ, or vice-versa- in fact, both are slightly annoyed by the need to pretend that they don't care at school and decathlon. But, as MJ had put it, "They don't get to use us as something to run their mouths about."
Peter shares the sentiment, but he knows that he's really doing it for her. She doesn't know how to handle attention- the first couple days after they kissed for the first time, she seemed physically incapable of looking him in the eye. It took a night curled up on the sofa assuring MJ that it was okay, that she wasn't going to lose him or disappoint him, for her to admit that she didn't know how to handle being the focus of his stares. It was only when he informed her that this was new for him, too, that she was able to kiss him back without that embarrassment and worry. Because as much as she pretends otherwise, MJ is just as easily rattled as anyone else.
If that one kiss, shared between the two of them, was enough to fluster her, then Peter knows that it might be hard for her to handle the attention of the entire school. He knows that Flash would be insufferable, both to Peter himself, but also to MJ. There would be questions raised to whether or not she was showing favoritism in decathlon, there would be stares and whispers, there would be all of the annoying assumptions and questions that are aimed at a girl the moment she decides she wants to be part of a relationship.
And it would be worse for her, since their society has decided that relationships should be a woman giving up her power to a man instead of what they should be: a pair of people deciding they are going to make fun of everyone else together.
And that is why Peter is willing to put up with it- with settling for texting her under the table in class instead of making faces at her, with pairing up with Ned for assignments and letting MJ find her own partner even though they could nail it as a team of three, with letting his hand fall when it rises instinctively, wanting to capture her fingers with his and brush his thumb along her writer's callus. It's only for a while, while they're at school... When they're hanging with Ned and by themselves, he can catch her hand and hold it as much as he wants, and she won't pull it back (even when Ned whines about them making him sick).
But still, sometimes he wishes that he could do those little things.
He wants to wink at her across the table when she answers a particularly hard question (or at least to do it without her shooting a furious glare and checking to see if anyone saw), surprise her at her locker, pull out chairs for her so he can watch her ears turn red. He wants all this and so much more, and even if he's willing to wait, he still feels the ache.
But Peter is going to stick to his promise, so he doesn't give anything away. They've been doing fairly well thus far, and they're almost eight weeks into the secret. It's Wednesday night decathlon practice, and Peter thinks that they're about to be seven and five-sevenths month into things. He even managed to not even look her way to make a face when Flash answered the same question wrong for the fourth time, a feat that took all of his strength, both human and superhuman. Maybe, after this, they can go to Mr. Delmar's and grab sandwiches and gummy bears to celebrate...
Peter's mind is lingering on this particularly appealing thought when his phone buzzes in his pocket with a very distinctive alert- it's an emergency notification, one that both Peter and MJ know means he has to go. He doesn't bother checking the notification; Karen will update him on it once he's suited up. Instead, he follows the same routine he always does.
The sound of the alert is one the whole team knows, and a chorus of groans fills the air as Peter tenses up.
"Again, Peter?" Mr. Harrington presses, raising en eyebrow. "Regionals are in two weeks, so it's more important now than ever that you're here."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Harrington," Peter chimes in quickly, glancing at Ned. "It's just-"
"The Stark Internship," Cindy mutters, shaking her head. "Abe, aren't you keeping a checklist?"
The tall boy lurches into action when Cindy speaks, flipping through his notebook and beginning to read in a monotone. "Thursday, 4:23 PM, Peter is called out because of the Stark Internship. Monday, 3:46 PM, Peter is called out because of the Stark Internship. Tuesday, 3:37 PM, Peter is called out because of-"
"Yes, thank you, Abraham," Harrington interrupts, pursing his lips. "Look, Peter, if you don't have the time to commit to decathlon-"
"Nah, it's cool, Mr. Harrington," Flash sneers, leaning back in his chair. Peter vaguely wonders what would happen if the legs slid out from under him. "They're booty calls from Black Widow, remember?"
"Flash," Harrington chides, but before he can go any further, Peter interrupts.
"No, I do have the time, I swear. I just- it's important, there's been an accident in the lab that I've been cleaning up all week," Peter lies quickly. He's gotten good at lying lately. "I promise, I'll study extra with Ned tonight. I've just got to go."
Before they can say anything else, he jumps into action. Peter swings his bag over his shoulder, launches up from his chair, and books it for the door- but as he passes the head of the table where MJ is sitting, he instinctively performs the one extra step that he agreed upon with MJ a long time ago, something he promised to do before every mission. He pauses by her side of the table, uses a gentle hand on her cheek to tip her face towards him, and pecks her on the lips.
Peter is halfway out the door when he freezes.
The room is completely silent, and Peter slowly turns around with dread in his eyes. Everyone is staring at him, and there are varying degrees of shock on everyone's faces. Harrington's eyes are so wide that Peter wonders if they are hyper-extending, and Cindy Moon's jaw has dropped down so far that Peter can see her retainer. Abraham appears completely unsurprised for some reason, but beside him Ned is the physical embodiment of the phrase, "Oh, shit."
But Peter's eyes quickly travel to MJ's face, horrified and genuinely scared of what he might see there. At first glance, one might mistake her appearance as calm. However, Peter has known her long enough to see through it, and what he sees is positively alarming. Her jaw is clenched, and her eyes are smoldering as they meet his, narrowed just enough to make him want to sink into the ground. There is a steady blush creeping up her neck, but Peter is too terrified to be satisfied with himself.
A loud crash snaps everyone out of it as Flash's chair completely slips from under him.
Everyone turns to the source of the sound except for Peter and MJ. Her gaze is only more heated, seeming to dare him to leave her alone after his slip up. He blinks several time, sure his face is beet red. He is frozen, and his legs will not move in either direction- what kind of superhero is he if he's freezing up at something like this?
Hey, it can't possibly be as bad as Vulture. Maybe they'll be okay.
As Cindy helps him up, Flash breaks the silence. "What the ever-loving f-"
"Flash."
At Harrington's warning, Flash stops, but his expression is still a mixture of shock and glee as he turns his gaze on Peter. "I'm sorry, am I the only one who didn't see that coming? Honestly, Jones, you've really got some low standards-"
MJ finally rips her gaze away from Peter to turn it on Flash, and for once, Peter actually pities him.
"He may be an idiot, but at least he isn't the reason the gene pool needs a lifeguard."
Ned draws in a gasp so sharply that he immediately bursts into a coughing fit and starts to rifle through his bag for his inhaler. Flash's expression is akin to someone who has just been slapped, and Harrington is at such a total loss that Peter wonders if he will ever speak again. He opens his mouth to say something, then shuts it, then opens it again- Peter knows that he won't make a decision over whether or not to intervene.
Peter finds himself slowly stepping backward, but MJ whirls on him with an absolutely murderous expression.
"Don't. You. Dare."
He swallows, running a hand through his hair. "Um, the Stark Intern-"
"I don't care if the goddamn building is on fire, Parker. You are not leaving right now."
He winces, torn. This is quite possibly the most uncomfortable Peter has ever been, and it's all his fault. "I'm sorry," he finally stammers. "I-I didn't mean to, it just happened. You know I was trying just as hard as you were, I wouldn't throw it all away for nothing-"
"I knew."
The chaos pauses for a moment, and Ned's inhaler falls out of his mouth as he turns to gape at Abe with everyone else. The boy seems thoroughly unimpressed as he glances around, raising an eyebrow. "It was simple statistics."
MJ's eyes widen in shock. "Wh-what do you-"
Abe begins to flip through his notebook, and he pauses on a page so filled with tallies and checkmarks that it looks like the scratchings of a madman. "MJ has been sneaking looks at Peter for two years. The two of them have been looking at each other when they think no one is looking for roughly six months. During that time period, there have been thirty winks, forty-five significant glances, sixty-nine-"
"Thank you, Abraham," Harrington splutters, and Abe closes the book. MJ appears completely at a loss for words, and for a moment, the room is totally silent. Then Peter's phone buzzes again, and he winces.
MJ glances up at him, and her cheeks are rosy. Peter's are, too, but he can't help the slightly cheesy grin that is playing with the end of his lips as he raises an eyebrow. "Two years?"
She blinks and purses her lips, muttering, "Shut up and go save Tony Stark's ass." However, before Peter can leave, MJ stands up and crosses the space between them in a few short strides. Before Peter can protest, she leans down slightly and presses a firm kiss to his lips, allowing it to last a few seconds before she pulls back. Then, in the slight privacy her turned back provides, she leans over to whisper in his ear.
"And come back to me."
When she pulls away, he catches her hand and gives it a slight squeeze. Flash is watching them with narrowed eyes, but MJ doesn't seem to care. Instead, she shoots him a little grin as she walks to her seat again, visibly relaxed and with slightly swollen lips. "Now, I want to go over geography, since our scores there are consistently low-"
Peter doesn't need to be told twice. He turns and shoots down the hallway, running so fast that his feet barely touch the ground. But his heart is beating even faster, and his chest is glowing with the warmth that comes from knowing- knowing that even if there are stares and rumors and whispers, he and MJ don't have to hide anymore.