One last time.
That's what he thought one calm Friday evening in Greenwich Village. He looked out over the city and swung across one of its many buildings as he danced through the sky. Unknown to the child who waved from her car and the hot dog vendor who was offering a free dog Peter was sobbing underneath the lenses of his mask.
Relying on his spider sense and dexterity Peter repeatedly poured his eyes out, finally letting out a day's worth of anxiety and pain till he was as blind as Daredevil. In the middle of a large swing he pulled up his mask, smudged away his tears and pulled it back down while breaking his fall with a well timed web line.
For a split second he smiled.
He reached the end of his swing and just stopped, he didn't bother to shoot out another while he watched the pavement grow closer as his headache began to subside.
However a woman's scream brought back his attention. Zipping across traffic lights and flag poles he came upon the source of the cry. He found a young blonde woman who's back was pressed against an alley wall while 3 men with pocket knives drew closer. Peter swung in and smacked one of the thugs into a pile of trash bags as he was sprinting towards the woman.
"Hey now that's no way to treat your date, number 1 you don't stab your date, and 2 think about your fashion choices!" Peter said with a cocky attitude while landing one his feet.
"its that clown from Queens!" one of the thugs called out.
"Aww you remember me, I feel all warm and fuzzy now!" Peter said as he webbed up one of thugs.
He turned around to the sound of his spider sense alerting him to the last thug who was now pressing a gun straight to his forehead.
He felt the cold, hard metal pressing against his hairline, which reminded him of his short height, he was humbled by the realisation of almost certain death. The swelling of his headache began to further subside as the gun barrel was almost soothing it down, allowing him to let go of what he was feeling.
"Don't move little man!" the thug shouted as his trigger finger began to itch.
Peter regained his awareness and flinched while doing so which caused for the thug to fire the gun. Peter managed to move just in time but the bullet grazed the side of his forehead in the process. He barely managed to sweep kick the thug on the way down to the ground before passing out as result of the numbing pain which seemed to ease his stress.
He heard murmurs of police sirens, people shouting and felt his body being hauled away.
Eventually Peter blinked open his eyes and found himself undressed, curled up on his couch in his dorm room with a blanket wrapped around him and a pillow under his head. The lights were all shut off, and there was a new mask laying out on the table in front of him.
He turned over not wanting to know what was going on but then he found a note taped to the side of his pillow. He picked it up and rubbed his eyes a bit before managing to read it as his headache was still prominent.
The note read "Hey kid, you got banged up quite hard, I pulled a few strings and got you nursed back to health without anyone finding out who you are. You should drink a lot of water and take rest kid. – Jean DeWolff"
Peter chucked the note to the side almost as if he were disappointed by the result of the evening, as he did so he noticed the plaster that was placed on his forehead had torn. He got up with what seemed like all his remaining strength and put on some shorts and a vest while stammering to the door. He made his way down the hallway to pick up the first aid kit from the dorm lobby.
His small 18 year old body was barely holding on as he strolled while feeling the soft carpet of the hallway under his toes. He felt so small in the hallway, he was short and slender regardless but he felt dainty and innocent almost as if he were a child. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and slid his back down the wall and curled up into a ball while breathing in and out slowly.
He realised what had happened, an anxiety attack was taking over, coupled with his depression and lack of self worth he felt like if he didn't deserve anything more than prolonged, indescribable pain. His head felt heavy as his emotions over took him, he wanted to lie down and just never get up. He felt useless, he couldn't do anything right, not even stop a simple mugger. He brings a paper in late, or doesn't revise enough for a test or any other one of his responsibilities that he continually fails to live up to.
He wanted it to stop he wanted... To die.
He wanted to die so badly, he couldn't hold on any longer. The very thought of it was bringing tears to his, the fact that he was crying made him want to cry more. He sobbed in an endless cycle as he covered his eyes and continued to wipe away tears as they continually came out.
All of a sudden he felt a pair of hands gently fall onto his shoulders. They firmly held onto his collar bones soothing his pain slightly. A shiver fell down his spine as he felt his anxiety attack worsen as he was sick of feeling like dead weight around everyone. Even though he wasn't bullied like he used to, the fact that people snubbed him and didn't talk to him scared him. He didn't want another person to see him like this again. He kept his eyes closed as if he were a little boy, while he felt the person sit next to him.
He could tell that they were a woman and that she was taller than him due to the smell of lavender scented perfume and the fact that his head was resting against the woman's shoulder. He felt her arm come across his shoulder and her lifting him up slightly to rest his head across her chest which was soft, like a pillow, he could feel a her shirt and leather jacket as her arm stroked his back. She used her other arm to lift up his legs and position his body on her lap as she tucked his head under her chin.
She began stroking his hair allowing him to cry into her breasts which she didn't seem to mind, Peter couldn't even feel any arousal as all he wanted was some warmth which he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever. Curls of her hair draped across his face, he partially opened his eyes to see that her hair was red. It smelled beautiful, coupled with her perfume was making him feel very sleepy. He managed to open his eyes and let out a soft squeak so that she knew he was still awake.
"Hi" she said in a soft gentle voice, but it also had a alluring element to it that made him feel protected.
"h-hi" Peter stuttered in a soft and shy voice.
"My name is MJ, what's your name?"
"Peter... Um am I high?" he said sheepishly which made her smile.
"Don't think you're the first to make a weed joke."
"Sorry, I wasn't sure what's happening, I'm still not."
"I'm holding you Peter, you ever been held before?" she asked playfully.
This made Peter think back through his life, he was always taking care of others, his Aunt, Gwen and everyone he saved while fighting crime. He hadn't been held like this since he was kid if he could remember right. His uncle used to give him piggy back rides on the way to bed when he was younger, he missed those. The only time recently when he felt like that was when Johnny flew him home once but that was after he helped the fantastic four on a mission.
"No, not in a while" he managed to reply.
"Well that's a shame, do you like it?" She said sweetly.
"Yeah" Peter replied.
"That plaster has come off, I've got some in my room, do you want to come?"
"...ok" Peter replied not believing that someone actually cared.
"K hold on." MJ said quickly while adjusting her hands.
Peter was getting ready to get off of her when she quickly stood up, holding him like a little princess. Peter's eyes opened wide as he let off a small squeak as he looked around as he was suspended in the air. He looked up at MJ's face and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her gorgeous hair was curled and high lighted like a movie star, her eyes were a sensual green that popped like crazy. And her face was the most stunning piece of beauty in the world, her make-up was expertly applied, he blushed harder than he had before. MJ returned the blush and nuzzled her nose into Peter's hair which reduced his headache as he began to smile.
She walked him down the hallway which was otherwise abandoned as everyone else was sleeping at this time, they felt like the only people in the world at the time.
MJ leaned over to use her key card that was attached to her lanyard around her neck to open the door to her room. She closed the door with her foot and set Peter down on her couch as she walked over to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.
Peter looked around her room trying to make out whatever he could amongst the darkness, he could see a large assortment of clothes littered around the place, it seemed like a bigger mess than his and that was saying something. The lights sharply came on which caused Peter to rub his eyes to adjust to the change. MJ kneeled down in front of him as he sat on the couch rubbing his eyes. She brought his hands down to his sides while she placed the new plaster over his forehead.
The two of them blushed and stared at each other while smiling without saying a word. MJ's heart sank as she got a better look at his face which was stained with tears, she couldn't believe his depressed look that seemed like he hadn't smiled in so long. She got up and stood over him, she was wearing tight ripped jeans, a white crop top and black leather jacket, she was beautiful.
"What's wrong?" she asked whilst kneeling down and putting her hands on either side of his cheeks.
"I... I... I feel useless, I feel lonely." Peter muttered while looking away.
MJ got up and sat next to him, pulling his head to her chest and wrapping her arms protectively around him. She pulled a blanket over the two and gently kissed the top of his forehead and petted his hair protectively.
He looked like a little Tiger cub, she thought to herself.
"Hey there little Tiger, you just hit the jackpot!" She exclaimed enthusiastically whilst bringing his adorable face up to meet hers. "I'm gonna help you, because you're not alone".
She smiled playfully while chucking a baseball she had lying around at the light switch to turn it off. She then pulled him close cuddling him till he fell asleep.
It took time but Peter was eventually happy again.