Peter's plan

Chapter 25

"Is it my turn?"

They get back at the hotel and it's already almost half past 10, so pretty much everyone is exhausted. It's been a fairly long day, to be honest. MJ is pretty tired too, and yet she's not really sure what she wants to do – that's not true, she knows exactly what she wants to do but it's easier to pretend like she doesn't. Mr Harrington doesn't say much about a curfew or anything before he heads inside, and Mr Dell disappeared as soon as they arrived so there's that. She's trying not to glance too obviously at Peter who's standing next to her with his hands in his pockets. Everyone is saying goodnight to each other now, but he's not really moving or showing any sign that he wants to go to bed or anything, so yeah, all MJ can think is 'now what?'.

She watches as Ned and Betty say goodnight to each other by pressing each other's nose and other weird things. She's pretty sure she can feel Peter's eyes studying her, but she does not look his way. She's stressing out again. The last few hours have been pretty great and easy, because they were hanging out with Ned and Betty and how to act around Peter came pretty naturally, like nothing much had changed. There were little clues here and there that proved that something did change between them since that, like how his gaze kept drifting to her lips very not subtly at all whenever she was talking – he's such a dork, honestly.

She can't really blame him though. She's been thinking about kissing him again too. Pretty much ever since they stepped out of the Eiffel Tower. Oh well. She's just a lot better at hiding it though, she thinks. How this guy managed to keep his Spider-Man identity secret all this time is kind of beyond her. People are just really stupid and oblivious, because it is kind of obvious to anyone paying the slightest attention to that cute dork.

But maybe that's just her.

"MJ, you coming?"

She raises her eyebrows at Betty's question, her heart leaping a little in her chest for some reason. "Um, I uh…" she hesitates, glancing at Peter, and oh crap he's looking at her and now their eyes are locked and it kind of takes her breath away. "Actually I –"

"Right," Betty cuts her, and MJ can guess her smirk even before she looks back at her. Her friend wiggles her eyebrows at her and it's absolutely ridiculous.

"Ah, young love, that's so sweet," Ned comments dreamily, and MJ scoffs because honestly what's wrong with these two, they've been a couple for what three days? Ugh. She doesn't get to share her mind with them though because they head inside, chuckling like two lovely idiots, and she turns to Peter with a frown.

His cheeks are a little red, probably from Ned's comment if she had to guess, but he still smiles to her as soon as their eyes meet, and yes, alright, her heart does a little back flip in her chest just because of it. They stare at each other in silence for a moment, and then Peter reaches to smooth his hair. "So um, do you wanna –"

"Yeah."

He chuckles at her interruption, biting his lower lip, and really MJ thinks that's just rude. "I thought maybe we could, I don't know, go up to the roof or something?" he suggests, and from his body language it's clear that he's nervous, and yet his puppy eyes are hopeful and so sweet MJ can only grin at that.

"Okay," she just says with a small shrug, and Peter's face lights up. "Um, how though?"

"Uh well," Peter looks around to make sure nobody's looking and takes a step closer to her. He moves the sleeve of his shirt up, and MJ examines something that kind of looks like a wristband, with a button stretching to the middle of his palm. "I have these, web-shooters? That's what I use to, you know, swing around."

"Huh. So that stuff doesn't come out of you then."

"Ha, no it doesn't," he chuckles a little, shaking his head. "I made this."

"That's cool," she tells him, and he beams at her like the cute dork he is. "I have questions by the way."

"I bet you do," he laughs, and she smirks at his reaction. "I have questions too, actually."

"Yeah?"

Peter just nods. He looks around again, and MJ studies his focused frown as he does, with a tug of excitement in her belly. She does have a lot of questions about his spider-activities. "Alright I think we're good, are you ready?"

The excitement turns into apprehension and MJ bites her lower lip, looking up to the ten stories hotel. "Um I guess? How are we doing this?"

"Can I…?" He gestures to her waist, and MJ figures he wants to hold her so she just nods, scared her voice would betray her if she speaks. Peter wraps his left arm around her and she settles against him, heart pounding in her chest. "You can uh, you can put your arms around my shoulders uh, if you want?" She forcefully sighs at this, faking annoyance, and Peter chuckles, his laugh a little breathless when she eventually settles her arms around his shoulders. They're really close now, and she can feel Peter's eyes on her, sending shivers down her spine. She meets his puppy dog gaze and smiles, wondering if he can hear the pounding of her heart. "Hey," he whispers, and she rolls her eyes in amusement.

"Hey to yourself, Parker," she retorts with a smirk, and the dork chuckles again. She watches for a minute as he obviously gets sidetracked by their proximity, then lightly pats his left shoulder. "So?"

"Right sorry," Peter makes a face, and it's hard not to chuckle, "ready?" She nods. "Okay, hold on tight!"

He aims at the side of the building with his web-shooter, and MJ barely has time to tighten her grip around his shoulders that he's hauling them up in the air without the slightest hint of effort. She holds her breath, shocked at the sudden sensation of ascension. She's pretty sure she's left her stomach on the sidewalk, but this thought has barely crossed her mind that her feet softly hurt solid ground again, and she stumbles against Peter, heart pounding.

She unconsciously pressed her face in the crook of his neck while they were in the air, so she takes a step back, cheeks burning, but Peter doesn't let go of her arm. She sees the frown of worry on his cute face and she lets out a nervous chuckle, looking around her to try and calm down her stupid heart. They're standing at the top of the building, overlooking the city. She can see the Philharmonie and the Citédes Sciences from here, and the Eiffel Tower's lights in the far distance. It's a pretty nice view.

"Wow okay," she lets out, a little breathless still. "That's, practical I guess."

"We should definitely go for a swing when we get home," Peter says with enthusiasm, and despite being pretty sure all this is not for her – her heart is still pounding in her chest and they were in the air for just a few seconds, so swinging in Manhattan? Terrifying – MJ cannot help her smile.

"Sure," she shrugs, and she's rewarded by a beaming smile from Peter, so she figures it's all worth it. She sits down in the middle of the flat roof, leaning on her hands and crossing her legs at the ankles, and he sits next to her without a second thought. She lets her gaze wander around the dark, slightly orange sky that's fairly similar to the one back home. Too bad they cannot see stars from here. She would love to go stargazing with Peter someday.

Oh wow she's being cheesy. Yikes.

"You okay?"

MJ glances at Peter and meets his warm eyes, and she wonders if there's ever been medical records of melting hearts before, because it really feels like it right now. She sits up a little, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Yeah," she nods quietly, "this is nice."

"It is," Peter agrees with a grin. They stare at each other for a little while, and then his eyes move to her hand, then to his hands that are resting on his thighs. She wonders if he maybe wants to hold her hand. She'd have to move to make that happen, she's not really in a good position for hand holding right now. How can she not make it too obvious that she's moving just so he can take her hand though? Oh crap now she's freaking out a little. So much logistics, ugh.

Peter is fidgeting with the cuffs of his shirt, and she jumps at the occasion to stop pondering on stupid things. "So you made these?" she asks casually, pointing to his web-shooters.

"Yeah," he nods with a smile, pulling the sleeve up and she scoots closer to take a look, ignoring the small rush in her heart when she grabs his wrist. "The webs, too," Peter adds after a little while, "I experiment in Chemistry."

MJ wonders if that means he's the one behind that explosion back in Freshman year, but she doesn't ask. It was almost 2 and a half years ago, why would she remember that right?

"Hey so how about we play a little game," Peter suggests, bringing her back to reality, and she raises an interrogative eyebrow at that. "Like, I ask you question, then it's your turn, then my turn again etc?"

She narrows her eyes at him just for the sake of it, and the nerd has the decency to look a little nervous. She wonders if she's ever gonna grow tired of messing with him or not. "Depends on what you want to ask me," she says after a moment, and Peter grins like he expected her to say something like this.

"I'm mainly curious about how you figured out that I was Spider-Man," he explains with a shrug, and MJ feels her cheeks flush a little. This is probably not a good idea. If she doesn't play this smart he's gonna figure out she's kind of been obsessing over him ever since she first saw him back in Freshman year. That's not good, right? But it's not as if she's had a crush on him since the very first day anyway, well, at least not really. She was just… curious, for a long time. That's okay, right? Oh whatever, let's just not overthink anything right now.

"Okay."

"Cool," Peter smiles, and her stupid heart skips a beat.

"I'll start," she decides, thinking it will be good to regain some sense of control, and he nods with an amused grin. "How did you get your powers?"

"Bitten by a spider," he answers instantly, "since when do you know?"

MJ frowns, glancing at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm not satisfied with this half-ass answer," she informs him and he smirks, "and I know since a little after DC."

"Damn it," Peter curses, and it's MJ's turn to smirk. "I really suck at this secret identity thingy, how–"

"Shut up Parker it's my turn," she cuts him, ignoring his half-offended, half-amused look as she waves her hand in his face. "What kind of spider?"

This time he actually takes a second to think. "I'm not sure," he starts, hesitating a little. "It was during that field trip to the Oscorp Tower in Freshman year, this weird red and blue spider bit me on the hand and next thing I knew, voilà." He gestures to himself with a grin, and she rolls her eyes.

"Huh, so around the same time you stopped wearing glasses then," she says without thinking, just to instantly regret her words as Peter gives her a curious look.

"You remember I used to wear glasses?" he asks, and he's smiling a little, staring intently at her with his stupid puppy dog eyes.

"No," she lies easily, heart pounding in her chest, before pressing: "come on, your turn."

"That was my question actually," Peter retorts with a smug look that has her groan.

She sighs exasperatedly, but he doesn't look away, waiting for her to answer. "Yes, I do remember," she mumbles after a while, avoiding his eyes. "I figured you stopped wearing them because you got lenses, but it must have been the spider then." She shrugs, mindlessly kicking a tiny rock away. Hopefully Peter doesn't think it's weird that she's noticed all this – and still remembers it too. Damn it, quick change of subject. "What else did it give you?" she asks, turning to face him with raised eyebrows. "These things?" She flicks his bicep with a smirk, and is delighted to see Peter blush instantly.

"Mhm, yeah among other things," he nods sheepishly, running his fingers through his hair, and she wonders if he's flexing on purpose or not. Dork. "What was the biggest giveaway?"

"Hey," she exclaims with a frown, "that answer sucked! I asked you what else that spider gave you, you can't just say 'yeah among other things' that's not even an answer."

"You asked me what it gave me and then you asked me if it gave me this," he retorts with a smirk, pointing to his arms. "Technically that was two questions so I should be the one complaining here."

MJ opens her mouth in surprise, staring at his satisfied grin. She must admit she's kind of impressed. This is definitely not something he would have dared saying a week ago. Then again, a week ago they barely even talked to each other, so there's that. This really is an amazing development, she thinks. "You're playing me, Parker," she accuses with a frown, and the idiot has the audacity to actually laugh at that.

"Am I?" he retorts, all innocent in the face, and her heart leaps in her chest for no reason. They stare at each other for a minute, Peter's smile slowly fading but the amusement still apparent on his face, and MJ tries not to dwell on the sudden urge she gets to kiss him. Hopefully they'll get to that soon enough, but she still needs her answer.

"There wasn't any big giveaway, apart from DC, more like a trail of bread crumbs really," she finally says with a shrug, and Peter grins. "What other enhancement did you get thanks to that spider bite?" she then enunciates before he can say anything, and his smile widens at that. Ugh, what a cute dork.

"Um, let me see…" He tilts his head, tapping his finger on his chin a few times like he's thinking, and she doesn't even try to fight her eye roll – which in return makes him chuckle, obviously. "Well, I'm very strong, I got this super sense that alerts me when there's danger nearby, my senses are enhanced, my healing factor is pretty OP, I'm more agile and quite fast too, and uh yeah I'm sticky."

MJ bites her lip to prevent her chuckle. That's so Peter to describe it like this. 'I'm sticky. What an idiot', she thinks, and then for some reason her brain suggests something else: 'my idiot', and oh wow that's just… very distracting. "Huh, so the suit isn't the one that makes you climb on buildings and stuff?" she asks, desperately needing to think about something else.

"Nope, that's all me," Peter says, and there might be a small hint of pride in his voice that she might find a little cute, alright she admits it. "And you asked two questions."

He's looking at her pointedly, and her heart rate quickens instantly. "Well," she says confidently, and she honestly has no idea how she manages it because she doesn't really feel confident at all right now, "you must really like me then, since you still answered."

She likes the smile that Peter gives her at that. It's small and a little shy, and the tips of his ears redden a little too, but his gaze is intense and fixed in hers, and she thinks she wouldn't be able to look away even if she wanted too – which she doesn't, at all. "Yeah I do," he says quietly, and a shiver runs down her spine.

They're facing each other now, both cross-legged with their knees touching. When Peter starts to lean in, MJ isn't surprised in the slightest. Actually, she might have started to lean in at the same time too, but she's not sure. Their lips meet in a soft kiss, and MJ's heart dances in her chest as they do. It's slow and cozy, and she smiles in it a little, and so does he, which is definitely a very nice feeling. It doesn't last very long but it's okay, she thinks, they have time.

"That's cool," she tells him with half a (fake) casual shrug, and she's pretty sure he knows just from the color of her cheeks that she's bluffing. He did mention enhanced senses, so maybe he can even hear her pounding heart. She would feel embarrassed about, except she realizes she really doesn't, and it's a great feeling. "Alright, your turn."

"Right," he nods with a small smile, running his fingers through his hair again, and MJ thinks about doing it too. "Do you think anybody else's figured it out?" he asks after a few seconds of thinking.

She stops to think about it for a minute, under Peter's kind of worried gaze. It is a good question. "No I don't think so," she says after a while, and he lets out a small relieved sigh that makes her grin. "I mean, it's not like anybody really pays attention to you." He obviously pouts at that like the cute dork he is, with a small 'ouch' for dramatic purposes, so she adds, glancing down at her hands then up at him again: "Except for me."

His eyes light up instantly at this, and damn this cute idiot really. "Aw thanks." They stay quiet for a little while, then Peter asks quietly: "Do you have another question?"

Or can we make out already? MJ thinks to herself, chuckling internally. The last part is kind of implied by Peter's intense gaze again, but he's obviously too polite – or shy – to say it, and it endears him to her even more. She didn't think it was possible, to be honest. "I do actually," she says after a second, "why did you chose to become a superhero?"

She did not expect him to lose his smile so instantly at that. He bites his lip, looking down at his hands that are now clamped together, and she feels her heart clench in her chest. He's suddenly so tensed, and she has no idea why, but when she opens her mouth to say something he beats her to it. "Well I, I can do all these things, and they're pretty impressive but," he's not looking at her, scratching the nail of his left thumb, "when I don't, and bad things happen, well it's my fault." He takes a deep breath, then glances at her, and his eyes are sad, but he still gives her a small smile. "Because I could've done something to prevent them you know?"

There's something else he doesn't say, she can feel it, but she doesn't pry. They've got time, she thinks. There are still so many things she wants to tell him, so many things she wants to know about him – she's barely even scratched the surface she thinks, especially since her questions were mostly about Spider-Man tonight. Spider-Man is cool, but she likes Peter Parker more.

"Well I'm glad you took that decision," she tells him, sliding her hands in his, and he looks up with surprised, grateful eyes. "Pretty impressive for a nerd like you."

Peter snickers at that, shaking his head with an amused smile. He presses her hands in his, and MJ feels her heart go flying in her chest. "Is it my turn?" he asks quietly, and she already knows what he's gonna ask even before he does.

"Yeah."

"Can I kiss you again?"

"Yes."

And so he does. And it feels cozy, and it feels warm, and his lips are soft and sweet against hers, and they move slowly and quietly, and it's alright. Because they've got time.

They've got all the time in the world.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's one of my favorite I've ever written :)