Peter's plan

Chapter 26

Sara Perché Ti Amo

"Move your butt Parker or I'm leaving without you!"

"Just a second!" Peter jumps the last four steps and rushes to the door, sliding the little box in his backpack just before he makes it outside. He stops on the front porch, meeting MJ's blank stare with a wide grin. She's holding the door to the car Tony sent for them, impatiently tapping her foot on the sidewalk, and a warm wave of something crashes through Peter's heart at this beautiful sight. God, he's so lucky. "I'm here, I'm here," he tells her when she raises an eyebrow at him. He looks left and right to make sure no one is looking then slides down the railing in one swift move and lands next to MJ with a ridiculous flourish of his arms.

She scoffs, pretending to be annoyed, but he knows she's more amused than anything. He gets into the car, greeting the driver and setting his backpack down at his feet. He kicks it for good measure, making sure the little squared box falls to the bottom. MJ would never go through his stuff, but she's observant. He's not taking any chance. He's planned everything. It worked pretty well last time, in his opinion.

MJ sits next to him and shuts the door, and the car takes off in the early afternoon Queens traffic. It's not that bad. They still have time before boarding their plane anyway. Peter reflects back on how nervous he'd been, almost ten years ago now, concocting his plan to sit next to the girl he liked on the plane on their way to Venice. Hoping with all he had that she liked him too. Which she did – and still does. He really did hit the jackpot, he thinks.

Glancing at her, Peter watches her look outside the window for a little while. She's absentmindedly playing with the cuffs of her jacket, and his heart leaps in his chest at the sight of her slender fingers. He cannot believe he's doing this. They've talked about it a lot, marriage. It's been a recurrent subject for the last couple of months. He's not even sure who first brought it up, it all kind of made sense somehow. She's not a big fan of the whole wedding thing, like a piece of paper could change anything about their lives really, but she still told him she wanted all this if only just because it was with him.

And that's pretty much all he needed. Her green light, in a way. His heart pounds excitedly just at the thought.

"You would never."

MJ turns her attention to him, her brown eyes still a little distant, like she'd been lost in her mind, and he wonders what she was thinking about. "Uh?"

"Leave without me," Peter supplies, and she snorts.

"Ha! Is that a challenge?" she retorts, leaning towards him just a little with a confident smirk.

"May I remind you I've got your headphones in there," Peter tells her, nodding to his backpack with a grin, "so nope, not a challenge, you just cannot ditch me."

"I can always find myself another headphones bearer you know."

"One as good looking as me? I doubt it."

"You're such a dork," she scoffs fondly, shaking her head with a small grin that makes his heart jump in his chest. They've been together for almost ten years, and somehow she still takes his breath away more often than not. He loves it. He loves that she still throws him off, no matter how well he thinks he knows her. He loves that, despite how comfortable they've grown around each other – especially the last couple of years since they're finally living together – she still makes him blush sometimes, or has his heart pounding in his chest with barely a few words or even just a small look. He loves how being with her challenges his views of the world, he loves how inherently happy he feels every time their gazes meet.

"I am," Peter nods seriously, staring deep into her eyes and hoping she can feel everything he's thinking. He would love to tell her all this – he has, multiple times in the course of their relationship – but maybe this is not the right place. So he settles for something a little lighter, more suitable for a cab ride to the airport. Just for now. "I'm your dork."

They're really close now, and when she rolls her eyes just a little he glances down at her mouth. The corners of her lips are perking up just a little, and he wants nothing else than to kiss them so he leans a little closer again. Her light grin morphs into a smirk and she shakes her head, obviously guessing his intention. "Yeah you are," she lets out quietly, and then closes the distance between them.

Her lips taste like the pineapple sorbet she had for dessert at lunch – she said she had to accustom her stomach to eating gelato, since they were heading to Venice of all places, which he could only agree with –, and Peter's heart leaps happily in his chest once again.

x

Michelle Jones has a plan.

In her opinion, it's a pretty good plan. She's been over the details hundreds of times in her mind. She even considered running it with Betty or May, but then she chose not too, deeming the risks too high that the information would leak and somehow Peter would hear about it. Another thing she'd had to worry about, her stupid boyfriend's super hearing, which meant no discussion over the phone or anything. Peter would never listen to any of her conversations intently, she knows it, but still, that dork is something. He kind of is one who would accidentally eavesdrop on someone and then feel bad about it.

So it's a plan no one knows about. It's scary, but MJ figures it's a good thing. A surprise for everyone. Including Peter. Oh, she cannot wait to see his face when she's gonna ask him. He was the one who arranged everything last time, with the black Dahlia necklace and the Eiffel Tower. She's seen the list, a few years back. He wanted to tell her how he felt, and hoped she felt the same way. Now she's gonna give him something too, and ask him a simple question. She's rehearsed everything – very, very quietly, at home, one time Peter had to leave to do some Avengers stuff with Tony.

Everything is ready, the flight has been booked for month, taking the back to Venice, where it all started. She's found a ring, she knows the words by heart – not that they're complicated or anything, she's good with words anyway, but then again they might be the scariest words she's ever had to pronounce in her life. But it's okay. She's gonna tell them to Peter. She wants to tell them to him. She wants all this, and more, with him. Just thinking about it her heart swells in her chest and she almost feels the urge to cry – happy tears, very happy tears.

"Hey MJ."

She looks up from her book to catch Peter's grin. He hands her a muffin then sits down next to her while they wait to board their plane. She can feel his eyes on her as she takes a smile bite of delicious chocolate and mouths a 'thanks' that makes him chuckle. He takes a sip from his orange drink – how he can drink that, she has no idea – then leans back on his seat with a small, relaxed sigh.

"So," he starts, fiddling with the cap of his drink. "Who do you plan on sitting next to in the plane?"

MJ closes her eyes for a second, barely holding back her chuckle. He's such a dork. "What's it to you?" she retorts, and when she glances at him his eyes twinkle with an amusement she knows she's mirroring. Those are the words that started it all, almost ten years ago now. She's pretty thankful Peter could muster the courage to say them back then. She knows he is, too.

"Wanna sit next to me?" he asks, nudging her lightly, barely holding back his wide smile.

She bites her lower lip, pretending to think, then shrugs. "Yeah whatever."

Peter doesn't reply anything, lacing his fingers with hers. They stare at each other for a minute, and MJ's mind flies over the Atlantic, thinking about all the new things they're gonna discover in Venice, together. Last time they were there, they were dancing around each other like two idiots – she still thinks it's pretty funny that things could have happened earlier if it weren't for Peter's undying will to go through with his plan.

Now this time she's the one with a plan. With a ring, a question, and a promise.

And it's the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Hey everyone!

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Hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!