A/N: This is it! The final chapter. Thanks for joining me on this ride. Let me know what you think!
Chapter 7
Everything was right with the world. Peter's spirits floated high up in the clouds. He could hardly keep the smile off his face. Sure, he'd lost his job at the hardware store for not showing up and he'd only been able to manage his rent because of the money Strange had forced on him, but he was in love.
It had been two days since the epic make-out session with MJ in his crappy apartment. The only thing that had pulled them apart had been a call from her dad asking when she'd be home. As she'd left, she'd promised to come see him that weekend.
A buzzing from his pocket disturbed his thoughts. He shot out another web, swinging up to the roof of a nearby building. He'd stopped carrying his phone during patrolling when everyone he cared about forgot him, but he'd just started again. MJ and he had exchanged numbers and they'd been talking or texting each other constantly.
MJ: Did you get the waiter job?
PP: I think so. They said they'd let me know by tomorrow. How'd the calculus test go?
MJ: Aced it, thanks to those tips you gave me. I owe you.
Deliciously warm thoughts flooded his head at her words. He couldn't help grinning under his mask.
PP: I'm sure I can think of a few ways you could pay me back.
MJ responded with a winky emoji.
Peter texted back a heart-eyed emoji before typing, I'll stop by the shop tonight.
You better! she answered. Then she emoji-waved good-bye.
As he leapt off the building to continue his patrol, he contemplated just how he was going to tell MJ about their tangled past and his extracurricular activities.
XXXXXXX
Michelle slipped her phone back into her pocket then hurried out of the back room before her coworker could gripe that she took too long. She went through the motions of pouring coffee and serving donuts, but her thoughts stayed squarely on Peter.
Her love for him wrapped around her like a cozy blanket she'd lost, but had discovered anew. She didn't understand why all of this felt so familiar when she hadn't even met Peter until a couple of months ago. One day she planned to talk all of this out with him, but something else about this situation weighed on her mind.
How does she tell him that she knows he's Spider-Man?
She assumes he'll be protective of his secret identity, but she didn't like the idea that he might deny it. That he might lie to her, even try to gaslight her to make her think her evidence is suspect. If he does that, it could ruin her developing feelings for him. It made her very nervous to broach the subject, but she couldn't keep pushing those concerns away forever.
"Hey, spacey, you listening to me?"
Michelle looked up, suddenly realizing her coworker had been talking to her. "Sorry, what did you say?"
The woman with bright red hair rolled her eyes. As the daughter of the owner who acted as if she personally owned the place, she hadn't been overly welcoming when Michelle started. Since then, she'd either ignored Michelle or bossed her around. Shifts with her made Michelle consider looking for a different job. Luckily, her other coworkers rocked.
"I'm leaving. My dad says you can handle closing." She made a face as if she doubted such a statement. "Don't forget to mop." With those parting words, she strutted out the door.
Michelle breathed a sigh of relief. Other than the two customers left sipping coffee and scrolling on their phones, she had the place to herself. Plus, Peter was supposed to show up soon. She started getting the mop bucket ready.
Within a couple minutes, the two customers departed, one silently and the other with a gracious wave. Michelle stepped into the back room to grab the mop. Before she could get back to the front, the little bell above the door chimed.
Her heart leapt with anticipation at seeing Peter. She rushed out to the front, ready to throw her arms him. She stopped short at the gun pointed in her face.
"Cash, now!" The guy behind the gun bellowed at her. His body twitched involuntarily, making Michelle terrified the finger on the trigger might twitch too. "Hurry up!"
With a gasp, she ran over to the cash register. Her mind frantically whirled trying to figure out a way to disarm this guy without getting her head blown off. Fear tightened around her as she couldn't think of any way to stop this guy. She opened the drawer.
The guy scrambled over the counter, shoving her out of the way. She landed hard on her ass, wincing. Then she watched with wide eyes as he laid the gun down next to the register and crammed fistfuls of bills into his pockets. With him distracted, she slowly inched her hand towards the silent alarm under the counter.
He whirled around in her direction just as her finger pushed the button. "You little bitch!" He grabbed up the gun and aimed it at her head.
Michelle squeezed her eyes closed, knowing this could be her end. Every muscle in her body tensed as the explosion of the gun firing echoed in her ears.
Twack
The bullet whizzed past her face and buried itself in the floor next to her leg. Her eyes flew open in time to watch a web engulf the criminal. His gun sailed out of hand.
"Gah!" he cried out as the web dragged him off his feet and across the room. In seconds, he hung upside-down from the ceiling, completely incapacitated.
Spider-Man flipped off the ceiling, landing lightly on the floor next to her. He held out his hand to her. "Are you alright?"
Michelle easily recognized Peter's voice. Her heart pounded seeing him as Spider-Man, whole again after his injury. An injury that would have killed anyone else.
"I think so," she answered as she slipped her hand into his gloved one. Sirens grew louder, a response to her tripping the silent alarm. They would have been too late to save her if not for Spider-Man.
He pulled her up and she leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Thank you! Thank you!" Then, fully aware of her conscious, would-be killer on the other side of the room, she whispered in his ear, "Come back to me when this is all over."
He pulled back, starring at her. She couldn't read his expression with the mask on but intensity radiated from him. After a beat, he nodded slightly. Then he headed to the door as police cars screeched to a halt just outside. As he pushed through to the outside, he yelled out, "I got him wrapped already. He's all yours, fellas!"
"Thanks, Spidey! Good to see you up and about. Me and boys were worried 'bout ya." Michelle recognized him as one of the officers that had been at the bank robbery with Rhino.
"All good here," Spider-Man answered. Then he waved, shot out a web and took off into the night sky.
XXXXXXX
Peter perched on the building across from the Peter Pan Donut and Pastry shop. He watched as the police detached his webbing from the ceiling, smirking as the perp who'd shot at MJ crashed to the floor. He saw them handcuff and lock him in the back of a squad car, which took off to the station. It amused him to see how animated MJ got when describing the incident to the investigator, even though he couldn't hear her words. He waited as her boss arrived, letting the police leave. It irked him that he only stayed long enough to count the money returned to the register and leave MJ alone to lock up. She shouldn't be alone after that trauma, although he knew she was waiting for him. All the lights blinked out except a lone one shining out from the back room.
Now
He swung down the ground and found the door to be unlocked. He stepped inside and locked it behind him. Then he walked to the back room, finding her leaning against the cluttered desk.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey," he answered, a touch of awkwardness in his voice. He realized this was it. The moment of truth. She deserved to know everything. "MJ, I have to tell you something."
She held up her hand. "Wait, I have to tell you something first. I know who you are."
Instead of responding, he reached up and pulled off the mask. His eyes searched hers and found no surprise there. "You do."
She ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck like she'd done before. She kissed him on the lips, short and sweet. Then she pulled him into a tight embrace.
He wrapped his arms around her. "I wanted to tell you. I was worried I was being selfish, that maybe you'd be better off without the craziness that being part of my world brings."
"Oh, Peter. Don't ever think that. I know there's more between us than what's happened in the past couple months. I have all these feelings I can't explain, but the memories flee whenever I search my brain for them."
Peter released her, taking a step back. "I'll tell you everything! I made you a promise and I'm going to keep it. I can tell you right now if you want."
"No!" MJ shouted, holding out her hand to stop him.
Peter tilted his head. "No?"
"Not enough time because I want to hear every teeny, tiny, little detail. But the police called my dad to come get me so he's going to show up in minutes. He's also going to be in a foul mood that my boss left me here alone."
"Yeah, that was a real dick move," Peter confirmed.
MJ stepped back into his space, hovering close to him. "Tomorrow evening, I am bringing pizza to your place and you will spill your guts to me. Got it?"
"Got it," he squeaked, sounding like his voice had before it changed. Then he cleared his throat and said it again, this time in a much deeper voice. "Got it."
MJ laughed, then grabbed the back of his head to pull him into a fiercely passionate kiss.
The End
