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Chapter Thirty-Three

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The rain was freezing, making his suit cling tight to his body in an uncomfortable manner that had him itching to get out of it. Which was why he was glad that he was able to head back home now - where warm, dry clothes were calling his name.

Peter had just received the news that Adrian Toomes voluntarily returned himself to prison. He saw it on the Mega Screen in Times Square - completely flabbergasted to see The Vulture casually stroll up to the prison entrance as though he hadn't a care in the world… He could only wonder at what this elusive 'errand' was that Toomes felt the need to break out of prison for, but Peter was glad that it was over and done with.

There was something about Adrian Toomes that made Peter uneasy. Perhaps it's because he was Spider-Man's first major villain. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that he knew Peter's secret identity and could choose to blow the lid off of everything whenever he wanted.

Yeah… Peter would be lying if he said that he wasn't breathing a bit easier knowing that The Vulture was behind bars, once again. And with additional security this time.

It wasn't long before he made it back to his apartment building and opened the window with his sticky fingers to his bedroom. He crawled in and whipped the uncomfortably wet mask off of his head, feeling his unruly hair stick up in all sorts of directions in the process.

But instead of immediately changing into fresh clothes, Peter marched to his bedroom door and opened it.

"May?" He called out, stepping out into the hall. Ever since the night that he found her bound and gagged, he always made sure to check on her as soon as he returned to the apartment. It may be a bit impractical but it helped to put his mind at ease.

Peter found her in the kitchen, cooking some banana pancakes. They smelled delicious. Aunt May looked up at him with a smile before it faltered somewhat at the sight of him. "You're dripping water everywhere, Pete!" She scolded as she grabbed a towel and stepped forward to wipe up the puddle of dripping water that lay at his feet. She began to shoo him back to his bedroom. "Go and get out of that thing before I have to go get a mop bucket!"

Peter couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he put his hands up in an appeasing manner. "Okay, okay! I'm going. Just wanted to check up on you."

She rolled her eyes at him but he managed to catch sight of the small, affectionate smile that she directed his way as he backed away toward his bedroom door, which he entered and closed behind him.

He heard a knock at the front door but thought nothing of it as the sound of May getting up to answer it made its way to his ears.

But what he heard as soon as the door opened made him pause.

It was Mary Jane.

Immediately, longing blossomed in his chest. He hadn't seen her in over a week, not since the night of the party where when he last saw her, she was nearly passing out on her feet. Judging by the light tone in her voice, she was doing much better now which honestly settled the worry that he had inside of himself for her. He was glad to see that she was already moving on past what her father had done.

"Oh," He heard Aunt May say in a contrite tone, "He's still sleeping, Mary Jane."

She was looking for him? Well as soon as he was changed and ready for the day, he would make sure to knock on her door to see what she wants. But also to check and make sure if she really was doing better after the party… or if it was just a mask that she was wearing.

"Perfect!" He heard as Mary Jane's response, her tone indicating that it really was the best thing in the world, "I'll just go wake him up."

Peter's eyes widened as he looked down at the soaked Spider-Man suit that he was still wearing. He could hear the footsteps already making their way toward his bedroom door. His aunt tried to stop her, but Mary Jane seemed to be undeterred.

Shit!

Peter hastily hit the spider-emblem on his chest to loosen the fabric surrounding his body. In a split-second, he stepped out of the baggy fabric and bunched it up in a ball of sopping wetness as he threw it in the nearly empty hamper in his open closet - hoping that it was enough for it to be kept hidden away from Mary Jane's eyes.

The doorknob turned and Peter was suddenly struck by the implications of his new predicament. He was very nearly naked, only wearing his damp boxer briefs while the rest of his body was dripping wet. But it was too late now…

The door opened and there stood Mary Jane. Her eyes widened as she took him in. He could only imagine the sight that was his current state - a manic look in his eyes, wet hair standing on end, and wearing his underwear as his only claim to modesty… he felt a blush form on his cheeks, combating against how cold his body felt from just being outside.

They stared at one another in tense silence for a moment, where Peter felt like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. How could he even begin to explain this? But then, both of her brows rose as she surveyed him - just before she opened her mouth and said, "Wow, Tiger… looks like I hit the jackpot."

Peter nearly choked, sputtering out a cough as his fist hit at his chest, trying to get a fresh breath of air in. As he did this, he watched as her eyes started to dance in amusement as she observed his reaction.

Ah… so she was teasing him again. Trying to get a rise out of him and his hilarious reactions. Well, she most definitely succeeded on that front.

When he managed to clear his throat enough, he gave her a pointed look. "Very funny, Red. Go ahead and laugh at my expense. I'll just stand here and die of embarrassment."

She opened her mouth to respond when May walked up behind her. He saw the relief in her eyes to see that he wasn't actually in his Spider-Man suit. But she still laid her hands on Mary Jane's shoulders and pointedly said, "We'll leave you to dress, sweety."

And she led Mary Jane away as his Aunt May very definitively closed the door behind them.

Peter released a breath and ran a hand down his face. Ugh, how mortifying.

But then he shook the feelings away, not wanting to have them linger in his mind for the rest of the day as he turned about the room, looking for something to wear.

He ended up choosing a sweatshirt and some jeans. He had been looking forward to a pair of nice baggy sweatpants while on his swing home, but his body couldn't be trusted in such loose fabric while in the company of Mary Jane... He could risk an accidental boner that would be so entirely obvious in specific types of clothing - a possibility that he could easily see happening. Especially since he already noticed the tight leggings that she was wearing today… He swallowed against the imagery in his thoughts, pushing them away.

When he dressed, he walked out of the bedroom, resolving to just forget the entire embarrassing ordeal and put it behind him. Mary Jane hadn't even bothered to mention the wet state that she found him in, so he wouldn't either. He was terrible at making up lies and excuses, anyways… Peter came out into the kitchen to see Mary Jane sitting at the kitchen island with a plate of banana pancakes in front of her. His stomach growled. He didn't eat before his early morning excursion outside today.

Both May and Mary Jane looked up at him with a smile as he approached the other stool beside Mary Jane. May immediately plated two pancakes for him and set it in front of him with a glass of orange juice. His mouth was watering. "Thanks, May."

As he reached for the syrup that was placed by Mary Jane, he smiled over at her and asked, "How's it going, Red?"

She speared her fork in the fluffy pancakes as Peter drenched his own in the sugary goodness. "I've been managing. Every day gets easier, you know?"

His smile fell as he nodded seriously at her. He wondered at how she was doing since her smoke inhalation and the reality that her father is now in a high-security prison. That wasn't something that most people could just brush off as no big deal. He now suddenly wished that he could have been there for her this week, to help her manage as it got easier every day…

'Damn you, Adrian Toomes,' He thought to himself as he set down the bottle of syrup.

She saw the slight pucker of worry at his brow and waved her hand in the air at him. "Pshh. But that wasn't why I came over this morning, so let's not talk about that. I wanted to see if you were free today? My Aunt Anna is out and I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place to watch a movie?"

Peter took the time to stuff his mouth full with a bite of pancakes, chewed, and then swallowed. He grinned over her way and nodded. If she needed company, he was more than willing to provide it. "Sounds good to me. It's the perfect day to hunker down inside."

His head indicated to the storm outside and Mary Jane nodded in agreement. "Good! I wasn't really giving you much choice in the matter, anyways." She replied saucily with an added wink his way before she took the last bite on her plate.

How was it that she was able to disarm him with such simple actions?

"Well, I for one am glad that the two of you hit it off and became such good friends," May said as she grabbed the empty plate from Mary Jane. The sly grin that his aunt was trying to hide told him that she was trying to play matchmaker again. It was pretty telling that she wasn't objecting to the idea of the two of them alone together in Mary Jane's apartment. Was she hoping that something would happen? If that's the case, then she was going to be sorely disappointed. "For so long it was just Peter and Ned."

Or… maybe not and she was actually trying to sabotage him by making him out to be a loser with only one friend?

Mary Jane hummed and looked thoughtful. "Well, to be fair, I didn't really have many friends before either. The girls at my old school didn't like me very much."

Aunt May rolled her eyes. "It was the same for me when I was still in school…" Then she muttered under her breath just as he was taking a drink of his orange juice, "Jealous bitches."

Peter choked in laughter with his mouth full of the juice, it very nearly came out of his nose. He hastily swallowed and continued to laugh as Mary Jane joined in.

"I knew that I liked your aunt for a reason, Peter," She said in-between giggles.

Peter. She called him Peter again. A flush of pleasure crawled up from his neck at the sound of it spilling out of her lips. He squashed the feeling and stuffed his face with the remaining amount of pancakes left before downing the rest of his juice. Then he turned to Mary Jane and clapped his hands together. "Ready?"

Mary Jane nodded as she stepped down from the stool. "Thanks again for breakfast, May."

"Anytime, sweetheart," May told her, a speculative gleam in her eye as she glanced back and forth between the two of them. Peter shot her a warning look behind Mary Jane's back as he got down from his own stool and walked with Mary Jane to the front door. A last glance back at his aunt told him that she was unapologetic to say the least.

….

They debated back and forth over what movie to watch. Immediately, they both agreed to steer clear of any potential sad films, documentaries, and after a bit of a debate - horror. They finally settled on the idea that a light-hearted superhero flick was the best sort of medicine to get through the dreary day - and agreed on the classic Christopher Reeve's 1978 'Superman' since it was available on streaming.

They both sat down on the couch, and Mary Jane could have slapped herself for sitting down first because Peter chose to sit on the opposite end from where she was sitting… and it was too late for her to scoot closer to him without making Peter uncomfortable by the deliberate action. He kind of reminded her of some sort of woodland animal… that if she moved too fast in his direction, he would get skittish and bolt. She couldn't risk that and resolved to take her time with him and be patient. This was the first step in spending quality time with him as Peter and Mary Jane, rather than him dressed as Spider-Man. Sooner or later, he would start to relax around her. Right?

Mary Jane pointed the remote at the T.V. and pressed play. The iconic music of the opening started its sweet overtone and Mary Jane took the chance to peek over at Peter - hoping that the familiarity of the music would ease the tension in him. One look at him told her that he was sitting on edge.

When the opening scene on Krypton began and they watched as Jor-El and Lara sent their only son to earth to escape the destruction of their planet, she started to notice that Peter had started to settle back into the couch a bit.

By the time Superman was discovered by the Kents and was outrunning a train, Mary Jane discovered - to her utter delight - that Peter liked to talk during movies. Which she didn't mind at all since she had seen this movie about a dozen times already and the whole point of inviting Peter over was to prove to him that they could be good together. That couldn't be accomplished sitting in silence.

"I wonder what it would be like if Superman was real and was a part of the Avengers?" Peter began, a wondrous and musing tone to his voice as he posed the question aloud.

Mary Jane looked over at him and a growing grin came to her lips. "Well… you know Mr. Stark better than I do. And he technically is one of the founding members of the Avengers. How do you think he would react?"

Peter paused and thought for a moment, before his features twisted and he burst out laughing. "Honestly? They would probably clash. Superman would always be lecturing about truth and justice and Tony would just roll his eyes at him before replying back with something snarky."

Mary Jane laughed as well. She could picture that, with her perception of Mr. Stark from his media appearances as well as the minimal interactions that she had with him in real life. "So Superman would be another embodiment of Captain America?"

Peter sobered for a second at the mention of the Captain before he shook his head and sent a small smile her way. "Nah. I don't think that Captain America is as much of a stick-in-the-mud as people think. He did defy the government he is named after for what he believed in, which I can't really see Superman doing."

Mary Jane nodded, bit her lip, before she couldn't help but ask, "Have you ever gotten the chance to meet him? Captain America?"

Peter froze at this as his eyes widened. "Wha- No! I, uh, I wish! I've just heard Tony mention him a few times in passing, is all."

How had she ever been fooled by him before if this was how he lied? She reflected on this in the brief moment of silence that followed as they turned their attention back to the screen. Was she really so self-absorbed that she mistook Peter's terrible lying skills as nervousness by being around her? That was the only conclusion that she was able to come up with that excused her lack of notice to the truth before.

She tuned in her focus back on the movie and watched as Clark Kent threw the crystal into the icy snow in order to create his Fortress of Solitude. With a smirk, she turned to Peter and remarked, "Does it bother you? The scientific inaccuracies in the movie?"

Chuckling, Peter shook his head, "You mean the fact that at the end of the movie Superman reverses the rotation of the earth just by flying to turn back time? No, it doesn't bother me. It's all just fantasy."

Morphing her face in mock-outrage, she exclaimed, "Way to spoil the end of the movie, Tiger! You know, there's a special place in Norway for people like you."

He whipped his whole body toward her, his face shocked. "Wha- I thought that you saw this movie before?"

She only giggled at him in response before he sputtered and shook his head at her as he muttered, "Always teasing me…"

Mary Jane nodded her head eagerly in agreement with this statement as she stood from the couch. "I'm going to make some popcorn. You want anything to drink, Peter?"

She paused and looked back at him over her shoulder. He swallowed before he nodded and said, "Yeah, water is fine, thanks."

With that, she left him on the couch and made her way to the kitchen - popping a bag of popcorn in the microwave before turning to the fridge and grabbing two bottled waters. Once the two minutes passed, Mary Jane extracted the bag of popped corn, opened the bag and put it in a singular, large bowl. It suddenly struck her how genius this was. When she returned, she would have to sit closer to him in order to share the bowl, right? Grinning, Mary Jane turned back to the living room and plopped down on the couch right beside him as she simultaneously put the bowl onto Peter's lap as she handed him a water bottle. He seemed surprised by her close proximity but didn't say anything as his hand mindlessly went into the bowl to grab a handful of the kernels - apparently, the snack was a valid enough excuse for her to manage to get away with this. She mentally patted herself on the back for her victory as she grabbed a handful of her own of the snack.

As they watched, they each made trivial comments about the movie that didn't really lead to any deeper discussion, until-

"I just don't understand why Superman doesn't tell Lois that he is Clark Kent," Mary Jane commented, not really understanding the implication of her statement until it had already passed her lips. She saw Peter freeze next to her and slowly turn his head to face her. His eyes were wide.

"W-What makes you say that?" Peter stuttered, nervously.

Frozen herself, Mary Jane's mind whirred with all of the possibilities that this conversation could lead to. They could discuss his rationale behind the idea of a secret identity without outright discussing his own.

"Well…" She began, timid all of a sudden as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. "I mean, if he really loved her, he would tell her the truth, right?"

Peter took a moment to consider her words, really soaking them in. All the while, Mary Jane waited on bated breath for his response. "Huh. I mean, are they really in love, though? I always took Lois' feelings as infatuation for Superman more than anything."

Mary Jane flinched. If he was actually referring to the two them in the same way that she was rather than the actual fictional characters, then… that hurt. A lot. But she tried not to let it show. Did he really undermine her feelings like that? Was that what he was really thinking when she had confessed her feelings to him as Spider-Man? That she had been merely infatuated and in awe of his superhero status? Was that why it had been so easy for him to brush her off and not think any deeper for her in return?

He waited for her response now and she inhaled a shaky breath before replying quietly, "I don't think that you give Lois Lane enough credit."

Peter considered this and then shrugged, not responding to her comment at all. He now seemed to be deep in thought as they both were now no longer paying much attention to the movie.

About five minutes had passed while Mary Jane was mentally kicking herself. This was not the direction that she had wanted spending time with him to go. She wanted to just spend the day with him, cause him to smile after the stressful week the both of them had. She racked through her brain, trying to think of a way to resolve this sudden tension between them. A plan formulated in her mind as she considered one thing that she knew about Peter Parker to be true - he appreciated random discussion.

So, it was as Lex Luthor put the Kryptonite necklace around Superman's neck and pushed him in the pool, Mary Jane decided it was now or never…

"Tell me, what is one of the most annoying things that you can't stand?" She blurted out at him, bouncing up onto her knees on the couch to fully face him. The sudden nervous energy she felt brewing inside was almost overwhelming.

He turned to look at her in surprise for a moment, before his features softened to curious amusement. "Why do you ask that?"

Mary Jane scoffed and mock rolled her eyes at him. "Because you're the most easy-going guy ever and I just want to know what makes you tick."

'In more ways than one…' She thought to herself as her eyes took a quick sweep of his body, now knowing what lay underneath that clothing.

Peter considered this and thought for a moment. "Well… I'm not sure if this counts but I can't stand eating fuzzy fruits."

"What?" Mary Jane laughed, dubious. It certainly wasn't the answer that she was expecting from him. Then again, Peter didn't have a single mean bone in his body.

"Yeah," Peter clarified, his hands starting to get animated the further the discussion continued. It seemed like the awkwardness of their last topic choice was behind them. "Like peaches or kiwi. I hate it. Makes my skin crawl."

Mary Jane laughed at the look of disgust on his face as she shook her head at him in mock pity. "You're right. That doesn't count. I'm looking for a pet peeve of yours that makes you genuinely throw your arms up in frustration - if that is even possible for you."

Peter laughed, his gorgeous brown eyes dancing with amusement at that statement. "It is, I swear! Just let me think…" He twisted his mouth and looked up at the corner of his eye. The expression was so adorable. Then he brightened and looked straight at her. "I'm a fast walker, right? I rarely, if ever, walk slowly. I get so annoyed when I get stuck behind a crowd that is moving turtle-pace. And don't even get me started on when they just randomly stop in the middle of the hall or on the sidewalk. I nearly always almost run into them."

She couldn't help but admire his passion for his hatred of this specific pet peeve. Though, it didn't surprise her. Peter was so chock full of energy all of the time that she could easily see slow-walking people to be a frustration for him. In a way, she was kinda proud of him for actually seeing some negative qualities that people could carry. She would hate to one day see someone take advantage of Peter's kindness and ability to see the good in people…

"Ugh, you're right," Mary Jane agreed, "That is the worst. Mine is that I hate when people on the bus or the subway listen to things on their phone on speakers rather than using headphones."

Peter perked up at this and turned to fully face her on the couch. "I hate that too!" He nearly cried with his hands out in front of his body as if to amplify this. "They should seriously make it illegal or something."

Now that was an idea, wasn't it? Then an amusing thought came to her and she couldn't help sharing it with him. "Would that be classified as one of the strange laws you're fascinated by?"

Peter was all seriousness as he didn't even take a moment to consider as he was shaking his head. "Absolutely not. It would be totally justified in my mind." Then he paused and added, "I also hate it when people go out of their way to one-up your story."

Mary Jane giggled. "You've got another one, huh? I'm a terrible influence on you. And here I thought you always looked at the world through rose-colored glasses."

"Of course not," Peter deadpanned, "Those glasses would look ridiculous on me."

They both laughed.

"The one-up story thing is really annoying," She agreed as they finally both calmed down a bit. The movie was now completely forgotten.

Peter grinned triumphantly. "See? Tell me another one of yours. This is fun."

Mary Jane didn't even need time to consider. She thought about these things a lot. "When people spit on the sidewalks. It's really disgusting."

She shivered at the amount of germs that littered the streets of New York. She was most certainly an avid hand-washer, that was for sure.

"Which is why I'm glad that we wear shoes…" Peter agreed, his own face mirroring her disgust.

"You know that I love my shoes, Tiger," Mary Jane laughed after she said this with a dramatic flourish in her voice.

And so, they went back and forth, revealing all of the things that they hated. Peter went on to tell her that he hated when he lends someone something and they just never give it back. Which in turn, she told him that she found the sound of styrofoam rubbing up against styrofoam to be grating to her nerves. Peter then responded that he couldn't stand it when random people get really close in his personal space to talk to him - especially if they have nasty breath. And finally, Mary Jane responded with, "I hate when people seriously think that they are this hotshot and walk around acting like they are some sort of big deal."

Peter pursed his lips, a sly look to his eyes, "Oooohhh. See… I think that I'm actually guilty of that one." He teased.

Mary Jane pushed his shoulder as she replied, "I knew that there was something about you that I couldn't stand!"

They both fell over in laughter, very nearly leaning on one another to stay upright as the movie credits began to roll.

Overall, she counted the day as a success as they settled down. Mary Jane didn't want him to leave just yet, so she suggested that he go get his homework and bring it over so that they could work on it together. In the end, this was a smart move on her part because she was struggling on her Chemistry assignment and Peter was more than willing to help her out with it - with no judgment in his eyes as he calmly tried to explain to her the chemical formulas for ionic compounds that include a polyatomic ion. She knew that he was smarter than her but she was glad that he was teaching her gently rather than rubbing it in and speaking in a way that she wouldn't understand. Overall, he was a really good teacher - and she also appreciated how close he got to her while looking over her paper.

Yes. The day was most certainly a success.

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A/N: Finally an entire chapter devoted to just Peter and Mary Jane, right? Please leave a comment/review! Thanks so much for reading the story.

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