I wrote this scene in first-person perspective for the novel I'm currently working on, Mary Jane's Diary. (Find it on my profile!) I thought it'd be fun to add more detail to it, from a third-person perspective. And this is what I came up with. A little silly, but fun to write. Because Peter and MJ are the cutest couple ever! Please review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Peter or MJ (duh) although I wish I did. REALLY wish I did. All newspaper headlines are taken from the Raimi movies. The song is one of my all-time faves, From This Moment On by Shania Twain (just pieces of it, not the whole thing)
(Check out the medley From This Moment On/You're Still the One. It was so perfect to Peter and MJ that I had to make a music video for them. Especially after that part in No Way Home where Tobey's Peter tells Andrew's Peter that he and MJ are still together. My heart totally melted!)
Mary Jane worked slowly, almost dreamily, as she filled the sink with water and slid the pile of dirty dishes into it. Her mind was not on her work as she mentally ran through her lines for the Broadway show she had started just a week ago. She was still working on getting into her character, getting everything adjusted to fit both her personality and that of the person she was portraying. She picked up a plate and scrubbed it absently, staring out the window at the city skyline. The window was open, a soft late-summer breeze fluttering the curtains. The sounds of traffic and a street musician somewhere beneath drifted up to her. She closed her eyes, humming along with the song, joining it with the words from time to time, for it was one she knew well. One that she loved.
From this moment, life has begun
From this moment, you are the one
Right beside you is where I belong
From this moment on…
I give my hand to you with all my heart
I can't wait to live my life with you
I can't wait to start
You and I will never be apart,
My dreams came true because of you…
You're the reason I believe in love
And you're the answer to my prayers from up above
All we need is just the two of us
My dreams came true because of you…
"Hello, Beautiful."
The voice startled her and her eyes flew open. With a gasp, Mary Jane jumped back and dropped the plate she had been scrubbing. It fell to the floor with a crash, porcelain fragments rolling in every direction.
"Peter Parker!" MJ cried indignantly as she stared through the window at the upside-down mask of Spider-Man. "You scared me half to death!"
He didn't answer at first… couldn't, because he was laughing so hard. Grinning, MJ put her arms around her husband and dragged him bodily through the window. "Now you clean up this mess," she pulled his mask off. "I'm not wearing shoes so I'm not moving from this spot until you do."
"Should've seen your face, MJ," Peter was still laughing. "Thought you'd be used to me popping up randomly by now."
"We've only been married a month," MJ pointed toward the broom, not to be deterred. "It'll take me longer than that."
"What do I need with a broom?" Peter glanced condescendingly toward it. "I'll take care of this in a second." In a lightning-quick movement, he shot a stream of webs towards the shattered fragments, catching them up all at once. "Sorry about that, MJ," he added as he deposited the whole mess into the garbage.
"Well, at least I still have plenty of plates left," MJ sighed ruefully at the pile still left on the counter. "I should wash these more often."
"Nah, all you need is help." Peter pulled off his gloves and found a dish towel.
"Just be sure you don't break any more," MJ warned.
"What… like this?" Without warning, he grabbed a stack of plates, and hurled them at the wall. MJ shrieked and covered her ears, but there was no crash. "There you are," he handed them back to her with a bow.
"Oh you," MJ stifled her laughter as she slapped at him. "Just dry them, okay?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Did you see the newspaper this morning?" MJ attacked the last of the plates rather violently with the scrub brush, eager to be finished. Lowering her voice in a ridiculous but obvious imitation of J. Jonah Jameson, she bellowed "New York Fears Costumed Freak!"
"What?" Peter grimaced. "Costumed freak? I resent that. I don't look like a freak… do I?" He spread his arms out, gesturing at the red and blue costume that he still wore. "J.J. gets a little fanatic at times," he grinned.
"And the newspaper last morning. "Spider-Man Causes Blackout." Seriously. Why on earth would you cause a blackout?"
"Well… that one may be true…" Peter laughed. "Didn't tell you about that one, did I? At least neither of those are as bad as the one that's coming out tomorrow… "Spider-Man: Faux-Friend or Foe-Fiend?" Sheesh! Talk about cheesy. Bet Hoffman came up with that one. Plus, it leaves no room for argument. At least the others are mostly "Hero or Menace" or "Super-Hero or Super-Zero" or something like that." He put the last dish into the cupboard and moved out into the living room. "Hey MJ?" he called back over his shoulder. "Where's the newspaper? I've got to see that article!"
"It's in the trash," MJ yelled back as she drained the sink. "I wasn't going to put up with that thing around the house." She could hear paper rustling as he rummaged through the trash can.
"Found it," he announced. "You could've at least allowed it the dignity of being recycled."
"It didn't deserve it," MJ grinned as she stepped out of the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron before she untied it and tossed it aside. Peter was sitting back in the armchair someone had given them when they announced their wedding, his face buried in the newspaper. It was the largest armchair MJ had ever seen. Large enough for two. With a smile, she went over to him, pushing the newspaper aside as she plopped down on his lap.
"You've been gone since three this morning," she leaned against his shoulder as he turned back to the paper. "How did it go?"
"Pretty average. Robbery at a jewelry store and then a car chase. I didn't get to the store in time. I'd have gotten home sooner, but on the way back there was a fire in an old apartment building. Had to get four people out."
"So four people are alive today that wouldn't be, if it wasn't for you," MJ murmured as she took his hand in hers. "And they call you a costumed freak. Why do you let J. Jonah get by with that?"
"What am I s'posed to do? Web him to the ceiling? Better let him have his fun. Most people don't believe him anyway."
"Well, it's sure rotten of him to act like that," MJ snickered at the mental image of J. Jonah webbed to the ceiling of his office and yelling loud enough to make the building shake. "Especially after you saved his life." She lapsed into silence as Peter read through the article, staring down at his hand. A mischievous grin spread over her face and in a quick motion, she twisted his middle and ring finger down into his palm. Peter jumped in surprise as a webline shot across the room and MJ bent over double laughing. Dropping the newspaper, he grabbed her around the waist and jumped to the ceiling.
"What are you doing?" MJ gasped out between laughs as she dangled precariously above the floor.
"I'm gonna stick you to the ceiling so I can read in peace," Peter grinned, holding her with one hand as he used the other to shoot hundreds of web strands across the room, weaving an intricate and yet larger-than-life spider web in just moments. Depositing her squarely in the middle, he climbed back down, reclining in the chair and pretending to read. Leaning down as far as she could, MJ snatched the paper back up and held it out of reach. He climbed into the web again, lunging for the paper, but she crumpled it into a ball and sailed it out through the open window, triumphantly.
"Now look what you've done," Peter said in mock anger.
"What are you going to do about it, you 'costumed freak'? MJ smirked. She half-expected him to fire a webline after it and get the paper back, but he didn't. Instead he turned on her, holding her down against the web and tickling her until she begged for mercy. Dodging away from him, MJ pushed him over and sat on his chest, holding his hands back above his head.
"Are you threatening me?" Peter grinned as she stared down at him, her head tilted to one side.
"Yes."
"Are you seriously saying you're gonna take on the amazing Spider-Man?"
"Yes." MJ pulled his arms back down, pressing his fingers into his palms and ducked out of the way to avoid the weblines that shot out of his wrists. He pretended to struggle as she wrapped the webbing around his wrists and arms. "Now who's the spider?" she laughed.
"You've got me," Peter admitted defeat.
"Yep. You're stuck." MJ rolled off his chest and lay back on the web beside him, waiting to catch her breath.
"You've got to be kidding me. Trapping me in my own webbing? That's a first. No villain has ever gotten that far."
"So I'm more powerful than any of those monsters, eh?" MJ raised her eyebrows. "Maybe I should've taken on Doc Ock myself."
She jerked her head up suddenly as a knock sounded at the door. She shot a glance toward Peter who hadn't moved, still just laying there with his hands bound by his own webbing. He gave her a crooked grin and shook his head.
"Just be quiet," he whispered. "Maybe they'll go away."
"What if they just walk in?" MJ whispered back, covering her mouth to keep back a laugh as she glanced around the room. The scene was certainly bizarre. The knock came again, louder this time.
"Peter? Mary Jane? Are you home?"
"It's Aunt May," MJ mouthed to Peter. He just grinned wider.
"We'd never get this mess cleared out in time," he whispered. There was a rustling outside the door as if she was setting something down. Then her footsteps echoed back down the hall. MJ burst into an uncontrollable fit of hysterical giggles.
"Just imagine if she'd have walked in and seen us like this."
"That would have been awkward," Peter laughed.
"I can't believe she still doesn't know," MJ sighed as she finally curbed her laughter. She turned and bent over Peter. "You should tell her."
"I don't want her to worry," he murmured, breaking off as MJ pressed her lips to his. He reached up to her face with his webbed hands, pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him until her breath was gone.
"You can break out of that, right?" she glanced down at his hands.
"This? What do you think?" Peter grinned as he snapped the webs effortlessly. His hands free, he pulled her to him again, holding her close. She sighed with contentment, resting her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat beneath the symbol of the spider.
"This almost makes up for you disappearing at three o'clock this morning," she said softly.
"Are you mad at me?"
"Never, Tiger." MJ laughed. "Just as long as you always come back."
"I will. Always."
And he sealed the promise with another kiss.