"You dreamed about...spiders?" Realization dawned on Mary Jane too. "So the... spider bite? That has to be it! What were they talking about again Peter? At the lab? I tried, but you know that stuff isn't really my thing, I couldn't follow most of it."
Peter scrunched up his brow, thinking back. "They were talking about genetically combined 'super spiders.' They basically took all the best techniques and adaptations that spiders have and tried to put them into some of these super spiders. And MJ..." He stopped, the enormity of the situation hitting him. "One of those 15 spiders was missing."
Mary Jane looked at him, her eyes a mix between anguish and shock. "Well... so... If I understand correctly you now have this super spider DNA?"
Peter gulped. "I guess so..."
"Well you're feeling alright? Do you feel bad at all?" She stared him down.
"No, I promise MJ, I feel... better than I have in a long time."
Mary Jane finally allowed her full grin to slide across her face then as she stared at Peter's chest. He followed her gaze and blushed.
"Well Pete, I have to say that this spider bite wasn't too bad was it?"
"No. It wasn't at all." All of a sudden a happy grin came across his face and without warning he lifted her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing and spun her around before bringing her gently back to his arms.
Mary Jane laughed at his exuberance and then marveled at how easy he had picked her up. Nobody could ever say she was even an ounce overweight but she was however strong herself and the muscle had to weigh something.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and listened to his heartbeat. He was still the same Peter, despite everything. He was still blushing when she hugged him and he still seemed to be in a state of shock that they were going out. She shook her head and looked up into his eyes. They seemed to be incredibly bluer without his glasses.
People at school were going to be in for a surprise when they saw Peter Parker...
.........
Kevin Hayes was the kind of guy nobody messed with. It was an established fact to everybody at the medium sized high school in Queens. Kevin dated who he wanted to, left school when he wanted to and picked on nerds when he wanted to.
And Peter Parker was one of his favorites.
Peter was considered one of the biggest nerds in school though nobody actually knew why. Sure he studied too much and was a little dorky looking but there were people like that with lots of friends. Peter was just different. He wasn't that bad looking and he was civil to everybody, but somewhere in the four years that the senior class had known him they just merged him as the ultimate dork and he was branded friendless.
And he took that without question or complaint.
And that was why Kevin Hayes liked to torment him. Kevin could never figure out why Parker never scurried in the hall to avoid him like everybody else did. Peter just took the tripping and insults he threw at him in stride. It angered him and he had been recently trying to make Peter Parker's life a living hell.
But now Kevin was furious.
He hadn't been at Sarah's party but he had heard rumors. And he had heard about Parker and Mary Jane dancing together and her being so defensive about him.
And it burned his heart.
Because well, he had dated a lot of girls and those girls didn't really care about him. At all. They wanted one thing and one thing only. And despite his reputation he hadn't indulged himself very much. Not that the chance hadn't come up, it had. Many times. But he had always found an excuse to leave at that moment and he would go away and pull out the yearbook he had gotten junior year.
Mary Jane Watson.
She was beautiful.
He hadn't told anybody how much he liked her. He had worked long and hard for his rep and he wasn't about to let anybody blow it.
But that Mary Jane came damn close.
He had worked on a project with her freshman year. Back then he was still a shy, scared, somewhat chubby nerd. But Mary Jane had been so nice to him. Mary Jane had done what nobody else would. Mary Jane, the prettiest, most popular girl at school had been his friend for the nine weeks the project required and he had never forgotten it.
And he had fallen in love with her.
He had thought he would never have a chance with her the way he was so he had worked hard to change everything. He worked out and dieted until the excess fat was burned, leaving a leaner, more confident self.
He had tried to win Mary Jane's heart then, but she had gently told him she was going out with someone at the time and that she was sorry. That was sophomore year. Needless to say he hadn't blamed Mary Jane in the slightest. It wasn't her fault she was being brainwashed by nobodies.
The guy however... he was a problem who had to be taken care of. So he was. Kevin had simply knocked him upside the head with his brother's baseball bat. Simple. Easy. He had scared the loser into not telling who had done this to him and it was from the moment on that he had changed. Or so people told him anyways.
He liked the change.
Gone was the nerdy, picked on fat kid.
Now there was a lean, bad boy who rode a motorcycle and who half the female population wanted to date.
Albeit it was the trashier half, but that was okay wasn't it? He was desired and he liked it.
But he had never forgotten Mary Jane.
No, in fact he had been even a bit obsessed. He knew where she lived, he knew about the problems she had with her parents, he knew how her mind worked.
He had been watching her for a long time.
And he had been gathering his courage to ask her out. She would say yes. He knew it. He was cool. No. He was beyond cool. He could sweep her off her feet and they could be together forever. He smiled. He would like that.
His smile melted into a frown. But that wouldn't happen if this twerp Peter Parker kept moving in on his girl. Mary Jane was probably just humoring him. He scoffed at Parker as he moved down the hallway.
Time for payback.
He stepped directly in front of Peter so even the half brain could tell he was talking to him.
"Parker." He scornfully appraised Peter. The bookworm had lost the glasses but Kevin knew he was still the same nerd.
"What do you think you're doing with someone like Mary Jane huh?" Kevin pushed Peter. The solid muscle in Peter's arms unnerved him a little but he shook it off. Peter Parker? Muscle? Yeah right.
........
On the flip side of this fight, if you could call it that, Peter was in a state of shock. He hadn't even budged when Kevin Hayes had pushed him. It felt like a fly ramming into his shoulder.
He shook off the feelings of excitement at his new found strength and then frowned as he took in what Kevin had said.
"What do I think I'm doing with her?" Peter drifted off, remembering the way Mary Jane had said I love you the night before. The thought emboldened him and he stared Kevin in the eye.
"I'm dating her that's what."
Peter saw the unmistakeable fury rise in Kevin's eyes and he suddenly felt afraid. Not for his safety, he was more than sure he could handle Kevin.
For Mary Jane's.
There was something in Kevin's eyes that bothered him. It wasn't just the anger in them... it was something more... a tiny glint of something.
Something that looked a bit like insanity.
Peter stopped his train of thoughts as a punch came, almost in slow motion. He quizzically looked at the fist that was moving so slowly and stepped back, avoiding it completely. He looked around. Everything was slowed. He saw people's faces look almost comical as their mouths moved slowly, no sound coming out. As soon as Peter was out of the way of the fist the slow motion stopped. It was like some kind of a pre-warning.
Just like the lady at the museum had said. Spiders had a precognition bordering on almost psychic.
Oh man.
He dodged another punch, his mind still whirring. Then another. Then another. A small crowd had formed around them, and Peter could hear their hushed whispers and see the shock on their faces as puny Parker dodged punches that came from the fastest, meanest bully in school.
Peter was getting tired of this. He was going to be late for his science class and he never was one of Mr. Tribini's favorites. Peter stopped one of the slow motion punches with his hand and lowered the hand back to the side of it's owner.
"Hey listen, I'd love to stay and dodge some more punches but I have to get to class alright? Catch you later."
He tried to walk past him but Kevin jumped back in front of him, panting heavily and snarling like a dog.
Very attractive.
"Listen you think you're all high and mighty 'cause you've been taking gymnastics or something freak. But I went easy on you today. Next time I won't be so forgiving."
Peter rolled his eyes and moved to step away.
Kevin shoved his way back to Peter and pulled him towards him, until their faces were inches apart.
"You have her now twerp. But this isn't over. Mary Jane is mine." He hissed and then tried to throw Peter so he'd fall flat on the floor.
Peter didn't budge.
"Whatever." With that he picked up Kevin by the front of his shirt and lifted him easily off the ground. He threw him gently, although it still sent Kevin into the row of blue lockers.
Peter didn't care, he stalked off seething.
He didn't like that guy. And not for the obvious reasons either. There was something about the way he had talked about Mary Jane... There was something about how he had looked as he spoke her name.
He didn't like any of it. For a moment he wondered if he was being overly protective but then he shrugged it off. Kevin was dangerous and he wouldn't let MJ be hurt by him in any way.
Nothing was going to hurt her. But for right now everything seemed okay.
Later as Peter was holding Mary Jane inside his room he wondered if he had been mistaken earlier. Kevin was just a guy with a crush. Mary Jane pulled Peter's head down to hers and kissed him, leaving Peter with no doubt that there was one thing he and Kevin both agreed on. He kissed her back, the experience still taking his breath away and he forgot all about Kevin and everybody else as the world faded and the only two people were himself and Mary Jane.
................
Man sorry for the delay! Had to do a bunch of 4th of July stuff and also I was actually very stressed about this chapter, Peter had his powers, now what? I was just playing around with some ideas when Kevin popped in my head and screamed at me to write him. I'm getting a shaky idea of how I want the rest of the story to go so hopefully I can write the next chapters with less difficulty.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, sorry it wasn't as... romancy as the past ones. I like the romance better, but hey, gotta try and keep a varied crowd and attempt to make this interesting right? Hehe alright thanks again for the reviews!
-LLL