Mary Jane looked at her classmates the next morning, a small grin playing at her lips as they gushed out the latest in Midtown High School.
"Peter Parker! He's amazing! He blew off Kevin Hayes. Kevin Hayes!"
"Nuh uh, no way. Not Puny Parker, he couldn't blow off a fly."
"I swear it's true, I saw it."
"What did Kevin do?"
"Well he got really mad right? And he was charging at Peter, but Peter was cool as a watermelon. He just stepped aside!"
MJ rolled her eyes at that. Sometimes she wondered why she spent her time with people who considered life to be the mall and boys and couldn't get a simple phrase right.
"Cool as a cucumber." She spoke up. The chatter around her stopped as her friends looked at her.
"What?"
"The phrase is cool as a cucumber, not cool as a watermelon."
"Oh... right. Whatever." A bit annoyed her story and spotlight was being taken away, Amanda kept right on with her story.
"So Peter looked around right? And then Kevin actually mentioned you MJ, said something like 'What are ya doin' with a girl like Mary Jane?' Then Peter got all defensive and he said you two were dating. And I was like yeah in that nerd's DREAMS. But then that was before Peter totally kicked Kevin's butt without even laying a punch. And then when Kevin wouldn't leave him alone he tried to gently push him away but Peter was so strong Kevin landed on the lockers!"
"Wow." The girls around Mary Jane sighed out in unison and MJ looked around uneasily.
"He is so hot."
Mary Jane sat up straight. These girls had hated Peter's guts only a few minutes ago! They thought he was a nerd and they had made his life miserable. They were the ones who laughed when their boyfriends threw a punch at Peter or spread rumors about him.
"Oh, have you guys noticed his muscle lately? I never saw it before but ooh I don't know how I missed it! I'd like to see that boy in the bedroom!"
With that Mary Jane rose up, furious.
"Shut up! Just Shut. Up." They all turned to her again. Some looking confused, a few glaring at her with knowing contempt.
"You guys HATED Peter Parker only ten minutes ago! What's the sudden attraction huh? You all claim to have 'finally seen the light,' well you know what? That's bullshit. You guys just like him because he's finally in his well deserved moment of glory! How many times have you laughed at him? Huh? How many times have you encouraged people to punch him. Punch him! Has he done ANYTHING to you but be nice? Has he ever given you any reason at all to question his character or his personality? No. He hasn't. And he never will because Peter Parker is too good a person to do that to someone. He's too good a person to stoop down to your level! And there's no way any of you are going to hurt him. Not when you have so much already. I don't know what I saw in you guys in the first place anyways."
With all that said and done Mary Jane walked away, her head burning but her heart feeling lighter.
She sadly realized that she had lost almost all her friends but was heartened when she remembered their comments and she knew they never really were her friends in the first place...
And she still had Peter... That itself made everything worth it.
........
Mary Jane and Peter pulled up in Uncle Ben's car to a small park. It was late, almost 10:30 and they had just gone to catch a movie and dinner. Peter idled the engine and looked over at Mary Jane. MJ had been a bit out of it all day.
"MJ?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you trying so hard not to tell me?"
The question took Mary Jane by complete surprise. She didn't think he had noticed the slight daze she had been in all night. Nobody else would have. She began to wonder if those spider skills gave him better perception as well.
"It's not... really anything...actually. I mean, it is something of course. Everything is something right?" Mary Jane silently cursed herself. She was babbling and she could tell by the hurt look on Peter's face that he was upset that she was having such a hard time trusting him.
"I trust you Peter." She finally blurted out.
It was Peter's turn to look surprised. He gave her a slight smile. "I trust you too MJ, and look I'm sorry I was so direct, you don't have to tell me what's wrong if you don't want to."
Again MJ one of the reasons Mary Jane loved Peter so much was flung in her face.
"No Pete," She grabbed his hand and traced designs on the inside of his palm.
"I want to tell you. It's just kind of... sudden? I'm not sure that's the right word but anyways in drama this morning all the girls were just sitting around talking..."
Peter put his other hand on top of hers, willing her to continue with a soft squeeze of his hand.
"And so they were talking about..." She sighed as it all came back to her. "They were talking about you, and about how you stood down Kevin." She gave him a slight grin. "Which, Peter, I've been meaning to thank you for. He gives me the creeps." Peter tried to smile lightly at that but he shivered slightly as he remembered the glint in Kevin's eye has he talked about MJ.
"But back to drama, they were talking about the fight between you and Kevin and they started... they started... well... they were... talking about how hot you were and how... how they'd like to have you in bed."
With that Mary Jane could see Peter's face turned red even in the dark car. She hastily continued.
"And something inside me snapped Pete, because they were the ones who made your life hell. God it just made me so mad. So I blew up at them. And I'm glad I did it, I wouldn't have traded the looks on their faces for anything..." She looked down at her and Peter's entwined hands with a bittersweet smile on her face. "I just... I don't know, I've been the party girl for so long, now that I'm not... it's just... different you know?"
MJ looked up into Peter's face, hoping he wasn't angry or upset with her revelation. Instead she saw only concern and love in his blue eyes as he gently picked her hand up and put it to his lips for a moment.
"Yeah I know MJ. I can't believe you did that for me." He looked her in the eyes for a moment before they flickered back down to his hands.
"Mary Jane, you've been the only person so far who's actually liked me... for me. You saw through all that before I got these crazy powers. You're the only constant in my life. I've gotten through everything because of you MJ... Thank you."
He pulled Mary Jane's head closer to him and their lips met for a moment in a sweet kiss. It wasn't a rough kiss like Flash would have given, MJ reflected. It was just untainted emotion. They pulled apart for a moment before kissing again. She loved how Peter kissed. There was something pure about it, something that made the not so godly act seem completely approved of.
When they finally pulled apart again, MJ rested her head on Peter's shoulder.
"I love you." She murmured into his soft shirt.
He kissed the top of her head.
"I love you too."
...........
A couple yards away Kevin Hayes crouched low in the trees. His eyes were reduced to slits as he saw the shadow of his Mary Jane kiss the shadow of Peter Parker. He pulled out his camera and snapped a quick picture. Even MJ's shadow was beautiful. Photography was one of his secret great loves and he could sneak into the school's darkroom whenever he wanted to develop his pictures. He was upset about Peter's shadow being in the picture but he sighed and accepted the fact. He could pretend Peter's shadow was his own and that he, Kevin Hayes was the one that Mary Jane was so furiously kissing...
..............
Alright, sorry if this chapter was a bit... off. I tried to put some more romance in here since the last chapter was a bit dry. Sorry if it came off too mushy, just wanted to portray how much they cared for each other and respected each other's feelings. And anyways had to get Kevin in here sometime right?
Well thanks again for the great reviews and particularly to Nathoron Ehud Nertrender for her insightful reviews.
-LLL