Spiderman: Home Is Where The Heart Is

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update but thank to everyone who commented and left a Kudo's. You all drive me to keep writing.

Here's Chapter 2, hope you like it!

Michelle Jones has never been and most likely never will be a morning person. Probably because since the age of ten, the number of nights that she fell asleep before midnight didn't even reach double digits. Michelle always stayed up late into the night, reading whatever piece of literature she had delved into and she had long since learned to cope on less than recommended amount of sleep she got.

Her opinion of mornings though had changed over the last four months that she had been dating Peter Parker. One of her favourite parts of the day, was waking up as the sunlight shined through the gap in her curtain, straight upon her and her boyfriend. It was enough to wake her up and she loved laying there comfortably, Peter's arms around her, holding her to his warm chest, as he continued to sleep, nuzzling her neck.

It always had to come to an end, when Peter's alarm went off (7:30 every morning) on his phone and with his super-fast reflexes, rolled over and turned it off. It was probably a trick of her mind, but Michelle could swear her body heat dropped ten degrees as soon as Peter let go of her. Peter was always warm.

"Mmmm, good morning." Peter murmured, pulling her back towards him and placing a soft kiss to her neck."

"Morning loser." MJ groaned, lamenting the end of her peaceful lay in.

"I've gotta get up and go. I forgot, I promised May I'd have breakfast with her this morning before school."

MJ groaned again, "You can go than, I still have time to sleep some more." Peter laughed quietly, letting go of his girlfriend and sliding out of the bed, with too much enthusiasm this early in the morning for MJ, who once again, felt cold at the loss of physical contact. She turned over, painfully, to see the pleasant sight of Peter taking his shirt and sweatpants off. Even through her sleepy eyes, MJ enjoyed the sight.

"Don't sleep in too long," Peter told her, grabbing his Spidey suit off the floor, "Don't wanna be late for school."

"When have I ever been late for school, dork?"

"Fair enough."

Peter pressed the Spidey symbol on his chest and the suit instantly constricted around his body like a second skin. He picked up his mask and leaned down to kiss his girlfriend, who reached up and pulled him down to kiss him passionately.

It didn't last long before she pulled away, "UH, you have disgusting morning breath dweeb. Go brush your teeth."

Peter laughed, standing up and pulling his mask over his head, "Sorry beautiful I'll see you at school."

"Bye." MJ said, rolling over to face away from him. She listened with her eyes closed as he climbed out the window and pulled it back down.

Mornings aren't so bad waking up with Peter Parker.

Peter unlocked the front door to his and May's apartment and walked in, towards the kitchen, a smile on his face. He was really glad his girlfriend agreed to come to dinner at the Avengers compound, tonight with Pepper and Morgan. MJ was one of the strongest people Peter knew, she was always so confident and badass, so Peter was always amused whenever he got see her nervous, but he was glad those nerves wouldn't stop her from coming with him tonight. He loved introducing MJ to the few people he had in his life. It was important to him, that people knew how much MJ meant to him.

"May, I'm home!" He called out, swing his backpack off his shoulder, leaning next to the kitchen counter, "Did you want to make something for breakfast or you wanna go out and grab something?"

As he waited for her reply, he heard a tumbling sound come from down the other hallway where May's room was and before Peter could call out to ask if she was ok, her bedroom door opened, and his Aunt came out in a rush. She was wearing a blue nightgown, her hair was ruffled, and she crossed her arms in front of her.

Peter thought she looked flushed.

"Hey sweetie," May greeted him, looking awkward, "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be walking to school with MJ?"

"Um…." Peter raised his eyebrow at her, confused, "You said you wanted to have breakfast this morning, remember? You told me last night."

"Oh, right!" May exclaimed, in realisation, "That's right…. We were gonna have breakfast together, yes."

"Well, I'll go get dressed and…. We'll go grab something?"

Peter looked at her, weirded out by how awkward she was acting, "Are you ok, May? Is something wrong?"

"What? No, everything fine."

"Are you sure, you're acting really-"

Peter stopped talking at the sound of creaking floorboards, too quiet for May to hear but easy enough for Peter with his enhanced senses. He also clearly heard the whisper, "Can't believe I'm hiding from a teenager." In a voice he knew too well.

He looked back at his Aunt who was still grinning awkwardly at him, arms folded across her chest, in her blue robe, hair disgruntled, and Peter finally realised why she was acting so weird.

"Oh my God!" Peter exclaimed, "I'm such a clueless idiot! How did I not realise…?" He gestured to May and towards her bedroom door at the end of the hallway, that she had very quickly closed.

"I'm SORRY Pete! I completely forgot you were coming home before school this morning!" May told him, smiling embarrassingly, knowing her nephew had caught her out.

"Yeah, I could tell." He replied, embarrassed, "I know you're in there Happy, I can hear you."

May covered her eyes, blushing in embarrassment and at the same time, trying not to laugh. She wasn't someone who was embarrassed easily but this was the first time anything like this had ever happened and she couldn't but find it ironic. This was supposed to be the other way around.

Peter turned around t and grabbed an empty glass off the breakfast bar and filled it up with water from the tap. He chugged it down very quickly, hoping it would cool his face down from blushing. It didn't.

He turned back to May, "You know, you could've told me Happy was coming over last night. I would've come and had lunch with you today instead."

"I'm sorry." May told him again, laughing and moving to lean on the other side of the breakfast bar, "I'd forgotten that Happy was even back in New York yesterday and I hadn't told you yet, that he was…. You know…. Staying over here some nights."

"It's ok with me." He said, shaking his head, "I'd just appreciate a heads up before I come home to…. You know, this."

His Aunt laughed at him, "Yeah, of course, you're right. Happy, get dressed and get out here!" She called down the hallway.

"How did your patrol go last night?" May asked, looking concerned now, "You didn't get hurt too bad, did you?"

"No, I'm fine. Last night was boring, no action at all."

"Good."

"You sound like MJ."

"She's a smart girl." May said, smiling, "She's good for you."

"Yes, she is." Peter said, smiling. He loved that May felt good about him and MJ. It reassured him a lot about their relationship and how strong it was. Peter was only seventeen and he knew most adults would call him an idiot, but he knew what he and MJ had, and he was working up the courage to tell her.

May's bedroom door opened, and Peter watched with an eyebrow raised as his former handler and sort-of work partner walked down the hallway to join him and May in the kitchen. He was wearing his usual black dress suit, accept it was ruffled, the buttons weren't done up properly and he was carrying his jacket and tie under his arm.

"Hey Pete." Happy casually greeted him, trying and failing not to be awkward, "How's it going?"

"Great, Happy." Peter said, "Everything's great."

"Good, good." Happy said, nodding and looking uncomfortable

Peter looked between May and Happy. Happy looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world right now and Peter could tell May was trying not to bust out laughing

He shook his head, this was definitely not how he was expecting his morning to go.

"Ok, let's get this all straightened out." Peter said, waving his arms in front of him, "You two are dating, right?"

May and Happy looked to each other but Peter answered for them before they could, "You're dating."

May began to speak but Peter continued, "Happy spends nights here, when he's in town. I don't have a problem, I'm only here at night on the weekends anyway. As long as I know not come home when ya's are doing…. Whatever…. I'm good, ok?"

May smiled, still trying not to laugh. "Ok, fine. I'll tell you whenever Happy's coming over.

"Thank you."

"Ok, cool." Happy sighed and Peter could tell he was relieved, "I have to go now, I have to get to the compound and make sure everything's alright for Pepper and Morgan." He moved and picked up his car keys of the bench right in front of Peter. "Pepper told me I gotta pick you and your girlfriend up tonight. Am I picking you up from school or….?"

"No." Peter said, "Pick me up from here, later, I'll have to get ready and so will MJ. We'll have to get her from her apartment."

"Ok than, great." Happy glance from Peter to May and back. "I'll see you both this afternoon than."

"Ok, bye."

"I'll walk you out." May told him and followed him towards the front door.

Peter grabbed another glass of water and waited for his Aunt to return. When she did, she was grinning sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I forgot you were coming home this morning."

"Aunt May, really it's ok, it's fine. I just didn't know you and Happy were still seeing each other."

"We are." May told him, looking down, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, that we were still seeing each other."

"It's ok." Peter told her, "But, really, why didn't you?"

May sighed, sitting down on the seat, at the bench, "I don't know. I guess because he's always in and out of town, I don't see him as often as I'd like. But, also, when I realised that I really liked him, I felt bad…." May paused and Peter could now see sadness in her eyes.

"I felt guilty for actually liking him…. I've never actually liked anyone since Ben. I didn't know if you'd be ok with it."

Peter couldn't believe what his Aunt was telling him. 'She thought I'd have a problem with her and Happy?" He thought to himself.

Peter was over the moon months ago when May and Happy had told him they were dating or had a 'summer fling' or whatever they wanted to call it. He was glad to see his Aunt happy with someone again, she was the most loveable person in the world, and she didn't deserve to be alone. Peter knew for sure that his Uncle would agree as well.

"May, that's crazy!" Peter told her, walking around and pulling her into a hug, "I'm totally fine with it. You deserve to be happy and I know Uncle Ben would want you to be. You don't have to feel guilty."

May hugged her nephew back tightly. She was glad he was happy for her and glad he was there with her now, speaking those words to her. She really needed to hear them.

May stood back and looked at her nephew. She had to think, she and Ben had done a great job raising him.

"I love you kid."

"I love you too, May." Peter smiled at his Aunt, before turning around and walking towards the bathroom, "I gotta go and brush my teeth now, MJ didn't enjoy kissing me this morning."

May laughed, "I don't blame her, your morning breath is horrible."

"Seriously, MJ, this is completely fucked!"

The Decathlon team were packing away their textbooks from their morning practice session and, like always, Flash Thompson had to do everything he possibly could to piss Michelle off.

"It's Michelle to you, dickhead." Michelle told him, swinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Oh, whatever! Why the hell has Parker missed another practice?"

"He had to do something." Ned Leeds stood next to Michelle, both of them looking at Flash, who was just staring at them in complete frustration.

"He had to do something?" Flash asked, incredulously, "What was it this time? His Aunt in hospital again? His cat get run over? Or does just think he's too good to practice with the rest of us?"

"The only person who thinks he's better than everyone here is you Flash." Michelle told him, flipping him off, before turning around and leaving the classroom, Ned and Betty following her.

"I swear, Flash was born an asshole and he just grew bigger."

Betty laughed, "Simple explanation, I like it. I hate to say it though, he's got a point. Peter misses a lot of practices."

"Trust me, babe, he's got good reasons for it." Ned, told his girlfriend, holding her hand as they walked with MJ along the school corridor.

"I know, you've told me." Betty replied, rolling her eyes and her mild annoyance was obvious to MJ and Ned, but Betty was a very sweet and trusting girl. They both knew that Betty would wouldn't pursue the matter more, not until Peter missed another Decathlon practice or one of their weekly movie nights where they would all hang out at his apartment. MJ and Ned were both thankful for how easily she would trust the two of them when they told her they can't explain why Peter was always late or not showing up at all.

Betty was a very unexpected friend for MJ. They had always got along fine and MJ always liked her but they'd never really became friends until after their failed Europe vacation. In a way, they sort of had to hang out with each other more often, since her and Peter started dating and Ned and Betty were breaking up and getting back together, pretty much every day since Europe.

Their friendship was surprising to MJ because of how different they were. Betty was more social and sensitive to others around her, while MJ was brutally honest and snarky, which made a lot of people dislike her. Betty was more girly and less rebel than MJ and a complete perfect match for Ned Leeds.

The only thing MJ disliked about being friends with Betty was that she was the one person she cared about that she had to keep Peter's secret from. The rest of the school was hopelessly deluded and thought there was no possible way that Peter could be Spiderman. Or have any secret that huge or interesting. Betty had never given MJ and Ned any sign that she was suspicious of Peter's secret identity but her curiosity was painfully obvious. MJ guessed that was the journalist inside her, wanting to know the truth about Peter but as much as MJ liked Betty, she couldn't let her know it.

Not until Peter was ready for her to know, which MJ didn't think Peter would ever want to tell his best friends' girlfriend that he was Spiderman.

"Him and his damn hero-complex." Michelle thought, pulling her phone out of her pocket to check if he'd messaged her at all, apologising for missing practice. He hadn't.

"Has he messaged you, Ned?" MJ asked, worry creeping into her voice. Peter would only miss Decathlon for Spiderman and whenever he was done, he'd always message or ring her in a panic to apologise for it. No messages usually meant he was still out being a hero but there'd been a few times when he'd got hurt and forgotten to let her know he was still alive.

"No, he hasn't." Ned told her, checking his phone as well, "He'll be in touch soon. Or he'll just turn up in a rush, not realising he's missed all of practice." He laughed, trying to comfort her but Michelle could tell he was worried about his friend too.

MJ rolled her eyes, "Probably, the dork sometimes forgets, there's a clock on his phone."

"We better get to class." Betty told them, grimacing, "We've got gym now."

MJ cringed. She really didn't feel like going to gym class right now, not while worrying about where her boyfriend was.

"I'm just gonna skip gym today."

"What?" Betty asked, raising an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because I just don't feel like watching every other girl in this school fawn over Brad Davis again today." MJ said, curling up her nose in disgust. While that wasn't the main reason she didn't want to go, it was very true. "And I really don't want him following me around all during class, trying to impress me or get me to tell him how hot he is. Trust me, once you've seen Peter without a shirt on, Brad wouldn't impress you at all."

"I really didn't need to hear that, MJ." Ned said, rolling his eyes.

"Fair enough." Betty blushed, "I'll see you later for English, right?"

"No way I'm skipping English. Not gonna miss out on analysing 'Romeo & Juliet' for the tenth time."

Betty smiled at her friend before turning around and began walking down the corridor, towards the gym. Ned began to follow his girlfriend but turned back to her, "I'm sure he's okay, MJ. He's always ok." He leaned towards her and whispered, "He probably just saved some old lady from a mugger and now he's just escorting her all the way back to her home."

MJ smiled, knowing that was something her kind-hearted boyfriend had done many times, "I know, Leeds. I'm not gonna go into full panic mode. He's taking me to meet Mrs Stark tonight, there's no way he's getting out of that."

"What?" Ned exclaimed, loudly, making MJ glare at him as a few other students looked over at them, now standing near MJ's locker. "You get to meet Mrs Stark? How's that fair? I've been a Friend of Sp-" He cut himself off as MJ's glare hardened.

"A F.O.S," Ned continued, in a whisper, "Longer than you."

MJ smiled smugly, "Girlfriend privilege's I guess Leeds. I'm not a F.O.S. I'm the G.O.S."

"Unfair." Ned muttered, shaking his head and turning around to follow his girlfriend to gym, "Unfair, unfair…." MJ grinned, watching him whisper complaints to himself.

Michelle checked her phone again, still no messages received, closing her eyes and tried to quench the feelings of worry as she leaned back against her locker. Most of the students in the hall had already headed to their next class but Michelle still didn't want people to see the Michelle Jones leaning up against her locker, eyes closed and looking like vulnerable, like she was about to break down.

"That wouldn't be good for my rep." Michelle, though to herself, waking in the direction of the library, "Get it together, Michelle. Like Ned said, he'd be helping old lady's cross the road right now. You wait for him every night while he's out being a hero." Michelle kept telling herself that, as she found her usual vacant spot, a small desk with only two chairs, in the darkest corner of the library. She hated other students disturbing her whenever she came in her to read.

Michelle worried about Peter every night when he was out patrolling. The first week he went out after they got back from Europe and she than was 100% sure that he was Spiderman, was the absolute worst of Michelle's life She had stayed up all the through the night until after daylight a few times when he'd had some very busy nights out as the web slinger. Other nights she'd stay up until he texted her, letting her know he was home from a normal night of patrolling and only after she received that message was, she able to sleep peacefully.

Not long after that, he began spending every night with her at her apartment after patrol. That helped but also freaked her out as she than saw a lot of the injuries that he came back with some nights. Cuts, bruises, burns and every other injury you could imagine but was still always ready to go out the next night and save someone else, so Michelle learned all the first aid she could and dabbed and cleaned all the cuts and bruises he came back to her with. It wasn't a typical relationship but she wanted Peter and nowone else.

After a few months, Michelle learned to be confident in Peter's ability to come back to her and the panic she once had didn't completely take over her anymore. But today, with him missing practice and not messaging her to let her know he was okay, her worry was different and she knew why.

She'd been struggling with feelings for Peter for weeks and last night she finally realised why.

It was love.

She was in love with him.

Michelle Jones, badass, feminist and rebel was completely love with Peter Parker.

Michelle couldn't believe how big a sap he had turned her into. She couldn't believe the biggest dork she's ever met got under skin and stolen her heart and as uncomfortable as she was with all emotional; and feely stuff, she found she liked it. She liked knowing she loved him.

Except of course that realisation, now made her worry that he was out there, in danger, being a super hero and she hadn't told him how she felt yet. Last night she thought she wasn't ready to tell him how she felt and that he wasn't ready to hear it yet. But now she suddenly felt like she missed the perfect opportunity to tell him those three words. It didn't matter to her if he wasn't ready to say it back. She just wanted him to know.

"Damn it, Parker, look what you've done to me." Michelle thought to herself, tucking her back and trying to put her focus back on 'Withering Height's. "Maybe reading Heathcliff's tragic love story will stop me thinking like this."

Michelle was struggling enough, to focus on her novel, and take away her thoughts of panic without a few other students who were in the library getting loud and rowdy. She glanced over to the middle of the small library and saw a group of guys all crowding around one of their friends and it looked to her like they were all watching something on his laptop. Like, come on, the library meant to be a quiet place.

She tried her best to ignore them but they were getting louder and cheering at whatever they were watching but as she got up ready to go and put the fear of God in them, one of them cheered, "Way to go, Spidey!"

Michelle stopped at that. It wasn't unusual for kids in school to talk about Spiderman but Peter always liked for her and Ned to distance themselves from those conversations with other students. Not to arouse any suspicion. But these boys were excited about something.

"Hey!" She called out to them, making them look at her, "What ther hell are you guys watching?"

"New video of Spiderman, caught on camera this morning!"

"He's awesome, check it out!"

They turned back to their laptop but Michelle didn't notice, already pulling out her phone. She unlocked it with her thumbprint and password, before going into her web browser and she didn't even have to type in anything as the most trending webpage on her browsers feed was 'Spiderman….' She didn't hesitate to click on it.

The webpage was some New York bloggers site and the on it was a video, uploaded only 40 mins ago but already viewed over 3 million times. The title was, 'Spiderman's most heroic act yet….' She clicked play.

An unnamed witness was filming on his phone, moving around as he filmed then chaos that was erupting along the busy New York Street. There were fire trucks everywhere, Paramedics loading helpless civilians onto stretchers, performing C.P.R, trying to resuscitate their patients, Police officers setting up barricades on each end of the city block, escorting passer-by's away from the scene, a six-story apartment building, engulfed in flames, burning from the inside out.

The unnamed witness continued to film, as he moved through the chaos around the emergency workers, too much going on for the Police officers to notice the man filming the whole scene unfold outside the building, filming the flames from a distance through the windows, curtains burning and glass shattering and falling down to the ground.

The disgusting, rancid smell of black smoke filled the air all around them, the sounds of sirens, loud and blaring and the screaming and groaning of so many people out on the street, some in pain from burning and taking breaths the deadly black air, some just curious citizen's walking through an ordinary day in their lives, along a typical Brooklyn street but stopping to watch and cover their mouths in horror at the homes and lives lost from the torment of fire.

The unnamed witness continued filming the destruction, nowone noticing him but he noticed and filmed a short blonde woman, dressed in what appeared to be a clean yellow night robe running towards the centre of it all, right towards the danger, towards the burning building, like it was the only thing that mattered to her, like the fire was her only salvation and was not to be her own destruction but a heroic New York City firefighter, doing his duty, upholding the oath he took to protect others from the flame, caught her before she could get there.

"I HAVE TO GET IN THERE, MY BABYS IN THERE!" The blonde woman screamed, in a panic, showing no fear to the heat.

"MY BABYS IN THERE!"

"I CAN'T LET YOU IN THERE, THE ROOF IS ABOUT TO COLLAPSE!" The firefighter, held her back with all his strength.

"YOU HAVE TO SAVE MY BABY!"

"WE CAN'T GO IN THERE, THE ROOF IS ABOUT TO COLLAPSE!"

"MY BABY!"

The brave firefighter, kept hold of the hysterical woman, put into an impossible position, holding the woman back to save her life but stopping her from saving the most precious thing in the world to her.

The unnamed witness, continued filming but began to move away from the scene, the woman's cries to much for him to bear. He was so close to turning his phone off and running away when he heard the cry, "Look! Up there!"

He saw the source of the cry, another innocent passer-by, such as himself, and saw her point up into the air, and the unnamed looked up filming into the direction of where she was pointing. He saw what it was and smiled, every New Yorker would know what It was, the red and blue, friendly neighbourhood Spiderman, swinging straight towards the chaos.

The unnamed blonde woman, obviously saw him, but she didn't see Spiderman. The only thing she saw was a red and blue shining light of Hope!

"SAVE MY BABY PLEASE!" She screamed, at the top of her lungs and the red and blue, web-slinging hero swung straight through the window on the top floor of the burning structure.

For the unnamed witness filming, it only felt like a mere second but he knew as filmed and watched the blonde woman, that for her, it felt like a lifetime. He watched her, as she held her hands together looking up at her completely destroyed home and he knew that she had given up the fight with the firefighter and had placed every last shred of hope in the web slinging hero of New York.

It was like everything had gone silent and there was nothing in the world at that moment but the hope and fear of everyone on the scene for this woman and her baby was the only thing they could all feel.

For the tiniest moment everyone ducked down and felt the despair, as the mother screamed, "NO!", as the window at the top of the building exploded, releasing a cloth of black smoke and unnamed witness swears he could feel the extra heat from the ground.

But the despair, was instantly replaced with the joy of the crowd, as red and blue, Spiderman landed on the ground holding a small yellow bundle in his arms and moving straight towards the distraught mother, "It's ok. "You're baby's fine." He tells her, handing her the child who began crying. His mother held her tight to him, gasping in relief, "Oh, bless you Spiderman! Bless you!"

The unnamed witness continued to film and moved to congratulate the hero but a Police officer finally noticed him, "Hey, you! Come on, we need you out of here!"

The unnamed witness stopped filming. He didn't need to be told twice.

Michelle finished watching the video and read the details below, stating that it wasn't yet confirmed whether there were more people in the building or whether or not Spiderman was still at the scene of the fire.

But when Michelle's phone dinged, she knew who it was before she even read the message.

Peter: "Hey beautiful! Sorry I missed practice; I ran into a bit of trouble on the way to school. I'm okay but I don't think I'm gonna be coming to school today, I'm sorry :/"

MJ had tears in her eyes. He was messaging her to let him know he was ok and literally apologising to her for missing Decathlon practice and a day of school, when he literally when into a burning building this morning and saved a babys life. But before she could reply, he messaged her again.

Peter: "But we're still going to dinner with Pepper and Morgan tonight. Me and Happy will pick you up later. Your gonna be able to fangirl all over your hero tonight, don't worry."

MJ laughed, tears in her eyes. Pepper Pott's- Stark, may be her idol and inspiration but she wasn't her hero. No, her hero was the boy she was in love with.

MJ: You're amazing Xx. Rest up, dweeb, I'll see you this afternoon."

Michelle rubbed the tears away from her eyes and looked over to see that the boys that were there before were gone and she was now alone in the quiet library. She smiled at her phone, before putting it back in her pocket, knowing her boyfriend had probably fallen asleep before reading her reply.

But that didn't matter.

She picked up her book and began to read, now free from worry and able to concentrate.

"Yeah," She thought to herself before continuing to read, "Definitely in love.

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me a couple weeks to update, I've just been writing and re-writing a lot till I was happy with it. This chapter sort of focuses on MJ's thoughts a bit more than I meant it too, but I like it. And that fire scene is of course a small tribute to the scene Tobey Maguires first movie! The next Chapters gonna be more from Peter and it's gonna be sort of where the beginning of the overall plot starts to take shape. Anyway, I hope you liked this one! Please review, any advice and criticism welcome. Also, I'd still like for someone to help me write this story, if anyone's interested please let me know.