Spiderman: Home is Where the Heart Is

A/N: Hey all! I know it's been so long since I've updated this and I'm truly sorry for that, so I'm going to give a brief explanation.

Several months after I last updated this story, almost two years ago, I fell into and was diagnosed with severe depression and this resulted in me having really bad writers block.
Over last two years I've been managing my diagnosis and am doing really well but I am still struggling to write. I find it very hard to concentrate on writing and I sometimes feel like I've actually forgotten how to write. But I miss it so much and am going to continue to work on trying to get it back.

Out of fairness to all my lovely readers and a desire to be truthful to myself, I am not going to promise that I am going to update this story regularly or even at all. I can only say that as long as I love this fandom and believe in the direction I wanted to take this story, I'm going to try my best. The majority of this chapter was written around the last time I updated but I've spent today adding to it and editing. This is a very filler chapter and as such, I'm not all that happy with it but I wanted to post what I had stored up and if I'm able to, start the next chapter fresh with new material.

Thank you to all my lovely readers for understanding :)

Chapter 7

Peter landed on the roof of his apartment building in Queens. He'd learned not to land directly on the fire escape just outside his bedroom window. It wasn't a good idea to wake the sleeping people in your building if you want to keep your identity secret.

He leaned on the ledge and gazed through his masks optics over his quiet neighbourhood of Queens. He hadn't been alerted to any crimes or active emergencies in his neighbourhood tonight, which he was very grateful for. He wasn't supposed to be out in the suit tonight.

After MJ brought him home this morning from school, she'd stayed with him all day, as he recovered from his sensory overload, that was caused by Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross's public announcement that he was running to be the next President of the United States. That, along with being exhausted from his late-night patrols in the past week, Peter knew he was in no real condition to be out being Spiderman tonight.

MJ made him lay down and rest all day, as they watched serial killer documentaries and Star Wars movies on Netflix. After not being with her, in her room, in her bed all week, Peter loved just having her around as he rested his head across her lap, while she softly ran her fingers through his hair.

After May came home from F.E.A.S.T and fussed over him, making sure he was alright, both his aunt and his girlfriend teamed up against him, telling him there was no way he was going out to patrol tonight. It didn't take too much to convince him, he didn't want to wake up in the morning and he still feel exhausted.

Peter sighed, standing back up and looked at the fire escape stairs that would lead him to his bedroom, where MJ was angrily waiting for him. He felt guilty, he knew she had every reason to be mad at him right now.

He'd told her he wouldn't go out tonight and he had truly meant it. But at just past midnight, his phone buzzed on his nightstand, a surveillance alert he had set up with Karen, letting him know a drug ring he'd been tracking for days were meeting at a warehouse in the port on the Hudson River. He'd had several hours sleep, felt rested and he didn't think it would be a major situation.

He was wrong.

Peter thought it would be a quick takedown and wait for the police, as he caught them with crates of drugs, enough to put all of them in prison for a long time. These drug traffickers weren't so enthusiastic about it though. They were armed and put up a brutal fight, Peter was surprised he didn't get shot, with the amount bullets they'd fired at him.

While he was waiting for the police, he scolded the ring leader who he had webbed to the roof of a car. 'Drugs are bad, what kind of example are you setting for youngsters?" The criminal didn't find his snark funny.

He'd been gone for two hours and in that time, MJ had woken from her slumber and was very mad that she had woken up alone.

And because his suit wasn't in his closet.

While showing the cops around the warehouse, pointing to all the different drug traffickers, the crate of cocaine they'd brought in and the boat they'd smuggled them in on, he got a very angry voicemail from his girlfriend. He quickly finished up and swung home as fast as he could.

Peter rubbed the side of his head as he slowly descended the stairs of the fire escape. "Karen,"

He spoke to his A.I., "run a scan to make sure no one's watching me."

"My scan doesn't pick up anyone watching you, Peter. No cell phones or cameras are recording you either."

"Thanks Karen."

He took his mask off in front of his bedroom window and let the smell of New York's cold and polluted air watch over him. He slid the window up and climbed through into his room, softly illuminated by the lamp on the desks adjacent to his bed.

He slid the window down behind him and closed the curtain before turning to face his bed, where his girlfriend was waiting for him

MJ was sitting on the side of his bed, her legs crossed with her reading copy of Othello, which she'd been rereading for days in front of her. She didn't turn to face him.

"Hey." He said, hesitantly.

"Hey." MJ didn't face him and kept reading.

"You're awake." He regretted those words as soon as they left his mouth. They sounded so stupid.

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Peter winced, he could hear anger and hurt in her voice now.

"I'm sorry." He moved and slowly sat down next her, still nervously holding his mask in hands.

"I didn't mean to worry you."

"I didn't know we were sneaking out on each other."

MJ turned to face him, slapping her book shut and placing it on his desk. She moved and leaned back against the headboard, bringing her knees up against her chest.

Guilt washed over him as he saw the angry, hurt look on her face.

"Where'd you go?"

Peter sighed; he really didn't want to have to tell MJ about the takedown at the docks. It was all good, he wasn't hurt but telling her how he was shot at by a gang with MP5's wasn't going to help him right now, but his only other option was to lie and they'd promised they wouldn't lie to each other and in a way, he'd broken that promise once already tonight. He didn't want to do it again.

"I got an alert from Karen," Peter began, hesitantly, "I had her surveillance some of the guys from the drug ring I've been tracking the last few days. They were all meeting at a warehouse, down at the docks, on the Hudson."

"Warehouse on a harbour, real cliché."

Peter wanted to smile but didn't. MJ's words were playful but her tone was anything but.

"It was only going to be a quick thing." He explained, "I was hoping to be back before you woke up…."

"….so, you could pretend you never went out tonight." MJ finished, looking away from him.

"No!" Peter said, quickly, "I mean…. I was going to tell you about it. I just wanted to get back before you woke up, so I wouldn't worry you. I wasn't going to lie to you."

"Bit late for that, isn't it?" She shot back, rolling her eyes, "You said you weren't going to go out and you did."

"I'm sorry." Peter apologised, desperately. He felt bad, because she was right. He didn't mean to, but he did lie to her and that was something he and MJ didn't do to each other.

Before their failed trip to Europe, they were friends and Peter hated the lies he had to tell her to keep his identity a secret. Though it didn't mean anything, because MJ saw through all his pathetic excuses and lies anyway.

After they started dating, he struggled to let MJ in and be completely honest with her about his other life but in the last few months, it became easier and they'd both opened up and promised to be honest. Promised not to lie to each other.

He'd broken that promise tonight.

"I shouldn't have gone out there." Peter admitted, looking down at the mask in his hands, "I could've just tipped of the police but when I got the alert, I didn't think it through. I just felt like I had to go. I've been tracking these guys for days and I just…." He stopped, trying to formulate the words in his head. He didn't want to make an excuse, he knows he shouldn't have left or at least had woken MJ to tell her what he was doing.

"You know," MJ began, "I know how selfless you are. Always running to throw yourself in danger for others, because of these powers you were given, you think it's your responsibility."

"MJ, it is my respons…."

"I love you for it." MJ continued, not letting him speak, "How you help people, dangerously and don't expect anything in return. It's one of the reasons I'm so in love with you."

Peter smiled, he loved hearing MJ say she loved him, there wasn't anything he liked hearing more. It was something he didn't think he would ever get used to.

"It's hard thinking about what you do, Peter." MJ said, harshly, "It's hard worrying about whether you're going to come back to me or cleaning you up when your bloody and bruised. It's hard but I do it. I do it and I've told you I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. Because I want to be with you. I just want you to not be stupid."

MJ reached out and took his left hand from his mask, sliding her own into it. He looked down at her hand in his before looking up, his eyes meeting hers.

"I don't think that's so much to ask."

Peter saw the pleading look MJ was giving him and the meaning behind everything she was saying. Peter wasn't stupid, he knew how hard his other life was for MJ, to be with him, to deal with everything that came with being Spider-Man's girlfriend. He'd tried to push her away, to protect her and make it easier for her but she didn't let him and in the end, he couldn't do it.

MJ had told him over and over that she can deal with anything that comes with him being Spiderman and she's proven it time and time again.

"It's not." Peter said, "You shouldn't have to ask that at all."

"You had a sensory overload this morning, Pete." MJ said, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand, "You've been tired all week, you've only had a few hours' sleep tonight. You're in no condition to be out there fighting. This wasn't the end of the world tonight."

"I know."

Peter turned to look out the same window he climbed through minutes ago, the sky still dark and starry, still hours away from the sun rising.

"I should've stayed here with you." Peter whispered, "I'm sorry."

MJ nodded, looking down at their entwined hands, a sad expression on her face. "You should get out of the suit. We actually have to go to school tomorrow."

"Yeah." Peter whispered, standing up and letting go of MJ's hand, he pressed the spider symbol on his chest and let it fall to the floor. He reached for the sweatpants and t-shirts he'd left over the chair of his desk. He looked back to MJ to see her laying down under the blanket of his bed facing away from him. He felt the absence of her usual flirting, her usual commenting on how much she loved his abs.

Turning away, he opened his bedroom door and before he got to the bathroom he was stopped by a voice behind him, "GET HERE, NOW!"

Peter froze before slowly he turned around to see his Aunt at the door of her bedroom, a look on her face that made him gulp.

He'd been worried about how angry MJ was going to be with him. His mind hadn't even considered the idea that May would know that he'd gone out tonight.

"H-h-Hey, Aunt May," He stuttered, nervously, stopping in front of her.

"Don't hey me, kid!"

Peter flinched, he hated it when his Aunt was mad at him. She didn't get mad with him often but when she was….

"I told you, you weren't to go out on patrol tonight!"

"Technically, I wasn't patrolling…." "Don't be smart." May warned.

Peter nodded, desperately, shutting up.

"You know, when I found you were Spiderman," May began, exasperated, "I thought there was no way I could keep letting you put yourself in danger, but you told me it was who you are, that it was Ben who inspired you to do this. That he taught you, 'with great power, comes great responsibility.'" Peter bit his lip, trying not laugh at his aunt making air quotations. Now wasn't the time to laugh.

"Going out when you're tired and your senses are messing up, that's not being responsible. That's being stupid." May told him, bluntly.

"I've been told."

He'd managed to disappoint the two most important people in his life. He'd felt the calling of the mask when he got KAREN's alert, he wanted to take down the criminals he'd been tracking for the past week. His Parker luck struck again, and his opportunity came on the one night his Aunt told him not to go out and he'd promised her and his girlfriend that he wouldn't.

"I know, I shouldn't have gone out tonight," Peter admitted, apologetic, "I thought it would be a small thing and I know today my senses were going off the rails and I was tired…. I just…." Peter stopped, rubbing his forehead, "I'm sorry."

May sighed, reached out and pulled him into a hug, surprising him. After a moment, he hugged her back, feeling comforted by his aunts warm embrace.

"I forgive you, kid," May murmured, pulling out of the embrace, "and so does MJ, I have no doubt. But you need to say sorry, she's upset that you lied to her tonight."

"I know."

May nodded, "Go for a shower and get to bed. You need to be ready to go to school tomorrow." Peter nodded, "I will be."

May gave him a sad smile, "Goodnight kid." She stepped back into her bedroom.

"Goodnight, May." He smiled back, as she closed her bedroom door. Peter sighed, turning around to go to the bathroom.

Peter could tell she was awake when he returned to his bedroom. Over the last four months, he had memorised the sound of her breathing when she was asleep but she didn't turn around and face him. He pulled the covers back and slid into bed beside her.

"I'm sorry," Peter whispered.. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and just hold her warm body against him, he'd missed her so much this past week. "I shouldn't have lied to you; I really wasn't going to go out tonight and I know I should've told you, hell, I shouldn't have gone out at all."

MJ didn't say anything, just continued to lay facing away from him.

"I never want to hurt you." Peter told her, truthfully. He never, ever wanted to hurt MJ, she was the best thing to ever happen to him and she put up with so much bad stuff from his secret life, because even though it didn't make sense to Peter, she wanted to be with him, as much he wanted to be her.

"I love you."

MJ didn't reply to his words or roll over to face him, she simply continued to lay in his bed, facing away from him which hurt like a punch to his gut. Peter sighed, looking up to the ceiling of his bedroom.

He'd enjoyed today with MJ, even if he was resting all day, he just loved having her around and tonight he was so happy to have her in his bed with him again, after nights of being apart and he managed to ruin it by breaking a simple promise, one there was no urgent reason to break. He could've had KAREN send an alert to the Police, rolled over and went back to the sleep he really needed but he was over confident and over eager to put the suit back on.

"You can hold me, loser."

MJ didn't roll over to face him, but he heard her whisper. He leaned closer to her, "Aren't you still mad at me?"

"Yes, but I'm also cold and you're warm, so…."

"I can get you another blanket." Peter moved to get out of bed but MJ finally moved, rolling over to grab his wrist. "Just hold me, dweeb." She said, pulling him back. He laid down and MJ slid over, wrapping her arm around him, laying his head on his chest.

Peter smiled and held her close, "Does this mean you forgive me?"

"Don't push it, dork."

"Oh, come on," Peter teased, kissing her head and taking in the lavender scent of her shampoo,

"I'm forgiven, right? You couldn't resist my cuteness and my abs, and you love me so much—"

"Shut up loser!" She warned, but she looked up at him with a playful expression "You're on thin fucking ice as it is, now let me sleep!"

Peter laughed, leaning down pressing his lips against hers. The kiss was slow and leisurely as MJ kissed him back, her hand sliding into his curls. Peter hummed into the soft kiss, he loved the warmth of her lips on his.

Eventually MJ pulled away, leaning her forehead on this. Her gaze was affectionate and serious.

"Don't ever sneak out on me like that again, Pete."

Peter nodded; he could hear the plea in her voice. "I won't, Em," He said, kissing her again, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." MJ replied, rolling over to face away from him, pulling his arm with her, "Now let's sleep nerd."

Peter yawned, MJ was right, they really did need to sleep. He pulled her close and planted a kiss to the back of her neck. "I love you." He whispered, again.

This time she answered back, "I love you too."

A/N: It's not the best and not much plot here but I hope you enjoyed it.
Comments are great, criticism/advice is welcomed! :) going to work hard to get more of this story done, I hope you're all still interested in it.

Best wishes to everyone :)