Peter woke up in a jolt (thanks to his heightened senses) to Joline Wang's scream.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my god..." She kept chanting throughout. Peter squinted from the sun rays that hit his face.
"Is... everything okay...?" He groggily asked, shielding his eyes. Joline gasped loudly and quickly went to the bathroom with a slam of the door, and a click from the lock.
Peter sat up dumbly in confusion.
It was not long after the silence that the lock opened, and a frantic, body covered by towel Joline came out of the bathroom with an eep.
"CLOSE YOUR EYES PARKER!" She instructed panickedly. Peter did as he was told, but had a peek of a white towel as she rushed in the room .
"Just what is going-"
"I said close your eyes! And no peeking!" She ordered sternly. Rustling was heard and Peter guessed she was scrounging through her luggage for some clothes.
And after a while, her hurried footsteps was heard again and the bathroom door locked again. He waited in silence for five more minutes until he asked,
"Can I open my eyes now?"
It was almost half an hour that Joline spent in the bathroom. After ten minutes of her not coming out Peter had slowly opened his eyes in confusion. Fifteen minutes in Joline had started to ramble in the bathroom and five minuted after had opted for a bath.
Peter finally stood up and searched for his blazer which turned out to be discarded on the floor. He checked the inner pockets of the blazer and breathed in relief as his mask was still there.
He then walked to the window and looked around outside. He searched for his phone to search for the time, and found his phone in his pockets. The battery was dead though, so he found out about the time from the clock on the desk. It was 30 minutes to nine.
The door to the bathroom opened with a click. A clean looking Joline came and pouted as she dried her hair.
"Did we- Did I do something stupid last night?" She asked with a soft whisper, hoping the answer wasn't what she thought it was. "I drank just a little bit before the musical." She further explained.
"No, I think you just got tired and pulled me down to the bed as I helped you take off your shoes and accessories." Peter explained, hoping that Joline would calm down. She did, and exhaled the breath she was holding.
"Thank god." She looked up in prayer.
"I'm sorry though, Peter. I'm quite the heavy sleeper when I'm very tired." She apologized as she dried the towel on a rack.
"Nah, me too, I know how it feels." He convinced her. Joline smiled and went to her luggage.
"Thanks though."
"You're welcome. You must've been tired from work to sleep like that."
Joline hummed thoughtfully while searching through her luggage.
"Yeah, quite a long day at work." She answered shortly. Before he could ask her about her work, Joline threw a big shirt in the air for him to catch (easily with his spider senses, of course!)
"What's this?"
"You can change into that, it's the biggest shirt I bought. I was gonna use it for sleeping but... Yeah." She shrugged awkwardly.
"It looks like it could fit you, hopefully..." She trailed off then continued, "I think she left some-- Aha! Catch!"
Joline threw a pair of pants for Peter. "Don't ask where it came from. We can get the hotel breakfast after you bathe and hail a cab home." Joline planned it all out, and started packing her stuff.
Peter only nodded and went to bathe, hoping that the day couldn't get any wierder.
On the 20th of December Joline called Peter out so they can hang out to get some donuts. Not that they don't hang enough, but Peter felt like Joline was hiding something from him.
As they walk through the suspiciously familiar street to Joline's favorite donut shop, his heartbeat couldn't help but quicken.
This was the same road as the shop MJ worked at.
The last time he had seen her (and Ned) was the end of November when it started to snow. There had been light occassional snowing here and then.
"I buy my donuts here from time to time. They're pretty great! I especially like the mint one." She explained excitedly. Peter's eyes widened as he saw the shop name, a familiar figure inside, and braced himself as he went in.
"Don't worry, I'll treat you this time!" She promised.
The bell to the shop rang as they came in, signalling their arrival. And there she was, turning around to greet them with a simple welcome.
"Hey, it's you again! I didn't know you two know each other!" MJ greeted them with a smile, pointing back and forth between Peter and Joline. "We're neighbors!" Joline answered, but then raised her eyebrow,
"Wait, you've been here before?" Joline looked at Peter then to MJ in confusion.
"He ordered coffee before. I remember his name was Peter... Parker! Yes, Peter Parker." MJ snapped her hands in remembrance.
MJ was oddly happy today, not like her usual stoic self.
"Peter, you didn't tell me you know this place," Joline nudged his elbow, snapping him out of his thoughts. He stayed silent, nervous and all, rubbing the sore spot Joline nudged it with.
"I-I only came here once before," He tried to defend himself, looking away from MJ's eyes. Joline had a knowing smirk.
"Oh Peter..." Joline rolled her eyes with a smile and took his hand, dragging him along to sit down.
"Uh, one coffee for him please. And a donut. Get the plain one cuz he's being like that right now. And oh- An apple juice for me, and that mint and jam donut please!" MJ took her order with a nod and went to work.
As MJ turned her body around, Joline quickly turned Peter to her in their stool.
"You like her," She whispered knowingly with a smile. "Peter Parker, you like her!" She giggled excitedly.
"Sshh! Shout it out for the whole world to know, would ya?!" He quickly shushed her by putting his hand on her mouth.
"This is so exciting. This is my first time experiencing romance!" She said excitedly, feeling very euphoric.
"Don't worry, neighbor. I'll help you!" Peter actually cringed at that. Just as Joline was about to call MJ, the front door's bell rung again, making Peter turn to the door as another familliar figure came in.
It was Ned.
"Hey, MJ!" Ned greeted with a sweet smile, which MJ returned.
"Hey, Ned..." MJ said softly. Peter's eyes followed his former best friend's figure sadly, and MJ greeted Ned from the cashier with a...
Kiss on the mouth.
Peter's heart panged as they kissed, Joline gasped as her mouth gaped, but she quickly turned to Peter with worry. He looked heartbroken and sad, so she quickly took his head with both of her hands and turned his face over to her.
"Peter. Don't look." She said genuinely, not wanting him to get hurt. His eyes were glassy as they looked away, and Joline sighed.
"Peter..." She called out again softly. His eyes followed hers then. "I'm sorry..." She whispered softly as her hands went to his shoulders and patted them soothingly.
MJ kept giggling as Ned joked around with her while preparing their food, and Joline sighed as Peter tried to tune out their laughter.
"Hey, MJ? Can we get the donuts to go please?" Joline called out.
"Sure!" MJ replied.
Peter quickly stood up and then walked outside the place, leaving Joline inside as she sighed. Joline went to the cashier to pay as MJ gave her their food and drinks.
"What's up with him?" MJ asked with confusion.
"He looked very teary." Ned noted.
"Uh- His allergies picked up." Joline tried to cover up.
"I hope he's fine though." MJ commented.
"Yeah..." Joline slid the money onto the cashier. "I hope so too." She whispered as she took their stuff.
"Thanks." Joline said with a smile. MJ returned with a "You're welcome." as well.
Joline was about to go out from the shop when she stopped just in front of the door and turned around curiously.
"Just to ask, are tou two..." She eyed both Ned and MJ who blushed and looked at each other.
"Y-yeah, we..." Ned said shyly.
"It's been-" MJ continued.
"A week." Ned completed the sentence.
"Turns out we liked each other-"
"For quite a long time." Ned finished MJ's sentence, and they both smiled as they looked at each other.
"Ah..." Joline said, trying to smile. "Congratulations, you two."
With that, she went out of the shop in search of Peter.
A/N
Thank you Manetail for reviewing! I hope you all like this chapter *wink*
