A/N: Hi all, sorry if its been a little while. I quite like how this chapter turned out and all the emotion in it. I've just realised that I don't have any IronDad in it but I'll try and add some in next chapter. Hope y'all enjoy.
I don't own MCU.
He swallows slowly, thinking up his next move. She moves her face a little closer to his; at this point there's only a centimetre distance between their lips, their noses brush ever so slightly. Peter shivers ever so slightly from being in such close contact, she smirks at his reaction. Her breaths in her aroma and instantly feels the intoxication overwhelm his senses.
"Are you gonna answer?" She adds, he looks anywhere but her eyes, trying to come up with a believable excuse. She chuckles at his guiltiness and it brings a red tinge to his cheeks.
"Um, I don't think you're quite right." He manages to squeak out. She steps back, giving him some space to breath. He instantly misses her intoxicating smell and the way she makes his brain go all muddled but at the same time it gives him a chance to think straight.
"And why's that?" She asks, an innocent look spreads across her face.
"Because I'm not spiderman." He replies, his tone is nonchalant but his face gives it away.
"Look in the mirror Parker, your face says it all. For a superhero your pretty crap at hiding your emotions." She replies, she threw the comment around like anyone would've done because to her he did. But to Peter, well it hit him square in the chest. He let out a deep breath and looked up at her with a look that she'd never seen.
"I'm great at hiding my emotions, I just don't hide them when I'm around you because I feel safe when I'm around you. Fine, you guessed it, Peter Parker's Spiderman let's all bully the superboy who can't even keep it together in a bathroom." Peter says angrily; but he's not really angry at her, he's angry at himself for letting her guess it was him, for letting his walls down, for going off at MJ when she was only being curious.
"Hey Peter, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that. You've probably been through stuff way worse than anything I could imagine. I'm really grateful for what you do, though. It's really brave and honourable that you risk your life and you're only a teenager. It's braver than plenty of adults I know." She says to him, shuffling slightly closer to him.
That speech is what breaks him because he is much braver than all those people. He is admired by so many people and he can't even admire himself for who he truly is. His shoulders start to shake and the tears start to roll down his cheeks.
Whoever said boy can't cry was wrong because boys can cry and show emotion because they're human. They have feelings too, they have emotions too, they should be able to show them without being shamed for it.
MJ looks into his tearful eyes, asking permission for if she could pull him into a hug. He nods and leans onto her. She strokes his back and he buries his face into her shoulder. He feels so touched by all the nice things she has to say about him. She's surprised by him showing this much emotion to her, he's very readable on the surface but she'd always assumed that there's a lot more to him than he lets on.
"I-I-I just, I just d-d-don't know how to g-g-go on. I-I-I-I was t-t-tortured the last t-t-time I was here. I'm n-n-n-not the same person a-a-anymore, I-I-I want to be the c-c-carefree, bubbly Peter that only cared a-a-about impressing Tony Stark, not the Peter that can't even walk into a bathroom without having a panic attack." He whimpers to her, the only way he knows that she heard was her sharp intake of breath.
She was astounded that someone could look at him, this boy and see him as a threat. Sure, she'd seen videos of Spiderman but as soon as you take of his mask you see an innocent boy. How someone could torture him was beyond her.
"It's gonna be okay Peter. You're gonna get through this because you're strong. You're so strong and I know that you will be able to get past this point in your life. One day you'll be able to look back on this point in your life and smile because you got through it. All you have to do is fight Peter, can you fight?" She asks, there's an almost begging tone in her voice and he nods his head slowly. She lets out a breath, all the tension alleviated because at least he was going to fight to get his life back.
"I'll fight, I want my old life back." He whispers to her; he pulls his head away from her shoulder and looks her in the eye. He breaths in shakily and he watches her eyes carefully, looking for any kind of reaction from her.
She'd gotten so good at keeping her act up that when she looks into the teary eyes of a boy that had been strong for so long, she tries so hard to not fall apart. He sees her swallow and the tears in her eyes. She looks away from him but he isn't about to let her build her walls back up. He reaches over and touches her arm lightly to get her attention.
"Come on MJ. I just spilled all my feelings, what's going through your head?" He asks softly, hoping for an answer.
"I hate going back to my house, my mum never cares if I'm there or not. Its horrible, I go home to the place that's supposed to be my safe haven and I don't feel wanted there. It's worse when she drinks, its not a constant thing because she isn't always drunk, but once she starts it takes her weeks before she sobers up." She says with little emotion in her voice but when Peter looks to her eyes, he can see all the emotion there. This time he hugs her to comfort her because a hug might not make it better, it'll make it a hell of a lot easier to keep fighting.
A/N: What did y'all think?
