She knew she shouldn't be here, if anyone knew she was here they would think the absolute worst of her and she wouldn't blame them. Her wedding day, her actual wedding day where she will exchange vows and get married, is supposed to be tomorrow. In fact, it was tomorrow right now. It was past midnight meaning this was her wedding day, and how was she spending the first three hours of her wedding day? It wasn't at home, resting after a night out partying so she's ready for her her wedding in the afternoon, but instead at another man's apartment.
"I found the champagne." Bruce said cheerfully as he returned, a bottle in one hand and two glasses in the other.
As he placed the glasses down on a table and popped open then bottle, Mary Jane tried to calm herself down as she told herself that she wasn't doing anything wrong. She and Bruce were just old friends, having been introduced though mutual acquaintances when she had just started modelling. And sure, maybe she has flirted with him a little over the last few days and maybe he, much like everyone else in her world, has been trying to talk her out of getting married, but that didn't mean anything or that she shouldn't be allowed to have a drink with him.
"MJ? Did you hear me?" Bruce asked, and Mary Jane looked at him in surprise as he held out the glass.
"Oh, sorry. I was just somewhere else for a moment." she answered while taking a sip from her glass, hoping it would settle nerves that shouldn't be unsettled at all. So what if Bruce had been a celebrity crush back when she was a teenager, she wasn't that same girl anymore. She was a successful model now while also looking into acting herself, so she shouldn't be nervous. She shouldn't be feeling the way she did when they first met, when Peter had been with Gwen, and they had flirted, before he took her up to this very apartment where they drank champagne and eventually did much more. It has been a fun night and there has been more fun nights after until their careers caused them to drift apart, really fun nights where she felt like she was on top of the world and nothing could stop her.
"You look beautiful Mary Jane." Bruce told her, his eyes looking at her with an intensity that gave her a rush.
"You might want to try a new line Bruce. I've heard that all night." she replied with a smile, doing her best to force herself to relax.
"I should have guessed." he said with a nod and a sip of his drink, before taking a step closer to her. "I don't suppose anyone's said that you look absolutely ravishing tonight?"
He was standing close to her, too close a voice in her head mentioned, but she only giggled slightly. "Sadly no, nobody has said that tonight."
"I thought so. How about we continue this conversation on the couch? I think after so much partying you might want to relax." he suggested as he gestured to the couch, a different couch to the one he had but similar enough to bring back a flood of memories. Of Mary Jane, only twenty years old, laughing at Bruce's jokes while he gently made his move. Of their clothes slowly coming off before they made their way to his bedroom, which she glanced in the direction of before her eyes returned to looking at the couch.
She hesitated for a moment, feeling like she was being torn in two. It was like there were two voices in her head, two versions of MJ. One sounded older and somehow wiser, telling her to grow up and get out because she loved Peter and he wouldn't want her doing this. The other sounded younger, confident and free from all problems, talking about how they were just talking and that she doesn't really owe Peter anything because she doesn't belong to anyone and she should never let anyone have any power because she will end up like her mother and Gail. Mary Jane honestly thinks she might have just stood there, frozen in indecision which wasn't a feeling she was used to, if Bruce hadn't gently guided her to the couch.
She gripped her glass with both hands, feeling more uncomfortable than before as she sat down. She glanced at Bruce, who's eyes hadn't left her at all, and took a large drink from her glass, leaving very little left.
"So," she began, doing her best to keep her voice steady as she placed her glass on a nearby table, "are you going to give me the same speech everyone else has had?"
"Do I really have to?" Bruce asked as he did the same with his glass, smiling with an infectious confidence. "You know there's a villa in France waiting for us. We both know how much you love the lifestyle we have, the lifestyle your boyfriend doesn't live. I looked him up and while I'm sure he's a nice guy, do you honestly think he's the sort of guy who can handle the life you lead? He seems the more stay at home type, wanting a happy little family, not the kind of man who goes out to parties almost every night and can keep up with all the exciting things you do."
Mary Jane laughed a little at that, as she thought about all the exciting things about Peter and his life. Unfortunately Bruce seems to have taken that to mean something else.
"MJ, I personally have nothing against marriage and kids. For some it's a great thing because it's what they want to do with their lives. But we both know that you have never wanted those things, just like me you know that you are meant for other things." he told her and Mary Jane became very aware of his hands on her bare knee, his thumb running against her skin, as he moved a little closer. "We also both know how great we were together. Like the first time you were here. Do you remember that night MJ? Do you think about it as much as I do?"
"I..Sometimes yes..." she muttered, finding it very hard to speak as Bruce's face moved closer to her. Bruce hadn't been her first, but that night had been the first time she had enjoyed it so much. Which made sense, he was an older and experienced man who she had fantasised about for years, of course it had been amazing.
But she had to agree with the older voice in her head who spoke of her first time with Peter, which she quickly figured out had been his first time ever. Despite his attempts at confidence she saw how nervous he was, and while happy to take their relationship to that level she hadn't been expecting much. What she got was nothing like what she had with Bruce or anything like her other exes. It had been slow and nervous, but also really sweet and comforting. It had been great and since then it has only gotten better as they figured out what they did and didn't like. If she ignored her nostalgia for that time in her life where she felt free to do whatever she wants, she doubted her nights with Bruce could even compare to her nights with Peter.
"Listen Bruce. I know you're just trying to help me. But me and Peter are happy together."
"Are you? Maybe, but do you think that will last? You're a model wanting to get into acting, you like parties and clubs. What exactly do you two have in common?"
"We have lots in common. Lots." she replied firmly, and they definitely did. They were both a little broken, a little damaged from what they've been through. And she knew that while she only sees herself as a scared little girl who ran away from her problems, Peter sees her as someone stronger. Just like she doesn't see him as failure trying to atone for his biggest mistake like he does, but as a great man doing his best to help everyone. And they keep trying to show the other how they see each other.
"Bruce, I think I should go." Mary Jane almost whispered, starting to listen to the older voice in her head more and more while the younger voice grew more feint.
"And do what? Get married even though that's never what you wanted, have a bunch of kids and trap yourself in a life you hate?" Bruce asked, not knowing how the word "trap" triggered memories of Mary Jane's mom and sister. It kept her sitting there on the couch as Bruce got even closer, his one hand moving slowly up her leg while his other reached up to brush against her face. "You're so young MJ, and it's not the fifties anymore. Do you really want to chain yourself to someone so soon?"
"But how about this?" Bruce asked as his hand reached behind her head and rested gently behind her. "Why don't you check to see if you really want to do that? Make sure to yourself that you want to make such a life changing decision. There's nothing wrong with that is there? Just one final check, just one little kiss and if you don't like it then that means you want to go and be with Peter. You can go back to him certain that you've made the right choice."
Mary Jane stared at him as he said that, the older and wiser voice pointing out how stupid that sounded while the younger voice arguing that it made sense. And she couldn't help agree with the younger voice a little, because she had doubts on marrying Peter until she resolved everything with her family so maybe she should check that they're really gone. Otherwise what if she realises that she's made a mistake a few months from now and she can't escape? Because she was young, she was only twenty-four just like Peter and they weren't even dating when he proposed. Would it really hurt anyone if she just checked, one kiss with Bruce to see whether she was ready to change her life so much for one man?
Bruce's face was inches from hers and he can feel his breath as he leaned even closer. Mary Jane couldn't stop thinking about the nights she spent here, of just the two of them and it was only then that this was the exact same move he used four years ago, and despite knowing it was wrong there was a part of her that wanted to lean forward and kiss him first just like she had all those years ago. But she simply stood there, her eyes slowly closing as Bruce's hand finally reached under her skirt and...
SLAP!
The sound of Mary Jane jumping backwards on the coach and slapping Bruce across the face was deafening. Once it was over they just stared at each other, Mary Jane putting some distance between them while Bruce just clutched at his face in complete shock, neither of his hands anywhere near her.
"What...What just happened?" he finally said, and it gave Mary Jane a small thrill to have clearly done something to him no other woman has done.
"I slapped you. Sorry." she quickly replied, before becoming more angry. "Actually no, I'm not sorry. Fuck you Bruce."
"Hey, I'm the one who just got slapped." he said defensive while Mary Jane just got up and started pacing around the apartment.
"And I'm the one who's meant to get married tomorrow. No, not tomorrow. Today, I'm getting married today!" she yelled angrily. "And you just showed up out of nowhere just to talk me out of getting married. We spent maybe three months together four years ago, it was fun but what sort of creep thinks that enough to just try and talk a woman out of getting married?"
"Hey, you're not exactly innocent either. You flirted with me and you spent time with me the last few days. That's not something somebody happily in love and excited to get married would do. You could have stopped this at any moment, but you did and that means something." Bruce argued as he stood up. "You're here because deep down you don't want to get married."
"I'm here because I had a fucked up childhood and despite trying to deal with it I'm still terrified of all of this going wrong." she replied which visibly surprised Bruce, and she hated how vulnerable she was right now. She hated how she was opening herself up to ridicule to an ex like Bruce, but she refused to just back down now.
"You're right, I've never wanted to get married or have kids. Because all my life, I've only seen that as a way for selfish assholes to trap you and keep you miserable while blaming you for all of their problems. Maybe those fears aren't completely gone and maybe they won't ever be, but I don't care." Mary Jane told him, though in truth she was listening to her own words as much as he was because with every word she spoke she felt more and more confident. "I want to marry Peter and call me crazy but I want to have his kids. This might be a big mistake but the alternative is missing out on the possibility of something that for a long time I didn't even think existed, and I can't bear that. You can't understand that because you've never been in love like that. You're just a guy almost in your forties who has nothing better to do that try to seduce engaged women with money and fancy cars."
Bruce just stared at her wordlessly, clearly shocked by everything just said. Mary Jane took a deep breath as she turned away to look out the window, needing a moment to collect herself before she left. She heard Bruce eventually walk up beside her and the two of them said nothing for a moment.
"Where's your honeymoon?" Bruce asked suddenly and she looked at him in confusion.
"We don't have one. It's not in our budget."
"Well, consider the villa both an apology and a wedding present then."
"I'm sorry, what?" Mary Jane asked in surprise while Bruce gave her a small smile.
"Not to own, but to use for a few weeks. It's near a very nice beach and there's plenty to see and do. You and your new husband should have a wonderful time."
"But Bruce, I can't do that. You got me the tickets for us and I just made it clear that nothing will happen."
"I know. But I also know what it feels like to be in love." he told her, his smile actually looking more forced. "There was this woman a couple of years ago. Selina. She made me happier than I had been felt before. But we were from very different worlds and were very different people. In another life we could have been something great, but sadly that's not the life we're in."
He features became more sad and regretful as he continued to talk. "I guess I thought that like me and Selina, you and Peter were too different to work and getting married would just make everything worse. I thought about you often and sometimes thought that maybe we could have worked, and that if I didn't do something I would miss my chance. But you're right, what I've been doing isn't the right thing. I've missed whatever chance I've had, if I even had one, and if you and Peter can actually have that ridiculous fairy tale ending, the right thing to do is to just get out of the way."
Mary Jane just stared at Bruce, a mixture of conflicting feelings inside of her as she struggled to decide how she felt about this man. But eventually she simply nodded gratefully.
"You should probably go now MJ. Most important day of your life when you wake up." Bruce told her and Mary Jane nodded again, grabbing her handbag and coat before stopping at the door.
"Bruce." she said as she turned to look at him, the rich actor looking very lonely as he stared at her. "Thanks. For the villa and for understanding. And in a weird way for helping me realise what I wanted."
"You're very welcome."
"And..." Mary Jane hesitated for a moment, unsure what she really wanted to say before finally deciding. "Maybe give Selina a call. It might not be too late."
"Maybe." Bruce replied with a sad smile, before becoming more contemplative. "Maybe."
With a small wave Mary Jane opened the door and closed it behind her, putting we fear behind her and choosing to embrace her future.
Please tell me what you think and if there are any spelling mistakes or sentences that don't make sense. This went through several rewrites and honestly I'm still not sure about it, so I would appreciate feedback. I wanted to explain why Mary Jane seemed so tempted by Bruce and it seemed more than just her personal issues, so I thought making her an ex would make some sense since he would more clearly represent her past. Also I wanted to bring up her family issues more, since I was annoyed that the actual comic makes it seem like she's more worried about giving up her party lifestyle. Plus while I know she would never cheat on Peter, I don't believe Bruce didn't try to seduce her or that Mary Jane wasn't tempted. And in regards to Bruce there's a fan theory that he's the Marvel version of Bruce Wayne, much like how Clark and Lois have appeared as background characters, and I thought I would reference that by including mentions of Selina.