Michelle "MJ" Jones

To say this week was a rollercoaster would be an understatement. Just the day before, I had to deal with being targeted by the DODC. And now Peter was here having dinner with me and my folks, something neither he or I planned for. I was a bit nervous for Peter. I knew he was dreading this day for a while, mostly because of how my dad felt about Spider-Man. Luckily for us, Ned was there as well. His very presence would keep my parents from asking questions that were too personal, I thought.

I hoped.

Dinner began in silence. Greek food was passed around. My mom said a quick prayer, and then we ate. Everyone was quiet. Every now and again, Peter, Ned, and I would exchange glances. We were just waiting for my parents to ask questions – not just about my relationship to Peter, but about Peter himself. There was just so much we couldn't tell them at the time. I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to tell them. So, this was a conversation we had to navigate very carefully when it started.

"So Peter," my dad began.

It started.

"We've been curious about you for a while," my father continued. "Our daughter talks about you, we've seen pictures of you, but we never got to see you in person until tonight. Not the best way of meeting, but I'd take it walking on you two building Legos with Ned over the alternative any day." I felt my face warm up a bit. Even if Ned wasn't there, I wouldn't dare to even think about making out with Peter in the living room, let alone… that. My dad nodded towards him. "How did you two meet?"

"Peter Pan," Peter said. "I was living in Queens for a while, but moved to Manhattan. When I did, I asked around for a good spot to grab coffee from, and Peter Pan came up. So, I went there one day. The first time I was there, MJ was at the register."

"He introduced himself with his full name," I added with a smirk. I looked over at Peter, who smiled sheepishly. "I've gotten weird introductions before, but that just stood out to me."

"You had me a bit tongue-tied. I didn't know what to say at the time." He looked back at my parents. My father narrowed his eyes at us while my mom smiled in amusement. "I became a regular customer. That's also how I met Ned here. One day, they invited me out to see American Idiot. I came along, met Betty, then Craig and Kitty. Eventually, MJ and I got closer and… yeah."

"He was living a boring life beforehand," Ned spoke up. "He didn't do much for leisure."

"We've been hanging out more and more until, one day, he asked me to hang out," I continued. "The next night, we walked around a bit, we got chopped cheeses, we walked around Brooklyn Bridge Park, we ate, and then we talked. I think that was the night we realized we liked each other."

My mother chuckled. "Well, aren't you two cute," she commented.

"Adorable, actually," Peter, Ned, and I said with unison. We looked at each other.

"Inside joke," I explained.

"Uh-huh," my father replied. He looked like he wanted to say more, but then he shook his head dismissively. "Anyway, got any plans for school?"

"I've been getting ready to apply to some colleges, like MIT, ESU, and Harvard," Peter answered. "I just have to take the SATs."

Dad nodded at him. "What do you plan on majoring in?"

"Either Biochemistry or Biomedical Engineering… or maybe even both. I haven't quite decided yet."

At that, my father chuckled. "We have a Brainiac in the house."

"I'm no smarter than MJ and Ned, I assure you." I gave him a sideways glare as I tried to hold back my smile at the compliment.

"That still says a lot," my mom commented. I looked at her and she winked at me. Unable to keep the smile off of my face, I shook my head as I continued to eat. That smile went away when my mom continued to speak. "Now, my daughter has mentioned that you're taking GED classes."

"I am," Peter confirmed. "Certain things happened to me that made going to normal high school impossible."

"And your parents are okay with this?" my father questioned.

My eyes went wide as I stared at my father. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ned shift in his seat. I guess we should've all seen that question coming. I just wasn't sure Peter was ready to talk about his folks with people outside of his circle yet. I wanted to speak up and say that Peter wasn't comfortable enough to talk about that part of his life. But Peter spoke up.

"My parents… aren't exactly in a position where I can talk to them," Peter explained. He paused for a moment. "…My parents died in a plane crash when I was about seven. I ended up living with my uncle and aunt. They were great people, and I looked up to them a lot. Unfortunately, my uncle was killed by a fleeing robber when I was fourteen. My aunt died late last year. Spider-Man was taking on this monster and she got caught in the crossfire."

"…Oh…" My father frowned as he shook his head slowly. I saw the regret on his face. "Aw shit! I'm sorry, Peter."

"It's fine. You couldn't have known." I looked over at Peter. He looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile.

"So who are you living with?" my mother asked.

"I'm living by myself," Peter replied.

"And you're making enough money to do so?"

"I am. I'm working as a photographer for The Daily Bugle, and I'm also a freelance employee for Stark Industries." My parents stared at him. "…Long story short, Pepper Potts happened to be a friend of my aunt."

Dinner continued on smoothly. Much to my relief, Spider-Man wasn't brought up. Once dinner was done, my parents left me, Peter, and Ned alone to continue working on the Lego set. It was about ten o'clock when we finished. The three of us sat there on the sofa and looked at it. This normally would have been the part where I would've jokingly teased the two of them, but there was no ignoring the small sense of accomplishment I was feeling. Plus, it looked awesome.

"We did it," Ned said.

"Yeah, we did," I agreed. "So, what now?"

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"What I mean is who's keeping it?"

"You are," Peter and Ned answered in unison.

I looked at them with wide eyes. "What?" I furrowed up my eyebrows and shook my head. "No! This Lego set had to be expensive!"

"Not for me," Peter retorted. "Ned and I got it to cheer you up."

"Besides, fight it as much as you want, Peter and I both know you're as much of a Star Wars fan as we are," Ned teased.

I narrowed my eyes. "Now that's bullshit."

Ned glared at me. "MJ, you literally debated Jason for thirty minutes straight while defending Rey Skywalker!"

I blinked a couple of times. "…Lies and slander!" Peter chuckled, causing me to playfully glare at him. "Are you going to just sit there and allow Ned to dirty my reputation?"

"Em, I love you to death, but you're a Star Wars geek, and I love that about you."

I pouted and crossed my arms. I was being a bit of a brat, albeit jokingly. "I hate you."

Peter chuckled before placed a quick kiss on my temple. "I love you, too."

I turned my head away. "…You better." I turned my head back towards him and smiled.

We continued to speak for a little bit afterwards before Peter and Ned left. Once they were gone, I took the Death Star and took it nto my room. After making space for it on my desk, I placed it there. I stared at it for some seconds. I smiled at it, taking pride in my part in building it. I then frowned. I was reminded that, once again, I had the personality merger on the horizon. There was a part of me that didn't want to go through with it. I wished there was an alternative. Unfortunately, there wasn't. I couldn't keep going about my life as normal with the knowledge of there being another person trapped inside of me, even if that person was technically a part of me. I shook my head before I walked out of the room. I moved into the bathroom and closed the door.

"I don't like this any more than you do." I turned my head towards the mirror to see Mirror MJ where my reflection should be. She was looking a bit somber. "You still want to go through with it?"

"It's the right thing to do," I said. "So I have to do it, even if it results… you know."

Mirror MJ nodded. "For what it's worth, I wish I had the same trust in him that you have." She took in a breath as she looked away. "Even now, no matter how hard I try, I…" She trailed off. She shook her head before she looked at me. "…I love Peter. I resent him for what he did, but I still love him. I'm not going to feel the least bit good about any negative impact our merger will have on your relationship with him. At the same time, after Peter walked away without keeping his promise, I can't help but wonder if he'll do something drastic and keep me at a distance again the next time something real major happens again."

I nodded. "That's fair." I grimaced. "We're going to need therapy after this, aren't we?"

Mirror MJ chuckled bitterly. "Most likely, I'd say." She smiled slightly. "I guess for now we hope for the best…"

"…but expect disappointment," I finished.

Mirror MJ nodded. "Yeah, that." She sighed. "Go to sleep, Me. We need it."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

After I finished using the bathroom, I went to bed. I didn't go to sleep right away. I stared up at the ceiling in thought. I was starting to have second thoughts, but I immediately squashed them. I looked over at the Death Star. I frowned before I looked back up at the ceiling and closed my eyes.

The next morning, I got ready for school. When I got dressed, I stepped out of the room and into the living room. I was on my way out when I saw my mom at the kitchen's island.

"I'm out, mom," I said.

"You got time for a cup of coffee?" my mom asked. I stopped in my tracks just a few feet short of the door. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cellphone. After checking the time, I thought things over for a moment before I put my phone back into my pocket.

"I think I do," I replied as I turned towards my mom. I took off my backpack and placed it on the floor near the door. I then walked over to the kitchen island. As I sat on one of the stools, my mom went about preparing me a cup of Joe, grabbing my mug from a cabinet in the process. After she poured me a cup, she set it in front of me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." My mom sat across from me in her previous seat before she picked her mug up. After taking a sip, she looked at me. "You know, there was a part of me that was wondering if you're exaggerating when you said you're surprised that Peter didn't blow his brains out. But after last night, I'm just as surprised as you are."

I picked my mug up and pointed towards her. "I told you." Of course, she didn't know the whole story. As depressing as it was to have the parental figures in his life die on him on multiple occasions, it was only the tip of that iceberg. I was glad he was in therapy. Come to think of it, I was glad he was unable to get drunk, as far as he knew.

The last thing he needed in his life was alcoholism.

"So what do you think about Peter?" I asked before I took a sip.

"He seems okay enough," my mom replied. She narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you looking for my approval?"

I almost scoffed. "No. I just wanted to know your opinion."

"Well, you know me, Miche. As long as you're not bringing home some good-for-nothing delinquent or criminal, and as long as the boy is treating you right, I'm not going to raise a fuss." Technically, Peter was a criminal, and an international one at that. Of course, I kept that part to myself, but I still had to have some fun at my mom's expense.

"…Okay, I have to come clean," I said with mock remorse. "Peter is not a college student. In actuality, he runs a trap house and he wants me to be his trap queen."

My mother glared at me. She was not amused. "…You're not too old for me to get the belt. You know that right?"

I smiled widely. "I know. But I had to."

She scoffed at me before she lifted up her mug to take a sip of her coffee. "Little shit."

I went about the rest of the day as normal. Or, rather, I tried to. All throughout the day, I had this feeling of… well, I wouldn't call it a dread. I guess it was reluctant resignation. When lunch rolled around, I went straight to the roof. I sat cross-legged and closed my eyes. I did my best to focus on nothing. That, in and of itself, was a feat. I might as well have tried to find a Stormtrooper that had some semblance of accuracy and…

Wait, did I just make a Star Wars reference?

Ah, goddamn it I did!

Anyway, by the time I cleared my head, lunch was over. So, I ate my sandwich along the way to my next class and downed my drink during it.

After school, I went to work. Like clockwork, Peter swung by in the middle of my shift for his usual. This time, he got a Boston cream donut with his black coffee. He stuck around for a bit. Once there was a lull in customers, I walked up to him.

"Hey," I greeted.

"Hey you," Peter replied with a smile. His smile shrunk a bit. "What do your folks think about me?"

I scoffed. "They think you're a horrible person and a menace to society."

His smile became cheeky. "I didn't know Jonah was your father."

"Yeah, he is. He told me that if you don't get him more pictures of Spider-Man or you'll get fired."

"Tell him to give me a raise and I'll think about it." He then tilted his head. "Unless you and I can come up with an arrangement…"

I gave him a mock glare. "Still not doing 'that' here." He pouted playfully, causing me to laugh. "But seriously, though, my parents think you're cool, though my mother is surprised you haven't bought yourself a farm."

"Yeah, so am I." Peter smiled. "But I'm here, farm-less."

"It better stay that way," I warned. I then smiled. "Unless you mean literally, then that's okay."

"Yeah, we can have a pig and a rough collie," Peter added. "We'd call them Peter Porker and Michelle Bones."

I blinked a couple of times. "…Why are we dating again?"

"Because of my charming personality?"

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt it."

Eventually, Peter had to leave. After we shared a goodbye kiss, I watched him as he left. I then went back to work.

The rest of the day went by as normal, for the most part. I say for the most part because, during my training, Colleen put me through light exercises before we meditated. According to her, she was "chi sick". I didn't know what that meant, so I made a mental note to ask her. I wondered if I was chic sick, because after meditating with her, I felt a bit better about everything afterwards. Granted, as I went home, I was still somewhat dreading the day Mirror MJ and I will merge, but, maybe I was allowing a bit of room for optimism.

I think.

I hope.