Is She Mine?

"So your best friend comes back after studying abroad in a European boarding school…..and you treat him to fried chicken?"

"Haha shut up Harry! You love this place. Sure, Europe's got all that posh fancy food, but you can't beat good ol' American fried chicken!"

"….the Koreans have fried chicken too. And it's better."

"….Point taken. But still! We used to come here all the time!"

Good ol' Harry Osborn. Harry and Peter became thick as thieves ever since middle school. The son of Norman Osborn had moved schools a few times due to supposedly "bad attitude" or "poor grades". So public school was pretty much the last desperate attempt at Norman getting his son on the right track. As fate would have it, Harry Osborn met Peter Parker. The formula was pretty straight forward from there. Harry needed help in geometry, Peter was great at geometry. Harry struggled in biology. Peter loved biology. Harry couldn't do calculus. Peter could. So, for the next four years until their junior year of high school, Peter and Harry met up at a nearby Popeyes to indulge in some crispy fried chicken and work on Harry's math skills…and biology skills…..and chemistry skills…..and now Peter's skills with women.

"So, been checking out your Instagram lately. Seems like you and Mary Jane have been hitting it off quite a lot," Harry teased.

"Well yea haha. Y'know we've been hanging out a lot. It got kinda lonely junior year when you left."

"Sorry bud. But you know Stormin' Norman. Gotta follow orders. 'Go to Europe' he said. 'Become an independent man' he said. And so boarding school I go."

"How'd you like it?"

"It was alright. London's pretty cool. It rained a lot though."

"Meet anyone special over there?"

"Nah. I went on a few dates with this girl named Emma. But all she talked about was Spider-Man. Like 'OMG Spidey is so hot'. 'Sometimes I wish Spidey would web me up'. 'Spider-Man is just so yummy.' 'Gosh don't you think Spidey would look good in black'. Stuff like that," Harry recalled as he picked up a wing, "I mean she was cool, but sometimes I wonder if she went out with me because I was the only American within like a hundred-mile radius or something…Hey! Don't change the subject. We're talking about Mary Jane here!"

"Uh hehe what's there to talk about?" Peter nervously shrugged.

"I dunno. Boy. Girl. Hanging out together. A lot."

"What, can't a guy and a girl be friends?"

"They can. But not with the way she looks at you in those pictures."

"C'mon man. There's no look. Y'know we're just great friends."

"Well, your great friend has posted at minimum forty pictures of you on Instagram."

"Ok forty is exaggerating."

"You wanna see the hashtags?"

"Dude, I've seen the hashtags."

"Have you though?"

"Harry…"

Rolling his eyes, Harry handed Peter his phone. MJ's profile was already up. Though Peter did know MJ posted a lot of pictures of them together, he didn't realize just how many they had together. A lot of them were just goofy candid photos of their hang-out moments. One photo had them making goofy faces at the mall's food court. Another was from Halloween when they wore matching Spider-Man costumes. One photo that he didn't even know she had posted was him looking out at the sunset on the pier. It was a side profile with the twilight hitting him just right. He was leaning on the railing wearing the blue jacket she got him for his birthday. He couldn't help but smile at the caption: "My Tiger." The hashtags from a lot of the posts were relatively consistent too.

#MyTiger

#PeterParkerismybestie

#PeteristhecoolestpersonIknow

#FuntimeswithPeter

#IwouldnevertrademyTigerforanything

"See!" Harry pointed out, "Either you're an idiot or you don't like her in that way."

Peter turned his head and bit his cheek unable to look Harry in the eye.

"…..Oh my god, you don't like her."

"No! I do! I…dammit!"

Smirking, Harry crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Peter sent him a look that practically begged his friend to move onto a new topic. Harry was not budging one bit sending him a look of "We're not leaving until you admit it."

"Sigh ok fine! I really really really like MJ. Ok?" Peter admitted.

"There it is!"

"She's just so….so amazing. She speaks her mind. She's totally honest with me. She's upbeat, exciting. Y'know outside of you, she's the first person in a long time who would just listen to me talk. I could talk about Star Wars or a science project or I dunno just something I saw on the street. And she'd listen to all of it. Everything with the same enthusiasm. I feel like I can be myself around her, y'know. She has this way of making me want to bare it all for her."

"Whoa….TMI dude!"

"Not like that!...uh well sorta like that."

"Hey man. It's all good. I get it. She's pretty."

"Dude, she's gorgeous! But what I meant was she makes me want to bare my heart to her all the time. And she's so strong too. She doesn't care what anyone thinks. She's gonna march to the drumbeat of Mary Jane Watson and no one can stop her. She never lets anyone tell her what she can't do. She wants a part in the next play? She'll spend day and night perfecting her audition. She wants to find the perfect gift? She'll scour every shop in New York to find it while dragging me along with her. She wanted to be my friend? First day of school, she sat down in front of me and stole my French fry. God, I remember that day so well. She smiled so brightly with teeth as white as can be and lips red as rubies. Her freckles were spread out across her cheeks. Her eyes sent a soft but excited glare. I just….I just didn't know what to expect. This beautiful girl sat down in front of me and the next thing I knew we couldn't stop talking to each other. We didn't even notice the bell rang. I wake up wanting to see her eyes and her beautiful smile. She's wonderful. She's exciting."

"Would you look at that. Peter Parker's in love."

"Stop it, Harry. It's not like that."

"You are insane. She absolutely adores you. I can tell that from thousands of miles away solely based on the pictures she posts of you! Look! There's even one here of her jokingly nibbling on your ear! Like come on man! No girl posts this many pictures of a guy she doesn't like."

"I know she likes me."

Harry dropped his chicken wing. He felt like flipping the table and then running into a wall. He was flabbergasted. Stunned. He could not believe the stupidity of this situation.

"Wh….I…..I don't even know how to process this," Harry stuttered.

"It's complicated."

"What the hell is so complicated!?" Harry practically shouted inside the chicken restaurant, "Do I have to spell it out for you? You are good man. She is good woman. Bang Bang Hoo Ha and happily ever after!"

"I'm just worried it won't work out."

"You've got to be kidding me," Harry facepalmed.

"I'm serious man! She's special. She's one of a kind. And she went through a lot as a kid. Her dad lost his job and he turned to alcohol to cope. He'd shout and yell at her constantly telling her she'd never amount to anything. Her mother did nothing to shield her. She left MJ early and God knows where she is. After all that, Mary Jane is still upbeat and strong. She never ever let that horrible past define her. She deserves someone who can make her happy. Someone better than me," Peter lamented.

"You're right."

"…..I am?"

"Yea. We should do her a solid. Help her find a guy she would like. Maybe her Instagram would give us some clues."

"Ugh Harry please I get it."

"Hmmm who's this Tiger guy? She's got so many pictures of him."'

"Alright alright."

"Why does she call you Tiger anyway?"

"…I don't actually know."

A little while later, Peter and Harry said their goodbyes but not before Peter ordered a three-piece set of chicken to bring back to Mary Jane. As expected, Harry snickered at him being so considerate, but Peter brushed it off. As he walked home, he replayed that whole exchange he had with Harry. Course Peter knew that MJ really really liked him. He wasn't blind. And he loved spending time with her. No question. But what he couldn't tell Harry was that his life was too complicated, too messy for MJ. Spider-Man made things too messy. Firstly, how would she react if she found out he held such a huge secret from her? Would she be angry? Would she ever be able to trust him again? Even if they got over that huge revelation, he would never make her happy. How could he consistently be there for her if he was always swinging away at the sound of sirens? Even now, he was constantly late for their hang-outs. Sometimes he had even stood her up and had to stupidly lie about being sick or Aunt May needing him for something important. How could he ever be present in a relationship with her if Spider-Man kept pulling her away? And what if someone figured out his identity? What if they went after Mary Jane to get to him? Peter shuddered at the thought. He loved her. He really really did. But the responsible thing to do would be to keep her at a distance. But at the same time, Peter didn't believe he could spend even a day apart from Mary Jane. She was so free-spirited. She was so brave to overcome her rough childhood and become the amazing girl she was today. Mary Jane made Peter want to become better. She was the reason he continued swinging around as Spider-Man so that she could live in peace. Because spending night after night chasing down criminals, fighting off crazy supervillains would all be worth it if he could see Mary Jane's sweet smile.

Lost in his thoughts, Peter accidentally walked past the Watson's house before doubling back and walking up to the door. One knock later, Mary Jane hastily opened the door with that brilliant smile of hers.

"Hey there, Tiger! Back from meeting up with Harry I see!"

"Hi, Red. Uhh yea. Haven't seen him in a while. It was good to catch up."

"Well, hopefully I get to meet him soon. I need to size up my competition for the title of Peter Parker's best friend!

"Haha don't worry, MJ. No one could compare to you."

"….Thanks, Peter," she blushed brushing back her hair.

"Oh, I brought you some chicken. Still hot and crispy."

"Really? That's so sweet, but you didn't have to do that."

"I figured you'd like a snack or something. All good. Just doing what friends do."

"Thank you, Peter. Hey. Why don't you come in?"

Peter froze for a second. Wasn't he just talking about keeping MJ distant? The smart move would be to just hand her the chicken and head home. He should not give in. He should not walk in that door with her.

"We could watch a movie. Something light and easy. Like 'Tangled'," she smiled sweetly.

A goofy smile crept onto his face. Peter could never say no to her.

"Sure. Sounds like fun," he smiled back walking over the threshold.

AN: Hey everyone! We've got yet another DDDDDDDDDOUBLE FEATURE! (Oh I also edited the previous Star Wars chapter to give it a little more umph. Check it out if you like!)

I realized that majority of this fic is from MJ's perspective. Which is cool and I love her. But we gotta balance things out with some Peter. It is after all a Spider-Man fic hahahaha. Anyway, I've got kinda a parallel thing going with this chapter and the next. I hope you enjoy!