Always on the Move

"Come on, Spidey! Come on! Faster! You have to make it! You just HAVE TO!"

*THWIP THWIP*

"Dammit do I swing towards Fifth Avenue? Or do I cut through the park?" Spidey asked himself as he soared through the air.

Making a split decision, he fired a web that anchored his swing as he turned down Fifth Avenue. Now was not the time to second guess. Another webzip pulled him towards a building. He wasted no momentum deftly landing on his feet and sprinting along the wall. Exhaustion was getting the better of him. Arms were strained from swinging. Joints were aching. The mask limited the oxygen he needed. At this point only instincts and split decisions were reserved for his brain.

"Almost there, Spidey. Almost there. Keep pushing!"

With whatever strength he had left in his legs, he leapt from the building and fired off another webline. It was almost automatic for him. Quick swings and releases to keep the momentum going and not lose any speed. By the time he landed in the alley, Peter felt like collapsing on the spot. His legs could barely keep him up as he used the walls for balance. Pushing forward, he found the backpack he was smart enough to web behind a dumpster earlier. Ripping his mask off, Peter wiped the sweat off his brow and began to change.

A few minutes later, with his crumpled suit jacket and loose tie, Peter ran down the block towards a still brightly lit window front. He keeled over to catch his breath as he arrived before straightening his tie and grabbed the doorknob. However, it just would not turn.

"Huh?"

Peeking inside, he was astounded to see the waiters and busboys stacking chairs and removing tablecloths. Furiously, Peter tapped the glass hoping to get someone's attention. Eventually, a rather annoyed maître d' opened the front door.

"Can I help you?" the man asked clearly irritated.

"Yea uh hi! Are you closing?!" Peter asked frantically.

"That would clearly be the case."

"But I thought you guys were open until 9!"

"Sir, it is 9:20. Le Gusteau's is now closed."

"WHAT!?" Peter panicked looking at his watch to confirm the time, "Did you see a redheaded girl? Uhh about yay high? Green eyes?"

"Oh my God," the man's eyes widened, "You're the bastard who kept that fine young lady waiting all night?!"

"Well I mean I was running a little late…"

"I'll have you know sir, that madam waited patiently like a saint for your sorry ass. She ate at minimum two baskets of bread while you were God knows where. We wanted to give her a complimentary entrée for her troubles, but she politely declined. She is so out of your league. You don't deserve her. Good night."

On that note, the maître d' forcefully slammed the door in Peter's face leaving him bewildered on the street. He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. Not a single call or text message. Looking around, Peter scoured the street trying to think where his beautiful girlfriend had gone if not home. Finally, he spotted a familiar head of red hair sipping coffee at a nearby diner. Rushing over, Peter nearly tore the door off, catching the eyes of many patrons. Slowly, with a solemn look, he walked up to her expecting to be chewed out for being late. Instead, her eyes lit up with joy.

"Peter!" Mary Jane exclaimed getting out of the booth and running up to hug him, "Come come! I just ordered some waffles. We can share!"

Hastily she dragged him to her booth and sat down across from him. Peter was baffled once again. He practically stood her up all night and here she was cheery as a button.

"So? How was your day?" she asked.

"I Uh well…"

"Did you…take care of business?"

"Um y-yea. I uh took care of everything. No problem. You know me hehe," Peter scratched his head nervously.

"Are you hurt?"

"No no! All good."

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"Nope uhh luckily everyone's ok."

"Good," she smiled earnestly resting her hand on his, "Then I'm glad we're here to spend time together."

His heart practically melted at the look she was giving him. It felt so genuine. She tilted her head and smiled. Something gnawed at the back of Peter's mind. This didn't make sense.

"Wait…I left you sitting in that restaurant for like two maybe three hours? How are you ok?!"

"Because you're here now. Relax and enjoy some waffles. Much cheaper than that fancy-schmancy Frenchie restaurant."

"Order up!"

Just then, a waitress put down a stack of waffles on Peter and MJ's table. The sweet warm aroma immediately filled their nostrils and gave off a cozy feeling. Not skipping a beat, Mary Jane spread butter all over the first waffle and started cutting it into pieces.

"But I mean…shouldn't you be MMPH" Peter stammered before MJ shoved a waffle bite into his mouth.

"Just enjoy the waffles, Tiger."

Chewing and then swallowing the delectable breakfast food, Peter tried to ask again.

"Aren't you mad?"

"No. Why would I be?"

"I mean, I left you waiting for hours."

"Eh that's ok. The folks in there are really snooty anyways. Besides, breakfast for dinner is sooo underrated!"

"DAMN YOU SPIDER-MAN! STAND STILL SO I CAN SQUASH YOU LIKE THE BUG YOU ARE!"

"Excuse you! Spiders are arachnids! You should know that! You're a scorpion!"

"Argghh SHUT UP!"

In downtown Manhattan, Spider-man faced off against the latest random villain in an augmented suit. This time Mac Gargan, a low-level street thug, came tearing down the street in a big bulky blue-green armor. It gave him enhanced strength and agility, as well as a long tail with a sharp blade at the end designed to pierce spiders. Sensing the swing of said sharp pointy tail a mile away, Spidey leapt up and over the bulky Scorpion. In quick succession a barrage of webs was fired from Spidey's wrists. The sticky synthetic strings wrapped around the arachnoid villain, but Gargan easily ripped the webs apart.

"You'll have to do better than that, punk," Scorpion growled.

"Ugh could you just surrender or something? I'm late as it is!" Spidey retorted.

Lunging from his position, Spidey extended a punch right into Scorpions stomach. Despite the toughness of the armor, Scorpion still keeled over and backed up from the blow. Angered, he swiped and knocked Spidey back a bit.

"I gotta ask, Gargan. Where the heck did you get a fit like that? Pretty sure that's not readily available at Tom Ford."

"Wouldn't you like to know, hero?" he taunted.

"…..actually I would! Lowkey, I want a fancy Spider Armor!"

Scorpion dove at the talkative webslinger who just barely rolled to the side. The rough edges of a manhole cover caught Spidey's attention and hatched an idea in his mind. Placing his fingertips on the thick metal disc, he fired a webline right onto Scorpion's chest and yanked himself full speed at the villain. Smirking, Gargan sent his tail straight at the incoming spider.

"I got ya now webhead!"

In the blink of an eye, just before the tail's blade would have lodged itself in his skull, Spidey deftly brought the manhole cover up to block the attack. Though the Scorpion stinger pierced the disc, the tail was completely stuck giving Spidey the opening he needed. Wasting no time, he slammed his fist right onto Gargan's head cracking the scorpion helmet into two pieces. Another quick kick to the stomach pushed Gargan off and sent him flying into a nearby wall finally knocking him out. Just in case, Spidey wrapped him up in a flurry of webbing. Happy with his gift to the police, he jumped up and furiously swung away. A while later, a panicky Peter Parker ran down the street as he spotted Mary Jane waiting for him outside the movie theater.

"Mary Jane! Mary Jane!" he shouted.

"Peter!" she exclaimed excitedly as she turned to see him.

As he came up to her, she wasted no time wrapping him in her arms and squeezing a hug out of her boyfriend.

"I'm so glad you're here!" she chastely kissed him on the lips.

"Yea. But I'm so late! We missed our showing."

"No we didn't."

"….huh? But 7:30's the last showing of 'Somewhere in Time'! We missed it."

"Well," she smirked, "7:30 would be the last showing…on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays."

"Wait really?"

"Yup. And it being Friday, I got us tickets for the 8:45 showing," she waved the tickets out in victory.

"D-did you buy two sets of tickets?" Peter asked worriedly.

"Nah. I traded with another couple when I realized you were running late."

"Oh…..MJ I'm really sorry."

"Don't sweat it. You were busy. It's all good."

"But MJ…."

"Come on Peter! The more we jibber jabber out here the less fresh the popcorn with be!" she insisted tugging on his arm and leading him into the theater.

"Please let him be ok," Mary Jane prayed as she sat by her bedroom window.

Things had been going so well. She and Peter were enjoying a quaint little lunch before a swarm of police cars rushed by with blazing sirens. Though Peter hesitated and gave her a slightly pleading look, Mary Jane decisively nodded kissing his cheek for luck.

"Go get 'em, Tiger. Be safe," she told him like she had countless times before.

But that was hours ago at midday. It was now nearing midnight without a single message or reassurance from Peter that he was ok. MJ had tried to distract herself but to no avail. She got through a few episodes of 'Vampire Diaries' before realizing she should slow down so Peter could catch up and they could watch together. Reading 'Pride and Prejudice' was the second attempt at keeping her mind occupied, but that failed as she just kept imagining Peter as Mr. Darcy. She even tried baking cookies, but halfway through mixing the batter she frowned remembering that Peter liked having a bit more salt in the recipe. It was terrifying and slightly irritating how all she could do was wait and hope for the best. She didn't dare call or text fearing he was in the middle of Spider-Manning and the last thing she wanted to do was distract him during a life-or-death situation. So now all she could do was sit in her bedroom and stare out in the moonlit sky waiting to hear the familiar thwip of his webshooter.

*RING RING*

At the sound of her phone, Mary Jane whipped her head around and dove towards her bed. With lightning-fast reflexes, she picked up her phone and turned on the screen eager to read whatever text Peter had sent.

Victoria Secret's Super Sale is now OPEN! 50% off all 'special' items. Don't miss out!

"UGHHHHHHHH," she groaned dropping her phone on her bed.

While she'd normally be thrilled about the sale, it was definitely not the news she was hoping for. Turning to her side, Mary Jane wondered if this was what her life would be like from now on. Always having to wait for Peter. Being with someone who may miss important dates or would come home late instilling fear and worry in her every time. She had been playing of his tardiness because she knew whatever he was doing was far more important than a silly dinner or movie or date. Peter risked his life daily to save people. Who was she to tell him to stop and give up being Spider-Man?

*Knock Knock*

The sound immediately pulled MJ out of her reverie. Sitting up, she spotted the familiar red and blue webbed hand waving at her. Again, with inhuman speed, Mary Jane dashed to the window and eagerly opened it.

"Hi Red, sorry I'm MMPH."

Peter couldn't get a single word in as Mary Jane ripped off his mask and smushed her lips to his. Aggressively, she tugged at his costume practically yanking him inside never breaking lip contact. Something was wrong though. Peter wasn't kissing back with the usual fervor and passion. He kept his hands to her sides almost at arm's length. He was sort of hugging her, but he wasn't touching her, not in the way she wanted anyway. Breaking the kiss, she furrowed her brow in concern.

"Tiger? Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"Huh? Uh no no I'm fine. Really."

"Well, did everything go ok?"

"Um yup. A lot of stuff happened today. There was a bank robbery that led to a huge car chase. Uhh after I got that sorted out, I stopped a bodega robbery. Then there was this huge fire. A lot of things led to other things, and it was really hectic today."

"I'm sorry," she caressed his face, "Was anyone hurt?"

"No no thankfully I got everyone out and everyone's ok."

"Good! Then, I'm glad you're here with me," she moved to kiss him, but for some reason he actually pushed her away.

Shock and hurt filled her face. Peter couldn't make eye contact as she stared at him like what he did was absolute lunacy.

"Peter, what's wrong? Talk to me," she pleaded.

He took her hand and guided both of them to her bed gently signaling her to sit with him. They sat in awkward silence for a bit as Peter tried to gather his words. Patiently, MJ waited rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb hoping to ease his tension.

"I uh I think you deserve better," Peter began, "I don't think I've been a very good boyfriend for you lately."

"….What are you talking about?!" her eyes widened not understanding the nonsense coming out of his mouth.

"This is what I was afraid of when we first started going out. Me always being late. Me not able to be there for you when you need me most. Or me not putting enough effort into this relationship. You deserve someone who can give you his undivided attention. Someone who want string you along or make you wonder if he's even alive or not. I-I don't know if I can give that to you."

"Peter….you're not saying that we should…"

"I-I mean, maybe? Maybe we should…end it here?"

Tears welled up in her eyes. Mary Jane practically stopped breathing. Her heart stopped beating. She genuinely couldn't believe it. After all they had been through, from being best friends, to spending all that time together. Just like that, Peter wanted to throw it all away. The neurons in her brains stopped firing. She prayed that this was a nightmare and that soon she'd wake up. Peter meanwhile still couldn't look her in the eye. He kept his face away so she wouldn't see his pained expression hoping she'd take his words to heart and end their relationship here and now. Worry and confusion boiled into anger inside her. For a split-second she wanted to pick him up and throw him out her window…and then it hit her. All that waiting around and wondering if he was alive or not. All the tardiness and abrupt endings to dates so he could swing off and be Spider-man. All that stress and worry was nothing compared to the pain of Peter not being hers. Suddenly, her conviction and determination her returned to her in full force just like they did on that fateful prom night. Wiping her tears, MJ placed one of her hands on his shoulder while the other interwove her fingers with his.

"Peter Parker, look at me," she firmly ordered.

He turned his head to look at her for the first time tonight, tears still freshly falling.

"Do you know what the first thing I ever learned about you was?" she asked earnestly.

"N-no."

"The moment I laid eyes on you, I learned that you were a hero at heart. Before Spider-man and before you and I even spoke a single word to each other, I knew you were someone who would never be able to stand the injustice around him. On my first day at Midtown, I saw you valiantly stomp your feet towards Flash. Your eyes were blazing but not with anger, with determination. Your face firm and strong. But you weren't some macho man who used his fists. You used your words. You talked to Flash and convinced him to back off on Henry. In three minutes, I learned that you were a hero with a kind heart, that you wanted not only to protect the little guy but help the bully see the error of his ways. And it was the hottest thing I've ever seen."

"M-Mary Jane I-" he stopped as she put a finger to his lips.

"I told you the night we got together that all I would ever need from you was to hold me in your arms. That would be enough for me. And I meant it. Yes, you being late at times bothers me, but mainly because I worry about you. I care so so much about you and I just want you to be safe. However, I will gladly wait for you till the end of time if it meant I could kiss you again when you were finished. Being a hero is who you are, Peter. Being Spider-man is forever tied to your identity. I would never ever ask you to give that up just so we could have dinner together. Even if I did force you, you'd be a shaky miserable wreck knowing you could make a difference. Despite my worry about your safety, I will always always be proud that you're out there saving countless people. I love you. I love Spider-man. I love my hero. And dammit the Devil himself couldn't keep me away from you. So don't you even try."

"I just…I just don't want you to worry. You'd be happier with someone more stable."

"I worry because I love you, you doofus. And what did I say that night about assuming what I'd be happy with?"

"MJ I…"

"Peter, if I wanted someone stable, I'd have chosen someone stable. I want the man who wouldn't hesitate to jump off a bridge and save a falling person. I want the man who joined the football team because I hyped him up way too much. I want the man who took care of me when I was so sick, I was just spewing constant nonsense. I want the man who spent the day with me at the park taking my picture so I could try and live out this fantasy of being a professional model. Peter Parker, all I've ever wanted is my Tiger. And if being with my Tiger involves letting Spider-man interrupt our lives from time to time, I'd pay that price over and over again. So please, stop being so hard on yourself. You are the man I love. Do you love me?"

"Of course I do! More than anything!"

"Then it's a no brainer. We shall continue our relationship to the fullest! I have spoken!" she giggled.

"Hehe and what you say is law."

"Absolutely. Now come here and kiss me."

Obliging, Peter leaned forward and kissed her properly this time. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his snaked around her waist. His lips moved in sync with hers as he lovingly rubbed her sides. Holding him tightly, she pulled him down toward the bed and let him get on top of her. The suddenness caused his mouth to open slightly, and MJ didn't waste a second slipping her tongue in. Peter shifted to climb up on her and let a little of his weight onto her. Her legs wrapped around his waist keeping him in place as they continued their blissful kiss. Unconsciously, Peter started to thrust a little bit into her. Electricity surged throughout her body as she reveled in his boldness. Her ankles locked together trapping him in place. After a bit, he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes.

"I love you, Mary Jane Watson. I'm forever grateful you chose me."

"I will always choose you, Peter, so long as you will always have me."

He leaned down to leave feather kisses on her cheeks and her nose before moving to kiss her jaw. By the time he reached her neck, his rigor and passion ramped up as gently bit and sucked on her pressure point.

"Peterrrr. Yes….Yes…"

Leaving a few love bites, he kissed his way up her jaw and back to her lips. Her hands played with his hair to keep him firmly where she wanted him. His own hands roamed a bit up and down her sides and thigh. Their tongues dances wildly as neither wanted the moment to end. Eventually though, Peter broke the kiss and rested his head next to hers. Although he tried his best to keep his full weight off her, he still slumped down resting part of his weight on her.

"I-I'm sorry. I just….I don't have the energy to keep going," Peter panted.

"Shhh stop apologizing. It's ok. This is enough. I promise. You've had a long day. Rest, Tiger."

Nodding, Peter moved to get up, but MJ still hugged and held him down.

"Mary Jane? I need to get back."

"…..Orrr you could spend the night."

"But I mean, Aunt May is going to freak."

"Well maybe not as bad as you think. I texted her that you were still with me, but that was a few hours ago. It's late, and the way I see it, you're a dead man whether you walk into that house now or in the morning. You might as well enjoy your last few moments sleeping comfortably in my arms."

"What about your aunt then?"

"Eh tonight is her bingo night. She won't wake up until at least noon tomorrow. So stay. Cuddle with me."

"O-ok."

They once again shifted to lay properly in the bed. Mary Jane rested her head on the pillow and opened her arms. Peter leaned in a snuggled up against her. Playfully, she pushed his face into her chest pretending to suffocate him.

"What a way to die," he joked.

Rolling her eyes, she patted his head as their legs tangled up with each other. Slowly, Peter's breathing evened out as he fell to slumber. Mary Jane kissed the top of his head and closed her eyes letting sleep take her as well.

"Goodnight, Tiger. I love you."

AN: Heya Everyone! I'm back hahha. I'm so so sorry it's been so long between updates. My family visited and then I went on vacation. It's been a while so I needed some time to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully this update was ok. We all need some good good PeterMJ fluff. HTBC will also get updated eventually lol. And I'm even considering a third fic from a third fandom haha. We'll see. Till the next time!