Chapter Text
So let's ride on the breeze
And fly spirals with me
He isn’t sure about his plan when he first sees her and hell, he’s not even sure about it as he approaches her but somehow his feet carry him across the crowded parking lot anyways.
Fresh off their first place win at nationals the previous year (one he had absolutely nothing to do with) and pumped off the adrenaline of their first practice together as winners, Peter finds his courage and stops right in front of Michelle.
It takes her a moment to acknowledge that he’s clearly there and waiting for her attention and the devil on her shoulder preens and whispers, Good. Show him how it feels.
When she finally turns to him, she looks him up and down just once as she has done once before because it was fun to watch him squirm the first time and he doesn’t disappoint.
Also because he looks like that.
(But it was mostly for the squirming, of course.)
“Parker.”
Peter’s eyes widen at that, seemingly surprised that she’s addressing him first even though he’s the one who’d walked over to her. Words have seemed to escape him and her expression darkens slightly in the shade of judgement before he manages to squeak, “Uh, hey, MJ.”
It still startles her a little when people call her that. She’d been asking her mom to call her “MJ” for years, but she’d always refused because “Michelle is a perfectly beautiful name.”
When she’d asked the team to call her that, she’d expected the same resistance or even apathy toward the matter and was genuinely surprised with how quickly they’d adhered to her request.
She doesn’t respond to him because, well, he came over here, so he must have a reason?
It’s hard for her to stay clear headed on the matter since the raging crush she’s had on Peter Parker for the better part of the year is ringing sirens in her brain as she channels every bit of her energy into breathing steadily.
She is clear headed enough to notice that Peter seems to be dealing with his own distress as well, even if she only noticed him scratching at the back of his neck like that because of the way his arms look while he does it.
He stays silent for few more moments until MJ finally breaks and takes one step backwards, “well as fun as this has been, I’m gonna get going I gue-”
“ I HAVE KEYS!”
She blinks at Peter a couple times, head jerking back because, what?
He seems to recover and realize that he needs to actually speak to MJ if he wants this plan to work. And the plan has to work, if only to prove Ned wrong when he said that Peter should “ absolutely not” attempt this “terrible” plan.
“I-uh, I have my car keys is uh...what I meant to say. I have my car keys and my car- I could- “
“Peter-”
He’s rambling and for Peter it’s what he imagines an out of body experience is like. He’s always been a little reserved but he’s never been shy, and as awkward as he’d been around Liz like…all the time, he had still asked her out.
(And she’d said yes!)
That has to count for something, right? At least he would’ve thought so but for some reason he can’t seem to stop talking and MJ’s overall aloof demeanor only makes him want to talk more.
Problems, Peter has them.
“-I wanted to drive you home, if that’s okay with you because I totally get it if you don’t want to get in a car with me but I thought-”
MJ reaches into the space between them seemingly without thought and touches his wrist lightly to finally stop him. “Peter.”
The touch is over as quickly as it’d started and if it weren’t for his senses Peter would be convinced she hadn’t even touched him at all.
Michelle seems just as surprised by her impulse as he was and when he finally manages to lock eyes with her, he sees a blush coloring the apples of her cheeks.
Maybe it’s just cold out. Or maybe-
“I’d uh- like that,” she says, rocking back on her heels just once as her lips press in a crooked smile.
“You mean- as in you want a ride?”
“Yes.”
Stupidly he has to clarify, “With me?”
He sees and hears her take a deep breath before she nods sharply, “Yes.”
Seems like it was a pretty good plan after all.
The walk to the car is silent.
Painfully so.
It’s enough to have Peter questioning whether he’d misread some of those charged moments he’s shared with MJ the past few weeks.
There are times when he’s at his locker or about to turn a corner in the hallway and he just… he doesn’t know if it’s his Spidey senses or just something entirely MJ, but he just knows she’s watching him.
And he used to have this feeling a lot back when Liz was around and every time he talked to her he felt it. It’s what made him pursue her in the first place. Something about that feeling, not like a tingle, just a warmth that he could feel spreading all through him.
May had told him that’s just what it’s like to be in “like” (you’re too young for love, she’d teased) and he hadn’t thought anything else of it. It wasn’t until a few weeks after Liz left, when he’d felt it again, that he’d realized it hadn’t anything to do with Liz at all.
He’d turned in the hall that day and though it was clear she’d been trying to flit her gaze away before he noticed, there was a moment, a millisecond where his and Michelle’s eyes had met and he’d instantly felt like he’d stood up too quickly.
Just a moment and then she was gone. The feeling, however, lingered and Peter found himself craving it, seeking out opportunities to just be in the same room as her in hopes he might feel it again.
And he usually isn’t disappointed.
It’d started happening more and more frequently and as the weeks went by, Peter noticed her staring longer, more boldly. Seemingly settled into acceptance that, yeah, she’s looking at him.
What is he gonna do about it anyways?
It wasn’t until a full month had gone by that he’d managed to get his first reaction out of her. She’d seemed more shocked than he had when the surprised snort had escaped her lips at the sight of the cross-eyed face he’d pulled at her from across the chemistry lab.
The glow from that laugh had kept him going all through patrol that night. The flush in her cheeks had assisted him in more… intimate ways once he’d gotten home after and it’d gotten those teenage boy brain gears turning.
The dangerous little whisper in the back of his mind constantly questioning…
Does she..?
Curious, he’d planned his next moment carefully, waiting until they were in gym class to maybe try a little harder than Peter Parker can usually manage just to see what would happen.
He had a hypothesis, and he is a scientist. It would’ve been irresponsible not to explore every possible explanation.
At least that’s what he’d convinced himself when he’d decided to do 75 pushups in succession during warm up in gym class the next day.
When he’d hit number 20, is when he’d felt that familiar sensation creeping up his spine as Coach Wilson strolled past, barely acknowledging aside from a lazy but encouraging nod.
Good, she’s looking, he’d told himself and continued on as effortlessly as he felt he could risk, although tapping out at 50 probably would’ve been more subtle.
Maybe one huff or labored breath could have been spared also. Oh, well.
Peter had been well content to keep going until he’d felt Ned kick out his sneaker against his, eyes wide in his personal silent representation of “ DUDE???”
It was then that he’d noticed just how many eyes were on him, even if he only cared about one set. And sure, he’d been a little warm from the exertion, but Peter would know this feeling anywhere.
“Time for Phase 2,” he’d thought to himself, taking care to walk directly into MJ’s line of sight as he whipped his t-shirt up high to dab at the sweat across his brow. His eyes were covered by the thin cotton but he’d known precisely when his trek had landed him in front of her perch on the bleachers.
For a moment he’d just stilled there, pressing into his eyes just because it felt nice and it was worth all the effort and mild theatrics to see the dark look in MJ’s eyes when he’d abruptly let the shirt fall back into place and met her gaze dead on.
There hadn’t been time for her to look away then, already caught with her bottom lip tugged between her teeth. Even then, the shift hadn’t been immediate.
Peter had expected her to blush, curtain herself behind her hair, flip him off even. Yes, those were all scenarios he had mentally prepared himself for.
What he hadn’t expected was for MJ to place a thumb in the book she’d been reading and tilt her chin up at him, holding his gaze steadily for a beat before leaning back to hide behind her book again.
Yeah, he definitely planned to do something about that .
That confidence was only applicable at a distance apparently, because he’s pretty sure MJ hasn’t moved even one muscle since she’d shut the door and buckled her seat belt.
This is the part that he can’t have practiced for, having her so close and not knowing what to say. Feeling her arm brush against his when she’d initially rested it on the armrest between them before hastily snatching it back.
C’mon Peter, this is your chance.
A quick exhale and he manages to start the car and turn to face her, smiling with a surety that doesn’t match the anxious way he taps his fingers against the steering wheel.
“So uh, what’s the first stop on this train?”
MJ startles a little at the sound of his voice, and he sees her take a deep breath before she manages to look at him for the first time, almost as if she’s decided something.
“I can’t tell you turn by turn so….GPS then?” Peter nods and his eyes immediately drop to where she’s unfolded her arms to hold out her open palm expectantly. “We’ll have to use your phone though. I’ve had mine purged of any location detecting software.”
Peter reaches into his jeans to grab his phone, but the confusion must be evident on his face because Michelle squints at him in that piercing way that’s more in tune with his perception of her than the shyness she’d shown moments before.
“Did I break you?” she says, darting her gaze towards the window and the sigh she lets out is the non-verbal embodiment of “put out.”
There’s a hint of a smile looping around the inflection and a playfulness that Peter hadn’t expected even if the faux seriousness on her face wants to make him think she’s actually considering the dilemma. “Who’s gonna drive me home now?”
It’s almost as if she’s- no. She can’t be flirting...can she?
Peter shakes himself out of his stupor to ask, “Why did you do that? With your phone?”
“Obviously so that I can’t be tracked. Never know when you might need a quick getaway.” MJ is busy typing away so she barely spares a glance at him when she tells him this and she’s too distracted to see the pure awe and subtle fear painting itself across Peter’s face.
He might maybe be entirely in love with her. Maybe.
Starting the route and handing back his phone with a smirk, “All that time interning for Stark Industries and you never learned anything useful?”
It’s fun to watch him sputter over his answer, look everywhere but at her as he tries to find the most plausible response.
And MJ has theories too. The most prevalent being that there’s something very buggy about her friend, his reaction only strengthening her convictions. She’d say she’s about 50% sure now.
“I’ll let them know to add it to the curriculum,” is what he lands on, something simple and believable but still very vague. Peter almost lets himself relax. He should’ve known better.
“Hmm… You’re still in touch and feel like your opinion would be incorporated? That’s weird for just a high school intern, right?” She turns to look at him then, eyes locked on his in a challenge, daring him to lie to her.
When he just sputters, hands gripped around the steering wheel in a vice, she takes mercy on him, “I’m just joking, Parker. Relax.”
Yeah, he doesn’t see that happening.
“Okay, this is me,” she says, throwing a thumb over her shoulder for emphasis. The click of the seat belt releasing is the only sound between them.
Peter peeks over at her then, taking in the way MJ has her hands gripped around her backpack, but seems to be lingering for…something. He racks his mind for something, anything, to say to her and if he could he’d introduce his face to the steering wheel when all he can come up with is, “it’s a nice building. Really impressive architecture.”
MJ pulls her tongue between her teeth then, eyes flashing, “thanks, I didn’t build it. You know it’s the only rent controlled building on the block after all the gentrification-"
"-And since the hipsters started moving in.” Peter interjects, smiling.
“Hipsters? In my bodega? It’s more likely than you think…” she says, all faux shock and concern and she’s visibly pleased at the way his eyes crinkle, at how he looks at her like she’s something fantastic, unbelievable.
And maybe a little more secretly delighted at how he turns to face her fully, stretching out his arm so that his elbow rests on the top of his own seat but his hand rests on the corner of hers.
“Uh, anyways…” And she tries not to look, really she does, but then Peter shifts and her eyes are drawn to the pull of his flannel around his upper arm. MJ swallows thickly. “Thanks for the ride, Peter. Trying to get the captain’s good side was an unexpected move for you but a solid play nonetheless.”
“What? MJ, that's not why I wanted to give you a ride?” Peter looks genuinely offended by her implications and for the first time she feels exposed, vulnerable in a way that she doesn’t love.
He must see the question in expression because he continues then, dropping his hand to rest on her shoulder in what she can only assume is meant to comfort, “I like you, MJ.”
Three things happen then, Peter’s mind catches up to his words around the same time they register in MJ’s brain and also at the same time they both seem to realize that Peter’s hand is still on her shoulder.
Her wide eyes flicker between his hand and his dumbstruck expression and Peter quickly removes the offending hand, clutching it to his chest. “I didn’t mean that!”
“So you don’t like me?”
“No! I mean- yes, ” he’s panicking. “I just meant- like you know? You’re so cool and I like you-” Michelle’s mouth drops open and Peter rushes to clarify, “'as a friend, oh my god- you know? We’re friends? Right?”
MJ’s nodding shakily, “Yeah, of course that’s what you meant. I’ll- I’m just gonna-” she finally tugs on the door handle, grateful for the chill of the night air as it sobers her. “I’ll see you around, Peter.”
He has the decency to wait until she makes her way inside to groan.