Outnumbered

Chapter 14

A week has passed.

MJ hasn't sent one text, hasn't liked or commented on any of his posts. Hasn't even posted.

He did run away after she saw his Spiderman suit, but who wouldn't? It was a knee-jerk reaction, a moment of panic.

Peter hadn't expected her to just ghost him in return.

He scrolls through her Instagram, but can't bring himself to ask her how she is. He assumes it's fair to say that they're both being stubborn about this.

Morgan climbs onto a stool at the kitchen island beside him and tugs on his t-shirt sleeve. "Petey, I wanna go to the park!"

"I can take you later, Mo."

"I wanna see MJ, too! She's good at playing dinosaurs!"

Peter sighs. "MJ isn't coming."

Tony looks up, surprised, then goes back to making breakfast, pretending not to notice.

She deflates a bit. "Why not?!"

"Morgan!" Pepper calls out. "Come make your bed before I throw all of your toys away!"

"Not my toys!" she yells, jumping off of the chair and scrambling out of the room.

Peter puts his phone down and stirs his Cheerios absentmindedly.

Tony faces him from across the kitchen island, a dish towel thrown haphazardly over his shoulder. "You gonna tell me what's going on with your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Peter argues.

"Did you two break up?"

"We were barely even dating, so I wouldn't exactly call it a breakup."

"What'd you do, kid?" Tony jokes.

Peter holds his head in his hands. "That's the thing! I don't know what I did!"

"You sure about that?"

He goes back to his cereal, debates telling Tony the truth about MJ finding out his secret. On the one hand, he trusts her, even though they're not talking, but on the other, he worries about SHIELD finding out and what that would mean for MJ.

"Is this about sex?"

"What?! No!" Peter's spoon falls to his bowl.

"If you're not comfortable talking to May about it, I'd be happy-"

"I promise that this has nothing to do with sex, Tony!" Peter argues, squeezing his eyes closed as his cheeks redden.

"Come on, kiddo, we've all been there before. It starts with consent-"

"I understand consent! I don't need the sex talk! This isn't even about sex!" Peter is up and halfway out of the room when Morgan and Pepper enter the kitchen.

"Mommy, what's sex?" Morgan asks, Pepper staring daggers at Tony as she covers Morgan's ears.

X

"And then he was like if you're not comfortable talking to May about it, I'd be happy to! It's all about consent! And then Morgan was asking what sex is and I had to leave the room!"

Ned looks horrified. "Yikes on bikes. That's...rough, man."

"Yeah, and on top of that, MJ and I haven't spoken in over a week, so..."

Ned's been on a camping trip with his cousins, had spotty cell service. That, and Peter didn't want to bother him. Not when he was hoping MJ would reach out.