The Amazing Spider-Man 4

Chapter 17

The next morning, Peter made a point to be the one waiting in the hallway instead of M.J. He'd spent much of the night thinking about their brief conversation on the phone yesterday as well as just how distant he'd been in the last twenty-four hours, so he was determined to start the day off right. Sure enough, he ended up being glad that he made it out ten minutes early, since her door opened five minutes early.

"Oh, hey," Mary Jane said, seemingly caught off guard. "Been waiting long?"

"Not too long," he said, trying to casually shrug and appear as lighthearted as he could. The movement ended up feeling very forced though, and if M.J.'s expression was any indication, she wasn't buying it either. Still, she closed the door and simply turned to him, otherwise ignoring his attempt at being carefree.

"So, where do you want to go?" she asked as she stuffed her keys in her jacket pocket.

"Oh, uh, I don't know," Peter said, realizing he hadn't given the subject much thought either. "Maybe that new breakfast sandwich place just down the street?"

"Sure," M.J. replied, "I've been wanting to try it out actually."

"Awesome," Peter answered. M.J. just nodded, and something about her lack of a true response made his heart sink towards his stomach. It was hard to read her expression, but from the best he could tell, she didn't seem angry at least, so that was good. Still, there was something very uncertain about it. The fact that the walk to their meet up place wasn't filled with much of any conversation only served to heighten his concerns, making it harder for him to maintain his composure on the outside.

Eventually, they entered the restaurant, where the service actually ended up being some of the best Peter had experienced in a long time. Plus, the sausage and egg sandwich he got was particularly tasty, and it helped to at least settle him down a little.

"Mm," M.J. said at one point, her mouth still full of food. She took a moment to chew it up some more before continuing, covering her mouth with her hand: "You said you were actually going to call me first last night?"

Peter nodded.

"Yeah," he said, taking another bite.

"I get the sense that we both want to talk about the same thing," M.J. explained, "but still, you go first, just in case I'm wrong."

Peter looked at her, pausing in his chewing for a moment before finishing up and swallowing his most recent bite. For some reason, he hadn't expected to have the floor first this morning. He'd had some things in mind he wanted to say, but otherwise he'd largely been planning on seeing where M.J.'s head was at and respond appropriately, hopefully. He sat his sandwich down against its open wrapper, folding his hands together as he tried to organize his thoughts.

"M.J," he began, "I know that I've been kind of...distant the last day or so. I'm sorry about that. I've just been dealing with some stuff, you know, out there, and I guess it's getting to me."

M.J.'s eyes shifted downward in the direction of the drink in her hand, seemingly contemplating his opening words. She then folded her arms over each other, leaning forward against the table.

"Peter, I know that I probably won't be the one that you will always turn to," she replied. "I mean, I want to be, but I know that there are things you see and deal with that I could never understand. I just...I can just tell something is off, and I hate to see you this way. Maybe there isn't any way that I can help, but I just want you to know that I'm here for you. Nothing you say can make me run away."

Peter lowered his head, his gaze shifting towards the floor. Her words were almost exactly what he'd expected to hear this morning but hearing them still felt as though a blade had been driven into him. Here his girlfriend was, his beautiful, borderline perfect girlfriend, trying, begging him to let her in at the very least, just like she had the last couple of days, and he'd cast her aside. He clenched his fists tighter, his frustration with himself growing.