If We Must - Fully Rewritten

Chapter 1

There were a number of ways Michelle would describe Tony Stark. Eccentric and loud were certainly two of the top ten, but over time, she'd started associating the words "mother hen" and "freakishly caring" to the list. From paying for AcaDec parties their senior year in high school to actually buying her, Ned, and Peter a shared home for college, Tony Stark was surprising her in more ways than she ever expected.

Her favorite surprise about Tony Stark, however, had to be the way Stark spent hours with Peter. Her boyfriend always returned with a smile on his face and that in itself was worth keeping the billionaire's contact in her phone.

That being said, her least favorite part about Tony Stark was how he seemed to share his love of greasy vehicles and self-sacrificial tendencies with Peter. If she was given a dollar for every time Peter (or Stark, for that matter) ended up on the wrong end of a gun or covered in car grease and oil, she'd be as rich as Stark in a month.

"You're a mess," she complained, swatting at Peter before he could join her on the couch.

"Come on, Em." He moved to fall onto the couch beside her, but Michelle stopped him with outstretched arms. "I'm tired!"

"And I don't want to get our couch cleaned again this month," Michelle told him. She shoved him away from the couch. "Go shower."

With a roll of his eyes, Peter did as instructed and walked upstairs with his greasy t-shirt and jeans. The couch, thankfully, remained grease-free and Michelle returned to her book. Hardly a minute later, Ned came stumbling into the house.

"Hey," Ned said, interrupting her reading. "Have you seen Peter? I swore he said that he was in the garage."

Michelle didn't look up from her book. "Shower."

"Shower?" Ned echoed. "At three in the afternoon?"

Michelle shrugged. "He was in the garage."

Ned rolled his eyes, but it was rare that Peter came out of the garage without being covered in some form of grease or oil. Luckily, he left Michelle to her book and instead made his way up the stairs to bang on the bathroom door.

It wasn't until she finished her book that she realized neither Ned nor Peter had come back downstairs. A glance at the clock told her it had been several hours, but neither boy had made a reappearance and the house was uncomfortably quiet.

With the intent to take her book up to her room and reshelve it on her "finished" bookshelf, she headed upstairs to check on both boys. She didn't find Peter in his room (where he had so kindly allowed her to keep her finished books), so her next move was to walk into Ned's.

"Sup, losers?" She leaned against the doorframe and grinned across the room where Ned and Peter were hunched over a new Lego set.

"Hey, MJ," they both said without looking up.

Michelle rolled her eyes and walked into the room to see what they were building. There was already an impressive collection of Star Wars Lego sets sitting on top of her bookshelf in Peter's room, but Ned's room seemed to house the most. Based on the progress they seemed to have already made, it would be no time at all before the latest version of Lego's Razor Crest ship joined the collection.

"This better not take up more space in my bookshelf," she teased, stopping behind Peter to run her fingers through his hair.

"There's still plenty of room," Peter told her. He glanced up at her with a cheeky grin. "Besides, it is in my room."

"Shut up."

Peter's grin widened and in hopes of wiping it off his face, Michelle leaned down to kiss him shortly. Unsurprisingly, it did little to stop his grinning.

"When you dorks are done," Michelle said, "don't forget to check the grocery list for tomorrow. And," she added pointedly, "I know it's hard, but try to write legibly."

"Aye, aye, captain," Ned murmured, still staring intensely at their Lego model. "Peter, hand me the grey―yeah, that one."

Peter's attention returned to their Legos and, sensing that her time there was up, Michelle left Ned and Peter to their toys.

While the three didn't all go to the same university and didn't always see each other during the weekdays, living together had its perks. Even when they were all in their separate rooms, they were just a shout away. It also meant they were all aware of each other's routines, but specifically whenever Peter went out for patrol.

He tended to wait until after dark which, in November, wasn't very late. With a newly finished Lego set on their shared bookshelf and a full Sunday ahead of them tomorrow, however, it wasn't surprising when he told both her and Ned that he'd be out late.

"Don't wait up," he said, pressing a kiss to Michelle's head and fist-bumping Ned.

"You know we will," Michelle muttered, curled up on the couch. In front of them, Ned was still playing the movie they'd watched while eating dinner despite Peter saying goodbye.

"I probably won't," Ned admitted. Michelle scowled at him. "What? I'm tired! Wake me if he's dying."

"Just for that," Michelle said, "I won't."

With a roll of his eyes, Peter said one last goodbye before slipping out for patrol.