Marvel Oneshots

Ao3 | MJ x Perter Parker | String Me Along

Um, maybe triggering for people with height fears? Dunno, it's got no warnings, so yeah.
Fluff/angst?

Chapter Text

Peter Parker left for three weeks without so much as a text.

Yeah, Ned had come up with an excuse, something about "vacationing in Costa Rica," but that was bullcrap and MJ knew it. Leeds had avoided MJ for as long as physically possible, but it wasn't too hard to corner him in AP Chemistry, where she threatened him with death in exactly six different ways. Of course Ned and MJ were friends; in fact, sometimes it was easier to talk to him for MJ than anyone else, though she would never admit it. But he also was the only other person who knew the secret about her other best friend, and he was more in the loop than MJ was. Essentially, she would threaten him with death if she had to, and he knew it.

The first few threats didn't do anything, but as MJ got more and more creative, she came closer and closer to breaking Ned Leeds. After promising to rip out his esophagus and wear it as a leg warmer, he finally spilled that Peter had been called away to France for some Avenger work. He had access to a phone, Ned said, and he was supposedly okay.

Those three weeks were some of the worst that MJ had ever experienced.

No, MJ was not dependent on Peter Parker. But she worried, the same way she would about any of her friends (and no, it did not matter that Peter Parker was fifty percent of her friend group). She almost got caught several times in Chemistry checking for updates on any unusual activity in France. When the news started covering the actual fighting, MJ had six different news apps set to vibrate on her phone. She didn't even care when it went off in class. Her preparation for decathlon suffered, and she was distracted because she could not resist the urge to open her texts to make sure that Peter hadn't messaged her. She was struggling to fall asleep, because every time she closed her eyes, all she could think about was waking up to news footage of Spider-Man being slaughtered. Ned had noticed her state and seemed extremely worried, and he had even started to bring her chocolate chip waffles to school in the morning because he knew they were her favorite. MJ could never force herself to choke down more than half of a waffle, but the fact that Ned made sure they were there and texted to check in with her made MJ feel slightly better.

And then, without warning, Peter was back. He was everywhere: her first hour class, the cafeteria, decathlon practice.

MJ couldn't even look at him.

The first day of his return, she sat at the back table in first hour Pre-Calc--the place where she used to sit before she grew closer to Parker and Leeds. For lunch, MJ sought the refuge of the library, armed only with the single bag of goldfish she had brought with her. Normally, she would mooch off of Leeds, but that wasn't an option. During decathlon, MJ purposely paired off the various team members to quiz one another, keeping herself as far away from Peter Parker as possible. That meant putting up with Flash Thompson for an entire practice. It wasn't so bad, as long as she ignored his stupid remarks about her performance and remembered that prisons generally didn't have the best libraries. The only hard part was ignoring the tingling of Peter's eyes on her back.

When the bell rang, signifying the end of the school day, MJ let out a sharp breath and practically leaped up from her seat in the back of the Anatomy classroom. The hallways swelled with people as she stepped into them. It didn't bother MJ much, however. She had learned a long time ago how to maneuver her way through the halls by sliding through the tiniest gaps. Occasionally, she would use her height to her advantage. She liked being tall, because it meant that if she straightened up her shoulders and walked with murder in her eyes, the freshmen scattered.