The Choice-Spider-Man homecoming fanfic

The thing that keeps me going

"You were in a coma!? You could've died! Cool! What was it like?" Ned continued to shower Peter with questions. "1. It wasn't cool, 2. It was kind of cool, & 3. I could hear everything. Even Mj telling me she liked me..." Peter sighed, but Ned nearly exploded in excitement. "DUDE! MJ TOLD YOU SHE LIKED YOU?! Did you ask her out?!" "No Ned. In fact, she's pissed off at me." "What? Why? What did you do wrong?" Ned asked accusingly. "I didn't do anything wrong. I think. I just told her & now apparently she hates me? I don't even know." Peter continued as he walked into the cafeteria. Ned & Peter were about to get in line for food, but Peter put his arm out & stopped Ned. "Look," he said, gesturing to the person next in line. It was Mj. "I think we should give her some space for awhile." "But I want food," Ned complained. "Fine. Go get food. I'll catch up in a minute." Ned eagerly got in line behind Mj and said, "Hi Mj!" "Loser," she said acknowledging that he was there. "Ned continued as if there was no awkward tension. "Good morning Mrs. Surely. Those are some beautiful pearls your wearing. How's your cat doing?" Ned spoke to the cafeteria worker, hoping he could milk extra mashed potatoes out of her if he sweet talked.  Ned sat down at the usual table & after Peter also got his food, he sat down next to Ned & noticed an absence at their table. "Why are you sitting over there again?" Ned asked Mj. Peter looked up to see her sitting by herself at her old table. Peter's heart sunk & he sadly ate his food. Mj answered back with an "I'm trying to read" excuse, but they were both well aware that Mj could read through any sound or occasion.

Mj seemed to avoid Peter more & more for the next week & Peter being quite depressed spent most of his time staring at his wall, neglecting     Spider-Man. More robberies started to break out & it was all over the news that people thought Spider-Man retired or died.

Mj caught a glimpse of a newspaper as she walked to school. Walking took a lot longer, but she liked it because it helped to clear her mind. A wave of guilt washed over her. It was probably her fault that Peter had taken to isolating himself.

Realizing that she was at risk of being late for school, she sped up with the thought of Peter still racing through her mind.

Peter was trying to make it to the cafeteria, before he would faint, but everything around him sounded so loud & everything seemed to be a bright blur of light. Peter heard a ringing in his ears as Flash yelled at him. "Hey Parker! Why have you been acting so weird? You know, you stopped talking to your girlfriend, she stopped talking to you... Can't blame her, & you stopped running off in the middle of class. Why's that?" At this point Peter could hardly stand & he accidentally slammed into one of the lockers. "You know," Peter heard another familiar voice, "I would slap you Flash, but that would be animal abuse." It was Mj. Peter was slightly relieved & worried at the same time. "Peter are you alright?" Mj asked & it was obvious he wasn't. Peter fell over and she caught him in time & laid his head in her lap. "You better get out of here!" Came Ned's voice. "Someone might slip it to the principal that you did this to Peter. Your parents might not be happy about that. That's right runnnnnn ooooofffff." And with that being the last words to reach Peter's ears, he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Peter. That's it open your eyes." Peter slowly squinted his eyes open & a bright light met his eyes along with 4 familiar faces. "Loser." That was Mj, Peter's mind recalled. "What she said," Mr. Stark. "Dude! Are you alright?!" Ned. And "He's gonna be fine." Dr. Banner. "Why didn't you call me?" Mr. Stark asked. "I'm sorry Mr. Stark. It happened so suddenly I-" Peter said as he tried to sit up, but Dr. Banner gently pushed him back down. "Hey, don't worry about Kid. You get some rest," Tony replied. Peter nodded, even though he planned otherwise. Mj, Ned, & Mr. Stark were all shooed out of the room by Dr. Banner & Peter once again tried to sit up & this time no one stopped him. "Dr. Banner? What happened?" "Uh. I'm not sure. I don't know enough about what was in that knife that-" "Wait. This is because if that knife?" "Yeah, but don't worry you'll be fine," Bruce assured him. "Thanks Dr. Banner," Peter said as Bruce left the room. Peter counted to a good 100 seconds before sneaking out if his room. "Loser." Peter jumped in surprise. Mj was sitting against the wall reading a book right outside the door. "Mj." "Loser," she said once again, this time looking up from her book. She looked right in his eyes & he looked into hers. She nodded to him & Ned interrupted with a loud "PETER! THIS PLACE IS AWWWESOME! I mean I've seen it once before, but it's way better then I remember!" Ned continued to ramble on while pulling Peter away & trying to show him something he'd seen a million times. Peter looked back at Mj apologetically & Mj just smiled at him to tell him it was alright.

Evetually Tony caught on that Peter had left the room & made him go back to rest, mean while Mj refused to leave & nobody could find Ned. So Mj went on a wild goose chase to find him. Turned out that of all places he could've been, Ned had managed to lock himself in the most low tech thing in the entire building... The bathroom. Mj rolled her eyes when she found him yelling for help & was so tempted to just leave him there, but instead she was nice & let him out.

Peter dropped to his knees by Mj's side as tears endlessly poured from his eyes. "Mj," he sobbed. "Peter," Mj groaned. "I know it's not fair, but you have to be the hero one more time," she continued in a raspy breath. "Do it for me." Peter continued to sob uncontrollably. "Mj, I-I-I l-love you," he said in between sobs. "I know Peter. I love you too..."

Peter woke with a gasp. He was in a pile of sweat & there was a tear on his cheek. Peter had a sick feeling in his stomach. It felt so real & yet... What if it was? The thought of that freaked him out & he immediately called Mj. "Mj?!" Mj immediately appeared in the doorway. "What is it Loser?" Peter sighed in relief. "Nothing. I-I just wanted to make sure you were here." Mj chuckled a little. "I'm still here Parker. I haven't gone home. I'm not going anywhere," she said with a smile & she returned to the hall to continue reading her book even though it was half past one in the morning, but that was nothing new.

Another week went by. Mj & Peter were talking again, Peter expierenced no other symptoms from the knife, but Peter continued to take medicine for it & unfortunately he continued to have nightmares. Nightmares about losing Mj & sometimes it changed, sometimes it was May. It was May who was shot & was bleeding out on the ground. Because of the nightmares, Peter hardly slept so he used red bulls. Which yeah, wasn't a good idea, but that was the only thing that could keep him going through out the day. Well, that & the fact that Peter could see Mj & Ned at school everyday. They didn't know it, but with out his friends, Peter wouldn't make it through the day, let alone the morning. Everything seemed to finally be getting back to normal, but you know what happens when things are "normal" for Spider-man; something always bad...

A\N: GUYS! I can't believe it! I've finally reached chapter 30!  Love ya!