Through the Window | Peter x Mj

To Be Brave

     "Peter, let's go! I'm going to start this without you if you're not on this couch in five seconds." MJ is dead serious. He's taking way too long doing who knows what and she wants to get her movie binge on with her boyfriend.

     Before she can start the countdown of seconds remaining, he sails over the back of the couch and lands next to her with a smile so wide she rolls her eyes. He's ridiculous on the best of days but he's hers. The thought still has her heart doing weird things in her chest and she's starting to think that will never go away.

     "Show off."

     "I made it in five seconds." His lips smack against hers and she wishes he'd stay. Press his mouth over hers in more than a chaste kiss but they agreed to watch a movie not make-out like hormonal teens.

     "I noticed."

"C'mon MJ, you plan on starting this movie or are we just going to sit here?" He's teasing, smiling too much but his eyes are brighter than they've been in days so she lets him get away with it. Her knee still knocks against his when she presses play.

If there's something she's learned about the boy pressed to her side, it's that he cannot be quiet during a movie. He asks a hundred questions, runs commentary on everything happening, and occasionally goes off in a rant about something completely unrelated. He makes it five minutes before he reaches for her hand.

He doesn't make it ten before he's trying to pull her closer. It happens every time they try to watch something. First, his fingers thread through hers, then he's tugging and if she ever pulled away, he'd let her but she doesn't try. She goes willingly, pressing into his side as his arm drapes over her shoulders. She keeps their hands linked and for some reason she will never delve into, she sinks into him with a content sigh.

"Don't fall asleep or I'm drawing on your face with a sharpie." It's a warning but it's playful. MJ wouldn't actually draw on his face but he doesn't need to know the threat is empty.

"I'm not going to fall asleep during Finding Nemo. This is a classic." That's the same thing he said a week ago and he was asleep halfway through the movie. "It's only six."

"Just saying, if you fall asleep you don't get to make out with me after." She huffs out a laugh when he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. "Behave, I want to watch this."

"You've already seen it." More times than she will ever admit out loud. "You know all the words. It's really cute."

"Peter."

"MJ."

"Stop talking." He does. For a minute.

It's adorable to watch him press his lips together trying to hold it all in. He tries and she knows he can be silent when it's necessary, but movie nights he chatters. He's animated, eyes wide and taking everything in. Maybe she just suggests these nights so she can watch him be light and carefree for a little while. It balances out the boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"What do you think fish are really thinking when they see a boat?" The silence ends just like that and MJ is laughing as his brow furrows. "I'm serious."

She presses her face into his shoulder to laugh harder and feels the moment his chest starts to shake too. Sometimes, she's amazed that he's a superhero, amazed that he's so serious and caring and saves people's lives because when they're here on his couch, he's just a silly teenage boy. He's seen too much, been through more than she can begin to process, and he's still smiling at a cartoon fish. Yeah, she suggests these ridiculous little movie nights just for him.