Through the Window | Peter x Mj

If Only

     It's become normal for them to hold hands in school, to walk the halls with their fingers linked and palms pressed tight. At first a few people stared or whispered, Peter didn't mind, but one look from Michelle shut most of them up. He remembers being worried she wouldn't hold his hand after an incident with Flash but it's become second nature. She steps up next to him and her fingers just reach for his. Simple, as easy as breathing.

     They walk to classes hand in hand, spend lunch with their shoes touching or MJ wraps her leg around his, and he sits next to her at decathlon. Sometimes he sneaks his hand to her thigh beneath the table when she's mid sentence just to hear her stumble over words, just to see the way her eyes widen and how she tries to recover when their teammates ask if she's okay. However, he's realized that's not so fun when it's her hand on his thigh and he's the one having difficulty breathing or finding words. All of this has been the new normal for a couple of months.

     Peter knows they're closer than they've ever been. She was just over for dinner with May the night before, let him hold her hand in front of his aunt and even curled into him on the couch during a movie night with Ned. Which is why he doesn't understand today.

     She's let him stand close but her hand avoids his or feels tense when he manages to catch her off guard and thread their fingers together. She never pulls away, she just seems to be on another planet today. At lunch, she looks everywhere but at him and when he nudges her foot playfully and catches her eyes, MJ doesn't even smile. Not that she smiles all the time but he usually gets a smirk or an eyeroll. She makes conversation with him or with Ned but there's something off and it has him on edge.

     So he waits, giving her time. He knows to let her breathe, to give her the option to open up before he asks. Usually, this works out and she'll come over to spill everything or they spend the night tangled together and he breaks the silence on it. He's fully intending to wait. Until he notices the shaking, her fingers trembling around a pen and Peter is done waiting her out.

     "You okay?" He asks at the end of a class they're both acing, knowing he can't somehow hurt her grade by distracting her in the last five minutes of note taking. She's already distracted by something anyway.

     "I'm okay." It's a lie if he's ever heard one. "Maybe."

     "MJ, you've been off all day. What's wrong?"

     "Can we get out of here? Just go somewhere?" The bell will ring in a few minutes, so he nods and reaches for her hand. She doesn't tense this time, just gives a soft sigh and grips his fingers tight.

     The moment class is over, he grabs their stuff before she can and tries not to overthink it too much when she lets him. Their hands are intertwined again in seconds. It eases the stress he's been feeling all day, but she's still too quiet as they walk the halls.

     Peter leads the way, unsure of where they're going or why or even if he's heading in the right direction. They end up behind the building they were just inside, hidden between brick and a dumpster when MJ stops. She looks at him for a second and then up to the edge of the roof.

     "Can you take me up there? With like...webs or something? Hell, I'll settle for wall crawling too just get me out of here."

     "You want me to-"

     "Yes." So he does. He lets her wrap herself around him, whispers to hold on tight before pushing off the ground and letting himself stick to brick. Her fingers dig in and he can feel her heart pounding.

     It's racing in seconds, beating rapidly when she curses against his ear while peeking over his shoulder. He pauses only once, to make sure she's okay, to make sure no one is around because he won't be able to explain how he's stuck to a building with MJ clinging to his chest. Probably would be easier if he'd asked her to piggyback instead but he still moves efficiently, careful not to push her into the wall.