𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘆𝗽𝘀𝗲, peter parker ( tasm )

13. COFFEE AND CROISSANTS

There had been enough time to haul John up the stairs and into the apartment; it would have been no easy feat for MJ alone, but with Spiderman by her side it was a walk in the park, and he was more than lucky that he had the next day off considering the trauma he'd been through upon the Williamsburg Bridge. There was a voicemail left to Valerie on his phone, MJ had noticed, and she could only guess the next day would he spend doing something similar. Although MJ wondered whether or if it would be to Val to check up on Jack, or if it would be to Steph.

She was selfishly glad that John had someone new in his life. Many children in her position may feel a little bitter that their father, who wasn't the best at times, was putting in more energy into a new woman. But she knew he was lonely, and she would rather he treat his new girlfriend to more time than she spent with him ever than spend his time drinking and spending all his wages.

And now she had Peter to distract her from her mess of a life, it was only fit for him to have someone as well.

Peter, after the plans made to divert their journey to school with plans for business, dug out his camera from the bottom of his backpack - it had been wrapped carefully in t-shirts and a sweater to protect it whilst he was running around saving the world - and managed to take more photos of her than MJ ever thought would be taken in her life. When they were walking down the dingy, barely-lit hallway he was holding her hand and steading his arm to take photo after photo until she realised what he was doing.

Stood in the elevator for the slow ride down, he pulled the red and blue mask from his bag and pulled it over her hair, snapped a picture and let her put it over his, hurriedly dragging it from his face as the doors opened three floors too early and an older man stumbled his way in, unable to see the camera as Peter kept snapping photos of MJ attempting to get him to stop.

They emerged into the small foyer, pushing open the door and into the early morning sunlight and finding that despite their lack of safety in the neighbourhood... there were actually quite a few image opportunities that Peter was to take. He found, following her initial protests against him taking so many, that MJ easily grew quite comfortable with him behind the camera, although he almost doubted that with someone else it would be a different story.

But she was... amazing. He couldn't quite think of a way to describe it otherwise. And he certainly didn't know why he had kept his new identity a secret from her for so long. Peter didn't know what he had been expecting from her, but he should have known that should take it like this, that she would be perfectly accepting and understanding and she could help him.

Peter wasn't perhaps the best at tending to his own wounds or dealing with his thoughts after seeing someone attacked by someone in the streets, unable to forget the sight of his own uncle. He wouldn't necessarily share anything, but instead, it was nice for him to instead be able to sit with someone who knew what he was going through. He thought perhaps, just maybe, that he loved her, and despite the actions of the previous night, he would do as much as he could to keep her away from any lizard-related problems.

That would be best for her, and best for him too.

"Aren't you going to use all the memory?" MJ asked as Peter flipped the cap over the camera lens, allowing it to hang around his neck as they pushed open the door into the cafe he had correctly remembered to be a good midway point between their school and the Watsons apartment building.

"I'll upload them to my computer and wipe it." He replied as they came to stand at the back of the queue. "Maybe I'll find a better one to replace the shitty-resolution childhood photo that my Aunt finds adorable but I distinctly remember falling over and cutting my leg so badly it scarred just minutes after."