Spiderman Oneshots

The bargain 3 (nwh spoilers)

Here goes nothing

Peter took a breath and shouldered open the door to the coffee shop. It was busier than he usually saw it - maybe because it was a morning and it was the cheapest coffee in the area. There was a queue of half-asleep people looking for their caffeine fix before work and Peter joined the back, trying not to fidget with nerves.

He'd become just enough of a regular that when MJ looked up from behind the counter, she gave him a quick smile and nod of recognition before going back to prepping a drink for the customer at the till. There was another girl behind the counter. Of course, it made sense for there to be more workers during rush hour, but it was still odd to see someone else in a space they had become fundamentally hers to Peter.

Peter rehearsed under his breath as the line shuffled forwards, but when it was his turn it was the other girl who gave him a bland smile and a perky, "What can I get for you?"

He ordered his usual, to drink in, and carried it over to the seating area. It wasn't overly crowded, but busy enough that he could sit a seat down from Ned with a slight smile of acknowledgement without seeming too creepy. It was fine. He could wait for MJ to be free.

It had been almost half an hour, and the flow of customers didn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing. Peter wasn't sure how long he could keep pretending to drink coffee for, though. Maybe he'd just have to bite the bullet and talk to Ned first.

"Busy, isn't it?" He said. Too quietly; Ned didn't look up. Peter cleared his throat in embarrassment and tried again, louder. "It's pretty busy in here, huh?"

Ned glanced up, but it took him a moment to realise Peter was talking to him. Peter resisted the urge to cringe back in his seat - could he possibly have made it any more awkward? Thankfully Ned was his usual friendly self, and he swiped away from whatever he was reading on his phone to give his full attention to the budding conversation.

"Yeah, it's always like this in the morning. Hey, I feel like I recognise you?"

Peter swallowed the lump in his throat. This was the first time he'd spoken to Ned since everything happened, and it hurt even more than he'd feared. He'd known him so much longer than MJ, and he couldn't bear the lack of familiarity. He promised himself that it wouldn't be much longer. Ned would remember soon. Soon.

"I come in here quite a bit, I'm sure I've seen you around as well."

"Makes sense, I tend to come here to hang out with MJ. She's my best friend," he said, indicating the girl in question. Peter tried not to let the words sting too much. "I'm Ned, by the way."

"Peter," Peter smiled warmly back. It was a bland, polite conversation at best, smalltalk at the least, but he'd missed this interaction. Now he needed to steer it in the right direction. "I've never been in this early, though."

"Makes sense that you've never seen it so busy, then. What changed your routine?"

"Just felt like it. Your friend must be superhuman to keep up with the demand," Peter forced a laugh.

"Yeah, forget Captain America, the baristas are the real heroes around here," Ned laughed back, latching onto the topic like Peter had known he would. Good to see that Flash hadn't been right about personality changes.

"You a fan? Of Captain America, I mean."

Ned pulled a face. "He's okay, I guess. Iron Man's cooler, though. Was."

"Agreed." Don't think about Tony. Think about getting your best friend back. "How much of a fan are you?"

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"On a scale of 'hey an autograph would be cool' to 'I would totally become a supervillain just to see him up close'. Because I for one would not mind a bit of crime to meet that legend."

Ned beamed, glad to find a fellow superhero nerd. "I mean, I would absolutely go criminal to fight Tony Stark, but I promised a friend I wouldn't."

No recognition flickered in his eyes, but the words were like lightning in Peter's veins. Ned remembered their promise. Maybe it would take a bit more digging to free him of the spell, but the foundations were there. It was such a relief that Peter could happily have hugged him. He might have done, if it weren't for-

"Can I get you another drink?"

"Huh?" He looked up to see MJ had come over to them. Whilst the boys had been talking, the coffee shop had emptied out a bit. Peter hadn't realised his cup was empty.

"I'm not going to kick you out, I was just checking before I took my break," she told him. "You're that guy with the name, right?"

"Peter," Ned supplied helpfully, before excusing himself to use the restroom.

"Peter Parker, that was it. I've seen you in here a few times."

"Yeah." Peter swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. Here goes nothing, indeed. "MJ... I should have told you this ages ago, but... I love you."

She stared at him for a second, and it hadn't worked and she was going to hate him and he wasn't going to get to finish talking to Ned and he couldn't come in and see them again and why had he gone and messed things up-

"About time," MJ told him reflexively, then paused, still staring at him. She blinked a couple of times, a small crease between her eyes. He could almost see her brain rewiring. "Wait, what the... Peter? How long has it been?"

He stared at her, heart close to bursting. The way she said his name... She remembered him. She remembered him, and everything was going to be alright.

MJ was getting agitated now. "Peter, how long? How long have I been living like this, like everything's..." she struggled to find the right word. "It feels like months, but it can't have been... Peter? Oh, you idiot, you didn't."

He hung his head, but those were tears of relief spilling down his cheeks.

"Ned. You have to tell Ned! He's been... you have to tell him. Now."

"I'm going to, I swear. Give me a minute."

"Okay." She looked into his eyes, and he saw hers water. "I can't believe you."

Then she turned away to help her colleague with the drink orders just as Ned returned. Peter hastily swiped at his eyes; luckily Ned was too busy looking in MJ's direction to notice.

"Sorry, she's not the most sociable," Ned told him awkwardly.

"No, it's fine. We got along okay. Hey, you were saying you wouldn't go evil and try to kill for Iron Man, right?"

"Right," Ned swallowed, looking uncomfortable.

"Who would you do it for? Not Captain America. How about Black Widow? The Hulk? Dr Strange?"

Ned was frowning now. "Look, can we talk about something else-"

"What about Spider-Man?"

"NO!" Ned said explosively, then immediately looked confused. "Sorry. I mean, no, I wouldn't. Not for any of them."

"Why not, Ned?"

"Like I said, I promised a friend."

"Which friend? MJ?"

"No, Pet- you. I promised you. I promised I wouldn't go evil and try to kill you because you're Spider-Man and all the yous from other universes have seriously messed up friendships and Peter what the heck please tell me it hasn't actually been months?"

Peter sighed in relief. "Good to have you back, man."

"Yeah," Ned accepted the hug, then pulled away. "Wait no, what? You don't just get to waltz back in without an explanation, mister. It's been months!"

"Yeah," MJ was back. "You weren't going to tell us, were you? What made you change your mind?"

"You're not going to believe this, but it was actually Flash Thompson."

"Now that's a long story I'd love to hear."