To All The Friends I've Loved Before (Spider-Man edition)

Chapter 11: Darlin' you look Perfect, tonight

Peter frowned to himself. "Is my hair really that bad?" he wondered aloud.

"Yep," said Harry, sidling up to him.

"You have a hickey on your throat," lied Peter, then laughed his ass off when Harry slapped a hand over his neck in embarrassment.

"So Kaine left, huh?" asked Miguel.

Peter sat down next to him, handing over a glass of lemonade. "Yeah, last Sunday. I, uh, I feel like I owe you an explanation."

The other boy didn't say anything.

"See... It's like driving, okay? I can imagine myself doing it and it's fine, and then I get behind the wheel and completely freeze up, and I don't know what to do."

"Okay... I don't follow."

Peter ran his fingers through his hair. "Let me start over. You were the first person I ever really liked. Everyone else, all the other letters, were born out of fantasy. But yours was based off of actually knowing you. I didn't realize how I felt about you until you became Kaine's boyfriend. But over time, that feeling just faded away, and I didn't feel that way about you anymore. I just missed my friend."

Miguel furrowed his brows. "Why didn't you just tell me that? I feel like I'd have understood."

"Well, I couldn't. I didn't know until MJ."

A huff. "Right, MJ."

Peter looked at him defensively. "It was real in a different way. And I'm sorry, but–."

Miguel waved him off. "I get where you're coming from. It's kind of how it was with Kaine and I. You know, minus all the fake stuff and everything else."

There was quiet for a little while, only broken by the scraping of the flag against the flagpole, before Peter spoke up again. "Did you...stop loving Kaine after he broke up with you?"

"No. Not at first. At some point it changed, though. The longer he was gone, the more I understood why he ended it. Look, if you really miss MJ, why don't you just tell her?"

Peter winced. "I can't."

Miguel was baffled. "Well, why not?"

"Because if it wasn't real, I didn't lose anyone. But if I say that it was real, and she still doesn't want me..."

"Then at least you'll know. You've gotta tell people how you feel when you feel it. You can't sit in your room writing love letters you're never gonna send. Besides, MJ wouldn't even be in your life if they hadn't gotten out in the first place," pointed out Miguel, a touch smugly.

"I don't know, I'm just tired of writing love letters. It would be nice to receive one."

The front door opened. Benji walked out, carrying Peter's letter box. "Peter? Don't kill me. It's just, you were always throwing these away, and I thought they were something you should keep."

Frowning, Peter tugged open the box, and blinked.

Miguel reached in and plucked out one of the paper slips, reading it aloud.

'Pete, everyone was so impressed by your presentation in lit, but especially me. I love having a geek for a fake boyfriend.'

Peter felt himself blush. Benji pulled open another one before he could protest.

'You looked absolutely groovy today! ;)'

"..."

Miguel looked at Peter, tipping his shades down like he'd done two years ago. "Still think you haven't gotten a love letter?"

Peter's heart was doing cartwheels in his chest as walked out to the field where he'd texted to meet up with Mary Jane.

The redhead was stuffing her pom-poms into her bag when she caught sight of peter walked over, and straightened up. "Hey."

"Hi. I, uh, I came to tell you something," started Peter.

MJ's face was impassive. "Okay."

Peter's head went blank and he blurted out the first thing he could think of. "I drove here."

The girl blinked, looking genuinely surprised. "Really? Wow, that's... that's... that's great, congrats."

"Thanks," he mumbled, about to head home and lock his feelings in a box and bury it underground, but MJ's "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's in your hand?" stopped him.

He floundered. "Oh, uh, nothing." Smooth, Parker.

There was a pause, and MJ spoke up, gentler. "Is it for me, Peter?"

"Um... Can you turn around? Please?" asked Peter, feeling like an idiot.

MJ just raised an eyebrow but complied with his request.

"Dear MJ, I need you to know that..." he started to say, before tapping MJ on the shoulder.

She turned around, and Peter shoved the letter into his jeans, looking directly into her eyes and speaking.

"I need you to know that I like you, Mary Jane Watson. As more than a friend, and sure as hell not in a fake way."

MJ blinked, taking a step closer, letting out an exasperated breath. "The reason that I went to Eugene's room that night, was to tell him that it's over. Because I've got feelings for you, Peter. Only you."

It took a beat for that to sink in. "Huh?" asked Peter eloquently.

MJ grabbed Peter by the collar tugging him down so that she could look directly into his eyes for a moment, then kissed him hard on the mouth.

The brunette was unresponsive for a few moments, before he grabbed her waist and practically dipped her, letting his lips show exactly how he felt.

When they finally pulled away from each other, MJ reached up to cup his face.

"Face it, tiger...you just hit the jackpot."

Epilogue

Ding dong.

"Peter, it's for you!" yelled Benji.

Peter ran downstairs, nearly tripping over his feet, before making it to the front door. As soon as Benji saw him, he bolted outside. Peter stared after him in confusion, and stepped out to see who it was. "Uh, hi--"

"Peter Parker?" asked the boy, standing on the porch.

"Umm, yes?"

The boy chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Wow, it's, uh, it's been a while."

"Sorry, who are you?"

"Oh! Right. My name's Johnny. Jonathan Storm."

Peter swore.

Here we go again.