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In the time that Peter was at the bar with Beck I had gotten changed out of my dress and into a more comfortable lazy Sunday outfit. And I had started a long 'nap'. Today has been so long and exhausting, I was ready to never leave the bed.
But like clockwork my focus was broken as loud voices started to echo around the hallway, the voices sounding like they were standing directly outside my door. I sighed, glancing down to my still body lying on top of the duvet. Without much hesitation I quickly floated back down, gently lying down in my body. My eyes peeled open and my head immediately snapped towards the door, a gentle knocking now coming from the other side.
I quickly shoved myself off the bed and skipped over to the door, unlocking and opening it to see who was on the other side. I was surprised, oh so happy to see Peter stood in the doorway, facing me.
"You're back." I grinned, stepping aside so he could come in. He didn't waste a second before quickly entering and throwing his backpack next to my suitcase on the floor. He let out a groan as he flopped onto my bed where I lay just seconds ago. Quietly I closed the door and made my way next to him, gently sitting down next to his head. "How was it?"
"Great. Everything's sorted." The smile forming on his face was contagious as he softly gazed up at me.
"Everything?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, not everything but almost everything." His smile faltered as his gaze flicked to the ceiling above before landing back on me. "I heard we're heading back tomorrow."
"Mmm." I hummed, sighing at the end. "It was never meant to be I suppose."
"No." Peter announced hastily sitting up, startling me making my body flinch backwards.
"No? What's no?" I asked confused as Peter shuffled around on the bed, turning over so he was facing me, tucking his legs underneath him.
"I promised you the best vacation you've ever had and ever will have. I want to keep that promise." He let out a slightly uneven breath as he held his hands out in front of him. My brows frowned together in concern as I laid my hands on top of his, gripping them tightly. "I was gonna wait until the end of the trip..." Another uneven exhale escaped him. "But I guess now this is the end of the trip." He lightheartedly chuckled.
"Peter, you're starting to scare me. What's wrong?" I asked, edging an inch closer to him out of concern.
"No, nothing's wrong." He assured in another chuckle, giving both of my hands a squeeze. "Okay, well the thing is... I want to tell you-"
Peter's sentence was quickly cut off by a sudden knock on the door causing both of our attention to be forced towards the closed door. I blinked a few times, the knock was quiet and quick, no more knocks sounded after the first one. Did it even happen, were we both going crazy.
"I'm sure it's just Ned. He'll go away if we're quiet." Peter said in a hushed whisper, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against my temple. The soft contact made my eyes flicker closed, my head leaning further towards his, nuzzling into him.
When I thought we were once again alone the silence was broken by another knock echoing in the room, this time a lot harder; the person on the other side clearly making sure they'd gained our attention. My eyes broke open again, the pressure from the side of my head being removed as a voice called out.
"Peter? Are you in there? I already checked your room. I need to talk to you." MJ's clear cut voice asked politely from out in the hallway.
"I don't think it's Ned." I chuckled as Peter groaned quietly, flopping his head down on my shoulder. I felt him press a kiss to my shoulder before he forced himself up off of the bed and over to answer the door.
Peter shook off his annoyance to being interpreted before twisting the door handle and yanking the door open to reveal MJ. She leaned around Peter to send me an awkward wave but swiftly stood back up right to talk directly to Peter.
"I need to talk to you." I heard her say, though her voice seemed rather hushed.
"Okay, I'll, uh, meet you down in the lobby in half an hour and we can go on a walk and talk at the same time, sound good?" Peter rambled out, the second he finished talking he started to inch the door further towards MJ, trying to shut her out.
"It's important, Peter. I need to talk to you now." MJ's voice hardened as she put her foot in front of the door so it slammed against her shoe. I flinched backwards at the sudden bang, hopefully no one else heard it.
"Fine, I'll meet you downstairs in 5 minutes." Peter corrected himself. Making MJ curtly nod before swiftly turning and exiting from my line of view, presumably leaving since Peter sighed and gently clicked the door shut.
Lazily Peter shuffled his way over to me dropping down on the floor by my feet. He gazed up at me with a frown like pout, making me pout as well.
"I'm so sorry." He mumbled.
"It's not your fault." I told him, replacing my pout with a smile to make him feel better. "You'll be back in no time."
"Mmm." He hummed glancing down to the carpet. "By the way was that spell you did earlier from the Darkhold?" He asked curiously looking back up at me.
"Yeah, it was." I grinned happily, slightly proud of myself that my magic was improving.
"No side effects?" He asked, picking up my left hand and inspecting my fingertips.
"I'm, I'm basically made from the magic that comes from that book." I muttered, staring down at the floor. "Well, according to the book."
"You could never be made out of that dark magic stuff." Peter forced my attention back on him by bringing his hand up to cup my cheek, turning my head. "Have you met you, you're made out of candyfloss." A smile spread on my face, though I didn't believe a word he said, I've done things I'm not proud of. "You don't believe me, do you?" An amused smile formed across his face.
"How'd you know?" I chuckled, but he quickly cut it off leaning up and peaking my lips. He kept his face inches from mine, the tips of our noses brushing together.
"Cause I know you so well." He chimed quietly before starting to brush his nose against my more purposefully. I couldn't help but crinkle up my nose in response, making a chuckle emanate from his lungs. He started to lean in little bit closer again but I moved further back in response. I watched a look of confusion and hurt cross his face.
"MJ will be downstairs waiting for you." I explained my sudden withdrawal from him. He let out an exasperated sigh before pushing himself back up onto his feet.
"And I don't even get a kiss goodbye." He jokingly scoffed, the grin on his face giving away the fact that he was joking.
"Nope." I grinned back, crinkling up my nose. In a rapid swing of my leg I dramatically tucked them underneath me, sitting crossed legged on the bed.
Peter rolled his eyes; marching back over to me he gently grabbed hold of my chin, guiding my lips onto his. I couldn't help but smile into the kiss, bringing my hand up to cup the back of his neck, forcing more pressure and Peter to take a step closer. The smile I wore preventing me from moving my lips against his, but I couldn't get rid of it. Eventually the smile spread to him causing him to pull back.
"Better?" I asked, glancing between his eyes that were still only a few inches away from me.
"Mm-hmm." He hummed in response, carefully letting go of my face so he could leave.
"Come back soon, yeah." I sadly smiled over at him walking backwards towards the door.
"Why? Will you miss me?" He teased making my smile completely drop from my face, the only thing I could do was hastily nod. "I'll be back in a minute, everything's fine." Yet again I nodded as he finally slinked out the door, gently clicking it shut behind him.
Sighing I stared wantingly at the closed door, all he had to do was open the door again... I missed him already. But I knew MJ needed to talk to him, she seemed concerned and annoyed. As if on cue there was a quiet knock on the door. Excitedly I jumped up off the bed and made my way to the door, pulling it back open to reveal that it was not in fact Peter but Brad... My whole mood dropped again, my shoulders sagging slightly. Brad seemed to notice my shift.
"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" Brad asked, motioning to the grand staircase behind him.
"No, I'm, I'm sorry. How can I help you Brad?" I asked shaking off my disappointment and plastering a fake smile on my face. I expected Brad to ask a question but to my disbelief he hastily walked into the room. "Yeah, sure, come on in." I muttered to myself as I closed the door behind him.
---
(Third person)
Meanwhile Peter and MJ were silently walking along one of the bridges nearby their hotel. MJ was fiddling with her hands in front of her not knowing how to bring up the subject she so desperately needed to. Peter on the other hand was staring out over the water taking in all it's beauty, silently waiting for MJ to talk, not rushing her in the slightest.
"Okay." MJ finally spoke up, gaining Peter's attention. "So I need to, um, clear the air so to speak." MJ muttered, refusing to meet Peter's gaze as she stared up at the cloudy night sky. "I don't really know how to... bring it up."
Their one sided conversation slipped back into silence as Peter raised an eyebrow at her in confusion.
"Okay, does Y/n know?" MJ asked, finally looking up and meeting his curious gaze.
"Know what?" Peter asked, with genuine confusion lacing his voice. MJ seemed to pick up on his tone and slowed her walking pace causing Peter to slow as well.
"So she doesn't?"
"What doesn't Y/n know?" Peter asked, beginning to get frustrated. They both stopped dead in their tracks, just staring at each other. Surely she didn't know that Peter was a superhero, that was the least of Peter's worrys. The thought in the front of his mind was that Brad had convinced her that he had cheated on his girlfriend.
"That you're Spider-Man." MJ just came out and lay it on the table. Peter tried with all his might not to widen his eyes to the size of dinner plates. He could still try and deny everything.
---
(Y/n's POV)
"Y/n, I've been needing to talk to you." Brad announced, stopping his adventure into my room and turning back around to face me.
"Okay..." I trailed off slowly nodding as I followed the path Brad had taken except I took a seat at the edge of my bed, tucking one leg underneath me. "What is it?"
"I need to say this without Peter breathing down our necks." Brad continued, a frown quickly formed on my face. What the heck was he talking about?
"Brad, what is this about?" I clapped my hands together, moving them down so my fingers pointed to the floor.
"Okay, I like you. Like, like you like you." Brad breathed out in a sigh of relief, like he'd keep this bottled up for years. I almost let out a laugh at his ridiculous statement, but deep down I knew he wasn't kidding. MJ was right all along, Brad Davis had a crush on me.
"That's really... nice of you." I said trying to let him down easy. I've never shot someone down who's not a complete asshole. Brad was just crazy with hormones... That was all.
"What?" Brad mumbled, his shoulders sagging to the floor. An instant pag of guilt sprang through my chest, forcing me to push myself up onto me feet. "You don't feel the same?"
"Brad, it's sweet, don't get me wrong. And I... appreciate it. But I'm dating Peter. I'm sorry but you're after the wrong person." I told him, sadly smiling over at him, folding my hands in front of me.
"But..."
"And with all due respect, Brad, you don't really know me." I added.
"What do you mean?" Brad asked, his voice raising in what I could only describe as anger. I clenched my jaw, keeping my breathing calm as I prepared to continue.
"You know the me I let you see, and that's not really the real me. I mean, have we ever spent time together out of school?" I asked, crossing my arms as I awaited his reply.
"Well, no. Okay, but at least let me get to know you! Please." Brad urged taking a step forwards, to which I quickly stepped backwards away from his advances.
"I'm sorry, but it's not that easy. Sometimes I wish it was." I said, my voice cracking.
"Why not?" He asked. I just shook my head, refusing to answer as I looked down to the carpet below my feet. "Does, does Peter know this real you?" That made me look back up.
"Of course he does. I wouldn't date someone without them knowing the real me. And I couldn't imagine myself with anyone but him." I took a pause, breathing in before I continued. It was the only way I could convince Brad that I wasn't interested in anyone but Peter, at least the only way I could think of. "I'm in love with him, Brad. I'm sorry."
I watched in slight shock as Brad's face seemed to morph into something more sinister before falling flat, his gaze averting to the ground.
---
(Third person)
"What?" Was all Peter could come up with in response. "No. MJ, I'm not Spider-Man." Peter nervously chuckled.
"I mean, I've been keeping an eye on you for a while now. It's kind of obvious." MJ muttered out with a small shrug.
"I'm not Spider-Man. What would make you think that I was Spider-Man?"
"Peter, Washington?" MJ asked, cracking a large smile.
"Yeah?"
"The fact that you, like disappear out of nowhere for no reason."
"No, that was- I was sick. I had my- the tummy." Peter tried his best to scramble his way out of the pit he'd been throw in.
"You know Susan Yang thinks you're a male escort?" MJ casually threw out, a fact that she had told Y/n about and they'd both laughed on for hours. MJ was so glad her best friend had a good sense of humor.
"What?" Peter all but scoffed in disbelief. "Of course I'm not a male escort."
"Well then you're Spider-Man." MJ shrugged.
"No, I'm not Spider-Man at all." Peter was quick to retaliate.
"What about tonight? You snuck off, and you fought that thing with those super people. I saw you." MJ continued to deadpan Peter, with no chance of backing down. Deep down he knew he was screwed but he was somewhat glad she didn't seem suspicious about Y/n.
"You can't have seen me because I'm not Spider-Man. And also, on the news, it was the Night Monkey."
"The Night Monkey?" MJ asked, quirking a brow at him. She wasn't having a bar of it.
"Yeah. That's what it said on the news, and the news never lies." Peter rambled out, shaking his head from side to side. In response MJ just puffed out her lips as she pulled her backpack off her shoulders, unzipping the compartment and fishing for something inside. "What are you doing?"
"Well, do the Night Monkey and Spider-Man use the same webs?" MJ asked causally once she'd found what she was looking for. She yanked out a small metal piece of technology that had a spiderweb attached to the side, one that clearly came from Peter. Peter's brain churned the fastest it has ever ran as he flicked his gaze from the small device back up to MJ.
"I mean, maybe. Maybe he's a Spider Monkey. Who knows?" Peter shrugged, before he glanced back down to look at the device. He couldn't for the life of him see what it could possibly be from or what it did. Where did MJ even get that? Even if she was at the scene of the fight.
As the silence between the two seemed to drag on MJ's finger pressed on a small button, accidentally activating the device. Both teens jumped backwards, MJ dropping the metal device at the horrifying image that was displayed in front of them. A massive monster, looking much like the elementals he and Y/n had fought, appeared up in the air. It looked to be made out of wind like a cyclone tearing through the air. It took a single swipe with it's large hand, looking at no one in particular before the device flickered off. Both MJ and Peter glanced around shocked at what they'd just seen in front of their eyes.
"The hell was that?!" Peter asked, his whole body tensed up to the max.
"I don't know." MJ muttered, turning in a full circle for anything that could possibly explain that. Peter held out his arm for MJ to stay in place as she gingerly took the few steps forward and picked up the device that was still flickering with blue light. "What is it? Like some kind of projector or something?" MJ asked as Peter examined the device in his hand.
"Yeah, but it's really advanced." Peter absentmindedly muttered back in response, his gaze still fixed on the thing in his hands. Slowly he swiveled it around, getting a look at every inch.
"It- It looked so real. It-" MJ stuttered out, which was unusual for her. She was flabbergasted by what she'd just witnessed.
"Yeah, really real." Peter said realisation hitting him in the face. Oh jeez did he mess up. Y/n was going to be pissed.
"Wait, does that mean that..?" MJ trailed off, staring down at the concrete like Peter was.
"The Elementals are fake?" Peter continued on from MJ's thought. "That doesn't make any sense because we were there, right? There was fire and destruction." Peter muttered on, getting his thoughts out in the open, trying to make sense of any of them. But then an uncomfortable thought settled in his chest. "Her powers weren't working..." He trailed off squeezing his eyes shut tightly.
"What?"
"But who would even do something like that?" MJ thought for a minute her thoughts racing, much like Peter's were.
Suddenly the device flickered back on, activating the hologram. It cast the same wind monster out into the air, both teens looking for any clues that they could use to figure it out. Like the universe read their thoughts, Mysterio flew into view blasting the creature with his fake green lazers.
"Mysterio." MJ mumbled, narrowing her eyes at the image of the caped 'hero'.
As the hologram flicked back off. Peter squeezed his eyes closed again, trying to think of the best course of action. He could only come up with one way to warn everyone fast, especially Y/n. With his thoughts settled Peter whipped back around to face MJ. It was now or never.
"I am Spider-Man... And I really messed up." Peter finally admitted causing MJ's eyes to go wide.
"Wait. You're be- You're being serious?" MJ gawked.
"Mhm." Peter hastily nodded, compiling a to-do list in his head.
"You're not joking with me? You're like 100 percent serious? Because it's not funny." MJ continued to gawk, in shock.
"No, I'm not joking." Peter confirmed.
"Cause I was, I was only like 67 percent sure."
"MJ..."
"So why- Why are you here? Why are-"
"MJ..."
"Why are you on this school trip?"
"MJ! Look, I know you have a lot of questions, but look, we really have to get out of here, okay? Y/n can answer you're questions, but we need to get to her first."
"Okay, okay." MJ seemed to calm down as she collected her thoughts. "Wait, Y/n knows?" MJ's eyes once again went as wide as dinner plates. Peter gave her a stern look before he turned and started to speed walk towards the hotel. "Sorry, I can't believe I figured it out!" MJ cheered as she chased after an almost running Peter.
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