The Masks we Hide Behind || Peter Parker [1]

twenty: thank you, MJ

The cold breeze slapped against my face as MJ and I stepped out of the doors together. MJ had shown up at lunch, and Ned absolutely bombarded her with questions, like, was she hot? How scared were you on a scale of one to ten? OH MY GOSH, do you know who she really is? Is she tall? How muscular are her arms? Peter was unusually quiet throughout the day, which I ignored, like I usually do. I had always let Peter talk to me first, I didn't like to push him to tell me anything.

"Mind if I ask how everything went down last night?" I chuckle as we walk down the concrete steps just outside of midtown. I spot a small smile tug on the corner of MJ's lips, watching as her stray curls blow in the breeze.

"As long as you don't ask repeatedly if the Spider-Woman was hot," she says, and I hear the tiniest hint of a smile in her voice. I laugh in response as we begin to walk down the sidewalk.

"I won't." I laugh. "But seriously, are you okay?"

"What does it look like?" She asks, like it's obvious.

"Not physically," I say, throwing her an amused glance. She remains expressionless as we wait to cross a street, her shoulders slouched slightly. "like...you know what I mean."

"Right. Well. I'm still utterly terrified and I won't be walking around alone at night anytime soon." She says as we walk across the crosswalk, listening as some jerks honk at us in their cars. I ignore it, MJ, being the person she is, lifts her hand up and flips the guy off, and I bite back a laugh.

"I don't blame you," I respond quietly.

"God, Mads. It was terrifying. I don't know how my voice didn't shake when I spoke to the guy." She says, showing real emotion on her face.

"You spoke to him?" I half lie. I knew she spoke to him, but I didn't realize she was this scared. I don't blame her, of course, but I've never seen MJ...scared.

"Yes. And I'm quite shocked he didn't kill me right then and there..." she murmurs as we turn to walk into a small convenience store. A little bell sounds as I push the door open and hold it for MJ, and the lady behind the counter welcomes us with a warm smile as we enter.

We make our way to the back of the store, heading towards the tall fridges that kept all of the drinks. I grab the handle and open the fridge to grab a bottle of coke, and MJ grabs a bottle of raspberry tea from the fridge next to mine. "Mads, the Spider-Man showed up. In fact, he flipped Avalanche over when he was standing right in front of me. It was awesome, but terrifying."

"I'm sure," I say as we make our way back to the counter. I reach back and pull a five dollar bill out of my back pocket and hand it to the lady over the counter as she rings up our drinks. We pay her and grab our drinks and leave, heading for the park.

"What was she like?" I ask, opening the coke bottle. It lets out a sharp hiss and bubbles up as MJ takes a sip of her tea, looking around the busy city surrounding us.

"The Spider-Woman?"

"Who else?" I laugh. She grins just slightly before she answers.

"Uhm, well, it kinda sucks because I was so terrified when she saved me, I don't remember it all. She literally swung down and scooped me up, then she took me to the roof of some building. I don't really remember what we said to each other, because it all happened so fast and I was kind of focused on watching the Spider-Man get his ass kicked by Avalanche in the background. It was so...surreal." She says, tucking a free strand of hair behind her ear.

"Her suit's pretty awesome," She says with a grin. I smile as I raise the coke bottle up to my lips. "Also, I think her and the Spider-Man should date."