Make Him Proud, Peter Parker

TWELVE. where are you, peter parker

Nellie kept her eyes closed as she held on absent-mindedly to the subway's standing pole. Her grip would get a little tighter with each stop-and-go they did, but overall, the ride was peaceful. She wondered if that made her weird, but New York had always been her home. And it wasn't as scary and big to her as some people seemed to think. It was home.

As they came to what felt like their eleventh stop, Nellie silently mouthed the words along with the recording, "Stand clear of the closing doors, please."

"Shit, is this going downtown?" An even more familiar, real voice caused Nellie to open her eyes.

Farther down in the subway car, she spotted her best friend in the world -- Michelle Jones.

"MJ!" Nellie shouted, not caring that there were a dozen people between them.

Nellie let go of the steady pole right as the subway lurched forward, causing her to fall forward on her knees for the second time that evening.

MJ weaved in and out of other standing passengers, leaning down to help Nellie up in a flash.

"What the heck are you doing back in the city, dude? I thought you were in Georgia for the summer," MJ exclaimed in her normal, laidback MJ way.

Nellie shook her head and threw her arms around her friend, "I'm so happy to see you."

MJ hugged her back awkwardly; she'd never been one to welcome physical contact of any kind, but with Nellie as her friend for many years, she'd learned to accept her fate.

"You know, when we said our goodbyes a week ago I was kinda thinking it would be the last time--"

Nellie chuckled, playfully smacking MJ's forearm, "Shut up."

MJ smirked, and Nellie couldn't help but hug her once more.

"You've lived in New York all your life and you still get on the wrong subway," Nellie teased her, her hand grasping the steady pole yet again.

MJ sighed, her lime green headphones around her neck, "I am who I am. So, what're you doing here?"

"Ned didn't tell you?" Nellie puzzled, surprised that MJ hadn't mentioned Happy or Stark Tower being destroyed yet.

MJ shook her head hesitantly, "Well, Ned and I kinda had a falling out."

Nellie's eyes widened like a deer in the headlights, "We cease to exist for half a decade and the first week back Ned's already screwed something up?"

MJ chewed her lower lip, a bad habit she'd always had, "This one was kinda my fault."

Nellie leaned her head against the steady pole, her hair creating static against the metal. She shocked her temple, eliciting a snort from MJ, and stood back up, away from the pole.

"Just tell me what happened," Nellie urged, watching her friend intently.

MJ shrugged, "Well, he decided to profess his undying love for me three days ago--"

Nellie nearly snorted herself at that point, but covered her mouth after realizing people were beginning to shoot them dirty glances, "He did what?"

MJ shook her head, "I know. I thought he'd have figured it out by now. But his skull is just too damn thick."

"What did you say to him?" Nellie asked, leaning closer to MJ in suspense.

MJ never talked about it much, because she was so socially awkward, she barely talked at all outside of their friend circle. She didn't have to, though. Nellie had always known that MJ liked girls, and their friendship didn't really require a conversation about it -- especially if MJ wasn't the one to bring it up. If she wanted to talk to Nellie, she would have. Nellie knew better than to push, especially when it came to something so personal.