4Author's Note:
Created for Day 6 of Spideychelle Week 2020!
Today's prompt: Enemies to Lovers
Peter's in big trouble―huge―and Mr. Stark did tell him that if he's ever in trouble he should ask for help, so he calls, looking for help, and gets nobody, so he calls again and gets Happy, who hangs up once Peter makes him understand that, no, this isn't about somebody trying to kick his Spidey-suit ass but about him trying to pick a new class (Happy's next to some freaky machine at the time and it makes the cell reception wonky), but who finally listens all the way to the end on the seventeenth time Peter manages to get through to him without having his call dropped, and then Mr. Stark is told about it and though Peter isn't immediately apprised of the solution to his own problem for some reason, he's informed that cash has been flashed and that the solution will, inevitably, be attained.
Until then, Peter begins the first week of his third year of college and shows up to the labs and lectures of every class on his schedule, including English 1034: 21st Century Literature from A to Z.
AGUALUSA, José Eduardo ― A General Theory of Oblivion
"A tutor?" Peter hisses into his phone, pacing the tight corridor of the library's fourth-floor stacks. "How is his solution to get me a tutor? I don't need a tutor! I'm smart, Happy, remember? What did I want instead? Well, I don't know! I have to keep all my core classes for my major, but maybe he could've made them give me credit for taking something online from another college? I'm not screwing up my schedule for English lit. I don't even know why I gotta take this! I know how to read, you know? I'm just―"
Oh sure, he heard the other person enter the aisle, but he assumed it was to grab a book, so the noise of annoyance that leaves his mouth when his phone is snatched from his hand and his call ended is absolutely genuine.
"'Sup," says the person, who's a woman his age, who's handing his phone back with a lazy gesture, who's apparently entirely cool, casual, and unapologetic about unceremoniously hanging up on Happy for him. "You gotta take English lit because it sounds as though your vocabulary needs it and, hi, I'm Michelle. Your tutor."
She mumbles an indelicate string of words after that as she turns and walks away from him out of the stacks and Peter picks up 'entitled asshole' even though he isn't trying to listen, just follow her and set this thing straight.
"Uh, no, you're not," he assures her, alarmed when the place he's trailing her to turns out to be a table where her stuff is waiting―open notebook, two different coloured pens, a copy of the syllabus for English 1034. No, no, no!
"Well, I can't guarantee you'll actually learn anything since you seem to have a combination of a pretty thick skull and an overinflated ego, but I'll hold up my end of the deal. Let me guess, Business major?"
"Bio," Peter grits out, grasping the back of the chair intended for him as this Michelle person slides neatly into hers, like the library's her living room because she lives here. Fine. He's happy for it to stay that way. He has access to all the books he needs in the sciences library on the other side of campus.
"Well, my condolences to the parts of your brain which, in most people, would produce non-literal comprehension and creative thought. But I'm sure you know the names for those, don't you, Science Guy? Ok, quit making that face and let's go over your syllabus."
She doesn't look up the entire time she speaks and Peter has never heard a person sound so pretentious in real life.
"Are you kidding me? No. Even if I wanted or needed to be tutored, it wouldn't be by you. You grabbed my phone out of my hand!"
"Yeah," Michelle agrees, meeting his eye with something firm in her own, "and you were talking on it in one of the library's Quiet Zones. I'm not here to give you a lesson on Comparative Ignorance."
"What makes you think you can just do that?" Peter demands. He feels sort of ridiculous and like he's simultaneously taking the argument a step too far and a step not-far-enough; he's not usually like this, but then, other people aren't usually like that.
"The fact that I was paid in advance."
She nods towards the chair and Peter doesn't know why he does it, but he sits, still mad.
"Stark paid you to tutor me," he states.
"Boy, are you struggling with the concept of exchanging currency for services too? Maybe there's a basic Econ class you could still get into."
"Why you?"
"Why you?" Michelle counters. "Why can't smarty-pants, Stark-patroned Peter Parker just suck it up and get through a single English credit? Seriously, why not, since you seem to think it's just reading and therefore easy. Why not just bribe the college to hand you the credit? You want me to tell you where the Financial Office is? I could show you because, ok, about me now, I'm here on scholarship because I couldn't find a benevolent billionaire to smooth my path for me." She straightens up in her chair, eyes practically volcanic with heat. "And here's another why me for you: because I love what I study, I think literature has worth and beauty, and, oh right, I have the highest grade point average in the entire School of Arts and Humanities."
Peter's so floored for a minute that he forgets why he's angry.
"It wouldn't be right," he finally says, trying to at least regain the moral high ground after her offhand suggestion of bribery. "Buying a credit. It wouldn't be right."
"So… instead you demean the entire discipline, like that's going to help you."
He scoffs.
"It'd help me more than you would."
"Helping you is why I'm here."
"You sound thrilled about it."
"Hard not to be when I have the honour of tutoring the Spider-Man," she says, matching his sarcasm.
Ugh, he hates that she brought that up. By his third year, he's become less of a novelty in the halls―these days, people get more excited about a sighting of the local gopher who lives in a hole near the Astronomy building―and having it thrown in his face like this is even more uncomfortable than requests for selfies. Or the few mortifying pleas for his autograph. They're locked in a mutually-irritated glare, which Peter breaks with a groan and a roll of his eyes.
"I didn't want to be in this class," he admits.
"And yet the online course selection process is so very hard to fuck up. Thus, you did in fact choose this class. Unless… does Tony Stark pick your classes for you?"
Peter ignores that. He can't both fume and be cooperative enough to get her help, which he's starting to think he might need. Maybe she can give him some kind of insider English department knowledge that will rid him of English 1034.
"It is an interesting choice," Michelle continues carefully. Is she smirking at him? He can't quite tell.
"I didn't read the description."
"What did you expect '20th Century Literature from A to Z' to be?"
She's mocking him, but Peter feels like his mistake in taking this particular class is an easy one to make. He has plenty of reasons to back him up.
"It's a first-year level English course, it's non-essay, and 'A to Z' made it sound like an overview," he lists confidently.
"In case you don't already know or suspect this, nobody who's actually in the English program takes it."
Michelle's tone is extraordinarily smug.
"I thought you guys loved to read," Peter says accusingly, leaning back and crossing his arms.
"Not a novel every week for two semesters! Dude, you picked a course with twenty-six required texts. 'A to Z' is for the alphabetical order of the authors' last names."
"I know that now," he grumbles, eyeing the booklist Michelle has neatly aligned next to the syllabus on their study table. "And now all the other full-year non-essay English classes are full, so I can't drop this one because there's nothing to pick up in its place."
"That's an insanely stupid mistake."
"Noted."
"Ok, if you're ready to move on, what were your thoughts on Agualusa?"
"You still want to tutor me?"
She looks at him like he's truly the uncomprehending, unimaginative Bio-dunce she described.
"There are few things I want less than I want this. The only possible enjoyment here is getting to meet one of the unsuspecting idiots who signed up for that class, and even that doesn't cancel out the way you belittled my area of study and those who study it. So." Michelle extends a hand and, when Peter realizes what she wants, accepts his panic-purchased copy of A General Theory of Oblivion. "Time to prove you can read."
BEATTY, Paul ― The Sellout
"I see you found the place," Michelle greets without looking up from what she's reading (which is the book for his course).
Peter attempts to glance around without being obvious about it.
"It's the same table we sat at last time," he says, mostly certain.
"I know." She looks up. "I just thought you might get lost in unfamiliar territory. Had you ever been in here before last week?"
He laughs bitterly as he slings his backpack off and lets it slam into the leg of the table, making Michelle frown.
"Yeah, I had." Once. When he toured the college with May before applying to undergrad. "Don't be so gatekeeper-y. These books aren't just for English majors."
"Oh, so you avail yourself of them often for pleasure reading? Sorry, sorry," she adds quickly and something inside Peter eases at the hope of an apology, "I forgot I was talking to the guy who signed up for the most reading-heavy class the English department offers. Of course you must love to read."
"I just want to get my mandatory arts credit to graduate."
The motive should be obvious, Peter thinks, but maybe she'll take pity on him because he's offering an explanation.
"You've already successfully postponed it your first two years. Why not push it to next year when you can take a lighter class?"
"There are a lot of required fourth-year courses for my major. I don't have room for anything that isn't impor―"
He cuts himself off, but Michelle looks pissed. What? It's the truth! If he thought English was more important than Biology, he would've studied English!
"You're trying to get me to wait for an easier class and you told me I shouldn't assume English was easy," he accuses.
"It's not! I didn't say an easier class, I said a lighter one. You know, with fewer books to read. English ten-thirty-four is an easy class."
"Yeah right!"
"Really, Peter?" He's startled to hear his name leave her mouth. "Exactly how deep were you expecting the analysis to go when you only spend a week on each book? That's a Monday and Wednesday course, right? So you're only actually discussing the book for three hours. A bunch of your assigned texts are over four hundred pages, which means covering around one hundred and thirty-three pages every hour of discussion, or a little over two pages every minute. And that's just content. If you were actually digging into any of these books, you'd discuss themes, historical context of the subject matter, intertextual influence…"
"You're pretty good at math," he says wryly. "I bet you could have majored in that instead."
"I could've majored in anything, but I chose a subject that actually has a soul."
"It's cute that you're so noble about it," Peter says, feeling like an honest-to-Thor asshole because he's never disparaged anyone or anything by calling them or it 'cute' before, "considering the current arrangement."
She gives him a harsh look before finally asking, "What do you mean?"
"You're studying something so intellectual and culturally important or whatever and looking down at people in Business and the sciences. Lots of us love what we're majoring in and some of us are in it for a career with a good salary. I'm just worried you're being a bit of a hypocrite. How superior can you feel when you're peddling your English-major wisdom for a paycheque from Tony Stark?"
Michelle can't really murder him―his reflexes are too fast, his body too durable, and the most dangerous thing she appears to have at her disposal is a blue ballpoint pen―but she kinda looks like she might give it a try. Ok, so undercutting her integrity in a vengeful rant was probably beneath him. She was being such a snob though!
Finally, her expression relaxes and she uncaps her pen (Peter flinches), poising it over the page where, last week, she composed him a strong set of notes as they attempted a rocky discussion of the book.
"How much did you get read?"
CHOI, Mary H.K. ― Permanent Record
Peter sits and nods at Michelle when she looks up.
"We're past the add/drop date," he announces. "Guess I'm officially in English ten-thirty-four for the rest of the year."
"And when you graduate, it'll be right there on your transcript, smuggled through in between the important courses. Even if you can't hack it and fail the class," she concludes with a small, scornful smile.
"As far as I know, you're being paid too much to let me fail."
It feels like a gross powerplay the second he's said it. If they're really going to do this, he needs to start taking the meanspirited way that she roots against him in stride. Does he think about finding a different tutor every time she makes a sly comment like that? Sure, but he's stubborn enough about maintaining a strong average to recognize the value of learning from the best student in the program.
"So…" he says after a minute, watching Michelle flip through his book to find where he's marked the passages examined in class. "We never really agreed to it out loud, but I guess this is our standing place and time to do this?"
"Yeah, there's a clipboard where you sign up to reserve a specific table. I put our names down for every Thursday for the rest of the year."
"Really?"
"No, numbskull," Michelle informs him lightly. "You can't reserve a table, only the study rooms. I knew you didn't know how the library worked."
"How 'bout, instead of that, we talk about the demands of fame."
"Oh? Are you trying to open up to me?" She taps the end of her pen hard and fast against the table as though to emphasize this is something she doesn't have time for.
"No. I did my assigned reading."
He reaches out and grabs his book, dragging it back across the table.
DAY, Kate Hope ― If, Then
"I kept waiting for it to get good. Why didn't it get good?" he asks, spinning the book on their table, then trapping it under his palm.
"Patience, spider-brain," Michelle instructs. "It is good. It's suspenseful and subtle and atmospheric and it's no wonder those things went right over your head. Weren't you at least interested in Ginny? She's a surgeon."
"So?"
"So, you're in Biology. Don't you want to be a doctor or something?"
"I don't know yet," Peter says with a shrug. Man, is she going to start bugging him about figuring out his career path? He has May for that. "Do you know what you want to be?"
"A tutor," she responds flatly.
He'd smile if they were friends because she's apparently hilarious.
"It takes some time to build if the part you're most interested in is the sci-fi stuff," Michelle concedes. "Did you read it to the end?"
"I didn't have time. I had to start the next book early because I have a big lab assignment next week." He sighs and lets his head fall into his hand just thinking about it.
She frowns and looks down, so he can only assume she disapproves of his priorities or his poor time management or something.
But then she mumbles, "You should try audiobooks."
"Thanks," Peter says, because that's actually a great idea. He can listen on his way to campus in the mornings and he won't have to carry the book on the days he doesn't have that class. It'll mean buying an audio copy of everything he already purchased, but he'll still use the hard copies most of the time, and it's not like Mr. Stark's going to begrudge him another hundred bucks. Plus, almost all of the books for this course are novels, so it won't even feel like doing homework!
In the midst of excitedly thinking over how much time he'll have if he takes her advice, he glances at Michelle. She's ignoring him.
ENDICOTT, Marina ― Good to a Fault
It's the first week of October and Peter thinks he has the hang of this being-an-English-student thing. He read-slash-listened-to the whole book this week and even though the next two weeks' novels are a couple of the longest in the entire course, he's undaunted. When he gets to the library and finds Michelle―the classes they have right before this tutoring session end at the same time, but she always beats him here―he brags about being totally on top of his reading. She's possibly starting to smile at him when he says, "I'm getting good at this. You want any tips?"
"God, Peter!" she blurts. "This is the third year of my major! Try to have some fucking respect!"
He holds up his hands placatingly. Once his books are out, Peter starts watching her and notices a syllabus at her elbow that isn't for English 1034. Aggressively highlighted in green is tomorrow's date and 'MIDTERM.' His don't start for another week. He never consciously realized that Humanities students had midterm stress too. Michelle must be taking more than one English class right now, plus whatever else fills up her schedule. Jeeze, that's a lot of reading, and she's reading enough of his books to help him on top of doing her own shit. Peter winces and keeps his mouth shut until she's ready to begin.
FLYNN, Gillian ― Gone Girl
They're in the thick of midterms and having a particularly grouchy (on both sides) tutoring session.
"Quit writing a bunch of nothing," Michelle criticizes, like that's somehow useful feedback.
"I'm getting to my point!" Peter complains.
"They're long answer questions, not essays. You won't get any pity marks for filler like you do in a Bio exam."
"They don't give marks for filler in Bio exams!"
"Well then where did you learn to answer questions like this?" she snaps. "Do you want to start this one over or try another one?"
They glare at each other for several sluggish moments.
"I'll start over," Peter decides, meeting her challenging look with his own.
"Fine."
This time, Michelle not only passes him the question she came up with but also rips a piece of paper out of her notebook, tears it into thirds, and hands him one of those as well.
"One-sided," she instructs.
"Yeah, I get it."
"Be concise."
"If you took your own advice, I'd be able to write in silence right now instead of being distracted by the sound of you talking!"
In what seems like a blink as Peter looks up from his paper and tightly-gripped pencil in confusion, Michelle has her bag packed and shoves back from the table.
"Help me study!" he yells after her in desperation.
"Earn it with something more than money," she calls back, flipping him off over her shoulder.
GO, Justin ― The Steady Running of the Hour
Groveling wouldn't be well-received, Peter thinks. Instead, he brings Michelle an iced coffee as an apology for being a dick last week when he was freaking out over midterms. They're experiencing a final flare of summer weather and it seems like a practical offering as well as a symbolic gesture. Unfortunately, the man at the front desk makes Peter toss the coffee before he's allowed in because of a No Food and Drink policy. He feels really awkward about it and distinctly emptyhanded when he approaches Michelle at their usual table.
When it's clear that she's not focused on anything else, Peter spills the story and does end up saying, "I'm sorry" out loud. She likes one of those things enough to smile at him―not a big one, but not a sarcastic one either―and he exhales in relief.
"I really appreciate that you're doing this," he adds during a lull when they're looking over the notes he made in class, trying to decipher his professor's analysis of a certain passage.
He studies Michelle's downturned face until she looks up and meets his eye.
"When do you get your midterm results?"
"Not for a couple of weeks. The prof doesn't seem like he's in any rush."
"Are you worried about how you did?" she asks, propping her chin up with her fist. It makes her mouth slope into a playful pout and he follows the line of it with his eye for a second.
"Kinda."
Michelle shakes her head.
"You shouldn't be. You're working hard. I know you passed."
It's the first session that they don't fight. Feels good.
HAM, Rosalie ― The Dressmaker
"Holy shit," he breathes when Michelle enters. "What is that?"
The day has finally come that he beats her to the library, which is the first shock, but this is an entirely separate and far less expected thing.
"It's Halloween," she states. As though it's no big deal that she just walked in here wearing a silky-looking, floor-length, emerald green gown. Well, he assumes it's a gown and not a skirt that sits really high on her waist, but he can't see the entire thing; she's wearing a cropped hoodie over top. The juxtaposition makes him grin.
"Where did you get that?"
"I made it." Just as Peter's mouth is dropping open, she huffs a laugh and says, "Of course I didn't. It was my grandma's. The style's not totally right, but I thought the colour was a pretty good match."
"Right," he agrees as she swishes over and sits, cautiously smoothing the dress as she does so. "Because you're obviously supposed to be…"
Michelle rolls her eyes as she takes the opportunity for illuminating him.
"Cecilia Tallis. From Atonement," she prompts. "Keira Knightley played her."
"Oh, ok, yeah. I think I saw part of that one time when my aunt May was watching it."
"It was a book first," Michelle teasingly informs him.
"I know you'll be amazed to hear that I haven't read it."
"So amazed."
"You look good in green," Peter throws out there while she's still looking at him.
"Don't be weird about it, Parker."
He totally sees her smiling to herself when they turn to their books and wonders if they're friends yet.
ISRAEL, Lee ― Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Nope, nope, nope, they're definitely not friends yet! After their revision session last week, Peter thought more about his and Michelle's potential friendship, then started to feel weird about the fact that he's paying her―or that Mr. Stark is, on his behalf. It's been rare lately that both he and Mr. Stark aren't busy at the same time, but with Peter's midterms over and a new month beginning, Tony worked out a time for them to speak in person. Peter might have got rambling a little under the heady influence of his mentor's full attention and maybe some things came across incorrectly. It wasn't a meeting though, and he definitely didn't know that decisions were being made!
"I thought you were finding this helpful!" Michelle says.
"I am," he insists. "I left Mr. Stark a message. I'm gonna set it straight!"
"Oh, like you set it straight over the weekend? He fired me as your tutor!"
"I didn't know he was doing that!"
"What did you say to him?" she demands.
Fuck, this is going to be embarrassing to say face-to-face. Peter glances at their table―where they didn't sit down, due to this accidental termination―and feels himself get all overheated and shifty.
"That I felt weird about paying you."
"Because English is so worthless you should be able to learn about it for free? Yeah, I guess you could've made the internet your tutor, but it's a full two months too late for that!"
"Dammit!" Peter says, frustrated. "No! Because I thought maybe you and I were friends now because it seemed like maybe we were and I'd definitely like us to be friends, but I didn't want you to feel obligated to be nice to me as a friend or anything more than a tutor just because you're being paid. Do you want to be friends with me?" he summarizes bluntly.
"Yes."
He frowns in confusion.
"Really?"
Michelle's eyes dart to the side, then zip back to his face.
"…Isn't that what you want? I think that's literally what you just told me you want."
"And the money thing?"
"Yeah, you're definitely going to fix that as soon as we're done today. My time and expertise are valuable as hell and I'm super willing to take Tony Stark's money." She gives him a weird look. "My friendship is not for sale."
"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to assume―"
"I mean, I don't know how people make friends over there in Biology, but―"
"Ok, that's far enough," he says, laughing when she smirks to admit she was kidding.
"I guess you better start calling me MJ too," she says, taking her usual seat.
"If I had any extra names you didn't know, I'd totally let you use one in exchange."
She shrugs easily and picks up this week's novel when he places it on the table within her reach.
"Speaking of people using other names…" MJ says as she taps the cover. "Ready to talk about a famous forger?"
"Smooth transition."
"Thanks… pal?"
"No," Peter says to 'pal,' making a face.
"No," she agrees. "I'll just have to remember that we're friends now without a new name to remind me."
"You're officially my meanest friend," he jokes.
MJ snorts.
"Peter, with all the time we're spending together this year, I'm gonna be your best friend."
JOHNSON, Adam ― Fortune Smiles
"Seventy-three!" Peter cries out when he strides into the library that Thursday. Desk Man shoots him a look and Peter mouths, "Sorry." But if that guy's annoyance with Peter is on the rise, so is the strength of his friendship with MJ.
"Seventy-three?" she repeats excitedly, then pauses, seemingly waiting for him to say more.
He understands. For her, getting a 73 on an English exam would probably be a blow to her average and something she'd struggle to course correct from on the final. He'd feel the same about receiving that grade in one of the classes that make up his major. But for his first college English exam? A discipline that's forcing him to learn a completely different type of material and regurgitate that knowledge on an exam that's neither practical nor multiple choice? It's huge. He beams to let MJ know he hasn't come to complain about her ineffective tutoring. Totally the opposite.
"That's great," MJ says. She rises from her chair because Peter's too hyper―even a full day after getting his mark―to sit down yet.
"Yeah?"
"I told you you'd do fine," she reminds him.
Then she goes to shove his arm and Peter misinterprets it, pulling her in to finish what he thought was the beginning of a hug. Just as he's realizing and loosening his arms from around her, MJ's hands come up and squeeze his back once, ending in a few reassuring pats. They break out of it, holding each other at arm's length and she gives him a firm nod in conclusion. Peter laughs awkwardly. After that, they re-establish their usual rhythm.
"So, the first short story collection on your booklist," she says as she sits. Rather than taking his regular spot across from her, he drags the chair around the circular table so they're side by side. MJ watches him without protest.
"These are the first short stories I've read," he tells her.
"What did you think?"
"I like it. It's nice how it breaks the book into chunks. Makes it seem shorter maybe?"
"Definitely."
Weirdly, their opinions about the book and what his prof wants him to learn from it continue to closely align. Of course, they don't get through everything because, after about 15 minutes, MJ asks if he brought his midterm with him. He yanks it free of his backpack and they spend the rest of their time going over it. With a 73, Peter expects a lot of the review to be criticism (of the constructive variety) and notes on what he should've done better or different. Instead, it's MJ gasping (quietly but happily) every time she finds a place where he mentioned something they went over together. He watches her eyes scan over where he described If, Then as 'suspenseful, subtle, and atmospheric' before going further into his comparison between that novel and Gone Girl. She catches his eye, her expressions changing like a shuffling card deck. Peter sees impressed come up, then pleased, then a third, unfamiliar thing that's gone when MJ flips his exam to the next page.
KOCH, Herman ― The Dinner
"How is this book so horrific and so good?" Peter asks wonderingly.
They were going over his class notes until the notes referred to a page number of the novel. When he couldn't remember what happened there, they looked it up. It was just supposed to be a refresher, but it turned into them reading nine pages―waiting for each other before flipping when their reading speeds raced, constantly slipping out of and regaining first place.
"It's giving me rage-hunger," MJ said.
"Rage-hunger?"
"Yeah, you know, when you're incensed about something to the point that you start getting really hungry? Happens to me at protests."
"Listen," Peter says, dropping his voice to a compelling whisper. "I have pretzels."
"Here?"
He nods.
"Do we risk it?"
"Yes," she insists.
While she keeps watch, glancing around, Peter grasps the edge of the pretzel bag in his backpack. His expression feels pretty constipated as he struggles to open the bag soundlessly, but it's worth the effort when he feels it give. Furtively, they sneak pretzels from his bag―balanced between their legs under the table―up to their mouths, attempting to chew as silently as possible and speaking in a soft slur with pretzels distending their cheeks.
LINK, Kelly ― Get in Trouble
Yeah, so, after being caught with mouths full of pretzels, they're slightly afraid to immediately return to the library. Instead of meeting there on Thursday to go over all of Peter's notes at once, he and MJ snatch time all week long. It's another collection of short stories this week, so they go over the first one before he even attends his Monday English 1034 lecture, meaning he's super prepared to participate for once, after running his thoughts by his tutor in advance. The next time, they do story number two, plus his class notes, then continue meeting when they can.
Peter hesitates before asking if she still wants to get together at their regular hour on Thursday. What if she feels like she's given him enough of her time this week? What if she made other plans? But when he does ask, she's surprised that he ever considered them not having their scheduled session. He's not entirely sure why he was so scared she'd say no. That was silly. Although they both acknowledged that they're friends, he thinks they're finally starting to act like it.
So they meet on Thursday. And then they meet on Friday too. They say it's for tutoring and keep Peter's copy of Get in Trouble between them on the table of the student community centre, but they don't open it. MJ trades him a bite of her pizza slice for some of his fries. He laughs hard when she gets ketchup on her lip, then swallows the sound down as she licks it off.
"Did I get it?"
"Um, yeah," Peter replies, stupefied.
MOYES, Jojo ― Me Before You
"Well," he says, retyping his notes to add MJ's insights, "here's another one where I can count watching a movie as part of studying." Peter keeps typing for a minute, but she doesn't respond, so while his eyes remain on the screen he asks, "Are you judging me? I promise I'm still going to read the rest of the book."
Finished, he looks over to see MJ staring intently at the open novel. Peter concentrates on the book first―she's right near the end―then on his friend's face. Is she…?
"Are you crying?" he asks softly, leaning towards her.
He thought she might hide her reaction, but she raises her head and sniffs as tears pour down her cheeks. She's so naked with emotion that Peter shudders.
"Maybe," she says, making them both laugh, hers a bubbling noise from the wetness in her throat. "But ignore this. I said I wouldn't spoil the ending for you."
"Obviously, nothing dramatic happens," Peter sarcastically infers. "You cry all the time. I have zero reason to think it has anything to do with Me Before You."
Smiling, she finally wipes the last of her tears away with the sleeve of her cardigan.
"I still have a little bit left to read."
"Borrow it," he says.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I can listen to the audiobook for a while, or you can just keep it overnight and we'll hang out tomorrow and I'll get it back from you. Unless you think you'd need longer."
MJ rolls her eyes at him.
"Please. I eat Jojo Moyeses for breakfast. I'll probably finish it during the break in my next class."
"So, you wouldn't even need it overnight then," he says, trying to be sly. She lets out a laugh.
"You want to read it so badly, don't you?"
"Maybe I just don't like lending out my books."
"Liar. I bet you're going to read the rest all in one sitting." MJ smirks and stands the book on the table like both she and it are taunting him. "Don't you need to prioritize your other courses, Peter? What about Biology?"
"Offer revoked," he tells her, making to take the book back. She doesn't let him, holding it up and away from him.
"Are you going to spend all night reading for pleasure instead of doing your science homework? Shame on you, Peter. What about your future?"
He stands too quickly in his attempt to grab the book, startling MJ, who rocks back in her chair a little too far. But it can't tip faster than his reflexes can react; Peter instinctively grabs her around the waist and pulls her against him as the chair topples and the paperback hits the ground with a soft thump. They haven't been this close since they hugged after his midterm results. He opens and closes his mouth without saying anything, fingers shifting against MJ's back as she gets her balance. Seems to take her longer than it should, but he won't let go before she's ready. Which'll be any second now, he's sure. She's flushed, eyes roaming his face. Probably about to tell him she can stand all on her fucking own.
Any second now.
NG, Celeste ― Everything I Never Told You
It's the second week in December and their final tutoring session of the semester. Exams start tomorrow, though the one for English 1034 isn't until the 21st. Peter should be psyched―after this exam, he's halfway done the course―and yet his shoulders carry some heaviness into the library, along with big, wet snowflakes. He perks up at the sight of MJ, then grows subdued just as fast. They've become the kind of friends who meet during the week, always at school, usually with at least the pretense of studying. She's never been to the apartment he shares with three roommates; he has no idea where she lives. Their most secure connection is a list of 26 books and after today's session, 14 of those will already be behind them. Theoretically, they're committed to spending another semester together (unless the world ends via hostile alien takeover, or Mr. Stark fires MJ again and she agrees to it for some reason). What happens after that?
Peter doesn't like the way winter break looks like a preview for the end of the school year in April. He's sure that'll come up quick after the new year because second semester always feels shorter than first. Will they be close enough by then to make plans for hanging out over the summer? He knows MJ's from here, but not if she'll be around. And what about next year? He won't be studying English. Are they gonna see each other on campus or both be too busy with their final year of undergrad―keeping up grades and searching for their first job opportunities right out of college? And then? Will one or both of them move away for work or grad school, or just to find a cheaper place to live while they're starting out? Seriously, they could be faint memories to each other in under five years.
He's weighed down with all of this as he flops into his seat at their table.
"Do you think you're ready?" MJ asks just before she glances up.
"What?" Peter replies, devastated.
"For your exam." She meets his eye and her expression collapses inward a little as she assesses his mood. "What's wrong?"
He looks at her face. It's easy to admit to himself that her eyes are more trusting than they used to be when they stared back into his, and he has to allow that she's more trusting too. Same with him. They've smoothed each other out, rounded off each other's bluntest angles. Peter has no desire for them to ever have another shouting match like they did during the early weeks of this arrangement. In fact, his ideal dynamic for them would be the complete opposite.
"I guess I'm… worried."
"We should get together next week."
"That would be great," he tells her with eager relief.
Wow, what would they do? Grab lunch? Dinner? Hot chocolates and ice skating at Rockefeller Center? A movie at his place? All of his roommates have early or no exams (lucky bastards) and plans to head home for the holidays right after, leaving him alone in the apartment.
"This is a late exam," MJ says, doublechecking the date in her planner, which includes all of his deadlines (in red ink) alongside hers (in blue), "but the library's open practically every day but Christmas."
Oh. She means get together here. Of course. He didn't really make it clear that the exam isn't what he's worried about, or at least it's not the main thing.
"Well," Peter says, "consistency."
"What's up with you?" she asks, narrowing her eyes are him, apparently not satisfied since he does still sound kinda bereft.
Retrieving his novel and his laptop, he says, "Nothing," and thinks, I was just wishing we were more than friends.
OZEKI, Ruth ― A Tale for the Time Being
They hang out once before his exam, when MJ helps Peter with prep, and once after, when he's getting a jump on his reading for semester two. The second time, totally by accident, she meets May.
MJ's at his apartment for the first time and the two out of three of his roommates who've already returned are being loud enough that Peter can't forget their existence the way he wants to (just for right now) and ignore everything in the world that isn't his tutor/friend/person he's been pining for every spare second since they've been apart. Two weeks is too long. They're finally taking an honest crack at the novel he's been assigned for next week, the first week back at school, when there's a knock at the door, followed by cheerful hollering from his roommates. Peter knows who it is even before he rises and sheepishly lets his aunt hand him everything he forgot at home when he packed; his roommates love May.
Though he told MJ she didn't have to get up, she's suddenly next to him at the door―he's startled to feel her briefly lean against him―then being pulled into a hug by his aunt. When she leaves for a minute to go to the washroom, May drags Peter away from his roommates.
"Who was that?" she wonders, face lighting up with curiosity and premature excitement.
He feels himself turn red and itches at his cheek like he can scratch the flush out.
"Just a friend."
His aunt raises her eyebrows doubtfully.
PALAHNIUK, Chuck ― Choke
After spending last Thursday giving A Tale for the Time Being the attention they should've the week before, they're back on schedule with a new book. Sort of back on schedule. They start off discussing the novel, but when Peter runs one of his prof's assertions about it past Google, he finds out Choke has a movie version. He and MJ glance at each other. Yeah, why not? It's only their second week back on campus and they don't have their full studying stamina back yet. They trek down to the film library in the basement to see if they have a copy.
Soon, they're wearing bulky borrowed headphones, hunkered down at the corner computer in the viewing lab that's kept in the dark, watching a film about a sex addict. They're awkward at first, or maybe it's just Peter, but eventually he relaxes, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. MJ shifts around next to him. She kicks her shoes off and brings her feet up off the floor. They're tightly side by side to watch the same computer screen, so when she crosses her legs, her knee lands on his thigh. Peter stares at it for a minute in the screen's glow, missing the movie. He lays his palm on top of the rough, cool denim, and MJ turns her head to see what's up. Immediately, he moves to withdraw his hand from her knee, but she pats the back of it, giving him permission.
Heart thumping, Peter eases the headphones off one ear. The room's completely quiet, apart from the way MJ exhales heavily through her nose as she settles into position for the rest of the film. He swallows. He should tell her, right now.
"Hey, MJ…" he starts.
But she doesn't look, doesn't turn. Can't hear anything outside those fucking headphones. Weirdly, she does glance at him a few minutes later, unprompted. She reaches out and pauses the movie. He lifts his headphones off when she does, eyes drawn to how they mess up her hair.
"Did you say something?" MJ asks.
Now, now, now, Peter tells himself.
"Uh, no." He gives her a tight smile and unpauses Choke.
QUICK, Matthew ― The Good Luck of Right Now
"You have other friends, right?" Peter wonders aloud as MJ reads over the short responses he's composed for an online participation thing that his prof made worth a truly stupid 4% of his grade.
"A couple."
She says it straight, unembarrassed. He understands her well enough to know she has no interest in tricking people into believing she's more social or at all inclined towards networking. Those people, whoever they are, were lucky to have her let them in. Abruptly, Peter realizes he's probably being counted among them. He grins to himself.
"Plus, like, class friends."
"Sure," he agrees.
He does the same thing―always attempts to figure out who seems nice so he can try to be paired with them for group projects or have someone to sit with if they have another class together in the future.
"Any other kind of friends?" Peter asks tentatively. MJ quits reading his laptop screen and side-eyes him. "Like a… like maybe a boyfriend?"
It's probably a no. It has to be a no. Even with the length of time it took for them to talk about their personal lives, she would've mentioned a boyfriend by now. Wouldn't she?
"I… a boyfriend? No, I… Why would I have…? Do you?"
Well, this is a surprise. He expected her to either answer straightforwardly or question if he ever listens to what she says. But she's oddly flustered and inarticulate. And blushing, Peter notices, though she won't let him hold her gaze.
"No," he says, settling for the single syllable that'll do the job.
MJ sort of nods, then directs his attention to the screen.
"Just a question, but has anyone ever taught you how to use basic punctuation? Jesus, Parker."
As much as that comment's much more in character, every one of his senses screams, 'MISDIRECTION!'
ROWELL, Rainbow ― Fangirl
"Say nothing," MJ instructs when they run into each other in front of the library, coming from opposite directions.
About what? Peter wants to ask, but he doesn't say even that much because the look on her face is intense and because the wind is icy, slicing their faces with snow that's more like sharp daggers. He bounds up the stairs next to her and straight inside when she jerks the door open with her mittened hand. All the way upstairs and to their table, he keeps wary eyes on her. He only looks away for a minute to set his backpack down and shrug out of his outer layers; the library's kept almost stiflingly warm and dry. They pile their wet outerwear on one of the extra chairs, then MJ glares at him before he can sit. He stares back, baffled.
"Nothing," she reminds him, and unzips her hoodie.
Does he look silly with the way his jaw drops? He can't even care. She's wearing a Spider-Man t-shirt.
"I―"
"No words. No sounds of any kind."
So Peter grins in silence and retrieves the usual studying accessories from his backpack. Eventually, MJ groans out her admission.
"I forgot to do laundry."
He continues to say nothing about the shirt, even when he is permitted to speak so they can discuss his reading. What he wants to say isn't something she'd like―that he's deduced from the laundry comment that this is an old shirt, not a recent buy. Meaning she's had it since who knows how long before she ever met him. Meaning she's a fan.
SENNA, Danzy ― New People
"How are you liking the course?" MJ asks him out of the blue. She's tracing the curving shapes and purple letters on the cover of this week's book with her fingertip.
Peter laughs.
"My prof's never even asked us that."
"That's because profs don't want honest answers. Only in essays, and even then, you have to pad them with all the shit the prof said in class in order to stroke their ego into giving you a good mark."
"Cynical."
She smiles dryly.
"Thank you. But really, how are you finding it?" She looks nervous about how he might answer.
"A lot of work," he says honestly, "but it also feels like less work than my other courses."
"Because it's a fluff discipline compared to Biology?"
"Stop it, no, because you're helping me. It feels like something I'm doing for fun."
"Who are you?" MJ shakes her head, wearing a smug smile. "If the you from September could see you now. Oh, actually, that reminds me. Put your number in."
She hands him the new phone she mentioned she'd be getting last weekend.
"What did you have me saved as in your old one?" he asks, adding his number to a new contact page. MJ takes the phone back before he can input his name.
"Oh, you don't want to know." He's fairly certain she's joking.
"Did it contain the word 'dickhead'?"
She shrugs and slouches in her chair, phone held low and close. She finishes entering his information out of his line of sight.
"You'll never know."
Maybe not, Peter thinks, when MJ gets up a while later to refill her water bottle, but he can at least check what she has him under now. She left her phone out on the table, screen up, so he texts her an innocuous 'testing, testing' and watches for the new message to pop up.
Evidently, he's in her phone as his normal name. His name, plus a heart. His real one's suddenly beating very fast.
THIEN, Madeleine ― Do Not Say We Have Nothing
It's almost Valentine's Day and their college's week-long study week, two compelling reasons for Peter to tell Michelle Jones―tutor, friend, precariously deepening crush―how he feels about her.
Before their tutoring session, he psyches himself up in the bathroom mirror, until other people walk in and he has to pretend to be coughing. He doesn't really feel ready and their time together ends up being sort of a flurry anyway because part of the library's being painted and there are fewer tables. With a ton of people on the cusp of more exams and big assignments due before the break, it takes Peter and MJ a while to find a table. Even after that, the paint smell gradually fills the air, forcing them to stop early.
God, and he didn't say anything!
"We should meet up later," he asserts firmly, at the same moment MJ says, "Try again tonight?"
"Yeah," they say together.
Peter grins and she smiles back before quickly ducking her head. He bites his lip, restraining himself from catching her chin with his fingers and tilting it up.
"Ok then," he says. "Ok. The library'll probably still stink, so… my apartment?"
"Or my place," MJ offers, slightly wide-eyed.
"Oh, yeah. That would be, that'd be good."
"You can walk back with me, if you don't mind waiting for my class."
He doesn't, and they do that, and as MJ's unlocking the door to her apartment, he finds out two things: that she has a roommate and that her roommate's staying the night at her boyfriend's. Whatever, that doesn't mean it's going to be romantic or anything. They're discussing art and politics during China's calamitous Cultural Revolution. There's no way MJ would even be thinking about… but then she leads him to the couch instead of the kitchen table. And she sits down next to him, letting their thighs touch. And his breathing just isn't steady for the hangout that goes two hours before they even think to check the time. So many times, he has the feeling they're one brush of their legs, one bump of their shoulders, one tuck of her hair with his fingers away from something more, but every chance seems to come and go while the tension stays.
Eventually, Peter gathers his stuff and lingers with her in the open doorway of her apartment. She's leaning into the frame, smiling at him as he says a bunch of nothing, just to make the night last longer. He takes a breath. Ok, he's gonna do it. He'll tell her.
The next second, MJ's pressing her mouth to his. Then, while he's still dazed from the kiss, she pushes him out the door and says, "Um, see you after study week, Peter."
URQUHART, Jane ― The Night Stages
What's this mean? Peter wants to ask her, right after the kiss and for the whole study break. Except he's in the city, doing Spidey-patrol and finishing the nearly-500 pages of Do Not Say We Have Nothing, and she's in New Orleans, building affordable housing with a charity. When he texts her because he can't resist asking how she is and what she's working on that day, she always gets back to him, but there's nothing flirtatious in her words, nothing to assure him she shares his preoccupation over the kiss. So startling, so make-the-hair-stand-up-on-the-back-of-his-neck. And it was supposed to make everything clear, when one of them made a move (in his head over the weeks before it happened, it was him), not confuse the hell out of him.
It's awkward when they meet on campus on Monday. Neither of them goes in for a hug and they carry on a stilted conversation about how each of their breaks went, Peter twisting his fingers around in his sleeves. At least they didn't postpone this until Thursday. He senses that they're both thankful for the length of this week's novel and how many times it guarantees they'll meet (their productivity per session definitely took a nosedive when they became friends). He assumes the relief comes from wanting to push past this awkward stage by getting used to each other again. Then, when they meet in the library the next day, MJ picks a different table. Actually, a completely different floor. It's basically dead, no other students or staff in sight, and, with his face flushed with desire and anticipation, she braces a hand on his thigh, leans in, and kisses him for the second time.
On Wednesday, it's the same spot (but later because Peter has an evening lab) and he initiates, hand on the back of her neck as they kiss slow and deep, never even unpacking their bags.
Thursday, they meet at their old table, like normal, and do some actual work. But that night, he walks MJ home and tries to give her a goodbye kiss that turns into them making out with her pressed up against the closed door of her apartment.
They agree, on Friday morning, that Peter really needs to devote some concentration to this novel, so they study at his place that evening. Because all of his roommates are home, they're camped out in his room, on his bed, but with his door wide open. The most they attempt is holding hands, anxiously separating when one of his buddies pokes a head in to ask if Peter's seen his phone charger.
By Saturday, at her apartment, they abandon pretenses, though they haven't exactly said in words what it is they're doing without those pretenses. Are they friends who kiss? Are they dating? Is MJ his girlfriend? None of that is as pressing as pulling her onto his lap and kissing her until they're tired and she checks her phone to see that it's almost two in the morning. Reluctantly, MJ climbs off his lap and Peter watches her disappear into her bedroom. He strips off his jeans and falls asleep on her couch wrapped in a blanket and his school hoodie.
The next morning, they look over his notes because he's here and they might as well. Their socked feet overlap beneath her kitchen table. She refills his glass of orange juice before he notices it's almost empty.
VÁSQUEZ, Juan Gabriel ― The Sound of Things Falling
He's in love with her. It's the beginning of March, the air has quit biting, MJ's blushing when he uses his high school Spanish to correctly pronounce the characters' names, and he's in love with her.
WALKER, Karen Thompson ― The Dreamers
Peter falls asleep at her place again. This time, MJ's tucked into him when he wakes up. Gradually, he drags up a fuzzy memory of her padding into the living room during the night, putting him on alert until she nudged him over to make room on the couch. Her roommate's home. They don't care, don't flinch apart when she walks into the room. He hangs around most of Saturday, only leaving because he really needs to do some work on his other courses. MJ kisses him when he goes, gently stroking his earlobe with her thumb.
X ― N/A
"No X?" she checks. "Are you sure?"
"It's on the syllabus," Peter points out, pulling MJ's feet across his thighs as he eats an apple. They found an alternate study spot that allows food.
"Yeah, I know, I have the copy from the beginning of the year, but I figured your prof would update it to add something."
"I think he told us one time that he was going to," he says, trying to remember exactly. "Now, he says he was always planning on leaving this week free for us to ask questions in class before the exam."
"But there are still two full weeks of classes before exams," MJ says skeptically. "If this break was intentional, he'd do it the last week of classes instead."
"I don't know. I mean, I know there are two weeks left, but I don't know what else to say. No X."
"Semi-related," she prefaces, giving him a serious look that makes Peter pay attention, "is it ok with you if I consider you my boyfriend?"
He laughs until he realizes she looks genuinely unsure of what his answer will be.
"Please."
Peter holds his apple out of the way when MJ wiggles forward to hug him.
YAZDANIAN, Showey ― Loopholes
"You wanna go somewhere with me?" MJ asks.
Peter knows she's been watching him rearrange the digital copy of his notes―simplifying and streamlining so they'll be easy to study from between now and the date of his final exam. It's very comforting, her undemanding gaze, and he feels himself emotionally stretching into it, like a cat. He loves to be near her. His girlfriend.
"Yes," he says. "I mean, where?"
She laughs gently at him and props her elbow on the table, right next to his.
"The English Department scheduled a year-end trip to see a play."
"That sounds very… high schoolish," he decides, grinning.
"Hey, some of us aren't too up our own asses to understand the thrill of a field trip. Maybe in Biology―"
"Ugh," Peter groans jokingly at her relentless, unserious digs at his chosen discipline.
"―you've lost your sense of childlike wonder."
"But I might be able to get it back if I go to this play? What's the play?"
"Romeo and Juliet," she mumbles.
"You want to see that? It's depressing and, and overdramatic," he states, though he's never seen it performed, and definitely never read the play.
"I don't really care about seeing the play," MJ says as she gives him a meaningful look.
"Oh. Aw." He smiles at the thought that she just wants to spend time with him. "Do I have to sign up or something?"
"I… might have already signed you up." Peter raises his eyebrows at her and it's enough to push her to continue. "It's supposed to be an internal thing, just English majors, but the turnout for anything with any significant cultural value's always really low―" MJ rolls her eyes. "―especially right at the end of the year, when people are starting to focus on exams, even though it's a great opportunity to see a high-quality production with cheap student-group-discount tickets. Anyway, I talked to the prof because he knows me from teaching me last year and asked if you could come because you are taking an English class even if you're not majoring."
"He agreed?"
She nods.
"As I suspected, there were a bunch of tickets left over because they always reserve too many. They're great seats."
"Why are you trying to convince me to come?" Peter teases. "Apparently, I already signed up."
Despite the dozens of times they've met this year, comprising probably a hundred hours, and the affectionate admissions, and the kissing that's been driving him insane for more, this is their first date date. He's excited to be at the theatre because he's never gone before, and he purposely didn't tell Mr. Stark about this so he wouldn't try to pay for it; Peter bought his own ticket. They're deep into the second part of the play, intermission behind them, and before things can get gruesome on stage with the stars meeting their violent ends, he leans in so close to MJ that his nose brushes her ear.
"You're my best friend," he whispers.
She turns her head, smile clamped together by the way she's biting her bottom lip. There's joy in her eyes that makes his heart drop and flip and soar back up, too high, into his throat. He's still looking at her when she turns her face back to the performance.
"Also, I love you," Peter says, almost choking on his heart.
Swiftly, he kisses her cheek and settles back into his seat, but MJ tugs the hand that's been entwined with hers since they sat down. She leans across the armrest between their seats and he's happy to move the rest of the way. Something hot courses through him when she not only kisses him more roughly than he anticipated but grabs the tie he wore with his button-up, blazer, and good jeans. When she releases him with a smirk and a pat on his chest, Peter practically collapses back into place, stunned.
"Oh," MJ adds, glancing at him again in a quick flick, "I love you too."
ZOBOI, Ibi ― Pride
There are three stacks of books on the surprisingly nice hardwood floor of MJ's bedroom. It's small compared to the size of his sense of accomplishment for seeing this demanding course through to the end. Although this is the first time Peter's assembled all 25 books at once, they aren't organized alphabetically; there's a pile each for books he remembers well, those he wants to reread sections of, and ones where, logically, he knows he read them, and yet he can barely recall the plot. He feels pretty goddamn good about the fact that, out of 25, only 2 made the third pile. Actually, one's unaccounted for, because it's the last book on his syllabus and it's currently dangling from his hand while he takes a break from reading it.
"Hey," he hisses at MJ.
Lying on her back on her soft, thick rug while she studies for one of her exams, his girlfriend angles her head to look at Peter, hanging over the side of her bed.
"What?"
He grins.
"Nothing. Just wanted to say, 'hey.'" He's so used to her rolling her eyes. "How's the floor?"
"Not bad."
"You wanna come up here?"
MJ eyes him suspiciously.
"I need to study," she reminds him. "Everything I know about your books got mixed up with everything I'm supposed to know about my books and I'm still mentally untangling."
Peter keeps staring down at her, trying to make his eyes wide and pleading. It takes her seconds to give in. She groans as she starts to sit up, appearing to lead with her knees and elbows as she rearranges her limbs, collapsing and unfolding like a portable lawn chair. MJ steps gingerly over his book stacks, then he's grabbing her waist and pulling her to the bed, where she flops down beside him. Her head's facing the wrong way though, so Peter shuffles around, getting her socks out of his face. They take turns sighing tiredly―the extreme burdens of another year of lectures over and another round of exams about to begin―then Peter tilts his forehead to touch hers.
"Happy you're almost at the end?" MJ asks softly.
"Yeah, but I also kinda wish I could take another English class next year. I think I actually did better in Bio this year because I got to take a break from it with something that was totally different. Does that sound possible?"
"Mhmm."
She lets her eyes close―probably resting them after concentrating for so long.
"I'll miss reading this much."
"And?"
With her eyes shut, only her eyebrows prompt him to go on.
"And I'll miss talking about what I read with you," he says.
"Maybe you don't need to worry about that," she suggests.
"Why not?"
MJ smiles.
"Because I've been working on a new list of books I think you'll like since October. We can meet in the library and talk about them."
"Every week?" Peter checks. "What about Biology?"
"If you have time," she clarifies.
"No, I mean I've spent a year studying English lit, learning about your discipline." With a grin, he trails his fingers down MJ's throat, stopping at the neck of her long-sleeved shirt. "So, I was just wondering, if you'd be interested in studying Biology."
He kisses her neck where he stroked, then up beneath her jaw, making MJ laugh until she gasps instead, gripping his hair.
"I don't think we should wait for September."
"Well, you're still the tutor for another week," Peter reminds her. "I'll follow your lead."
