#sketchingcrises

        he can’t really DECIDE how he feels about the costume. it looks great, sure. but the idea of watching guys he went to high school with DROOL over michelle all night doesn’t seem very appealing either. but he’s not the kind of guy who would dare tell his girlfriend to change, even if that girlfriend weren’t as intimidating as michelle is. ❝ no, i LIKE it. just didn’t think you were someone who’d dress as a cat for halloween. figured you’d be some weird historic figure... or something. ❞ peter chuckles, doing his BEST to avoid checking her out right then and there. he’ll do it later, when he can observe in peace. 

@sketchingcrises

Spider-Man was doing his homework; it was a slow night. Up on the tall roof of the campus’ library he could see the other students milling about, on their way to their respective night classes or back to the dorms, in the golden light of the lampposts. There weren’t many - it was a Friday, and most had better things to do on a Friday night than take a class. Karen was under orders to let him know if she picked up anything of worth on police scanners or off or alarms, but so far it was a quiet night. 

Stuffing his Chemistry textbook into his backpack, Peter dug around in it for a moment to find the Film Art book for his cinema class. It was then, just as he’d extracted the said text that he happened to catch sight of MJ descending the steps from the library. Setting down his books for a moment, Peter leaned on the ledge of the roof and watched as she made her back, he assumed, to the dorms.

“Do you intend to continue to stare, Peter?” Karen asked, “You asked me to remind you, should you get distracted, that you have a test on Monday.”

“I know, I know,” Peter said, despite the fact that he continued to watch as MJ vanished into the shadows of the night. “I wasn’t staring.” 

Karen began, in an attempt to prove him wrong, to define the term ‘staring’, but Peter cut her off. “Hey, what was that? Karen, turn on surveillance mode.” In the distance, he could now hear two upperclassmen harassing a woman. No, not just a woman - MJ. Not that MJ wasn’t a woman, she was... but she was MJ, not just anyone. 

Pausing only to pull his mask down over his face, Peter shot a web into the distance. It flew for a moment, then caught onto the fence surrounding the soccer field and he was off. Both guys received a web to the face that sent them stumbling back into the fence. Two more had them well-fixed there. They struggled and squirmed, shouting muffled protests.

—— ❝ i don’t want you to feel… weird about it. ❞

peter’s fingers flexed, curled, waved and it still didn’t make him pause about keeping his hand away from michelle’s. he could stick to walls, jump onto all sorts of surfaces and just stick like a clump of peanut butter and jelly. the stubborn kind.

        after they’ve been making their rounds for two entire hours, peter finally needs a BREAK. he tells gwen he’s going to get some fresh air and kisses her cheek, before heading towards the exit at the back of the room. he sets his second empty glass of champagne on an empty tray on his way, not nearly wasted enough to be having fun yet. but as he’s walking, making his way between couples, saying excuse me a million times, getting a bunch of dirty looks, he spots something FAMILIAR. or rather he HEARS something familiar. a familiar laugh. in fact, he’d recognize that laugh almost anywhere. michelle?  

        he can’t quite tell where it’s coming from, his enhanced senses are picking it up but he can’t actually see her yet. he’s whipping his head this way and that, looking for the girl until FINALLY the large crowd of people seems to part almost as if one cue, and the only person left standing is her. she’s not even looking his way, she almost definitely doesn’t WANT to see him. but peter can’t let this chance slip him by. if he somehow found out afterwards that michelle had been there, he’d be beating himself up for not seeing her and talking to her. despite all of his efforts, he hasn’t spoken to her since right after he ended things. or rather, she ended things. he’s still not clear on what ACTUALLY happened. 

        at the very least, peter has gone from seeing red to seeing a light, SLIGHTLY less violent color. it’s his own fault he knows, he SHOULD have been there like he said he would. and the excuse is always the same, that someone needed him. it was TRUE, but it didn’t excuse the fact that michelle needed him too. he was already stuffed with GUILT, and then harry had to go and make it worse. probably figuring that he could easily weasel his way in to michelle’s life, what with peter doing enough to make HIMSELF look bad. 

        the boy still has sleep in his eyes, his brain still slow as his vision adjusts to the lights in the kitchen. it’s rare that PETER is the one coaxing michelle back into bed. in fact he’d woken up in a bit of a panic when he reached out and couldn’t find her warm body buy his side. his hearing managed to pick up on the sound of the microwave however, and here he is. glancing in the direction of the object of offense, understanding floods his features the moment she mentions what’s wrong. he leans a bare shoulder against the entryway, feeling SORRY for michelle as he knows how much it must hurt her. it’s a sensitive subject though, one he feels he has to dance around. ❝ she seem nice? ❞ the hero questions, eager to know her opinion. it’s typical of michelle to try and shrug something like this off. it doesn’t even SURPRISE him that she makes the attempt. but he’s not going to let it go, not so easily. 

        peter spent the entire last week worrying about the project he had to finish with gwen. it’s a huge part of his grade, of THEIR grade, and he really needs to do well. gwen is just as smart, if no smarter than him, and he’s grateful for it. but even the two of them had to work together for some time before they figured out how to make everything work. needless to say, by the time he got home he was looking FORWARD to being able to get into bed. but of course, now he can’t sleep. 

        ❝ i’ve been HAPPILY getting you tea and everything else for days. ❞ he mutters, not letting her guilt trip work because, well, he’s too tired to feel guilty. he sihifts so that he’s tucking his legs underneath himself, trying to keep them warm. he doesn’t het cold like he used to, but he thinks even if he COULD heat himself up he’d still want blankets to sleep with. he could get up and grab another one, but there’s no guarantee she wouldn’t just STEAL it after he fell back asleep. 

        every night that he comes home like this, he’s grateful that he’s with someone like michelle. someone who doesn’t yell at him or make him feel GUILTY, even though she probably has the right to do so. someone who knows how much weight he puts on his own shoulders, and doesn’t try to add more. someone who knows he’s always thinking about her anyway, he’s always feeling bad ENOUGH on his own. peter spends most of the time that he’s not in the suit trying to make nights like this up to her, trying to show her that a life with him won’t be so bad after all. maybe he’s terrified that one day she’ll realize she doesn’t have to put up with him, that she can have a NORMAL life with a normal man that she doesn’t have to worry herself over. but for now, for now she’s here. for now she’s safe and she loves him, and he loves her. and that’s all that really matters.