Summary: Peter Parker has a mild crush on MJ, and it's growing. He just doesn't know it. MJ keeps telling herself the only reason she wants to spend more time with him is that he likes to ditch everything. This is the story of them realizing things that will eventually bring them together.

Spider-Man has got to be my favorite superhero, so naturally, I had to write a fic about him. I loved Homecoming, and while I thought Peter and Liz were cute, I felt myself wanting something between Peter and MJ. I really hope they'll explore that in the next movie, but in the meantime, I'm left to make up my own stories. Enjoy.

Michelle Jones was an enigma.

It wasn't just Peter who thought that; Ned and everybody else was always confused by her behavior. She could be warm one moment and be verbally kicking their ass the next. Then there were those in between when she would tease them somewhat playfully. It got a little hard to tell when she was serious and when she wasn't.

After the events of homecoming (Peter bailing on Liz and ultimately putting her dad in prison), Peter only became closer with his friends, Ned knowing his secret identity and Michelle (or as she liked to be called now, MJ) opening up a bit to the two, starting to hang out with them not just during school, but afterwards, sometimes even coming over to Peter's or Ned's place to watch movies or just shoot the breeze, or whatever.

There were moments when one of them made MJ laugh, be it with a stupid impression of a character or a funny joke, and it always made Peter's heart jackhammer in his chest. The best was when she threw her head back and closed her eyes, mouth set in an open smile, laughing hysterically. That laugh was infectious; Peter and Ned couldn't help but ride her wave of happiness, laughing loudly along with her.

Then the moment was gone, and she'd deadpan some borderline disrespectful observation about something they'd done or said earlier. They were always left with a slight frown on their faces, but if it was silent for too long the moment would get awkward. With MJ, they were constantly pressured to word vomit.

That didn't mean they didn't have their share of casual, just friendly moments. Whether it be a lunch at the coffee shop or a sleepover where they laughed at bad acting, they had their good times.

And that was when it was the three of them. Whenever Peter was alone with MJ, things felt different. Ned wasn't there to keep the conversation going. He definitely liked to talk. However, Peter barely talked coherently in general, and when girls were involved, he devolved into a stuttering, blushing mess.

There was one time when the two were studying for the academic decathlon, and Ned had a doctor's appointment or something. MJ was quizzing him on chemical compounds, and he was answering consistently and correctly - he knew everything they were reviewing. But suddenly, while answering the questions, he looked up from his hands, which his eyes were previously glued upon, and gazed at MJ.

Her eyes were constantly flickering from his face to the index cards she was reading the questions off of. She was sat across from him on his bed, legs tucked neatly under her. Then she looked up at him, and when he didn't answer, she frowned. "Forget something, Peter?"

He was silent. Her piercing stare was suddenly extremely attractive, and he couldn't answer whatever question she had asked him.

"Peter."

He was still transfixed. She was still staring at him in that... way, and that only made it harder for him to concentrate.

She sighed impatiently and resorted to drastic measures. She brought her hands closer to his face and slapped him in time with the words she spoke.

"Earth." Slap.

"To." Slap.

"Peter." However, she didn't get to slap him a third time, because when her hand was inches from his face, he grabbed her wrist and held it tightly. Her mouth dropped open slightly, and both of their breaths hitched.

"Sorry - I - I, uh..." Peter began.

"Is there something on my face?" She asked, her tone slightly calmer, friendlier than the aggressive, grilling tone she had been using while she was asking him the questions.

"N - no, your face is fine, it - it's normal. It's perfectly - "

She stopped him with a little wave of her hand, pulling her wrist free. "Whatever, dude. Just tell me what the chemical makeup of ammonia is."

"NH3," he immediately replied. He was back on his rhythm, and there were no other interruptions after that.

After their study session, and MJ's departure, Peter immediately called Ned. He had to tell him about the moment, every little detail.

Ned picked up in the middle of the second ring. "What's up, Peter?"

"Ned, Ned, oh my god. Oh my god, you have to hear this."

Ned's voice picked up a concerned tone. "What happened, man? Are you okay? Did someone find out you were Spider-Man?"

Peter frowned at that and shook his head, even though he knew Ned couldn't see it. "What? No! Of course not," he said vehemently. "Okay, listen. You know how I was studying with MJ, right?"

He could hear the smirk in Ned's voice as he responded. "Ooh, you guys get it on while you were alone?"

"NO! OH MY GOD, NED, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Peter yelled into the phone. "Will you please just listen to me?"

"Okay, Peter, jeez. Calm down."

"Okay. Okay. So like I was saying, we were reviewing for decathlon, right, and I was doing great, answering all the questions correctly or whatever when I looked at MJ."

"Uh huh?" Ned urged, and Peter continued.

"And she was like, looking at me, staring into my eyes or whatever, and I was just like, staring back, and for some reason, I thought she looked so good right there at that moment and I could not say anything, man. It was so weird, I - "

"Wait," Ned said, stopping him. "Good, as in attractive? Are you saying you think MJ is attractive?"

"Well, I don't know, I... I'm a little confused."

"Dude!" Ned exclaimed. "Dude, you have a crush on MJ! Oh, this is golden."

"No - NO, Ned, I do NOT have a crush on MJ! Look, I'll talk to you later." He pressed the "end call" button on his phone and stuffed it in his pocket. He looked down at his feet, hanging off the side of his bed, thinking.

Did he really have a crush on MJ? No, he couldn't. They were just friends.

Right?

The next moment they had that resembled anything like the one during the study session included Ned. This time, they were at the coffee shop, discussing the quality of the different Star Wars trilogies. Peter and Ned agreed that the oldest was the best, while MJ preferred the newer films.

"I just don't understand how you can like the newer films. They just recycle so much from the older ones and there's not a lot of originality," Ned pointed out.

"Do you really think I care about the plot?" MJ countered. "The third trilogy is so much better because there's so much more diversity than in the other two. One of the main characters is black. There are more than a few POC supporting characters. And so on," she said, taking a bite out of Peter's sandwich.

"Well, diversity is cool and all, but - " Peter started.

"Stop talking, nerd. You don't wanna get into this argument." To accentuate her statement, she tore off a piece of bread from his sandwich and threw it at him. It hit him on his left cheek, just above his jaw, and bounced off harmlessly.

"Yeah, well, you don't wanna get into a food fight with Peter Parker."

"Come at me, dork," she said tauntingly.

"You asked for it," Peter replied, sighing, as he grabbed a napkin from the dispenser and dipped it in the coffee she was drinking. He crumpled it up and tossed it lightly towards MJ. It stuck to her jacket for a moment, then oozed off. She looked down at it as it landed, following its path, and when she looked back up at Peter, who had his eyebrow raised, she wore an expression that was half smirk, half anger.

Suddenly, she smiled and threw a bigger piece of bread at him. He feigned shock, putting his hand over his chest like in the soap operas, but in reality, he wasn't surprised. His response was to grab the sandwich right out of her hands, and this time, he took a little bit of egg right out of the sandwich. He threw the scrap, and to the trio's horror, it landed right in her hair. And it stuck.

Peter's eyes went wide. He began to profusely apologize, grabbing another napkin out of the dispenser, and reaching for the part of her hair where the food scrap had landed. When he tangled his hand in her locks, Ned noticed blood rushing to both Peter's and MJ's cheeks. Peter tentatively reached with the napkin in his hand to pull the scrap out, and when he did, he immediately let go of her hair like it was on fire.

Slowly, he stood up, said "Sorry" one more time, and sped off to the trash can to toss it. While he was gone, Ned winked at MJ and said, "So you and Peter, huh?"

The glare she gave him was enough to make him wish he went back in time and never said that. Shaking with anger, and possibly a little embarrassment, she said, "I will punch your teeth out."

"Never mind..." Ned said, awkwardly. He looked around the coffee shop, but there was no Peter by the trash bin. Frowning, he observed, "Well, looks like Peter booked it."

"What?" MJ exclaimed incredulously. When Ned looked at her, smirking, she added, "Not like I care or anything. It's just weird how he keeps ditching us at every possible event he can."

Peter had indeed booked it and ditched his street clothes for the spandex red and blue suit. Swinging through the streets, he was still experiencing aftershock from the embarrassing actions he had taken part in. A couple times, he lost focus, and almost splatted on the ground when he should have shot out another web.

Peter was running away from his feelings, and he knew this. But how far could he run before they caught up to him?

The next chapter is going to be from MJ's point of view. What did you guys think? Leave a review. I'm always trying to improve my methods. For those who read this and all of my other works, thanks for the support. Until next time.