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“Peter,” Aunt May had called, seconds after he had just stuffed the latest gear that Mr. Stark had given him under his pillow. “Mary Jane is here. Should I send her in?”
“Uh, yeah,” he called back, sitting up quickly on his bad – too quickly. He banged his head against the wall and rubbed his head as he tried to figure out how he managed to do that.
And all too quickly, Mary Jane Watson entered his bedroom with some papers clenched to her chest. He couldn't have known what she was thinking about – about how she knew where he was. Peter never told her that he was Spider Man... yet Mary Jane just knew. She knew and he had no clue that she was wondering if he'd tell her. Mary Jane had seemed so distant from him lately though that could be easily chalked up to how Mary Jane never let anyone get close to her. He was fine with that... after all, Gwen would be upset if Peter accidentally fell for her best friend.
It was hard to look at Mary Jane and not see the little things he'd managed to learn about her. The bruised knuckles from when she took up kickboxing – he never found out why. She just said one day she felt she needed to learn how to protect herself and started taking kickboxing lessons. The slight hand of make up she'd gotten so good at. He often wondered what kind of family Mary Jane came from because her clothes were almost always so nice and new... she never wore the same outfit twice. “Hiya, Tiger,” she said, her voice sounding so timid... not like her usual confident boasting. “Brought your homework... I saw you weren't in class and well... Gwen's been nagging about getting to know you better.”
Mary Jane Watson was both easily accessible and closed off at the same time. To Peter, that meant Mary Jane had the upper hand in their relationship at all times. Sometimes she slipped and let something out that let Peter understand her a little better. But somehow... it still seemed calculated. It wasn't like Mary Jane wasn't a perfectly sweet girl – it was just that she was very protective of herself and her image. Peter once thought her vain yet now it definitely didn't seem like vanity. Whatever it was, she was Gwen's best friend and he figured that if Gwen was nagging her about it she'd eventually start nagging him.
“Alright,” Peter said cautiously. Her eyes were so green that it hurt to stare at them too long. There was a lot in the look Mary Jane was giving Peter that Peter couldn't quite wrap his head around. What was it? Knowing? Was that his guilt of keeping a secret from her and everyone close to him projected onto her. “Thanks, I guess.”
She pressed the papers she was holding into his hands, a small smile appearing across her face. A lock of bright red hair landed across her face and he wondered if it was too intimate to push it out of her face. He needn't have worried – she did that herself. Mary Jane sat down on his bed, reaching up to lightly brush her fingers against the bruise with her eyes just too big and full of worry that went unspoken. For a brief moment, Peter wished he'd asked Mr. Stark how he dealt with Pepper worrying about him when he was off being Iron Man. “Where'd you get this?”
The question caused his shoulders to hitch up. Mary Jane would know he was lying about getting it at school – she'd just dropped his homework because she was aware he wasn't at school. “Uh, y'know how it goes,” he said with an awkward laugh. Lying to her didn't seem like an option. It seemed like she knew too much and yet.. not enough. “Trying to do the right thing and ending up hurt.”
Her brow furrowed and Peter swallowed hard. Mary Jane didn't like question dodging – he'd forgotten that about her. Part of him thought it was rather hypocritical of her. She dodged questions all the time – why couldn't he? It wasn't like Peter was aware of why Mary Jane didn't like it when men lied to her... he couldn't be aware of the truth. Mary Jane had hated men who dodged questions ever since her father snuck around and cheated on her mother. And it wasn't just cheating... though it wasn't like the bruises were ever anywhere that onlookers could peer at. Mary Jane liked it that way – nothing was ever wrong with Mary Jane Watson. “So you think you're doing the right thing?” The sharpness in her voice was mixed with concern. “Does Gwen know what happened?”
“Er,” Peter said. He could lie to her and said he was defending Gwen's honor. He could say Gwen knew. But as far as he was aware, there were no secrets between Gwen and Mary Jane. “No,” he finally admitted after a moment's pause. “No, she doesn't.”
Mary Jane paused – and to anyone else, it was obvious she was waiting for Peter to disclose more. She needed him to be honest with her. If he couldn't tell her... then he was hiding secrets from Gwen. Mary Jane couldn't allow that to continue. When he never said anything, Mary Jane finally spoke again. “You should tell Gwen at the very least,” she said finally, fiddling with her necklace. Peter never noticed the chain was well worn, never noticed the delicate details on the charm she fiddled with... not until he noticed her fiddling with it. “You... shouldn't keep secrets from her. It's not fair to her.”
Peter nodded slightly as Mary Jane got up off the bed, once again feeling as if she was two steps ahead of him. “Alright,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I'll tell Gwen. Can you, uh leave? I gotta get started on my homework.”
Mary Jane nodded, her lips set in a hard line. “Yeah, sure,” she said as she left. “I'll know if you didn't call her.”
Peter didn't doubt that. Somehow, Mary Jane Watson knew everything.