Arc One. Chapter Nineteen. Parting Is Hard

As the light from the windows streamed into the office Peter felt MJ cuddling up to him, they had shared their pain last night, neither wanting more than to be comforted and eventually they had fallen asleep together. Peter felt happy, MJ smelt like a warm and familiar memory, thoughts of their childhood were brought to the surface and while it brought a smile to his face it was also a hint of sadness, Flash ruining their teen years.

Peter nudged the still sleeping MJ, "MJ, wake up," and as she groaned she cuddled into him more, letting a hand run over his smooth chest. Suddenly she sat bolt upright, remembering where she was and pulling the blanket Peter had covered her with over her.

"Uh, sorry," she said, wiping the drool from her mouth and making sure she hadn't, or that he hadn't done anything inappropriate in the night. A hint of guilt flashed through her mind, not that I would have stopped him, and she hid her face to hide a blush. MJ had been glad Peter was there to take care of her and found solace in his presence. He was the rock she had been desperate for and even with last night she wished she could stay here longer.

"It's fine," Peter replied, "but we should get to the hospital. I need to see how Gwen is doing." Peter flipped over his phone and there were missed calls and texts from both Aunt May and Captain Stacy. His Aunts were more of concern after his quick message but Georges were abusive and very angry father messages. Peter scowled as he deleted them all. "Uh, Gwen's dad is pissed." Since he had dropped out George had used it as a way to complain about Peter to Gwen, and then very vocally make sure Peter knew he wasn't good enough for his daughter.

MJ was busy checking her own phone, "Yeah", she looked guilty at it, "Flash is the same, a whole bunch of texts asking where I was."

Peter shrugged, "just tell him that you spent the night here, sleeping with me"

MJ looked horrified, "oh yeah, that's a great idea," as she batted his shoulder, wait, she thought to herself, when did he get buff? And prodding his arm and bicep she frowned at him.

"Yeah, unless you're going further, don't ask," Peter stood and stretched, with MJ staring at him as his muscular stomach came into view. He ran some water into the sink, his own shower hadn't been hooked up yet and stripping off his T-shirt sponged himself down. Vague memories of teasing Gwen like this surface and he had to smile, facing away from MJ of course, she was in a foul enough mood as it was and while he knew it wasn't directed at him, he wasn't about to make things awkward between them. Peter had missed this, MJ was now like her old self, smiling and fun to be around. When she was with Flash you could see that something was wrong, there was no smile, other than a fake plastic one she fooled everyone with. Peter hated Flash with a passion, not for ruining his life, but for what he must have done to MJ as well.

MJ watched stunned as Peter, without a care in the world, stripped of his shirt in front of her, what stunned her more though was the rippling muscles of his back, marred only by large thick black and green bruises but even Flash wasn't as muscly as Peter was. She stood and without thinking ran a hand down his back, etching lines along his ribs and down his spine.

"Uh, MJ?" Peter asked her and she came back to reality,

"Oh, shit, uh shit sorry, you um, yeah bruises. You've got huge bruises on your back." Peter hadn't turned around but MJ was looking for something to do to avoid him seeing her blushing red face. Peter is ripped, she thought to herself, when did that happen? and damn stupid sexy Parker. They might not have talked, with Flash making his disapproval of Peter perfectly clear but she still talked to Gwen about him. She still cared how he was doing, and after seeing him strip, definitely had feelings for him.

Her phone beeped and turning to check she frowned. "It's Jack, he wants to know if I'll be at the hospital," she began to click on her phone, "I'm heading off Peter, it's, yeah, it's a bad idea if we show up together, sorry, sorry," and she grabbed her jacket and bag and bolted for the door.

Peer stood and watched her flee like a mouse before a cat, and smirking to himself he pulled on a T-shirt and shirt. He might have felt bad about things if Flash wasn't a colossal dick, but he fully intended to split them up. Flash wouldn't be made to feel welcome here and he was sure he could rope Gwen into poisoning MJ's ear towards him as well. The asshole deserved it, his one saving grace, the one thing saving him from being broken by Venom was that he'd pushed MJ out of the building and saved her. He might have some decency in him, and that small act was his own salvation, he still didn't deserve MJ though.

Peter didn't agree with waiting but as MJ had already run off he made sure the warehouse was locked up and called his own taxi, sending Aunt May a message to say he'd be visiting Gwen at the hospital.

Gwen was given a clean bill of health by her Doctor and was just sleeping, not in a coma. It didn't stop George Stacy from giving Peter an earful though, why had she been there? why was she hurt? if he was in the bathroom why didn't he call 911 once the gang had shown up? Peter had no answers for him, but the mans incessant bitching was driving Peter insane, he wanted nothing more than to bring out Venom and drive the man into the wall then roar in anger at what had happened.

It was Aunt May's arrival that fended George off, May giving him a mouthful back, how dare he yell at someone just after an accident, how dare he attack a kid for not standing up to four grown men. George and the rest of the hospital staff stared in shock as the small kind-looking woman raged a torrent of abuse back at the uniformed Police Captain.

Peter was lost in his own thoughts. Four super villains, four, showed up and his stupidity got Gwen hurt, his actions almost got her killed. If he hadn't, if he. Peter felt a rush of emotion flow through him, dousing his rage and he burst into tears. A Passing nurse shone a pen in his eyes that he barely registered and just said "shock", before handing May a bottle of something and walking off. There were half a dozen small pills in the bottle with a note, if he can't sleep take one with warm milk, 20mg Diazepam. No name was attached to the bottle but May knew the drug, she had taken them after Ben was killed. Someone working in the hospital knew what the kids had been through, and seeing Peter with no insurance had acted on kindness.

"A menace, I tell you. This Venom character, rushing into a hostage situation, causing massive property damage and for what, one brave barista cut down in the prime of their life as super menaces smash their way into a bank. I, J.Jonah Jameson, plead to all my loyal viewers if you see the Venom, if you hear about the Venom then call in, The Daily Bugle.com will pay for any story, anything leading to the arrest of that black costumed freak."

At the word freak Peter snapped back to reality. He knew he'd been lax, he knew he'd been thoughtless, he knew if he wanted to make sure it never happened again that he needed to be more diligent in the future. Seeing Aunt May next to him, he squeezed her hand. "Can I, uh stay with you tonight May, I know Gwen-"

May stopped him, "it's okay Peter, take the time you need."

Peter took a deep breath, "thanks Aunt May," and leaned in to hug her.

Those bastards would pay, he would find who they were and they would pay, not just for his arm but for Gwen as well.

"Is MJ okay?" May looked at his hand in hers, a frown on her face,

"Um yeah Aunt May, MJ is fine but uh, Flash. Flash was trapped under the rubble too, I think, uh, MJ said he was here, but I don't know where." Peter couldn't exactly tell his aunt he didn't really care about what happened to Flash, so right now it was best to fake it.

While Gwen had been kept in overnight, she was being released. The head wound was nothing serious, it had been stitched and after an MRI no signs of haemorrhage or subdermal bleeding were detected and it was probably just shocking that had kept her asleep. George glared at him as they all walked to the taxi rank together, Aunt May keeping the peace between the pair. She knew Peter had saved her and her father needed to be reminded of that.

Gwen was feeling up to sending MJ a text and while not immediate, she got one back. "Uh, Flash," Gwen said, "he lost his legs, they had to amputate them, too long under the rubble." Gwen was repeating the message in a daze while Aunt May covered her mouth in shock, Peter moved in to hug Gwen but her father stepped in front of him wrapping his arms around her.

"Maybe it's time for family, Peter, you should spend time with your Aunt and leave Gwen to me," George Stacy stated bluntly.

"Gwen's my girlfriend, sir, and MJ is my friend, maybe she needs a different kind of family right now," Peter retorted, finally tired of Captain Stacy giving him crap.

"Listen here you little shit, if you'd been at Prom like you should have and not been some delinquent Gwen would never have been at that diner, this is your fault." He'd pushed Gwen behind him and was waving his hands at Peter as he ranted.

"Sir, I saved Gwen, I pulled her under a table as debris fell," Peter took off his jacket and lifted his shirt, showing the huge bruises over his back. "This, this is from shielding her from the rubble, so I'm fucking sorry I can't reflect rocks very well and I'm sorry that its somehow my fault that a crime happened but don't you yell at me for saving your fucking daughter, you ungrateful prick" Peter's anger bubbled and threatened to boil over, when Aunt May put a hand on his shoulder, the coldness of it doused his inner fire. Peter stopped, patting her hand, his head hanging down, "sorry Aunt May, I'm sorry"

It was Gwen though, she pushed past her father, pulled down Peter's shirt and took his jacket, "take me home Pete," she said, "Dad, I'll text you later, go home and get the movers started, I'm not waiting another day."

"but, but Gwen honey, you're just out the hospital and-" George stammered,

"No, dad. Moving. Today. No arguments." Gwen was serious, "Peter, get a cab for your aunt and one for us," She saw him hesitate and glance over at her dad. "Now!" she said forcefully and he flinched but took his aunt's arm and got her into a taxi.

The ride back to the warehouse was quiet, Gwen's knuckles were white as she clasped her hands together and Peter was unsure as to what was going on exactly, he couldn't be sure but he got the feeling that she was mad at him for something.