Chapter 156

[Third Person's PoV] 

After Gwen put her shirt back on, she still had her back towards Peter. "I'm still mad and disappointed in you. Don't think I don't know how attracted you and Felicia are to each other. I would have hoped you would have more self-restraint. With your senses, I know you saw her actions coming from a mile away and still let it happen.

I'm only forgiving you this one time, Peter, since it's the only time you've really made a mistake like this. But if it happens again, I would have no choice but to break up with you. I know it contradicts everything I said earlier, but I would just have to find a way to live with it. I would not torture myself like that."

"Yes ma'am," Peter muttered with his Spider-Man suit on. He kissed the top of her head. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I have a heart of gold. Now go away," Gwen shooed him off.

Peter tapped the side of his ear, causing his helmet to appear and close over his head. "Bye, love you," he said as he jumped out from her.

"At least that's one of us," Gwen said with a smile as she shut the windows and closed her curtain.

Peter pretended to be shot in the chest as he fell from his swing. "That hurt way more than it should have, but totally deserved," he muttered as he went back to swinging.

Gwen, who was still leaning by the window, followed him with her spidey-senses. She then plopped her head down and sighed while shaking her head.

Meanwhile, as Peter arrived back home, he took a quick shower to get rid of the smell of his previous activities. He got dressed in casual clothing, a tank top with shorts.

He climbed out his window and ran across to MJ's.

MJ was still up, sitting on her bed leaning against the wall, with her laptop in her lap typing away. She then froze and turned towards the window in confusion, where she saw Peter climb up by her window, giving her a wave with an awkward smile.

She scoffed in amusement as she set the laptop to the side and went to open the window.

"Well, fancy seeing you here, tiger," MJ said with a smirk as she leaned down and kissed Peter.

"Come in," MJ said after the kiss, moving away and motioning for him to enter.

"I'm here to confess my sins…" Peter said as he entered and closed the window behind him.

MJ looked at him with a raised brow. "What?" she asked, looking at him in confusion. She went and sat on her bed, motioning for Peter to do the same.

As he sat next to her, MJ just looked at him in confusion and then asked, "So what did you do…"

"Well, it's better to start from the beginning…" Peter said as he began explaining everything to MJ like he did to Gwen previously.

Peter then closed his eyes, expecting to be slapped once more. However, when that didn't happen, he opened one eye and looked towards MJ, who was just staring at him in confusion.

"That's it?" MJ asked curiously.

"Huh?" Peter said, looking at her in surprise. "What do you mean, 'that's it'?"

"It was just a kiss. It's not like you two went and had sex. She was grieving, and you were her only form of comfort. I can see why she did it—hell, it's something I see myself doing."

Peter shook his head. "It's not just about the kiss. It's about betraying you… There's a certain level of trust in a relationship, and I feel like I broke that."

Peter froze as he saw MJ smiling. She reached over and caressed his cheek. "You are so adorable…"

"I'm sorry, but you're throwing me off. This isn't how I imagined you would react," Peter said, looking confused.

"Tiger, trust me when I say that the fact you care so deeply about this just shows how sorry you feel. And that's honestly enough for me."

"But it shouldn't be enough," Peter muttered. "Shouldn't you be, I don't know, mad at me? Angry? Upset?"

"Is that why you thought I was going to hit you or something—Gwen smacked you, didn't she?" MJ asked, amused.

"The absolute living shit out of me, but I totally deserved it," Peter nodded.

MJ chuckled. "Then I say she did enough damage for the both of us."

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask—do you feel like you don't have grounds to be mad at me?" Peter asked, crossing his legs and facing her directly with a serious expression.

MJ squinted an eye and pinched her fingers together. "A tiny little bit."

Peter grabbed her hands and made her face him, both of them sitting on her bed, legs crossed, facing each other. "At any point in time, did I ever make you feel like you were just an added tag-along in my relationship with Gwen? Or like you were some sort of trophy I collected?"

"Hold your horses, tiger," MJ said, amused. "You're getting the wrong idea here. I'm only human, and like any other human, I have my own insecurities. My insecurities aren't caused because you did something wrong or bad.

I just sometimes ask myself if I'm getting in the way of you and Gwen. It's not because you've been a bad boyfriend or anything like that. I know and see how hard you work to keep our relationship going. So don't worry, it's just this little voice in my head. Everyone has them.

Not to mention, I really don't feel like I can get mad at Felicia or at you, since I kinda did the same between Gwen and you. That's all there is to it, I promise you that."

MJ was just smiling as she saw Peter studying her to see if she was lying. She couldn't help but chuckle. "See, this is what I mean when I say you are adorable. This worry you have for me, making sure I am happy, is what I love about you."

Peter just sighed as he lifted her hands and kissed them. "I just don't want you to think I don't love you or anything like that, because I do, in fact, love you."

MJ went on her knees and kissed Peter's forehead, then hugged him. "Tiger, I think you forgot a very important fact: I'm like a spider telepath/empath. You being part spider means I can feel what you are feeling right now. You don't need to say it; I can just feel it. Which is why I'm also not mad or angry with you.

Sure, you shouldn't have done it, but I can feel your remorse and guilt, and they're pretty heavy. I can also feel your fears and anxiety. You're scared and anxious that you're going to lose us. I think those heavy and strong feelings you're carrying are enough punishment."

MJ then moved her laptop away and began cuddling Peter. They were both now resting in her bed, with MJ having Peter pressed against her chest, cuddling him as Peter had his arms around her.

"I should be making it up to you, but here you are pampering me instead," Peter said in a muffled voice.

MJ just smiled as she softly played with his hair. "Spoiling you like this is something I always wanted to do. Here, this is something I've been working on for a long time."

MJ pressed her cheek against the top of his head. Just then, Peter felt a warmth spread throughout his whole body.

"Whoa… This feeling… It's so warm… So comforting… And strong… Like really strong..."

MJ smiled as she felt Peter squeeze her tighter, as if wanting to absorb all of what he was feeling. "What you are feeling right there is my love, something I worked on with my abilities."

Peter looked up at her in surprise. "Wow… It's so strong." He smiled and kissed her. "Thank you… I'm very lucky to have you be a part of my life."

MJ scoffed with a smirk. "It's safe to say, tiger, that you hit the jackpot."

"Heh, that I did, red. That I did," Peter muttered as he continued snuggling with her.

There was a comfortable silence between them as MJ kept playing with his hair.

"So how long have you been training to share your feelings like that?" Peter asked curiously.

"Hmmm, if I remember correctly, it was around the first week since I got bitten. Your little spider, Daddy Long Legs, became depressed. By the way, he told me he really hates that name. I could just feel his sadness, I could feel him grieving. I think I was almost in tears."

"Huh? Daddy Long Legs was depressed and grieving?"

MJ looked at Peter and sighed. "You're a terrible pet owner. I feel bad for him."

"Wha– come on now, I'm not that bad. I remember him not really eating, but I just assumed he was being picky with his food and getting spoiled."

"Oh my God, tiger, you are something else. He was grieving his dead mate. He said that he felt her death. It was during the same day Felicia and I got bit and all the other spiders were killed when Oscorp fell. Anyway, I tried to comfort him, I tried to make him feel that everything would be alright through that connection where I felt his despair and grief. I think he felt me trying to comfort him and became more stable. I kept doing it and consoling him until he felt better and wasn't as depressed."

"Wait, was that what you were doing? I thought you were just training your abilities and practicing with him."

"Well, in a way I was, since it did help me control and experiment with my abilities to communicate with spiders."

"I see, I guess I've been a bad pet owner since I didn't even know… I'll have to really talk to him someday. After all, he's the reason I've gained powers in the first place."

MJ couldn't help but laugh at the mention of it. "One little spider was the cause of all this..."

"Tell me about it," Peter said in amusement.

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