Log: Peter and MJ Who: Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson When: Backdated to early evening, December 13 (after the snowball fight) Where: Their bedroom, Xavier's School What: Well, really, it had to happen some time. Why not now?
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MJ was freezing. Absolutely freaking freezing, and she was soaked to the bone with melted snow, and she had a bruised shoulder from being tackled by her boyfriend, but she'd managed to sufficiently gain an advantage in the snowball fight by shoving snow down Peter's shirt... which resulted in Peter shoving snow down her shirt... which resulted in her shoving snow down Peter's pants and Peter deciding that really wasn't fair (to which she said he just ought to wear tighter pants to prevent that sort of thing).
She was still breathing heavily from all the exertion, hopping up and down to try to keep warm. Peter had gotten back to their room first and had dashed into the shower to heat up, and she was waiting for him to get out, and after she was dry and warm she would go pick May up from Xi'an. So she was just waiting. And freezing.
... No. Screw that. Huffing, MJ threw off her hoodie and wriggled out of her jeans and underwear, and then, naked, she was running into the bathroom and leaping into the shower with Peter.
So, Peter had totally been winning the snowball fight with Hank until MJ decided to bean him in the face with a snowball. Totally not fair. At all. But he could forgive her, for the most part.
Even if she now seemed intent on stealing his hot water.
"Hey! Who invited you?" It was good natured and playful, even if he nudged her aside so he could stand directly under the spray -- which he'd moved out of when she'd jumped in.
"Cold!" MJ shrieked, backing up into Peter and wriggling under the spray in front of him. "What kind of boyfriend are you, leaping into the shower before me and letting me freeze to death. You're the one with the super stamina, tch. I can't have hypothermia and die." She hopped, she rubbed her arms, she shoved her face under the spray and then stretched her hands up to warm her fingers----and then cranked up the heat.
"Psht, you won't get hypothermia and die." But he brought his hands up to rub her arms, content to let her steal some of the hot water -- and she was standing right up against him. That was nice. Still, Peter seemed almost distracted, despite the fact that he'd just gotten out of a snowball fight where MJ had shoved snow down his pants (which was also incredibly uncool. tch.). "You're just slow."
"Hello, not a superhero here." MJ snuggled up against him, pressing her back against his chest and leaning back to rest her head on his shoulder, letting the water hit her neck and roll down between her breasts. "God, that feels good. You know what'll be better? Being dry and in pajamas and getting Mayday back in my arms... and then putting her to bed and curling up with you."
She opened one eye and smirked up at him. "I'm sorry I shoved snow down your pants."
Peter snorted, kissing her neck and grinning crookedly. "Oh, don't lie to me. That was dirty and underhanded and you totally meant it. You wouldn't be apologizing if I'd done it right back. ...And I don't think May will have trouble sleeping tonight." Because if anything went wrong now? Peter would just have to kill himself. It was a good day, and he refused to let that get ruined.
"Here's hoping, right?" MJ laughed softly. "Knowing her she won't sleep at all. That's just how she is. Unless you do your weird... spider-sense thing and manage to not have any disturbances yourself."
"Mmhm. It's a good night," he replied, noncommital. Kissing her temple, Peter nuzzled her affectionately, adding, "Take your time. I'm getting my pajamas." It wasn't like him to just take off in the middle of a shower, but Peter would've told her if something was wrong. Right?
Or maybe it had to do with the fact that, after pulling on his own pajamas, he'd left MJ's out -- the soft ones with big pockets in the bottoms. The ones that seemed as if they could hold, say, a small box without MJ noticing at first.
"Hey----" MJ wrapped her arms around her body and turned to see where he'd gone. "...Pete..?" He just up and disappeared, but not in a panic, just... hn. Something wasn't quite right. He was distracted, wasn't paying attention. She wasn't so sure she liked that.
A few minutes later, MJ climbed out of the shower and dried off, feeling chilly again once the water on her skin started to evaporate. She wrapped herself in the towel and skittered back into their room. "Pete, what's up..?" But he'd left out her pajamas like a real sweetheart. "..Okay, what happened?"
"Nothin'," he answered, almost cocky when he said it, laying against the pillows and looking ... well, okay, more than a little proud of himself. "When you're dressed, we should go get May before Xi'an steals her."
"...Uh-huh." MJ raised her eyebrows and smirked before she turned away, picking up her pajamas and letting the towel drop so she could slip into them. "Fine, b----hn. Oh, shit, did I leave something in my pocket when I washed this... fuckfuckfuck..."
MJ shoved a hand into her pocket and reached around, fingers clamping around the box. She tugged it out, expecting to find something horribly damaged.
She fell silent immediately.
While she'd been looking, Peter had sat up and moved off the bed. He was nervous, almost shakingly so, but he swallowed that. He could risk his life to save her, nearly get himself killed more than once; he could do this. He could.
Taking a deep breath before he stepped in front of her, Peter took MJ's hands, his own snagging a bit more than normal. "I need to ask you something."
MJ was shaking, her lips pressed tightly together and her eyes wide, like she wanted to just leap into his arms and say yes before he had the chance. However, she was jumping the gun. For all she knew, there was a ... a breakup ring in that box. Or nothing at all. Or.. or a piece of paper, or earrings, or... a.. rock. She didn't know. She'd had her fair share of times where she'd gotten her hopes up about something and he'd brought her down -- or broke up with her. That happened a lot, too.
"Pete----" Because if he was going to break up with her, this was a really mean way to do it.
For some reason, getting down on one knee was really hard. He was supposed to be all flexible and stuff, but he looked ... kind of scared, which probably wasn't helping MJ perception of the situation.
"Will you marry me?" It was all he could do not to add 'please' at the end. Do it right, Peter, do it right.
MJ gulped, looking down at him and just staring for several seconds. Suddenly, she blinked, shaking her head a little like she had to clear her thoughts. "..What?"
"I know we have problems," he said quickly. "I know it's not easy, and that I'm not the easiest person to live with. Ever. But I love you, and I just ... I can't get away from you. I've tried, and it wasn't a good idea, so the only solution I can think of is to marry you." Peter smiled, laughed lightly. "Since I'm apparently never getting rid of you."
MJ didn't answer. She was just looking down at him like she didn't understand what he was talking about. The silence was nothing short of painful, but she didn't seem to realize that as she squeezed his hands and watched him.
Oh no. Ohhhh, no. She was going to say no, wasn't she? She was, and she was thinking of a nice way to say it. Bringing her hands up, Peter kissed her knuckles almost desperately. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, whether that's the next ten or twenty or fifty years. I want to grow old with you and watch May grow up. God knows I need you for that; I'm a hopeless parent, and I need you around. And I need someone who isn't so steeped in powers and battles and spandex to keep me human."
"Wh... hn---" MJ's voice was hoarse and she seemed to snap a little out of her daze----which wasn't a good thing. She swayed a little, her knees buckled, and she fell as if she lost consciousness for a split second. She landed half on top of him, her arms thrown around him, her face buried against his shoulder.
And she sobbed.
Crying. Crying was bad, crying meant she was upset--but maybe that was good. Was that good? Please let it be good. Holding her, Peter buried his face in her neck and did the only thing he could think of: keep talking.
"I love you," he murmured. "I love you, I love you, I love you, and I want you to be my wife because we may not be perfect but I ... I want this to work. I want to have forever to make you happy. I want to stand in front of everyone and tell them how much I love you, and how beautiful and funny and kind and smart you are. And I couldn't imagine my life without you. Please. ... Please say you'll marry me."
"Yes! Yes... yes..." MJ kissed Peter's neck, his jaw, his cheek, and then she kissed his mouth hard before she nuzzled him. She was making a complete idiot of herself. "I thought y---I thought you were never going to ask me."
Oh, thank God. Thank God. "I didn't want you to think I was asking because of May or because I was having a mental breakdown. ...And I wasn't kidding when I said you scare the bejeezus out of me sometimes," Peter answered with a grin, kissing her firmly on the mouth and smoothing back her hair.
"I love you," MJ whispered, pulling back just enough to look into his eyes, her fingertips brushing over his cheek. "I love you. I love you and I am... I am so sorry for ever lying to you about May. I did horrible things to try and keep you happy----happy and alone because I thought you wanted it that way."
He resented her for it, the lying. But Peter had lied to her for years, about everything else and ... and maybe, in her place, Peter may have done the same thing, if he thought it would keep her safe and happy. "Shh. Don't worry about it. I know who she is now, and we're both here, and it's fine. I never wanted to be alone; I wanted you to be safe, and I think we proved that you're safer if I'm a bit closer. And I don't want to be without you. I'm glad you weren't around when we were apart; I was ... a mess. A complete, pathetic mess and I am so glad you said yes, because I don't want to die alone and miserable."
"I love you.. I love you, I'm sorry," MJ whispered again. "And we have a child. So you're pretty stuck with me, tiger."
"Well, good. I'm a fairly sticky person at this point."
MJ nudged his cheek with her nose. "I want you to do two things for me."
Peter grinned. "As long as it's not a fan dance, sure."
"I want you to put that ring on my finger and take these pajamas off."
"I think I can do that," he murmured, gently pulling the box from her hand, almost thoroughly distracted by kissing her while he reached for her hand. Slipping the ring on her finger, Peter took a moment to kiss her knuckles, grinning. "God, I love you."
MJ wiped her eyes, and she knew her face was all red and blotchy, and her hair was wet from the shower, and... god, she was really hoping she'd look prim and perfect for a proposal. Then again, she'd been prim and beautiful for the other proposals. She'd had two weddings before, even if she was never actually married. This was better, this was more real. She was herself, she wasn't all dressed up and made up... she was without makeup, without hairspray, with her eyes and nose red from crying.
"If I'm going to screw up my life with anyone it better be with you," she breathed, nuzzling his temple as he kissed her hand.
"I'm glad you think that, because I think we can both admit that you won't get anything but a screwed up life with me." But he was smiling, leaning up to kiss her mouth, her ear, murming, "Mrs. Parker. ...Hn. Watson-Parker. What do you think?"
"Watson-Parker," MJ confirmed, leaning into his kisses and sliding her hands up underneath his shirt. "But call me Mrs. Parker again, please." Peter could call her that.
"Mrs. Parker." Peter was grinning, silly and overjoyed, taking care not to let his fingers snag too hard when he pushed her shirt up. "Finally."
MJ wriggled out of her shirt and threw it aside, pulling him in close. "All things considered, I'd say it's about damn time."