#probably should have posted to ao3 but i'm lazy okay love you bye

[i-lovethatforme]

AHH ITS THE BIRTHDAY ANON HI ILY um maybe petermj birthdays?? And I don’t know if I have a favorite trope but I feel like fluff or hurt/comfort or something would be really cute!! 💌

happy birthday, @rachelmclacey and nonny xxx

what could fit more perfectly, than to have a world party on the day you came to be

Peter can’t help but smile when he sees MJ at her locker. He’s over pretending he isn’t head over heels for her now. It’s not like he’s going to tell her anytime soon or ever because he’s not a masochist and she’s lightyears out of his league and the best thing that ever happened to him. So he’s semi content to just be her friend. This close is enough for him. Sort off. For right now.

But it’s easier to just allow himself to look at her without the internal battle he used to have about her being just his friend. She’s still just his friend. But she’s so pretty, and Peter likes to look at her. Sue him. 

He slows down when he realises she’s on her phone because he doesn’t want to have to walk past her with a wave because then he won’t see her until after school and that’s like six whole hours. But he doesn’t want to stand near her while she’s talking because that’s weird but she might raise her eyebrows at him like she does when she’s unimpressed and that’s crazy hot so. 

In the end, he doesn’t have a choice because his feet stop moving on their own accord by what he hears. 

“It’s not a big deal,” MJ whispers, though her face suggests she’s disappointed. Though he’s not sure anyone is supposed to know that. 

Peter hears the person on the phone respond that they’re sorry they missed her this morning, that they had surgery. He assumes it’s her mum but it could also be her dad, both being surgeons. He feels bad that MJ woke up alone and according to the call, they won’t be home later either. MJ always says she doesn’t mind, she likes alone time, but that’s not what’s bothering Peter right now.

“It’s just a birthday, mum,” MJ states. “It’s fine, we can do something on the weekend.”

How is it that Peter knows Michelle drinks English Breakfast Tea in the morning and a different fruity tea in the afternoon; that she highlights her textbooks with a pink highlighter if it’s a fact she found interesting, green if the fact is wrong and yellow if it’s something she wants to further research; that she looks at him more when he wears a black long sleeved t shirt, but he has no idea it’s her birthday today?

He turns on the spot, running through the halls until he finds Ned at the lunch table. 

“Dude, dude,” he says, feigning loss of breath in case anyone is paying attention even though no one has spoken to them at lunch since they started here. 

“Yeah? Oh my God,” Ned starts, throwing his lunch in his bag. “Is it guy in the chair stuff?”

“Yeah! Wait - no, kind of -”

“Stop speaking in riddles Peter,” Ned says, half out of his seat. “Should I finish my sandwich or not?”

“Oh yeah, for sure. Okay so quickly before MJ gets here.”

“Did you do something? Did you finally tell her?!”

“No, shh. It’s her birthday!” 

“What, today?” Ned asks, eyes wide because Ned loves a birthday and he’s probably already thinking about how he could make her a gift out of his half eaten lunch. 

“Today, Ned! How did we not know that?” Peter asks, his hands running through his hair. If he’d known he would have done something! Well he brought her tea this morning but he would have drawn balloons on the cup and maybe he would have decorated her locker or something. 

“Well, I know nothing about MJ that she doesn’t explicitly tell me,” Ned shrugs, then, “maybe she doesn’t want us to know.”

“Hmmm.”

“Peter,” Ned sighs. “Stop, I can see your mind whirring. You don’t have time -”

“What if I skipped class,” Peter states quietly as Ned rolls his eyes. “I could go to that shop over on eighth, you know the party one? And I could decorate before movie night.”

“Peter. You know what, fine. You’re going to do it anyway,” Ned says with a shake off his head. He brings his wallet out, sliding a twenty across the table. 

“But if I distract the teachers from your absence I get half the credit when I turn up to yours and it’s already decorated.”

“Yeah! Of course. Okay, so I’ll get the decorations and some food and can you make a card in art class?”

“Yes! A reason to use my new oils,” Ned smiles, eyebrows high.

“Okay, cool, so -”

“Shhh, she’s coming! Hey MJ,” Ned says, his face bright and not at all subtle. But MJ probably won’t find that weird, Ned is always happy. 

“Hey, dork,” she replies, sitting next to Peter, her arm brushing him as she swings her bag onto the table. 

“Nerd,” she says to Peter, knocking into his arm with his elbow. 

“Hey, MJ. Are you okay? Little late to lunch,” he asks, avoiding Ned’s glare because they both know she was on the phone and now they’re too excited about throwing a surprise party and Peter and clearly Ned, kinda don’t want her to tell them about it now. 

“Er, yeah. I was - doesn’t matter,” she says, cheeks a little pink. 

“Are you sure?” Peter asks, his need to make sure she’s okay overweighting his want to surprise her.

“Uh-huh,” she replies, though she rolls her eyes when she looks at him and his pleading eyes. 

“Oh for - it's not a big deal! You just usually meet me at my locker so I was waiting for you - it’s not a big deal,” she says, pulling her lunch out of her bag. 

“Oh,” Peter replies, a smile taking over his face because she was waiting for him. And that makes his chest flutter. 

“Dork,” she sighs, popping a carrot stick in her mouth. “Are we still on for movie night?”

“Yep!” Peter practically shouts.

“Best movie night of your life!” Ned says. 

“Okay, losers,” she laughs, but Peter sees her clamp her lip between her teeth to stop her smile before she buries her head in her book. 

----------------

As Peter webs the last streamer into place, the sweat dripping from his forehead, he’s so glad he ditched class. There’s no way he would have been able to decorate the apartment if he’d stayed at school - and he only had to help like two people on his way to and from the party store!

It’s worth it now though, because there are streamers from each corner of the living room, bunting across the windows and balloons filling any spare space on the ceiling. He’s glad he sprung for the helium tank even if it was difficult to get home. He throws on a party playlist while setting his suit up. He hides it in the corner, mask out so he can project multi coloured lights around the room. 

He changes quickly, rushing to take the pizzas out of the oven before they burn. He can’t order pizzas because the helium tank cost more than he was expecting but it’s fine. Cold pizza is like a birthday party staple. Plus, he got cake and that’s pretty much all you need. He puts the candles in, wondering how to position it so he can get the best photo when she blows them out later. He places it on a plate next to cheese straws and cheese rolls as he sets up the drink counter. Which is just some red solo cups and four bottles of cherry soda because that's MJ’s favourite and Peter likes it when her tongue turns red and he can pretend to know what she tastes like. 

He’s putting the finishing touches on MJ’s gift, something he bought himself but he knows Ned won’t mind that his name isn’t on it because he probably rushed out to buy something after school anyway, when his phone goes off. 

“Yeah?” he asks, phone on speaker as he sellotapes the last flap of paper down. 

“Hey man, so… I can’t make it tonight,” Ned says.

“What?! Ned, I’ll look like a loser if you don’t turn up!” Peter yelps, running his hand through his hair only to find that he has sellotape stuck to his fingers. Not only will it be the first time Peter and MJ are alone at his place together, now he has to have filled the apartment with balloons and banners that practically spell out I’m in love with you?

“You have the card!”

“I’m sorry, Peter! My Nonna came over and you know my mum isn’t going to budge on letting me out.”

Peter groans because Mrs Leeds absolutely will not entertain his pleading so he says it’s fine even though he’s about to sweat through his new top and he can hear MJ walking up the stairs. 

“Fuck,” he huffs, hanging up the phone and wondering if he has enough time to at least pull own the streamers. But it’s no use, MJ storms through the halls all the time so she’ll be knocking on the door in four seconds. 

And right on cue. 

He opens the door slightly, she can probably only see his face. 

“Oh hey, MJ,” he says, his head wedged between the door and the frame.

“Hey,” she replies, eyes squinting at his position. 

“Er, so Ned can’t make it -”

“Yeah, he text the chat,” she says, chewing on her bottom lip. 

“Right, yes. I saw. Er, so do you want to reschedule?” 

“Oh,” she says, the disappointment evident in her voice as she holds onto the straps of her backpack. And he feels like a dick for being the reason her eyebrows drop and her lips pout. And it’s her birthday! 

“Sure. I’ll see you, Monday,” she says, turning and walking so fast he barely has a chance to squeak out that he was kidding, 

“MJ!” he shouts, shoving his shoe in the door because he doesn’t have his key.

“It’s fine, Peter.”

“MJ, please,” he says, grabbing her wrist to stop her sprinting down the hall. “Please, come in.”

“It’s -”

“Please. You’ll see why I’m being… you’ll understand, okay? Promise not to laugh at me,” he groans, his fingers still touching her wrist. She lets him lead her back to his apartment, never pulling her wrists out of his grip which isn’t helping him to not feel nervous. 

He opens the door, hearing her intake of breath as he drops her hand and looks anywhere but at her. 

“Happy birthday,” he says, a wide flourish of his arms, even though he wants to sink to the ground. She doesn’t reply, so he takes a look at her and he can’t believe he wasted thirty seconds not looking at her. Because her eyes are wide and she’s enchanting under the lights, her hair pink and yellow, her lips parted. 

“I heard you on the phone,” he stutters, never being particularly good at silence around her. “And I swear I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but then I found out it was your birthday and I can’t believe you didn’t tell me, MJ. So, erm, I hope this is okay but I can take it down if it’s not and -”

“You did all this today?” she whispers, moving towards the living room, her smile stretching across her face when she sees the balloons. 

“Er, I ditched English and Maths but don’t tell anyone,” he huffs, following behind her. 

“I can’t believe you ditched even though you’re failing, English,” she says, and he’d be offended if she didn’t turn to face him with the brightest eyes he’s ever seen and if she smiles at him like that for a second longer he’s going to tell her that he thinks about her all the time. 

“I’m barely failing,” he scoffs, his fingers fidgety because he wants to hold her wrist again but he has no reason to now. She raises her eyebrow at his blatant lie and he groans. 

“Okay, just a little bit.”

“I’ll help you,” she replies.

“Thanks, do you want some food?” he asks, thinking that if he stands here with her in the red light, he won’t make it out alive. 

“Sure.”

Peter wonders if it’s a good time to hold her wrist again but he takes the full four steps to the counter to figure it out, so then there’s no need. 

“Erm, so there’s pizza and those cheese things you like and cake but I think we’re meant to have that last but we can have it whenever you want,” he says, his words turning into a whisper when MJ places her hands on his neck, tilting him so he’s facing her. 

“MJ?”

She moves slowly, her nose brushing his before her lips touch him. Her lips are pressed to his for the best three seconds of his life, so he has three seconds to react, to do anything. But he can’t get his brain to function, so he lets her move back. 

And when he opens his eyes, she looks nervous. The bad kind of nervous. 

“Erm, okay,” he stutters, willing his brain to figure it out and pull her face back to him.

“Sorry, that was - I -”

“I really like you,” he says, then, “so, if that was for the party then that’s okay. But if it was because -”

“I don’t just kiss people to say thankyou,” she mutters, rolling her eyes but she’s still playing with her fingers. “I really like you, too.”

“That’s great,” he says, his smile wide as she blushes at him. 

“So, do you have plates?” she asks, her voice breathy.

He moves his useless hands from his sides, placing one on the counter, and one on her arm as he leans up to kiss her. It’s quick, but it’s perfect. 

He pulls back slightly, but she chases his lips and he opens his mouth a little bit and it’s so much better. He moves his hand to the back of her neck, breathing her in when she pulls back to take a breath.

“I like you so much,” he gasps, his lips still against hers. 

“I like you, too. Thank you for the party,” she whispers, pressing her lips against his again. 

“Sorry there’s no one else here, I would -”

“It’s perfect,” she replies, her arms around his neck as she moves her lips against his and he thinks he spends the rest of his life here, with his body against hers, he’d be happy. 

“You’re perfect,” he replies, moaning lightly as she threads her hands through his hair. 

“You’re not allowed to say that if you want to be my boyfriend,” she whispers. 

“But you don’t like liars,” he says, laughing when she groans at him. 

He’s not sure how long they stand there, but he’s figured out the best way to flick his tongue to hear her moan against him, and she already knows all the ways to kill him clearly as he pulls her closer to his body every time she pulls against his lip. 

She lets him lead her to the couch, their fingers linked now which is an upgrade he’s going to use as often as he can. 

“Happy birthday,” he says, handing her the gift he bought earlier, though he has had it in his notes ever since she mentioned wanting it when they were on the train back from the museum. 

“What is it?” she smiles, not letting his hand go.

“You’re meant to open it, Em,” he laughs.

She opens it with one hand which is adorable but he’s not shocked because everything she does is adorable. Her eyes light up when she sees the book and he’s not sure if he’ll ever get over how pretty she is. 

“I’m not very good at getting close to people,” she whispers, her fingers tracing the embossed letters on the cover. 

“So I can’t tell you how much this means to me, or whatever. Or the party or you know, you.”

She looks at him then, her eyes nervous but she smiles when he smiles and that’s all he ever really needs. He moves the book from her hand to the table, his hand finding her neck as her eyes flick over his face. 

“That’s okay, I can tell you what you mean to me, and you can just agree if you want,” he says, his eyes bright as she rests her forehead against his. 

“You’re my favourite,” she whispers, ducking to press her lips to his before he can reply. But that’s okay, it’s her birthday, she can do whatever she wants.