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Michelle Jones-Watson was never a Christmas person. Not really. She enjoyed the holiday enough, the lights were pretty and the feeling of togetherness was nice, but truth be told she found a lot of things about the season needlessly overwhelming; especially since her family tended to go all out. As much as she loved seeing her relatives, being crammed into their tiny apartment with all 3 of her aunts plus their spouses and kids made it hard for her to catch her breath.
Truth also be told, she did in fact find herself feeling more excited for Christmas this year. She was already formulating her Christmas gift shopping list in October, which she had never done before. It was as if she was bitten by the Christmas spirit!
But that didn’t last too long, as for some unknown reason, she felt that excitement completely dissipate around mid-November. She couldn’t quite place why, which really bugged her, so she just chalked it up to the stress of her first MIT finals period (apparently her essay was good enough for the journalism program to grant her early acceptance) and a dash of seasonal depression.
She was actually planning to stay in Boston for the Christmas break, get a head start on that paper she had due next semester about how the brain processes memories (a topic she found herself oddly drawn to), but her dad all but begged her to come home.
Which is how she found herself on a midnight train back to Queens, in the tiny bathroom splashing water on her face after yet another intense dream.
For some reason, all of her dreams have been extremely vivid for the past month or so. So vivid, in fact, they felt like actual memories. Flying (no.. swinging?) through New York, debris surrounding her on the Tower Bridge, lips against hers, falling off the statue of liberty… they all feel so inexplicably real . She knows they can’t be, though, as they all revolve around a boy she has never met before in her life. His big brown eyes looking into hers with such intense affection, only to fade into nothingness just as she wakes up . (She had googled what this meant several times, only to find articles about “the runes of Kof-Kol”, links to scammers claiming to provide “dream analysis”, and various other things that did not apply to her or were just, frankly, bullshit.)
She had woken up with a jolt this time, heaving a breath into her lungs as a name formed on her tongue, dissolving back into her subconscious before she even had a chance to say it. She looked around her cart as if she was looking for whoever this boy was, only to find nothing but a concerned elderly woman across from her, asking her if she’s alright. Honestly, MJ didn’t quite know whether she was or not, but this stranger didn’t need to know that, so she just politely told the woman she was okay and excused herself to the bathroom where she currently stands, facing her own exhausted reflection. She knew these frequent dreams were beginning to take a toll on her.
The (un)familiar boy was saying goodbye to her this time. Maybe this meant they were finally over.
She didn’t know how she felt about that.
—
She had arrived at her childhood apartment on the 21st of December. Since her extended family had decided to take a trip to the Bahamas for Christmas this year (why anyone would like to spend Christmas in a warm climate does not know), it was just her and her dad, just how she liked it. It was good to spend some quality time with the man, especially since they had been apart for a few months now. Their days were filled with walks and board games and their nights with hot chocolate and holiday movies.
That is, until actual Christmas Night; when he got called into work. He tried to push back on it, but unfortunately being a surgeon doesn’t leave you with a lot of wiggle room, so he left his apartment with a kiss to his daughter’s forehead and an apology on his lips, leaving MJ alone on Christmas.
She tried not to be annoyed at this, after all she was originally going to spend Christmas in her dorm, but at least there she would at least have other students to keep her company (even if her roommate Riri was busy working on her “better-than-Tony-Stark’s” Iron Man suit). Here she could feel the loneliness of the apartment in her bones, and just felt sad. Even some of the pictures on the mantle felt lonely, like someone was missing from them.
All she could do was sigh. She felt bad about feeling her twinge of self pity, after all she did spend three wonderful days with her dad and she has loved ones; Ned, Riri… some people didn’t even have that.
MJ poured herself some hot chocolate, adding a little bit of caramel to the mix before she added the marshmallows (she can’t for the life of her remember who showed her that but they must be a genius) and settled into the coziness of the couch, nestling into a soft blanket and turning on the TV to watch whatever holiday movie was playing, smiling a bit to herself when she saw Kevin McCallister's smirking face on the screen.
She said like that for a bit, until she felt her stomach start to rumble, annoyance overtaking her as she didn’t want to move from her little nest to get food. Eventually she caved, and walked into her kitchen only to find— nothing. Well, not nothing; there was some cereal, some spaghetti noodles, chips… but it may as well have been barren. Her dad must have forgotten to get the stuff for Christmas dinner, which would not shock her considering the man’s busy job and the fact that she got her ADHD from him.
She debated just grabbing the half eaten bag of chips and returning to her spot on the couch, but she realized she did want something a little more filling on Christmas.
So with a high, she bid Kevin adieu and put on her jacket and scarf before leaving the apartment. She knew Delmar’s was open, and she could really go for one of the best sandwiches in Queen’s right about now. She began her trek down the road, letting the gentle snow coat her hair gracefully. It took about 15 minutes to get to Delmar’s, and when she entered that bodega the smell was intoxicatingly nostalgic. She felt a small smile creep up on her face at that, and got in line for a sandwich. It was only her and one other person in the store, besides Mr Delmar who was in the back making the other guy’s sandwich, so the wait shouldn’t be too long.
“Glad to see I’m not the only one who craves a sandwich on Christmas.” MJ said, breaking the silence. She was an introvert, so she knew making small talk was out of character for her, but she felt this great push to talk to the guy ahead of her in line for some reason.
He turned around for a second, taking his headphones out of his ears as he did so. “I’m so-” he cut himself off as soon as he caught proper sight of her, his face going pale white as if he had just seen a ghost and his brown eyes turning into saucers. “Oh.. hi.” He managed to let out feebly, just under his breath.
She knew she should be confused as to why he was acting like this, but truth be told she was also taken aback because something about him felt so familiar . His doe eyes, his mess of curls decorated with melting snowflakes, his subtle freckles… he looked exactly like the boy in her dreams. But he couldn’t be… could he?
She must have been staring at him weirdly, too, because he quickly cleared his throat and shook his head. “I’m sorry, I uh… I don’t know what that was.”
“Oh.. it’s…” she was feeling flustered herself, now finding herself tripping over her words as well. “It’s fine!”
The two stood in awkward silence for a few seconds, playing with their hands and rocking on their heels, wanting to drink each other in but not wanting to make the other uncomfortable. Eventually, it was him who broke the silence. “I’m Peter, by the way. Peter Parker.” His lips formed into a tight smile, which she returned.
“Hi Peter Parker. I’m Michelle Jones.” She told him, though she had a creeping feeling she didn’t need to. “But my friends–” “Call you MJ?” he interrupted.
She paused at that, looking at him knowingly. If anyone else had done that she would feel a little freaked out, but for some reason she didn’t. For some reason, this strange boy made her feel.. safe. “Yeah.. yeah they, they do.”
Mr Delmar came back out at that, handing Peter his sandwich as a “thank you” escaped his lips. She felt a sadness creep up on her at that, for some reason she didn’t want him to leave.
Little did she know, he didn’t want to leave, either, as he struck up a conversation with her. “So uh… Delmar’s, huh?”
She blushed a bit. This kid was terrible at small talk. “Yeah uh, my dad got called into work so, Christmas alone this year.” She didn’t know why she was telling him this, but she felt okay with doing so, even as his face saddened a bit. “You?” she offered back, expecting him to say something about how he’s going back to his family after he leaves here, maybe even make a quip about his mom’s cooking.
But instead, he just looked at his feet. “Yeah, me too.”
She doesn’t know why that hit her like a ton of bricks, she just felt a wave of sadness overtake her at the image of this random boy alone. So, she did something she never in a million years thought she would.
“This is probably gonna sound crazy, considering we just met but uh, there’s a coffee shop down the road from here. I saw that they were open on my walk here.” She awkwardly pointed her thumb over her shoulder before meeting his eyes again, his head whipping up so fast she’s surprised he didn’t fall over. “Do you, maybe wanna…grab a cup?” She pushed out a breath of a laugh, feeling so incredibly embarrassed at asking this stranger to get a coffee with her, yet she couldn’t stop herself.
She watched him carefully as he pondered, feeling the embarrassment rise as his face became increasingly puzzled and a debate occurred in his mind. She was almost about to apologize for the offer, realizing how ridiculous it all was, but before she could– “Yeah.” Peter nodded his head, his smile going from friendly to genuine. “Yeah, I think… that would be nice.”
She smiled at him, before gesturing her head at the door, forgetting all about the sandwich she was craving so badly just a few minutes ago as the two of them walked out in the direction of the coffee shop; not spending Christmas alone after all.