GO LISTEN TO "GWEN" ON SPOTIFY BC OMG I SOBBED ITS SO GOOD

Also aware that it's literally a song about Gwen and Peter but it's too good not to put it in the playlist of my Without Her sequel. So go read that.

MJ

2 days later...

MJ stared down at the music notes on her paper, pen clenched in her hand as she turned to her piano. Her phone buzzed twice at once, grabbing it and looking down at the bright screen.

2:34 AM
2 messages from The Sis and Auntie

MJ slid open her phone, a soft smile on her face as she looked at the photo she had taken of Peter while at the diner.

The Sis: Woah. He's cute. Is he gonna be the dad of my nieces and nephews????

MJ: oh my fucking god. I'm done talking to you.

TS: No come back I need answers.

MJ laughed quietly, sucking in a breath as she read her aunt's text. She approved of him, stating very bluntly that he better not turn out to be another Michael.

The name caused MJ to shudder as she remembered the call from the other night, setting her phone back down to take in another another sharp breath. She was tempted to call Peter, though she knew he was at work right now.

And speaking of that work, the Daily Bugle called her.

"Oh my god. Holy shit... holy— oh god." MJ stood up quickly, knocking down her music sheets in the process and answering the phone. "Hel-" her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "Hello?"

"Is this Mary Watson?" A gravely voice asked, yelling slightly as she shut her eyes and nodded.

"Oh— um yes. Yes that's my name. It's Mary Jane Watson act—"

"Great I didn't get the wrong number." He interrupted as she hummed. "I looked over your résumé, saw that you are passing your college courses, your seem to have potential. When are you able to start?"

Oh fuck.

It's happening now? Of all the time?

"Actually, uh Mr.. um.. Mr Jameson. I think I can wo—"

"Does tomorrow at 3 sound good? I have a good piece on The Spider-Man that I think you'd do great for." MJ frowned at his consistent interrupting, knowing she'd get annoyed of it too quickly.

"Uh sure. Yeah that sounds great, I guess."

"Perfect. See you tomorrow. Don't be late." The call went silent with a click, MJ slowly setting her phone down again and sat down, slouching.

"Oh.. my.. god. I got the job? Holy shit." She ran a hand through her hair and laughed softly, looking down at the fallen note sheets.

She frowned for a second before leaning down to pick them up, slowly tearing them to two.

🕷

The next day...

3 PM

MJ stared up at the corner building, Daily Bugle written in fine, large letters down the middle. She sucked in a sharp breath, walking into the building. She first caught sight of a secretary, clicking and clacking away at a very old computer that probably hasn't been replaced since the building was... well built.

The girls brown eyes flickered up for a moment at the chime of the door bell ring, gesturing for MJ to come forward. She gripped her purse tightly, striding forward with a nervous pride.

"Name?" The secretary asked with a soft voice, getting ready to type MJ's name in.

"Mary-Jane Watson, ma'am." She smiled softly, listing to the clicking of the keyboard, frowning as she could have sworn dust flew up into the air with each tap.

"You're the new investigative journalist, am I correct?" The woman asked, MJ looking at the counter to see what her name was

Betty Brant

"Uh.. yes. That's me." MJ smiled as Betty nodded typing away again as a soft smile appeared on her face.

"Welcome to the Daily Bugle, Miss Watson."

"You can call me MJ." She smiled and waved goodbye as she headed to the elevator as someone else walked up.

"You look new." MJ turned her to see a man with what she believed to be kind eyes, his blonde hair swept up slightly as a camera dangled from around his neck. He smiled at her, which dropped slowly as he stared at her with wide eyes.

"Yep. Mary Jane. You can call me MJ." She smiled and outstretched her hand, to which he quickly shook.

"Eddie Brock— wow that's a grip." He laughed as she did, the two walking into the elevator. "You're the new investigative journalist?" He asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah. Jameson says that I got a lead on something already. But whatever it is, he wouldn't say over the phone."

"It's probably about his conspiracy theory. Something fell from the sky in a park a few nights ago, whatever it was, police couldn't find." Eddie stated as MJ hummed.

"Interesting. Well... maybe I'll have my friend tag along. Say, Peter Parker still works here, right?" She joked as Eddie raised a brow.

"You know Parker?"

"Yeah, he and I are neighbors. Moved in a few weeks after him."

"And... you two work at the same place now... I think I'm sensing a pattern—" Eddie waved his hands around and MJ laughed, shaking her head.

"I'm not stalking him!" She gasped as Eddie chuckled. "I just so happened to have applied for the position here and moved into the same apartment complex as him. I'm not some insane ex girlfriend or insane for the matter."

"Well, if you see me snapping photos of who creepily watching Peter, just know it's not because I think you're stalking him." He joked with a wink as MJ hummed.

"You're funny." she joked as the elevator dinged, the two walking in and barely ramming into a brunette.

"Shit! Sorry." She gasped, gripping a newspaper.

"Moriah you really gotta take my advice and get a pair of glasses." Eddie laughed as she groaned.

"I've been trying! But I don't get paid enough here to afford a pa— Are you Mary Jane?" If the room had been silent, you could probably hear Peter's head snap in the direction of Moriah's voice, or maybe hear him choke on the bagel he was eating.

Well... you could hear him choking if you were in the close vicinity to him.

"Yeah. Yeah that's me." MJ outstretched her hand, Moriah slowly taking it so she wouldn't drop the papers.

"Moriah... say... you look a lot like this girl. I swear I've seen you before." Moriah frowned as she tried to recall where she had seen Mary Jane's face, but shook her head. "Ah, maybe you just have one of those faces."

"Hey Moriah. Could you help me with developing these, actually?" Eddie asked a she raised a roll of camera film.

"Oh! Sure! Yeah I'm better at developing than I am printing." She joked and took the film, Eddie waving goodbye as he and Moriah walked off.

"MJ?" The red haired girl spun her head to see Peter towering over her, startling her for a moment.

"Jesus Peter you're standing so close I can smell the mint mojito gum in your pocket... if you had any."

"My what?" He frowned as she did, shaking her head with disappointment.

"Never mind. I gotta talk to Jameson about this lead he wants me to follow, he'll probably ask me to bring some with. If he does... do you um... wanna tag along?" MJ smiled softly as Peter's eyes widened.

"You want me to go with you? To the.. place you want to go?" MJ laughed at the question and nodded, Peter slowly nodding as well. "Uh yeah.. yeah I guess I could go."

"Great. I'll be back as soon as I can."