The Three of Us
POV: Jean Grey
Three weeks passed.
Jean didn't plan to stay. That was the thing she kept telling herself it was temporary, few days, a week, just until she figured out her next move.
But the days kept passing, and she kept not leaving.
Peter didn't ask her to go, he didn't ask her to stay either, he just... made space. The couch remained pulled out. The extra toothbrush stayed in the bathroom, the tea she liked appeared in his kitchen cabinet, unmentioned.
It was the small things that got to her. The way he'd text her during the day, "You okay?", with no expectation of a response. The way he'd leave leftovers in the fridge with a sticky note that said "Eat this. I'm serious." The way he'd come home after patrol, exhausted and bruised, and still ask about her day before collapsing into bed.
No one had ever done that. No one had ever just... cared.
Jean didn't know what to do with it.
So she did what she always did when she didn't know what to do, she watched, she observed, she catalogued every detail of Peter Parker's life like it was a puzzle she needed to solve.
And slowly, without meaning to, she started to fall for him even harder.
POV: Peter Parker
"Okay, but hear me out."
"No."
"You haven't even heard my pitch."
"I don't need to hear your pitch, the answer is no."
Peter was in the lab, hunched over a microscope, trying to finish his grading before his next class. Ned was sitting on a stool beside him, spinning in circles.
"This is discrimination," Ned said.
"This is self-preservation."
"You're a terrible best friend."
"I'm an excellent best friend, that's why I'm saying no."
Ned stopped spinning. "Okay, but what if"
"No."
"what if we just"
"No."
"...what if we made it a podcast?"
Peter looked up. "A podcast?"
"Yeah! Think about it! You're Spider-Man! You fight villains! You have all these crazy stories! And I'm your best friend, the guy who knows all the behind-the-scenes drama. We could call it 'Web-Slinging with Ned and Peter.' Or 'The Spider and the Nerd.' Or..."
"Those are all terrible names."
"They're great names."
"They're terrible."
"You're terrible."
Peter sighed, and set down his pen. "Ned, I love you, but I'm not starting a podcast about my secret identity."
"Fine, but when you're famous and I'm broke, don't come crying to me."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Ned grinned, he picked up his phone, scrolling through something. "Oh hey, did you see MJ's post?"
Peter's hand stilled.
"What post?"
"On Insta, she posted about her aerospace project. Apparently, she's presenting at some big conference next month. It's a huge deal!"
Peter didn't say anything, he just stared at the microscope, not seeing it.
Ned noticed.
"Peter?"
"Yeah."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You're not fine."
"I'm fine."
Ned put down his phone. "You do this every time."
"Do what?"
"Shut down, whenever someone mentions MJ, you just... disappear. You go somewhere else in your head."
Peter didn't respond.
"Look," Ned said, "I'm not trying to push but you can't avoid her forever! She's my friend too and she's... she's around. At coffee shops, at that bookstore she likes, at..."
"I know."
"Then what are you going to do?"
Peter was quiet for a long time.
"I don't know," he finally said.
POV: Jean Grey
Jean was sitting on the fire escape when Peter got home.
She'd been waiting for him, not intentionally, she'd just... ended up here. Watching the city, watching the people, watching the world go by.
She felt him before she saw him, through the link. His emotions were a tangled mess, frustration, sadness, longing.
Something had happened.
Peter climbed up and sat beside her though he didn't say anything.
"You okay?" Jean asked.
"Yeah."
"You're lying."
He laughed, it was hollow. "Yeah. I know."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"Ned mentioned MJ today," Peter said.
Jean's heart clenched. She didn't show it.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"What about her?"
"She's presenting at some conference. Big deal. Aerospace stuff. She's... she's doing really well."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
Jean could feel it, the way Peter's emotions shifted when he talked about MJ, the warmth, the sadness, the love.
It hurt.
But she didn't say anything. She just waited.
"I don't know what to do," Peter said. "I see her around sometimes, we nod, we say hi, we pretend we're strangers. But we're not, we were something. And she doesn't remember."
Jean listened.
"And the worst part is... I don't know if I want her to remember, because if she does, everything changes, and I don't know if I'm ready for that."
Jean was quiet.
"What do you want?" she asked.
Peter didn't answer.
"Seriously," Jean said. "What do you want?"
"I want... I want everyone to be okay. I want MJ to be happy. I want Ned to be happy. I want you to be happy. I want..."
"That's not what I asked."
Peter looked at her.
"What do you want? For yourself."
He was silent for a long time.
"I don't know," he finally said. "I don't know if I've ever known."
Jean reached over and took his hand. It was a bold move, bolder than she usually was, but she didn't care.
"You're allowed to want things," she said. "You're allowed to be selfish, you're allowed to put yourself first."
"I don't know how."
"I know, that's why I'm telling you."
Peter squeezed her hand.
"Thanks, Jean."
"Anytime."
POV: MJ
MJ was at the public library when she saw him.
Peter Parker, sitting at a table by the window, surrounded by papers, looking exhausted. He was grading something, she could see the red pen, the stack of exams. He was a TA now, she'd heard. Physics or something.
She should have kept walking, she had her own work to do, her own life to live, but something made her stop.
She remembered the letter.
She remembered the coffee shop, the way Peter had looked at her when she asked if ...
She still didn't understand, but she couldn't stop thinking about it.
She walked over.
"Hey."
Peter looked up, his eyes widened.
"MJ."
"Sorry to bother you. You look busy."
"I'm always busy, it's fine."
She hesitated. "Can I sit?"
Peter nodded, she sat down across from him.
"I read the letter, again" she said.
Peter's pen stopped moving.
"I've read it a lot, actually... more times than I should probably admit."
He didn't say anything.
"I don't remember you, I don't remember loving you. But I... I feel something, every time I see you, every time I hear your name, something I can't explain."
Peter's voice was barely a whisper. "MJ..."
"I'm not asking for anything, I'm not asking you to explain, I'm just... I'm telling you, because I think you should know."
She stood up.
"I'll see you around, Peter."
She walked away.
Peter sat there, frozen.
POV: Jean Grey
Jean felt it through the link.
The moment MJ walked away, Peter's emotions exploded. Longing, sadness, confusion, hope, fear, all of it, crashing through the link like a wave.
She was in his apartment when it happened. She'd been reading on the couch, waiting for him to come home. But the force of his emotions made her gasp.
She closed her eyes, she reached out through the link.
"Peter?"
No response.
"Peter, what happened?"
Still nothing but she could feel him, his heart racing, his mind spinning.
She stood up, grabbed her jacket, and headed for the door.
She found him in the library, sitting exactly where MJ had left him. He looked shell-shocked.
"Peter."
He looked up, his eyes were red.
"She talked to me."
"I know, I felt it."
"She said she feels something, every time she sees me, she doesn't remember, but she feels."
Jean sat down across from him.
"That's... that's a good thing, isn't it?"
"I don't know." His voice cracked. "I don't know anything anymore."
Jean reached across the table and took his hand.
"Let's go home."
POV: Peter Parker
They didn't talk on the walk back.
Peter was too overwhelmed. Jean was too... something. He could feel her emotions through the link, concern, warmth, and underneath it all, a quiet ache.
She was hurting, he knew that, he could feel it.
But she was also there, holding his hand. Walking beside him, not pushing, not demanding, just... present.
When they got back to the apartment, Peter collapsed on the couch. Jean sat beside him.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"For what?"
"For... this, for being a mess, for putting you in the middle of..."
"Peter, stop."
He looked at her.
"I'm not in the middle of anything," Jean said. "I'm here because I want to be, because I care about you, because.."
She stopped.
"Because what?"
"Because I love you, you know that."
Peter didn't respond.
"But I also know you love MJ and that's... that's okay. It's not okay, but it's the truth. And I'd rather have the truth than a lie."
Peter closed his eyes.
"I don't know what to do," he said.
"I know."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"I know."
"I don't want to hurt her either."
"I know."
He opened his eyes. "What do I do?"
Jean leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You figure it out, one day at a time and you let people love you while you do."
Peter's voice was barely a whisper. "You don't deserve to be put through this"
After what i've put everyone through, i deserver way worse, she thought to herself, as she reached out and just hug him.
POV: MJ
MJ couldn't sleep.
She kept thinking about Peter, the way he'd looked at her, the way his voice had cracked when he said her name.
She pulled out the letter, she'd read it so many times that the paper was soft, worn. She knew every word by heart.
I hope deep down, something inside you remembers you love me too
She didn't remember loving him, but she remembered something, a feeling, warmth, a sense of being known.
She walked over to Ned's room and knocked,
"Hey, you up? can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What's up?", said Ned opening the door and inviting her in.
"Can we talk about Peter Parker?"
"Sure, why?" he said as his grin grew wider.
POV: Jean Grey
Jean knew she shouldn't do it.
She knew it was invasive, she knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help herself.
She reached out through the link Peter was asleep, she could feel the steady rhythm of his breathing, the quiet hum of his dreams.
She slipped into his mind.
Not deep, just surface level, just enough to see.
She saw MJ, the letter, the coffee shop, the way Peter's heart had cracked when he walked away without reading her the letter.
She saw Ned, the laughter, the handshake, the warmth of friendship.
She saw herself, the fire escape, the quiet conversations, the way Peter's emotions shifted when he looked at her, not love, not yet, but something. Something that could become love.
She pulled back.
She was crying.
I'm losing him, she thought. I'm losing him and I haven't even had him yet.
She looked at Peter, he was still asleep, peaceful, oblivious.
She wanted to wake him, she wanted to tell him to choose her, to want her, to stop looking at MJ like she was the sun and Jean was just a shadow.
But she couldn't.
Because she loved him too much.
POV: Peter Parker
Peter woke up to the smell of coffee.
He shuffled into the kitchen to find Jean at the table, two mugs in front of her, she looked tired, like she hadn't slept.
"Morning."
"Morning."
He sat down and took a sip of coffee. It was perfect, just the way he liked it.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, just... thinking."
"About what?"
Jean was quiet for a moment.
"I think I need to tell you something."
Peter set down his mug. "Okay."
"I... I used my powers last night... on you.I looked into your mind while you were sleeping."
Peter stared at her.
"I know that's wrong, I know it's a violation, I just... I needed to know."
"Know what?"
"What you feel, for MJ, for me, for everything."
Peter was silent.
"I saw it," Jean said. "I saw how much you love her, how much you miss her. How much you want her to remember."
She paused.
"And I saw... I saw that you care about me too, but it's not the same, not yet."
Peter's voice was quiet. "Jean..."
"You don't have to explain, you don't have to apologize. I just... I needed you to know that I know. And that I'm not going to ask you to choose. Not yet, not until you're ready."
She stood up.
"I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later."
She left.
Peter sat there, alone.
POV: Jean Grey
She walked for hours.
She didn't know where she was going, she didn't care. She just needed to move, to think, to feel.
She passed coffee shops and bookstores. She passed the ESU campus. She passed a small park where children were playing.
She stopped.
She sat on a bench. She watched the children.
Sara would have loved this.
The thought hit her like a punch.
Sara would have loved everything. The city, the noise, the life. She would have loved Peter, she would have loved Ned, she would have loved...
She stopped.
She was crying again, she was always crying. It was exhausting.
She pulled out her phone and texted Peter.
Jean: I'm sorry, for last night, for everything. I shouldn't have...
Peter: Stop.
Jean: What?
Peter: Stop apologizing, come home.
Jean: I don't know if I should.
Peter: Jean, come home.
She stared at the phone.
Then she stood up. She walked back.
POV: Peter Parker
She came back.
She looked exhausted, wrecked, beautiful.
He opened the door. She stood there, uncertain.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"I know."
"I shouldn't have..."
"I know."
"I just..."
"Jean."
She stopped.
"I'm not mad," Peter said. "I'm not... I'm not anything. I just... I want you to come inside. Okay?"
She nodded.
She stepped inside.
He closed the door.
They stood there, in the entryway, looking at each other.
"I don't know what I'm doing," Peter said. "I don't know what I want. I don't know who I'm going to end up with. But I know I don't want you to leave, not yet, not like this."
Jean's voice cracked. "Why?"
"Because you're my friend, because you're... because you're you. And because I can't do this alone."
Jean stepped forward, she wrapped her arms around him.
He held her.
They stayed like that for a long time.
POV: MJ
She didn't know what she was going to say, didn't know what she was going to ask. She just knew she needed answers.
"So, Peter Parker."
"Yeah."
"What do you want to know?"
MJ took a breath.
"Everything"