satisfy all the needs

tell me there's a logic out there leading me to better prepare for the day that something really special might come

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

By the time that Nora noticed that Ronan was already inside the house, it was too late for her to even attempt to get rid of him or push him out. He was already helping her into the living room and sitting her down on the couch. She sat rigid, her eyes bleary as she tried to strain them into focus. Nora was going to the motions, thanking him with a soft mumble when Ronan handed her a towel with something frozen. With a wince as soon as the cold surface touched the back of her head, she pulled back for a moment. Taking a deep breath, Nora steeled herself before then pressing the makeshift ice pack against the back of her head. She closed her eyes, finding slight relief in the cold before shaking her head. "I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital," she reassured him. "I just feel like the wind was knocked out of me," she said, trying to explain how she felt without alarming him because she knew that if she said the wrong thing, he would be dragging her to the hospital and demanding every single doctor to be seeing her. The way he was so protective of her made her fall so hard for him and why she kept taking him back. "I just... I just need a moment," Nora murmured and slumped against the couch. Finally looking at him, Nora tensed for a moment. It felt like they were in a standstill and all fight had left her body. "What do you want?" she asked Ronan in a defeated tone.

[pctcrparker]

Ronan knew that regardless of what he asked, she would downplay her injuries. Which was why despite her saying that had no need to go to the hospital, he was still eyeing her - inspecting her himself. He couldn't trust her, but for the most part, it did appear like she was more or less telling him the truth. So for now, he decided not to overreact because otherwise, he would drag her to see a doctor. Ronan grabbed her chin ever so lightly and lifted her face up so he could look her in the eye. "Alright. I'll give you a moment. But if you feel even the slightest bit off, you let me know." He let go of her chin and stood up straight, arms crossed over himself. "I'm being serious." And he knew that Nora knew how serious he was. Ronan may not be perfect, but he didn't mess around with protective of Nora he was. Rolling his eyes and letting out an exasperated sigh when she asked him what he wanted, he shook his head like he was disappointed she was asking him what he wanted as if he hadn't already made that perfectly clear since he showed up. There was a stern look in his eyes as he laid his gaze on the blonde. "You already know what I want. I want us to end this stupid argument. I want to come home. I think you've punished me enough. What more do you need me to do, huh? I've apologized. I gave your space. Do I have to grovel at your feet?"

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

The whole friend thing he brought up was laughable. He still didn't get it and it infuriated Nora more than anything. For a very smart man, he was the biggest idiot in the world and there were times where she just wished that he hadn't walked in to that bookstore the day she was doing a signing of her book. "I never claimed to be better," she argued. "I just wanted you to stop cheating but apparently that is too fucking hard for you," Nora shot back, her eyes narrowing. "I will keep fucking everyone in your life every time you fuck me over," she warned him, trying to shrug off the pain in her head and the stinging on her lower back. Before she could push him off of her, he was immediately at her side and checking on her. Despite everything he had done to her, Nora couldn't deny he was good about her wellbeing. He cared about her and she knew that, he just didn't care enough when a young college student was looking his way, batting her their eyes at him. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she tried to reassure him, but she started to feel a little lightheaded. Stumbling back, her back hit the door again, but this time softer. Nora had to blink a couple of times trying to register what had just happened to her. "Fuck," she mumbled to herself, pulling away from Ronan and stepping deeper into the house. At this point, she didn't care about Ronan coming in or not, she was too lightheaded.

[pctcrparker]

One look at her and it was easy to see that she was definitely not as fine as she claimed. She must have pulled back from his grasp harder than she realized because she looked like she needed to sit down. Ronan was quick to be by her side, one hand moving around her back while the other was protectively in front of her in case she ended up leaning forward too hard. Nora was stumbling as she obviously tried to get away from him, but he helped her when she started to open the door. He guided her inside, closing the front door behind them as he helped her to the couch. “Let me get you some ice,” he told her, making sure she was fine where she was seated before going to the kitchen. Grabbing a small hand towel, he went to the freezer and grabbed a few ice cubes, wrapping them in the towel and quickly heading back to Nora. He knelt down in front of the blonde and carefully placed the towel full of ice at the back of her head where she had hit herself. Despite what she may think and despite all the lies she loved to spew, Nora really was the most important person in Ronan’s life. He loved her more than even he could comprehend. It was so obvious that even his family constantly made comments about it. With one hand holding the ice against the back of her head, his other hand is grasping her chin so that she would look at him. “How do you feel? Do you feel dizzy? Do you need to lie down or is this a hospital situation?” He asked, already mentally reaching for his car keys just in case. 

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

The fact that Ronan had the gall to even argue that his cheating was justified because it wasn't even his student cemented in Nora's mind that he was never truly going to grasp how she felt or what it was doing to her. Their relationship had been doomed from the start and she was just wasting her time trying to make things work with him over and over. It was never going to and her mother was right because clearly her mother saw what Nora was blind to. "You still fucking cheated and I am supposed to forget that?" she asked with a raised brow, her arms crossed as if putting an invisible barrier between them. A way of keeping him away from getting near her. "You think that your grovelling is enough to prove you love me?" she asked and scoffed. She looked at him with disbelief. "Why is it that it's always too late when I need you to prove that you love me?" she asked, her eyes full of pleading and trying to figure out why Ronan was the way that he was. Every part of her was just screaming to give up and move on with her life, but her heart kept telling her to hold on and that one day he would change for the better. "I thought that me ending our engagement would be enough of a wake up call for you. I thought that me fucking your best friend to get back at you would be enough to wake you up, but nothing ever is. You still entertain these women," she whispered, her shoulder slumping. Nora then roughly pulled her wrist from his grip causing her to stumble back. The blonde winced when the back of her head hit the door and the doorknob digging into her lower back. "Fuck!" she yelled.

[pctcrparker]

Ronan rolled his eyes and sighed when she kept fighting back against what he was telling her. He really hated whenever she'd do this - whenever she'd just keep bringing up the one thing over and over again. It was in the past and given the fact that she had taken him back after calling off the divorce, one would assume that they were past that. Yet, she kept bringing that up as if it was brand new. Clenching his jaw, he looked at her square in the eye and shook his head. "Enough. Enough of you acting all high and mighty when you jumped at the chance to sleep around when you could. Fucking my best friend to get back at me? Hate to break it to you, but that doesn't make you any better!" The veins in his neck were practically popping with how hard he was straining. He was heated, but he was holding back more than she realized. Thinking about when she ran straight to bed with his best friend still made his blood boil. It was a sore spot even if he tried to pretend it wasn't. Though that was a hard thing to deny considering the way he had beat the shit out of him when he found out. He continued to hold the grip he had on her wrist until she roughly pulled back and release herself from it. She pulled back too hard, causing herself to stumble back enough to hit against the door. Ronan immediately reached over to see if the blonde was okay. "What happened? Are you alright? Come 'ere," he said, trying to get her close to see how badly she had hurt herself.

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Nora would never and could never understand his fascination with younger college women. There had been times where she thought she was the problem. That she was focusing on her career too much to give him attention and it was why he sought them, but Nora eventually realized the problem was Ronan. "Yeah, I am going to listen to my mother. I should have listened to her the moment she said something the first time I introduced you to my parents," Nora argued. Laughing bitterly when he tried to argue that if he wanted to fuck the college students he would have because he has fucked them. He has cheated on her with them. "You are a fucking liar!" she yelled and shook her head. "You have fucked them or are you forgetting why I ended our engagement?" Nora shook her head, turning her back to him and shoving his hand away from the door so she could open her door. She stepped inside and narrowed her eyes at him. "Do me a favour, Ronan. Fuck off and let me move on with my life. I'm sick and tired of being second fiddle and feeling like I'm never going to be good enough for you because you prefer jerking off to twenty year olds fawning over you. I've wasted enough of my time with you. I deserve someone who is going to only ever look at me and you are not that man." Nora glanced at him, closing her eyes and running a frustrated hand through her hair. "I just don't think we were ever meant to work and it was stupid of us to keep trying over and over."

[pctcrparker]

Ronan was starting to feel himself getting frustrated by this conversation and considering how many drinks he had in him, he could feel that frustration wanting to become anger. But he was doing his best to not raise his voice and Nora. He knew that all that was going to do was get her to slam that door in his face and she was going to run off to her friends, or worse her mother, and it would be who knew how long until she'd allow him to go anywhere near her, let alone speak to her. Despite all his flaws, he did very much love Nora. He was just really bad at this whole commitment relationship sort of thing. And unfortunately he was very weak to the attention the students gave him. But he was also weak to the attention that Nora used to give him. When they weren't fighting and all. Ronan rolled his eyes and scoffed when she brought up the reason why they had broken off the engagement. Or rather why she had broken off the engagement. But it wasn't as if she was innocent in all of this either. "That was one time and it wasn't even my student!" He tried to correct her useless. Bringing his hands up to his face, he tried to breathe in before he got too riled up. After dropping his arms to his side and clenching his jaw, he reached over and grabbed Nora by the wrist, forcing her to look at him and stay by him without walking away. "Enough of this shit, Nora. Can't you see the bigger picture here, huh? I'm here right now practically begging for you to forgive me. To talk me back. To let me back in. I don't go around banging on girl's doors. But I'm here banging on yours for a reason. I need you. I want you. I love you. Don't you get that? I can't live without you, Nora." He held the grip on her wrist. "Don't you think my life would be easier if I was single so I could fuck any student I wanted? I don't want that. I want you."

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Freya's eyes widened momentarily at Kelsey's joke. For a moment, she thought that Kelsey was serious, pausing as she stared at him in shock. Deciding that he was joking, Freya laughed, awkwardly at that and shook her head, because there was no way someone as gorgeous and as cool as Kelsey would actually consider someone like her, some boring ass teacher obsessed with her boyfriend. Freya was just some girl in a small town that taught high school. Kelsey was a whole rockstar that was going to make it big, Freya knew it. Freya leaned back and smiled to herself. "I've never been to Coachella. Would be amazing if my first Coachella experience was seeing my new rockstar friend backstage," she teased and winked at Kelsey. Okay, maybe she was laying the rockstar thing a little too thick, but it was the first time she ever encountered someone in a band before and Kelsey was different. She had a feeling that Kelsey was meant for greater things. When the train had come to an abrupt stop, Freya nearly hitting her head, she braced herself for the pain but instead felt something softer. Her eyes widened when she saw that Kelsey had used her hand to keep her from hitting her head on the opposite chair. "Did you just... mom break check thing me?" she asked with an amused expression. Freya found herself appreciating the fact that Kelsey immediately thought about protecting her. It was... sweet of her and Freya was rather endeared by the whole thing. Seeing that they had in fact arrived, Freya felt a sense of disappointment wash over her. She found Kelsey to be great company and wanted to keep talking to the other woman. "Yeah, I guess this is us," she said, looking out the window. Freya felt a pang of something she couldn't quite place as the train doors started to open. Was it sadness? Freya didn't know. Standing, she sighed. "Well, good luck with your band and don't forget the little people," she joked.

[pctcrparker]

"Well, it looks like you needed it," Kelsey said with a light laugh when Freya referred to her saving her from a chair collision as 'mom break checking." People began to start grabbing their things to exit and she started to do the same thing. Though she did have to admit, she did feel this bit of disappointment. Who knew if her and Freya would ever actually speak to each other after this. She gave the girl her social media, but that didn't mean anything. It didn't mean they'd actually talk afterwards. Admittedly, she hadn't expected to enjoy her journey here to the city like this, but meeting Freya had been nice. Kelsey grabbed her guitar and waited for Freya to grab her things as well. They both made their way out, Kelsey walking behind the other woman until they were out the cart. She breathed in the fresh air immediately, though she was quick to reach into her back pocket to fetch her cigarettes. As she placed one of the cigarettes between her lips, she glanced up at Freya. "Don't be a stranger now," she called out to the girl who was probably looking around for her boyfriend. With a lighter now in her hand, she lit up her cigarette and inhaled deeply like she'd been suffocating without it. Then her eyes land on the boy from the photograph. It seemed like Freya found him too. Kelsey continued to look at the scene in front of her. It was cute. She just stared at Freya before she chuckled to herself and turned around to grab a ride to where she needed to go.

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Nora felt insulted. Seeing the way he was okay with just flirting with young women, especially much younger than her started to eat at Nora. Was she not enough for him? Why did he get such a rush from the attention from younger women? It felt like no matter how many times she explained that it was still cheating to her that he went around flirting with other women, he didn't seem to understand it from her point of view. This was how their engagement ended in the first place and he still couldn't get over it. Narrowing her eyes when he called her mother a bitch and that she was acting like her mother, Nora stepped closer to Ronan, her hand balled into a fist out of anger. "You're a fucking loser because you don't even have tenure," she spat, pushing him back so he would give her space. "You're a fucking loser because you get off on young women fawning over you," she listed off and glared at him. "The only reason you consider it completely different is because you know what these men want when they flirt with me because you want the same thing when these college girls flirt with you," Nora shot back and threw her hands up in defeat. "I bet that if there were no consequences to fucking any of them you would have done it already." Nora was tired of crying over him and feeling like she wasn't good enough for him. She was done with shedding tears for him. "Is my attention not good enough for you?"

[pctcrparker]

Deep down, Ronan knew that he had an issue with his younger female students. He had an issue with loving the attention that they gave him. One thing he always made sure was that he never made the first move with these students. They always sort of just came to him. The issue was that he flirted back. He never turned down their advances, He was a flirt. He was a bit of a narcissist. Yeah, okay. He was aware of that much. Which was probably their biggest issue in their relationship. But again, as a narcissist, Ronan would never admit that. When she continued to call him a loser, Ronan rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. "Oh, come on seriously. Seriously? You don't even care about that? But oh, now you're gonna listen to your fucking mother? Tenure isn't easy to get, I'm working on it!" He stumbled back a bit, almost losing his footing and falling on the steps. The tenure stuff was more offensive to him than the students thing. Shaking his head, he reached over and grabbed Nora by the wrist. "Stop. Enough of this. If I wanted to fuck them, I would have fucked them by now. Do you hear me? I know the boundaries. I don't cross them. I don't care what you or your fucking mother think, I don't cross that line." He slammed the palm of his hand against the front door, evoking a loud smack noise. "What kind of question is that when I'm right here at our front door begging, huh?"

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Nora was tired of hearing the same damn excuses from him. At this point she had taken him back so many times that Ronan didn't even seem to care about hiding his flirtatious emails. It was as if he knew eventually she would take him back and stopped making the effort to even try to hide the shit he was doing. The fact that he had just left his laptop out on the email while he was at her home made her blood boil. Ronan's flirtatious nature always angered Nora. In his head, because he wasn't crossing that line, it wasn't cheating, therefore it was okay for him to do, but if he ever saw her do it, he would blow up on her. Looking at him with disgust as he grabbed her waist, Nora tensed and did her best to back away from him, unfortunately, in her effort to keep him out of her home, she had blocked herself from retreating as well. Nora scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. "Harmless? Harmless?" she asked and pushed him away from her. "Yet somehow, a guy chatting me up is not allowed right?" she asked and narrowed her eyes at him. "You've literally stopped caring if I see these emails or not. I am so fucking sick of your shit. I'm sick of you minimizing my feelings because for some reason you enjoy young impressionable women's attention? How fucking pathetic are you?" Nora didn't care anymore. She was done pandering to his feelings and doing her best to make him feel better. "God, I wasted so much time with you." Nora ran her hand through her hair and looked away from him. "Mom was right. Mom was right," Nora muttered to herself. "Mom was right about you being a loser."

[pctcrparker]

No matter what she said, Ronan wasn't going to back down on the fact that he believed he wasn't drunk. He wasn't sober, but he wasn't drunk by any means. Just a few drinks in him, that was all. But leave it to Nora to make a big deal out of it anyway. Regardless, he blinked to keep his vision straight, but was caught off guard when she shoved him off of her. He swayed a little more than he should have, though still managing to keep standing. He scowled at her when he gained his composure and shook his head, only getting angrier when she brought up men flirting with her. "Completely different things and you know it," he argued, pointing in her direction. "They have intentions of doing something with you. I have no intentions of doing anything with my students. It's harmless flirting. Whatever." He scoffed. He was a rather big flirt, that was something he knew. And sometimes, in some of his lectures, his eyes wandered and he couldn't help but notice how attractive some of those students were. It was harmless in his mind. When Nora brought up her mother, Ronan physically grimaced and groaned, adding an eye roll as well. "Oh, come on. Don't bring your fucking mother into this. Who cares what she thinks?" Nora's mother was never a fan of his, but he'd never been of a fan of hers either. Holidays together were always hard when they had to visit her family. "Loser." He scoffed again, unable to believe he could ever be called that. "I work for a fucking Ivy league school. I'm on my way to tenure. Loser? Me? We both know your mother's just being a bitch. And you're acting a lot like her right now."

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Nora was done. This time she was done. She was done with Ronna's shit. She was done with this back and fourth with him and she was done with his bullshit. This wasn't even the first time they had broken up. In the four years they've been together, they have been engaged, an engagement she broke off and yet he somehow managed to win her back. Perhaps Nora was just an idiot or a glutton for punishment, but she could never stay away from him. Nora was having a lovely night when all of a sudden there was banging on their once shared townhome that she kept when they broke off their engagement. Balling her hands into fists enraged by his slurred words, Nora resisted the urge to throw her wine glass at the nearest wall. Angrily, she walked towards the front door and ripped it open. "Talk like adults? Talk like adults while you fucking reek of alcohol, but you want to lecture me about talking like adults?" she asked, pushing him back and closing the door behind her. Nora was not about to let him back into the house because she knew that the moment she let him in, she would lose and he would be back in her bed. "What? what the fuck do you want to talk about? Want to be adults? Okay, let's be adults and talk."

[pctcrparker]

At this point, Ronan wasn’t sure if Nora was going to answer or not. He’d already sent her a million texts it felt like and his calls wouldn’t go through. Who knew how long he’d already been out there for. Normally he’d just walk right in, but after everything that had happened between them, she’d taken the spare key from him. But Ronan was nothing if not persistent, especially after having some drinks in him. So he kept knocking, thinking that eventually she’d have no choice but to give in. And she did. Ronan stood up straighter when the door was suddenly wide open. He smirked and was about to say something that without a doubt piss her off, but luckily for him, Nora cut him off. An immediate scoff left his lips when the blonde began to rip him a new one. “Alright, hold up. I don’t reek of alcohol,” he tried to defend himself. “I didn’t even have that much to drink. That’s besides the point anyway.” He attempted to walk forward, but she slightly shoved him back when she walked outside to block him from going inside the house. He furrowed his eyebrows when she closed the door, but at least she was closer to him. His arms reached out to grab her waist. Maybe he was full of it, but Ronan’s ego knew that if he played his cards right, she’d lose her resolve. She always did eventually. “Just let me in. Alright, I’ll admit I was a bit of an asshole yesterday, but come on. This is a little extreme. You know those emails didn’t even mean anything. Harmless.”

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Ava shook her head and smiled. "It's not a problem at all. The dinner was made for the family and I made extra left overs," Ava reassured him and headed to the kitchen. Ava pursed her lips realizing that Ren was following her. Though she really shouldn't be surprised, there was a stranger in his house who was taking care of his little brother, Ava would have been curious too. Hopefully conversations with him aren't as stale as his father. The man was... stiff as they come, but at the same time, she understood considering the language barrier. Ren seemed to converse in English well and hardly had an accent when speaking in English, something told Ava that he perhaps spent quite a bite of time in America. Grabbing a plate, she plated some rice and curry that was warm in the pot. Turning to Ren when he asked if she enjoyed working for his family, Ava laughed awkwardly. It wasn't as if she could actually be honest, he was her employer's son. "It's great," she responded cordially, adding the garnishes to the curry plate. "Shin-Chan has been incredible. He's been nothing but a treat to work with. Probably the easiest kid I have ever nannied for," she admitted, handing Ren the plate with a smile. "Please, have some lunch. You must have had a long flight. Where did you come from?"

[pctcrparker]

It was amusing to Ren, as he followed Ava into the kitchen, that this whole time he’d been imagining Shin’s new nanny to be someone way older. Usually the nannies were. For as long as he’d remember, the nannies were older women. So yeah, it was surprising that the new one ended up being this young. And this beautiful. After taking a seat, he watched her set up the plate for him and listened to her speak about working for his family. The way she spoke about his younger, in particular, is what got him really invested. Because of how busy the family was, Shin had to spend a lot of times with nannies, especially now that Ren worked overseas a lot. So having the right nanny was important. They didn’t particularly have awful nannies before, but there was something different about Ava. The way she spoke about Shin felt actually genuine and that was reassuring for Ren. “You’ve nannied a lot before?” He asked, curiously. He wondered if being a nanny was something she actually wanted to do or if she was using this is a stand in job. A lot of foreigners did that. Thanking her after she handed him the plate of food, he took a bite, impressed by how good it was. “I came in from New York. We have a lot of business there. So it’s the second home,” he answered, taking another bite. “This is really good, by the way.”

[pctcrparker]

A couple extra drinks in him had Ronan was fumbling with his keys as he tried to open the door. She'd been ignoring his calls and texts all night, even had gone far to tell him not to stop by that night. That wasn't going to stop him, however. Especially given that he had a few drinks in him now. Not enough to be black out drunk, but enough to be a little bold. Bold enough to ignore her wishes to be left alone. This was unfortunately not a rare occurrence. Somehow, one reason or another, Ronan found himself pissing her off. She'd even broken it off with him a couple times, but he always managed to win her back. Originally, the plan was to come straight here after classes had finished for the day, but the bar had been on his and he thought a few drinks wouldn't hurt. Now he was finding it difficult to find the correct key. There was no way she would have changed the locks, he thought to himself. She wouldn't go that far. Unable to figure out the correct key to the lock, he resorted to just banging on the door. "Can we not play this game tonight?" he called from outside, hiding the slurring in his words. "Can you just let me in and let us talk like adults?"

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

MJ never had any qualms about talking to strangers. The redhead was someone who had never been shy. Truthfully, there were times where she wondered if she was just actually missing the social anxiety part of her brain. Although that might be the case, it is also what got her to where se was now. Her audacity is the reason she had become a rather successful actress in her own right. Before Mary Jane could continue talking to the guy, Peter spoke and she turned to look at him. The redhead furrowed her brows and cocked her head to the side. "Why would it be wrong to say that?" she asked, placing the bag of chips in the basket thinking she could try the chips with May. "I didn't call her Latina. I said we sometimes think she might be Latina with how much she enjoys spicy... foods," MJ trailed off before sighing. "Yeah, out of context that sounds bad," she muttered before looking at the pink and white box that Peter gave her. "Duvalin," she read before nodding her head. "Is this like chocolate? Sounds like chocolate," MJ said and placed it in the basket. She then made her way to the counter where the worker was cooking before waiting her turn. "Hi, what's good here?" she asked. "It's my first time here," MJ said immediately after, not even giving the woman a chance to say anything. "Pete, you want anything?"

[pctcrparker]

Peter stared at his wife with slightly narrowed eyes as she began to repeat what she had just said. Towards the end, he could see the wheels turning in her head. A small smirk upturned a corner of his lips as she finally understood where he was coming from. “Exactly,” he commented after making a small ‘tsk’ sound with his tongue. “I think within context it’s a little bad.” Peter chuckled to himself as he looked down at May who was waving the small candy around, signaling to them that she really wanted it. He then looked back at Mary Jane when she told him what it was called. Not that it really did anything because he had no idea what that even was. “And Duvalin is what… exactly?” He asked her for clarification, though he still intended on getting it for May. He watched his wife have the same intention as she placed the box inside the basket. “It doesn’t really look like chocolate. It comes with a little plastic spoon. Is it like Nutella?” He wondered out loud. He’s never felt more like a foreigner than he did at that moment. Following his wife towards the counter with the hot foods, he left MJ alone to converse once again with these strangers like they were friends while he browsed the selection. Everything smelled pretty good and it looked even better. When MJ asked him what he wanted, he stood up straight and pointed at the taquitos. “I would like five of them.” He raised his hand up, fingers all spread out. “Cinco, por favor.”

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Mary Jane was excitedly looking at everything that was in the store. She enjoyed looking at things that you normally wouldn't get at your convenience store, or to Peter, the bodega. It was also why she had been pressing Peter to go to Tokyo with her under the guise that May should have some cultural experience. Of course that meant having to listen to Peter compare other convenience stores to bodegas all over New York and how none could compare. Sometimes Mary Jane just let him go on about the wonders of New York because she knew it was ingrained in him to defend New York. Approaching a touristy looking man at the aisle, MJ smiled and peered at what he was looking at. The redhead had no concept of social anxiety, she had to have none to be the kind of actress that she was. "Do you know what you're going to get?" she asked the man as if she knew who this man was. The man looked at her questioningly, but MJ ignored it and then pointed to the Takis he was holding. "Everyone gets these, but I don't see the point of getting it because we have that in the US," she rambled, not once letting the man speak. She then gestured to Peter and May, who was strapped to Peter's chest and chewing on the strap of Peter's backpack. "Even my kid doesn't care for it," she muttered. "But you know what we don't have?" she asked and grabbed a bag of Sabritones. "I wonder if May can handle the spice. My daughter eats hot cheetos like it's nothing. Sometimes we think she's Latina." At this point, MJ was mostly speaking to herself and using the touristy guy as a soundboard. The guy just looked between her and Peter as if trying to figure out what he was supposed to say or do.

[pctcrparker]

Naturally, considering how close Mary Jane was while he was looking at some of the snacks, when he heard his wife ask 'do you know what you're going to get', Peter assumed she'd been asking him that question. But of course, when he turned his head around towards her, he quickly realized that that wasn't the case. Instead, the redhead was speaking to some random stranger. Peter's eyes widened before he released a soft sigh. This was a very typical thing for his wife to do. Everywhere that they traveled together, she spoke to people like they were lifelong friends. Peter was not a shy one himself, but it was different with Mary Jane. He wasn't sure if it came from her being a performer, but she spoke to people like buddies while he just spoke like he was speaking his thoughts out loud and that was mostly when he was dressed as Spider-Man. He turned his whole body around, only then having realized that May had reached forward to grab a random bag of chips. He let her hold on to it as he walked closer to Mary Jane. It was when he arrived right next to her that he heard what she said about May. He nearly choked on air. Giving the man an apologetic smile, he cleared his throat and looked at Mary Jane. "Babe, I'm not sure you can just go around calling May Latina,. I think," he said, looking down at their daughter who was attempting to open the bag of chips herself with no success. "It's a good thing I'm pretty sure he had no idea what you even said." He couldn't help but find himself chuckling a little at how almost ridiculous MJ could be sometimes. It was amusing. "Anyway, I think our daughter might want these. Do you know what they are?"

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

“Well then, I’ll be sure to invite you to happy hour some time soon. I’m eager to see what your skit would be,” Irene said mischievously. Irene knew it was delusional to think that she was important to this company. She may own it, but she never ran it nor did she even know the first thing about running it. It had only come up during the divorce when they were combing through their assets that the company popped up. Still, it was exciting for Irene having all the bells and whistles of being a CEO. “Perfect,” she said eagerly and clapped her hands. Thanking the driver when he opened the door for her, Irene got inside and waited for Cristina to join her. “I do have a question though,” she started and placed her hand on her lap. “When is the next team meeting?” she asked. “I noticed earlier that you were meeting with the team, I would like to have a team meeting to introduce myself to the people I’ll be working with,” she stated, pulling out her phone and going through her texts. “Oh! I’m going to need a company phone and secretary or an assistant to manage my day to day,” Irene listed off acting as if she were some busy person. She then waved it off. “I’ll just use my assistant now. Can I get a desk for her and a company laptop? Make it a fancy macbook or an iMac. Like the ones you see on TV,” she said, treating Cristina as if she were her assistant and not the woman who was running her company for her. “You know what, I want an iMac too. Do I need approval for that or can I just buy my own? I want it in purple.” Irene then gasped and looked over at Cristina with a grin. “Do you want a purple one? Or a blue one?” she asked. “We could be matching. CEO and CFO… what’s your title again?”

[pctcrparker]

An eyebrow was raised when Irene asked about team meetings. Usually she held them with the team about once a week as a way to see where everyone was at with their given tasks. The only times when she'd call an extra meeting during the week if something new came up. Which felt appropriate in this case given how Irene wanted to be more involved with the company now. "Well, we can always set one up for tomorrow afternoon. I can send out an email to the team. They won't mind an impromptu meeting. Especially if it meant meeting you. I know a lot of them would have questions for you anyway," she explained. The other woman then began to list off a long list of things she needed, including a list of things she'd need for her personal assistant. Cristina cleared her throat and simply nodded along. "To be frank, Irene, this is your company. I don't really think you need to get permission from yourself. You're free to get as you see fit. And I'll make sure we can accumulate in the office. We do have a spare office that your assistant can use as well. It's across from what will be your office. So I think that should work for you." Cristina took out her phone and began typing out some notes for herself for the morning. Like the meeting Irene wanted to set up and the list of things she wanted, at least the stuff that she remembered the woman saying. She then glanced back at Irene when asked for her title. "I'm the fundraising manager," she said, though the answer left a bit of a sour taste in her mouth given how much more she did for the company. More than what the title actually entailed. She cleared her throat to change the subject. "Does tomorrow at noon work for you? For the meeting. I want to send the email right away so the team can prepare. Like I said, many have questions for you."

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Mary Jane couldn't even express how excited she was about going to a 7/11 in Mexico and the first one in Mexico. Even though Peter was never going to understand what was so enjoyable about 7/11, MJ understood the joy and excitement. Of course, she often rolled her eyes whenever she talked about it and Peter would argue that the bodega food was much better and she would argue with Peter that it was always good to branch out and try new things. Of course he would accuse her of not understanding because she wasn't a true New Yorker like he was. "Everything!" she exclaimed excitedly. Approaching the 7/11, MJ had that extra pep in her step as she approached the 7/11. Seeing one of the workers most likely on break, MJ grinned and approached him. "Hi, I'm excited. Do you work here?" she asked, but he responded in Spanish that MJ didn't understand. "I see," she said thoughtfully. She tried to recall Freshman year Spanish. "Soy enojada," she said, before turning to Peter. She didn't notice the worker giving her a questioning look as she walked into the 7/11. MJ was not the kind of person who got shy and was able to talk to anyone as if she'd known them her whole life. Entering the 7/11, MJ's eyes widened, the smell of the food being heated wafting into her nostrils. "This is amazing!"

[pctcrparker]

The excitement that his wife held for these 7/11's made no sense to Peter. No matter how many times she may try to explain it to him, he just didn't get it. It wasn't as if they didn't have any of these convenience stores back at home in New York. And they had something even better - they had bodegas! Peter will go to the grave swearing that nothing would ever compete to the bodegas back home. No amount of convenient stores in whatever country could compare, in his humble unbiased opinion. Peter followed behind his wife with May strapped to his chest. He watched how the older redhead spoke to some random strange man that was just sitting at one of the outside tables. This type of thing was no unusual. Mary Jane had the sort of personality where she'd happily make conversations with someone she had never met nor would ever meet again. The man looked at MJ with confusion when she responded back to him in Spanish. Little did his wife know, what she responded with completely contradicted what she had said in English. Peter also took Spanish with Mary Jane back in high school, but he clearly retained more of the language than she did. Peter stood there, his eyebrows furrowed together when it was obvious that MJ had no idea what she had said. When she just walked away with a pep in her step, Peter chuckled to himself and apologized to the man, clarifying to him what MJ had meant. Entering the 7/11 and walking up to his wife, he looked around with her. "Maybe you should leave the Spanish to me," he told her as he reached over and picked up something from the snack section.

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Mary Jane was beyond ecstatic. Not only did she manage to convince Peter to take a week off of Spider-Man to on a vacation with her, but this was their first trip with May. It took a bit of convincing, basically MJ threatening Peter that she would take May to Mexico alone if he didn't come, but they were here and it was their first full day in Cabo. "Good morning, Mexico!" MJ said excitedly as they stepped out of the all inclusive resort with May strapped to Peter's chest. "I'm so excited, I've been watching everyone's 7/11 videos, especially in Japan, which we have to do, so now I've determined to try every single 7/11 in the world, except America because we have bodegas better than 7/11," she rambled, walking beside Peter as they towards the 7/11. MJ reached for May's little hat, making sure that it was fastened on her properly. "How excited are you, Peter?"

[pctcrparker]

The sun was immediately beaming down on them harshly as they walked outside, so Peter grabbed the ESU cap from his back pocket and put it on as he made sure that May was secure against his chest. The only times that Peter ever agreed to take more than a few days off of being Spider-Man was when Mary jane begged for them to take a vacation. It didn't really take his wife much begging to do, though. He usually caved to her commands or wants pretty easily. "What so great about the 7/11's?" he asked, knowing how much MJ had been watching those types of videos. Sometimes when he'd get home, she'd have those videos up on their television while she did some house chore or was running lines. He didn't get the fascination. Mostly because nothing will ever compare to anything in New York. Peter was that kind of loyal to his hometown. "Well, I'm excited. But I'm not sure that my excitement can match yours. You're vibrating so hard, I'm afraid you're gonna burn a hole in the ground." He laughed a little to himself as he teased the redhead. "Is that where we're going first? Our first stop during our vacation being a 7/11?"

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

pctcrparker​:

Before Kara, Matt didn’t really do these sorts of things. He wasn’t a celebrating holidays type of guy and he certainly wasn’t the type to gift presents. When it came to his mother, he’d usually just take her out to eat or to see some concert or show. Basically taking his mother out to something was the extent of his gift giving. That was a lot easier than trying to decide on something to actually buy. Kara, though, was probably the most materialistic person he’d ever met. And living in Santa Monica, he’d met plenty. When they first started dating and Matt was beginning to buy her things as presents, he did it because he figured that those types of gifts were what she liked. He figured that it wouldn’t be like his mother, that Kara seemed like the person who enjoyed opening presents. And luckily, he was a super observant person when it came to her, so buying things wasn’t actually all that hard when he knew her. Now, after all these years of being together, him buying her things wasn’t just because he knew how materialistic Kara was, because by now, he knew that she’d love just about anything he got her. She’d love it if he built her a chair. But he’d grown to actually really like getting her things like this - the stuff that would catch her eye at the store, but she never really got. He enjoyed the look on her face when she’d open it and she was still surprised to this day that he paid enough attention for him to know that she had been eyeing it from the window. He liked making her happy. Rolling his eyes when she talked about how he deserved presents, Matt shook his head lightly. “I think you forget Christmas doesn’t mean as much to me as it does for you.” He waited by as Kara walked away to retrieve her present for him. When she returned with a rather large box, Matt’s eyebrows shot up. “What in the world is this?” He asked, having absolutely no clue what she could have gotten him this time. “This seems like a lot already,” he commented, grabbing the box as she handed it to him. Matt set it down so that he was able to unwrap and when he was done, it revealed this sort of gif box with a bunch of different things. The first thing that he picked up was the PJs, noticing that there was another pair that looked exactly like it. “Is this meant for the two of us?” He asked, looking further in the box. That was when he noticed the sets of Broadway recordings and movies. There was even a bag of popcorn in there. Matt chuckled quietly and looked at Kara. “This is cute,” he commented, setting the PJs and popcorn back into the box. He grabbed the blonde by the waist with one hand and pulled her in for a kiss. Matt did have an affinity for when Kara got him presents like this rather than something expensive. Half the time, he never knew what to do with the pricey gifts. “I love it. And I love that this could count as a present for the two of us. Unless the other set of PJs is for Oliver, because then I’d have to decline.”

Kara had made it very clear to Matt that she would be happy with whatever Matt got her. She was materialistic sure, but she had the money to be able to spend on herself and get what she normally wanted. Yes, she did have expensive taste, but could anyone blame her? Kara loved clothes and shoes and bags. Though she did have to admit, the materialistic things she got were extra sweeter when it came from Matt. The things that he got her, Kara didn’t think Matt even knew she was looking at. It never ceased to amaze her just how much paid attention to her, especially when they were out shopping. Generally, she assumed that Matt often checked out whenever they were shopping, not that she ever minded. So long as Matt was around to hold her bags, she didn’t mind that he would sit in a corner and read while she tried on mounds of clothes. So to know that Matt actually paid attention to her so much and even to the extent where she was just looking at something and he knew she wanted it, Kara felt like the luckiest human being in the world. Rolling her eyes at her boyfriend, Kara sighed and pecked his lips. “I know it doesn’t mean as much to you, but part of the reason it means so much to me is because I get to shower you with presents,” Kara explained. Waiting anxiously as he opened his present, Kara hoped that Matt enjoyed it. She knew that he wasn’t a fan of extravagant presents, so she did try to make him things; things that he enjoyed or things that represented their relationship. Grinning and nodding her head excitedly, she reached for the box to pull out her matching set of pjs and waved it around for him to see. “We’re going to be matching and wearing this as we watch all your musicals.” Before she could say anything else, Matt was grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into his lap. Wrapping her arms around him, Kara kissed him back early, relieved that he actually enjoyed her present as she knew he wasn’t someone who beat around the bush. “You better like it,” she whispered, pressing her forehead against his. “I wanted to get you something that you would actually enjoy. It took me a bit to find recordings of Broadway musicals. Had to pull quite a bit of strings, but I got them.” Pecking him once more on the lips, Kara then got off his lap and held out her hand for him to take. “What do you say we put on our PJs and spend Christmas morning watching your musicals?” she asked.

[pctcrparker]

Conveniently ignoring the part where she talked about wearing the matching pjs to watch the musicals together, Matt continued to kiss her. For all her extravagance and dramatics and self-centeredness, Kara was a lot more thoughtful than people gave her credit for. He knew that she could not care less about musicals the way that he did. But he knew that she would sit down and watch them with him or just listen to the OST with him because she knew that he loved them. A love that he held since he was a kid due to his mother. Which she also knew and was also probably a driving factor for her doing these kinds of things. And he appreciated that because never did he think he’d ever met someone like that. Giving her a soft smile, he pressed his lips to hers again and nodded. “I love them. I never would have guessed this was what you got me. I was thinking maybe some new running shoes or something.” Not that Matt would have not liked some new running shoes. Unfortunately, Kara wasn’t the only one who had a bit of an addiction to shopping for shoes. Matt just liked to pretend that his addiction was much more practical because he used them for work and working out while he saw Kara’s as more for aesthetics. Of course, that was all just bullshit to give himself an excuse and feel better for the fact that his running shoes are something he regularly splurged on. “I love it. Only you would really know to get me something like this.” Looking up at her with a small raised smile, then narrowed his eyes for a moment as he looked at the blonde. “Do I even want to know the strings you pulled? I hope it wasn’t expensive,” he commented, always concerned about the money Kara spent, even if it was on him and even if it was her own money. Once she got off his lap, he took her hand and stood up as well. “So are the pajamas non-negotiable?” He asked, knowing damn well that they were in fact very much non-negotiable.

[maryjanewatsonparkers]

Freya's eyes lit up when Kelsey called her cute for being excited about her boyfriend and she was. Freya was convinced that Rob was the love of her life and she worked hard to secure a job in New York to join him. She had rambled on and on to Rob about the teaching jobs she applied for and would visit as much as she could to be with him. Thankfully, the stars aligned and it all worked out. Freya was accepted for a teaching position in Brooklyn and it just felt like that everything was perfect, like this was meant to happen. Blushing at the suggestion of giving Kelsey a call, Freya nodded her head regardless. "I will do that if we don't work out," she suggested, because how could you not respond when someone as cool as Kelsey was playfully flirting with her? As Kelsey talked about her writing process, Freya became even more excited even more over her writing and her music. Kelsey seemed like someone who was passionate about her music and someone who made incredible music. To be the muse of someone who loved seemed to live and breathe music seemed to be the highest honour. Her eyes widened at Kelsey's offer, the blonde letting out an audible gasp and nodded her head excitedly. "Yes please! Especially if it's a concert during Coachella," Freya exclaimed. Just as Freya was about to say something, the train came to a screeching halt, causing her to lurch forward and gasp, her head hitting the back of the seat in front of her. "Ow," she whined and rubbed her forehead. "What happened?"

[pctcrparker]

“Or call if it does. I’m not against coming in between a relationship,” she joked. Then again, Kelsey was no stranger to breaking up a couple or two. Not that she actively tried to, but unfortunately when she saw something she liked, she had the habit of going for it no matter what. Kelsey let out a chuckle when she mentioned Coachella, which was probably one of the biggest music festivals out there. It was cute that the girl thought her band would actually be included in a festival such as that. The best they could hope for at the moment was something much smaller and more local. “Not quite Coachella level. But maybe one day. And if that day arrives, you’re getting the first ticket for manifesting it right now,” she answered with a quick little wink. When the train came to a sudden halt, Kelsey was looking at Freya and she managed to quickly shoot her hand over in front of the other woman, causing Freya’s forehead to hit the palm of her hand rather than the seat in front of them. She then pulled her hand back and looked out the window. “I believe we may have finally reached our destination.” There was a faint feeling of disappointment that she could register at the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t realized how fast time had gone by talking to Freya and a part of her was sad that it was coming to an end. Who knew if the other woman would actually give her a call or hit her up on social media. For all they knew, this could very well be the last time they ever meet or talk to one another. But another part of her was glad to finally be out of this train. The extra time having to wait for it to go when it got stuck had been exhausting. She then turned back towards the blonde and smiled. “Looks like you get to see your lover boy finally.” Kelsey really did hope it all worked out for Freya. “And I get to finally have a smoke.”