"Hi," Tess breathed, her eyes falling on Mj, the girl looked absolutely stunning.

"Hey," Mj smiled, brushing down the skirt of her dress a bit, then meeting Tess's eyes, "You look...amazing."

"Thank you," Tess beamed, despite the fact that just a couple of days ago it felt like everything was falling apart, she was really happy.

"I'm sure my mom wants a picture," Tess whispered to Mj, "That ok with you?"

The girl nodded, and Tess turned to May, "You want a picture, yes?" 

"Of course I do, I'm so proud of my baby." the woman smiled, and Tess's nose wrinkled up a bit, "Mama," she whined. 

"Ok, sorry, sorry." 

May held up her phone, and motioned for the two girls to scoot closer together, Tess gladly wrapped her arms around Mj's waist and smiled for the photo.

Tess smiled at the photo that her mother had captured, "Can you drive us Mama?"

May smiled, "Of course, Tess." 

The drive to the school went by fast enough, "Please make sure Peter got here ok," 

Tess nodded at May, "I'm sure he did, but if I don't see him, I'll call you."

"Have a great time, girls!" the woman smiled, just as Tess shut the car door. 

"You ready to go in there?" Tess turned to the girl, and Mj smiled, "Yeah, let's go to this lame dance."

Tess half-rolled her eyes but still wrapped her hand around Mj's, "We've absolutely got this."

The gym was covered in streamers and balloons, not totally unrecognizable, but slightly more presentable as a place to hold the school dance. Tess glanced around the room briefly before spotting her best friend. 

"Hey Gwen!" she called out, announcing her and MJ's presence,  "Oh my god! You look so good!" the blonde exclaimed.

"Thank you," Tess smiled, "You look good too!"

Gwen leaned closer to Tess so she would be slightly more out of earshot of MJ, "Look at you go!" she cheered in a soft whisper.

"Has Peter shown up yet?" Tess asked her friend, "Why would I know where Peter was?"

"Gwen-" 

"No, it's fine, sorry for snapping." Gwen rushed out quickly, then spinning on her heels, "I'm gonna go get some water."

Tess sighed, but then turned to MJ with a smile, "You're right, this is totally lame."

"Hey Ned," Tess started, "Just let me know if Peter shows up?" he nodded in response and she turned back to her date.

"Wanna dance or something?"

MJ smiled, "Well I guess that is what you do at dances."

The two girls did dance, just a little bit though, neither of them was very good at it. They were standing by the punch bowl when Ned approached them, "Peter just got here, I think."

"Thanks, Ned." Tess nodded, "I'll be right back," she kissed MJ on the cheek quickly, leaving the other girl blushing.

When Tess spotted her cousin across the room she immediately picked up on the fact that something was wrong. Peter looked scared.

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" she asked promptly, also startling him a bit, "Uh-nothing, nothing."

Peter was determined not to ruin this night for Tess, despite the fact that his night had just been thrown completely off the rails.

Tess narrowed her eyes at the boy, "That's not suspect at all."

"Everything is fine, Tess." Peter stated, "I'm just a little nervous." he shrugged.

She knew better than to believe him, but she decided for the moment it would be ok to let it go.

"Ok...I'm sure there's nothing to be nervous about." Tess stated, "It's just a silly dance."

The dance was boring, and Tess had decided that homecoming was entirely overrated. She and MJ danced a bit more, and they talked to Gwen and Ned for a bit, but it wasn't anything like the movies acted as it would be.

A slower song poured through the speakers, and she and MJ broke off from the group a bit, slow dancing together.

"So," MJ started, "How long have you had a crush on me?"

A light blush covered Tess's cheeks, "Oh, you know, it just sort of came about." 

She recovered from being flustered very quickly, "I however know you've had a crush on me forever."

MJ looked a bit surprised, "I mean it's not like you tried to hide it. You get all flustered when I call you Michelle or speak Italian."

"Oh whatever, Parker." MJ kind of dismissed her comment. 

After a couple of beats of silence, Tess continued, "I know this technically counts as a date..."

MJ looked at her expectantly, "I was wondering if you know, maybe we could like, go on another date at some point, but like only if you want to."

"That sounds perfect, Tess." MJ smiled, "But just so you're aware,  I hate being called Michelle. I only tolerate it because it's you saying it."

"Oh, believe me, I know."

Moments later the two were interrupted, "Tess, not to pull you away from this but we have a situation." Gwen stated.

Based on the look her best friend was giving her she assumed it was Peter related. 

"I'm so sorry-"

"It's okay, go ahead." MJ smiled, "I'll be fine."

"Thank you." 

Author's note:

is anyone actually still here? it's been a hot minute since i updated this book.

-Via<3