Author: Kitka
Dedicated to: My sister, Rogue: Happy birthday!!! :-)
Fandoms: Sons of Thunder; Spider-Man (Mary Jane Watson)
Rating: G
Genre: Romance
Couples: Trent/MJ
Spoilers: Walker: Texas Ranger's "Sons of Thunder" and Kitka's "A Vampire's Embrace"
Summary: Trent ponders MJ in a lost scene between "A Vampire's Embrace" and "Friday Night". Twins of Thunder AU.
Disclaimer: Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson are © & TM Marvel comics and are used without permission. Trina Malloy is © & TM Tippie Canoe and Kitka and may not be used without permission. Trent Malloy, Carlos Sandoval, Tommy Malloy, the Malloy family, and the Sons of Thunder are all © & TM their respective owners and are used without permission. The song used is Clay Walker's "Hypnotize the Moon" and is © & TM its respective owner(s) and used without permission. Everything else is © & TM the author, Kitka. I make absolutely no profit whatsoever off of this story.
 

        The front door of the quaint house opened, and a blonde man stepped silently out onto the porch. One hand carefully gripped his guitar as his other hand brought the door to a silent shut behind him. He took a few steps and then sank into the wooden swing at one end of the porch. He nestled his guitar to his chest, and his hands began to run over the fine instrument as his thoughts turned to her.
        She was so beautiful that even the mere thought of her made his knees go weak and threatened to knock him out of the swing and to the floor. The cold breezes of the night brought her sensual voice to him even as his head ducked further into the up-turned collar of his leather jacket. His blue eyes sparkled as he recalled the depths of that lovely, green sea she called her eyes and the way they shone. Slowly, as he began to get lost to his thoughts of her, he began to play his guitar and sing softly.

        Throughout his years, he had been teased countlessly for never having gone on a single date. Carlos and Trina were so terrible about it that they had even openly referred to him as "Virgin Boy" more times than he cared to remember, but the worst had been in the Army. There, he'd even had a few men come on to him, a couple of whom had refused to accept that he was not that way until he had to fight them just in order to keep them off of him. He'd hated fighting even then but had not been given much of a choice in order to save his virginity.
        He'd always used the excuse that he was waiting for that special some one to come along -- for that one woman in all the world who could truly be his soul mate -- yet he had never honestly expected her to show. He'd been proven wrong the first time he'd stepped into the computer store she worked at and laid eyes upon her beautiful figure. He'd been lost instantly, and so had she. For the first time, he had begun to wonder if perhaps it was truly meant for him to fall in love, and given the way that she had reacted to him, she must have been hit as hard as he had been. His blue eyes twinkled merrily and a grin broke over his handsome face as he remembered how flustered she had been and how she had been unable to keep herself from reacting to him even though she had mistakenly thought that his sister was his girlfriend. He chuckled softly at that before continuing to sing.

        Still, however, he had never expected for her to actually accept the invitation that he had finally managed to offer her. That night had been the most wonderful of his life, and nothing in all the world could have possibly compared to the feeling of her in his arms. He remembered the way his heart had roared when her body had pressed so closely against his, and he could still feel the beat of her heart against his chest as they danced so closely together. As he continued to sing, he closed his eyes, and his nostrils once more filled with her delicious scent. Although he knew in the back of his mind that she was not there but was fast asleep in her own bed in her apartment, he could still feel her dancing with him again.

        Although he'd dreamed many times of what it might be like to fall in love, he had never felt even an inkling of how wonderful the feelings she invoked in him were before that Halloween night. In one day, he'd fallen hard, and by the end of that night, he had been hopelessly in love. He wasn't supposed to be able to feel such things. He was supposed to be a family man. Even though he was no longer living in the same house with them, he was still supporting his mother and younger siblings, and he had dedicated his life to helping his family any way he could and saving innocents. He wasn't supposed to fall in love and didn't deserve a woman as gorgeous and wondrous as Mary Jane Watson, but he could not help himself for he was, after all, only a mere man with a heart that was no more resistant to Cupid's arrows than any other mortal heart.
        What could he do? How could he stop these feelings? He didn't want to, but what right did he have to bring a woman into his life? She deserved a man who could be with her whenever she wanted him without endangering her, but the only way he could be that man would be to give up being a detective and fighting against the wicked to right wrongs and save lives. He could never do that, but what if he one day took down a criminal whose friend or even relative decided to retaliate by going after Mary Jane? She could not possibly imagine what she was risking by being with him.
        She also deserved a man who did not come with strings attached. His top priority would always be his family. He could never allow any one or thing to come between them and him. What right did he have to expect her to so readily accept two women, another man, three children, and a dog all into her life?

        Yet how could he possibly ignore what she did to him? Just one look from her, and he was instantly lost. Her smile completely stole his breath away, and her touch made him walk on clouds. He knew he could never say "no" to her for, although she might not be aware of it, she had lassoed him to her the very instant he'd walked into her store, and it was one rope that he neither could nor even really wanted to free himself of.
        He would have walked barefooted across the Sahara desert just to catch one look at her. He would have stood on the top of the Statue of Liberty and screamed out her name at the top of his lungs just to be awarded one smile from her. He would have ran a million miles, sang a thousand songs, traveled to far distant planets that he didn't even think existed, or even just laid his heart and life on the line just to be with her. He would have done so much for her, and yet he could never give up the two things that made him question what right he had to be graced by her presence, not to mention be blessed to be loved by her.

        He'd known he was in trouble ever since he had pulled her close to him and they had danced that night, their hearts beating as one. He had never felt this way about any one else. He had never even known he could. The feelings she wrapped him in are addictive, and he couldn't break free. He knew he should, but he neither could nor even wanted to.
        He'd wondered many times if he had affected her the way she affected him, and he'd thought often of calling her and finding out. If he asked her out again only to have her decline the invitation, he'd know that he no longer had to worry about such things as that, but yet he would be crushed and devastated beyond repair. It had been all he could do to gather his life back together after his Father had died. He couldn't go through that again -- he couldn't lose another person he loved, be it by death or by that simple but horrible word, "no".

        He had to remain strong for his family. He couldn't afford to be distracted while on a case, not only for the innocents' sakes but also for Carlos'. Yet, since the first moment he held her in his arms, he'd been lost. He was a man who could not swim lost in the sea, and the person that had tossed him from the ship was also the only one who could save him.
        He'd never been this distracted before in all of his life. For God's sake, he had even hollered her name in class yesterday when he should have shouted "Kiya!" Tommy and Carlos had yet to let him live that one down. Thank goodness Carlos hadn't told Trina yet or else he really would never hear the end of it!

        For a brief moment, he wondered if things might have been better if he had only never found the courage to ask her out, but then he shook his head as he realized that that would have done him no good whatsoever. He was lost since the moment he first stepped foot into the computer store only to have his eyes be met with her luscious figure. As he continued to sing softly, he wondered if she had any idea what she did to him or how her visage haunted his every waking and sleeping moment.
        He knew it wasn't his fault nor hers, so just who was to blame for sending them both head over heels? Trina believed in Cupid, but he had never before believed that a tiny cherub could cause so much trouble. Suddenly, it clicked. It was the computer's fault! If only it hadn't died, he would never have stepped even one foot into that store, and then he would never have met her.
        Then, he would never have met her. The thought resonated around his skull, filling his surprised heart with horror. Despite all the questions that she arose for him and despite the conflict he was in, he still did not want to have never even met her. He owed that old computer greatly for, because of it, something more precious than all the wealth in the world had come into his life -- love and a beautiful, remarkable, breath-taking woman by the name of Mary Jane Watson.

        As his voice faded, Trent Malloy finally realized the truth. She had captured him completely, and he could not escape. However, he would have had it no other way. He loved her, and somehow things would work out. Now, he just had to find the courage to ask her out on a second date. The questions that filled his mind were finally hushed. He knew he'd find the answer to every one in time, but for now he had to get some sleep. Standing, he turned and walked back into his home, his thoughts of Mary Jane never leaving him and his heart soaring and singing for the love it had at long last found.