347(A/N: I do not own Spiderman. That right belongs to Sony
Also to the….enthusiastic guest reviewer that's been…kindly encouraging me, I guess I could say to 'update'...I'll update the story as I see fit. I have things filling my schedule, including a job and I also like to have down time after I upload a chapter. I try to upload on a consistent basis though so people don't have to wait too long. However, constant 'reviews' of telling me to update is not necessary nor does it encourage me to actually update. You're just coming off as spoiled rotten and childish, in my opinion.
That's all I have to say on the matter and won't say any more in the future just in case a reaction is all they really want. Apologies for the rambling. Please enjoy).
At around 6 later that night, Peter was getting dressed in the bathroom of Matt's apartment. He wore his usual blue shirt, grey undershirt and cargo pants. After he had finished putting on his socks and shoes on before using the sink to wash his face for a moment, trying to clear away any sign that he had been completely drunk the previous night.
After running water through his face, he just looked at himself in the mirror for a moment and sighed, knowing he had been a nervous wreck. He was not really in a good state of mind right now despite feeling much better than yesterday. It mostly had to do with meeting his girlfriends, friends and bosses at the Silver Spoon this evening. He honestly had no idea what he was going to say to any of them. What could he say? He could say he was sorry and that he hadn't meant what he said but would that even mean anything? The words he had said had been really harsh, especially when they had done nothing but try to help him over the last few days. He had been ungrateful and selfish and he didn't really know if they could truly forgive that, no matter what Gwen had said to him the previous night or both of the Connors trying to convince him otherwise.
There was also the fact that the Connors had offered to adopt him just this morning. He still had no idea how to reply to them. Should he agree, should he not? He'd gone back and forth over and over again the entire day and still didn't know if it was the right thing to do or not. However, he didn't want to give them another non-answer like he gave them earlier. They hadn't deserved that, especially after everything they had done for him.
However, there wasn't any more time to come up with an answer for them because it was now getting closer to the agreed upon time to meet up at the cafe. He needed to get going. After everything else he did over the past couple of days, the least he could do is be on time for their little get together.
After drying his face, Peter straightened his hair out as much as he could and walked out into the living room of the apartment. Matt had been listening to the television which looked to be on the news for that night. The young man couldn't help but listen as the newscast had begun speaking about a topic that piqued his interest.
"It is being speculated as to whether or not L. Thompson Lincoln, allegedly also known as Tombstone and who was arrested earlier this year for being suspected of operating an underground crime operation, had played a hand in carrying out the assault on New York as well as the attempted murder Spiderman last night. According to an anonymous source, Harry Osborn has privately spoken to the psychiatrists of Ravencroft Institute and informed them that he had offered Mr. Lincoln to murder Spiderman in exchange for buying majority shares in Oscorp and in turn, make Mr. Osborn the heir to Oscorp once more. Allegedly, Mr. Lincoln agreed to the bargain. However, I must say that this is an unconfirmed report. However, it is expected that the government will be watching him even closer than they previously were"
Before they could get into any more details, Matt muted the TV and turned his head towards Peter from on the couch.
"I assume you're about to head out?" Matt asked with a raised eyebrow.
Peter shifted uncomfortably in place as he rubbed his arm. "Uh…yeah, I am"
"Great. I guess you'll be headed back to your house later tonight from what you told me earlier?" Matt asked as a follow up question.
Peter nodded. "Yes, that's right. I don't think I should really be intruding in on your property any more than I already have. I know I've been a bit of an inconvenience to you the last couple of days"
This caused Matt to swiftly (Though not abruptly) move up from his seat, move around the couch and towards Peter. It never ceased to amaze Peter on how well navigated he was for a blind man. Matt walked towards Peter until he was able to put a hand on his shoulder.
"You're many things, Peter Parker but a burden is not one of them. I'm glad I was able to help you as much as I could. I only wish I had been able to do more" Matt said, a bit somberly, almost as if he had been ashamed of himself.
Peter looked at him with heavy confusion and a raised eyebrow. He knew what Matt was implying. He was blaming himself for allowing himself to be drowned in his own self pity. However, there was no reason for it.
"Matt, there's no way you could've known I would do such stupid things" Peter said, seriously, shaking his head vigorously.
"Actually, I should've. After all, you kind of make it a habit to do stupid things" Matt said with the smallest hint of a grin on his face.
Confusion and pity quickly turned into annoyance as Peter rolled his eyes. "Very funny"
Matt let out a little chuckle, amused as he took his hand off of Peter's shoulder. However, he suddenly became serious again as he usually was as his face became blank once more.
"Seriously though, Peter. I'm glad you're going out and being with the people who love you again. It's the right thing to do" Matt said, nodding his head in approval to Peter getting out of the apartment after lying around in it all day.
Despite the praise, Peter still wasn't feeling too optimistic as his attorney. From the silence, it seemed Matt sensed this as he said "I take it you're having a hard time feeling the same?"
Peter sighed as he answered. "I don't know. I…I just said a lot of stuff to my friends. Stuff I shouldn't have said and didn't even mean. I don't know why I did…I was just so sad, confused, angry and needed to get this burden I felt off my chest. Unfortunately, I took it out on the people that only tried to help me through everything I'm going through right now"
"Fights between friends and family are hardly unheard of, Peter. It's common to lash out and say things you don't mean. It makes us human" Matt gently explained to the young man.
"I mean I understand that….but I can't help but wonder if they actually want to have anything to do with me after what I said to them" Peter said somberly, looking to the ground as he did so.
Matt shook his head. "If they really felt that way, would they even have agreed to meet with you tonight? It's quite clear they care about you, Peter no matter what you may have said to them. They know you're going through an emotional time right now. No one's ever in their right mind when they've lost a loved one, especially those as young as you are. The important thing is that if they really do care about you as much as I believe they do….then you will never, ever have to worry about them tossing you aside. That much I can promise you"
Peter listened as he continued staring down at the floor, digesting every word Matt told him. He had to admit, Matt was amongst the strangest people he ever met. Despite being a blind man, he felt he could read people better than most other people could. He felt like he knew him his entire life despite just having met him just a few months ago after coming across his ad in the Daily Bugle and giving him a call about helping him strike a deal with the Mayor about Mark's imprisonment.
The brunette teen knew he was right and that he was just being paranoid. He supposed he was just more ashamed of himself rather than actually worried they would cut off all ties with him. He didn't really know if that would ever leave him. However….maybe this meeting could be the first step of at least healing from it.
After finally looking up at Matt, he couldn't help see a trace of a genuine smile on his lawyer…no his friend's face. Peter gave a smile back.
"Thanks, Matt. I appreciate it. I really do. I hope I can pay you back someday" Peter said, expressing gratitude as best as he could to the older man.
Matt shook his head, still keeping the smile on his face. "Don't worry about it, Peter. I'm happy to help you. Anyway, it's getting late. You should be headed to meet with your friends about now"
Peter nodded in agreement. "Right, right. Thanks again. I'll just get my bag and head out"
Having said that, Peter walked to the kitchen table to grab his bag, filled with his Spiderman suit and everything else he brought with him. As he made his way to the door, Peter heard Matt call out again.
"Feel free to call me whenever you like. I'm always happy to help those in need" Matt called out to Peter as he opened the door.
Peter turned over to his lawyer and gave a smile to Matt. He didn't say anything but he just gave a nod. While he knew Matt couldn't really see him doing this, he could tell Matt had a general sense of the message as he could see Matt giving a smile of his own.
Without another word, Peter just left the apartment, beginning to make his way toward the Silver Spoon to meet with his friends and bosses, still nervous but feeling better than he had before. It was about time he sat down and had a real conversation about how he felt with the people that cared for him.
*Stacy Household, around the same time*
"Dad, I'm about to head out" Gwen called out from her room as she put her shoes on.
"Ok, honey. Just so you know, it looks like you've got a visitor" George called back from what she assumed was the kitchen.
This caused Gwen to raise an eyebrow. Who could possibly be here for her at this hour? She made it very clear to Eddie and the Connors that she would take herself to the Silver Spoon.
"Who is it?" Gwen called back, giving one final tug at her shoelaces.
Suddenly, the door to her room slightly opened and a familiar looking redhead poked her head through.
"Hey, girlfriend" Mary-Jane said with a small smile as she entered the room.
Gwen raised an eyebrow at this. She guessed it wasn't too big of a surprise that she was here. However, it really wasn't the best timing as she was about to head out. The blonde studied the redhead's face. While she did smile, the expression on her face said it all that she wasn't feeling the best right now and she understood why. With her aunt being such good friends with May, she grew somewhat close to her over the past year.
"Oh, uh…hey, MJ. I eh…I'm sorry, I can't hang out tonight, I need to go out to the Silver Spoon, remember?" Gwen asked with a raised eyebrow, a bit confused. She would love to spend time with her best girl friend but she told her earlier today she had plans.
Mary-Jane entered the room and made sure to close the door before answering the question.
"I know…that's actually why I wanted to come here tonight. I was wondering if I could tag along with you?" Mary-Jane asked with a sort of hopeful look on her face.
Now Gwen was getting really curious. She wanted…to go with her to the Silver Spoon to see Peter and the others? Why was that? She knew her and Peter were friends, good friends even but she didn't understand why she possibly could've wanted to go with her tonight to a conversation that was bound to be awkward for her. After all, Gwen did tell her everything that transpired last night. It wasn't really the type of conversation the average person would really want to be included in.
Looking at her with her eyebrow still raised, she sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to her, inviting the redhead to sit down with her (Which she did). Mary-Jane squeezed her legs a little as she began to answer the unspoken question of why, which made Gwen even more curious if that were possible. What was going through her mind?
"I know this is really a matter between you, Peter, Felicia, Liz and the others…but I kind of feel like its sort of my responsibility to be there as well if that makes any sense. I…I can't help but feel responsible for what happened the other night" Mary-Jane answered as she tried her hardest to keep herself composed. She looked about ready to cry with every passing moment.
Gwen, being the caring friend she was, looked for a box of tissues near her. She found some on the nightstand by her bed. She reached over, grabbed a few from the box and passed them onto the redhead.
"Thanks" Mary-Jane said as she blew her nose into the small piece of white paper.
"MJ, what do you mean you feel responsible for what happened? It had nothing to do with you. It wasn't your fault at all" Gwen said, trying to reassure her for her nonsensical guilt.
Mary-Jane sighed as she wiped a few stray tears from her face. "I know, I know. I…I don't know. It's just that ever since I knew that you liked Peter, I just wanted to try my hardest to get the both of you together and….I…I just felt that if I tried hard enough, you guys would've been together by Christmas or New Years last year. Then Harry probably would've never turned psycho and tried to kill him and-"
"Woah, woah, MJ. Harry try to kill Peter? He tried to kill Spiderman. He just assaulted Peter for info on where he could find-" Gwen said, interrupting her friend to try to correct her in a panic. However, it was all for naught as Mary-Jane interrupted her in response.
"Oh come on, Gwen, I know Tiger's Spiderman. I've known longer than you, probably" Mary-Jane said with a hint of annoyance on her face as she rolled her eyes.
Absolute silence filled the room as Gwen pondered what exactly to say to this. Mary-Jane….knew Peter was Spiderman? All sorts of questions began to enter her head? How long had she known? How did she know? Did Peter tell her? If yes, why Mary-Jane and not her? Thinking of that made her feel a small sense of anger. Did Peter actually tell the redhead when he still had a crush on her? He must have told her a bit after the Fall Formal when she started to take more of an interest in Flash. She wanted to help Peter heal but the moment she got her hands on him, she was going to-
"And before you ask, no, Peter didn't tell me. I've known for about a year actually. I just never got around to telling him I knew" Mary-Jane said, supposedly sensing the jealousy in Gwen by the look of her face. She couldn't help but let out a grin at the numerous questions and theories she must have had in her head.
Suddenly, the anger that was in Gwen just moments ago turned into curiosity as well as relief. It was selfish and a bit childish…but she didn't want to be the odd one out by having her just find out by accident while every other female in his life was given the news by Peter himself….
After calming down a bit, she began to speak up once more.
"When…when did you find out?" Gwen asked, still a bit in recovery mode. She felt there was no point in trying to convince Mary-Jane that Peter wasn't Spiderman since she pretty much all but confirmed she 100% knew.
"I think it was on the day of his uncle's murder if I remember right. I saw him climbing out the window of his aunt's house in his Spiderman suit. I guess he was going after his killer, given that the news of some bank robber's capture was in the news the next day" Mary-Jane explained to the blonde.
Gwen took that in. It made sense. She remembered that night. It had been a horrible night. May was in shambles from what Peter told her and her dad came home late that night describing a strange way he found the person who had killed Ben Parker, dangling from a building from what appeared as some giant spider web. It had been that day in which the citizens of New York started to debate about some spider based superhero out there.
However, there was one other thing that she was curious about.
"So…when Peter took you to the Fall Formal, you-" Gwen asked and again, Mary-Jane began to answer her question without her finishing.
"I knew, yeah. It was one of the reasons why I wanted to go with him. I never met him but I couldn't help but get excited at the prospect of going out with a superhero. Then I got to know him as a person and he was smart, sweet, funny, a bit geeky but in a cute way. He was overall my kind of date" Mary-Jane said, flushing a little bit as she gripped the tissue paper in her hand a bit too tight.
Despite the confirmation, this did little to satisfy Gwen's curiosity. "Then…why didn't you want to go out with him after the Fall Formal?"
Mary-Jane sighed as she took in the question. After a few moments, she turned to Gwen with a small smile on her face.
"It was you" Mary-Jane told the blonde girl who just stared at her in confusion as she continued. "When we met at the formal after he ran off for a bit, I could tell you were into him. Hell, I could see you glaring daggers at me when I talked with you and Brock"
Gwen flushed, remembering that. She realized at that moment she could've been a bit more mature in their first meeting. Her jealousy could just turn her into a completely different person sometimes. She let Mary-Jane continue.
"And when I started talking about how Peter and I ended up going together at the formal, I noticed you looked really sad. I just wanted to hug you tight there" Mary-Jane said with a small laugh, causing Gwen to flush even more in embarrassment. "Then I realized that I was probably taking something that didn't really belong to me"
Soon, Gwen's embarrassment faded as she started to put the pieces together in Mary-Jane's explanation. "And then you decided to help me by giving me advice on how to explain my feelings to him?"
Mary-Jane nodded. "And vice versa with Peter"
Gwen was now beginning to understand. She couldn't help but grow an even deeper fondness as well as an appreciation she never had one of her closest friends before.
"So it had nothing to do with this 'free agent' stuff? You just wanted Peter and me to get together?" Gwen said, wanting some clarification.
Mary-Jane shook her head. "No, not really. That was just some lame excuse I gave to not get together with him…and Flash for that matter although that's for a completely different reason. When Peter wasn't going off fighting crime at the Formal, I absolutely adored him as a date. Hell, at the end of the date, I was about ready to take him to the nearest motel and-"
At that point, the redhead turned to the blonde who couldn't help but give her an annoyed look as well as a small glare. Mary-Jane quickly got the message and went into recovery mode.
"And give him a good long talk about how you should always wait until marriage to begin having sex. Abstinence, you know" Mary-Jane said with a nervous giggle, her face turning into the same color as her at this moment.
Gwen just rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine. You liked him but wanted him to get together with me. Alright…but why do you feel like it's your responsibility as to what happened? You said you should've done a better job in trying to get him together with me so I wouldn't have had to break Harry's heart? That doesn't make any sense. There was nothing you could've done"
Mart-Jane gave another silent moment before speaking once more. "It doesn't, I know…it's just…I don't know. I was practically giving him signal after signal to go out with you, especially at Rockefeller Center that one time. I told him to focus….but he was focusing on the wrong girl"
Gwen had to admit: that had hurt. The pain of again being reminded that Peter was not with her and would probably never be with her as well as the fact that she allowed herself to be duped by Harry after his father's funeral came back to haunt her. Again for what seemed like the thousandth, she cursed herself. However, it then made her grateful for both Felicia and Liz as much she hated to admit it. They were practically the perfect girlfriends for him…and that little fact hurt her even more. It made her wonder: What could she have to offer him that neither of them didn't have? She pondered on the question but quickly moved on. After a while though, she had to move on. She figured her friend needed comforting more than her right now.
"MJ….it was my own fault. I had a crush on him since the seventh grade. I had every opportunity to tell him how I felt but let my shyness overcome me. Even after years of crushing on him, I didn't even have the gall to ask him to the formal which I should've done from the very start…but no. I had to wait until I was with someone else completely to grow my confidence. Then I stayed with his manipulative ass even after he clearly used me to hurt the person I loved. If I hadn't…." Gwen said, taking a short pause before taking in a quick breath.
Mary-Jane noticed this and passed Gwen a tissue she previously gave to her. Gwen accepted it, thanked the redhead and wiped a few growing tears in her eyes as well as blew her nose.
"Anyway…it's probably better if we just stayed friends from now on. We can't keep doing this to each other. It's not fair to the other…that I found out the hard way" Gwen said, having slight PTSD from her coffee 'date' with Peter a few months back.
Mary-Jane, not knowing what Gwen was talking about, raised an eyebrow, curious what she was talking about. However, she figured that wasn't as important as the other thing she said.
"So…just stay friends? Are you sure you're going to be ok with that?" Mary-Jane asked, not entirely convinced of what she was saying.
Gwen just shook her head. "Whether or not I'm happy about it is irrelevant. What matters is Peter's mental health and he needs all the people he can get right now…including me. So…in the end…I think I'll be mostly ok with it"
Mary-Jane looked sadly at the girl. She knew she was saying it because she felt she had to…but she wasn't too sure of how sincere she was in actually saying it. People don't let go of feelings that easily. However, she knew she should keep to herself for now. There would be plenty of time for that later. Now, she needed to give this little blonde girl a hug…which is exactly what she did as she placed her arms around her and held her tightly. Gwen returned the hug as she too wrapped her arms around the other girl.
They stayed in that position for several minutes, not really knowing when the right time was to part. They figured it was the right time when Gwen's dad started knocking on the door.
"Gwen, shouldn't you be getting ready to go? It's getting close to the time you agreed to meet Peter and the others" George said from the other end of the door.
As they parted, Gwen looked towards the door. "Be right out, dad. I'm about to head out soon"
"Ok, good. Hey, uh, when you see Peter…give him my sympathies if you would" George said. Gwen couldn't see her father's face but she could tell it was rather somber which made her heart hurt more than it has that day.
Mary-Jane looked hopefully at Gwen. "So…what do you say? Can I tag along? You did say Peter needed all the support he could get and well…I am his friend, I think"
Gwen smiled. "Yeah, I don't think Peter would mind at all…but maybe keep the fact that you know his secret quiet for right now"
Mary-Jane nodded, agreeing with that 100%. She didn't really want to let Peter know he was terrible at keeping secrets. Not after all the pain he already suffered throughout the last few days.
They both stood up and walked out together from her room and soon out of their house, Mary-Jane already dialing up a taxi cab service. They were ready to give Peter the support he needed and that's exactly what they were going to do…whether he liked it or not.
Eddie looked himself in the mirror of his dorm room as he got dressed in his usual black jacket and white undershirt. He gave himself a hard look in the mirror. For the last few days, he felt that he was finally back to his normal life again. He was attending college, had his job back (For good, hopefully) and now he was in good relations with everyone again. Well…he didn't know about Felicia or Liz….or even Peter for that matter.
The young man knew he was sorry for going off on all of them at the lab…but he couldn't help but think Peter still held some ill feelings for him deep down and if he were being honest, he couldn't blame him. Everything that had happened the last few days were because of him. He chose to reunite with the symbiote, he made a deal with Harry to kill him and he didn't fight hard enough when the symbiote wanted to use May as a human shield. Knowing he'd have to live through this for the rest of his life was hard enough without Peter knowing all of this.
However, despite that, he knew he couldn't really be thinking about himself right now. Tonight was about getting Peter back into his right state of mind and grieve the right way, not by drinking himself to death.
When he was finally ready, Eddie was about to head out. However, just as he was about to, the door knocked. This caused Eddie to raise an eyebrow. No one ever knocked on the door and his roommate never forgot his key. This caused him to be a bit stressed out. Who exactly was here?
With the slightest bit of hesitancy, Eddie walked towards the door and opened it. He was surprised to say the least to see his bosses right before him.
Both Curt and Martha Connors were both there in their casual clothes which was a rare sight for them from Eddie's perspective. He was so used to seeing them in their lab coats that he often joked about the idea that it was attached to their skin. However, considering he wore the same clothes more often than not, he figured he wasn't one to talk.
"Hi, Eddie. Can we come in?" Martha asked the young blonde adult.
Eddie wanted to ask how they were able to get through the doors but he quickly reminded himself that they were professors here, not just scientists. They had special privileges although it was a curious sight to see teachers in a dorm at all.
"Oh uh, sure. Yeah. Of course" Eddie said, stepping inside and allowing them in before closing the door. "I uh…was expecting to see you at the Silver Spoon"
"We decided to make a visit before we left and thought we might head out together," Curt explained to his employee.
"Oh ok. Yeah, sure. We can do that. Billy's coming too?" Eddie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He's waiting downstairs for us in the dorm lounge. We wanted to have a moment with you alone for a few minutes" Martha said, setting herself down on the couch with her husband (After wiping it a bit. It was a boy's dorm room after all).
"Sure. What did you want to talk about?" Eddie said with a raised eyebrow, getting pretty curious right now.
Both Curt and Martha Connors looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Eddie who stood in the middle of the room, waiting for their response.