"What the fuck?!"

Peter, still in his Spider-Man outfit sans mask, instantly spun around in shock only to see a very confused and angry aunt standing at his bedroom doorway. Trying to find an excuse for wearing such a thing, Peter said the first thing that came to mind.

"This is for the school play!" He shouted quickly, but lamely. Seeing the unimpressed, yet still irritated and bewildered look on his aunt's face, Peter sighed in defeat and slumped his shoulders knowing that he couldn't just lie to Aunt May. She would probably piece together everything anyway.

As if she could hear his thoughts, Aunt May spoke in a much softer tone, "So this is what you've been doing, huh? Coming home late, sneaking out at night, leaving Liz at homecoming…"

Seeing tears forming in her eyes, Peter tried to explain without making her cry. "Well… at least I'm not sneaking out to do dru-"

"What about the Stark internship that you had?" She interrupted. "I wonder, how many times have you skipped out on it just so you could go put yourself in danger?"

Peter looked at the ground, just trying to avoid his aunt's eyes. He could either tell her that this was the so-called "Stark internship" and make her dislike Mr. Stark even more, or he could lie to her. She deserves to know everything, he thought. With all that has happened in the last little while, Aunt May deserves the right to know more than anyone.

Looking back up at Aunt May, Peter took a deep breath and said, "Can you wait for me in the living room? I'll get changed and explain everything."

Without a word, his aunt nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

So much for having a secret identity, thought Peter, as he pushed the spider emblem on the front of his suit, and slipped out of the loosened material. He tossed his suit aside and changed into something a bit more casual. And so much for homecoming. Of course she had to bring up the fact that I ditched Liz, he thought as he slipped into a pair of jeans.

Peter grasped the doorknob and paused. Everything will be okay. Just please don't freak out May, Peter thought to himself, working up the nerve to spill everything.

"Okay, let's do this," he told himself quietly as he opened the door and walked into the living room.

That wasn't too bad, thought Peter, as he threw himself onto his bed. Aunt May seemed to have remained calm throughout his whole explanation of Spider-Man. He told her about the day he got bit by the spider, the discovery of his powers, his new suit, and the events that happened in the past few days, including the fact that Mr. Stark had asked him to join the Avengers.

Aunt May had remained quiet throughout the whole thing before she had asked quietly, "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Now, that was not an easy question. There were a hundred different reasons for why he didn't tell her about his alter-ego and another hundred for why he should have. But nothing scared him more than seeing his aunt heartbroken. They've both been there before, and Peter didn't know if either of them could experience that feeling again. If she knew it was him that swung from webs, fought criminals, and constantly put himself in danger, his aunt probably couldn't handle it, especially now.

So he had told her truth.

"I thought that maybe if I kept this a secret, you wouldn't have to worry about losing someone else. I couldn't stand the thought of you being so worried about me." Peter paused and sighed before continuing, "I also keep this a secret so I don't have to worry about losing the people I care about. If these criminals ever found out I was just a kid in high school that lives in Queens, there would be no way I could protect you, Ned, Liz, MJ, or anyone. I won't let anyone die because of me again."

Everything had been going smoothly up until that point.

Aunt May gasped and stared at Peter with wide eyes. Peter's face mirrored hers as he realized what he had just let slip. That information was something he wanted to keep locked away forever.

"Wh- what do you mean by th- that, Peter?" May questioned, her voice cracking.

Peter shut his eyes and realized there was no way around this now. It was his fault and his fault only that he put his aunt through so much pain. He thought there was no way she would ever forgive him if she knew the truth. But she had the right to know. Lately, he's been keeping too many secrets from her and that doesn't sit well for either of them.

After a long, tense silence he decided to bite the bullet and tell her what really happened that night nearly a year ago.

"Earlier that week, I managed to nail my chemistry final," began Peter, opening his eyes. "I told him about it and he wanted to give me some kind of reward for it, so we decided to go out for dinner that Friday. He seemed very pleased about how I had been doing in school." Peter paused, faintly smiling at the memory. "The week went by and I kind of forgot about it. When I was supposed to be meeting him, I was still at school, working on…" He hesitated, "working on my web shooter fluid. I had completely forgot about the dinner." Peter looked away, feeling ashamed for not remembering something so simple.

"He called me, and said that he was waiting outside the diner for me. I tried to explain to him that I had forgot about the dinner and that I was on my way, but he was pretty upset. He went on about how I should be accountable for my actions and have some sense of liability, then he hung up." Peter now had tears in his eyes. He continued, "I started walking home right after that, only to see a burglar run out of a store with a bag of cash in his hand. I wasn't feeling too great about myself after that phone call, so I- I didn't stop him." said Peter hesitantly, feeling ashamed.

"He told me something during that phone call that's stuck with me ever since. It's the reason I do what I do, so people don't have to meet the same fate as him. It's the reason I wear a mask and hide my identity from the world. He told me, 'with great power, comes great responsibility.'" said Peter, his voice hoarse. Sniffling, he continued, "That was the last thing he ever said to me before that very same burglar shot Uncle Ben on his walk back home."

Turning around on his bed, Peter dug his face into his pillow, remembering the look on her when he told her that. Seeing his aunt hurt is exactly the thing he had been trying to avoid the whole time.

Peter looked back up at May to see that she too had tears in her eyes. Peter felt many emotions hit him all at once, especially guilt, and he felt obligated to hug his aunt. He moved closer to her on the sofa and pulled her into and embrace. They stayed like that in silence for several minutes before Aunt May spoke.

"It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. It was just another obstacle in our lives that we had and still have to push through." May reassured. "Please don't think that I blame you for any of what happened." she whispered.

"Can't help it though," Peter choked out, still feeling guilty. He wasn't sure if he could ever shake that feeling. "I put him in that situation in the first place and if I had been there, nothing would have happened." Peter shut his eyes tightly and whispered, "I'm so sorry, May."

Aunt May sighed and pulled them out of their hug, and looked Peter in the eye. Though she had tears still covering her face, her lips formed a small, yet understanding smile. "Don't worry. I forgive you, Spider-Man."

As Peter thought back to their conversation, face still buried in his pillow, his phone buzzed in his Spider-Man suit. Jumping out of bed, Peter reached into his suit pockets, hoping that it was a text from Liz telling him how much she missed him. Oh wait, I don't have her number, he thought as he opened up his phone to see a text message from Ned.

'Hey'

Sighing at the simplicity of the text, Peter responded.

'Hey, what's up'

After a couple moments, Ned replied.

'I got suspended for 3 days'

Peter groaned, knowing full well that he would have to go to school with no one to talk to for the next couple days.

'That sucks :( What for?'

'Watching porn on the school computers lol'

Earning a chuckle out of Peter, he jokingly responded.

'What kind of porn?'

'Spider and vulture porn'

Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Peter answered.

'Wtf man'

A few seconds later Ned replied.

'Nah I'm jk. I was caught using the computers during homecoming while trying to help you out and had to come up with something'

Peter laughed for a few seconds before replying.

'Well I guess I'll see you at school in a few days'

With that, Peter threw his phone aside and stood up to get changed into his pyjamas. No sneaking out tonight, he thought, grateful that he didn't have to worry about Toomes anymore. He really wasn't looking forward to school without Ned tomorrow. Getting so caught up in his thoughts about school the next day, Peter almost didn't hear the knock at his door.

"Come in," he voiced, letting his aunt into the room as he finished getting dressed.

Aunt May walked into the room looking in a much better mood than before.

"I've come to a decision." she said, worrying Peter.

She's not gonna let me be Spider-Man anymore, was the first thought that came to Peter's mind. Suddenly getting desperate, Peter turned and pleaded, "Please don't take Spider-Man away from me; it's all I got."

His aunt merely smirked at him and replied, "What makes you think I'm making you quit Spider-Man?"

Peter looked at her in shock. "What?"

Aunt May smiled and said, "Look, I can't regulate everything you do because I know that wouldn't work anyway. You're a teenager!" Peter just rolled his eyes. "I can't say I'm fond of the idea of jumping between buildings and crashing airplanes, but I know that it's not in my power to stop you."

Not believing his ears, Peter blinked and dumbly repeated, "Wh- What?"

It was Aunt May's turn to roll her eyes. "I'm saying that I'm fine with you being Spider Man, it's a great use of your new powers. Though, I can't say I won't worry for you."

Peter seemed to snap out of whatever shock he was in, and practically jumped for joy, before hugging his aunt for the second time that day.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, th-"

"Alright, alright…" May said in amusement as Peter released her. "Although, I am going to put some restrictions your 'hero duties'." she said with a smirk.

Peter's mood barely shifted, he was already esthetic about the fact that Aunt May approved of Spider-Man.

"Okay, we'll discuss details later, but right now, I'm grounding you from Spider-Man for a week. No leaving the house except for school."

"Wait, wha- why?" questioned Peter, slightly taken aback.

His aunt's face shifted into a pointed look as she replied, "For keeping such a big secret from me! You had me worried that you were sneaking out to do normal teenage things, like drinking past your limits, doing drugs, getting lai-"

Deciding that was enough, Peter cut her off, "Well... I should probably be getting to bed. I've had a few late nights this past week," He joked sheepishly.

Giving him an understanding look, Aunt May said cheekily, "Alright, get some sleep Spider Man, you've got another Spanish quiz tomorrow."

She then reached down and grabbed him Spider-Man suit off of his bedroom floor and said "I'll be holding onto this until your week is up," before smirking and turning around.

With that, his aunt left the room, leaving Peter to his own thoughts. I can't believe it! She actually doesn't completely hate the fact that I'm Spider-Man! Thrilled about not having to give up his alter-ego, Peter started a celebratory dance around his room, before realizing he needing to use the bathroom before crashing for the night. Knowing that his aunt now knew about his powers, Peter decided use the ceiling to make his way to the bathroom.

A short few minutes later, after emptying his bladder and scrubbing his teeth clean, Peter opened the bathroom door to find his aunt waiting for him on the other side.

She gave him a funny look before saying, "I have one more question."

"Shoot," he replied.

"Who's MJ?"

Slightly confused about the seemingly random question, Peter answered, "Oh, that's Michelle. We're in a few classes together and she's the new captain of the decathlon team."

"Oh, I know who Michelle is," responded Aunt May, "I didn't realize you guys had nicknames for each other now," May gave him a cheeky smile and wiggling her eyebrows.

"N- no, it's not like that-"

"Oh yeah," May said, changing topics and seemingly not hearing him. "Liz moved away didn't she? That's why 'MJ' is the new captain, right?" asked May.

Peter cringed. "Yes…" he replied reluctantly. "Thank you for bringing that up." said Peter sarcastically, before muttering, "It's only my fault that Liz had to move away, and she doesn't even know."

Aunt May gave him a sad look before saying, "Stop blaming yourself for everything. It's not your fault that her dad was a bad person." In an attempt to cheer him up after seeing the unhappy look in his face, his aunt said, "Hey, there's plenty of fish in the sea! What about Michelle? You care about her don't you?"

"Yeah I guess could say tha- wait, what makes you say that?" questioned Peter, puzzled again.

Aunt May just slightly tilted her head at him. "You mentioned her on your 'list of people I care about', did you not?"

Knowing full well that he didn't like her that way, Peter did have to admit that Michelle was quite interesting. Her care-free personality, sarcastic attitude and odd behaviour made her different than most other girls. There was also some kind of mysteriousness about her too, though, she probably thinks the same about him. Peter wasn't even sure if Michelle was even her real name…

Peter realized he had been quiet for a couple seconds too long. "Yeah, but we're just friends, I guess…" he trailed off.

"Okayyyy," sing songed Aunt May, before changing the subject again. "Now, please don't tell me you did your business while you were up on the ceiling like that."

Grinning sheepishly, Peter removed himself from the ceiling and exited the bathroom, walking back to his room.

"G'night, May." said Peter automatically.

"Goodnight, don't let the bedbugs bite," Aunt May said in an amused tone before Peter closed his bedroom door and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. With a final roll of his eyes at that last statement, he flopped down onto his bed, ready for his first good night's sleep in a while.

Despite how stressful the day was, it was a lot off of his chest and Peter couldn't feel more relieved.

Now for the most boring week of my life, Peter thought as he drifted off into a world of web slinging and crime fighting.

Hope you're enjoying so far! This actually happens to be my first fan fiction ever, so I would appreciate it if you guys could leave some feedback. I'm no expert on Spider-Man, so please forgive me for any mistakes I may make in this story. Now, this will be a multi-chapter story of about 10, so I'll try to update every couple days. Also, feel free to correct me on any spelling and grammar errors so I can fix them as soon as possible. Thanks!

Btw, I put Mary Jane as a character because she basically Michelle, as revealed at the end of Homecoming