"I know we all think that we're immortal. We're supposed to feel that way, we're graduating."

I remember what it was like; to feel as if you would live forever. I never thought that it would end like this, I never thought that it'd end so soon. My whole life I had never appreciated the little things like I should have, but then again, nobody ever does. People always tend to take advantage of the small things, don't they? Like how the sunlight shines through the windows in the morning, as if it was greeting you as you awoke from your slumber. Or when raindrops come showering down onto a tin roof it seems as though they're whispering only the sweetest secrets into your ear.

"The future is, and should be, bright."

I had expected to go live a long and happy life, much like the ones in movies, before today. It was like my life was finally falling into place. I was going to live out my life long dream at Oxford studying molecular biology. Peter was going to come along with me, thinking that there was enough crime in England to make up for New York. That was until Harry Osborn snatched me up into his arms and suspended me thousands of feet in the air above New York City, only to be released so I could perish at the bottom of a clock tower.

I was going to make a name of myself, you know. Gwendolyn Maxine Stacy - or perhaps, Parker, one day - was going to be a name that people would remember. I had planned to do great things for humanity, and who knows, maybe I would've been the one to discover the cure for cancer?

So when Peter had asked if I was okay, I subconsciously shook my head no. It was like my body knew. It knew that the inevitable was near. Because in that moment my limbs felt numb with terror whilst I was trying my absolute best to avoid the penetrating sense of hopelessness. I pushed the fear that was building up within me to the side whilst jumping from gear to gear. Above me was Spider-man and Harry Osborn in full on combat, but I couldn't focus on who was winning while trying to keep my balance.

But I felt a sudden tug in my gut that told me it wasn't Peter.

"But, like our brief four years in high school, what makes life valuable is that it doesn't last forever."

I should have appreciated the damn little things.

I shouldn't have waited until I was suspended hundreds of feet in an abandoned clock tower with the only thing keeping me alive dangerously close to breaking. My sweaty hands gripped onto the webbing as I watched intently at the two going at it above my head. Those special moments didn't last forever, I don't know why I ever let myself believe that they did. The sinking feeling in my gut deepened as the seconds ticked by, the small thread between life and death threatening to snap with each 'click' of the gear.

Why did I over-look all those days at Madison Square Park having cook outs with my family? Why did I ever let those mornings spent laying in bed with the love of my life slip right through my fingers? I remember all those times when I blew off the opportunity to spend the day with my brothers; I always thought there'd be more. I don't want to leave them, not now. Not so soon after the loss of my father. I don't want to abandon my mother - not after all she's been through.

And Peter. I can't leave Peter. God, I can't leave Peter like this. Not like this, not after finally getting to be with each other. Why does my path have to come to a dead end so soon? Why were we always kicked off each other's paths? This can't end, I won't let it end.

"What makes it precious is that it ends. I know that now more than ever."

I felt adrenaline running through my veins as I centered my attention on Peter's foot. It was being pulverized by the gears as they threatened to move, but he held on - for me. Because he knew, he knew that with just one more turn I would be plunging to my ultimate death.

This all felt so unreal; that only a little less than an hour ago I was standing on top of the Brooklyn Bridge in Peter's arms as he told me that he'd follow me everywhere. Maybe that was the last time I'd have his arms wrapped around me, maybe that was the last time we'd exchange any words or passionate kisses. Maybe, just maybe.

There were a lot of possibilities, but I couldn't keep my mind from wandering back to the worst.

"And I say it today of all days to remind us that time is luck; So don't waste it living somebody else's life."

Time ticked on and on. I could hear the seconds ticking by in my head, the clicking and clacking of the gears burned into my mind. The tempo seemed to speed up before the beating of my heart was almost deafening to my ears. I felt a bead of sweat drip down my face from my forehead as my pulse quickened from the adrenaline. I never felt as helpless and small as I did within those few minutes. I prayed silently to myself that any second now I would be safely in his grasp, because Spider-man was a hero. He always caught people when they fell. Peter always caught me when I fell.

I wished that I'd have just a few more moments with him, just a few more moments to let myself drown within his big brown doe eyes. Because I knew that my downfall was just a couple more seconds away. If only I hadn't been so reckless and stupid; I'd be able live out the life that I've always wanted.

But for some reason I didn't care. I no longer regretted crashing a police car into Max Dillion and saving Spider-man's life. I didn't regret risking my life by staying in OSCORP eight minutes longer to get the antidote that saved the entire city. I didn't regret letting myself not only get into the life of Peter Parker, but Spider-man. I would do it all over again if I could. I would choose the exact same path, even if that meant that it would be cut a little bit short.

"Make yours count for something."

There was an ear-splitting click that bounced off the tower walls as the gears came crashing together. Before I even had a second to wrap my head around what was happening, the cable that I was gripping so tightly snapped. I tilted my head up once I began plummeting to the concrete at what seemed like a thousand miles per hour. My terror filled eyes locked onto the honeycomb shades covering Peter's on the crimson mask.

Everything was over. My life, my future. It was gone. Oxford was gone.

I closed my eyes as I drowned in the reality of my certain death. Oh, how I wished I had just a little bit longer. I begged God that this was all just a nightmare, and at any moment I would open my eyes and wake up in my bedroom with Peter by my side. It was like every inch of my skin was burning with the penetrating fear that ran through my veins as I kept spiraling into oblivion.

"Fight for what matters to you, no matter what."

I opened my eyes only to be disappointed to see that I was still in that old clock tower, with Peter's figure getting smaller as I fell. My eyes glimmered with tears whilst I watched as Spider-man dove towards me. Memories flooded my mind as he launched himself off of the broken gear, with pieces of metal flying in front of my vision.

Time seemed to stop as I sky-rocketed towards the concrete waiting below. I no longer heard the ticking of the clock above me. There was nothing but silence as Peter shot a web from his wrist. His bio-cable fired towards me in, what seemed like, slow-motion. A hint of hope flashed through my eyes as the web slipped past chunks of broken pieces of metal.

I kept my gaze locked on Peter's figure as he desperately flew down to save me. I wished that I could've screamed out one last 'I love you' as my green jacket flapped with the fierce wind against my skin. Golden locks of my hair whirled around my face the moment that I finally accepted the certain darkness that I was rapidly falling into.

I was only a few more yards from the ground when Peter's web latched itself onto my abdomen. How I longed to see his face one last time, and not the mask of his alter-ego that was the only thing in my vision. I forced a watery smile to my lips as I locked my eyes with his that were hidden one last time and mouthed an 'I love you' that he couldn't of possibly seen with a piece of the broken gears obstructing our view.

"Because even if we fall short, what better way is there to live?"

I was cheated, cheated out of the years that I could've spent happily with the boy who taught me how to love. But it was me who had shortened my life by what could have been a hundred years. This was my path, this was my choice. All of this was my choice.

So when that web tightened, the last thoughts that flashed through my mind were the memories of before I met Peter, when I met Peter, and every moment after I met Peter. That first rooftop kiss, the unexpected kiss at graduation, that almost kiss in the park, along with the startling one in the broom closet, and finally the last kiss. On top of the Brooklyn Bridge. Somehow I knew that was going to be the end, even before I was dropped into that clock tower. Although I hated the idea of drifting off into endless oblivion, I finally accepted the inevitable for what was the last second of my life.

Crack.

Then finally, the clock began ticking again.

Author's note: I needed closure.