May

May Parker felt as if she had lived about 50 lives in her short amount of years on earth. She felt as though she had felt the sorrow of a million women but also the happiness. The ups in her life were sky high, but the downs went beyond rock bottom. They fell so quickly that it felt as though all the air had been knocked out of her by some giant unseen force that left her feeling weak and worst of all empty. The downs were always awful.

She had met Ben Parker young, she had married young and she had loved him with all his heart. Sometimes in the middle of the night, when she felt especially low, she wondered if she were to go back, would she still marry Ben. Would she still put herself through the hurt and the pain that she had felt?

The answer was, of course, yes. Yes she would put herself through the downs because after every down there was an up. An up so high that she just knew that it was worth it. She would rather live a life full of ups and downs that live through a life of indifference.

She married Ben young and they used to talk about kids. They decided if they ever felt like they were ready, or if they ever felt like they needed one so badly it hurt, they would have one. Four years after they married and they still didn't want a child but faith had something else written in the cards for them.

May would never forget the night. Curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine, Ben by her side. They had been watching some stupid film that had made the both of them giggle as they watched. She had felt so at piece in the little apartment they had made into their home.

And then the deafeningly loud knock on the door.

That was the turning point in Mays life. That's when it went from an almost dull life into the life she was used to. Where she felt like she couldn't truly enjoy something because the fall would be that deep.

Ben had answered the door and May didn't exactly hear the words but she could see the small figure standing behind the policeman, she could see the sorry expression and tone in the policeman's words. She could see Bens face whiten as he gripped the door for strength. And she knew. She just knew.

She doesn't remember much of the words said after that. A brief explanation of the deaths and then the attention turned to Peter. That was when Peter became their priority. When he became theirs.

Gaining guardianship of a small child in the same night as you lose your brother and sister in law would be tough on anyone.

May would never forget Peters cries as he stood by the door, red rimming his brown eyes crying for his mama and papa. Asking where they were. When they were coming back. How do you tell him never?

He would cry himself hoarse and when the noise would stop the tears would continue.

Then the nightmares began. Peter would scream himself awake, with big gaspy breaths looking around frantically for his parents. But they were never there.

That was when the obsession with being outside began. It calmed him down, sitting on the balcony until his breathing evened out and he stopped shaking.

When May asked him why he did it, he didn't really have an answer.

"Well, I know they're not in the apartment. But they're out there somewhere, and I'm closer to them from here." He had explained with a shrug. "I know they're gone, but out here, they're just less gone."

And so May left him to it.

And he grew up into a mannerly, polite boy that her and Ben were both unbelievably proud of.

She knew she couldn't have done it on her own. It was a joint effort on both their parts but she knew that Ben was an amazing father and he was so good with Peter.

But that December, everything changed. It started with Peter getting sick. Really sick. He had just gotten back from a school trip and suddenly he was throwing up left, right and centre. Dizzy spells and a fever. He couldn't keep any food or liquids down and May was sick with worry over him.

She and Ben stayed up all night sitting in his room taking his temperature and trying to get the fever under control with wet cloths.

And the next morning he was fine. Almost as if nothing had happened. But he had changed. May and Ben both noticed. He had far more energy and he would jump at the slightest thing.

She had meant to mention it to Ben but… she missed her shot.

The night she found out that Ben had died was a blur, as were the next few weeks. It was just eat, cry, eat, cry, sleep. Peter tried his best but there wasn't a lot he could do, especially with him grieving as well.

But life goes on as they did.

They fell into a routine and got their lives back on track to the best that they could. But it wasn't the same.

And Peter just ended up getting weirder. She would often hear his window opening in the dead of night but she just played it off as him needing to be outside after a bad dream like when he was younger.

He ate like a horse that had been starved. He was even jumpier and then Tony Stark, multimillionaire if not billionaire shows up at her front door and tells her, her fruit loaf is amazing. That was really what make her sure that there was a conspiracy going on around her. It didn't help that Peter looked like he had never heard of the grant before in his life.

But for the sake of piece May went with it. She was a bright women and she of course knew something was up, but she let it slide.

Until she walked in on her nephew dressed as Spiderman.

She swore, she admits it and she's not ashamed.

"Peter? Please tell me you're joking or that this is for Halloween or something!?" She asked but she knew. It wasn't for Halloween and to be honest it made a lot of sense.

"It's… em.. well… it's not mine. I'm… looking after it?" Peter said awkwardly knowing that May would never, ever believe him.

May took a deep breath trying to wrap her head around the concept.

"Sit down, right now. I'll put on the kettle on for tea and you will tell me everything. No lies. No bullshit. Just the truth. Understood?"

Peter nodded and he stuck to his word. He told her everything, right from the very beginning. The bite, him trying to figure out what he could do. The night with Ben and Tony Stark.

"I'm going to kill that man next I see him. He let you fight with the Avengers?" May asked anger rising in her voice.

"Don't be mad at Mr Stark, he took the suit away when he thought I was being irresponsible with it." Peter said and May calmed slightly. "But then I went out anyway without it and Liz's dad dropped a building on me so he gave it back."

"I'm sorry, he dropped a what on you?!"