Chapter 2: Sharpie

MONDAY EVENING

That evening they spent their time tinkering with Peter's suit, munching on pizza, and talking about anything and everything that came to their minds. They lost track of time in their fun and probably would have gone on all night if Peter hadn't said something. Although he dreaded leaving, he knew that he had to go home eventually. He had school the next morning and he needed to leave anyway so May wouldn't be worried.

Peter finished with the wires and hid them back in the fabric of the suit.

"Thanks so much for letting me help and for upgrading my suit, Mr. Stark." said Peter, packing up his bag and sweater to leave.

"I had a lot of fun."

"Anytime Spider-ling, you know I love to work on this kind of stuff.", Mr. Stark responded nonchalantly.

"I know, Mr. Stark, but still. You don't have to. It's not like, an obligation or anything."

"Pete, no one can force me to do anything. I do whatever I want. And if I want to work with you, I will. If I didn't, you wouldn't be here."

And it as true, but affection coming from Mr. Stark was weird and foreign and most of the time he wasn't sure how to respond.

"Um… thank you?", he mumbled confusedly.

"You're welcome. Now, get out of here, Aunt Hottie won't wait forever."

Peter grimaced. Every time Mister Stark made a flirtation towards his Aunt, it grossed him out.

"Ew, don't talk about my aunt like that, she's my aunt. It's nasty."

"Excuse me, it's not my fault your aunt is smokin'."

"Nope! I'm leaving! Bye, Mr Stark!" Peter called, starting to walk towards the elevators.

"You could toast marshmallows on that ass!" Tony yelled in jest back from the lab.

"LA LA LA LA LA!" sang Peter back, trying to cover up the sound of Tony's flirtations, his voice getting more distant as he grew closer to the elevators.

Tony laughed at their antics, a massive grin on his face. Man, he loved that kid.

"Thanks for the ride, Happy!" Peter told the man after exiting the sedan once more, this time in front of his and May's apartment.

"Yeah, yeah," replied Happy- already pulling away from the curb.

As soon as Happy was out of sight, he ducked into the closest alleyway and put on his newly upgraded Spider man suit. It might have been late on a school night, but crime never took a rest and he definitely wasn't ready to go home yet.

"Hello, Peter" Greeted the built in AI.

"Hey, Karen!" He exclaimed back.

"Any crime around?"

"Not at the moment, Peter."

Well then… apparently it did rest.

"Okay, keep me updated, please."

He webbed his backpack to the closest wall and scaled it. Once on the roof, he took a deep breath of the polluted Queens air. Finally, home at last. Then, he stuck a web to the nearest building he could still swing from.

'Time to save some pedestrians!' He thought cheerily.

He saved 1 cat from a tree. 'Just like in the movies!' He thought to himself. Walked an old man across a busy street, preformed two flips and stopped one car from smashing into another with just his hands. He hoped that saving their lives from imminent death would be enough to cover pushing a dent into the hood of their truck- because he definitely could not afford that. He swung away before they got out of the car, just in case. He could see the headlines now, 'COUPLE TAKES SPIDER-MAN TO COURT'. Yeah, that would go over well.

At 1 am, Peter decided to call it a night. He had school tomorrow, well, technically today; and he couldn't afford to miss the chemistry notes, otherwise, he'd really get a C on the next quiz. He swung home and pulled on his bedroom window, but it was stuck. He tried again; it didn't budge.

"That's weird…" he said to himself into the very early morning air.

He pulled at the window again, but it still wasn't moving. He didn't want to try to pull the window up again, lest he break its frame. He moved his hands around the edge of it, maybe he could find another way in? Perhaps it was just stuck. However, upon inspecting it closer, he realized it had been locked from the inside. May had locked his window while he was out. She had locked him out. He never locked his window for this exact reason. He didn't want to be stuck outside. Imagine if he didn't have his backpack, he'd have to walk up to the door dressed as Spider-man! That would ruin his secret identity. Anyone who was nearby would know where the vigilantly lived. He couldn't jeopardize May's life like that.

Peter was shocked, he couldn't get into his own apartment. He jumped down from the second story window, feeling slightly annoyed. It looked like he would have to use the front door. At 1:15 am, he would have to wake Aunt May and ask to be let in. He looked around for his backpack and found it still stuck to the wall where he had left it. He pushed the emblem on his chest and the suit unstuck to him. He removed the suit and his mask and put them both into his bag. Then put on his school clothes-a button down with a blue sweater over top, jeans, and his sneakers. He looked like his regular-self again. He felt kind of guilty for having to wake up and make May answer the door so late, but not so guilty because she locked his window in the first place. He pushed the call button next to the name Parker, written in scratchy pen.

"Hello? "he questioned into the microphone embedded in the wall.

No answer. He tried again.

"May? Are you awake?"

Nothing but static.

"May?"

Still nothing.

"Hello? Aunt May."

"Hello?" she responded tiredly. "Who's this?"

"May! It's me, Peter!" he told her. "I was...out...with Ned. And now I can't get back in. Can you unlock the door?"

"Who's this?"

"Peter?"

"Look kid, I don't know what you want, but I think you have the wrong house."

Peter frowned, and double checked the nameplate on the button, Parker was still written there, and this was his apartment building. What was May doing?

"Uh, May? It's me, Peter, your nephew?" he said, becoming less confident and more nervous.

"Peter?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know any Peters."

"I—" he cut himself off and tears welled up in his eyes. What was going on? May didn't recognize him? What happened to her? Was she in trouble? She sounded fine. Was she still angry with him? Was she really stooping to this level? How could she do this?

"Peter Parker, May. Your nephew. Your only nephew. Aunt May, it's me. Let me in, I want to come in."

"Please leave or I'm going to have to call the police."

The tears began to fall, "Aunt May?"

There was no answer, the static was gone and he fisted his hair in panic. This wasn't fair. What was he going to do? If May was ignoring him, this was too far. She couldn't just leave him out here! How would he survive on his own? He didn't have any money! He would be homeless if she never let him in. His mind spun as he overthought himself into a panic. Oh, god. What was he going to do? Where was he going to go? How long would he have to stay out here? How long was he going to be on his own? He couldn't even make his own doctor's appointments let alone live on his own.

The panic really beginning to set in as he began to quietly sob and curled up in front of the apartment complex's door. The tears rolled down his cheeks and splashed onto the concrete leaving tiny splatters. He put his head in his arms.

His own aunt didn't recognize him: or she was pretending not to. Either way, it was a distressing realization. How could she do this to him? If he didn't have Aunt May, then who was left? No one.

He pulled his phone out, the tears still falling, and tried to call her. Maybe she would answer her phone. He was immediately thrown to voicemail. He tried three more times, each time getting the same result and getting more and more distressed. When he finally realized it wasn't working, he texted Ned.

Peter: Ned? U up?

He typed shakily and Ned, the best friend ever, answered promptly even at one am.

Ned: Hey Pete whats up?

Peter: May won't let me in

Ned: What? What are u talking about?

Peter:The apartment im locked out

Ned: Did you try the window?

Peter: Yes it was locked

Ned: That's weird did you lock it

Peter: No why would i

His tears were starting to lessen now that he was talking with his calm friend.

Ned: What about the front door

Peter: i tried that! May wont let me in she said she wont I tried everything idk what to do pls help

'Ned is calling…' his phone told him. He answered.

"Peter, what do you mean she won't let you in?" asked Ned in lieu of greeting. Whatever composure Peter had gained by texting his friend completely crumbled the moment he heard his friend's concern. He began to sob again, his tears falling quicker. On the other side of the phone, Ned panicked, Peter was crying! Peter didn't cry in front of him- he was pretty reserved about that kind of stuff even after all of these years. Peter hiccuped and Ned was shaken from his shock.

"Peter?! Dude, what's going on?"

"She won't-! I tried to call through the buzzer, but she won't open the door! She pretended like she didn't even know me! What am I going to do, she's everything I have. I've been sitting out here since 1 AM, what if she never wants to see me again? What am I gonna do? I'll be homeless, I'll have to live on my own! I'll have to drop out of school! Where will I even go? I don't even have any money for food." he said between sobs. He was almost hyperventilating at this point.

His face felt warm and his hands felt clammy, but the tears kept rolling, he briefly thanked whoever was up there that no one was out walking at this time to witness his breakdown.

"Calm down, dude, breathe."

Peter tried to breathe, but it came out shakily.

"I think I'm having a panic attack." he said with a sob.

"You'll be okay. Assess the situation. Breathe. Tell me what's going on and i'll help you. Start from where you are. " Said Ned.

Peter did so.

"I'm sitting on the steps outside. M—May won't let me in the apart—apartment."

"Right, and?"

"And I'm talking to you. On-on the phone."

"Right, and if you need to, you can come over. I'm sure my mom won't mind."

Peter felt the turmoil in his mind calming, he took a deep breath. He wasn't alone, he had Ned. He could crash at Ned's if he had to. He was fine. His crying had calmed down to the occasional sniffle.

"You'll be OK, man. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, Ned. I owe you, one." He wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"No, you don't, dude. Just being a decent human being," replied Ned.

Peter gave a watery chuckle at that.

Suddenly, the buzzer crackled, and May's voice emanated from the speaker. He dropped his phone onto the concrete steps whirling around, cracking the glass on the steps. But, he didn't care as he and scrambled up to the noise stumbling past the smashed phone and to the speaker. He wiped his face on his sleeves.

"What's the magic word, Peter?"

He hesitated.

"…Please?"

The door unlocked.

TUESDAY

He woke up the next morning with a splitting headache due to all the crying last night. He brushed his teeth, avoiding his puffy, blotchy, complexion in the mirror and got ready for school—slightly afraid of running into May. Since the incident last night, he hadn't seen her and to be honest, he really didn't want to either.

He walked into the kitchen to look for breakfast and opened a cabinet to find the cereal. He grabbed a box and set it on the counter next to a bowl and spoon. He was about to pour some of the sugary cereal into the plastic bowl when he noticed something.

Written in bold black letters on the side of the cardboard box was the name MAY. Like she had laid claim to the cereal. He took out the other box of cereal and the same thing was written on it. He opened the fridge and everywhere he looked: MAY, MAY, MAY, MAY. She had written her name on every food item in the kitchen in bold, black sharpie letters.

There was a note attached to the fridge. He pulled it off and began to read.

Peter,

Anything with my name on it, belongs to me. Eat lunch at school.

-May 3