"What can I even say to him?" Chun-Li Zheng asked herself quietly as she knocked on her neighbor's door. She began to wonder if she should walk away, but when May Parker answered the door, Chun-Li knew it was too late to run.

"Oh, Chun-Li!" May said with an authentic smile. "What a nice surprise!" Chun-Li could tell she had been crying recently – she had every right to – but all signs of sadness disappeared the moment the kindly older woman saw her teenage neighbor dressed in all blue.

"Hello, Mrs. Parker," Chun-Li greeted her shyly.

"Now, Chun-Li," May said with a playful grin, "I thought I told you to call me 'May'."

"Sorry, May," Chun-Li responded. Chun-Li swallowed her fear and asked, "Is… is Peter home?"

"I think so," May replied. "Why don't you come in and we'll find out?"

"Thank you, May," Chun-Li said as she entered the Parker home – a tiny, two-story house, complete with a kitchen, a dinning room, a living room, a bathroom, two bedrooms, a basement, an attic, and not much else.

"Peter!" May called up the stairs. "You have a visitor!"

"Be down in a minute, Aunt May!" Peter replied from his bedroom.

"Actually," Chun-Li said, "May, I'd like to talk to him alone, if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course!" May said excitedly. "You know your way to his room, right?"

"Yes, Mrs. P—yes, May," Chun-Li replied.

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything," May said before leaning to Chun-Li's ear and whispering, "Good luck."

Chun-Li wanted to know what she meant by that, but she decided it wasn't important at the moment. She walked up the stairs and headed for the first bedroom to the right: the one with the stereotypical "KEEP OUT" sign on the outside. Underneath the sign was a yellow sticky note that read, "Or at least knock first." Chun-Li smiled. She loved Peter's sense of humor.

Chun-Li closed her eyes to build courage and knocked on Peter's door… at least, she intended to. However, since Peter had opened the door, she instead knocked on Peter's forehead.

"Uh," Peter said, causing Chun-Li to open her eyes. "Hey, Chun-Li."

"Oh, my goodness!" Chun-Li said in horror and embarrassment. "I'm so sorry!"

"It didn't hurt, Chun," Peter said with a smile. "Don't worry about it. So, why are you up here, anyway? Was I taking too long?"

"No," Chun-Li said, "I just… I wanted to talk to you in private, so May said I could come up here."

Peter arched an eyebrow. "May said you could come to my room?" he asked. "Alone?"

Chun-Li rolled her eyes. "She knows I wouldn't do that," she said. "Can I come in?"

Peter stepped aside. "Mi bedroom is tu bedroom," he replied.

Chun-Li walked in and could immediately feel Peter's gaze on her. She knew what Peter was thinking and how he always felt about her. If Peter couldn't even hide his new-found Spider powers from her, there was no way Peter could hide his feelings from her. Chun-Li appreciated his feelings and wished she could find the right time to express her own.

Chun-Li sat on Peter's bed and patted the spot next to her, signaling Peter to join her, which he did. Chun-Li took his hands in her own.

"I'm very sorry about Ben," Chun-Li said.

Peter hung his head as his mood returned to depression, as it had been since his Uncle Ben was shot mere days ago. Ben had served as his father figure since before Peter could remember, and now he was gone.

"Thanks, Chun-Li," Peter said. "I… I just wish…" Peter held his tongue.

"What, Peter?" Chun-Li asked as she put her hand on his shoulder. "What do you wish?"

Peter looked at Chun-Li with watery eyes before hanging his head again. "I wish I stopped it when I had the chance," Peter confessed.

Confused, Chun-Li asked him, "What do you mean?"

"I could have stopped the guy who killed him earlier that night," Peter said. "I went to that wrestling thing—"

"Wait," Chun-Li interrupted, "you actually went there? I told you not to!"

"I know," Peter said ashamedly. "I needed the money, and ever since these powers activated… I got cocky, Chun-Li. I'm sorry."

Chun-Li decided to forgive him, if only so she wouldn't kick him while he was already down.

"The manager of the thing stiffed me on my payment," Peter continued, "so when he got mugged, I didn't stop the mugger… even though I had every opportunity to do so. Later that night, when I got home…"

Chun-Li put two and two together and realized. "The mugger killed Ben?" she asked.

Peter nodded before weeping again.

Chun-Li took Peter into her arms and let him cry on her shoulder. Peter tried a couple of times to stop – he didn't want to seem weak in front of her – but she knew he wasn't ready; Chun-Li would hold him back down to her shoulder and he would continue to weep.

When Peter was truly ready to stop, Chun-Li let him raise his head again. "Sorry about that," Peter apologized with a small, awkward smile. "It's… it's been a rough couple of days."

Chun-Li smiled at him. "Do you remember when my father died?" she asked Peter. Much like Peter's uncle, Chun-Li's father was murdered, in this case, on a summer-long business trip to her native home in China. Her father's killer was never caught, but it was thought to be by the international terrorist known only as Bison. Chun-Li was only ten years old.

"Yeah," Peter replied. "I remember."

"Do you remember how you comforted me?" she asked him. Peter shook his head. Chun-Li reminded him, "You came to my house every day for a month, bringing me cookies and brownies May would make. You'd play video games with me on good days, and you'd hold me while I cried on days that were… not so good."

"Oh, yeah," Peter recalled. "I think I remember that."

"Do you remember what you did on the last day before we went back to school?" Chun-Li asked him. Peter shook his head again.

Chun-Li leaned in. "Here," she whispered, "let me remind you." With that, she gently kissed his lips.

When the kiss was over, Peter asked, "I did that?"

Chun-Li giggled. "It was late, and you were tired, but yes, you did that. May can vouch for me."

Peter blushed. "I don't remember my first kiss," he said.

"But you remember your second," Chun-Li said about the kiss she had just given him. "And you're going to remember your third." She kissed him again, this time longer and bit more passionately.

When this kiss was over, Peter asked, "Does May know you were going to do this?"

"I suspect so," Chun-Li said. "She's been telling me to do it since that night."

"Aunt May is a wingman," Peter whispered to himself. Chun-Li laughed.

"I know you love me," Chun-Li said to Peter.

"Yeah?" Peter asked. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Chun-Li asked playfully.

Peter gulped. "Do you… do you love me?" he asked nervously.

Chun-Li leaned in and kissed him again. "Yes," she replied when she was done. Then she took Peter by the hand, stood up, and said, "Come on, baby. Let's go tell May the good news."

As Peter followed his new girlfriend, he reflected on how fast his life was changing, as well as how each change occurred. A radioactive spider bite gave him superhuman powers; a careless case of irresponsibility left him without an uncle; and now he had his first real girlfriend, and for the life of him, Peter couldn't figure out how he managed to hit the jackpot this hard.