It had been months, almost about a year since the fight atop the Statue of Liberty. Peter Parker: "The Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man", found himself back in his apartment, lying on the cold hard mattress of his bed at 4 am, feeling completely and utterly exhausted. As he stared up at the ceiling, his ever-frantic mind began to wander. He thought about his day, though whether it was today, yesterday, or the day before, he couldn't tell, as every day just seemed to blend after a while. He remembered job hunting around the city, he remembered stopping the average petty crook, saving the occasional citizen, or preventing a near disaster or two (nothing as bad as the incident on the ferry, but still). He remembered the constant verbal whip lashings he had received on two fronts, courtesy of that blowhard J. Jonah Jamerson.

He hated Jamerson, he really did. Whether it was because he didn't pay him nearly as much as he should for his exclusive pictures and videos as Peter Parker or the endless downpour of slander he had suffered at his hands as Spider-Man. Part of him even wanted to hate him for his current state of affairs. He wanted to blame him for broadcasting Beck's doctored video (which was what started this whole mess) and he wanted (so much) to blame him for planting that awful seed of guilt that has been eating away at his mind ever since he watched the report he made right after May's death. Which arguably, was what lead him down this path in place, but Peter thought better of it. He knew that not all of it was entirely JJ's fault, most of all his current state of isolation and loneliness. He made his decision 'You made your bed,' Peter thought to himself 'now he must lay in it, literally. God that was awful.' he cringed as he chuckled to himself. "Man," Peter said aloud "a quip like that is a far cry from one of Mr. Star…" he paused, desperately trying to fight back the tears. 'What would Tony think of him now, seeing him in this sorry, pathetic state?' he began to think, and as he did, Peter's mind flashed back to May's death. He didn't realize it until just now, but the way May's body laid and leaned against the rubble, along with the fact that the two of them were surrounded by fiery debris, her death was a near-exact re-enactment of Tony's (almost as if fate wanted to remind him of another one of his greatest failures). It was then that Peter sat up from his bed to look around at his shitty (practically barren) apartment, he just wanted to cry, to curl himself into a ball and cry.

He began wishing for someone (anyone) to talk to, 'Wishing, now that's what really got us into this mess.' Peter thought, desperately trying to force even a smile out of himself. He began to think of everyone he'd ever cared about in his life and lost along the way: his parents, Ben, Tony, May, Happy, Mr. Delmar and Murph, even Flash and Mr. Harrington. And then, as his guard was down, he began to think of…them. The one bright light in this sea of darkness, though he had kept his distance, Peter had begun frequenting that little coffee shop almost every day. He thought of Ned, his best friend, his "Guy in the Chair", who he always saw as the brother he never had. He remembered his motormouth, his incessant questions after he found out he was Spider-Man. He remembered their shared love of science and tech, of old movies like Star Wars, of MMORPGs, of Lego as he stared at the Emperor Palpatine minifig that he had still kept with him after all this time. And as his mind wandered, he thought of…her. He could still remember her observant, inquisitive yet standoffish nature, her deadpan and sarcastic, snarky attitude, her love for the macabre, her brilliant mind, and her equally sharp wit. But he remembered (and cherished) most was just the way they could make each other feel, how when they were together, the whole world almost seems to fall away, and how they can just be so open with one other. 'Not open enough it seems, god I'm such an idiot!' Peter thought.

He should've kept his promise, he should've given her the letter and helped them remember everything they've been through the moment he had first walked back into their lives. How Peter longed to see them again, to hang out like they used to, to have them hold him in their arms. He missed them so much, he missed her so much. He missed feeling her tight embrace, the feeling of her smooth light skin against his when they held hands, the scent of her curly auburn hair, the warmth of her beautiful and equally rare smile, the loving look of her beautiful hazel eyes, and the gentle, tender touch of her lips against his. "MJ" Peter murmured as he sobbed out her name.

Just then, Peter was stirred out of his depression by a knock on the door. As he dried his redden eyes, Peter wondered who would be looking for him at this hour? When he opened the door, he was surprised to find who it was that was knocking, "Oh, hi Michelle." Peter said as he greeted his somewhat amnestic former girlfriend. As she asked to let into his apartment, Peter could have sworn that (for the briefest second) MJ's face had made a slight grimace, "What are you doing here?" he inquired. As MJ answered, her eyes darted all over the place and she was stuttering, her speech was frantic, almost manic "Oh…y-you know, I just wanted to see to how my f-fa-favorite customer w-was doing." "At nearly 5 in the morning?" Peter asked. "Yeah, so…how are you? You good, are you good?" responded the anxious girl. Peter, now deeply worried about MJ's wellbeing replied, "Are you okay? Maybe you should lay down, while I get you some water." As Peter turned his back to grab her a glass, he felt his "Tingle" suddenly go off as he caught the lone projectile that was going to hit his head. When he turned around, he was surprised to find that what he caught was a bagel, but what shocked him even more was seeing who threw it. "I knew it," MJ said as tears threaten to stream down her face. "Michelle wait, I can explain…" said Peter as he desperately tried to not blow his cover. "Don't lie to me, Peter!" MJ finally snapped "Not again." 'Again' Peter thought as he worked up the nerve to enquire further, hoping that he didn't mishear her "You remember?" MJ nodded as she replied, "Yeah, I do." "But how and for how long?" Peter asked, "About a month or two." MJ answered, her eyes a mixture of anger and sorrow "I told you I'd figure it out. Like I said, I did it before, and I can do it again." And for the first time since Liberty Island, MJ felt so small to Peter as she crumpled into herself. As Peter instinctively when to comfort her, MJ immediately flinched away from him, "Don't touch me, I'm still mad at you!" "I know," said Peter, "And what was with all that Michelle crap, huh?! I mean, how stupid do you think I am?!"

Peter now wrecked with guild replied, "MJ, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry that I…" "What, broke your promise? Lied to both Me and Ned, again?! God damn you, Peter." MJ interjected, mad but clearly hurt. Peter lowered his head as he tried to explain, "I'm sorry. It's just when I saw how happy you and Ned were when you both got into MIT and that bandage on your forehead after the fight…" he then paused as he heard MJ crying, he looked up to see tears cascading down her beautiful face. As he once again tried to comfort her, MJ raised her fists to weakly beat into his chest. "You…idiot," she sobbed "you selfish, selfless, big-hearted idiot!" After he let her melt into his arms, Peter finally spoke after what seemed like forever, "I'm sorry MJ, I didn't mean to hurt you." MJ then pulled back to look him in the eye, "Well, you did. You just had to have this ridiculous notion that you have to be the hero all on your own? That it's somehow all just your responsibility." "MJ I… I was just trying to protect you guys", said Peter. "No, what you did wasn't selfless or you protecting us. It was selfish and stupid! We could have been helping you and I know that people need you, but don't you know how much we need you, too? How can you just leave me behind?" MJ incidentally let slip.

As she and Peter stood there in stunned silence, MJ finally spoke again, "How could you leave us, Peter?" She asked as she attempts to wipe away the tears. "I mean, I know Ned and I got into MIT like we wanted but, we were just so lost without you. Every day, for nearly a year we both felt this sharp pain in our chest. This unshakable feeling of just grief and sadness, and we didn't know why." Peter then asked, "So does Ned, know too?" "No", replied MJ, "thought you should tell him yourself. I'd also thought to spare him the potential disappointment on the slight chance I was wrong. But since I'm so used to it, I thought, 'what do I've got to lose?'" "I'm so sorry, M…" Peter began to say as he embraced her, "Don't," MJ said, stopping him from apologizing again. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I get why you thought that you had to leave; I really do. So why do I still feel this way? I'm so sad and angry and hurt!" Peter then spoke up, "I love you more than anything. You and Ned… you're all I have left. I thought about you every day when I put on the suit and every night when I went to sleep, I would lie awake missing you so much it would ache". "I should be mad", MJ said, "I should furious with you! But I can't, God damnit I can't! As much as I want to hate you for what you did! I just can't…" she sobbed.

"I love you, Peter Benjamin Parker" she murmured as she shut her eyes tight and nuzzled into the warmth of her soulmate's hug. "I love you too, MJ." Peter wept. "And I swear, I will never hurt you guys like that ever again, especially you." MJ looked him in the eye again as she spoke "You better", she smiled as she made her faux threat, "because I'll hold you to that promise this time. And if you break this one, I'll kick your ass. I swear I will and I don't care if you lift 5 tons." "10 actually." Peter sobbed out as he smiled. "God, you're such a dork." MJ chuckled as she and Peter collapsed onto the floor and held each other after what had seemed like an eternity.