The next morning, Kate skips out on going to MJ's shop for obvious reasons. Instead, she goes to work, picking up a shift to have something to do. She finds it difficult to focus on her work; emotions still run high. She's angry at MJ, for not letting her have Peter. Kate decides that this is toxic, and that she needs to cut off ties with MJ.

Then there's the good emotion, the ecstasy from the night with Peter. He's kind. He's nice. Funny. Charming. But her mind asks, was that Peter the person? Or Peter the flirt? If it was the person, then great, he's a good guy. If not, she has concerns about Peter's character. She wants to go out with him again, dive deeper into who Peter Parker is. However, after first impressions, she thinks she's in love. She loves Peter. However, she checks herself; she's never been in love before, so she doesn't know how she feels because she doesn't know what TO feel.

Another call to Clint is in order.

She calls Clint and waits a good five rings before he finally picks up.

"Yeah, Kate?" Clint greets.

Somewhere where Clint is, Kate hears Lila say sarcastically, "OH, are you talking to your OTHER daughter?"

Kate fake-gasps. "Am I your other daughter, Clint?"

"Lila seems to think so," Clint says. "Everything okay? Are you calling for more love advice?"

"Maybe?" Kate replies. "I don't know. The thing is, Peter Parker invited me over to his apartment, and it was awkward, and—"

"You didn't do anything you weren't supposed to," Clint interrupts, "did you?"

"Of course not," Kate responds, "we just hung out and played video games and talked. He seems pretty nice. I really like him. Like, genuinely."

"So, what do you need me for?" Clint asks.

"How do I know if I'm in love?" Kate asks bluntly.

Clint chuckles. "Kate, it's just one date or evening or whatever the kids call it these days."

"We call it date," Kate interjects.

"Point is," Clint goes on, "I don't know what to tell you. One date's hardly anything to go off of. You've gotta get to know him. Did you get to know him?"

"On the surface, yeah," Kate says, "but nothing deep, ya know?"

"Learn more about him," Clint advises. "Like, deeply. Then you'll know."

"You sure?" Kate sounds skeptical.

"No," Clint says honestly. "I'm just one person. Maybe ask Jack? This is the best I can give you."

"Maybe I should," Kate muses. "Thanks, Clint."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Clint hangs up.

With that in mind, Kate is surprisingly settled. She is going to try to find Peter again and really get to know him. But maybe she should get some advice from Jack first, just to be sure.

At around 11:15AM, Peter goes back to the coffee shop, hopeful that Kate is there so he can see her again. As he walks by, he peeks in the window. At this time, no one is inside; there's not even anyone tending to the counter. After weeks without interaction, a desperate Peter goes inside and sits down at the counter, hoping that, by some marvel, Kate might show up. He goes on his phone and tries to find Kate online, trying Instagram first. He finds her, but hesitates on following her. He wants to be with her, but again, he is super cautious about bringing harm to her, or even risking it.

In the physical world, with a customer having shown up, someone has to tend to the counter. Of course, that someone is MJ.

Coming out of the back on her phone, MJ says professionally, "Hi, what can I get for you?" She puts the phone in her pocket and looks at her customer, just now seeing that it's Peter.

When Peter heads MJ's voice, he looked up from his phone. For the longest moment, MJ and Peter's eyes lock. While MJ sees just a boy she has a big crush on, Peter sees the girl he loved, the girl he went through everything with. He sees deeply into MJ's hidden memories, but his own image in her eyes is reflected shallowly.

Peter manages to stammer, "I'll… uh… uh…" He wants what he cannot have, and has what he does not.

"Yoooou good there?" MJ asks.

"Uh… yeah," Peter says, feeling hot. "I'm… fine." He remembers the reason he is there in the first place. "Is, uh, the girl that was here yesterday," Peter asks shyly, "the girl you were talking with, was she here today?"

"Kate?" MJ asks, as if Peter would know.

"Yeah, Kate," Peter responds. Hearing her name again,

"She wasn't here today," MJ says. "Good thing, too, because I would've beaten her up. Sorry, just…" She looks Peter in the eyes. "…boy problems."

"Boy problems?" Peter echoes.

"Yeah," MJ says. "What did you need her for?"

Peter shakes his head. "Nothing."

"Same," MJ sighs.

"It's just—" Peter says, ignoring MJ's comment, "we hung out last night, and I was so STUPID. I don't even know how to find her online. I mean, I could probably find her, but I don't want to, it's just… it's
complicated."

"Don't waste your time on her," MJ remarks, still sore over her argument with Kate. "She may act like she has your back, but at the end of the day, she's just gonna look out for number one."

"Oh," Peter reacts. He trusts MJ, because he's known her before, even if she doesn't remember. "That's… not good."

MJ sees her chance. She tries to act and sound natural. "Yeah," she chuckles, grabbing a rag and wiping down the already-clean counter. "You might as well go out with me."

Peter's heart jumps. This is his chance to get back with MJ, to maybe explain everything. But the last time they were together, MJ got in big trouble, legally and physically. He cannot ask her to risk that again. He loves her too much. He does not want to let down, but knows he must.

"Is that a joke?" He asks uneasily yet hopefully.

MJ shrugs. "Do you want it to be a joke?" She asks, watching her hand on the rag as she continues to pretend to clean the counter.

Peter sighs. He mumbles, "I don't know."

"What if it wasn't?" MJ proposes. "You could meet me here after my shift sometime. I could get us some free doughnuts and coffee. We could go for a walk."

"That does sound nice," Peter acknowledges, not sounding definite.

"So?" MJ presses. "My shift today ends at four. You could walk me home."

"I'm, uh…" Peter stalls. He really does want another chance with MJ, but wants to keep her safe. If this was right after the spell, he would have said "no" most definitely. However, after going so long with minimal to no interaction, and no romantic interaction, it becomes too much to bear on as social a person as Peter Parker.

"Yeah?" MJ reacts, looking up and stopping her fake-cleaning.

Seeing MJ's beautiful face and gorgeous eyes looking right back into his, Peter is too weak. He nods in small, rapid motions. "Yeah, I'll…. see you at four?"

"Okay," MJ chuckles. "Yeah. Meet me here at four. Don't be late."

"I won't," Peter replies.

MJ changes the subject and says, "I sort of have a job to do, are you going to buy anything?"

Peter, feeling awkward and now wanting to get out of there, says, "Uh, yeah, I'll just take a regular coffee, regular everything."

Awkward, indeed. On the outside, neither says anything, and both are too scared to look at the other. However, on the inside, both are excited; hearts beat fast, heads are flurried with hopes and dreams, and fears, too. While for MJ, she just landed a date with the guy she likes, for Peter, it's a lot more complicated. Now that he has actually agreed, his head is surprisingly cleared up.

"This is good," he thinks to himself. "Yeah. This is even healthy. I can keep Peter Parker and Spider-Man separate this time. I'll just be really careful about it. I learned my lesson the first time: be careful. I have a life, I'm a person. I'm allowed to live my life how I want."

Weeks of pent-up loneliness and depression are finally ending. For a brief moment, Peter even thinks about leaving behind his life as Spider-Man. By now, though, Spider-Man is a part of him. "Only a part," he thinks. "I'm not all Spider-Man. I'm Peter Parker, and it's about time Peter gets what he wants."

That time is soon. For now, Peter pays for his coffee, shyly nods his thanks, and leaves without saying another word, not knowing what to say, or whether he should say anything at all.

MJ, meanwhile, is satisfied for two different reasons. First, she landed the boy who she saw once, lost, and has come back, now to be hers. The other reason is revenge. She's getting back at Kate for going out with the boy that Kate knew she wanted, but went out with anyway.

MJ works her shift. Kate works her (though she works into the evening). Peter goes home to study and play video games, until four, when he goes to the coffee shop and waits for MJ to finish her shift, apprehensive that Kate might see him. Despite Kate, who Peter thinks is pretty cool and pretty pretty, he would much rather be with MJ.