In the morning, Kate and Peter text each other to make a plan for when exactly to meet. At the end, they decide on 2PM in the afternoon. They are going to meet on the part of the wraparound walkway directly in front of the Statue of Liberty.
Kate gets there first, just before 2, and waits for Peter to arrive. At 2 sharp, she sees Peter walking towards her, and she walks to him to meet him and confront him. "Peter, I have to talk to you," she says seriously.
"Is everything okay?" Peter reacts.
"We'll see," Kate says.
They start walking along the walkway, next to each other and talking relatively quietly, because this is a private conversation in a public place with tourists and visitors around.
Kate says, "Here's the thing. I'm going to cut straight to the point because I don't want to drag this out. MJ said that you walked her home and that you kissed. Is that true?"
Peter sighs a deep, long sigh. "This just got way too complicated," he mutters to himself.
"What was that?" Kate reacts, unable to decipher what Peter said.
"Listen to me," Peter says. "Don't interrupt. Just let me talk. Yes, we did kiss, but—"
Kate interrupts, "You son—"
Peter gives her a half-offended, half-upset look. "Let me finish," he begs.
Kate nods. "Yeah, finish," she says.
"We kissed, yeah," Peter continues, talking slowly, fabricating his story carefully as he goes on. "It was last summer. Kind of like a fling or something, when we were in school together. I liked her, she liked me. We were together into the school year. Then, it got to the point pretty soon after that… it felt like… she forgot who I was. Then, the other day, she asked me to go with her, and I said yes, obviously. I guess I remembered how I felt about her over the summer and she saw something in me that reminded her of summer. I don't know. It was just a moment of passion." His eyes meet Kate's, trying to see if she believes him or not. This is the truth; he was careful to say things that were not lies; he is too moral to lie to a friend (and potential girlfriend).
Kate, sensing Peter is done, asks him, "Passion? As in true love?"
Peter looks down. "A reminder of it," he says. "Of what we used to have. But we can't be together anymore."
"She said that you and her were a thing," Kate states. "Or something like that. You've gotta choose, Peter. If this is a date, then we're dating. You can't date two girls at once."
"I'm not!" Peter responds. "I'm not dating two girls at once!"
"Then who is it?" Kate asks, standing adamantly. "Me or her?"
Peter looks into Kate's eyes, seeing she is clearly upset. She must really like him, more than he thought she did. Too shy to say it to her face, he looks down again, mumbling quietly, "It's you."
Kate thinks she heard what she wanted to, but she wants confirmation. "Huh?" She reacts.
"It's you," Peter says, barely loud enough to be heard.
While Kate is somewhat relieved and internally overjoyed, there is one more order of business. "What about MJ?" She asks gently, her mood changing now that she knows where Peter's allegiance apparently lies.
"I've thought about it," Peter says. "I'm going to tell her she and I can't be together, 'cause I'm with you. I've hardly had a friend in weeks. No. I HAVEN'T had a friend in weeks. I've really been lonely so long." His voice starts to choke up. "I deserve this. I deserve you. I deserve YOU." He asks himself, is it just because Kate is the first person to come along since the spell? He tells himself no, it is because Kate is Kate. He likes her for Kate.
He reaches out his hands for Kate's face to hold her and kiss her, as if to prove his loyalty and convince himself that he loves Kate romantically. Just before he touches her, she grabs his wrists.
Kate says, "Wait till you're done with MJ. If you kissed another girl AFTER we went out, I need to know that I'm the only person you're with romantically." With Peter's wrists in her hands, she realizes that his wrists feel surprisingly hard and flat. She becomes confused and runs her thumbs along his wrists. She is feeling web shooters, but she does not know that.
Peter realizes that Kate could very easily discover his identity, ruining the whole thing. "What are you doing?" He asks worriedly.
"What's up with your wrists?" Kate asks. "They feel hard. Like, unnaturally. Are you in casts or something?"
Peter quickly thinks up a not-lie. "Braces," he says. "They… help me. I don't always wear them, though. I don't always need them."
"Okay," Kate says, letting go of Peter. Going back to the main business, she asks, "So, you'll break up with MJ?"
"Consider us.. broken," Peter replies.
"I will when it's done," Kate responds. "Then, we can come back here on a date."
"So, that's it for today?" Peter asks. "Just a five-minute conversation? I mean, there's gotta be something we can do. It feels like we're wasting our time, if this is all we're here for."
"Well, what did you want to do?" Kate asks directly.
"You mentioned bows and arrows?" Peter brings up.
"Yeah, I did," Kate says. "It's still at my apartment, though. I was hoping we'd go back there when we're done here, and I can get it."
"Would this still be a date?" Peter asks. "Or more like a hangout?"
"Hangout," Kate answers, "because as of right now, you're still dating two girls."
"But I choose you, not MJ," Peter says. "As far as I'm concerned, you're the only person I'm dating."
Kate is impatient. She wants Peter and she wants him now, but she wants to make sure he will be committal towards her and them. Through the back-and-forth of the conversation, and Peter seemingly trying to kiss her, and Peter saying that he chooses her and not MJ, Kate feels herself giving in to the moment. "Dating?" She reacts to Peter. "Are we dating?"
"I kind of thought we are," Peter says. He asks nervously, "What do you think?"
"Well," Kate replies, "if I'm the only person, then I guess we ARE dating."
"Okay," Peter says, sounding like he is trying to not be outwardly excited, succeeding at trying but failing at actually doing such.
Kate laughs.
"What?" Peter reacts.
"Nothing," Kate giggles, calming down. "Just… the way you said 'okay.' You sounded happy."
"Well, I am," Peter states. "Can't a guy be happy that he's with his girl?"
"Only if he doesn't embarrass her by sounding weird," Kate responds quickly.
"Am I embarrassing you?" Peter asks. "I'm SO sorry if I am, I don't mean—"
"Peter," Kate interrupts, "it's a joke. Part of the conversation."
"Sorry," Peter says.
"You're pretty humble and modest," Kate compliments. "I like that. Not enough people are."
"Thank you," Peter says. "I just try to be the best person I can be, you know? It's all I can do. It's all anyone can do, I guess. Everyone, in some way, tries to be the best person he or she can be. All try. Some fail. Some are lazy. I try to be, well, not those."
"Your voice sounds familiar," Kate interjects. "Sorry to interrupt, I just feel like I've heard you somewhere else before."
"Maybe you have," Peter chuckles. "I'm out in the city some. I don't spend ALL my time studying or playing video games."
"Then what do you do?" Kate asks.
"Social work," Peter answers. "Putting myself out there as the best possible Peter Parker. Helping people. Helping the little guy. It's what I do."
While Kate was listening to Peter, she also tried to figure out where she heard his voice from. Something clicks in her head. She says flatly, almost monotonously:
"Spider-Man."
Peter reacts, "Huh?" He heard her clearly, but needs to divert attention away from the conversation while stalling the conversation so he can think of answers.
Kate says, "I've worked with Spider-Man a couple times recently. I don't know, you sound like him. Are you Spider-Man?"
Not wanting to lie, Peter chuckles uneasily, "It'd be cool if I was."
"Well, are you?" Kate pushes. "You know what? I'll bet you wear braces because your arms or wrists or whatever get sore from swinging."
To keep himself from getting into a deep or unbelievable lie, Peter says a simpler lie without spinning a web of a half-baked tall tale. He lies, "No, I'm not Spider-Man. I wish I was, though. Can you imagine how cool it'd be to swing through the city at high speed?"
"Then why do you wear the braces?" Kate asks, sounding more innocent than accusatory, but sounding like a mix of both.
"My wrists DO get sore sometimes," Peter says. He thinks up something that is a truth, but it is not the primary reason his wrists hurt. "I write notes, I'm on my laptop a lot, and I play video games, so I'm almost constantly using my hands for stuff, and it weighs on me."
Peter feels bad for having to lie to Kate, but he knows it is what he has to do to be with her. But if he lies to her, does he deserve her? Does he deserve anybody? He believes he does, after going weeks without anyone. Kate cannot know his identity, though, because then she could get in legal trouble if he messes up again. He is not concerned with a villain hurting her; he is concerned that HE could hurt her. He knows he should break up with her right here and now. He has no one, though, and his desire to be with someone overrides what he knows to be the best thing. He is willing to sacrifice Kate's safety and his own morals, just so he could have a friend. But is that the right sacrifice to make?
Kate shrugs, bringing Peter's thoughts back down to reality. She says, "Fair enough. Have you ever heard Spider-Man speak? You DO sound kind of like him."
Peter decides to play the situation off. He chuckles, "Come on, now. A guy like me probably can't sound as cool as an Avenger. But I guess you would know, since you worked with Hawkeye? Like, seriously? That was you on the news?"
Kate takes the bait. She replies, "Yeah, that was me, but don't tell anyone so I don't get in trouble or anything."
"Oh, don't worry, your very public secret is safe with me," Peter says. "So, did Hawkeye teach you how to shoot a bow, or—"
"I taught myself," Kate interrupts to say, "starting in 2012. Now, I'm pretty much the best archer on the planet."
"I find that hard to believe," Peter teases.
"It's true, though," Kate presses.
"Prove it, then," Peter says.
"Why, don't you believe me?" Kate responds, pretending to sound offended.
"Of course I believe you!" Peter says. "I just… want to see it in action. Aaand I'm not one hundred percent convinced you are the world's greatest archer."
"You will be soon," Kate says. "When we're done here."
"I'm only here for you and the scenery," Peter says. "I'm cool with whatever."
"Let's go back, then, to my place," Kate suggests. "I grab my bow, and I'll you grab your jaw when it drops to the floor in shock at how good of an archer I am."
"We'll see," Peter responds.
Kate gives him a look of fake offense.
Peter half-puts his hands up and shrugs. "Back to the mainland?" He asks.
"Just to prove you wrong, at this point," Kate replies.
"And hang out?" Peter adds.
"And date," Kate finishes it off.
The two head back to the mainland, almost running to the dock. They are simply in ecstasy, blissful. All thoughts of MJ are forgotten for the time. The only thing that Peter or Kate wants right now is the other.