Chapter 2
Mary Jane walked down the sidewalk, alone, much to her dismay. She waited for Peter at his apartment for as long as she could, but she could wait no longer. Through this whole trip, she ran through excuses to tell Peter's aunt why he was late. She found herself fighting through her frustration that Peter had once again lost track of time while out play Spider-Man. This was suppose to be the two of them eating a meal over at Aunt May's new home in the suburbs. Peter had not seen his aunt in over two months, and Mary Jane had planned this special evening just to get Peter to see his own aunt again.
She could sympathize with Peter to a certain extent. No only was he busy playing hero, he was a full-time college student and a full time employee at the Daily Bugle. It was bad enough that she and Peter had not gone out on a date in more than a month since going steady, but to forsake his family was unbelievable.
She, herself, had left college recently when she had finally found an acting job off Broadway. The critics had give her rave reviews and her acting career had been launched.
Peter, on the other hand, was struggling in life, and she could understand what he was going through. He has been given great powers and he has been using them to protect the innocent people of New York. Mary Jane knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before Peter was going to have to make a choice. Was he going to be the scientist that he always wanted to be since high school, or was he going to be Spider-man.
She was willing to stick through this hard time, and the lack of intimate moments, because she knew it was not going to last forever. She was going to be there to help him when the time had come to make a choice. She couldn't help but wonder what she would do if she was in Peter's shoes. Would she choose her acting career or being a superhero? Peter wanted to be a scientist for the longest time, and for him to give it up to be Spider-Man, if that is the choice he was going to make, would hurt him deeply. That was going to be when he was going to need her the most, and she was ready to wait for that moment for she knew that that would also be the time when their relationship would change forever and marriage would finally be discussed between them. However, waiting for that time to come was getting a little frustrating and lonely.
She was now on the street where Aunt May's house was. She found herself slowing her pace down because she was yet to come up with a decent excuse. "Wait up, MJ!" A voice called out behind her.
She turned around and was washed in relief when she saw Peter catching up to her. "You have me a little nervous there for a minute. I was franticly trying to come up with an excuse to explain your absence."
"Huh, I'm sorry MJ," Peter said, straightening his glasses. "I was distracted by a disgruntled old man bent on causing destruction."
"Now that's a new one," MJ grinned. The two of them walked side by side the rest of the way to Aunt May's house. "Out of curiosity, why have you started wearing your glasses again? You don't need them with your eyesight, and you have such handsome eyes."
"I don't know," Peter shrugged. "I guess to make me feel a little more disguised or something."
That answer didn't make sense to Mary Jane but it wasn't really worth digging deeper into the issue. The two of them walked up the two wooden steps to the light blue wooden porch.
Peter stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath. Mary Jane placed a hand on his shoulder to show him support. "Why am I so nervous? It's just Aunt May; I've never been nervous to see her before."
"Because it's been too long since you've last seen her," Mary Jane took her hand off his shoulder and grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
"It wasn't that long ago? I was here just…" His voice trailed as his mind calculated the days since he was last here. When the number in his head continued to increase, his eyes opened wider.
Mary Jane smiled, showing some of her beautiful teeth. "Yes, it's been that long."
"Where did the time go?"
"You mean between school, your job, and being Spider-Man? I suppose you can say that time swung right past you," Mary Jane smiled. "Let's go in, Tiger."
Peter took another deep breath before opening the screen door and the front door for Mary Jane. He followed her inside, allowing the screen door to slam shut itself and closing the front door behind himself. We're here, Aunt May, and look who I brought!" Peter heard Mary Jane announced.
Peter followed Mary Jane into the living room where Aunt May was standing up to welcome her two visitors. "Peter! Mary Jane!" The smile on her face was bright and radiating, just the way it always was. "Peter, it's about time you've come to visit me," Aunt May smiled as she walked towards him first and hugged him.
"I'm sorry, Aunt May, I've totally lost track of time. I've been so busy with school work and my job at the Dailey Bugle."
"Still doing well at school, I assume," Aunt May asked after giving Mary Jane a hug.
"Yes, I am doing pretty well," Peter said, trying to hide the conflict in his emotions. The truth of the matter was that as of late, he was not doing as well as he should have been doing. He didn't want to alarm Aunt May of his dropping grades. There would be no way to explain why his grades were dropping without telling her that he was Spider-Man. Her dislike for Spider-Man made things very interesting for him.
"Well, good," Aunt May nodded her head. "Dinner will be ready shortly."
"I'll come and help," Mary Jane said, walking with Aunt May through the doorway which led into the dinning room where the doorway was to the kitchen. Peter stayed in the living room and was ready to sit on the couch when he saw a picture of his Uncle Ben on a shelf that was hammered onto the wall. He walked up to the shell and grabbed the picture. It was a picture of just his head looking straight at the camera with him wearing his navy blue New York Yankees cap.
Before he realized it, he was caught up into a day dream of the time he was in that beat up car with his Uncle just hours before he died. "Remember Peter, with great power comes great responsibility,"
Those words had continued to echo in his mind ever since the words were actually spoken to him that fateful day. It was a lesson he had learned too late. His uncle had been murdered by a carjacker who he could have stopped before the murder when he ran into him after his wrestling match. That day had haunted him all the way up to that very moment.
Now, he was feeling the responsibility that he had never felt before. It weighed on him like a ton or bricks, and there were many times that he was afraid that it would destroy him. There was too much responsibility for him to hold down on his own. Something was going to give unless he figured something out fast. His relationship with his own aunt was showing signs of the dam being ready to burst. If something was not done soon, would Mary Jane be next? Was he been so busy that he was missing signs that their relationship was already strained to the breaking point?
"Peter, are you okay?" Mary Jane said, having unintentionally snuck up on him, breaking him out of his trip to memory lane. Mary Jane stood there by his side, rubbing his shoulder.
"Yea. Yea, of course," Peter barely smiled when looked towards Mary Jane. He reached up and put the picture of his uncle back in it's place.
Mary Jane walked down the sidewalk, alone, much to her dismay. She waited for Peter at his apartment for as long as she could, but she could wait no longer. Through this whole trip, she ran through excuses to tell Peter's aunt why he was late. She found herself fighting through her frustration that Peter had once again lost track of time while out play Spider-Man. This was suppose to be the two of them eating a meal over at Aunt May's new home in the suburbs. Peter had not seen his aunt in over two months, and Mary Jane had planned this special evening just to get Peter to see his own aunt again.
She could sympathize with Peter to a certain extent. No only was he busy playing hero, he was a full-time college student and a full time employee at the Daily Bugle. It was bad enough that she and Peter had not gone out on a date in more than a month since going steady, but to forsake his family was unbelievable.
She, herself, had left college recently when she had finally found an acting job off Broadway. The critics had give her rave reviews and her acting career had been launched.
Peter, on the other hand, was struggling in life, and she could understand what he was going through. He has been given great powers and he has been using them to protect the innocent people of New York. Mary Jane knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before Peter was going to have to make a choice. Was he going to be the scientist that he always wanted to be since high school, or was he going to be Spider-man.
She was willing to stick through this hard time, and the lack of intimate moments, because she knew it was not going to last forever. She was going to be there to help him when the time had come to make a choice. She couldn't help but wonder what she would do if she was in Peter's shoes. Would she choose her acting career or being a superhero? Peter wanted to be a scientist for the longest time, and for him to give it up to be Spider-Man, if that is the choice he was going to make, would hurt him deeply. That was going to be when he was going to need her the most, and she was ready to wait for that moment for she knew that that would also be the time when their relationship would change forever and marriage would finally be discussed between them. However, waiting for that time to come was getting a little frustrating and lonely.
She was now on the street where Aunt May's house was. She found herself slowing her pace down because she was yet to come up with a decent excuse. "Wait up, MJ!" A voice called out behind her.
She turned around and was washed in relief when she saw Peter catching up to her. "You have me a little nervous there for a minute. I was franticly trying to come up with an excuse to explain your absence."
"Huh, I'm sorry MJ," Peter said, straightening his glasses. "I was distracted by a disgruntled old man bent on causing destruction."
"Now that's a new one," MJ grinned. The two of them walked side by side the rest of the way to Aunt May's house. "Out of curiosity, why have you started wearing your glasses again? You don't need them with your eyesight, and you have such handsome eyes."
"I don't know," Peter shrugged. "I guess to make me feel a little more disguised or something."
That answer didn't make sense to Mary Jane but it wasn't really worth digging deeper into the issue. The two of them walked up the two wooden steps to the light blue wooden porch.
Peter stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath. Mary Jane placed a hand on his shoulder to show him support. "Why am I so nervous? It's just Aunt May; I've never been nervous to see her before."
"Because it's been too long since you've last seen her," Mary Jane took her hand off his shoulder and grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
"It wasn't that long ago? I was here just…" His voice trailed as his mind calculated the days since he was last here. When the number in his head continued to increase, his eyes opened wider.
Mary Jane smiled, showing some of her beautiful teeth. "Yes, it's been that long."
"Where did the time go?"
"You mean between school, your job, and being Spider-Man? I suppose you can say that time swung right past you," Mary Jane smiled. "Let's go in, Tiger."
Peter took another deep breath before opening the screen door and the front door for Mary Jane. He followed her inside, allowing the screen door to slam shut itself and closing the front door behind himself. We're here, Aunt May, and look who I brought!" Peter heard Mary Jane announced.
Peter followed Mary Jane into the living room where Aunt May was standing up to welcome her two visitors. "Peter! Mary Jane!" The smile on her face was bright and radiating, just the way it always was. "Peter, it's about time you've come to visit me," Aunt May smiled as she walked towards him first and hugged him.
"I'm sorry, Aunt May, I've totally lost track of time. I've been so busy with school work and my job at the Dailey Bugle."
"Still doing well at school, I assume," Aunt May asked after giving Mary Jane a hug.
"Yes, I am doing pretty well," Peter said, trying to hide the conflict in his emotions. The truth of the matter was that as of late, he was not doing as well as he should have been doing. He didn't want to alarm Aunt May of his dropping grades. There would be no way to explain why his grades were dropping without telling her that he was Spider-Man. Her dislike for Spider-Man made things very interesting for him.
"Well, good," Aunt May nodded her head. "Dinner will be ready shortly."
"I'll come and help," Mary Jane said, walking with Aunt May through the doorway which led into the dinning room where the doorway was to the kitchen. Peter stayed in the living room and was ready to sit on the couch when he saw a picture of his Uncle Ben on a shelf that was hammered onto the wall. He walked up to the shell and grabbed the picture. It was a picture of just his head looking straight at the camera with him wearing his navy blue New York Yankees cap.
Before he realized it, he was caught up into a day dream of the time he was in that beat up car with his Uncle just hours before he died. "Remember Peter, with great power comes great responsibility,"
Those words had continued to echo in his mind ever since the words were actually spoken to him that fateful day. It was a lesson he had learned too late. His uncle had been murdered by a carjacker who he could have stopped before the murder when he ran into him after his wrestling match. That day had haunted him all the way up to that very moment.
Now, he was feeling the responsibility that he had never felt before. It weighed on him like a ton or bricks, and there were many times that he was afraid that it would destroy him. There was too much responsibility for him to hold down on his own. Something was going to give unless he figured something out fast. His relationship with his own aunt was showing signs of the dam being ready to burst. If something was not done soon, would Mary Jane be next? Was he been so busy that he was missing signs that their relationship was already strained to the breaking point?
"Peter, are you okay?" Mary Jane said, having unintentionally snuck up on him, breaking him out of his trip to memory lane. Mary Jane stood there by his side, rubbing his shoulder.
"Yea. Yea, of course," Peter barely smiled when looked towards Mary Jane. He reached up and put the picture of his uncle back in it's place.