Mary Jane Watson was staring out of a window in Aunt May's room. Aunt May was resting peacefully at the moment, and although MJ would have loved to take a nap, even if she tried, she couldn't. She was sick with worry. It was 5 AM in the morning, and not only had he not returned, but he hadn't even called her. 'Peter, where are you?' She tried calling Dr. Connors, but his answering machine picked up. 'Who would pick up at this hour of the day? Besides,' she thought, 'what was I going to say? " 'Hello, Dr. Connors. This is Mary Jane Watson. I was just wondering if Spiderman ever arrived at your office. I'm deeply worried about him.' " Yeah that would be great.' MJ sighed. Her worry for Peter suddenly reminded her of Harry. She just couldn't believe what she had heard: Norman Osborn was the former Green Goblin; Norman Osborn was trying to kill Peter, but wound up killing himself; and now, Harry was the Green Goblin?!?!?! It just happened so fast. Although MJ broke up with Harry two years ago, she still considered him a great friend. She was deeply concerned for both of them. 'I wonder where Harry is now.' She sat down on a chair and turned the TV on. She flipped onto the news.

"Last night," said the reporter, "a nurse saw Spiderman standing over the limp body of Harry Osborn, the president of the multi-million company, Oscorp. He is currently at Bellevue Hospital. Apparently, the doctors say that he will be fine. They say that it was fortunate Spiderman brought Mr. Osborn quickly or else he would have suffered enormous blood loss. This obviously raises the question: Is Spiderman a hero or a menace? More details coming-" MJ quickly turned it off. 'Peter,' she thought. She just knew that Peter would never hurt Harry, but it must have made frustrated him to see and hear the media questioning his every move.
MJ sighed as Aunt May opened her eyes.
"Ms. Parker?" whispered MJ.
Aunt May turned her head and quickly grew concerned, "Where's Peter?"
"He-he-isn't here," MJ stuttered. 'I have to tell her about Peter's secret. She has the right to know. She'll realize why he's coming home late and why he's supposedly 'irresponsible.' Oh, Peter. I'm so sorry, but your aunt deserves to know. She's going to die of stress if you keep worrying her like this.' MJ bit her lower lip.
Aunt May noticed how tense MJ was and saw the worry in her eyes. She believed that Mary Jane was a very kind young woman. She realized that she had to tell Mary Jane about Peter's secret because MJ must be worried sick about him. 'Oh, Peter. You should have told her. Mary Jane is going to die of stress if she doesn't know.'
MJ gave up. She sighed and took a deep breath.
"Ms. Parker-"
"Mary Jane-"
"I have to tell you something," replied both women in unison. Both stared at each other.
"You can go first, Mary Jane."
"No, honestly, you can go first Ms. Parker."
"Now, Mary Jane-"
"No, really, I can wait. Please, this can wait," pleaded MJ. She really didn't want to tell her about Peter's secret.
"No, Mary Jane," said Aunt May firmly, "go first."
Mary Jane realized that this was going nowhere. She sighed and took a slow deep breath. She noticed Aunt May was staring at her with a worried face. She's really nice. She's so worried and concerned all the time about Harry, Peter, and me.
"Um...Ms. Parker-"
"Call me Aunt May, Mary Jane," Aunt May said as she smiled warmly. MJ smiled back and tried to continue: "Aunt May...I really don't want to tell you this. This is Peter's secret, and he should tell you when he feels comfortable to. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Peter's...Peter's...Peter is-"
'I can't do this,' she thought, 'I really shouldn't have tried. This is his secret. He's going-'
"Spiderman," whispered Aunt May. MJ looked at the elderly woman in shock. 'How did she know?'
Aunt May caught the look of surprise on MJ's face and chuckled slightly.
"So, you've known for some time, Mary Jane?" asked Aunt May. MJ nodded silently. For several seconds, the room was extremely quiet. Then MJ looked at Aunt May with a curious expression. She was about to ask a question when Aunt May said, "So, now you're wondering how did I find out?" MJ again nodded silently.
"Peter actually helped me figure it out," said Aunt May, "First of all, I always found it strange that Peter was the only ONE who could take pictures of Spiderman. That wasn't a big clue, though. I just thought that Peter and Spiderman had connections, but they were still two separate people. Secondly, I remembered that time after the field trip to the science lab. He came home, and he looked horrible. Then the next day, his arms felt firm and strong-which was odd considering Peter never worked heavily at the gym. He wasn't wearing glasses either, and he told me he was wearing contacts-which was another odd thing because he never bought any. Then, several days ago, I was attacked at the bank, and Peter left me. I just couldn't believe that he could abandon me like that. Then Spiderman showed up. After Spiderman rescued, his voice seemed so familiar. I thought I was being silly, but still, it seemed so similar to Peter's. When I looked back, I knew that Spiderman just had to be Peter. His voice, his sudden 20/20 eyesight, his sudden strength: the pieces just seemed to fit together." Aunt May sighed. After several seconds of absolute silence, Aunt May asked, "How did you know?"
"Well, like you said, Peter left lots of clues behind for me too. The first thing was when Peter saved me during the World Unity Festival." MJ remembered how Spiderman had swung down and grabbed her before she fell toward her sure death, "We landed on a roof." MJ smiled just thinking about it. "When he turned around to leave, I asked him who he was. And Peter said that I knew who he was. It almost felt like he wanted to tell me, but couldn't. Then, Peter rescued me from these thugs after my first audition as Spiderman again. We kissed each other in the rain," MJ stopped and recalled that breath-taking kiss. She could remember that day so vividly:
"You're," she shook her head as she smiled widely, "amazing."
She leaned forward and stared into those opaque eyes. He was just so incredible. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him-how much she appreciated his help. She wanted to see who it was behind that red, emotionless mask. She felt the line that separated his mask and suit. She slowly pulled it down and stopped when it revealed his mouth. She closed her eyes and kissed him. She was soaked at the moment, but that kiss made her warm and tingly all over. Her heart swelled, and her head felt like she was floating on Cloud Nine. She could feel his tongue slide over hers and realized that he shared the same love for her. She was so delighted and kissed him harder. He kissed back. She didn't want this moment to end. They continued to kiss passionately as the raindrops poured and danced on them. When she could no longer breathe, Mary Jane slowly, but reluctantly pulled back. She wished she could rip that mask off and see the face behind it. Instead, she slowly pulled it back up until the only thing she could see was the red mask with its white opaque eyes.
 Mary Jane slowly continued: "Then, after Norman Osborn's funeral, I kissed Peter again and it seemed so odd how his kiss and the kiss I had with Spiderman were so familiar. I felt the same sense of warmth and comfort." She stopped again and remembered that day:
She kissed him with all her heart and soul-kissed him like no other. He kissed her back. This was the man that she wanted to be with-who she truly loved-not Spiderman, not Harry Osborn, not Flash Thompson-but Peter Parker: the nerd, the geek-but the man who had always been there for her: he had helped her, comforted her, guided her, and provided her with a shoulder to lean on. But he quickly pulled back. His eyes were filled with regret and sorrow.
"MJ, I will always be there for you-as a friend. I will always be your friend," whispered a stunned Peter.
"Only a friend?" asked MJ.
"That's all I have to give," he said as he walked away without looking back. Mary Jane stared at the ground as her heart shattered into a million pieces. She felt the tears build in her eyes. 'How can you do this to me, Peter? I know you love me because I felt you kiss me back with the same desire in your heart. Why? Wait...that kiss...it seems so familiar. It reminds me of that time in the alley way-' Then it clicked. With a slight gasp, she quickly looked up and stared at the man who had denied her love with a look of surprise. 'Can it be? Peter, Spiderman-the same?'
 "I knew that there was no way...no way at all that two separate people could give me two kisses just as passionate without being the same person. I tried kissing John before our wedding, and I just didn't feel that same love. There were other clues, too. I guess I knew all along that Peter wanted to say, 'I love you,' but he never did. He seemed like he was holding back-like something was preventing him from telling me. There was also this fight between Peter and Flash. Peter had really quick reflexes and dodged every one of Flash's punches. Then he just stuck out his fist and Flash went flying back and slammed onto the floor. It was so weird; Peter never really liked gym, and he never seemed like the guy with the six- pack abs. Not only that, but Peter and I went to a diner together three days ago. We were talking-when suddenly-without even looking back-he pushed me off my seat. It turns out that Dr. Octopus had hurled a car through the window, and it would have smashed both of us had Peter not pushed me to the floor. I wasn't thinking at the time because I was scared out of my wits of the Doc, but when I look back at it now, I realized that without his powers, there would have been no way that both Peter and I could have survived."
MJ stopped. Several seconds passed.
"Um...Aunt May...Harry's in Bellevue Hospital-"
"Really?" asked Aunt May. Another concerned expression crossed her face. (She hadn't heard what Harry had said earlier because she was unconscious at the time.)
"Yes, and I don't want to-"
"Go, Mary Jane. I'll be fine," said Aunt May as she closed her eyes. Mary Jane was about to protest, but Aunt May said, "I'm extremely tired anyway. Tell him that I hope he feels better."
Mary Jane nodded as she saw Aunt May breathe slowly and calmly. She pulled up the blanket, grabbed her purse, and walked out of the room.