Aunt May's eyes fluttered open as the sunlight streamed through the window. To her surprise, Mary Jane wasn't there. 'Oh dear,' she thought as her face turned slightly pale, 'Peter still hasn't returned.' She heard a soft click, and to her relief, she turned around to see her nephew walking into the room with worry written all over his face.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," replied Peter apologetically as he sat down in a chair.

"Oh, don't worry. I was awake before you arrived." Aunt May stared at Peter's face with concern.

"Peter, you look extremely exhausted. You look like you need more rest than I do."

"No, Aunt May. I'm just a little worn out."

"From the kidnapping?" asked Aunt May.

"Uh-yeah-from the kidnapping," said Peter. 'I can't tell her now; she's going to have a heart attack if I tell her now.'

"How did you escape?"

"Uh, well, I don't remember much. I was unconscious for most of the time, actually. When I finally woke up, I was lying near the Hudson River." Aunt May smiled mentally to herself.

"I'm so glad you're OK, Peter." She paused for several seconds. "Peter, just remember that I'm always here for you, and you can always tell me anything."

Peter stared at his aunt with a confused look. 'OK, I didn't expect that coming.'

"Uh...yeah, sure."

"So, do have anything to tell me right now?" asked Aunt May expectantly. Peter was still confused, but then he realized what she was talking about.

"Yeah, actually I do."

'He's finally going to admit it,' thought Aunt May.

"It's something really important. Actually, it's about someone."

Aunt May nodded. "Go on."

"Aunt May, how did you and Uncle Ben maintain your relationship for such a long time?"

It was Aunt May's turn to be confused. She hadn't expected that, but she mentally sighed, and she realized that Peter wasn't going to tell her now. 'Oh well, I'll wait until he's ready to tell me the truth.'

"Does this have to do with Mary Jane, Peter?"

"Um-well-kind of. OK, yes, it does. But..."

"But?"

"Aunt May, have you ever loved two people at the same time?"

Aunt May looked up at Peter. Now Aunt May realized that the look on Peter' face was not one of fatigue, but one of distress.

"No. Ben has always been the only one I've loved. Why do you ask?"

Peter looked down at his hands. "Aunt May, before I came here, I took a cab to your home. I met Gwen Stacy on the way."

"Isn't she one of your neighbors?" asked Aunt May. Peter nodded.

"Well, while I was walking home, we talked for a few seconds, and I noticed that she kind of reminded me of MJ. I guess I had some feelings for her before, but I really didn't notice it until that moment. She's gorgeous, and she's pretty feisty, too. Before I knew what was happening, she leaned forward and kissed me." He looked up at Aunt May. "And, the worst thing is that I actually enjoyed it. Even though I knew it was wrong, and I knew I was hurting MJ, I still enjoyed it." With that, his eyes looked at Aunt May with desperation. "I don't know what to do, Aunt May. I love MJ, but I love Gwen too." Peter bowed his head and shook it in disgust. "I shouldn't be doing this to you. You just woke up and-"

"Peter," interrupted Aunt May, "There's only one simple solution."

Peter looked up at Aunt May with a mixture of surprise and confusion. "There is?" Aunt May nodded with a slight smile.

"Peter, I have a question for you. Who's the woman that you're willing to sacrifice anything and everything for-including your own life? Who is the woman who is just as willing to do the same for you? Most importantly, who is the woman that you never get tired of seeing and manages to dazzle you, shock you-every time?"

"Aunt May-what if both of them make me feel that way?"

Aunt May reached for her nephew's hand, and with eyes that reflected the wisdom of this elderly New Yorker, she looked at her nephew with compassion and whispered, "Only time can tell."

'Only time can tell.' The words echoed through Peter's head as he swung through the NYC skyline in his Spiderman suit. He landed next to a large stone gargoyle and squatted down beside it. He had quietly left Aunt May when she fell asleep several minutes ago.

"Hey, buddy," he said to the gargoyle. Peter stared at the statue-whose horrific facial features reminded people what it was: a monster-a silent outcast.

"What would you do if there are two people that you care for a lot? Two people who manage to take your breath away every time? Wow-look at me: a superhero talking to a stone gargoyle. Pretty crazy, huh?" The stone statue remained still, and didn't provide Peter with a solution to his inner turmoil. Peter was about to continue, but his spider sense reminded him that he had a job to do.

"Maria! Maria! Where are you?" screamed Guillermo. He was a young Hispanic male in his early 30s. He had spiky brown hair and hazel eyes. His tight, white T-shirt revealed his muscular frame. He was walking into sure death. His neighbor's apartment had caught on fire, and he ran outside-thinking that his wife-was still behind him. He had made it out safe, but when he couldn't see any sign of Maria, he ran back in-even though 6 firefighters were trying to hold him back. He had quickly shoved them away. Now, he was shielding his eyes from the bright flickering flames and slightly coughed. He had black ash all over his body, he was exhausted, and he was beginning to feel a little dizzy. None of that mattered, though. The only thing that he could think of right now was his wife dying of smoke inhalation.

"Maria! Where-" To his relief, he heard a low familiar groan. He quickly tried to find the source of it. 'No,' he suddenly stopped in his tracks, 'that means she's in the-' He pushed the thought away and leaped over several creaky floorboards. "I'm coming Maria! Hang on!"

Maria groaned as her eyes flickered open. 'Where am I?' She rose her head slightly and saw herself in the kitchen. Everything was on fire-the stove, the fridge, the cabinets. She tried to get up, but she looked down and saw a heavy wooden beam on top of her. She tried to push it, but it wouldn't budge. She smoothed her black hair away from her blue eyes and tried to move. A hacking cough emerged from her lips and shook her body. 'Oh god,' she thought as she stopped, 'I'm gonna die here. Oh, Guillermo. I wish I could tell you that-' She heard a low creak and looked up to see the tiles of the ceiling slowly falling.

Author's Note: I hope you like my fic so far. Let's see-I don't know if any of you guys read the review that I posted, but did anyone find out ANYTHING at all about that Ursula character? I really tried making the chapters longer this time, and I just wanna let you know that I might not update in a while. I'm hitting a case of writer's block, and not only that, I have to finish some HW. (Huge procrastinator. I know. :) ) Again, this fic is nearing it's completion. I really had a great time writing and thanks for all of your reviews. Btw, I was thinking of writing a sequel to this fan-fic, too, and I might write a fan-fic for the X-Men. Please tell me your thoughts and if you guys have any recommendations, I'd sure like to hear them. Thanks.