'Ow,' thought Peter as he cleaned his wounds. He quickly applied the liquid stitches on. 'Thank god that they invented these things a couple years ago. Normally, I'd be in the hospital right now trying to come up with an excuse to the two odd wounds that I apparently got from another "mugging"...Who was that guy? And what did he want with John Jameson?' Peter heard the phone ring and walked across the room.

"Hello?"

"Oh, god, Peter! You're OK!" Peter slightly frowned. He couldn't exactly pinpoint the voice although it did seem familiar. The only person he could think of who would call him was MJ...unless...Peter's eyes went wide.

"Gwen? Gwen Stacy?"

"How long did it take you to figure that one out, genius?"

"No, I'm just...surprised that's all. I mean, it's been a while."

"Tell me about it. Like four months?"

"Yeah...so, how are you?"

"Everything's going great, actually. My dad's been doing better, and my best friend from fourth grade moved into the city. What about you?"

"Things are good."

"So what are you doing for Thanksgiving? That's tomorrow, you know."

"MJ and I are going over to Aunt May's, and we're gonna celebrate. Have a little get together, chat, and stuff. You?"

"Well, Dad still has to work tomorrow, so my friend and I decided to just hang out. It's kinda selfish of me, but sometimes, I wish Dad wasn't a part of the force. It's a 24/7 kind of thing."

"No, not at all." Peter paused shortly when a bright idea came to him. "Hey," said Peter with a bit of enthusiasm, "Why don't you and your friend come over to our house for Thanksgiving?"

"Oh, I don't think MJ will-"

"Of course, she'll be OK with it."

"Ah, geesh, Peter-"

"No, it'll give all of us a chance to talk-even though my aunt hardly knows you, but still...what do you say?"

There was a short pause. "Why not?"

"Great!" said Peter with a small grin, "It's settled then. Meet us at my aunt's apartment. The address is 317 Madison Avenue, and it's at the corner of East 42nd Street."

"All right. I'll see ya then!"

"Great! I'll be looking forward to it."

'I'm sure MJ won't mind,' thought Peter as he walked to his desk.

MJ walked out of the Moon Dance Café. After the talk with her agent, she went to the diner to get a cup of coffee and to talk to an old friend of hers who, unfortunately, still worked there. But, no matter what she did, she kept thinking about Peter. Ever since she had known that Peter was Spiderman, there wasn't a day that went by without her worrying. It had almost been three years, but she kept replaying that scene at the bridge. It was weird. It hadn't bothered her so much about a year ago, but now, since she knew who Spiderman really was, she was more afraid than ever. Everyday, she kept replaying that sensation of falling to a watery grave, and Spiderman-Peter-nearly dying at the hands of a madman.

She was walking so quickly that she didn't notice someone shouting her name. She felt an arm grab hers and stiffened. She held her purse tightly, turned around, and swung it with full force. The person stumbled back, and she was about to swing at him again when she realized who'd she hit.

"Oh my god! Harry! I'm so sorry!" She covered her mouth with her hand in horror. She quickly helped him straighten up.

"Hi, MJ...Quite a swing you've got there," said Harry as he shook his head to get rid of the lights blinking in front of his eyes.

"How are you?" asked MJ with pleasure twinkling in her eyes at seeing an old friend. She took a quick scan of him. He never looked better in ages. He looked healthy, and he actually seemed happy.

"Good. Oscorp's doing all right, and I'm dating Liz."

"Liz Allen?! From high school?" asked MJ with surprise. Last time, Harry Osborn thought Liz was a snob, and Liz Allen thought Harry was a rich stuck-up.

Harry nodded. "I'm also thinking about leaving the city."

That comment caught MJ by surprise. "What? Why?"

Harry shrugged it off as it was not such a big deal. MJ knew Harry better, though.

"This is about Peter, isn't it? You can't handle the fact that he's..."

"That has nothing to do with my leaving!" snapped Harry. He immediately regretted his comment, though. Harry took a deep breath to calm himself down. "That really has nothing to do with this, MJ."

"Look, running away from your problems won't-"

MJ stopped and noticed that his fingers were intertwined. She knew that he never did that unless he was extremely nervous. "It's not Peter," he whispered, "It's you, MJ. I love Liz with my entire heart, but I love you with my entire being, and I just can't stand to see you with Peter of all people," he whispered-his eyes boring a hole through her very being.

At first, MJ's eyes softened. She felt sympathetic towards Harry. She didn't love him, but she knew what it felt like when the one that you loved rejected you.

"MJ," asked Harry with anger boiling in his eyes, "how can you be dating someone so selfish? He kept the truth from you, and the absence of truth is the same as a lie."

"He did it for a good reason, and your father did the same, Harry Osborn, for pure personal gain. Peter is not being selfish at all."

"You know, you and I should probably turn him into the police-"

"Unbelievable! Just unbelievable!" screamed MJ as she raised her hands into the air in exasperation. "I thought you were different than your father, Harry. I thought you were better than him. Face it, Harry. Peter's Spi-" MJ realized that people were staring at her as they walked by and stopped herself in mid-sentence. "Peter's...a hero, and if you're going to let something so trivial get in the way of our friendship-if you can't deal with the fact that your best friend is risking his life for others who don't give a damn about him-if you can't deal with the fact that you would have been dead by now if it weren't for him-if you don't realize the grief that he's had to endure because of people like you-if you can't handle any of that, then I'm sorry, Harry Osborn, but you are a selfish bastard who cares more for a father who treated you like a piece of shit than a friend who would be willing to help you."

Refusing to hear anymore of Harry's comments, she turned on her heel and walked away-tears sliding down her face. This was when acting came in handy: When you were turning your back on an old friend because you knew it was the right thing to do in order to maintain your relationship with your fiancée, but still feeling guilty nonetheless for stating words that you didn't really mean-words that you knew would sting, but hopefully, knock some sense into him. 'God, Harry...I'm so sorry.'

If Mary Jane had turned around, she would have seen Harry's eyes reflect the same pain and hurt in her eyes. Harry sighed and turned to see his Rolls Royce pulling up. His eyes hardened, and he quickly ran his hand through his hair. 'Hide the pain, Osborn. You've got a company to run, and some costumed freak and an old girlfriend can't stop progress.'

Author's Note: This is probably the second to last time that you'll ever hear about either Harry or John Jameson again. I'm not really gonna give them such big roles or anything in this story...I'm not sure but I think I might actually quit this story...I don't feel like it's as smooth as the old one, and there are way too many plots and characters jumbled into it. I feel like the story's kinda rushing through everything without focusing on one major plot...I might revise the entire thing. It depends...Anyway, thanx so much for the reviews