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Chapter Twenty-One

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Mary Jane was gone. To Denver. Having already left the morning after their swing through the city together. He knows this because she had told Spider-Man about it… in person. While Peter Parker? He got to find out from his Aunt May, who heard it from Annabelle. He only got to hear about it through the grapevine, not even getting a simple text from her.

So, that was the answer to the question he had been afraid to ask. She did prefer Spider-Man to Peter Parker. Hell, Peter Parker probably didn't even cross her mind to tell that she was leaving. But… he could hardly blame her. His alter-ego was so fantastical and cool, while Peter was a nerd that only had a few friends to his name.

Still, it made his heart ache to know that she would be disappointed if the mask were to ever come off and she would see Peter Parker's face in front of her.

And he had assumed that - for about six days - where he stewed in his angst and misery over the idea. But then two things seemed to happen almost simultaneously that left his mind whirring and confused.

That morning, Mary Jane had followed him on Instagram. When he woke up and saw the notification, he nearly fell out of his bed and eagerly accepted her follow request. He then went to her profile and followed her in return - no request necessary, as her profile was set as open to the public.

He spent the next hour looking at her pictures. The most recent ones were from her trip. With one from six days ago where she was in the window seat on the airplane, pointing out to the clouds. It had been captioned, 'First time flying high in the sky.'

'Huh. I guess she doesn't think that swinging with Spider-Man through the city was the same thing as 'flying high in the sky',' he thought. Then again, she couldn't necessarily advertise that fact…

Then, the most recent picture after that was of her on top of one of the mountains, with the city of Denver down below in the distance. It stated, 'No caption needed.'

He had to agree. The lighting in the picture was stunning since she had decided to venture out so early in the morning. Denver looked beautiful. His only hope now was that she didn't grow too attached to the city and decide to stay there permanently.

As for the rest of her pictures that followed after that…? Why did he have to torture himself? He scrolled through every picture. Every single one. And there had been a particular picture that had him biting his knuckle in pure agony - Mary Jane laid out on the sand at Manhattan Beach Park in nothing but an olive green bikini. He had immediately hardened in his pants, resulting in yet another shower with ulterior motives… only this time, he had gotten right to business as soon as he entered the steaming spray rather than contemplating the morality of the situation. And this time, he made it last to the point where the hot water was starting to turn cold. All of it to thoughts of Mary Jane in that green string bikini…

The next thing that had happened was later in the afternoon. He had gotten a buzz from the lobby stating that they got a special delivery for 'Peter Parker'. His Aunt May was out, so he buzzed them in and waited for them to show up at the door.

When the knock came and he opened it, he was greeted by a frazzled looking woman holding a flat box and a small card.

"Sorry for the long wait. We are currently understaffed," She said by greeting before she handed the box over to a confused Peter then the small card, "Have a good day!" She finished in a rush before turning on her heel and leaving the way she came.

"Wait-" Peter asked but she didn't stop.

He shrugged and closed the door with his foot as he turned toward the living room with the box. When he sat it down on the coffee table, he read the card first.

"We apologize for the delay in delivering your order. Please accept this 20% off voucher for future orders. Thank you, Candy Girl Cookies"

He furrowed his brow and set the card aside. This must be some sort of mistake. But Peter lifted the top of the box anyway and was greeted by the sight of a dozen sugar cookies, each one painted in their own unique way.

The first one that caught his eye was striped red and gold, with icing that stated, 'Gryffindor's Unite' on top of it.

The next cookie was of the flag of Norway… he gasped at the implications as the next cookie caught his attention.

It was plain except for the text that read, 'Thank you for everything, Peter. -MJ'

Warmth and pleasure colored his heart as well as his cheeks. She had gone out of her way to order custom design cookies for him? All with special inside jokes that they already shared.

He studied all of them with equal measure. Many of them caused him to laugh aloud as he recalled the memories surrounding the reference.

There was one with a tiger, obviously referring to the nickname that she gave him. Then the others with a camera; A spaceman without his helmet; The shadow of Sherlock Holmes; A couple of dumbbells - obviously joking about Annabelle's comment of him working out and how 'fit' he was; A golden sunset - from their golden hour photoshoot; A lunch bag to signify their off-campus lunch plans on the first day of school; A water bottle, from when Peter had spurted water all over himself the day 'Peter Parker' had met her; And finally, the last one wasn't a sugar cookie at all, but rather oatmeal raisin.

His eyes stung at the thought and care that went into this gift.

Here, he had been stewing over how he thought that Mary Jane didn't care for Peter Parker while she had gone ahead and planned this. He had also been agonizing over the lack of texts from her when he could've just reached out and texted her himself. He pulled out his phone to rectify that. Pulling up the camera app, he took a picture of the cookies still in their box and then opened up his previous conversation with MJ.

Peter: Thanks for the cookies, Red. Some of them gave me a much-needed laugh.

He sent that text then followed it up with the picture he had just taken and set the phone down on the coffee table.

Much to his surprise, he got an immediate ding and he eagerly picked up the phone.

Mary Jane: Oh no! They only just arrived? You must have thought I was super ungrateful after all that you've done for me…

Peter frowned. He had been a bit jilted by the lack of communication from her but he never saw her as ungrateful. The hug that she had given him as well as her many words of thanks after he took her pictures stated otherwise.

Peter: Think nothing of it, MJ. I've never seen you as ungrateful. But I still appreciate the thought.

Peter hit send but then thought that his text made the conversation sound so final and he wanted to keep it going.

Peter: How's Denver, by the way?

He watched his screen, waiting for her response, until he saw the three little bubbles appear which indicated that she was currently typing. He smiled, in heavy anticipation.

Mary Jane: It's been fantastic! The mountains are so stunning in person. It will be difficult to leave…

Panic crawled up his throat. No. No. No. No. No. Mary Jane did not belong in Denver. She belonged in New York… with him. What if she decided that she wanted to go to school there? What if she was sick of the city that she had never left her entire life up until this point?

Peter took a deep breath and forced himself to think rationally. This couldn't possibly be the case because New York had Broadway, which Mary Jane loved and wanted to be a part of someday. New York also had the modeling career that was already waiting for her. And if nothing else, New York also had Spider-Man… even if she wouldn't come back for Peter Parker, he had an inkling that she would surely come back for his alter-ego.

Still, he felt the need to try and dissuade her against Denver in any way that he could, so he immediately started typing.

Peter: Did you know that it is illegal to kiss on the train platform at the Denver Union Station?

He hit send and got a response back.

Mary Jane: Illegal, huh? Just makes it more tempting to break that law.

Peter: It's also illegal to lend your vacuum cleaner to your neighbor in Denver. Is that also a temptation?

Mary Jane: Yes…?

Mary Jane: How do you know all of these things?

Peter flushed. Was she calling him out as the nerd that he truly was?

Peter: I have this weird fascination for strange state laws that have been implemented over the years.

Mary Jane: Really? Tell me one about New York.

Peter bit his lip in thought but then brightened when one came to him, glad that she didn't seem to think that this interest was strange.

Peter: In New York, it's illegal to take a selfie with a tiger…

He hit send and waited for the hilarious implication to hit her.

Mary Jane: Oh man… Looks like taking a selfie together is off the table for us, huh Tiger? I would hate for your boss to do a citizen's arrest on me..

His boss? What was she- Oh! She was talking about Tony.

Peter: Don't worry, I'll protect you from Iron Man by threatening to never work another project of his again if he tried going after you.

It was silent for a long moment after he sent that text as Peter waited for any sort of response from her. Nearly ten minutes had passed when he finally saw the three bubbles appear on his screen again.

Mary Jane: Thanks, Tiger. Gotta run. We're going to the Denver Performing Arts Complex!

Peter bit his lip, disappointment spreading through his chest. Their conversation seemed to be ending so abruptly.

Peter: Ok, have fun! Thanks again for the cookies.

He put his phone back in his pocket and sighed heavily. What to do now? He could always go out on patrol as Spider-Man, but lately there hasn't been any sign of the Big Man or any of his new super-villains that Peter suspected that he was creating. And it's been really quiet on the streets otherwise. Ned also worked tonight, so that left Peter completely bored…

He slumped against the couch and covered his eyes with his arm when a sudden thought occurred to him. He perked up and took his phone out of his pocket again.

Peter: Hey Harry! You up for meeting me for a few rounds of laser tag tonight?

The response that he got back was almost instantaneous.

Harry: Dude, I'm so there.

…..

"Come on, man," Harry complained as they walked out of Funtopia USA after five laser tag competitions, "You've gotta tell me your secret! How are you so good at that?"

Peter chuckled to himself as he thought on the three games that he had allowed himself to win. When they had arrived earlier in the night, they had quickly realized that there was a 'Last-Man Standing' tournament competition. It was some of the most fun that Peter has had since Mary Jane had left…

"If I told you," Peter said in all mock-seriousness, "Then, I'd have to kill you. And I don't really feel like committing homicide against my new friend, so…"

He motioned locking his lips.

In truth, he wondered what Harry would think if Peter told him that the reason why he won was because of his keen spider-sense and agility. His shocked expression may almost be worth telling him, Peter thought sardonically with a smirk.

With a dismaying laugh, Harry pushed his shoulder playfully. "Fine. Keep your secrets, you jerk. I'll just have to find out the hard way - which, mind you, will be a long and painful road of betrayal and loss… are you sure that you don't want to just tell me now and get it over with?"

Peter let out a barking laugh. "Alright, fine I'll tell you! Since the alternative you described is so terrible…"

Harry nodded for him to continue as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"I… eat… canned spinach."

The wide-eyed look that Harry gave him was priceless.

"You mean… like Popeye?"

Peter sputtered and threw his hands up in the air with his excitement. "You got the reference!"

Harry rolled his eyes with a snort. "Of course I did, you dork."

They were pulled out of their conversation when a sleek, black car pulled up in front of them. Harry nodded his head at it. "That's me. You want a ride home, Pete?"

Peter considered for a moment before he shook his head. He wanted to burn up some of this left-over energy that he was feeling. He was craving the feeling of falling through the sky while simultaneously catching himself. "Nah, I'm good. I'm going to go by my Aunt May's work and walk home with her."

Harry nodded. "Sounds good, man," He held out his hand to Peter and they clapped hands together in a bro handshake, "It was a lot of fun. Thanks for inviting me."

Peter beamed at him. "Anytime, Harry."

With that, Harry got into the back of the sleek car and it drove off. Peter waited until it was out of sight before he went to the side alley of the building, where he stripped off his clothes and put his loose Spidey suit on before he pressed the spider emblem to tighten it. Then, he webbed his clothes together in a makeshift pack and then he was off. In a giant leap, he was high off the ground and into the sky.

It felt really good.

He did stop by Aunt May's work but it looked like she had already left for the night. He didn't think anything of it and switched his direction to make his way home. As he swung, he got a phone call from Tony. He answered immediately.

"Mr. Stark!" Peter yelled over the biting wind. "What's up?"

"Just checking in," Tony said, his voice amused by Peter's extreme volume, "Sounds like you're getting some exercise in."

Peter nodded, even though Tony couldn't see it. "Yeah. I had a lot of pent up energy to kill."

He heard a chuckle from the other end. "You always do… So, listen, there was a reason for my calling. We never got to talk about the bomb that you stopped a couple weeks back-"

Peter panicked. This was what the call was about? If Peter had known, he would've been a bit more hesitant to answer. Was this the part where Tony took away his suit again? "Look, Mr. Stark. I'm really sorry about breaking the rules but I couldn't just sit back and watch people die! Please don't take away my suit and-"

"Nice work." Tony interrupted.

"Wh-What?" Peter stuttered, dumbfounded.

"I said nice work. You did a good thing, kid. Even if your aunt is upset about it, I get why you did it."

A warmth grew in his chest. "T-Thanks, Mr. Stark."

"Don't mention it. Or do, you know how much I like praise," Tony said before he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "By the way, are you starting school next week?"

Peter released another webline. "Yeah, why?"

"It's uh…" Tony cleared his throat again and Peter could hear him moving around in the background of the phone call. Was he pacing? "It's nothing, just that there is the slightest possibility that I may need to call you in."

"Call me in?"

"For an Avengers-level threat," Tony said, his voice completely serious for once. The world seemed to stop dead for a moment. Pounding went off deep within his inner ears. His skull suddenly felt too constricting around his brain.

"W-What? What's going on?" Peter asked in a rush.

"Nothing yet, I just… I have this feeling that something is about to go down soon," Tony paused, seeming to weigh his words before he spoke them, "Ever since the attack on New York, I've been getting visions."

Dread pooled in Peter's stomach. "Visions?"

"Yeah. And lately, they have been getting worse."

They were both silent. Peter didn't know what to say. His throat was constricting as a lump formed there.

"It's probably nothing," Tony said, brushing it under the rug.

"Mr. Stark-"

"We won't know until the threat comes. But with the Avengers broken…" He sighed heavily and Peter waited on bated breath for his next words. "Look, you're someone I trust, kid. Let's just leave it at that."

The lump got larger. It was getting difficult for him to swallow against it.

"Alright. But Mr. Stark? Just know that if you call, I'll be there. I promise."

It was quiet again on the other line.

"Thanks, kid. Talk to you soon."

"Have a good night, Mr. Stark."

The line disconnected. Peter swallowed against the lump in his throat, trying to expel it. He was almost home now, his energy thoroughly depleted after the conversation he just had with Tony, and was now looking forward to his bed more than anything.

He swung around the corner onto his street, trying to pay attention to his spider-sense to make sure that no one was watching him as he approached his apartment building. But as he got close, his spider-sense went off like mad!

Peter latched himself to his building, on high alert as he tried to listen to whatever it was that it was warning him of. It was pointing him toward the side of the building… where the fire escape was located. He crawled stealthily over to the side, creeping his head around the corner in order to see…

There, on the fire escape, was a figure shrouded in black. Trying to break into Anna Watson's apartment…

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A/N: Please leave a comment! I appreciate all of the support!

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