Peter strolled into the hospital, excited to tell May the news about the support he'd received so far. He knew she'd been very uncertain of it throughout the whole process, despite the strong façade she fought to put on. He figured hearing that they were already most of the way there would help boost her spirits and perhaps give her the strength she needed to fight just a little bit harder.

He arrived in her room to find her watching TV. Her attention turned to him as he entered.

"Hey," he said quietly, trying to curb his enthusiasm a little so that he didn't overwhelm her. "How are you feeling today?"

"O-okay," May replied, putting on a smile afterwards.

"I have some good news," Peter said, "I've managed to raise about $110,000, so combined with what your friends here have been able to do, we're almost there already."

Her reaction was a bit slower than normal, but she finally managed to put on a shocked expression.

"H-how did you d-do that?" she asked curiously. Despite her stuttering, Peter was encouraged by the hope he could hear in her voice.

"I had some help," Peter admitted. "The Bugle got a collection together, and my friend M.J. put on a special sale at her store. Both of those things helped a lot."

May just kind of stared blankly at him. It looked like she was thinking, albeit a little slower than normal.

"We're going to do this, May," Peter said, gently grabbing her arms. "We're going to make you better."

"W-who's M.J?" May finally asked. "I-I've never heard you t-talk about her before."

Peter had to fight against rolling his eyes, his head dropping down.

"Well?" May asked.

"She's my new neighbor, and a friend," Peter finally replied, standing straight up again.

"J-just a friend?" May asked.

"Look May, we don't need to talk about this right now, alright?" Peter said.

"S-so she's m-more than a f-friend?" May persisted.

Peter shook his head.

"I think we have more important things to worry about right now," he said.

"C-c'mon," May insisted. "T-tell me about her. It would be g-good for me to th-think about s-something else."

Peter let out a playfully exasperated sigh. When she put it that way, how was he supposed to resist without feeling like a terrible nephew?

"Fine," he said, looking off to the side as he tried to think about where to begin. "Well, like I said, she owns a casual fashion store downtown with a good friend of Her's. She's not rich or anything, but she's doing pretty well for herself. The place has been featured in the Bugle's top new businesses to look out for section."

"S-so she's a h-hard worker," May said as if she was checking it off a list.

"Oh yes," Peter replied. "But she's definitely not a workaholic either. She likes to have a good time as well."

"Hm," May said, nodding lightly. "S-sounds like you c-could learn a thing or two from her."

Peter let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess so," he agreed. "I don't know, she's...she's a lot of things. She's nice, she's fun, she's sweet, she's strong, she's..."

"Pretty?" May asked.

"That too," Peter conceded. "But I think..."

He moved over to take a seat in a chair next to May's bed.

"I think that the biggest thing when it comes to Mary Jane is that she feels everything so deeply. Joy, hurt, anger, happiness, sadness, whatever it is, I can just tell when she's feeling it, even if she doesn't always show it on the outside, if that makes sense."

"S-sounds like she's l-like you in that way," May replied. "I c-could always s-see those things with you."

Peter let out a light snort through his nose, nodding. This whole conversation was a little strange, because it was like he was discovering observations about M.J. that he'd not even previously realized or thought about before.

"She's also very loyal," he continued. "We haven't really known each other that long, but I can already tell that she's the kind of person that doesn't just give her loyalty to anybody. But once you prove that you'll be there for her, there's nothing she won't do for you."

Peter looked up to find May smiling.

"She s-sounds wonderful," his aunt mused, "and it s-sounds like you th-think so too."

Peter looked down to hide the smile that he could feel forming on his face.

"I better let you get your rest," he said, rising from his seat. "Besides, I have a few jobs lined up for today to hopefully raise some more money. I'll see you later, okay?"

Peter gave her a kiss on the top of her head, and he started to walk away before he felt a hand suddenly reach out and grab his. He turned his attention back to May, who had a pleading look in her eyes.

"P-Peter," she started, struggling to get the next words out. "Y-you know you have a l-limited life t-too. D-don't go t-through it alone."

Peter nodded to her, offering a gentle smile to try and reassure her before taking his leave of the room.

Even as Peter fixed a TV of one of his neighbors and cleaned the bathroom of one of May's elderly neighbors, he couldn't help but think back to his conversation with May. The last words she said were particularly stuck in his mind, playing over and over again, like a song that a radio station couldn't stop putting on.

"You have a limited life too. Don't go through it alone."

He thought of all the support he received, not even just from M.J, but from Eddie, Robbie and the rest of the staff at the Bugle as well. He hadn't truly put much effort in when it came to his relationships with his coworkers, but evidently, they had felt strong enough about him to help him out like they did. It could just be that they were all very generous and caring people, which he didn't doubt about many of them, but still, the gesture even now felt almost unreal to Peter.

When he'd received the money and read the notes, he felt a sense of community that he hadn't known for maybe his entire life. The words they shared, even if it was just about something simple that he had done, things that hadn't even been a big deal to Peter at the time, had struck more of a chord than he would've guessed. Seeing how supportive they were of him in his time of need was still almost overwhelming even now.

But it was Mary Jane who had gone perhaps the most above and beyond. Peter didn't even want to think about all the work that must've been involved in throwing together something like what she had so quickly. Eddie had gone on to tell him yesterday about how M.J. had approached him and Robbie with a flyer several days back, which he now realized was the day after he had first told her about May. Peter didn't know much about marketing, but it wasn't hard to understand how quickly his neighbor must've put together a campaign for the sale.

Honestly, it was deeply humbling for Peter to think about how someone would go through such an effort to help him and May out like that.

"Don't go through it alone."

The words continued to ring in his head as lunchtime approached. Peter was planning to find an alley to change into his Spider-Man suit and just swing home to grab something to eat since it was free, but then he realized that he was actually only a few blocks from M.J.'s store. It would probably be a little strange going into a women's fashion store on his own time and not for interview purposes, but he felt like he needed to give her a better thank you than the one he had given her yesterday. Granted, nothing he could ever say or do would feel like enough, but still he had to try.

Plus, it would just be nice to see her, assuming she hadn't left for lunch already herself.

Deciding lunch could wait for a bit after all, Peter made his way down to the store. He peeked inside but couldn't see for sure if Mary Jane was there or not. The place had some customers, but didn't appear too busy, probably because, again, it was lunchtime. He opened the door, stepping in and surveying the place to see if he could find her. He had to walk around some clothing racks, but he finally found her helping a customer. While the other woman was distracted, M.J. happened to turn around and see Peter, a surprised but happy expression coming on her face. She held up a finger, motioning for him to wait a moment before turning back to her customer.

"You're Peter, right?"

Peter turned to see the question came from the woman at the counter.

"Yes," he said, walking up to it. "It's Liz, right?"

"That's right," Liz replied. "I'm guessing you're here to see M.J?"

"Uh, yeah, yes I am," he responded, his cheeks warming up a little due to embarrassment, like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing. "Oh, and I wanted to thank you as well. I'm guessing you also put a lot of work in for the sale you two put on for my aunt."

"Happy to do it," Liz replied with a smile. "She was the real brainchild behind it all though. I just followed her lead, really."

Mary Jane then came over.

"Hey," she greeted him, her tone pleasant and happy. "What brings you by?"

"I just wanted to thank you again, you know, for the fundraiser you all did here," Peter replied.

M.J. smiled, letting out a couple of giggles.

"I appreciate it," she replied, "but you didn't need to come out here to thank me again when you already did it once."

"I guess it just didn't feel good enough to me the first time," Peter countered.

M.J.'s lowered her head, her eyes narrowing at him.

"You gave me and Eddie a bearhug," she responded, "I think that's a pretty sufficient form of thanks."

"Right," Peter said, letting out an awkward laugh as he started to realize how ridiculous he must be sounding to her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you while you were working."

"No no," Mary Jane replied, holding up her hand briefly to further emphasize her words, "it's fine, really. Liz and I were actually just getting ready to go to lunch, if you want to join us?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Liz suddenly spoke up, "I have a...an errand I need to run while we're out, so I'll probably just grab something to go somewhere and eat on the way. You two should totally go though, don't worry about me."

The woman quickly grabbed her stuff and took her leave as another employee came behind the desk to take her place, leaving Peter unsure of what just happened, even if he had a sneaking suspicion. He turned to M.J.

"Well," M.J. said, "does that sound good to you?"

Ten minutes later, the two of them were digging into their respective sandwiches they had ordered at a small restaurant just down the street from the store.

"Wow, I can't believe I've never been here before," Peter said after downing a few bites.

"I know, right?" M.J. replied. "It's such a convenient spot too."

"I'll bet," Peter responded before taking another bite.

"Liz and I like to go a few different places," M.J. added after swallowing her most recent bite. "There's this one place that's a bit of a ride, but we absolutely love it there. They have everything."

"I'll have to show you this one sandwich place that I discovered a while back," Peter replied. "It's pretty great too."

"Sounds fun," Mary Jane replied.

As Peter neared the end of his food, he spoke up again.

"Can I ask you something that may or may not be a little personal, depending on the answer?"

M.J. narrowed her eyes at him in a puzzled expression.

"Sure?" she said uncertainly.

"Who is the Madeline that you named your store after?" he asked.

M.J. looked down for a moment, appearing to ponder whether to answer or not.

"My mom," she said, taking her last bite of her sandwich.

"Oh, that's cool," Peter nodded, taking the final bite of his own sandwich.

"She's the one who got me into fashion," M.J. added, wiping her mouth with her napkin. "She died before I was even in high school, but I can still remember how she always seemed to have great taste in clothes. It was never over the top though; there was almost always a practicality to what she wore, even when it was something fancy. That's what Liz and I knew we wanted to focus on when we were first looking at opening our store. My mom even knew where to find women's shorts that actually have pockets. Do you have any idea how hard that is to find?"

"I may have heard a complaint or two about it," Peter replied, "but I thought that's what purses were for?"

"Yeah, but we don't want to always be carrying those around," M.J. clarified. "It's actually more convenient that you'd think for a lady to have pockets to carry things."

"I apologize," Peter said, "I guess I still have some misconceptions about women's fashion."

"It's okay, Tiger," M.J. replied, "since you're a guy, I'll give you a pass."

There was that nickname again; something about it made Peter's heart rate pick up when she said it.

"Anyway," M.J. continued, her tone becoming a little more serious again, "I guess naming the store after mom was just kind of my way of honoring the impact she made in my life, since she was the one who kind of set me on this path without even knowing it."

"That's really cool," Peter replied.

A momentary silence fell over them as Peter contemplated adding something else, finally deciding to say it.

"If she could see you today, I think she'd be very proud of you."

M.J.'s eyes met his briefly, and a light smile adorned her face, her eyes carrying a hopefulness to them.

"You think so?" she asked.

"I know it," Peter responded. "I mean, I didn't know her for myself, but I know you, and it's hard to imagine that she wouldn't be."

M.J. looked down at her empty plate for a moment, but Peter still thought he could see her cheeks turning a little red.

"Thanks Tiger," M.J. replied as she looked back up at him. "I...that was nice to hear."

Peter then felt his phone vibrate, and he pulled it out to see what it was.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said, "that was a reminder that I need to be at a friend of May's place soon. I'm going to help them move some new furniture in exchange for some money to go towards May."

"Oh cool," M.J. replied as the two started gathering their stuff. "I'm glad you're still getting some jobs."

"Thanks," Peter said as he stood up with his plate, the two of them taking them to where they could dispose of them properly. "Thanks for lunch too; it was a lot better than the homemade scraps I'd been planning on throwing together."

"Not a problem," Mary Jane replied, "thanks for coming by. It was a nice surprise."

"Sure," Peter said, "it was nice for me too."

He turned to walk away but found himself spinning back around to face her.

"Mary Jane?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

The words were right on his lips, but Peter suddenly found himself unable to utter them.

"Never mind," he replied. "It can wait. I'll see you around."

"Oh, okay," M.J. replied. "See you around I guess."

Peter then turned and walked off.

Originally this chapter was supposed to have almost none of this, but I came to feel this was a necessary thing. I guess we'll see down the road if it really was for the better or not. Also, I tried something new with the chapter that hopefully adds the page breaks/divisions as I skip from scene to scene, so hopefully that solves the problem that a few of you have been kind enough to bring up to me. I'm still trying to get all the formatting stuff down, so hopefully it will only continue to get better.

Anyway, thank again to all who've been supporting this story, and I hope you're still enjoying it!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'" Proverbs 31:28b-29