We were on the subway headed to Time Square. For a good chunk of the ride, I was listening to MJ and Ned talk about different things at school. For me, it was a bit weird. I knew or understood what they were talking about, and I wanted to chime in, but I just kept quiet. I wasn't ready to open up that can of worms. I didn't know if I ever will be ready for that. But even though I couldn't partake in the conversation, I was happy to watch them just talk because I missed being around them. I allowed myself to smile a bit. That smile then faded as memories of the events leading up to the spell flooded my mind.

I started to regret coming along with them. I been down this road before, and I just knew that they were going to get hurt again. I turned my head and stared out of the window. I tried to come up with an excuse to get off at the next stop and…

"So, Peter," MJ said. I turned my head towards her and Ned. "Tell us about yourself."

And just like that, I abandoned all hope of making the quickest exit possible.

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"Well, anything, really," Ned said. "All we know is that you come to Peter Pan at the same time and order the same thing – a coffee and some kind of pastry, you're taking GED classes, and that you're some low key MacGyver. We got no idea where you're from, what you do for a living, and or even what your favorite movie is."

"I wouldn't call myself MacGyver." I smirked. "…Queens, freelance photographer, and Star Wars."

At that, Ned smiled. "Nice, another Star Wars fan!"

"You're a photographer?" MJ said, tilting her head. "How come you never told us?"

"It's something I picked up only a couple of weeks ago. I did it as a hobby at first." I left out the part where I did it to help me relieve my stress and keep my mind off of the two of them. "Then this couple in my building eloped and wanted someone to take pictures of their special day. I got enough money to pay half my rent and got treated to a Chopped Cheese for compensation. So, I've taken gigs here and there."

"So how come you don't work for a newspaper or some news site?" She then leaned forward. "And how come I never see you with a camera?"

"I only carry it on my free time or when I'm on a gig. And during the week, I don't that much free time."

"Well, hopefully you'll make time," Ned said with a smile. "…I don't have that many people to talk to about Star Wars. MJ here isn't really fan and Betty… she just humors me."

"No one else at school likes Star Wars?"

"Not that I know of." Ned sighed. "At least, not as much as I do. It's such a shame that people just don't understand art. So, maybe we can talk about it sometime. That is, if you're not too busy heading off to study."

"…I'll think about it," I said. I really wanted to say yes a million times over.

"I guess that's all we can ask for," MJ commented as she leaned back in her seat. "So what else you got for us?"

We spent the rest of the train ride telling each other about ourselves. It was only simple stuff from me, such as my love for Legos, though my collection got lost in a fire. I told them that I liked taking things apart and putting them back together. I semi-lied when I told them that, every now and again, I liked going to the top floor of skyscrapers to look out towards the city (I couldn't say that I really went to the roof). I told them I was actually decent cook… whenever I could buy anything more than the microwaveable stuff.

"So… what about your family?" Ned asked. I looked at him. I opened my mouth to say something, but words didn't come out. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I still wasn't over Aunt May's death. And I didn't really want to talk about it. I still couldn't think about her for too long before I was on the verge of tears, and here, on this train, wasn't the place for that. "Oh, shit, touchy subject?"

"A bit," I said. I opened my eyes. "Sorry, I'm…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for," MJ cut in gently. "I know what it's like to have a bad family situation. So, you don't have to talk about it with us, okay?" I smiled slightly and nodded.

"So… on a less depressing note," Ned spoke up. "Do you think they have Junior Mints or gummy worms at the concession stand there?"

MJ gave Ned a look. "I'm sure they do, along with funnel cake and ice cream straight out of a unicorn's ass."

I laughed. "I heard that when The Winter's Tale is being performed, they serve porridge straight from a bear."

The all three of us laughed together, though MJ tried her best not to. "Wow Peter. You're more of a dork than I thought."

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked.

MJ gave me a coy look – that same look that I always found cute and made my face warm up. "I'm not sure yet," she finally said.

Sometime later, we arrived at Time Square. After a short walk, we ended up at St. James Theatre, where Betty was waiting for us on the outside.

"Hey guys," she greeted happily. She then looked at me. "Are you a friend of MJ and Ned?"

"Acquaintance, really," I replied. I stuck my hand out. "I'm Peter Parker."

"I'm Betty Brant." She took my hand for a hearty shake. "Pleased to meet you." She withdrew her hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you."

"Yeah, Peter here is a regular at my job," MJ explained as we all made our way to the box office. "He comes in, grabs coffee and a sweet, does a little bit of small talk, then dips. He's a bit of a dull boy, so I decided to bring him along so he could experience a little thing called fun."

"Do you hate Flash that much that you're willing to bring a customer that you barely know?" Betty smiled. "I mean, I get it, but…"

"Well, true as that is, Peter here is a rather interesting guy," Ned said.

"Oh? Do tell."

After we got our tickets checked and we moved inside, Ned talked me up to Betty, who looked at me in surprise as we found our seats and sat down. From my left, it was Betty, Ned, MJ, and myself.

"So, Peter… do you have a job?" Betty asked.

"Nothing permanent or consistent," I replied.

"Well, if you're interested, the Daily Bugle – this place I'm interning at – is looking for photographers. I don't know how good you are, but they're kind of desperate."

"Why?" I asked.

Betty went silent for a moment. "Well… let's just say, some people find J. Jonah Jameson to be a bit… much."

"What Betty is trying to say is that J. Jonah Jameson is a fake news peddling wacko who pushes the Daily Bugle to take any and every opportunity to slander and libel Spider-Man," MJ translated.

"Yeah," Ned added in agreement. "I'm surprised Spider-Man can still swing through the city with Jonah constantly on his – "

"Be that as it may, it's a job that pays well," Betty interjected. "I don't like that Jonah goes so hard on Spider-Man any more than you do – especially since Spider-Man saved my life and the life of my friends multiple times. But while what he's doing is wrong, it's not illegal, and Spider-Man wouldn't be the first or last hero to go through that."

"You all make some good points, I'd say," a voice chimed in.

We all looked to our right to see two people make it down our row. One of them was a black guy with black hair that was in cornrows. He wore black jeans a red Miami Heat t-shirt underneath a black hoodie. He was a bit tall, probably about six feet. His apparent companion was a woman with brown hair that reached down to her shoulders. She had on black pants with a red trench coat over a white button up shirt, and brown knee high boots. Both of them didn't look much older than us.

"Sorry," the boy said as he sat down next to me, with the girl sitting next to him. "I couldn't help but overhear – acoustics in this building is crazy."

"Still doesn't give you a reason to be nosy," his companion said.

"It's okay," I said. I raised an eyebrow. "You think I should try and apply for the job, since you spoke up?"

"Like I said, you all make some good points. Jonah does rank very on a scale of 1 to douche. And personally, if I was Spider-Man, I'd break into the Daily Bugle just to backhand him while he's live in 4K."

"I like this guy," MJ quipped. I smiled. I always appreciated it when a civilian had my back.

"That being said, if Spider-Man ain't doing that, I think it is okay for you to at least consider the job."

I went quiet for a bit. I then looked over at Betty. "I'll think about it," I told her. As she smiled, I looked over at the new guy. "Thanks, Mr…"

"Craig," he said. "I'm Craig." He then beckoned over to his friend. "And this is Kitty." Kitty waved at us and smiled.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Peter."

"I'm Ned."

"Michelle."

"And Betty."

"Pleased to meet you all," Kitty replied.

Eventually, the show started. I hate to admit it, but I never heard the American Idiot album in its entirety before. I never even knew it was a concept album. However, as I saw the story unfold on stage before me, I had the desire to get the album for myself. I couldn't sing along to most of the songs so far. But that was okay. I enjoyed listening to MJ sing – and that was something I missed. Eventually, there was a song that I could sing along to.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

I knew the lyrics to that song. Who didn't? But as I sung it, it hit me different from the other times. All at once, I remembered those who were in my life before things went left. I used to have people to depend on. I used to have hope for a life that didn't just revolve around being Spider-Man. I wanted to go to MIT and become an engineer. I wanted to get married and have children – preferably with MJ. I wanted to travel the world. I even thought about taking a young hero under my wing the same way Tony did for me. But all of that went out of the window, and I almost destroyed my friends' dreams along with it.

I felt sad again.

This was a mistake. I shouldn't have come with them. I didn't deserve their friendship. I didn't even deserve to be acquainted with them. The Boulevard of Broken Dreams is exactly where I belonged.

Once the show came to a stop for an intermission, I got up from my seat and made my way to the lobby, muttering a quick "excuse me" as I stepped past Craig and Kitty. Once I was in the lobby, I walked over to one of the walls, turned, and leaned back against it. I slid down until I was on my butt and bowed my head.

I breathed in and out slowly, trying to keep myself together and hold it all in, as I've done so many times before.

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't…

"Hey."

I raised my head up to see MJ kneeling in front of me. I looked past her to see Betty, Ned, Craig, and Kitty some feet behind her.

"Hey, look at me," MJ demanded. I looked back at her, seeing the look of concern on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said. "…Mostly." I took in a breath. "Just… one of the songs got to me. It reminded me of something that happened to me a while back. I'm sorry. It's stupid, I know."

In response, she shrugged. "I don't think it is. Music can have the effect on people. I just wanted to make sure you weren't having a full-on breakdown."

"I'm not," I assured her. "I just needed a little time to pull myself together." I took in a deep breath. I moved to stand up. But MJ stood up before me before she brought her hand out for me to grab. I looked at it for a moment, then reached out and grabbed it. She pulled my hand, helping me stand. She looked at me for a moment. She then scoffed. "What's up?"

"Nothing… it's just…" She chuckled. "I just realized I'm taller than you."

At that, I laughed. "Yeah, yeah you are." My laugh faded, but the smile remained. "Thank you, MJ."

"Hey, I can't have my favorite customer going nuts on me." She playfully punched me on my shoulder. "Your next pastry is on me – and I'm not taking no for an answer." I nodded. She then turned and walked back to the others with me in tow. "Okay guys, he's good."

"Thank goodness," Kitty said. "I didn't want your double date to end on a bad note."

MJ and I stopped in our tracks and stared at Kitty. "…What makes you think this is a double date?" I asked.

"Maybe because these two are holding hands," Craig replied, pointing at Ned and Betty. Sure enough, when I looked at them, they were holding hands. I blinked a couple of times. I then smiled slyly. They quickly let go of each other.

"Oh, this… we were just…" Ned began.

"Keeping our hands warm," Betty finished for him.

"Right, and…"

"Okay, please stop the cap," Craig interjected as he shook his head and rolled his eyes. "You already got caught."

"And half the school already knows you two are back together," MJ added.

"Well, I guess there's no point in hiding it," Betty said.

"I'm happy for you two," I said. "Come on, let's head inside before…"

I trailed off. I felt a tingle go up my spine and buzz go off in my head. I stood there, my eyes going wide.

No, not now. Please not now.

"Pete, you okay?"

"Something… something is wrong," I said.

And that's when it happened.

A group of gunmen rushed through the door, with one aiming his shotgun towards the roof and letting a round. I quickly put myself between them and MJ.

"Hey, kid," he said. "Don't be a hero! You and your friends need to get down on the ground now!"