Peter walked turned the key, pushing open the front door. Once inside, he closed it back, tossing the keys in a basket on the counter before setting the bags in his hands down as well. He'd had to go to three different stores just to find some eggs, and when he did find a store that had them, there was only one more left. He had never felt so fortunate in that moment, because in between all those grocery stops, he'd also suited up in between to foil two bank robberies, a car chase and rescue a dangling construction worker before he fell twenty-five stories to certain death. Just like that, half his Saturday had been taken from him.
All that to say, he was ready to do as little as necessary the rest of the day.
It would be good for May as well. The two of them had been so busy between their respective work and school schedules (not to mention his extracurricular spandex wearing activities) that they had hardly seen one another over the last week or two. Despite living in the same house, Peter felt as though he missed May, like she'd been on a trip without him or something.
Maybe that was a good thing, a testament to their relationship. For most of his time living there, Peter had been closer to Ben than May. He may have been his uncle, but Ben felt much more like a father to him. After Ben passed though, Peter and his aunt had been forced to lean on each other for survival. In doing so, they became closer than Peter even realized was possible. They helped, consoled and leaned on each other through the good times and bad alike. They still tended to get into arguments from time to time, little bickering sessions that usually finished just as soon as they started, and it was never anything that they couldn't put behind each other. Right now, she was his one true confidante in this mess of a life he ended up in.
She really was his everything.
Speaking of May, where was she?
Peter just about called out for her, even sounding out the first letter of her name, before stopping at his hearing of a soft, low noise. He listened closer, walking towards May's room, where it seemed to be coming from. As he drew near the open doored room, he could tell it was definitely crying coming from within. It wasn't loud or ugly crying, but rather gentle, steady and soft, like it had been done many times before.
Probably because it had.
Peter turned into the doorway of the room where, sure enough, there was May, one hand supporting her up against a dresser.
"May?" Peter muttered quietly, not wanting to startle her.
May didn't turn around at the sound of his voice, though she did appear to try and temper her tears. Peter walked in, approaching her cautiously. He reached up, resting his left hand gently against her shoulder. She slowly turned to face him, and he brought his other hand to her other shoulder, less to steady her and more just to let her feel that he was present, that he was there with her, and that somehow that would make whatever had upset her go away.
"Hey," she said, forcing a smile his way, though she could barely look him in the eye.
"What's wrong, May?" Peter asked her, his tone still softer than normal. "Did something happen?"
"No," she said, wiping away a tear, "no Peter, nothing's happened."
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked her. She finally looked him cleanly in the eye, but she said nothing. Her lip soon started to tremble, like whatever was inside of her was going to burst out whether she wanted it to or not.
"It's okay," Peter assured her. May's sleep schedule was all out of wack due to her work and school schedule, so maybe she had a nightmare while taking a nap or something. Maybe she was remembering Ben, or...
"I'm sorry, Peter," she finally said, sniffing back more tears. "I should've told you."
"Told me what?" Peter asked, his voice suddenly flooded with concern.
"That I know," May replied.
"Know what?" Peter asked, already fearing where this was going."
"You know what," May answered him. Peter slowly took a couple of steps back upon hearing this, his brain feeling as if it had shut down from having to process too much all at once.
"How..." he stammered, "how long have you known?"
"Oh, I had suspicions for a while," May replied, sounding more composed now. "Then, about a month after graduation, I found your suit just against your closet door."
Peter reached up, running one hand through his hair before bringing the other one up as well. He paced back and forth for a brief moment, taking in what he had just heard before locking eyes with his aunt again.
He knew there was something he needed to say to her.
"May, I'm so sorry," he said, walking up to her again. "I know I should've told you, but it's just..."
"I know, Peter," she finished for him. "You didn't want me to worry. It's the same reason why I didn't tell you, because I knew you would worry about me."
That's when it hit Peter.
"But it didn't make a difference," he said, "because you still found out, and you've worried about me." Peter staggered backward, spinning so that he leaned back against May's bedrail, clutching its top with both hands. Disappointment washed over him; he had wanted nothing more than to avoid giving May anything more to worry about, much less let her in on his most worrisome trait of all. She was stressed enough as it was.
"Hey," she said, stepping on front of him, rubbing her hands up and down his arms like she had done his whole life whenever he needed to be comforted. "I'm not angry. I mean, I was a little hurt at first that you didn't tell me, but I probably would've done the same thing if I were you. That's just what our family does, Peter. We protect each other...sometimes a little too much, maybe."
Peter certainly saw May's point. There family had kept secrets from each other for a long time, from the truth about his parents, to Spider-Man, to this...
"You just have so much to stress over already," Peter said, "paying the bills, putting me through college...you do so much for others, never asking for anything in return. I guess I just figured that the least I could do was keep this off your plate."
"I know," May replied. "That's just who you are, Peter. It's how Ben and I raised you to be. And now, as Spider-Man, you've gone and showed the whole world the good man you are. Ben would be so proud of you."
Peter offered a light smile, then straightened up, relinquishing his grip on the bedrail.
"Well, you know now," he said, "and now I've seen the effect it has on you, so how about we agree not to keep secrets anymore, okay?"
May nodded before throwing her arms around her nephew, with Peter responding in kind.
"I just don't know what I would do if I lost you too," May said, and Peter swore he felt his heart shatter at the sound of her breaking voice. He wanted to reassure her that he wasn't going anywhere, but he knew that was a promise he couldn't guarantee he could keep, and he'd learned the hard way what making one of those resulted in.
"I don't know what I would do if I lost you either," he said, finally separating from her, though still maintaining his grip on her arms. "So, how about we just do our best to keep each other going, every day?"
May nodded.
"I think I can do that," she replied.
"Okay," Peter said in agreement.
They started to turn to walk out of the room together, but May stopped at the doorway.
"Just one question though," she said. "Those...webs, do they like, actually...come out of you?"
Peter let out a snort.
"No May," he said. "Come on, I'll explain everything."
Hope you guys enjoyed!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother." Proverbs 10:1