Of The Twilight Hours

Sequel to 'Midnight is Meant to Be'

Disclaimer: I own none of Marvel/Stan Lee's creations, only the scenario and original characters in this story.

Persistence: I'm going to try and finish this, because you guys n gals out there are still reading, even a few new faces, that makes me happy to continue, although no promises on the pace of the chapter succession still.

The theatre was in awe of the show, the stage a million dazzling jewels, sequins and lights, a mirage of characters and time. Hundreds watched closely the drama unfolding before them, scripted and rehearsed, but only three people could see the deeper story unfolding, the truth of love amongst morals, blood and tears. What was taking place would shape New York' future, its dawn ever beautiful, its shadows ever as dark. War was coming, and the numbers on each side were but few, but the ramifications of this fight would echo beyond their recognition.

But the triptych of white, red and brown at the front of the theatre didn't know of the future, only of the present and its seemingly fated placing of each other.

"Oh my god… Peter?" Mary Jane whispered on her breath, she had to hear it, no matter how quietly to check her eyes were relaying the right intimations to her brain.

"No way" Peter said out loud, Felicia smiling at him thinking he was just surprised that she knew the lead of the production.

They looked at each other not in the shock of seeing each other after so many years, they barely escaped that by their meeting at the hospital, but more shock of recognising their mutual link that neither knew existed. Felicia.

Mary Jane's mind was re-analysing everything Felicia had told her about her former mystery boyfriend, such as what he's like in bed, quirky habits she loved, romantic things he had said to her, everything MJ had wished she knew about Peter and had hoped to find out first-hand, but now her dreams seemed sullied, stolen.

Peter's thoughts headed in the opposite direction, MJ's scattered into the past, Peter's leaked into the future. Not only had he dreamt of MJ, he had also had a hard time getting her off his mind since he found her at the foot of his hospital bed. Now it turns out she was his girlfriend's best friend? This was not good, he had deliberately never told Felicia about his history with the redhead, now it would be hard to avoid if he didn't want there to seem like there was something to hide. But was there? Maybe the dream was just random, surely it wasn't the re-emergence of his younger every night dreaming about the girl next door. Oh crap.

Felicia's smile started to fade a bit when she noticed Mary Jane's reaction was less than ecstatic, and how the line which was her cue to rejoin the act had to be repeated for her to realise she was still on stage. Mary Jane wasn't jealous, it was more like horror which had wracked her eyes until she was taken in her character again. The blonde didn't like this, something was going on she wasn't included in, especially considering it was her best friend and her boyfriend. She looked next to her at Peter, she saw how his eyes didn't seem to be focusing on the play or anything for more than 10 seconds, he didn't know where to look, he was nervous! What did he have to be nervous about? Did Peter know Mary Jane or something? Felicia bit her bottom lip, she didn't like the feeling she was getting being between the two closest people to her in the world, she felt like she was bang in the middle of something, she only hoped that this ominous feeling that was creeping up her spine was just her being paranoid.

Mary Jane's eyes fell into shadows whenever they met Peter's scattering gaze. He was the man that had tamed Felicia, her Peter Parker was the legendary stud that had slowed down the blonde bombshell. Felicia loved him, she really loved him a lot, and that no matter how much she hated herself for it, made Mary Jane jealous. Felicia had the one man in Manhattan that Mary Jane Watson had loved since she was a small girl. It hadn't always been romantic love but she had always felt he was there if she needed him, and that he was dependable, quite the ironic thought considering how he would be when he grew up. But still, this was insanity, Peter was not only Dating Felicia, he was nigh on living with her, Mary Jane's stomach started to turn at all the sex scenes Felicia had described in vivid detail, she was jealous in a fun way when she heard them, but now instead of laughing she felt like throwing up. She had feared that Peter would be in a relationship if she finally managed to patch things up between them, after all She had been with John for a good while and it was only fair in a way, but a girl she didn't know, a nameless entity was easier to hate, to want to steal from, than her best friend in the flesh.

Peter was in love with Felicia. Those simple few words cut MJ deep as she smiled and ran lines with her fellow actors, hundreds of people watching the shell, while she rotted inside, screaming behind the smile. What wasn't to love, Felicia had a model's body and then some, she was infectiously happy and dirty at the same time, she was honest to the point of it not always being good for her, but most of all, she deserved him. Felicia hadn't had the easiest of lives and she was head over heels in Love with a guy who made that all okay, he held her and everything melted away except her heart beating next to his. She knew this because she had told Mary Jane, and while she listened she had nodded, knowing what she meant, unbeknownst that both girls were thinking about the same man.

As the act finished Felicia was becoming agitated with Peter's unease and Mary Jane's pained eyes, she had to find out what the hell was causing this friction in the atmosphere. As the play rolled on Felicia found it almost unbearable, they kept stealing looks at each other and Peter hadn't acknowledged anyone else's existence since they sat down, Mary Jane's perfect acting was now flawed whenever she saw Peter out the corner of her eye, her voice waved and she looked like she was drifting away. Finally it finished, the curtain came down as the cast bowed in its entirety, although Mary Jane, the lead, was no where to be seen.

Mary Jane sat in front of the mirror once again. It was still cracked. A tear licked at her face like fire, it burned her pride as a woman, it burned because she was jealous almost to the point of hating her best friend, it burned with love for someone who she knew was out of reach. Peter was happy now, and in a way Mary Jane felt herself saddened by it, and then realising that made her feel pathetic and sickened by her own fickle heart and judos mind. She had always imagined Peter at least subconsciously would miss her as much as she missed him, that on some level he shared her misery every time she woke up and realised it was just a dream that his arms weren't around her as she slept. Knowing now that when she woke up alone, he woke up to an incredibly beautiful woman smiling at him somehow made all her hopes he missed her shallow and unbelievable. Letting it sink in that on her weaker days, when her tears made ripples in her coffee, Peter was making love to his girlfriend, her best friend, and a girl so nice she realised she couldn't hate her, not for taking Peter, not for making her realise he was never MJ's to take.

If she couldn't hate Felicia, and she couldn't get over Peter, what could she do to vent the storm inside her? Tears tore down, and as the cast received a standing ovation, Mary Jane Watson cried her heart out, reflected in a broken mirror.

As everybody sat up to leave Peter still seemed to be uncertain where to look, but when someone walked past him, it clicked in his mind that it was over, and suddenly he stood up looking at Felicia for the first time since they arrived.

"So where do you want to go when we leave here?" his voice and jittery disposition stunk of an eagerness to run through the exit he seemed to be drawn to. Despite her sense and knowing she really shouldn't know, Felicia was going to stick to the plan.

"After Party Pete, whole cast will be there" She watched his face for anything, not that he was hard to read anyway, Peter Parker was as open with his emotions in his eyes as he was evasive with his words. She could see that he was scared, but what did he have to be scared of, did Mary Jane hurt him in the past? By the looks of it yes, it would explain a lot, MJ had always made a point of losing her excess baggage by the sounds of it, some guy in high school, John Jameson, and Peter probably fit in between the two on the timeline. Poor guy, Felicia saw now that he was still sore from it and that maybe she shouldn't force it on him, but still, she had to see for herself. She had top see if Peter would react as he had for the last 2 hours, trying to ignore Mary Jane so hard he ignored everything else too, including his girlfriend.

If Peter was still sore about Mary Jane then did that mean he still liked her? Was the red haired actress his 'one that got away' from school? Should Felicia try and tackle this head on or ignore it, after all Peter was her boyfriend, and Mary Jane was her best friend, its was complicated, but she would never play games with Mary Jane, she was her friend and she was having a hard time at the moment, she couldn't justify even a healthy spat right now. Damn it, why were things never easy in this damn city?

The party started 15 minutes later, enough time for the cast to change if they wanted and head across the road to the large elegant function room that had been rented. Drink was flowing, laughter was infecting, praise spread liberally, enter a blonde and her bewildered boyfriend. She had the feeling that bringing him to a room full of actors and artists would make Peter feel awkward, he wasn't stupid, far from it, but he wasn't pretentious or fond of his own voice enough to fit in with the kind of crowd she had expected to be here. Time would tell if she was right, because although he looked lost she knew it was more to do with seeing Mary Jane and being effected by the big mystery between the two.

Mary Jane however, was no where to be seen.

Thanks for giving me such nice feedback, believe me I really need it at the moment, anyway I hope you enjoy this, I've given up on forcing Lengthy chapters, I'm just going to roll with what feels right