(Merry Christmas, Brent! Hope you have a blast, God bless you!)
Peter's pov
I'll admit I selfishly did not want the other Peters to return to their worlds. I did not want to be alone. May was gone, my friends and girlfriend had no idea who I was... But that was better for them. I sighed
"You're on your own, Kid. And everyone you knew is better off. Those who survived you, anyway."
All I have are pictures of those I used to call friends and family. Scrolling through those pictures one by one, I would trace the screen as if it was their faces. Especially the woman who had been a cross between an older sister and a mother for as far back as I can remember, and the girl I had hoped to marry some day. Aunt May, MJ, Ned, Happy, Betty, Mr. Stark, Mr. Delmar, Nat, Cap, Uncle Ben, my parents, the Peters... I had lost so many people that counting them back makes it harder to breathe with every name that I managed to lose. There are those who can make me stay here for all my days, even though I did not choose this city, nor the haunting heartbreak staying here provides. But I was close to those I lost, be it by their demise, or the favor I asked Dr. Strange. And I was a protector and a beacon of hope for this city, particularly my borough, as I mainly operated out of Queens. I was in a limbo where I couldn't leave, but I couldn't stay either. But I had to. In the tiny apartment I managed to secure after the dust settled, I had to continue on.
You're on your own, Kid...
Those particular lyrics to the popular Taylor Swift song rang partly true to my situation. But the statement that I have always been alone had not been true til now. If it was not what would be best for Ned and MJ, among so many others, I would jump at the chance to make them remember me again. Then maybe I would not be so haunted. For someone who clung to forevers and always' due to knowing they weren't promised, what I had just dealt with was a nightmare. I don't know if I'll ever have the certainty that I'm out of the woods, though. And to think I had thought the trip to Europe had been a cruel summer... I could scoff at the thought, if it was not a reminder of something so mean and delicate. I turn in my bed to grab something I had made sure to grab from the apartment. May's favorite cardigan, which still smelled like her, much to my relief. As my eyes started to droop shut, tired with my thoughts and burdens, I smiled, memories of May telling me to never grow up filling my brain. I would have to grow up now, and grow up fast. But I would always hold on to the memories, especially the Hannukah ones. I go back to December all the time, and would do so again in my dreams, as the darkness of obscurity overtook me, and the pain faded for a few hours.