-1It Ends Tonight- All American Rejects

Your subtleties
They strangle me
I can't explain myself at all.
And all the wants
And all the needs
All I don't want to need at all.

The walls start breathing
My mind's unweaving
Maybe it's best you leave me alone.
A weight is lifted
On this evening
I give the final blow.

When darkness turns to light,
It ends tonight
It ends tonight.

A falling star
Least I fall alone.
I can't explain what you can't explain.
You're finding things that you didn't know
I look at you with such disdain

The walls start breathing
My mind's unweaving
Maybe it's best you leave me alone.
A weight is lifted
On this evening
I give the final blow.

When darkness turns to light
It ends tonight,
It ends tonight.
Just a little insight won't make this right
It's too late to fight
It ends tonight,
It ends tonight.

Now I'm on my own side
It's better than being on your side
It's my fault when you're blind
It's better that I see it through your eyes

All these thoughts locked inside
Now you're the first to know

When darkness turns to light
It ends tonight,
It ends tonight.
Just a little insight won't make this right
It's too late to fight
It ends tonight,
It ends

When darkness turns to light
It ends tonight,
It ends tonight.
Just a little insight won't make this right
It's too late to fight
It ends tonight,
It ends tonight.

Tonight
Insight
When darkness turns to light,
It ends tonight.

He took her back to her apartment and once he was sure there was no sign of Gina, he set her safely down on her balcony.

"Looks like I left the door open in a rush. You might want to go turn on the heat and close this door…" he offered, buying some time to face this.

MJ nodded mutely, doing as instructed. She even stopped to pick up the glass and place the broken lamp in her trash bin. She flipped on the overhead light and grabbed a sweater to wear. She walked out onto the balcony to meet him again.

His back was to her as he leaned on the railing looking out into the city. The sun was rising slowly in the distance, casting a cold blue-orange hue on the city. She waited for him to face her, afraid. She shivered, but it wasn't the cold that made her shake.

Finally, he stood in front of her, his hands lingering on her shoulders for just a moment before he removed them.

"MJ, I think it's time," he sighed, his voice shaking.

"Time for what?" she squeaked, not liking the sound of this.

"Time for us to say goodbye," he informed, his voice cracking unable to keep the emotion hidden.

"Goodbye?" MJ whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek anew. "You mean goodnight?" she felt her stomach toss violently. "I know I was mad earlier-"

"And you were right. I hurt you. I never wanted that to happen. And I'm not going to let that happen again," he stood straighter, looking for some resolve somewhere deep inside of him.

"So you don't think this will hurt me even more?" MJ could not believe he was actually pushing her away. Again!

"I'm not saying it won't. But, this is better than you being in danger all the time. This is worth you not losing your life because of Spider-Man," he told her.

MJ shook a little more, now feeling the cold air of the dawn she had not felt earlier, not even as they web slung here. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to dissipate the cold. She told herself not to fall apart, but she wasn't going to give up without one more fight. "I'm willing to risk a thousand more nights like tonight to be with you." Her heart pounded heavily as she wondered how true that really was. After all the times he denied her, did she really still want this?

"And I'm willing to risk a thousand more nights without your love to protect you and keep you safe and alive," he answered back, a sharp tone taking over. He hated every word that he spoke, and would hate himself forever for this. But, he would hate himself even more if she suffered the same fate as Uncle Ben did because of his recklessness.

MJ's broken heart somehow broke even more. She thought it was impossible to feel this much pain. Her sobs broke the silence and she felt her face throb with the intense heat as her body reacted to his words. "You can't mean that."

"I'm sorry, Mary Jane. I'm not someone you can give your heart and love to. Someone else will just have to be the luckiest man on earth to have your love. I can't change what I am. Spider-Man will always have enemies. I can't have you in my life anymore. Please understand." he couldn't believe his own voice. It took every ounce of strength to keep his voice steadfast and keep his decision from wavering.

Mary Jane broke as he rejected her all over again. She was tired of pleading, tired of laying it all on the line and he couldn't meet her half way. She had to come to terms with it. Peter Parker was just another man. Another man who hurt her more than any other man could possibly ever hurt her.

She turned away from him with her hand on her balcony door. She was reminded of how he had come back into her life a few weeks ago on this very balcony in his Spider-Man disguise. It was bittersweet that he would leave her once again in this very way. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. A huff broke the silence as she finally realized he hadn't the decency to face her eye to eye, his mask was still adorned. Or he knew if he faced her, really looked into her eyes, he couldn't escape the truth. "I understand, Peter. You're not who I thought you are. You're a coward who would rather deny everything you want and live alone than take a chance and be happy." She raised her chin, trying to remain strong. She even managed a crack of her famed fake smile. "See ya around, tiger." She turned back and opened the door, sliding inside, locking the door behind her. She pulled the shade and buried her head against the door, a hand covering her mouth to muffle her loud sobs until she knew he had left.

Peter stood there in complete shock, having a hard time believing she really walked away from him this time without a struggle. He let out his own sob as tears welled up in his eyes. She was right. He couldn't even face her. He was such a coward. He kept running from her and pushing her away and now she was gone for good. Nothing would ever hurt him more than this. That fake smile she forced on him burned his mind's eye. He would never forget how she shut him out of her real emotions so easily. But he got what he asked for, right? MJ was safe and she wouldn't be in danger again. It was over.

He only allowed himself a brief moment to be upset. He would miss her beyond words. His fingertips reached out to touch the glass of her balcony doors. They lingered there, sliding down the glass slowly.

He shivered and let irony smack him hard across the face remembering weeks ago when he found her pressed against the other side of this glass, heartbroken and alone. He was so moved by her heartache that he had set this whole thing in motion again. If only he had stayed away, he wouldn't know now more than ever what he was giving up and wind up hurting her even more. He felt the wetness of tears under his mask and a small sob choked him as he lifted his mask over his nose, wiping the wetness from his face.

MJ watched him, peering through the curtain on the other side of the glass that separated them. Her hand touched the glass where Peter's fingers were resting, not moving them until his slid down the glass and she mimicked his motion, touching her forehead to the cool glass after she watched him wipe the tears from his face. She closed her eyes, unable to watch anymore.

He replaced his mask, turning away to leap onto the railing. He took a shaky breath. Then he leapt into the dawning skyline of the city that controlled his whole life because of a debt he felt would never be settled. He had a responsibility to uphold and he would see to it at any cost. Even his own happiness.

MJ wept uncontrollably, collapsing on her bed among the shambles of her earlier attack. She cried long and hard, feeling defeated and alone.