I felt the relief practically pore out of me as I exited the room of my last exam. It was the digital art project. I designed a logo for a New York City Comic book store, with the prime theme being Spiderman. I knew that would get me extra marks, considering my professor was practically in love with the concept of Spider-man.

I skipped along the sidewalk, making my way to the subway station. It was freezing outside. The first snowfall hadn't occured yet, but I could feel it was coming soon.

When I hopped on the subway, I thought about my project. I was pretty proud of it. My design consisted of Spiderman, slouching as he sat on top of a tall sky scraper. His mask was in his hand, while his shaggy brown hair blew in the wind. The psychedelic red and blue sunset in the background was a nice touch. I made it to look like a comic book, with the store's name being the title of the comic. It was outlined in black, which brought out the boldness of it.

I hadn't realized until now, while I was looking at the printed version of it, that I had almost replicated Peter's features. It completely looked like Peter, only you couldn't see his face, just his back.

Although, I was particularly excited to show him. He had never gotten back to me about an idea. I wasn't to upset though, I knew he was studying and saving New York. It was hard to balance hanging out with friends and saving people, let alone. Adding exams to the matter was even more difficult, not to mention his new job. How did he even take photos of himself in action? I don't know.

I had seen his photo's on the front page of the daily bugle, and they were stunning. The way he positioned the camera to perfectly capture himself in action was astounding.

What made me happiest the most was seeing the, 'Photo taken by: Peter Parker' written in tiny letters at the bottom of the photo.

He was amazing at photography, as well as science.

He was a man of knowledge.

I found myself passing my stop, and heading towards Peter's house. I wanted to check on him, I needed my daily dose of Peter.

It was a twenty minute walk after the subway station. Usually I didn't mind, but it was getting dark, and considering it was winter, I wasn't very warm.

I sucked it up though.

The walk felt a lot longer than usual, but I was eager to see Peter. I had communicated with him for just under two weeks.

The cold air brushed against my skin, sending shivers up my spine as I walked along the sidewalk. I turned the last corner on to a quieter street and made my way to house #36. I walked up to the glass door with curtains draped over them, knocking a few times. It was getting late, but not too late. Someone had to be home, whether it was May or Peter. Preferably I hoped it would be Pete. The door creaked open to reveal Peter's lovely Aunt. "Well hello Emily! What a pleasant surprise"

"Hello, May." I smiled, putting my hands in my pocket. "Is Peter home?"

"Is he ever home?" His Aunt sighed depressingly. "I thought he was with you."

I shook my head.

"He said he was with you. He's always out with you, lately anyways." She licked her lips, "Well, he's probably doing… whatever it is he does."

I was assuming Peter was using me as an excuse to his Aunt while he secretly saved lives. I didn't mind, I just wished that he actually saw me.

"Oh," I said pretending to remember something for the sake of May, "I just remembered he said something about meeting him for pizza! How could I forget?"

May seemed a little less worried now, "You better hurry then." She said after a few smiling seconds.

I nodded, pivoting my body to the footsteps. "Goodbye, May."

"Wait, Emily." I turned back to May, who was encompassed in seriousness. "Can I ask you a favor?"

That surprised me… Not that I wouldn't do a favor for her. I would do anything for this angelic woman. "Of course," I responded, "Anything."

"You care about Peter a lot, right?"

What was she getting at…?

"More than anyone besides my own family"

"Then can you promise me something?"

"Yes."

"Please, don't leave Peter. I haven't seen Peter this happy in months. He likes you, a lot... He just doesn't know it yet. And I know you like him. Just promise me you'll stick around because I don't know what will happen if he loses you too."

It took me a solid few seconds to take in the sincerity and the pleading of her words. "I promise, May."

"Thank you," She said, folding her hands together in front of her face. "You're all Peter ever talks about. You make him happy, and it's nice to see him happy again. Just remember, no matter how much he tries to push you away, like he does with everyone, just be stubborn and don't let him. That's the only way he'll get it through his head."

I nodded.

"It's like he feels like he doesn't deserve to be happy… But he does, more than anyone."

More than anything, Sam and I needed a night out. Trust me; I was beyond ecstatic about it too, for once. We had our whole night planned out. First, dinner at this cute little Pho restaurant in Times Square, and then maybe a little late night shopping. It was hitting seven o'clock and I had just finished putting on a casual beige dress along with my scarf and jacket.

Sam had offered to pay for dinner, which I was thankful for. Food was not cheap in New York and I was running a little low on money after recovering from Sam's birthday and trying to pay for next semester's tuition fees.

The phone ringing interrupted my growling stomach. I picked it up, eagerly anticipating that it was Peter, I didn't even check the caller ID.

"Hello?!"

"Emma hunny!" Mom.

I sighed, "Hey mom."

"Why do you sound so disappointed?"

"Oh- uh nothing. Its just… Sam and I are about to go out for dinner."

I admit I was happy to hear her; just disappointed Peter hadn't talked to me in weeks. I thought after finals were over we'd talk again. There had been a lot of crime going on lately, with the holidays approaching, so maybe that's why he hadn't talked to me.

My mom's voice lightened up. "Well I'll make it quick honey."

"Make what quick?"

"Our surprise."

"What surprise?"

"We're coming home honey!" I heard my dad cheer in the background.

"What?" I felt my heart stutter and happiness waved over me. "You are? For Christmas?" I smiled to myself, running a hand through my hair as I talked to her.

"Yes! Well. Sort of. We're flying in in a few days and we're leaving for Australia Christmas morning."

"Ah…" I sighed, "Well at least I get to see you in the morning."

"Yes. Now, we'll be staying at the old apartment for the majority of the time we are there. It's a little far from you're apartment but we'll make do. Now go have fun with Sam!"

"Okay, thanks mom!"

"You're welcome. Good bye sweetie, we love you!"

"Love you too," I smiled as I hung up the phone.

I get to spend the holiday's with my parents, and I couldn't be more happy. I couldn't bear hanging out with Sam's enormous family. Her three siblings and parents were just too much for me.

Sam eventually came to my room and dragged me out to the car as I finished my last make up touches. It took us a little while to drive there because of the traffic on a Friday night, but we made it.

Sam could clearly see something was on my mind because after we walked into the restaurant, the first thing she said when we sat down was, "What's wrong?"

I sighed, "Nothing."

"Is it Parker?"

"What? No." I shook my head, "Well, kind of…"

She smiled, folding her hands in front of her and resting her petite chin on it as her hair fell to her chest.

I just blushed, "We haven't talked in a while. I thought after exams we would talk again, but I guess he's been extremely busy."

"Have you tried calling him or texting him?"

I nodded, "Even went over there."

"I'm sure he's just busy. I wouldn't worry. Maybe he made some other friends besides you," She grinned.

I rolled my eyes with a smile as I leaned back in my chair. "You don't think he's ignoring me, right?"

Sam's face morphed into a serious structure. She leaned forward, "Hun, I can promise you he is not ignoring you. I don't think someone could pay him to ignore you."

"I'm not so sure about that…" I whispered to myself, biting my lip. I couldn't help but think of Spider-man in this situation, instead of Peter. I didn't want him ignoring me to protect me.

"So," I said, after a while of digging into our food, "How are you and Brandon?"

"Good," Sam smiled, like a little boy in a candy store. "Really good. I have a really good feeling about this guy, Em. He's going to meet my family on the weekend. Oh! Will you come? Please? My family loves you?"

I tried to smile about it, although I dreaded having dinner with her family, as lovely as they were. Last time I went for dinner it literally ended in a food fight. Carter and Andrew (her brothers) started a food fight last time. It took me a lengthy time to get the spaghetti sauce out of my hair.

"Of course, Sam."

"Yay!" She clapped, "You can bring Parker."

"If he decides to talk to me…" I said through a mouthful of food.

"He will." She assured.

I wasn't so sure if I believed her words, though.

When a scream eradicated throughout the restaurant, I whipped my head towards it. A woman, late 40's maybe, let out a blood-curdling shriek as she pointed outside the window.

"Oh my God…." Sam breathed, "What is that?"

I followed her gaze, throughout the large tinted windows, and saw it.

It was a beast.

It stood at least fifteen feet tall. Its furry form thrashed around the square. I observed as its claws dug into the ground and his nose scrunched up, snarling. Its teeth were bared and he looked ready to kill.

Unlike everyone else, I dashed straight out there, watching as the civilians fled and the police cars arrived.

This beast looked like some sort of giant wolf, but its body was distorted and its spine protruded out of it so far that it hunched over, appearing to have some kind of limp with it. The beast clawed the ground, leaving giant tears of rock in the cement.

His mouth opened wide, spit flying everywhere, and he let a growl rip from his chest. I had to cover my ears with my hands, afraid of damaging them.

I wasn't sure if this was just some Oscorp experiment gone wrong, or if there was some kind of actual human being in there. Either way, it wasn't a pretty site.

The police were struggling to evacuate everyone.

When the giant wolf like creature slammed down its furry hands on the ground, the earth shook beneath me. I couldn't stand, I couldn't even crawl. The grey concrete split like a bolt of lightning.

Just as I regained my strength, leaning on a nearby police car, he raised his fists to the air and slammed them against the pavement. He was like a Gorilla. I flew back due to the impact and hit my head on the windshield of the car. I groaned, but rolled over and collapsed onto the cold, broken, pavement. I felt my head bleed a little, but not enough to send me to the hospital again.

It was then that I realized my palms were covered in shards of glass.

"Shit…" I breathed, trying to pick them out of my bloody palms.

The wolf man began to stir again, taking giant leaps and howling like there was no tomorrow.

The screams of pedestrians and the cries of people sent shivers through me. People were hurt…

The wolf man took giant leaps, until he paused facing a small child.

The little boy clutched a stuffie, one that looked like Spider-man. He squinted his eyes shut and a tear fell from his eyes. His body trembled from fear and he sniffled.

I had to help this boy. I had to help him.

His mother cried from a distant, screaming the boy's name. "JOSEPH!" She cried, "JOSEPH!" Two police men held her back, protecting her from the vicious creature that stood in front of her son.

The creature just stared at the boy, though. Not attacking, not biting, no blood, just stared. He huffed, spit drooling from his mouth.

"Spider-man…" I heard the boy say. "Spider-man!" Silence hushed over the large crowd hid behind the police barricade. And then, they chanted to.

"Spider-man. Spider-man. Spider-man." His name was like a prayer.

A prayer that the wolf man wasn't fond of.

He snapped out of his trance and snarled at the boy.

The boy cried, clutching his stuffed Spider-man tighter.

That was when I had to take action. Someone had to help him. Spider-man was running a bit late apparently…

I scanned my area, making sure no cops could stop me, and then sprinted to the boy. The creature took a shaky step towards the boy, unpleased with the name he was chanting. He was growling, snarling, and the boy, Joseph, continued to cry.

I sprinted, running to save this boy's life. The only thing that gave me hope to keep going was the chanting of Spider-man's name.

I was just a few feet away…

I took one more step, and snatched the boy into my arms. He dropped his stuffed Spider-man, but I didn't even hesitate to go back and grab it. The roar that ripped from the animal's chest was too sadistic.

I ran, following wherever my feet took me.

I wasn't running towards the barricaded crowd, I didn't want to draw attention to them. I ran away from them, and the wolf.

The boy clutched onto me, so I didn't have to worry about holding him to tightly. He was light, luckily. He looked around 4 or 5.

"It's okay." I told him, "You're going to be fine," but I wasn't even sure if I could believe my own words.
The thundering footsteps behind me told me differently. I was going to die… We weren't going to be okay.

It wasn't until I heard the cheering discontinue did I stop dashing. I slowed to a stop and turned around. It was Peter. It was so good to see him after all this time, but I couldn't say anything. He couldn't know I knew.

He swung from building to building until he made his way over to us. "I got it from here, Blondie." I could hear the smile beneath his mask. "I think you dropped this, buddy." He held out the dirty Spider-man stuffie to the boy, and the boy was bug eyed. He smiled, taking the stuffie from his hands.

I just held on to the boy tighter, watching Spider-man.

"Take him to his mom, I got it from here." Spider-man webbed off, towards the wolf-man.

I sprinted back to the large crowd, handing the boy back to his mother. "Oh thank you! Thank you…." She cried, tears streaming everywhere. "God bless you." She held her son, and didn't let him go.

I smiled, it felt good risking my life. I almost died, but I saved a boy.

The woman gave me a hug, and I felt the wetness of her face. I just smiled even wider, I could understand what Spider-man felt from saving people now.

I turned around, watching the fight ensue.

"What is this? An episode of teen wolf?" Peter joked, dodging a fist that was being thrown at him. He did it so casually. Almost to causally. The wolf ended up throwing another punch and brutally slamming Peter into a glass building, which shattered beneath him. But he got a good grip on the monster after and ended up webbing his feet together, and got a chance to hit him square in the face. I watched as his face rippled. It showed how much strength Peter truly had. No doubt he had broken something.

He yelped in pain, spitting black blood from his dirty mouth, and turned back to Peter. His eyes were dark, and angry. He growled, giving us a bad whiff of dog breath. "WHERE IS TAYLOR…" He growled.

I froze. All of me froze. I felt numb. BY the looks of it, Spider-man was quite the same.

What did he mean by Taylor? Was he referring to a first or last name? Either way, I was petrified.

Peter went to through another punch when he regained himself, but something had stopped him in his tracks. Spider-man, along with everyone else in Times Square, watched as the creature started to shriek in pain. He started to claw the ground, leaving giant marks in the pavement. Everyone was so confused.

What was happening to him?

He screamed, louder and louder, and then howled.

His skin started to shed, and it was disgusting. He was no longer as hairy, but he still stood tall. He loomed over the crowd of people still. Human features started to manifest itself, and my previous question was now answered.

He howled one last time, and then ran off on all fours. His speed was un-human like.

Spider-man looked back to the crowd, eyed me, and then back to the hairy beast. I know what he was thinking... He was thinking like Peter right now. He wanted to go after him. But that was a death wish. Peter attached one of his webs to the side of a building and positioned himself for takeoff.

"PETER!" I screamed in defense, but immediately regretted it. Shit Shit Shit…. A hand flew to my mouth, covering it. I prayed the crowd, nor he, didn't hear.

But of course he did.

He pivoted to look at me. He cocked his head questioningly, and detached his web from the building.

"Shit.." I said aloud now.

I spun away from him and started to run from him, wanting to avoid any confrontation with him.

He knew.

He knew that I knew.

I sprinted, like I had many times today.

But Spider-man was faster than anyone.

In the next few seconds I found myself flying through my air. Peter clutched his arm around my body and shot webs with the other.

"Put me down!" I protested as we departed from the scene that just took place.

"You knew." He yelled over the roaring wind that passed by us. "You knew and you didn't tell me."

I tried to close my eyes, feeling dizzy as we swung from building to building.

I could feel his muscles working underneath the spandex costume, I could even see them. I clutched myself closer to him, seeing how far down the fall was.

When I felt us stop, I reopened my eyes. We were on the fire escape of my building. I opened the window and crawled through to my room.

Peter followed.

I sat on my bed, and he paced the room.

He ripped off his mask, dropping it to the floor. I could see the sweat and dirt on his face from the fight that had just occurred.

"How long have you known?" He breathed.

"A while..."

He raised his hands to his head, gripping his hair with fists. "Why didn't you say anything?"

I rolled my eyes, "What am I supposed to say, Pete? 'Hey Peter, by the way, I know your spider-man. So how was your day?'"

"Yes!" He threw his hands in the air. "Yes you could have said that!"

"Well sorry…" I breathed.

He sighed, taking a seat beside me. "When did you find out?"

I gnawed on my split lip, feeling the rusty taste of blood. "When you called me Blondie. When you called me that as Peter, I mean."

His gaze fell to the floor. "I knew it… I knew I messed up then…"

"Can I ask you something?"

His downcast eyes remained, but he nodded.

"Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you just going to keep it a secret?"

He finally raised his eyes to mine. "Honestly…." He shrugged, "I don't know."

"So what, were you just going to hide it from me this whole time?"

"Maybe…"

I fiddled with my hands in my lip, scared for what was to come. "So what now?"

I felt him stir beside me and I jolted up. "I have to go…" He breathed.

"Where are you going?"

"I just need time…"

"Peter," I grabbed his wrist, trying to stop him as he headed towards my window. "Don't leave."

"Don't make the same mistake…" I hardly heard him say it. It was just a whisper. It's like he was telling himself these words, not directing them at me. He was reminding himself of something.

"What? What do you mean?" I narrowed my eyes. "Peter, you haven't talked to me in weeks. Please, don't leave." I had just seen him, and he was already leaving. Maybe for good, this time.

He looked at me with painful eyes, and threw my wrist off of him. "Bye, Emily."

"Peter, please don't leave!" I cried, feeling my face heat up and the tears start to form. He was going to leave. "Why are you so mad?" A single tear trickled down my face, "I don't understand… I'm so confused."

"I-I'm not mad… I'm mad at myself. The same thing's going to happen…"

"What?" I cocked my head at him, hardly able to see him through the blurry tears. "Pete…"

"I shouldn't have let this happen…"

"What do you mean Peter!" I finally cried, allowing the tears to pool over.

"Do you want to know what really happened to Gwen?" He raised his voice. I had never seen Peter like this… "Do you really want to know?"

I took a step away from him, but nodded.

"She died. Because of me." Raging tears filled his eyes, but he pushed them back. His teeth gritted as he looked to me. "It was my fault."

I let my fingertips touch his forearm. "Peter... It wasn't your fault."

"You don't know that!" He yelled.

I just sniffled, looking at him with mourningful eyes.

"You don't know that…" He repeated. "I let her die. I was supposed to save her… I saved everyone but I couldn't save her."

I just wiped my face with my sleeve, waiting for him to continue.

"I basically killed Gwen, you get that, right? I've already lost people for just being who I am, being in a close proximity. S-She fell… She fell from the clock tower because of Harry..." Harry? I shook the name off and continued to listen. "And I tried to save her but it was too late. Her neck snapped and I couldn't save her…"

"Peter…"

His eyes were glued to mine. "I got too close to you Emily. The same thing's going to happen. And I've moved on from Gwen. I've accepted the fact that she's dead. I've managed to let her go…." He ran a hand through his hair, "But you? YOU? I can't let you go…" He shook his head look a wounded puppy, a few stray tears falling. "I can't. I can't lose you too."

"Peter, the same thing won't happen."

"I have enemies, Emily."

"I-I know that."

"Do you know how they'll kill me? By killing the people I care about. And that's you and Aunt May." His grief-stricken face killed me inside. His lip quivered and the corners of his lips quirked downward.

"You're a hero Peter, I get that. And I think you're amazing for it. But you can't just push me away. Was that your plan? To one day just get rid of me?" He was making me mad now.

"That was never my intention…"

I squeezed my lips into a tight line, trying to focus on him. "Well what would you have done? You're Spider-man, I get it. I love it. But does that have to change who you are? Who we are together? You have to live your life still Peter…"

"Every day I wake up knowing that no matter how many lives I protect, no matter how many people call me a hero, someone even more powerful could change everything. One day something could happen to you, just like it did to Gwen. I can't face that again, Emily."

"Just go, then."

"What?"

"Just go, Peter. Please."

His eyes were filled with confusion, but he obeyed my words, "Okay…"

"You keep pushing me away, over and over again…" I was giving him what he wanted. An out.

"I'm sorry, Em." The nickname that once used to make my heart flutter now made my depressed. "I just can't lose you. If keeping you safe and alive means never talking to you again, then I'll do whatever it takes." He avoided eye contact with me but stayed in my room, his feet planted to the floor. "I'm sorry." He said, once more, before picking up his mask and taking off.

As soon as he left, I broke down into a puddle of tears. He was gone, Peter was gone.

I don't know if I would ever talk to him again.

May had warned me about this. I know knew why he left. He was trying to protect me. He thought he was protecting me, but he wasn't. May was right; he just continuously pushed people away. He was too stubborn to open up to people, because he was fearful. He felt that if he opened up to someone, he would lose them. Because he's not just Peter Parker, he's Spider-man.

I crawled into my bed, pulling the sheets over me.

"I'm sorry…" His words echoed in my brain like a faded memory.

A/N: Hello readers :) Thank you so ever much for reading and reviewing it makes my day! I hope you like this chapter, its just a little taste of the new villain! I know he's kind of a cliche villain but I have a plan. If you don't like it you don't have to read it! And the fight at the end is also cliche but expected. Peter is definitely someone who tries to protect people, no matter what, so that fight needed to happen! It would be pointless if not. Anyways read review and tell me what you think! :) Thanks for your amazing feedback already.