Slipping the front piece of the web through to complete the knot, Peter observed the latest batch of criminals he'd webbed to a lamp post, glancing around as he waited on a last-minute thwarting of his efforts. Instead, as had been the case on two prior busts earlier that evening, there was nothing but the sounds of criminals struggling against their restraints and police sirens off in the distance.

"Okay," Peter muttered, turning back to the men he'd just subdued. "Well, I hope you all learned a valuable lesson tonight!"

Firing a web, he then swung off, making his way up to a nearby building top overlooking the area. Standing at the ledge, he glanced around again.

"Well, I'm waiting!" he shouted, arms spread to his sides. Normally, he didn't invite trouble like this, but when someone was out there that knew his identity, there was nothing he'd rather do than face the challenge head on and get it over with. Once again, however, all he was met with was the basic sounds of the city that could be heard in the distance. Letting his arms flop to his sides as he took one last glance to his right and left, Peter then checked the time on his phone, observing that it was a few minutes after midnight.

Opting to give up his hunt for his furry adversary, he fired a web and swung off, heading back into the city. Peter had spent the better part of the past four hours scouring the city, desperate to pick up any trace of his enemy, only to once again come up with nothing. If anything, he'd expected to run across the figure while busting the two drug deals and weapons trade he'd run across that he recognized as being orchestrated by Fisk's men, expecting his activity would draw the creature out. To be fair, he wasn't complaining about his productive evening otherwise, but it was hard for him to ignore the unsettled, restless feeling of knowing his adversary was still out there.

Still, as Peter made his way deeper into the heart of Manhattan, his mind returned to the confused, surprised look on the face of the creature after he'd literally brought him back from the dead. There had been something else in his gaze too, something he noticed right before he'd made the mistake of turning his head to the sound of sirens too, but he just couldn't place it. Could it have been a change of heart? Prior to tonight, he would have completely dismissed the idea, but since he'd given the Puma (that sounded as good as any name) figure plenty of opportunities only to be ghosted, Peter was starting to wonder if there was something to the notion after all...

Even so, there was no need to take chances tonight, so he made his way to the roof of a building that towered over the surrounding area. Here would be where Peter would take his nightly snooze; it certainly wouldn't be the most comfortable spot, but with his identity compromised, the last thing he wanted was to end up getting attacked in bed. His spider sense was quite powerful, but he still wasn't certain it could force him out of a deep sleep in time to counter the Puma's enhanced reflexes that might even be faster than his own, if only slightly.

Taking a seat, Peter leaned back against the wall of the highest part of the structure. He was now in the shadows, so he was about as safe as he could theoretically be under the circumstances. Allowing himself to accept this just a little, he allowed his mind to drift to what he had to look forward to tomorrow: a long overdue conversation with Mary Jane Watson. He wasn't sure of how he specifically wanted to approach it yet or what he would say, especially since this whole thing of him having a price on his head wasn't resolved for certain yet, but he knew that the two of them couldn't leave things the way they had. There needed to be something clarified, and there needed to be honesty... the one thing Peter had struggled to truly give to anyone for the last nine years.

Tomorrow though, hopefully he could at least begin to give a little bit.

Stepping up towards the road, M.J. waved her hand up, hoping to flag down the forthcoming taxi. Sure enough, the small yellow vehicle pulled up to the curb, allowing her to slip inside. She gave the address Peter had sent her for his apartment before pulling out her phone just as they took off, pulling up his contact to send a message to.

"Got out of the callback a little early; on my way now."

Setting her phone in her lap, M.J. didn't have even a moment to think before it dinged, though it was not Peter responding, but her Aunt Anna texting her:

"How'd the callback go?"

Shaking her head, M.J. typed out a response and sent it.

"The way I wanted."

Not even bothering to put her phone down this time, she received a response promptly:

"YAY! CONGRATULATIONS!"

M.J. could only let out a little chuckle; her aunt's enthusiasm for her acting career had always known no bounds, but she was probably especially happy right now, since her getting a gig in the city meant that she had to, well, stay in the city now. Before she could even begin typing out a response, however, she received another message from the woman:

"Good luck with Peter too! Hope things work out for you guys!"

M.J. shook her head again, this time as much in annoyance as amusement. Her and Peter's guardians had long had a shared fantasy of their niece and nephew ending up together since they were teenagers, and clearly at least one of them hadn't let go of the idea in her mind, though she suspected the same was true of May as well.

"Thanks; love you!" she replied. Mary Jane then set her phone down in her lap again, taking the opportunity to contemplate what she wanted to say today. She'd thought about it a fair amount and even dared to discuss a little bit of it with her aunt, but she was now finding herself second guessing the approach she'd chosen. What if Peter didn't react well to it?

Speaking of Peter, she got a ding from her phone that indicated it was a text from him:

"Might be a bit late coming back from the Bugle; be there as soon as I can!"

"Peter Parker being late to something? What a shocking concept!" she thought to herself as she typed out and sent her reply:

"No worries; take your time."

This time, Peter responded much quicker.

"Looking forward to seeing you!"

"Me too!"

M.J. was encouraged by the enthusiasm he seemed to be showing. Really, when she thought about it, Peter had shown the same desire when he wasn't either in a hurry or having something work related come up, so perhaps she was blowing her concerns about him backtracking on them out of proportion? It was always hard for her to know how much of it was these kinds of thoughts being real and how much was her brain once again trying to convince her that she wasn't going to be able to hold on to anything good in life.

Frankly, all M.J. wanted out of today was to come away with some answers.

As Peter turned the corner, he saw Mary Jane sitting against the door to his room, scrolling through her phone. He'd really hoped to still make it back in time, but it had been hard to swing with what he'd been carrying and not destroy it. Still, he was glad to see her as he came up to the room, her eyes meeting his as he drew near.

"Hey," she greeted, standing to her feet. "Ooh, is that from the newer place down the street?"

"Yep," Peter affirmed, gesturing towards the pizza in his hand as he took out his keys.

"I've heard nothing but good things about it since I got back into town," M.J. said. "I've been anxious to try it!"

"Oh, you'll love it!" Peter said as he opened the door to his place. "I got a half sausage/half cheese for us to split too."

"Sounds good to me!" Mary Jane affirmed as she stepped inside. She then glanced around, seemingly taking in the humble scenery.

"Yep, welcome to my humble abode!" Peter explained as he set the pizza down on the small excuse for a counter that he had. "It's not much, but hey, it's home!"

"It's nice," M.J. said, "though I'm guessing that you cleaned the usual mess up really good before I got here?"

"Am I really that predicable?" Peter questioned as he grabbed some paper plates.

"Yes, but more importantly, you're also a mid 20s bachelor living in the city," Mary Jane explained. "It's like a law of nature that you all have to be messy."

"Wow, I feel horribly stereotyped," Peter quipped. "I don't care how true it is; I resemble that remark, and I don't like it!"

M.J. chuckled as she grabbed her slice of pizza; something about the noise made Peter feel all warm inside as he grabbed a couple slices as well.

"How'd your callback go, by the way?" Peter questioned.

"I got the part," M.J. said.

"Congratulations; that's awesome, M.J!" Peter exclaimed through his first bite, catching his lack of manners and taking the time to swallow before he continued. "I mean, I never had any doubt, but still, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks," M.J. replied. The two then continued some basic friendly chatter as they combed through the pizza. He searched for just the right gap in the conversation to bring up the topic that he knew was on both their minds, but things just seemed to flow so naturally between them; that, or they were both just very good at avoiding said subject. Either way, Peter found it so refreshing just to sit and talk with someone about everything from what movies were coming up to his frustrations with the job hunt.

"You'll find something soon," M.J. assured him. "I know it! I don't know how much hearing that counts, but I really believe it!"

"Hey, I'll take any positive reinforcement I can get right now," Peter replied. "Thanks."

"Of course," M.J. said.

After that, there was the first real silence between them since they'd entered the apartment, and Peter decided that he might as well just throw it all out there.

"You know, when you left for Hollywood, I never expected you to come back, but when you did... I was happier than I'd been, and I still am. I tried to force down how I felt about you, but if I'm being honest, I never stopped caring for you, M.J. Now you're back, and I feel like I've gotten a second chance. I just... I guess I'm just scared of finding some way of messing things up. If you don't feel the same way, then please, tell me now, so I'll only be a little embarrassed by this rant I just went on."

Mary Jane let out a light huff through her nose, shaking her head.

"You still haven't learned to trust your instincts, have you, Tiger?" she questioned.

"In my experience, they're usually pretty bad when it comes to girls," Peter explained.

M.J. then glanced downward for a second before resting her elbows on the counter, leaning against them as she continued.

"When I got the call that I'd won my first ever major television job, I thought it would be everything I'd ever wanted. Even disregarding that nonsense the producers said, I honestly had a pretty good time as far as the job itself. I'm a performer, and I'll always love it, no matter the outlet I get to do it on. But everything else... I went to all the parties, all the popular spots that young up and coming actors go for fun, and it was all just so... fake. Everyone was doing the same thing I'd done for most of my life: put on a happy face, make it seem like we somehow reached the closest thing to heaven on earth possible. But I saw through it on most people there, because I saw that exact same look in the mirror so many times."

"I never thought about it that way," Peter said.

"That's why I came back," M.J. explained. "Before I left, I was finally starting to come out of that phase of my life, where I was starting to let myself express what I was feeling more, where I felt I could really begin to share who I really was with people, and you know who the main person who made me feel that way was? You, Peter."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "You were the first person that I ever told about what had happened with my parents, how I hid it all in performing, all of it. To be honest, I thought about you so often while I was out there, because I never met anyone who made me feel comfortable enough to be that open around them. I came back because I knew you, my aunt, Liz, I'm not afraid of being real with you guys, because you all are real."

Peter could feel the smile growing on his face; he couldn't believe he hadn't realized the full extent of how she really felt about him...

"But..."

Oh boy.

"The more I've thought about things between us the last couple of days, the more nervous I get, and I think it's similar to what you said about just not wanting to blow it. You are the person I've trusted with more of myself than almost anyone, so if things didn't work out... I'm afraid of what it will do to me, that I'll regress back into who I used to be. But more importantly, I'll lose you as even a friend, and I don't know if I can handle that."

Peter sighed; he wasn't sure if knowing that she was having similar thoughts to him was comforting or frustrating. On top of all that, he still had the concern about Spider-Man stuff going around in his head, stuff that he wasn't yet ready to share with her. Would he ever be ready? Was that fair to her to keep her waiting?

"So, basically, we both care about each other, but we're both afraid of blowing it," Peter said. "Did I get that right?"

"Pretty much, yeah," M.J. said, looking up at him. "So... where do we go from here?"

Peter glanced to the side as he took a moment to think.

"We just go... steady," Peter said. "We take things nice and slow; just keep seeing each other, talking, getting to know each other again. I have to believe that the rest will reveal itself after that."

"Makes sense," Mary Jane conceded, "and of course, we need to be completely honest with each other."

Peter had to fight from swallowing due to nervousness.

"Right, honest," he tried to concur. "Absolutely."

M.J. sighed, seemingly relieved.

"Well, I'm so glad that we finally were able to talk about this."

"Yeah, me too," Peter replied.

"I need to get home to see my aunt, but we'll meet up again soon?" M.J. asked.

"Definitely," Peter replied. He then saw her out as they said their goodbyes. After he'd shut the door, Peter turned, slumping back lightly against it. Really, he felt that he should be relieved that they're conversation went the way it had; she clearly felt the same way about him that he did about her, so in theory, there shouldn't be anything holding them back.

Nothing, that is, accept that one key word:

"Honest."

Could he ever really be honest with her... about everything?

Hope you're still enjoying it!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?" Psalms 8:4