Disclaimers:

All Spider-Man and all its related characters belongs to Marvel Entertainment, which is owned by Walt Disney Company, and the Sam Raimi Original Trilogy belongs to Sony Pictures Entertainment. No infringement of these copyrights are intended, and not authorized by copyright holders.

One night at the American Museum of Natural History, its next-door building, the Hayden Planetarium, was filled with numerous high-profile men in their fancy suits and women in their beautiful dresses, along with a band of musicians playing their atmospheric tune to keep the guests entertained.

Standing amongst them was Peter himself, who was carrying his trusty professional camera, as he was assigned by Jonah to be the photographer for the planetarium party.

Seeing one of the servers handing out desserts to the guest, Peter tried to went over to grab some for himself, but pouted to himself when another guest took the last one before he could.

As the server moved on, Peter noticed an elderly couple walked by. "May I?" He offered with his camera.

The elderly couple permitted with their nods. Peter lifted his camera to look through its viewfinder before realizing he still had the lens cap blocking his shot. Taking a few moments to remove the cap from the camera, Peter looked back up and aimed his camera, only to see the elderly couple was nowhere in sight, as if they didn't have the patience to wait and moved on. He frowned his eyebrows for making fool of himself.

"Smooth move, Tiger."

Peter almost dropped his camera, his eyes widened the moment he heard that familiar phrase. When he turned around to see who said it, Peter was caught by surprise to see his redheaded girlfriend standing in front of him, not actually expecting her to be standing among the guests. "Oh, hey, MJ."

"Fancy finding you at this party," The redhead said smugly.

Peter became lost for words as he was eyeing her stunning white gown from top to the bottom. "Uh, wow, MJ, you look very, uh... "

MJ maintained her gaze on her boyfriend with a sly smile. "Flattery has never been your strong suite," She teased.

"Well, I, uh... just wasn't expecting to see you here, is all," Peter said nervously.

MJ's smirk extended to her cheeks. "I wish I could say the same about you, Pete."

Peter found himself dumbfounded by her vague response. "Wait, you knew this was Jameson's party?"

"You think being a well-known actress on Broadway wouldn't allow me in about these fancy parties?" MJ said rhetorically in her own fond tone. "No, actually, I'm just here for someone."

Peter's eyes widened as his mouth slightly dropped, almost feeling his heart racing to the point of being shattered when he thought MJ meant she was breaking up with him.

MJ quickly caught onto his expression, knowing he was thinking of the wrong idea from her words. She shook her head. "No, not that kind of someone, you silly nerd."

Peter let out a sigh of relief when he realized he was just simply being too pessimistic. "MJ, don't mess with me like that."

"You're just being too easy to mess around with, Tiger," MJ grinned cheekily.

"Do I have an idea of who this 'someone' that invited you to this party?" Peter asked, feeling a bit curious to how MJ was invited to be at the planetarium.

"My big sister, Gayle, actually invited me to this party."

"Really? Wow," Peter raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Any idea how she could?"

"I think Gayle had someone she knew pulled some strings to get me in," MJ said. "I also brought along a friend from my play as my plus one, but she said she has to leave early."

Peter smiled for a bit, but then, it quickly faded upon a reminder of his own broken promise. "Mary Jane... " He whimpered a bit. "... I'm so sorry I missed your play. I tried to be there - "

MJ placed her finger on his lips, not wanting to hear any more of his typical Parker guilt she already experienced many times during the course of their relationship. "Hey, hey, we had this talk before," She said softly. "You couldn't stop yourself from helping people, so I understand completely if you couldn't make it in time. It all matters is, you're still trying your best to be there for me."

MJ then held Peter's hands, holding them up close to the bottom their chins to reassure him as she continued. "Remember what I said when we made this relationship?"

Peter couldn't help but smile at both MJ's undeniable love for him, despite everything that happened. What did he really do to really deserve her?

"I guess I can make good substitute as your plus one, then," Peter said with a sly grin.

MJ smiled at the nerd's cheeky comment. "Oh, please, Peter. With your place in the Bugle, you don't need me to get into places like this, not that you even need that either," She teased in a flirty matter, jokingly referring to Peter's alter ego.

"Neither do you, pretty lady," Peter teased right back, referring to MJ's retired alter ego.

Before they could lean in for a lovely kiss, Peter and MJ quickly distanced themselves when they were interrupted by the sound of someone's sarcastic voice.

"I see you two were going along nicely together tonight."

It was Harry, who didn't look like he was having the brightest of mood tonight by the scornful look on his face.

"Oh, Harry, hey," Peter said. "You okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm totally better," Harry continued with his mocking tone. "Totally fine to see my 'best friend' having the time of his life with my 'ex' over here, while I'm just here taking a drink at the first opportunity for losing a bundle on some crackpot who you thought was gonna take him with you to fame and fortune?"

"Harry, please," MJ begged, standing in between to hopefully break up any increasing tension between the two not-so-well best friends. "I don't think this is the right night for this."

"Oh, you're defending him now?" Harry turned to his ex with disgust. "Just when I thought you were something special. I guess my father was right after all - you were nothing more than like a pack of snarling wolves."

MJ's jaw dropped, her tears started appearing in her eyes, clearly hurt from his words. Matter of fact, it felt like that same hurtful moment she felt when his father called out on her that Thanksgiving dinner two years. She never thought in all their entire time as best friends Harry would say such things, let alone repeated such hateful words from his late father.

Maybe apples didn't fall too far from trees when it came to the Osborn family.

"Well, if neither of you actually mind, I'm just gonna find that drink," Harry then shoved on through and left out of the couple's sights to go find the closest bar.

When Peter noticed MJ's tears were watering inside her eyes, he tried to reassure her, but was stopped when Peter heard his name being called out loudly by his boss.

"Parker! Hey, Parker!" Jonah exclaimed, as he walked to his side. "What are you deaf? I called you twice. Come on, do you think I invite you here just for some date night for your girlfriend?"

Peter gave a glanced look at MJ as he was being dragged away by J.J himself, giving her an apologetic look for not standing with her. The redhead, to his relief, returned with an understandable nod.

"Get a shot of my wife with the minister," Jonah ordered his freelance photographer to get shots of his elderly wife, Joan Jameson, standing with high profile officials.

"Beautiful tie," Joan smiled, as she stood next to said-minister.

With the two in focus of his camera lens, Peter took a shot of them as his flash shined on their faces.

"Oh, let's get a shot of us with the DA," Jonah said hastily, as he and Joan then stood beside the District Attorney and his wife.

"Beautiful dress," Joan smiled again, albeit looking a bit more forced this time.

After Peter took the shot, Jonah then noticed another high-profile citizen and walked towards them. "Here, get a shot of the Mayor and his girlfriend," He said, having himself and his wife standing beside them.

The Mayor gave him a weird look for his inaccurate choice of words.

"Wife," J.J quickly corrected himself.

In spite of the Editor-In-Chief's enthusiastic grin, Joan's lack of apparent smile was more noticeable that time, as it looked like she was being put in an awkward position by her husband, who didn't seem to realize or even care.

Regardless, Peter took the photo anyway.

After feeling a little satisfied with it, a mic tap was heard from the podium, grabbing his and the rest of the guests' attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening," The lady announcer at the podium stand said. "The committee for the Science Library of New York... is pleased to present our guest of honor. He's the first man to play football on the moon."

The audience chuckled at the joke.

The lady announcer continued. "The handsome, the heroic, the delicious... Captain John Jameson."

With the musicians taking it as their cue to start their exciting introductory instrumentals notes, the audience turned around and gave a loud clap of applause when they saw John Jameson, himself, who was dressed dapperly in a fine three buttoned men suit, with his medals proudly displayed, his hair was combed to perfection from the center.

What made Mary Jane's grin grew larger was seeing someone she knew wrapping her arm around John's. It was her sister, Gayle, who was wearing a dabber of a blue sparkling dress, almost looking like the shinning stars from deep space was wrapping around her frame, as her hair was tied together in a beautiful bun.

Noticing her little sister amongst the crowd of guests, Gayle gave a subtle wink at the redhead as she and John were descending from the steps.

MJ started to clap even louder as she couldn't be more happier to see her sister finding someone well for her.

Peter, though joined in on the applause at first, slowly frowned to himself when a thought that occurred to him, the more he looked at the dazzling couple that were taking their descend on the stairs, most particularly at the uncanny resemblance the brunette was to MJ's facial features.

To Peter, it felt like nothing more than taunt to him, that the fact he won't be able to live the same way they did, with the way they were having the most joyous time in each other's presences, almost like they were enjoying living their lives to their fullest.

That's the kind of life he wished to have with Mary Jane someday. But how could he do so when his double life as a crime-fighting vigilante kept dragging him away from living such a life? Away from spending his time with the girl he loved?

No longer feeling like he could bear with his own self-loathing thoughts, Peter decided to walk out and grab some fresh air.

When he stepped outside of the planetarium for several minutes at least, Peter walked past by several of guests that were in their fashionable attires, food servers with entree plates on their one hand and a large water fountain in his peripheral vision, despite his eyes still glued down to the toe of his shoes.

Then accidentally, Peter bumped into a brunette woman by their shoulders, making him flinched backwards in response. He tried recollecting himself looked up and apologize to her. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking wher- "

He immediately cut himself off as his face turned to shock when that person he bumped into slowly turned around to face him. It was Gayle Watson.

The brunette slowly looked at Peter from shoe to head, as if she was examining, what it looked like to her, a random stranger that had the misfortunes of crossing her path. Then, her eyes finally caught onto his Daily Bugle ID badge that was dangling right behind his camera.

"So... you're Peter Parker," Gayle said, as she looked back up with a stare at his face. It's not even a question, more like statement, a disdainful one even, by the sound of her voice.

"Oh, you must be Mary Jane's sister... Gayle, right? She mentioned about you during my birthday," Peter said, completely oblivious to her tone. He then tried to respectfully offer a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

Gayle took one look at his hand before staring up at his eyes again. At first, they looked emotionless, until they turned to the expression of anger. "Where have you been that night?"

Peter was taken aback by her accused words. "I'm sorry?"

Gayle's angry expressions started to look more defined. "Where were you the night during my little sister's play?" She asked once again, her dark tone deepened.

"Oh, that. I'm really sorry I missed out on your sister's show," Peter apologized, realizing where she was going with this conversation. "I was on my way to see it, I even planned on it all day that week to make it there, but I was caught in a traffic accident and my bike broke down," He wasn't entirely wrong about that.

However, Gayle did not believe a single word of it. "That's your excuse? The reason you can't make it to the show just 'cause of some convenient traffic accident?"

"I know it sounds really bad, believe me," Peter said honestly. "But I really did make it there, but if it weren't for that obnoxious usher, I could've been able to get in and see Mary Jane's play."

"Then, why didn't I see you there, hmm?" Gayle inquired harshly. "I was already outside with my sister after her show ended, and she told me she was waiting for someone to pick her up, which doesn't take much to guess she was referring to you, meaning you were somewhere else. So, if you were really outside of the theater, why weren't you there already?"

Peter found himself in a stump, not knowing how to answer that without giving away the fact he was caught in the middle of a cop chase to stop some car-fleeing criminals.

The silence was enough for Gayle to believe this so-called new boyfriend of her little sister's not the kind she wanted for her, just like all the others before him.

"To be honest, I did try giving you a benefit of a doubt, because Mary Jane kept talking about you as if you're really this perfect boyfriend she ever has, that you're better than some jolly moron our deadbeat of a father forcibly hooked her up with. But I can see that you're just another one that's like to take advantage of her for your own pleasure."

"That's not true! I loved MJ too much to allow her to be taken advantage like that!" Peter shouted.

His outbursts were so loud, it grabbed the attention of some wandering guests in their proximity. After a brief while, they just simply shrugged and ignored what was going on before going back to talking with their respective partners.

"It doesn't matter how you tried to spin it, I can see it right through that facade of yours," Gayle said darkly, as she gave him a hard tap on Peter's tie repeatedly with her pointed finger. "You better stay the hell away from her if you know what's good for you from now on, because, from where I am standing, she deserves someone better than you."

The instant he heard those words, it stabbed Peter very deeply in the heart inside, as if a knife just jabbed into it and slowly twisting its small blade back and forth painfully to his chest.

Without another single word, Gayle just brushed past the now-guilt-ridden Peter and went back inside the planetarium.

For God-knows-how long, Peter been standing alone, still keeping the upsetting look on his face as he kept hearing Gayle's last sentence going over in his head.

She deserves someone better than you.

Gayle was right; for these past several months, Peter hadn't made any of his time for MJ, and the only time he did so was for his own birthday, which kinda tells him that was merely selfish of him that she had to be there for him and not the other way around.

She deserves... someone better... than you.

Sure, Peter could excuse the fact she hanged up her webs to focus on her career, while he was too busy with trying to balance both his own life and his duties as a crime-fighter by himself, but that's not a good enough reason for him to not at least try to be there for her.

She deserves... someone better... than you.

Knowing there's no point in keep sulking alone and forgotten he was supposed to be on a job, Peter proceeded to walk back inside, feeling deaf to the happy mood the guests and the musicians that were radiating around him.

Little did Peter notice, as he was strolling along the planetarium floor, Harry was walking up to him in an aggressive matter, ignoring Mary Jane's attempts to calm him down.

"Harry, please, I don't think this is the best night to do this."

Shrugging off MJ's arm harshly, Harry grabbed Peter by the elbow, not giving a damn that his "best friend" was going through an emotional crisis right now.

"It pisses me off, your loyalty to Spider-Man and not to your best friend," Harry boasted at Peter, clearly not thinking straight due to too much of his drinking. "I find him with my father's body, and you defend him."

Peter tried to calm down his drunken best friend. "Hey, take it easy -"

Harry swatted his hand away, not taking any of it. "Don't push me! Don't act like you're my friend," He said aggressively. "You stole her from me," He gave a side glance at the redhead.

MJ looked in offence to such harsh remarks. "That's not true, Harry. Peter didn't -!"

"Shut up!" Harry cut her off again, catching MJ off-guard by his loud tone, even gotten the attention of the surrounding guests. He then turned back to Peter. "You stole my father's love. Then, you let him die because you didn't turn in the freak. Isn't that right?"

Without a warning, Harry gave a hard slap at Peter so loud it echoed the surrounding party guests into shocked silence, including MJ, whose jaw dropped in disbelief at such petty action.

"Ha! Isn't that right? Huh, Brother!" Harry boasted loudly, about to send another slap.

MJ, feeling her natural instincts forcing her reflexes to protect her love, quickly grabbed Osborn's swatting hand. "Harry! Stop it!"

Harry, still in his drunken state, pushed MJ's arm away, which in the process made her fell to the floor.

"Mary Jane!" Peter quickly dropped down to her aid.

After seeing how Harry threw his ex in such a cruel way, all the guests looked at him with disgusted looks on their faces.

Despite being drunk, Harry still retained enough sense to know he shouldn't even bother with them, anyway. So, after letting out a heavy exhale, he slowly walked away from his two now-ex-best friends, ignoring all the judging stares that were gazed upon him.

Now that Harry's out of sight and out of mind, at least for most people, Peter helped MJ up back on her feet. "Are you hurt?" He asked concernedly.

"No, I'm okay," MJ said in reassurance, as she got up from the planetarium floor. When she finally got back on her heels, she noticed a distraught look on Peter's face.

MJ placed her hands on his cheeks, hoping to offer some comfort to whatever's going on inside his head. "Hey, if it's about Harry, I know he didn't mean to say any of those things to us, he just not in the right mind."

Little did she know, Peter was still trying to get over his guilt over what her sister, Gayle said to him outside of the planetarium; Harry's harsh words was just simply an add insult to injury.

Before Peter could get any words out, he was interrupted when John Jameson was heard speaking into microphone, catching everyone's attention to the podium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I want you all to know that the beautiful Miss Gayle Watson has just agreed to marry me," John Jameson happily announced to his attendees.

Gayle blushed with a 'are you serious' look before walking up to the podium, smiling in joy.

Everyone gave their round of applause, celebrating John's engagement, including Mary Jane, despite already been told beforehand when she visited her back at her hotel.

While for Peter, he looked like he's in a state of trance as he was becoming more and more doubtful of himself when he kept hearing Harry and Gayle's words echoing in the back of his mind, telling him how he's not reliable enough for the girl he loved and for not being a good friend.

"Hey, Parker! Parker! Shoot the picture," Jonah shouted, gesturing towards his son and his now-fiancée on the podium.

Mary Jane nudged her boyfriend by the elbow when she noticed he wasn't reacting.

Peter shook his head out of his unhappy trance back to reality when he felt the elbow. With a long-defeated sigh, he lifted his camera and aimed it for a portrait-shot of John Jameson and Gayle Watson now doing their celebration kiss.

His camera flashed upon the click of the finger, brightening the area with its large light.

Words: 3606

A/N: Well, this world is really giving all the hard luck for Peter, huh?

This is probably the longest chapter I ever typed out so far for this fanfic. Apologies for the long wait, but I knew I have to pull all the drama for this one, especially for the first meeting between Peter and Gayle. Considering the Watson girls' family history (if you knew your knowledge in comics) you can understand where I'm going with this one, especially with how it will help progress, not only Peter's story, but also Mary Jane's.

On that note, next chapter will obviously be the turning point that we already know.

Anyway, any constructive criticisms and comments would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

Reviews:

DCDGojira: Thanks, man.

And as for MJ's case, considering I had her already making up her mind about hanging up the costume from the get-go, no. Rather, it's more she's on the opposite end of Peter's position, which will lead to her putting back on the costume in due time. As for the last bit, yes, but how we'll get there is, of course, gonna be drastically different.

TW: Appreciated your comment.

TheOctrain777: Not a dumb question at all.

I did consider wanting to do TASM fanfic between Peter Parker and spider-powered Gwen Stacy at one point (as they are my favorite couple, not in 616, of course), but in comparison to Raimi Peter and MJ, my lack of originality for that couple probably wouldn't make it good, especially after many writers already doing their spin on that concept.

As for the MCU, while I'm planning on exploring that universe, it's only through a different couple and few other characters I'm planning to write down the line.