Chapter 1 -Peter
Peter knows something is up with May.
He’s known for quite some time actually, he just didn’t want to say anything, and when he did, he never found the words or the right time.
So he just left it alone.
Things are normally better off when he leaves them alone anyway.
Spider-Man of course, is a different case.
When he’s Spider-Man he can help people.
Peter Parker always seems to mess up when he tries.
And he can’t mess this up, he owes her that much.
May’s been so… so happy lately and he would do anything to keep it that way.
He knows that May’s not truly been happy since.. well since Ben.
And he ruined that, so he can’t ruin this.
…but he can’t help being curious.
He wants to know why she is always waking up early now, always filled with energy, when she normally does all she can to stay in bed for five extra minutes. In fact Peter normally has to drag her out of her bed so she isn’t late for work… which used to be Ben's job.
But now she's bouncing around the kitchen at seven singing cheesy love songs.
At first Peter thought she had completely lost her mind, it’s the only possible explanation he could think of back then.
No one is that happy at 7:30 am on a Tuesday morning unless, they’re either:
A) High
B) Drunk
C) Insane
And he didn't really believe that his aunt would be doing either of the first two.
And he hopes she isn’t insane… though her putting raisins in Mac and cheese may be an indication of that.
But he knows there has to be something else, something he’s missing, but there are other things that have changed too…
He wants to know why she’s always on her phone now, when before she would constantly lecture Peter on how much time he spent on his.
Peter doesn’t comment because every time her phone pings with a message her face lights up… like it used to for Ben.
He wants to know why now, on her nights off she often spends it going out, instead of staying in for dumb movie nights, where they watch a sappy rom-com and eat alarming amounts of microwaveable popcorn.
Peter does miss her when she goes, but she has this buzz about her on those nights, like all of her worries have just disappeared.
Most of those worries centred around him anyway, so it’s only fair she has time to relax.
She wears her fancy clothes and does her hair and makeup flawlessly.
She puts on expensive perfume and those sparkly heels that she can’t walk normally in.
She asks Peter about a thousand times if she ‘looks ok’ before leaving.
And then she returns home just after Peter has finished patrol, which is usually very late.
Especially for his aunt who religiously falls asleep at half past nine.
He wants to know what she’s been hiding.
But that is kinda hypocritical of him.