Take me back to when...
After working the past three night shifts and having only a few hours of sleep in the day, May thought she would be out the second her head hit the pillow. But somehow her mind never seemed to want to let that happen, and instead it spent painful hours of second guessing everything rather than sleeping. Two hours later and she decided to grab a glass of water because sleeping was not going to happen anytime soon.
That’s when she caught him. Perched at the edge of his bedroom window, with a jacket draped over his suit, and his hair sticking up at every end.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
May felt anger rise from deep within her chest. They talked about this. They made an agreement, a rule, a compromise, whatever it was, Peter knew he wasn’t allowed outside of the apartment past 2am. May did not think it was an unreasonable rule at all. Most teenagers had to be home by at least midnight. But May knew her teenager was special. He was Spider-Man, and although she was pissed that he had kept that a secret from her for so long, she was understanding.
‘When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen. They happen because of you.’
How could she not listen to that logic? Truth was, she wanted to be selfish, she wanted to keep him as safe as possible and that meant keeping him away from crimes. But she couldn't be selfish. Not when her nephew was saving lives. But still. They had an agreement. Peter wasn’t allowed to play Spider-Man after 2am. He was supposed to be in bed.
“This - This isn’t what it looks like.” Peter said. His eyes were wild when he turned to her, huge and slightly red-rimmed, but not from tears. May has seen his red-rimmed teary eyes, and they looked different than his red-rimmed exhausted eyes.
Peter set his jaw, and pushed his shoulders back. “MJ needs me.”
May hugged her arms around her waist, a wintry chill gusted through his open window. “Peter, if you think I’m letting you go out at this time of night you’ve got another thing coming.”
“May!” He said, waving his cell phone at her, “She called me. She needs me. I’m going.”
May squeezed her eyes shut, trying to process. “Why did she call you? Can’t her parents -“
“Her parents are the problem.” Peter exclaimed. The little patience he had left already evaporated. “She’s all alone, and she’s upset, and I need to be there for her.”
He went to jump out the window, but May grabbed his wrist. “You can’t just swing over to her house.”
“Why not? I’ve done it before.” He snapped over his shoulder.
Okay, she was going to need to have a talk with him about his tone. Later, though. Now was not the time.
“Someone will see you.”
“That’s why I have the suit on, May.” He gave her a dramatic roll of the eyes.
“And you have your school jacket on, Mr. Peter Parker.”
“MJ might need a jacket if she gets cold and - and I have some books in here and - just let me go. It’s not up for negotiation.”
May grit her teeth. She could tell him no. She could make him go to bed. But whether or not Peter chose to listen was a different story. If he refused, she could tell Tony. He would make Peter listen. But instead of torturing her nephew for wanting to help his girlfriend, May decided she could make the situation easier.
“Let me get my car keys and my shoes.”
Peter froze. He slowly dropped off his window sill. “What?”
“Is you are this persistent on seeing your girlfriend at two o’clock in the morning, then I’m diving you.”
“Wha- why? We’re not going to do anything if that’s what you’re inferring. I’m just going to keep her company.”
“Great. Then she’ll have even more company with me in the room.”
“May -“
“It’s not up for negotiation.”
Peter’s arms fell to his sides, some of the tension leaving his body. “All right. Fine.”
————————————————————
The drive was tense. Peter wouldn’t stop fidgeting in the passenger seat, bouncing his leg up and down, and checking his cell phone repeatedly for messages.
“What happened?” May asked, trying to keep her voice calm as they drove down the dark streets of Queens.
“I don’t know.” Peter replied quietly. His gaze was trained stubbornly on the road outside his window.
“I’m sorry, come again?” May cupped a hand around her ear, something she has grown used to doing with Peter throughout the years. She mainly used it when he said something that doesn’t make any sense to her such as:
I need another backpack.
I used all our whipped cream to shave.
Quick! I need a Septum seal and a Gas cylinder asap!
“It sounded like you said you don’t know.” May said, not hiding the disapproval in her voice.
“Well...” Peter huffed, impatiently tapping his cellphone again, “She didn’t exactly say what was wrong. But MJ wouldn’t have called me if she didn’t need me.”
“You said her parents weren’t home?” May asked, receiving a nod from him. “And you’re sure this isn’t an attempt to... you know... frickle-frackle?”
Peter scrunched his face in confusion, raising one eyebrow.
“You know... butter the biscuit? Glaze the donut? Do the do? Lust and thrust -“
“Oh my God!”
“Locking legs and swapping gravy.”
“MAY!!!“
“What?” She laughed. “These are golden, and I’m on a roll. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of them?”
“Just stop, please.”
May frowned. “Well it is a serious question.”
“What? Oh. Yeah, I’m sure she doesn’t want to do that stuff.”
“You sure?”
“She was upset, May. Like crying. I’m sure.”
May glanced at her nephew, features sharpened and shadowed in the dim light that filtered through the car windows, and she wondered where this determination came from. Ben was rather determined, but he was never this stubborn. Perhaps Richard was more stubborn. May couldn’t remember exactly what Peter’s father’s attitude was like, but she knew from Ben that he was always the daredevil. She figured that was where Peter got his bravery from.
One thing was for certain, Peter got his looks from his father. The handsome shaped face, the chocolate brown eyes, even the thin lips. It was all Richard Parker.
The GPS piped in, telling May to make a turn, so she followed as directed until they reached a small apartment building located on the side of a one-way street, headed north of Hillside Avenue.
“All right. I’ll swing back home when I’m finished. Bye May. Love you.”
“Um no. I’m going in with you.”
“Oh May, come on.” He shrieked, as he dramatically threw his head back. She made a mental note to discuss his attitude later as well as his earlier disrespect.
“Peter. I didn’t drive all this way to not go inside with you.”
“Why do you even care?” He whined.
“Because you said her parents weren’t home.”
“Oh my - why can’t you just trust me when I say I’m not going to do anything.”
“No. It’s not that. I just think that MJ might prefer a parental figure if her’s are gone. Don’t you think?”
Peter huffed, his puffy cheeks filling up with air, “It’s going to be weird.” He said, blowing out the air.
May unbuckled herself, “You’ll live.”
Peter scowled but exited the car without further argument. They went up the stairs to the apartment building and Peter bolted over to the door with the number 102.
He knocked hastily, but kept it quiet out of respect for the other rooms nearby. Soon the door cracked open, and a single brown eye stared through the crack. As soon as MJ saw it was Peter, she closed the door, undid the chain, and opened it as wide as it could go.
“Peter,” she cried, throwing her arms over his neck, stumbling backwards with him. “Oh thank God you’re okay.”
“Hey MJ,” his voice was quiet and soothing. “I’m okay. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” the girl said breathy, pulling out of the embrace. She stared at him carefully, feeling his arms just to remind herself he was really there. Then her eyes drifted to May. Following her gaze, Peter turned his head to glance back at his Aunt.
“Oh,” he said as if he had completely forgotten she were there. “May drove me. I hope that’s okay? I tried to sneak out but she caught me.”
May pursed her lips, biting back a snide remark about how loud Peter was when he was attempting to ‘sneak out.’ They really needed to discuss a lot of things after this. He was in for a long list of lectures, sneaking out being one of them.
“Thanks for uh coming,” MJ said to May, her voice small.
“Come on, MJ, let’s go inside so you can tell me what happened.” Peter suggested.
The girl nodded, leading Peter into the dimly lit apartment. May followed behind, taking note of the empty looking rooms that she passed through. It was less cozy than she had expected. Certainly not like the apartment she and Peter shared. Sure MJ’s apartment was larger in size, but it felt more bare and lonely. Although May’s apartment was small, she always filled it with a bunch of Nick-knacks and photos that she gathered over the years. She was particularly found of the chocolate mustache photo of six-year-old Peter that hung on every apartment wall despite Peter’s bellyaching protests. However, May didn’t have time to focus on MJ’s apartment furnishings, not while the girl was dragging Peter into her bedroom.
May stood outside the door, watching as MJ ripped through a journal that was sitting on her desk.
“Here! This is what I saw in my dream.”
Peter took the notebook in his hands and frowned. “Is that supposed to be me?”
“No. That’s you,” MJ pointed to something on the sheet that May couldn’t see, but Peter visibly paled. Even though the picture shook him, Peter still managed to draw MJ close and kiss her cheek.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. It wasn’t real.”
“But it felt so real.” The girl mumbled, snuggling her head against Peter’s.
“I know. They always do. But I promise you, we’re both safe now, and that’s all that matters. Everything is going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything hurt you.”
May’s throat tightened at his words. Not only was this a different side to Peter that she never really saw, but he was using the same words she used to say to him. When May first adopted Peter, he used to have reoccurring nightmares about his parents all the time. He never truly understood what had happed. May remembered the painful day she and Ben tried to explain to the four-year-old that his parents weren’t coming home. As far as Peter was concerned, his parents abandoned him. Left him alone because he did something wrong. He used to wake up thrashing and screaming and pleading for them to come back. He was sorry. He promised to be good if they came back.
One night he woke up crying and May came to his side. He told her about his horrifying dream. Someone had forced him to leave just like his parents did. He clung to May like a koala cub, sobbing into her chest, begging her not to let any bad guys take him away. It was that very night that May made a vow to herself to always be there for her nephew. She wasn’t a mother through pregnancy, but she became one that night through Peter.
May had cradled him in her lap and ran fingers through his hair until he calmed enough to breathe steadily. Then she whispered in his ear the same words he just recited to MJ.
Quickly, May dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her Pajama shirt. This wasn’t the time to start crying. She needed to make sure MJ was calm now.
May stepped back, retreating to the kitchen to give the kids some privacy, which they were well deserving of.
She opened the cabinets and frowned at the lack of food. May briefly wondered how often MJ’s parents weren’t at home. She began riffling through the cabinets, pausing with her hand around a packet of hot chocolate. This would do the trick.
May set about making three drinks in the largest mugs she could find while Peter and MJ’s quiet murmurs filled the air.
She didn’t hear much of what they were saying but she did hear Peter mumble something about MJ’s drawing, something about sharp non-human teeth and a long tongue.
“And it ate my head?” He whispered.
“Well, one of your heads, and not the good kind.”
May slapped a hand over her face, and looked queasily at the clock. It was too early in the morning for comments like that.
“MJ!” The boy cried, and May could hear the blush in his voice. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“You walked right into it, loser.” The girl teased. Then more seriously, “I’m sorry. I was only kidding... you know... to lighten the mood.”
“Yeah, and the mood is dark. With my neck being bitten off by this copycat that looks like me, it’s like kinda depressing.”
“That’s why I called you. I needed to make sure you were okay. I needed to make sure it wasn’t real.” Her breathing was ragged.
“It wasn’t real.” He soothed with that soft voice of his.
May cleared her throat as she approached the room, not wanting to surprise them, or make it look like she was barging in on them.
“I made some hot chocolate.”
MJ scuffled back slightly, so that instead of sitting on Peter’s lap, she was sitting in front of him instead.
“Thanks, May,” Peter said, hopping off the bed, and grabbing MJ’s hand. They followed May back into the kitchen and sat at the table.
May held the steamy cup of cocoa to her lips, sitting with her knees bent up and bare feet on the chair. She watched fondly as Peter tried to make MJ smile by showing her some videos on his phone. It ended up working, and May couldn’t have been more proud then when Peter got up to take both their empty mugs over to the sink to wash.
“Do you feel a little better now?” May asked the girl, once Peter was out of ear shot.
“Yeah, I do. Thank you. You didn’t have to come all the way out here. I feel awful that he woke you up.”
May laughed at that, “To tell you the truth, I couldn’t sleep anyways.”
“Oh...Sorry.” MJ started to nervously play with her hands.
“I had a night shift the last few nights.” May explained, “So my body is used to being awake at this time. There’s nothing to be sorry for, you sound like Peter.”
MJ nodded. “I’ve been staying up late too. It’s hard to sleep, and when I do, I usually have weird nightmares, like tonight.”
“Peter used to have nightmares all the time.”
MJ’s ears perked up at that information, and she sat straight in her chair, “You don’t say?” A grin flashed across her face.
May nodded, “He used to drink hot chocolate like this when he couldn’t fall back to sleep. He told me it always made him feel better. His exact words were, it’s like getting a hug for my tongue.”
“MAY!” Peter exclaimed, mortified, as he walked in behind her. MJ, on the other hand was doubled over laughing.
“A hug for my tongue? Really?” She squealed.
“I was like five!” His whole face turned charisma.
“Oh shit. I can see it too. What other things did he say when he was five?”
“May, don’t!”
May smiled kindly, and set down her mug. “I’m sorry, MJ. I’m sworn to secrecy.”
“Thank you.” Peter said, dropping miserably into his seat.
Gently, MJ rubbed his cheek with her hand. “I think it’s cute.”
He smiled and leaned closer to her. “I’m glad you’re not alone tonight.
“Me too. Thank you again.” She whispered.
After everything she saw tonight, May’s main concern was MJ’s lack of parental figures. She wanted to know more. She wanted to ask the girl a bunch of questions to make sure everything was going well. But Peter was there, and MJ was happy, and this wasn’t supposed to be an interrogation. So May settled for making the same vow to MJ that she made for Peter all those years ago.
“If you ever need anything, I’m here for you. I know you talk to Peter, but I’m always available to chat with as well.”
“It’s true she loves to talk.” Peter smirked.
“I think she gets it from being around you.” MJ said.
“No I get it from being around her.”
“Talking is not a disease. You can’t catch it.” May said, swatting his arm.
MJ chuckled, “Thank you, May. I just might take you up on that offer.”
Peter’s eyes widened, glancing anxiously between the two women he cared about more than anything, “Hey, no talking about me though!”