(Dark) - The Sun Will Rise
He took a deep breath, leaning up against the cold headstone as he set his cane down. Taking a deep breath, he laid a bouqet of black dahlias down as he let his tears run freely. He dropped his cane beside him.
“Hey, baby.” He whispered before huffing out a pitiful laugh. “You would hate me calling you that.” Peter tapped his fingers on his leg anxiously.
“I just - God - I can’t believe it's your birthday. I - you know, I was planning your birthday back when - well - before everything happened.” Everything was the shortest way to put - everything that had happened to him within the past year. “You know, I had to bribe Tony to give me twenty minutes alone. He’s uh - he’s worse than May. But, he was there with me, so I guess that makes sense.” Peter cleared his throat, looking out at the trees in bloom. The spring sunshine was so warm. He closed his eyes, remembering her as he last saw her, a golden halo of sunshine beaming from around her - framing her perfect skin in a golden glow. He missed that.
“It’s been - Hell without you. But you’ll be proud to know that I’m going back to school next semester. I’ve - Sam says I’ve been doing really well since - well - everything.” He forced himself to breathe, but he didn’t try to stop the tears that rolled down his face. “It feels unfair for it to be so beautiful out. Every day - I just think that the sun would be shining that much brighter if you were here. Morgan seems to have forgotten that eveything happened, which is good. May and Happy are great, they can hardly stand to be without me, but they’re good. Ned is great too - you know? He talks about you all the time, but I know he visits you all of the time. So I know that you know all of this.”
“You know - I just need to get this off my chest. I mean, you always told me how much you hated that I beat around the bush. Okay - I just need to tell you this. Then I’ll leave you alone - you would hate that I was wallowing - but I guess when love someone that much - you can’t help it.” Peter cleared his throat again, wiping at his eyes as he choked on a sob.
“For a while after I got back - I just wanted to come back to you. I kept thinking about how perfect it had been up there. How I wouldn’t need to use a cane, or cry, or have panic attacks if I were with you. But, last week I called your mom - you know, to check in - and she gave me a letter that she found. And -” He leaned forward sobbing, his face in his hands. “Damn you Michelle Jones, the fact that you wrote me such a - that you wrote me a note in case something like that happened - it was everything I needed to hear and more. I could hear your voice, and I just - thank you.
Thank you. It’s not going to be easy, and I’m still struggling. I’ll always be struggling - for the rest of my life without you - I’ll be struggling. But I can do it. I know I can do it. Okay. Before I continue to make this grass wet with my tears - I should go.” Peter turned around, pressing a kiss to the black headstone, and setting her birthday card beside the flowers. “I love you. I’ll see you when it's time for you to walk with me again.” Peter picked up her letter, and went to read it for the millionth time.
"Dear Parker,
I can’t really explain to you why I felt like I had to write this - and you know I don’t believe in ‘divine inspiration’ but here it goes. I hope you never read this, but on the off-chance that you do, please know that I mean every single word.
Whatever happened was not your fault. I’ve spent a total of twelve hours between you and Tony Stark, and you two act like it’s a battle to see who has a bigger guilt complex. I don’t blame you.
No one else does. So please, breathe. And move on.
Know that I’m waiting for you. Take your time. You know that I’m the most patient person in the world. I love you. I’m not going to write a million pages of this, because I don’t want you to
wallow. Here’s my last request - find someone new. Find a girl that’s going to hold you and love you and take care of you. Find someone that looks at you with all the care in the world - like you hung the sun in the sky just for her - because there is nothing that you wouldn’t do for the person you love. Don’t hold yourself back from that. Just do me this one favor - tell her about our good times. Tell her how much I meant to you, and tell her that I wanted this for you.
Also, let her know that if she breaks your heart, I’ll haunt her ass.
I love you.
MJ"
Peter could have read that note over and over, but he forced himself to stand, gripping his cane, and making his way through the graveyard. Tony was waiting for him in the car, and he couldn’t keep the man waiting forever. It was Stark family dinner night, and he couldn’t dare keep Mo waiting on him.
He was so lost in his thoughts, that he cried out in shock when he ran straight into someone. His cane fell out of his hand, but gentle hands caught him as he grunted.
“Oh my gosh - I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” A voice asked as Peter forced himself to stand up, ignoring the jab of pain in his leg. “Oh - God your - here.” The person bent down, and put his cane in his hand.
“Thank - uh - thank you.” He looked up, staring into the blue eyes of the girl in front of him. She had blond, board straight hair, and bangs low over her eyes. She was holding a bouquet of flowers, obviously going to a grave, but she stared up at him with a soft smile.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
“Yeah - the tears aren’t from - aren’t from running into you.” The girl smirked and nodded.
“Yeah - mine either.” She seemed to be thinking about what to say for a moment before making eye contact with him again. “Do you go to college around here?” She asked, motioning to New
York behind her.
“Yeah - yeah ugh - I’m at Columbia.”
“Oh - me too!” She smiled up at him, then seemed to remember why she was here. “Listen, I - I gotta go, but um- what's your name? Maybe I’ll see you around?”
“Um- yeah - I’m Peter. Peter Parker.” He said, holding out his hand. She grinned at him, and he felt his heart jump.
“I’m Gwen. Gwen Stacy.”