“Anyone want any more pictures?” I said buoyantly. All the kids squealed, shouting in a mess of voices that struggled to make themselves heard over one another.

“Alright kids, that’s enough” Jodie said sternly, stepping forward. The kids quieted down and stepped back slightly, all looking to Jodie.

“I’m sorry kids but Mr Spider-Man is a very busy person. He has to go now”

“Please can he stay for five more minutes?” Terrence, a shy boy with a small mop of blonde hair said.

“Sorry sweetie, but Spider-Man has to go now” she said. I felt a tightness in my chest as I watched the kid wilt like a flower. Jodie leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, before whispering something into his ear. He nodded slightly, and she hugged him. He glanced up at me.

“Thank you for coming Mr Spider-Man” he said.

“I’m glad I could make it Terrence” I responded. He smiled slightly, looking a lot happier.

“Well, everyone say goodbye to Mr Spider-Man” Jodie said. A sad chorus of goodbyes came from all the kids.

“Well, I guess that’s goodbye. Happy Birthday Terrence. I hope you guys enjoy the cake” I said. The kids burst out into another mess of joyous shouts as the adults laughed amongst themselves. I waved as Jodie led me out into the hallway, leaving the kids with the other adults.

“Sorry about that” Jodie said, with a small smile.

“Can’t blame them. If I was eight and Might showed up to my birthday, I wouldn’t want him to leave either” I said. “Not that I’m as big as Might or anything” I added embarrassed.

“No, no you are to him. He really loves you. He’ll remember this forever” she said, smiling. She glanced at some of the family photos on the wall, her face falling slightly when her eyes fell upon a man who shared Terrence’s green eyes. She glanced away quickly.

“Could I get you anything? Some cake? A glass of water? Money? I-” she asked.

“No, it’s fine. I’m sure the kids don’t want me stealing any cake from them” I joked. Jodie laughed and glanced behind her. All the kids quickly ducked behind the doorframe from their hiding spot. Jodie and I both chuckled.

“Thanks for this” she said kindly.

“It’s fine. Just seemed like a nice thing to do” I responded. She nodded and opened the door.

“I don’t suppose you could pop by next year?” she joked.

“Maybe” I laughed, stepping outside.

“Thank you again, really. It means a lot” she said suddenly serious.

“It’s fine” I said awkwardly. “If you ever need help, you know where to call”

“Will do. Thanks Spider-Man. Stay safe”

“I’ll try”

She closed the door behind her, and turned down the street. Somehow, that’d been even more rejuvenating, and wholesome than I’d expected. I’d been a bit awkward at first, but it’d been fun. I needed to do stuff like that more. I glanced back to the house, all the kids staring at me out the window. I waved and they all waved back, their faces filled with joy. I felt kind of guilty, but I’d told Liz I’d be home by four. I checked the time. 16:12. Shit. I glanced around. I needed to find somewhere to change.

-

I ran down the stairwell, pulling my mask off, and stepped into the hallway. I was soaked. Somehow, in-between my short talk with Aunt May, and swinging over to my hideout, it had started to rain. And not just any kind of rain, it was a serious storm out there. But that didn’t matter right now. I glanced at the time as I thundered down the hall. 16:43. Shit. I came to a stop in front of Liz’s door and knocked twice. The door creaked open, slightly and Liz stared at me unimpressed.

“Sorry I’m la-” I started, stepping inside.

“Save it” Liz interrupted. She closed the door and crossed her arms. I took her in, trying not to stare at the gorgeous red dress she wore as she glared at me.

“You look nice” I mumbled.

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“Give me a good reason as to why you’re forty-five minutes late” she said, ignoring me.

“I got caught up with the work stuff and lost track of time”

“An actual reason Pete, not some bullshit excuse” Liz said, uncharacteristically angry.

“Hey, I-I’m telling the truth”

“No, you’re not. I can tell when you’re lying to me”

“I’m not ly-“

“Are you cheating on me?”

“What?! Why would I cheat on you?”

“Because you’re never here. And you’re so… erratic” she said, gesturing wildly. “You come and you go randomly. And sometimes things are great, amazing even and then you just- you just pull away” she said, her voice a mixture of anger and pain. I just stared at her, unsure of what to say in the uncomfortable silence.

“And you lie all the time. I know from your friends you finish at four, but you don’t get here until six. I know the journey here isn’t quick, but whenever I said I could come to you, you shut me down. I tried to come up with a reasonable explanation, I thought, maybe, you were just taking time for yourself. That you wouldn’t lie like that. But no. When you leave early, sometimes you say you have to visit your Grandpa in the hospital, but I could tell from yesterday, they haven’t seen you in a while. I’m not stupid Pete. It’s like you’re just- I don’t know… it’s like you’re hiding this whole other life from me”

“I’m not cheating on you Liz”

“That’s not the point. And even if it was, then why can’t you show me any affection?”

“I do. We kiss, we cuddle, we-“

“Not like that, Peter! Can’t you do something for me that isn’t about sex?! I mean we haven’t even been on a date for nearly two months now!”

“W-we haven’t?” I stammered.

“Are you serious?!” Liz said, voice shaking as her eyes grew wet. She stormed off.

“Liz? Wait-“ I said, following her, only to have the bedroom door slam in my face. Shit. Shit. I pressed my head against the door and sighed. Of course, she was angry. I’d know I want answers if she was as erratic as me. Then did I give them? Even if not doing so could ruin this, would that really be the right thing to do?

The whole situation was confusing mess that I’d just been trying to avoid. By not telling her, it felt like I was being both monumentally selfish and selfless at the same time. But the lies were starting to build up and now they’d caught up to me. I wanted Liz to trust me, but she couldn’t do that if she knew I was hiding something from her. But if I told her about everything, about Spider-Man she might break up with me. Or would it just guilt her into staying, tied to me by a twisted sense of guilt and duty? I didn’t know. I didn’t know how to fix this. I didn’t know what to do.

I closed my eyes and stepped away from the door. I’d never been good in situations like this, but that wasn’t an excuse to do nothing. Dammit. I needed to say something. Just say something. Even if it’s the wrong thing anything would be better than silence right now.

“Liz… please”

“Go away Peter”

“I know I’ve not been the best to you, but- I’m trying. I really am “ I said. No response. Dammit.

“Liz?” I mumbled. ”Liz, I need you to talk to me”

“And say what?”

“Anything. Everything. If your angry then come out here and shout at me. If your sad then cry. It doesn’t matter, just talk to me”

“Why?” she said, her voice raw.

“Cause I want to fix this. I want you to tell me everything that’s wrong. And not just now, but tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. I want you to tell me whenever I annoy you, whenever you feel neglected, whenever something’s bothering you, so I can work to fix it. I enjoy spending time with you Liz. I want to spend time with you; and I want you to enjoy spending time with me just as much” I said.

Liz cracked open the door, eyes wet. She stared at me silently for a few seconds, searching my face.

“Are you serious about this? About us?” she finally said.

“Of course I’m serious about us Liz. I love you” I said. And I meant it. We’d been together for over a year now and without any doubt she made my life better. She was important to me. As important as any of my friends, and any of my family.

And that’s why I couldn’t tell her. That’s why I had to lie. The stress of knowing who I was, the constant worry it would cause, the possible dangers it could bring; I just couldn’t do that to her.

“Then just tell me Pete. Just- what aren’t you telling me?” she said.

“Nothing” I lied.

“Are you finally telling me the truth, Petey?” she said, staring deep into my eyes. I went to say something, to lie like I always did, but something stopped me. Something told me lying to her like this, lying at all, would just be wrong.

Liz’s faced morphed from longing to a horrified disgust at my hesitation and she pulled away, slamming the door in my face once again.

I stared at the doorframe and hung my head. Crap.

“Liz” I said, knocking on the door. “Liz?”

I was met with an uncomfortable silence. I pressed my head against the door eyes closed. Dammit.

I stepped away and looked around the apartment. Dresses and dress shirts lay on the coffee table, neatly folded. I guess we weren’t going to the Oscorp gala thing tomorrow. I walked through the apartment silent for a few seconds. I paused and picked up two white slips on the windowsill. They were tickets to the Farrow science convention next week. Dammit. I pinched the bridge of my nose, taking a moment, as guilt and shame began gnawing at my heart.

I needed to make this up to her. I needed to make this up to her now.

A low buzz cut through the air. I frowned and looked around trying to find the sound. I stopped on my bag. It was my phone, my burner phone. I’d forgotten to turn it off. No big deal, I could just ignore it. I could just ignore it and focus on my personal problems for once. I shut my eyes trying drown out the sound. The memory of Lucas’ sobs as he clung to in the cemetery flashed through my mind. The images of destruction at the BRC. Gwen’s headstone. I opened my eyes wide, trembling, as the sound of Uncle Ben’s words echoed through my mind.

You have to help people, Peter. With great power, comes great responsibility. Never forget that.

I reached into my bag, pulled out the phone, and answered.

“Spider-Man?! Hello?!” a panicked breathless voice came over the line, the audio cutting in and out.

“I’m here, what’s happening?”

“Oscorp lab… the electric guy” they wheezed.

Max was back. I clutched my phone tighter, steeling my nerves.

“I’m on my way”