Work Text:
May Parker didn’t exactly have what someone might call a good day. In fact, it had sucked ass so far. She had picked up Melissa’s shift, working a double at the diner. Really, her two jobs were doing a number on the steadily growing ache in her back.
But, she would never voice her complaints. They needed the money.
Her long day left her on the couch in front of the television, allowing herself to watch the news channel for once. She agreed with the girls at work, watching the news these days was like watching your death sentence. There was always something new and life-threatening, now, ever since that alien attack all those years ago.
So, yeah, sometimes the masochistic part of her won over. For a while now, she had trouble sleeping. She’d come home from work at an ungodly hour and lie on the couch while Peter slept like a stone down the hall and most often. She’d fall asleep right there and move herself before morning. She let herself, she had the right to, right? Ever since Ben…
Yeah, ever since Ben.
Tonight was no different. Peter was in his room, she was dozing on the couch, she only had one shift tomorrow, and life was bearable.
Until Peter was not in his room.
She shook from her sleep because she could have sworn she just heard his voice in the living room, like he was cracking jokes. She ignored the commotion on the TV as she blinked her eyes open and popped her back.
“Peter?” she glanced for him, but the apartment seemed void of any other life at two o’clock in the morning.
Wait, Spidey! You just stopped a terrorist attack, could you please answer a few questions for us?
Red and blue swung onto screen, caught by a shaky camera. May knew him, everybody in New York new him. Spider-Man, that guy who flew around on webs and crawled up walls and continuously saved the city.
Man, what are you guys doing out this late? You’ve got to have a death wish or a serious problem.
Her breath caught. The small man in in the skin-tight suit crouched on the hood of a car. She just heard Peter’s voice.
Why do you do it, Spider-Man? Why do you wear the mask?
Spider-Man’s eerie, white eyes narrowed. (May didn’t know they could do that, in fact, she didn’t think she’d ever seen him sit still before, always in action, always saving someone-)
Why the mask? Dude, are you serious?
She clutched her chest. No, she wasn’t wrong. That was Peter’s voice.
The reporter was silent, microphone outstretched.
Look, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but people don’t exactly like me around here.
She saw Spider-Man liked to talk with his hands.
Heck, even the cops shoot at me. I’ve got enemies. All I’m trying to do is protect my family.
She heard Spider-Man’s voice crack on the last word.
Why the mask? You know why the mask, you just want to see me take it off.
May watched Spider-Man flick his wrist to the sky and launch himself off a dented taxi, taking Peter’s voice with him. She stayed in front of the screen until the footage cut back to the news station, showing a lady recapping what just went on.
Her heart was beating out of her chest as she stood on wobbly legs. She didn’t realize she was crying until she sprinted down the hall to his room.
Her hand hovered above the doorknob.
She was just hearing things, right? She was just overworked, right? Peter was asleep in his bed, right? He's got school tomorrow, he’s not gone, he’s home safe, he’s not flying around the city-
She twisted.
It was locked.
Grabbing her hair in frustration, she tore into her room across the hall to retrieve the extra key she knew he hadn’t found yet.
It’s okay, he’s in his room, he’s right here with you, he’s not risking his life, not my baby, he’s not-
The light streamed into a messy teenager’s bedroom revealing a lumpy, kid-occupied bed.
At once, her heart began to slow. She had freaked out over nothing. She felt stupid. She should just back out of the room and let him be. She should forget the growing suspicion in her chest and close the door. She should forget all of this happened.
Instead, she stepped into the room and crept to the bed.
Her eyes told her what her heart already knew, and deep down, had known for a long time.
Blankets piled on pillows in the center of the mattress.
The bed was empty.
This time, she didn’t make any excuses. The springy mattress squeaked under her weight as the knowledge of the situation raced through her, her foot knocking into a box from under the bed.
She found the the first-aid kit with almost nothing in it.
May began to sob.
She couldn’t take this all in at once.
How? How did she not notice? How did this happen? How can he do the things he does? How did he hide it? How can a sixteen year-old be New York’s savior?
She barely noticed how long she sat there, empty first-aid kit in hand, until the sun began to rise.
May Parker heard a pair of feet outside the window on the fire escape.
Peter Parker came home dressed in red and blue.