Chapter Text
May was cleaning the living room when he heard Peter shouting her name as he opened the front door. The teenager just came back from school and seems to have something urgent to tell her. She put down the feather duster that she held and removed her gloves when Peter rushed towards the living room and said
“I need your help”
“What is it, baby?”
“Homecoming’s in a few weeks now and I kinda…” Peter scratched his head and shifted from one foot to another and his face started turning red like he’s embarrassed or something. May just waited patiently for the boy to say something but the latter just bowed his head and refused to look straight at her. What confuses May more was that Peter never liked the idea of the Homecoming. He hated crowds and he found it even harder lately to be in a place with lots of people and sounds. But this was different since her nephew sounded excited
“Errr…” Peter murmured
May just looked at him with that just-tell-me-what-it-is-and-I’ll-help look that she always gives him. May knew how shy Peter can be. It somehow amazes and annoys her at the same time. For one, she finds Peter as a very polite kid since he never took advantage of anyone wanting to help him. She first noticed this when Mary and Richard first asked them to take care of Peter since they’d be on a business trip for a week. They took Peter to a mall and Peter never asked for anything unlike the other young boys when they see a toy or a food that they really liked.
This went on until that plane crash and Peter moved permanently with them. He never asked for anything except essentials like what he needs for school projects. She remembered how Ben and her would make an extra effort to know what Star Wars lego are the best ones so they could buy it for him and none can really replace that genuine grin on his face each time he gets one. She also remembered Peter looking at the kids playing Iron Man action figures when they were on the bus on the way home and on his birthday, they got him the Iron Man helmet which he refused to remove for a week.
That’s why when Peter started working with Tony, May was complacent. She knew that Peter was not a gold digger and he’ll never take that opportunity for granted. Tony calls her most of the time just to ask what Peter would like to eat since the teenager would refuse each time he offers.
But if anyone knows the secret on how to make a Peter Parker open up, that would be her and that secret would be patience…extreme amounts of it.
“And…” May waited crossing her arms and still looking at her nephew
“I asked Liz…”
“And…”
“And…err…she said yes” Peter uttered timidly, his voice sweet and his eyes still locked at the floor.
May raised both her hands as if winning the million dollar question and rushed towards her nephew, hugged the boy and shouted “Yeeeeees!”
“Wait, Liz? Like that pretty girl from your Decathlon team?”
Peter nodded softly in response and this earned him a kiss on the cheek from his overexcited Aunt “I knew it! I’m so proud of you”
“Oh my gosh! My baby’s all grown up now”
May kept exclaiming even though Peter looked like he wanted the floor to take him alive. May never wanted to make Peter feel that embarrassed but she had thoughts of how she can give him dating or courting advice knowing that it better come from a man. But that doesn’t matter now…all she knows is Peter asked a girl out to prom and it was successful.
“What do we need? Err a suit, tie, shoes”
May held Peter by his arms and pressed them a little and said “Oooh, a corsage would be lovely, you should give Liz a corsage”
Peter just stared at her in shock of his aunt’s response to the news.
“Wait just wait here for a second, Mister. I’m just gonna get my purse”
“We are going to the mall” She said with all enthusiasm, eyes wide and brimming with energy like she’s the one who have been asked to the prom
“May..we really don’t have to” Peter followed his aunt who trailed off to her room.
“I have Ben’s old suit there remember? The one I wore at the funeral. That still fits me and we can just borrow a tie from Mr. Cobblefield next door”
“No…no…we are going to buy new ones and a scent…oh you need a cologne…” His aunt answered walking from her room holding her purse and looking for her car keys. The moment she found it, she grabbed Peter’s hand and led him to the door. They went shopping and Peter was none but bored since May asked him to try every suit she liked and took photos of him every single time
“Do you really have to take photos?” the web slinger asked
“Of course…look at my Petey…such a handsome young man”
“You having that Parker charm will have girls screaming…you even have a senior for a date so you can’t stop me from doing this” She said while looking at the photos she just took.
“There! That one too!” She said to the saleslady while pointing at a black suit.
“We want to try that to, ma’am, please” she asked nicely “My nephew asked his crush to prom and she said yes” Peter’s jaw dropped when he heard this
“May…you don’t have to”
“That’s lovely” the saleslady remarked
“say that” Peter continued the unfinished sentence.
“Here…go ahead young man…put this on” May ordered then seated at the cushion in front of the dressing room. Peter opened the door to show his aunt the suit he tried on.
“Oh…my….” May said as she held Peter’s shoulder slowly spinning him around to look at the whole of the suit
“You look just like Richard” She said
Peter just smiled at his aunt and all those boredom just melted away when he saw his aunt’s eyes sparkling. But yeah, he’s still embarrassed with this
“We are getting this one” May told the lady who led them to the counter
“But Aunt May, this is too pricey”
“Then maybe I can give you a discount” said the storeowner in the counter
“That would be lovely, sir” May said In glee
“Anything for a young man who got his yes” the older man said winking at Peter which sent him blushing again.
The night of the prom arrived and May could not hold her tears seeing Peter like that
“I remember when your Uncle Ben asked me to prom”
“He did?”
“Yeah”
“You guys never told me you went to prom together”
“We decided to tell that to you when you go to your own prom”
“Ooooh”
“Look at you, say cheese”
“May, stop it”
“Just a little more, give it your best smile, Petey”
“You know what? this is a bad idea. I can’t even talk to her without stuttering on a normal school day what more if she’s all dressed up and looked 100 times prettier than the galaxy?”
“I can’t…I can’t do this, May”
“No…no…no turning back now…you gonna get to that car okay?”
“Okay”
“You’re gonna knock at the door and greet her parents and tell her she’s very pretty”
“Okay”
“You got this”
“You’re gonna give her the corsage”
“Yeah..yeah”
“You’re gonna take her to the dance floor and when you dance with her, put your hand on her waist”
“Okay..okay”
“You hold her close but not that close”
“Yeaaah..yeah..woooh here we go”
May then dropped Peter off at Liz’s house then proceeded straight to the hospital for her shift. She can’t stop herself for being proud of that shy boy who they raised and is now growing up and learning to stand on his feet.
Hours after, May received a phone call from the school
“Hello”
“Hello Mrs. Parker, this Mr. Adamson from Midtown High”
“Yes? Hello, sir…what’s going on?”
“Peter left the prom”
“What?”
“Where did he go?”
“We don’t exactly know since Ms. Allan told us that he just stormed off and no one saw after he went to the court outside”
“He’s not with me. I did not pick him up”
“We’ll just report this also to the police”
“Please, thank you…I’m also gonna call him”
May went home still worried. There were no reports about Peter. What could have happened? May called Peter several times but it all went to voice mail, but she kept on trying until finally someone answered. The voice came from a man “Hello?”
“Hello, who’s this?”
“Oh, Mrs. Parker, this is Liz’s dad. Peter left his phone in my car ”
“Oh, I’m sorry”
“Something happened at the dance?”
“The school called me and said Peter left”
“With my daughter?”
“No…no..Liza is still there”
“Ooooh. Okay. Thank you” the he hang up telling himself “looks like spider boys coming for me.” He smiled “let’s prepare for it shall we?” he said touching his vulture wings.
She sat for hours waiting until he heard a sound from Peter’s room like something fell from the roof. She opened the door but it was locked.
“Peter” she knocked aggressively “are you there?”
“Peter?”
“Yeah…yeah May..I’m here…I’m home”
“Peter? What’s happening to you? Why did you leave the school?”
“Open this door now”
“Peter opened it and May saw the scratches and bruises on his face. “Oh my gosh…what happened to you?”
“N…nothing”
“Your face”
“I got hit by a car on the way home”
“You got what? let me take you to the hospital”
“Noo…no I’m fine just want to sleep”
“Peter”
“I’m sorry but I’m…can you just”
“I just want to rest”
“Okay..okay just let me wash those wounds” Peter didn’t argue and let his aunt clean his wounds
“Whatever is happening to you, young man, you know you’ll have to tell me”
Peter was silent
“And if you don’t I’ll eventually find out”
She went to her room and laid on her bed when she leaned on her side, she saw Ben’s photo on the bedside table. She picked it and hugged it then cried.
“Oh, Ben…what should I do?”
“I tried to be there for him and did all I can but…but…I can’t understand why he kept disappearing like this”
“I…I tried”
"I wish you were here"