𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗥𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 ━━ 𝑃𝐸𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑃𝐴𝑅𝐾𝐸𝑅

𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮-𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. the end...?

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly."

—Richard Bach

The world felt vacant and pointless as Peter Parker stood in front of Ramsey's closed casket, his chocolate eyes had lost their warmth and light. In his breast, where it used to be a beating heart filled with courage and joy hardened by grief, turned into a hollow void. The grief had put out his childish flame that had captivated Ramsey's heart the moment she saw him smile, Peter knew he would never be the same, and he felt somewhat relieved to know that part of him will always belong to her. My light, he had once called her, he regretted not calling her that more often because without her his world is just endless nothingness, it's dark, and it's cold. She was his holy ground, his haven... she was his home.

He barely blinked as he stood there with his shoulders slouched in defeat, by his side Aunt May squeezed his hand in support, and only then did Peter rip his tormented gaze from the empty casket of his girlfriend. Aunt May stared into his bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks, her heart faltered and clenched in pain, she saw the emptiness and suffering in his eyes.

"You okay, honey?" Peter only shook his head and glanced away, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

May stared at him, wishing to alleviate his misery, and if she could, she would do it in a heartbeat.

But... if she did, she would be robbing him of life's greatest and most spiritual gift in existence. The pain that comes from loving someone is not a disease... it's not a weakness, it's a gift, and it's real because it meant you loved them right and wholly. Grief is the price one pays for loving someone, there's no love without pain, and the only cure for grief is to grieve and feel the rawness of the pain at its peak.

It won't always be like this, there will be a day when the sun rises and the pain will just be a distant memory, there will come a time when he thinks of her, and instead of crying, he will smile with joy. His memories of her will no longer seem opaque and gloomy, they will fill his heart with warmth and strength to keep going. There will come a time when he will talk about Ramsey Bianchi again, and all there will be left is love and tenderness for her, she might be gone physically, but she will always live in the depth of his heart and in his mind.