The Amazing Spider-Man 3

Chapter 30

For the better part of the next week, Peter stayed with May upon her return home, spending most of his waking hours performing work around the house. He washed laundry, he cooked meals, he cleaned the bathroom, and did anything else necessary. Naturally, as his aunt continued to improve, she had a harder and harder time with this, feeling it was her responsibility to take care of her own place. Peter was able to win out for the first half of the week pretty easily, since she still couldn't last too long after getting up before getting tired. However, as the week wore on, May grew stronger, and eventually she all but kicked him out, reminding him that he had a real job he needed to get back to.

While it had been kind of fun living back at home for a little while and spending so much time with May, Peter had to admit that it did feel good to return towards the end of the week. After all the craziness of the last month or so, it felt nice to get back into some semblance of a routine again, or at least as much of one as his crazy existence would allow. Eddie, Robbie and everyone else at the Bugle gave him a warm welcome as well. After everything they had done for him, Peter felt a little guilty that part of him still wanted to find a job as a scientist somehow.

As much as these people had helped during his and May's greatest time of need, how could he even think of trying to leave?

He ultimately opted not to worry about that too much for the time being, deciding to just enjoy what he had and let the dust settle for a while.

Besides, Peter had other concerns, such as Harry. After the arrest of Ock and the other villains, it was discovered that the Chameleon had murdered the true warden of the Vault and stolen his identity, though the always masked man himself had apparently slipped through law enforcement's hands again. Still, after learning at the Bugle of a hearing for Harry in the aftermath of everything, he paid a visit as Spider-Man to testify to the fact that Osborn had not only been brought out of the Vault by the impersonator but had escaped and assisted him in the capture of the other villains before surrendering himself back into their custody.

There was nothing official yet, but from the last Peter had heard, it sounded like Harry would get out of solitary confinement at the very least, if not potentially get transferred to Ravencroft instead, with the opportunity for another shot at rehabilitation. There was no guarantee that he would reenter society again even if he was granted all that, but at least Harry had something to work toward now. Above all else though, Peter felt his animosity towards his best friend slowly beginning to dissipate. He still wasn't sure if he could ever look at him in the same way he once did, but at least there was a sense of resolution now.

Then there was Mary Jane. Peter had made sure to update her early on about his success in retrieving the serum and May's subsequent improvement, which she seemed to share in his joy over as well. He also made a point to thank her again, which she didn't protest or tease him about this time, simply taking it in stride and acknowledging it. Other than that, he'd been so focused on May that he hadn't seen her all that much otherwise. That didn't mean that she wasn't on his mind a lot though.

There would definitely be some stuff to sort through, especially now that she was in on his secret. They would have a lot to talk about, but at the same time, Peter also didn't want to just dump everything on her about both sides of his life at once. What he did want was to continue to get to know her, to learn as much as he could about her, and to just spend as much time with her as he could. He wanted to know her likes and dislikes, and he wanted to know how he could make her happy.

In short, Peter wanted to know everything there was to know about Mary Jane Watson.

As luck would have it, come the end of the week, Peter found himself exiting his apartment just in time to see Mary Jane heading towards the elevator. He hurriedly locked his door, almost dropping his keys in his rush to do so. He then stuffed them in his pocket as he jogged over to her, drawing her attention.