Spider-Man | Doesn't Need Help

CHAPTER 37

  “Peter,” she began seriously this time. “What happened to you?” she asked, pointing to my neck.

I swallowed hard, completely unprepared for this. I'd hoped that in the fifteen minutes she wasn't there, I'd escape to my room and pretend to be asleep, while I planned everything perfectly in the meantime.

I swallowed again and started peeling the skin around my nails.

“I…” I began, looking anywhere but at her.

Stay calm, I told myself.

“Peter, just please be honest with me,” she pleaded.

And that already broke me.

She asked me for practically nothing. Nothing. So when she asked for honesty, I knew I couldn't lie to her. Even if it was about something other than Spider-Man.

“Okay, but please promise me you’ll let me explain everything before you say anything,” I asked, gesturing with one hand.

May fell silent for a moment, but her gaze never left me.

"Okay, I promise. But tell me, because I'm starting to get more and more worried."

I felt my heart begin to beat faster and faster. There was no turning back now, I had to say it.

"I... am Spider-Man."

The silence that fell was so thick it could have been cut with a dull knife from our kitchen.

The woman looked at me as if I'd just said I was an alien. Her eyes widened and her mouth slightly parted.

“You… what?” she whispered, as if she wasn’t sure she’d understood everything correctly.

"I'm Spider-Man. I'm the one running around the city in this suit, saving people, and... well, sometimes I get a real beating," I added with a bitter smile, pointing to my bruised neck.

May stared at me for a moment longer, as if trying to process what she'd just heard. Finally, she sat down on the countertop directly behind her and buried her face in her hands.

“Oh my God… you really are serious,” she said, as if to herself.

I nodded, even though my aunt couldn't see it. I was relieved to finally get it off my chest, but also afraid of how things would turn out.

With each passing second of silence, I grew more and more nervous. But I wanted to give her time to think about what she'd heard.

At one point she looked up, and when I saw tears in her eyes, I froze.

Only when I looked deeper did I see that there was not only sadness there, which I didn't understand, but also... pride?

“Peter…” she whispered, smiling slowly.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she continued to look at me with a smile, shaking her head slightly.

"You're… amazing. After all the cruelty you've been through…" She ran her eyes over my bare upper body, letting me know exactly what she meant. "You're still helping and saving people. There's so much goodness in you…"

I didn't expect that.

I was expecting him to get angry, yell, or something. But definitely not this!

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course I will. But Peter, you have to promise me one thing."

"Whatever you want, May."

"That you'd take care of yourself. That you'd come home safe and sound. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you. I couldn't bear it."