Peter sat on a park bench, on his phone, waiting for MJ. She wasn't supposed to come for another five minutes or so, but he nonetheless came early. He definitely didn't want to be late. Especially not today.

He had tried to call them again, but they hadn't answered or called back again. Of course he was lucky enough to have them finally answer when he had his phone taken away. Cause that makes perfect sense.

He just hoped that something would go his way this time. Just once this summer, that's all he needed.

He had healed up pretty nicely since the last two days, considering.  He still had a small limp and a and a couple small side pains now and then, but besides that he was okay.

"Peter?"

Peter looked up and saw MJ standing in front of him.  He stood up quickly and shoved his phone into his pocket.

"MJ, hey!  Good to see you!"  His arms fell to his side, slapping against his legs, unsure of what to do with them.

"Good to see you, Pete."  She seemed to size him up, noticing the slight limp.  She sat down, causing Peter to sit down after her. "So what's up?"

Oh, boy, how was he going to say this? He hadn't given much thought to how he was going to tell her. He just knew he was.

"So, yeah. Um, I," he stuttered. Man was he a wreck. He cleared his throat. "Look, I wanted you to know why I've been missing so much and why I'm late so much, so..."

He looked around, making sure there was no one too close. He leaned down and zipped open his backpack, showing the suit at the top.  His dads had given it back to him that morning, which worked out for bringing it to show MJ.

"I'm Spider-Man."

MJ sat in silence for a moment.  She picked up part of the suit and ran it between her fingers, probably making sure it was real.

Peter sat quietly beside her, biting his lip.  He looked at her as she dropped the suit back into the bag and shook her head.

"I suspected it was you for a while," she finally said.  "But then I decided against it.  Cause it doesn't seem like you."

Peter's eyebrows furrowed.  "What do you mean?"

"I mean, up until recently, you've been so lively, y'know?  You've been happy.  Spider-Man's got a lot of stuff on his conscience.  He's got lives on his-"

"Yes, I know.  It's called hiding emotions," Peter muttered.  "I didn't want my Spider-Man life to interfere with my Peter life."

"I mean, I guess it makes sense.  Your dads are heroes, so why wouldn't you have access to good technology?"  MJ mumbled.  She seemed to still be thinking about how this was true.  "Ned already knows, right?"

Peter hesitated.  "Yes, on accident though."

She eventually looked up.  "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I wanted to," Peter assured her.  "But I couldn't.  I couldn't let my secret get out.  I had to keep my identity a secret.  Not just for my sake, but for my family's.  For my friends."  He looked at her after saying friends.

"What, did you think I was going to tell someone your identity if you had told me?"

"Well, no.  But I-"

"I can take care of myself, too.  I'm not saying that you shouldn't keep your identity secret, but I'm saying don't worry about me."

Peter pitied the fool that messed with MJ.  That didn't mean that he didn't worry some villain might see Spider-Man with her and decide to take her as leverage.  "No, look, you don't understand.  I was just trying to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me, Peter."  She shook her head.  "Though why the heck have you been acting so strange recently?  Is it Spider-Man stuff?"

That, Peter couldn't tell her.  If it had taken him so long just to tell her he was Spider-Man, he definitely wasn't going to tell her about the group of men mentally attacking him.  They already knew who she was.  He didn't want to put her in anymore danger.

"I- I can't tell you."  He looked down.

MJ nodded.  "I get it."

Peter knew what was coming.  "You do?"

MJ nodded.  "You don't trust me." 

Peter couldn't contain it.  "MJ!  I'm just trying to protect you!  Look past your ego for once and don't assume that I want to lie to you!"

His hands went to his mouth, shocked that he had said that.

MJ looked at him, jaw dropped, seeming shocked at him as well.  She closed her mouth and frowned.

"You're right.  I'm sorry.  I'm sorry I am confused on why one of my friends that I thought I knew a good amount about turns out to be Spider-Man and didn't tell me for three years.  I'm sorry I'm starting to wonder how much trust you have in me if it took this long.  I suspected it, but I never took it all that seriously.  Because I thought you might actually tell me if you were him and if you trusted me - not only to keep your secret, but to take care of myself.  I'm sorry."

She had a point.  Of course she did.  "No, MJ.  I'm sorry."

"Save it."  She stood up and cleared her throat.  "I'll call you when I'm ready to talk.  If I am."

Peter watched her walk away, wanting to punch himself and call after her.  He knew it was no use.  She needed time to figure it out.  She needed time away from Peter.

Well, that went well.

"Nice going, Peter," he mumbled to himself, standing up and grabbing his backpack.  He started limping his way out of the park.  He stared at the path as he walked, berating himself in his head.  He did his best to ignore the looks that some people would give him.  He didn't really care anymore.

As he walked out of the park, he saw an old man watching him.  He didn't look familiar to Peter, but the man stared at him as if he knew him.  He walked a bit faster, which was slightly hard with his limping leg.

He glanced back after a while and saw the man was still there, watching.  Peter was just glad he wasn't following him and wasn't necessarily one of the emotional terrorist.

But what if he was?   Peter looked back again, but he was gone.  Not creepy at all.  He continued to walk faster back to the tower, ready to just barricade himself into his room for the rest of the summer.