Drabbles and Short Snippets (Requests OPEN)

How to Say Goodbye (Spiderverse)

Prompt from @sigh100,  between Peter. B. Parker and Aunt May. Such a sweet prompt I don't know how I didn't think of it. Kudos, and I hope you enjoy!

Knock, Knock

"You guys have been really sweet, but I need rest now." Aunt May spoke, pulling open the door just a crack.

On the front steps stood Peter, her Peter. No, not hers. Peter. B. Parker. The grown up version of her sweet nephew. 

"Hey, May." Peter mumbled, running his hand through his gray flecked hair. "Can I come in?"

"For you, anything dear. Come on in. Why don't we go sit out back?" May suggested, beckoning Peter in, his frame tense in the childhood home that was his but not. "I thought you and all the others were going to go take down Kingpen's machine tonight?"

"We are, I just, I wanted to talk to you one more time before we did." Peter admitted, stepping around some of the fallen debris from the fight that had torn up May's living room earlier that day. 

The two of them stepped out onto the back steps, surrounded by the untouched lawn that lay beyond the battered house. They were both silent for a while, neither quite knowing who would start, but both knowing what the other would say. 

May broke the silence first. "Do you mind?" She asked, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

"I didn't know you smoked." Peter mussed, nodding that she could go ahead.

"Well, I don't know about your May, but if she is anything like me, she would have kept that a secret from you. I don't really smoke, not like I used to. Only when I'm really stressed, and these past few days have been stressful to say the least." 

Again, silence fell on them. 

"I miss her," Peter started, glancing over that the woman who had raised him. She was so close to his Aunt May. Her mannerisms, the way she carried herself, even her clothing style, it was beautifully painful to look at her. 

"How long has it been?" May questioned, taking a deep pull on her cigarette before blowing the smoke up towards the light polluted sky.

"Two years, four months, and eleven days." Peter sniffed, brushing away a tear before it could fall. "But that's not the worst part. I wasn't with her when she died. I was off saving New York from some threat, and by the time I got the call, she was gone. I was able to save New York, but I lost my world in the process. I just...crap..." He glitched, falling down the three steps onto the sun baked grass. May quickly stubbed out her cigarette and went down to help him up.

"I know dear. Out of all of us, all of the spiderverse people, I know the best." She comforted, helping Peter sit up. "I miss by baby boy. Every damn minute, of every day. And it's only been a few days."

"But then, here you are. Fallen out of the sky. The exact same boy. The child I fell in love with when he was dropped off on my doorstep all those years ago." May spoke, staring up at the few stars visible beyond the smog. "It was as if the universe felt bad for taking away my Peter, so it gave me you, so I could.....could...."

"Say goodbye." Peter finished looking up into her weathered face. Mapping the lines of her face, forcing them into his memory. 

May let out a shuddering sigh. "Exactly. I don't know why this all had to happen, but maybe, just maybe, it was a way for me to get to see my nephew all grown up. Maybe my Peter was always destined to die young, and there was nothing I could ever do to stop it. But now, now I at least get to say goodbye to him, to hold his hand one last time. To tell him how proud I am of him, and all that he has done." 

"I know, wherever his is May, that he knows that." Peter consoled, slipping his fingers into her nobbled soft ones. "I think this was a way for me to say goodbye to my May too. I was never able to have that closure either. And while I know your not her, you remind me so much of her, and even though after tonight, if it all goes well, everyone will go home, and I still won't see her. Thank you for bringing her back to me."

"Peter," May whispered, slipping her hand from his so she could lay it on her check. "I know I'm not your aunt, but I'm sure your May is just as proud of you as I am, if not more. I want to believe that my Peter and your May are together somewhere, looking down on both of us. They wouldn't want us to be sad. We have each other once again, even if it is just for a little bit."

Peter sniffed, pushing his face against May's hand, craving the moment. Not wanting it to end. 

"You're right. You were always right." He mused pulling back so he could look at her one last time.

"Come here." May motioned, and Peter didn't hesitate. He wrapped her up in the tightest hug he could, breathing in her perfume, her smell, her everything. And May did the same. Even though it wasn't her Peter, to hold him one last time, to pretend that she was saying goodbye to her Peter...

Tears flowed from both of their eyes, until their shoulders were drenched in tears and their eyes were dry. 

"You were the greatest nephew I've ever had. You were my son."

"And you were the greatest aunt, greatest mom, I could ever dream for."

"Now," May sniffed, pulling back from the hug, to wipe her noise and eyes off on her sleeve. "You go kick Kingpen's butt and get home to your Mary Jane. Don't try and stay here if you can get home."

"How did you know?" Peter spoke, taken aback. No one outside of the other Spider (wo)men knew his plan.

"Honey, aunts know everything. Now go. You don't want to keep her waiting." May whispered, brushing back his tousled hair to give him a small kiss on his forehead. 

Peter gave her a quick peck on the check before standing up. He was about to walk away when he turned back and gave her another huge hug.

"I love you."

"I love you too."