"PETER PARKER, WHY DO YOU HAVE A GIRL IN YOUR—" May Parker began to chastise as she entered Peter's room until she noticed the tear streaks on the girl's face. Immediately, she transitioned into a more nurturing town, "Oh, sweetie, what's wrong? Peter, why are you harboring a crying girl?"

"May—" Peter tried to reason, but the woman just barged past him and engulfed Kae in a hug. God, Kaelyn couldn't remember the last time someone this motherly hugged her. The last time her mother hugged her, well, was when she left for a restaurant with her father and got shot in the back. So, needless to say, it had been quite a while. Already, she felt safe in May's arms, safer than she felt in her own home right now.

Peter continued to explain, attempting to dance around May's anger, "Aunt May, this is Kaelyn, she's a friend of mine. She, she doesn't wanna be home right now, that's all."

"Oh, honey, I know the feeling," May sighed as she pulled away, still keeping one arm around the young girl. "You stay as long as you need, in separate—" she leaned more towards Peter when she said that, "rooms, that is."

"May—" the boy scoffed again, but Kae cut him off with her giggle as she wiped her tears.

"Don't worry, no funny business," the girl laughed, surprise she even remembered how at a time like this, "It's nice meeting you, Ms. Parker."

The woman rolled her eyes and hugged the girl once again, "Call me May. Anyway, what I originally came in here was to say that dinner was toast, what do you kids want on the pizza?"

Kaelyn laughed, "Just pepperoni and don't worry, I can't cook either, my brother, uh, he does all of it."

"Your mother doesn't cook?" May asked. Kaelyn envied her because she didn't know. All she did was ask a simple question out of pure curiosity, living without the knowledge of Kaelyn's trauma. God, what that must feel like.

The girl shook her head, "Uh, she used to. Her and my father died when I was younger..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry—" May began, but the teenager cut her off.

"No, it's okay, you didn't know!" she reasoned and an awkward silence fell over the three.

After a moment, Peter cleared his throat and said, "Uh, Aunt May, pizza?"

"Right, yes!" she exclaimed, "I'll go order that. Maybe that'll cheer you up, love, pizza always solves my problems."

With that and a final concerned expression, she left the room. Closing the door, she left is slightly open as if warning them, which made Kaelyn giggle. After she left, the girl sighed once again, leaning up against the wall.

"Sorry," was all she said. It was the only thing that seemed reasonable for the situation. Here she was intruding on Peter and his family when she has her own friends and they both have their own problems.

Peter scoffed, leaning against the wall next to her, "What? Why are you sorry?"

The redhead just laughed, yet there was little to no humor in the sound, "Because I'm a burden. I mean, you only hang out with me like twice because I blackmailed you and now I called you up acting like we've been best friends for years. I-I should've just called Beth, I'm sorry."

"You're, you're not a burden, Kaelyn," the boy shook his head, smiling as she leaned her head on his shoulder without looking at him. "And I didn't only hang out with you because you blackmailed me. Well, the first time, maybe, but since that first night almost every night I'm out I stop by your building to see if you're out there? I've started to avoid certain dangerous situations just because I have your voice in my head telling me not to be an idiot. I mean, whether you like it or not, Kae, we're friends."

The last sentence actually made her laugh. A beat of silence passed, she had no idea what to say. "Thank you, Peter."

"It's nothing," he muttered, looking down at his twiddling thumbs, "Uh, do you wanna tell me why you didn't wanna be home? You, you don't have to if you don't want to!"

She sighed, "No, it's only fair, I think. Um, so you know how my parents are dead? Uh, they, they were murdered when I was around nine or so. Since then, my brother and I have lived together and he works like three jobs just to put food on the table and keep our bills paid. They, the police, never bothered to solve the case. They tried, for like, a year, but you know New York and crime go together like white on rice, so they had bigger fish to fry and called it a cold case. Since then, I've been investigating it on my own. When I found out you were Spider-Man, I figured you would have some more info on the city than I would, which is why I kept trying to hang out with you, I guess, it was stupid I don't even know what I was thinking. Anyway, any time my parents were brought of my brother would tell me to drop it and just accept that we'll never know. So, today, he- he found all of the evidence that I had built up over the years. We got into a giant argument, he grounded me and took all of it away so I just ran and called you. It was probably way too immature of a reaction, but I just had to get out of there. Sorry, that was, uh, probably a lot."

"You thought I would know something?" Peter questioned, wrapping one arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "I mean, that's, that's not important right now. Thanks for telling me. Can I ask, why didn't you go to Beth?"

"She's having family problems right now, I can tell. She only gets quiet with me when her brother is in town or he pulled some shit again. I didn't wanna weigh her down with my problems, too, she doesn't need it right now," the girl ranted, leaning into Peter and wiping stray tears. "I just wish she felt like she could talk to me about it, you know? I mean, we're best friends, that's what I'm here for."

"Well, just don't think about her right now, okay?" Peter suggested, "Let's just stuff our mouths with pizza and watch movies all night?"

Kaelyn sighed, sitting up. She felt cold as soon as she left Peter's touch. "Can we watch cheesy rom-coms? Those always make me feel better, especially if they have Reese Witherspoon."

The boy laughed and nodded, "Anything you want."

She hugged him one last time, sighing as she buried her head into the corner of his neck, "Thank you, Peter."

"No problem, Kae." He hesitated for a moment before hugging her back, rubbing small circles in between her shoulder blades in a comforting way. There was something about him that just felt so warm and safe, Kaelyn didn't know what it was, but it was something she hadn't felt in a long time. Something that felt like home.

oh gosh it's been forever since i updated this, sorry! school's been crazy and I've barely been on wattpad let alone writing!! i'll try and be more consistent as i get settled into the year though!! Also woooh we got some crUSH development!! ooo!!