A couple hours have passed by since we last left our young cast of characters. The parades were finished and everyone in the city was all in transit to their next destination. Like any American citizen, they love to celebrate their most cherished holiday in the way they would like. This would involve such activities as the famous hot dog eating contest at Coney Island, maybe a visit to patriotic landmarks in the city such as the Statue of Liberty or Ground Zero of the September 11th attacks, or just a cheerful get together with friends and family with an all-American grill out.

One such venue was starting to buzz with the smell of sizzling sausages and burgers, and a growing commotion of noise of young voices bickering inside a small house. The activity inside caught a glance by folks passing by, but one young blonde in a black t-shirt and ripped black jeans kept her eye on the house almost for any sign of warning.

Felicia crept her way round' to the back of the house, where she found a collection of cases stacked aside a large van in the alley. She eyed the crates intently with numerous thoughts circulating through her mind. She needed to get to them in order to inform Peter what they were planning, but the sudden sound of the back door opening broke her thought. From out of the house, J-Mac and a couple others strutted up to the car.

Felicia didn't worry about being noticed, their vision was blocked by bushes along a fence line that stretched the perimeter of the yard. The boys all piled into the car and gave a few thumbs-up back to the house. She looked back to find Tombstone standing atop the staircase staring back at them. He gave a thumbs-up back, and Felicia noted how each of them had the same brand of watch on their wrists. Most people wouldn't notice this, but Felicia was taught well in noticing the littlest details, and this detail signaled some red flags. Her first thought was synchronized watches, meaning that there had to be a rendezvous later, or different events happening simultaneously. Either way, she knew that both Tombstone and J-Mac needed to be watched, and J-Mac made it difficult by driving to who knows where.

In a last-minute thought, she dialed Peter's phone. It rang and rang until his voicemail message played. "Hey Peter, it's Felicia. I just found Tombstone and J-Mac at a house in Jackson Heights. They're all wearing watches and a couple guys are about to leave with J-Mac in a van filled with a shit load of boxes. I'm gonna follow them to see what happens. If you can, keep an eye on Tombstone at the house. I'll send you the address."

*** *** *** ***

https://youtu.be/jBXkqAU89c0

Elsewhere, in Flushing Meadows Park, the community picnic was already in full swing. Many families gathered to enjoy each other's company and to celebrate. A long line of picnic tables topped with bowls of fruit, various dipping sauces, and chips kept their cravings in check, as Frank stood to the side working the grill while watching everyone enjoy themselves. Next to him was a decently sized sound system tuned into a radio station playing some of the great music to ever grace the air waves, such as Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA." To the side of a large group of tables was a large open field of grass, a perfect space for kids and adults alike to play games. Peter and May were in the midst of a fun game of cornhole (bags game) with a mother and her young son. Michelle watched on the grass near the Parker's side as the game played out. Peter would often look her direction any time she wasn't looking, or anytime he tossed a bag, hoping to see her reaction.

It was the last toss for each team, the game point. "WE WON! WE WON! WE WON MOMMY!" the boy cheered excitedly as his bag fell through the hole. Everyone smiled at the boy's happiness and May called it quits for a while, claiming that she had played enough games for a while. Michelle stood up and walked with them over to the food table where they loaded their plates with whatever they desired. It wasn't long before Frank came over by the trio for some feedback.

"So, how's everything?" he asked, earning a smile from May. "I hope I didn't over cook anything."

"No, you're good," May reassured, "Everything tastes great."

"Plus, she burns half the things she makes anyway, so you can't do much worse than her in my opinion" Peter adds with some comedic shade. May instantly elbows him in the arm for the comment, which everyone all smiles and giggles at.

"Anyway," May continues, "we appreciate you for having us." Peter nods his head, implying the same message.

"Oh, my pleasure" he replied. "So Peter, what do you like about Midtown."

"Um...," he pondered over his answer, "I don't know." Both May and Michelle stood on either side of him expecting an answer. "I really like decathlon."

Michelle chuckled at his answer and was quick to comment. "Yeah, when you show up." Peter gulped at her comment, knowing that he wasn't the best team player when it came to decathlon. It was only worse when May asked about Michelle said.

"She's talking about how I've missed a couple meetings since I got the Stark Internship" Peter said to cover his true reasons. Michelle gave a sly smirk, knowing that he covering his Spider-Man identity. May obviously understood his cover up, but was a bit disturbed to hear that he had been blowing off his academic commitments to go play hero.

"Stark?" Frank exclaimed from the other side of the table, "as in Tony Stark?!"

"That's the one pops" Michelle answered. "Well, that must have been fun" Frank continued. Peter nodded in agreement. "It was, but I'm actually not with Stark anymore." Frank looked at him with a bit of confusion, and Peter briefly glanced at his aunt and Michelle before speaking again. "The workload was uh..., too much for me."

"Well in this world," Frank said, "what job doesn't have a heavy workload." Peter chuckled a bit, kind of agreeing with him. "My advice for you Peter, find the job that you know you'll put the work in. Something that drives you forward, something that will make your life worthwhile." Peter listened to every word, each one feeling like another beat of his heart keeping him alive. He knew that Frank's words were true, and that it was up to him to follow through with this advice.

"Thank you sir," Peter replied with a smile, "I'll keep that in mind." Frank nodded his head slightly and smiled, then turned to May. "So, what do you do May?" May smiled and explained her crazy job at a publishing company. Frank was clearly interested to hear about it, but Peter and Michelle had other ideas.

Michelle started walking behind Peter toward the field. "You wanna play a quick game" she asked, to which Peter humbly said "yes". They walked over to a set up of ladder ball. They picked their colors and started the game. "The workload was too much?" she finally spoke, making fun of his excuse from earlier.

"WHAT?! I had to say something." Michelle smirked and shook her head, internally laughing at how humorous his response was. "Would it have been better if I just said, 'I skip class because I'm the guy that swings through the streets and sticks to walls'" Peter continued.

"I guess not" Michelle answered, still smiling. "So, who else knows?"

Peter gave a quick exhaling chuckle, "Ned, but I'm sure you already figured that out."

"Mmhmm"

"Otherwise, it's just May, Mr. Stark, his head of security, and... Liz's dad."

She pondered the list for a moment. "So, I'm the 6th person to know? Man, you really are bad at keeping secrets." Peter extended his arms out in defeat, accepting the fact that he was, but still trying to defend his position. "We can't all be perfect, MJ." He continued playing as if everything was normal, but somehow, he could feel her staring at him in disturbance. It only took him a little bit longer to figure out why. "Oh my God," he babbled, "I forgot you don't want me to..."

"It's ok Peter," she chuckled, "I don't mind." Peter smiled bashfully, thinking that he had somehow taken a step forward in his friendship with her. And at the same time, Michelle thought the same. It was a whole new dynamic between the two of them, with the witty banter and the ability to just create a conversation out of nothing and listen to one another. To her, she had never had someone like this other than her dad in a long time. Her friendship with Peter had reached a new peak, and hoped that it would peak again, and possibly go further than a friendship.

"So," she broke a stretch of silence, "the kids have been asking for you come back again." Peter puzzles what kids she is referring to and smiles when he puts the pieces together.

"Ha ha," he laughs, "it was pretty fun playing them."

"They really like you Peter, probably cause' you're such a big nerd."

"Ha, maybe" he said, but he wondered if she was asking him to come back just to spend more time with her. Not that he was complaining or anything, it was just a thought that lingered in his head for a moment. "Do you want me to come back?"

Michelle's heart felt a little heavier when he asked that. As if he had figured out that she was asking to see him again. "All things considered, yeah," she replied contently, "the kids will be happy to see you and we'll get to see each other. So yeah, I would like you to come back." Peter couldn't help but smile, neither could Michelle. They both were glad to be seeing each other more and having fun while doing it. "Ok," Peter said clearing his throat, "when's the next day I can come?"

"Friday, but uhh... I'm not sure if you'll be comfortable with this one."

"How so?"

"Well..." Michelle hesitates, "we're having an outdoor movie event at Queensbridge Park and my dad thought it would be cool to have games and entertainment for the kids before the movie started."

"Oh, that's cool," he said excitedly, "I think I'd be up for that. Why would you think I wouldn't be?"

Michelle pondered her reasoning for a moment, knowing that it wouldn't be a problem getting Peter to play games with the her and the kids. However, she was only hesitant to ask if he was willing to watch the movie with her afterward. She didn't want the whole thing to seem like a date, or make her seem hostile in some capacity. "I don't know, forget that I said it. Now that you're so willing to come."

The two friends laughed the whole thing off and went about playing the rest of their game. They made small talk as they did, learning small amounts about each other. They had come to the subject of music, when suddenly, Peter heard the echoed sound of drums and quartet of "oh's" coming from the sound system near the grill, where May and Frank where sitting. "Ooh noo!" Peter groaned as he turned his head hoping not to see what he thought he was going to see.

https://youtu.be/o-0Oect0nVQ

Sure enough, there was May rockin' her body to the beat of Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl." She bopped her head rhythmically, popped her shoulders, and tapped her feet wildly. It wasn't long before Frank and a bunch of his friends started gathering around to join her. Michelle gasped when he did this, exclaiming an exhausted "Oh my God, what a doof!" The dancing continued, and to Peter and Michelle's eyes, it looked like something out of a rom-com movie. "I must be dreaming" Michelle added.

"You're not," Peter commented, "this is all normal for May. She and I both love Billy Joel, but she grew up listening to him, and this is by far her favorite song."

"Clearly," Michelle agreed, "I mean she's got half the picnic jammin' to it." The pair continued to smile, cringe, and even laugh at the hilarity of their parental figures dancing and having a good time. Even Peter could help but bop and tap his hand against his leg. Michelle was quick to notice and laughed, "Don't go all 'Dancing Queen' on me now, Peter."

"Oh come on," Peter complained, "how can you not find this song catchy?"

"The song is fine," she exaggerated, "just trying not to embarrass ourselves by dancing alone away from everyone."

"Do you not dance, MJ?"

No, and you don't either."

"Yeah, you're right, I don't. But I know when to have a little fun."

"Are you saying I'm not fun?"

"N-no, I uh, wha-what I meant to say is th..."

"I'm messing with you," she finally chucked, "I know I can be fun." Peter nodded reluctantly, knowing that she was fun, but that it was better that he didn't say anything more that could make things more awkward.

As much as Michelle enjoyed making fun of Peter about his light dancing, she did think it was cute. The way his head bopped, to the way his hands and feet tapped along to the beat, it really made her smile. She hoped that she could see it more often. Then, an idea came to her.

"...and I'm gonna prove it to you" she added to her previous statement about having fun and grabbed Peter's wrist. Peter's head almost got whiplash from her tugging him so suddenly, and he knew exactly where she was taking him. It didn't take long after before Peter accepted her intentions and was practically walking along side her to the crowded area. Michelle still hadn't released her hand from Peter's wrist and she wondered if he minded it, but the feeling lifted her spirits. As they got closer, she released her grip and they navigated through the bunch til they found May and Frank. Both were excited to see them join and Peter took up a spot across from May, while Michelle took a spot between her and Frank.

Everyone around them was bouncing their shoulders, rockin' their arms up and down, and boppin' their heads, but of course May being as careless as she was, was not afraid to start singing the lyrics.

And when she knows what she wants from her ti-i-ime. Peter laughed at her singing, then Frank joined in making Michelle giggle. And when she wakes up and makes up her mi-i-ind. It truly was a fun time, and what made it even better was when the two teens looked at each other, smiled, and mentally said to each other, "what do we have to lose?"

She'll see I'm not so tough. Just be-cause, I'm in love with an Uptown Girl...

Yes, on the 4th of July, almost anything can happen. You might see your first parade, heck you might get emotional on how much work and sacrifice had to be done to become the nation we are today. But in this one picnic area in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York City, there are friendships, connections, and yes, even a possible bit of romance growing stronger by just enjoying each other's company. Allowing each individual to enjoy that right to experience life as a free citizen of the United States of America.  

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A/N-  Hey everyone, glad you were able to make through another fun chapter. This one went through some 3rd act brainstorming, but I think it still works as a whole. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it. 

Really wanted to see Peter and Michelle (I'm gonna start calling her MJ a little more) in a group setting. This would allow some great conversation starters, as well as an understanding of where each person comes from. And it was fun to write the last bit, literally took me a total of 3 hours to think of the idea, visualize it, and write it down. So a very productive outcome in my opinion.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Leave a vote if you did, and don't forget to express your thoughts in the comments. Feedback (positive or negative) is always appreciated.

LASTLY- I'm getting ready to post my questions for you guys for my 23rd Golden Birthday this Wednesday, January 23rd. I'd also be cool if you guys had any questions for me about the story or myself. Don't be afraid to ask, I like letting people have a little insight of what I do.

Q&A on Wednesday, New chapter next week. Until next time, BYE!!!