TW: mentions of death, mentions of trauma, mentions of depression, mention of attempted suicide, mentions of drug and alcohol abuse, mentions of addiction, mentions of mental health issues.

Peter and I sat in the conference room in the Stark Industries Tower, our hands joined and Peter's mask off as we waited for Tony to come up. I bit nervously at my nail, my heart already in my throat as I looked at Peter.

"Babe, I know that I've asked a million times already, but are you absolutely sure that you want to do this? We can walk out of that door and just go home if you want, no one has to know that we were here." I shook my head. Peter chuckled and squeezed my hand in reassurance as he returned the look.

"Yes, baby, I'm absolutely sure. I appreciate you wanting to make sure that I'm solid in this decision, but I can promise you that I am. If I'm being completely honest, the only thing that I've ever been more sure about was asking you to marry me." He reassured. I smiled and shook my head at his words.

"Okay, Pete. You're ready. I trust that." I nodded. He returned it and raised my hand to his lips, making me chuckle and bite my lip as he kissed my skin.

"Ah, young love is so adorable." We both looked up as the door opened and Tony and Pepper walked in.

"Mr Stark, hey." Peter chuckled, both of us standing up to greet them as Tony and Peter hugged.

"How are you kids doing? I heard that he popped the question." Tony smiled as he swung his arm over Peter's shoulder, making my fiance chuckle again and look at me.

"He did. And I said yes." I smiled as I extended my hand to show him and Pepper the ring.

"Oh my god, look at that rock! Peter, it's beautiful, you did so well!" Pepper squealed, making us all laugh as she rushed to me and gently took my hand to get a better look.

"They say that you're meant to spend three months' wages on the engagement ring, and considering what I get paid, I really was able to buy the best ring that money can buy." Peter chuckled.

"You're welcome." Tony smiled, making us laugh again as he looked at Peter.

"Now, I'm sure that you've been asked this too many times to count by your lovely fiance, but I need to check one last time before I let you go out there. Are you absolutely, unwaveringly, unequivocally sure that you're ready to reveal your identity to the public before walking away from the suit? Because you know that once you do this, that's it. You don't go back." Tony shook his head. I gulped and bit my lip as I watched Peter's face. My fiance sighed and looked at me, his chocolate orbs glazing over telling me that this would easily be the hardest thing that he'd ever had to do. But I could also see it in his eyes that he knew that it was the right thing. His heart knew that it was the right thing, and that was all that he needed to know.

"I'm ready, Mr Stark. I'm ready to tell the world who I am, and then I'm ready to walk away from Spider-Man. I'm ready to finally end this chapter of my life." He nodded, a tear leaving his eye as he looked at me. I returned it and bit my lip, tears pricking my own eyes at what he was about to do. Both of us knew that it was the right decision, but with it came the massive feeling of sorrow. After all, whether or not I had known it, Peter had been Spider-Man since we were fifteen. The hero had been part of him for the last decade and so the decision to finally leave him behind was one that came with a twang of sadness and sentimentality over the end of this era. It was time, though. And both of us knew it.

"Alright then, kid. Put your mask on, and then it's showtime." Tony nodded. Peter took a deep breath and glanced at me one last time. I nodded and gave him a small smile, making him return it before his face disappeared underneath the spandex mask.

"You'll be right next to me, won't you, baby? I can't do this without you by my side." He shook his head. I gulped harshly, my heart pounding in my chest at the idea of finally saying goodbye to Spider-Man as I cupped Peter's face.

"I'm never leaving your side again, Peter." I shook my head. He nodded and took my hand, making me gulp as Tony opened the door for us. We headed out into the lobby, the chattering of the reporters in the auditorium already audible from outside. Tony wrapped his hand around the door handle before looking at Peter.

"You ready, kid?" He checked one last time. Peter took a deep breath and gripped my hand again, making me give him a reassuring smile.

"Let's do this." He nodded. Tony returned it before opening the door and walking in. Peter and I followed behind, my eyes squinting as immediately, we were met with the blinding flashes of too many cameras to count. The reporters cheered and clapped as we walked in, making me smile at Peter as tears pricked my eyes. He looked at me, and I could tell by the way that his mask was shifting that he was smiling too as he moved to stand behind the podium. The noise died down, making me gulp harshly and tried to ignore my deafeningly loud heartbeat. This was it. This was the moment where our lives once again changed forever.

"U-um, thank you all for being here today. I realise that Mr Stark invited you all here just for a press conference, that none of you were told why he had organised this, but there's a reason for that. Today, well...today, I reveal to the world who I am underneath the mask." He nodded. Immediately, gasps swept through the room, the cameras clicking relentlessly as the hundreds of reporters stared at Peter with wide eyes. The room fell silent again, everyone holding their breaths in anticipation as he raised his hand to the back of his neck. I gulped harshly and tried not to cry, though the feeling of anxiety was almost suffocating me as Peter started to pull the fabric off of his head. He pulled the mask off, everyone gasping and the camera flashes never ceasing as they stared at Peter's petrified chocolate eyes and his messy hazel curls. The boy looked over his shoulder to me, his glazing-over eyes telling me that he needed reassurance. He needed to know that he'd just done the right thing. A tear slipped down my face as I nodded, making him return it and gulp harshly as he faced the reporters again. He took a deep breath, his hands clutching the sides of the podium as he looked out at the cameras.

"My name is Peter Benjamin Parker, and I am a twenty-three-year-old Queens-raised guy. My story started at age four, when my parents dropped me off at my Uncle Ben's and Aunt May's apartment in Queens, and then were killed in a plane crash. I got my powers at age fourteen when I was bitten by a radioactive spider. But my powers didn't kick in in time to stop the burglar who broke into our apartment and killed my Uncle Ben, six months later. When I was sixteen, my best friend, Y/N Y/L/N, and my girlfriend, Michelle Jones, were taken by thugs, which everyone knows led to MJ's death. I unintentionally killed her when she was pushed off of an edge and I tried to catch her with a web, but instead ended up snapping her neck from the whiplash. That single second is what mapped out the next five years of my life for me. The guilt of accidentally killing my girlfriend led me down a route of depression, drug abuse and numerous suicide attempts. I was gone between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one, up until a year and a half ago, and that's where I was. Shooting up and trying to kill myself every day. Until the woman that you see stood behind me, my amazing fiance, literally saved my life a year and a half ago by coming back into it. Because of me resurfacing, both of us have been through a year of her being in danger and never knowing if she was going to come home alive, which I now know was the work of The Vulture, the alien weapons technician who broke out of prison after my work when I was fifteen put him in there. He too was killed two weeks ago, when he once again took my fiance and made me choose between saving her life, or saving his. I killed him in order to save her, and all of you are now up to speed. That...that's my story." He nodded, tears running down his face as he stared at the cameras. I bit my lip harshly, tears also pouring from my eyes at the fact that I knew that he had just tortured himself to tell the world how he had become the man that they were seeing today. The entire auditorium was silent, the reporters all staring at my fiance with wet eyes and broken expressions as they all clearly took in how much he'd been through. Peter sighed and looked down, his jaw clenched as he tried to recompose himself before looking back up.

"I don't think that it's in question that I've had a very tough life. Definitely easier than some but also tougher than most. And that's okay. Because being Spider-Man helped me get through that, being Spider-Man and helping to make the world a better place made it all worth it. But playing that role has also taken a lot from me. Which is why after today, I'm walking away from it for good." Peter admitted. Everyone's eyes widened again, gasps and shouts erupting throughout the room and making me gulp harshly as reporters' hands started flying up to ask questions.

"In total, I have only been Spider-Man for three years, not counting the five years that I spent living as a recluse. Three years of helping the people of Queens, helping the police, saving lives and livelihoods. But I've also had three years of losing people. Three years of losing loved ones, of saving everyone but those who were closest to me, of having every single one of those voices turn into a personal demon. I believe that there comes a point in every superhero's life where they say that enough is enough, and that it's okay to start putting themselves and their futures before everyone else in the world. For me, this is that point. It has truly been an honour to serve the people of Queens, to be someone that the people of this city looked up to, to be a figurehead and representation for it. I will never forget what the Queens people have done for me, and I hope that the people don't soon forget me either. But today is the day that I walk away from the suit. Whilst I may walk away with it physically still on me, I leave behind the role, the responsibility, the memories that come with it. I walk away knowing that I did my city proud. And that's all that I ever wanted. Thank you." He spoke, his eyes wavering one last time before he turned and stepped away from the podium. The auditorium erupted into cheers and claps, making my eyes widen slightly and making Peter turn around to look back at them as the reporters stood up and clapped. I couldn't help but smile at the gesture, my heart swelling at the sound of a hundred reporters, and probably more watching from home, clapping and thanking Peter for what he had given Queens in the last few years. It may have just officially ended, but I had no doubt that it would be remembered for decades more to come. Peter's eyes widened, a choke leaving his lips as he nodded and gave them a small smile. I slipped my hand into his, his fingers closing around my palm as he raised his spare hand and waved, also giving them one last thankful gesture before we left. He turned back to me, the sound of them clapping still deafening as we headed to the doors. Tony opened them for us as we got to them.

"You did good, kid. You made everyone that you love, and yourself, proud." The man nodded.

"Thank you, Mr Stark. Thank you." Peter choked, making Tony give him a pat on his shoulder before we headed out of the auditorium. The door shut again, silence taking over as Peter and I just stood there. I bit my lip and looked at him, my fiance's eyes glued to the floor as he held his mask in his fist. I cupped his face in my hands and pulled him down to gently press our foreheads together, making Peter choke as he silently cried.

"You did good, Peter. You always did. You did so fucking good." I whispered and shook my head, my heart hurting at the fact that it was officially over. Peter had just officially walked away.

"I know. I know. I know." He returned as he leant down and tightly wrapped his arms around my waist. I returned the hug, our faces buried into each other's hair as we just cried in each other's arms. This had been one hell of a journey, but it was worth it to know that we were finally both safe, and Peter would finally get the chance to be happy with himself. With me and our future together.

"Come on, Pete. Let's go home." I nodded as I pulled away, but only enough to see his face. He looked at me with red and puffy eyes, his gaze flicking between my lips and my eyes as he returned my nod slightly.

"Yeah. Home sounds good." He whispered and gave me a small smile, making me return it and gently peck his lips before taking his hand. We started to walk to the doors, our fingers intertwining and his thumb gently rubbing against the skin of my hand as we walked out of the Stark Industries Tower, and left Spider-Man behind as we left.