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

I unlocked the door to our apartment, a comfortable but also slightly sad silence between Peter and I as we walked in. It was the first time that I'd been home since having been taken by The Vulture, a week ago now, and boy was I glad to be back.

"I never thought that I'd be so glad to see my old, mundane, shitty, boring-ass apartment." I chuckled, making Peter return it and nod as we both collapsed onto the sofa. The boy puffed out and put his arm over my shoulder, making me snuggle into his chest and curl my arm over his stomach as we sat there. Just...sat there.

"Is it finally over?" I whispered, my voice barely audible as I spoke.

"Yeah. I think so." He responded equally as quietly. I breathed a sigh of relief, my eyes fluttering shut as my body fully relaxed for the first time in months. Because it was all over, the hell that we'd been through in the last year had finally come to an end. I had no doubt that Peter would make more enemies as Spider-Man in the future, but for now, we could relax and relish in the knowledge that his current one, the one who'd been trying to kill me since I had first gotten Peter back, was now dead himself. And I had to admit that that knowledge came with relief.

"I'm so sorry that you were pulled into it, baby. I-I know that you love me and you think that your place is by my side, but that'll never make the fact that I put you in constant danger just by being with you easier to deal with." He choked quietly. I sighed and bit my lip, tears also pricking my eyes as I looked up at him.

"I knew what I signed up for the second that I saw your suit stapled to the wall. I knew that I'd signed up for the danger, the lack of privacy, the threats, the not knowing if you'd come home alive, all of it. And I signed up for it because I love you, Peter. I didn't just sign up for the danger and the threats, I signed up for the love, for you being my one, for the mornings spent in each other's arms and the nights in the sheets in each other's embrace. I'm sure that you know this, but my love for you didn't start when we got back in touch. My love for you is way older than that." I admitted. He nodded and gave me a small smile as his fingers gently moved across my cheek.

"My love for you is older than that too. Don't get me wrong, I didn't lie about loving MJ, but...well, I loved you too. I loved both of you. But I'm glad that I get the chance to spend my life with you. Because I love you, Y/N. I'm so fucking in love with you." He shook his head. I smiled and bit my lip, a tear leaving my eye as I leant in and kissed him. He returned it, his hand raising to hold my cheek as I also held his face. Our lips moulded together perfectly, our tongues slowly moving against each other as we made out. But it wasn't heated or hungry, it wasn't a precursor to sex. It was passionate, slow, full of love. Full of love like I'd never felt before. Peter broke the kiss and looked at me, making my eyebrows furrow as a slight glint of anxiety crept into his chocolate orbs.

"What's wrong, Pete?" I mumbled. He gulped and looked down, his lips parted slightly as he reached his hand into his jacket pocket.

"You know how I was going to ask you something at Mr Stark's party, but then everything happened?" He muttered. I gulped and nodded, my heart starting to thump more harshly in my chest at his words. Because if this was going where I thought that it was, my life was about to change again. And it was about to change for the better.

"Yeah." I nodded. He looked back at me, his lips giving me a small smile as he stood from the sofa.

"I don't know why, but now feels like the right time to try asking again." He stated, making my eyes waver as he got down on one knee in front of me. I choked and shook my head, my shaking hands raising to cover my mouth as he opened the small velvet box to reveal an absolutely gorgeous engagement ring. I stared at the perfect rock, the light bouncing off of it and making it look just beautiful against the purple velvet of the box.

"Peter." I choked as I looked at him. He nodded and bit his lip, a terrified smile on his face as he looked into my eyes.

"Y/N, I don't need to kneel here and tell you how much you've done for me, how much you've changed my life, all of that cliche bullshit. Because you know that you saved my life. I would be dead in that house, long gone because of drugs and dirty needles by now if you hadn't come back into my life. Baby, I know that it's only been a year, I know that that's not long to wait before asking you to marry me. But I'm not lying, I'm not exaggerating when I say that every day that I'm with you, you continue to save my life. Every kiss, every hug, every smile, every word, every breath from you is enough to make me want to fight and keep going in life. That's all because of you. I can never even hope to thank you enough for giving me that, so this feels like the best way to come close. I will thank you by being your husband for the rest of my days. I will thank you by loving you, cherishing you, valuing you, respecting you, treating you exactly how you should have always been treated by everyone in your life who couldn't be that for you. I will thank you by making you breakfast in bed, by making love to you, by being your best friend and by making even the most mundane bullshit in the world fun and full of excitement. I will thank you by loving you for the rest of my life. And so, Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N, will you marry me?" He asked, tears running down his perfect face as he looked up at me. I bit my lip so harshly that I tasted blood as I tried not to cry more than I already was, tears cascading down my face at his oh-so-perfect words. How beautiful and thoughtful they'd been, how loving and full of everything that they were. And that was why I'd known my answer from the second that he'd gotten down on one knee. Because that was who Peter was. He was beautiful, he was thoughtful, he was loving and he was everything. He had been since I'd first met him, all of those years ago. He had been as best friends, even when it broke my heart to see the love of my life loving someone else. He had been when I first contacted him again, even if it had been trapped underneath five years of depression, drug use and being lost. He had been his whole life and he would never stop. And that was why I knew my answer. That was why I'd known it since the day that I'd met him.

"Yes, Peter." I whispered and nodded. His eyes widened, his mouth falling open as he stared at me.

"W-what-."

"Yes, Peter, I'll marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, of course I'll marry you." I choked and shook my head. He returned the choke, his eyes wavering and more tears falling from them as he rose from his knees. Immediately he took my face and smashed our lips together, me returning it and squeezing my eyes shut as we kissed. I held his face as close to me as was possible, my heart filled with pure happiness for the first time in a long time. Pure happiness at the fact that after all of this, we were going to be okay. Despite all odds, we'd come out of this alive and still together.

"I love you so fucking much, baby. I love you so much." He choked and shook his head as he broke the kiss and gently touched our foreheads together.

"I love you too, Peter. Fuck, I can't wait to marry you." I smiled and returned the head shake, making him laugh as he took the ring out of the box.

"It's not official until you have the ring on." He stated, making me laugh and bite my lip as we both looked down at my hand. His shaking hands took my equally trembling one into them, his fingers gently pushing the ring onto my wedding finger as I stared at the beautiful piece of jewellery.

"It's a perfect fit. A perfect fit that makes our engagement official." He nodded as he looked back at me, his gaze flicking between my eyes and my lips as he did.

"I love it, Peter. It's beautiful, it's amazing, I love it." I whispered. He gave me a small smile and bit his lip as he cupped my face again. His smile dipped slightly, telling me that something else was on his mind as I looked at him.

"Talk to me. What are you thinking about?" I asked quietly. He chuckled and nodded at the fact that I could read him so easily as his thumb soothingly rubbed my cheek.

"I had to ask you that, now I have to tell you this." He stated. My eyebrows furrowed.

"Tell me." I nodded. He returned it and gulped.

"I'm telling the world that I'm Spider-Man. And then, I'm walking away from him. For good." He admitted. My eyes widened, my heart jumping in my chest at his words. Whether or not it was a good jump, I wasn't sure yet.

"What are you talking about, Peter? The whole point of your identity being a secret was for your privacy and to protect your loved ones, I don't understand. I don't get why you'd reveal yourself and then walk away, not to mention that you love being Spider-Man. He's part of you." I shook my head. He sighed and nodded, his hand still on my cheek as he gave me a small smile.

"Spider-Man has given me a lot, babe. He gave me you, he gave me my life, he gave me the chance to save people and help make the world a better place. But he's also taken a lot away from me. He took away MJ, he took away my chance for a completely normal life when I was only fourteen, he took away my chance to have a certain amount of kids out of fear that I'll kill my partner. He took away my chance to just be me. I know that I owe him a lot, I know that, and I know that I'll never be completely normal since I still have my powers, but this is the only way for me to give us even a modicum of a normal life. I owe it to the people of Queens to at least tell them who I am, especially if I'm now walking away again. Then, I'll buy us a plot of land in the middle of nowhere, I'll build us a beautiful house, we'll get married, have a couple of kids, raise them and then grow old together. All out of the spotlight, all away from the dangers that come with being Spider-Man. I gave the world Spider-Man for a long time, I helped a lot of people, I saved a lot of lives. I know that the world is grateful for that, and so now it's my turn to be selfish. It's my turn to put myself, you and our future before the millions of people that I've been helping since I was fifteen. I'm allowed to be selfish now. All I ever wanted in life was to be normal and to have someone that I love. I do that by giving him up for good. I do that by saying goodbye to Spider-Man." He nodded, his chocolate eyes glazed over as tears ran down his skin. I returned his nod, my own heart hurting in my chest for the decision that I knew hurt Peter to make. But I knew that it was the right decision for him, and that was what mattered.

"If you're sure about this, Peter, I'll support you. If you're sure that walking away from Spider-Man is what's best for you, then I'll be there by your side whilst you walk away. I'll be here." I reassured as I raised my hand to cup his cheek. He leant into my touch, his spare hand cupping my hand and his lips pressing to the palm of it as he looked at me.

"I'm sure, baby. It finally feels right to do this, to do what I need to do. It's time to walk away from him." He nodded. I returned it and bit my lip, tears still leaving both of our eyes as I leant in and kissed him.