One Month Later
May 27th, 2002

Christina was struggling with an inner turmoil in her head; a kind of dilemma, if you will: she was trying to decide on whether or not she should have her hair up. She already had her dress picked out for the ceremony and her subtle makeup had been applied, making the features of her face stand out more than usual. Now she didn't know if she should either braid her hair, put it in a loose bun, or just leave it hanging from her head. Her fingers nervously fiddled with the blonde locks, subconsciously aware of the fact that they would become tangled again shortly.

Staring into her reflection in the vanity mirror at the corner of her bedroom, she tried taking deep breaths so she wouldn't end up having a nervous breakdown. Today was a big day for her, after all, so she couldn't risk losing her oxygen at a time like this. She had to leave within the hour regardless of whether or not a panic attack would arrive, but she knew that absolutely could not happen. Her heart had never beaten so quickly in her life, even when she had to deal with her finals two weeks prior to today, so she knew that she was set up for potential disaster.

Christina's finals had gone surprisingly well and she had practically aced all of them, with the exception of Calculus; that class was always her worst nightmare come to life, anyway. This all had to do with her study sessions with Peter and Harry resuming, despite the tragedy that had struck the three of them over the course of a single month. She could sense that Peter was hiding his true feelings from the two and he was constantly putting a smile on his face whenever he would come to her house to visit or if they were in class together.

The young woman had been staying at Peter's house more often than not recently, always crashing on the living room couch as the small, two-story home didn't have a spare bedroom (she didn't really mind, the couch was comfortable). She was constantly there to support her best friend and comfort him if he ever stayed up too late crying from thoughts or nightmares of his uncle's death; sometimes, those situations would end with the two falling asleep on his bed by pure accident.... The mornings following them were filled with subtle awkwardness, more from Peter's side than not, but Christina always replaced it with a sense of normalcy, almost as if she hadn't fallen asleep beside him at all.

She was completely unaware that there was awkwardness because Peter's disguised feelings for her would blossom whenever he would wake up and find her asleep next to him. He would keep on saying that he was in love with Mary Jane for the rest of his days, even though each of the sayings were just simple but blatant lies coming out of his mouth. This was because Peter Parker knew that his 'undying love' for Mary Jane Watson was literally nonexistent, only made up to bury the sadness from the possibility that Christina would reject him if he ever told her how he truly felt.

If only Christina was really conscious of the fact that her lifelong best friend had a special kind of love dedicated to her....

After debating silently for an excruciatingly long time, the woman decided to just go with a loose braid, twisting one lock over the other until a hair band tied it all together. Despite feeling slightly insecure over how she looked, she kept the dress that she was wearing on her: a formal, lilac dress that just barely hovered above her knees that was ever so slightly frayed on the bottom. It was a dress that she had picked specifically for graduation because she wanted to look nice enough; it was kind of a shame that the graduation gown would be hiding the outfit for most of the ceremony.

Christina could just barely hear her mother walking downstairs and it made her briefly tilt her head in that direction, beginning to hum a soft song to herself. It was an unrecognizable tune but she made it work and it kept her comforted to prevent the inevitable panic attack.

She had the feeling that Peter and May had already gone to the park for the ceremony, even if it wouldn't start for another hour. They always liked to be early to everything that was important to them, and the blonde couldn't really blame them. She could tell that her best friend was excited for today based on his tone when she talked to him over the phone the night before; she was excited as well, but she did have the slightest ounce of dread about walking up on that stage to grab her diploma.

After today, her life would start to change. Things would become different. In August, she would be moving away and renting an apartment to stay in for at least the next year, and she wouldn't be in her mother's presence as often anymore. The thought saddened her but she always thought of what her mother had told her a month ago:

I'm just a phone call away if you ever need me....

She was still aware that there was a possibility of never seeing her closest friends again or only being able to catch glimpses of them from time to time. That was what broke her heart the most, since she chose to attend NYU in the fall while they were destined to go to Columbia University; sure, the campuses weren't too far from each other, but she still wouldn't see them as much. Hell, she would probably never be able to see them. But she tried not to focus on that too much, since she was confident that she would find a way to visit her friends from time to time, even if it wouldn't be too much.

Maybe every now and then, perhaps, she thought. Harry and Peter had been by her side through and through and she couldn't just abandon that now, not after all they had been against together. They mattered more to her than anything or anyone else in the world; besides her mother, of course. Margaret would always be number one to her.

She would find a space of time to meet up with her friends and hang out with them like she always did. She made sure that she would.

The landline telephone on Christina's nightstand suddenly rang shrilly and it made her jump and spin around out of minor fright. After taking a breath, she walked over to the device and picked up the receiver, putting it to her right ear.

"Johnson residence," she spoke into the phone politely like she always had, smiling to herself.

"Chris, hey!" came Peter's voice from the other end, and it sort of caught the woman off guard.

"Oh, hey, Pete!" she replied joyfully as she sat down on the side of her bed, tucking a loose strand of unbraided hair behind her left ear. "How are you? Wait— I thought you and Aunt May would be at the park by now."

"Yeah, about that..." Peter began, taking a short breath and sighing to himself, which Christina could hear clearly. "I was wondering if we could possibly tag along with you and your mother on the way to graduation. Aunt May suggested we should go with you... I don't really know why."

The blonde thought about this for a good, long moment before nodding to herself; she then remembered that Peter couldn't really see her so she chuckled lightly. "I don't see why not," she answered brightly, grinning out of happiness that she would get more time with her friend before they graduated. "I'm sure Mom won't mind, I'll just ask her and I'll call you back once I have an answer."

She could hear the smile in Peter's voice just based on how he replied. "Okay, sounds great!" he said, and it seemed as though this was the first time he sounded truly happy to Christina since Ben's passing.

She wondered if that possibly had something to do with her....

"Okay, well, I'll ask my mom and I'll either see you in about fifteen minutes or at the ceremony," she mumbled, smiling gently now.

"Okay, I'll see you soon. Bye, Chris," Peter said in a sheepish manner before hanging up and Christina heard the clicking sound before the dial tone hit her.

There were three things that Christina didn't know in that moment. And she wouldn't find these things out for a certain amount of time:

First, Peter had been grinning like an idiot on the other end of the phone just at the sound of the blonde's voice. He truly couldn't contain his happiness from how adorable she seemed in that single minute of them talking.

Second, the idea of him and Aunt May tagging along with Christina and her mother had actually been his, not May's.

Third, he had to restrain himself from saying three dangerous words to her before he hung up. He wanted so badly to tell her how he felt about her... in fact, how he had always felt about her. But he just couldn't gather the bravery to do so, always terrified that he would never be good enough for the blonde girl that he met when he was five.

So he just kept holding on to that longing towards her.

Completely unaware of this, Christina checked herself in the mirror one last time to see if she had applied her makeup correctly. Once she was satisfied, she made her way downstairs, where she felt her heart rate spike up as the nervousness hit her yet again. She wasn't looking forward to walking up on the stage once her name was called since she didn't know if she would either have a panic attack in front of all of her peers or burst into tears at the mere sign of things changing.

As she descended the stairs, her left hand hovered over the gentle wooden railing as she inhaled a deep breath, sniffing the homely air of the house. She could see rays of sunlight peeking through the blinds hanging gracefully in front of the living room windows, and that made her smile again, feeling somewhat at peace for the time being. She was also able to spot her emerald green graduation gown hanging from the spare closet door that sat in between the living room and the kitchen; once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she ran her fingers over the silky material and her smile turned into a slight frown. She kept being reminded that this would be her last day around her senior class and she would miss it despite it always being dreadful to be around them.

Entering the kitchen, Christina chuckled when she caught a glimpse of Margaret sipping her early afternoon mug of coffee, a regular routine for the older woman that the blonde was quite used to. She felt as though she needed caffeine in her system as well, so she went to the refrigerator and got a can of soda.

"Good afternoon, hun," Margaret greeted her daughter excitedly, smiling more than she had been able to in weeks. Who could blame her? She was both ecstatic and saddened that her only child would be graduating, but she was mostly very proud of Christina for making it this far. She was just going to miss her daughter being around once August came around, but she hated to admit that since she wanted to seem strong around her. It was all she could do for her after her husband had left her seven years prior, she had to be the best mother she could possibly be for her child.

"Good afternoon, Mom. Did you sleep well?" Christina asked rather gently, glancing over in Margaret's direction as she opened the soda can and took a sip from it.

"Oh, you know, same as usual with sleep. Just happy we're living another day," Margaret replied with an innocent and joyous smile that always lifted Christina's spirits. That would only make her miss her even more.

"Yeah, me too," the blonde mumbled under her breath, taking another sip of her soda before sighing silently. "Oh, also, that was Peter on the phone just earlier. He was wondering if he and Aunt May could go to the ceremony with us; apparently it was Aunt May's idea. Anyway, if it's okay with you, we can go pick them up whenever we're both ready."

Margaret took a few seconds of time to think about her answer as she hummed lightly, tapping her coffee mug with the free hand that wasn't holding the handle. After a small moment, she simply shrugged her shoulders with a thoughtful expression. "I don't see why we can't let them tag along," she answered her daughter, another smile breaking through as she finally set the mug down.

Christina grinned as she walked over to hug her mother, having already set her soda on the counter. She held Margaret tightly, aware that she wouldn't get to do this as often as she always had once August arrived. Tears threatened to arrive, but she blinked them away, not wanting to ruin her mascara and foundation that covered her face. There would be plenty of time later where she could potentially cry herself to sleep; for now, she had to keep a happy smile on her face so it would look as though she was really looking forward to being a real adult in the real world.

"You've grown up too fast!" Margaret exclaimed as a single tear left her right eye but she quickly wiped it away. "I wish I could rewind time to when you were a little kid again and running around the house. Can I just keep you here forever?"

Christina couldn't help but giggle as she pulled back from the hug and shook her head, keeping the tears at bay again. "Now, you know that can't happen," she said in a gentle tone, a shaky sigh leaving her lips. "Everything will be fine, Mom. I'll still come to visit you, remember? I'll come by every weekend, don't worry." She then hugged her mother again, her hands trembling ever so slightly.

An hour passed and, in that period of time, Christina had put her graduation cap and gown on before getting in Margaret's car to leave their house; she had decided to sit in the backseat. They then drove to the Parker residence and picked up Aunt May and Peter, who were dressed up for the ceremony as well. Peter sat in the back of the car with Christina while May sat up front with the woman's mother.

Much to his surprise, Peter wasn't that awkward around Christina at all, most likely due to his excitement for graduation overshadowing his crush on her for the time being. However, he would subtly blush whenever the blonde looked in his direction during the car ride but he would do his best not to make it noticeable. The two made small talk to fill in gaps of silence and it was the most normal they had acted around one another in a whole month, probably due to the grief they were going through preventing them from having small little interactions like that.

They were both happy that they were getting moments like this now, since it was possible that it wouldn't be like that in the near future.

One thing led to another and the two arrived at the community park for the Midtown High graduation ceremony. Christina sat with the seniors in the J section, while Peter sat far away and towards the back rows of the class, and Harry sat at least seven to eight rows behind her. She was trembling with anticipation and nervousness, mostly since she was secretly not looking forward to walking up onto that stage and receiving her diploma from the principal. Huge things like that always relegated her to an emotional state of mind but that wouldn't be happening today since there were hundreds of people surrounding her and she didn't want to embarrass herself.

After a while of sitting in her seat, she was finally able to stand up when her row was called on and, before she knew it, her name was announced through the microphone: "Christina Lily Johnson!" She heard clapping and cheers throughout the crowd as she carefully grabbed her diploma as well as a certain certificate that had been provided to her and around a dozen other students in her class. As she took her seat after exiting the stage, she read the words that were printed onto the certificate:

SUPERLATIVE CERTIFICATE

The 2002 Most Likely to Succeed Award is proudly presented to

Christina Lily Johnson.

In recognition of someone who is likely to succeed greatly, proven in the 2001-2002 academic year. Awarded on this 31st of May.

After some time, the smile on her face grew wider as she heard many names being called out as each individual walked out to get their diploma: Harry Osborn, Peter Parker, Flash Thompson, Alicia Turner, Mary Jane Watson and so on and so forth. And, following the process of the remaining students taking their seats and adjusting their gowns, the principal walked up to the microphone, tapped it a few times to see if it was still working, and spoke into it. "Today, as of May 31st, 2002, you are all graduates of Midtown High School!"

Despite her prior worries and dreads earlier that day and in the past several months, Christina didn't hesitate to stand up and throw her cap high up into the air whilst cheering along with the other graduates. And, much to her surprise, she didn't burst into tears at the idea of having an open future full of many opportunities waiting for her. Instead, for the first time in a long while, she actually felt hopeful and she was looking forward to college more than ever.

A half hour passed, during which Christina took a bunch of pictures with Margaret, Mary Jane, and a lot of other people. She even took individual pictures with her certificate, per her mother's request. And she even had some final conversations with a few classmates that were more so acquaintances during her school career before giving them a farewell hug.

Out of nowhere, however, the blonde felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around, not expecting to see who was actually standing there.

"I know we had our differences..." Flash Thompson began as he looked down at the much shorter woman. "But I didn't want to part ways without saying something. I'm sorry for being so hard on you over the years. I apologized to Parker a minute ago and we made amends. If you don't want to forgive me, I completely understand, because I did some really bad things and —"

"Flash, calm down, calm down," Christina cut him off carefully, gently raising her hands as she raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Are you saying that you're apologizing to me?" She wasn't outraged or annoyed, she was just curious and puzzled by this random moment.

Flash took a deep breath before nodding after a few seconds of silence. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm saying I'm sorry... Christina."

Christina actually relaxed and felt a bit of relief at him saying her actual name for the first time in years. "I appreciate that... Eugene," she replied, actually smiling up at him in a friendly manner. "You're forgiven." She then reached her hand out to Flash for a polite handshake, their final step into making amends and, much to her shock, Flash didn't hesitate to shake her hand in return for the gesture.

"So long, Christina," Flash said respectfully with a curt smile, and Christina just nodded in reply.

When Flash Thompson walked away, Christina looked after him, still utterly surprised that her best friend's lifelong bully had actually apologized to the both of them. And they had made amends and gained a mutual respect for one another and, although that's all it would be, it was good enough for the both of them.

"Can you believe that?!" came Peter's shocked voice from behind the blonde.

Christina turned around to face her best friend that had just finished taking a photo with the chess club he was a part of, starting to laugh from how perplexed she felt. "I can't believe he actually apologized!" she whisper-shouted, grinning out of disbelief, briefly catching a glimpse of Aunt May walking off to another part of the park after having taken Peter's picture. "That's something I did not see coming."

"Yeah, I thought I was dreaming when he sounded so... nice and genuine for once," Peter remarked with a slight chuckle. "Anyway, you okay? You excited for the future?"

Christina thought about her most honest answer for a long moment but, after a second, she knew she couldn't hold it in for much longer. So, she opened her mouth to speak. "Actually, I am," she said truthfully, grinning at Peter (she didn't know how much her smile affected him) as she said it. "I was terrified of it but it's almost like the hardest part is over and I'm looking forward to college now."

"That's amazing," Peter replied with a huge smile, feeling incredibly happy for Christina at that moment. "I'm really glad you're excited." He then paused for a brief moment, his face turning red once he really noticed her makeup and nice hairdo and his smile grew more bashful. "You look really pretty, by the way...." he added semi-shyly, laughing awkwardly.

Christina, who had often received that compliment from Peter and was used to it, smiled kindly at him in return. "Thank you, that's very sweet of you," she said in a cheerful tone.

"Pete!" shouted Harry as he jogged over in their direction, tapping his best friend on the shoulder, which made Peter turn to face him. "Good news. My father got the place in the city so we're all set this Fall."

"Oh, that's great!" Peter exclaimed in relief and happiness, glad that he wouldn't have to deal with the complicating dormitory housing throughout college, since he and Harry had been looking for apartments for months on end.

Christina just stood there and smiled at her two childhood friends, feeling extremely happy for them and glad that they had also found a place of their own.

"You made it!" entered another voice, making all three of the young adults perk up and face the source of the voice.

Norman Osborn was walking towards them, a look of pride in his eyes as he smiled at his one and only son. "It's not the first time I've been proven wrong..." After a few seconds of silence, only filled in by the chattering of other people, he stuck his hand out for Harry to shake. "Congratulations."

Harry smiled softly as he took his father's hand and happily shook it. "Thanks, Dad," he mumbled, seeing this as one of the few good moments with Norman in recent memory.

Norman then glanced at Christina and walked up to the shorter woman. "Christina, congratulations!" he said to her with a grin as they both shook hands.

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate it," the blonde replied politely as she gently pulled her hand back, feeling somewhat happy to run into Harry's father since he seemed kind enough. But she also realized that she was only seeing the surface of who he was, and she didn't actually know who he really was; however, she knew that it wasn't smart to pry for information about him and that it wasn't nice, so she just let it go.

Norman glanced at Christina's certificate that was held by her slim hands and he nodded thoughtfully. "Most Likely to Succeed, huh?" he questioned, his eyebrows raised slightly, which was a sign that he was impressed with the award.

"Uh, yeah," Christina mumbled, feeling somewhat overwhelmed and timid. "I didn't really expect to be nominated for it. I surely didn't expect to actually win it, because I thought it would go to someone like Peter."

The young man in question glanced at Christina with quite a bit of surprise before lightly shaking his head. "No, don't say that, Chris," Peter protested with a small smile. "The award I got was good enough. If anyone deserves the Most Likely to Succeed Award, it's you."

Christina couldn't prevent the slight blush that creeped up onto her face as she smiled sheepishly at Peter, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess so..." she murmured, chuckling softly. "Thanks, Pete..."

"Peter, the science award!" Norman greeted the woman's best friend, seeming to have quickly moved on. "That's terrific!"

"Yeah," Peter replied happily, nodding to himself as he smiled.

One look at Harry made Christina finally realize why he always spoke badly of his father around her. It seemed as though Norman Osborn favored Peter over his own child, and she automatically felt sympathy for her best friend. Knowing this now, she walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," she mumbled to him. "Come on, let's go take some pictures together.

Harry smiled a little, feeling a bit better. "Alright," he responded as he decided to give his father and Peter some space, although a ton of jealousy entered his heart right away. He was a bit relieved, however, that Christina decided to cheer him up and be around him, and he didn't feel as lonely in her presence.

As they walked away from a bit of the crowd, the two could hear a few of the words that Norman was saying to Peter.

"....I know this has been a difficult time for you...."

"....the end of one thing, the start of something new...."

Christina approached another part of the crowd of graduates and she saw several of her former classmates with their families. Seeing this made her heart sink a little because, although she was insanely happy that Margaret had been able to hand over her shift at the restaurant she worked at in order to attend the ceremony, she wished that her father was there with her. Sure, she hated Michael — despised him, even — but she would have rather been somewhat happy to see him at her graduation than not see him at all. She knew that she hadn't seen him in seven years, but she was still deeply hurt that he wasn't there.

Walking close to a decorated part of the park that she could take pictures with Harry at, she overheard a harsh voice coming from her left.

"I don't want to be with you anymore!"

She quickly turned her head to the left and she saw a sight that she wasn't expecting.

Mary Jane was standing in front of her boyfriend — well, ex-boyfriend, now — and she looked as though she was genuinely pissed off. She removed what seemed to be a ring from her left hand and shoved it into Flash's hand. "Here's your ring," she added viciously, crossing her arms as she sighed to herself, not even regretting what she was doing.

It was at that moment that Christina realized what her friend was doing: she was finally breaking up with Flash, which was something that she kind of needed to do. Christina always had a feeling that their relationship could potentially grow worse, so she was beyond glad that Mary Jane was finally ending things between them.

"You know what? Whatever," Flash replied with a snappy tone, although it seemed as though he really didn't give a shit about the break up. "Your loss." He then turned around and walked away from his ex-girlfriend.

Christina had watched the interaction with an expression of curiosity, mostly since she didn't really expect the end of their relationship to happen so soon. But she also knew that Mary Jane could finally find someone right for her one day in the future, which was something she absolutely deserved. Christina had always thought that the redhead was a good person and that she really needed some happiness in her life, since she knew what her home life was like and was often there for her through difficult times. There were even times where the blonde had invited Mary Jane over for sleepovers in order to make her feel welcome and safe, which her friend greatly appreciated.

So she couldn't really prevent the smile that somewhat formed on her face as Mary Jane glanced in her direction. She nodded to her as a sign that she was proud of her, which she returned with a slight shrug of her shoulders and a chuckle.

After a few moments, Christina heard her name being called by her mother and she turned in her direction, only to be met with Margaret's smiling face as she walked over to her.

"Hey, do you and your friends want to join us for dinner to celebrate?" Margaret asked her as she caught her breath from her brisk walking pace. "We can go wherever you want to go."

The young woman couldn't help but grin at the idea and she was bubbling with excitement as she turned to Harry. "Are you a fan of Chinese?" she questioned him with an inquisitive stare.

Harry tiled his head out of interest and he even started to smile. "I don't eat it very often, but I'm pretty fond of it," he answered.

Christina's grin only grew and she even squealed with happiness; after she gathered her two closest friends and their families together for a few pictures, they left to go to Jiang Nan, one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in Queens.

_____

Several hours later, after the three duos of parent figures and high school graduates had stuffed themselves full of food, they all went their separate ways for the evening. They all had a really good time together at the Chinese place, especially when Christina introduced Margaret to Norman and they had hit it off quite nicely to the point that they were chatting for over half an hour. It even led to Christina jokingly mumbling to Harry that he may have a future stepmother. But even she knew that this was only a friendly meeting and nothing more; Margaret had no interest in dating or marrying anyone after Michael had left her.

Right before they had left the restaurant, Christina had asked her mother if she could stay at Peter's house for the night. She didn't want to say out loud that it was because she had noticed how quiet he had been after the ceremony, and he had barely talked and was only picking at his food; not just that, but he didn't eat any of it. And, logically, she was concerned for him for many different reasons.

Margaret had picked up on this and immediately allowed her to stay at the Parker residence for the night as long as she got her car from their house. So, after dropping Aunt May and Peter off at their house and making their way back to their own home, Christina got her Volkswagen and drove back to where they had just come from after grabbing stuff she needed for that night and the next day.

She stepped out of her car and locked it before walking up to the front door. Instead of knocking, she walked right in, since Aunt May had told her that she could just come inside whenever she showed up. It was most likely due to her staying over more often than not after Uncle Ben had passed away.

Christina looked around for a little bit before seeing the woman in question peek her head from around the doorway leading into the house's small kitchen.

"Hey, Christina," Aunt May greeted her before lightly jerking her head in the direction of the staircase to the young woman's left. "Peter's upstairs if you want to go see him."

The blonde nodded as she set her bag down, sighing quietly to herself as she looked up towards said staircase. After debating for several seconds on whether or not she should even go up there, she decided to make her move; she slowly walked over to where the stairs began and she started climbing them, unable to hear anything except for Aunt May rearranging dishes in one of the upper cabinets of the kitchen. She paused halfway up there and contemplated on the thought that this wasn't the best idea.

But, knowing that her best friend could possibly need her support, she continued until she made it to the top, being met with a small upstairs hallway that only had three rooms: two bedrooms and a bathroom. Briefly thinking about how much tinier the Parker's house was compared to hers, she walked towards the room directly to the left of Aunt May's bedroom across from the stairway.

After reaching the door, she gently knocked on it in order to be polite, feeling more tentative than usual. She waited a few seconds and even thought that it wouldn't be best to do this right now, and it made her hands begin to lightly tremble out of anxiety.

"Come in," mumbled Peter from behind the door.

Hearing her permission being granted, Christina gently opened the bedroom door and she leaned around it to see if Peter was visible in her line of vision. She saw that he was, so she steadily stepped over to him after shutting the door and sat down beside him. She noticed that he wasn't looking at her and she had a feeling as to why he wasn't, so she hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder in order to provide solace.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" she whispered to him, her bottom lip shaking as she tried not to get too emotional for her liking.

That was when she could hear a few soft sobs leave Peter as his shoulders quivered from the agony he felt in his heart. For a few moments, he couldn't even bear to speak because he felt very ashamed of himself for several reasons; one, he had tried to keep a somewhat happy smile on his face for the entire day, even when he felt as though he would just break in an instant, and he was now failing in front of the last person he wanted to see him cry. Two, he wanted to tell Christina every single detail about what happened on that fateful night the month prior, but he knew he could not do that, since he felt as though she would be furious, and he didn't want that to happen.

Three, he knew — deep down — that he would always be partially responsible for Uncle Ben's death. He knew that he wasn't the one who had pulled the trigger, but he may as well have since he indirectly caused it all to happen.

Christina sighed as she carefully pulled Peter into a one-armed hug and he leaned into her as he continued to cry. She moved her other arm to be around him so she could comfort him, even though she felt as though she wasn't the best at it. She closed her eyes and didn't say anything for a very long period of time, as one slight shatter of silence could possibly cause her best friend to make her leave the room.

As she took a deep breath, she heard a few words leave Peter:

"You're allowed to talk... I'm not gonna stop you."

The blonde let out a quiet huff of laughter at his joking tone despite the tears that had undoubtedly been streaming down his face. But, knowing that she was able to talk to him, Christina did just that.

"Look, if you're upset about what I think, then I'm very sorry, Pete," she mumbled to him, letting out a heavy sigh as she turned her head to look at him. "Is it about Uncle Ben...?"

Peter nodded as he sniffed, wiping some of his tears away as he kept on trembling in Christina's arms. For a few seconds, he didn't want to say anything in return; he just wanted to cry it all out, but he knew that she would want to talk to him about it. "Yeah..." he whispered, his voice cracking as he closed his eyes. "I didn't want to bring it up because I didn't want to ruin your day or anyone else's day. I wanted to be happy for y'all...."

Christina's heart broke a little at that as she inhaled deeply, allowing a few tears to fall from her blue eyes. "I know..." she replied quietly, letting out a shaky breath and rubbing Peter's arm to offer more comfort; it worked, much to her great relief. "I understand how you're feeling, I promise. I wish he had been able to attend the graduation today, but I want you to understand that he's watching over you... in a way. He's watching over all of us."

Her best friend lifted his head from her shoulder to look at her, his eyes shimmering with more tears. "Are you sure...?" he asked her quietly, never taking his eyes off of her in order to pay attention to what she was saying.

She nodded as she gave him a sad smile, sniffing a little herself as she wiped her own tears away. "Yeah, I'm sure," she answered him, staying strong for Peter in that moment. "I know what it's like to lose a father. Sure, my father isn't dead... that I know of. But I could tell that Uncle Ben was like a dad to you...."

Peter's head bobbed up and down as he took a shaky breath and let it out after a few drawn out seconds. "Yeah," he mumbled. "Yeah, he was."

Christina couldn't help but smile at that and she even giggled dejectedly, looking down as she thought about what Peter had said, but she continued to talk regardless. "Uncle Ben is watching over you, Pete," she whispered to him in a soothing tone, not looking at him. "And he's very proud of you, I know that. I can just picture him smiling down at you up there in Heaven. And he will always be proud of you, no matter what you do. I promise you that."

After a little while of repeating this to Peter, he started to feel better and he relaxed in Christina's arms. He temporarily ignored his unconditional love for her at the moment and was just grateful that she was being there for him, because he really needed it. It even led him to finally returning the blonde's embrace and resting his head on her shoulder. "Thanks, Chris..." he muttered, the tears finally going away.

The young woman nodded slightly as she smiled. "No problem, Pete," she whispered.

Christina then did something that she had only done once or twice in their entire friendship, and that was only under serious circumstances.

She turned her head and briefly kissed Peter's forehead, her eyes closing as she pulled away, thinking that she probably shouldn't have done that.

"Chris?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna miss you when we go to college," Peter whispered to her, finally removing his head from her shoulder

Christina could feel tears pricking at her eyes again, but she frantically blinked them away as she nodded. "I know..." she responded, exhaling almost silently. "I'm gonna miss you as well."

"Can you stay in here with me tonight?" he questioned her, not sure if he would be able to get through this painful night on his own. But, if Christina were in here with him, he would feel at ease because she always brought a sense of comfort and safety whenever she was around. He wasn't going to ignore how her forehead kiss had caused his heart to leap into his throat, but he acted as though he wasn't fazed by it at all.

The blonde smiled as she nodded, removing her arms from Peter so she could stand up. "Of course I will," she said, but she paused for just a second. "If it's okay with you. If you want space, I'll leave you be."

Peter almost immediately shook his head as he chuckled, looking down for a moment. "Chris, trust me, it's okay," he assured her.

Christina's head slightly bobbed up and down as she smiled a little more. "Alright," she replied. "Let me just go get my stuff from downstairs and I'll be back up in a few minutes."

And, with that, she trudged down the stairs to get her duffel bags and purse. She looked towards the kitchen and was just able to see Aunt May sitting at the table next to the back door, silently sipping a cup of tea. She wanted to go in there and comfort her but she was scared that she would be invading her privacy, even though a part of her assured herself that she wouldn't.

After going back upstairs, she made a quick trip to the bathroom to brush her teeth for the night. Once she was done with that, she stepped out of the bathroom and she saw Aunt May exiting Peter's room after she had gone in there to check on him. The elderly woman met Christina's gaze and smiled just a little bit before starting to walk towards her bedroom door.

"Aunt May?"

She turned towards the young blonde with a questioning stare as her arms were crossed. "Yes, Christina?" she replied in a gentle tone.

Christina took a semi-deep breath before slightly walking closer to May, her fingers intertwined in an awkward way. "Are you okay?" she asked her with sympathy filling her eyes. "Do you want to talk about it...?"

May thought about it for a moment, feeling happy that Peter had such a kind friend — she was still suspicious as to how he really felt about Christina — that always looked out for him and his family, even if she didn't have to. On the other hand, despite grieving horribly over her husband's death, she knew that she had to remain strong not only for her nephew, but for herself as well. So, instead of giving in like she wanted to, she simply shook her head.

"I'm okay, Chris," she answered, even though she was blatantly lying to her. "I'll be okay. I think Peter needs your support more than I do, anyway. I'll be fine. Just go be there for him."

Christina hesitated for a moment, wanting so badly to comfort the woman who had looked out for her and Margaret for years after Michael had left the picture. But she knew that she couldn't argue with someone who had such nerves of steel as May Parker did. So she merely nodded and walked to Peter's bedroom instead, which secretly made her best friend's aunt relieved.

That night ended with Christina and Peter playing a few board games and talking about what they were looking forward to in college, and they eventually became emotional again; but this was over them going to separate schools in the fall instead of about Uncle Ben. And, after three to four hours of reminiscing and getting teary-eyed several times, the two fell asleep after calling it a night. Christina had to get up in the morning to go to work, anyway, and she was not looking forward to J. Jonah Jameson's wrath that would — undoubtedly — be unleashed on her the moment she walked into the building.

In the very early hours of the morning, long after they had dozed off into a deep slumber, the door quietly creaked open. Aunt May appeared in the doorway so she could check on the two and she smiled at what she saw.

Peter and Christina had, at some point, subconsciously cuddled closer together on his bed and they were practically holding onto one another as if it was the last thing they would ever do in their lives. Peter seemed to have draped an arm over Christina's stomach in his sleep, almost like he was guarding her from anyone that dared to hurt her.

This pretty much confirmed Aunt May's suspicions that she had had for over a decade. Her nephew had been faking his feelings for Mary Jane all along, and he was actually in love with Christina Lily Johnson. And she couldn't stop the cheerful grin that grew upon her face.

A/N: the first chapter of 2023 is finished! i hope you guys enjoyed it!

also, not christina and peter already being adorable together!!🥺🥺

ALSO also, there is going to be a time jump to november when most of the action of the first film takes place, so be looking forward to that!

any predictions? any at all?

anyways, once again, i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! be looking forward to the next one... whenever it comes out. probably in a billion years!

-denbroughswife