( TW: mild violence, heartbreak, mentions of christina's bad life in part two aka attempted su*cide, near relapse, blood )

Four Days Later
June 24th, 2005

While a little difficult to walk down the streets of Manhattan thanks to her stab wound, Christina still grit her teeth and decided to do it anyway, knowing she wouldn't recover any quicker if she just laid around in bed for days or weeks on end.

It hurt like a bitch, though, feeling like her insides were being torn apart with each step. But she managed, although barely. She didn't show just how badly she was truly hurting, mainly since she was destined to see her friend again and see her perform. Mary Jane was expecting her to be there, after all, and Christina was the punctual type of woman.

Mary Jane had successfully gone through her nightly performances of Manhattan Memories after improving the projection of her singing voice to spite the harsh critic. As a result, she received overwhelming acclaim from audiences for her performance, especially from Christina after seeing it a second time just for her.

That'll teach them, she thought to herself with a smile as she continued to walk. She was happy for M.J, happy that she was finally achieving her dreams with a broad grin on her face every time she walked on stage in front of the hundreds of people that would be watching, looking like a ballerina star.

However, now that her run of the show had wrapped up on a good note, Mary Jane had gotten a temporary job at a place called The Jazz Room just outside of downtown Manhattan as a waitress and singer for the people that arrived there to have a good time. And Christina was on her way there to see how the place worked and to just relax for once.

After everything with Harry, she had not heard from him at all. It seemed as though Peter had properly taken care of him, since Harry was not bothering her anymore. She had heard from his butler, Bernard, however; Harry had lived through whatever the hell Peter had actually put him through. But he had been quiet ever since, barely uttering a word and seeming to wallow in his depression.

And Christina often wondered why Harry was depressed. Grief over his father's death still? Or failing to kill her and Peter?

Or guilt, perhaps?

No. If he felt guilty, he wouldn't have stabbed you or hurt Sidney. Stop feeling sorry for him...

Speaking of the stab wound, a sharp sting of pain erupted in her midsection and she bit her tongue to hold back the groan of agony that threatened to escape her lips. "Shit," she stammered and stopped for a moment, catching her breath. She inhaled and exhaled carefully, suddenly grateful that Sidney wasn't alone in her apartment. She had gone home to Allyson and Michael for the rest of the week, much to Christina's absolute relief after what had happened.

She looked ahead and smiled through the pain when she saw the neon sign that glowed with vibrant red and blue colors that reminded her of a certain guy that wore a suit in said colors. It made her laugh the tiniest bit as she resumed her walking, advancing towards the building with the neon sign that read: The Jazz Room.

When she reached the double glass doors that opened into the place, a kind woman held one of them open for Christina, which made her politely smile and mumble a "Thanks." Then she paused when she noticed something rather familiar about the woman, making her squint her eyes.

The woman had blondish hair and seemed to be a couple of years older than she was, with greener eyes than the blue that was to be expected. Her expression was one of kindness but also of familiarity when their eyes met. Then came the confusion, then the recognition, then the pure shock.

"Apologies if I'm mistaken," the woman mumbled gently as her smile grew. "But I feel like you look familiar."

"You look familiar, too..." Christina mumbled as her eyes lit up. "Weren't you on the train that Spider-Man stopped about a year ago? If I'm right, you had a little baby girl with you that day."

"Yeah, that's me!" the woman exclaimed with joy and excitement, noticing that Christina had almost slipped up and revealed the identity of the man that had saved them that September day. "And weren't you the woman that was trying to assist the conductor of the train when that scary Octavius guy damaged it?"

"That would be me," Christina replied with a humble laugh, stepping forward and hugging the woman in a friendly way, glad she had found a familiar face from long ago. It was just what she needed after the shitty week she'd had.

When the two of them broke the embrace, the woman looked at her and smiled more. "I thought your face looked familiar," she mumbled. "I thought your hair was brown."

"No, I changed it back to blonde," Christina said sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders before narrowing her eyes inquisitively. "In all that chaos on the train, I never got your name."

"Miranda," the woman said with a nod. "My daughter – my baby – her name's Laurie. What's your name?"

"Christina," she said with a hum. "Christina Johnson. Where is your daughter?"

"My sister's babysitting her for the night," Miranda responded before gesturing to a table that she had reserved for herself. "Well, Christina, why don't you sit with me? I want to catch up... unless you're here for another reason and, in that case, I'll leave you be."

"No, you're absolutely fine," Christina said with a smile as she went over to Miranda's table with her, sitting in the other seat after noticing the other blonde telling the waitress that it was okay for her to sit there. "I'm just here for my friend, the redhead."

Miranda's eyes lit up. "Oh, Mary Jane!" she exclaimed quietly, keeping her voice lowered so as to not disturb the other patrons of the club. "She's been working here for a little while now, she's lovely. Her voice is incredible."

"I agree..." Christina mumbled, thinking she had seen two familiar people entering the club. But she figured it was just a trick of her eyes, as the guy of the couple barely looked recognizable at all with his dark hair hanging over his eyes. So she drew her attention back to Miranda with a smile. "She and I have been friends for a few years now; she's actually been working on Broadway for quite a while, but she took a break and started working here."

"I should go see whatever she performs in next," said Miranda.

"You definitely should, she was incredible in her last show," said Christina.

"Chris, hey!"

She turned and saw the redhead in question smiling down at her so joyfully, and she instantly leaned up to give her a big hug despite how much her side was screaming at her because of the stab wound. "Hey!" she gushed as she embraced her.

"I can't believe it, you showed up!" said Mary Jane with a grin.

"Why wouldn't I show up?" she replied. "You told me to stop by so I did."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Mary Jane mumbled before her expression became softer. "Are you healing alright after... well, you know?"

Christina's smile faded slightly but she nodded and gulped, placing her hand on her side to conceal the stab wound that was stitched up despite it already being covered up by her shirt. "Yeah, I am..." she said. She then straightened her posture and took a deep breath. "Sidney's doing better, too. She's still shaken up so I had her go back to Dad's so she can be calm. She really needs her family right now."

"Yeah, she does," said Mary Jane. "It's good that you're here. You look like you need this, too. Who knows? Maybe I'll drag you onto the stage and help you relax."

"Don't you dare!" Christina said with wide eyes and glared at her despite smiling.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't. Just a thought I had."

"Mary Jane, show us what you've got!" called out one of the other workers of the club with an excited expression on his face.

"Break a leg!" Christina said to her in an excited whisper, to which Mary Jane replied by giving her a friendly kiss on the forehead before jogging over to the stage.

She watched with a hopeful smile as her friend grasped the microphone stand, lowering it just slightly to where it was at her level. Even in her simple attire of a white button-up shirt and a black skirt that was required for her role as a waitress of the place, Christina still thought she looked very pretty. And, as the music of the planned song clanged onto the stage with lovely smoothness by the band, she finally felt at peace for once.

Just being in an environment where she could just relax and listen to her friend sing (she had a sweet voice she could listen to for hours) with dozens of other people was a strange paradise for her. It comforted her, it soothed her. It was a like a secret paradise she would have never wanted to admit that she liked a year ago. It was much better than sulking in her wrecked apartment alone with nobody to talk to and nothing to do.

Christina felt her muscles relax for once, and she even closed her eyes as the music died down to a slow part, building up to the moment when Mary Jane would break out into song. She felt tranquility fill her soul.

All sense of calmness was suddenly split apart when a totally out of place riff on the grand piano filled the room, making Christina's eyes snap open in confusion, ready to yell at whoever ruined the atmosphere. She stared ahead, in the direction of the piano, wondering who it could have possibly been that wanted to bring her out of her peace. She saw the guy with the dark hair in his eyes quickly snapping down the keys of the instrument with surprising skill, which made her eyebrows raise.

"Peter?" came Mary Jane's voice very softly on the microphone.

Christina thought her ears were deceiving her at first as she raised up in her seat just a little bit, still staring towards the piano with bewilderment. There was no way he was here, right? Had he known she was going to be here tonight?

But there he was all right. It was Peter. But he looked... different. He was in an attractively-worn black button-up shirt, black dress pants, and a black blazer jacket. His hair – his bangs, specifically – was hanging directly in front of his eyes, which looked to be a darker shade of blue than before. They reminded Christina of the coldest of ice, which made her shiver. Only she didn't know if it was in a good or bad way. The bags beneath those eyes were darker than normal and it downright disturbed her, making her go rigid and her spine went ramrod straight.

"Carry on," he said to M.J. with a smile. Only it wasn't the normal smile Christina was used to. It wasn't gentle; it was cocky. "Just having fun here." He continued onward with the piano riff, which was so good that it would have impressed her had she not been concerned about what was going on with him.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she kept looking in his direction, her eyes wide.

"Double time!" Peter then said in a raised voice before hopping onto the top of the piano, twisting around in a stupid dance that would have normally made Christina burst into laughter. He was a horrendous dancer, but it was usually adorable. Here, it made her cringe.

He then hopped from one table to the other in an almost impossible way – Is he wanting his secret identity to be given away?! Christina thought incredulously – before snatching a martini glass a patron was holding and lunging towards a chandelier and gripping it. Almost as if he were just regularly being Spider-Man, Peter swung throughout the huge room in a graceful arc that made the crowd erupt into "oooh's" and "ahhh's" before landing perfectly on a chair and sliding across the sleek hardwood floor.

Christina did have to admit that this part was quite impressive, though it made her wonder the same exact thing she did when Peter fought Flash Thompson back at the high school three years ago: Where or who did he learn this from?!

Peter quickly bounced off the chair and picked it up, flipping it once or twice before placing it back down and kicking it to the side, drawing out a cheer from the crowd. He then bounded onto the stage and then back onto the floor; quickly advancing through the crowd, he instantly locked eyes with Christina. She couldn't deny the expression in those burning eyes – it was seductive. It made her heart race.

She gulped and looked right back at him, unable to look away, her cheeks flushing.

Still looking deeply into her eyes, Peter smirked at her and stripped his blazer off, and he saw the visible astonishment on her lovely face. He then turned and threw it right at Mary Jane, who ducked and stood back up with a perplexed stare in her eyes.

After doing multiple more poses, he stood completely straight and began to start snapping his fingers in sync with the song while whispering lowly, "Now dig on this."

The crowd exploded into cheers and whistles, which made Christina laugh the tiniest bit, but she went still when Peter began to seductively advance towards her. Her face softened and her heart quickened in her chest. And then he held out his hand.

She reached for it.

And then she realized...

Peter was looking straight past her, holding his hand out for someone else.

And that person took his hand instead.

It was Gwen Stacy.

Christina's heart completely stopped as she watched Peter lead her to the middle of the dance floor, her eyes wider than saucers with disbelief and outrage. Her hands balled into the tightest of fists as she refrained from letting out a scream of fury... but she saw nothing but red. Pure, unadulterated red.

She was enraged.

She just sat there and stared at them as Peter placed his other hand on Gwen's lower back and she put his hand on his shoulder. They sauntered and danced elegantly while not just Christina glared at them. Mary Jane was glaring at them as well and could only think one thing: Is Chris's own boyfriend dancing with another goddamn woman in front of her?!

Yes, yes, he was.

And it was a slow and sensual dance for the whole crowd, for Christina. And based on what Mary Jane could see, the blonde was utterly humiliated; she knew her friend would have rather dealt with getting a bucket of pig's blood dumped on her like in Carrie than deal with this bullshit.

God, M.J. wished she had telekinesis right now, because she wanted to fucking murder Peter.

Christina just stared at the dancing and frolicking duo with hatred and loathing, her eyes burning with the effort to not burst into tears. Look at him, showing her off when he should be doing that with me, his actual girlfriend! she screamed in her mind, seething and shaking as her teeth gnashed together with the urge to explode in fits of rage. But she couldn't. She couldn't even move; she was rooted in place like a deer in headlights.

When Peter firmly grasped Gwen's leg to hitch her thigh over his hip, spinning her around and dipping her down to conclude the dance, he looked right at Christina. And she finally saw it – the Spider-Man suit beneath his nice shirt... only it was blacker than she remembered.

Did the suit have anything to do with this???

Peter straightened Gwen back up and the other blonde finally looked behind her as the crowd applauded approvingly. And she locked eyes with Christina. Right away, her eyes were swept with guilt and she gasped audibly, putting a hand to her mouth out of utter regret when she saw the pained expression on that poor girl's face. She turned and glared at Peter, wanting more than anything to sucker punch him for that.

"You told me things were bad between the two of you!" she hissed at him, her eyebrows knitting together in anger of her own. "You mean to tell me that this was all for her?!"

Peter didn't say a word, just staring back at Gwen with 'what-the-hell-do-you-think' eyes. But the gears were turning in his head, a sliver of his subconsciousness returning to him from the depths of where the real him was trapped. What had Christina done, exactly? What could she have possibly done to deserve him doing this to her?

Nothing. She had done absolutely nothing to deserve this.

And yet he had dragged Gwen out onto the dance floor and had shown her off like an object right in front of Christina, his girlfriend... the woman he so deeply loved.

No, you don't, he heard the words echo in his mind in a voice that was not his own, and the darkness returned to Peter's eyes once again, which made his heart sink. You don't love her. She acts all sweet and loving but she doesn't love you. She's never loved you! She isn't good enough for you!

He turned to look in the direction of Christina, but she had already taken off.

Meanwhile, Gwen had instantly run after the other blonde when she saw her rush off to a corner of the club. Her heart shattered when she saw her hunched over against the wall, her body shaking with depression and fury. She wanted more than anything to hug her and tell her that it was all okay, that she had never intended to hurt her or become the other woman. But she was afraid to touch her, afraid her throat would be ripped out at first sight.

But she needed to do the right thing. She needed to apologize, even if she wasn't at fault.

"Christina?" she murmured tentatively.

"Go on back and be with him, you fucking bitch!" Christina snarled, spinning around to pierce her gaze into the woman's soul, consumed with the worst kind of anger. Her usually tender blue eyes were icy and frigid as her hands – human and metal – clenched into the tightest fists, and the veins in her neck bulged with how tense she was.

It was the angriest Christina Johnson had ever looked... and she was horrifying when she was enraged.

Gwen instantly shrank back and lifted her hands up to protect herself in the case that Christina were to swing at her. "Let me explain..." she replied in a shaky voice, swallowing a huge lump in her throat as she rambled. "I-I'm sorry, I never intended for this to happen, Christina, I swear! Peter had told me he ended you guys's relationship and he invited me here and I didn't know you were gonna be here and if I had known, I wouldn't have agreed to be here and I'm so fucking sorry... I never wanted this to happen and I never meant to hurt you –"

"Stop..." Christina rasped more quietly, utterly defeated as her shoulders slumped. She closed her eyes and sighed shakily, pinching the bridge of her nose. Of course... Gwen couldn't have known. She wasn't the kind of person that would hurt others on purpose like that – it made her grateful that she had refrained from calling her a whore or a slut. Because she certainly wasn't. She was the innocent one of this situation. "Just stop... Don't apologize. You're not at fault, I promise..."

"No, I should have known..." Gwen mumbled, reaching out to touch Christina's shoulder cautiously. When she wasn't shoved away, she kept her hand there. "I should have known you two were still together, it was so stupid of me to have assumed he was telling me the truth!"

"Gwen, we all have those moments..." Christina mumbled weakly. "I forgive you, even though there's nothing to forgive you for because you didn't do anything wrong. I mean it. You're fine. Just... Just get out of here before it gets worse."

Gwen reluctantly nodded her head as a tear fell down her cheek, her breath hitching with suppressed sobs of shame and guilt. "Okay... Alright..." she murmured, slowly backing away. But, before she turned and stomped out of the jazz club, she mumbled a final "I'm so sorry."

Almost immediately afterwards, just as Christina saw Miranda shoot her a sympathetic gaze from her table as a form of silent support, Mary Jane rushed to her side and put an arm around her. "Hey, I'm so sorry he did that..." she mumbled, just as furious as she was.

"No, don't worry about it, I'm fine..." Christina mumbled with a gulp and sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

"You are absolutely not fine, Chris!" M.J. exclaimed with disbelieving eyes. "He humiliated you, for fuck's sake! You better be grateful murder is illegal right now because I was this close to ripping his goddamn throat out!"

"Shut up!" hissed Christina as she turned them around to face the wall. "You will do nothing, I can handle this! I will handle this."

The manager of the club walked up to the two women with clear concern written all over his face; he had seen the entire situation unravel before him and was unable to bring himself to stop it. But he had noticed how angry his employee was and how distraught his patron was and put them first, instantly making sure to check on them. He put both of his hands on their shoulders.

"Are you two all right?" he asked them gently, genuine worry in his eyes.

"We're fine, Paul," Mary Jane replied to him quietly, not wanting Christina to have to explain why she was upset. "I've got her, but thank you."

"Okay..." Paul mumbled before stepping away, figuring he had no place to get involved in this scenario despite him witnessing Mary Jane hugging Christina. He didn't even know the shorter woman but she reminded him so much of his young daughter and he felt a fatherly instinct to help her.

"Hey."

Mary Jane felt Christina go completely tense in her arms when they heard that sharp, demanding voice. Moving the blonde just a little to where she was behind her, she slowly turned to stare daggers into Peter's soul, wanting more than anything than to tear him apart with her bare hands. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"What the fuck is wrong with you...?" she muttered in a low tone, the muscles in her face rigid with rage.

Peter stared back at the redhead with a blazing expression in his own eyes, ready to demand that she move out of his way. Then he saw Christina glare at him and he froze in place with fear, coming back to himself for a moment. That look on her face was nightmare fuel, like she could destroy him with a simple glance; it made him falter with what he was going to say next.

I'm a dead man, he thought with worry before the influence controlled his thoughts and words again.

"Her," was all he said to M.J, his tone snappy and quick.

Mary Jane continued to stare at Peter for a split second, and she then stepped forward, balling her hands into fists. "Why don't you say that to my face?" she fired back, ready to tackle the bitch to the ground.

"Can I help you, sir?" Paul spoke up with politeness and disdain in his eyes, instantly stepping between the two of them to prevent a physical altercation from breaking out in his workplace. But also to protect Mary Jane and Christina.

Peter glared back at him, raising an eyebrow despite having slightly backed away from Mary Jane. "No," he snapped at him. "If you don't mind, we're busy here –"

"Oh, we're about to be busy..." Mary Jane retorted with a scowl as she stepped forward again but Paul putting out an arm to block her and Christina pulling her back stopped her.

"Mary Jane, I've got this," Paul mumbled before seeing one of the other patrons walking up to him, surveying the scene before him. He sighed with relief, as this guy also counted as secret security for the place.

"Everything okay here, Paul?" the guy asked, eyeing Peter with caution.

"Yeah.... 'Everything okay here, Paul?'" Peter responded, clearly mocking the guy.

Paul rolled his eyes, having enough of this bastard's bullshit. "Take him out of here," he ordered the guy.

The security guy nodded and tightly gripped Peter's right arm, ready to toss him out. "Let's go, sir," he told him in an 'we-can-do-this-the-easy-way-or-the-hard-way' tone of voice, giving him the option to obey the order and leave without starting a ruckus.

But Peter stood right in the same place, but Christina could see his eyes go wide with primal anger. It was about to get completely bad and she began to step forward.

"Take your hand off of me," he snarled.

"Peter..." Christina murmured in a gentler voice, trying to warn him to keep calm and to just listen to the guy.

But then the guy made a bad move, using his other hand to grip Peter's arm even tighter as he said more demandingly, "Now."

Just as Christina screamed "PETER!" out of pure shock, he had the security guy by the collar of his shirt and he catapulted him towards the brick wall as the guy cried out in surprise and pain from his back smacking against the wall. He instantly followed and pinned him against the wall by using his arm against his neck, his face morphed into a horrific expression of rage.

Christina's eyes were wide with trepidation as she and Mary Jane instantly started following, as well as several other patrons. The music the band was playing came to a screeching, discordant halt.

Peter harshly shoved the patrons that had tried to step in out of the way, seeming to not let up on the guy as he punched him in the face. Christina winced when she realized that he was incorporating his super-strength, afraid the poor guy could be killed.

"PETER, STOP IT!" she and Mary Jane both shrieked simultaneously as the redhead grabbed Peter's shoulder to pull him back.

Peter let out a cry of unadulterated fury and whirled his arm back, instantly striking Mary Jane in the face and sending her toppling to the floor as she screamed softly in instant pain. She was curled on the floor as she stared up at her friend, stunned into silence. For a moment, she didn't even see Peter, the warm and friendly guy that she had been friends with for years now.

She saw her own father...

Peter's eyes instantly went wide with horror when he realized what he had done, especially when he saw Christina instantly fall to her knees by M.J's side. He looked down at his hands, and they were shaking as all sense of vexation melted away. He stared at the sight before him again, convinced that he was trapped in a nightmare. The influence of the symbiote he was wearing was gone, replaced with raw guilt and sorrow.

He had just hit his best friend in the face when she was only trying to stop him. And, if Christina had been an inch closer, he would have hit her, too.

Everything came flooding back and he was finally back in his own mind again, no longer seeing red or black. He had dragged Gwen Stacy to this club, completely forgetting that he was still with Christina

(no the suit made me do it and i wasn't thinking i had no control over what happened)

and he had publicly humiliated his girlfriend in front of everyone here. And she had not deserved it whatsoever. He hadn't even been thinking about how she would feel; the suit was just controlling all of his actions and thoughts while he just saw black.

What have I done? he thought weakly, his heart constricting with fear towards himself.

"I-I..." he stammered, brought to tears by the realization of what had happened. But he couldn't finish.

In an instant, Christina was back on her feet as soon as she had helped a crying M.J. to her feet and she put her hands on Peter's chest to roughly push him back, her eyes inflamed with a deranged frenzy as she began spewing curses at him. "YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, pummeling him with her fists as she kept pushing him towards the front doors. "YOU HURT HER! YOU HURT MY FRIEND! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU LIMPDICK FUCKFACE!!!!!"

What she did not know was that Peter's Spider-Man suit seemed to have shifted the tiniest bit when it sensed Christina's anger, almost as if it were drawn to her....

"Christina!" came Miranda's voice from behind her, gently touching her arm to get her to calm down. "Come on, let's take a breather and go outside."

Christina brushed the other woman off and lifted her hands into the air. "No, I don't want to go outside!" she retorted with a shake of her head, still shouting. "Why would I want to go outside? It's freezing –"

"Miss, please lower your voice!" Paul cut in, also trying to calm her down.

"I WILL NOT LOWER MY VOICE!" she bellowed at him, nearly tearing her vocal chords apart with the effort. "DO NOT TELL ME TO LOWER MY VOICE! YOU TELL HIM TO LOWER HIS VOICE!" She then got in Peter's face and screamed even louder, practing spitting at him. "YOU DISLOYAL, NARCISSISTIC, PIECE OF SHIT ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!"

"OKAY!" Paul shouted. "Both of you outside right now!"

Christina obeyed the manager's order but not before using her metal hand to take Peter's arm in a death grip, not caring that it was hurting him. She stomped out of the club with him and hurled him to the side, ready to cause mayhem on him.

"Chris, I'm sorry!" Peter exclaimed desperately, holding his hands up to defend himself.

Christina didn't back down at all and she got in his face again. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT!" she howled at him, completely ignoring the stares they were getting from passerbys on the sidewalk. "YOU'RE NOT SORRY! IF YOU WERE, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT!"

"Chris..."

"TWO YEARS OF ME PINING AFTER YOU AND NOT EVEN A YEAR OF US BEING TOGETHER AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET FOR LOVING YOU?!" Christina continued, completely red in the face as her entire body violently trembled. "WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS, PETER?! WHAT COULD I HAVE POSSIBLY DONE TO –?!?!"

"YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, CHRIS!" Peter shouted over her so she could hear him, tears having already fallen down his face.

Christina paused with her screaming frenzy and stared at Peter incredulously, her eyes still the size of saucers. But her gaze softened the tiniest bit when she noticed it... she was finally looking at Peter again, not whoever the hell had just hit Mary Jane in the face. His eyes were no longer cold but contained that same gentle warmness that her Peter had.

"Y-You didn't deserve this, Christina..." Peter mumbled as a haggard sob left his lips, his expression now one of a man who had lived through a century of misery. He put his hands in his hair and tugged at it harshly, completely helpless.

Christina did the only thing she could do: she stepped forward and lifted her prosthetic hand, moving the collar of Peter's button-up shirt down to confirm what she had seen earlier. And there it was, clear as day. She wasn't met with a red and blue suit beneath it. It was blacker than the night sky and the very sight of it unnerved her, and she gulped. She then peered into his eyes, and they betrayed that he was completely broken... like a drug addict.

"What's happened to you?" she whispered faintly, her lower lip quivering as she battled the tears forming in her eyes.

Peter swallowed thickly and pressed his lips together in a thin line so he wouldn't burst into hysterical sobs. "I... I don't know..." he muttered, his voice coming out in a weakened croak as another tear fell down his cheek.

Christina's face dropped and she let go of his shirt, backing away and closing her eyes. She was still trembling from head to toe as she tried figuring out how to go about this. It was clear that Peter had not been in his right mind when he had done what he did... but that didn't mean his actions were forgivable and that she would comfort him for it. It was not her place to do so.

"Christina..." Peter whimpered, his eyes clearly pained as he stepped forward, holding his hands out to her in defeat. "I fucked up. I fucked up big time but... I'm so, so, so sorry, baby. I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted to hurt you. It was never supposed to happen this way... I was supposed to be a good boyfriend who treated you with nothing but respect and who loved you deeply... I literally promised your father that. I promised him that I would put you first and love you more than anything and now I've dishonored his wishes and now I don't think he would accept me proposing to you and –"

"Proposing?" Christina replied... and her voice was quieter than normal. Softer. She stared at Peter, dumbfounded. She hadn't been expecting to hear that at all. Had that been the mindset he had been in with their relationship before this? Had he wanted to marry her? Did he really love her that much?

Peter paused and realized he'd been caught red-handed in his emotional state. But he gave up. There was no more hiding it. "Yeah..." he sighed. "I was going to propose to you, Chris..."

Christina just stood there for a second, taking in this new information. In all reality, she should have known this was coming. Yet, it had caught her completely off guard in the midst of all of the chaos she had been dealing with for the past month. She hadn't even thought of the possibility of Peter wanting to ask her to marry him... to become his wife... his other half... forever.

"Is there a ring?"

Peter gulped and nodded, shakily reaching into the pocket of his pants. And he withdrew a small ring with a simple but beautiful diamond on the top of it. He held it out for Christina to take, to look at and study. And she did.

She took the ring between her thumb and index finger and stared at it in astonishment. It was truly elegant with its simplicity and the very real diamond glittered in the streetlights... and it was familiar. It was Aunt May's wedding ring. Just staring at it made Christina want to cry and she felt very flattered that the elderly woman would have wanted her to marry her nephew.

But she handed the ring back to Peter with a sullen frown. "No..." she whispered, her answer to his potential proposal. "I can't be with someone who goes out of their way to humiliate me and basically cheat on me... outside influence or not."

Instead of the reaction she had been expecting, which would be for Peter to fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness straight away while crying pathetically, he just merely nodded and held back the tears. He was accepting her decision, respecting it. "You're breaking up with me?" he asked in a gentler voice, almost as an inevitable guess than out of disbelief.

Christina nodded. "I am."

Peter sighed softly and took the ring back from Christina, holding it in his fist as he slowly turned around, facing the sidewalk ahead of him. He then tilted his head upward, staring towards the tower of one of the biggest churches in New York; the sight of it was oddly beautiful in and of itself, but it did little to heal his destroyed heart.

For the first time in their entire lives, Peter Parker had his back turned to Christina Johsnon.

"I'm sorry, Christina..." he mumbled, defeated. But his voice was no longer desperate or shaky. It was firm, mature. Adult. "I really am. I... I know you may never be able to forgive me but... I don't know."

"You're right..." replied Christina in a faint murmur. "I'll never be able to forgive you, Peter. But... I know there is something else here in hand with that suit. And I don't want it to continue hurting you. So... I'm gonna need some time to think about everything while you get your shit together. You're a good man, Peter, I know you are. And I have faith you'll figure yourself out again."

With that, she merely touched his shoulder with her human hand before walking in the opposite direction... away from him.

_____

Christina stepped out of the elevator to the Osborn penthouse, that limp still in her step as she stared straight ahead. She paused at the top of the large staircase that no doubt led to the first floor of the place, trying to ignore the creepy statues and paintings staring back at her. She looked down at her feet and wiped the rest of the tears she had sobbed earlier off of her cheeks, sighing to herself.

She then glanced back up and took in just how large and empty the place felt, knowing she would never have wanted to live in a place like this. It felt completely... lonely.

"Miss Johnson?" came the voice of a much older man as he stepped out of the dining room on the second floor, leaning on the balcony to look down at her with confusion.

Christina did her best to smile up at Harry's butler, Bernard, kindly but it just came out weak and forced as her shoulders slumped. "Good evening, Bernard..." she greeted him way too quietly, though he could hear her. "Is... Is Harry here?"

"He's right down in the lounge, Miss..." Bernard replied gently as he pointed down the staircase. "Would you like me to lead the way?"

"No, thank you..." Christina whispered as she grasped the staircase railing, descending the stairs with great difficulty. She grunted as a flare of pain spread throughout her body but she ignored it and kept going, refusing to stop. Mustering all of the strength she had in her, she forced herself to stop limping, though she still walked slightly awkwardly.

Finding her way to the lounge immediately, she saw him. Her former best friend. He was standing with his back to her, staring out of the shattered balcony doors and into the nightly lit city, his spine slouched slightly. He looked completely pathetic... but not in a way that made Christina want to mock him. Not this time.

"Harry..." she mumbled quietly, too softly for her own liking.

Harry froze and Christina could see the pure shock in his body language as he slowly turned to face her, his brown eyes wide with surprise. She could only see one half of his face as well as the confusion in his gaze, but she couldn't quite blame him for being confused. Even she didn't really know why she was here.

She gulped and took a deep breath, fully preparing for Harry to strike her or potentially kill her to get to Peter. Only this time, she wouldn't have minded as much. "I came to talk to you," she said firmly. "Came to make my big announcement. You can stop now. It's done. It's all over..."

Harry fully faced Christina then, and the blonde visibly recoiled a tiny bit at the sight of his features.

The entire right side of Harry Osborn's face was disfigured, morphed into damn near unrecognizable facial features. His right eye was glassy and almost white and Christina could have only guessed that Peter had caused this... perhaps a pumpkin bomb had been thrown into his face. It was a miracle he hadn't died at all. He reminded the woman of Jason Voorhees, specifically from The Final Chapter.

Strangely, she didn't feel the satisfaction she ought to have expected to feel from seeing her enemy like that.

"What do you mean 'it's all over?'" Harry muttered back, his lips almost barely able to move because of how bad his face looked.

Christina's throat bobbed. "I broke up with Peter..." she mumbled, stepping over to one of the sofas and sitting down. "And it wasn't an act this time. I actually did. It's over."

Harry barely reacted, but it was clear he was stunned. A week ago, he would have cackled with triumph that his mission had been a success. But he didn't. In fact, he almost begged Christina to reverse what she had just said but he didn't dare.

"Oh..." was all he replied with, unable to say another word.

"But, Harry..." Christina sighed, gulping and closing her eyes. "I can't do this anymore. I don't want to keep living my life continuing to look over my shoulder because I'm afraid you'll snap my neck or hurt my family. I just want to live my life normally... no fear, no PTSD, no paranoia, no nightmares... no Green Goblin. That is not what my life is supposed to be. I just want to be left alone... even if I have to end everything with people I care about."

Harry just stared back at her and felt a lump forming in his throat, recalling all of the painful shit he had put Christina through. Calling her a crazy bitch when she had only just been grieving her mother's death, directly driving her to attempt suicide and not caring whatsoever when he should have, nearly killing her the other night...

She didn't deserve that... never deserved that. The remorse was so obvious in his eyes that it damn near broke him more than he was already broken.

"I know..." he whispered, sighing deeply.

Christina peered up at him in surprise, and then she understood. He felt guilty, as he should have. They seemed to share a mutual understanding with one another in that moment, almost a sort of forgiveness. Almost.

She just nodded and got to her feet, looking right at Harry. "I'm glad you understand," she murmured. "Look... I know what you did to me was unforgivable, it really was... but maybe it's time you let go of the past and focus on now. Your father... or the part of your father that was actually good... he wouldn't have actually wanted you to go on like this. He wouldn't have wanted that. He would have wanted you to honor him, not avenge him."

A tear slipped soundlessly down Harry's cheek as he absorbed those words, and he was properly listening to reason for the first time since Norman's death three years ago. Christina was right. She was always right. He thought back to the night he had fought Peter for the first time some time ago throughout the city. Peter had said, "Listen to me! I didn't kill your father! He was trying to kill me, he killed himself!"

It had sounded truthful when he had said it, only Harry had refused to listen to the cold and hard truth. Maybe his father had accidentally gotten himself killed that night. It would have brought his twisted legacy as the Green Goblin to a dark close but... that would have meant that Peter never actually killed him. He just refrained from admitting the truth for two years because he couldn't reveal his identity as Spider-Man.

And that meant that Harry's entire mission to avenge his father was now completely null and void.

And he accepted that.

Christina stepped past Harry and began to leave the lounge without another word, choosing to leave him to think about it in privacy.

But he needed to have the last word.

"Chris..."

She slowly turned to look at him, her eyes no longer fierce and hardened... but soft and tired. There was the tiniest sliver of hope there in those eyes, which shattered Harry's heart into a million pieces.

"I know you'll never be able to forgive me..." he continued, locking eyes with her as he swallowed that growing lump in his throat. "I know that it's impossible to earn your forgiveness or even to earn your trust back but... I'm sorry. For everything. I'm so sorry."

Christina felt her throat become heavy and thick with rapidly approaching pain and heartache. But she had finally gotten an apology. And that was a start. She inhaled deeply and mumbled only two words: "I know."

She then turned and left.

Harry stared after Christina and felt another tear fall, but he let her go in silence. It was the only thing he could bring himself to do. He then turned towards the coffee table and reached down, grasping the frame of a picture that had been standing up. He stared at it solemnly, his heart continuously splintering with each passing second.

It was a picture of him, Christina, and Peter at their senior prom three years ago. He had taken her as a friend and Peter had tagged along to have a memorable night of fun and magic; the two men were wearing fancy tuxedos that Harry's father had bought for the both of them while Christina had worn an ethereal lavender dress that went past her feet, and her blonde hair was pinned at the top of her head in curls. She had looked beautiful and happy that night, all of them had.

Now... the glass in the picture was close to destroyed after Harry and Peter's most recent brawl. There were cracks around where Christina's heart was, one long crack down the middle of Peter's face... but the cracks were most prominent and all over Harry's image, making him unrecognizable.

All three of them were now cracked apart and torn from each other.

He stared towards the fireplace and held back more tears, feeling downright hopeless.

_____

As Christina stood at a canvas set up in her living room, tracing an outline for a potential painting with a pencil, she felt more alone than ever. She was truly alone for the first time in her entire life, even more than right after her mother died. And she had initiated that lonliness, but that didn't put her at fault. She had just been deeply hurt and so she had been in the right to end it all.

She had broken up with Peter.

And it had destroyed her.

But it was the right thing to do.

She wiped away a spare tear and swallowed, squeezing her eyes shut before opening them again, picking up a paintbrush and shakily moving it across the canvas. Shades of blue were covering it quite nicely, giving whatever it was she was creating an ocean-like feel to it with gentle waves of handiwork. It reminded her of her tears.

She recalled how the color had reminded her of the dress she wore when she had danced with him at the planetarium, and when he had kissed her cheek repeatedly as they swayed, the electricity between them undeniable. How they had almost kissed.... She could still feel the sensation of their lips brushing together that night.

The telephone ringing cut through the silence and she directed her gaze towards it. She placed the paintbrush down and walked over to where the landline was on the kitchen island, and she peered at what the tiny screen read.

CALLER ID: PETER PARKER....

She completely ignored it and walked back to the canvas, continuing to paint.

Hi, this is Christina, the answering machine echoed with her voice. I can't come to the phone right now so please leave a message. Talk as long as you want.

The machine beeped once afterwards and Peter's voice came through the speaker right away. He sounded completely shattered, his voice cracking with almost every syllable as he sobbed.

"C-Chris..." he murmured brokenly, his voice extra shaky and it nearly broke Christina's heart. Nearly. "Chris... I'm so sorry... for everything. I'm so damn sorry I hurt you. I know you can't forgive me, I know you can't. I love you so much and I'll never stop telling you how sorry I am.... I never should have done that to you. I wasn't in my right mind but I know that isn't an excuse... I'm sorry... I'll do anything I can to make it better, to earn your trust again. I'm sorry...."

A click as Peter hung up the phone.

Christina lowered her head as a weak cry left her lips, the tears falling freely. She got up from her chair and marched to one of the kitchen cabinets above the stove, opening it and searching blindly through it. Her body shook with the effort of not fully breaking down as her fingers brushed against a glass bottle.

She gripped the neck of it and yanked it out, seeing the dusty wine bottle grasped in her slender fingers. She pried the lid off of it and raised it to her lips, ready to drown her sorrows.

But she hesitated. She paused, her hand violently trembling as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Christina, no... she heard that familiar voice echo in her head. The voice that kept her grounded in the world despite her grief. Don't do it, honey. You've come so far...

A dejected whimper slipped out of her as her eyebrows scrunched together in agony.

She pulled the bottle away from her lips and hurled it across the apartment, watching as the glass exploded into more than a billion shards and the wine spilled all over the floor in a flood of red.

Just then, the power to the apartment snapped off and she heard a crash coming from her bedroom.

Her head snapped around to the source of the sound for a split second, her shaking instantly coming to a halt. She then carefully stepped forward and went down the hallway towards her room, the floorboards softly creaking beneath her bare feet as her teary eyes squinted. She felt her way around the darkness, being slow so she wouldn't stumble or fall.

When she reached her room, she gripped the doorframe tentatively, preparing for something to strike. Nothing did. She went to the breaker behind her door and opened it, flipping a few switches.

Nothing.

She lifted an eyebrow and looked closer.

The breaker was completely fried.

Huh? she thought before slowly turning her head to the closet door, which was where the crash had come from. She approached it and slowly pulled it open.

The only thing she saw was a ceramic flowerpot broken into bits and pieces on the floor as well as soil and sunflowers.

The flowerpot had been Margaret's.

Before she could feel the inevitable sadness, she heard a softer creak coming from inside the closet. And she looked up.

She was instantly met with a horrible face staring straight back at her. She saw the abnormally large stark white eyes, the nastily evil smile, the sharp, fanged teeth that reminded her of a complete demon. The person – the thing – cocked its head at her and its eyes were ignited by utter hatred and malice. It was something straight out of one's worst, most vivid nightmares.

"Christinaaaaaaaa!" the thing – who she would later know as Venom – hissed at her sadistically. Except, what was heard was two separate voices, not just one.

For a split second, Christina just stared at this thing, utterly perplexed. And then the pure fear filled her entire body, making her skin crawl as she seized up. She let out a scream that damn near destroyed the world.

Venom took that moment to strike, diving at the woman as his right hand (which bared jagged claws) swiped at her. She ducked backwards but stumbled in the process, hitting the floor hard; when she did, the stitches of her stab wound tore open and she began bleeding again.

Despite crying out in pain, she quickly got back to her feet and stared at the thing in undeniable terror. For a moment, though, she didn't even see the alien-like creature towering above her.

She saw the Green Goblin.

"Please, please, please don't kill me!" she cried out hysterically, her entire body going numb as she slowly backed up.

The Green Goblin had no mercy, however, as he forcefully grabbed her by the throat and pushed her towards the balcony doors as she screamed deliriously. Immediately, the young woman began punching and kicking at the man, growling with the strength she used to try to pry herself away from whoever the fuck this was. "LET GO OF ME, YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!" she howled as she moved her hands to try to remove the man's mask.

The monster was quicker, however, moving his head out of her reach. He removed one of the hands he was using to strangle her long enough to

knock her television off of its entertainment stand, sending it cluttering to the floor in a loud shattering sound. The sight of that brought Christina back to the real world as she positioned herself to dodge any further attacks attempted by this new monster. And Venom did just that, snarling as he took another swing at her, which she avoided, leaping backwards.

She then grabbed a vase from her nightstand and hurled it at Venom, which shattered the second it hit him before the pieces fell as well. In response, it howled and lunged at her again.

But she grabbed the handle of a nightstand drawer, hauling it out and bringing it down onto the top of Venom's head, the wood splintering and making it snarl in pain. But it barely reacted and didn't even go down, and Christina's eyes widened in stark shock. She knew there was only one thing she could do now:

Run.

But when she tried, she was tackled onto her bed and her wrists were pinned on either side of her head as she shrieked. She couldn't move, she couldn't fight; there was no way she could fight the alien above her. So she could only stare at it with wide eyes.

And then she felt a sensation that nearly made her heave. She felt something slimy and spider-like begin to slither up her right leg... and then her wrists. She looked and saw that it was slick and black and reminded her of wet branches of a sort. She practically gagged but she couldn't scream. She was way too horrorstruck to utter a single sound.

"Christinnnnnaaaaaa....." Venom growled softly as it stared down at her, the wicked smile on its lips spine-tingling in its sickening nature.

Christina then couldn't see the thing anymore as her body tensed up and her eyes went wide. Instead, she saw memories that were not her own... memories of moments that she had never experienced in her entire life. They all flashed by like the pages of a book rapidly flipping by if one were to skim through it... and they were from someone else's eyes: a person hurling a pumpkin bomb at Harry's face, hugging Sidney when she was distressed after their attack, pretending to break up with Christina on the bridge, making love to her both times, their first kiss...

These were Peter's memories.

And then brand new thoughts entered her head

(!!!!!)

and, for a split second, she was not in control of her thoughts and her body.

Can't abduct this one... too much of a fighter... you must cause him more pain! she thought. He took everything from you... your job... your pride... your love... you must make him lose his!

Christina's blue eyes turned black but, this time, it was unwillingly.

(we can use her to get to him we can take her over as well and hurt her because she was involved with him)

(!!!!!)

She then saw the images of Sidney's face... her father's... Aidan's... Allyson's... Mary Jane's....

And she understood completely.

In an instant, the symbiote's influence was vanquished and the blackness disappeared from her eyes. Her good heart prevailed as she glared at the monster above her, the slimy sensation of the symbiote creeping onto her immediately retracting.

"YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE!" she shrieked madly, trying to buck Venom off of her.

The last thing she remembered was a sharp and fiery pain spreading throughout her human arm and her toppling off of the bed before her head collided with the floor.

_____

She had no idea how long she had been knocked out, whether that be seconds or minutes or even hours, but Christina's eyes fluttered back open and she bolted up off of the floor, sitting up as she looked around wildly.

She was still in her bedroom.

Had the entire thing been a strange nightmare?

The power was still off and her room was ransacked, the flowerpot and vase in shattered messes on the floor, the closet and bedroom doors wide open, and the balcony doors were entirely gone. Not shattered, just gone.

And then Christina processed the burning agony spreading up her arm, making her whimper from how badly it hurt. She looked down at her arm, seeing four long claw marks on the forearm area that were freshly bleeding and gushing with the crimson color. It reminded her of Freddy Kruger in a way...

And then she remembered.

Her family...

"Oh, shit..." she mumbled before going into outright panic. "Shit!" She jumped up and grabbed her car keys, completely ignoring her wounds, and bolted out the front door.

A/N: OKAY, OKAY! I KNOW I WAS GONE FOR EIGHT MONTHS AND I'M SORRY! THANKS TO ME GETTING A JOB AND MY JUNIOR YEAR AT COLLEGE STARTING, I GOT WAY TOO BUSY!

but i'm back and better than ever!

ANYWAYS, the FIFTIETH chapter! it took five long years to get to this point but we're in the home stretch of finishing this book, hopefully by the end of this year! it's almost over... it feels bittersweet.

and man, what a chapter to come back with! it's all over the place and chaotic!

first, the jazz club scene! bet you guys weren't expecting that, were you? if anyone criticizes that peter still hit mary jane in this version, don't bother. i wanted to keep it this way on purpose while also making m.j. more actively involved after seeing christina get hurt.

and now... the break up scene... the actual one. yeah, they broke up... peter. and. christina. broke. up. did you guys expect this? how was it executed?

do you think it's possible for them to get back together at this point now?

what about the surprising scene of christina basically forgiving harry for all his wrongdoings towards her? she's just tired of it all. who can blame her? she feels that the only way she can live her normal life is through forgiveness. and harry actually apologized to her! this time, it was genuine and not forced. thoughts?

and finally... venom. i'm praying i'll have venom be as comic accurate as humanly possible. i wanted to introduce the horror elements here with a nod to wes craven's new nightmare's "miss me?" scene. what did y'all think?

expectations for the next chapter? christina didn't get kidnapped for once!

be looking forward to the next chapter, and i promise it'll be here sooner this time!

it feels so good to be back!

-denbroughswife