Three Months Later
November 28th, 2002
Thanksgiving

Christina briefly adjusted her red dress that reached her shins before frantically arranging some of the food on the kitchen counter, feeling the need to hurry herself along but also to make the place look nice and proper for the dinner.

"Chris, honey, stop looking so nervous!" Margaret called over to her from the other side of the tiny kitchen. "It'll all look amazing!"

"Sorry, Mom, I just want it to look my way, like I always do," Christina replied as her face turned red from slight embarrassment.

"Well, this isn't our house, so how about we arrange the food the way Peter and Harry would like it?" Margaret argued playfully before glancing at another person in the room and then dropping her voice. "Or Aunt May, since she's the one in charge..." she added in a whisper, which made her daughter giggle.

"I can hear you both," Aunt May cut in with a smile as she jokingly shook her head, which made the two younger women laugh even harder. "And, in case you're wondering, just align them two by two, Christina. That way there's more room on the counter."

"Yes, Aunt May," Christina responded with a kind smile as she proceeded to listen to the older woman's suggestion.

The young woman and her mother had been invited by Aunt May to attend Thanksgiving at Harry's and Peter's new apartment in downtown Manhattan, to which both women agreed to. They were ecstatic to be spending the holiday with more people than usual, since it was usually just the two of them each Thanksgiving, especially with Michael no longer in the picture. So they were both happy to not feel as alone this year.

Christina was particularly happy since this was her opportunity to have a couple of days away from college, since it had become a hell of a lot tougher than she thought it would be recently. The fall semester started off strongly with her successfully moving into her apartment on the day she had planned (it was a decently-sized place on the second floor with two bedrooms – one for her and another for any guest that she welcomed – and two bathrooms) and she had settled in quite nicely. It was a five minute walk to campus, which wasn't anything too difficult, and she had already made a few friends on her floor that were also students.

She never really went to any parties unless she was promised that they wouldn't be anything too wild, mostly since she never really liked to embarrass herself on purpose and she had heard many horror stories of college parties. So, she had decided to stay smart and resort to focusing on studying for exams or writing essays.

Speaking of which, Christina's classes were a complete nightmare to handle but she somehow managed to do so. That was mostly due to her actually trying this time, unlike she did when she was in high school.

But now that it was November and the semester was almost over, Christina was just counting down the days until Christmas break so she could stay home for about a month before she would have to go back and do it all over again in January.

Another reason she was excited to be here for Thanksgiving was that she was able to see her friends for the first time in three months. After going to the movies with Peter in August, she had gotten so busy with college that all she could do was call either him or Harry on the phone because she had no time to see them. But today would be an exception for them since it would be the first time all three of them hung out since July or August. And Mary Jane being at the apartment with them made things a little better in case Christina wanted to talk about specific drama with her during dinner.

The only issue at the moment was that Peter was not with them, since Aunt May had sent him out to the nearby grocery store to get a can of cranberry sauce right before Christina and Margaret arrived. This didn't faze the blonde as much as she thought it would since she would be seeing him regardless of the minor inconvenience, since he would literally be back any minute now. And she finally had a reason to be overly excited to see him, since it had been way too long since she had last hung out with him.

"M.J, will you stop goofing around?!" Harry shouted in Mary Jane's direction, pretending to be annoyed but he was chuckling as she was trying to see if the marshmallow yams smelled any good since she mostly preferred eating the sweets when it came to Thanksgiving dinner.

Speaking of the redhead that was wearing a deep black dress, she instantly looked up at Harry and giggled at him before listening to him. "Harry, relax!" she replied through her laughter as she shook her head.

Just after she said that, Christina could hear the metal gate attached to the elevator outside of the apartment slide open and that only made her movements even quicker as she tried to make the kitchen look a little nicer than it already was. Based on Harry's even faster movements, she could figure out who was coming up to the door as she could hear the bell buzzing. She knew it was too late to make any last minute changes to the room, so she just adjusted her dress again and made sure that her blonde hair was still in its braided bun.

"Are y'all ready?" May called out to them just as she grasped the metal door handle, and the blonde nodded almost instantly as she placed her hands behind her back.

"Yeah!" Harry replied just as Mary Jane set the yams down on the dining table, which was where they would be eating.

And just like that, after Aunt May opened the heavy door, Norman Osborn walked inside the apartment and he seemed to be holding a red box that looked packaged. He also seemed tired and out of breath, pretty much like everyone else was, and Christina couldn't prevent the small snicker that left her but she put a stop to that the moment Margaret jokingly elbowed her.

"Aunt May, I'm sorry I'm late," Norman mumbled through his deep breaths as he chuckled. "Work was murder. Uh, I picked up a fruitcake." He then politely held out the packaged box and Aunt May smiled as she took it.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Osborn," Aunt May replied kindly. "We're so glad you could come."

Norman then walked up to the mother and daughter duo that stood just behind Aunt May and a respectful smile grew on his face. He gently held out his right hand for Margaret to take first. "Mrs. Johnson," he greeted in a civil manner before walking over to Christina and shaking her hand as well. "Miss Johnson..."

"Nice to see you again, sir," Christina replied courteously with a smile on her face as well, which made Norman grin back and nod right before he walked in his son's direction.

"Who is this lovely young lady?" Norman asked Harry as he removed his thick coat, revealing a formal black suit with a light blue undershirt and a red tie to adorn it.

"Uh, M.J, I'd like to introduce you to my father, Norman Osborn," Harry mumbled to the redhead sheepishly before looking right at his own parent. "Dad, this is Mary Jane Watson..."

"Hi," Mary Jane greeted the middle-aged man with a polite smile keeping her face bright and alive as she shook his hand.

"How do you do?" Norman replied with an inquisitive expression in his eyes. "I've been looking forward to meeting you...."

"Happy Thanksgiving, sir," the younger woman said in a rather nervous tone, probably just due to anxiety of meeting her boyfriend's father for the very first time. Sure, Norman Osborn was a very successful man and Mary Jane had certainly heard of him in the past, but she never really knew him as a person and she was looking forward to doing so.

Or so she thought...

"Now, where is Peter?" Aunt May spoke up with an amused smile as she clasped her hands together. "He better have remembered that cranberry sauce."

Christina hid her small smirk from the others very well as she stepped over to the others to where she was standing next to Mary Jane. She smiled at the redhead briefly and she grinned back before they both glanced in Norman's direction, and the former's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

The older man seemed to be stealthily looking Mary Jane up and down, presumably examining her features so that he would remember what she looked like. But, to both her and Christina, he was doing so in a really creepy manner that made the both of them uncomfortable. The blonde gave him an incredulous look that he didn't even notice at first, and she was tempted to block his line of sight in order to show protectiveness over her best friend. After all, she was aware of Mary Jane's troubled childhood and how terribly she had been treated by both her father and Flash Thompson, so she often felt the need to step in and help her by any means necessary.

In fact, she was so focused on deciding what she should do that the sudden thudding against the wall upstairs didn't even register at first until she noticed everyone glancing upward. She followed their gazes and heard nothing but the car horns honking from down the street.

"That's... weird, I didn't know he was here...." Harry mumbled to himself as he tilted his head.

Christina quickly looked back at Norman and saw that his intentions towards Mary Jane weren't very pleasant since he was one hundred percent checking her out. Instinctively, she snapped her fingers at him, drawing his attention away from the completely creeped out redhead. She then motioned her index and middle fingers to be pointing at her eyes in order to silently warn him:

Eyes up here, Osborn. Only look at her chin and up.

The blonde then exchanged a glance with her mother, who also seemed very weirded out by Norman's behavior. Margaret raised her eyebrows and subtly tilted her head in the man's direction with a bewildered expression, and Christina nodded her own head just a little bit to confirm her silent suspicions.

Norman, knowing he had been caught, finally looked away from both girls and towards the steep staircase just as Aunt May placed her right hand on the railing.

"Peter...?" she called out gently as she stared up towards the second floor of the apartment with a confused look in her eyes.

There was no response that came from the direction of where Peter's bedroom supposedly was.

The elderly woman called out for her nephew again as she began climbing the stairs; Christina, also growing puzzled, decided to follow May in order to see if Peter had been lying and that he had been here the entire time. If so, she would be giving him a piece of her mind – verbally, of course.

"Is that you?!" May raised her voice a little, her tone holding concern in it just as she, Christina, and everyone else stepped up to the second floor.

But, the moment they walked into Peter's bedroom, it appeared to be entirely empty, which confused Christina at first. The first thing she thought of was that what could have hit the outside of the apartment was a bird or something that a citizen threw at the building.

"How strange..." Aunt May mumbled to herself. "There's nobody here..."

The only thing Christina could do in that moment was shrug her shoulders as her hands clutched the sleek red fabric of her dress. "Maybe something hit the wall or something..." she whispered and May nodded in reply.

Norman, who had taken two or three steps into the room, examined his surroundings with an expression of incredulity on his face. "Bit of a slob, isn't he?" he muttered in slight disapproval.

"All brilliant men are," Aunt May replied in a correcting tone just as Christina had been about to speak up to defend her friend. But, before she could, Margaret had placed a hand on her arm to guide her back down the stairs and to the living room.

Little did the blonde know, if she had only glanced upward, she would have been able to spot a certain person she recognized wearing a blue and red spandex suit....

And his mask had been off the entire time....

_____

"Hey, everyone!"

"Oh, Peter!" Aunt May spoke up as she sighed with relief, and everyone smiled as they acknowledged Peter Parker's presence entering through the front doorway of the apartment.

"Sorry I'm late," Peter said as he chuckled lightly and held up the can of cranberry sauce his aunt had mentioned earlier. "It's a jungle out there. I had to beat an old lady with a stick to get these cranberries."

All of the people in the room couldn't help but laugh as Aunt May stepped up to her nephew and thanked him before kissing him on the cheek. They then separated and Peter stepped over to the group in front of him, the first people he greeted being Harry and Mary Jane, who he hugged. He then saw Margaret and sent her a gentle and kind smile before hugging her as well.

"Great to see you again, Mrs. Johnson," he told the older woman before he broke the embrace.

"You too, Peter," Christina's mother told him with a smile before patting him on the shoulder before going back to finishing her task of helping Aunt May with the dinner.

Once the woman with the long, dull brown hair moved out of his line of sight, Peter's deep blue eyes locked with another pair that was all too familiar and he froze in place.

"Hey, Christina..." he greeted shyly, his voice subtly cracking as he tried to fight the nervous smile growing on his face.

There were a few seconds of extremely awkward silence before the two rushed towards one another before they met halfway and embraced each other in a tight hug. They were now laughing with utter relief at being able to see the other again, especially after months of separation.

"It's been so long..." Christina emphasized as she giggled, holding Peter even more tightly.

Unbeknownst to her, all Peter could think about was how close he was to the blonde and his heart was hammering against his chest like crazy at this point. His mind drifted back to a rainy August night; he could picture the timid expression in Christina's eyes and the way she had tentatively placed her hands on his face and the feel of her incredibly gentle and delicate lips against his. Just that memory from three months ago was enough to make his stomach do several flips as he grinned at the thought.

He remembered how he had wanted to thread his fingers through Christina's silky and smooth blonde hair that had been completely soaked by the downpour of rain; he recalled how he had wanted to hold her protectively as he passionately kissed her.

But she didn't know that it was him she had kissed....

Peter finally pulled away from the embrace after having hugged her for longer than he had intended and he just looked at her for a moment. He then looked her up and down and his face turned scarlet when he saw how breathtaking she looked in her crimson dress and with her hair tied into a bun behind her head.

"You... You look really beautiful..." Peter murmured nervously as a real smile graced his features as he not-so-subtly admired how she was dressed.

Christina paused dead in her tracks as her eyes stared at Peter, and her hands lingered on his arms from the aftermath of the hug, which caused her to feel more vulnerable than she should have felt. She then tilted her head in utter disorientation as she squinted her eyes, looking up at the taller man who was definitely glancing back with a look of pure love in his own eyes; but, as always, she was oblivious to the expression.

"Um... th-thanks, Pete..." she mumbled as a tint of pink swarmed her cheeks and she even smiled, despite being completely confused by the compliment.

Peter had never referred to her as... beautiful.... 'Pretty,' sure; he had called her that many times. And he had told her that she looked nice from time to time. But never 'beautiful.'

"Now then..." Aunt May said, unintentionally interrupting the moment between the two friends and halting all conversation between the three other people in the room. "...everybody sit down and we can say grace!"

After Peter pulled back from a bewildered Christina and removed his black trenchcoat, he briefly shook Norman's hand in greeting before sitting in the second chair on the left side of the dining table. The blonde and her mother took the two seats to his right, while Mary Jane and Harry sat across from them; Norman sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling balcony doors that contained windows and Aunt May would be sitting on the other side in front of the tiny kitchen.

The elderly woman in question came over to the group with a huge turkey that she was ready to serve along with the rolls, mashed potatoes, and all sorts of food that was already on the table. "There we are..." she mumbled to herself, feeling proud that she had managed to not drop the turkey and dressing.

"Oh, it looks delicious!" Mary Jane said happily as she smiled softly.

Christina subconsciously felt her stomach rumbling with hunger since she had saved her appetite for the inevitable dinner, just as she had with every Thanksgiving. But, luckily, nobody seemed to have heard her stomach growling; if they had, they chose not to utter a word about it.

Apparently, someone had a greater appetite than she did, as Harry's father had reached his hand out towards the marshmallow yams to his left.

"Norman!" Aunt May sneered in a warning tone as she lightly smacked his right hand, making the middle-aged man glance up at her with a confused expression.

"Will you do the honors?" she added in a stern manner, giving him a pointed glare as her lips pressed into a thin line.

All Christina could notice in that moment was Norman's green eyes glaring at May with a deadpan look in them as he put his fingers in his mouth to rid them of the pieces of marshmallow that had stuck to them. The blonde then glanced down at her lap as she quietly cleared her throat to herself, feeling intensely uncomfortable at the painful silence that had filled the room.

Seconds later, she could hear the sound of the carving knife and the tongs being slashed together and that made her peek up at the sight in front of her. Norman was now smirking in Aunt May's direction as he slid the two sharp objects against the other and the sound was enough to make Christina cringe a little bit.

Missing May's firm smile, the blonde looked over at Margaret, who had an equally creeped out gaze in her eyes as she fiddled with her fingers. Her mother glanced back at her and lowered her head ever so slightly.

"What's the matter with him?" she mouthed to her daughter, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"No idea..." Christina mouthed back before staring back in Norman's direction.

What the fuck is his problem? she thought to herself incredulously. The way the older man was holding that knife reminded her of Michael Myers in those Halloween films. As a horror fan who rarely got scared by them, the sight of this alone was enough to creep her the hell out.

"Why, Peter... you're bleeding..." Aunt May spoke up with pure concern laced in her voice, breaking Christina out of her thoughts.

The blonde looked to her left to see what was wrong and, after peering at where May had been looking, she was able to see the color of ruby seeping through the bright green sleeve of Peter's formal button-up shirt. Her blue eyes widened with worry and her best friend noticed, and he placed his right hand on her arm to keep her calm, since she often tended to panic whenever he was the slightest bit hurt.

"Oh... Uh, yeah..." Peter mumbled timidly as he smiled awkwardly. "I stepped off a curb and... got clipped by one of those bike messengers...."

"Well, let me see..." Aunt May murmured in a maternal tone as she unbuttoned the left sleeve where his wrist was and everyone saw what was behind it.

There seemed to be a minor and thin slash on Peter's arm that was still bleeding just a little bit, and he hadn't patched it up before dinner. This may have been due to him not wanting to be a burden on everyone else in the room and he hadn't had time to cover for the slight wound.

"Oh, my goodness..." May said as she gasped at how horrible it looked to her, just as Christina grimaced in shock and slight disgust. "Oh, that looks awful..."

"No, it's nothing..." Peter replied, trying to comfort his aunt.

"Nothing?" Christina said in utter surprise that Peter would say that. "You're literally bleeding, Pete!"

"Chris, I'm okay," Peter assured her as he looked at her, placing his hand over hers to console her as well. "Really, I am. It doesn't even hurt that much."

"I'll get the first-aid kit," Aunt May declared as she moved away from her nephew and stepped around the table, thanking Christina and Margaret when they had scooted their chairs forward to allow her to get past them.

The blonde peered back over at the small wound on Peter's arm and glanced up at him with anxiety still in her eyes; but one nonverbal promise that he really was okay finally relaxed her, and she moved her hand under his and squeezed it as an answer, ignoring the slight fluttering of her heart in her chest.

"This is the boys' first Thanksgiving in this apartment and we are going to do things properly," Aunt May said in a louder voice for everyone to hear as she grabbed the first-aid kit off of the top of the vintage-looking white refrigerator.

"How did you say that happened...?" came Norman's trembling voice from Christina's left and she glanced at him.

The expression in his eyes was filled with utter surprise and distress and Christina noticed that his right hand was gripping the carving knife even tighter... almost as if he wanted to use it against the young man sitting less than a foot away from him. His jaw was locked tightly as he seemingly became consumed with pure rage...

The look on his face utterly terrified Christina and she felt a chill make a rough journey down the length of her spine.

"Bike messenger..." Peter answered, his eyes narrowed with perplexity. "...knocked me down."

Norman's right eye twitched briefly before he quickly set the kitchen utensils down and he suddenly stood up in a panicked and hurried manner. "Uh, if you'll excuse me, I've got to be going," he said really fast before scurrying around the table.

Harry's eyes followed his father as he grew befuddled. "Wh-Why?!" he exclaimed, since the dinner hadn't even started yet.

"Something has come to my attention," Norman said firmly as he slipped his heavy coat back on very rapidly and rushed over to the front door.

"Are you all right?!" Harry asked in an anxious voice, getting out of his chair and walking after his father.

Norman politely wished everyone well before taking off out of the front door, Harry following him not too long afterwards.

But, since the door had been left open, everyone could hear the words they exchanged, from Harry demanding that Mary Jane was important to him to Norman spouting out a specific insult about her:

"Harry, please. Look at her. Do you think a woman like that is sniffing around because she likes your personality?!"

Hearing that and the redhead's pained gasp of being offended by that statement, Christina almost instantly leapt out of her chair, ready to charge at the door to scream at the older man and no longer being afraid of facing someone of higher authority. But, before she could, both Peter and Margaret were already stopping her by gently taking a hold of both of her arms. She eventually relented and plopped down onto her chair, placing a hand over her forehead.

"A word to the not so wise about your little girlfriend," Norman continued in an exasperated tone. "Do what you need to with her, then broom her fast!" The excruciatingly loud sound of the metal gates of the elevator sliding shut ended the conversation outside of the apartment.

"Fucking bastard..." Christina mumbled to herself.

"Christina!" Margaret scolded her with a slight glare.

"I'm not sorry, Mom!" Christina defended herself. "Did you hear what he said about her?"

She was referring to Mary Jane, who seemed to be absolutely humiliated by what her boyfriend's father had said about her. This was not how she pictured the day would go but, just as she expected, luck didn't want to go her way. Just like always. But the redhead then perked up when she realized something.

Harry walked back into the apartment with a stunned expression in his eyes as he sighed to himself, and he refused to meet anyone's eyes.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, Harry," Mary Jane muttered sarcastically as she threw her napkin down and stood to her feet to grab her tan-colored coat.

"You heard?" Harry replied in a tone filled with shock, which made Christina and Mary Jane roll their eyes.

"Everyone heard that creep!" Mary Jane snapped at her boyfriend and she yanked the sleeves over her arms, a tear falling down her left cheek.

"That 'creep' is my father, alright?" Harry retorted angrily, narrowing his eyes at the redhead. "If I'm lucky, I'll become half of what he is. So just keep your mouth shut about stuff you don't understand!"

"HARRY OSBORN!" Christina screamed at the exact same time as Aunt May, who had been preparing to patch up the slash on Peter's arm. The blonde had raised to her feet once more and, this time, Margaret didn't make an attempt to stop her.

"I'm sorry, Aunt May."

And, with that, M.J. turned the door handle and walked towards the elevator across the hallway, leaving the apartment as the front door slammed shut.

"What is wrong with you?!" Christina yelled over at Harry, walking over at him with a look of pure fury in her eyes.

"Sorry, Chris, but it's none of her business what my father says!" Harry defended himself as he threw his arms into the air.

"Actually, it is her fucking business when it comes to him insulting her!" the blonde countered as her hands shook with the irritation that surged through her.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Margaret bellowed over the two young adults as she stepped in between them to break up the argument. "Calm down, okay?!" She then looked at her daughter and pointed towards the dining table; "You go sit down," she gently commanded, and the blonde listened but not before she sent another glare in her best friend's direction. Margaret then turned to Harry and pointed towards the front door; "And you go take a walk. And don't come back until you've calmed down."

Harry, although reluctantly, listened to the older woman that always felt like a mother to him and he left the apartment with a heavy sigh.

Christina walked over to where Peter and Aunt May were, the latter being frozen in utter shock at what had transpired in front of her and the former being filled with shame since he felt he had started the entire thing. The blonde noticed this and visibly calmed down.

"Aunt May, why don't I fix Peter's arm for you?" she asked the elderly woman tentatively, stepping over to her.

"Are you sure, dear?" May replied with raised eyebrows. "I can do it."

"I'm sure," Christina said with a gentle smile as she picked up the first-aid kit. "I'll take him to his room and fix it there." She then glanced at Peter and subtly nodded her head in the direction of the staircase.

Understanding the social cue, Peter simply got up from his chair and walked towards the staircase, making his way up to his bedroom. Christina followed him a few seconds later, but not before sending both May and Margaret an expression of comfort as she smiled at them. She carefully climbed each step before making it to the top and turning right to enter Peter's bedroom, seeing that he was already sitting on his mattress as he sighed to himself.

"Do you know anything about first-aid?" he asked the blonde, seeming slightly worried as he fidgeted with his hands.

"Luckily, Mom taught me all about it when I was younger," Christina replied with a playful smile as she shook her head. "Roll up your sleeve."

Peter obeyed her and rolled his left sleeve up to his elbow, wincing ever so slightly at the sting of pain that coursed through his arm. For once, his stomach didn't erupt in butterflies when Christina walked closer to him and sat down next to him while holding the kit in her gentle hands. This was maybe due to him knowing why she was next to him and it was only to fix his arm, nothing more. And he was perfectly okay with that.

"This may sting a little bit," Christina murmured as she glanced up at him, her eyebrows creased in concern.

"I'll be fine," Peter said to put her at ease, reaching to her now free left hand and squeezing it gently.

Christina's heart skipped a little as she nodded before pulling her hand from Peter's and gripping the kit; she popped it open and took out the small little bottle of alcohol and a cotton ball, pouring the awful-smelling liquid onto the ball and watching it being absorbed. She then took a deep breath and reached a shaky hand over to her friend's arm and carefully dabbed the cotton ball over the small cut.

Hearing Peter hiss through his teeth from the sharp pain, she quickly withdrew her hand and panicked even more.

"Sorry, sorry!" she cried out as she sighed a bit.

"No, Chris, it's okay!" Peter responded as he shook his head frantically. "I'm all right."

"I know," Christina said as she lowered her head with slight embarrassment. "I just thought I hurt you more than I had...."

"You didn't hurt me," Peter mumbled in an appeasing tone as he smiled at her softly. "It was just the alcohol and it stung, it wasn't you. You could never hurt me, Chris..."

Hearing those words and the serious but endearing look in his eyes made Christina calm down and feel truly at ease, and she couldn't help but smile back as she blushed just a little bit. She nodded her head as a soft chuckle slipped past her lips. "Okay..." she muttered. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

She went back to dabbing the alcohol over Peter's arm and, after she had it successfully cleaned up, she placed a thin layer of gauze over the cut and wrapped a little medical tape around it. "Alright, all done!" she declared jokingly as she giggled and smiled, relieved that she hadn't hurt her best friend even more.

But, as the room fell silent, a thought hit her mind and she paused her movements for about a minute as she contemplated saying something. A shaky sigh left her as she interlocked her fingers together tightly, her heart beginning to race out of nervousness as she realized that she was alone with Peter in his room; it had been the first time she had been alone with him in months, the last time being when she had comforted him about Uncle Ben the night after their graduation.

The thought of what had occurred between them before the dinner even started about fifteen minutes ago now plagued her brain and she narrowed her eyes in a puzzled manner. She had been absolutely confused when it had happened... when Peter had called her 'beautiful.' There was absolutely no reason he could have called her that...

Or was there?

"Peter..." she whispered to get his attention and, when she noticed him looking in her direction out of the corner of her eye, she cautiously decided to continue. "What did you mean earlier when we were downstairs... when you called me... beautiful...?"

"I thought you looked beautiful, so I decided to tell you that," Peter answered simply, almost too casually for Christina's liking.

"Yeah, but here's the thing," Christina replied almost instantly, looking directly at Peter now as she released her fingers from one another. "You've... never called me beautiful... like, ever. You've called me pretty, yes, and you've said I look nice from time to time. But never beautiful..."

"Are you serious?" Peter said with a genuinely perplexed impression in his eyes. "I've never said you were beautiful?"

"No," Christina murmured semi-shyly.

"Well... maybe I should say it more often..."

Those words startled her as she glanced up at Peter with immense surprise; at first, she thought he was just joking or was just saying that to make her feel better but, based off of the resolute look on his face, he seemed to be telling the complete truth to her and that made her feel a little stupid. He would never lie about saying something like that, he almost never joked around unless he decided not to act too serious. He almost never acted serious around Christina or Harry unless he was upset or concerned about something important.

So seeing him not upset or concerned but acting completely normal caught her off guard because of how truthful he sounded.

"Well..." she began sheepishly as she looked down at her hands, shaking her head to herself. "I appreciate it, Pete. I really do, but... I'm not that pretty."

"No, don't say that," Peter replied with raised eyebrows as he frowned. "I think you're really pretty –"

"You're just saying that," Christina said softly.

"I'm not. You are a very beautiful person, Christina... both inside and out."

Christina looked back over at Peter after hearing him say this, a skeptical look embracing her eyes. "What about M.J?" she muttered.

"What about her?" he responded.

"What –" she started before pausing and scoffing at that question. "Peter, you've always gone on about how madly in love you are with Mary Jane. Especially when you're around me. Now, why are you acting so nonchalant when I mention her when you've never done that in the past?"

"Maybe because I've been lying..." Peter suddenly said as he sighed, which made Christina's eyes widen in shock.

"You... You've been lying?" she repeated incredulously and she began to grow ever so slightly angry. "Pete, why would you lie to me about that for all of these years?"

Peter hesitated to come up with his true answer because he wanted nothing more than to spout out how he had been in love with Christina since he was five, and especially how he had only pretended to have feelings for Mary Jane. Sure, M.J. was extremely pretty but he still didn't know her that well; and, to him, personality mattered more than looks. Besides, he had only ever seen the redhead as a good friend that he had been getting to know better recently. He had only faked his feelings for her as a way to try to hide what he really felt for the blonde woman that sat next to him.

When he first met Christina when she moved to New York from Missouri with her family in 1989, the first thing he had noticed right away was her unconventional beauty. He also took note of the fact that everyone wanted to be her friend when they were in elementary school, not aware that she was the kind of girl that didn't strive to be popular. So many students followed her around the school building and tried to talk to her, but she had always brushed them off because she was more timid than Peter thought, mostly because she was a new student.

The two were in the same homeroom class and they had exchanged a few words with one another from time to time, mostly when the young boy would kindly help her with a math problem or two.

But the very moment that Christina Johnson befriended the so-called 'nerdy dork' whose name was Peter Parker, everyone stopped wanting to follow her around.

Christina was aware of how nerdy Peter was but she knew that it had added an endearing quality to him that nobody else could see. That was why she had formed a lifelong friendship with him that had never been broken.

That act of pure goodwill and tenderness made Peter's crush on her turn into unconditional love for her. But he had never said a word about it.

"I lied because I have feelings for someone else..." he finally answered, half-truthfully. "But I never wanted to say anything... I thought I would look like a fool."

The blonde's irritated stare softened almost right away at hearing Peter say that, her shoulders sagging as she smiled sympathetically. "I don't think you'd look like a fool," she assured him, shaking her head. "You wanna tell me who this mystery girl is, though?"

"Nah, I'd rather not," Peter said almost too quickly.

"Okay, that's fine," Christina said gently as she nodded her head. "You don't have to tell me. You can in your own time. I won't ask any more questions about her. But... do you want to tell me why you never mentioned lying about loving Mary Jane?"

"Yeah, I can tell you that," the young man said as his head bobbed up and down as he took a deep breath. "I never said anything about it because I thought I would seem stupid for liking this girl. I thought I would get rejected by her...."

Christina frowned as she placed her right hand on his left arm, staring at him with sadness in her eyes. "Why would you think that?" she whispered. "I think anyone would be lucky to have you, Peter...."

"I disagree but thank you, anyway..." he mumbled more to himself, but Christina could hear him and she sighed heavily. "This girl... she.... She has the sweetest heart, she's very caring and always looks out for others. She's also insanely strong and courageous, which I've always admired, and she's... she always looks invincible.... And the fact that she's incredibly beautiful is a bonus."

The blonde listened intently to every word and she smiled at the way Peter was saying them; he was really whipped for whoever he was talking about and that made her feel insanely happy for him. But there was also something else she felt in her heart, something she couldn't quite describe at first.

Peter then turned his face to look directly at Christina, staring intently into her eyes as he smiled. "She means absolutely everything to me," he told her carefully as a shaky sigh left his lips, his heart fluttering as he said those words. "I... I would die for her, to be completely honest...."

That was when Christina felt the new sensation in her heart again and her eyes grew wide with recognition; she finally knew what she was feeling. She was able to feel her heart beating about a hundred times a minute, which wasn't natural and it was stronger than she had ever felt it happening. Sure, this had happened around several guys and girls she had a slight crush on in high school, but never around him.

Oh, I'm fucked... she frantically thought to herself.

Quickly grabbing the alcohol and unused gauze and medical tape, Christina stood to her feet and closed the first-aid kit. "Um... Uh, d-don't remove the gauze until you're sure that your arm is fine," she said way too quickly, her hands trembling.

"Chris, are you all right?" Peter asked her in a worried tone of voice, the smile on his face vanishing immediately.

"I'm fine," she said swiftly as she refused to look him in the eye, her face entirely red as she took a deep but shaky breath. "I-I'm just gonna go back downstairs and eat dinner before it gets cold."

And, with that, she rushed down the staircase, trying her best to avoid Peter for the rest of the afternoon and she was lost in thought all throughout dinner. She couldn't be feeling this way for him, she just couldn't! Friends were only supposed to be that, just friends. Nothing more! She couldn't allow these new sensations to take over because she didn't want to ruin what she had with her lifelong friend of fourteen years.

But, the more she thought about it, she figured that maybe having feelings for her best friend wouldn't be so bad. She had heard stories of it being that way when she was still in high school, and it had even been that way with her mother and father before they got married and had her. Maybe it wasn't as strange as she had thought, and it was more common than she had actually observed. After all, she always said that people who were romantically involved with one another had to know each other on a deep and emotional level before anything like that happened between them.

And, right at that very moment, the blonde realized that she had been right all along.

Shit, she thought as she internally scolded herself, finally accepting defeat.

Christina had an enormous crush on Peter....

A/N: so, there we have it! the thanksgiving scene! christina is suspicious of norman and she realizes that she had a huge crush on peter!! lots of stuff happening, plot wise!

what did you think of this chapter?! did you enjoy it? did you find christina's and peter's moments adorable?! i'm not the best at writing romance so let me know if it was good!

predictions for the next chapter?

ALSO, i have made a playlist for Part One of this book on YouTube! it contains tracks of music from the first film as well as music from other movies, games, and shows such as The Handmaid's Tale, The Last of Us Part II, and the newest Halloween trilogy! if anyone would like a link, let me know and i'll private message you with one that can send you over to the unlisted playlist!

anyways, be looking forward to the next chapter!

-denbroughswife