Two Hours Later
10:39 P.M.
Christina's POV

The brunette stepped through the apartment door after unlocking it, feeling a little relieved that it seemed completely fine. She carefully shut it and hung her purse on the coat hanger before walking towards the living room. Seeing Sidney sitting on the couch, Christina sighed a little before plopping down on the cushions next to her. She then took a deep breath and buried her face in her hands, suppressing a yawn as her little sister stared at her out of worry.

"Everything okay?" she asked her as she placed her bookmark in the novel she was reading.

"Yeah..." Christina said, lying through her teeth. But, knowing that Sidney was aware of her lie, she let her shoulders sag. "No..."

Sidney put her book on the coffee table before moving closer, ready to offer comfort when she could. "What happened?" she replied.

"Uh, let's see..." Christina began sarcastically, clapping her hands together. "I celebrated John's accomplishments before he proposed to M.J, I danced with Peter and we almost kissed, Harry interrupted us and slapped Peter and he then destroyed our whole friendship! So, how's your night been?"

The young girl's eyes widened as she kept glancing at her older sister, feeling something close to outrage and her hands balled up into fists. "Do I need to find out where he lives?" she responded angrily. "Do I need to hurt this man for you?!"

"No, no," the brunette mumbled as she waved her hand around. "M.J. already asked that and I told her no, too. It's not necessary; besides, he was drunk and wasn't thinking clearly. Doesn't mean I'm gonna forgive him, but still..."

Sidney relaxed a little but didn't hesitate to put her arm around Christina's shoulders to pull her into a hug. "Do I need to do anything for you?" she asked timidly. "I can make something to eat, get you something to drink..."

"No, it's okay..." Christina assured her, shaking her head lightly. "I'm fine now. I was upset earlier, but I'm okay right now. I promise. It's his fault for not shutting the fuck up about Spider-Man."

"He's still bringing that up?" Sidney retorted with a sigh, rolling her eyes. She was aware of Harry's accusations of the famous hero killing his father nearly two years prior and not even she could believe that it was true. It could have had something to do with the fact that she was a pretty big fan of Spider-Man and was always impressed with how he saved innocent people every day. Of course, she wouldn't admit that, mainly due to how many times she had heard the same thing in the past.

"Yeah, and, no matter how many times I've told him to stop, he just doesn't listen," the older sibling mumbled with a sigh of her own, shrugging her shoulders. "It pisses me off whenever he won't quit... But I'm fine. Really."

Sidney nodded her head after a few moments, knowing her sister was telling the honest truth. But, perking up a little bit, she turned to look at her again. "Is Peter alright?" she asked. "You know, considering..." She then made a light motion of pretending to slap someone, and it made Christina chuckle.

"Yeah, he seemed fine..." she answered. "He's probably hurt that Harry did that to him. I hope he's okay, at least...."

"Me too," the young girl said before smirking a whole bunch. "So... you and Peter nearly kissed, huh?" she added teasingly.

Christina's cheeks flushed as she turned blood red, trying to hide her smile as she buried her face in her hands. "Oh, my God, stop!" she yelled back, giggling shyly.

"Oh, come on!" Sidney complained playfully, grinning evilly now. "Allow me to annoy you about how you and your boyfriend nearly made out just once, please!"

"Again, Peter is not my boyfriend," Christina fired back with a small glare. "And no, so please drop it!"

"NEVER!" her younger sister shouted in a sing-song tone, laughing hysterically now as she gently nudged Christina with her elbow. "Christina and Peter sitting in a tree..."

"Goodnight, Sidney!" Christina said out of nowhere as she stood up from the couch, entirely embarrassed now.

"Okay, okay, I'm done!" Sidney said truthfully with pleading eyes. "I'll stop, I swear!"

"You better..." the brunette said with a heavy sigh before sitting back down on the sofa, welcoming the comforting hug Sidney gave her right after that.

"But seriously, Chris," the younger sibling began as her laughter faded away. "If there's anything I can do..."

"I know," Christina murmured as she returned the hug with a relaxed smile. "Thanks, Sid..."

Sidney just nodded as they remained in the hug for a few minutes, just appeased at the thought that, no matter what happened to either of them, they would always have one another to rely on if either of them ever needed help. The sisters were grateful to be living together, mostly since they both could provide a shoulder to cry on if the other needed it.

While Sidney wasn't overly sappy and she only ever cried if things were seriously at stake, she did recognize every one of her older sister's moods and emotions and she could tell that Christina was in a rocky place at the moment. This was one of those rare moments where she couldn't quite detect just how she felt, but she knew she was more cheerful than upset when she had entered the apartment earlier.

"You know what I'm in the mood for?" Christina muttered out of nowhere, smiling gently.

"What?" Sidney replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Shitty jokes..." the brunette admitted with an amused grin.

The young girl leapt from the couch with a laugh as she sprinted to her bedroom to grab No Volume Too off of the nightstand. When she returned she jumped back onto the sofa with an exaggerated clearing of her throat; Sidney then opened the book slowly to a random page and looked at Christina.

"What did the green grape say to the purple grape?" she began with wide eyes filled with amusement. When Christina shrugged her shoulders in confusion, she answered the question with, "'Breathe, you idiot!'"

"Do you even get that joke?" Christina replied with both eyebrows raised.

"Nope!" Sidney mumbled before continuing. "I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. And then it dawned on me!"

"Oh, that's awful," the brunette sighed, although she couldn't contain a small giggle.

"You're awful," Sidney said with a smirk and narrowed eyes. "Why did the scarecrow get an award?"

Christina's eyes lit up and she grinned from ear to ear. "Because he was outstanding in his field," she answered proudly, crossing her arms smugly.

Sidney frowned as her moment of dramatic humor was ruined and she gently smacked Christina over the head with the book. "You bitch!" she yelled with a laugh. "Did you read this book behind my back?!"

"No, that joke's just too old," Christina simply said, smirking and feeling incredibly full of herself.

"Look who's talking!"

"I am not old!" the older woman yelled with a dropped jaw, surprised Sidney would say something like that. She found it funny, however.

"You are to me!" Sidney countered as she placed the book back on the table.

"I'll show you old!" Christina said as she got up, causing Sidney to shriek as they chased one another around the apartment for a while, which ended in the older sibling catching her as they died with uncontrollable laughter.

_____

One Hour Later
10:45 P.M.
Peter's POV

With an exhausted sigh, he swung through the city in a semi-stressed way; there was a look of despair etched into Peter's face as he frowned, the memory from a few hours ago still on his mind. He couldn't forget what had happened, mostly because of the pain it had brought him... and he would never be able to get the sadness in Christina's eyes out of his head, which was awful.

At first, the night had gone alright (with the exception of Harry and Mary Jane telling him off, although the latter apologized soon after), even if he thought that the event was somewhat boring. But he needed to do his job, as Jameson had told him to be there to take photos for the Daily Bugle. Taking that picture of Christina had been a highlight, especially since she had looked absolutely adorable when she posed for it.

Then came the moment when she had asked him to dance with her....

Peter was sure he had died and went up to Heaven when she asked that, especially with the cutest look in her eyes. He knew he couldn't say no to that face, so he had accepted the offer and danced with her and made sure he was easy with her so she wouldn't get hurt or upset. He had been mesmerized by her unbelievable beauty and the sweet kisses she had left on his cheek.

I want to marry this woman one day, he had thought as he held her close.

Then Harry ruined their intimate moment right before they had kissed and had completely broken Christina's heart.

Peter wished that he had been clear enough to beat ever living fuck out of Harry when he had called her a traitor and a bitch; it especially made his blood boil when she had been ridiculed for mourning her mother's death, which he knew was still valid of her to do. He would never forget the change of tone in her voice when she ended her friendship with Harry and how she sounded completely shattered.

That made him want to go back in time so he could not only prevent the fight that had broken out between him and Harry, but to also make sure Christina wasn't destroyed by their friend's – ex-friend's – words.

He also felt guilty for not making that final move to have his lips pressed against the brunette's. He hadn't been quick enough and he would forever hate himself for not being able to make her happy earlier. It had been her idea for them to kiss and it made Peter picture the smile on her face when they would have finally done so.

But it had been rudely interrupted.

Peter extended his right hand and flicked it forward to swing somewhere else, trying to forget what had happened earlier.

However, no webs came out of his wrist.

His heart dropping at this, he tried to shoot another web.

Nothing.

"Oh no..." he mumbled, quickly descending over a hundred feet towards the ground. He attempted to shoot another web through his left hand.

Still nothing.

"NO!" he cried out in a panic.

In a matter of seconds, Peter was laying down in a large puddle of water in a narrow alleyway. Accidentally inhaling a bunch of muddy water, he coughed and ripped his mask off, breathing clearly again as he sighed with utter frustration. After his level of oxygen was back to normal, he tried to fire a web across the alley, but they refused to come out of his wrist.

"Why is this happening to me?" he asked himself, staring at both of his gloved hands.

Finally aware that he could be losing his powers (although he didn't know why), Peter turned his head to the right to look up at the tall building next to him. If he was unable to use his webbing to swing from one location to the other, he knew he needed to test the other abilities he could do.

But that failed as well. When he tried to climb up the brick wall, it had begun to work at first, but he had eventually slipped and fell right back down to the water puddle in front of a dumpster.

What the fuck is going on?! he thought as he sighed heavily, staring ahead for a long moment as he pondered the real reason his abilities were beginning to fade – seemingly – out of nowhere.

_____

Eight Days Later
August 25th, 2004
6:15 P.M.
Christina's POV

Entering the theater, the brunette woman stared around the lobby once more in amazement; she was even more astonished by the new decorations in front of the auditorium, from the paintings of landscapes and characters in The Importance of Being Earnest to the eighteen-hundreds type of look the whole room had.

Christina smiled as she, once again, became entranced with the beauty of the whole place. She had to give it to the set designers of the production once again since they did an immaculate job like they had the last time she attended a performance of the play.

"Looks great, doesn't it?" asked John from beside her, which reminded Christina that they were attending the play together for a friend's night out.

"It really does," she told him in return with a big grin on her face. "Thanks, again, for giving me a ride."

"It's no problem," John replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "It helps that we were both free tonight. I'm sure M.J. will be happy to see us."

"Oh, for sure," Christina mumbled with a nod of her head.

Christina and John had attended the additional showing of the play Mary Jane was in so they could surprise her; she had no clue they were going to be there, especially since she thought they were both working that night. While John had willingly given his shift at work to someone else, Christina had taken a temporary leave from the Daily Bugle to get her life somewhat back in order. After that night at the planetarium, she just didn't have a single ounce of motivation to go in that building for eight hours.

Luckily, Jameson had completely understood after witnessing what happened that night. He told her to take as much time as she needed before considering coming back.

"Focus on yourself, kid," he had told her over the phone the morning after. "I'll pay you regardless."

"No, Jonah, that isn't necessary," Christina had politely protested.

"No, I insist," Jonah had replied. "I'll pay you because I'm sympathetic. Whenever you're ready to come back in, the Bugle will welcome you with open arms."

Christina decided she would go back Tuesday and start anew like nothing ever happened. She was finally getting a hold of herself again, especially considering that she had gone to that appointment with a counselor at her college three days prior.

Going into that office and talking to the counselor for a straight hour seemed to have lifted an impossible weight off of the woman's shoulders. It was something she desperately needed after so much time of putting that off, and it was mostly since this therapist wasn't like others. She had actually been a laid back and understanding person that seemed to know what it was like going through grief.

The therapist had told Christina a story about how she had lost her grandmother five years ago and how she felt as though she had lost all hope. She had lived with that grandparent her whole life, not even knowing her own parents, so that made the loss ten times more difficult.

"I felt as though I couldn't go on," the counselor had told Christina. "But I talked to someone about it. And it helped. It really did. You've already done the hardest part and that's coming here. It gets easier, Chris."

Since then, Christina's outbursts started to become less extreme and the panic attacks didn't occur as often. Once again, with encouragement from her counselor, she began weaning off of the alcohol and medication; she would only have wine if it was either a special occasion or if she wanted to celebrate an accomplishment.

And she had done just that the day before. Christina had completed all of her hours of internship in order to obtain her MSW degree in social work, making her one of the youngest students in NYU to be eligible enough for that recognition (as she was only just beginning Junior year). She was now set to be interviewed in two weeks by the Mount Sinai Health System in order to get her dream career to take off like she always wanted. She was incredibly excited and had even allowed Michael and Allyson to take her, Sidney, and Aidan to a celebratory dinner that night.

While there, the brunette (while still not having forgiven them) had actually maintained small talk with the two of them. It had started off extremely awkward at first, but Sidney had helped with that when it came to her sarcastic humor. Regardless, even though she got along with her father ever so slightly that night, she still didn't have it in her heart to allow him to make everything right after what he had done to her. She still somewhat hated him; Allyson was easier to forgive now that she recognized that it wasn't entirely her fault that everything happened, but it was way more difficult to be understanding of Michael.

Unbeknownst to her, Michael completely understood her struggle of forgiving him and, at that point, he didn't even ask for her forgiveness. He knew he didn't deserve something like that after what he did to her and Margaret; he had deep regrets of everything he caused and especially what he had said to her at his ex-wife's funeral. He should have just left her alone but he knew he wanted Sidney and Aidan to have a part in his oldest child's life, so that was one of the reasons he came back. But he also wanted to have a part in watching Christina achieve great things, despite what he did being unforgivable.

He knew that she would probably hate him forever but he still wanted to offer a caring and helping hand every once in a while. He knew he didn't truly mean what he said at the funeral, mostly since it was his anger that was talking. He was now aware that he had taken Margaret's and Christina's love for him for granted and he would always despise his own existence for doing that to them.

They didn't deserve that, he had thought. If I were still with them, I could have protected both of them that night....

Michael did prepare himself for the inevitable time where Christina would tell him to just leave her alone for good. And he would listen, because he was now putting his children's wishes above his own...

Christina broke herself out of her thoughts by turning to John and tapping him on the shoulder. "I'm going to go upstairs and look around," she told him. "I heard they have an art gallery up there."

"Okay, I'll just go find where I'm sitting," John replied with a friendly smile, allowing Christina to go wherever she needed to.

Gathering up the skirt of her red dress, the young woman carefully climbed up the stairs as she politely pushed her way through the guests and attendees. After picking up a paper packet from one of the ushers that contained information about each character, Christina entered the art gallery and stared at all of the paintings with wonder in her eyes. She stared at all of the artwork as a smile grew on her face, mostly since she liked to paint on canvases from time to time. In reality, she had a soft spot for stuff like this, and she admired the dedication that was put into each one of them.

She even complimented the painters that stood by each canvas, which they greatly appreciated. With a grin planted on her features now, she watched each painter present the backstory of each character in the artwork for fifteen minutes before exiting the room when it was over.

She knew this was her second time seeing this play, but she was more excited than ever to watch it again.

As Christina walked across the balcony while a really old version of Blue Danube played throughout the room, she noticed that there were even more people in the crowded lobby downstairs. With raised eyebrows, she nearly took her first step down the staircase when she paused. A particular person stood out to her, and she tilted her head out of slight confusion.

After a few moments, however, a tiny smile touched her lips as she stared down at the person, incredibly shocked and happy.

He's actually here, she thought joyfully.

_____

Peter's POV

He pushed his glasses further up his nose as he looked towards the auditorium doors, anticipating his first viewing of Mary Jane's play. Peter was currently making up for the time he didn't show up over a week ago and was lucky to have caught a surprise additional performance at the same theater.

This time, though, he didn't have his responsibilities of being Spider-Man preventing him from enjoying life for once.

Peter had thrown the suit away five days prior to this, completely giving up the daunting task of balancing his regular life with that of a superhero's. He just couldn't bring himself to do something like that anymore, especially with the stress of everything weighing down on him (Aunt May's inevitable eviction from her home, the guilt of Christina being hurt the week before, and the struggle of maintaining a freelance job and going to school all at once) draining him of his abilities one by one.

He just wanted a life of his own now and, although he still felt regret for not saving people from time to time, Peter Parker felt free.

He was now just a normal guy doing normal things and he was happy about it. He would probably return to being Spider-Man when he got his life straightened out, but he just wanted to relax for the first time in over two years. And, damn it, he was going to do just that!

Peter was about to walk into the auditorium to find his seat when a voice stopped him.

"Peter?!"

It was louder than normal, so it must've been to get his attention from far away; hearing the familiar voice, he turned his head to the right to see who was calling out to him. He didn't see anyone he distinctly recognized at first, although he caught a glimpse of a beautiful woman at the top of the staircase that he thought he knew before glancing away.

Wait, Peter thought, bringing his gaze back to the staircase. His jaw nearly dropped when he saw who was actually standing on the top stair and he felt his heart begin slamming against his chest as he stared at Christina.

He had no comprehensible idea how she could get more beautiful each time they happened to run into one another (he hadn't expected her to be there). Christina was already perfect to him but she still managed to look even more like an angel every day, which he knew would end up killing him one day. At that moment, Peter found himself unable to concentrate on anything else going on in the room... especially when she looked like that.

The love of his life was wearing a crimson red dress that reached her feet and that even led to a semi-lengthy train that spread across the few inches of floor behind her. She looked straight out of the late eighteen-hundreds, especially with how her brown hair (although he could see a little bit of blonde coming back at the roots) was pinned, curled, and tied up into a fancy bun. Her face was adorned by a medium amount of concealer and blush, a single layer of mascara, and ruby-colored lipstick that made her look more elegant than usual.

Peter thought Christina looked absolutely breathtaking...

His dumbfounded expression turned into an affectionate smile when he saw Christina slowly walk down the stairs and he even noticed that she was blushing, which he found too freaking cute. His heart softened at her adorable actions as he refused to take his eyes off of her; it was as if she were the only person in the room with him and he would take every chance to admire her if he could.

Peter chose to walk towards the bottom of the staircase to meet her there, wanting to make it up to her after not showing up to the play last time. He was really hopeful, especially when he saw the cheerful and shy grin on the woman's face.

His heart then skipped a few beats when her expression twisted from one of happiness to astonishment that he was even there. He had no idea that the change was from the loving gaze that was fixed solely on her, which was sending a billion butterflies all around her stomach as she stared back.

When Christina reached the bottom step, pausing directly in front of Peter and briefly towering over him, he beamed as he gently took her right hand and raised it to his lips. He placed a delicate and lingering kiss on her skin before pulling away and looking back up at her.

_____

Christina's POV

God, I want him to look at me like that forever, the brunette thought as she shivered at the feeling of Peter's lips on her hand. Christina felt her stomach somersaulting at the expression on his face when he looked at her, which made her never dare to break her stare. She could sense her face flushing as she peered back at him, her face frozen in amazement at the thought of how sweet the man in front of her was.

"Hi..." she murmured shyly, feeling entranced by her love for him at that moment.

"Hi," Peter replied with a grin as he squeezed her hand gently. "You look incredible tonight, Miss Johnson..."

An angelic giggle slipped past her lips as she smiled right back, still gazing at him longingly. "Thank you..." she said timidly, her entire face swarmed with red as she grew a little embarrassed, especially when she began to admire Peter in return. "You look really handsome, Mr. Parker," she then added flirtatiously, not even caring about how casually he was dressed and that he was wearing glasses for the first time in over two years; she still saw him as perfect.

Peter blushed furiously as he chuckled sheepishly, completely flattered by the compliment and now expecting it whatsoever. "Thanks," he mumbled nervously.

Gaining control over his emotions again, he let Christina's hand go and placed his arm out to her so he could politely escort her into the auditorium. "Come on," he murmured with an endearing smile.

Christina, aware that the play would begin in around twenty minutes, nodded curtly and slipped her arm around where Peter's elbow was. She smirked as she stepped down to the floor and walked alongside him, just so unbelievably happy that he was here with her. It would be a hundred times better that she could finally watch the play with him like he had promised a few weeks prior, and it was to the point that she had nothing else to say because she was mesmerized.

She was forced to break herself out of that, however, when she glanced over to the doorway of the auditorium and saw John talking to one of the other attendees. She smiled a bit and reached out with her free hand to tap him on the arm. "John?" she mumbled to get his attention.

Her friend spun around after ending his conversation with the other person and he looked at her with slight puzzlement in his eyes. "Yeah?" he replied.

"I don't think M.J. or I ever introduced Peter Parker to you," she said kindly, gesturing to her crush with a hopeful smile gracing her features.

"It's nice to meet you," Peter said kindly, extending his hand, which John firmly shook.

"Right, Peter Parker," John said with a smile of his own. "Chris here has told me a lot about you. It's great that you could show up."

Peter simply nodded his head, becoming aware of Christina looking in his direction; this made him want to look back at her and, if he had, he would have absolutely cherished the beam on her face as she stared at him with an expression of admiration in her blue eyes. But, not wanting to be rude, he smiled back at John. "Yeah, I'm glad I could finally take some time off to make it."

John, who had noticed the look on Christina's face after the brief exchange ended and he subtly nudged her to break her eyes away from Peter. Once she darted her gaze over to him, he raised his eyebrows and smirked at her in a way to tell her that she was being so obvious with her affection for the man next to her.

"Shut up," she mouthed in return as her head instantly lowered and she blushed even more.

John just laughed before telling them that he hoped they enjoyed the play and walking into the room in front of all of them.

Peter, who had watched the whole exchange play out, glanced over at Christina with a raised eyebrow of his own. "What was that about?" he asked with an amused smile.

"Nothing," Christina said quicker than normal, trying to hide how embarrassed she looked as she stared straight ahead.

But Peter knew right then and there what it had been about....

_____

Three Hours Later
9:44 P.M.

"I already thought it would be great, but that was phenomenal!" Peter said to Christina with an impressed grin on his face.

"I told you!" Christina retorted with a soft giggle, smiling as well. "It was somehow better to witness the second time... probably because I knew what would happen this time."

Peter had offered to walk Christina home from the theater, which she had kindly accepted before informing John; he had said it was alright since he would probably be taking Mary Jane out to dinner anyway. Besides, he didn't want to intrude on the night the two lovebirds in front of him were having (even if it was purely accidental), so he left them to mind their own business while he went to find his fiancé backstage.

So, the two were now making their way towards Christina's apartment after getting off the bus not too far from her street. They were just discussing the play and how much they loved it, trying their hardest not to stare at each other for too long; the atmosphere was slightly awkward after that night at the planetarium and they were a lot more shy around one another than usual.

Peter had removed his glasses during the walk, which somewhat puzzled Christina as she thought back to the first time she had ever seen him without said glasses.

Did he get rid of those contacts he mentioned? she thought, a little confused.

She decided to shrug that topic off for the time being, as it wasn't really important at the moment.

Peter, meanwhile, was a little lost in his own thoughts as he made sure Christina stayed close so nothing would happen to her. First off, he was immensely happy to see that there was a smile on the woman's face throughout the entire duration of the play. He hadn't seen her grin like that in a long time and it made his heart soften to see that she looked genuinely joyful and better than she was the previous week. It made him glad to know that she seemed to actually be alright.

The afternoon after what had happened, he had instantly made his way over to Harry's penthouse to finally confront him for what he did. He was still absolutely furious for the words his ex-friend had said to Christina's face and he was finally doing something about it unlike the night before.

"I don't want you to ever go near Christina again!" he had said to Harry, filled with rage because of what happened.

"And why is that?" Harry had fired back, still a little tipsy after the planetarium. "Because she needs to be protected every five seconds?"

"No, because you hurt her!" Peter had said, narrowing his eyes at him. "You may have hurt her more than her own father did. And I'm not gonna let you get away with that."

"What's gonna happen if I choose to not stay away from her?" Harry had asked, testing Peter as he tried to intimidate him.

But Peter wasn't about to be scared of him, and he had even gotten up in his face. "Don't come within fifty feet of her or I will personally kill you myself," he threatened before leaving the apartment right there.

And it seemed as though he had worried Harry enough for him to not even try to talk to Christina, as she wasn't upset about anything at the moment. This relieved Peter, as all he wanted was to see her be happy and for nothing to ruin her days and nights; it always warmed his heart to see her smile about anything and so he relaxed at the thought that she was okay for the time being.

"Peter?"

"Yeah?" he mumbled, breaking out of his thoughts to look at her.

"I said I have some good news to tell you," Christina spoke up with a cheerful expression in her eyes.

"Oh, what is it?" Peter replied with raised eyebrows, curious now.

"Um, well... I finished my internship hours at the university to get that degree in social work," she said with a huge grin. "I'm set to be interviewed for an actual job in two weeks."

Peter paused for a moment as he also began to smile. "Really?" he responded. "That's awesome, Chris!" He then pulled the woman into a celebratory hug and they both laughed happily, and his heart fluttered when she embraced him in return. He was so incredibly happy for her at that moment because that meant that her dreams were finally coming true and that her career was taking off.

"Thanks!" Christina said timidly with a shy smile. "I appreciate that."

"I'm so happy for you!" Peter said joyfully, pulling back from the hug and taking Christina's hands into his own. "I can't believe you got the degree this early, but I'm proud of you. I told you that you could do it!"

Christina nodded as she blushed a little bit, remembering that day a year ago when Peter had motivated her to keep pushing towards that degree in social work. It was the way he had encouraged it that kept her going and she was immensely glad that she was finally taking off towards even bigger dreams.

"I know," she murmured, her face a little redder now. "I appreciate you for supporting me all the way there. I couldn't have done it without you."

Peter smiled back as he gazed at Christina, pure love filling his eyes. "But you still did it," he replied gently. "I knew you could do it."

The two stared at each other for a long time, not knowing what to do next as they admired one another. They both knew that one of them had to make a move at one point but, while Peter was more than willing to pursue a relationship with her now, Christina was still a little frightened. She personally wanted to wait until she was entirely okay to try anything with him and it seemed that she was getting closer to that point, which made her hopeful.

I just hope he's okay with that, she thought.

What she didn't know was that Peter was entirely patient and was alright with waiting for Christina to be happier. He didn't want to pressure her but he also wanted her to know that he would still be here and that he wouldn't be going anywhere. He completely understood her struggles as he knew what the grieving process was like and he made sure to always be there for her from now on, mostly since he felt as though he hadn't done enough to ensure that she was happy.

His mind went back to when they were watching the play, and how they had been holding hands the entire time. Mary Jane had even noticed them in the audience and nearly broke character because she was so glad that they were there together. He also remembered when Christina had shown him the props and paintings; he had said that he was glad she was there so he wouldn't be lost on all of that information, which made her laugh before he kissed her forehead. He would never forget the gasp that left her at that and how it had made him smile.

"I have to go..." Christina murmured, bringing Peter back to reality.

He nodded before reluctantly releasing her hands from his grasp since they were outside of Christina's apartment now. However, he did lean down and leave a peck on her cheek, smiling at the blush that spread across her face afterwards. "Be safe, alright?" he whispered, his eyebrows scrunched together out of slight worry.

"I will," she replied with a soft smile. "You, too..."

I love you, she thought.

Picking up a bit of the skirt of her dress, Christina then walked towards the front doors of the apartment building, the train of the gown trailing behind her ever so slightly. When she reached said doors, she glanced over her shoulder to see Peter still standing on the sidewalk, likely making sure she got inside safely. She grinned as she waved goodbye to him, and she entered the building to spend the rest of the night with her little sister.

Peter had placed his glasses back on his face in the meantime to see Christina more clearly as she walked inside. He beamed once he was assured she was safe, relieved that she was perfectly fine for now. He also examined how adorable she looked in that moment, and he wished that she remained that way for the rest of her days.

Once the glass doors of the apartment building closed behind Christina, Peter finally began to take the long journey back to his own apartment.

I love you, he thought.

A/N: another scene edit! i hope you guys like it!

so things are going really well for christina now! she's seeking therapy, her career is taking off!

it won't last long...☹️

ANYWAYS, thoughts on this chapter? i know it was a little shorter, but i hope that's okay.

did you like the scene between christina and sidney? what about when sidney pulled the joke book out again?

peter has temporarily lost his powers, which is a shame...

what about the scene with peter and christina on the staircase? if you've seen Titanic, you'll get the reference! what about when he walked her home?

predictions for the next chapter? warning: i would grab even more tissues.

i would say be looking forward to the next chapter, but i don't know if i can this time...

-denbroughswife