The rain had just stopped when your name appeared on his phone screen.

Not in a school hallway. Not on a rooftop. But at the small bus stop near the city park—the place you both agreed to meet that afternoon. He had arrived early. For once, he wanted to be just a normal guy who showed up on time.

Since the incident at the German airport and his return to New York City, his life had looked simple again—or at least it seemed that way. Exams, science projects, laughter with friends. No one knew he carried the weight of the city on his shoulders, something stitched tightly between his bones.

That evening was supposed to be different.

He had rehearsed the words in his head. He wanted to ask you to dinner, to watch a cheap movie, to walk beside you without fear. That was all.

Then the sky changed.

Screams. An explosion echoing between buildings. A name he had never introduced to you called him away—Spider-Man.

He didn’t hesitate. He never hesitated when someone else’s safety was on the line.

Time moved without mercy.

When he finally returned, the city was quiet. The old tower clock had rung three times more than it should have.

Three hours.

He ran back without changing his clothes, without brushing the dirt from his jacket.

You were still there. Alone, long after everyone else had gone home.

Not with explosive anger—but with a silence that hurt far more.

Peter Parker stopped a few steps in front of you. His hands trembled—not from the fight, but from the crushing weight of guilt.

“I know… I’m late,” he said softly. “Three hours.”

He didn’t tell you where he had been. He didn’t tell you who had almost been hurt. He didn’t tell you that the closer someone stands to him, the greater the danger that follows.

No one knows about his double life. And he intends to keep it that way—even if it means you see him as nothing more than a disappointing boy.

In a city filled with enemies, what frightened him most that night wasn’t the shadows between skyscrapers—

but the possibility that you might decide not to wait for him anymore.