**This follows the movies, not the comics (TASM).

Chapter 1: Expect the Unexpected

Peter Parker was fragile, even as Spiderman—the hero everybody believed was so strong. Losing his girlfriend and having her die in his arms was probably the worst moment of his life. He kept blaming himself for her death. What could he have done to save her? Should he have forced her to stay away from the Green Goblin fight? Would they have had a future if she didn't die?

He definitely didn't take her death lightly. He spent months away from being Spiderman, although he got back into it with a little inspiration from his aunt, as well as Gwen's graduation speech. But, that didn't stop him from mourning her death every day.

That all began to change when he met another girl. He told himself he would never try to move on from Gwen, but he started to spend time with this new girl. They connected well. She wasn't supposed to be a replacement for his dead girlfriend, but she did keep him company and take his mind off of Gwen's death.

Her name was Mary Jane Watson. She had beautiful, long, red hair, and was a pretty nice girl. They met shortly after Gwen's death, and became really great friends. Peter finally decided to take a chance and try to start dating again when he realized he had feelings for Mary Jane, and she had feelings for him, too.

"How much are the small cups of ice cream instead?" Mary Jane asked, staring at the worker as she waited for an answer. He told her the price, but Peter shook his head.

"You deserve the best, Mary," he told her with a smile. "I know it's not much, but you should get a large cup of ice cream if that's what you want. I wanna make you happy. The ice cream is on me."

She smiled at him and gave him a hug. Her heart was beating when he was so sweet to her. She always felt like Peter had a crush on her, but she knew not to look into it to much. When they got into deep conversations, he always told her about how much he was in love with Gwen, so she didn't want to invade on that. She knew it had been a while since her death, but she could always tell that Peter loved Gwen a lot, and she felt silly for thinking that he would like her when he was still not over his first love.

After buying the ice cream, the two good friends went outside to walk together while she ate it. He kept thinking about Mary Jane. She was so pretty, nice, and fun to be around. But then he thought about Gwen and how he believed that she was the love of his life. How could he ever move on from her?

"Do you like it?" Peter asked, looking over at her.

"Of course," she answered. "It was really sweet of you to pay for this... especially since it's a large. You're a great guy, Tiger."

"And you're a great girl!" he eagerly added, biting his lip nervously.

"Peter," she said his name in a concerned tone, "is everything okay?"

He nodded his head and answered, "Y-yeah. I was just thinking about the future, and things got a little bit weird for me."

"Thinking about Gwen, right?" Mary asked, feeling her heart sink.

"Not necessarily," he responder. "Well, kind of. But, it was mostly about you." She gave him a confused look, so he elaborated, "I always imagined a future with Gwen. I wanted to have everything with her. I wanted a life in the future with her. I always thought she was my soul mate, but then she left me... I'm not picturing that anymore. I finally feel happy, and it's because of you."

"What are you trying to say, Peter?" Mary asked nervously.

"I like you, Mary Jane," he confidently told her. "I always have, but now it's not just as a friend anymore. I'm picturing new things. Not just a future with Gwen... I'm picturing other possibilities—like a future with you."

Mary's heart began racing again. Peter Parker had feelings for her instead of Gwen Stacy? She couldn't believe she got him to stop imagining a future with Gwen. She couldn't believe he had been thinking about having a future with her! She leaned forward and kissed him passionately. Both of their hearts were racing, although Peter was thinking about someone else.

He was trying to enjoy his first kiss with Mary Jane, but he felt guilty. He felt like he was betraying Gwen by going out with Mary. He still felt like he failed Gwen. Wasn't he to blame for her death? As much as he wanted to, dating Mary Jane was wrong. He didn't stop it, though. He knew he had to stop trying to forgive himself for the death, and start trying to move on. Mary Jane was his chance to move on, so he took it.

Mary Jane was a girl that he had strong feelings for, too. She was always there for him. They had become so close that he thought it was possible that he could fall in love with her. He knew they could develop. She could have possibly been his lifelong partner. So, he took a chance, and he went for it with Mary Jane.

"Hey, Tiger!" Mary yelled, walking up to her boyfriend. She pecked his lips and said, "Glad I caught you here. You should come over later."

He smiled and said, "Yeah, yeah! I would love to. We can watch a movie together and have dinner. It'll be a nice little date."

Mary Jane furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't thinking about a small little movie date this time. She and Peter had been going out for about three months, and they still hadn't consummated their relationship. She felt like it was time, and she was trying to find a way to subtly tell Peter that she was ready to have sex. They never even talked about it (or waiting for it), which worried her.

"Just that?" Mary asked.

He nodded his head and answered, "Yeah, that's it. Is there something in particular that you wanna do, babe?"

"No, no, it's all good," she said, nodding her head. "I'm gonna go grab some coffee."

Mary Jane went over to Peter's house for their home-movie date. They ordered Chinese take-out, and then cuddled on the couch while watching rom-com movies. However, Mary was still determined to consummate their relationship that night. She felt like three months was too long already.

She cupped his cheeks and pressed a long kiss to his lips, and then ran her hands down his chest in the most suggestive way possible. He was getting the feeling that she wanted to have sex just by the way she touched him at that moment. He pulled back from her, feeling nervous. He had only slept with one girl, and that was Gwen. He wasn't sure he could sleep with Mary Jane just yet.

"Mary," he mumbled, "are you trying to—"

"Is it that obvious?" she laughed, wrapping her arms around him. "Don't you think it's time we do it, Tiger? Three months is a long time in my opinion, and we're both mature enough. It's not my first time ever, and I know it's not yours. We'll be fine."

"Three months feels like rushing to me," he told her. "I think we should wait. We should take some time before going to that level of intimacy. You know?"

"This is about Gwen, isn't it?" Mary asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

Peter was confused when he choked, "What? This has nothing to do with her, sweetie."

"Yes, it does!" Mary cried. "You don't think I'll ever be as good enough as her. You don't think of me the same way you think of her. I'm just a distraction to get your mind off of your dead love."

His eyes widened as he explained, "That's not true at all. I love you, Mary. I just don't love the idea of sleeping together so soon."

"You love me?" Mary asked, smiling.

"Hell yeah I do!" Peter exclaimed, pecking her cheek.

"If you love me, and I love you, then I think we should be able to go to the next step without it being this much trouble, Peter," Mary explained her thoughts on the situation. "Let's do this, please. I love you, too."

He smiled sadly and said, "Mary, you know I want to, but—phone call. Hold on."

"Peter?"

"Uh... yeah. Who's this?"

"It's me... Gwen Stacy."

"This isn't funny."

"It wasn't a joke."

"But... what? Y-you died! You died in my arms! I went to your funeral!"

"I'll explain everything. Meet me tonight."

"This better not be a prank."

"You hear my voice. You know what it sounds like. This is me, Peter."

"Gwen... this is impossible."

"Then see for yourself. Meet me outside of café near your house that we used to go to."

The fact that she knew that they went to that café together a lot made him believe that it was true. Either a miracle was occurring, or someone was going through a lot of trouble to pull a sick prank on him.

"I'll be there. Just wait for me. I'm leaving now."