Oh, how was I to know?

Chapter 1 - I watched it begin again

Oh to be alone. Few human beings rarely experience being truly alone. Those who do are changed forever by it. Some turn to drugs, violence and a life of crime. Others learn peace in the silence and turn it into a gift. Peter Parker was one of the people that turned the ever growing nothingness into a life of helping others.

After the disaster that had been his senior year, Peter had decided to save himself from any more pain. He'd stopped visiting MJ, no longer went to May's grave, he didn't stare at the Stark Industries website for hours longing for the days when his only concerns were making Tony proud. Not anymore.

Now he focused on being Spider-Man and trying to be Peter Parker again. He'd passed his GED's with flying colours and was now looking at colleges. MIT was a no go, both with having almost zero legal documents and also the fact that both MJ and Ned now went there. Stanford, Yale and Harvard were also out of the picture. They were all too far and too expensive, plus he wouldn't be able to patrol as Spidey anymore. Peter had settled on Columbia, NYU and Empire State. Columbia had a very low acceptance rate so that was his backup. NYU had a slightly larger acceptance rate but it was still fairly low. Empire State was a guarantee and his last resort. He'd applied about a month ago and had been accepted to both NYU and Empire State but Columbia's response was yet to arrive. Not so different from his life 6 months ago, only then he'd had his family and friends alongside him.

Moving into his apartment had been tiring. Not only had he been forced to sell most of May's possessions but he'd also gone through the fact that he had been truly alone. A few months had passed since his first night in the apartment. Now instead of blank walls, posters and pictures dotted over the paint. Fairy lights hung over his windows with May's old sewing machine lovingly sat on the left. The moth-eaten lamp on his bedside table was now fully repaired thanks to late nights and old tools. Blankets were strewn over his bed. Take out menus were stuck to his fridge alongside recipes hastily scribbled down. A table he'd found at a charity shop was pushed against the wall with two dumpster chairs. One of Peter's flannel shirts was tossed over the back after a patrol one night. A pile of books was dropped next to a radiator, most of them second or third hand. A fraying bag shoved underneath with screwdrivers falling out, always ready to fix the terrible heating.

One of the few things Peter loved about his apartment was that he didn't have to worry about people barging in. He could leave his suit on the floor and no one would bat an eyelid. There were of course many downsides but he tried to ignore them...emphasis on the 'tried'. The main downside was that his apartment's walls were paper thin. On top of his enhanced senses, Peter could hear everything within a good couple metres. Couple arguing over bills? A random hookup across the hall? 2 am music parties on the floor above? He could hear it all.

Today was a particularly noisy day. The Jackson's had just gotten back from vacation, Mrs Murry's granddaughter was visiting and the woman upstairs seemed to have no shame in her terrible singing.

Peter winced as her voice cracked once more, barely hiding a smile. Apparently, Mamma Mia was her choice of music today.

'You can dance! You can shine-' The woman's voice drifted through the ceiling, no doubt heard by his neighbours. However the sound of a radio pulled Peter's attention away from the singing.

'We have a robbery suspect heading down 597 Madison Avenue, please be advised suspect is armed and dangerous. Over.' Peter's adrenaline immediately started pumping through his veins. The night before had been fairly quiet, only a few muggings and attempted assaults that had been taken care of quickly. Nothing this exciting had happened in 12-ish hours. He immediately jumped up from his makeshift desk chair, pulling his clothes off in order to get his suit on.