I was being honest with May about everything and saw no need to stop. “I flirt a lot and I push it a little too much, just because seeing a pretty woman's happy or embarrassed face when they know I'm interested, even if it never goes anywhere, makes me feel warm inside. I know they like it, too.”

“B-Ben... you...” May paused and gave me an odd look. “Do you do that with me?”

“You were the first and clued me in on how much I like doing it.” I said and she looked surprised again. “Having dates with you every night are the best times of my life so far, even if you never think of them as real dates.”

“Ben...”

“Taking care of you and seeing your happy smile makes all of my efforts worth it. I know I tease you sometimes and I'm sorry if that embarrasses you; but, your smiles are like the clouds parting and I'm getting to see a bright sun for the very first time. It's very addicting.”

May looked stunned and her mouth opened and closed several times, even though no words came out.

“I'll never do more than flirt, because you deserve to be respected for accepting me into your life, even though you knew I was a complete stranger.” I said and turned my head to look directly at her. “That's why you didn't tell me about the pill's full effects, isn't it? You wanted to ask me who I am?”

“Y-yes.” May admitted.

“My name is Benjamin. Ben to almost everyone. Benji to my lovers.” I said and she blushed. “I don't have any here, so no one's called me that yet.”

“Ben, why...”

“I can't be Peter. I can't. I tried. It was so... frustratingly meek. I can't be that. I can't even pretend to be that. I'm Ben and I'm going to change the world.” I said with conviction.

“H-how?”

“I'm designing a new security system. It uses motion sensors, cameras, and a deploying mechanism that will capture anyone that sets it off.” I said and she looked shocked again. “I won't have the resources to make a prototype until I get back to school. I need access to some old cell phones that I'll ask the students to donate to a good cause, the mechanical engineering and robotics labs for parts, and the library to read the rest of the computer books they have.”

“Oh, my god.” May whispered. “Those are the patents you want to file?”

I nodded. “If I can get it to work, it will revolutionize business protection and their insurance rates will drop to almost nothing.” I sat up and smiled at her. “The system should pay for itself within the first week in the higher crime areas. It will also make us insanely rich practically overnight.”

May was once again too surprised to speak.

I looked at the clock and realized I had to go. I stood up and changed my clothes into my work outfit.

May didn't say anything until I grabbed the backpack with my safety gear in it. “Where do you think you're going?”

“I have to go to work.” I said and motioned to the clock. “The guys depend on me to clear the area for the morning.”

“Ben, you can't go anywhere while under the effects of the medication.” May said.

“It's okay. I've got a handle on it now.” I said and put on the backpack. “I'll be back early.”

“Ben, you can't go. Doris said Adrian gave you the night off.”

I gave her a pointed look. “You will wash and change for bed and you will wait for me on the couch like you always do. We'll cuddle and watch television, maybe snack on some popcorn, and we're going to enjoy the evening.”

“Ben! You are not leaving!” May said sternly and stood up to stop me.

I cupped the sides of her face with my hands and her eyes widened. “You are the most important woman in my life right now. I'm going to take as much time as I can to spend it with you, before I get too busy with the rest of my life to enjoy the important things.”

“Ben...”

“I have responsibilities now and I can't ignore them, just because I had a bump on the head.” I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Make yourself look even prettier for me and I'll be back as soon as I can.”

May blinked her eyes at me and looked surprised, because my distracting words had worked. I stepped around her and ran down the stairs and left the apartment before she realized she could still stop me. I used the stairwell and ran down them easily, as if they were in a straight line and not different flights at all, and left the building in a great mood.

The feeling of freedom filled me even more than it usually did and I ran down the street towards the bus stop. I didn't stop there, though. I felt like running and I did so. I ducked into a small alley and used the close buildings like stepping stones and hopped from one to the other six times and leapt out of the alley and landed on top of the building on the right.

I had to stifle a laugh at being able to cheat at climbing a building like that. I took off my backpack, quickly slipped on my dark clothing and my web shooters, my improvised mask, and put my backpack back on.

Then I ran.

Just like the stairs, I ran like there were no differences in the buildings that were in front of me. Height, distance, shape, it made no difference to my current state of mind. I had given myself over to my spider-sense completely without realizing it and I leapt off of a fifteen storey building that was at the end of a long row... and there was no building for me to land on.

The street was double-wide with four lanes of traffic as well, and I didn't panic as I soared through the air without a care in the world. My hand twitched as I dropped towards the pavement and a webline shot out in a perfect arc and snagged the top of a streetlight. I grabbed on with both hands and lifted my feet to give myself a lot of momentum for the downswing.

My sneakers almost scraped the pavement as I slipped between two parked cars and pulled hard on the webline. I swung out and up before I let go at the optimum point of the arc and snapped my hand to the side to make the webline spring back to the streetlight and wrap around it to disappear from normal sight.

I kind of floated through the air and shot another webline using my other hand and snagged another streetlight. I used my momentum and pulled hard once more to swing up from street level and back up to rooftop level. I let the webline go and landed gently on top of a shorter building and stopped moving.

I turned back to look at the sheer distance that I had covered with just two web swings, and it was just over half a block of practically empty space. I had done it without thinking consciously and let my brain and body handle it automatically. I had also skipped a couple of streetlights and only used the two that were necessary.

I chuckled at the sight, because the weblines I had used were completely wrapped around the tops of the streetlights and you couldn't see them unless you were looking for them. They would dissolve away after an hour and no evidence of my passing would be left at all. I nodded and turned in the right direction and ran for the edge of the roof.

I leapt up and onto the next building to get more height and continued on until I needed to cross an extra wide street. I would use a webline and pull myself across if I couldn't make the jump unassisted and if there was a much taller building in the way, I would leap off to the side, use a webline, and swing around to land on the next building.

I ended my rooftop adventure on the building next to the one we were deconstructing and let my spider-sense tell me if there was anything down there for me to be careful of. I felt the slight tingle of a camera... no, two cameras. They had crossed sightlines over the dump truck and the end of the alleyway.

I backtracked to the next building and climbed down, took off my dark outer clothing, and walked around the building to go to the front door of the one the salvage company was tearing apart. I entered and locked the door again and went to the second floor. There was only a small amount of debris there, so I went up to the sixth floor and put on my safety gear, except for the helmet.

I made a point to rub near the huge bump on my forehead in front of the hidden camera and left the hardhat in my backpack. I knew I was breaking one of the safety rules; but, I was injured and it would give me a medical excuse to not wear protective headgear that would actually harm me instead of protecting me. Of course, I was on an adrenaline high with a chaser of painkiller, so I didn't bother trying to take things slow at all.

I cleared out the place in barely half the time I normally would, probably because I didn't bring a lunch to eat. There was no point in pretending I was exhausted for fifteen minutes before going back to work like I usually did. I dumped everything into the dump truck, checked it for debris and damage, and locked the building up once more.

I went to the closest alleyway and donned my dark clothing and mask once more, climbed up to the roof, and looked out over the part of the city I could see. I would finish modifying my suit tonight after spending time with May, then I would get some sleep. I had work tomorrow and I was sure that Adrian would give me a hard time about not wearing a hard hat.

Hopefully, the bump would be smaller as my accelerated healing took care of it. I wasn't going to take any more of those pain pills and I wouldn't try faking it, either. It seemed to dull my mind, even in the small amount that my body managed to metabolize, because it had altered my spider-sense that had warned me I would be in danger if I took it.

I looked down at my web shooters and looked back at the city. Soon. I thought and smiled. Soon.

I took several steps back and then ran and jumped. I landed on the next building's roof and kept going. My new method of travel was almost three times faster than using the bus routes and I didn't want to waste any more time getting home, besides the quick stop I had to do to pick up some powder coat paint.

I barely accepted the change from the clerk before I ran out of the store and ran down the alley. I put my mask on again before I climbed up the side of the building to continue my way home. I had a pretty woman waiting for me there and if my guess was right, she would have scrubbed her face completely clean of any traces of make-up, because of what I said to distract her before I left the apartment.

That thought made me laugh and I continued to run and leap across roofs to get back home, with an occasional web swing when necessary. I landed near my apartment building, climbed down, took off my concealing clothing, and entered the building before I ran up the stairwell to the apartment.

When I saw May's completely bare face and her robe was wrapped tightly up to her neck, I walked over to her and gave her cheek a kiss without getting her dirty.

“Thanks for taking my advice!” I said and laughed as I ran up the stairs.

“No, I didn't!” May shouted after me.

I went into the bathroom, stripped off, and hopped into the shower. I was cleaned up ten minutes later, dried off, had my things stashed back in my room, and went downstairs.

“Ben...” May started to say.

“I'm fine.” I said and danced a little jig.

“Your body burned through it faster because you were working?” May asked.

“More than likely.” I said and scooped her up into my arms, swung her around, and then hopped onto the couch with her on my lap.

“BEN!” May gasped.

I laughed and gently pushed her off my lap to sit her beside me. “You're going to sweat if you stay bundled up like that.” I said and slid down slightly as I put her arm over my shoulders. “Not that I mind. You always smell nice.”

“Ben, you... why...”

“I told you. I'm going to enjoy the little things while I can.” I said and pointed to the remote. “Go ahead and pick something. It doesn't matter what.”

May's arm tightened on my shoulders, then she pulled on the tie around her waist with her free hand and pulled open her robe to reveal she was wearing thick flannel pyjamas.

I lifted my head from her shoulder and gave them a pointed look before I looked at her face. “Really? That's what you wear to discourage me from complimenting you?”

May sighed. “It's not working?”

“They're soft and comfortable, which means that you have to be wearing something skimpy under them so that as much fabric as possible can touch you.” I said and she blushed a little.

“How do you know I did that?” May asked.

“I know you.” I said and put my head back on her shoulder. “You wear lacy things under your clothes to make yourself feel pretty, even though no one else would suspect that you do.”

“Ben.” May whispered. “You shouldn't know about things like that.”

“It's kind of hard not to, because I accepted you into my life completely, just like you accepted me. There's nothing you could do or say that would surprise me.”

May turned on the television and changed the channel to what she wanted to watch. “What if I told you that I never shave anything?”

“The Sasquatch is one of my favorite urban legends. It's nice to have confirmation that it exists.”

“BEN!” May gasped and I laughed. She glared at me for a second before she started laughing, too.

*

Adrian watched the footage replay and he was having a hard time connecting it with what he knew about people being hit on the head. “Doris, can you explain this for me?”

Doris walked over to lean on his shoulder and watched Ben utterly destroy large pieces of concrete and then shovel like a demon before he flung the wheelbarrow around like it weighed nothing.

“He's going to be feeling that tomorrow.” Doris said and chuckled. “Unless he takes another painkiller.”

Adrian's eyes widened and he understood. “Damn kid. That's another reason to take the night off.”

Doris kissed his cheek. “How far back would you fall in the schedule if you had to clean up in the morning?”

Adrian didn't even have to think about his answer. “We would lose about half a day, which would push things back even further if Ben doesn't show up tomorrow morning for work.”

“He will.” Doris said and closed the file, then turned off the laptop. “If he defied May by going to work when he knew you gave him the night off, he's not going to skip an entire day.”

Adrian nodded and let his wife lead him to their bed. She was in a good mood today and he didn't have to ask why. Ben could have been seriously hurt and Adrian had specifically driven her back to the hospital to give him his backpack, just to check on him. The relief on her face when she came back to the car had told him all he needed to know. Liz had a similar look on her face, too.

“Bite my earlobe, baby.” Doris whispered and she moaned as he did so and entered her from behind.

They both liked it when she was more vocal and the soundproofing in the walls ensured that their daughter didn't hear what they were doing.

“H-harder! F-f-fuck me harder, Addy! HARDER!” Doris yelled with pleasure as he picked up the pace.

*

Mary Strickland laid in bed and she didn't know what to do. She was worried about Ben and she had tried calling the hospital after she arrived home after school and the receptionist wouldn't give out patient information. She had also tried calling Ben at home before supper and there was no answer, which meant they were still at the hospital.

She was just the receptionist at the high school and she shouldn't be this emotionally invested in one of the students. He was a flirt and a tease, and he had been so lost at first. She had helped him a lot more than she was ever required to, and she didn't regret it. He was a nice young man and he was grateful. He also understood how much she had done for him.

Mary picked up her cell phone again and looked at the time. She shook her head, because now it was much too late to call. If they were home, she would possibly wake them up. If they weren't at home, she would become even more worried. She let out a sigh and started to put the phone down when it beeped at her. She pulled it towards her face to read the text from a number she didn't recognize.

'It's Ben. I'm sorry I worried you. I'm fine. No concussion. Can you let the staff know?'

'Ben? How did you get my number?'

'I stole it from your desk when you weren't looking.'

Mary was surprised by that and quickly typed a response. 'When did you do that?'

'On pain pills. Head feels fuzzy. Can't answer valid questions I don't want to answer.'

Mary chuckled. 'Oh? Then you won't mind proving that.'

'How?' Ben sent back.

'Tell me something you wouldn't say in public.' Mary sent with a smile.

'I can't wait to hear another great story from you, now that I'm not dating Liz.'

Mary caught her breath and felt herself grow damp from remembering that orgasm after dry humping his very, very hard erection. 'Don't joke about that.' She sent and her hand went right between her legs.

'I asked you before why you keep thinking I'm joking.' Ben sent.

'We can't. I can't. It can't happen.' Mary sent back as her other hand rubbed herself through her panties.

'I know. I'm just letting you know that when I graduate, I'm going to bend you over the receptionist counter and show everyone how much I like you.'

“Oh, god!” Mary gasped and soaked her panties. She rubbed her fingers around and felt the satisfying wetness as she typed with her free hand. 'Damn you, Ben. Damn you.'

'Would you be angry if I said I was jerking off right now?' Ben asked her.

“Oohhhh.” Mary moaned and had another orgasm. She had to take several breaths before she could type again. 'Yes, you pervert!'

'Oops! I just made a mess because of you. Gotta go. Bye!'

“Ben!” Mary gasped and had another orgasm. She closed her eyes and let the feeling linger for several moments before she looked at her phone again. Her eyes widened at the picture of boxers with a large tent pole and a wet white spot. “Such... a huge... pervert.”

Mary's hand started moving again and she would never know it was spilled web fluid and not what she assumed it was. Not that it mattered. She didn't get to sleep for quite some time after that.