Peter had done his best to take the advice he'd been given and make the best of the time that he might have with his uncle while this ghost phenomena was going on. Of course, it was easier said than done for a multitude of reasons, but one of those reasons was the fact that Peter was the only one that could see him and he didn't feel the need to land the label of "that crazy guy that talks to himself", were he to actually go out and do anything. He'd kept the social outings to a minimum since Ben had arrived, primarily for that exact reason.
Peter had tried his best not to grow accustom to his uncle being around again, but it was so hard not to fall into what felt like his normal routine back home. Of course, back home, this wasn't his normal routine anymore either. But the familiarity was still there and it had been so easy to find a certain comfort in it, even if it wasn't exactly the same.
However, even in his most hopeful state of mind, Peter knew better than to fool himself into thinking this--whatever it was--would last for very long. He kept reminding himself over and over every day that this was only a temporary thing and that it would all be coming to an end far sooner than he'd like.
Each day that passed pushed more of that feeling of familiarity onto him, and along with it, every day Peter gained another several ounces of fear of having his Uncle taken away from him again. He didn't want that to happen, not again. He wasn't sure he could handle that a second time.
Ghost or not, Ben would always be able to tell when Peter was bothered by something. "Peter," his hand was on his nephew's shoulder as he spoke. "we should talk."
The tone in his voice told Peter what he needed to know and he was shaking his head as soon as his name was out of Ben's mouth. "No, no, I don't...I don't want to do this."
"Peter, this is the last chance we'll have...time's running out." he said simply.
Everything in him was telling Peter that the final tone in his uncle's voice was as serious as it got and, despite his objections to the idea of this "final talk", he dropped down onto the couch in the living room of his apartment, drawing his legs up to his chest. "I can't--"
"You can." Ben cut him off. "And you have to."
"Why?" he asked, voice wavering slightly. "Why are you here? How did this happen?"
"It's Death, Peter... he wanted his presence to be known and he let some of us through. I'm here to help you get past this, Peter."
Peter sat there in silence for the longest moment he could stand, taking that in, trying to understand the exact implications of it. Before he could think to ask any more questions, suddenly, his mouth started moving and things he had never spoken to anyone started pouring out. "I blame myself... I...if I had just listened in the first place, we wouldn't have gotten into that fight and... and I wouldn't have left the house that night... you wouldn't have had to come looking for me..."
"Peter, it was not your fault," Ben assured him, shaking his head slightly. "You had no way of knowing what would happen. And I know you better than to think you would have left that night if you'd had any idea what would have happened, Peter. " he smiled gently, "You're nothing if not good, son...you always have been and I have faith that you always will be, situations be damned, I know that you will always do the right thing."
"What's it gotten me?" he shot back, almost defensive but not quite. "I have nothing to show for it. I'm just a kid with no parents, who lost the closest thing he had to a father, stuck in another universe where I don't even technically exist... Right choices shouldn't lead to bad endings..."
Ben sighed softly, "Yes, you've suffered, more than most people ever will, more than you should ever have had to, especially so early in life...but whether you see it right now or not, those things you mentioned? They'll make you stronger in he end."