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There was a sudden shake at the Oscorp lab Gwen Stacy was working at.
“Wha-” before she could finish her next word, the whole building shook once more. She began to take cover away from the fragile lab material as it began to fall and shatter onto the floor. The beakers that survived were still shaking from the shock as she began to run into hiding. She quickly made her way into an empty locker and looked back to see Spider-Man who was fighting some sort of monster around and above the Oscorp building.
Her heart sinks down to her stomach as she closes the door and crouches down. She has a date in an hour with her boyfriend, Peter. But she’s in a lab, trapped.
And he is currently out there fighting that monster.
She grins with a bitter smile. She knows.
After a good five minutes, the fighting subsided which left her to wonder if it was safe to come out of hiding. As she peered out into the lab from one of the holes of the locker, she noticed Spider-Man looking into the room as he was sticking to the exterior wall of her lab.
“Wait…” Gwen decided to push open the locker door softly so as to not make herself look like a threat and slowly walked out of her hiding place.
Spider-Man turned his head to her direction and hopped into the room.
“Are you okay… miss?” he slowly approached Gwen. She gave him a small smile and a reassuring nod.
“Let’s get out of here. Can I swing you out?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” she didn’t have the energy to protest or suggest a new idea so she decided that was her best bet.
As she approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck he made sure he had her securely and jumped out.
Gwen would never get used to that exhilarating feeling. It almost felt like flying but with security and comfort.
It also helped that she was 98% sure she was currently clinging onto her boyfriend.
She lightly guided Spider-Man to the roof of her apartment complex. Once they arrived, he let go of her waist and stepped back. After a second of pause Gwen starts, “Thank you, for saving me. I don't know what I would’ve done…” and trailed off as her mind didn’t want to think of the worst outcome.
“No problem, it’s all in a day's work for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”.
Gwen thought she heard a little smirk as he said that and wondered if he got second-hand embarrassment from saying things like that.
She took his slight unwillingness to swing away as a sign for her to keep going. Maybe this will be the day she takes a chance to see if her boyfriend was really Spider-Man.
“My name is Gwen by the way. Gwen Stacy. You might be familiar with my dad? He’s a Captain at the 19th precinct. And your name is…”
He shifts his body weight and there’s a bit of hesitation. She feels a little guilty for asking for his name to gauge his reaction but eventually he responds, “Ummm Spider-Man, Spidey, whatever you prefer”.
They continued their trivial chit chat for a minute. He didn’t seem all that comfortable talking to her for so long but from his small body movements, Gwen’s prediction went up to about 99% sure that this man was indeed her boyfriend. Finally, she decided now was the time to enact her big plan.
“Shoot! I forgot, I’m supposed to be meeting Peter right now!” The man in front of her froze and proceeded to cock his head to one side.
“Peter is my boyfriend. I’m actually supposed to be meeting him for a date right now.” She looked around to the skyline to hope it made her seem a little antsy. When she was met with a short silence, she continued.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to make it in time anymore. I should probably call to let him know I’ll be late.”
Spider-Man started to back away slowly and towards the edge of the rooftop.
“I should probably go now.” he started to say his farewell but Gwen followed him towards the edge.
She looked at him poignantly and said quietly, “If only he was here right now.”
His only response was to laugh lightly and awkwardly as if to agree with her. But she continued to advance forward until she was standing right in front of him and said, “I know it’s you… Peter”
He was barely able to take in a full breath, “Wha- Who’s that? Pshh I have no idea who that is. You probably have the wrong guy!" His voice went up a couple pitches as he finished that statement.
In a teasing whisper, Gwen continued, "Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah?"
In Gwen's opinion, the hero's response was very unconvincing.
He looked up at a calm Gwen with her arms crossed in front and an expression that said, ‘really?’.
A silence that seemed to stretch out forever finally ended with Peter’s sigh of defeat.
“I’m sorry Gwen, I didn’t want to keep this from you I just-”
“If you say you wanted to protect me, I will never forgive you.”
“Never?”
“... Okay, I won’t forgive you for a while.” she added with a pout.
They continued to stand there in a now comfortable silence, neither of them knowing what to do.
“Can I just..” Gwen started to reach for his mask but Peter abruptly grabbed her hand as it reached for his neck.
“I just- I want to do it, you know? Let me.” He slowly grabbed the edge of the mask and began peeling it away from his face. The movement seemed slow and Gwen didn’t realize that she was holding her breath until the mask completely came off of his face.
She could barely mutter his name before they crashed into each other. Gwen had wanted this confirmation for so long that when it happened, she was relieved. No more speculating, no more secrets. It was just her and Peter.