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Gwen was really starting to worry about Peter.
She knew from the moment he told her that he was Spider-Man that she was in for a ride, but she didn't expect him to ever show up at her window with deep slashes across his chest and covered in sewer water.
That definitely wasn't ideal.
"You need a bath" she told him after she was sure her dad had walked out of earshot. Peter chuckled. He was covered in grime from the sewer, smelled like shit, and he was sure all those germs probably weren't great for the new chest wounds he'd gotten in his fight with the Lizard.
"I do, don't I?" he said. Gwen smiled weakly at him. He seemed really out of it. Probably a mix of blood loss, exhaustion, and sewer fumes, she decided in her head. Satisfied with her diagnosis, she opened her door to check and make sure her family wasn't nearby.
"Alright, come on" she gestured for him to come over, which he did weakly. She allowed him to lean against her, despite the sewer smell burning her nose hairs. "I'm gonna sneak you over to the bathroom and run you a bath"
"Oh, you don't have to-"
"This is not up for discussion, Peter" she told him firmly. He snapped his mouth shut.
The pair snuck across the hall and into the bathroom. Gwen respectfully looked away as Peter stripped off his suit and decided then was as good a time as any to cover her tracks. She poked her head out the door, made sure that Peter hadn't left too noticeable of tracks across the floor, and then called out.
"I'm taking a bath, dad!" she announced. "To help with cramps!"
She turned back with her eyes closed, not wanting to invade the boy's privacy. "You can open your eyes, it's okay" he told her, so she did. He was curled in the bathtub, respectfully hiding his more private bits behind his legs. Gwen let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and turned on the water. Peter winced as the water came out freezing cold at first, but it quickly adjusted to a pleasant warmth.
While the tub filled, Gwen picked up his Spider-Man suit and put it in the sink. Making her way to the laundry room and trying to run it through the washer was too risky and would probably take too long anyway, but his suit definitely needed a wash, so this was the next best thing. Peter noticed what she was doing and frowned.
"Gwen, you really don't need to-"
"I want to" she told him. It was true. As worried as she was about him, now, she couldn't help her want to aid in this, even if it was small. She began washing the costume, wincing as she saw the water dripping off of it come off brown and slimy. "I'd love if you didn't get into any more sewer fights, Peter. This is really gross"
"Sorry" he chuckled awkwardly. He looked around him and saw that the tub water was already brown, so he drained the tub and started it again, this time washing himself with the bar soap as it filled. This was going to be a whole process, he could already tell.
"It's not your fault... Probably" the blonde replied. Once the costume was sufficiently cleaned, she set the mask to the side and switched her attention to the chest part. There were giant slashes in it from where he'd been attacked. She began searching through the below-sink cabinet until she found what she was looking for- A tiny sewing kit- And began work on stitching it back up.
On the third refill of the tub, the water began to look a bit more clear, so Peter figured it was probably okay to start on his chest wounds. It hurt like hell, but he washed up in and around the wounds the best he could, wincing as he saw the surrounding water develop a slightly red twinge from the blood. Once he was sure he'd done the best he could, he drained and refilled the tub again.
He looked around for the hair products and spotted them on the sink counter. Instinctively, he shot up his wrist to try and web it towards him, but he didn't have his suit on and his web-shooters were almost definitely broken anyway, so he sighed and decided to just ask for help.
"Hey, Gwen?"
"Hm?"
"Could you hand me the shampoo and conditioner?" he asked. Gwen suddenly smiled really wide and looked over at him, causing him to jolt and quickly make sure his private bits were still out of her field of vision. "Um-"
"Yeah, sorry" she chuckled, handing him the products. "I've just never met a guy who takes care of their hair like that. I'm so used to guys just using that three-in-one crap"
"Oh, I don't like the way that stuff feels in my hair" Peter explained, leaning back to rinse out his hair before applying the shampoo. "It feels gross and like my hair isn't really clean, and I don't like the way that feels against my head" he continued. Gwen smiled fondly as she listened to his explanation, finishing up the stitching on his costume. "My hair is much softer and less distracting if I just shampoo and condition separately"
"I agree completely" she told him. "I don't mean to startle you again. Can I look over at you?"
"Yeah"
"Okay" she giggled, looking at him again. She held up his newly cleaned and fixed costume. "I'll blow dry it in a second, but I cleaned your costume and fixed the slashes as well"
"Oh, wow" Peter breathed. "Thank you. You really didn't need to do that"
"I know" she smiled, turning away once more to find the blow dryer. As the loud, unpleasant noise of the blow dryer began to fill the room, Peter decided to distract himself by continuing to work on his hair. He rinsed the shampoo out and felt as though a weight was lifted off his shoulders. With the dirt and grime out of his hair, he felt a million pounds lighter, and he began to apply the conditioner.
When Gwen finished drying his costume, he figured that he'd left the conditioner in long enough and rinsed it out, smiling as he felt how soft his hair was already, even when wet.
Once he was done, he emptied the tub for the last time, cleaned off the unpleasant ring his process had left around it, and stepped out. Respectfully looking away, Gwen gave him a towel to cover up with, which he quickly did.
"Am I okay to look at you now?"
"Yup" he confirmed. She looked at him and smiled. He looked a lot better than he had when he first showed up at her window. Even the slashes, which were still definitely really bad, looked cleaner and less like they were going to get infected.
"Do you want to blow dry your hair?"
"No, I hate those things" he told her with an awkward laugh. "Actually, can you turn around for a moment?"
"Sure"
Once she turned around, he quickly rustled his hair with the towel a few times over until it felt sufficiently dry, and then he wrapped it back around his waist. "You can turn back now" he told her. She did and immediately burst out into laughter. "What?"
"Your hair looks ridiculous, just..." she chuckled and reached out her hand, fixing his hair to make it more presentable. "There you go"
"Thanks" he said. How did he ever get so lucky as to have her in his life like this? "Can I have my suit?"
"You're not putting that on until I bandage you up" she told him. He laughed, but she didn't.
"Oh, you're serious"
"Yes, I'm serious!" she replied, exasperated. "It's gonna be really unfortunate if those get infected. I promise I'll be careful" she assured him, finding the first aid kit under the sink and pulling out a roll of thick bandaging. She took off a few, long strips of it and carefully stuck it over the slashes across his chest, pressing on the wounds just enough to make sure the bandages stuck but gentle enough so as to not hurt him further. Then she tossed him his suit. "Now you can put it on"
She turned away again and, upon permission, she turned back to find Peter in his costume (sans mask, which was still on the counter next to the sink), and she was sure in that moment that her schoolgirl's crush was actually love.
"I should probably go"
"Can I kiss you?" she asked nervously. Peter's eyes widened. He definitely knew whatever was going on between them wasn't exactly platonic, but he still was baffled by the mere idea that she liked him like that (which, in hindsight, was kind of insane considering they'd already kissed).
"Yeah, of course"
Their lips connected for a good moment, and then Gwen pulled away with a small laugh, opening the door and quickly sneaking across the hall to her room, Peter following close behind.
When they got back to her room, he quickly went to the window, already contemplating how to fix his web shooters without all of his equipment, hoping that Dr. Connors hadn't broken them too badly.
"See you tomorrow?" Gwen asked as he put on his mask and climbed out of the window onto the small platform outside of it.
"You know it"
"Be safe"
"I always am" Peter replied before jumping onto the wall and crawling away. Gwen smiled and rolled her eyes as she shut the window behind him.
"Fucking liar"