it's easy , now that high school's over , for peter to lose track of daylight . aunt may keeps suggesting that he get a job - something to keep him busy and , explicitly , out of trouble . but he's trying to juggle a double identity , a girlfriend and the omni - present “ college dilemma , " and even he knows that , sooner or later , he's gonna have to start making sacrifices . par the course for him , though , he doesn't realize that sacrificing daylight also means sacrificing her .
he's a little beat up today , a scratch here and a bruise there , but five against one is never a fair fight - even for the friendly neighborhood spider - man . the suit mangled and crammed into his backpack , peter hangs from one hand on the rain gutter . gwen's window is dark ; it's late , though , and he can’t blame her for wanting to catch some shut eye . the window creaks a little as he lifts it open , but he slips inside otherwise noiselessly - which is why , when her disembodied voice breaks through the moonlit darkness , his heart jolts into his throat .
peter turns , eyes squinting to make her out , and his thumbs tug at either backpack strap , “ hey – you’re up . ” taking careful - quiet steps toward her , his voice stays low and a smile pulls innocently at the corners of his mouth , “ i got a little side tracked ; a couple guys were trying to rob this gas station by ozone park , but i squashed that pretty fast . turned out one of ‘ em needed a few bucks to buy his kid new shoes , so i just gave him that money may gave me for milk . figured he needed it more , you know ? ” he catches his breath , letting the backpack straps go , “ but how was your day ? ”
gwen never sleeps well when she knows peter is out doing god-knows-what. of course, she’ll plaster a grin on her face when he tells her ‘ i can handle myself ’, but she’s seen what those avengers have been up against in the past, and she can’t really say she always believes him. nevertheless, the blonde maintains the illusion of going to bed at a reasonable hour, knowing full well that her father would pester her if he knew she was awake. the room is dark, and she’s wearing what is most likely one of peter’s old t shirts and a pair of lounge pants as pajamas.
“ of course i’m up. ” she says it rather coldly, but gwen knows she can never stay mad at her goofy boyfriend for too long. she feels around the room to turn on her desk lamp, providing just enough light to actually SEE him, and she’s met with a face that could be a lot worse, causing the blonde to sigh in relief. “ aside from not knowing if my boyfriend was dead or alive, it was alright. ” she moves across the floor again to examine what few wounds he has. “ you look like you had a good day. ” she’s trying to keep it lighthearted, but the silence makes it difficult. rummaging around in her desk, she finds the hydrogen peroxide and bandaids she’s learned to keep there.
taking peter’s face in her free hand, she sprays the liquid on the cut near his eye, and the silence between them is deafening. “ you should’ve at least called. ”
