"My mom gave me this," Gwen Stacy said, holding out a small disc to Peter Parker. Peter took it gently and inspected it. It looked just like a normal disc. There was nothing obviously suspicious about it. He turned it around a few times in his hand before handing it back to her.
"Have you watched it yet?" Peter asked.
"No. I wanted to watch it with you... if that's alright?" she said, sheepishly fiddling with her hair.
"Yes, yes... I mean, of course... I'd love to," he replied, smiling. Gwen smiled back and hurried over to the disc drive. She pulled the disc out of the clear plastic wallet. It clearly hadn't been played before. She slipped it into the disc drive and skipped back to Peter who was sitting on the bed.
She budged up next to him and he put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulder. They heard the disc whirr and a picture appeared on the screen.
"Wait! That's my living room," Gwen said, looking at the dimly lit room. Peter stayed silent, intrigued by the contents of the video. He pressed play on the remote and the camera moved upwards to look at a man. Both Gwen and Peter gasped at the same time.
"Gwen... you're too young to understand this right now so it's best I say it this way," the man said.
"Dad...?" Gwen whispered.
"Your mother will hand you this... if the worst happens. You understand that I loved my job and that everything I did there was for us. I know that when you get older you wont want me to be doing this job and I'm sorry. You're probably missing me, or at least I hope you are. I want you to know that I love you and I always will. I remember the day you were born being the best day of my life. When I held you, you looked up at me and smiled and, to be honest, you never stopped. I need you to stay strong. I hope that you never need to watch this video but... you never know. I bet you're bringing home boy after boy... or maybe you've settled down. I bet he's a real catch. I love you, darling. I dearly love you."
The screen froze, leaving a static image of her Dad. Peter had a rising feeling of guilt in his stomach. It was his fault. He could have prevented it all. They were both silent, the whole room was silent. He looked down at Gwen, she was staring blankly at the screen, her eyes glittering.
"G - Gwen?" Peter murmured, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. A small, silvery tear rolled from her eye and down her cheek. Peter couldn't move, he'd never been good with a crying person. She wiped her eyes and sniffed but tears kept spilling out. Her throat went tight and her eyes were red.
"I'm - I - I'm sorry," she stammered, still wiping her eyes.
"Shh," Peter said, pulling her into his chest. He threw both his arms around her body and she did the same. She nuzzled into his body and continued to cry. Peter brought a hand to her hair and stroked it tenderly. She breathed heavily, trying to stop.
"I miss him."
"I know. I know. I miss my uncle every day. I understand," he said, still stroking her hair. She sniffed again and pulled away, wiping the final tears away from her face.
"I have an idea. How about we get away? I can take you to the top of the really tall building over there. You can take your mind off everything."
"I don't know. I mean..." Gwen was interrupted by Peter.
"Come on. Please. We won't be long, I swear," he pleaded, smiling.
"Okay. You have fifteen minutes," she said, sniffing still. Peter laughed and ran to the window. He opened it and took Gwen's hand. He spun her into him and leapt through the window into the cold evening air.