Disclaimer: All rights belong to Marvel, etc. The title is inspired by The Maine.
"I assume you both know why you're here, correct?"
Miss Hannigan stares down at the two of them, impatiently waiting for at least one of them to speak up. When neither of them do, she urges them again.
"Anyone? Miss Stacy?"
Stacy-Gwen, that is-looks up from her mindless staring-at-her-lap, and scrutinizes the woman sat in front of her: from her impeccably styled, too-red-to-be-natural hair; to her dull eyes and the dark circles underneath them; to her dry lips, and the yellowing teeth they cover; to the lines that are starting to form on her forehead. Miss Hannigan, who is Midtown Science High School's resident guidance counsellor, has been in that position for a couple of years now, even before Gwen had stepped foot in the school. Not much is known about her personal life-there is some doubt whether she even had a life outside of the school or not-but she sure knows everyone's business in the school, even down to the petty gossip running around.
Miss Hannigan asks again, "Gwen? Would you like to say something?"
"No, Miss Hannigan, I do not know why I am here, but I do know that I should be in class. Trying to maintain my perfect attendance, you see," replies Gwen, somewhat haughtily.
Sensing Gwen's irritation, Miss Hannigan turns to Peter, "What about you, Mr. Parker?"
After a brief silence (in which Peter pulls himself back from drifting off to Gwen-land), "Um, sorry-what?" Peter stammers. For some reason, he could practically feel Gwen's eyes rolling at his reply.
"Do you know why I sent you and Miss Stacy to my office, Peter?" the guidance counsellor questions, a little bit sterner.
Peter looks at her with guilt, "To be honest, Miss Hannigan, I have no idea."
A sigh escapes Miss Hannigan's lips, "Alright... Well, the reason why I called you both here is because I am aware that both of you are… going through a lot right now, and I figured you both need someone to talk to. It is my job, after all."
"Wouldn't it be better if we have these sessions separately?" Gwen protests.
"I would," Miss Hannigan tells Gwen, with a slight tone of annoyance in her voice, "but since you and Peter are going through similar issues, I thought that maybe you could, somehow, help each other out-if you're not quite comfortable talking to me or your peers about it. And, if my sources tell me correctly, the two of you are, in fact, involved."
Eyes widening a bit, Peter blurts, "Oh, no-no w-we're not-"
"Sorry, Miss Hannigan, but your 'sources' are wrong; there is nothing going on between him and I," Gwen cuts him off.
Miss Hannigan sighs again. It seems like there was no way she could get either of them to speak, what with Gwen's obstinacy and Peter's discomfort.
So she tries again, "Well, I apologize for assuming. Though, I still think having these sessions together would be really beneficial. Would that be alright?"
Gwen shrugs and says, "If you say so."
Peter, meanwhile, is just glad to have some excuse to spend time with Gwen, so he nods and mutters an okay.
"Excellent," Miss Hannigan manages to flash a (seemingly fake) smile. "I'm going to start by asking you these simple questions. So, how do you feel?" A pause. "Mr. Parker, would you like to start?"
The question is not simple at all, for Peter, at least. If he is being honest with himself, he feels so miserable and isolated. But he can't say that to his guidance counsellor, or else he'd have to face a stream of awkward questions, and he doesn't want that so he says, "I'm fine, Miss Hannigan. Honestly." Though he isn't honest, not at all.
Neither Miss Hannigan nor Gwen look as if they believe him.
"I see," replies Miss Hannigan after a while. "Miss Stacy?"
He watches Gwen intently as she replies, "Well, I'm not exactly bouncing off the walls with glee, but I'm doing okay." Somehow, he doesn't believe her either.
"Okay, maybe we should-"
Gwen looks uncomfortable and interrupts, "No, I'm sorry, Miss Hannigan. Frankly, I feel like"-she struggles to speak, and seems as though she is about to cry-"I feel… like crap. Miss Hannigan, I feel awfully miserable. My father had just died, my mother is so depressed that she hardly speaks, my brothers aren't as lively as they used to be and, and," she lets out a shuddering breath, and tries to calm down. "I also lost my b-best friend, the one person I could count on. And now I feel so lost."
She glances at Peter with teary eyes, the same eyes that had looked back at him that rainy day when it all ended.
Peter is even more guilty now, that she said all those things and he simply lied. What an asshole.
Seemingly expecting this outburst, Miss Hannigan says, "I understand why you feel this way, Gwen; with all that's happened to you, you need to have someone to just talk to. That's why I'm here to help, so that you wouldn't feel so… lonely. And, hopefully, Peter will help, too."
After wiping the tears from her eyes and composing herself, Gwen mutters, "As much I appreciate it," she says, dripping with sarcasm, "I'm doing fine on my own. It's tough, but I'll get over it and move on."
"I admire your willpower, Gwen. But you might find it easier to get over your father's death by having someone to talk to."
When Miss Hannigan goes on to continue, Peter speaks up, "She's right. You can't do this on your own."
He really should learn to keep his mouth shut.
Gwen glares at him incredulously. "Excuse me?"
"I'm just saying, you know," he tries to explain. "I know what you're going through, and it hurts, that's why you need somebody." Somebody like me, he subconsciously adds. But he knows that he's all wrong for her, and, being as heroic as he is, he admits to himself that she deserves someone who'll make her happy-and that someone isn't him.
"So you're telling me, that I need someone to talk to? Me? Really, Parker?" He flinches at the verbal italics and the use of his surname.
"What I'm saying is, you shouldn't try to go through this alone."
"Well, that sounds pretty darn hypocritical of you."
"I know," Peter sighs.
"So everyone needs someone? Is that what you're saying?" Gwen questions him suspiciously, but doesn't wait for his reply. "Does that go for superheroes as well? Like, say, Spider-Man?"
She's trying to get him to explain why they split, he notes. He doesn't really know if he can actually do so, because he's such a fucking coward. (Yet he calls himself New York's hero? Please.)
"Yeah, even-even Spider-Man," he answers lamely, instead.
"But why doesn't he have anyone? Like a sidekick, maybe? The Robin to his Batman?"
Miss Hannigan observes intently as Peter struggles to answer Gwen.
"He can't really, er, have anyone. He has to be on his own."
"But you just said-"
"Yes, I said he needs somebody. But he can't. He just can't."
"How come? It'll probably be easier, wouldn't it? So he won't have be… alone?" Gwen raises her thin, blonde eyebrow at him, knowing that he's having difficulty in answering her questions.
"He's gotta learn to deal with it alone, because if he has someone with him..." He shakes his head, and continues, "he'll constantly worry about this person's safety, and it's too risky."
"Why? Why is it risky?" Gwen's voice starts to get louder, more forceful.
"Because maybe he cares about this person too much, so much, to let them get hurt."
"What if the other person takes that risk, just so they can be with him?"
"There will come a time, when he'll make some enemies, and they'll target this person… and he'll have to choose between the sidekick, or everyone else."
"Why do you make sound like it's a bad thing?"
"Because it is. Because, inevitably, he'll choose her-I mean, the sidekick. And if he fails to even save the sidekick, he'd lose everything," his voice cracks.
Gwen falters, and looks at him with sad blue eyes. "So he'd rather be alone and miserable?"
"If it means protecting the people he loves, then yes, maybe he would," he says determinedly.
Peter looks over at Gwen and he can see in her eyes that even without uttering an apology (not directly, at least) that she forgives him.
And when she smiles at him, it's like she's telling him Yes, you've been a complete ass but I understand because you love me and I love you and everything's going to be okay between us.
So he smiles back.
Miss Hannigan, meanwhile, looks utterly baffled at their exchange. "Um, I don't-"
"Hypothetically, of course," says Gwen suddenly.
"Huh?" Peter mumbles distractedly.
Gwen inconspicuously smothers her laughter with a cough. "The questions, about Spider-Man, were completely hypothetical. I was just… curious. Right, Peter?"
He's a little more alert this time. "Right. Yeah, it's all hypothetical. Of course." Gwen hides her laughter a little less successfully this time.
"While we're on the subject of Spider-Man, I have to say, he comes off as-well, I dunno, kinda phoney, I guess," Gwen comments after a while.
"What makes you say that?" Peter asks curiously.
"The whole superhero gig seems so-" here Gwen makes some awkward movements with her arms, as if she's trying to reach the word from the air, "-fabricated to me. It's like he's so desperate for attention."
"He probably is. Maybe he's lonely."
"Hmm, I guess so," she ponders for a bit. "But that suit, though? It's an absolute travesty. Red and blue? Really?"
Peter is surprised at how suddenly they become casual again. It's like they never even really fought at all. Or maybe Gwen is just acting? (He finds that he doesn't really care if she is.)
"I know, right? It's like he came right out of the circus in that suit!"
"He looks like such an idiot!" exclaims Gwen, and bursts out laughing. (He's missed that sound.)
Smiling, and shaking his head, Peter agrees, "Yeah, he is an idiot."
Gwen's answering grin is so dazzling, he thinks he's blind. It's like he's finally found hope, that things will get better between them. Probably not right now, while they're still in the guidance counsellor's office, but eventually. Soon.
Hopefully.
For now, he's happy. The happiest he's been in quite a while.
Miss Hannigan still has absolutely no idea what's going on.