The next day Gwen didn't see Peter in school. They had three classes together but his seat remained empty in all of them. Though it wasn't unusual for him to miss some classes, this time she still worried about him more.
When Gwen woke up in the morning and checked her phone she saw the missed call from Peter. She felt guilty for not picking up, although she couldn't have possibly known he was calling. He might have had something important to tell her. He might have needed help. She felt like somehow indirectly it was her fault if he had gotten hurt.

After last period Gwen walked to her locker and placed her books inside as she always did. She knew her day still wasn't over because the debate team was going to have a meeting. She didn't feel like going. She would have much rather gone to Peter's place to see how he was but then she wouldn't be back in time. She could still call him though.

She closed the door of her locker to see a pair of bright green eyes looking at her.

"Hey, Gwen, do you want to go shopping? The new winter collection is amazing."

"Thanks, MJ, but not now. I have, uh, something to do," Gwen replied with her phone in her hand. She had already dialed Peter's number and now she had to end the call even before he picked up.

Mary Jane was Gwen's closest friend or at least she was the one Gwen spent most of her free time with. She would have liked to hang out with her; when she was with MJ she felt 'cooler' than she actually was. But today she had more important things than spending time with her friend doing some shopping.

"You sure?" The red haired girl asked.

"Yeah, sorry." Gwen apologized. "It's really not a good time."

"Well, see you later then." MJ nodded and sent her a friendly smile.

Gwen returned it and watched as Mary Jane walked away probably to find someone else she could drag with herself to the plaza.

As Gwen stepped out of the building a blinding ray of the sun attacked her eye. She instinctively winked and lifted one hand in front of her eyes. A few seconds later as her eyes had adjusted to the sunlight she lowered her hand and it was when she spotted the figure she could never miss. She turned her head to get a full view of Peter Parker sitting on the round shaped table with his feet on the bench where others usually sat. It was the table that she proudly claimed hers since she was the one who sat there every day either eating her lunch or doing her homework or just simply reading a book.

Peter saw her looking at him and lifted his arm in the air, waving for her to join him. He had his hood on so Gwen couldn't see the details of his face..

"I'm sorry I didn't pick up last night." Gwen apologized when she had come into earshot, not giving Peter a chance to say anything.

He stood up and removed the hood and it was when Gwen saw the dark patches on his face. She reached up and gently touched his face looking at the unmistakable burn marks. He winced at her touch and she pulled away.

"What happened yesterday?" She asked.

"It no big deal. It was just a fire."

She could tell that he wasn't telling the truth. She knew him well enough to tell.

"What happened?" Gwen tried again.

"Can we not talk about this?" Peter tried to drop the subject.

"What happened?" She pushed, this time firmly, demanding an answer.

Peter didn't say anything just stood there in front of her silently, his gaze fixed on hers, some kind of depressive gloom reflecting in his eyes. She gave him time to answer but in opposition to her expectations he remained silent.

"Peter, wha-"

"I almost died!" Peter exclaimed angrily and took a step back, sitting back onto the table.

Gwen was startled by his unexpected outburst and those who were near stopped and turned their heads toward them but when they saw there was no action anywhere they continued whatever they were doing.

"Peter," she breathed out his name with a terrified look on her face.

Peter bowed his head once again. He knew how she would react and he couldn't bare to see the the fright and anger in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, with his eyes on the ground. He shouldn't have reacted the way he did but it was a subject he felt uncomfortable talking about.

"Please, tell me what happened." Gwen asked this time with a softer, quieter tone. She sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder as a sign of support.

"It was scary." He started to explain then after a short second of hesitation he decided to continue. "I went inside that building to help those who had been trapped. Then the ceiling fell on me and knocked me to the ground. The heat was suffocating and I wanted to move but I, I just couldn't. And then-" he went silent before he finished the sentence.

"Then what?"

"I don't know. The heat and the smoke...I might have been hallucinating." Peter shook his head, unsure of what he had seen and heard was real.

"What did you see?" Gwen kept asking patiently.

"I'm not sure. There was someone. In the flames. He was standing there beside me and, and he warned me." Gwen could see on Peter's face that he was confused, that he himself had doubts about the whole story.

"He warned you? About what?" What Peter told her really sounded strange and unbelievable but Gwen trusted him and more importantly she supported him.

"He said he would come back for me."

His last words frightened her and no matter if what Peter had seen was real or just a hallucination, she believed him.

"Does it hurt?" She asked looking at his face. She assumed his whole body was covered with the same kind of marks.

"No, it's fine." He lied and sent a smile trying to convince her. "As long as you won't keep touching it, I'm totally fine."

She was glad to hear that joyful edge in his voice and she allowed herself to relax a bit. He really did look fine.

"It's okay. You're okay and that's the only thing that matters." Her hand traveled to Peter's back, slowly caressing it.

"Thanks." Peter looked at Gwen and his loving smile had returned to his face.

"For what?"

"Being here for me." His voice was soft and though Gwen had heard it a million times there was still something special about it, something that she couldn't explain with words but something she loved.

"I'm always here for you." She whispered and took her hand from his back so she could move closer to him and she laid her head on his shoulder.

They sat there in silence until the whole campus had been empty. Their minds had taken separate paths to different places but the mere presence of the other made them relax and forget everything and everyone around them.

After a time that could have been a minute or an hour as well Gwen noticed a lonely snowflake descend onto the tip of her nose, causing a ticklish feeling. She reached to her nose to wipe away the snowflake that her body heat had turned into water the moment it touched her skin. The first one was followed by another and soon they were surrounded by millions of delicately falling fluffy white flakes.

Gwen suddenly jumped up and disappeared behind Peter.

"Hey, where are you going?" He asked but no answer came.

He twisted his body so that he could see what Gwen was up to and found a snowball flying through the air toward him. Even his spider reflexes couldn't help him dodge it. The collision came so unexpectedly that it knocked Peter off the bench with his face into the snow. He could hear Gwen's raucous voice as she laughed at his misfortune.

He blinked away the melted ice from his eyes and put his arms behind him, pushing himself to a sitting position. For the first moment the cold water hurt against his face but then it slowly turned into a refreshing sensation.

"That was very not fair." Peter complained but it only made Gwen enjoy herself more.

She walked over to him, wiping the remains of the snow off her hands. She stopped in front of him and reached out, offering him a hand to help him up.

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll be careful not to hurt you." She said, still waiting for him to take her hand.

She couldn't see Peter's hands behind his back therefore she had no idea that he had already been planning his revenge. When his hands appeared it had already been too late, he threw the snowball he was holding at her. Gwen was staggered by the hit and it gave Peter just enough time to stand up and start running toward the streets.

"Oh, you!" Gwen exclaimed and bent down for another handful of snow. She followed Peter, forming the next icy ball in her hands.

"You can run but you can't get away." She warned Peter, playful revenge shining in her eyes.

Peter slowed down and intentionally let Gwen get closer to him. Gwen welcomed his invitation and immediately threw the snowball. He quit running and stooped down with his hands lifted defensively to his head, hoping she would miss him but he had no such luck and the snowball exploded on his back. Before he could have thought about throwing a ball back at her another one hit him, this time from much closer. Peter kept his balance so he didn't fall this time.

"Okay, I give up." He turned back toward Gwen.

She was holding another snowball over her head and was about to launch it at Peter but she lowered her hand as she saw him surrender.

"Good choice." She said pompously and dropped the ball into the snow, letting it merge into the soft white blanket on the ground.

She saw Peter's smile fade away and she knew that the fun was over. Before she could have asked what was wrong she heard it; police sirens still in the distance but they were getting closer by the minute. Peter opened his mouth to speak but he thought better of it and whatever he wanted to say was kept inside. He knew she had had enough of his apologies.

"I have to go."

She looked away, she didn't want him to see her eyes. Why did something have to happen when they were starting to have a moment?

"Sure." She mumbled, obviously dejected.

Peter didn't say anything; further talking would only make the situation worse. He headed toward the school entrance and he took the stairs with one single leap, disappearing behind the doors.

In less than a minute he opened the window of a classroom not far from the entrance and he pushed himself into the air in his red and blue spandex suit.

Gwen watched him move on nearby rooftops and when he had reached taller buildings where he could shoot his webs to he joined the police cruisers from the air.

"I hate you, Spiderman." She said, her words fraught with honest antipathy.

She walked back to the table to get her bag and regretted that she said no to shopping with MJ earlier.

When Peter arrived at the spot he saw a dozen or so policemen surrounding a person in black. Peter saw the unmistakable leather suit and white hair and knew it was the Black Cat that the police had caught. He saw they were holding guns at her, forcing her to her knees. She slowly placed the bag she was holding to the ground and she lifted her hands above her head. He felt like had to do something.

I don't know why I'm doing this, Peter thought as he swung toward the circle of police officers.

He descended to five-six feet above the ground and reached his arm out toward her. He saw her flash a naughty smile toward the officers as she simply stood up with her hands still above her head, regardless of the guns pointing at her. When Peter reached her she caught his arm and he swung by without stopping, taking the Black Cat with him. The whole thing happened in a swift second and the officers didn't even have time to react. The best they could do was send a couple of desperate shots after them but bullets missed their targets.

After a few blocks of swinging Peter deemed that they had gotten far enough so he landed on a rooftop and let go of his passenger.

"What is wrong with you?" Peter asked angrily. "Calling attention to yourself in the middle of daylight? Are you really this stupid?"

Peter didn't know where the sudden care for her had come from but something was telling him that the Black Cat wasn't as bad as it would first seem.

"Why? I knew you would come." She answered easily. She was obviously not very concerned about the situation.

"How? Why would you count on something like that? Why would you do any of this in the first place?" Peter was more upset about her than what the situation would explain and it only made him even more upset.

"Fun." She said with such calm and confidence as if it were an unquestionable reason. "And, to prove that you like me."

"Like you?" Peter laughed with disbelief. "I don't even know you."

"And yet you saved me." She pointed out and crossed her arms across her chest.

Peter could feel as she pulled her brows up under her mask. He hated to admit but she had a point. He sighed resignedly as he couldn't give an explanation.

"Just don't do it again because I won't be there to help." Peter said and turned his back to her, taking a step toward the ledge.

"I'll be seeing you." She called after him as he stepped off of the rooftop.

Peter headed back to the school hoping to find Gwen still there but when he arrived he couldn't see her. There were only a couple of student leaving the school after their extracurriculars, the campus was otherwise empty. He crawled back inside the building through a window, careful not to be seen as he tried to avoid unwanted attention. His bag was laying in the corner of the classroom, right where he had left it. He quickly changed back into his clothes and took his phone, dialing Gwen's number. The phone rang four times and then it sent him to Gwen's voicemail. Peter ended the call when he heard Gwen's voice telling him to leave a message.

"I hate you, Cat." He mumbled angrily and punched the wall next to him with his fist.