"It's good to have you back." Peter says, waiting for the walking light to come on. He looks over to see his best friend, Harry, purchasing another hot dog from a street vender. "Really dude?" He asks, laughing. "You just got one!"

"Sh, let me enjoy American food again." Harry says, pouring mustard. "Besides, I'm probably going to die before I turn 30, so health isn't a concern."

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon, we only have 7 seconds left on this crosswalk." He pulls Harry.

"Where're we going?" He takes a giant bite.

"I thought we could just go to the park, catch up."

"Okay."

"It's only a few blocks away." Peter says. The continue walking, and Harry only stops one more time to get a hot dog.

"You sure you don't just want to go to a bar? Get a drink?" Harry asks, hoping to get a little buzz.

"Yeah, I have a 4:15 class."

"Oh yeah, school.. How's that going anyway's?"

"It's going good, y'know."

"And uh-" Harry hesitates. "How's MJ?"

"She's.. Y'know she's good, I guess." Peter shrugs, and crosses the last street until they get to the park.

"I guess?" Harry asks, skeptically.

"I don't know.. She's just been distant for a while, and I don't know.. It's stupid."

"Is it?"

"I don't know, It's just this new show she's in is taking up a lot of time, and she's just.. She's not Gwen."

"You still have feelings for Gwen."

"Of course I do." Peter laughs, surprised that anyone could think otherwise. "I'll always love her."

"Oh."

"How is she?" He asks, softly. "I saw your picture from the other day." He takes a seat on the nearest bench.

"I thought you started going over to see Simon?"

"I did, twice." Peter shrugs. "She doesn't really hang out, she goes to her room."

"She's good.." Harry nods. "She's going back to therapy."

"Really? Since when?" Peter is genuinely surprised. After the last.. incident.. he was afraid she'd never go back.

"She told me when I saw her the other night. She starts next Tuesday."

"Is it like physical, or mental?"

"Both, I believe." Harry says, finally taking a seat.

"That's so good." Peter smiles. "That's so.. That's great."

"Yeah." Harry nods.

"I should go see her."

"You should?"

"What?" Peter asks, slightly offended.

"I mean.. You guys aren't really friends."

"No, what we have is more complicated than that." Peter states. Who does Harry think he is? So what he and Gwen had become better friends lately? He'd never know her like Peter does. Gwen would never care about him as much as she does Peter. "And I should be there for her. She deserves support."

"She does, but you just openly admitted to me that you still have feelings for her, and that could be a distraction." Harry points out.

"A distraction?" Peter asks, laughing.

"Yeah, I don't want you distracting her from what's important: getting better."

"I'm not going to distract her."

"I'm not going to let you come around, and mislead her into thinking you want to get back together."

"Mislead her? In case you missed it, she broke up with me."

"She still cares about you." Harry says, and burns saying out loud.

"She does?" Harry nods, and crosses his arms. "She told you."

"She doesn't have to."

"Then I have to go see her." Peter says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Peter, if you cared you'd let her work on her therapy first. I don't want you to make her think that you're going to get back together."

"Maybe I do want to get back together."

"You're dating MJ." Harry says. He wonders to himself when exactly Peter Parker became this selfish. Who does he think he is.

"Harry, what is wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Harry stands. "I just seem to, for once, care more about others than you."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Whatever. I'm leaving." Harry turns, confused. Was this he and Peter's first fight? They'd been friends for so long, but they'd never fought before. This wasn't even a real fight. He thinks about this all the way in the cab. It lingers on his mind in the elevator. He wonders what had changed in Peter to where he thought thinking about getting back together with Gwen, while still dating MJ, would be okay.

It still is ringing through his head while he knocks on the door. While waiting for an answer he begins to wonder why he cares. When the door opens adrenaline overwhelms him, and as he walks past whoever it is, not acknowledging them, he realizes it doesn't matter.

"You asked me something the other night." He says, opening the bedroom door without knocking.

"Harry? What're you doing here?" Gwen asks, well quietly shouts.

"I had to ask you something." He begins pacing.

"What?" She asks, turning her television off.

"You asked me something the other night.." Harry stops pacing, then begins again.

"Okay?" Gwen says, quietly, still embarrassed.

"You asked me to kiss you."

"Yeah." She nods.

"Do you still want me to?" He asks, turning to look at her.

"What?" She asks, stunned.

"If I kissed you right now, what would you do?"

"I don't know." Gwen says, shaking her head. "I was drunk, Harry.."

I know, but I just- What would you do?" He sits next to her, and places his hands in his lap.

"Harry."

"You don't like me, do you?"

"I love you Harry."

"But not like that." He laughs lightly.

"I- I didn't know you felt that way Harry." She says, reaching forward to touch his shoulder.

"I didn't either." Harry says, sadly.

"Come here." Gwen opens her arms for a hug. Harry smiles at the sweet, selfless girl, and goes in for the hug. Gwen tries to imagine what it feels like to be Harry, to have never had a strong personal connection with anyone until much later in life. The distaste she had for her mother as a young adult made sense. Most children became annoyed with their parents as they grow up, and despite their differences, Gwen did love her mother very much. She wonders if the strain in their relationship would exist if her father hadn't of died. She wonders if Harry and his father would have gotten along if his mother hadn't of died. She wonders what would have happened if she and Harry hadn't remained friends after she broke up with Peter..

"What would you do?" She hears Harry ask again.

"I- I don't know." She says. Harry looks at her, and leans in slowly. He kisses her so softly that she almost doesn't realize he's doing it. She kisses him back. "I guess that's what I'd do." She laughs.

...

Harry stays late that night. Not like in an inappropriate way, but the two of them just talk, and try and understand the new areas of their relationship. Or whatever you want to call it. Gwen, invites him to dinner, which Ms. Stacy has kindly made. Harry, upon returning hasn't really asked about Gwen and her mother, but after this dinner he thinks things must be better, or getting there. Or maybe he's just distracted by the wonderful pasta.

They go back to Gwen's room afterwards, and just talk. There's no television, and no sleeping, which Harry knows are two of Gwen's favorite things. "What brought this on?" She asks, referring to the kiss they'd shared earlier.

"I don't know." He shakes his head, but realizes it's not the truth. "Well, I guess I do.

"Yeah?"

"I- I uh met with Pete earlier, and he said something, and I didn't know why it upset me so much, but it did."

"What'd he say?"

"It doesn't matter, but what does matter is that it made me angry, and then I just knew."

"Harry." She laughs. "You can't just say that, and not tell me what he said."

"He, he just basically told me that he wanted to get back together with you."

"And that made you angry?"

"No, it made me angry that he was still dating MJ and thinking like that. I just don't know who he is.." Gwen smiles softly at him, and holds his hand. Harry looks up at her, and wonders what she's thinking. How she feels about all of this. About what Peter said.

Around 1, Gwen begins getting sleepy. She fights it off, though, and tries to keep up with their conversation.

"I have a project for you." Harry says, trying to grab her attention.

"What kind of a project?" It does.

"It's a thing I was working on while I was away.."

"Oh, it's for Oscorp?"

"Yeah, basically the machine keeps overheating. I think if we can generate a code that is continuously reproducing itself that it may work."

"Well, I'll take a look at it."

"Are you free on Thursday? I can take you down to the labs and let you look." Gwen swallows hard, and reminds herself it's for Harry, not Norman. She nods.

Around 2, her eyes are flickering, and Harry feels bad for trying to keep her up. "I'm going to head out, Gwen."

"Okay." She says as he stands. Normally she would ask him to stay, but she can't physically make herself do it. He comes around to where she's settled herself into bed. He kisses her head, and exits quietly.

...

Gwen is sitting in her room, 3 days after the events with Harry. He'd taken her down to the labs the day before, and shown her the project. It was her first outing to somewhere other than his house in months. He'd given her all the information to code, and she'd began. It feels nice to have something to work on, and the code keeps her busy. It's like a continuous puzzle.

She went to her first physical therapy session yesterday, and feels very proud of herself. Physically there wasn't much improvement, they mainly work on her arms. She has mainly spent the last few months in bed, and hasn't really used her chair, so her arms aren't what they used to be. Her mother wants her to begin a full time rehabilitation, but Gwen just doesn't think she can handle it right now.

She's startled by the knocking on the living room door. She's supposed to be home alone, Ms. Stacy wouldn't be home to 5. She ignores it at first, but she hears the door open. She looks at her chair, but knows even if she could get to it in time, there'd be no where to go. Gwen, attempts to quietly open her side drawer where she's been keeping a knife since Peter moved out. She manages, through shaky hands, to grab it and open it. She puts the computer aside, and sits up fully. The stranger doesn't wait, or dig around for anything in the living room. There's minimal noise as the stranger approaches her door. Her hand, which is already shaking, becomes violent.

The door opens slowly, revealing the all too familiar, lanky boy, who's room this used to halfway belong to. "Peter?" She asks, scared.

"Gwen?" He asks, confused. "Why do you have a knife?"

"Jesus Christ, a little warning next time." She says, breathing heavily. "I thought you were.. were.. I don't know what I thought you were."

"Well, put the knife down, it's just me." He says, reaching for it. She hands it to him.

"What're you doing here?" He takes a seat at the foot of her bed.

"I heard you were back in therapy, and I wanted to see how you were holding up." Her heart swells a little bit, but she quickly shuts it down.

"Thanks. I'm good." She nods.

"What're you working on?"

"It's a code."

"A code?" He chuckles. "I've never known you to be a coder."

"There's a first time for everything." She shrugs. They sit quietly for a moment before Gwen grabs her computer.

"What's it for." Peter says awkwardly.

"It's something for Harry."

"For Oscorp?"

"Yeah." She types quickly.

"And you're just going to do?" He asks, confused about why she would help Oscorp in any way.

"Well, Harry asked me to." She sighs.

"So you just do anything Harry asks you to?"

"He just asked for a favor, and he's done a lot for me here lately." Gwen begins to get annoyed by Peter's presence.

"You know his father is the owner of Oscorp? Like Norman Osborn right? Like the same Norman Osborn who became the Green Goblin, who then through you off a bridge."

"Yeah, thanks for the narrative of my life, Peter." She says, sarcastically. "This is for Harry."

"Just trying to help." The sit silently for a few minutes, until Gwen can't bear it.

"What do you really want, Peter." She looks at him.

"I told you, I wanted to see how therapy was going."

"We're not getting back together." She says, this time softer.

"Who said anything about that?" Peter asks, offended.

"Harry told me what you said the other day."

"What did I say?"

"Are you still seeing Mary Jane?"

"Yes? What about it?"

"I was just curious."

"What about it?" He asks again.

"I was just curious if you'd broken up. Or are you just going to stay with her until you've decided between the two of us?"

"He told you I was thinking about breaking up with her?"

"Yes. And I'm glad he did, that way I could clear my schedule so I could be 100% available for you if you chose me."

"What are you on about?"

"I'm just talking about how you decided to stay with MJ while thinking about getting back together with me, because y'know, I'm just sitting around waiting on you."

"Have you been seeing someone?" He asks, not skeptically, but genuinely curious.

"Kind of."

"It's Harry, isn't it?" Sh nods. "You know, MJ tried to tell me there was something going on between the two of you, but I didn't believe it." He laughs.

"Why?" She asks, wondering if he genuinely thinks that lowly of me. "Because you thought I'd be waiting on you?"

"Yeah, that's kind of how you made it seem when we broke up." He says quietly.

"Peter, I don't know if you've notice or not, but this isn't some romantic comedy, this is my fucking life." Gwen says, voice shaking slightly. She's not good at confrontation. "And you're not exactly a big part of it."

"Because you won't let me be! I didn't want to breakup, I dated MJ because I thought that's what you wanted me to do?"

"I wanted you to date someone, but not her! Do you ever think of how it makes me feel that you chose to date her of all people?"

"Why does that make you feel any sort of way?"

"Because you fucked her while we were dating!" Gwen yells, and it's almost frightening. Gwen, who is usually so calm and reposed, has lost her temper, and it's terrifying. Peter doesn't even register what she's said at first, he only hears the loudness, and the rare vulgarity she's let slip. But he does register it eventually.

"What?" Is all he can manage to say.

"Don't make me say it again." She says, but unlike most of the times this sentence is said, it's not a threat. It's a genuine plea for him to not make her say what's been on her mind for so long. She sits, quiet, for a moment, then gets the computer from beside her, and opens it again.

"Gwen-" He says, but can't figure out what to say.

"It's okay."

"It's not."

"Don't make me talk about it."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to talk about it." She begins coding again, fingers typing slowly, unable to keep a steady thought.

"Well, we need to."

"So you admit it?" She sighs.

"What?"

"You admit that you cheated on me, barely 2 months after I woke up, and you never, not once, thought that you should talk to me about it."

"I want to now."

"Why? So you can throw it in my face?" She says, completely breaking from her thoughts about the code.

"Throw what in your face?"

"How perfect things are for you. How you can do everything, everything, wrong and still end up on top?"

"I.." He says, still unaware of what to say. This is the longest conversation he and Gwen had had in months, but he doesn't want to have it anymore.

"You cheat on me, and you still get the girl. You live a double life that led me to being like this, and you still won't give it up. Peter, do you know how hard it is for me to see you go out knowing that that is the reason I'm like this? I don't blame you, but it just really makes me realize how much you just don't respect me, or care about my well being. It makes me realize how much you don't respect Harry."

"I'm sorry." He finally says.

"It's too late.. Pete, I would have understood. I just don't know why you couldn't tell me."

"I didn't want to hurt you." He means it.

"Well you did. I kept waiting, and waiting, hoping you would talk to me about it, but you never did. I went to all those dinners, and I just knew I couldn't keep up. I waited for you to tell me, and if you had I wouldn't have been upset, well as much.. I just- we could have talked about it. Peter, I'm not saying it would have been okay, or that I would have condoned it, I just wanted to talk about it. I know I wasn't.. available for you like that, but I thought- for some I just thought it wouldn't matter."

"It shouldn't have mattered. Gwen, I didn't want you to find out because honestly there wasn't that much I could say. I don't remember anything, I just remember waking up."

"I don't care what actually happened." She says, insulted. "I wanted to talk about why."

"You want to know why?" He swallows.

"Not know why, because I already do, but just to talk about it."

"Okay, let's talk about it."

"Just go." She looks away.

"Stop pushing me out! Stop halfway telling me what's on your mind, then deserting it so you have a reason to be mad at me later."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore! I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy, I'm sorry I couldn't have sex with you, because that's the most important thing right?"

"Gwen that's not-"

"True? Peter, I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, I'm sorry about anything I did to hurt you, but I had just lost so much, and I didn't know what to do. I would have been upset, I wouldn't have told you that it was something I was okay with happening again, but I would have understood. It just upset me that you wouldn't tell me. It made me feel weak, and it made me like you felt sorry for me. And for a really long time I blamed myself."

"You shouldn't."

"I know I shouldn't." She agrees. "It wasn't my fault that any of this happened, and it was yours either. I mean, sleeping with someone else was, but the accident wasn't your fault. We both made some reckless choices, and I just have to deal with the repercussions of it alone. I think that throughout our relationship, since the accident, and maybe even Dad's death, you ignored that I genuinely had something wrong with me. I ignored it too. But Peter, I am depressed, and I am dealing with these things mostly alone. I didn't have anyone to talk to when you cheated. There was no one there to remind me that it wasn't my fault."

Peter is wordless. He has no idea how to respond, not wanting to upset her more. He isn't exactly happy, but in a way he is. Maybe it's because she finally opened up, or maybe it's because it's the first time he's genuinely listened to her. He can't formulate words that would accurately describe how he feels, so instead he lifts the laptop off of her lap, scoots closer, and pulls her into a hug. It's awkward at first. She doesn't respond, but he keeps holding it until she does. Neither of them really know how long they stay there for, and both of them know things are not fixed, but there is a bandaid placed there for now, and hopefully with time, things will be fixed.

They don't break apart until there are sirens racing by. Peter looks out the window, and Gwen looks at him. "Go." She says. "If you still.."

"I haven't, I haven't in a really long time." He shrugs.

"Go." He nods, standing. He walks towards the fire escape, and turns to her.

"When do you have therapy again?"

"Monday."

"Can I take you?"

"If you'd like to." She nods. More sirens blare in the crowded streets of Manhattan. "Good luck."

So there it is! That's all the romance you're getting for a while! (not really but yeah) Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this! I, like any writer, love comments so you should totally comment/critique/review!

PS: There's more to the villain storyline coming up:P