A look of horror washed over Peter's face as he stood by the door and tried his hardest to come up with a cover story. He had been counting on his aunt May being out and about, but it was just his luck recently that this would be the one time that she was home.

"Well don't just stand there. Talk to me." May prompted.

"I uh…" He stammered.

"Who's the girl and what happened to you both?" She questioned, starting to lose her patience.

"Right! I forgot. You haven't officially met yet. Aunt May this is Gwen, my uh… My girlfriend, and to answer your question we were at Oscorp headquarters, I was picking her up to take her out but when we were walking down the stairs she misplaced her foot and she fell." He lied, hoping it sounded plausible.

"Girlfriend?" May questioned in shock. "Okay, I will give you a pass, now go take her upstairs and make sure she is alright. I will bring up some food and some drinks for you both." She added.

Peter nodded and, after taking one last look at his aunt, headed upstairs to his bedroom. Placing Gwen on his bed, he removed her shoes and coat. Holding his hand up to her forehead he took note that her temperature was higher than it should have been and went off to the bathroom to retrieve a damp flannel. Racing back into the room, he then set it down on top of her head.

Sitting down beside her, he took her hand into his own and kept watch. After a few minutes, she began to stir awake.

"Thank God." Peter sighed in relief. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I feel… A little better." She answered, her voice low and hoarse.

With his help, she managed to sit up just enough so that she was able to stay awake. As they sat quietly, she didn't take her eyes off of him and after another few minutes he smiled at him.

"What are you smiling for?" He asked curiously, unable to keep the growing smile off of his own face.

Squeezing his hand slightly, she pulled him closer so that their faces were mere inches apart and then she leaned in close to his ear.

"It's okay Peter, I forgive you now." She whispered.

He shook his head. "No, you shouldn't. Those things I said…" He began to protest.

"Doesn't matter. I don't wanna waste time being in a fight with you. I love you too much for that." She interrupted.

"I love you too, Gwen." He whispered back.

Before she could say another word, there was a knock on his bedroom door and his aunt May walked in holding a tray full of both food and drinks.

"Are you both hungry?" She questioned, placing the tray on the bedside unit.

"Well, I hope so. Thank you aunt May" Peter quipped, the slightest hint of humour in his voice.

"No need to thank me, Peter. It's what I'm here for." She said modestly.

"Oh yeah… Gwen, this is my aunt May. Now that you're awake I can finally introduce you properly."

"Ah, it's good to see that you are awake. How are you feeling?" May asked politely.

"A little better, thank you. It's nice to finally meet you." She answered with a warm smile.

"You too. Well, I'm going to go do the rest of the laundry and I shall leave you both to it, just call me if you need anything." With that statement, May turned and exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Peter turned his attention back to Gwen. Lifting up the flannel he had placed on her forehead before, he pressed his hand there in its place and checked her temperature once again.

"Now that's better than it was… I think that you're just running a fever, that's all." He explained, seeing the confused look on her face.

She remained quiet as he made all the other necessary checks, and once he decided that everything was mostly back to normal, he went back to the bathroom to fetch the first aid kit and then returned, ready to patch up her wounded arm.

Gently peeling away the plaster that he had applied there earlier, he examined the wound carefully. Although the bleeding had somewhat ceased, it was still healing. He knew exactly what would speed up the process; having been wounded himself many times before. The venom healing would kick in after a couple of hours but to help it along, he pulled out some butterfly stitches strips and peeled them off before sticking several of them carefully across the wound. Once he was satisfied with his work, he picked up the tray of food that his aunt May had left for them.

"Are you feeling well enough to eat?" He asked.

"Um… I think so, I will try." She replied, her voice sounding stronger than it had before.

Picking up a slice of apple that was on the plate, he gestured for her to take it; which she did, gladly and watched as she took a bite before picking up one for himself and taking a bite. Until the sour juice of the apple hit his tongue, he hadn't realised how hungry he was.


Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Harry stood outside the apartment block where Gwen's family resided. Having made sure that there was no sign of her, or Peter, he knew that there would be no one to stop him from doing what he had planned.

Walking around to the fire exit, he used his board to levitate himself up to the window that looked into Gwen's bedroom and used a glass cutter to break the glass without raising an alarm in the household. Once he had created a hole big enough for him to fit through, he carefully removed the glass and slipped through silently landing in her bedroom.

Stalking across the room to the door, he opened it carefully and snuck out into the hallway. Finally, he was able to locate her two brothers and her mother in the family room, sitting in front of the TV. A malicious smirk spread across his face as he crept up behind the sofa.

Creeping up besides Gwen's mother, he reached out with his mutant-like hand and tapped her on the shoulder. Jumping out of her seat, the woman turned around and screamed at him. Enjoying her fear, he made his move. Gripping her around the neck, he squeezed and squeezed, but before she could lose consciousness, he let go and threw her onto the floor.

Turning his attention to the two boys, as their mother screamed at them to run, he chased after them, reaching the front door before they could get there. Picking up both boys, he threw them aside and locked the door before heading back over to their mother.


Back in Peter's room, Gwen seemed to be doing a lot better after having eaten. Now in a full sitting position, her pink colour was starting to return.

"Hey… Now that you are mostly well again, can I ask what you think the cause was?" He asked, concerned.

"I don't think that it was the blood, if that's what you're worried about." She stated.

"Oh… Good." He said, relied washing over him.

"Honestly… It's just been difficult recently. Not because of you but because of what you've been going through and then… You know what? Don't worry, I'll be fine. It's just been a little stressful." She explained.

"I'm sorry if I added to that when I went off on you." He sighed, mentally kicking himself as he remembered what he'd said.

"Stop being sorry, I already forgive you." She reassured him.

"I know I don't deserve it… But thank you."

"There was never any doubt. Even if it took me a while, I will always forgive you. Stop telling yourself that you don't deserve things because you do."

"Okay, I'll believe it because you said it and you always manage to see the good in people." He agreed with a smile.

"We should probably fix the suit, right?" She questioned.

"Yeah, but are you sure that you're ready to travel?"

"Yes. I feel a lot better than I did earlier." She confirmed.

Receiving her confirmation, he helped her back on her feet and gave her the coat he'd taken off of her earlier. Once they were both ready to go, they headed into the city. With night time just around the corner, it was easier to move as the crowds weren't as big.

It took them much less time to get back to the familiar apartment block than usual due to the lack of people in the city and within minutes they were standing in the hallway where the apartment was located.

Putting her key in the lock, Gwen knew that something was wrong when she discovered that the door was unlocked.

"What is it?" Peter asked, noticing the frown that appeared on her face.

"The door isn't locked. My mom always locks it, even when we're in… Especially since my dad passed away." She informed him.

Opening the door and heading inside the apartment, with Peter following closely behind, she headed to her bedroom and dumped her coat inside. It was then that she noticed the window had a huge piece of glass cut out of it.

"Who the heck would break into an apartment this high up?" Peter questioned, examining the window closely.

"Mom?" She called out, a lump forming in her throat.

Leaving Peter to examine the broken window, she headed out of her room and towards the family room. As she neared it, she caught sight of blood smeared all over the floor. Her heart began to pound as she continued further.

"Mom? If this is a joke… This isn't funny." She said, growing more afraid.

Standing in the doorway of the family room, her eyes widened in horror and her breaths came short and fast. Then she screamed. An ear piercing, gut wrenching scream.

His head snapped up from the window that he was examining and without a thought he raced out of the room to the doorway where Gwen was standing. As soon as he appeared, she spun around and buried her head in his shoulder. Confused, he placed his arms around her and looked over her head. A horrified gasp escaped him as he saw what it was that she had seen. Unable to say a word, instead he tightened his arms around her, not knowing what else to do.