"Slow down!" Gwen shouted in panic as Peter traversed the streets of New York in a manner that would be deadly for anyone without enhanced reflexes supported by a finely tuned supernatural danger sense. Peter ignored her panicked shouts as he continued swerving between the cars. He wasn't worried about being caught by the police. His endless patrols had taught him which streets police frequented, and which streets were free of their presence.

Still, he knew Gwen enough to that she wasn't actually afraid, merely just shocked. His observation was proven by the passing of the minutes, where her shouts lessened to the point of disappearance, though her arms continued to hold him tight. Soon, what started as a horror ride for her turned into a roller-coaster ride. Exciting enough to cut your breath, but without the mind-numbing fear of certain death. Still, it was the confirmation that she wasn't just a pretty wallflower.

Peter continued driving for more than half-an-hour, speaking impossible thanks to the loud presence of the wind and the helmets, until Peter stopped the bike in an abandoned park. It looked a bit decrepit, and definitely unsafe, but it was still early for real criminals to be out. He wanted to be able to speak with her without anyone else around, allowing her to shout at him if she was inclined.

"So, Peter," Gwen said as she walked to him, looking with serious eyes. "You are the one that invited me here, so I assume you have something to say. Say it."

Peter decided to start with a simple test, to see if the attraction between them was real, or just an illusion that would flutter away under the touch of the reality. Without uttering a word, he leaned and captured her lips. He was satisfied to notice that after a momentary shock, Gwen started answering his kiss, her arms caressing his back. "I hate this new you," she whispered, even as she pushed her fingers through his hair, pulling him tighter. Of course, Peter could have pointed out that caresses and kisses weren't the best way of conducting hatred, but he wasn't a complete idiot, so he just shut up, enjoying her touches as he listened her spilling her guts. "You're so rude and smug, and acting like I'm about to fold for you just because you look at me with this smoldering eyes…" She started leaning forward, only to interrupted by his phone ringing. "Another mystery disappearance, Peter," she said, her voice suddenly bitter. "Go ahead, it's probably more important than our date anyways."

Peter checked up his phone, only to see a coded alert from his spy application. He had built it over police database, sending him alert before they were on the media. This time, it was once again Black Cat, seen exiting a jewelry store. He was about to inform Gwen that she was right, that he needed to go once again, when it clicked in his mind. He didn't have to. Yes, he had a power, and with it came the responsibility. But it wasn't his responsibility to follow every two-bit thief across the city when there were no lives in danger. Especially not with the level of respect he was receiving in response. "Don't worry, nothing important," Peter said as he captured her lips, her expression brightening for a second before they melted together.

They stood still, sharing a long, drawn-out kiss as if trying to ward off the chill of the night when they were interrupted once again as if fate was determined not to give them any time, this time through a loud whistle. They separated, only to see a ragtag group of men stepping out of the woods, some carrying iron bars, others brandishing knives. "Nice ride," said the leader, or so Peter assumed, as he was the biggest guy with the most tattoos, which usually worked like that. "I think this is our lucky day, don't you think guys," he said after turning to his group, receiving a cheering applause. "Why don't you disappear and leave us to our fun. We'll drop it in an alley when we had our fun, and you can take it back if you like used goods." He stopped, dragging his gaze over Gwen's body, indicating that it wasn't his bike that he was referring as the ride. "We'll probably get bored in a couple of weeks," he added.

"At least a month, boss," the second added with a creepy laugh. "This ride doesn't seem like a boring one. I'm sure she'll be like a dream,"

"Let's go, Peter," Gwen said in a panic. "A bike is not that important."

Peter wasn't surprised to see Gwen misunderstood what the men were saying. Despite being a commissioner's daughter, or maybe because of it, she had little exposure to the real underbelly of the city, and as a result, was relatively naive. He turned partly towards her even as he stepped between her and the group.

He would have liked to use his usual trick of disappearing, only for 'spider-man' appear at the last second, but there were two problems. First, he already used that trick with Gwen several times. Most of them were high impact villain assaults, so it made sense for Spider-man to appear quickly. It was not so in this context. if he tried that in here, there was a high chance Gwen would figure out his identity.

Still, it paled against the reason he had. He had been expecting to have sex when he started preparing for the date, so he neglected to wear his costume under his clothes. Running away, changing, and coming back was a significant amount of time, a block that he wasn't willing to leave Gwen in the hands of a bunch of rapists, which meant this time, Peter would have to clean his own mess.

He looked into her eyes. "Gwen, it's not the bike they are referring to," he said. Gwen's face contorted in a moment's confusion, which rapidly turned into horror. "Look," he said, capturing her gaze into his eyes, his usual mannerism nowhere to be found. "Do you know how to drive a bike," he said hopefully, only to receive a negative shake.

The first plan was out, he realized. "Then, I need for you to run away without looking back," he said. "I'll make sure that they don't follow you, and with you gone, there'll be no reason for them to harm me. Understood?" Peter knew he was spewing bullshit, but he hoped that Gwen was shocked enough not to realize the ridiculousness of his statement. And with her gone, he would be free to deal with them easily.

Which was why he was really glad that Gwen didn't try to insist on staying with him or trying to pull him with her. She just turned and started running, not even bothering to get the bike. The leader did a motion and one of the smaller guys started running after her. Peter did nothing, just reached for his helmet. "What, tough guy, scared to run," one of the members hanging at the edge of the group asked, his tone gleeful.

Peter didn't do anything until the runner was just a few meters away from him, and Gwen disappeared at the corner. Then, without any warning, he threw the helmet at the runner, which connected with his head with a loud crack, knocking him off. "Seven," Peter said, an unsettling smile on his lips.

"The squirt thinks himself as a white knight," the leader said with another laugh, but Peter could see his expression was changed. Before, he was just a nuisance they were using to pass time, but now, he had challenged the gang physically. A challenge, as the leader, he couldn't let go unanswered. "Go teach him the error of his ways, boys. Nobody touches one of us and gets away without a hospital stay," he said, and three of them separated from the group, walking towards him, waving their weapons. Still, there was no panic in their movements, nor any hurry. It was one against three, after all.

Once again, Peter did nothing until the closest one was just a meter away, then exploded into action. His spider-sense was tingling, but it wasn't the immediate danger. He decided to focus on that after he handled the gang. He stepped into the weapon range of the first one, but before he could even react, Peter's fist found his solar plexus, pulling him off the count. "Six," he said, his tone devoid of any emotion. The second one proved quicker, swinging his club behind Peter, hard enough to crack a normal man's skull, but it was trivial to notice even without his danger sense. He took a step to the side, then followed up with a round kick. "Five." The third one, frozen by indecision after seeing two of his friends going down, tried to run away, but Peter caught him with a kick to the leg, his own momentum handling the rest. His head hit to the ground, leaving him unconscious. "Four."

"We have a tough boy in our midst," the leader said with a laugh, but his face told another story, a story of fear and panic. But retreat was not an option anymore. He had foolishly challenged an unknown, an unknown that hit harder than he expected. He either won, or his days as the leader was over.

The leader stepped forward, the other three coming from the sides. "Three, two, one…" Peter whispered in the same calm tone, one that promised punishment. All gang was down to count, all except the leader. Peter took a step towards him, and leader pulled back, throwing his knife away in a motion of surrender.

In another situation, Peter would probably accept his surrender, quipping cheerfully to undercut the situation. But forgiveness was quite hard against a man who had declared his intention to rape your girlfriend for weeks just a moment ago. Instead, Peter walked towards him, dodged a punch, and smashed his knee under his foot, hearing a satisfying crunch spreading to the opening. "Half," he said, his voice not flat for once, instead tainted with satisfaction. Then he punched the man for the one last time, sending him unconscious. "And zero…" he whispered, turning back.

Only to come face to face with Gwen, who was watching what just happened in a slacked jaw. "Peter," she exclaimed and run towards him, hugging him with tears in her eyes. It was better than the worst case, where she tried to blame him for excessive force or something similarly stupid, of course, but Peter had a feeling his secret was outed. He was still going to try to convince her otherwise, but he wasn't very hopeful. Gwen was smart. He gently led her towards the bike as her tears spilled from her eyes. "What was that?" she managed to ask when Peter stopped to pick the helmet that he weaponized at the beginning.

"Not now," Peter said as he presented the other helmet to her, then started the bike.

"But that wasn't nor-" she started, only for Peter to silence her. He could have just warned her to be silent, of course, but a quick peck was more fun, even if it turned into a longer kiss where their tongues battled, both using the moment to replace the adrenaline with kinder hormones.

"We'll speak it later," Peter said, and waited until Gwen's arms were around him once more, then started the bike. The return journey was slower, but Gwen's arms were tighter around his chest. Peter said nothing, knowing it was the aftereffect of the shock, trying to make sure he was there. Soon, they were at a relatively empty part of the coast. Too crowded for a sexual encounter, but a good place for an explanation.

Peter stopped the bike and dismounted, his mind churning with the variations of the lies he could tell her to convince it was just a normal encounter. She looked at his face, calm and collected despite the tear tracks. "I started learning karate?" Peter said jokingly,

"Nice try," Gwen said, but at least a laugh followed her statement, which was a positive. "What was that, Peter?" she asked, her tone serious. "It was like you were a different person, faster, stronger." Peter shrugged, not knowing what else to say, also curious that whether she could connect the dots, and how long it was going to take. "But I don't understand," she said, frustrated. "If you are this strong, why are you not helping people. Whenever something happened, you are always running away giving a stupid excuse, leaving others to face it. I can't remember how many times you have deserted me to danger. What if I wasn't lucky, what if Spider-man hadn't been around to save… me… every… fucking… time…" she said, her explanation petering out as a sudden realization invaded her face.

"Upps," Peter said, smiling weakly, knowing that his secret was out. Still, he shrugged a moment later, it was a miracle that he wasn't outed before, with two-thirds of their dates cutting short due to his rotten luck, either with the appearance of a villain, or interruption of a plain criminal, forcing his presence to be replaced with Spider-man.

"I can't believe I hadn't seen it before," Gwen murmured in shock. "How many times it happened I don't even know, you disappearing as soon as the danger hits, and Spider-man appearing less than a minute later."

"I don't know," Peter answered. "Twenty, thirty? I stopped counting after a while. With my luck, it's pretty much pointless."

"But still-" Gwen said, but Peter decided it was enough discussion. Now that she knew, at least he could extract his reward, and sealed her explanation with his lips, his tongue darting into her mouth. Gwen replied with a passion that was a volcano to her earlier fire. It made sense, as Peter was aware of Gwen's not so small crush to Spider-man, a natural progression of all those deadly situations he was present to save her. And while he was a hero, he wasn't stupidly selfless enough to enjoy the delicious fruits of his own success.

"You know you can't tell to anyone, right?" Peter whispered.

"But-" Gwen said, only to be silenced with Peter's finger.

"No, Gwen. That's not negotiable. I had screwed more than one deal of mob, not to mention the costumed crazies I fight against every day. I can't risk them coming after Aunt May, not to mention it would make you as a target as one of my girlfriends."

"I und-," she started, only to stop in a shift of mood. "Hold on, mister, what the hell are you talking about, one of your girlfriends!"

Peter's mind worked quicker than it ever did. He didn't need the warning from the Spider-sense to realize mishandling it would end up hurting him badly. "It's about my powers," he said. "One of the side effects is the increased libido, and I'm afraid that it'll be too physically overwhelming for you." Peter knew he was bullshitting, while his stamina had received a huge increase, it didn't translate into a libido boost. Of course, Gwen wasn't aware of that, and Peter decided it was a good excuse to spew.

"But," Gwen started, then stopped, blushing. "I'm more than enough to satisfy you. I don't need that slut Liz's help, not that she would ever get convinced for it."

Peter smiled sheepishly. "Well, I might have already convinced her about that particular detail."

Gwen's face took a hurt expression, and a slap rang on the opening. The reason, Peter only understood after her next words. "I can't believe you told your secret to that slut before me!"

"Calm down, girl," he said, grabbing her arms to prevent a follow-up slap. "She doesn't know about my identity."

"How did you convince her then?"

"I made a bet with her," Peter said, hoping to avoid the explanation, but Gwen's face allowed no leeway. Peter decided to be direct. "I made a bet with her, claiming that she couldn't make me cum before I make her orgasm three times, and I won."

Gwen's eyes were momentarily glazed. "Three, you say," she murmured, though she had trouble hiding her hurt expression. "Hah, I knew that slut was incompetent, putting out for steroid filled football players probably gave her an inflated sense of her skill."

Peter smartly shut up, because he knew for a fact Gwen was still a virgin, but only an idiot would call attention to that fact. "So, you're confident that you can win that bet."

"Of course I'm," she said automatically before she realized what she just said, her face drowning in crimson in the aftermath.

"Good," Peter said. "I know for a fact that you don't have any other plans for the night, so why don't you send a message to your father, saying you're going to have a slumber party in a friend."

"But I can't lie to my father," Gwen answered, aghast.

"It's not a lie, as there will be slumber involved." He stopped for a second, then corrected himself. "Well, probably," he said, then let out his gaze tracing her body. "On the second thought, I agree, it'll be a lie, there won't be any slumber involved, at least not before the dusk." He chuckled as he watched her blush getting brighter with each correction. "Still, it's your choice, but I promise, it'll be a night to remember…"

She said nothing, but pulled her phone and called her father, explained that she decided to stay a friend for girls' night, followed by another brief call to the said friend just in case her father decided to check. Peter said nothing, just played with his phone and set up a hotel reservation, then sending Aunt May a message saying he was going to stay with a friend. She tried to counter with something about a blind date, but Peter flat out rejected. Though, his aunt still managed to convince him to merely postpone to the next day instead of ditching it completely. He agreed, but only because he didn't have much time to argue. He didn't want to give Gwen too much time to rethink what she had just agreed on.

"Hop on," he said after another brief, yet heated, battle of tongues, and they joined to the chaos of the roads once more…