Crazy Day in the City, Part 7: Temptation

Walking down the sidewalk, Gwen suddenly stopped and faced her newfound stalker. This was possibly the first time she initiated dialogue with him all afternoon. "Hey, were you serious when you said you liked me?"

He stared hard. "Serious? You're asking if I was serious about loving you?" He raised his arms dramatically. "In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes! For they, in thee, a thousand errors note! But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise. Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote!"

Gwen rolled her eyes and resumed walking away. He followed. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely, more temperate!"

She glared at him over her shoulder. He shuddered a bit. "Well... perhaps thou art a tad chilly... But I'm down with that." She didn't respond. "But, yes, seriously. I really would love to go out with you."

"Your reactions are so over the top, it's impossible to think you're ever being sincere."

"Everything I told you is true. I sincerely believe we're fated to be together."

"Ugh. I just threw up in my mouth a little."

"Just the same, it was easy to fall in love with you."

"Why me?"

"I already told you."

"Oh, yes. Your love at first sight. You really believe in that stuff?"

"The second and third sights made it better. But I was hooked at the start. It wasn't like that with your ex-boyfriend?"

"He's not an 'ex' yet - DAMN IT!" She regretted it the instant the word "yet" was out of her mouth. The boy grinned from ear to ear. Gwen quickly tried to get the subject back on track. "We're classmates. He knew what kind of girl I was before he asked me out."

"But he couldn't have known ALL of you. And you already told me you didn't know all of him."

He was getting under her skin again. She quickly tried to dodge. "Love at first sight is based on how the person looks. It's a shallow concept." She wouldn't admit how flattering it was for a boy to think she was that cute. No one at school treated her that way.

"Maybe that's true. But that's only the start. After I talked with you, I liked you even better. I was like, 'wow, cute AND personality? I don't have to settle for one?' You are literally my ideal girlfriend."

"Even the part where I can't stand you?"

"You're witty. You're intense. You know what you want. You don't take crap from anyone. I love women who are emotionally strong."

"Is that what you call it?"

"Yeah, but I still know everyone has weaknesses." Gwen winced. This guy had a serious tone of voice again. She could tell what was coming next. "What did he tell you? The truth you hated so much."

Gwen stopped walking. She noticed something on the street's opposite sidewalk. A broken mailbox was smashed into the pavement. Two familiar boys from her school were examining it. A familiar girl was interviewing someone and exclaimed: "So nobody got a good look at his face?"

Gwen sighed and resumed walking. Her stalker resumed stalking. "It's none of your business," she said. "And you wouldn't understand anyway."

"Isn't that just more reason to tell me? Because I'm not too close to the problem?"

For once, can't you be wrong about something?

What power did this guy have that made it so easy to spill her guts? What it knowing that he'd be gone by the end of the day and she'd never have to see him again? Neither one of them had a way of contacting the other. This meeting really was a one-time-only thing.

In a very unsettling way, it made her kind of disappointed.

"I just can't be with him as often as I want to be."

"Long-distance relationship?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. But even when he's here, he's... not the same person..."

The guy doubled over laughing. Not the reaction Gwen expected.

"AHAHA! And you said I wouldn't understand! Ha... Ha... Oh, crap, I can't stop... hehahaha!"

Seriously, not what she expected.

Unamused, Gwen looked around, wondering how much of a crowd he was drawing, while calmly waiting for her companion to stop clutching his sides.

"Wooo... huh... Okay, I'm better... phew..." He stood up straight and looked at her. "Girl, everyone's like that. Me especially."

"What?"

"We all act differently depending on who we're with. It's called 'social identity.' How I act around my friends isn't the way I act around my father. How I act around him isn't the way I act around my teachers. And it's not the way I act around you. Everyone does it, I just have a little more fun with it."

Gwen didn't respond. He took that as his cue to continue.

"There are lots of 'me's' inside me. They're not just impulsive reactions; they're like roles in a play. I can BE whoever I want depending on what happens. You've seen the bouncing-off-the-walls-with-happiness me, because I met the girl of my dreams today. I could have just as easily been someone else when we found each other."

He smiled. "So you see, if a guy acts one way around a mere 'crush,' and another way around a 'girlfriend,' I can understand-"

"You don't understand."

"Huh?"

She wasn't looking at him. She was looking at something far away. Something no one could see. "You don't understand... anything."

He was silent.

Does another person take over you, or do you choose to be different?

Her companion/stalker looked around the area. "We've been out for a while. It's nearly sunset."

"...Yeah."

He smirked. "Sunset in New York City. I feel like I'm in the climax of a romance movie."

"Will you knock it off!"

His response was interrupted by the noise of the crowd. He turned his head. "What's that?"

Gwen followed his gaze. In the distance, people were running excitedly and pointing upwards.

He was excited as well. "Oh, man! Is this what I think it is? C'mon, let's get a better view!"

Before Gwen could protest, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her after him. They ran to a pedestrian bridge looking over the street. Up the stairs and out to the center, the boy let go of her and grabbed onto the railing. They both looked to the sky.

Ten stories high, Spider-Man swung across the sky on his webs. Everyone followed him along the ground, desperate for a glimpse of him.

"It's him! He's real!"

"He was on the news, too!"

"He saved me once! He's a hero!"

"FLASH! KONG! Get the camera!"

"I got it! I got it!"

Surprisingly, Gwen's companion actually seemed to lose some energy. He was less excited and more awestruck. "Wow... I heard he only appeared at night. Why is he here so early?"

The costumed vigilante passed directly over the two on the bridge. Time seemed to slow down.

Gwen and Spider-Man stared at each other... and Gwen understood.

He's looking for me.

A single drop of water fell on her forehead.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Time resumed, and the superhero swung away. Gwen and the boy moved to the other side of the bridge to keep watching him, before he faded from sight. Part of the crowd tried to follow him in vain, but the two of them stayed and savored the moment.

"That was so awesome... That was the real Spider-Man," he breathed. "I visit New York, and on my first day here, I see a real-life urban myth. A living legend."

"He's not that great," Gwen said simply.

The sun got lower.

The young man noticed her listless expression. "Sorry... I guess I couldn't cheer you up as much as I said I would. From your perspective, you must have had a crappy time with me. But..." He smiled warmly at her. "This was the best day of my life."

And this time Gwen believed him. He continued. "I came to an amazing city, I saw that city's most famous character with my own eyes... and I met the most incredible girl in the world."

He stopped smiling. He stood up a little straighter and faced her directly. "I haven't been acting very serious around you, but now I'm the serious me... I like you. Will you please think about it?"

"Think about...?"

"Will you go on a date with me... for real?"

She stared at him.

This guy's enthusiasm was uncommonly high, and yet still within the confines of normalcy. He was still a normal person.

As much as she hated to admit it, it was tempting. Gwen was living a surreal dream these days. She was often tempted to wake up and be done with it. Go back to a normal life with a normal boyfriend. No juggling time between alter egos. No protecting his secrets. No crime fighting. Just... normal.

Normal would be nice... for a while.

"I love you, Gwen."

But Peter would still be there, waiting for her.

He smirked, self-depreciating. "I knew you'd turn me down. I just had to ask anyway."

Gwen hadn't said anything, but she was used to his almost-mind-reading. "You knew even before you asked?"

"Yep. Because when you love someone... someone who loves you back... you will NEVER be able to forget it."

He leaned onto the bridge's railing. And after a moment, Gwen matched his pose. They stayed like that in silence, just watching the crowds and cars below them. Until Gwen saw a familiar face running down the sidewalk towards them.

"That's..."

A teenage boy with messy brown hair sprinted down the sidewalk. He raced onto the bridge, stopped and panted with his fists at his side for a second, and yelled, "Get your hands off my girl!"

That line doesn't work if he's not actually touching me, you moron.

They stepped away from the railing and looked at the newcomer. And Gwen noticed that, while he was mostly dried off, his hair and clothes were damp. "What happened to-"

Spidey stomped over to Gwen and grabbed her hand. Then he put something into it. It was her cell phone, the one she dropped in the pond at Central Park.

"You have no idea how much of a pain it was to find this."

Gwen was stunned. Finally, she chuckled a little.

It's obviously not gonna work anymore, moron.

The other man watched the scene and once again, smiled depreciatingly. "Damn. I've been totally defeated." He walked away. But as he passed Spidey, he patted his shoulder. "Take care of her, man. She's a keeper."

Gwen and Spidey watched him walk off the bridge and down the sidewalk, until he was out of sight.

The girl spoke up. "Hey-"

"YOU IDIOT!" Spidey yelled at her. "You have any idea how long you've been missing? That's right, missing! You had us all worried sick! If something happened to you, it would DESTROY Peter! You get that?"

"I'm sorry. But... speaking of Peter, what was that about how I'm YOUR girl?"

"I-I only said that to make that punk back off. Peter can keep you all to himself for all I care."

They were both silent for a little bit after that.

"I'm sorry, too... for what I said in the coffee house. I was right, but I should have been more tactful."

"Apology accepted, brat."

He rolled his eyes. Then he took her hand and started walking. "Come on. MJ's waiting for us."

Author's Notes: Nothing left but the wrap-up.