Finding his friends sitting at their usual table outside of the science building, Peter strolled up to them.

"Hey guys!" he greeted enthusiastically.

"Well, if it isn't the birthday boy!" Flash spoke up.

"Technically a day late, but close enough," he said. "Listen, guys, I just wanted to apologize; I feel like I've been distant for a while now, and I didn't mean for that to happen."

"It's okay man," Harry replied. "Between May's health and the Bugle running you ragged, plus keeping up with classes, you might have been almost as busy as my dad, and trust me, that's saying something."

"Yeah man; seriously, don't sweat it," Flash assured him.

"Okay, great," Peter said, relief washing over him. "Seriously, thank you both for everything you did while May was in the hospital. It really helped a lot."

"Nothing you hadn't already or wouldn't have done for us," Flash replied.

"Though I will say, speaking of things we'd do for each other, I would appreciate some help studying for this chemistry test next week," Harry spoke up.

"Of course!" Peter assured him.

"Thanks," Harry replied. "You know, looking back, I really wish I had just gotten all those Gen-ed science classes out of the way as soon as possible. Taking one with my more advanced business classes just might be my breaking point."

"Chemistry isn't so bad," Peter tried to assure his friend. "It's just a little science mixed with a little math."

"And that might be the worst part of it honestly," Harry said as he gestured back to Peter.

"I have to agree with Harry on this one," Flash insisted.

"Of course you do," Peter said, rolling his eyes. "If only..."

Peter's spider sense then went off; it was exceptionally faint, however, which he'd learned to mean someone was simply coming toward him out of his view, but not likely someone who would harm him. Sure enough, Peter soon felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, with Gwen coming around to his side.

"Hey, you," she said, her face sporting a bright and beautiful smile.

"Hey, you," Peter replied. The two then leaned in, their lips pressing against one another in a deep kiss. Once they separated, all Peter seemed to be able to do was stare into her deep blue eyes, Gwen's gaze refusing to move as well.

"Heh hem."

Peter turned to see Flash and Harry just staring at him, both his friend's expressions conveying intrigue.

"Oh yeah, how rude of me," Peter said, shaking himself from his haze. "Guys, meet my girlfriend, Gwen Stacy."

"Yeah, I think we got that far," Flash replied. "But when exactly did this shift in relationship status happen?"

"Yesterday," Peter answered.

"Ah," Flash remarked, turning to Harry. "Now we know the REAL reason we weren't invited, Harry."

"Actually, I just surprised him," Gwen spoke up, "then it just kind of happened."

She then turned to Peter, her hands coming to his shoulders.

"I have to get to class," she said. "We still on for our first official date tonight?"

"Of course!" Peter assured her.

"I don't suppose you feel like giving any hints away this morning, do you?" Gwen questioned, her expression practically begging him.

"Nice try, lady, but you aren't getting anything out of me," Peter affirmed, remaining resolute.

"Alright," Gwen moaned teasingly. "I'll see you tonight."

The couple then leaned in for another kiss, holding their positions for seemingly as long as possible before Gwen finally pulled away, giving one more smile and holding onto Peter's hand as long as possible before finally turning and heading into the science building for class.

Peter then turned to see Flash taking a $20 bill from Harry.

"What's this about?" Peter questioned.

"Harry and I both knew you and Gwen would end up a couple not long after you broke up with your Bugle girl, so we made a bet about if it would happen before or after this semester," Flash explained.

"Pete here just kept dragging his feet for so long, I was almost starting to wonder if it would ever happen!" Harry defended.

"Glad to know you both have such a vested interest in my love life," Peter quipped.

"Hey, it was better than any will they/won't they love story I ever read!" Flash asserted.

"Flash, the only things you read of your own free will are box scores and trade rumors," Peter countered.

"Okay, he got you there," Harry concurred.

"Fine, fine," Flash replied. "But seriously, you two were meant for each other. Also, where exactly is it you plan on sweeping her off her feet tonight, if I may ask?"

"No way," Peter replied. "As lucky as I was to actually make it work, I'm not saying anything until it actually happens!"

"Oh, don't be superstitious!" Harry insisted.

"Nope," Peter persisted. "You'll just have to wait and hear about it tomorrow."

"Alright, keep your secrets, Parker," Flash said. "But seriously, hold onto that one, man. Harry and I both would be lucky to end up with a woman like that someday."

"Thanks for the advice," Peter replied, turning to head to class. "I'll do my best."

Peter was just trying to catch his breath when his enemy wrapped his long mechanical tail around him, drawing him close.

"Are you sure we can't do this another time, Scorpion?" Peter questioned. "I didn't exactly have getting squeezed to death on my itinerary tonight."

"Aww, I'm hurt to that I've fallen so far on your priority list," Scorpion mocked. Peter was then suddenly flung back, slamming clean through a wall and tumbling out onto the street. Naturally, it wasn't long before his opponent leapt out to join him, so he forced himself up quickly, ready to face him. Suddenly, the earpiece in his mask connected to his phone started ringing.

"Oh, come on, not now!" he said. He couldn't see a name, but he had a feeling that he knew who it was. Firing a web and swinging off in an effort to lure Scorpion away from the surrounding civilians, he reluctantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey," came the voice of his girlfriend. "I was just seeing if you were stuck in traffic or something?"

"I know, I'm late," Peter replied. "I'm sorry; I, uh... something came up with work. Is there any chance you'd accept a rain check for tonight and we could try again tomorrow?"

"I don't mind waiting, really," Gwen assured him. Darn it, why did she have to be so sweet?

"I appreciate that, but I..."

Peter's spider sense went off, but even that wasn't enough to prevent Scorpion from tackling him to the ground. He struggled hard against his opponent.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Peter tried to assure her, though the struggling nature of his voice wasn't likely to help matters. He managed to kick Scorpion off as he continued. "I was just going to say this might take a while, so I'm afraid tonight probably isn't going to be an option."

"Okay," Gwen replied, though the light sigh that came with it didn't go unnoticed by Peter. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks; you're the best!" Peter shouted as he once again leapt away from the swing of his opponent's tail.

Seriously, why did this have to happen tonight of all nights?

Finishing buttoning up his shirt, Peter checked over himself one more time in the mirror, making sure there weren't any wrinkles in his clothes and that his hair was in perfect order... or at least as close as it could be. Deciding he was content enough, he headed downstairs, finding May in the kitchen.

"Alright, May, take two tonight," he declared. "Wish me luck!"

"You don't need it," she said, the two sharing a quick hug. "You just need to understand that it's okay if you don't get pictures of Spider-Man just one time if something happens."

Peter didn't say anything, only offering the best smile he could muster before turning to head out. As he headed out the door, he rotated his arm around, trying to stretch out his shoulder. Despite his healing factor, he was still a little sore from the fight with Scorpion the night before, which had lasted over an hour and sent him through several buildings and basically destroyed his suit, which had taken most of the day to fix. He'd been lucky that all his injuries could at least be hidden under his clothes when he finally came home, since the last thing he needed was for May to see them and worry about what happened to him.

He'd also been very fortunate that Dr. Connors had been able to get him and Gwen seats a second night in a row. He'd felt bad, like he was taking advantage of the man's generosity that had been extended freely the first time, but fortunately the man was gracious and understanding of his "work" that had come up that night, once again pulling the necessary strings for the surprise he had in mind for his girlfriend. Peter couldn't wait to see the look on her face when they arrived; he knew she would appreciate it, which was why he was determined to, as much as it depended on him, not let anything stand in his way.

Things seemed to be going well too as he soon found himself barely two blocks from the Stacy home when, suddenly, his spider sense went off like crazy. A couple seconds later, a loud, violent explosion came from his left, and Peter glanced over to see that a warehouse was suddenly lit aflame, the whole building seemingly consumed in seconds. Moving quickly in the direction of the scene, he pulled out his phone, pulling up Gwen's contact to text her.

"Need another rain check; work again. Sorry :("

Heading into a nearby alley, he quickly changed into his Spider-Man outfit before making his way towards the building, finding the least flame infested window area he could and flying inside.

"Hello!?" he called out in a loud voice. "Is anyone here!?"

Getting no response, he moved onto another room, then another, then another one before finally finding a woman trapped beneath some fallen rubble.

"Hang on!" he shouted, hurrying over to her. "I'll get you out!"

Quickly lifting the debris off her, Peter then picked her up, bolting out a nearby window and setting her down to safety just as the EMTs and firefighters arrived. He then immediately went back in, searching for more civilians. He would end up scouring most of the building and rescuing over a dozen people, the last of which was a young woman who remained clutched to him in a panic. He patiently stayed with her, holding her hand as the first responders checked over. Eventually, she settled down and was hoisted into an emergency vehicle like everyone else.

"Thanks, Spidey," one of the EMTs said as they packed up. "I don't know if she would have settled down if not for you staying with her. I'm sure this can't be what you had planned for tonight."

"It's my pleasure," Peter replied after a moment's hesitation. He'd come to make a habit of not showing his disappointment to the public when Spidey life interrupted his more normal plans, but it was hard not to in this instance. He then swung off, landing on the corner of a rooftop not too far, where he could see Gwen's house from. He took his out his phone, pulling up his girlfriend's response to his earlier message.

"Okay; please, be careful."

Momentarily leaning his head on his phone, Peter sighed softly in frustration. He'd really, really been looking forward to this for two nights in a row now, and he knew that she had as well. He also knew that Gwen understood how important his work was (what she knew of it, anyway), but was she getting impatient with him and just not showing it? Was he blowing it with her already?

Shaking his head to keep his brain from going too far down that rabbit trail, he switched gears, scrolling and finding Dr. Connors's number in his phone, hesitating a moment before dialing it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Doc," Peter replied sheepishly. "Listen, about tonight..."

Gwen sat on her bed, flipping her phone around in her hand. If she was being honest, she was waiting for Peter to call or text and say he had to cancel again. She hated having such a negative approach, and her boyfriend had sounded genuine when he said he was going to make it this time, but given recent history, it was hard not to be skeptical.

Getting agitated with her nervous habit, Gwen got up, sat her phone on her desk and took a seat, pulling out one of her research books. She flipped through, finding where she'd left off, and she had just started reading when, suddenly, she heard the doorbell, her attention suddenly peaked. She listened, hearing her father talking with someone, but she couldn't quite tell who it was.

"Gwen, Peter's here!" she then heard her father call. Waisting no time, she quickly grabbed her jacket, throwing it on as she hurried down the stairs, trying not to see him too rushed as she came into the living room.

"Hey!" she said, realizing that they'd both probably heard her feet thundering down the stairs. "Ready to go?"

"Yep," Peter assured her. She then gave her dad a hug goodbye, and soon, her and Peter were off. Surprisingly, there was an awkward silence between the two of them at first. Eventually, Gwen spoke up.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Peter tried to assure her. "I'm just, you know, really excited."

"Me too," she said, though neither of their tones seemed to convince her.

After a moment, Peter gently grabbed her arm, stopping them both.

"Actually, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," he apologized.

"You had work," Gwen replied.

"I know," Peter affirmed, "it's just... I've been waiting for this kind of night for so long, to finally have my chance to be your man, and I just feel like I've done nothing but blow it so far. I guess what I'm trying to say that is that I'm sorry that I've been such a lousy boyfriend."

Gwen sighed, simply staring at Peter.

"I won't lie, I've been pretty disappointed the last couple of nights, even though I knew it wasn't your fault," she explained. "You need that job to help support your aunt. I guess I didn't think about what that might look like for us in terms of time, but it's okay. You know why?"

"No, but I'm guessing you'll tell me?" Peter replied, his tone perked up a little. Gwen then placed her hands on his cheeks.

"Because I believe you're worth it, Peter Parker."

A big smile broke out across her boyfriend's face.

"I don't deserve you," he said.

"We'll work on that," Gwen replied. She then pulled him in for a kiss, his hands gently clutching her waist area before they eventually separated.

"Now, Mr. Parker, I've been just dying to find out what this big surprise date you've had in mind is."

"Well then why don't you follow me and I'll show you," he teasingly suggested. He then wrapped his arm around her shoulders, hers going around his waist as the two resumed walking towards wherever they were going.

"Seriously, any last-minute hints?" she questioned.

"Nope," Peter replied, shaking his head. "But let's just say that I'm pretty confident that you'll like it."

Gwen wanted to pry more, but managed to refrain as they continued on, instead striking up more general conversation instead. While she did enjoy a good surprise, she also was one to love solving a good mystery, so the fact that she still had no idea what they were heading for hung in her brain for a while. She did eventually get a hint as, after a mixture of walking and utilizing public transportation, they ended up at one of Oscorp's smaller buildings in Midtown, usually used for presentations.

"What are we doing here?" Gwen questioned as they strolled towards the place. "What's going o... wait, we're not... are we..."

"Showing up to the last day of Dr. Romita's presentation on the latest breast cancer research?" Peter finished for her. "So, what do you think?"

Gwen tried to get words out, but all she could do was stammer in shock. She just hadn't expected such a wonderful surprise!

"But... how did you get tickets?" she asked. "They were expensive AND they were sold out two weeks ago!"

"Well, it mostly helps when you know someone who used to work with the speaker," Peter replied. "Dr. Connors hooked me up, actually."

"Peter, I..."

Gwen suddenly found herself unable to continue, a well of emotion boiling up in her until she suddenly had to wipe tears from her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked. "Listen, if this is too hard for you..."

"I'm sorry," Gwen managed to get out. "It's just that I was trying really hard not to get frustrated with you, the situation or whatever the last couple of days, when all along you were planning to do something so meaningful to me for our first real date."

"Hey, you didn't know," Peter said. "It was a surprise, after all."

Managing to compose herself, Gwen let out a breath.

"You're right," she acknowledged. "Okay, how about we go in there, and leave the last couple nights in the past?"

"Sounds good to me," Peter said as they strolled up to the building. "Oh, and Gwen... you know your mom would be proud of you, right?"

Gwen just looked at him, something she had to imagine was love welling up in her heart.

"Thanks."

Hope you enjoyed it!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:11