Chapter 20

'Can you believe the gall of this man?' George said while scrolling through his phone. ''God is dead'? What nonsense,' George said, looking incredulous at what he just read.

A slight frown formed on Mrs. Stacy's face. 'He's just quoting Nietzsche,' Helen explained while serving dinner on the dining table.

George peeked over his phone when the smell of the food wafted over to his direction. 'Nietzsche? Isn't that the guy who talked about 'Man & Superman' or something?' George said while making his way towards the dinner table. 'Tuna Casserole?'

'Uber-mensch,' Helen corrected him. 'And yes,'

'Hah, see that, Gwen? Your old man ain't all brawns. He knows a thing or two about philosophy,' George said smugly. 'Huhu, me, man, huhu, big brain,' George said jokingly while play-acting as an ape.

Helen rolled her eyes playfully at her husband's antics. 'Of course, I trained him well see,' Helen winked playfully at Gwen, before taking a seat at the dinner table with the rest of them.

Gwen who was used to her parents' antics just smiled off the pair's interaction, while scrolling through her phone.

'Apparently the company's getting a military contract with the Ministry of Defense. He's probably making that statement as a publicity stunt to gain their confidence or something,' Helen continued.

George, who previously kept his eyes glued to the food in front of him, turned & faced towards his wife. 'Expansion?'

For a brief moment, a look of uncertainty flashed across Helen's face. 'Maybe. There are rumors that they might re-assign some of the research departments for this, but Curt & Martha are saying the 'Cross-Species' Genetic research department is safe either way,'

George frowned for a moment, before continuing. 'Why would Oscorp suddenly get a military contract anyway?'

Helen hesitated for a moment, before continuing. 'Apparently, it's got something to do with Dr. Erskine's serum,'

'Erskine?' George mulled over the name for a few moments. 'Nope, not ringing any bells,'

Helen smiled appreciatively at her husband's efforts. 'He was a pretty famous German scientist,'

'Well, let's hope Osborn doesn't end up like the last German who read Nietzsche,' George said to himself jokingly.

Immediately he felt the hard sharp glare from his wife, which caused him to sweat. 'Right, that was tactless, sorry,' George said to no one in particular.

Gwen who wasn't fully paying attention, looked up to see the weird, guilty face that her father was pulling, and looked back & forth between her father & mother to try & make sense of what just happened.

'Did I miss something?' Gwen asked curiously.

Helen tucked her hair behind her ear & started serving the Tuna Casserole onto their individual plates while still holding a frown. 'Nothing, just your dad, being an idiot. Right?' Helen said, almost challengingly towards George.

George immediately looked away, something Gwen knows her dad would do when he was caught in the wrong.

'Y-yeah, something like that,' George said sheepishly, before suddenly changing topics. 'S-so, how's Middle School, Gwen?'

Gwen, who was chewing a mouthful of casserole, just nodded her head while trying to digest the mouthful. 'It's okay. There's plenty of familiar faces, so it doesn't really feel all that different,'

'Right,' George nodded, listening along to his daughter. 'Any of them boys giving you trouble yet?' he narrowed his eyes jokingly at Gwen.

'No dad,' Gwen smiled along playfully with her dad. 'I doubt anyone'd dare to, with you around,' Gwen continued, a slight sarcastic undertone laced within her words.

'Good, let's keep it that way,' George said smugly. 'And if anyone does dare to, you just give em the old, one-two, like I taught you,' George said, half-jokingly.

Gwen looked over incredulously at her father. 'Dad, I'm not gonna punch a guy for hitting on me,' Gwen said monotonously.

'Who said anything about punching anyone?' George raised his shoulders innocently. 'I'm just saying, if he's annoying you…, maybe you should give him a light 'tap' to the gut,' George said innocently. 'You know…, a little reminder to keep his distance,'

'Dad, I'm 11,' Gwen said with a straight face.

While the father-daughter pair kept on with their antics, Helen continued to eat her dinner in silence. As their banter died down, Helen turned towards Gwen.

'So, how's things between you & Peter?' Helen suddenly asked Gwen.

Gwen, who was caught off-guard by the sudden question, blinked in silence for a few moments. 'H-huh?'

'Peter? Who's that? Is that a boy?' George narrowed his eyes jokingly towards his daughter, but quickly stopped when he saw the slightly nervous face Gwen was pulling.

'Peter, peter…, isn't that Ben's kid next door?'

'Nephew,' Helen corrected him

'Oh yeah, right. Poor kid,' George nodded off-handedly. 'Is he in the same school?' George asked Helen, who kept quiet & gestured towards Gwen with her eyes.

'Uhh, y-yeah, he is,' Gwen answered with a smile of her own. 'We're still cool. You know…, friends,'

'Ohh? Really?' Helen looked at Gwen, a slight undertone of sarcasm in her voice. 'Is he? Cool? For you, I mean?'

'O-of course,' Gwen said, slightly softly, turning her attention towards the plate in front of her.

Helen nodded along in silence for a few moments. 'So…, when I asked you to invite your friends & Peter, and also the Parkers over for the BBQ this weekend…, I assumed you did, do that, then?' Helen asked.

Gwen remained silent for a few moments, before nodding lightly, her eyes looking away from her mom.

'Really?'

'Hel-,'

Helen eyed George sharply, instructing him to leave the matter alone between the two ladies.

'Peter must've forgot to tell May then, because she clearly didn't know,' Helen smiled towards Gwen.

Gwen continued to feign ignorance and nodded along with what her mom said. 'I guess so,'

For a brief moment, a look of disappointment flashed across Helen's face, but before Gwen could see it, her mother had returned to her smile. 'Well, lucky I did meet with May earlier today then,' Helen turned back towards her plate of food. 'I've gone ahead & asked them to come to the BBQ tomorrow. That's okay with you right?'

Gwen maintained her innocence & nodded along as her mom explained. 'Sure, not a problem,'

'Ben!' George called out happily.

The Parkers sheepishly waved at them from over their backyard. 'I hope we're not too early,' Ben smiled warmly.

'Right on time actually,' Helen said from their back door, as Gwen came out with a tray of seasoned & marinated chicken wings. 'We're just about to start cooking,'

Ben whistled in appreciation as he eyed the tray full of wings. 'Buffalo wings?'

'It ain't New York without it,' George smirked. 'Come on over & help me out with this grill,'

May smiled warmly towards Helen. 'Right then, you need some help in the kitchen?'

'Yes please,' Helen smiled back pleadingly. 'Who'd thought that a kitchen is a million times more troublesome than a lab, eh?'

'Nonsense,' May replied cheerfully. 'Those wings look godlike already,'

'Well, you haven't seen the steaks yet,' Helen smirked sheepishly. 'And I don't mean that in a good way,'

'Right,' May smiled hesitantly. 'Let's see what we can do then,' May continued.

She then looked over at Ben who was busy trying to start up a fire with George. 'Ben, honey, do you need Peter to help you out with that?'

'Hmm? No, no, we got this honey,' Ben waved away the suggestion as he & George continued fiddling away with the matches.

May turned towards Helen who gave her a knowing smile. 'Men,' May said off-handedly, before heading towards Helen. 'Peter? Mind helping us with some of the kitchen work?'

'Uhm, yeah, sure Aunt May,' Peter nodded shyly as he walked towards the kitchen, backpack in hand, to join his aunt.

Helen turned towards Gwen, who was now seated on one of their benches, drinks in her hand. 'Gwen, you coming?'

'Coming,' Gwen replied, as she stood up and wiped the sweat off of her brows.

As she did so, she passed by George & Ben who was trying to start a fire without much success.

Gwen quickly stopped by and picked up one of the instruction manuals left by the table.

'Umm, I'm pretty sure you need to light up the firelighters first,' Gwen chipped in.

'Huh?' George turned towards his daughter while scratching his head.

Gwen handed the written instruction to the pair. 'Yeah, and then just pour the briquettes & set up the chimney,' she pointed towards the page she mentioned, before turning away to join her mom.

'Do you have some Cajun seasoning?'

'Err, maybe? George bought a whole bag of seasoning yesterday,' Helen said hesitantly.

Peter quickly sets down his backpack, and browsed through the bottles of spices left on the table. 'Is it this one?' Peter picked one out and handed it over to Helen, who then passed it to May.

'Hmm. Yeah sure, these would do nicely,' May nodded, before starting to season the steaks left in front of her.

Helen went over & helped May with the seasoning work. 'Huh, I thought you're just supposed to season it with black pepper & salt,'

'Well, that works too, but why not we try some Cajun Butter Steak this time eh?' May explained while continuing her work.

'Hey, I'm no way near you when it comes to cooking May, so, as far I'm concerned, your word is law around here,' Helen smirked playfully.

At that moment, Gwen entered the kitchen from outside. 'Mom? Need some help?'

'Oh, perfect timing dear. Can you & Peter help cut some of the vegetables?' Helen gestured towards the fridge with her chin. 'Its in the bag, in the fridge,'

Gwen hesitated for a moment, before quickly going over & taking the bag of vegetables out, & setting them down on the counter.

Peter slowly made his way to the counter as Gwen went over & brought over a pair of knives for them.

'H-hey,' Gwen said softly, as she faced Peter.

'Hey,' Peter replied hesitantly, his eyes focused on his shoes rather than the girl stood in from of him.

'Umm, you ok with handling knives?' Gwen asked.

'Y-yeah, I've helped May out a couple of times,' Peter scratched the back of his head.

'R-right,' Gwen said, before browsing through the plastic bag. 'Capsicum?' Gwen asked as she took out one of the vegetables.

'Sure,' Peter said as he took the one Gwen placed on the counter, and placed it on the cutting board.

'Right,' Gwen replied as she took out the remaining bell peppers & places it down on the counter for Peter. 'Umm, I think we should cut it in large portions for BBQ,' she continued as she took out some of the mushrooms and began cutting them in two.

'R-right,' Peter nodded shyly, before they continued to work in silence for the next few minutes.

'Mannnn, it sure is doom & gloom over on this side of the kitchen huh?' Helen suddenly said out loud from behind the pair, to their surprise.

'Mom!' Gwen yelled out in frustration as she was startled. 'We're holding knives!' Gwen continued, flustered by the interruption.

'Haha, right, sorry, sorry,' Helen smiled apologetically at her daughter before continuing to watch over the two. 'So, Peter, how's school?'

Peter jumped up slightly in surprise at the sudden question. 'H-hmm? Uhh, it's okay,' Peter replied shyly, his face slowly turning red from the attention.

'Really?' Helen continued. 'That's good then. You making a lot of friends?' Helen asked innocently.

'Y-yeah…,'

'Oh please, that boy prefers to keep himself cooped up in his room all day than go out with his friends,' May chipped in playfully from her counter. 'I don't know where he keeps all these 'friends' he keeps talking about,' May joked.

Peter's face started turning into a mix of embarrassment & sadness, hidden underneath his bangs.

Gwen who was standing next to Peter, noticed the crestfallen look on his face and hesitated for a moment.

'Uhm, no, Peter has some friends at school,' Gwen chimed in softly, which earned her a surprised glance from Peter. 'We hang out at school. He's pretty cool,'

'Really?' Helen smirked playfully while watching over the pair of them.

'Still, I wish he'd go out more, rather than stay cooped up all day in his room,' May continued. 'That's why me & Ben bought him a camera earlier this year,'

'Ooh, photography?' Helen remarked excitedly. 'That sounds fun,'

May turned her head to look at Peter expectantly.

Peter shifted uncomfortably, his face turning red again from the attention. 'Y-yeah, it is,' Peter smiled softly.

'Woww, so you have a portfolio yet?' Helen asked.

'H-huh?'

'It's like an album,' Gwen chipped in, herself finding the conversation quite interesting, but her eyes still clued on the cutting board in front of her.

'O-oh, no, not yet,' Peter replied sheepishly. 'The photos are still kept in the camera,'

'I see,' Helen nodded thoughtfully. 'Why don't you show them to us when you're ready, ok? I'm sure it'll be great,' Helen ruffled Peter's hair before returning to May's side to help her.

As her mom made her way away from them, Gwen looked back at Peter to check on him.

For a brief moment, their eyes met, before they both quickly turned away towards their vegetables.

'Ughhh,' Gwen groaned out loud as she slumped in her seat in the kitchen.

'Tired?' Helen smirked playfully from the counter. 'How are those vegetables coming along?'

'All done,' Gwen replied.

Helen smiled warmly, before turning towards her daughter. 'Ok then, go & get yourself a drink & take a break,' Helen said. 'You've got…, I'd say around 40 mins before your friends starts coming over,' Helen continued, while looking over at the wall clock in the kitchen.

'Ughh, can I not be there?' Gwen groaned out loud. 'I feel like I wanna just roll up & sleep in my room for the whole day,'

'Suuree, you do that then,' Helen replied playfully. 'Gives me & your dad free real estate to start embarrassing you in front of your friends,'

Gwen rolled her eyes jokingly at her mom's words. 'Fine…, I'll go & clean myself up in a bit,' Gwen said, before getting up & making her way into the back yard to get herself a drink.

As she exited the kitchen, she was assaulted by the delicious smell of grilled meat. Gwen quickly sees her father & Ben slowly grilling the meat & vegetables that they had just prepped a few moments earlier.

'Gwen! Honey! Come over & have a taste!' George said excitedly when he sees Gwen coming out from the kitchen.

Gwen smiled warmly before making her way towards her dad.

'Go on & grab a plate,' George gestured towards the stack of plates with his tongs.

'It smells pretty good,' Gwen said as she grabbed a plate.

'And it tastes even better,' George said excitedly while placing a cut of chicken wing & steak on her daughter's plate. 'Take another plate for Peter as well, he's resting over at the table,' he said, before placing another cut of wings & sausages onto another plate & handing them over towards Gwen.

As George turned back towards Ben & continued their conversation, Gwen sighed softly before making her way towards Peter.

Peter, who was intently flicking through the settings on his camera, didn't notice Gwen coming over next to him.

For a moment, Gwen peeked over his shoulder to see some of the pictures he's flicking through in his camera.

'You have got to get that habit fixed,' Gwen said, startling Peter in his seat.

'G-gwen?' Peter looked up in surprise at Gwen's arrival.

'You get way too absorbed in stuff when you're doing things,' Gwen continued as she sat in front of Peter. 'And also, you startle easily,' Gwen smiled warmly, while handing the plate of meat in front of Peter.

'Right. I'll uhh, work on that,' Peter smiled sheepishly, before accepting the plate of food in front of him. 'Thanks,' he said, as he sets aside his camera.

They both sat down & ate the wings in silence for a few moments.

'Hey,'

'H-hey,' they both said simultaneously, before turning away in embarrassment.

As they slowly turned towards each other, Peter started smirking awkwardly, which made Gwen slowly started giggling before the both of them started laughing out loud randomly.

'Sorry,' Gwen apologized, wiping away a tear of laughter from her eyes. 'You were saying?'

'N-no, nothing,' Peter smiled sheepishly back towards her. 'You?'

'Oh. I, uhh, was saying that the Cajun steak your aunt seasoned tastes awesome,' Gwen replied, slightly shyly.

'Ohh, okay,' Peter nodded. 'Aunt May is one of the best when it comes to cooking,' Peter continued. 'You should try her cherry pie, those are insanely good,'

'Woah, slow down there 'Gordon Ramsay',' Gwen joked. 'Let's focus on the BBQ first,'

'Uhhmm, actually,' Peter said out loud, while adjusting his glasses, overplaying the obnoxious nerd stereotype as a joke. 'You'd find that 'Gordon Ramsay' is a chef, not a food critic,'

Gwen smirked awkwardly, while raising her eyebrows questioningly.

Peter awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. 'That was uh, I was kinda joking, just now,'

'I know. I just like seeing you squirm,' Gwen smirked playfully, which earned her a bitter head shake from Peter.

'Hmmm, mind if I take a look at your camera?' Gwen asked curiously.

'Hmmm? Uhh, y-yeah, sure,' Peter hesitantly handed over his camera towards Gwen. 'There's nothing good in it. It's mostly just random pictures here & there,' Peter said shyly.

Gwen nodded as she scrolled through from the most recent pictures in the camera, and sees a picture of her dad & Ben at the grill smiling & laughing, and then a photo of her mom & May working on the marinade & sauce in the kitchen.

'Wow, did you take these just now?' Gwen nodded in appreciation.

'Y-yeah,' Peter rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. 'It's nothing special,'

'What? No,' Gwen said assuredly. 'These are pretty good. It's like…, it really feels like you can see the emotions from these photos,'

Peter's face suddenly lit up at Gwen's words. 'Really? That's kinda what I was going for,' Peter explained. 'I think that a photo is about capturing moments, and it should capture the feel & interaction of the moment, you know?'

Gwen nodded along. 'I guess? I don't really know much about photography,' Gwen said as she continued to scroll through the pictures.

'W-well, that's just my personal opinion,' Peter smiled sheepishly. 'I'm still working on the aperture settings though. I'm trying to get that background blur effect, but it isn't coming out right,'

'Well, for what it's worth, I think they look great,' Gwen said as she continued scrolling through the photos.

'Wow, you took a lot of photos with this huh? Really making use of this,' Gwen joked, as she scrolled through photos of animals & neighborhoods.

'I was uhh, taking photos of things that I find interesting,' Peter smiled shyly. 'I think there's a lot of beauty in this world, but most of it we don't notice because we're too busy,'

'Right…, grasshoppers? Skate Park over on 5th Avenue?'

'Wh-what? I think they're unique in their own way,' Peter said defensively.

'Sure…,' Gwen smirked playfully as she continued scrolling through, until she reaches the end & the first picture on the camera.

'Ohh,' Gwen suddenly blinked awkwardly for a few moments, which caught Peter's attention.

'Hmmm? What's wrong?' Peter asked, concerned.

'N-nothing,' Gwen quickly tried to regain her composure.

Peter raised his eyebrow in confusion, before taking back the camera from Gwen.

'H-hey wait,' Gwen reached out to prevent Peter from taking the camera, but he caught her by surprise.

Peter quickly looked at what Gwen was looking, and sees a picture of a red-nosed Gwen with her winter clothes, in the library with her friends.

Peter's face quickly turned red out of embarrassment. They sat down in awkward silence for a few moments.

'Uhm, I, uhh-,'

'It's oka-,'

'This isn't what it-,'

'I mean, I think, it's fine,' Gwen said shyly.

'It was, uhhm, I was taking a random photo,' Peter said, his face flushed red with embarrassment.

'R-right, random photo,' Gwen smiled awkwardly.

Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling embarrassed & shy at his own blunder.

After a few moments, Gwen looked up at Peter who was still looking down at his shoes.

'I look bad in that photo huh?' Gwen joked.

'Y-yeah,' Peter said without thinking, before realizing what Gwen just said. 'Eh, n-no! You look great,' Peter said quickly, before he paused, realizing he blurted out something he shouldn't have again.

'I mean, my nose is so red, I look like a tomato,' Gwen joked again.

Peter hesitated for a few moments, before awkwardly laughing at her joke. 'Y-yeah, I guess you're right,' Peter said. 'I think it looks fine though,'

They remained seated in silence for a few awkward moments, before Gwen suddenly took the camera from Peter and snapped a photo of him.

'H-hey, what?'

'There, now we're even,' Gwen beamed happily, before looking back at the photo she just took. 'I think that captures the moment quite well,' she said smugly, as she looked at a photo of a dismayed looking Peter.

Peter just sat there & smiled softly at her antics.

'Now, your turn,' Gwen said, as she handed the camera back towards Peter.

'Huh?'

'Well, you said photography is about capturing moments, right?' Gwen continued. 'Well, right now, I'm enjoying this moment, so go ahead & capture it,' Gwen said, before beaming widely with a peace sign towards Peter.

Peter was stunned for a few moments, before smiling & letting out a soft sigh, & focused the camera on the beaming girl in front of him.

*Click, click*

Peter scrolled back to take a look at the photo he just took.

'Let me see,' Gwen came over towards his side of the table. 'Urk, I'm really not photogenic huh,' Gwen sighed disappointedly.

Peter smiled warmly at Gwen's reply. 'I think it looks great,'

'Of course, you'd say that,' Gwen rolled her eyes jokingly. 'You're Peter 'Mr. Nice Guy' Parker,'

'I'll take that as a compliment,'

'It's not,' Gwen smirked playfully.

At that moment, Helen suddenly came out from the kitchen & yelled out towards Gwen. 'Gwen, 10 minutes. Get yourself cleaned up before your other friends arrive,'

Gwen rolled her eyes, feeling slightly annoyed, before shrugging her shoulders towards Peter. 'I'm, gonna go clean myself up for a bit,' she shrugged. 'Stinky Gwen after working all day,'

Peter smiled warmly. 'Well, I didn't want to offend you…,' Peter shrugged his shoulders jokingly.

'Jerk,' Gwen lolled her tongue out in retort before turning away & rushing towards her room.

'Gwen!'

'Kathy!' Gwen greeted her friend & hugged her excitedly.

'Damn, sorry I'm late,' Kathy apologized as they made their way into the back yard.

'Nah it's ok. Evelyn's already here, so you can go & sit next to her,' Gwen assured her.

'You're not joining us?'

'Uhh, sure, in a bit. I need to help my mom out with the serving,' Gwen smiled sheepishly at her friend.

As she entered the yard, she sees her dad folding his arms menacingly in front of a group of boys.

'So, you boys all friends of Gwen, eh?'

Gwen quickly rushed over towards them & stood in between them.

'Dad! Hey, haha, what are you doing,' Gwen forced a smile on her face as she looked alternately between her dad & the group of boys.

'Hah, I was just making sure-,'

'Dad! Let's go back to the grill, eh?' Gwen smiled menacingly at her dad, while pushing him away from the group. 'Uhm, can you guys go & have a seat on the table please,' she turned her menacing smile to the group of boys.

'Uhh, y-yeah, sure,' Andy replied hesitantly, before he & his friends turned away & took their seat on the table.

George eyed them menacingly, his moustache brimming as he turned towards the grill. 'I was just trying to warn them off from you honey,'

'Right, right, they got the message dad, trust me,' Gwen sighed softly.

Ben, who was watching the whole thing from the grill, lets out a hearty chuckle. 'Well, dad's do be like that sometimes,'

Gwen smiled bitterly as she placed her dad back in front of the grill. As she turned to go back towards the kitchen, she took a quick sweeping glance of the yard.

'Where's Peter?'

'Peter? He's over there taking some pictures of your friends,' Ben pointed out to the far end of the yard.

Gwen hesitated for a few moments, as she's worried about Peter's tendencies to get himself into trouble & also because Peter is usually bullied by the boys in her class.

'Well, I'm sure they won't try anything with everyone around,' Gwen thought to herself.

'Gwen, come over & help with these steak bites please,' Helen called out from the kitchen.

'Coming!'

'So, why are Parker's parents here,' Vanessa asked.

'Uhm, they're his aunt & uncle,' Gwen explained. 'They're my neighbors,'

'Ohh,' Vanessa nodded in understanding. 'Wait, Peter too? What about his actual parents?'

'Uh-,' Gwen started to answer, before a commotion at the edge of the yard caught her attention.

'I better take a look at that,' Gwen frowned, before standing up & making her way towards the commotion.

As Gwen approached the commotion, she sees that some of the boys are crowding around Peter.

'… lucky that you're her neighbor huh? Otherwise, ain't no way a loser like you gets invited,'

Gwen's heart sank for a few moments, as she realized that what they said was technically true, as she was avoiding inviting Peter at all.

Gwen quickly pushed away the thought for now as she tries to break up the commotion.

'Hey! Hey! What's the big idea?' Gwen called out as she waded into the commotion.

'Gwen!' one of the boys, Justin, called out excitedly. 'Nothing, me & Peter was just making friends, that's all,' he joked. 'God knows, Peter needs all the help he can get, eh?' Justin joked with his friend.

'Justin, let him go, or I'll call my dad,' Gwen said in a matter-of-fact tone.

'Come on, Peter was just showing us his photos,' Justin teased, before one of his friends snatched the camera away from Peter, and threw it over to him.

'H-hey, give it back,' Peter tried his best to push away the boys surrounding him, but they pushed him back onto the ground.

'That's enough Justin, leave the guy alone,' Gwen demanded, as colors rise up to her face in anger.

'Cool down princess, I'm trying to help you out here,' Justin brushed away Gwen's words, as he quickly scrolled through the library of photos. 'See this guy's here been creeping on you,' Justin said simply as he continued scrolling. 'Aha! See! His very first photo, he was sneaking a picture of you!' Justin said out loud, basically announcing everything to everyone within earshot.

'T-that's-,' Gwen hesitated for a few moments.

In those few moments of hesitation, Peter suddenly jumped away from the group of guys & landed a clean hit on Justin's jaw, which dropped Justin down to the ground, camera skidding on to the ground.

Peter quickly leaped towards the camera & holding it protectively.

Justin wiped away a tear from his face & yelled towards Peter. 'You stupid nerd! You think you can punch me?!' Justin yelled out quickly before tackling Peter onto the ground, and they both got into a fistfight.

As they rolled down & exchanged punches, George & Ben suddenly came out from the house & ran over to them.

'Hey! What are you boys doing?!' George yelled out loud as he picked Justin up away from Peter.

Ben immediately held a bloodied-up Peter, who was staring back at Justin furiously. 'Peter! What's wrong with you!'

'He started it!' Justin yelled out furiously as he spat some blood onto the ground. 'Damn, stalker loser!'

'Alright! That's enough, you boys are going home,' George bellowed out firmly, before dragging Justin away from the crowd. 'Gwen, call your friends and tell them it's time to go home. It's already getting pretty late,' George turned towards Gwen before continuing to drag Justin away.

Ben quickly propped Peter up. 'You okay? You can stand?'

Peter still glaring, nodded slowly.

Ben lets out a sigh of relief, before smacking Peter on the back of his head. 'Go & get yourself back home,' Ben said firmly, his face stoic.

Peter remained quiet, before whispering softly. 'Sorry,' he whispered, before walking away towards his house.

Ben kept an eye on him for a few moments, until he was sure Peter entered their house properly. He then turned towards Gwen.

'I'm sorry Gwen, we'll make our way out,'

Gwen was silently washing the dishes from the BBQ earlier.

After a few minutes, her mother came in & started washing the plates silently with her.

'You okay?' she asked Gwen.

Gwen lets out a soft sigh, as she closed her eyes in frustration. 'Yeah, I'm ok,'

'Right,' Helen nodded. 'Then tomorrow, I want you to apologize to May-,'

'Wait what?! Why do I need to apologize?' Gwen retorted back in frustration.

Helen eyed her daughter coldly. 'You apologize when you've done something wrong,' she said simply.

'Yeah, but I didn't do anything wrong!'

'Right, of course you didn't,' Helen fumed. 'Nothing is ever your fault,'

'It isn't! I tried stopping them! It's their fault for-,'

'This isn't about the fight just now!' Helen glared at her daughter. 'You think I don't see what's going on? I was a teenager too. I've gone through middle school!'

'What are you talking about?' Gwen said defensively.

'I'm talking about your little 'Popular Girl' attitude, and you ignoring Peter for the past few years!'

Gwen was temporarily stunned at her mother's statements. 'Wh-what?'

'That kid was being bullied and you're here, telling everyone how its anyone's fault but yourself,' Helen exclaimed. 'What? Now that you're a bit popular, suddenly you're too good to be friends with him?'

'T-that's not true,' Gwen said defensively, tears starting to form in her eyes. 'I didn't bully him,'

'Of course, you didn't,' Helen said sarcastically. 'And that makes you so much better than the rest of them,'

Gwen started sobbing & hugging her arms defensively. 'Mom, please, stop,' Gwen said in between tears.

'Did you stop being friends with him?' Helen asked coldly.

'Yes, but I was trying to be friends with him the whole time,' Gwen sobbed.

Helen stood silently for a few moments. 'Did you remain a bystander while Peter was being bullied?' Helen questioned.

'What else should I have done? Get bullied along? I didn't do anything because I couldn't do anything!' Gwen retorted.

Helen stood in silence as Gwen sobbed through the conversation. 'That's wrong, Peter was bullied because no one stood by him,' Helen said. 'He was bullied because when he needed his friends, no one stood with him against the bullies,'

'Gwen, being a bystander, by doing nothing, you're sending a message to the bullies that their behavior is acceptable,' Helen's tone started becoming softer as she tries to console her daughter. 'What if you're the one being bullied? Would you like it if everyone ignored you & laughed while you were being bullied?'

'No,' Gwen managed in between sobs.

'Would Peter have ignored you if you were bullied?'

'Mom, please,' Gwen pleaded.

'Gwen, some things in life are more important than just us as an individual,' Helen shook her head. 'I get that it's scary, that there's more of them, and only one of you. But I'm asking you to lend a helping hand to someone in need, so even then, there's already two of you,'

'And if you have real friends, they'll stand by you no matter what you do,' Helen sat down next to her sobbing daughter. 'So don't be scared, be brave, trust your friends, and most of all trust yourself,' Helen hugged her daughter at which point, Gwen cried even harder than before.

'What should I do mom?'

'For starters? Apologize,' Helen whispered softly. 'Apologize to Peter, apologize to your friends, but most importantly, apologize to yourself,' Helen continued. 'We've all made mistakes in our life, and you're gonna make many more in your life. What's important is facing those mistakes and learning from them,'

'I can't Mom, I don't deserve to be his friends,' Gwen continued to cry. 'I'm a terrible friend mom, I've done so many bad things to him,'

Helen smiled ruefully at her daughter's words. 'Gwen, you're only 11,' Helen smiled warmly. 'And, why don't we ask Peter if you deserve to be his friend? Something tells me he's definitely ok with you two being friends,'

Gwen smiled at her mother's words. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Oh, you know, call it an adult's intuition,' Helen smiled warmly, before continuing to hug her daughter for a few more minutes.

After a while, Gwen's sobbing slowly started dying down.

'You okay now?' Helen asked her daughter affectionately.

Gwen nodded in between light sobs. 'I'm sorry mom,'

Helen turned towards her daughter & placed a kiss on her forehead. 'You're strong Gwen, one of the strongest girls I've ever met. And no matter what happens, we're always proud of you, aren't we?' Helen said out loud, towards her husband who was hiding behind one of the corridors.

'Ehem, I was uhh, I didn't mean to listen in,' George scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

'Aren't we?' Helen insisted.

'Y-yeah, yeah,' George said quickly before clearing his throat. 'We're always proud of you Gwen. You're our one & only princess,' George said warmly.

Gwen smiled apologetically at her parents, before giving her mom another hug.

Helen returned the hug affectionately, and whispered to Gwen. 'So, you want a lift to your bedroom princess?'

Gwen blushed in embarrassment, but nodded her head slowly.

'Right,' Helen smiled playfully before turning to her husband. 'Knave, carry the princess to her chambers please,'

George rolled his eyes, & groaned in annoyance before cradling Gwen in his arms. 'Right, Cpt. Stacy express in service. Hold on to your butts,'

'Peter!' Gwen called out as they were leaving school.

Gwen frowned in frustration as Peter has been ignoring her for the whole day. 'Peter, can we talk?'

Peter stood silently as Gwen approached him. 'Yeah?'

Gwen hesitated for a few moments, as she tries to arrange her words properly. 'I'm sorry about yesterday,'

Peter smiled bitterly as he looked away from Gwen. 'You don't have to be, it's not your fault,'

'It is,' Gwen explained. 'I'm sorry Peter, for being a terrible friend. It's my fau-,'

'Gwen,' Peter stopped Gwen before she could continue. 'Let's stop pretending like we're friends,'

Gwen was left speechless by Peter's words, tears slowly started forming in her eyes.

'I'm not pre-, Peter-,'

Peter shook his head while smiling ruefully, before walking away from Gwen.

'It's better this way. Gwen doesn't need to be friends with someone like me,' Peter thought in his head, as he left Gwen.