The truck headlights illuminated the driveway, and Peter's eyes widened at the sight of a small male figure standing in the middle. As the truck pulled up, Gwen got out and walked around the truck to where the boy was standing, repeating his name and checking him thoroughly. Peter half smiled at the scene as he leant against the truck body and watched. Though it didn't take away the fresh memory of what had happened. She turned her head so that she could just about see him.
"Anything I can do?"
"No." She huffed. "I can handle this and I don't need you, so you can go on inside."
"Gwen-"
"I mean it!" She said, taking a deep breath. "You are stressing me out too much right now."
Fresh tears pricked his eyes, but he forced them back and didn't bother to argue as he disappeared inside the house. He headed up the stairs, but turned to one of the spare rooms instead of their bedroom, closing the door behind him and sitting on the small single bed.
Gwen waited until he was out of sight before leading the boy inside the house and sitting him down on the couch. She headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out a small carton of orange juice before returning to the front room and handing it to him. She was beyond worn out and struggled to string even one thought together, but kept herself awake for the sake of Simon.
"Are you hurt at all? Are you hungry? I can make you some food- or if-"
"No, I'm not hurt, or hungry."
"Oh. Okay… Perhaps it would be best if I made you a bed on the couch, and we can talk some more tomorrow."
The boy nodded, and Gwen headed back out of the room, digging inside the closet under the stairs for a clean blanket that would keep her brother warm overnight. She soon settled on a thick blue blanket and brought it back with her ready to cover him. With no further discussions for the night, she said a quick goodnight before heading upstairs and into the bedroom. By then, Peter was already sitting on the edge of their bed and she could tell from his face that he was just as upset. She felt a small ache inside her, but ignored it. He had lied to her, and now it was causing them both great pain.
"Gwen… can- can we talk about this?"
She sighed. "Peter, it has been an incredibly long and emotional day. I am exhausted, and I really don't have it in me to fight with you."
"I said talk, not fight."
"Same difference right now."
"Oh. So, you just want to fight?"
"No!" She stated. "I can't believe you'd have the audacity to say that to me after you lied to me!"
"Crap." He muttered. "How many times do I have to say that I am sorry?"
"Zero. Because it doesn't make a difference."
"Gwen, I'm sorry. I thought that I was doing what was best for you but it all turned out to be a huge mistake. I can't take it back, but I can do my best to make it right."
She turned away, not willing to let him see the effects his words were having on her and silently cursed herself for being unable to control her emotions.
"Look at me, please…" He begged.
Closing her eyes, she turned around and when she looked at him, he was standing in front of her. "Peter, please… I don't want to do this tonight. As I said, I'm exhausted; my head is pounding, my eyes are burning and my whole body aches from the fight."
"But I- I can't sleep knowing that I've hurt you."
The frown from earlier reappeared on her face. "You can't sleep?... I can't believe that's all you can think about. You lied to me, and now you're feeling sorry for yourself?"
"I'm not feeling sorry for myself!" He denied, his voice raising higher than intended.
"I've had enough of this!" She snapped, heading towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
She spun around, almost laughing at his question. "You must be trippin 'if you think that I'm sleeping in this room with you tonight."
He took a deep breath, trying to recompose himself. "No, it's fine… but don't leave. You can have the room, I'll take the spare." And with that, he brushed past her out of the room and into the other, slamming the door behind him.
Fresh tears pricked at her eyes and she swallowed hard to try and force them away. She walked around to her side of the bed, and threw back the covers before climbing in; too tired to bother cleaning up. Unable to get comfortable, she rolled over onto her side, and brought her legs up so that she was curled in the fetal position. She willed sleep to come fast and attempted to block all thoughts from her mind.
Meanwhile, in the room next door, Peter flopped down on the small single bed, wishing there was something more he could do. Through the thinness of the walls, he could hear her soft cries turned to heaving sobs once more. He thought about pressing the pillow to his ears to block it out, but decided against it, feeling like he deserved to drown in the aftermath of his mistake. Even as her cries faded, he found sleep to be impossible and his frustration only grew stronger until he gave in. Throwing back the covers, he got up and tiptoed into the master bedroom.
Gwen had finally fallen asleep on her side with one hand hidden beneath the pillow and the other resting on her stomach. Beneath her eyes the skin had turned a pink-ish red, causing him to wince at the sight. He crept across the room and hovered beside where she slept. He hesitated for a brief second, and then reached out, pulling the cover up so that it covered her shoulder. Taking one last look at her, he crept back out of the room but instead of going back into the spare, he continued down the stairs and out the door.
It was late morning by the time Gwen finally woke, and in her sleepy state, she stretched out and reached across the bed, expecting to embrace Peter, but as her hand brushed the cold sheet, the memories of the night before came flooding back in. She bit down hard on her lower lip, and forced herself out of bed. The headache from before had long vanished, but the pain from learning the truth had not. Though she quickly remembered what she had been told back in the hospital, and took a deep breath.
With a heaviness in her heart, she got up and headed downstairs, half hoping that Peter wasn't awake yet, but half hoped that he was. As she descended the staircase, she came up with a million different things that she could say if he tried to speak to her, and discarded every single one of them. She didn't have the heart to argue with him again, but couldn't bring herself to forgive him yet either.
Entering the front room, she saw that Simon was already awake with TV on some cartoon that she didn't care to try and name. His head turned away from the screen upon her entrance and brief panic flashed across his face.
"Hey buddy, I was thinking that now would be a good time to talk; maybe you could fill me in on what I'm missing… and if you're hungry, I can make us some breakfast. How does that sound?"
The boy nodded, prompting Gwen to head off to the kitchen, where he followed. She pulled out a chair for him to sit down at the table, while she pattered about the kitchen, putting four slices of bread in the toaster and pacing as she waited for it to pop. As it did, and she placed the slices on a plate and lifted it, the front door opened abruptly and a medium slam echoed through the hall. She spun around in time to see Peter walk into the kitchen, but as soon as his face came into light her jaw dropped.
His face was painted red with blood, though she was unable to tell if it were his or someone else's. At the top, just an inch shy of his hairline, there was a long, deep gash that was still leaking blood, and a blackish purple bruise forming around his right eye. The plate that she was holding slipped and fell to the floor, smashing into pieces and despite the anger she still held, she rushed across the kitchen.
"Oh my God! Peter, what happened?"
"I got into a fight."
"A fight? With who? Was it Eddie? And did you go out last night? Where were you all this time?" She quizzed, unable to help herself.
"No. It wasn't Eddie. Just some random at a bar I went to last night."
"A bar!" She almost yelled. "What bar?"
"I don't know, just a bar."
"Did you drive there?"
"No." He sighed. "Look, don't worry I'm fine."
She shook her head. "You are not fine, Peter. You come home bruised and bloody and tell me that you are fine. Do me a favour, tell me the truth and please don't lie to me this time."
"Alright. Fine. Last night I couldn't sleep, so I went to a bar and I picked a fight with some trucker-"
"Woah- hold up. You started a fight?"
"Yes, Gwen. I started a fight and then I just- I didn't fight back. I let him have his way with me."
Unable to stop herself, she gasped. "W- why?" She stammered. "Why would you do something so stupid?"
"Because I-"
"Don't stop now, why did you do it?"
"Because I deserved it, okay? I deserve to feel that same level of pain that I have caused you!"
"This upsets me, Peter. Did you not think about that when you went and got yourself beaten up?" She questioned. "I may not be happy right now, but if anything were to happen to you it would destroy me. Did you not think about- I thought-" She paused, taking a deep breath. "Peter, in a matter of months you are going to be a father. You can't just go around doing these absurd things. I ca- I cannot raise this baby alone."
Peter hung his head, knowing that he had only made things worse. The crippling guilt surged to another level, and he planted his face in his hands. "I know. I know, and I'm sorry."
"And even if you had fought back. Then what? You get a prison sentence for assault or even murder, or you spend the rest of your life on the run?... Where would that leave us then?"
"Better off." He muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"I said it would leave you better off. All I've ever done since I met you is break your heart, risk your life and now this… I should have- I should have just kept my promise to your father."
Gwen cast her eyes down as she bitterly remembered the promise that Peter had made to her father. It was something she had tried to bury ever since.
"That's like saying that you regret… that you regret being together."
Gripping strands of his hair with his hands, he groaned. "Of course I'm not saying that, Gwen. Don't be stupid, you know very well that I love you."
"Then please… for the sake of everything we've built together, don't ever do this to yourself again." She pleaded. "And I think that we need to talk, so I'm gonna get Simon something to eat and you can go get yourself cleaned up, I'll be waiting for you."
"I'm not talking unless you promise that it's not gonna turn into a screaming fight."
"Alright, I promise."
As Peter turned and left the room, Gwen bent down to clean up the pieces of broken china, gathering them in her hands and binning them along with the fallen toast. Placing two more slices in the toaster, and once again pacing as she waited for them to be done. After a few minutes, she placed the plateful in front of Simon and headed back upstairs to get changed, unable to help wincing at the sound of Peter grunting as he attended to his wounds in the bathroom.
Digging through the closet, she pulled out a simple white top along with a gray and white cardigan and a pair of black leggings, changing quickly. As she dragged a brush through her hair, there was a knock at the door. She attempted to keep a brave face when Peter peeked his head through, and his wounds were only slightly less horrific than they had been when he'd arrived home.
"Gwen, I-"
"Hold up, could you maybe wait for me downstairs?" She questioned. "I still want to talk, I just… I need a minute to myself."
"Yeah, of course."
"Thank you." She muttered as he ducked out of the room.
Running the brush through her hair a few more times, she knew that she was just stalling due to her fear. She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath and then put the brush back on the dresser. Finally, she gathered the courage to get up and head back down the stairs.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Gwen frowned as she heard the faint melody of music. Placing her hand on the curve between her back and hip to support her weight, she continued walking and followed the sound of the music into the kitchen, where she was finally able to locate it coming from the little radio over by the sink. She paused once again as the words to the song sunk in.
I'm sorry that I hurt you, there's many things I wish I didn't do. But I continue learning...
She didn't need to turn around to know that Peter was standing behind her in the doorway. It quickly dawned on her that he had turned the radio on just to draw her in and she bit down hard on her bottom lip as her eyes glossed over. She didn't trust herself to speak and remained silent, waiting for him to say something.
"Gwen..." He spoke her name with a level of regret that she had never heard from him before.
Feeling like she couldn't breathe, Gwen turned around and sped through the door, brushing past Peter accidentally as she did so. Before she could get any further, his hand gripped her sleeve and pulled her back, forcing her to turn around and face him. Unable to stop them, tears spilled from her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She felt her chest tighten and tried to pull her sleeve out of his grip, only for him to move suddenly and cup her face in his hands, leaving her with no choice but to look him in the eyes.
All the pain I put you through, I wish that I could take it all away, and be the one who catches all your tears.
"Please." He pleaded. "We really need to talk." He added.
She bit down harder on her lip though it did nothing to stop the tears and instead only pierced the skin. As the taste of metal and blood lingered in her mouth, she sighed in defeat, waiting for him to continue.
"I'm sorry, okay." He apologized, not for the first time since that heated night.
"How many times do I have to tell you that sorry isn't going to fix it this time, Peter?" She questioned, her voice trembling as she tried not to give in.
Deep down it probably hurt her to hear his broken apology more than it hurt him to have to say it. She hated freezing him out and it was breaking her heart to see him struggle, but she couldn't just forget about how he'd lied to her for over a year. Even just thinking about the whole mess was making her head hurt.
"I know. Believe me, I do." He sighed. "But I really am sorry, Gwen... And seeing you like this… it's killing me." He told her. "Knowing that you're hurting and that I was the one who caused it... I have to make it right. I can't live with myself if I don't." He insisted, wiping a fallen tear away with his thumb.
"I want to forgive you, Peter... To go back to how things were between us before this secret got in the way... But I don't know if I can. You broke my trust and that's the hardest thing to ever get back." She told him, her voice more steady than it had been a moment ago.
"And I need you to understand why I lied to you." He said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I was afraid for you with everything that had happened, and I didn't- I didn't want you to carry that guilt on top of it all. It was stupid of me, but I never meant to hurt you."
Gwen closed her eyes for a second, trying to gather her thoughts before speaking. "I get it, Peter, believe me I do… I don't know why I overreacted-"
"You didn't. You had, and still have, every right to be upset with me."
"I was already not in the best mood because of everything with my brother, and then finding out that you had lied to me… it broke me in a way that I didn't think was possible, and I don't know if it's just these damn hormones or if it's me, but I couldn't bring myself to face you after that."
"And what about now?"
"Now…" She trailed off, thinking it through. "It's not going to be easy to forget this; I doubt that I could ever forget about it."
"Oh." He sighed as his eyes drifted to the floor. "I understand."
"You didn't let me finish… I can't forget that you lied to me, but I can't watch you beat yourself up over it either, both are too painful."
"I don't get it…"
"I forgive you, Peter." She blurted. "But I can't forget, so just promise me that in future you will tell me. Even if it hurts."
"Wait, I-"
"No, I'm not done. Look, I will take a painful truth over a lie any day. Lying only caused more pain than the truth would have from the start. So, swear to me no more lies."
"I swear." He stated clearly. "I- I'm so sorry, Gwen. For all the pain I caused you." His lower lip trembled between his teeth as he finished.
Relief flooded through her, bringing tears back to her own eyes and unable to stand it any longer, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. His arms slid around her waist, holding her tightly almost as though he was afraid to let go, and he rested his chin atop her head, closing his eyes as he inhaled her scent.
"I'm going to spend every single day proving to you that you can trust me, and that I am still the same man I've always tried to be for you." He said boldly. "And I tried to tell you many times before last night, I just couldn't bring myself to say it because every time I tried, you were always so happy and I didn't wanna be the reason that the smile left your face." He swallowed. "And the reason why I let the trucker have his way, the reason why I was out in the first place last night was because I heard you… I heard you after you'd gone to bed and knowing that I had made you cry, the guilt was overwhelming."
"Oh, it doesn't matter now." She whispered. "I know why you did it, and I don't doubt that you did try to tell me, but I don't wanna talk about it anymore."
"Okay." He nodded, combing through her hair with his fingers.
As silence set in, an uneasy growl pierced through it and Gwen moved quickly, shoving Peter gently aside and leaning over the sink. Despite this, he stepped forward, moving her hair out of her face and rubbing small circles on her upper back.
"See? I told ya, the kid doesn't like me already." He chuckled.
She gave a groggy smile and attempted a laugh as another wave of sickness hit her. As it finally eased up, she rinsed her mouth with water from the tap and then stood straight, turning around. Peter gave a haphazard smile, which she returned before her mind flashed back to her brother.
"Are you okay?... Last night with the bleeding scared the crap out of me, and now I can't stop thinking the wo-"
"I'm okay, Peter. It's just a bit of morning sickness, and don't worry you heard what she said; everything will be fine as long as I'm able to stay calm."
"I know. I just- I do worry. A lot when it comes to you."
"I'll be okay, I promise." She assured him. "I should probably go talk to Simon now though…"
"Right. Well uh… need any help?"
"Nah, it'll be fine."
He nodded and let his arms fall back by his sides as she pulled away from him. Although things had been settled, there was something that was still bothering him. But he decided against bringing it up, not wanting to stress her out or push her into changing her mind. She had chosen to forgive him, and though he didn't believe he deserved it, he was relieved that she had.
Gwen forced a smile as she found Simon once again sitting on the couch. She walked in slowly and sat beside him, trying to think of an appropriate way to start the conversation.
"Are you ready to talk?"
"I guess."
"I'm not sure where to start, so I think I'll aim for the beginning; that- that night… How did you get away from Harry?"
Simon squirmed in his seat, signaling that he was uncomfortable. Despite this, he shifted so that he could face her. "When he broke in, I ran and I hid under your bed. There was screaming. Lots and lots, and then nothing. I heard him leave so I came out but everyone- he'd already hurt them all."
"But you weren't there when I got back, where did you go?"
"I ran away, but I ended up somewhere I didn't recognise… and I tried to find you, but I couldn't then when I discovered you came back from Oxford, I tried to come but the monster caught me first."
Her eyes widened with realization as several pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. "So, I'm not as crazy as I thought; there were only three b- bodies after all." She sighed. "Well, you don't have to worry about the monster now. He won't be touching you."
"W- what are we going to do now?"
"First thing's first, we need to get you enrolled back in school. The rest, we'll figure out as we go."
Gwen was about to speak again when Simon's attention shifted. She followed his gaze to see Peter standing in the doorway with a contented smile upon his face. Feeling slightly embarrassed by his stare, she averted her eyes elsewhere.
"What is it?"
"Nothing." He said. "Just… I don't know, you look so- so natural right now."
"Natural?"
"You know, doing all this, taking care of your brother…"
"I don't get it. Why does that make you smile?"
"Because I can't stop thinking about what it'll be like to watch you with our son or daughter."
Gwen couldn't help the smile that twitched at the corners of her mouth. She gave Simon a pat on the back and then stood up.
"Where are you going?" Peter questioned.
"Well, Simon can't sleep on this couch for the next few years can he? I was thinking of making up a room for him in one of the spares; we already have some blue paint left from when we first moved here, and I still have most of his things boxed up with my mother's and- and the rest of my family, I couldn't bring myself to throw any of it away."
"Oh. Yeah, no, of course." He agreed. "Let me help you with it though, I don't want you straining yourself."
Rolling her eyes at his excessive worrying, she smiled once more. "Actually, some help might be nice."
With that being said, she slipped past him and out of the room, heading upstairs to dig out the required boxes. Peter paused for a moment, and grabbed the remote to switch on the TV.
"Hey bud, while we're getting your room sorted, why don't you pop in a movie and uh… give us a shout if you need anything?" Peter suggested, gesturing to all the stacked DVDs under the coffee table.
"What movies?"
"Ah, well we have a few classics… Shrek… Ice Age… Madagascar… Rio…"
"Ice Age!"
"Ooh, that's a great choice." He cheered, placing the disc into the tray and closing it.
After ensuring that the kid was comfortable, he followed Gwen's lead upstairs and found her in their bedroom, standing on top of the desk chair that she had moved over to the closet to try and reach the top shelf. The creak of floorboards startled her and with a sudden movement, the chair tipped. Peter's eyes widened and he sprinted across the room, catching her as the chair fell to the floor.
"T- thanks." She breathed.
"No need to thank me, I'd rather not watch you fall and hurt yourself." He stated. "What the heck were you doing up there? I swear I almost had a heart attack when the chair tipped."
"The box is at the back of the shelf, I couldn't reach it."
"But why didn't you just ask me?"
"Because I don't want to-" She sighed. "I don't want to be so dependent."
"You're not, Gwen. There's nothing wrong with asking for help sometimes."
"I know. I'm sorry." She pouted.
"Forgiven. But, let me be the one to reach the high shelves from now on, please."
"Done."
He exhaled deeply before reaching up to the top shelf, grabbing the box and bringing it down to the floor. Gwen ran her fingers over it and then blew off the blanket of dust that had covered the top.
"Got any scissors or a knife?"
"Don't need it." Peter replied, ripping the tape off with little effort, earning a smirk from her.
"Show off."
Opening up the box, she hesitated as she reached inside, afraid of what she might pull out. Each and every item came with good memories that she had pushed away due to them being too painful, and bad memories that she had long since buried. Peter's hand came to rest on her own, causing her to look up at him.
"Are you sure you want to do this right now?"
"Positive."
"And I'm right here, okay. If you need me to take over, then I will."
With a nod, she sifted through the box, pushing back each memory that attempted to surface until she came across the clothes and toys that belonged to Simon. She grabbed them out before quickly closing the box up again and pushing it aside. Sorting out the room would take a while, but doing so would give them time to think about their next plan of action. They couldn't let Venom roam free only to launch an attack on them when they least expected it, she knew that. Though she also knew that Peter would disagree. He wouldn't allow them to charge into a fight, and to convince him would be difficult.
"Hey, uh… about this whole situation with Venom, you know we can't just sit and wait for his next move, right?"
"Yeah, I'm aware of that."
"I don't want to argue, so please don't take this the wrong way but I think we need to make a move."
"Make a move?"
"To prevent any further attacks on us or our family."
"Not this again, Gwen. We can't just pick a fight with him."
"I know that, but we can't just let him keep coming at us either."
Peter sighed. "You're right. I've been trying to deny that he's still targeting us, but I can't ignore it forever. Honestly, just the thought of risking it all in a fight terrifies me."
"And you're not alone in that. Each day I wake up, and that fear is there. Like today, it scared the crap out of me when you came home with a busted up face…"
"We need to put an end to this war so that we can move on, but I'm not sure what to do. Few things can destroy Venom, but we can't really blow up Oscorp or ring every church bell in the city to stop him… there has to be something we can do."
"Hmm…." She thought for a moment. "We could always set a trap for him."
"How so?"
"One of us lures him out, and we trap him in a wall of flames. Eventually the flames will spread and he won't be able to escape."
Peter's face lit up and he remained still for a moment, processing it all. "I can't believe that you just came up with that, Gwen. You're pure genius."
"Meh, not really. It just seemed like the logical answer. We can't do anything else, but fire is the most lethal weapon we have against Venom."
"I do think that we should plan this carefully though, tricking Venom isn't going to be easy."
"Yeah, I concur… I think I have a plan. You're not gonna like it though."
The smile all but disappeared from Peter's face as he shot Gwen a questioning look. He could tell from just her tone that she was right, which made him anxious.
"What is it?"