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Five full months have passed, and Gwen still feels like the new girl.
Things aren't that different. Gwen never had any friends at her old school either. But she also never got lost. And she never had to wear a uniform. Or sleep there.
Actually, scratch that. The only good thing that came from having to spend five days a week at Brooklyn Visions Academy was Gwen’s first real friend in… ever.
“Hey!” Gwen knocks after making sure she's come to the right window.
“Sorry, I forgot,” Gayatri says, helping her through.
Gwen pulls her mask off and shakes her hair out. “Don’t worry about it.”
The first thing Gwen had noticed about Gayatri was how good she is at reading people. It just seems to come naturally to her, just as instinctive as breathing. Even before they knew they were each other's roommate, Gayatri spotted Gwen in the halls and came up to talk to her. At the same time Gwen learned that Gayatri Singh is astonishingly kind. Both of them knew she was lost and too proud (and maybe too afraid) to ask for help. And she didn’t offer. She just started talking to Gwen, saying she’s never seen her here before and asking what her next class was. Miraculously they had the same destination.
There are a few “problems” sharing a room with someone like Gayatri. Like she always makes sure Gwen’s taking care of herself. Or she notices cuts and bruises and how quickly they fade. And worst of all, how often Gwen sneaks out in the middle of the night.
”I don’t believe it,” she said, hands over her mouth and bouncing up and down.
“I know. Just please be a bit more -“
”You’re the Spider-Woman!”
”- quiet!” she hissed, looking towards the door.
“Sorry! Sorry. It’s just… this is amazing! I thought you were a drug dealer!”
“What?! Why?”
All Gayatri had to do was tilt her head.
“Point taken.”
“I didn't want to believe you were. And you aren't!”
Gayatri went on to ask hundreds of questions. Where did Gwen get her powers from? Was she born this way? How much can she lift; where do her webs come from; what made her choose the colours of her suit; does she lay eggs now, and so many more.
Gwen answered all of them, and by the end of it all she had only one for Gayatri.
“How many people think I’m a drug dealer?”
“Not many… I don't know, I didn’t keep track. Don't worry. It will all be fine.”
The first week was tough. Gwen was certain Gayatri would crack. At the very least she expected her boyfriend, Pavitr, to find out, either by picking up on Gayatri’s strange behaviour, or being outright told by her.
“There’s a bad guy on the roof of the Peterson building,” Gwen says as she changes into her uniform, trying her best to do her tie while hanging upside down. “Can you call the police?”
”On it.”
”Thanks.” Gwen drops to the floor, smooths out her clothes and looks around. “Have you seen my shoes?”
She checks everywhere while Gayatri is on the phone. Gwen lifts up their entire bunk while she’s still sitting to check underneath. Eventually she gives up and settles for her slippers.
“No one’s going to notice,” Gayatri tells her as they step out of their dorm. “And if they do, just tell them you like her style. Which you do.”
It's Wednesday, which means their first class is an hour later than every other day. Most students use this time to sleep in or catch up on the assignments they’ve been putting off. The school halls are nearly deserted, allowing Gwen and Gayatri to have an unbothered walk to the cafeteria.
Gayatri’s always the one to carry their conversations. Gwen’s happy to listen to her rant about anything, whether it’s something she’s excited about or outraged over.
But this morning, Gwen’s mind wanders.
There's a feeling in her head she can't quite shake off. The tingle in the back of her head is somehow familiar and foreign at the same time. There isn't danger; Gwen is pretty certain of that.
Whatever it is, Gwen can't latch onto it. Every time she gets close, it sends her mind spiralling. So much so that she isn't even looking where she’s going.
“Woah!”
Gwen walks right into someone, not hard enough to knock either of them over, but enough to cause them both to stumble a little.
“Lo siento. ¿Estás bien?”
“Sorry, I wasn't… what?”
Gwen looks up. Her breath catches and her posture straightens. Staring back at her is a boy close to her age, tall, slim and clutching the straps of his backpack. His mouth is hanging open, just like hers. Gwen feels her throat go dry.
He just spoke in Spanish; that Gwen is sure of.
Mostly sure of. You miss five classes in a semester and you're bound to fall behind a little.
She’s also sure it's a question, based on the inflection. He looks concerned instead of angry or annoyed, so Gwen says “Yeah, I’m fine.”
She tucks her hair behind her ear and looks to Gayatri for support. She’s grinning, probably at how red her face has become.
“Hola. Soy Miles,” he says, holding out his hand.
She accepts, feeling… something when their hands meet. “Gwen.”
Gwen doesn't keep track of how long handshakes last, and she doesn't start today. But this one is definitely long. Gwen keeps staring at him, and only stops when a sound comes from Gayatri.
“Hasta luego.”
She mutters goodbye, finding that for the first time in sixteen years on this earth, her tongue is literally tied.
Miles waves at Gayatri before he continues on. She watches him until he disappears around the corner. Gayatri breaks her trance, but brings a curse with it.
“That was so romantic.”
Gwen spins so fast that her slippers leave skid marks.
“Shut up!”
Laughter is her only response.
“Thanks for the help!” She bops her on the shoulder, finding this to be the greatest test of control over her strength. “What did he say?!”
“He said ‘Sorry. Are you okay?’, ‘Hello, I’m Miles’, and he’ll see you later. That's wonderful! He wants to see you again!”
Gwen ignores that last remark.
She lets out a huff, crosses her arms and keeps walking towards the cafeteria. Gayatri has to jog to catch up with her.
“Next time just say that while he's still here!”
“I don't know how helpful I’ll be, I don't know that much Spanish. Those were simple phrases. You would know them too if you bothered to show up to class.”
Gayatri apologises the second the words leave her mouth.
“No, you're right. Who cares about bank robbers? Or gangs having a shootout? Or Sandman turning Midtown into a beach?,” Gwen says, holding the first door for her. “I should be in Spanish class!”
“I know. I'm sorry.”
Gayatri walks ahead and holds the second one for Gwen.
Normally, they don't make a habit of talking about Gwen’s other life out in the open. Gwen would rather have this exposed to the entire school than talk about this with Gayatri.
“Come on,” she whines, taking their usual table near the windows. “He was cute! Not as cute as Pav, but -”
Gwen pretends to vomit.
“I get it. You're in love.”
“And you could be too,” she says. Gwen scoffs. “You should’ve seen your face. You were all -”
“Annoyed? No, wait. That’s right now.”
“Blushing!” Gayatri grins, acting as though she hadn't heard what Gwen just said. She also points out how she's acting.
“I was like that before I met him,” Gwen refutes.
She goes on to describe what she was feeling. To the best of her ability, at least. A spider sense isn't any easy concept to grasp.
“And then it got all… I mean, when I bumped into him I got this… I don't know.”
“Maybe you were bitten by the love bug.”
“And when I touched his hand, that was really weird. I think I felt,” Gwen sighs, trying to come up with another explanation but failing. “Electricity.”
“Yes, I bet you did,” Gayatri says right on cue.
“It wasn't like that!”
Gayatri cocks an eyebrow as if to say ‘Are you sure?’
“Yes!” She slams her hands on the table. The other girl doesn't even flinch. “Yes… maybe… no.”
Gayatri hums.
“You felt something.”
Gwen buries her head in her hands and her hair falls in her face. Instead of clearing it away she uses it to hide.
“Oh, my God,” she groans. “You’re the worst, you know that?”
“You’re not denying it,” Gayatri says in a sing-song voice.
“Do you have anything useful to say?”
”I have plenty.” She can hear Gayatri sit up. Gwen looks at her. They both lean forward. “First, just take a breath.”
Gwen obeys.
”Second, whatever it is you’re feeling - spider related or otherwise - is nothing to worry about. You’ll be fine.”
”Right,” she nods.
”And third of all, in a school of only four thousand people, your odds of seeing him again are pretty good.”
Because she likes Gayatri, Gwen gives her a warning.
”Run.”
***
Gwen’s descent into madness has officially begun.
Just a short while ago she’d been swinging through Brooklyn, satisfied with her work. Spider-Woman stopped an assault, carried an injured child safely to a nearby hospital, and helped an elderly couple cross the street, and it’s not even dinner time.
Now, Gwen is perched on a rooftop and staring ahead.
Every time she blinks she sees Miles’ face. Gwen found herself closing her eyes frequently because of this.
Throughout the day she kept an eye out for Miles, unwilling to ask around in case Gayatri caught wind of her investigation.
”It’s just a crush,” she sighs into her mask. “People get crushes all the time. It’s normal.”
Gwen can’t quite recall the last time she had a crush, but she’s pretty sure this is it.
From her vantage point she hears a scream. Seconds later Gwen is freefalling before catching herself with a web and swinging over towards the source.
“Hey, Liv!” Gwen punctuates her sentence with a swift kick to the face.
Doctor Octopus wipes her chin with the back of her hand, grits her teeth. “Spider-Woman,” she growls.
”Hey, nice new limbs!” Gwen dodges the first two swings and catches the third, stopping to examine them. “You’re not still mad about the whole -“ Gwen ducks, catches the other arm and webs them together. “- me destroying the old ones, are you?”
She replies with a thrown car.
Gwen launches a barrage of webs to prevent it from hitting anyone. Doctor Octopus takes this opening and wraps her mechanical arms around her body and neck, squeezing.
“Any last words?” she taunts, the grip too tight to even let out a cough. Doctor Octopus raises an arm. Gwen expects a blade, but instead it makes a fist. What’s even more unexpected is that it seems to turn away from Gwen, right towards Liv.
“Ah!”
Her own arm socks her right in the jaw. Then again. And again. Liv starts swinging wildly at nothing, shouting curses and asking Gwen what she’s doing. The last hit sends her flying back, followed by a familiar thwipping sound.
But it doesn’t come from Gwen.
Her eyes follow their path, growing tense. Out of nowhere a man appears, dressed in red and black, flying towards Doctor Octopus with his fist cocked.
”Spider… Man?”
The punch lands perfectly. Just like that, Gwen is free. And falling.
“I gotchu!”
She’s being held up by his web as he swings along, looking over his shoulder at a fuming Doc Ock.
”Hey! I’m gonna let you go now!” he says before tossing her up. Gwen recovers and starts swinging by his side. “Nice to meet you! Big fan!”
”Uh… thanks. Who are you?”
”I’m Spider-Man.”
Battling supervillains is -
Well, that’s exactly what it is. It’s a battle. It’s bloody and ugly, and no matter how many jokes Gwen makes, that won’t change.
It’s not only worrying about yourself, but the lives around you.
This doesn’t feel like a battle.
Gwen can take on Doctor Octopus while Spider-Man gets everyone out of the way. She can stop vehicles from going into the water while he webs her up. They can talk back and forth while they set each other up for a strike. For once, Gwen actually isn’t worried.
”And I got bit by a radioactive spider.” Spider-Man takes her hand as he pulls back on his web, then launches them towards Liv.
”So was I!” Gwen says before he throws her. She moves through the air too fast for her to react, and Gwen hits her hard enough that Spider-Man can get one in too. As she turns, they land one final blow together.
”And you can turn invisible too?”
”You can’t?”
“I haven’t tried!”
Today she discovers she can’t/
”What do you use for your webs?” he asks while they empty their shooters to make sure all eight of her limbs are secure.
They swap formulas during their escape.
‘Escape’ might not be the right word, but better safe than sorry. Gwen doesn’t always get along with the boys in blue, no matter how hard she tries. It’s gotten a bit better over the years, but they aren’t exactly open to her interference. Her dad always complains about the amount of paperwork it causes.
”How long have you been at this?”
”Since I was - uhh… three years. I’ve been doing this for three years. Not since I was three. That’d be crazy.”
”Yeah,” she laughs. “Yeah, it would. I, uh, I’m sorry, how come I never heard of you?”
”I was doing it in a pretty small town before. But then my family moved here, so… I don’t wanna step on your toes or anything. It’s totally your city.”
”Hey, come on. This’ll be great!” She gives him a light bump on the chest. “Heads up. Check out that dumb-dumb. Guy in the stripes.”
Gwen webs him up while Spider-Man returns the woman’s purse.
Patrol goes late, and it’s the easiest of Gwen’s life. Both of them get a text at the same time.
”Hey -“
”Hey -“ Gwen says at the same time. “- sorry -“
”My bad, you go first.”
”No, it’s just… I gotta get home. My dad.”
”Yeah, me too.” He points over his shoulder. “I guess I’ll see you around, Spider-Woman.”
And with that, he swings away.
”See you.”
***
Gwen gets home to have her dad ask “have you seen this?” and point to the television. Spider-Woman and Spider-Man are the only thing being covered across all news stations.
“No,” Gwen answers, not technically lying.
“There’s two of them now. I don't believe this. I thought she was the only one.”
“Yeah… me too.”
***
Gayatri has a presentation to record so Gwen sets up in the library. As always, she takes the desk in the very back, hidden between bookshelves and right by the radiator. It’s warm, quiet, and no one ever comes close.
For about five minutes.
“¿Disculpe?”
Gwen’s head shoots up. Miles is standing there with a stack of books in his arms.
“¿Puedo sentarme aquí por favor?”
Gwen pulls out her earbuds only to stumble over her words. He gestures to the seat near her.
“Go ahead,” she says, tapping the spot on the desk to get her message across.
“Gracias.”
Her spider sense - or whatever it was - doesn't go off this time. But her palms sweat against the book in her grip and her face feels hot.
“Do you speak English?”
Miles looks at her.
“I don’t speak Spanish,” she says after a long silence.
Miles replies with a nod and a smile. “Tus ojos son impresionantes.”
Just like before, Gwen can't understand a single word. This time there’s nothing to latch onto. If there is - something in the context or a gesture she didn't pick up on - it's up Gayatri’s ally, not Gwen’s.
But Gwen keeps playing it over in her head, trying to figure out how to spell it. She’s really starting to regret missing those classes.
Toos oh-hos son impresionantes. Tusohos son impresionantes.
She plugs it into Google Translate the moment she’s alone. It’s close enough that it autocorrects for her.
Your eyes are stunning.
Gwen literally swoons.
***
Spanish becomes her new favourite subject.
That doesn't mean she’s particularly good at it.
Gwen reads and listens to lessons on YouTube under the covers. Gayatri probably notices, but is too kind to make fun of her.
Her dad, on the other hand, turns on his detective mode.
“Since when do you care about Spanish?”
“I don't,” Gwen says, tapping her pencil against her notebook. “I have a test coming up.”
“Not even you sound convinced,” George says. When Gwen doesn't respond he presses on. “Who's the boy?”
“Dad!”
He raises his eyebrows and takes a sip of coffee. Gwen sighs.
“He goes to my school. I don't know, I think he kinda… likes me. Stop!”
“I’m not doing anything!”
“Yes you are! You have that…” Gwen makes a face. “Look.”
“This isn't about me. Keep talking.”
“He doesn't speak English. Only Spanish. And I want to talk to him.”
“That's sweet of you,” George smiles. “How's it going so far?”
“Awful.”
George hums, then says “Can he understand you?”
Gwen shakes her head.
“Just something to think about.”
***
Their library meetups become a regular thing. Gwen finds herself going there even when she’s able to study in their dorm, and sure enough, Miles is there every time.
They don’t talk much. Not with words. But they have found a way around that.
Miles will occasionally show her a drawing he’s been working on (the ones of Spider-Woman are her favourite). In return, she shows him the songs she’s been writing, humming and tapping her pencil on the desk as if it were a drum set.
“Can I tell you something?” Gwen asks. Miles glances up from his sketchbook. He doesn't protest, which is good enough for her. “I’m a drug dealer.”
He doesn't react.
“That was a lie, by the way. But I guess you don't understand me, so here it goes.” Gwen blows out a breath of air, locks eyes with him and says “You're really cute, you know that?”
Miles opens his mouth, closes it, then opens again. No words come out. Not even an incoherent noise. Gwen imagines that’s how she looks whenever he says something in Spanish.
“I guess they don't teach you that in ESL, huh?” she says, smiling a little. “I mean I really hope they don't. Or haven’t yet, because that would be really embarrassing. I do want to be able to talk to your for real, though. And another thing….”
Her phone makes a sound at the most inopportune moment. If it were any other sound, Gwen would have ignored it. She groans, pulls out her phone. For once she keeps it out in the open, confident that even if Miles can read English, he can't do it upside down.
Two shots fired near 62nd and Lee. Possible homicide. Suspect is tall and dressed in black.
“Um,” Gwen frowns as she puts her phone away. “I gotta go… tengo que ir. Lo siento.”
Her accent is atrocious, but Miles seems to understand. The smile he gives her plays over and over again in her head as she swings away.
***
Coming down from her apex, Gwen lands on the ledge of the building. The city below is far enough away for her to start pulling her mask off, but the sound of a throat clearing stops her.
”Hey.”
Spider-Man is right behind her, leaning against the ledge with his arms crossed.
“I didn’t see anything, I swear. Your hood covers it from behind.” He jumps up and starts walking over. “That’s smart. I designed a suit with a hood one time, but it was… ugh, it looked awful. Not my best moment.”
Gwen smiles under her mask and drops to a seat, her legs dangling over the edge. She taps the spot next to her and he joins her.
”I heard about the guy with the gun. Sorry I couldn’t get there in time.”
Gwen shrugs.
”You can’t be everywhere at once. Don’t worry, I had it covered.”
He starts tugs at his web shooters, then asks “Is everyone all right?”
”Two non-life-threatening injuries. They’ll both be fine.”
”Okay, good.” There’s a beat. “Do your parents know? About you being Spider-Woman?”
“No. God, no. My dad, he would freak if I told him.”
”And your mom?”
”Died when I was a kid,” Gwen says. She can hear every muscle in his body tense.
”I’m sorry.”
They say that every time she tells someone. It’s what they’re supposed to say. But in Spider-Man’s voice, Gwen can hear it.
”You?”
”Uncle,” he sighs.
They sit for a few minutes without saying a single word, just staring ahead.
”Do your parents know?”
”Yeah, they do,” he nods, his wide masked eyes meeting hers. “I had to. For the move. I go from Pu… from our old home to New York, they’d put two and two together.”
Gwen presses on with her questioning, trying to gauge how her father would react if she told him.
”I gotta text them every time I go out and when I get back, I can’t be out past midnight, I even have to fill out paperwork!”
”Seriously?!”
”Yeah, my dad put it together,” he says, then adds “He’s a cop.”
Gwen laughs.
”You know, it’s great having someone to talk to.”
”Yeah?”
”Yeah. I mean… how many people can you talk to about this stuff? I have one friend who knows, and she’s great. But she just…”
”Doesn’t completely understand,” he finishes.
”Yeah.”
“We’re the same.” Gwen looks at him. “In the important ways.”
***
Spanish is put on the back burner tonight. Researching ‘Spider-Man’ takes precedence.
Most of what Gwen finds is fairly recent, and only based in New York. Nothing about this helps her, but she still reads all the articles and watches all the videos. There could have been something in there. She’s just being thorough.
Gwen’s fixation on her computer screen was, of course, completely misunderstood by her father. She couldn’t come up with an alternative answer to when he asked her why she’s watching all this, leaving her at his mercy.
”I thought you had a crush on that other boy.”
Gwen resists the urge to physically throw him out of her room.
It doesn’t aid her argument later than evening when George comes in to tell her dinner is ready. Gwen wants the record to show she didn’t sigh while staring at Spider-Man. She yawned. It was just a yawn. She’s exhausted, people yawn when they’re exhausted.
It takes all weekend to dig up something useful.
Hombre Araña, he was called. Back in Puerto Rico.
His suit was very similar back there, still black and red with very few changes. Spider-Man was noticeably shorter and far more slim, but still flipping around and shooting webs just as easily as he does today.
Another thing Gwen observes is an extra power of his. Something she hasn’t seen from him yet.
A fist comes flying at Spider-Man’s head. Some sort of electric charge builds up in his hand as he moves to catch it. The criminal in question seizes and falls to the ground.
And then he speaks.
It’s too fast for Gwen to understand, but she recognises the voice, higher but distinctive. It’s the one she’s been playing in her head all this time.
***
Monday morning rolls around. She doesn’t look for Miles, but finds Gayatri instead.
She catches her trying to sneak up on her boyfriend as he pulls his books out of the locker. Gwen gives Pav a heads up before Gayatri can grab her. He thanks her before he spins around, grabs hold of his girlfriend's face and leans down to kiss her.
“Ugh.”
Gwen shields her eyes until she’s sure they’re finished.
They’re still in each other's arms, swaying on the spot. People being all lovey dovey in public is always annoying. It’s even worse when it’s your friends, and especially when you’re all alone.
“Hey,” a teacher says as he passes by. Pav and Gayatri begin to step apart until they see who it is.
Mr Parker, the physics teacher, is everyone’s favourite by far. He actually makes his subject fun, gives people all the help they need whether they ask for it or not, cuts Gwen slack whenever she doesn’t show up to class, and he went to great lengths to make sure Pavitr and Gayatri sat next to each other in his class.
Any other teacher would have broken them up.
”Morning, Mr Parker!” Pav waves.
Gwen ditches them and catches up with him.
”Hey, Mr Parker.”
”What can I do for you, Gwen?”
”Uhh, nothing. I was just wondering how Mrs Parker’s doing.”
”Great,” he smiles. “Really great. Thanks for asking.”
Mr Parker’s wife, Mary Jane, is pregnant with their second child. Talking about them is the only thing he loves more than physics, and students try to use this to their advantage whenever they aren’t ready for a test. It only works once every couple months.
She follows him into his classroom. There’s already a machine set up on his desk for the class that day.
”Do you know a student named Miles? He just moved here. From Puerto Rico, I think.”
Mr Parker stops.
”Okay, that’s the least weird question you’ve ever asked me.”
Oh, and he did help out a bit with her webs. And the web shooters. Unknowingly.
Probably.
It was just a few vague questions.
About the formula. And permission to use one of the labs. And where to get a good set of tools to do repairs. And the general physics knowledge that could be applied to swinging.
Yeah, he definitely knows she’s Spider-Woman.
”African and Puerto Rican, kinda tall, wears Jordan’s?” Mr Parker asks.
Gwen nods.
“Yeah, I know him. Miles Morales. He’s a good kid.”
”Does he speak English?”
”There’s the weird.” Mr Parker picks up a screwdriver from his desk. “Can I get a hand with this?”
She holds on where he tells her to as he tightens a screw.
”Yeah, he speaks English.”
Gwen drops the machine and shouts “thank you” as she heads out the door.
”Teenagers.”
***
When Gwen enters the library, it’s one of the busy hours. But that doesn’t really matter. What matters is the boy waiting for her at the desk hidden between the bookshelves.
Miles looks up when she approaches, smiling. The light catches him just the right way, making his eyes glow.
”Hola, Gwen!”
Her first instinct was to talk to him in English and question him to no end. But that went out the window when she got an even better idea.
”Hola, Miles.” Gwen drops her bag and takes the seat next to him. She doesn’t build up to it. She just comes right out and says it. “I think I have a crush on Spider-Man.”
“I - ¡¿qué?!”
He looks like he’s just glitched in real life. Gwen grins.
“Hombre Araña. Muy lindo. Linda? I don’t know, the gender part of Spanish is really confusing.”
To his credit, Miles sticks to knowing nothing but Spanish.
“No creo que sepas quién soy. Pero te conozco,” he mumbles.
***
Gwen prefers the term ‘investigating’ to ‘stalking’.
Yes, she follows Miles one day, but she has her suit on the whole time, which makes this official Spider-Woman business.
In the hours she spends watching him, he doesn’t do anything remarkable. Gwen starts to question whether or not he actually is Spider-Man. Sure, he is lying about not speaking English. The dates of his arrival and Spider-Man’s are a little too convenient, they both come from Puerto Rico, and they have the same height and build. But there’s no hard proof.
”Don’t try nothing,” a group comes out of nowhere and points a gun at Miles’ head. He doesn’t flinch, but Gwen doesn’t put her theory to the test.
Gwen knocks the gang's knives and guns out of their hands by several webs. They don’t even have time to flinch before Gwen takes all of them down.
Unsure of what to say, Gwen salutes Miles and runs off down the alley. He goes after her.
”Hey!”
He looks around. She must have given him the slip.
”You look like you have a knack for getting into trouble,” Gwen says, surprising him from behind. She’s hanging upside down from a web, lowering herself just to his eye level.
”You have a knack for saving my life,” Miles says.
Gotcha. His voice in English is just as unmistakable as his voice in Spanish. Gwen is certain Miles Morales is Spider-Man.
But does he know she knows? And does he know she’s Spider-Woman?
“Lucky you were here.”
”I was in the neighbourhood,” Gwen shrugs, then cringes at what she had just said. Somehow, she doubles down. “Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Woman.”
”Yeah, I know. You’re the Amazing Spider-Woman, the Spectacular Spider-Woman, the Ultimate Spider-Woman, the -“
”And a few choice words Jameson would use,” Gwen says, thinking back to all those articles written about her. “Nice to have a fan.”
Gwen holds out her hand. Miles accepts, and when their hands meet, she gets that feeling. The electricity. Maybe from his powers.
Then again, maybe Gayatri was onto something.
Gwen does the unthinkable. She pulls her mask down just enough to keep the top half of her face covered. At the same time, she pulls Miles towards her and closes the gap between their lips.
His hands cup her cheeks, his thumbs brushing them.
Gwen pulls back for a moment, lets out a shaky breath, then goes back in. Immediately, Miles matches it. Like handshakes, Gwen doesn’t keep track of how long kisses last. The next time they separate they’re gasping for air.
”I hope you don’t do that for all the guys you save.”
She can take this so much further. Gwen has a long list of ways she can mess with him in so many variations. That’s one of the few benefits of living a double life.
In her attempt to flirt, she blows it.
”Only the ones who save mine,” she whispers against his lips. Gwen realises what she just said.
But Miles doesn’t react the way she expects.
”Gwen.”
”What?!” She pulls her mask off and shakes out her hair. “You know?!”
”Shoot,” Miles sighs. “I didn’t mean to say that. I mean, I had an idea, but…”
Gwen drops down and punches him, far harder knowing he can handle it.
”You speak English!”
”Uh… yeah. I can explain,” Miles says, holding his hands up. “I grew up in Puerto Rico and Spanish was my first language. Whenever I was at home, that’s all I spoke. And when you bumped into me, it was just… instinct. And this is where it gets dumb, but it just seemed easier to talk to you when you couldn’t understand me.”
Gwen sighs, crosses her arms and looks away. She can’t lie, back when she thought he couldn’t understand her, talking to him had never been easier.
”Can we go somewhere to talk?”
***
The Williamsburg Bank Building - their destination - is Gwen’s favourite part of the city. Miles agrees.
”This is a cool thinking spot.”
”Right?” She turns to face him and continues to walk backwards. “Who needs a treadmill when you have a place like this?”
He’s smiling, watching her as she ties her hair up. It’s windy here, exposed.
“I’m not mad, you know,” Gwen says, flipping to the ledge. Miles is right behind her. “I think I would’ve done the same thing if I were you.”
”Really?”
”Yeah, really,” she laughs. Gwen walks to the underside of the tower and uses her webs to help her sit down. “It was stupid. That’s got Gwen Stacy written all over it.”
”Slander,” Miles says, his hand stuck to the surface, hanging behind her. “I meant everything I said. All of it. I do think you’re amazing.”
“And my eyes?”
Miles comes to her side. Gwen takes him by the arm and pulls him up to sit next to her.
”Stunning.”
The way he says it, even in English, causes Gwen to swoon.
”And I’m cute?”
”The cutest.”
Gwen leans into him, resting her shoulder against his.
***
”Please tell me we aren’t this bad,” Gayatri says.
”I don’t know,” Pav says. “Maybe.”
”No.”
”Sorry, Gaya.”
They’re sitting in the cafeteria across from Miles and Gwen, who are hand in hand, whispering and giggling to each other. He’s saying something in Spanish that neither of them can understand. Gwen giggles.
”I want to throw up,” Gayatri says, standing up. Pav follows her.
”It is kind of romantic.”