Peter had to admit, he didn't have the bad habit of needing his own bed to sleep.
And Gwen's bed was soft. Really soft. For someone whose sense of day and night had been completely flipped upside down, it felt like salvation.
In his own world, it was daytime.
Here, it was night.
He hadn't slept in over thirty hours, so getting a full eight hours now felt absolutely incredible.
Peter didn't have the habit of sleeping in. He went downstairs, picked up breakfast from McDonald's, and returned to Gwen's apartment.
Gwen, meanwhile, was just waking up beautifully from sleep.
She'd had a strange dream last night. It had been bizarre, but still undeniably a good dream.
As soon as she got out of bed, she stretched lazily. Her pajama top lifted with the motion, exposing a strip of pale, slender waist.
Still half asleep, hair a total mess, Gwen shuffled out of the bedroom and dropped onto the couch. Only then did she notice the McDonald's breakfast on the coffee table and realize that someone was sitting nearby, which startled her so badly that she instantly woke up.
"Your hair's gone completely wild. So, Officer Gwen, want some breakfast? Morning coffee isn't exactly healthy, but it does taste pretty good. I figured this would match your taste. Iced Americano, extra sugar."
Peter spoke calmly while eating a burger, looking at Gwen, who at the moment resembled a startled cat with frizzy hair and a very impressive figure.
"Oh... okay..."
Gwen answered awkwardly.
She had completely forgotten that Peter was staying here.
So this apartment wasn't just hers anymore.
There were now two people in it.
Which meant that the little flash of skin from just now had probably been seen by this little bastard too.
Damn it.
Gwen, Gwen, why can't you be a little more careful?
First the bathroom incident last night, and now this first thing in the morning. How was she even supposed to face him?
"Don't worry. Sadly, I have to tell the truth. The thing I might have wanted to see never actually appeared. Your pajamas are really oversized."
"Perv."
Blushing furiously, Gwen shot Peter a look, then turned her attention to the breakfast on the table. She pulled out the iced coffee from the paper bag, then froze.
"How did you know what I like?"
"Oh, right. I almost forgot. The Gwen in my universe likes this too."
"Yeah. Every time she and I go to McDonald's, she orders an iced Americano. It'd be hard not to remember."
Peter shrugged and took another sip of his cold Coke.
Drinking something icy in the morning really was amazing.
"He never noticed that habit of mine..."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Gwen took a sip of the iced Americano. It really was extra sweet. The bitterness and sweetness were balanced perfectly. The coffee was cold, but for some reason her chest felt warm.
Too bad this wasn't the Peter from her universe.
Too bad he was too young.
Not that she could really do anything even if she wanted to.
Oh, Gwen, what are you even thinking?
Are you seriously considering competing with another version of yourself for a man?
You've fallen way too far.
Once breakfast was finished, it was just about time for Gwen to head to work.
It had to be said, this woman had developed almost perfectly. She already had that mature, intelligent charm about her, and once she put on the police uniform, it added a sharp, capable edge that made her even more striking.
She was absolutely gorgeous.
"Hey, Peter, staring at a woman like that is pretty rude."
Noticing that he was looking at her, Gwen laughed lightly as she clipped her service pistol to her belt.
Then she remembered the awkward moment last night, plus the embarrassing state she'd been in when she woke up this morning, and suddenly felt a little awkward again.
"No helping it. Gwen, right now you've got too much charm. I was just thinking, when the Gwen in my world reaches twenty-six, will she look like this too? The thought alone makes me want to hurry up and be twenty-six already."
Peter said it frankly, then let out a sigh.
"Haha, then you've still got nine years to wait. And you'd better hurry up and win over the other me already. Stop dragging your feet and act like a man."
Gwen laughed at that, feeling secretly pleased by the compliment. But mixed in with that little pride was an odd hint of disappointment.
"So, have you ever thought about getting married? Don't tell me you're planning to stay single forever because of me."
Peter asked with the most innocent expression imaginable.
"In your dreams. Who do you think you are? Some irresistible heartbreaker? The number of men chasing me could stretch from here all the way to Florida. You think I'd be secretly heartbroken over you?"
Gwen shot back stubbornly.
"Florida. That place is full of characters. Pretty fitting for your line of work, honestly."
Peter nodded thoughtfully, clearly convinced she was just being stubborn and refusing to admit anything. Still, he couldn't resist making one more comment.
"You're impossible."
Gwen huffed and stopped talking to him, though the sound carried a trace of amusement.
"Anyway, no more talking. I need to hurry. Peter, here's the spare key. Promise me you won't go out and cause trouble again. See you tonight."
She pulled the spare key out of a drawer and placed it in Peter's hand, then grabbed her car keys from the table and got ready to head out.
"Everybody knows I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Spider-Man doesn't cause trouble."
"But you, Peter Parker, do."
"Alright, alright. Gwen, you really do judge people accurately. I'm starting to think I'm a little interested in you."
Peter said it teasingly.
"Kid, don't try to flirt with a beautiful woman by acting all mature and greasy. Especially when that beautiful woman is an NYPD officer. Alright then, be good. See you tonight."
Peter twitched at the corner of his mouth.
That tone she was using sounded like she was coaxing a child, even though she wasn't that much older than him.
And if he counted his previous life, he was actually older than she was.
...
"Hey, Gwen, you don't look quite right. Are you feeling sick or something? Do you want to stay home for a couple of days? Your mother misses you."
At the NYPD station, Gwen was snapped out of her daze at her desk by the voice beside her.
Only then did she realize that her father, George, had somehow sat down next to her.
Ever since he became Commissioner, he'd been getting more and more out of shape. Looking at him now, he seemed even heavier than before.
"Dad, I'll go home. Just not right now. Maybe after a while."
"I know Peter's death has left you unsettled. But sweetheart, you need to understand that the two of you were long over."
"Unsettled? I'm not... I just... I don't even know how to explain it."
The death of this world's Peter did make her sad.
But that wasn't what was really troubling her right now.
That problem had more to do with another annoying boy who was somehow impossible to hate.
"You've got someone in your heart now, don't you? Makes sense. My Gwen really is at the age where she ought to settle down."
George came back with a cup of hot water, dropped into the office chair, and let out a sentimental sigh.
"Dad! That's impossible. He... I..."
"Commissioner George, there's another fight breaking out in West Queens. We need someone to handle it."
Just then, a dispatcher put down the phone and called over to George.
"Alright, Gwen. Then you take a team and go deal with it."
"Got it."
...
In the Brooklyn cemetery, a man wearing unusual armor stood in front of two side-by-side gravestones, staring at them in silence.
Half of his face was badly disfigured, yet he showed no emotion at all as he looked at the names carved into the stones.
"Harry Osborn. Peter Parker."
"So both Peter and I are dead in this world. What kind of world is this supposed to be..."
"Does it have something to do with that strange black hole..."
"I think... I need to ask someone."
He pressed a button.
A flying device dropped to his feet.
The moment he stepped onto it, powerful jets ignited beneath him, and he shot up into the sky before vanishing.
(End of Chapter)
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