Chapter 94: Questions and Concern

Parker House — End of the Day

Gwen slowly regained consciousness. This time, however, she was no longer at the Connors' laboratory. When she opened her eyes, she immediately recognized the ceiling of her bedroom and realized that she was back home, lying on her bed.

For a few seconds, she remained still, still slightly confused, before the memories of what had happened at the laboratory suddenly came rushing back to her. Her gaze immediately shifted toward her hand.

The mark left by the bite was still there and, when she looked at the other one, she also noticed that the spider's corpse was still stuck to her palm. Apparently, no one had yet realized what had actually happened to her.

Gwen didn't really know whether that thought should reassure her or, on the contrary, worry her even more. After a few moments, she slowly sat up, got out of bed, threw the spider's corpse into a small trash can in her room, then left.

She went downstairs to the living room, where she found Peter and May. As soon as she reached the last few steps, they both noticed her and immediately reacted, visibly relieved to finally see her on her feet.

— "Gwen!"

Peter was the first to rush toward her and immediately wrapped his arms around her. May, a little slower, joined them a few seconds later and Peter stepped aside to make room for her.

Gwen, surprised by such a warm welcome but genuinely happy to see them both again, simply allowed herself to enjoy the moment.

For a few seconds, she said nothing and enjoyed their presence before they eventually moved slightly away. Still a little confused, but above all curious to understand what had happened after she lost consciousness, she finally asked the first question that came to mind.

— "How did I get here…?" she asked.

— "The Connors brought us. We got into their car and they dropped us off at home a few hours ago."

— "How are you feeling, sweetheart? Do you have a headache? Any nausea? Do you feel like throwing up?" 

— "I'm fine, Aunt May."

— "Are you sure?"

— "Yes!"

She accompanied her answer with a big smile, mostly to keep May from worrying any more than she already was. May watched her for a few more moments, as if making sure for herself that the young girl really was okay, then finally returned her smile gently.

— "I'll be right back, I'm going to get you a glass of water."

— "Thanks, Aunt May. That's sweet of you!"

Without waiting any longer, May left the living room and went into the kitchen right next to it, leaving Peter and Gwen alone for a few moments. As soon as she was far enough away that she couldn't easily hear their conversation, Peter moved slightly closer and whispered:

— "Gwen, are you sure you're okay?"

Immediately understanding that he was no longer talking only about her general condition, Gwen began whispering as well.

— "Yes! Can't you tell?"

A small smile appeared on her face, as if she were trying to defuse the situation and make the whole thing seem much less serious than it actually was. But far from reassuring Peter, her attitude only irritated him slightly more.

— "Gwen, this isn't funny. Can you explain why you passed out at the lab?"

— "It's just… that I got hot."

Peter stared at her with a particularly doubtful expression.

— "You got… hot?"

— "Y-Yeah. You know, sometimes you suddenly get really hot… it can happen to anyone." 

She let out a small nervous laugh under Peter's insistent gaze. And judging by his expression, he didn't believe that explanation at all. Not really, anyway.

— "Gwen… did you—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, May returned from the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand and immediately handed it to Gwen.

— "Here you go, sweetheart."

— "Oh, thanks."

With May now back by their side, Peter decided not to push the issue for the moment. However, he gave Gwen a very clear look, explicit enough to make her understand that this conversation was far from over.

For her part, the young girl quickly brought the glass to her lips, drank almost all the water in one go, then placed it on the living room table.

— "So… anyway, what were you two doing?"

— "We were watching TV. Do you want to join us?"

Gwen hesitated. She didn't particularly want to stay, but she also didn't want to give the impression that she was pushing May away after all the attention she had just given her. Her mind quickly began searching for a believable enough excuse, until an idea came to her.

— "That's sweet… but I think I'm going to go out for a bit. I need to clear my head."

— "Oh, yes, no problem. Maybe you'd like us to come with you?"

— "No, I'll be fine. Thanks, Aunt May."

Understanding that she probably wanted to be alone for a while, May didn't insist any further. She had made sure that Gwen was okay and, for her, that was what mattered most.

So she calmly went back to sit on the couch, without even giving Peter any particular look to invite him to join her, figuring that he might want to do something else or talk with Gwen a little longer.

But before Peter could even restart the conversation, Gwen quickly went back upstairs. She entered her room, grabbed her bag, came back out almost immediately at a surprising speed, then headed directly toward Peter's room.

Once inside, she closed the door behind her. From the living room, Peter understood perfectly where she had just gone and frowned slightly, puzzled.

— "Why is she going into my room?"

His concern gradually overtaking his curiosity, Peter went upstairs as well and headed toward his room. As he approached the door, he could already hear a few faint noises coming from inside.

After a few seconds, he finally entered slowly without even taking the time to knock. But he had barely opened the door when Gwen hurried out of the room, still carrying her bag and visibly in a rush to leave.

— "G-Gwen, can I ask why you—"

— "Alright, I'm leaving! See you later!"

Without even giving him time to finish his sentence, Gwen simply announced that she was leaving before quickly heading downstairs. A few seconds later, the front door opened and then closed almost immediately behind her, her rush almost cutting off her own sentence in the process.

May remained focused on her program on television, but Peter stayed still for a few moments, unable to shake the bad feeling that was beginning to settle inside him.

Her fainting at the laboratory had already been strange enough, and now her behavior was even stranger. Finally deciding not to just stand around doing nothing, he returned to his room, quickly grabbed his bag, then went back downstairs.

— "Alright, Aunt May, I'm going out for a bit too! Harry just called me and I need to go see him about something!"

He stopped for a few seconds beside his aunt, leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, then immediately headed toward the entrance, already beginning to put on his shoes.

— "See you later, sweetheart."

Just like Gwen a few moments earlier, Peter practically rushed out and closed the door behind him so quickly that he almost cut May's sentence off as well. Once outside, he stopped for a brief second, almost hesitating to reopen the door to apologize for leaving so abruptly, before ultimately changing his mind and setting off.

After a few minutes of walking, he finally spotted Gwen in the distance, standing near a bus stop. Peter slightly quickened his pace with the intention of catching up to her, but before he had time to reach her, the bus arrived. Gwen got on board and, a few seconds later, the vehicle drove off with her, gradually disappearing into traffic.

For most people, that would have been particularly frustrating. They would have had to wait for the next bus or continue on foot, hoping not to lose track of her. But for Peter, that kind of problem was far from insurmountable. Confident, he quickly headed toward a sufficiently isolated alley before climbing the neighboring building and reaching one of the rooftops.

Once he was sufficiently out of sight, he placed his bag in front of him and opened it.

And his expression immediately changed.

There was nothing inside.

— "W-What the hell is this?"

Completely stunned by what he was seeing, Peter plunged his hand into the bag and then began shaking it in every direction, as if his equipment could suddenly appear by magic or as if he simply hadn't looked properly the first time. 

But nothing changed. His suit wasn't there, and neither was his mask. And his web-shooters were gone as well.

— "Is this a joke? Where the hell are my web-shooters?! And my suit?! And my mask?!"

For a few seconds, Peter remained completely lost. Then a memory from only a few dozen minutes earlier suddenly came back to him: Gwen, suddenly going back upstairs to her room and then entering his for no real reason.

Coming back out almost immediately before leaving the house with a particularly strange attitude. And now, all of his equipment was gone. It couldn't be a simple coincidence.

A much greater sense of worry immediately began to grow inside him. The sudden fainting of the girl he loved had already worried him enough, but what he had just discovered only made that feeling worse.

Gwen was clearly hiding something from him and, judging by everything that had just happened, none of it seemed to be a good sign.

TO BE CONTINUED.