December 24th, 2006 (Author's Note: What were you guys doing on this day?)
There were barely a few hours left before dinner and I was in the middle of Manhattan, patrolling as usual. I slipped through the broken third-floor window of an apartment building that was being consumed by the flames of a massive fire.
"Step aside, step aside! Make way!" the shouts of the firefighters and the clamor of the crowd below faded the moment I pushed through the thick curtain of smoke. The ceiling was on the verge of total collapse, the beams were groaning, and the flames were devouring the walls at a violent speed.
I forced my way forward, dodging the debris collapsing all around me. It was then that I heard a muffled crying, and I found a baby girl trapped at the far end of the hallway, in a room surrounded by fire. I covered the baby with my own body to protect her from the flames and scooped her into my arms with absolute care.
I jumped through the window, using my webs to swing smoothly and land on my feet directly on the sidewalk, right in the middle of the chaotic ambulances and the crowd. I walked toward the desperate mother who was screaming in tears for her child.
"Please, save my baby... My baby!" the woman pleaded, on the verge of a breakdown.
"Here is your baby. She's alright." I reassured her, which managed to calm her panic.
I approached silently and handed the infant into her arms. She clutched her to her chest, weeping with relief as she checked that she was completely safe.
"God bless you, Spider-Man... God bless you." the woman whispered through her tears, looking at me with gratitude.
I nodded slightly, gave a friendly wave to the kids and the cheering crowd, and before the police officers could appear on the scene, I fired a web into the sky and vanished swiftly among the skyscrapers. Saving innocent lives was always worth it, and with that rush of having done the right thing, I swung back home, stopping a few criminals and rescuing a cat that was stuck at the top of a tree along the way.
I entered through my bedroom window and quickly stripped out of the suit to get ready for that day's party. I took a quick shower to get rid of the smoke scent from the fire and walked out of the bathroom wearing just a pair of pants while figuring out what to wear on top. I was about to look for a sweatshirt in the closet when I got caught staring out the window. Watching the flakes fall against the glass brought a strange reflection about my past life.
It was kind of absurd because I knew snow, but I had never seen a snowfall in person until my arrival in this world. In my old world, I was from the Southern Hemisphere, and in my entire life, it had only snowed three times in places where I happened to be. The first time occurred in my hometown when I was barely two weeks old and trapped in a hospital incubator, so logically I didn't remember a thing. The second and third times happened years later, in the same city I had traveled to. I had no memory of the second time either because I was barely a year old. The only one I remembered perfectly was the third, during my graduation trip. That was when I first experienced snow accumulated on the ground, but the actual snowfall itself, the miserable thing, started falling in the middle of the night while I was sleeping like a log and ended before I even woke up.
Recalling such a record of terrible timing, I couldn't help but seriously wonder if the famous "Parker Luck" was already hunting me down in my past life, sabotaging the only trip where I could have seen snow fall.
While this was happening in Peter's room, down in the kitchen, Uncle Ben had already heard the movement in his nephew's room. Knowing he was probably getting ready for the party, and being a good uncle, as well as a first-rate wingman who knew perfectly well how in love Peter was with Gwen, he decided it was the perfect moment to give Peter an "assist."
"Gwen, dear, why don't you take this tray of cookies up to Peter?" Uncle Ben suggested in his best kind-old-grandfather voice, winking at Aunt May behind the girl's back. "I bet that boy is already done changing and must be starving up there. Go on, go see if he's ready."
Gwen, completely unsuspecting of the ambush Uncle Ben was setting for her, gladly accepted. She took the metal tray and began to walk up the wooden steps. Being alone with Peter in his room made her nervous, but she took a deep breath in front of the door to calm her racing heart.
Gwen turned the doorknob with total confidence and pushed the wood open.
"Peter, Uncle Ben told me to come up and see if you're already rea—" the sentence froze in her throat at that exact moment.
I was standing right in the middle of the rug, completely barefoot, shirtless, and showing off the ridiculously chiseled abs, broad shoulders, and muscles that the spider mutation had gifted me.
From Gwen's perspective, the real world seemed to suffer a short circuit. Her teenage mind went blank. Her best friend, Peter Parker, the same guy who used to complain about running in PE class, had a physique that looked straight out of a Greek statue or an athlete's magazine. Her eyes went as wide as saucers, and her fingers tightened around the metal tray, which almost slipped from her hands from the impact. Her gaze dropped down my torso completely involuntarily for an eternal second, feeling a violent, scorching crimson blush paint her cheeks all the way to her ears, burning her face with embarrassment and surprise.
In my head, the alarms went off at full power. "What the absolute fuck is my spider-sense even good for?!" I screamed internally.
I grabbed the first thing I found on the bed, some random white shirt, and threw it on at top speed.
"Uh... hey, Gwen. Yeah, I'm... I'm almost ready." I managed to say.
Gwen grasped reality at the sound of my voice, waking up from her shock. She blinked rapidly, shaking her head shyly while averting her gaze to the floor, feeling her heart beating a thousand miles an hour in her chest.
"Yeah... I... I'm sorry, Peter. I shouldn't have just walked in like that. I'll wait for you downstairs with the guys." she stammered in a rush, setting the tray aside and quickly leaving.
I dropped flat on my back onto the bed, huffing against the ceiling. "Goddamn Parker Luck. You speak its name and the miserable thing magically appears," I cursed internally, holding back a laugh at how ridiculous the moment was before continuing to get ready for a bit longer while eating the cookies Gwen brought me. Once I was ready, I went down the stairs to join the others.
Ned and Harry were playing a strategy game that Ned had brought. Aunt May watched us from the kitchen, happy to see the house full of life, while Uncle Ben leaned back on the couch, looking at me with a smile.
Gwen was sitting right next to me on the rug, surrounding the table. The residual tension from the bedroom incident floated in the air in a hilarious way. I could immediately notice that Gwen was glancing at me every other second. But the moment I turned my head and returned her gaze, she whipped her face back toward the game at top speed, pretending to pay sudden attention to the pieces while a violent crimson blush dyed her cheeks again. I just gave her a calm smile, internally amused by her shyness.
In the middle of the game, Gwen subtly leaned toward me to whisper something, making the color threaten to rush back to my own ears as well.
"Ned is going to lose his last base in two turns and he hasn't even noticed." Gwen murmured with a bright smile, her face coming just inches from mine.
Having her so close, I suffered a short circuit. I wanted to keep a safe distance because I didn't feel right dealing with women right now, as I wouldn't agree to get involved with any girl yet because either they were too young or I am too young. However, the Peter Parker part of my consciousness wanted to be with Gwen and tell her he loved her; luckily, I had enough self-control to ignore those thoughts. "Holy shit. I can't even have a peaceful Christmas. Besides, what am I even supposed to do to flirt with a girl? I never had a girlfriend in my past life... sigh... looks like I'm gonna have to resort to my old friend," I thought, looking down at my right hand.
"Let him be happy, Gwen. Harry is going to win anyway." I replied in a low voice while she let out a soft giggle.
Taking advantage of Ned and Harry being completely focused on yelling at each other over the fate of the match and Aunt May being back in the kitchen, I got up for a moment toward the counter to pour myself something to drink. Uncle Ben approached immediately, pretending to adjust some napkins, but he glanced at me with a warm smile full of pride.
"You're welcome, son." he dropped in an almost imperceptible whisper, giving my shoulder a gentle nudge with his own.
"You almost scared me to death, Ben." I hissed in the same tone, though I couldn't help but let a smile slip as I grabbed the bottle. "Seriously, did you have to send her up right when I was changing?"
The old man laughed and ruffled my hair with his hand, staying close so no one else could overhear.
"You always have to exploit opportunities, Peter. Besides, judging by the look on Gwen's face when she came back downstairs, I'd say your uncle still knows how to play matchmaker. Thank me later, son." Uncle Ben said. "I'm just glad to see you're taking a breather to be a normal kid tonight. You deserve it. But tell me, any news from your patrols in the city?"
Feeling his support and knowing he truly watched over me gave me a tremendous sense of relief. I leaned my elbows on the counter, sweeping the room with my eyes to make sure everyone stayed distracted with the game and Aunt May was out of sight.
"The Maggia are tired of losing." I whispered to him with a smirk. "On Friday, I was at one of the Manfredi warehouses in Queens and overheard the thugs talking. They're terrified, and I heard a rumor that they're bringing in a gang heavy-hitter to take absolute control of Queens and hunt me down."
"A heavy-hitter? Do they have a name?" Uncle Ben questioned.
"A guy with a steel forehead who, they say, can smash through walls with a headbutt." I replied.
"A steel forehead? What kind of—" Ben couldn't finish his sentence.
"Peter, Ben! What are you two whispering about over there?" Gwen's curious voice echoed right behind us, catching us completely by surprise as she walked back from the coffee table, dice in hand.
An icy chill ran down my spine. I spun around in a heartbeat, finding Gwen looking at us with narrowed eyes and a suspicious smile, as if she were trying to decipher what we were talking about. We had been so caught up in the Maggia topic that we dropped our guard.
Both of us had to breathe and improvise on the fly at top speed. Uncle Ben affectionately wrapped his arm around my neck, raising his glass.
"Oh, nothing important, Gwen! I was just telling Peter that Aunt May went overboard with the dinner expenses this year." he lied. "I was suggesting that next year he should look into some... repair work so he doesn't lounge around, and can help out with the house expenses instead. You know, breaking down a couple of old walls to earn some extra cash."
"Uncle Ben thinks I'm strong enough to do heavy lifting now that I have some muscle." I chimed in immediately, completely text-blind to my own words as I casually flexed an arm to play along.
Gwen froze right on the spot. Hearing the word "muscle" and watching me flex my arm brought the mental image of my ridiculously chiseled abs crashing back into her head like a tsunami. The crimson blush painted her cheeks all the way to her ears, and widening her eyes, she whipped around at top speed and hurried back toward the coffee table without saying a single word, completely mortified.
I stood there staring after her, blinking a couple of times in absolute, pure confusion.
"Wait, what? What did I say? Did I say something wrong?" I muttered, scratching the back of my neck, completely clueless about what had just happened.
Uncle Ben let out a loud laugh next to me, patting my back as he cracked up at my situation.
"Well, son, looks like you don't need my help with your love life after all." the old man teased, winking at me before walking back to the living room.
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Alright guys, here is Chapter 10. Sorry for the delay of over a week, but I took a short three-day vacation to rest and come up with new ideas for the fic.