chapter four:
❛ doubting ❜

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COMMENT AND VOTE

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Gwen walked out of her apartment building, her eyes following Max as he dashed ahead with his Spider-Man backpack swinging wildly behind him. "I'll see you later, Max. Have a great day!" she called after him. Max turned to give her a quick wave before running off toward school. Gwen sighed, adjusting her jacket and preparing to head to her own destination. As she turned around, her gaze landed on a scene down the street—yellow police tape cordoning off the entrance to a convenience store, the flashing lights of police cars still illuminating the area.

And there, right near the edge of the police tape, were Peter and Ned, looking as guilty as ever.

Gwen's eyes narrowed. She could tell by the way they were shuffling nervously and whispering to each other that something was up. With a groan, she marched straight toward them, rolling her eyes as she approached.

"Move it," Gwen muttered, shoving the two of them aside as she physically pulled them apart, her frustration clear in every step.

"Hey, Gwen!" Peter's voice squeaked out in a panic as he stumbled back slightly. He reached for the straps of his backpack, holding onto them as if they were a lifeline. His usual awkwardness around Gwen was on full display, and his attempt to play it cool was failing miserably.

"Were you here last night when this happened?" Gwen's tone was sharp, her eyes fixed on Peter like a detective sniffing out the truth. She gestured at the police-taped entrance of the convenience store, waiting for Peter's response.

Ned grinned, about to spill everything. "Ye—"

Peter, reacting in a split second, slapped his hand over Ned's mouth before he could say another word. "No! No, absolutely not! We were, uh, nowhere near here last night. Not even close."

Gwen raised an eyebrow, folding her arms as she stared at Peter, clearly not buying it.

Peter, now fully in panic mode, started rambling, his words coming out in a rapid, disjointed stream. "Why would we be here? I mean, there's nothing interesting at a convenience store at night. I mean, sure, sometimes they have really good snacks, but we didn't need any snacks last night, so we didn't come here. Definitely didn't come here. We were, uh, doing homework! Yeah, lots of homework. So much homework. And, uh, studying. For that big test coming up."

Ned, still muffled by Peter's hand, tried to nod along, but his eyes were wide, and he looked like he was about to burst into laughter—or maybe panic.

"Right, Ned?" Peter continued, removing his hand from Ned's mouth just in time for Ned to awkwardly stammer, "Uh, yeah! We were... studying."

Gwen gave them both a withering look. "You guys are the worst liars."

Peter, now sweating slightly, kept talking. "Well, you know, sometimes things just happen, right? Like, convenience stores get robbed all the time. Not that we would know anything about that, of course, because we weren't here. No idea what went down. Probably some bad dudes or something. But definitely not us! Not even close. So, uh... yeah."

Gwen, thoroughly unimpressed, rolled her eyes and turned away, walking off toward school. "Idiots," she muttered under her breath, shaking her head as she left Peter and Ned standing there, still fumbling over their words.

As she walked away, she could still hear Peter behind her, talking to Ned in a hushed voice. "Do you think she bought that? She definitely didn't buy that. We're screwed, aren't we?"

Ned patted him on the back. "Totally screwed, man."

Later that day, Gwen found herself slumped next to MJ in class, both of them barely pretending to pay attention as Captain America's fitness PSA droned on from the television screen at the front of the room. MJ, absorbed in her book, lazily turned a page while Gwen's head rested on her shoulder. The cheesy lines from the video about "physical fitness being essential to any hero" were so predictable, they practically blended into the background.

Gwen's mind wandered until she overheard a hushed conversation coming from just a few seats away. Peter and Ned were whispering to each other, trying to keep their voices low, but Gwen's curiosity was piqued.

"Did you meet him too?" Ned asked, sounding giddy like he was reliving an inside joke.

Peter nodded, his voice a mix of pride and apprehension. "Yeah, we met. I... I stole his shield."

Gwen's eyes snapped open, her head shooting up from MJ's shoulder as she processed what Peter had just said. "What?" she and Ned said in unison, their voices filled with shock and disbelief.

Peter's face immediately drained of color when he realized Gwen had overheard him. He turned to her, eyes wide in panic, trying to come up with something, anything, to explain what she had just heard. "I— I— Gwen—," Peter stammered, clearly flustered.

Gwen, grinning like she had just won the jackpot, leaned in slightly, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "So, I am right. You are him." She kept her voice quiet enough that MJ, still engrossed in her book, couldn't hear, but there was a definite smugness in Gwen's tone. She didn't say the word "Spider-Man," but it was clear that's exactly what she meant.

Peter's heart pounded in his chest as the panic rose. He opened his mouth, trying to think of how to talk his way out of this, but his mind was blank. Gwen had figured it out—or at least, she was dangerously close. If he didn't do something quickly, his secret was as good as out.

Just then, Ned, always quick on his feet in these situations, jumped in to save the day. "No, no, Gwen!" Ned said with a nervous laugh, waving his hands as if to brush off the idea. "Peter works for Tony Stark, remember? Peter's not Spider-Man! He's met Spider-Man and helps him sometimes. That's why you saw the web fluid notes in his notebook. He's been helping Spider-Man and Tony Stark with tech stuff, you know. That's all!"

Ned's cover story came out in a rush, but his face was earnest, and he gave a wide, innocent smile as if that explanation was the most obvious thing in the world. "And, you know, the Avengers and all that. Totally normal stuff."

Peter blinked in surprise at how smoothly Ned had managed to spin a convincing story, nodding along in agreement, trying to look nonchalant. "Yeah, uh... exactly. I'm just... helping out," Peter added, giving Gwen a sheepish smile, grateful for Ned's quick thinking.

Gwen stared at them both, her mind working to piece together this new information. She'd been so sure that Peter was Spider-Man, but now Ned's explanation made her pause. She had seen Peter's notebook filled with sketches and notes about web fluid and mechanics—it made sense. Didn't it?

"Oh..." Gwen said slowly, her initial excitement fading into disappointment. Her shoulders slumped slightly as the realization dawned that maybe she was wrong after all. "I thought... I really thought you were him," she muttered, more to herself than to them. She blew a raspberry in frustration, feeling a bit deflated now.

Peter glanced at Ned, shooting him a look of pure gratitude. Ned grinned back, proud of his smooth cover. The two exchanged a silent sigh of relief—Peter's secret was safe for now.

Gwen, still feeling let down, rested her head back on MJ's shoulder, casting a sideways glance at Peter every now and then. She couldn't help but feel like something still didn't quite add up, but for now, she let it go. Meanwhile, Peter sat stiffly, trying to keep his cool, all the while praying Gwen wouldn't push the issue any further.

Gwen lay on the gym floor, her back pressed against the mat as she executed curl-ups with MJ's help. The steady rhythm of her movements was interrupted by her distracted thoughts. "What's got you so down, G?" MJ asked, glancing over at her with a mixture of concern and curiosity. Her hands were firmly planted on Gwen's ankles, holding them down as Gwen lifted her torso off the ground.

Gwen managed to complete another curl-up, but her head fell back to the mat with a thud. She stared blankly at the ceiling, struggling to focus on the exercise. "It's nothing," Gwen muttered, her voice barely more than a whisper.

MJ stopped holding Gwen's feet, causing Gwen to halt mid-exercise. She sat up, meeting Gwen's eyes with a determined look. "What is going on? You've been so secretive lately," MJ said, her tone shifting from casual to more insistent.

Gwen sighed deeply, her frustration evident as she avoided eye contact. "Seriously, MJ. It's nothing."

MJ crossed her arms and frowned. "Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, that's your choice," she said, her voice tinged with a mix of disappointment and concern. "But you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Gwen felt a pang of guilt but brushed it off, shaking her head. "It's just... my mom. She's picking up more shifts at work, so I never see her anymore," Gwen said, her voice heavy with a hint of sadness. The statement was partially true—her mom had been working more, leaving Gwen alone more often—but it was not the whole story. The real issue was her suspicion that Peter might be Spider-Man.

As Gwen finished her half-truth, Ned's voice rang out, cutting through the murmur of the gym. "Peter has met Spider-Man!" he shouted with an enthusiasm that startled everyone nearby.

Peter, clearly taken aback, scrambled to cover up his slip. He walked quickly toward Liz, who was standing by the bleachers. "No, I don't. No. I— I mean—" Peter's stammering only made his anxiety more apparent, and his face turned a deep shade of red.

The gym went silent for a moment, everyone's attention now focused on Peter and Ned. Gwen's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and curiosity. "They're friends," Ned added, trying to clarify in an awkward attempt to smooth things over.

Flash, who had been leaning against the wall, scoffed loudly. "Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends," he said mockingly, making a face as he dismissed the idea.

Peter, now visibly uncomfortable, attempted to salvage the situation. "I— I've met him, yeah. A couple times. It's, uh, through the Stark internship," Peter said, his voice lacking the conviction needed to convince anyone.

Gwen rolled her eyes, her suspicions about Peter only growing stronger. "Why do I feel like he's lying partly?" she muttered to MJ, her frustration evident as she glanced at her friend.

MJ shrugged, still looking at Peter and Ned with suspicion. "I don't know. Maybe he is. But I thought you hated Peter?" she asked, her voice carrying a hint of confusion.

Gwen scoffed, her irritation bubbling to the surface. "I do. Don't worry about it," she said sharply, her gaze fixed on Peter and Ned as they continued their awkward exchange.

MJ let out a dramatic sigh, clearly frustrated by Gwen's refusal to open up. "Fine, but if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here," she said softly, her voice carrying a genuine note of concern.

Gwen nodded absently, her attention already drifting back to the gym floor. She resumed her curl-ups, pushing herself through the physical exertion as a way to distract from her racing thoughts. The revelations about Peter, Ned's enthusiastic but ill-timed comments, and her own mixed feelings all weighed heavily on her mind. As she continued her workout, Gwen's thoughts remained tangled, struggling to reconcile the confusing pieces of the puzzle she was trying to solve.

ASH SPEAKS!

a bit shorter chapter but party scene is up next!! more peter and gwen interaction🤭

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