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Through Gwen and Hawk's back-and-forth exchange—
Hawk's recovery time went from the original twenty days straight to an additional seventy days tacked on the end.
Sharon looked at Hawk's completely serious expression, then at Gwen's smiling face—though she'd just rolled her eyes—and got the distinct impression these two were playing some kind of elaborate game.
Still, If Hawk was willing to stay put for three whole months, that would be fantastic.
Because when she'd come over today, her orders had been to keep Hawk settled down for a while if possible.
Originally, Sharon had thought that would be nearly impossible.
Now?
Mission accomplished.
Sharon's face lit up with genuine happiness before she caught herself. She turned to Gwen—the person who'd just done her the biggest favor imaginable—with complete sincerity.
"Thank you."
"You're damn right you should thank me."
This time, Gwen didn't brush off Sharon's gratitude like she normally would. Instead, she looked equally serious. "Take me shopping sometime."
Only she knew how much she was sacrificing to support Sharon's work.
But that's what friends were for. Helping each other out.
Of course, Friends were also for roasting.
Like Peter.
Originally, they'd figured Peter would be back two or three days after Hawk at most. Instead, Peter didn't return until a full month after the start of sophomore year at both Empire State and NYU—finally showing up on the first weekend.
A noise came from the backyard.
Gwen, sitting in the dining room, perked up.
"I think I heard something in the back."
"Peter."
Hawk—still sporting his cast and sling, having traded Gwen's tender care for an extended fake injury—didn't even look up.
The next second, Peter walked in from the backyard. He'd just pulled off his mask and was grinning sheepishly, about to say hello, when his eyes landed on Hawk's left arm. "Holy shit, Hawk—you're hurt? What the hell happened?"
Spider-Man couldn't hide the shock in his eyes.
Because this was Hawk they were talking about.
Who on Earth could put Hawk in this condition?
After the initial shock wore off, Peter's next question followed immediately.
"Who did this?"
Hawk used his good right hand to point at his fiancée. "Who else could it be?"
Peter instinctively looked at Gwen.
"..." Gwen glared at her fiancé, who was clearly enjoying himself way too much, then quickly changed the subject. "Peter, Hawk's been back for a while now. Why'd it take you this long?"
Peter's mind raced. He didn't fully understand what was going on, but his Spider-Sense was telling him loud and clear not to dig any deeper into Hawk's injury. So he shrugged and went along with Gwen's question. "Felicia had something come up. I was keeping her company."
Gwen froze for a second, then her eyes lit up.
She remembered.
Hawk had mentioned it before—Felicia was pregnant. And the baby was Peter's.
In an instant, Gwen practically teleported across the room, appearing in front of Peter. Before he could even react, she'd planted him on the stool next to Hawk, then zipped back to her original position—now fully locked into gossip mode as she stared at Peter.
"Felicia. Spill. Now."
"..."
Peter looked at Gwen's gleaming eyes, then instinctively turned to Hawk for backup.
Hawk—currently playing the role of the One-Armed Devil—adopted a spectator's attitude and looked at Peter with amusement. "You don't want MJ thinking you cheated on her, do you?"
Peter looked at Hawk, who was clearly enjoying this way too much, then at Gwen with her gossip-hungry stare, and took a deep breath. He finally understood why his Spider-Sense had given him bad vibes the moment he'd landed.
"I shouldn't have come here."
"But you did."
"Come on, talk."
Gwen urged Peter on. "If MJ finds out and I need to explain things for you, I should at least know what actually happened, right?"
Her reasoning was, as always, completely airtight. No room for argument.
Peter certainly couldn't find any holes in it.
And he really didn't want MJ thinking he'd cheated while they were still together.
Of course, not for his own sake. For Felicia's.
He didn't care if people misunderstood him. But he couldn't let Felicia get dragged into it.
That was just who Peter was.
New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, through and through.
So, After a moment of silence, Peter—fully aware that Gwen just wanted the juicy details—told her the whole story. How he and Felicia had ended up on Skull Island, what they'd gone through there, and how they'd ended up together.
Gwen listened with rapt attention.
Hawk, sitting nearby, was also listening.
Even though Peter had already told him once before, that version hadn't been nearly as detailed. Not even close to the level of detail Peter was giving Gwen now.
Peter wasn't an idiot.
He knew perfectly well that Hawk just wanted to hear about his buddy's embarrassing moments, so he'd only given him the cliff notes version.
But Gwen was different.
Gwen would listen to everything and actually help him solve his problems. So naturally, to make sure Gwen could help him later, he was doing his best to satisfy her thirst for gossip right now.
Finally—
Peter accepted the bottle of water Gwen handed him—she'd been worried he'd get thirsty halfway through—took a drink, and looked at her. "Gwen, now that you know everything, you'll help me explain things to MJ, right?"
Gwen smiled. "No problem. If I ever run into MJ."
Peter let out a sigh of relief and nodded without thinking.
The next second, He caught himself. His head snapped up to look at Gwen, confusion written all over his face.
"If you run into her?"
"Of course, Peter. You've been gone for over half a year."
Gwen said it matter-of-factly, though she didn't drag out the suspense. "After you two broke up, MJ started dating someone new. You know him, actually. Flash Thompson. But they broke up at the end of last semester. Then at the end of last month, MJ left for Los Angeles. Hawk and I even drove her to the airport."
Peter's eyes went wide.
"Los Angeles?"
"Yeah."
Gwen nodded. "You know MJ's dream. She used to... anyway, she didn't want to miss this chance, so she went for it."
Peter's mouth opened and closed. Hearing that MJ had already moved to Los Angeles stirred up feelings he couldn't quite put into words.
Just then—
The doorbell rang.
Gwen glanced toward the door, then looked at Hawk.
Hawk gave her a look and silently mouthed a name.
Gwen's eyes lit up again. She hurried to the door and pulled it open.
Standing there was Felicia.
When she'd left Skull Island four months pregnant without really showing, her belly had been barely noticeable. Now she was visibly pregnant, wearing loose clothing that couldn't quite hide the bump.
Gwen's gaze dropped to Felicia's stomach, her mouth falling slightly open.
Felicia smiled warmly at Gwen's surprised expression.
"Good evening, Gwen. Peter's here, right? I went to his place, but Aunt May said he hadn't come home yet. I figured he might have come here to see Hawk."
"Yeah, he's here. Come in, come in."
Gwen snapped out of it and gestured for Felicia to come inside. Then she glanced at Felicia's stomach and asked quietly, "When's your due date?"
Felicia smiled. "End of January."
Gwen nodded, then looked over at Peter—who'd just spotted Felicia and was putting two and two together. She turned back to Felicia. "Peter's a lucky guy."
Peter was already at Felicia's side by then, looking completely bewildered. "What are you doing here?"
Felicia said, "We agreed I'd come to your place tonight, remember? But when I got there, Aunt May said you weren't home yet. So I figured you might be at Hawk's."
Peter looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I just got back from school and was passing by Hawk's place. I wanted to let him know I was back. I'm sorry."
Felicia shook her head. "You should have called, Peter. If I hadn't found you here, I would have been worried."
Peter looked at Felicia's serious expression and couldn't help apologizing again.
Hawk and Gwen stood in the dining room, silently watching this scene of domestic training unfold.
Just then—
Felicia looked up at Hawk, noticed his arm in the sling, and froze.
"Hawk, your arm—"
"Don't ask."
Hawk shook his head, cutting her off before she could finish.
Felicia's mouth opened, then she smiled. "Are you two done catching up? Because if you are, I'm taking Peter home. Aunt May's waiting for him."
Hawk didn't hesitate. "Take him. Please."
He couldn't let Felicia stick around any longer. At least not while she was training Peter right in front of them.
He didn't care.
But Gwen couldn't be exposed to this.
It was common knowledge: Gwen was widely recognized as the best girlfriend in American comics specifically because she was gentle, smart, kind, and understanding.
What if Gwen watched this scene and learned bad habits from Felicia?
And so, the moment Felicia said she was taking Peter home, Hawk nodded immediately. Zero hesitation.
Felicia chuckled, thanked Hawk, said goodnight to Gwen, then led Peter toward the door.
Hawk and Gwen stood in the doorway, watching as Peter nervously helped Felicia into the car like some kind of bodyguard, then scrambled to the driver's seat—still wearing his Spider-Man suit because he'd completely forgotten to change—started the engine, and drove off down Bleecker Street.
Once the car's taillights disappeared, they finally looked away.
After heading back inside, Gwen let out a soft sigh and looked at Hawk, who'd settled back onto his stool. She blinked. "I know MJ's my best friend, but after seeing that just now... I actually think Peter and Felicia are a really good match."
Hawk looked at Gwen and smiled. "I thought you'd be jealous that Felicia's pregnant."
Gwen blinked, then looked at Hawk.
"I am jealous. But do you have the guts to get me pregnant right now?"
"Absolutely not."
Hawk answered without hesitation.
Even though they were engaged and living together, if he got Gwen pregnant before she turned twenty-one, George would show up with a gun.
Just then, Gwen's phone rang.
Gwen glanced at the caller ID, raised an eyebrow, looked at Hawk, and answered.
"Hello?"
"Gwen, is Hawk with you? Tell him to get to Rhyolite Ghost Town in Nevada immediately. I tried calling him but he didn't pick up. We're detecting his energy signature here—"
"..."
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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