Chapter 34
The date was perfect. Too perfect.
They'd gone to a quiet little café tucked into the corner of the arts district, the kind of place Gwen never would’ve found alone. They shared a croissant and a slice of chocolate cake, both claiming the other ate more than half. Then they walked, just walked, hand in hand, through painted alleyways and parks soaked in golden afternoon light.
They knew each other’s rhythms. Gwen would glance up before Miles made a joke. He’d pass her a napkin just before she needed it. Every word, every silence, made them feel known.
“To be loved is to be seen,” Gwen had read somewhere. She got it now.
But just as they reached the school gates, Miles’ phone buzzed. One look at it, and something shifted in his eyes.
“I—I gotta go,” he muttered, already stepping back.
“What?” Gwen asked, stunned. “Now? Why?”
“I’ll explain later, I promise.”
And he was gone.
The dorm rooftop was cold under Gwen’s legs as she sat, hugging her knees, blinking furiously at the skyline. Her phone lay beside her, notifications silent.
“Stupid,” she whispered, to no one.
Then came the soft thump of webbed feet behind her.
She didn’t turn. “Let me guess. You’re gonna disappear too?”
Spider-Man hesitated. “I saw you were upset.”
“How kind of you to notice.”
He didn’t argue. Instead, he offered a hand. “Come on.”
She glared.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” he said. “Just… wanna take your mind off things.”
Gwen exhaled slowly… then took his hand.
They flew.
For a while, there were no thoughts. No feelings. Just wind and sky and laughter.
They ended up far from campus.
Spider-Man had taken Gwen on a swing—just to cheer her up, just to make her laugh again—and somehow that turned into them landing quietly on the edge of a half-built skyscraper downtown. The city stretched beneath them in golden lights and deep shadows, glass towers reflecting stars like they belonged to them.
They sat on a steel beam, legs dangling over the edge, snack bag between them, music playing low from Gwen’s phone tucked into her hood.
Neither spoke much.
Then he hung upside down again, just because it made her laugh. The sound was soft this time, tired maybe, but real. She leaned back, looking up at him.
“Why do you always try so hard to make me smile?” she asked, her voice small. Honest.
“I don’t try,” he said. “You just matter.”
Her heart clenched.
He was still hanging there, mask fluttering slightly in the breeze. His mouth peeking out just from under the half-on mask, those white lenses blinking softly.
And something inside her just tipped over.
She leaned in—hesitant at first—but when their lips met, all that hesitation melted.
It was not a soft kiss.
It was slow at first, then sudden. Heat surged between them as their mouths moved together, deeper. There was tongue—God, there was tongue—and it felt like a live wire running between their chests. His fingers gripped the webline tighter. Hers slid up to his face. Her heart thudded so loud it drowned out the city.
Too much.
Too good.
Too real.
And when she pulled back, gasping slightly, her eyes widened.
He hadn’t moved. He was just staring at her through the mask, stunned.
She stepped back, realization hitting her all at once.
“I—” she shook her head, panic creeping in. “I can’t—Miles—no—oh my god—”
She didn’t wait for him to say anything.
She turned, heart hammering, stumbling across the beam to the rooftop access, barely able to breathe.
She kissed Spider-Man.
She kissed Spider-Man and it felt like falling in love and falling off a cliff at the same time and she didn’t even know why she did it because her heart was already spoken for—or she thought it was—
She ran.
Ran like if she stayed another second, she’d burst into tears or blurt out something she couldn’t take back.
And high above the city, still hanging from a single web, Spider-Man touched his lips like he couldn’t believe it had just happened.
Like maybe it broke something open.
Or maybe it was the beginning of everything.