"GWEN?" "PETER?" we both screamed each other's name in a shocked manner. I reached out a gloved hand.
"Is there a Peter in this universe already?" Peter asked, sitting on my couch.
"There...there was." I said, rubbing my side. "Is there a Gwen in your universe?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"Peter died the night I fought Harry Osborn- I don't know if he's in your universe, but he's our best friend. He was corrupt, like his father, Norman. Anyway, Harry, he, he-" I said, choking up with tears.
"He dropped you. You broke your skull and back, and you died that night in my arms. And then I made sure Harry died. We're the same person, same history. But our roles were switched." he said, choking up too.
I sat by him. "You have no idea." I said, my voice shaking, "how much this means to me. I thought this would be a thing of fairy tales." I said, crying into my hands.
"Yeah, I have an idea. I thought that too." He said, a tear rolling down his cheek. I grabbed his gloved hand in mine. "We have each other now, Peter." I said, my voice cracking.
He sniffled and said, "I'll tell you what. Tomorrow we can go do Peter and Gwen things and Gwen and Peter things, and we'll tell each other if the other Gwen and Peter did them." he said, meeting my gaze.
"Are you even speaking English to me?" I asked, completely confused by what he just said. "You'll see. For now let's just get some rest." He said.
"I suppose, uh, you want a change of clothes. I'll go see if I have any of Peter's stuff." I said putting down my mask. I walked up to a cabinet and opened it, revealing a dusty box I never wanted to look at again. It was all too much to bear in this box- his smell, his style, his lifetime supply of nerdy tshirts- all still there.
I pulled out a tshirt and a pair of jeans.
With them in my hand, his scent hitting me. "See if this fits." I said, tossing him the shirt. My heart could not sink further. He pulled the t-shirt on over his suit and it fit perfectly. "This is one of my favorites," he said, smiling, "but it's kinda weird that you have my stuff." he replied with a watery smile.
I laughed and tossed him a pair of Peter's- his, sweats, and closed the box again. He caught them and ran to the bathroom to change, and I grabbed a change of clothes for myself- one of Peter's hoodies and a pair of loose jeans.
I sat on my bed and put on my socks and shoes to get ready to leave. As Peter came out of the bathroom, I checked my phone-7 missed calls from my mom. I stopped answering her calls after Peter's death, but she never stopped calling. I don't have the heart to block her.
"Gwen wore my hoodie too." he smiled. "But I guess you are Gwen." he sighed walking to the door.
"Which means I was still, number one at Midtown?" I smirked, following him out.
He just laughed and shook his head. "Okay, rub it in." He closed the door behind me and we walked the short distance to Moondance Cafe.
As we walked in, Mr. Larson, the old man that owned the cafe, waved us the seat in the corner. "Peter, Gwen, so nice to see you both again!" he exclaimed, giving a wrinkled smile.
We both just laughed awkwardly and sat in the booth. Mr. Larson pulled out a notebook and looked at me expectantly. "Ladies first, please?" he asked.
"Um, may I have a caramel macchiato?" I asked, putting down my phone. He nodded and scribbled in his notepad.
He looked at Peter. "And for you, Pete?" he asked.
"I'll have an Americano." he said, nodding at Mr. Larson. He scribbled it down and left again.
"So, when did Peter die?" he asked, fidgeting. I cleared my throat. "About two years ago." I said, now fidgeting too. "When did Gwen die?" I asked.
"About two years ago too." He said. "This multiverse shit is crazy. From one Spider to another, there are so many other Peters and Gwens than we know. And there's this crazy wizard with some sort of inter-dimensional power thing-"
"Dr. Strange? Stephen was there?" I asked, intrigued by his tale.
"That's the one. So basically I was just doing Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman stuff, and then all of a sudden this, like, portal vortex thing appears and there are two people inside a house. So I walk in and I take off my mask and they know my name. I was super confused, and then this girl- 17,18 maybe - she throws bread at me because she thinks that will activate my Spidey Sense. But of course it doesn't so to prove it to her I crawled around on the ceiling, and then another Spiderman appeared. He was older than me. And then we met with that world's Spiderman. He was young, still in high school. He had just lost his Aunt May. You remember how sad I was when I lost Ben, I was angry and I wanted revenge, and so did he. But we talked him out of it and then we fought Electro and Doc Ock and Dr. Conners and Sandman and Norman Osborn. And then the younger guy told us he was in a band and it was super cool. And they were nerdy, and brave, and smart just like you said I was. And...well, one of their MJ's...their girlfriend, the one that threw bread at me. She...she fell. And he couldn't catch her. And Gwen, in that moment all I could remember or think about was when you fell. It was reliving hell all over again. But I...I caught her, Gwen. I caught her." he said, choking up. I grabbed his hand.
"Lots to unpack there. But first, you are just...so brave. You did the right thing and I'm so glad you caught her." I said. If it were me, I would have caught Peter a thousand times before I let someone else's Peter die.
"And second- I swear Lizard and Norman died?" I asked, remembering clearly when I took them down. "Well, yes, but they were blipped into that universe right before we killed them. Something the youngest one did fucked up the multiverse timeline. Anyway, we healed them and sent them back."
I just sat there astonished and laughed. "Ok, weirdo. So what does that mean for us?"
"It means the only memory of them killed is in our heads. Anyone you ask will say that they healed themselves and returned to their old self again." He said.
"I'm definitely following." I said, squinting my eyes in confusion.
"Dr. Strange has control of everyone's minds, except for most superheroes like you and me." he said, smiling.
I couldn't express my surprise before Mr. Larson came back with our drinks. "And I brought a box of fries for my best customers." he beamed.
Peter and I laughed awkwardly, and he handed Mr. Larson a $10 bill. Mr. Larson simply tucked the $10 under the box and put a finger to his lips.
"I make the rules around here, and this is on the house," he said, giving us a wink.
We gave him polite smiles. I grabbed my coffee and sipped at the sweet foamy cream at the top. Peter grinned and shook his head. "I don't know how you can drink that much sugar." he said, sipping a bitter Americano. I scowled at him and said, "And I don't trust people who drink their coffee black," I smirked at him.
We walked out of Moondance and Peter opened the box of fries. He pinched his fingers around about 3 stringy fries. He shoved them in his mouth and then saw me watching him. "What?" he laughed.
"You are so you it's sickening," I scoffed. We crossed the street and I sipped my coffee. "So when are you gonna go back to your...whatever?" I asked him. He shrugged. "I'm not especially worried about that."
We walked into my apartment building and climbed up the stairs to my floor. "Coffee and fries is the weirdest combo." I groaned, pulling out my keys. "Only in New York," he grinned. I leaned against my door after the lock clicked open and it swung open noisily.
I won a smile from him and we entered as I closed the door behind me. Peter sat on the couch that might be just big enough for him to sleep on. "You can sleep there if you want," I said, waving in his general direction. I tossed a blanket at him and it hit his face. "That's fair," he said, pulling the blanket off his head. I grinned at him and pulled out my laptop from under my covers.
"What do you wanna watch?" I asked him. He shrugged. "You're the one paying for it." he smiled. "You know, in a past life, I think I was in a mental institution because of you." I rolled my eyes and we sat on the floor watching a random scary movie.
