The Stardust Ghosts

More Harry Problems

After the plane landed at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Peter made sure Gwen was reunited with her father Captain Stacy. He was thanked by him for finding and returning her safe and sound and she thanked him once again. Then as Spider-Man he flew his way back to his house. As he flew, he couldn't get Gwen out of his head. After not speaking for so long, he knew how he got her back into his life. Now, he tried to think about how to keep her in his life. He knew that she needed him as he needed her, maybe even more. On the flight from Myrtle Beach to New York, she was asleep the whole flight and was leaning onto his shoulder the whole time. These last two years of not speaking to each other had taught him so much and he started to appreciate seeing her more.

Just before he got home, Spider-Man saw a gang of bad guys stealing puppies. He flew down, webbed up the bad guys for the police and gave the puppies back to the puppy charity called Puppies for Life. He was thanked by the charity staff and even received a lick from some of the puppies.

Then he flew back home where his Aunt May was still alive and well. She was delighted to see him. "So how did the college search go?"

Last night, after he landed back on Earth, he told Aunt May that he was invited to have a tour of some colleges at and around Myrtle Beach and it was at short notice, which was why he had to leave immediately without telling her. There he found Gwen who had been missing for two whole days.

Aunt May was pleased that Peter had finally found Gwen and that they were friends once again.

Then there was a knock on the door. Peter went to it and opened the door. To his surprise, it was Gwen. But she was looking unhappy and about to burst into tears. He let her in the house and they sat down in the lounge. "What's up this time, Gwen?"

"It's Harry," Gwen said. "After my dad picked up me up, he took me to Harry's place and I was shocked to see he was holding a party to celebrate a multi-billion deal he made. He was speaking to people either I've never seen before or some of his friends he speaks more to than to me when we're abroad. When I arrived, he barely acknowledged me. I tried to tell him about my alien abduction, but he wouldn't listen to me. I don't think he even cares."

Peter was shocked to hear that. He knew that Harry had been suffering through mental problems due to his self doubts and his father's lack of praise among other things, but he never thought it would go this far. No wonder Gwen was very tired and unhappy with him.

"And that's not the only thing," Gwen sobbed, with tears starting to pour down. "I discovered that he has been cheating on me. After all these years of me giving up part of my life for him, he repays me by cheating on the new maid who is only nineteen. He does it when I'm not with him and he's even impregnated her."

Peter couldn't believe what was happening between his two best friends. He didn't know if he was back on Earth for real or if he was still in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

"And I found these in his bedroom." Gwen opened up the bag she brought in with her and empty. It was full of cards in envelopes and objects in wrapping paper. "These are the stuff I left on your locker for your last birthdays and the last Christmases. When they weren't there, I assumed you picked them up. Only today I've just discovered that they had been in Harry's room and I don't know why he would do that. I tried to confront him about it but he was still too drunk to focus, so I left and –" Then she started to cry loudly.

Peter hugged her. "It's okay, Gwen. The most important thing is that you never forgot me like I never forgot you and you've still been supporting me in your own way. That's what matters to me."

Gwen stopped crying, looked at Peter and smiled. "Thank you, Peter."

They started to lean in closer to each other and were about kiss on the lips when there was a knock on the door.

Peter got up. "If that's Harry, I'll teach him a lesson."

"No, Peter," Gwen said. "I don't want things to get messier than they need to be."

"Then I'll tell him to go away." When Peter opened the door, he saw it was not Harry Osborn at all. Or a human being at all. It was a red floating thing that looked like a security camera.

"This had better be important, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Peter said sternly. "I'm in the middle of a –"

"Mr. Parker, you're needed at Stark Industries urgently," J.A.R.V.I.S.'s robotic voice said. "I have brought one of Mr. Stark's self-driving cars here. You must come at once and Mr. Stark says you can bring your friend with you."

Peter didn't know what to say. Then he turned back to Gwen. "Gwen, I have to go to Stark Industries. I don't know what it's about, but you can come with me."

Gwen immediately shot up to her feet. "Then let's not keep Mr. Stark waiting."

"Aunt May, you're all right on your own here for a bit, aren't you?" Peter asked.

"Yes, don't worry about me," May said. "You two go and do what you need to do."

Peter and Gwen walked out of the house and followed J.A.R.V.I.S. into Tony Stark's self-driving car. It was more like a self-driving black limousine because that was the car really was. They got in along with the floating device. There was no driver in the driving seat. Then the engine started and the steering wheel started to steer on its own.

"Hey, J.A.R.V.I.S., how did you get your driving license?" Peter asked.

"Well, Mr. Stark gave me his knowledge of road traffic safety as well as the knowledge of driver's ed instructors."

Though the limo was driving smoothly, both Peter and Gwen were still worried and didn't like really felt comfortable of being in a self-driving vehicle. They started to wonder if this was legal or how much fines Tony Stark would have to pay if anything went wrong. And Peter started to wonder how Spider-Man would be able to rescue people from vehicles like this if it became completely legal.