Showing Her The Ropes

Chapter 1: Never Let Go

"Stay with me..." Peter cried.

Holding Gwen's lifeless body in his arms at the bottom of the tower, his heart was pounding as he desperately tried to wake her. Brushing stray strands of her blonde hair out of her face with his shaking hands, he searched for any signs of life, but found none. He swallowed hard and lowered his head so that their foreheads were touching.

"I cannot live without you." He whispered, choking the words out.

Realising that there was nothing more that he could do, he caved in. Unable to hold back his tears any longer, they fell much more frequently than they had at the start and he couldn't stop his body from trembling anymore.

He had lost her, and his life would never be the same without her now that he had experienced what it was like to be loved by Gwen Stacy. With his emotions all over the place, he couldn't feel just one thing. He felt it all. Grief, despair... Anger. The hurt was strong, but the itch for revenge was growing stronger as each second without his love passed.

If he had just kept his promise to her father then she would still be alive... They wouldn't have been together, but it was better than her being dead.

Gritting his teeth, his nostrils flaring in both anger and hurt, he scooped Gwen's body up in his arms and rose to his feet. With the girl limp in his arms, he began to move forward, slowly but surely. Hiding behind the wall, he made sure that no one was around and quickly made a break for the exit.

In his state of panic, he hadn't thought of it until now, but there was still one last hope left that just might be able to save her life. Holding her tightly in his arms, he shot a web out and swung himself and Gwen up into the air, heading towards the Oscorp headquarters. He held onto this last shred of hope with everything he had as he raced through the air to get there.

Reaching the all too familiar building in a matter of only minutes, he let go of the web once he was close enough to the ground and dropped to his feet, entering the building before anyone had the chance to notice him.

"Please let this work." He whispered under his breath.

His eyes red and his face stained, he took her up to the tenth floor, using the elevator for quickness. Back on the floor where he was once bitten by one of the spiders, he gently placed Gwen on the small metal table - used for human and animal test subjects, and then searched the room thoroughly.

At last, he found what he was looking for. A clean, unused syringe. A blood transfer was his last hope. Slipping out of the spandex suit so that it only covered from his waist and below. Taking a deep breath, he stuck the needle into his arm and withdrew some of his venom-contaminated blood. Once the syringe was full, he slowly pulled it out of his arm and turned his attention back to Gwen.

Removing her turquoise coat, leaving her arm exposed, he aligned the syringe with the line of a vein and gently pierced her skin as he stuck the needle in and pushed down until it was empty. Pulling it out, he tossed it to the side and paced back and forth besides the metal table, waiting to know the results.

Minutes ticked by and her body remained still and lifeless. Peter stopped pacing and hovered above her, his foot tapping the carpet and his fingernails creating a clicking sound as he tapped the surface of the table.

"Come on Gwen... Please don't leave me... There is no me without you..." He spoke softly, his eyes full of both hope and fear.

Another few minutes passed and the hope that he held slowly began to seep away and he hung his head. Closing his eyes, her image filled his mind; her blonde hair glowing in the sunlight, her smile lighting up the room, kisses affecting his body like a jolt of electricity... The only thing keeping his grief from consuming him fully.

"Peter..." He heard her voice echo in his mind.

Her beautiful voice, like a soothing melody that eased the headache that had begun to thump in his head from all the crying.

"Open your eyes, Peter." She told him.

"No. I don't want to... I don't want to see anymore..." He protested.

With his words, his eyes remained closed, trying hard not to open them as she had wanted him to. A warmth radiated from an unknown source through his left cheek, and he felt a softness there. Lifting his hand to investigate, still keeping his eyes shut, the realisation hit him as his own hand touched a slightly smaller and much softer one.

Slowly, hoping that it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him, he opened his eyes and his mouth opened in joyous shock.

"Gwen! Y- You're alive!" He cheered, a smile creeping onto his face as relief flooded through him. "You scared me..." He informed her, his breathing only now starting to relax.

"I'm here Peter... And I'm not going anywhere. That's a promise." She assured him.

"I thought I'd lost you..." He whispered, tears once again filling his eyes, this time from joy.

"Wait... My head hit the ground, I felt it... How did you...?" She began to ask, feeling confused.

"It's a long story, I'll explain later." He told her.

As she stood up, he took her in his arms once again and held her closely, rocking back and forth, not ever wanting to let her go again. Without hesitation, she returned his embrace, holding him tightly. Whatever he had done to save her life, she didn't care, she was just happy to be back in his arms.

"I love you so so much." He whispered in her ear, his breath hot against her skin.

"I love you too." She told him as she pulled back from the hug a little in order to be able to see his face.

Overcome with joy and relief, and his heart swelling with a river of love for the girl stood before him, he moved swiftly and pressed his lips to hers in a deep kiss, pouring everything that he was feeling into the action. As he finally drew back for air, he smiled at her, once again pressing his forehead to hers.

"I never want to lose you again." He confided in her.

"You won't, Peter... I will always be with you, no matter what." She promised.

"Gwen... Please don't make promises that you can't keep."

"I'm serious. Even if the worst happens and we are separated by death... I will always be with you. The difference is if that happens, I'll be in here." She told him, placing her hand over his heart.

"I can't lose you. I won't. I swear on my life that I am not going to let that happen." He vowed.

Without another word, she closed her eyes and leaned into him as he rested his chin atop her head, breathing in huge gasps of her scent as though she might disappear.

"Hey... Hey... It's okay, Peter. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. Please calm down, for me." She pleaded, feeling his pounding heart as her hand rested on his chest.

"Okay..." He breathed, taking nice and slow, deep breaths to calm himself and steady his heart rate.

"Come on... Let's get out of here, we can go back to mine and call your aunt to let her know that you are safe with me." Gwen suggested.

"Yeah..." Peter agreed.

Taking hold of her hand, he allowed her to lead him out of the room and into the elevator, then out of the building as he was still recovering from the events of the past twenty-four hours. All the array of emotions had taken its toll on him and he was tired after all the fighting. Despite the ache of his body and the invisible weight around his shoulders, he was beyond happy because Gwen was here with him, and she was alive.