Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Of course, Peter was okay with Gwen's attempt at blackmail. He'd liked her since they started school together but he lacked the courage to say anything. Not helped that her dad was kinda scary whenever he met him.

They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment. Then Peter's brain caught up with his mouth.

"So uh. If you're my girlfriend then?" Without even asking he had moved over and lightly brushed his lips against hers.

Gwen was shocked that the quiet ‘is he ever going to admit he likes me’ Peter had just kissed her. It wasn't a forceful domineering kiss but gentle testing the waters kiss that she didn't mind.

It was good that Peter wasn't a two-dimensional studying robot. He had secrets and flaws even under all that anxiety. Her mind froze as she glanced down. He had placed one hand on her waist. She make sure his hand stayed at an acceptable level when she noticed he had a massive erection.

Holy shit, she thought to herself, Peter is packing, but her cheeks began to turn red.

She'd never dated and got the 'boys are scum' lecture from her dad. This was as new to her as it was to Peter, but even she had a limit.

She pulled away and turned to hide her embarrassment. "Yeah, that's, good, good Pete, good," she stammered, crying internally.

She didn't want to put him off, but damn boy, get some self-control, it's been less than a minute since we started. "Uh, Pete? Go clean. You kinda smell a bit."

Peter sniffed himself and noticed that his clothes were covered in dust and grime and that he did smell. He had been cleaning the inside of the two older offices, and while they were clean, he was not.

Peter scurried over a barrel of cold but clean water, get a grip Parker, he thought to himself. His heart had been hammering in his chest. As he lent in for the kiss, the sweet scent of Gwen and her perfume shot right into his brain and down into his pants.

He doused himself in the cold water, thankful for the small trickles, as they cooled not just his body but his lust. The barrel was all he had, while there was plumbing, most of the facilities were trashed and it had been on his to-do list.

Gwen stared. There was no doubt she was blushing but she just watched him. He was oblivious to her stares as he washed his face and then ran the washcloth down his front.

holy hell Pete, where were you hiding that? she thought to herself.

She watched as he pulled a clean T-shirt from a pile and sprayed himself with deodorant. He smiled over as he realised she was staring.

Peter being Peter, though, was oblivious to what was wrong. Instead, he sat on the edge of the middle section and started going on about his plans for the apartments. Gwen thought he was adorable, like a puppy. Once he got going, all his social anxiety disappeared, and he could talk for hours.

He had more homes planned, and lists for what still needed to be done and how long he thought he would take. Carpet on the way, and a communal area for people to sit at. All sketched out.

Gwen was starting to feel a little overwhelmed with just how much planning he had already done. Her only plan was to graduate with honours.

All she had done was check out a few property places with Felicia. She had even asked MJ if she wanted to join, as split three ways the rent would be even cheaper.

With Peter building homes, it was awkward to ask her now though.

Peter and MJ's relationship was weird. They grew up living next door to each other, lost contact when Peter and his Aunt moved, and then got back in touch.

Flash and MJ hooked up last year of Junior High and had been dating ever since. Once that happened, Flash put an end to their friendship.

She never liked him though. He was brash and arrogant. He thought money meant he could do what he wanted.

Her father had money. An inheritance meant they lived well above his Commissioner salary but never once did she let it go to her head.

She’d tried to get MJ to open up about Flash and Peter but nothing worked. MJ refused to talk. Even inviting her out with Felicia wouldn't get her to relax. She either never came or sullenly watched the pair having fun.

While they were friends she could see the worry etched on her face. She knew while her home life was bad, that Flash didn’t make things any easier for her.

Then, she also had to tell her dad. He was a different story. Once upon a time, he had no opinion of Peter, he was just another smart kid but as Gwen aged, his opinion changed.

Even though Peter was quiet and respectful when they met he always looked at him with suspicion. As if Gwen would suddenly announce she was pregnant one day and Peter would be at fault.

If Gwen wanted to be honest though, if she ever did suddenly get pregnant, it would defiantly be Peters. Maybe her dad knew that, and it was some kind of Father-sense, tingling every time he saw Peter.

It was the typical overprotective father bit Gwen had read about in so many novels but it was tiring to live with. As news Peter had been suspended reached his ears, she had been lectured about her own behaviour. How if she wasn't careful Peter would end up a delinquent and drag Gwen down with him.

"Gwen? Hey uh, Gwen. If this is boring, we could," Peter checked his pockets pulling out a few fives and ones. "I dunno, get a burger or, or yeah, a burger," seeing he had maybe about twenty bucks on him.

Gwen smiled, "yeah but uh clean clothes first yeah? " She said, copying the way he always seemed to pause when he spoke. "That deodorant isn’t a washing machine."

His pants were still covered in grime. The bottom edges were splattered with the bleach he'd used on the offices. He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked as he reached for his top button.

"Oh My God Pete. No, nope. Not a chance. You are so bad," shaking her head she knew exactly what thought popped into Peter's head at that moment.

It was strange. One moment he was the stupidly awkward cute but nerdy guy she'd crushed on for years. Now, once his walls came down, he turned into this hungry wolf-like man. Stealing kisses and having dirty thoughts.

Holy shit, she thought to herself. So much for the quiet, 'I'll be wearing the pants in this relationship' I was expecting. He's bad, so goddamn hot, but so bad.

"Go change, you perv. I'll look at the samples you bought. I claim this one," she motioned to the one nearest to the main door. "oh and just a thought. If you got wood and used the steel to make supports, you could put a deck on top of the box."

Peter leaned back and looked at the homes, as he'd had the same idea. "Money's tight, maybe later though," and Gwen nodded, slightly disappointed.

"You're not planning on stacking more on top, are you? but even then, the plastic roof looks kinda crappy. Oh, I could ask Felicia as well, she’s kinda got her own place with her dad but I know he travels a lot, and you guys are okay right?"

A tenant was a tenant and if Gwen persuaded MJ and Felicia to live here, he would have three.

It was more than just a start, that was better than most entry-level jobs paid.

He would be more worried about it being three women and himself. Some people had a funny way of thinking and he didn’t want to get them into trouble.

"If Felicia wants one then yeah. Don't see why not." he said standing, "I'll get changed then food?"

Peter disappeared into one of the end offices and came out looking a whole lot better. While the weather was chilly, it was warming up and he'd put on jeans and pulled a shirt over the clean T-shirt he had put on. He grabbed his backpack and showed Gwen how to lock and unlock the security door.

Once the warehouse was secure, they headed out for food.

"Oh I know the best place for burgers, it's uh just a food truck but you'd be surprised how many things are here." Peter got stuck on explain mode again. Pointing out where he had discovered a good food truck or more often than not, a bad one.

Gwen was surprised about how well-equipped the area was.

There was a small convenience store. It seemed to be mainly for cigarettes, but still had a good selection of snacks and easy-heat meals. It even had a small laundromat with shower facilities attached.

Lots of truckers waiting to unload goods meant they could take breaks and it would get a lot of customers. Of course, Peter missed the obvious.

Outside where the street lamps were there were piles of cigarette stubs. Gwen caught the occasional glance of heavy coat-wearing women, standing in pairs.

The shiny coat hid its darker exterior but Peter too wrapped up in his own world never noticed. Gwen secretly hoped he never would.

The more Peter talked the more Gwen wanted a place here. The more they explored, the more she realised it was the perfect place for a meth den. It was remote but still had amenities. As long as they were quiet then no one would suspect anything. If only a bunch of kids hadn't thought the place was empty and wanted to hold an impromptu rave there.

They walked along the waterfront and the view was amazing. You could see Staten Island, Manhattan and The Statue Of Liberty. It was also a long walk, and they stopped in the large lot filled with trucks.

The food court was an old warehouse lot. Peter had heard a building was once there but it burned down. The insurance refused to pay out and the owner turned it into a parking lot.

It was taken over by food trucks, renting out space daily, and there was even a small picnic area in the centre.

They got burgers that were a bit greasy for Gwen's taste but the fries were amazing. All washed down by no brand but acceptable sodas Gwen realised she was having fun. Even when school was raised Peter didn't seem too upset at it. As if his plans didn't revolve around his passing grades anymore.

"You know Pete, I know you got all this planned out but uh, make sure you still come back to school okay?" As they sat on a bench next to the burger truck Gwen's worry was showing.

"Of course. All this is great but if you don't have the mandatory bit of paper no one takes you seriously," he explained. Even if it was a diploma or a degree most places would belittle anyone without a formal education. Part of Peter's plan was still to attend college, maybe part-time as he could afford it.

"Nah, I'm good Gwen, these two weeks gave me time to clear my head, see what's important and well I guess, who's important. I got a lot of stuff figured out," he said. "I'm kinda jealous, though, I still would have loved to see the cybernetics lab at Oscorp."

She nodded, "Pete, I think you'll be fine, I mean, you're eighteen and got a place, a plan and well, some of us got nothing."

She wasn't looking down on herself. She had experienced first-hand what women in the STEM field were going through.

At a mixer for interns and new hires, she spotted Flash talking to the ones in suits. He mingled with the department managers, and carefully avoided the scientists.

She'd even heard his joke about ‘scientits’ and of course, it got a laugh.

While he mingled her team leader asked her to pass out glasses of champagne. She'd been ignored by most of the suit wearers and the white coats seemed to be there for show rather than tell.

Even they had seemed aloof.  Even the one woman, a thin bespectacled woman with the maddest hair Gwen had ever seen, ignored her.

On a resume an internship at Oscorp was gold but like Peter, she wanted to be a proper researcher. She wanted to be working on proper biotech breakthroughs. Not a glorified secretary to some asshole who would take credit for her work.

"Hey, no, it's good Gwen. I mean, once PTech is up, I might have some space for a bioengineer." He was trying to sound sincere but she couldn't help but laugh.

"Peetech," she sounded back at him, "oh no, you're not calling your company PeeTech. Let me guess, even you thought PP Tech was too much?"

Peter's face scrunched in a frown and then it clicked. He had thought it was PeTech but hearing someone else say it, it was obvious. He wanted to name his company Piss Tech.

"Hey, how about Parker Industries?" She said, making an arch with her hands.

"Much better." He had to admit it was, but still, she laughed,

"Oh god, PeeTech oh, Pete" each time she said it she laughed more and with the bright smile on her face so did Peter

With the first unofficially official date drawing to a close, Peter called a cab. They parted ways at her front door. Peter ignored the glare of George Stacy as he leaned forwards and kissed Gwen on the cheek.

It had been a great day, and even tomorrow wouldn't hamper that. He had a girlfriend.