Carrying Gwen on his back to her doorstep was no less than an extreme weighted cross-country run for Peter.
Over a distance of just two hundred meters, he stopped to rest a total of three times.
By the last time, he even felt like his lungs were about to be coughed out of his throat.
"Ding-dong—"
Finally, Peter freed up a hand and laboriously pressed the doorbell of the Stacy house.
Before long, the door was opened, and a white-haired elderly woman appeared behind it.
It was Gwen's grandmother, Pauline Stacy.
Gwen's mother had passed away early, so she had been raised by her father and grandmother since she was a child.
When Grandma Pauline saw her unconscious granddaughter on Peter's back, her expression changed instantly.
"Oh, my god! What happened to Gwen?!"
Her voice was full of panic as she scrambled to check on her granddaughter's condition.
"Grandma Pauline, please don't worry."
Peter panted heavily and explained with difficulty, "Gwen is just... too tired. She fell asleep on the bus ride back."
"Too tired?"
Old Pauline gave Peter a suspicious look and couldn't help but reach out to feel Gwen's forehead.
Her temperature was normal, her breathing was steady and long, and there was even a hint of peaceful sleepiness on her fair, pretty face.
After confirming that nothing was wrong with her granddaughter, Pauline breathed a long sigh of relief, and her tense nerves relaxed.
But following that came a deep sense of oddity and inquiry.
How could she, as her grandmother, not know her own granddaughter's constitution?
As the daughter of the Police Director of New York City, her son had taken her through physical training since she was a child to ensure she wouldn't be bullied when she grew up.
Even if Gwen's physical fitness couldn't match a professional athlete's, she was still a star athlete at school, energetic as a little rabbit. How could she possibly faint from exhaustion just from a field trip?
Furthermore... Old Pauline's gaze swept back and forth between Peter and Gwen, her eyes becoming increasingly subtle.
The way her granddaughter leaned against Peter's back was intimate and natural, and as for this boy Peter... although he was tired as a dog, there was quite a lot of tenderness in his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, a bold thought emerged in her mind.
Could her granddaughter be using the trick of faking sleep to play this blockhead Peter?
Thinking of this, a smile uncontrollably tugged at the corner of Old Pauline's mouth.
Truly worthy of being my granddaughter!
While she helped Peter support Gwen into the bedroom and settle her onto the soft, large bed, she sized Peter up with the look one uses for a "grandson-in-law."
"Good boy, it must have been hard on you."
"Would you like to stay for a cup of hot cocoa? I'm baking apple pie; it'll be ready soon."
Faced with the old lady's overly enthusiastic invitation, Peter was somewhat at a loss.
"No thank you, Grandma Pauline. I... I should head back now so I don't disturb you and Gwen."
His mind was now entirely occupied with how to improve his weakling physique; he really wasn't in the mood to enjoy afternoon tea.
"I see..." A perfectly timed look of regret appeared on the old lady's face. "Well then, be careful on your way back."
After seeing Peter to the door and watching his heavy-footed departure, the doting smile on the old lady's face couldn't be suppressed.
Although this boy Peter's family situation was a bit poor and his body a bit frail...
He made up for it by being smart, having a kind and gentle personality, and possessing a great sense of justice.
In the future, he might get into a good university, enter a big company, and change his destiny.
Her granddaughter dating Peter was actually quite reassuring; it was much better than those shady, good-for-nothing bad boys from god-knows-where!
Calculating her granddaughter's life-long happiness in her head, the old lady turned unsteadily and returned to Gwen's bedroom.
Looking at her granddaughter sleeping soundly on the bed, she tentatively called out softly twice:
"Gwen?"
"Sweetheart, stop pretending. Peter is already gone."
However, the girl on the bed remained unresponsive, her breathing still even and her sleeping face sweet.
Now it was the old lady's turn to be stunned.
She's really asleep?
She shook her head with a wry smile and could only helplessly tuck the corner of the quilt in for her granddaughter.
What is this all about?
Just a tour of Oscorp, and she could get this tired?
...Gwen felt like she had a very, very long dream.
In the dream, she seemed to be soaked in warm spring water, with countless tiny bubbles wrapping around her body, every cell cheering and jumping with joy.
Peter's figure loomed in her dream; his voice was gentle and firm, easily smoothing away all the irritability and unease in her heart.
"Gwen, don't be afraid."
"I'm here for everything."
That feeling was so reassuring, so sweet, that she couldn't help but indulge in it, unwilling to wake up.
"Gwen! Time for dinner!"
It wasn't until her father's familiar shout came from outside the door that Gwen, like a startled kitten, reluctantly opened her sleepy eyes.
The streetlights were shining outside the window, and looking at the wall clock, it was actually seven in the evening!
She had actually slept through the whole afternoon?
Gwen rubbed her eyes and instinctively tried to sit up.
As soon as she made a move, she immediately noticed something wrong.
The quilt... had sealed her in!
This wasn't a joke about oversleeping.
The thin quilt on her body was like it had been glued to her with Super Glue, sticking tightly to her arms and body!
"Hmm?"
Gwen let out a puzzled hum and instinctively used force, trying to kick the quilt off her body.
Rip!
Boom!
The crisp sound of fabric tearing rang out along with the groan of the wooden bed being overwhelmed.
That soft and comfortable cotton quilt was as fragile as a piece of thin paper under her feet, torn directly into a huge hole, revealing the flying cotton batting inside.
Even more ridiculous, the sturdy wooden bed legs beneath her actually snapped with a bang because of her struggling!
Gwen, having finally regained her freedom, was completely dumbfounded.
This... what's going on?
She was startled by the situation and instinctively recoiled.
But this slight movement caused her to bounce up like a spring, launching herself straight onto the ceiling!
"Ah!"
Gwen let out a short cry of surprise, but the expected sharp pain of hitting the ceiling didn't come.
In its place was an incredibly eerie sense of weightlessness and stickiness.
She instinctively opened her eyes, and then her eyes widened in shock at her own reflection in the full-length mirror.
She... was actually stuck firmly to the bedroom ceiling like a gecko in a strange, four-legged posture!
"Thump, thump, thump!"
"Gwen? Are you okay? What was that loud noise?"
Her father George's concerned voice came from outside the door along with the sound of knocking.
"No... it's nothing, Dad! I'm fine!"
Gwen was startled and quickly responded, her voice slightly out of tune due to nervousness.
"I just... had a nightmare and accidentally fell off the bed!"
While she hurriedly dealt with her father outside the door, she desperately recalled everything that happened before she fell into a deep sleep.
Oscorp Tower... the dazzling array of high-tech exhibits... and... that colorful little spider that bit her!
An absurd thought flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning.
Could it be... I've gained the abilities of a spider?!