16 The Cute Venom

Gwen thought she had misheard when she caught Venom's words.

"What? You want to talk to me?" Gwen asked, confused.

Noah replied, "Yes, it's just the two of us now."

Realizing that Noah knew about Mary Jane's presence, Gwen said to Mary Jane, "Red Rose, you heard that, right? I might need to turn off the call for a bit."

Still uneasy after their last encounter with Venom, Mary Jane hesitated. "Spider, are you sure about this? He's dangerous."

But Gwen stood firm. "It's fine. He won't try anything. If he's got something to say, it must be important. Besides, I can handle myself. If something goes wrong, I'll get out."

Reluctantly, Mary Jane agreed but warned, "Just be careful, and press the alarm if anything happens."

"Got it," Gwen assured her.

After ending the call, Gwen took off her headset.

Seeing that, Noah said, "Clear out your webs first, and then we'll go somewhere else."

Gwen realized he was cleaning the place, knowing what kind of news would follow the next day.

Without a word, she cleaned up her webs. When she was done, Noah said, "Follow me," and dashed off. Gwen trailed behind him as he led her across the rooftops, He slowed down enough to keep up.

Eventually, they stopped atop a building. Noah turned to face Gwen, who waited for him to speak. With a thought, Noah made his suit and Venom disappear, revealing his true self.

He awkwardly scratched his head. "Hey, Gwen."

Gwen was stunned. "Noah?! You're Venom?"

Noah nodded. "Yeah, I'm Venom. And I know you're Gwen."

Hearing this, Gwen realized she was exposed, too. She removed her mask, revealing her face.

"I'm sorry, Gwen," Noah said softly. "I wanted to apologize and come clean."

"I didn't know you were the Ghost Spider when we met last time, so I acted a bit harsh. I'm really sorry."

Noah lowered his eyes, clearly embarrassed.

When Gwen didn't respond right away, Noah slowly looked up. He saw Gwen standing with her arms crossed, watching him thoughtfully.

Feeling uneasy, Noah shifted under her gaze.

"I can't believe it," Gwen finally said. "You, Noah, are Venom? I never would've guessed."

"How did you know I was Ghost Spider?" she asked.

"That's the secret I wanted to share next," Noah replied.

"Are you really not mad?" he added.

Gwen raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Mad? About what? That punch you threw at me? Or how you pinned me to the wall by my neck?"

Noah turned red with embarrassment, fumbling for words.

"Hmph! You big dummy! I won't forget that. You'll have to make it up to me," Gwen teased.

She walked behind Noah and gave him a playful kick.

"I said before that if I ever met Venom, I'd kick his butt. Now that I know it's you, I'm sticking to my word."

Seeing Gwen's playful reaction, Noah relaxed, knowing she wasn't too angry. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know it was you."

He added, "Actually because I didn't know it was you I'm only treating you kindly."

Gwen blushed slightly at his words, but still replied with a smirk, "Flattery won't get you far. I'll forgive you, but only if you agree to one condition."

"Anything," Noah said quickly.

"I haven't thought of it yet. But you owe me," Gwen said, smiling mischievously.

Noah nodded eagerly.

"Now," Gwen continued, "tell me how you knew I was Ghost Spider."

Noah motioned for them to sit on the rooftop, and as they did, he said, "I want to introduce you to someone."

Raising his right hand, the symbiote emerged from Noah's palm, appearing cute and round instead of frightening.

(Images in chapter comments ⬇️) 

"This is Venom. He's a symbiote, and he lives inside me."

Venom waved at Gwen and said in a rough but endearing voice, "Hello, beautiful lady. Tonight's moonlight pales in comparison to your beauty."

Venom, trying to be suave, took Gwen's hand and kissed it. Gwen giggled at the little creature's antics, shooting Noah a playful look.

"Ahem!" Noah cleared his throat. "I didn't teach him that, okay? Don't look at me like that. He probably picked it up from TV."

Venom, seeing Noah's warning glare, decided to stay quiet. The promise of chocolate in the future kept him in line.

Noah then explained how Venom helped him confirm Gwen's identity by sensing her while she slept.

"So, you used Venom to figure out who I was?" Gwen asked.

Noah, scratching his head in embarrassment, admitted, "Yeah, pretty much."

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "Pervert."

Noah quickly defended himself, saying he only wanted to confirm her identity and didn't have any bad intentions.

"Sure. What else were you planning to do?" Gwen teased.

Flustered, Noah responded, "Nothing! I felt bad for hurting you, so I applied some medicine while you were asleep."

Gwen's eyes widened. "Oh, so that's why I felt better after sleeping. You helped me out. I should thank you."

"No need," Noah insisted. "It was my fault to begin with."

Gwen, with a sly grin, asked, "So, how did it feel, helping me?"

Noah, remembering the moment, blurted out, "It felt good."

Instantly, he regretted it. Gwen clenched her fists and knocked him on the head.

Gwen's newfound strength made the punch feel like a sledgehammer.

Noah, now rubbing his aching head, quickly apologized, trying to soothe Gwen's temper.

After their playful exchange, Noah asked, "So, how did you become Ghost Spider?"

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