Hawk froze when he saw Gwen.
Her silence said more than words.
"Fake," Gwen muttered finally, her voice dry. "Your acting is way too fake."
"Sorry," Hawk shrugged. "I'm not a professional actor."
The truth was, he had known she was outside long before. His awakened Microcosmos sharpened his senses so much he could hear a leaf drop behind the gym if he wanted. Gwen thought her footsteps went unnoticed. They hadn't.
And Peter, with his spider-sense, had noticed too—though still unsteady from his recent mutation. Hawk's glance had warned him, and Peter caught on. They both chose silence.
That was why Hawk liked this Spider best—introverted, taciturn, not a chatterbox like the MCU kid.
A moment later, Peter emerged from the gym. He plastered on a surprised look. "Gwen, you're still here?"
Gwen burst out laughing. "Peter, your acting's worse than Hawk's."
Peter stiffened, scratched his head awkwardly, and hurried off, tossing Hawk a quick goodbye.
Hawk turned to leave too, but Gwen blocked his way.
"You're acting strange, Hawk."
"…Huh?"
"When did you get so familiar with Peter? You never even talked to him before."
It was true. Hawk was always distant. Even when classmates asked him things, he kept replies short, avoided conversations, and carried on alone. Girls had tried inviting him to dances before—only to describe him later as "an iceberg, a ten-thousand-year iceberg."
Gwen had felt it too—his subtle resistance, as if every word exchanged was unwanted. But now? That resistance was gone.
Hawk answered evenly, "We're not close. He just wanted to thank me for the time Flash cornered him in the bathroom. I happened to be there."
Gwen fell silent again. Then she looked him in the eye and smiled faintly. "If you don't want to talk, you don't have to. No need to lie."
Hawk thought about it, then nodded. "Fine. I don't want to talk."
"I'll find out myself," Gwen said.
"Go ahead," Hawk replied, but added, "Just don't get too deep. I've heard when a woman gets curious about a man… that's the start of falling for him."
That made Gwen snort. "Don't flatter yourself. I'd never fall for someone who can barely even admit we're friends."
She remembered that day driving him home, how awkward he'd looked when she said they were friends. Even then, his resistance had already begun to weaken.
Hawk only shrugged and headed for the stairs. "See you, Gwen."
"I'll find out your secret!" she called after him.
"Good luck," Hawk said without looking back, waving lazily.
He didn't care much about her words. That line about curiosity leading to love—he had just thrown it out casually.
But as the school bus carried him back to his new apartment, he realized something else.
Before awakening his Microcosmos, love had been a luxury he could never afford. Rent, food, college loans—life was crushing enough.
Now?
Strength was wealth.
Strength was power.
And power brought everything else.
So maybe… maybe now he had the right to think about love.
The memory of Gwen's eyes flashed in his mind, and his chest tightened suddenly.
"Damn it," Hawk hissed, shaking his head. No. That was the kind of delusion Peter had with Mary Jane.
He wasn't Peter.
Focus.
Tomorrow he started at Oscorp. If Connors's lab really had the Gamma-nien he needed, then the path to forging his Cloth would finally open.
And after that—Wakanda.
If they handed over Vibranium willingly, fine. If not… well.
Hawk wasn't much for words.
But fists?
That, he understood.
…
(End of Chapter)
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