The Afterglow

Chapter 9; Target Aquired

His eyes drifted from one side of the school yard to the other and, as soon as Peter laid eyes on a certain blonde kid, he raised his hand in the air and waved. The boy spotted him and ran across the yard as fast as his legs would carry him. As he came to a stop and took in the sight of Peter alone, he tilted his head in confusion.

"Hey buddy, did you have a good day?" He greeted him with a toothy smile.

"Yeah… Where's Gwen?"

"Oh… She uh- she wasn't feeling well, so it's just us for now. Is that okay?"

Simon frowned but nodded at the same time. "That's because of the baby, right?"

Though taken aback by Simon's knowledge, he mustered a small smile. "Yup." He confirmed, popping the P. "Is that okay?" He repeated.

"Hmm, maybe…"

"Maybe?" Peter questioned, raising an eyebrow. "How could I push that to a yes?"

Upon hearing his question, the kid smirked. "Gwen always takes me to get ice cream after school."

"Is that so?" He wondered aloud, placing his finger below his lower lip and pretending to think. "That can be arranged."

"Good. Now it's a yes." Simon giggled.

Peter clapped his hands together and opened the passenger side door of the truck for the kid to climb in before making his way to the other side. Once they were both buckled up, he pulled out of the parking lot, though unaware of the black Sedan that lingered behind.

"Just need to make a stop at the pharmacy before we hit up the ice cream parlor, okay?"

"Why the pharmacy?" He questioned innocently.

"Because I need to pick up a little something."

"For yourself?"

"For Gwen."

"Oh… Well, I guess that's fine. As long as we get to the ice cream parlor before it closes."

Peter couldn't help himself and snorted through his nose with laughter over the boy's tone and his firm expression. It reminded him of an argument he once had with his uncle Ben when he was not much older than Simon. Only instead of ice cream, they had argued over brownies and burritos not being a good mix; him insisting that it was while Ben tried fruitlessly to convince him that it wasn't. Of course, Ben knew better and he spent the remainder of the night with his head in the toilet bowl after failing to listen, but he could never forget the look on his uncle's face when he was proven right.

Meanwhile, the black Sedan remained parked outside the school and inside it, Eddie Brock sat in the driver's seat. He had originally intended to follow Peter but with what he had just overheard, there was no need to proceed any further. Though the new piece of information had caused him to become conflicted over what he was supposed to do next, Venom held no hesitation.

"So, that's what they were hiding." Venom, as if on cue, spoke.

Eddie grimaced, wishing for the first time that he could free himself from the symbiote. His palms had grown sweaty and he found himself unable to stop the tremors that had been vibrating through his body since he'd wound up the window after hearing what he needed to hear.

"I can't do this." He gasped.

"Tell me… you're not going cold on me are you, Eddie?"

"I can't do this." He repeated.

"You wanted to destroy Peter Parker. I want to destroy him. Knowing what we know now, it will be a lot easier to weaken him for the kill."

"No… I can't-"