~Broken Family~

Spider-Gwen: Homecoming

"Took a Louisville slugger to both headlights! I slashed a hole in all four tires!"

Gwen and Sophie were belting to Emma's karaoke machine at the top of their lungs, hiding from the rest of the household in the basement by Sophie's pull-out couch.

Gwen jumped up on the couch, holding Sophie's hairbrush like a microphone. Sophie had the real microphone to the Disney princess-themed karaoke machine.

"Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats!"

The song ended and Gwen flopped down, panting. She pushed her crazy hair from her eyes, giving an equally exhausted Sophie a smile. "That was fun! Let's do it again!"

"Hold up," Sophie gasped, raising a finger. "Give Sophie a chance to catch her breath."

Gwen groaned, rolling off the couch and onto the floor in exasperation. The carpet was thick with the scent of hairspray after last night when they'd stayed up to experiment with different hairstyles, trying to find one that would work for homecoming. There was no way she was going to stay home and let Harley and Clay beat her into moping around.

"Sophie, can we watch a movie now?" she asked, pushing herself up onto her elbows. Sophie groaned dramatically with a laugh.

"You don't slow down, do you?"

"Come on!" Gwen grabbed Sophie's arm and dragged her upstairs. "I heard the Little Mermaid was gonna be on the cable and Emma was gonna watch it. Let's join."

"Fine, but there's no way in heck I'm staying for the part where that squid lady blows up bigger than a house."

***

Gwen was doing a great job distracting herself during the day. She made herself believe she hated Harley after telling Clay her identity, told herself that she was better off without him.

But at night, Harley's shuddering body on the hospital bed would come back to her. Along with the way he'd called for her, the way it'd felt to hold his hand and dance with his stiff, clumsy form.

No. She squeezed her eyes closed and rolled over, shaking the bunk bed a bit. She was not about to go feeling sorry for the little tattletail, not until he admitted the truth and apologized. Profusely.

The next thing she knew, Sophie was shaking her awake.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" she cheered. "Today's the day! We've gotta get you up and at 'em!"

Gwen groaned, rubbing at her eyes. "Sophie... The sun's not even up. The game and the dance aren't until this evening."

"You think that's going to stop me?" She yelped as a pair of strong arms yanked her out of the bed. "You need to get ready early, young lady! Didn't your mamma ever teach you anything?"

"Not about school dances, no." Gwen stood, taking note of Sophie's dress. "What are you wearing?"

Sophie shrugged. "You don't think we're letting you walk in alone, are you?"

Gwen groaned. "No, Sophie, please. No bodyguards."

"Re-lax. No bodyguards, only me."

Gwen grinned. "For real?"

"For real. I volunteered to serve the punch! You won't even know I'm there."

***

A few hours later, Gwen was seated on a chair in the bathroom, blinking uncomfortably as Sophie put on her makeup.

"Girl, stop squirming. You're acting like I'm torturing you."

Sophie put down her brush and picked up a tube of something pink, making Gwen cringe away from it.

"Pink?" she protested as Sophie smeared it on her lips. "Can't we do, like, a skin color?"

"We need to work with what Mrs. Roberts let you borrow." Sophie puckered her lips as she put on the finishing touches. "There. Magnifique! You're done with the makeup."

Gwen breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived.

"Now, on to the hair!"

Sophie brought out Emma's curling iron, a can of hairspray, and more bobby pins than she could count. "Sophie, my hair already went through enough the other day. Do we have to put it through more agony?"

"Yes." Sophie took out her braids and ran a brush through it. "Ooh, it was a good idea to leave these in last night. Your hair's all wavy now."

As she started up the curling iron, Gwen cringed away from it. "I don't think I trust you with that," she joked.

"What, this old thing?" Sophie hefted it like it was a harmless spatula or something. "I used to be a beautician, you know. That was my cover job until I started working for S.H.I.E.L.D. full-time."

"You can work at S.H.I.E.L.D. part time?"

"Oh, for sure." Sophie started twisting up strands of Gwen's hair into one and piling it on the top of her head. "Depending on what department you do. For me, because I had gone to beauty school before, it was just a cover job until I finished the training to be allowed to do full-time. And since I didn't have anything better to do, I devoted my entire time to doing it. Protecting the people who protect others, that's what I was made to do."

Gwen bit her lip, thinking of Sophie's confession in the car just a mere two weeks ago. She'd brushed it off as if she didn't want to talk about it, but Gwen still felt bad. "Sophie, I'm really glad that you got stuck being my babysitter."

Sophie stuck her tongue out at her through the mirror as she took some loose strands and started to curl them. "What? Me? No way." She gave one last tug with the curling iron on Gwen's scalp before spraying it with enough hairspray to choke someone. "Okay, girlie, you're done. What do you think?"

Gwen hopped off the counter and smiled at herself in the mirror. "It looks...not like I balled up my hair last-minute."

"Well, gee, thanks a lot."

"It looks amazing." Gwen wrapped Sophie in a hug. "Thanks, Soph."

Sophie sighed, patting Gwen's back. "No problem, sweetie. Hey, be careful, you're gonna undo everything we just worked hours on."

***

LOOK PRETTY! Billy signed, giving her a careful side-hug on her way out the door. TELL HARLEY I SAY HELLO.

Gwen bit her lip. She hadn't told him yet in hopes that Harley would apologize and everything would get cleared up again.

WILL. PROMISE. DON'T STAY AWAKE ALL NIGHT WAITING FOR ME, O-K?

I WILL. Billy rubbed his hands together evilly. RINGO START HARRY POTTER MARATHON. 19 HOURS.

Gwen rolled her eyes and followed Sophie.

"Bye, Gwen!" Billy called, waving.

Sophie took a picture of her by the door and made her smile, saying it would look great on a Christmas card or in a photo album.

"People don't make photo albums anymore, Sophie," Gwen protested as she climbed into the passenger seat, being careful with her seatbelt.

"Photo albums are a lot more personal and permanent than digital ones," Sophie explained as she pulled out of the driveway. "Takes more than a click of a finger to delete them. Can't send them to people in an instant, you've gotta gather everyone around together. Have more emotion to them, plus you can scribble notes on the back."

Gwen shrugged. "I guess so."

Sophie smirked. "Take my word for it. You should start one."