Spider-Gwen || Caught in a Web

All You Need || Gwen Stacy

"There's a girl, lost in a big wide world"

-There's a Girl, Olivia Vedder

Six fifty-two. Gwen thought to herself as she glanced at her alarm clock. There was only one sound in her room-the incessant scribbling of her pencil as she worked through another bout of homework that was due tomorrow. Was she doing this at the last minute? Yes, absolutely. Did she have a good excuse this time? Maybe not... unless getting in some extra hours of silence with her playlist was a 'good excuse.'

Dozens of formulas and symbols ran through her mind as Gwen worked to piece together the problem she was currently stuck on. She erased what she had written down and started from the beginning, figuring that she would've come to an acceptable answer by now if she hadn't messed up along the way. Gwen took a deep breath, turning back to her chemistry book as she read over the relevant material once more.

But this time, as she tried to write out the correct formula, her mind began to wander... thinking back to Dr. Connors's big reveal, to her conversations with Owen and Miles, the giant Lizard in Central Park, this internship that she wanted so desperately-

"Gwen?"

The unexpected greeting made Gwen gasp in surprise, and she spun in her seat to see her dad in her doorway. His eyes widened with concern at how jumpy she was, and he took a step inside. "Dinner's almost ready... just wondering why you were still holed up in your room." 

She breathed out, letting her shoulders relax as her fingers released her pencil. "Yeah, um... just trying to get through this chemistry homework." Gwen told him, working up a smile on her face in the hopes of her father not asking about anything else. 

George Stacy's eyebrow raised, and he folded his arms over his chest, unconvinced. "I find it really hard to believe that you were working on chemistry for that long." He told her. "You normally get it knocked out first." Clearly her father was onto her, and Gwen wasn't sure what exactly he was trying to get her to say. "Gwen-" 

"What?" She asked, trying to keep her voice soft despite the anxiety that was beginning to flare up. "What, am I in trouble or something-" 

"No, no." Her father insisted, leaning against her doorframe and sighing. "I... I'm just worried about you, kiddo."

Half of Gwen cringed at her father's continued use of the phrase 'kiddo,' while her other half quit bristling and began to calm down. "Is it because I'm taking so long with this?" She questioned, nodding her head back at the homework on her desk. "It's not too difficult, it's just more material to cover-" 

"It's not the homework... it's just... a bit of everything." He said, gesturing around her room. 

Gwen's eyes darted around-from the messy pile of papers on her bedstand, to the drum poster that she had attached to the wall with only one tack before remembering there was something else she had to do, to her bookbag that was slung on her bed with books and notes pouring out of it. She sighed in frustration, nodding softly. "I'll get my room cleaned eventually, I promise-" 

"No, you're missing what I'm saying." George spoke up, holding his hands up before taking a step into her room. "It's not the mess that worries me, it's the fact that I know you hate messes, Gwen. There's only one high schooler on the planet that actually likes cleaning her room, and it's you."

The comment made Gwen chuckle, her gaze drifting around at all that needed to be done before her father began to speak again. "If you're letting your room get this messy, it's because you've got a lot on your mind, right?" He asked, the pointed question making Gwen go still. "You feel too preoccupied to clean up, don't you?"