Spider-Gwen || Caught in a Web

Hollow || Gwen Stacy

"Since you've gone, I've been lost without a trace"

-Every Breath You Take, The Police

Never before had Gwen's walk to the library with her friends felt so hollow. The blonde had her head down and her shoulders slumped, her lips remaining in a perplexed frown as Felicia and MJ chatted about something every so often, only to look at the third member of their little group and wonder what was going on with her. But there was no way that they could possibly imagine the burden that was weighing Gwen Stacy down.

The walkthrough of Oscorp's facility that Gwen had been daydreaming about for months had ended in her coming to the conclusion that Dr. Curtis Connors-a personal mentor of hers-was the monstrous lizard that had been roaming New York City these past two weeks or so. Time and time again she'd seen her teacher in the halls of Midtown High, talking to his students or laughing with his coworkers. He seemed so... harmless. So full of optimism and helpfulness, to the point where Gwen was beginning to question whether or not she was going to be able to bring him to justice.

As hard as she'd worked to keep a grip on herself, things were starting to slip-her homework grades were dropping subtly, she talked to her father less and less-even her dedication to the Mary Janes had faltered, as Gwen had missed band practice yesterday. Although her friends had said they'd make up for it tonight when she was done studying, Gwen felt that, deep down, they were starting to get frustrated with her inability to balance everything that was going on with her.

As Gwen stared at the sidewalk beneath her shuffling feet, MJ shot a knowing look to Felicia-the two weren't going to let Gwen just go study without talking to her first. 

"Hey, Stace?" Felicia asked, wearing a calm smile as Gwen slowly pried herself away from her thoughts to look at her friend. Gwen's striking blue eyes, normally vivid and attentive to every detail, now seemed weary and drained as they met Felicia's brown ones. The blonde could tell how taken aback Felicia was by the sight, but she couldn't do much about it... she was too exhausted to put up any type of front now.

Gwen's hands slipped into her pockets as she watched Felicia adjust her leather jacket. "You gonna' tell us what's going on?" The tall brunette finally asked, the question hanging in the air as Gwen weakly shrugged her shoulders. 

"Not much to talk about..." She replied, her voice hoarse and shaky. But her friends weren't willing to let her walk away this time-MJ reached forward and took Gwen by the arm to stop her, making the blonde pivot on her foot to face Mary Jane.

At first, MJ blinked, giving Gwen's arm a once-over. "Geez, Gwen, since when did you start working out?" She complimented, but the words fell on deaf ears. Gwen wasn't built like a weightlifter by any means, but that spider bite had added some tone and strength to her frame that hadn't been there before. After the moment of surprise passed for MJ, the redhead shook her head, refocusing on the task at hand.

"Nevermind... Gwen, you look horrid." MJ said bluntly, and Felicia had to cover her mouth to stifle the snort from MJ's blunt assessment of Gwen's appearance. "Not in a bad way... well, I... I guess it's bad, but... look, we've just never seen you look so done with everything." 

Gwen was too tired to snap at MJ for not handling that any better, all she could do was narrow her eyebrows-but even then, Gwen knew that her friends were just trying to help her, in their own way. 

"We're really worried about you, Gwen..."

"There..." Gwen paused, rubbing her temples as she sighed in annoyance. "...Is nothing that needs helping right now-"