you must always have hope.

“did you just... give up the house?” from what little she knew, it seemed like the harry in this universe had gone through hell and back. and she didn’t have the heart to tell him literally anything because gwen wasn’t sure what would send him into a spiral or not. “i’ll consider coming with you if you promise to order us the biggest, greasiest pepperoni pizza to shove in our mouths while we exchange some hot gossip over.”

“take it from someone who died in a different universe, steph-- we’ve gotta live our lives to the fullest!” gwen offers the girl a small smile before taking a seat on the bed across from her. “i know things are a little crazy right now but i think we owe ourselves a night of fun, don’t you?”

“well, i don’t. and i know peter, mj, eddie and felicia don’t either.” gwen takes a step forward even though she knows that harry’s vulnerable right now, maybe even a little volatile but she has to try. “you know... i don’t know much about your gwen but in my world... my harry was one of my best friends. in fact, he was the only friend i had left after peter died. things between mj and i were--- strained at best, especially because i could’ve done something to help peter but i didn’t get there in time.” she pauses, reaching for his hand, squeezing it gently. “you didn’t give up on me, harry. and i refuse to give up on you, especially when you need someone. let me help you, we can work through all of this together.”

“well... if your best was taking me out of my world and into yours, then yeah.” gwen pauses, realizing how rude she must sound before she lets out a soft sigh. “look, i’m not mad at you for what happened- i know it was a mistake but... we have to figure this out sooner or later, wanda. i don’t think i can stay here forever. my new york needs me.”

[imessage delivered at 7:20pm]: i mean, technically... it wouldn’t be the first time you had a gwen stacy die, right? [imessage delievered at 7:21pm]: too soon?

“well, pietro,” gwen shoots back, tugging her hooded mask down and off of her face, giving him a pointed look. “i’m afraid we don’t have much else we can do unless you have any other ideas.” the blonde looks down from the rooftop they’re sitting at before she’s pulling her mask back on. one arm reaches to pull him closer to her body and she looks up at him curiously. “alright, speedy-- i’m gonna need you to hold onto me and whatever you do... don’t let go, alright?” and before he can agree or protest, gwen’s wrapping an arm around him and shooting out a web, throwing them off the building and swinging them towards the next one.

in all honesty, gwen didn’t know the extent of what had happened with harry. and since she’d gone out of her way to purposely avoid the people who could probably tell her, she didn’t know if lying to him was going to help him or make things worse. it didn’t seem to register in harry’s head that his gwen was dead so for the time being... she simply wouldn’t say anything about it unless prompted. “bernard as in your butler, bernard? i mean... he probably knows a little bit better than i do-- i’ve been... out of town for a bit too. i just got here,” she pauses, catching herself. “just got back, i mean.”

“have you ever thought that this is all some weird hoax or plan? not saying it is but like... how else would all these people just... vanish without a single trace?” gwen’s never been too big on conspiracies, always relying on logic and facts herself but she was starting to run out of ideas when it came to why these mutants were missing. the blonde’s nose is scrunching up slightly when pietro’s kissing the back of her hand before his question catches her off-guard. “has eddie really been going around telling people the original gwen is dead? i mean, that’s horrible and all but jeez- he’s really hung up on that.” she shrugs and leans back in her booth, nodding slowly. “yes but not quite- your sister brought me from a different universe by accident. go figure, right?”

“yeah, basically. i kind of... fight crime and all that jazz back on earth-65.” for emphasis, gwen shoots out a web towards a bottle of water on eddie’s bar counterop and pulls it over to them, fingers wrapping around it perfectly. “kind of weirdly poetic that i’m the hero in my story as opposed to being killed here,” gwen shoots back, setting the bottle down on the coffee table in front of them. when eddie mentions not having spoken to his mom in two years, the blonde frowns for a second before reaching out to grab his hand and squeeze it gently. “i’m sorry... had i known that, i wouldn’t have said anything.” she pauses, arching an eyebrow curiously when venom’s brought up. “no but elsa’s been experimenting on a symbiote so... i’ve heard of him. i just haven’t had any encounters with it myself because it’s locked up in a lab. why?”

gwen listens to eddie as he talks, her expression softening a bit when he mentions them breaking up. a soft sigh slips past her lips and she bites her bottom lip as he’s pulling her closer. could she really tell him everything and have him not hate her? her train of thought is broken when he’s pressing a soft kiss to her lips and all gwen can do is melt in his arms. “well, if you really want to know,” she pauses, pulling him towards the couch so she can make sure he stays relatively calm when she dives into her story. “you know how... peter’s spiderman in this world? well... in earth-65, i... i was the one who got bitten by the spider and i’m... ghost spider.” blue eyes look away from his, not wanting to see his reaction if it was gonna be a bad one. “there was a whole accident and peter ended up dying, i couldn’t save him because i didn’t know how to use any of these... powers. your mom asked me to keep you out of this, to make sure you didn’t get involved or end up... dead. so i.. i had just broken up with you to keep you safe when i ended up here.”

“i know, i know it’s a lot to process,” she mumbles, watching as eddie steps away from her. honestly, she doesn’t blame him. this was probably the worst possible thing he could be going through right now, especially if he’d spent all this time mourning his gwen. “we didn’t just know each other--- we were in love,” gwen mumbles, clearing her throat nervously. she’s listening to him talk, wondering if she should ask about what the other gwen was like; she had so many questions but the last thing she wanted to do was upset eddie or put him on edge. “there’s a lot of stuff i want to tell you, to explain but... maybe it’s not even worth it at this point.” she lets out a sigh, crossing her arms across her chest and shrugging, trying to rack her brain on who she’s already come across while here. “wanda, obviously. pietro, harry who i guess doesn’t know old gwen’s dead? and i ran into mary-jane earlier... the only person i haven’t seen yet is... peter.”

this was exactly what gwen had been trying to avoid. she’d been trying to avoid traumatizing her friends further after everything that had happened. truthfully, she didn’t care if her sudden appearance broke whatever fucking fabric of reality that was happening but this? seeing someone she loved so deeply in both universes standing in front of her with tears in her eyes like she’s seeing a ghost? this was the heartbreak she didn’t want to cause. the use of her full name makes gwen stop in her tracks, turning around to look at her best friend, the girl who’d stood by her through thick and thin in her world and who she could only assume did the same with the gwen here. there were subtle differences between this mj and hers but the only thing that remained the same were the eyes; an ocean of blue that could paralyze anyone in their tracks, gwen included. the blonde’s swallowing the lump that’s formed in her throat, trying her best to find the right words to say if she could even muster any up. “mary-jane... there’s an explanation for this.”

no, no, this couldn’t be happening to her right now! not harry osborn finding her, the same person who’s father had been responsible for this earth’s gwen’s death. the same person who was her closest friend and confidant in her universe and who she couldn’t bare to break in half here, not after everything she’d heard about him. the voice breaks her train of thought and gwen knows there’s no way out of this interaction so she simply turns around awkwardly to face him. “wait, what?” she shoots back almost on instinct. what did he mean the amnesia? did harry not know what happened to the old gwen stacy? the blonde’s shifting uncomfortably on the balls of her feet, staring at him blankly for a moment before she blinks rapidly, trying to pull herself out of her trance. “uh... no, i’m just... a little paranoid with everything going on. how... how are you?”

and without really thinking too much of it, gwen’s following eddie up to his apartment. it was almost pathetic how even in this universe, she’d follow him wherever he went. the only sounds while they’re going up the building is the brief elevator music and eddie’s ramblings about her being dead. “i-- i know. or so i’ve heard,” she mumbles, letting out a soft sigh. they’re making their way into his apartment and gwen lingers awkwardly in the middle of his hallway, eyeing him nervously. how did she even begin to explain this situation? “alright, well... i’m not really the gwen from this universe. there’s, uh... i don’t know how familiar you are with the multiverse theory or quantum physics and quite frankly, i’m still getting a little bit used to it myself but... i’m from earth-65. this is earth-616 and in my universe... i’m not dead.” she lets out a shaky sigh, knowing how crazy she must sound to him. “with everything going on with the mutants here, i guess wanda maximoff was trying to do some searching in other universes and she accidentally brought me here. and now i’m stuck --- literally, we don’t know how she did it or how i can even get back but... i’ve been avoiding all of you since i got here. peter, mj, harry... you. i didn’t know what would happen if you guys saw me with your gwen being dead.”