A/N: This has been bubbling in my head for the longest time, and I thought I should get it out once and for all. I've always loved Dustin and Tori's friendship, and while this story probably won't be a conventional romantic Dustin/Tori fic, I hope you enjoy it all the same.

GWEN STACY

By Tangerine Tales

Dustin was 7 when he first met Tori.

She was a whirlwind of blonde hair and unrestrained laughter on the swings, and her excitement made him partially forgive her for hogging his favourite playground equipment.

He crossed his arms, a pout half forming into a smile for Dustin could never stay angry for long. The girl was unfamiliar, and he's sure that she's just moved into Blue Bay Harbour. The city's small enough for everyone to be acquainted with each other – especially if you're 7 and younger. Despite his curiosity, however, Dustin also couldn't remain patient for long and after an eternity of waiting (which possibly equated to 5 minutes in real time), he strode over to the swing set and cleared his throat pointedly.

It took a moment for her to notice his attempts at looking intimidating. "Yes?" she asked.

"You're in my seat."

"I don't think this belongs to anyone."

Dustin scowled – an irritation that didn't quite reach his eyes. "No."

She swung past him, feet flying above his head.

"You're Spiderman."

It was in this moment that the pair were forever intertwined.

Dustin grinned – all anger forgotten.

For his birthday that year, his parents had finally bought him the Spiderman outfit he had been eying for the longest time. Since then, he'd been wearing the costume every day, mask and all. By this time, the whole neighbourhood had heard his declaration of being Spiderman at least twice, and unbeknownst to his carefree self, were getting rather tired of having to entertain his jumping around.

He looked at her again – blonde hair, eyes sparkling with laughter. Recognition flickered at the back of his mind, and it took all he could to suppress the peal of excitement that shot through his body. You don't want to be too weird again, he cautioned himself.

"And you're Gwen Stacy!"

Now, Dustin was still at the age in which girls had cooties. He didn't actually want a girlfriend because all the girls he knew at his school were noisy, always told on him, and cried too much. But to complete his being Spiderman, he needed a partner. While Dustin knew that in the end, Peter Parker ends up with Mary-Jane, he a) had already scared away the only red-haired girl he knew by yelling in her face that he was Spiderman and that because she was Mary-Jane, they were supposed to be together (she called the teacher on him and he got detention for that); and b) always preferred Gwen Stacy to Mary-Jane anyway.

The girl came to a stop on the swing, her feet dragging a cloud of sand dust in the ground. She looked at him, curious.

"No, I'm Tori."

"I'm Dustin. No – I'm Waldo, but that's my lame name, you know? I like being messy and the dirt, so my superhero name is Dustin," replied Dustin, enthusiastically.

Tori raised her eyebrows. Even at age 7, she had already nailed down the sceptical look her 17 year old self will later be famous for shooting at 17 year old Dustin. "I thought you were Spiderman. Isn't his name Peter Parker?"

Dustin paused. Yes, this girl will be the perfect Gwen! "Yea, I'm him too! Do you want to play Spiderman with me?"

"How do I do that?"

"Well, I'm Spiderman. And you're Gwen Stacy – and we can just pretend to be in the comics and everything."

"What does she do?"

"She's Spiderman's girlfriend," Dustin began, a mixture of animation and nervousness. "And then she dies. Cuz Green Goblin kills her. And – "

"She dies?"

"Yea, and Spiderman is really sad about it for – "

"I'm not playing if I have to die!"

"But that's part of the story!"

"I don't want to be some girlfriend who just dies!" Tori's eyes were blazing, and Dustin began to realise how different this girl is from the other girls he knew. "I'm a superhero too. I'm not going to just die!"

She crossed her arms. "If that's how Spiderman goes, it doesn't sound like a very fun game."

Dustin was torn. On one hand, he wanted to respect the comic book series that he loved so dearly. Yet, it was hard to find someone – much less, a girl – who'd want to play with him. In the small population of Blue Bay Harbour Elementary School, word had gotten around that Dustin was a little of a strange kid, and since then, no one quite wanted to associate themselves with him. While Dustin didn't mind playing by himself, it would also be nice to have some company.

"Okay, we can both be superheroes," he eventually conceded, biting his lip. "You don't have to die."

Tori smiled, a smile different from the one she had on the swings. This one spoke of warmth and friendship, and he felt something in him fall into place – as if the two were meant to meet, to be friends. She jumped off the swings and ran off, yelling as she did, "My first superhero task is to climb this tree!"

Dustin grinned, and followed her.

It is this memory that haunts Dustin's nights: of Gwen Stacy defying death; of Gwen Stacy becoming an even braver superhero than Peter Parker; of Gwen Stacy telling bullies off at school; of Gwen Stacy beating him up in their imaginary battles; of Gwen Stacy, his best friend, his constant, his centre, his rock. Gwen Stacy, laughter sparkling bright in the Sun, eyes full of adventure and excitement, who always laughed with him and not at him, even when all the kids at school shunned his company.

He can't sleep, knowing that his dreams will be filled with Tori – breathing, smiling, alive, and wonders how everyone else (especially, Blake) must be feeling. After all, it isn't as if Tori was only his friend. Is he being overly dramatic about this? Is everyone else suffering through these nightmares (can he call them nightmares if they're the only way he can see her again?) every single night since the Incident? He doesn't quite dare to sleep knowing that waking up will only just bring the pain of what had happened back to the surface.

And through all the sleepless nights, both resisting the urge to find his best friend in his memories yet not wanting to let any semblance of her go, a small voice in his head asks: Gwen Stacy survived death, why didn't you?