"A Caterpie may change into a Butterfree, but the heart that beats inside remains the same."

-Brock; from Pokémon

When Izabela stood in front of her daughter's bedroom door, she let out a sigh. Izabela had hoped that Gemma would've had a good day at school, but it seemed as though things were going to be a bit more difficult. It seemed as though Gemma was doing fine that morning; for the most part, that is. How could everything go downhill so fast? It was bad enough Izabela had to pull a double shift at her work, but having to deal with her kids fighting and something happening to Gemma at school? That had to be a record for shitty things to happen in one day.

Knocking on Gemma's door, Izabela waited patiently for her daughter to answer. When no response came, Izabela knocked again. Just like before, there was no answer.

"Gemmy, if you don't open the door right now...," Izabela didn't get the opportunity to finish before Gemma opened the door. The first thing Izabela saw was the scowling face of her youngest child, then the raging bruise on Gemma's cheek. A sense of anger and confusion washed over Izabela. There was a bruise — a goddamn bruise — on Gemma's face. It looked horrible, and it made Izabela's motherly instincts go haywire. "What in the hell..."

"It's nothing," Gemma muttered, her eyes not meeting her mother's.

"What the hell happened?" Izabela's voice was sharp and almost venomous. "Gemma Nicole, if you don't tell me what happened today, I swear..."

"There was a fight, OK?" she exclaimed. "It's not a big deal!"

"Of course it's a big deal!" Izabela snapped. "You've got a bruise on your face! And a big one, at that. Jesus, Gemma, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Gemma barked. "It was someone else. You're acting just like Remy."

"What's that supposed to mean? Did Remy do something?"

"You're jumping to conclusions! I didn't do anything."

"Then what happened?!"

"I was trying to stop a fight, not start one! God, why can't anyone ever let me explain before they throw around accusations!?"

Izabela pinched the bridge of her nose. "You've gotten into fights before, Gemma," she said firmly. "Sorry if I find it a little hard to believe."

"Then why the hell are you here?"

Izabela's eyes went to Gemma with a sharpness the young girl wasn't expecting. Gemma never witness the amount of anger in her mother's eyes before, and if she had the opportunity to take what she said back, she would've. The irritation and frustration she had over no one listening to what she had to say — top if off with her mother not wanting to believe what Gemma had to say — was starting to become too much, and Gemma was certain she was about to snap. But seeing that look in Izabela's eyes...it was something else entirely. A shiver of fear ran up her spine, and that wasn't something she was used to.

"Why am I here?" Izabela said, her voice eerily calm. "I'm here because your scum of the Earth father didn't want you or your brothers. I'm here because I still love my children and I want what's best for them. I'm here because, even though I'm stressed out of my goddamn mind, I'm still doing my best to keep us all together! I'm still here because who else is going to take care of you? Your aunts or uncles? Your grandparents?! None of them even came by to see how we were doing after the divorce! My parents didn't even see how we were doing! Neither did my sisters!" Tears formed in Izabela's eyes, her voice had since elevated into a shout, wavering almost violently. "No one came to us offering us a place to stay 'cause they don't care," Izabela barked. "I care! That's why I'm working so hard and trying to get you through that nice school and save money for Remy to get through college and for Jai and Titus to get through college, if they go..."

Before she could ramble on any more, Izabela was interrupted by a hug. Gemma had wrapped her arms around her mother's middle, hoping it'd be enough to calm her down. Gemma partially understood the sacrifices her mother made after the divorce, she just didn't see the full extent of it. For the entirety of the divorce proceedings, Izabela maintained a calm front, not wanting to let anyone know just how devastated she was.* Leo and Izabela Ricci had been highschool sweethearts, said to have been the only couple in their school who'd make it in the world. When word of the affair broke out...that had been the single worst thing Izabela had ever gone through. She had seen her own parents' marriage fall apart for so many reasons, so when she married Leo, she wanted it to go as nicely as possible; even more-so once the kids were born.

Gemma didn't see the full extent of her mother's suffering because her mother did such a good job at hiding it. She couldn't understand the emotional and psychological stress being a single mother of four had to be doing. Not only that, but working full-time and trying to save enough money for bills, rent, education — how could anyone handle that? Even with help from Remy?

Izabela returned the hug almost immediately, burying her face into Gemma's hair. In that moment, Gemma promised that she'd do better to help out. She wasn't going to let her mother down anymore.

~8~

The week seemed to roll on in a very uneventful manner. After Izabela's outburst, Gemma was on her best behavior. She did all her chores, even helping out with things without ever being asked. It helped ease some of the stress Izabela was feeling, but there was still a noticeable tension radiating off her. Not only that, but Jai and Titus were doing more to help out. With Remy working, too, he didn't get very many opportunities to stick around the apartment as often as the younger siblings did; though he tried to help around the apartment as much as possible.

By the time Friday rolled around, Gemma had managed to avoid any other confrontations, maintaining consistency — or as consistent as she could get — in her new classes. Ines and Peter had been very helpful with her, allowing her to spend time in their homes respectively if she had any questions. Since Peter's apartment was closer to Gemma's than Ines' neighborhood, which was in a suburban part of Queens, Gemma tended to spend most of her time with Peter after school. The two had become very good friends, with Gemma managing to befriend Ned, as well. When homework wasn't involved, the three would occasionally watch movie marathons — mostly Star Wars and Harry Potter — with Gemma, every now again, managing to let them watch Star Trek (the old television series, not really the movies).

Peter complained about Gemma's choice of entertainment, but her and Ned just found it hilarious.

In all honesty, Gemma really enjoyed spending time with Peter. Not that Ines wasn't nice to spend time with, but Peter was very sweet and patient. With almost any question or uncertainty Gemma displayed, Peter seemed to have an endless amount of patience. It was refreshing, and Gemma thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him.

When Gemma wasn't spending time with Ned and Peter, she was spending time with Ines. Ines' family was relatively well known in the area, coming from a nice Italian/English family who owned a popular shop in their area. Gemma found Ines' father, Charley, to be extremely warm and comforting, something that seemed rather nice. Considering Gemma's father wasn't involved in her life, it seemed like Charley was a kind of surrogate of sorts, but Gemma didn't want to jump the gun.

After school on Friday, Gemma and Ines were walking out of the school together, with Peter saying he was going to meet his aunt somewhere and Ned had to stay after school for make-up work.

"Are you excited about the OsCorp field trip?" Ines asked. "It's going to be the biggest field trip of the year."

Gemma shrugged. "It's pretty exciting I guess," she said. "I've never even seen OsCorp."

Ines' eyes widened some. "Seriously?" she said. When Gemma nodded, Ines let out a huff. "Well, I think you'll like it."

"I hope so."

(A/N):

This isn't my best chapter, but I hope you guys like it. I just couldn't seem to find a good area to write this story, since everyone in my family decided they wanted to be loud and obnoxious at the same time. But if you've got constructive criticism, don't hesitate to let me know, OK? I'd appreciate it a lot.

MARVEL doesn't belong to me.

If you've got an OC or a subplot you want added to the story, don't hesitate to let me know. PM me or leave a review.

I'm in the beginning of finals week, so it'll be a bit since I'll update another chapter. Also, I should probably be studying...so I'll wrap this author's note up.

Thanks.

Jasper