Hey Everyone! Hope you're doing alright! A little background on this idea: I figured the when all the villains and spidermen were returned to there own time, they went back to around the time where the first change would have happened. I thought that it would probably be the Lizard attack for Andrew Garfield's Spiderman. So this is right after the lizard fight, things have changed, but Peter doesn't really realize that yet. I also thought the timelines may be a little wonky, since they're changing to fit these new events, which mostly just gave me an excuse to put a future Gwen here interacting with a younger Peter. Hopefully that makes a little sense. Let me know your thoughts on the matter! Lots of Love - Lorna

Peter hurt everywhere. His body screamed in agony with every step he continued taking, his head cried out in a sharp glare of aggravation with his heartbeat. What caused his the most discomfort presently though, was the splitting pain in his heart. Captain Stacy had died and Peter hadn't been able to save him. The Lizard had been right on one count, maybe Peter was meant to be alone. His parents, Ben and just when Peter had someone on his side, the captain was taken too. Gwen would be devastated. She would hate him, and he admitted that he would probably deserve every minute of her anger.

He stumbled into his room. May had watched him concerned but he had done his best to calm her worries. He must have done ok because she had let him proceed to his room alone. With a weak moan, Peter collapsed onto his bed. He had cleaned his hands and hid his spider suit underneath his clothes but he hadn't bandaged any injury so not only did it hurt to lay down the way he had, curled up in a tight ball, but he also thought he could feel a little warm dampness on the blanket where some of his worse wounds were. A small shiver worked it's way down his spine. Instead of addressing the problem he knew he should, he just remained planted where he was. Uncomfortable sure, but he was too tired and worn to even think about shifting. So he laid there unmoving and blissfully unaware.

A warm hand touched his back and stroked his cheek softly.

"Peter, come on, Peter. Wake up." The voice was gentle and soft and so, so familiar. Blankly Peter turned his head toward the noise. Blonde hair so light it was nearly white, concerned green eyes that Peter would have known anywhere.

"Gwen?" He whispered hoarsely. His voice was another thing to add to the list of injuries apparently. He vaguely recalled all the yelling he had done tonight with the final scream after Captain Stacy died.

She nodded. She was sitting on his bed next to him, leaned against the wall. For some unexplainable reason she looked older. Not ridiculously older but older none the less. She looked at him sadly.

"Come on," she nudged him ever so slightly avoiding any injuries she could see. "Let's patch you up."

Numbly, thinking remotely that this was probably a hallucination, Peter followed.

She led him into the bathroom and told him to quickly wash off. Just water to wash off the dirt, debris, chemicals, dried blood and whatever else was on him. She quickly left the bathroom and shut the door. Peter took off his cover up clothes and suit and he had decent enough thought to pull on some swim trunks in case he collapsed in the shower, which with the red stream running down his leg seemed more likely than not. Without even bothering to check the temperature, Peter rinsed off. He could hardly feel the temperature anyway but it felt vaguely cold to him. It took all of 5 minutes for Peter to get clean and start drying off.

Dressed in comfortable soccer type shorts and a t-shirt Peter sank numbly to the floor and rested his head on his knees. He didn't want to move anymore. He was tired, he hurt and if he was honest, he felt sick to his stomach with nerves. There was a knock on the bathroom door. May Peter assumed. He tried to sound stronger than he felt.

"I'm fine May, don't worry! You should go back to bed."

He winced at how rough his voice sounded. Their was a brief pause in which Peter assumed May was walking away, but then the door opened a fraction.

"You are dressed right?" Gwen's voice seemed to echo through the room.

Peter slowly uncurled. "Yes. Gwen?"

He knew he sounded confused, but he had been fairly sure that she had been a hallucination.

"Alright then." She opened the door fully and knelt beside Peter.

"You're real?" Peter questioned. Maybe he had a concussion.

She smiled at the question. "Yes Peter. I'm most definitely real. Come here."

She grabbed his shoulder gently, guiding him into a standing position. Peter limped to his bed with her help and sat down without much care for his injuries. Gwen looked at him sternly and he had the urge to argue with her but he decided he was just too tired. All the adrenaline had left him and he was subsequently left with nothing but a deeply settled exhaustion.

Gwen seemed to know where to find his first aid kit, which should have been confusing but Peter honestly didn't think too hard on it. Curled against the wall to stay upright, Peter started to doze off when a sharp, stinging acid seemed to burn his leg.

He wanted to cry out but it came out more like a moan. His entire frame tensed and he wondered why his spider sense didn't alert him to danger. He sat up quickly and looked at what had happened to his leg. Gwen was cleaning out a deepish gash on his shin with a soapy disinfectant wipe. He hissed through his teeth when another particularly painful jolt shot through him. Stacy looked at him sympathetically.

"Sorry." She whispered.

He managed to grit out a don't be before he leaned back tensely on the wall behind him to just take the punches. Gwen moved efficiently up both legs to the bullet graze. If Peter hadn't known better, he almost thought he could see her hands start to shake and a tearful glow in her eyes.

"Gwen?" He asked hoarsely. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and just like that the tears disappeared. She continued to clean and bandage. The graze was unpleasant to say the least. Clutching his bedsheets so tightly in his fists it hurt his hands Peter tried to sit still and not kick Gwen away. At least Gwen worked quickly and seemed to understand that he healed faster than a normal person. She didn't insist on stitching it though any other person would have. Moving upward, she briefly examined his older lizard scratches on his chest, but the scabs seemed mostly intact however the giant bruise from the police wand was quite something. She almost looked angry looking at it, muttering something about somebody being stupid. There was the other unpleasant experience of cleaning his wrist wounds from where his web shooters had been crushed into his hand. There were small slivers of metal still lodged in it as well as the horrific looking bruises and a vicious red slash. Gwen stated to gently pull out each metal shard which was a painstaking process. Cleaning the now swollen and irritated skin posed quite the awful adventure. Peter sat clenching his jaw so tightly he was surprised it didn't break to avoid crying out. Even that did not enough to avoid sharp groans. Eventually she was done and he could have shouted with relief. Only the cuts on his face were left and they were minor compared to all the other injuries.

Gwen was already sitting on the bed with him now, so Peter was surprised when she shifted. He was even more tired than when he came. He wanted to sleep. It was a desperate need at this point. His eyes close after a minute of silence when nobody spoke and Gwen didn't continue cleaning. He could feel a warm arm leading him into more comfortable position. He almost didn't realize that the thing he was resting his head on was Gwen's lap, but he remembered something and he tried to sit up, much to the displeasure of every swollen bruised and stinging inch of him.

"M-I'm sorry Gwen but I-" he started. She pushed his shoulder back down and he struggled again to get up. "I can't, you- I can't be with you."

She sighed and he thought he could almost see a little bit of understanding flicker in her eyes.

"Shh Peter. I understand. Just let me take care of you right now and I'll leave."

He knew he should protest, but he just couldn't find it in himself to. He relaxed slightly and allowed himself to lay down. Gwen gently started to wipe the gashes on his face and though it did sting a bit, it didn't hurt in the same way the others did. Now that Peter had the opportunity to just lay down and think some inconsistencies were abruptly assaulting him. He stiffened.

"Why are you here Gwen?" He whispered hoarsely.

She paused. "You know why I'm here Peter. Im here because I care about you."

"No, Gwen, how are you here?" Peter was feeling slightly alarmed now.

She smiled at him and brushed her hand through his hair. "I'm here because you need me here. Just go to sleep. I'm done bandaging and your exhausted."

"How do I know I can trust you?" He whispered.

With a loud laugh she started talking.

"My name is Gwen Stacy. My dad is police captain Stacy. I have a huge crush on a boy named Peter Parker, ever since he very stupidly stood up for a kid flash was mocking. I worked at Oscorp labs where I protected a stow away student who had snuck in. That same Peter later showed me he was Spider-Man and I helped patch him up after a fight with a giant mutant lizard that mentored me. Even while in pain the bug boy still tried to make me laugh which was nonsense." She laughed. "Then he went and saved the city, with my help of course."

Peter smiled. "Getting cocky?"

She laughed lightly and Peter relaxed again. Nobody but Stacy could know some of those things. She had even called him bug boy which made him laugh a bit. He curled in her lap, exhausted but he felt better. She drew little patterns and invisible designs on him with a gentle finger. Just as he was beginning to fall asleep Gwen gently started to talk to him.

"Before I go Peter, I just wanted to tell you something. she paused. I forgive you Peter. For everything. When you wake up tomorrow you'll remember everything and see the good you did. The second chance you gave so many people. But I know that you'll still be upset and guilty."

He recognized that something wet had just hit his cheek and Gwen sniffled.

"And I don't want you to be. I don't know what I'll remember, but I forgive you Peter. Do not walk away from me because you're scared that it'll happen again. I love you."

Those words rung around Peter's head. He didn't quite understand everything she was talking about but she was upset, that much was obvious.

"Hey, hey." He mumbled. "Don't cry. I'm sorry I made you upset."

She wiped her eyes with a sad chuckle.

"Oh, you never change. Always worried about everyone other than yourself. I'm not upset at you peter. You have nothing you need to be forgiven for."

He felt like trying to say he did have things he needed to be forgiven for, her dad for example, but she shushed him.

"I love you Peter, goodnight." She kissed his forehead and Peter fell asleep unable to keep himself awake. And Gwen stayed with him until the first morning rays poked through, Peter curled in her lap asleep and healing.