sweet reunion
Miles had spent the past three days in his bed which didn't seem to bother his uncle at all. Aaron was... new at being a guardian and wasn't the most attentive person. Even though Miles loved his uncle, they had never had the same bond after finding out he was the prowler.
So, it was up to Miles to motivate himself. He knew that eventually he would have to get back to a regular schedule but it felt as though everything required ten times as much effort, the simple act of getting food or showering became a chore. He wished he could stay in his room, but he had responsibilities, and nobody was coming to help him.
It was already late evening when Miles finally forced himself off the bed, leaving behind a dent where he had spent the past couple days. He marched into the bathroom, peering over at the living room where his uncle laid, doing work on his computer. He had gotten a new job to replace his old… regrettable career, as a computer technician since he had always had a knack for technology.
As the water for his shower warmed up, Miles picked up his toothbrush and cleaned his teeth for the first time in what felt like a week. He stepped into the scorching shower and let the water wrap around him like a warm hug. Showering slowly turned into less of a task and more of a release.
He stayed there a while, most of the time spent simply enjoying the warm temperature of the shower and not actually getting any cleaner. His pruned fingers signalled to him that his time was up and he stepped out, immediately rapping himself in a warm towel.
He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out, making his way to his bed. Sound came from his room which he assumed was his music left open on accident, he opened the door nonchalantly.
His eyes met with three people arguing over his bed. Two being Gwen and Peter B, the third a cool looking random guy. All four spiders froze as Miles' eyes shot open and searched the room for answers. Part of him wanted to run and hug them, but the other stayed sceptical. His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the realization he was standing in front of three people, wearing nothing but a towel.
Before any of the spiders had time to break the silence, the door slammed shut, leaving Hobie, Peter and Gwen wide-eyed.
Miles leaned on the door, internally freaking out. After taking few breaths, he remembered he had clothes in the bathroom which he quickly changed into.
He made his way back and cracked open the door, a worried and confused look on his face as he inched into the room.
Peter immediately pulled Miles into a tight hug. He was surprised at first, but quickly accepted it and melted into his friends arms. Warmth filled his heart, a sudden urge to break down forming in his throat.
He quickly pulled away, not wanting to cry in front of his friends, and a stranger. As soon as he let go of Peter, Gwen threw herself into his arms, her hug lasting slightly less long but just as comforting.
"I missed you so much." She murmured, pulling away.
Miles responded "I missed you too."
He looked around the room, questions starting to form. "What are you guys doing here? How are you even... Who is he?"
"Oh this is Hobie." Gwen mentioned, motioning
to the tall boy. He gave an approving nod, not wanting to impose on their reunion.
"Uh... nice meeting you." Miles said as he held out his hand to which Hobie slapped and pulled into a handshake.
Miles gave a few of his other questions a second go, having been ignored the first time. "So what are you guys doing here, really? Most importantly, how?!"
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The three spent the next few hours or so explaining the spider society to Miles, and catching up on everything that happened in the past year. The entire time, Miles strained to stay focused. Not because what they were saying wasn't interesting, it was quite the opposite, but he simply hadn't had much of an attention span or any energy lately. This was the moment he had spent the past 9 months waiting for, and he couldn't even give them his full attention.
When Peter noticed Miles eyes drooping, he hinted towards the others it might be their time to go.
"Alright, well maybe we should get going, it's getting late!" He made sure to enunciate his words loudly, which worked very well to wake up the boy.
Gwen gave a confused look in Peters direction, he responded with a wide stare trying to make her understand without outright yelling it.
Their odd staring was interrupted when Miles stood "No, don't go, we just started catching up." He let out a long yawn, not really helping plead his case.
Gwen and Peter stared at each other again, as if having an entire conversation with their eyes.
Peter looked at Miles, noticing his deep eyebags and how thin he had gotten, of course he felt bad for the kid, he looked exhausted. Considering how much Miles could use the company, he gave in.
"Okay, okay. We can stay but you need to get some sleep."
_______________________
Gwen and Miles worked on setting up his bed as Peter called MJ in the other room. Hobie was out doing something Miles was unaware of, but Hobie seemed like a nice guy, so it didn't really bother him.
Miles' queen bed which was meant for two, was now set up for double its recommended amount.
Gwen was fitting sheets in the comfortable silence her and Miles had formed when it hit her how little Miles had talked about himself when they were talking earlier.
"So... How have you been?" She asked out of nowhere, which seemed to surprise Miles.
"Oh yeah, uh I've been good, yeah." he responded nodding to himself.
"Its just, you didn't really talk much earlier."
"Yeah sorry, my life is pretty boring compared to you guys, not much to say." He gave Gwen a quick smile before continuing to fill the bed in pillows.
"What? Your life is very interesting I'll have you know. I'm just sad I didn't hear more of it." she finished flatting out the blankets and sat on top, creasing them all over again.
Miles joined her on the bed and continued. "I have gotten much better at this whole spider-person thing."
"Yeah?"
"Yep" He responded, grinning proudly.
"Well I'd like to see that. We'll have to go swinging sometime."
"Definitely, we can see each other whenever we want now right? Thanks to this watch thing."
Miles pointed at Gwen’s watch.
"Right..." Gwen knew she would have to tell him the truth soon, but for now she would keep it for herself. "And it’s not a watch."
“Got it. What wou-”
Peter barged into the room, ignoring that he was interrupting a conversation. The two teens shot each other a look before giving their attention back to Peter.
"Everything is good with the wife! I'm free to have the best slumber party ever." He crawled into the blankets and laid his chin on his knuckles. "So what should we do, movies? Truth or dare? Scary stories?" He seemed to light up at every new idea he stormed.
Hobie, hearing the racket, walked in with what seemed to be every single snack left in Miles' cupboard. "You're lacking food in your fridge man” He claimed, taking his turn on the bed.
"Sorry, not much of a cook." Miles answered.
"Hey Hobie, we were just talking about what we should do at our amazing quadruple sleepover." Peter said, starry-eyed.
"How bout' sleep?" Hobie responded, unbothered.
"I could go for sleep." Added Gwen.
"Yeah okay." Peter moped, rolling over to get into a comfortable position, letting out a yawn of his own.
The four drifted off to sleep, squeezing together in Miles’ small bed.
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It was approaching three in the morning, Miles laid on his back staring at the ceiling. He could hear the breaths of his friends, which comforted him in his sleeplessness. He was squeezed to the side, left with no blankets that Peter had rolled around him on the other side.
Miles stared at the minutes passing on his clock, hoping to drift off to sleep before his mind took over. Sleep sleep sleep.
He rolled to face away from his friends, noticing that one of them had picked up the portrait on his bedside table and placed it back up. It was a portrait of him and his dad, from a few years ago on a fishing trip Jeff took him on to 'teach him to be a man'.
Staring at his dads face, Miles recognized the familiar feeling of salty tears trickling down his face. Squeezing his eyes shut he tried to hold it in, as to not disrupt the silence and wake up his friends. He quickly placed the portrait face down, but it was already indented in his mind. He sucked in a cool whiff of air, but the feeling came from much deeper. Fresh sobs rose from deep in his chest, the boy had no choice but to let them out. He hoped for a soon end to his cries but they seemed endless, leaving him gasping for air.
Gwen, being a light sleeper, was woken up by odd noise. Dots of colour filled her vision, as it focused on the darkness. After taking a moment to establish where she was, she noticed the source of the noise.
"Miles?" She whispered, through the ruckus of sobs and hyperventilating.
A high ringing filled Miles' ears, as a faint calling of his name could be heard. His heart was palpitating through his chest. Miles focused on catching his breath, failing every time a new sob rose in his throat, blocking the way.
Gwen, still half asleep, sat back down and put her arm around the boy, pulling him into a hug. She tried to comfort him through her blindness, and simply held him tightly, staying by his side.
_______________________
Peter was the first to wake up, which led to everyone else getting woken up and groggily yelling at Peter to make less noise.
"Sorry! Sorry. I gotta go, you guys sleep in." He spoke, tiptoeing out of the room.
Though they wanted to sleep more, once they were up the energy poured in quickly. A quarter hour later, they were all up in the living room.
Miles searched Gwens face with his puffy eyes, trying to tell wether she was purposefully ignoring his little breakdown or if she simply didn’t remember.
Hobie spread across the couch, it being half his size, as Gwen took a seat in front of him. The apartment was cold and quiet, an unfamiliar feeling for Miles. He had mostly spent time in his room, it was weird to see it so empty.
Miles made his way to the kitchen, wanting to make some breakfast for his friends. He opened the fridge: pickles, old cheese, lemons and a carton of milk. Eh, at least we have milk.
He grabbed the carton and made his way to the pantry to get some cereal. Gwen and Hobie took seats at the counter starting to pour themselves some bowls which they slurped up quickly.
Miles stared out the window next to his couch at his destructed city, waiting for his friends to finish eating. Debris still covered most surfaces, despite it having been almost a week. The city was more focused on the injured and bigger buildings, leaving them no time for things like debris and roadsides.
The city had lost its warmth, the people roaming the streets seemed gloomier, more blue. Really Miles’ situation wasn't unique, plenty of people lost loved ones in this earthquake, he was just one of those many unlucky people.
Miles' long train of thought was interrupted by Hobie "Sure you don't want anythin'?" He gestured at the cereal, which Gwen was putting away.
"Yeah, I'm good."
The two finished putting their dishes away and joined Miles on the couch.
"So Miles, it’s your day, whatever you wanna do, we'll do." Said Gwen as she plopped down next to him.
Miles thought for a moment though he already knew exactly what he wanted to do. “How bout you guys give me a tour of this ’spider society’ ? ”