Love is unconditional within reason
The neons overhead buzzed, occasionally flickering slightly. Gwen hated hospitals. The lack of privacy, constant background noise, too-bright lights and bland walls were sickeningly uncomfortable. She'd spent the past few days in the local hospital in Miles' universe, since she'd been in too bad of a shape to go back to Nueva York and stay at the clinic there despite the fact it would've suited her just fine. She'd been stripped of her spider-suit, mask included, to be changed in a hospital gown. Luckily, Rio was her 'main' nurse, and she often denied other nurses from coming to see Gwen. Sure, this universe probably didn't have a Gwen Stacy, but you could never be too safe.
Rio was incredibly nice. Almost too nice. Gwen had a hunch that Miles had told her to be especially kind to her, but on the other hand he had to get his unrelenting kindness from somewhere. Rio would often come visit on her own accord, sitting in the single chair in Gwen's room, and tried to chat with Gwen. She kicked up simple, pleasant conversations which Gwen didn't engage in too much at first, yet her sweet nature urged Gwen to open up and crawl out of her thick shell. Soon, Gwen found herself talking about her universe, her dad, what being Spider-woman was like, and so forth. Rio would listen, occasionally butting in with questions or quips. Gwen grew a liking toward her.
Rio wasn't her only visitor. Hobie and Pavitr often came by to visit. They'd stayed behind just to see her, crashing in Miles' room while Miles slept in his dorm. Hobie informed her what had happened, that day. How Gwen had fought so hard, but eventually succumbed to her wounds and fainted. How the building had collapsed shortly after that, and it was a miracle that she made it out without being crushed. How Miles had insisted on finding her, carried her over the rubble and revealing his identity in the process. Gwen had very few memories from that night, with only a blurred vision of Miles clutching her and speaking to her.
Speaking of Miles, he hadn't visited her yet. Both Pavitr and Rio had said he was dealing with the reprecussions of revealing his identity, and focusing all of his energy on school. He also had a few wounds of his own he needed to recover from. Rio said he often talked about visiting her, yet he seemed to be hesitant. Rio also mentionned her suspicions about him buying a gift for her, yet she'd quickly returned to treating Gwen's wound.
Gwen rubs her eyes, looking away from the neons to the door to her room. Hobie and Pavtir had decorated it with a few paper drawings they'd made in Miles' absence, and hung up a poster Miles had supposedly hinted to gifting to her. She smiles slightly. Guilt still squirms in her stomach. She hasn't properly spoken to Miles since their fight, and Miles still finds the will to be so kind to her. Part of her thinks she doesn't deserve it, to have someone so good to her. Another, more selfish part of her, says that it's only what she needs. After Peter's death, kindness toward her had been scarce. Then she'd met Miles, and her previously dull world had lit up with love and joy. Now that they were friends, best friends, it'd only be cruel to leave such a fundemantally good person like him behind.
The door creaks open. Miles' head pokes through the crack. He then slips into the room with a kind smile. Gwen blinks in surprise. Had her yearning summoned him? Regardless, he was here. "Hey Gwen," Miles greets warmly, unzipping his parka and throwing it onto the chair. He's wearing a red hoodie and blue jeans, slightly ripped at the knees. Gwen can't tell if it's on purpose or something he'd done on accident. He places a bag down and sits beside her on the bed. He looks around a moment. "See that they've decorated your room a little," he comments, pointing at the drawings.
"Yeah," Gwen replies almost breathlessly. She shakes her head a little, just now realising she hadn't returned his greeting. "Sorry, hi. I'm a little out of it," she chuckles. She heaves herself up, getting in a better position to talk to Miles.
Miles smiles wider, somehow. He looks like the sun itself. Ever since their fight, Gwen noticed that he looked much more... appealing. While they were fighting the Spot, she'd almost run into way too many lamp posts while watching him. "I can imagine," Miles chuckles, finally breaking the silence Gwen had spent admiring him. "I assume Hobie told you about what happened."
Gwen nods slowly. "Yeah..." she looks down to her hands, folded on her lap. "Why... why did you save me? I mean, we hadn't spoken since..." she can't bring herself to finish.
It gets the point across just fine though, because Miles almost looks startled. He blinks, swallowing. He recollects himself quickly. "It was to... make it up to you, I guess." He sounds unsure of his answer. Gwen assumes there's something deeper, yet she doesn't press on.
"Well, you did."
"Huh?" Miles looks up from his hands, which were also folded on his lap. He eyes her, confused.
"You made it up to me," she smiles. "I probably would've died if you didn't come looking for me." She lifts her hand, using it to rub the back of her neck, pretending to scratch an itch. Then, she places it on the matress, a little ways from Miles' thigh. She'd done it on purpose, yet hopefully Miles wouldn't catch on to that.
Miles doesn't reply for a moment longer, his gaze flicking down to her hand. He says nothing, only looks up to gaze into her eyes and smiles. "Good," he turns away, leaning down to take the bag. "I hope you don't mind if I brought you some stuff. I assume you're pretty bored..." he pauses, "I would've come sooner."
Gwen scoffs lightly, a smile spreading across her face. "I know. Show me what you got."
Miles grins, propping up one of his legs onto the matress so he could face her. Gwen scoots over a little to offer him more space. He places the bag between them. "First off, a sweater, haha!" he reveals a rather plain grey hoodie, holding it before Gwen with an awkward smile. "My mom always complains about how cold it is in the hospital, so I thought I'd bring you a sweater. It's fresh out of the wash. It's mine, but I hope you don't mind." Gwen wants to say she doesn't mind at all. She doesn't though, just offers a meager 'Thank you' and places it beside her.
"I don't know what stuff you read, so I just brought you some super-hero comics. I don't know if you have these in your universe, but they're pretty good, so I thought I'd bring 'em anyways," Miles offers her a thick stack of comics. She blinks in surprise, flipping through the first one. The drawings look unfamiliar, yet she likes them. She quickly puts the stack on her nightstand. "I can give you some more if you want, after you finish that batch."
Gwen nods, peering forward to try and see what else is in the bag. Miles clicks his tongue. "Alright, give me a second! I got you some uh..." he pauses, looking at what's inside the bag, as if he was hesitating. He then shakes his head, taking out a small box and placing it on the table beside her. "It's just some chocolates, nothin' special." Gwen blinks. Miles had bought her chocolates? He'd acted as if it was a normal thing to get someone chocolates, but it still held some significance to her. No one, apart from her dad, had bought her chocolates. Something in her chest stirrs.
"Finally, I got you some CDs. And a CD player. I hope you like what I picked. We can give it a try if you want," Miles shrugs, taking a few CDs and the CD player to go with it out of the bag. He puts the bag on the floor.
Gwen takes the CDs. The covers are foreign to her, usually showcasing the name of the album with some corny picture, yet one catches her eye. It shows a man wearing a simple white tee and jeans with a green cap standing in a sunflower field. Hills stretch in the background and a colorful orange sky outlines them. Bees buzz around the man, one of them passing in front of his face. There's no lettering on the front, and Gwen doesn't feel inclined check the back. Just this image is enough to instill curiosity. "What's this?" she asks, lifting her eyes up from the enigmatic picture.
Miles is fiddling with the CD player, presumably trying to get it to work. "Oh. That's Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator. It's a normal hip hop album. Wanna give it a listen?"
Gwen nods, and Miles gently takes the CD from her hands. He opens the box, takes out the CD and clicks it into the slot. He fiddles with the CD player again before music starts to play. He makes a sound and quickly pauses the music. "This isn't the first track, do you mind?" When Gwen shakes her head, he smiles with a nod. He gives her the title, which she looks for on the back of the box, where the track list is displayed. '911/Mr Lonely'. Miles plays the track again.
It opens with an upbeat tune and a man prompting you to call him. He then gives the number 911, which shifts into a groovy beat. Gwen glances to Miles. He's bobbing his head, humming the tune with a smile. He looks so happy. Gwen listens to the music a bit, immediately understand why Miles likes it so much. He soon starts to sing along in a high-pitched voice. Gwen focuses more on watching him instead of listening, a fond smile spreading across her lips. She starts to tilt her head from side to side, slowly since the wound on her temple still buzzed with pain. She lets the funky nature of the song fill her brain. The song then shifts into a completely different vibe, which is more like a rap. It almost sounds like a different song, which she soon realizes is indeed a different song. The theme stays consistent with loneliness, which is pretty clever. She opens her eyes again to find Miles grinning, silently rapping along.
The song ends and Miles pauses the CD player before the next one plays. He looks over to her with a bright smile. "Did you like it?" he asks, brows lifting. His eyes are almost sparkling with joy, and it send Gwen's heart fluttering.
She nods. "It's nice," she murmurs. Miles' smile grows wider somehow.
"I'm glad you like it," Miles chuckles. He takes the box and the other CDs and places them on the table, on top of the little box of chocolates. He goes on to ramble about the album, yet Gwen doesn't listen. Not really. She inches her hand closer to his knee, brushing her finger against it. The material of his jeans feels corse. She rubs it with the pad of her finger, glad to feel something other then the texture of the too tight sheets of her hospital bed. He'd stopped talking, turned to face her her. His eyes are trained on her face. When she finally builds up the courage to meet them, Miles is looking, gazing, at her with hopeful eyes. He says nothing.
"Thank you," Gwen whispers. Why does this feel so intimate? "For the gifts," she clarifies, tone louder now. Her chest flutters, and something in her yearns for more. She doesn't know what that more is, quite yet, but an idea dawns in her mind.
"No problem," Miles' voice is gentle. He takes her hand, tangling their fingers together. Suddenly, Gwen realizes what exactly her heart yearns for.
Gwen had never truly liked anyone, at least romantically. She'd had an embarassing middle school crush, but it went nowhere. Then she'd become Spider-woman, and she threw any option of that happening out of the window. Besides, she had enough things to worry about without chasing some guy to persue something romantic with him. Her natural dislike toward expressing her feelings didn't help, either, as she'd be too scared to actually tell the person. Then, Miles had crashed into her life, and their friendship blossomed. Their goodbye didn't hurt, not as much as she would've expected. It was the missing him that hurt.
The first few months back in her universe had gone by relatively smoothly, then she'd started to notice things. Things like the hip hop playing in someone's car as they drive down the street, or the spray painted walls of back alleys, or the Nike's on display at the mall. All of these things would spring up memories in her mind, memories that made her heart skip a beat and cheeks go red. At first she didn't know why, she thought it was something normal. The more time passed, the easier these memories would spring up. Soon, they weren't just memories. Her brain crafted intricate scenarios where he magically appeared in her school, much like she appeared in his. She started to wish he would be shot into her universe, seeking her guidance to get back to his. She then realized exactly what these thoughts meant. She started to understand the fluttering in her heart and the absurd wishes. She had a crush on Miles. And it terrified her.
Gwen had then tried her best to keep him out of her mind, but he crept back every day, without fail. She joined a band to try and expell her feelings through the glorious art of hitting drums with sticks, which helped a little, yet she never had a real moment of peace. In truth, looking back, she knew why she tried to hard to keep him out of her mind. She was scared of losing Miles, just like she'd lost Peter. She was scared of accidentally opening up a rift between them and their friendship, like what was happening with her father at the time. She was scared of hurting him, so she pushed him away. Then she'd joined the Spider Society and met Hobie and Pavitr, and her fears of losing him slowly ebbed away. After their reunion, those fears were no more than small whisps of doubt occasionally fogging her mind.
And now, as she looks at him, the warmth of his fingers sending sparks throughout her whole body, she wasn't scared anymore. Her heart yearned for something more, and she was okay with that. She sighs, the tension in her shoulders releasing in an instant. Miles starts to inch forward, and she moves to meet him halfway.
Their kiss is delicate. There's still a hint of hesitation in the way their lips touch, in the way Gwen's spare hand gently moves to press against Miles' arm, in the way Miles leans forward slightly. But it's nice.
Gwen pulls away first, her eyes fluttering open to meet with Miles'. They stare at eachother, silent. Miles breaks the silence by expelling a breathy "Wow." to which Gwen laughs. She tips her head back, laughing loudly and unapologetically. Miles complains a little, but eventually joins her in her laughter.
Gwen gently punches his shoulder. "God. You're such a dork," she snickers. The pair had finally stopped laughing enough to speak.
Miles smirks. "That's why you like me though, right?" he leans in further, so close that their noses are practically pressed against eachother.
Gwen smiles. "Maybe."
"I'll settle with that," Miles shrugs.
Gwen looks at him with a tender smile and cups his cheek with her hand. He's pratically lying over her, a whismsical look in his eyes. "You look nice today."
"I know," he grins.
Gwen rolls her eyes, yet her smile widens. "Can you ever just be humble?"
Miles pokes out his lower lip. "Nah. It's funnier to be overly confident."
"Sounds more like you have a huge ego!" Gwen quips.
"That too," he chuckles.
She takes the hoodie and shoves his face into it. He yells, the sound muffled by the soft cloth. He yanks it away from her and laughs. His laugh sounds so boyish still, it makes him look even more adorable than he already is.
"You're so adorable," Gwen snickers. It's meant to be a joke, yet Miles inhales sharply. He ducks his head with a bashful smile, and Gwen suddenly realizes he's blushing. He lifts his head with another sharp inhale, and he looks like he's going to reply with some sort of quip or some dorky joke, but instead, he says something Gwen was not prepared to hear in the slightest.
"I love you."
Her eyes widen slightly. The last time she'd heard those words was months away. She stays silent for a moment, expecting that rush of fear to wash over her. It never comes. Instead, she finds herself wanting to say it back. She relaxes, smiling at him. "I love you too." She expects a wash of regret, or even just a falter of doubt, but she's absolutely sure that she does. The more she thinks about it, the more certain she gets about it.
Miles grins, leaning forward and catching her lips in his. This one is deeper, all of their hesitation dissipated into confidence. They bask in the feeling, Gwen's hands cradling Miles' jaw while his hands rest on her sides, occasionally moving down to her hips. They make a few mistakes, like Miles accidentally bumps his forehead against hers a little too hard, or Gwen accidentally bites on his lip. Instead of stopping and looking away with shame, they giggle or smile against the other, because there's no reason they needed to be perfect. It was such a great comfort for Gwen, to not have to force her movements to be absolutely perfect around him. Because she knew that he loved her, imperfections and all.
Gwen just starts to shift her position, brush her hand along his chest, starts to open up more, that the door swings wide open. "Oh! Oh gosh! I am so sorry!" Rio apologizes loudly. Gwen jumps so suddenly she rams her forehead into Miles', who pulls away with a groan. He comically rolls off of her, sinking to the floor, pressing a hand to his forehead. Gwen snorts, trying her best to hide her laughter, yanking the covers up to hide her face, because she just knows she's red like a beet. "Are you done?" Rio asks with a hint of annoyance, peeking through her fingers. "Miles! What on earth are you doing on the floor?"
Miles gets back up. "Mom! What are you doing?" he asks, looking over to her with an accusatory look in his eye.
"Did you forget that I work here?" Rio snaps back, approaching Gwen with some medication. "I needed to give Gwen some of her pain meds. It's rude to ma-"
"Ma! I get it!" Miles groans, rolling his eyes with an exhasperated sigh.
Rio smiles at him, urging Gwen to let go of the covers. Miles picks up the now empty bag and snatches his coat from off of the chair. He gently places a hand on Gwen's arm as he says a few small things to Rio about school and something about an exam he had. He then turns to Gwen with a smile. "I gotta run. Bye," he quickly lands a kiss on her cheek before making his way out with a wide wave. Gwen barely has time to return his farewell.
Rio chuckles to herself. "He spoiled you," she comments with a quick gesture to the stacks of gifts on her table. "He even gave you one of sweaters. That boy is in love."
Gwen smiles to herself, a flush of red brushing over her cheeks. If Rio notices it, she says nothing. Gwen takes her medication in silence, still giddy with this day's events. She thinks that she could get used to this, and she might even miss it when she inevitably has to return to Nueva York, or her dimension. She doesn't stall on that thought for too long, though. For now, she's with Miles, and that's all she needs.