Chapter Text
In some universe there was a place where he was happy, where he would marry Gwen and she wouldn’t break his heart. He would be able to live his life normally without fear. Somewhere, he wouldn’t feel so hopeless, feeling subjected to being the ‘savior of the community’. He laid in his bed contemplating all of these possibilities. He knew there was no point for his wondering, but a small sliver of him wanted all of the possibilities to be reality.
Sure Miles loved getting to help people and take down super villains everyday, but at times it was just too much. Being only 16 and having the entire weight of the world on his shoulders wasn’t something he took lightly.
Amongst all of these thoughts he couldn’t stop thinking about the events that transpired the previous year. Him being told he was anomaly and he wasn’t even supposed to be Spider-Man… what did that even make him? To make matters worse he was at his parents house for the weekend instead of in his dorm room, leaving him alone with only his thoughts and no roommate to talk to.
Before he had too long to think about it he grabbed his sketch book and headphones and started to draw. Miles didn’t like to dwell on those feelings from last year. They left him feeling more helpless than ever. So he picked up his pen and got to work.
Lines of thick ink started to cover the page weaving themselves into new ideas.
New rhythms flowed through his headphones as he continued to make his mark. He considered getting up to go and add to his mural but before he could he heard a knock on his bedroom door.
“Mijo,” a smooth voice that could only belong to his mother called quietly.
“Here mama, I was just finishing up some stuff for AP Art,” he knew his mom would pick up on his lie immediately but she had already gone through enough with the knowledge that he’s Spider-Man. He looked down and the thing he was mindlessly sketching.
The familiar faces of his friends jumped out at him. Yeah it was only 2 weeks since he last saw them but he still missed them more than anything. No one could really understand what life was like besides those few.
“Well, dad’s on his way home from the station, dinner should be done by the time he gets back. I’ll let you get back to it.” She must have seen him deep in thought and decided that it was best to just leave it, they could talk about it when his dad got home. She quietly shut the door on her way out and left Miles to cope with his thoughts alone again.
Miles just sat staring at the drawing in hand. Hobie was holding his gutiar, Gwen was playing the drums, Pavitr was on the mic, and Miles was there too holding into a bass. Hobie had slowing been easing miles into learning this new instrument, but it had been far from easy.
///
“Ugh, why does it sound like a dying horse every time I try and play it and yet when you play it, it sounds angelic, well as angelic as punk can be I guess,” Miles had groaning to Hobie previously. He flopped back onto the bed as a certain brit strolled over.
“Well mate, maybe if you actually practiced ‘sept for when I’m watching then you’d be good.” Miles shot daggers to Hobie as he sat back up to reluctantly try again.
The same melody played over and over and over and over until eventually his mother had to come in and remind him that some people in the house were trying to sleep.
//
Miles didn’t exactly know why this memory decided to pop up as he looked at the sketch book. Sure all of his favorite memories included Hobie, but that didn’t mean anything… right?
He got along well with all of the rest of the spiders, even after Gwen had broken his heart she remained his best friend… just nothing more than that. And who couldn’t love Pav, he was so funny and sweet. Things were just different for miles and Hobie though. It was like an extra level of understanding and excitement. Hobie got Miles, hell Hobie saved Miles. That’s probably why Miles had about 30 pages dedicated just for him in his sketchbook.. definitely no other reason why.
“Miles dinner!” His mother called from the small kitchen in their appartment.
Just as he was turning the door handle to exit the room, a flash of color appeared where his window should have been. Objects began to float around as a tall lanky figure made their way into the dimension. Speak of the devil.
“What’s up Hobie, what makes you drop by my humble abode just in time for dinner with no announcement?”
“Ah nothing much darlin’ just wanted to see you is all.” Hobie made his way towards Miles and opened the door. “Plus Rio’s cookin’ is mad good.”
Well Miles couldn’t exactly argue with that. He sighed and let Hobie pass him and followed suit. “Thanks for the head up you were coming, you’ll just have to hope that there’s enough for you.”
“Well if there ain’t enough for me I’ll just have to eat your portion then hm?” The quiet banter and witty remarks continued until they got to the kitchen.
“Oh Hobie, I wasn’t expecting you tonight, good thing I’ve gotten in the habit of making extras now because you spider people seriously don’t like to give any notice on anything.”
“Mrs. Morales, you’re honestly bloody amazing. I wish I had a mum like you.” Miles stared at Hobie for a minute and the realization occurred that he didn’t know much about his home life… or really anything about his universe.
“Well let’s go ahead and eat so we can get to it, right Hobes?” Miles smiled a bit as he said the nickname that he had given his friend.
The three of them sat at the table and started to chow down. Soon enough Miles heard footsteps proceeding up the stairs he knew has dad was home (spidey sense and all). Sure, his dad was amazing and great but he wasn’t the fondest of Hobie which just gave him more incentive to eat faster.
“Ah, mijo slow down. You’re going to choke with the size of the bites you’re taking,” his mom scolded. “Plus don’t you want to eat with dad?”
Miles sighed and reluctantly slowed down his chewing. “Yeah mama, I’ll slow down.” Conversation continued as normal until he heard a key in the door. He glanced at Hobie from the corner of his eye and saw him messing with his vest and pins trying to be more presentable if he had to guess.
“Here let me help,” Miles said as he reached across the table knocking over a glass of water in the process. Just as that happened the door slid open to reveal his father. “Shoot, sorry let me clean that up. Hi dad happy to have you home.”
Miles practically catapulted himself away from the table and ran down the hall to grab a towel from the bathroom. When he returned he quickly wiped up his mess and politely excused himself and Hobie, who had a very strange expression on his face.
They made their way back into Miles room and to Miles surprise Hobie looked far from normal.
“Oi, thanks for super and all but I’m gonna jet now.” Hobie looked sheet white as if he’d seen a ghost.
What could have happened in that short amount of time that caused him to react like this? Miles thought to himself.
“Wait, Hobes don’t go, tell me what happened. Did my dad say something about your boots again I’m so sorry about that I told him that he needed to cut it out.” Miles was frantically trying to figure out what happened and get Hobie to stay because the very least thing he wanted right now was to be alone and be in a fight with a friend.
“Don’t worry bout it Miles. I’ll see you later, we can go swingin’ later this week.” And with barely a second glance Hobie hit a button on his homemade watch and walked right through to his portal.
Miles sat there stunned as to what had occurred and shocked as to why this happened. He just sat there, for hours. The light from his window eventually faded to black with spots of fluorescent glows from the city lights. Hours passed and he just continued to sit.
Words flowed through his brain as he was sitting there. He didn’t know what to do. His anxiety just made him question every move he made. He eventually got his brain to slow down and he was able to grab his headphones and start his playlist.
He tried to convince himself everything was fine but he knew that that was far from true. He ended up giving up to trying to rack his brain for explanations and figure it out tomorrow.
He quickly changed into his pajamas and proceeded to get ready for bed. Exhausted from the days events he fell asleep as some of the most profound lyrics rang out:
I’ve never felt so alone, felt so alone