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“¿Oye, Miles? Ven aquí.” *“Hey, Miles? Come here.”
“Sí, Mami. ¿Qué necesitas? *“Yes, Mom. What do you need?”
After meeting Earth-42’s Miles Morales and learning about his understanding and use of the Spanish language, as well as previously being scolded as to why he received a B in his Spanish class, Earth-1610’s Miles was determined to deepen his knowledge of it.
He had been practicing his Spanish every day, repeating what his mother would say and receiving feedback, having conversations with his Spanish-speaking neighbors that mostly consisted of him responding in English, but trying to understand the sentences directed to him, and using phrases in Spanish often.
“¿Puedes comprar cuatro manzanas y cinco plátanos mientras estás fuera?” *“Can you buy four apples and five plantains while you are out?”
“Why that specific amount, Mom?” Miles laughed and grabbed his jacket.
“Can you just go get what I asked for, ¿por favor?” Rio huffed, jokingly, and handed Miles a few dollars in cash. *“please?”
“Sí, me voy. ¡Hasta luego! Love you!” *“Yes, I’m going. See you later!”
Rio shook her head playfully at the now closed front door and smiled.
Miles swung to the top of a building and set his backpack down, deciding a few weeks ago that he needed to start storing his civilian clothes in a bag to avoid having his Jordan’s stolen (again). He had also managed to stuff the apples and plantains in the bag as well, though he couldn’t explain how even if he tried.
“Okay, Miles. She’ll be here en cinco minutos. Eso debería ser tiempo más que suficiente para-” *“five minutes. That should be more than enough time to-”
“Hey, Miles.”
Miles yelled and jumped, tripping over the backpack on the ground and falling on his butt. “-recuperar el aliento,” Miles wheezed out. *“-catch my breath.”
Gwen leaned against an AC unit and covered her laugh with her hand. “Not you falling for me!”
“Oh, haha. Whatever.” Miles stood up and brushed the dust off his backside. “What’s up with you getting here early?”
“There’s a time difference between your earth and mine.” Gwen walked over to Miles and brushed past his shoulder, playfully, saying, “Technically, I arrived on time, which is relative, right?”
“¿Por qué ella está sacando eso a colación de nuevo?” Miles muttered to himself. *“Why is she bringing that up again?”
“What was that?” Gwen asked over her shoulder as she looked out at the city.
“Nada.” Miles smirked. *“Nothing.”
Gwen returned the look and turned to face him. “Y’know, lately, you’ve really been making me tap into memories of Spanish class from elementary school.”
“You haven’t taken Spanish since the fifth grade?”
“My school system was different.” Gwen shrugged. “German is more popular.”
“For real?”
“Ja.” *“Yes.” in German
“Dang,” Miles said in awe and Gwen laughed it off.
“I only know basic German though. Enough to pass the class with a B minus. Being a Spidey and all.”
“I feel that.” Miles scratched his ear in slight embarrassment and web-shot his backpack to the AC unit Gwen was leaning on before. “Alright, ¿estás lista? You ready?”
Gwen pulled her mask down to cover her face and brought her hood up. “Siempre.” *“Always.”
“Ahhh,” Miles waved a finger at her with a large smile before pulling his own mask down and leaping with her off the roof of the building and swinging through the city.
They have done this frequently since the whole Spot-Prowler-Canon Breaking-Anomaly ordeal went down and everybody in Team Miles (the only person who refers to their group as this is Miles) received their own, patent-pending, Hobie-Mobile watches. Visiting each other’s earths was a norm for them, but Gwen liked to visit Earth-1610 a little bit more than the others for a, totally not specific but completely obvious, reason.
Miles had visited Earth-65 before, but the changing color schemes left him with more questions than Gwen had answers for, so she prefers to come to his earth. Besides, she gets to see him in his natural element.
“¡Hola, señor Gutiérrez! ¿Cómo está la tienda?” *“Hello, Mr. Gutiérrez! How’s the store?”
Miles and Gwen swung down to greet a produce shop owner organizing fruit outside his store.
“¡A la tienda le está yendo bien! ¡Veo que tienes a tu amiga contigo!” He sent a wink Miles’ way, and the eyes on his mask widened comically. *“The store’s going well! I see you have your friend with you!”
“Ah, no, ella es solo mi amiga.” Miles emphasized, but Mr. Gutiérrez laughed heartily. *“she’s just my friend.”
“Pero desearías que ella fuera más que tu amiga, ¿verdad?” *“But you wish she was more than your friend, right?”
Miles sputtered and Gwen tilted her head in amusement, trying to decipher what was being said. Miles waved his hands in front of him bashfully as he backed up. “¡Que tenga un buen día, señor Gutiérrez!” *“Have a nice day, Mr. Gutiérrez!”
He laughed as Miles swung away and Gwen followed behind him, a question on her face that she suspected she wouldn’t get an answer to.
There were a few more occasions of this along their swing as Miles would call out to people or respond to people calling out in Spanish, as he provided directions to locations, and as he gave exasperated phrases in Spanish when he tripped over his own feet, lost where Gwen went, and when he found her sitting by his, now free, backpack.
“How long have you been sitting here?”
Gwen smiled, proudly. “Too long.”
“Why do you like messing with me?”
“Because it’s fun?” Gwen stuck her tongue out at him and threw his backpack towards him. “Oof, why is your bag so heavy?”
He sat down in front of her and placed his bag next to him. “Because I have big, strong shoulders to carry the weight.” He flexed and Gwen laughed.
“You could probably benchpress twice your body weight, huh?”
“Nah, nah. I can benchpress Miguel .”
“Ooh, that’s a big claim.”
“It’s not a claim if it’s true.”
“Is it true?”
“No.” Miles and Gwen shared a loud laugh and their body posture relaxed.
The sun was starting to set and the sky was painted with magenta, orange, and purple hues, all cascading down towards the horizon. The colors were reflected in the windows around them and filled the streets with the pigments.
“Your earth is beautiful.”
“Yours is too. Though, why do the colors always-”
“Miles,” Gwen laughed out and shook her head. “I don’t know, haha!”
Miles sighed and propped his head up with his hand. “I guess that’s a mystery, huh?”
“Yup,” Gwen popped the ‘p’.
They sat for a little while before an alarm went off.
“Shoot.” Gwen raised her watch and turned off the alarm. “I have to go.”
“Oh,” Miles said softly. He stood as she did and they fidgeted quietly, not making a move to leave.
Miles’ phone rang and he fumbled to get it out of his bag. “Hi, Mom…I know, I’m sorry…Todavía estoy con mi amiga…Sí, es la chica que conozco de la escuela…No, Mami, ella no es mi novia…Okay…I’m heading home…Love you too.” *“I’m still with my friend…Yes, it’s the girl I know from school…No, Mom, she is not my girlfriend…”
“Everything okay?” Gwen asked hesitantly.
Miles put his backpack on in a hurried manner. “Yeah, no, everything’s good. My mom’s wondering where I am, no big thing. I’ll, uh,” Miles stopped to lightly hold one of Gwen’s hands at chest-level. “I’ll see you later?”
They stared at each other in slight surprise (even Miles because wow, that was a bold move) and a light blush brushed across Gwen’s face. She breathed out, “Yeah,” and Miles smiled wide before pulling his mask down, giving her a quick wave, and swinging in the direction of his house.
The hand that held his, though they were clothed by their suits, remained warm and Gwen brought the hand to rest under her collarbone. “I’m going to do it,” she said to herself. She activated the watch Hobie made and left Earth-1610 to return to Earth-65. This is where, for the next week, she would spend crafting and practicing a declaration to Miles.
It was no secret that Gwen and Miles were into each other. They knew it as well. But, it was something that hadn’t been verbalized yet. The passing glances, the soft touches, the playful remarks, they all carried a weight of an unspoken feeling that seemed to tighten her chest whenever they were alone. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but rather it was nice to feel this way about someone. However, the canon events for the many Peter Parker’s who fell in love with their Gwen Stacy’s posed a threat to the possibility of Miles and Gwen’s relationship. Yet, she would remind herself, “He may be Spider-Man, but he’s Miles Morales, not a Peter Parker. Things can be different.”
This is what pushed her to knock on his front door, fixing any loose strands of hair before the door opened. Jefferson looked at her with an eyebrow raised and she laughed, nervously.
“Hello, Captain Morales. You’re looking..powerful.”
His eyebrow raised higher.
“Ahah, that’s not the right word, um. You look fit.”
“Do you need Miles?”
Gwen’s shoulders slumped and she sighed as she said, “Yes. Please. Thank you.”
The raised eyebrow remained as Jefferson yelled into the house, “Miles? Your friend is here!”
Miles’ head immediately emerged around the corner and his face brightened as he saw Gwen standing in the doorway. “Gwe-wanda, hey!”
“Hi, Miles.”
“I’ll leave y’all to it.” Jefferson walked towards the living room and then turned around sharply. “But, watch it.”
Miles gulped. “Yes, sir.”
Jefferson eyed them as they closed the front door behind them.
“You’d think after months of knowing your parents, our interactions would be easier.” Gwen rubbed the back of her neck and Miles cringed.
“Yeah, but they’re not completely against you, so that’s something. You’re definitely getting bonus points for not using their first names.”
“They’re against me?”
“Anyway, what’s up? Wanna spend another summer afternoon with me?”
Gwen started walking away. “Yes, but,” She turned around quickly, “I came here to tell you something. Can we…go to the roof?”
“Sure.”
They walked up the side of the building, opting to avoid the fire escape, and Miles pulled out the bean bag chairs he stored in the corner of the roof. “Here you go. They’re a little warm, but I had them in the shade.”
“Thanks.” They sat down and Miles looked at Gwen expectantly. She took a deep breath in and looked everywhere but at Miles. “So, I have something I’ve been working on, and it’s a little more sappy than I usually work with, but, eh, Dad said it sounded alright, so.”
“I’m ready when you are.”
She gave him an appreciative smile and she closed her eyes. Facing his direction, she took another breath in, though it was calmer than the first. She began, “Miles,” he leaned in, “yo disfruto estar cerca de ti.” His eyes widened and he sucked a breath in. She spoke slowly, and her pronunciation was a bit off, but he suddenly found that he couldn’t hear anything else in Brooklyn, except her.
“Me gusta cuando tú eres feliz. Gracias por tu apoyo. Um..Tú eres bonita.” Miles breathed a laugh through his nose. “Tú hablas español, así…..que es..por eso….que escribí esto.” Gwen’s voice was shaking and her face was scrunched almost painfully so. Miles slowly reached a hand out, wanting to reassure her, but not wanting to distract her as she recalled what he could tell she had studied and rehearsed. His heart swelled with emotion and it overflowed when she timidly said, “Miles?.....Te amo.”
A sound came from Miles as he covered his mouth and fought back the tears that raced to be the first one to leave his eyes. Gwen opened her eyes at the noise and after she blinked her vision back into focus, she gasped when she saw him wiping at his eyes.
“Miles…I…” Tears of her own began to form and she looked at the city to ready herself for his response.
“Gwen..” She slowly turned to face him and he, oh so gently, held her hands in his and squeezed them with just enough pressure as if to say, ‘It’s alright.’ He brought her hands to his mouth and lightly kissed them both as his eyes closed. “Thank you. Really. Gracias.” *“Thank you.”
“Miles, I enjoy being around you. I like it when you are happy. Thank you for your support. Um, you are pretty. You speak Spanish, so……that is why….I wrote this. Miles…..I love you.”
Her words warmed him like the afternoon sun and though they sat in silence now, it still felt like the only one he could hear was her, like her shaky breaths and her fingernails clicking as they connected with each other from where they are held against his mouth. He knew that she may have wanted to say more, but could only remember so much, leading to her short sentences. But, he still felt that what she wanted to convey came across clearly.
He opened his eyes and her teary eyes met his. She had a crooked smile on her face and he had never seen her face so red, not even after they had a hanging upside-down contest. She was truly beautiful and he realized he can tell her that.
“You are beautiful.”
Her face lit up in shocked bashfulness as she jumped and tried to hide her face behind her hair. “Oh.”
“So beautiful. And so funny. And genuine.”
She curled into herself, her hands still held to his lips as he spoke these things to her. He hoped that his words would travel through her hands to her heart so she truly knew that he meant every syllable.
“I thank God that I met you.”
She looked up and her tears flowed.
“You have changed my life for the better. I couldn’t imagine living a life that didn’t have you in it, Gwen Stacy.”
She covered her mouth with a hand to stifle a cry and he brushed his thumb over the knuckles of the hand he still held. He brought it off his mouth and laid their hands between them, though he didn’t take his eyes off hers.
“You doing this for me? So meaningful and so thoughtful. You know how hard I’ve been trying to get better at my Spanish and I know you have trouble understanding what I’m saying sometimes, but you never made me feel bad for it. You embraced the whole me. And you!” He laughed warmly. “You confessed to me in Spanish! I am even deeper in love with you now.”
Gwen leaned forward to rest her head on Miles’ shoulder as she cried and he wrapped his arms around her, wiping his own tears away.
When she calmed down and they both awkwardly wiped their faces and stood to stretch, Gwen looked at Miles and began to laugh.
“What?” Miles put his hands on his hips.
Gwen brushed her hair back with her hand and she shook her head. “That was so emotional.”
Miles laughed too, “Yeah, well, that’s what happens when we bottle up what we felt for over a year and have come close to dying multiple times during then.”
“Yeah, we’re in a dangerous line of work.” They laughed again and Miles walked closer to Gwen. “Miles?”
“Gwen, te amo.”
She froze and Miles put his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. “I realized I didn’t say it outright.”
Gwen rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Don’t pretend to be all cool when you say it when I was blubbering like a baby!”
“How do you know I’m not the most chill I've been in this moment than I’ve ever been?”
“Because you were crying with me.”
“That’s- Hey!”
Gwen laughed as she put her bean bag chair back in the corner it came from. “Don’t try to deny it either.”
Miles huffed as he took his chair too. “Whatever.” With a plop, the bean bag chairs were back and Gwen leaned against the wall of the small part of the building’s roof that housed the stairs. Miles placed a hand near her head and he asked, “Hey, when you were studying what words to say,” Gwen rolled her eyes again, “how much research did you do?”
“Let’s just say that I became well-acquainted with online translators.”
Miles chuckled and leaned a bit closer. “Well, would you understand it if I asked this in español?” *“Spanish?”
She smirked and asked, “Understand what?”
“¿Quieres ser mi novia?”
Gwen’s smirk grew. “Hmm, I’m sorry, I don’t think I understood that. Mind saying that in English?”
Miles' face showed that he knows that she knew exactly what he asked her, but he decided to play along. “Maybe I do mind saying it in English.”
“Bummer. Just like your questions about my earth, I guess we won’t know the answer to your question, then, huh?”
“I suppose so. But maybe I can ask a different way?”
“Go ahead.”
Their faces were inches apart now, both becoming increasingly aware of their proximity and kind of freaking out about it. How did they drag this out for so long? The chemistry was so reactive that they now understood Pavitr’s frustrations about when they were going to become a couple. Mere centimeters separated them now and they felt that everything they went through culminated into this moment.
Cue the door opening.
“Okay, so we can set up the rooftop like we did for my promotion party and- Miles?!”
Miles flung himself away from Gwen and nearly fell over. Gwen winced and turned her head, placing her hand so Jefferson and Rio couldn’t get a view of her face.
“Miles? ¿Qué está pasando? What are you doing up here?!” *“What’s going on?”
“And with Emo?!”
“Sir, please stop calling me that.”
“What was that?!!”
“Dad, Mom! Look, we weren’t really doing anything.”
“That’s not what that looked like!”
“I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Morales, I had-”
“Nonono, we want to hear it from him.”
Miles put his hands up to show his innocence and Gwen covered her face with her hands. Jefferson and Rio crossed their arms and tapped their feet and Miles found it remarkable how in sync they were.
With a groan and glance at Gwen, Miles pursed his lips and stated, “She told me that she loved me in Spanish.”
Gwen’s face heated up in embarrassment as she gave Miles an incredulous look at him telling all her business. Looking at his parents’ faces, though, reassured her as they softened.
“She did that for you?” Rio placed her hands on her chest above her heart and she gave Gwen a soft look.
Jefferson shook his head in shock and pushed up his glasses. “Wow, that’s…that’s what I did for…” He looked to the side to meet Rio’s loving gaze and he cleared his throat. “But that still doesn’t excuse-”
“Jeff.” Rio leaned into his side. “We did the same thing, but nobody stopped us. ”
A cough came from Jefferson now and Gwen hid a laugh while Miles gave a full-body shudder. “My love, not in front of the children.”
“I’m just saying,” Rio walked over to Miles and Gwen and held both of their hands, “Maybe, it’s okay.”
“What?!”
“Ignore him.” She winked at the teens and they amusedly took in Jefferson’s baffled expression. “Gwen?”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “No, it’s not Gwen, it’s G-”
“‘Gwanda’? I don’t think so. You too are pretty inconsistent with that.” Miles and Gwen gave each other wary glances. “We’ll ask about that later, but for now, Gwen, you obviously care for our son. You make him happier than new shoes or new art supplies.” Miles laughed sheepishly. “He has been trying to learn Spanish more these past few weeks and for you to show your support by telling him how you feel in Spanish tells me all I need to know about you.”
Gwen nervously shifted her weight on her feet as she respectfully asked, “And what may that be?”
Rio smiled and put the hands she held into one another's before stepping back to watch Miles and Gwen’s hands rearrange to fit better. “You love him for who he is. That’s good enough for me.”
Jefferson slowly walked up behind Rio and placed his hand on the small of her back. “I guess that’s good enough for me, as well.” He raised a finger to point at them. “But no babies until y’all are out the house and married, okay?”
“Babies?!” They both sputtered out and Rio laughed at their reaction and gently bumped her hip into Jefferson’s.
“It’s time to get going, mi amor. We can plan the summer cookout later. ¿Está bien?” *“my love…okay?”
“Está bien.” Jefferson leaned down to kiss the top of Rio’s head and he gave Gwen and Miles scrutinizing looks before turning with Rio to go downstairs. *“Okay.”
When the door finally closed, Miles and Gwen let out deep breaths and Miles leaned onto the wall like his knees would have gone out.
“Dude, I know what it’s like to have a police captain as a dad, but your dad gives me a whole new understanding of it!”
“You have no idea.”
They both caught their breaths and calmed down before laughing at the whole situation.
“Today has been emotionally exhausting.” Gwen scrubbed her face with her hands and Miles nodded beside her, both of them having their backs leaned against the wall.
“But, it’s been in a good way, right?”
Gwen turned her face towards Miles and he did the same, their faces inches apart again. She smiled at him, which he returned, and she responded, “Definitely.”
Miles reached his hand to brush her hair away from her face and his other found her hand and held it. His hand lingered on her face and their gazes filled the atmosphere with so much love and gentleness.
“Can I ask that question again? The one from earlier?”
Gwen nodded. “Yeah. I think I recall the wording of that question from my studies to understand it.” Miles snorted and Gwen laughed, both knowing that she for sure was contemplating asking him that question during her confession.
Bringing her face closer to his, Miles asked, softly, “¿Quieres ser mi novia?" *“Will you be my girlfriend?”
Gwen felt that unspoken weight from before being lifted off her chest. Nothing was left unsaid now and everything was on the table. No more, “Will they? Won’t they?” that Pav had once so theatrically asked. This was it and there was no shying away now. Gwen said she was going to do it and this is her chance to complete it. No worrying about how they’ll make this work from two different universes nor what this might mean for the multiverse. They’ll approach it if, God forbid, it poses a problem. For now, in this moment with the boy who has saved her life countless times, who unintentionally motivates her to continue improving and working hard, and who she is deeply, head-over-heels, in love with, she chose to answer in the way she had been dreaming of.
“Sí, mi amor. Yo quiero ser tu novia.” *“Yes, my love. I want to be your girlfriend.”