Chapter Text
It was pretty sunny that day.. Even though no one was really feeling sunny.
Stuff.. Happened. Which, resulted in them not being able to travel home for a while. Luckily, the watches were still able to keep them from glitching.. But, the portal features were broken.
So, they were stuck in another dimension. However, at least it was Earth-616, Peter B's dimension. And Mary Jane was quick to agree to take care of the teens until the watch-issue was fixed.For now, they're here. Stuck here. For gods know how long. It's not so bad though, right?
Gwen opened the door to what would temporarily be her and Miles' room. The walls were light blue, with a window in the middle with beige colored curtains. There were 2 beds, one on the right, and one on the left accompanied by side tables with lamps. The bedsheets were blue with white trimming, seeming a bit hand-made.
The bed frames were made out of a dark wood that matched the wood of the floor and side tables. There's a desk on one side of the room, with a matching lamp as the side tables. And, a closet on the other. The walls were plain, and empty.. But, it was a cute little room.. It didn't quite feel like home, yet.
"I call the right side, I need the desk for drawing." Miles said, then flopped down onto the bed. "Hey this is actually pretty comfy."
Gwen sat down on the other bed, "Yeah, it's not so bad."
Miles sat up, and leaned his head against the wall, "I mean, c'mon, we'll only be here like… A month, tops."
She pulled her legs up onto now what was her bed, and crossed them. "You're right, it's probably just a bug." She smiled, "Plus, it's nice here.. But I'm gonna kinda worry about my dimension."
Miles looked down, "Yeah, me too.."
A silence fell over the room temporarily, until there was a knock on the open door. It was Peter, with Mayday in her little carrier.
"Hey, kiddos! How's the room?" He asked, a bit over-enthusiastic. Both teens immediately focused on him.
"It's cool, thank you and MJ for letting us stay." Gwen shifted, with a small yawn.
"Yeah, what she said." Miles points at her.
Mayday babbled, as if trying to enter the conversation as well.
Pavitr and Hobie would be staying in a room across the hallway from the other two teens. It was pretty much identical to the other, except it had a dresser instead of a closet and the walls were beige.
Pavitr went straight in. He seemed pretty happy with how the room was set up, and jumped right on one of the beds.
Hobie was still standing in the doorway, he did a quick glance around to get a sense of the layout
As if he was trying to make a mental note of everything in his surroundings.. But it was quickly broken by a subtle glimpse of the shorter boy. He was swinging his legs off the side of the bed, before hopping up and looking at the dresser. He was clearly saying something, but the punk was too busy thinking of someone else. Gayatri, and what she said that day. The day they were searching for Mayday in Mumbattan (Its my other fic)
"Hobie… You love him, don't you?"
Those words rang through his mind, constantly it felt.
She was wrong, Pavitr was just his best friend. He would know if he was in love with him, right? Plus, he's not the type to keep feelings in, he speaks his mind.. If he loved him, he would've said it already.
"Ooh, that's a cool desk- hey- Hobie.. Hobie, are you even listening?" He heard after snapping out of his little daydream-type-thing.
"Huh-? Oh, yeah." He lied, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Bit bland, though, innit?"
Pavitr crossed his arms, "Don't say that, at least we have a room to be in."
"Fair." He shrugged.
"Think of it as… One long sleepover, okay?"
"Hm. Sounds stupid."
Gwen peaked her head through the door,
"Hey, guys!"
Pavitr waved back. Hobie nodded his head in acknowledgement.
She leaned against the door frame, "So, me and Miles are gonna go check out this coffee shop. Wanna come?"
"Sounds cool, and it gives us the chance to look around a bit more, right Hobie?" Pavitr nudged him.
"Sure, nothin' better ta' do."
The four teenagers were now walking around the city.
"So, what's this place called?" Pavitr asked.
"Oh, Foam Party." She replied, looking at her phone.
Miles and Hobie glanced at each other, and tried not to laugh.
"Okay, yeah.. It is kinda funny." She snickered.
The group made their way down the sidewalk, taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Hobie and Pavitr walked side by side, their pace matching almost perfectly.
Hobie couldn’t help but stare at his best friend, noticing the little things about him that he never paid much attention to before.
His curly hair, the dimples he has when he smiles, every other detail that made him, him.
Even when they were talking to the others, Hobie kept glances at Pavitr out of the corner of his eye. This thought occupied his mind for the rest of the walk, drowning out everything else around him.
"Hey Hobie, what’s wrong?" asked Pavitr, with a look of concern on his face.
Hobie shook the weird thoughts from his mind, suddenly realizing that his good friend was staring right at him.
"Huh?" He stuttered.
"Are you okay?" Pavitr asked again. "You’re acting a little weird. Everything alright?"
Hobie sighed and looked down at the sidewalk. "Yeah… nothin’s wrong." He replied.
Pavitr tilted his head, unconvinced by Hobie’s answer.
"You can tell me, you know…" Pavitr continued, "I’m here if you ever need to talk."
Hobie remained silent for a beat before shaking his head. "There’s nothin' to talk about."' he mumbled.
Pavitr could tell Hobie was hiding something, but before he could reply,
"Hey look, there it is!" Gwen pointed at the coffee shop.
It was pretty different from the one in Miles' dimension, it had more of a soft look to it. The walls were baby blue, with a glass door displaying the hours open.
"That is not at all what I was expecting." Miles shrugged.
"The ratings for it are really good, though." Gwen read on her phone.
"No point in standin' outside like this." Hobie pointed out.
All four walked in, it smelled like fresh coffee beans. It was very decorated, and had a homey vibe to it.
"Hi, welcome to Foam Party. What can I get for you today?" One of the batistas said, almost as soon as they walked in.
"We need a minute to look at the menu." Gwen explained, smiling.
"Okay," The barista smiled back, "Take your time, there's no rush whatsoever!"
Hobie looked over the menu briefly, "I'll have a large espresso."
Miles cleared his throat, "I'll have the vanilla mocha."
Gwen looked up from her phone, "I'll take an iced vanilla latte."
Pavitr ordered, "Caramel frappuccino, please."
"Alright, and that will be $5.90 for the lot of you." The barista said.
They paid and sat down at a corner table. Gwen and Pavitr on one side, and Miles and Hobie on the other.
As they sat at their table, silence filled the group. Until one of them spoke up,
"How long do you guys wanna bet we're gonna be stuck here?" Gwen pointed out.
"I'd say… A week." Pavitr betted.
"I don't believe in gambling." Hobie said, taking a sip of his drink.
"That is… Actually kind of surprising." Gwen chuckled.
"What do you believe in at this point?" Pavitr teased with a grin.
"I don't believe in believing." Hobie teased back.
"Whatever." Gwen said with a playful eye roll, "My money's on 2 months, how about you Miles?"
Gwen then looked across the table at Miles, waiting for him to give his opinion on how long he thought they would be stuck in this dimension.
"Um.. No idea..? I'd probably guess a bit longer myself. Like.. 2-3 months?" He took another sip of his drink.
"How much money are we betting here?" Pavitr asked.
"Let's be honest, we're all broke." Gwen said, "So, like.. I dunno 50 cents?"
"That works." Miles agreed, taking a final sip from his coffee.
Miles looked over at Hobie, who was drinking his coffee, seeming spaced out again. Miles wasn't sure how to describe what he was feeling, so he just settled for clearing his throat.
"Hobie.. Are you okay?" He asked, a bit unsure.
Hobie flinched out of his own little world, "Huh?" He blinked, "Yeah… yeah, I'm fine."
He set his coffee down. "You just seemed a little uh… out of it… That's all."
"Nah, I'm great." He replied, shrugging, and getting up to throw the now empty cup away.
Soon, the rest followed, and they left the coffee shop to begin the walk home. Pavitr and Hobie walked closely next to each other, which would cause some stares from people who passed by.
Miles and Gwen walked a little bit behind the other two, holding hands.
"Hobie, you sure you're okay?" Pavitr asked, with a bit of a concerned look on his face, "You're really spaced out today.."
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's jus' the new environment, and what-not." He said, giving a nervous chuckle, as the group was walking back to their temporary home.
"You are lying. Hobie.." Pavitr said seriously, stopping suddenly in his tracks.
Miles and Gwen stopped in order to not trip over him.
"What's wrong?" Miles asked, still holding Gwen's hand.
"He's lying." Pavitr repeated, looking directly at Hobie.
"No, I'm fine." Hobie snapped, looking like he was in a hurry to get out a sentence. "I just… I… I'm.."
Hobie didn't finish his sentence, seeming unsure of what exactly he was feeling.
Then, they noticed they were pretty much right in front of the house.
"Hey, kids! You might wanna come inside, this is important!" Peter yelled out.
"Whatever.." Hobie sighed, walking towards the house.
The rest followed. As they entered, Mary Jane was sitting on the couch with a worried face, and Mayday was playing in her activity walker. The 4 teens hesitantly sat down.
"What's wrong?" Gwen asked, sitting down.
"We got a watch-call from Miguel." Peter revealed.
"What did he say?" Miles questioned.
Peter walked to the center of the room, "So, he told us, the part of the watch that travels in and out of ALL dimensions was working fine. The problem is, it's only bugged to this dimension. No one can travel in or out until it's fixed."
They were shocked.
"What… How long is it gonna be 'til they fix it?" Hobie asked, in shock. Peter was quiet.
"Miguel said, the estimated time.. Is a year." MJ spoke up, with crossed arms.
"...A year." Miles mumbled, placing his hand over his mouth. Miles stared at the watch, the color in his face fading. "You mean we're REALLY stuck here?"
Gwen gasped, "It… It can't be bugged for THAT long..."
As the teens began to panic, Pavitr stood up, and grabbed Miles' and Gwen's arms to make them stand up as well.
"Calm down, guys.." He said, "We should be happy that we're stuck on Earth-616, and not some earth that's completely unfamiliar to us.."
Miles rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "How can we be happy? We're stuck, with no way home, no way to call our parents, no way!"
"Miles is right, there's really no good way of looking at this situation." Gwen sighed, and Hobie nodded.
MJ stood up and waved her hands in caution, "Now, that's just the estimated time.. It isn't always right." Peter put a hand on her shoulder.
"She's right, but just in case we are going to enroll you guys in school." He replied.
"I don't go to school." Hobie shrugged.
"Well, you are now." MJ crossed her arms.