Spider verse: The Twist

Chapter 21: Beautiful

Miles's POV

Peni has almost finished making a new override key. She was down in the spider-lair working on it with May while the other spiders and I stayed up in the house.

Ham was in the kitchen raiding the fridge, Noir was polishing his guns on the kitchen counter,-which if May saw, she would probably have a crisis- and Peter was next to me on the couch with the remote in hand, as he flipped through the channels on the TV.

Gwen had been acting strange since we left the lair. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hand and gazing absentmindedly out the window. She also had not made eye contact with me since we entered the house. It made me worried.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Hey kid, you should stop staring. It's getting kinda creepy," Peter leaned over and whispered. If you could even call that whispering.

I turned to him to see a smug smirk plastered on his face. My face began to warm as I stuttered out a response, "I-I wasn't staring. I was just-"

"Miles, just don't," he chuckled, "You've been looking at her with those puppy dog eyes for the past twenty minutes."

I felt my cheeks burn again and I ducked my head down, trying and failing to hide my blush. Peter snickered in response. I looked back up at him and sighed in defeat, "It's just... she seems off. She hasn't said a word since we came up here."

"Maybe you should talk to her. She probably misses her family. Her parents are probably worried sick. Wouldn't yours be?" he responded. He nudged my shoulder and gave me another grin, "And while your at it, maybe you could tell her that you like her."

My brain all but short circuited at his comment. I opened my mouth to protest his assumption, but no words came out. My tongue suddenly felt as dry as sand.

Peter laughed softly at my reaction. "It's not that hard to tell," he spoke quietly, "I mean you might as well tell her now. After we all go back to our dimensions, who knows if you'll get another chance to see her again." He paused after saying that and his face scrunched up. He seemed to be saddened at the likely possibility.

The thought did not sit right with me either. I knew they had to go back to their dimensions, but a part of me wished they could stay. In the short span of time they have been here, these heroes have become like a family to me.

At that moment another glitch coursed through Peter. He clutched his stomach and let out a small groan. It was not a strong, painful one like the previous ones had been, but just enough to get the point across.

"They can't stay."

I sucked in a breath and stood, wincing as the bandaged cuts on my torso began to flare in pain. I hobbled over to Gwen and plopped down in the chair beside her. She still did not look at me. She only gazed obliviously out the window. I slowly lifted my hand and placed it on her shoulder.

"Hey," I spoke lightly, trying to grasp her attention. She turned to look at me, a bit surprised, seeming to have just now noticed my presence. Her cheeks dusted with a light pink and I could not help but smile a bit at the sight.

She looked away from me again as I questioned her, "You okay?"

She nodded and turned to me with a distant look on her face, "Yeah... Yeah I'm fine. I'm just wondering how my dad's doing. He's probably freaking out right now."

I was not entirely sure what to say so I just listened. "My dad's a cop," she stated before she let out a humorless laugh, "He's probably sent a out whole SWAT team to look for me by now."

"What about your mom?" I asked curiously, but instantly recoiled at the pained expression on her face.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't know," I spit the words out, hoping that she would not get angry with me.

"Miles it's okay," she assured me, placing her left hand on my shoulder and cracking a small smile, "My mom died when I was six. I don't have much memory of her." I placed my hand on top off hers, which was resting on the table as I urged her to continue.

She let out a sigh, gazing dolefully ahead of her, "My dad would tell me as a kid that she was...the most beautiful lady that he'd ever laid eyes on."

I took our hands off the table and placed them in my lap lacing her fingers with mine, which sent sparks through me. She finally looked at me, her cheeks once again tinting with a pretty light pink. I spoke to her gently, quiet enough for only us to hear, "Well, now I know where you get it from."

I surprised myself with the words that escaped my mouth and I could feel the blush creeping up my neck. I looked over to Gwen finding that her expression was even more stunned than my own. Her lips were parted slightly, her eyes wide with astonishment, and her face was now crimson red. She looked down at our intertwined hands and she bit her lip, blushing impossibly more.

It was honestly adorable.

Gwen's POV

"How is he doing this?"

All it took was few words and I devolved into a mess before him. I looked up at his smiling face. His cheeks were dusted in a light red. Even just seeing him smile made my cheeks flare.

"What's wrong with me?"

This all felt so bizarre. It felt like a dream that I would soon wake up from. I had only just met Miles and, yet I felt like I had known him my whole life.

"Are these feelings normal?"

When I first arrived in this dimension my spider-sense brought me to Miles. It did not bring me to the other Spider-Man. It chose Miles... Maybe it knew something that I did not.

I felt different around Miles. I felt a connection with him. I felt happy around him. I felt safe with him. He made me feel things I had never experienced before...

And I loved it.

I wanted more of it.

Miles nervously lifted his hand that was not holding mine and placed it gently on my cheek. I felt my breath hitch in my throat and goosebumps blaze a fiery trail down my skin. Our eyes locked and he brought our foreheads to rest against each other. My unoccupied hand gravitated from his shoulder, down to his arm.

I felt his breath fan against my face. We both closed our eyes as our faces inched closer. Our lips were only a couple inches apart. My cheeks were burning and I could feel Miles's hand trembling as he brought us closer. He was just as nervous as I was. Our noses brushed and I could feel my heart pounding against my rib cage, like a hammer against wood.

Just as our lips were mere centimeters apart we sprang back at the sound of Peni bursting through the back door.

"Guys! Guys! I finished building the key!" she squealed, hopping up and down as she waved the new goober in the air. A low growl escaped my throat.

"Peni... Worst timing ever."

A/N

Happy New Year Everyone!

I'm sorry that I didn't update last week.
I had family over for Christmas and I didn't get any time to sit down and write a chapter.
I'll probably wrap up this story in a few chapters, but I really did love writing it.

Thanks for reading!