The past month has been what you could describe as the best time of your life.
You feel confident enough to say, that you and Miguel O'Hara are friends. Close friends, at that. Your almost daily meetings allowed you to learn things about one another that not many people knew.
He told you about his past. His past... mistakes, and how he tried to live in the other man's shoes, just to fix a gaping wound in his heart.
In return, you told him about your past. How the bite from a radioactive spider impacted your life, and how it eventually made you drop out of college, and distance yourself from your friends and family, cause they simply wouldn't understand.
Miguel told you about his Spider-Man transformation. How a spiteful man sabotaged his career, tried to manipulate him into staying, and in the end, how in an attempt to return to a normal life, someone sabotaged the procedure, irreparably splicing his DNA with the genes of a spider.
You told him how thankful you are to the Spider Society, since between being a hero and working at a goddamn convenience store, you didn't really have a life apart from it (not until he came around, at least).
He told you how Spider Society is his life. How the discovery of the Web of Life and Destiny was both a blessing and a curse. How he seemed to be the only one who cared to keep things from falling apart.
You told him that you care too. That he doesn't have to do this alone, and that his friends and companions, despite what he might think, would always be there for him.
He told you that he doesn't cry.
You dried his tears.
Needless to say, the two of you became close.
- - -
"I'll be gone for a week." You say as you bring a cup of cappuccino (whole milk, two spoons of sugar) to Miguel's table. In front of him lay various documents, scattered around as he goes between them and the holographic text hovering above his watch.
"What, why's that?" He turns his head, accepting the mug from you. He puts it on the table as you pull up a chair and sit next to him. "Anything I should be concerned about?"
"No, nothing major, don't worry." You assure him, and put your hand on his, giving it a little squeeze. You can feel him tense under your touch.
Despite being friends, Miguel is pretty aversed to physical touch. He explained to you that it's not that he doesn't want it, or crave it. It's just a lot for him, and he still needs some time to recover. You told him you understand, and keep your touches to the minimum. You yearn for the day when you can finally hug the man.
"Mrs. Chen is sick, she needs some time off." You continue and take a small sip of his coffee. "Mmm, sweet. She asked me to run the store for a week while she recovers."
"And you're sure there's no one else that can do it instead?" Miguel takes back his cup, also taking a sip. "I like it sweet, get your own coffee if you don't like it."
"Yes, but then I wouldn't be stealing from you." You smile at him. "But no, there's not really anyone else, I'm her only employee."
"So what are you planning to do, you're gonna leave Gwen alone for a week?" Asks Miguel, voice muffled from behind his cup.
Somewhere down the line, your coffee shop became a really popular destination for spider people of all shapes and sizes. The number of clients you had became overbearing.
It was the final push you needed to finally get some help around here.
You asked the only person you knew would accept the job - Gwen Stacy herself.
Miguel confirmed your thoughts regarding the girl - when not on a mission, she is either at Hobie's dimension, at the gym, or simply, in her room. Aka, she has a lot of time on her hands (that is, when things are not actively going down).
You extended the offer to her and she was ecstatic. With her help, your coffee joint was now opened five days a week - three for you, and two for Gwen. It took her some time to get around all the different recipes and techniques, but in the end, she became a pretty competent barista.
She learned from the best, after all.
The only person that doesn't like her drinks is Miguel - he always argues that they are missing 'something'. Well, you never added 'anything' special, so you think he just made that up so that you can make his coffee. He's so clingy (you love it).
"Already texted her the idea. She said she can be here four days max - that's more than okay for me." You look down at the scattered papers. "I wanted to say that I hope your week will be better than mine, but these don't look promising." Miguel closes his eyes and sighs.
"This was originally Jessica's case, but I took over. It concerns one of our best men, and I need to oversee it personally." You take in his serious expression and connect the dots in your head.
"Aah, you mean your favorite Lego™ Spider-Man?" Miguel adores the little guy, despite arguing with you that he doesn't play favorites. Normally you would be jealous, but after seeing a video of the said figurine in action... you know that Miguel's adoration, and well, respect, is well placed. "What's going down in Legoland?"
"Lego-Dimension," He corrects you. "Earth-314. They have a concerning anomaly - Scorpion from Earth-6799. Normally it wouldn't be such a concern, but-" He enlarges the hologram of his watch, showing you a recording of Lego Dimension.
Everything seems normal at first, but then, through a multicolored hole in the sky - appears the villain. He is much bigger than everything in the world around him (not a problem for Lego™ Peter), and his arrival causes chaos. Scorpion roars and shoots venom from his tail at the (now evacuated) street. You gasp, as you see the slimy liquid melt the plastic street, going through it like a knife through butter. The clip ends.
"Where is he now?" You ask, concerned for all the plastic people.
"Peter already captured him."
Oh.
You smack his arm. "Don't scare me like that, Jesus! So, what's the issue, now that he's captured?"
"The carnage he left behind is nothing like they've ever seen. He destroyed so many structures... thank god no one was killed." Miguel huffs, downing the rest of his coffee in one gulp. "The real issue lies in the, for the lack of a better word, size difference between our dimensions. How are we supposed to help them if they're at risk of getting squashed?"
"...you pick small spider people for the team?"
"We pick small spider people for the team." He confirms but doesn't elaborate.
"...you don't have small spider people."
"We have one, but he is already a resident of that world." He sighs into his hands, shaking his head. "So yeah, it's tough."
"Text me all the updates when I'm gone." He smiles at you and nods, but eventually goes back to the papers.
A comfortable silence falls between you two, and you relax by his side. You lean on your arms so that half of your upper body is laying on the table and close your eyes. Your shift starts soon, might as well save the energy.
As you close your eyes, Miguel ceases his work and focuses on you instead. He's been doing that a lot lately, staring at you, that is. You wouldn't know, since he always makes sure to do it when you wouldn't notice.
The past month has been what he could describe as the best time of his life.
He opened up to you, and told you all about his past, something that only some of his coworkers knew, because, well, he was a safety hazard.
You're one of the few people in his life that doesn't just take from him - you give, and you give so much that is overflowing his heart and he doesn't know what to do.
Miguel knows what he's feeling.
At first, he thought it was just a passing attraction, a crush if you will. But now... now he knows that this is real.
Normally, after such realization, he would stop beating around the bush and confess.
But these are not normal circumstances.
He can't, he won't risk the friendship that you've so carefully built. You probably don't feel the same about him anyway, he ponders.
Sometimes when he can't focus in his office, he turns on the far left monitor, the one where a small, printed photo of your coffee drawing hangs, and watches you as you work.
You're nice to everyone. You treat them just as well as you treat him, and they return your kindness in doubles.
He won't risk destroying your friendship with his feelings. What you now have is good (but not enough).
Miguel sees you stir, and promptly 'returns' to his work. A few seconds later, you open up your eyes and look at him.
You smile, and he smiles back.
Yea, he thinks, maybe this is enough.