Chapter Song Rec: Company by Justin Bieber
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Miles' POV (how tf do you say Miles's is it Miles' or Miles's??)
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RINGGGG
Miles slowly walked out of his chemistry class, looking down at his phone while he followed the crowd towards his locker, ready to put his textbook away before he went to lunch and sat with you, Maria and Ravi, who were apparently his new friends at this strange school.
Last night had been...interesting for him.
He hadn't been expecting you to agree to let him join you and he definitely hadn't been expecting to see you break down like that. He didn't know anything about you, other than the few things Roxanne had told him.
It all seemed to make sense now. Why you were so cut off, why he'd always hear people whispering about you in the halls. The same had happened to him after his dad's death. He'd cut himself off from his friends and grown aggressive, refusing to even hear his dad's name.
He never spoke about what happened. Not with Uncle Aaron. Not even with his mom. Pushing it down, in his eyes, was the best way for him to cope and it was the only way that he knew. Either way, he knew what happened to your brother was horrible and he completely understood your intentions for your research into his case and the so-called V.E.N.O.M. project.
Although he didn't really understand his own.
Why was he so interested in helping you? He didn't know. In fact, he hated himself for it.
He was a goddamn villain...so why did he want to protect you and your interests? Why did he want to help you so badly?
He blamed it on his own experiences with Oscorp and the Sinister Six, telling himself that he wanted to help you because you reminded him of himself. But deep down, he knew that wasn't the only reason, even if he refused to admit it.
Miles opened the locker half-heartedly, still looking down at his phone, when he noticed a small brown bag in the back. He examined it with a frown. He didn't remember leaving that there...?
He gently picked it up and peered inside, the smell of chicken flooding his senses. A sandwich? Inside the bag was what looked like a hot lunch, with a small chicken sandwich wrapped neatly in tinfoil, a ziplock bag with chips, and a green apple. He turned the bag over while examining it and noticed, that on the back was a small note written in flourished handwriting.
| So you don't go hungry <3
"What?" He muttered under his breath, looking back inside confusedly. "Who-"
His eyes lit up at the realization. Who else could it have been?
You.
Of course! He recalled how you'd asked him yesterday if he'd had a lunch, seeming a little put-off when he'd responded with a no. You must've dropped off a lunch for him 'cuz you felt bad or something. He thought to himself, a slight smile spreading across his face. You cared.
He knew he was probably being delusional. He knew it didn't mean that much. But after your conversation last night and yesterday's whole friendship arc, he couldn't help but feel smitten. Maybe he was finally cracking the exterior everyone else said was the real you. He tried, but failed, to wipe the grin off his face before taking the bagged lunch with him to go find you.
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Your POV
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"You dropped off a lunch for him?" You asked Maria with an amused look, in disbelief.
"Yeah...do you think he'll like it?" She asked excitedly, sitting down at the table next to you.
"I think you're delusional" Ravi butted in grumpily, obviously not happy with the fact that Maria was crushing on 'a guy she didn't even know', or so he put it. "Why not just give it to him here? Why act like some sort of secret admirer?" he asked with an eye roll.
You chuckled quietly as Maria shot him a dirty look. "I'm just having fun! Plus, I don't want him to know it's me. I don't want him to think I'm weird or something-"
"Too late." you mumbled under your breath, earning a smack on the arm from her. "ow!" you groaned out, clutching your arm.
"Hey."
You heard a deep voice and you turned to the side, watching Miles as he slid into the seat next to Ravi, directly across from you. Ravi visibly cringed at this action, watching Maria with puppy eyes as she began to ogle Miles.
"Hi." She said softly, resting her chin in her hand as she stared at him. However, Miles didn't take his eyes off you. "Hey." You replied normally, still focused on Ravi's hilarious expressions. He reminded you of a cartoon character, and you could imagine steam coming out of his ears.
Maria pointed down at the bag Miles had put on the table. "You brought a lunch today?" She asked in a very obvious voice, smiling at him. "Nah. Someone left it in my locker." He replied, still looking at you weirdly. Strange. Did he know it was Maria?
"Oh, I wonder who could've done that." Ravi grumbled, earning another one of Maria's infamous dirty looks. "I wonder." You added on with a slight smile.
"Some secret admirer maybe?" Maria asked, tilting her head at Miles slightly. "Ion know. Maybe." He replied dryly, looking down at the sandwich. "Feels kinda weird to eat it."
"They left it there on purpose, so you might as well." You said, pulling out your own lunch. "Oh? And how would you know?" He asked, leaning in slightly and placing his elbows on the lunch table. You felt your face heat up slightly. "No reason." If you gave Maria away, she'd kill you.
"Uh-huh." He replied, shooting you a sly grin.
"Are you guys going to the festival this week?" Ravi butt in, visibly annoyed with where the conversation was going. "Festival?"
"Well, it's only the school that participates, so it's not really a festival. They just call it that." You said, taking a bite out of your sandwich. Cucumber...ugh.
"Anyways-" Ravi glanced towards Maria before looking back at you and Miles. "-It's the Fall Festival and it'll be on the school grounds. They'll have games, food, its really more of a carnival." He began to go on a tangent about the festival, explaining to a bored Miles how it worked and what would be happening there.
"The three of us go every year, you should join in." Ravi said offhandedly to Miles, as if he was hoping he'd say no. Miles looked at you for a moment before replying, "Sure."
Maria's eyes lit up and Ravi cringed again while you tried to hide your snicker.
"Great." He muttered. "We'll have so much fun together."
The lunch period eventually ended and the four of you parted your ways, with you heading off towards your next period of the day, physics, when you were stopped by none other than Flash fucking Thompson.
"Hey-" He started, a stupid grin on his face that was just begging to be wiped off.
"Get out of my way." You grumbled, facing forward and walking right past him, trying your best to ignore his presence. "Aww, come on, can't you just give me a chance?" He asked, grabbing your arm as you walked past him.
You roughly pulled your arm out of his grip, causing him to stumble forward slightly. "Where's Roxanne?" You asked, shooting him a cold glare. He shrugged, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "With her friends, probably. Why're you asking?"
"She's your girlfriend?"
"We broke up ages ago. Besides, we never had a label." He said with an ugly grin.
You groaned. "Then why the hell is she telling everyone that I'm a home wrecker??" Pointing your finger into his chest, you hissed, "Tell her to leave me out of her drama."
"I'll do it if you go out with me."
"Go suck a di-"
"Hey, Y/N. You good?"
Flash's grin was wiped off his face as Miles approached you, eyes narrowed and cold. He rested his arm on top of your shoulder before looking up at Flash with his head tilted. "You need sumn?"
"He was just leaving." You interjected before Flash could respond, taking Miles' arm and walking past the bully. You caught what looked like a pissed expression on his face, but you ignored it, pulling Miles to your side. "What was that about?"
"Nothing important." You muttered.
He glanced at you, eyes softening slightly. "You okay?"
"I didn't need you to come after me like that." You said, looking up at him. His eyes widened slightly. "I just thou-"
"You thought wrong." You cut him off coldly. His face fell and he stayed silent while he walked you to your classroom, hands awkwardly stuffed in his pockets. Once you reached the room, he stood to the side as you began to open the door, but you stopped yourself, looking down for a moment.
Sighing quietly, you looked back up at him, a remorseful look on your face. "Sorry. I shouldn't have-" you hesitated. "I shouldn't have talked to you like that."
"Its alright."
"No, it's not." You glanced down embarrassedly. "I just have a lot going on right now."
"I get it. I do." He shrugged, a slight smile appearing on his face. "It wasn't my place anyways. But you did look pretty bad-ass when you were telling him off." he said with a soft chuckle.
You smiled back, shaking your head. "Thanks, Miles. You're a real one." You said quietly before entering the classroom, leaving him standing outside. "Anytime." He hoarsely whispered back, but you didn't hear him.
He stood outside for a moment, debating whether he should go in and say something else. Suddenly, the bell rang and he was forced to head to his classroom as quick as he could, and get a late slip.
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Miles' POV
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After school that day, he head to his Uncle Aaron's house immediately, searching for all the materials he'd said he'd had last night. He opened up the attic and quickly began to sort through the various materials they'd collected over their years as the Prowler.
Well, his Uncle's years. Miles had only been the Prowler for a little over 9 months. He'd found out that his Uncle was the Prowler in the middle of last school year, having snuck in through his window to surprise him. He'd ended up witnessing a weapons deal being made and later his Uncle was forced to come clean to him about his real identity and eventually...give Miles a shot at being the infamous antihero himself.
Being the Prowler had been pretty fun in the beginning. Learning how to use all these different gadgets, spending time with his Uncle when he built add-ons. But now...it was just a job. A way to seek out revenge against the Sinister Six for what'd happened to his dad. A way to end the reign of the one and only Green Goblin.
It was no secret that his father had been killed on purpose. That he hadn't accidentally been in a place chock-full of supervillains. In fact, Officer Davis' main priority as the Police Captain was to figure out the identity of the Green Goblin, despite most knowing that it was Norman Osborne himself. Osborne owned 90% of the city, and it would take hard evidence to land him in jail. That's what his dad had been searching for. And that's what'd gotten him killed.
That's when being the Prowler became more of a mantle than a side-piece. He knew his father wouldn't have liked the idea of the city being kept together by a teenage vigilante, but it was better than nothing. The rest of the force was corrupt, being paid off by the supervillains who owned Brooklyn.
His Uncle had been against Miles being the Prowler too in the beginning. But after seeing how good he was at it, Aaron decided that turning it into a family business wouldn't be too bad.
Miles opened up a box that he'd stolen from an Oscorp transport truck a couple weeks ago. Maybe this had the tech they were looking for. The blueprints that you'd shown him had unlocked a new sense of curiosity in him. Oscorp had been nothing more than a corrupt corporation to destroy to him, but now...now they had things he could use. Weaponry. Tech. Gadgets that would help save more people and do more damage.
If they had blueprints, maybe they also had pre-made gadgets? Why have the blueprints if they weren't going to attempt to use them? They had to be there somewhere.
But for now, he was going to have to make what he could and get them over to your place around nightfall. After all, you'd be waiting for him. He'd told you that he'd be able to create that tech and he wasn't going to let you down, especially not after seeing how happy it'd made you.
Just thinking about you made his face feel hot.
He pushed the thought of you out of his mind as he dragged the box towards the desk near the window, pulling some tech onto the table as he grabbed some of his tools and began to work.
Why did he care so much about how you felt?
He hated it. But he loved it at the same time. He hated how soft he was around you that day. How he'd apologized like some sort of dork before you'd left for your class after lunch. How he'd shuffled around awkwardly, following you like some sort of lost puppy.
But he loved that little laugh you let out right before you closed the door. The smile you'd given him when he'd said sorry. The feel of you grabbing his arm when the two of you'd walked away from Flash and the lockers.
He hated seeing you so heartbroken whenever you saw your brother on screen last night. He hated seeing your eyes squint up like you were trying not to cry and he hated seeing your expression fall.
But he loved those pretty eyes.
No. He was thinking about you again. Fuck.
He tilted his head back in frustration, a groan escaping his lips. Focus! He looked back at the nearly completed tech. All he needed were a few more parts. That he didn't have.
You see, programmable matter, what most of those blueprints consisted of, is made up of millions of tiny little microbots, which allow the 'metal' of the gear to compress and stretch out.
Miles didn't have microbots. But he didn't know of a shipment that'd be carrying them later tonight.
Was he willing to go that far for you? Spend hours thinking out and eventually carrying out a plan to get tech that he wouldn't even be using for himself?
Yes he would. Just to see you smile again.
A/N
I'm probably gonna introduce the 'villain' in the next chapter!! Writer's block is hitting hard though, so any feedback or ideas would be great! ty <3