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Miles could only see hands. Massive hands, a pearly and unnatural shade of white, descending from the heavens. He couldn't swing fast enough. He couldn't dodge enough. He jumped off fingers, changed directions mid-air, threaded needles, he did everything perfectly and he was only barely surviving.
He looked to his left and saw Gwen and his mother, wriggling desperately as the air was crushed from their lungs.
He looked to his right, his uncle Aaron and Peter B. on their way to similar fates.
One of the hands finally enveloped him, and Miles felt his ribs crack under the weight of Spot's grip.
Just like you took everything from me
Miles couldn't breathe, and the more he fought Spot's fingers, the more he felt himself break. He gasped and his chest heaved, desperate to find a path from his airway to his lungs.
The hand jerked him forward, and suddenly, he could see his father, standing still and looking up in fear as a building collapsed upon him.
Miles wanted to scream, but he could only choke out a sob. The rest of the world faded into black, and nothing remained but his father's imminent demise. Miles felt his vision begin to fade.
Miles jerked upright in his bed, his shirt damp with sweat. His eyes darted around the room, just as black as the nightmare he'd just awoken from. His ribs still ached with phantom pain, and he couldn't catch his breath. His chest rose and fell, rose and fell, rhythmically but rushed, like he still couldn't breathe.
Miles buried his face in his hands and wept silently.
It'd been almost four weeks. He'd stopped Spot, who'd refused to be taken down alive. He'd saved his father, who slept soundly just two rooms away. He'd preserved the multiverse. He'd done everything he needed. He'd done both.
So why couldn't he rest?
"Miles?"
He froze. He had no idea how she'd known, why she'd come here. She shouldn't be here. He heard his window slide open a little more, he'd told her he'd never lock it for her. He refused to bring his head from his hands. She couldn't see him like this.
He could feel her standing there, only a few feet away, unsure of where she should be.
"Are you okay?" Gwen's voice barely registered above a whisper. "I felt...something, I wanted to see if you were--Shit, did I wake you up? I'm sorry, this is invasive, I should just--"
Miles finally brought himself to meet her eyes. She was in an oversized t-shirt, one of his he'd let her borrow, and leggings, clearly having woken up herself to come here. She held the same orange sweater she always wore in her hand. As soon as they made eye contact and she took in his puffy eyes and stained cheeks, she dropped it on his desk chair and dove forward to sit next to him on the bed.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey," she said, running them all into a single word and cupping his face in her hands. "What's wrong, what happened?"
Miles didn't want her to see him like this. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. He couldn't imagine how weak he looked.
Gwen moved his head down to make eye contact with her. He hadn't realized he'd been looking over her shoulder. Even now, he couldn't stop his eyes from roaming the room. Was the paper rustling on his desk because of the wind? Was it Miguel, ready to tell him he deserved every nightmare for daring to defy him? Was Spot coming back? Was it himself from another reality? Miles kept his eyes everywhere but Gwen's.
"Look at me," Gwen said, more firmly than she'd spoken before. Miles closed his eyes, shuddered in another deep breath, and opened them again. Even in the pitch-black of his room, he could see how blue her eyes were. "You gotta talk to me, Miles. I'm here. I'm right here."
Miles forced his voice to work, the words scratching and clawing their way from his throat.
"I--I can't stop--sleep," he started, feeling his pulse start to quicken again. "I see him. Spot. My dad. My mom. Aaron. You. And I can't move, I can't--"
He could make out more of her features now, his eyes adjusting to the dark. He watched her eyes soften, the outer corners dropping ever so slightly as empathy grew across her face. He dropped his eyes to his lap and pulled his face from her fingertips.
"I'm sorry, you don't have to--"
Before he could finish the sentence, she pulled him into a hug. The embrace was warm, and he suddenly realized how sweaty his shirt and his sheets were.
"Sorry I'm all--"
"Stop apologizing."
He buried his face in the crook of her shoulder.
"Can you stay?"
The words came out before he'd fully thought them through, but he knew he meant them.
"As long as you'll have me."
She crawled over him, dropping herself between him and his wall. He rolled onto his side to face her, their noses nearly touching. He dropped an arm over her abdomen lazily, without even thinking about it, and she snuck both of hers around his waist. She turned her head and rested it against his chest, listening to his heartbeat eventually begin to slow.
"How did you know? That I was--that I needed someone?"
He felt her huff out a little breath. Not exasperation, he'd invoked that enough times to know, but curiosity.
"I don't know. It started when you were on Earth-42, I just kinda...felt it. Almost like Spider-Sense. I can feel when you're in trouble. I guess if you care,"
She stopped, and Miles felt her vibrate with the little hum in her throat.
"If you're connected enough to someone," she started again, slower, "You just kinda know."
Gwen peeled herself off Miles' chest and looked at him again.
"If you care enough, huh?" he said, unable to help the little grin that crept across his cheeks.
Gwen rolled her eyes for a second, then froze. Her chin rose a quarter of an inch, then she stopped again, her eyes focused below his. Then, in one smooth motion, she closed the distance and pressed a soft kiss to Miles' lips.
He froze for a second, eyes wide and shoulders slack, before he kissed her back. Electricity coursed through his whole body. He didn't know exactly what he thought she tasted like, but it was definitely his new favorite flavor. He didn't know if it lasted a minute or an hour, but it wasn't enough.
She pulled away and snuggled back down into his chest.
"Don't let it go to your head."
"Too late."
He loved how it felt when she laughed against his chest, the vibration circulating through his whole body.
"You feel better?"
"Now that you're here."
She buried herself into him a little more.
"Right answer."
She wriggled around, turning her back to Miles before scooting back into him, every point of their bodies connected. He felt warm. He felt happy. He snuck his arm further around her and pulled her close, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"You'll still be here in the morning?" He couldn't help the trace of fear in his voice.
She arched her neck around, ghosting his cheek with a quick kiss.
"As long as you need me."
Miles could feel the steady thump of his heart now, well within its normal range. He wasn't sure if Gwen had beaten him to sleep or not, her frame rising and falling almost imperceptibly. He kept his chin on her shoulder.
"I love you," he whispered, the panic of his words still not enough to fend off the exhaustion as he closed his eyes.
He couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn he heard her mutter it back before he slipped away.
That was the best Miles slept in weeks.
Rio opened the door to her son's room. She knew he hated waking up early and it was only 10 a.m., so she wasn't exactly worried. In fact, Rio didn't even want to wake him up. Ever since she learned her son was Spider-Man, she just liked knowing he was still there. Knowing he was still safe and sound, knowing he was still home.
She found him just as she'd sent him to bed the night before, curled on his side and facing away from the door. Satisfied, Rio almost left the room before she caught sight of the orange sweater draped over his desk chair. She learned forward as quietly as she could, only taking a single step, and saw the slightest hint of pink over his shoulder. Gwen, the girl she'd finally properly met only a few weeks before, sat curled into Miles on the other side, tucked into his arms, sleeping just as soundly as he was.
Jeff was going to kill him.
She called to her husband over her shoulder.
"Jeff? Let's go out for breakfast, just the two of us, I don't want to cook."
"What about Miles? I can wake him up if he's giving you a hard time."
"He just saved the world, Jeff. Déjalo dormir."
"Okay, but he better be up when we're back."
Rio smiled at her little boy and closed the door.