Chapter Text
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He’s got a crush.
It’s silly, cause they’re friends-no, acquaintances. But, always on good terms. He’ll say hey to her as she passes him by the hall on the way to band class. Or, she’ll give him a lil bump on the shoulder as she passes him by and flash him a smirk.
She’s cool. Maybe even cooler than him. And he knows it, and is okay with it.
Which is why every day during lunch break, he whips out his art book and starts sketching her, while trying to pass the time. It’s not hard, he thinks to himself. She’s in the same spot every lunch with the same book… but with no title?
I wonder what she’s reading… Miles thinks while adding the finishing touches to his latest piece. He doesn’t get to mull over his thoughts for much longer due to the bell ringing, sending them off to their next riveting educational journey.
The rest of the day goes by in a blur.
Art.
Science.
Math.
Miles could do these subjects with one eye open. Ever since his padre, Jefferson Morales, died in duty a few months ago, Miles has been a bit detached from everything.
Made the grieving easier.
Stepping away from a few things made it easier to preserve his mental well-being. So, he dove into the things that brought him joy, art, athletics, and late-night escapades with Uncle Aaron. Living a double life wasn’t something Miles ever thought he would be doing, but with the way his world is run…
It’s either kill or be killed.
And he won’t let his mami lose another one of her men. Not if he had anything to say about it.
So he puts on the suit with no second thoughts. He knows it’s not forever, but they’ve got to survive, and he’ll do anything he can to survive.
The night's task is pretty simple. Intercept Kingpin’s shipment of drugs and supplies and hopefully he can sneak some off to his mami, whose hospital is desperately understaffed. The mission is short, easy, and over before it even starts. Miles grabs the supplies, drops off a small parcel for his mom at the hospital, and zooms home to get a quick night's sleep.
The next day’s events would have proceeded the same as any other day, except something unusual had happened between first and second period.
Miles was leaving English class, when he noticed Gwen, and her bandmates huddled around her locker talking in hushed whispers, which he’d almost call regular voice due to how loud they were being.
“Gwen… you got it bad, you know that right?”
“Shut up MJ! I don’t like him, alright?”
“Girrrl! Don’t lie to us! We see the way you stare at him when he’s not looking.”
Miles pretends not to notice the pang in his heart as he overhears their lackof sublety. He decides to skip the formalities for the day, timing never seeming to be a strong suit of his.
Had he not, he would have noticed the rosy cheeks and the look of interest gracing Gwen’s face as she wondered why he didn’t greet her today. Looking down at her watch, she realized she was going to be late for history… AGAIN. Grabbing her book bag, she said goodbye to the girls and sped off, glancing over her shoulder to see Miles deep in thought.
Unfortunately, being caught up in Mr. Morales and his chiseled face made her miss her book slipping out of her bag and landing right in front of Miles before darting into history.
Noticing the book, he picks it up and immediately knows it belongs to Gwen. Looking up to see if she’s still around, he finds the hallways basically deserted, having lost the students to their next class.
I shouldn’t… it’s an invasion of privacy.
But, she’s always reading this damn book. One little peek won’t hurt.
Nah, that ain’t right. Lemme put this away and slide it to her at lunch.
Reaching to put the book in his bag, some kid comes barreling down the hall, obviously late for class, and bumps the book out of his hand. Mumbling a quick apology, he turns the corner and heads to class, while Miles goes to pick up the book… but not before seeing the words that graced the page.
It appeared to be a book for learning Spanish, however, what was interesting was the writing and the drawings on the corners of the page. There was Miles’ name, plus a slightly more crude, but still very good drawing of his face. There were a few hearts around his name, some flowers, and a girl in a white mask with a hood.
If you had asked him, he’d tell you he had never been so happy and so confused at the same time before this moment.
Quickly grabbing the book, Miles makes his way to the cafeteria, trying his best not to think of what this new revelation means for him and the mysterious Gwen Stacy.
Lunch comes quicker than expected, and Miles finds himself in his usual spot. And sitting across from him once again is the beautiful Gwen Stacy, who is looking much more stressed than usual. Rummaging around her bag and uttering expletives, she can’t believe she lost her Spanish book, because, of course she would.
Taking a deep breath, Gwen began to replay the events of the day, thinking about where she could have left it. She had it when she left the house, on the subway, in first period, and up until she saw Mile-
No.
No no no no no.
There’s no way she-
Damnnit!
This can’t be happening right now. Looking up, she sees that Miles isn’t in his usual spot, and instead he’s walking towards her?
He looks so cute. Gwen thinks before gently shaking her head. She’s sure she must be red from head to toe, because why else would she be feeling like it’s forty-five degrees right now.
“Hey Gwen.” Miles says, with the ghost of a smirk on her face.
“Hey yourself.” Gwen responds, internally cheering that she didn’t sound like a complete dork.
Without exchanging any more words, he opens his bag and passes her the book.
She dies inside. Her brain starts spiraling. What if he saw my doodles? He probably thinks I’m a weirdo. I’m never going to live this down. The girls were already giving me a hard time about Miles. God, why does this always happen to me?
Breaking off from her thoughts, she takes the book and quickly stuffs it as deep into her bag as possible.
“Uh, thanks Miles. Look, I promise you I-” Gwen begins before Miles waves her off.
“It’s all good, Gwen. Spanish is a hard language. B-but I’m fluent if you want some help with it?” Miles asks, almost a bit too eagerly.
Not sure if he’s taking pity on her, or just being nice, she’s thankful for the gesture.
“S-sure” Gwen manages to breathe out.
“Aight cool. After school at Visions Main Library, you down?”
“Yeah, that works.” Gwen responds, settling back into her laid back demeanor.
“Okay, see you.” Miles turns around and takes off out of the main foyer. A rush of emotions floods Gwen’s body. She hopes Miles doesn’t think she’s an absolute weirdo, and knows the girls are going to give her a hard time, but she doesn’t care. An opportunity is an opportunity.
The rest of the day goes by in a blink for Gwen. At the end of the day she hurriedly packs up her books and heads to the library with a vigor to meet Miles. She sees him sitting in one of the tables in the middle of the library. Headphones on, waiting patiently, she assumes for her arrival.
Collecting herself and taking a few breaths to calm her heart beat, she smoothly glides over, thankful for all those years of ballet giving her an effortless stride. She takes the seat next to him and gently bumps his shoulder, shaking him out of his trance. He looks over, gives her his signature smirk before giving her a nonchalant greeting.
Hey.
She smiles, more than she knows she should. But she pulls out her book and they get to work. Gwen made sure to grab another Spanish book so she wouldn’t have to relive the lunch time embarrassment.
And thus began weekly Spanish sessions, which turned into weekly hangouts at the pizza parlor after school, the park on weekends, and a variety of other activities here and there. And while Miles may have let it slip that he saw her drawings in the book, he pulls out his own and flips through some of his pages, so at least she wouldn't feel alone in how much of a dork she could be.
Gwen swears she’s never seen herself look so good. She's flattered, amazed, and at a loss for words. So she just settles for a smile and gentle squeeze of his hand.
He’s got a crush.
But the funny thing is… so does she.
- Fin.
Thanks for reading! I hope y'all liked it.
Thank you to nightowlart374 ( https://www.tumblr.com/nightowl374art ) for letting me use your pic as motivation to write my first Ghostflower fic. Appreciate you 🙏🏿.