Spider-Byte. MILES MORALES

Chapter 16: The Ride Home

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Now back on the Hudson Valley bus, Miles and Melody sat together while Peter lied down at the back of the bus.

Melody looked out the window and sighed softly. Miles turned his head to her and mumbled, "I'm...I'm really sorry about Peter...and everything and everyone else.." Melody turned to face Miles and gave him a weak smile, "Hey, it's fine. Things happen."

Miles looked at Melody's hair carefully and realized her hair wasn't straight anymore. It was curly. As much as he found Melody really beautiful already, her curly hair made her even more beautiful. "I love your natural hair, you should keep it like this." Miles complimented her while looking down at his hands.

Melody was surprised someone actually like it, "Really? I was told a lot to straighten my hair because it's pretty that way.." She looked away from Miles, processing everything.

"I mean, yeah, you look beau- I mean- great with your straight hair but in my opinion, your natural hair is even better." Miles struggled to compliment her without making it weird and obvious that he thinks she's beautiful. Melody smiled and replied, "Thank you...that means a lot."

She took out her phone and opened Outstagram. The first picture she saw was a picture of her so-called friends hanging out without her. This was the fifth time this was happening... Melody sighed and shook her head.

Miles watched as Melody's facial expressions changed drastically, "Hey, you good?" Melody snapped out of it and gave Miles a fake smile, "Yeah! Everything's alright, don't worry." Miles looked down at her fidgety fingers. Miles furrowed his eyebrows, "Y'know, I can tell that you're not okay, right?" He leaned in closer to her, tempted to hold her hand to soothe her but decided to just nudge her shoulder gently.

"You can talk to me." He softly reassured, looking into her eyes now. Something in Melody made her feel like she could express herself to Miles, and she was willing to do it. She started, "It's just that- my quote-unquote friends are hanging out without me...for the fifth time. I know, I know. I wasn't gonna be able to even go today but- they could've at least asked me. But, they never do anyways so, why get my hopes up?"

"So why do you even hang out with those people?!" Miles asked. "Because...what other choice do I have? I have no one else like that in my life anymore. My mother and father had high reputations and that unfortunately imprinted on me. Meaning, I have to kinda hang out with these people because their parents are friends with mine. I can't even be myself around them...they're so judgmental. All they know about me is that I'm smart, play instruments, sing, and I'm on the basketball team." Melody sighed, "I just want to be myself. I just want to be...free."

Miles glanced at Melody before looking down, playing with his fingers, "Well uh- I'm technically gonna be Brooklyn's new Spider-Man! Which, y'know- means we'd be working together a lot! Meaning, we'd be getting to know each other better, plus, we go to school togethe-" "What are you trying to get at, Morales?" Melody laughed. "What I'm tryna say is that...if you're looking for cool and genuine friends, I'm more than available for you." Miles smiled. Melody smiled softly at Miles, her dimples showing. "I'll keep note of that," she mumbled, playing with her bracelet.

Miles looked down at the red and black beaded-and-bejeweled bracelet, "That's a pretty fresh bracelet." "Oh this? It's from my father. We were very close before I found out he was Apex." Melody shrugged. Miles nodded and decided to leave the topic at that.

Miles took out his phone and wired earbuds then turned to Melody again, "You wanna listen to music together? I promise it'll cheer you up!" Melody's mood softened at Miles' (cute) attempts to cheer her up. "Yeah, sure!" she replied, taking one of the earbuds to her ear. Miles scrolled through his playlist on Dropify and played 'Sunflower'. Melody started humming the song, and Miles was more than happy knowing that she liked the song too. He hummed along with her.

It didn't take long enough for Melody to lay her head on Miles' shoulder, slightly dozing off. She barely got any sleep the night before so it made sense. Miles immediately tensed up, his face burning intensely. He relaxed and smiled after a second then put his head on top of hers as he closed his eyes.

Peter (being the OG Miles x Melody shipper that he is) smiled at the entire interaction between the two teenagers.

'Not bad, Miles. Not bad at all.'