𝔉𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤~ ℌ𝔬𝔟𝔦𝔢 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔫

18

You continued to dream about Hobie. After he left the dreams became more vivid. When you woke up you were left feeling sad or filled with a sense of dread.
It wasn't long after his disappearance that the dreams turned into nightmares and then further to night terrors.
You'd wake from these in a cold sweat sometimes even screaming, these terrors effected you more than you thought possible. Some nights you would feel the pain, you'd see Hobie get stabbed and you would feel the blade.
The terrors would usually involve some danger and of course he would be there, but no matter what you did you could never save him. You watched him die, again and again. Night after night. Each death more brutal, gory, gut wrenching than the last.

After that day he left, crime had immediately made a spike. Yet there was still no sign of him. After the day at the bank, it became more evident that he likely wasn't coming back.

This worried you a lot.
But he said he'd come back.
Any day now he'd appear out of the blue and return things to normal.

Any day now.

Any day now... it's all you could think, you tried to reassure yourself but with each passing day you lost more and more hope. After that day where he wasn't there to save you, you began doubting his return. Though part of you tried to remain hopeful it dwindles more each day.

Months went by Summer had turned to Fall. As the weather got colder everything became darker. Life became more dreary for everyone in New York.

During these months your articles grew more and more uncommon. You ran out of stories to tell, it's not like people believed him to be around anymore, anyway. With your job slipping away you stopped going out. Sometimes you didn't wake up until late afternoon. Your boss made your life a living hell, even some of your coworkers joined the abuse to gain his favour.

Janice noticed the change. She was a good friend, you knew that. You know she tried to help, but nothing worked.
She tried to set you up with some guys she knew. No matter how many times you told her you already had your eye on someone. They would still try.

Everything changed the day he left.

If you knew he would disappear for this long. If you knew the effect this would have on everyone. You would have begged him to stay. Asked him to take you with him. Anything.

Months without contact or any sightings. You began fearing for the worst as most people did. The potential death of Spider-Punk was always a common topic for conversation.

You weren't sure how long the world could hold on without him.

You weren't sure how long you could hold on. Without him.
You'd lost everything.

The cool night air gently blew through your hair, the coolness leaving a slight sting on your face. You admired the sunset trying to distract yourself from what you were about to do.

Sitting along the edge at the top of the building you tried your best to not think about it. The months without him had taken a toll on not only you, but the rest of your world. Without a Spiderman the crime rates had never been higher.

You could barely get from point A to point B without witnessing or being the victim of some crime.

Your articles had become practically non existent and the threat of losing your job became more and more present.

Things were difficult without him. Life without him. It was something you had to really consider.

"I miss you Hobie"

"More than you could ever imagine"

"You said you'd come back. But everyday that seems less and less likely", the more you spoke the more it stung. The aching in your heart wouldn't go away.

Maybe it was time.

Standing up you began to really feel the gravity of what you were about to do. Looking down at the ground it was a long drop... were you really about to do this?
When you tried to find anything good left in your life you were only met with negative. There was nothing left for you, no job, no home, no one.

"You promised you'd always be there to catch me", you whispered to yourself, your heart racing as your thoughts shut down.

"Catch me",

You stepped off. Despite the rushing wind everything seemed to move so slowly.
When you're falling to your death it really seems to give you time to think about your life. You understood what you were leaving behind by stepping off that roof. You knew there was a very high chance you would just die.

Yet here you were falling you had made your decision.
Your last few months with Hobie was all you could think about. That night when he revealed himself to you.

Did it all mean nothing?

A sudden grip on your hand stopped your fall it was like waking up from a long dream.
It was him. He caught you. Just like he promised. He swung to a nearby building letting go of your hand dropping you on the roof.

"Are you insane!?" He yelled taking off his mask, his face twisted into one of confusion and anger. The sudden aggression caught you off guard.

As much as you wanted to hug him to tell him how much you missed him that you loved him. The emotion was immediately gone and replaced by hurt and anger.

"Am I insane? Are you insane Hobie", you replied feeling the months of sadness turn to anger.

"You could have died. You would have died", he continued clear anger in his voice.

"And so what if I did?!",
His expression immediately dropped.

"You disappeared. For months", your voice was shaking as tears of anger and some sad began to well in your eyes threatening to fall.

"Months Hobie. Do you understand that? Eveyone thought you were dead", with that final sentence you felt the tear roll down your cheek.

"No one thought you were coming back", you continued. As more tears continued to fall.

A silence fell between the two of you. You could see the sadness and guilt in his eyes. He wanted to say something but struggles to find the words.

"I'm sorry", he finally spoke up.
"I didn't realise how long I'd been gone for. I didn't realise what this was doing to everyone here"

"I never meant to hurt you Y/N" he continued before hesitantly pulling you into a hug. The comfort you once felt in his arms wasn't there, not now. You pulled away from his embrace, you could see the guilt and remorse he felt.

Your head was spinning, your emotions were everywhere, you could barely think straight.
"Y/N?", his voice sounded distant as if you were underwater. The world around you was spinning, you felt like you were still falling.

~

"Y/N?!", catching her before she hit the ground. Looking at he closer he noticed the eyebags that lingered under her eyes, her sunken cheeks, her lack of colour. She looked sick as if moments away from death.

"Hobie?", her voice was quiet and sounded strained it was as if she had no energy left.

"I'm gonna take you home ok", he continued holding you as best he could.

~

"I'm sorry", you mumbled your head still spinning and aching.

"You have no reason to be sorry Y/N" he replied. You could barely keep your eyes open, you felt yourself falling in and out of consciousness.

"I can't go home. I don't live there anymore", you continued your speech was slurred you barely registered Hobies words.

"Ok. That's ok", he continued.
"I'll take you to my place ok", he added. You could hear the panic in his voice, but you finally started to feel comfort and safety in his embrace once more.

This is probably the End of the first part. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far there's still plenty more to come. From here the story is going to involve a few more characters and a lot more Hobie interaction. :)