𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒|| 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐎𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚

𝐈'𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐊, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄

"In this moment now, capture it, remember it "

[COUNTDOWN]
—SIX AND A HALF MONTHS BEFORE—

Harley stumbled into the living room and threw herself onto the couch. She rubbed her bloodshot eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Whoa!—the sky—it's spinning!"

Ben observed her behavior with his brows furrowed. He only saw his daughter act like this once, and it never ended well. He shook his head and stood up, leaving a fresh cup of coffee on the table. Who drinks a cup of coffee at midnight?

He strolled to where his daughter was and sat on the brown recliner chair. "Harley."

She didn't hear it and continued spewing nonsense.

"Harley!—HARLEY!"

"Huh?!" Harley said it very loudly. Her words slurred and jumbled up in non-sensical sentences. "Oh! —Hi dad!"

"Hi, sweetheart." He murmured before standing up and sitting on the floor. Harley lay on the couch, her eyes not focusing. "You look pretty drunk, huh?"

"I am not drunk; I'm just upset."

"Not, drunk? Harley, can you tell the time?"

The blond examines the clock on the wall before pointing at it. "I am not drunk."

"Harley." He facepalmed and rolled his eyes. Ben could tell his daughter was very intoxicated—more than before, that is. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you—" she hiccuped. "did you mean?"

"Harley, never mind that. I need to ask you a question. How did you get home?"

"I swung." She replied.

"You swung?" He thought about it a moment before it clicked. His daughter swung through the air, using her webs, to get home. She was being careless and didn't seem to care if she was about to hit oncoming traffic or a building. "That's reckless! Do you know how stupid that is?!"

"Abso—fucking—lutely." She commented, stared at the ceiling again, and murmured some gibberish. She moved her legs back and forth and giggled.

"Harley—sweetheart—hey,focus." He snapped his fingers in front of her face. Her eyes widened as she looked at him. "You're clearly too drunk to comprehend anything I'm saying—and don't you think you're off the hook. We'll continue this conversation tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I can't wait for tomorrow!" She shouted in excitement as her dad picked her up and headed upstairs to lay her down on her bed.

He laughed. "Yeah? What's tomorrow?"

"I don't know."

Ben only rolled his eyes and entered her room, gently placing her on the bed. He then saw a pile of clothes on the floor. He walked towards it and sniffed one of her sweaters. He drew back quickly and scrunched his nose. "Harley, when did you last wash this?"

"A week ago!"

"Oh." He punched the fabric with his thumb and pointer finger. He tossed it in the laundry basket. Ben walked toward his daughter and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

Her response was muffled by the pillow.

He shook his head with a small smile and exited her room.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her window. She ignored it at first, but the knocking became incredibly loud. She angrily groaned and threw the blanket off aggressively. She looked up to see Miguel at her window.

She squinted in an attempt to focus; she wondered if she was hallucinating. Harley rolled her eyes, walked to the window, and opened it. She walked back to the bed and slammed herself on it, getting back underneath the cover.

"That's one way to greet someone." Miguel murmured and closed the window. He walked to the bed and sat on it. "You smell like alcohol." He stated before sarcastically saying, "How pleasant."

"Is it just me, or is the ceiling spinning?"

"Just you, princessa."

"Migs."

"Have I ever—" She hiccuped before sitting up. "Have I ever told you that you're —you're hot?"

"Huh?" Miguel stared at her blankly before his eyes widened. The tips of his ears are becoming red.

She hugged his right arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. She then slurred, "Like, I'm not joking. You're hot, and I appreciate you for that. I actu—actually appreciate everything you've done. Even though you're an asshole half of the—the time. I think you have a big heart. Also, why haven't you asked me to be your girlfriend yet?! I gave you so many hints! Are you stupid?!"

She rambled continuously before his hand covered her mouth. She glared at the man, who had an index finger up to his lips. He was very red from her confession and gently laid her down. "Relax."

"What do you want me to do?" She whispered. "I kissed you on the cheek. I held your hand. I hugged you in a romantic way. I even got you coffee one evening. I even stayed up all night just to talk to you. Isn't that romantic enough, bug-boy?"

He shushed her quietly and ran his hand through her hair to calm the woman down. "Harley, amor, relax. Stop stressing yourself out. Is not good for you."

"Okay, okay." She began falling asleep. "But still....you're still stupid for not taking my hints."

Miguel slightly smiled. "You irritating me everyday is a hint?"

"It's not irritating, it's flirting."

Miguel only shook his head and pulled away and was about to leave her house before a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Harley intertwined her hand with his before whispering. "Stay."

"What?"

"Stay here...with me."

"Harley, I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"Your dad—"

"Since when do you care about parents?"

"Harley—"

"Nuh-uh, you're staying." She dragged him in the bed and wrapped her arms around his waist, his head laying on his chest. Miguel sighed in defeat, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and kissed the top of her head.











Harley slowly woke up with a banging headache. She attempted to sit up, only winced in pain, and laid back down. She was about to snuggle into her pillow, but it was oddly hard. Her eyes opened, and she noticed it was someone's chest. Her eyes darted up to Miguel's face.

Her eyes and mouth widened in shock and slowly moved away, but his arm pulled her back in and pressed her firmly to his side. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. If her dad came into the room right now, she would be in big trouble.

"Miguel, wake up." She tapped his cheek. Harley noticed he was a heavy sleeper. She grabbed an extra pillow and slammed it on his face. He instantly woke up and almost fell out of bed.

"What the hell was that for?" He whisper-shouted and threw the pillow back at her, hitting her square in the face.

"My head's sensitive right now, you moron."

"I wouldn't have thrown the pillow if you—"

"Wait. Wait." Harley interrupted him. "Did—did I say anything stupid last night?"

"No." He lied.

She read his face. "Oh no, I did say something stupid. What did I say?"

"Nothing."

"Miguel."

"I'm telling the truth—" No you're not. The door suddenly creaked open. Ben grabbed a tray of cereal and orange juice to help nurse her hangover. His eyes were wide open at the sight. He placed the tray on her dresser and stood speechless.

"Did—did you two—" Ben stuttered.

"No,no dad!" Harley exclaimed, trying to find an explanation. "It's not what it looks like, I promise!"

"How's he in your room?!"

"The window."

"Next time, I'm confiscating your window privileges."

"What are window privileges?"

"Harley, we are not talking about window privileges right now. Explain to me how there's a man in your room."

"He's a friend of mine." She murmured.

"You mean a boyfriend?"

"No, a friend."

"No friend that's a boy lies in bed and cuddles with you."

"I should get going," Miguel muttered.

"No. Stay." Ben commanded with his arms crossed. He turned his head and glared at Harley. "You better have an explanation."

"I was drunk. He knocked on the window. I let him in. We cuddled. That's it. Nothing else happened." She explained it truthfully.

"Huh." Ben scoffed and looked at Miguel again. "Boy. Out."

"Yes sir." Miguel replied. Normally, he was never scared of anyone. Perhaps he was scared of making the wrong impression; once again, he would never admit it. Also, yes, he did get the wrong impression. He jumped out of the window without saying a word.

Harley grimaced. "So...what's for breakfast?"

"Cereal and orange juice. But before you eat, we're going to talk about window privileges and boy privileges."

"Next time you drink don't use your spider powers. You'll die—uh-huh, I told you we're going to talk about this."

"When did you get a boyfriend? What are you not telling me. He crawled through the window? That's weird. I'm not ready to be a grandpa yet."

Harley groaned and shoved a pillow in her face as her dad began rambling. It was going to be a long couple of hours.