𝐈𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞|| 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐎'𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬|| 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑

Breath in.
Breath out.
Hit,
kick
and get back.
Repeat.

From the day she saw and left her father die in her arms, she was more turbated than usual.
Her thoughts kept getting back to the bomb, the explosion, the collapses of things and her father.
It was her fault.
Or who else?
She was the hero, the one that had to protect everybody, from the most disgusting person on Earth to the most pure soul. But she failed.
Again.
The imagine of her father kept appearing in her mind: his body slowly getting cold, full of cuts, his eyes closed, his hurt expression, his heart not beating anymore. These kept returning to the death of Miles. He did not die for an explosion. He was a kid, scared of the villain, running away. But he fell, down down down, and she wasn't fast enough to save him.
Now she was in the Spider Society Gym, hitting a sack to "work out".
It was her way to process and deal with the grief of death. But, she was not recovering at all.
She was punishing herself.
Mostly of her time, she was working out, always alone. She ate less than usual, that made her get more skinny in an unhealthy way.
Everyone noticed it in the Spider Society, trying to comfort her, saying "We are always here for you" and "We are sorry for your loss", didn't help much.
Sometimes Pav would take her some indian food to her, like Samosas or Shu’Bah' to make her feel better. She would accept it, but never eat it. Not because she did not like it, it just felt like her stomach closed up.
Gwen would send her text message, sometimes call her to do not let her stay alone.
And Hobie would usually ask her to work out together, if not, he would just glance at her, fearing she would feel bad and fall, or pass out.

Y/n's hits on the punching bag kept going, each strike an attempt to drown out the sorrow that was consuming her. The gym echoed with the sound of her kicks and punches, the weight of her loss heavy on her shoulders.
A sudden interruption shattered her focus. Y/n's gaze lifted to find Miguel standing there, his usual cold expression unyielding.
<<What are you doing here?>> she questioned, the edge in her voice betraying the sadness that she tried to hide.
Ignoring her query, Miguel simply stated <<Follow me.>>.
Y/n hesitated, wiping the sweat from her brow, but his insistence brooked no argument. With a heavy sigh, she nodded, trailing behind him as he led her to the quiet corner of the cafeteria.

The room buzzed with the chatter of spiderpeople, their laughter filling the space. Yet, at Y/n and Miguel's table there was a heavy silence. Miguel pushed an empanada towards her, his usual cold demeanor softened by a tinge of concern <<Eat.>> he commanded.
<<I'm not hungry.>> Y/n replied back.  Miguel's frown deepened as he observed her closely <<You're too skinny now, just working out without eating>> he remarked, his concern palpable.
Y/n's voice wavered as she tried to explain <<It's better this way. I needed to lose weight anyway.>>
Miguel's eyes narrowed in frustration <<You did not need to lose weight. You body was perfectly balanced.>> he spoke <<You're losing weight because you're not eating on purpose. It's not healthy. Your body needs food. Now eat before I make you.>> he retorted, his cold demeanor remained, even if it was obvious he was worried for her.
Finally, Y/n began to eat slowly.
Y/n's gaze dropped to her half-eaten empanada. She took a deep breath, feeling slightly better.
She needed that food.
Miguel's cold facade softened slightly as he asked <<What's wrong?>> though they both knew the answer all too well. Y/n met his eyes, her voice barely above a whisper as she began to explain.
<<I just can't stop thinking about him, about how he's gone.>> Y/n admitted, her voice tinged with sorrow <<I treated him so bad the last time I saw him and... it's all my fault...>> Tears threatened to spill over, but she fought to keep them at bay, unwilling to break down completely in front of Miguel. It was too humiliating.
Miguel listened in silence as he observed the pain on Y/n's face.
He surprisling reached out a hand, a rare gesture of comfort, resting it on hers gently <<You don't have to go through this alone. And it was not your fault.>> he said softly, his voice devoid of its usual edge.
<<Let us help you. You don't need to suffer alone.>> he said <<You did what you could. You did your best.>>.
Y/n's resolve crumbled, and tears welled up in her eyes, fallinv down her cheeks unchecked. She leaned into Miguel's touch, finding comfort in his unexpected gesture of support.
Miguel did not move, insted, he stayed.