Jessica

Stinger Part Five

Another day, another lie. The world's been spinning for so many days, you can only imagine how many lies have been said.

Miles was at his parents' house once again, eating at their table, cherishing the moments they spent together in the past and present when he received a text message.

Just like last time, he said it was a friend and was allowed to leave. Just like before, he had to go to the person he was warned to stay away from, now knowing that he should have listened.

He put on his suit but he didn't shoot a single web. Since he couldn't be seen, swinging wasn't an option. He instead stuck to the rooftops and hopped from one to the other and, to make sure that he wouldn't be seen, he even activated his camouflage.

He heard a man's scream one block away from his destination. In response he halted in his tracks and ran over to the edge of the roof he was standing on to witness the owner of a shop shouting at two runaway crooks, begging for someone to stop them.

Instead of doing so, Spider-Man was forced to stop himself and look away. In order to forget what he saw, he tried to convince himself that someone else could have stopped them even without his help. For once, to make himself feel better, he had to convince himself that he wasn't that useful. Deep down he felt that, after what he said to his friend, he deserved it.

Thankfully for him, he didn't hear anymore screaming, alarms or any other sort of noise on his way. He could drop into the alley with his consciousness almost clean, at least cleaner than he expected.

He knocked on the door and no words were exchanged between him and the thugs he should have been webbing to the wall. He could sense their smiles even without seeing them.

On his way downstairs he could hear a kind of music that moved the hearts of those who heard it and looking behind a door, he saw people having a kind of fun he was never interested in. Instead of walking through the door, he stayed behind and turned invisible for good measure.

Miles sat away from the door and just stared at it for what felt like an eternity in which he pondered how he got there, what misstep took him there. Something in his heart told him for sure that things were meant to go differently but something got in the way.

Suddenly, a robotic voice he was accustomed to said: "I can see you."

It was Prowler standing in front of him, engulfed by the dark. His lenses were a bright orange for some reason.

"How?"

"Thanks to your heat signature. You can fool the eye but you can't hide that." he said pointing at his colourful lenses

Miles accepted that there was no use in trying to hide and made himself visible again as he stood up and walked over to his uncle.

Aaron didn't say a word and his nephew didn't look at him. It was, overall, an awkward silence, the one they were in, one that Aaron didn't know very well how to break but he still gave it his best

"I know you're mad at me but I thought that maybe I could make it up to you. I could make you a gift, anything—"

"Stop."

"I mean it, even—"

"I mean it, Uncle Aaron. I don't want it. You can't make me some stupid gift and think I will forgive you. I don't think anything will ever make me forgive you."

"I... I get it. I do."

Prowler looked down at Miles, who still hadn't turned his eyes back to him. In a way, Miles wanted him to feel the cold, sharp pain he felt the night he was betrayed.