Darkness. It surrounded the whole of Queens, wrapping it under its obsidian glory. Everything, from the trees to the rest of the houses in the neighborhood, left as silhouettes; charcoalized versions of their daytime selves. And the only light tainting them were from the streetlights and stars shining above.
Black would've painted all of the sky, but the proud crescent moon and the choir of beaming stars had it under siege. The night had been out for hours but it always flew over like a raven of pure twilight velvet, with the promise of another day of life passing by. Michelle always found the dark to be a comforting presence. It hid her flaws and imperfections. It made the sorrows of the previous day fade away along the once retreating sun. And it held mysteries of the after hours of a slumbering city. Nights like these were especially her favorites. Rather than an inky canopy freckled with a few stars and most of the luminescence coming from the bits of downtown still awake, the balls of gas millions of miles away lit up brilliantly like a diamond flame and sprinkled on most parts of the sky's colorless canvas. The night's serenade may have concealed a lot of the world, but it revealed its most beautiful aspects to her and other nocturnal dwellers basking around in the offered tranquility.
Michelle leaned against the railing, arms crossed as her mind was plentiful of thoughts; enough to replace all the food stored down in her kitchen. Yet the balcony kept her company. You see, even before her visits from Spider-Man, Michelle loved to spend her time on the balcony, drowning in her thoughts. Thoughts that jumbled her emotions. Her mind was like the midnight sky above her: obscured by all the things covering it. With the most recent events so hectic, Michelle was displaced—even in her own head. But it wasn't her third brush of death that caused her to be so distraught. By now, she was used to it. The only thing that could cause such vexation wasn't even a thing at all; more like someone.
A spandex suited hero that crept his way into her heart. What seemed to begin as an accidental occurrence soon turned into something that made Michelle appreciate the functions of feelings, but it also brought great confusion. She's never faced such a thing before. Emotions weren't complex to her, especially with the impenetrable wall she held up. But then this storybook protagonist wanders in nonchalantly, breaking it until all the pieces turned to dust. He's shown her a new perspective of existence that dazzled her once simple philosophies. Only he could make her heart soar and her feelings muddled. And that's why she was confused.
Why was it him? Out of all the people in the world, why was he the only person able to make Michelle question everything in its entirety? He was the only one that could make the corny saying of "butterflies fluttering in her stomach" true. She even confused herself to no end. Most people would find him to be the paragon of a Knight in shining armor, and let themselves be acquiescent to swoon. But Michelle opposed it. For some reason, she just couldn't allow herself of this one delight, because she didn't find herself worthy enough. Yet, when he came to save her once more, it was as if an epiphany lighted upon Michelle.
All this time, he's shown interest for her. The girl wasn't oblivious to see it. And she's made it clear his feelings were reciprocated, but she wasn't sure how to handle it. So Michelle did the one thing she knew best in situations like these: she hid, only to now realize that those feelings wouldn't go away; and that if he was putting this much effort into trying to talk to her as well as continuously proving he'll be there for her, then maybe she was worth it after all. Maybe the preconceived notion she's had of herself for so long was just the doubt that came with not being able to set more for her. She never imagined the possibilities that awaited her before, because no one's shown her how.
Then comes Spider-Man, swinging on a web of hope while guiding her into that process of acceptance. Acceptance of life, of love, of loss, of the good and the bad and everything in between. Even acceptance in herself. The facade Michelle put on, a misanthropic and mordacious loner, evanesced along with her wall of austerity on that first night she met a saddened masked soul similar to her. And from then on Michelle wasn't lonely anymore.
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~ 𝑺𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 ~ | ✔︎
Fanfiction(Spideychelle) Peter Parker wears a mask, both literally and figuratively. Every heartbreaking moment in his life tends to add another layer to his mask, because he believes no one else should have to carry his problems. That was until everything c...
