Hanging On By a Web

8

Gio walked down the streets of his own New York towards his apartment complex, ready to pull something out of his ass to tell his parents. Miles walked next to him, kicking a rock across the sidewalk until it fell down a rain deposit and was gone, leaving both boys watching their own breath puff in front of them in silence. Miles opened the door to their building and they went inside, old woman Josie flashing a dissapointing look to Giovanni who kept his head down and away from anyone who so much as looked at him.

They walked the eight flights of steps up to their apartment and clicked open the door, abrupt sounds of movement coming from the living area and in less than two seconds, Gio was held tight in an embrace from his mother. She kissed his head and stroked his hair and this triggered the waterfall of tears that erupted from him, sobbing into his mother's shoulder as she urged him into the living room, sitting down next to him on the couch. Gio closed himself in and he could feel the shift in the room, Miles and his dad and his mom were all facing him which made him feel even more cornered. He didn't know what to do, or what to say even.

"Mijo, where did you go?" His mom began the questioning, Gio hadn't realized until now that he really did just run away for three days without a word. "Were you at Miki's? Ever? I called her mom and she said you never went over there. And so did SPA and they said you hadn't been in your doem either. You need to be honest, ahora."

"I can't," Gio couldn't find any of the right words to use, honesty wasn't an option here, he couldn't just say oh I popped over to another dimension for a few days because either I'm going to die or my father is going to die and Miles doesn't know and I can't tell him and the only person making any of this make sense is Hobie Brown. But then again, he could explain the honesty of why he stayed. "I can't tell you."

Really? That's what you stuck with? Gio said to himself, knowing that was the worst possible thing he could have said, his mother looked mildly offended.

"You can't tell us where you've been? No. Unacceptable I need you to start talking ASAP kid." She spat out. His father leaned forward, not as angry as his mom but still pretty frustrated by the looks of it. He put a hand on Gio's knee.

"Where did you go, Giovanni." He asked calmly, this made Gio feel a little less guilty, but at the same time, his dad was incredibly intimidating. Gio set his gaze anywhere but on his parents, although he could feel both of their eyes on him, instead he focused on Miles who was almost grinning, a safe space. Miles was a safe space, the most comforting aura, it was yellow, not like a bright. annoying in your face yellow but a golden glow, like sunflowers in a field, kissed by the sun and flowing gently in the wind. Giovanni saw himself there in Miles, in a place that was clean and green and pretty and he spilled his guts.

"I needed to get away, take a break to myself and reset. I've been struggling, mentally. It's like being underwater, and you're the only one under, and everyone else is walking around you, breathing, thriving, and you're drowning but no one sees you. And you can only hope that someone will stop and notice that you can't breathe. A-and you think to yourself, at any second, someone will dive in and pull you out, but they don't. It's isolating, you feel disconnected. I can't help but feel that with everything I'm holding, the weight is crushing and it's weighing me further down, and even when someone swims in to save you, it's all too much for them to even try to pull to surface. You don't want everyone else to hurt, so you just let it happen." Giovanni's explanation was the honest truth. The eighteen year old was holding onto a lot, and with few people he could actually tell those troubles to. He could chock it up to the pressures of being in an elite school of which he was in his last year, the impending doom of higher education and panicking about what colleges would accept him with a 4.o gpa but not much else to back it up, being transgender and trying to navigate his identity in a world full of people who hated his existence simply because he didn't fit the gender that was assigned to him at birth. But the reality was that it was every pressure that came with being Spiderman.

It was the crushing weight of being a vigilante that was the worst, always being on alert to save someone or another, knowing the awful reality that would soon plague him and his family, having to switch between dimensions on the drop of a hat because something is out of the ordinary, and being one of the elites having to have Miguel's validation. Gio was honored that this was something that had been put upon him, it gave him pride and purpose knowing that he was supporting his community alongside Miles unlike anyone else. Having the opportunity to support his father in the police force and keep the tight knit borough of Brooklyn safe. Jefferson Morales sighed and eyes both of his kids, Rio's face was a mixture of confusion and a weird tranquil that Gio couldn't figure out. Miles looked heartbroken, Gio knew that his brother could start crying at any minute given the opportunity and it would have shattered him. They weren't super touchy-feely but were always honest with each other, if one of the two was going through something, the other was right there behind him to back him up, no matter what or when or how.

"It's one thing to have a lot going on and asking for a break," Jefferson began, waving his hands to find the right words, "it's another to completely run off for three days in the midst of weird shit going down, son."

"I worry about both of you every waking moment and the thought of losing one of you, or both of you, mister sneak around over there," Rio shot a dirty look to Miles who flashed a guilty smile, "is a hard thought to bare. I need to know you're safe, if you aren't at home that's fine, you're both young adults, but it's always going to be our responsibility to keep you safe. Nothing changes that. You're my kids and I'm always gonna take care of you and mother you, but you both have to realize that there is a level of communication that is required, and neither of you know how to do that."

Gio cracked a grin, looking over to his brother and back to his parents again, feeling for the first time in a while, loved.

"We'll try harder, both of us, right Gio?" Miles spoke quickly, standing up as he did so. Gio side eyed him, something was up, "On that note, I gotta run, meeting Ganke for a quick brush up that he also needs to study for. We'll stay at my dorm? Is that okay?"

"Miles Gonzalo Morales, siéntate." His mother warned, Miles sat obediently and looked at his mother.

"Seriously Ma, we have a calculus test on Friday and I really wanna ace it!"

"Miles you hate math." His father remarked, his voice growing that warning tone again that made both of the boys sit a little bit straighter.

"¡Exactamente! I hate math, but Ganke and Gio are both really good at math and I think if they tutor me a little bit, soy dorado!"

Their parents shared a look and Gio began to catch on to what was happening. He stayed silent, in absolutely no place to be stirring shit up. Jeff and Rio spoke lowly to each other before turning to them and nodding.

"Stay for dinner, and then you can go."

"¡Gracias Mamí!"