You and Hobie had an unspoken rule: friends, strictly friends. Two spider people from two different Earths who happened to click. Simple. Clean. No messy attachments. Because on your Earth, the one you loved-the Hobie you'd dated, fought beside, lost... was gone. And getting tangled up with another Hobie Brown felt too dangerous, too close, too much.

But then Peter Parker showed up, shoving Mayday into your arms with a "you'll be fine, it's just babysitting," and disappeared before you could protest. You weren't worried about handling a baby- you could fight crime across dimensions, you could handle a kid.

What you weren't ready for was this Hobie dropping by to help. And worse, watching him be good with Mayday. The way she giggled when he held her upside down like a guitar, the way he softened his voice when she tugged on his piercings, the way he looked like he actually belonged in that moment.

Every part of you screamed not to get attached. But the longer you sat there, spider sense buzzing in ways it shouldn't, the harder it was to ignore: this Hobie wasn't yours. But damn it, he was making it very easy to imagine he could be.