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Peter was so done with being a superhero. Getting stabbed, shot at, and thrown around all day was starting to get to him. And he hadn’t even gotten to aliens or primordial beings set on Earth’s destruction. He was only 25 for god’s sake. At least he didn’t have to worry about school anymore.
He basically fell into the apartment, throwing his suit into his room. He glided over to the couch and promptly rolled over the back, collapsing next to his roommate. Harley just handed him a sandwich, not evening moving his eyes away from the tv.
Peter had moved in with Harley after college. Peter had gone to Columbia so that he could still be Spiderman. Harley had gone to MIT on Tony’s urging. They hadn't seen each other much in those four years that they got their undergraduate, so when Harley came back to NYC, they moved in together. Tony said that it was unnecessary because both of them spent most of their time at the tower anyway, but the boys had been insistent.
“Rough day?”, Harley asked. Peter grunted and swung his legs over the armrest, back to his roommate.
“I didn’t think you’d be home”, Peter commented in between devouring his sandwich. Harley just shrugged.
Peter knew rationally that they would both be safer at the tower. But here, in this rundown apartment the boys had insisted on paying for with their own money, it felt like nothing could get to them. Like they were completely separate from the outside world. They had built their own little mutually beneficial ecosystem. And Peter hated the thought of anything interrupting that. Still, if something happened to Harley that could have been prevented...
“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout so hard?”, Harley asked quietly, his accent slipping in betraying how exhausted he was.
“When’s the last time you slept?”, Peter asked instead of answering, realizing he hadn’t been paying enough attention. Harley shrugged again.
“Night before last, I think”, he answered. Peter glared at him and he had the gall to laugh (laugh!). “I’ve just been workin’ hard, Pete. I’ll catch up soon.”
“You look like you’re about to keel over”, Peter argued.
“Pot meet kettle”, Harley shot back, with a tired smile. When Peter’s worried look didn’t abate, he sighed.
“All right superhero”, he said, standing up, pulling Peter after him. “Let’s go to sleep.”
Peter wanted to argue but one, he was really tired, and two, at least it meant Harley was sleeping. He let Harley pull him into his room and onto his bed. He expected the pajamas to be thrown at him so he could change. He did not expect the other boy to climb into the bed as well, however.
“You staying the night, Keener?”, Peter teased, pulse picking up a little.
“That all right with you, Parker?”, Harley asked, but he was already mostly asleep.
“Sure”, Peter answered, but Harley was already asleep. He wasn’t far behind him.
##
Harley woke up to the blinds scattering rays of light across the room, falling across him and Peter. Peter, who was still clutching onto Harley for dear life. He groaned internally, knowing it would be nearly impossible to get out of the bed without waking the younger boy up. So Harley just watched him for a while.
Sleeping Peter was a lot different than Awake Peter, Harley had discovered over the years. He used to get nightmares a lot and his face would be all scrunched up in pain, his whole body tense. Then, while they were in college, he slept like how Harley would imagine a spider sleeping. He had been all splayed out and so relaxed that, the few times Harley saw him, he was sure Peter was going to melt into the mattress. And now that they live together, Peter sleeps more curled inward, no longer scared but like he was just really cold and trying to contain his body heat.
Except when he was with Harley. When he was with Harley, the nightmares faded away and he looked like a kitten. When Peter had visited Harley and they slept together, his body instinctively made room for the older boy. When they crash together on the couch or in each other’s beds, it’s like Harley’s the heat source Peter’s been looking for and clings to him until he wakes up. Like now.
Peter started to stir and Harley mentally scolded himself for not just getting out of bed. His eyes slowly opened and he just sat there, watching the boy wake up.
“Morning”, Peter whispered sleepily. He looked around in the usual confused way when you first wake up. “What time is it?”
“Uh, about ten I think”, Harley answered, looking away. He started getting out of the bed. “I’m, uh, gonna go make breakfast.”
Before he could escape, Peter grabbed his wrist. He turned back to his roommate looking concerned.
He asked, “Is everything all right?”
Harley gave him a soft smile. “It’s fine, promise. Just breakfast.”
Peter looked him over once, finally nodding and letting go of his wrist. Harley watched Peter roll back into a ball before quietly exciting the room.
Another thing Harley had noticed about Peter. The younger boy worried too much. And Harley wanted to give him as little to worry about as possible.
Because something Peter has always been able to do was make his heart beat a little too fast, make his smile a little too soft, make his feelings a little too deep. Too much for just a friend. And Harley had always liked to push how far it would go, like last night.
Maybe he should be doing the opposite.
***
Peter liked it when Harley cooked. He was a disaster in the kitchen, and Harley was basically a god, so it evens out. That morning, though, Peter felt like something was a little off. He couldn’t tell what but he knew he needed to find out.
“Hey”, Peter called from across the island. Harley simply waved back.
“...Are we okay?”, Peter asked softly.
“‘Course”, Harley replied, not turning his attention away from the food.
“Right”, Peter muttered, pushing away from the counter and plopping down on the sofa.
Harley brought the food out and silently handed him a plate. He sat down next to him and turned on some show neither of them actually cared about watching. It wasn’t like Harley was ignoring him, per se, but Peter couldn’t deal with this for much longer.
“Ok, something is going on”, Peter exclaimed, turning toward Harley. “What is it? Are you mad at me, did I do something wrong? Did something happen last night, you seemed normal then but maybe I was just not noticing it? Harley please just—”
He was cut off by a soft, insistent pressure on his lips. Harley’s lips. Harley was kissing him. Oh. Oh. Oh.
Before Peter could figure out what to do, Harley was pulling away. He looked at Peter expectantly and Peter just blinked at him. Harley was starting to get nervous and started to ramble.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I’ve just been wanting to do that for so long, junior year actually, but then I left for college, and you were here. And then I came back and you wanted to be roommates so I just hoped it would go away, but it didn’t. And, god, I’m such a—”
Peter missed him. It seemed to work when he was rambling, so he figured it would work on Harley, too. Harley froze before relaxing, kissing Peter back hesitantly. Then a bit more insistently.
They kissed for a while before Peter pulled back. They caught their breaths before Peter asked, “Why didn’t you do that nine years ago?”
“I—”, but Peter didn’t wait for an answer. He just went back to kissing his friend.
Harley Keener.
His roommate.
Oh my god, they were roommates.