Chapter Text
Three years since the Wedding
The day of the diagnoses
“So- whats the verdict?”
“It isn’t good. We can’t actually tell what you have but-”
“You think I have the same thing she did?”
“It’s quite likely.”
“How long do I- you know.”
“Well, first we need to make sure this is what it is. But if it is, we can start you on Chemo and attempt to isolate the cancer.”
“How do we make sure that this is what we think it is?”
“Its just a simple test, and then we send it to a lab to run diagnostics. The process will take maybe three weeks- we need parental consent to do this, however, so I implore you to call Mr. Stark or Ms. Potts.”
“I’m eighteen now, and they don’t know. And they won’t know unless its confirmed. You feel me?”
“Yes, Ms. Stark I feel you.”
“Thanks. So I have three weeks before we find out if I’m dying?”
“Before we find out if you have cancer.”
“Before we find out if I’m dying.
“Ms. Stark-”
“Thank you for all you’ve done- and remember, Tony and Pepper don’t find out till its confirmed, okay?”
“Okay.”
Three years since the Wedding
The day after the diagnoses
Harley was tired of fighting.
It was always another fight. No longer was it the cute innocent bickering of their high school years, or the playful banter of their college years- no this was different. It was fighting . Nasty, angry, hurt and heart strung fighting. And he wasn’t going to lie.
He was kind of tired of Peter.
Which was an absolutely horrible thought. Because he loved Peter. He loved Peter more than anything in the world. He loved Peter since he was a stupid kid with a tumblr blog and strong opinions and weird shit posts. He loved Peter since Peter had pulled that cliche ass move on his first day of high school in midtown. He loved Peter every single day since he could remember. He loved Peter more than he loved mechanics. He loved Peter.
But jesus fucking christ was this getting really annoying.
“You’re not fucking listening to me!” He breathed, enraged, “Why don’t you ever fucking listen to me?!”
“Oh I’m sorry,” Peter snapped back, running a sharp hand through his hair, “I’m sorry that I’m busy saving the fucking world!”
Harley scoffed, rolling his eyes at Peter, “‘Saving the world’- dicking around with the Avengers is not the same as fighting a global threat!”
“It’s Hydra!”
“It’s always Hydra!”
“Why can’t you just fucking be supportive ?!”
“Of what ! Of my fucking husband trying to kill himself by throwing himself into battles that he doesn’t need to be in?!”
“I’m the leader of the Avengers Harley! I can’t just not go on a mission!”
“Leader of the Avengers my Ass! You’re third in command at best, Parker!”
“I have a team to lead!”
“But you shouldn’t have to fucking lead them every night!”
“I have to protect the god damn world!”
“Fucking-”
The knock on their door was a surprise neither of them suspected. Harley shot a nasty glare at his husband and stormed to the door, throwing it open with a snarl, “What?!”
“Okay, um,” Abbie blinked at him, looking disheveled and upset- immediately softening Harley’s anger and rage, “Sorry? I guess? I can- actually I can’t go- look I need to talk to you.”
Peter stepped in the frame, “Abbie, this isn’t the best time-”
“Shh, not you Peter,” She walked in, ducking around her brother, and pulling into their apartment, “Harls, I need your help.”
Harley blinked at her. She didn’t look okay. Maybe to anyone that wasn’t him she would have- because she looked the same as normal. But it was in the way that she held herself- her eyes scanned Harley and Peter like it was the first and last time she’d look at them. She was playing with the necklace Lila and Miles had given her on her sixteenth birthday, a nervous habit she picked up from the way Harley played with his wedding ring when he was nervous. She looked pale, and frantic. She had dark eye bags, like she hadn't slept in days.
“Okay,” he said slowly, ignoring Peter as a whole, “What’s up?”
Abbie bit her lip, “I need you to come tour Europe with me.”
“What-”
“I- Listen,” She glanced at Peter, “Can me and Harley be alone for a second? Its kinda really important.”
“Yeah, sure,” Peter muttered, sticking Harley with a look he knew meant ‘we’ll continue this later’- which god Harley kinda hoped that they did not in fact, continue this later, “I was about to go on patrol anyways.”
“Be safe, and- be back before dinner for once!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Love you.”
“You too.”
Both siblings watched Peter go with a tense expression, and Abbie glanced at her brother with concerned eyes, “Whats that all about?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing. Why do I need to go to Europe with you?”
“I-” She sighed, tightly, pausing her words with a grim expression on her face, “Harley, its occurred to me that I’ve never really lived.”
“Um,” He blinked at her, narrowing his eyes in confusion, “What do you mean?”
She shifted in her seat, folding her hands and placing them on the table, “I’ve never really lived. I’m eighteen. In four months I might be going to college. I’m a legal ass adult now. And I- I’ve never done anything that even counts as living. I sit up in my room writing stories that no ones allowed to read, for a book series that no one will ever publish, and do nothing. Hell! Harley, I’ve been in love with the same girl since I was ten, and I still haven’t made a move!”
“I haven’t had my first kiss,” The rant was becoming frantic, as if she was truly realizing what she had and hadn’t done with her life, “I’ve never been on a real date, I’ve never done anything out of the blue, I’ve never been to another country just to experience another country- its always for Stark industries! I’ve never done anything just purely for myself- Im pretty sure that Lila knows I’m in love with her and is using that to her advantaged because everyone knows! And I-“
“I’m starting to feel like I would have disappointed mom,” she whispered, putting her head in her hands, “So I need to go to Europe- with the one of the only people in the world who gets how it feels to be a Keener. So this is me begging you to please come with me to Europe. Take a few weeks off of work, and let’s just go, Harley. We should just go and have fun.”
Harley sighed softly, “Oh Abbie- how long have you been feeling like this?”
“Awhile.”
“And you’re sure you wanna deal with this problem by running away to Europe?”
“You’re right. Maybe I should go to Asia.”
“Abbie.”
“It’s my summer before college,” She whispered quietly, “If I want to live a little, please be with me when I do.”
“This is just a lot! You’re kind of bringing this up out of the blue-”
“Harley, come on,” Abbie’s voice was pleading, “I need this. I need to run away for just awhile. I need- I need to live. I need to live and I want to live with the one person who has been through everything with me.”
He paused. Could he do this? Could he actually go to Europe with his sister- what about Peter? What about Stark Industries? Could he seriously go to Europe and just forget about his life here for a few weeks.
Yeah, he decided, he could afford to forget about these things and Peter for a few weeks and spend some quality time with Abbie.
“Do dad and Pepper know that you’re planning on this?” He asked, suddenly planning the logistics of it all, “Do you have hotels booked? How much stuff do we need to pack?”
She grinned widely, and for the first time since she stepped into his apartment, relaxed, “So you’re coming?”
“Yeah Abbs,” He nodded, “Ill come with you to Europe.”
“Great. We leave tonight, okay?”
“Gotcha.”
Two days after the diagnosis
New York City, New York
Four A.M.
Two weeks till the reveal
Peter wouldn’t describe himself as having a good time. In fact, he would describe himself as having a very very very shitty time. For starters, Hydra was rearing its ugly little head around New York city- planting bombs, doing all the dirty shit Hydra do- and Peter was not having it.
No matter what Harley said, he was in fact the leader of the avengers. Or- he was the leader of the New York branch of the avengers. And he had a job to do, to the citizens of the country. To the people of the city. To the people of his city. He had a job to protect and take care of his people, his family, his Harl- everything. He had a job to protect everything.
Which is why it was so frustrating that Harley wanted him to just give that up. Well- to be fair to his husband, Harley wasn’t asking him to give up being a superhero. He was just asking him the impossible- to stop doing his job as frequently. But he needed to do his job and he needed to do it well, for all the reasons he constantly listed in his head. He needed to do his job and do it well for Harley.
He couldn’t afford to slack.
He needed to protect his city. This city had given him everything he ever loved, everything to protect and fight for. And he’d protect it with everything he could. He would fight every alien, every criminal, every threat to keep his city safe. To keep his team safe. To keep his family safe. To keep his husband safe. The way he should have kept Ben safe. But he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He would protect Harley Keener-Parker and the city he loved if it was the last thing he did.
And it was annoying and honestly aggravating that Harley kept asking him to relax in his job. It was even worse because Harley just didn’t seem to care whenever he explained himself on why he’d been taking all those late nights. Harley just assumed it was because of Harley- as if Peter would ever want to be away from his husband. He’d had a taste of life without Harley once and he honestly never wanted it again. But Harley just didn’t listen when he told him that he needed to fight.
It was always another fight when he came home. He didn’t do the dishes- or Harley forgot to pay the electricity bill- or he came home too late for dinner- or Harley would leave his socks everywhere after Peter had asked him not too. This or that. He’d go out for the day and fist fight bad guys and come back to another screaming match in his fortress of solitude. It was getting to the point where he was staying out later and later just to avoid the ensuing screaming match.
That didn’t mean he didn’t love Harley. Harley was his entire world and the only person he could picture himself with- but Peter was tired to the bone of this. This constant arguing, this bickering that never seemed to want to leave. He was tired of it. He was tired of Harley.
Well- no. He was tired of the Harley that didn’t listen to him. He was tired of the Harley who didn’t wait for him to come back. He was tired of the Harley that didn’t seem to love him.
And wasn’t that a sickening thought? That Harley didn’t love him? Because he knew his husband did. They had sworn vows of marriage to each other, and in the moments they weren’t fighting, he saw his husband. His brilliant, snarky, loving, gentle husband who loved to cook and build and tease Peter gently.
A wave of cold dread washed over him, and he bolted up right from where he was posted on the Empire State Building. Something was wrong. Something was very very wrong. He didn’t know how to describe it beyond a quaking sense of fear in his chest. It was like his spidey sense had been turned up to eleven- but there were no missiles flying at him. No bullets. No Venom. No anything. Just Peter and the cold quiet of the night.
Harley.
Something was wrong with Harley. He felt himself jolt, swinging off the building, forcing himself to stay calm. It was four am. There was probably nothing wrong with his husband- maybe he had had a nightmare or maybe he had cut himself making food at four am. There couldn’t be anything wrong with Harley- he couldn’t handle anything being wrong with Harley. He swung, the gut feeling getting worse and worse and worse until it was unbearably bad. He forced himself to breath.
Harley was okay. There was no way his husband wasn’t in their bed, reading a book, or sleeping, or making a midnight snack, or building. Harley was okay. He was panicking for nothing. This dread wasn’t like his spidey sense- everything would be fine. He was just paranoid and anxious, like he had been when he was fifteen. This was just anxiety. This wasn’t- this couldn’t- be something actually wrong because Harley was okay. Harley had to be okay.
He hit the fire escape hard, forcing the window open, voice coming out rough, “Harley?”
He couldn’t hear his heartbeat or his breathing or anything- and that was wrong. He slammed through the apartment, doing a general sweep. Okay. Okay. No panicking. No anxiety attack. No Panic Attack. He was fine. Harley had probably gone out to get ice cream. At- at four am. Yeah- yeah that made sense. Harley was coming back soon- in fact Peter bet money that Harley was about to walk through that door.
Harley didn’t walk through the front door.
His stomach dropped hard. He took a deep breath, voice coming out shaky, “Harley? You here, love?”
No response.
“Harley,” He opened the door to their bedroom, stomach dropping when he saw the lump on the bed. No heartbeat. He swarmed towards him, “No- no- no! Harley!”
He ripped the blankets off, and he didn’t know wether to laugh or cry at the fact that human shaped lump was actually just the spider-man body pillow Harley had gotten as a joke for their second wedding anniversary.
Peter paced down the hall, stopping at the kitchen counter.
A note.
There was a note.
His hands shook as he picked it up, scanning over the words. He read them carefully:
Peter,
Hey, I’ll probably be gone on the plane by the time you’re reading this. But for context: I’m going to Europe with Abbie. She’s going through some stuff and needs me. I left some food in the fridge and your laundry is in the wash.
Listen, Peter, I think we need a break. Just for a bit- some space to breath. I don’t know how you feel but I’m tired of the constant fighting and the constant arguments. I don’t deserve that and neither do you. You’re the love of my life, so I think its only fair if we just. Stop. And take some space.
I’ll be back sooner or later, but until then lets just… take some space. So I won’t call you, and you won’t call me. That way we both get some alone time.
Love you,
Harley
He stared at it like it had ruined his life.
He- Harley wanted space. Harley wanted space from him. He did this- he, Peter Parker- drove his husband away. Harley was going to Europe alone, not wanting to hear from him at all. He- he pretended like his hands weren’t shaking hard.
He set the note down, and put his head in his hands.
Peter Parker was not having a good time. In fact, right now, he was pretty sure he wanted to cry.
Two days after the diagnosis
The Compound, New York
Three P.M.
Two weeks till the reveal
Miles was pretty sure he was going to die.
It wasn’t exactly that he was going to die, rather he was going to get fucking murdered. Because Abigail Elizabeth Keener was an asshole who did not tell anyone anything. Abigail Elizabeth Keener was the reason why he was going to get pulverized with a fucking repulsar ray. Because she was an asshole who did not tell anyone anything- except Miles who knew everything and was forced to suffer in silence or fear the consequences forced upon him.
All because Abigail was an asshole.
But at the end of the day, Abbie was his asshole. Fuck- there had got to be a better way to say that- but the point still stood. Abbie was his best friend. She had been there through everything. When he was facing his sexuality crisis, when he convinced his parents he was dating the new spider-man, the snap, everything. She had gotten him his first girlfriend, and helped him ask Ganke to prom after he had realized he had a crush on him. He wasn’t about to leave her stranded.
Especially right now, when she might be dying.
Hearing that your best friend may or may not have a super vicious form of cancer that runs in her family was kind of fucking terrifying. It was even worse because he had been sworn to secrecy from everyone and everything. Tony Stark didn’t know. Pepper Potts didn’t know. Peter Parker didn’t know. Harley Keener-Parker didn’t know. And Lila Barton didn’t know. Only Abigail Keener and Miles Morales knew.
And he had been giving the task of protecting them from the information.
Which uh, kinda fucking sucked when Iron Man was yelling in his face.
He flinched, “Mr. Stark, I don’t know why she ran away to Europe.”
“Bullshit!” Iron Man- fucking hell, he was lying to Iron man. He was lying straight to Iron Man’s face- snarled, “She tells you everything, Miles! She would have told you this.”
“She told me she was going, just not why-”
“Miles, you are lying,” Iron Man- no this was Tony Stark, this was Abbie’s dad , which made his lies so much worse, holy shit, “I can tell that you're lying. So spill the beans.”
“Mr. Stark, I’m serious,” God he was going to go to hell. He was a horrible person. He was lying to a dying girls dad, “I don’t know why she went to Europe. But shes Abbie does she really need a reason?”
Tony was pacing hard, sending Miles a hard look, “Kid, tell me why my daughter went to Europe without telling me, right now, or I will- I will call your parents!”
“Mr. Stark, I’m nineteen,” He was a guilty mother fucking liar is what he was, “Threats like that don’t work on me anymore.”
“But you admit you know!”
“I don’t! I don’t know!”
“Did it have something to do with me,” Tony ran a hand through his hair, “I know we’ve been fighting because I don’t want her to go to California for school, but thats because Columbia accepted her and its a much better choice,” Tony turned to him, looking like he had a eureka moment, “Lila Barton. She left cause of Barton didn’t she?”
Miles blinked, “Why would she leave because of Lila?”
“Because she’s in love with Lila and Lila is dragging her around,” Tony looked at him incredulously, “Which isn’t to say that Lila doesn't love Abbie back, Lila’s just a fucking idiot who thinks that she’d hurt Abbie by confessing, and doesn’t realize she’s taking advantage of my daughter. But if you didn’t know then thats not it.”
“Mr. Stark, I’m telling you,” He lied flawlessly, which he felt like should be concerning, “I don’t know why she went to Europe. Maybe you should call and ask her?”
“Miles, do you know what a tick is?”
“A tic tac?”
“What? No. A tick- like-”
“Oh like the blood sucking bug that has Lyme disease.”
“God,” Tony put a hand to his forehead, massaging his temples, “There really is a reason that you and Abbie are best friends, huh?”
“I mean, yeah-”
“Okay no, A tick isn’t a tic tack or some bug,” Tony pointed him, “A tick is like what you’re doing with your ear right now. A tell that you’re lying.”
Huh. Miles really had not even noticed that he was tugging at his ear. He must’ve been doing it on instinct and now- now Tony knew he was a fucking liar hold shit oh no. He couldn’t give Abbie up- she had made it clear that she needed this much more than she needed anything and if the Stark-Potts found put she could be dying they would drag her back to America.
And Abbie wanted to be with her brother right now- no fuss no mess.
He sighed, “Okay, maybe I know. But believe me when I tell you, let Abbie come to you on her own time. She deserves that.”
“No! Tell me right now! I’m her father!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.” He kept his hands firmly at his sides, trying to sound as sincere as he could, “Abbie ran away to Europe because she wants to live a little before college.”
“And she couldn’t be bothered to tell me that she was going to be in a different content?!”
“In her defense, she thought you’d say no.”
“I wouldn’t have! I would’ve said yes!”
“So let her have her fun,” He shrugged, “There’s no harm in waiting for her to come back before yelling at her. She might want the space and time to be able to hang out with Harley and stuff before college.”
“At least Harley’s with her, I guess.”
Miles nodded, almost breathing a relieved sigh that his lie worked, but holding himself back, “Exactly. So I wouldn’t worry too much.”
“Oh, I’ll always be worried,” Tony waved a hand, “But I am sorry for cornering you after you just got off a mission.”
Oh right, Miles had been on a mission as Spider-Man. How did he forget about that. How did he also forget about the dull pain in his side.
Oh right he had gotten stabbed. Honestly, the second Tony Stark had cornered him, he kinda forgot all about the fact that he’d gotten stabbed. His primary purpose was protecting Abbie’s secret. He guessed he must’ve gone into what Ganke called his mother bear mode.
He grinned slightly at Tony, gesturing to his wounded side, “Its okay Mr. Stark, but if you don’t mind I think I really really need to get to the med bay.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.”
“You should have told me you were hurt!”
“In my defense, you started yelling at me about Abbie-”
“You are hurt, Miles! You should have ignored me!”
“I was nervous!”
Two days after the diagnosis
The Compound, New York
Seven P.M.
Two weeks till the reveal
Lila Barton was not amused.
Seriously, what the fuck was everyone on? Everyone had been glaring at her like she personally nuked their entire families and made them bathe in the chemical fall out. She didn’t now what the fuck was going on, only that she wasn’t down for this.
Genuinely she had no idea what she had done to gain the ire of the entire Avengers compound, but here she was, standing after a mission, wondering what the fuck was going on. The entire compound had felt off for the last few days, but now, with everyone looking at her like she murdered their families, she had to wonder if it had something to do with her.
Whatever, she’d have to ask Abbie when she saw her what was up.
Unless Abbie was mad at her too- but that felt unlikely. Abbie was her best friend, there was no way she was also joining this Lila glare fest. She was too fair and honest to not tell Lila what she had done wrong. She didn’t like injustices and she enjoyed fair chances, so there was no way that she would tell Lila exactly what had crawled up everyone’s ass and died.
Now it was just a matter of trying to find Abbie.
She wasn’t in her room at the compound, but Lila brushed that off. Abbie didn’t spend a lot of time in that room, prefering to head back to New York city to sleep. In all honesty, Lila was pretty sure that she used that room more than Abbie did- but she couldn’t help it. Her own room was just so far from the med bay and she wasn’t the type to make it that far when a perfectly good and open room was waiting to be used. Plus, Abbie didn’t mind since she usually went home after the missions.
So Lila passed by her room, instead heading to the kitchens. Abbie loved the kitchens- not because she had any cooking abilities what so ever, but just because she genuinely enjoyed attempting to make things. Wether those things came out edible or not was an entirely different issue. But point still stood, Abbie was usually in the kitchen. She hummed as she passed Ms. Marvel and Spider-Girl, giving them a nod, only to receive a pointed look.
Seriously, what the fuck did she do to get everyone to be this pissed at her? She didn’t think she had done anything. She hadn’t messed up on the mission, she hadn’t done anything particularly bad or evil, she hadn’t sold out the location of the compound to her Dad’s evil older brother. In all honesty, she thought she had been doing pretty good. Nothing that would inspire the entirety of the compound to treat her like she was the devil in disguise.
She stepped in the kitchens, but instead of the usual head of blonde hair, she found Peter Parker sniveling on the floor, stuffing his face with rocky road ice cream.
“Uh, hey, Parker,” she raised an eye brow, moving to stand in from of him, “Are you okay?”
Peter glanced up at her, letting out the most pathetic sniff she had ever heard from a grown man, stuffing his face with more ice cream, “No, I’m not.”
“Okay, um,” Lila awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. To be honest, she didn’t usually talk to Peter Parker, especially when he was shovelling his face with chocolate ice cream hours after a mission, “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“Whats there to talk about? Can’t a guy just eat his rocky road ice cream in peace?”
“I mean- yeah? But you’re kind of like.. Sobbing into your ice cream.”
“I am your commanding officer, you shouldn’t talk to me like this.”
“Peter,” She deadpanned, moving to sit next to him, with a raised brow, “I’ve known you since I was like… ten. You’re my best friends brother in law. Whats up?”
Peter tensed hard, and looked away from her, “So you haven’t heard.”
“Heard what?”
“The Keener’s left.”
“Ha, funny joke.
“I’m not joking.”
She looked at him incredulously, “Abbie wouldn’t leave without telling me.”
“Yeah, thats what I would think,” Peter shoved another spoonful in his mouth, “But no. Besides, why do you think everyone’s been angry at you all day?”
“Wait, what?”
“The Keeners went to Europe and didn’t tell anyone, and- yeah,” Peter shook his head, ignoring Lila’s confusion at the ‘why do you think everyone’s been angry at you all day’, “Harley didn’t tell me and Abbie didn’t tell you.”
Lila blinked at him, shoving the feeling of growing confusion out of the way for a second to raise a brow at Peter, “Your husband didn’t tell you he was going to Europe?”
“Yep,” Peter scowled into his suddenly understandable rocky road ice cream, “He didn’t tell me and then he was gone.”
“Jesus.”
“Yep.”
“Are you two.. Okay?”
Peter shot her a glare, “You should worry more about you and Abbie.”
“What about me and Abbie?” She tensed just as hard as Peter was, “We aren’t dating. She doesn’t have to tell me shit about where she goes or what she does or who she fucks while in Europe.”
A sense of dread filled her stomach. Was Abbie going to Europe to have a few flings with pretty English or German or French girls? Did she bring Harley along to hide the fact she was going to have affair a plenty in Europe without Lila?
Why did that matter though- Lila and Abbie weren’t dating. They weren’t dating so she had absolutely no claim to feel this shit. Especially when Peter had to now face with the fact that his actual husband was gone to Europe. She couldn’t claim to be upset- she had no claim to be anything besides a friend.
So why did she suddenly want to join Peter on the floor with the rocky road?
Three days after the diagnosis
London, England
Midnight
Two weeks till the reveal
Abbie hummed from the hotel room she and Harley had managed to get with the money they had. Honestly, she was kind of surprised he had agreed to come with her at all. But she supposed that was just how the world went.
At the end of the day, they’d always be there for each other.
Husbands be damned. Best friends be fucked. They were there for each other, because no matter what, they had each other.
She turned to him, “Okay, so, I think I have a plan.”
“Oh no,” Harley was flicking through the channels on the Tv, “Your plans suck, Abbie.”
“Hardy har, not that kind of plan, asshole. Just a general outline of where we should go.”
“Alright, hit me with it.”
“Well,” She hummed, “I figure that tomorrow, we’ll hit all the tourist traps, and then tomorrow night hit the pub distract, drink up a storm. And then the next day we’ll go somewhere else in England, and then the next day I wanna hit up Scotland and a few tourist traps there, then all of the Scottish pubs. Do we wanna go to Ireland?”
“Nah, fuck the Irish.”
“Right, so after that, we should go to France, fuck around in Paris and Marseilles,” she nodded, writing it down, “Then I wanna go to Italy or some shit. Or is Spain closer?”
Harley raised an eyebrow, “Abbie, have you ever even looked at a map?”
“Honestly? This is my first time ever doing something like this.”
“What, using your brain?”
“No, planning a trip.”
“Alright, alright,” He grinned at her in surrender, “To be honest, it sounds great.”
“I also wanna hit up Greece.”
“Mama Mia, here we go again.”
She snorted ta him, “You’re a dork.”
“No, I’m respectable.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
“Still,” Harley’s face shifted, tone shifting to be more serious, “Have you called dad yet?”
“Nope- I’m not facing that backlash of that. I don’t wanna get yelled at for being a legal adult who can make her own decisions without needing her parents permission.”
“You turned eighteen like a few months ago, they have reason to be concerned.”
“You’re a dick. I don’t see you calling Peter.”
Harley shrugged, “I said I wouldn’t. Besides, Peter probably is living it up without me there.”
“Okay, I’m gonna be honest,” She sent him an unimpressed look, “That was pathetic. If you want to talk to him, do it.”
“Its not that easy,” He shrugged again, hand coming to smooth down his shirt collar, “I said we should use this vacation to get a little space from each other. I’m not backing down on that sentiment just because I miss his voice. I’ll be fine, so stop worrying. However- you will not be fine when Dad figured out you left without telling him.”
“Ugh, please stop talking about Dad, I don’t need his permission for every little thing.”
“You call going to Europe a little thing?”
“It was a mistake inviting you. I should’ve left you in New York where I found you.”
“But’cha didn’t.”
“Dick.”
“Asshole.”
“Dumbass.”
“But seriously,” Harley shot her a look, “Call dad. He needs to hear that you’re at least alive.”
She grumbled but stood up and grabbed her phone. Leave it to Harley to guilt trip her to where she couldn’t fight back. Whatever. She had a dad to call.