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Looking back, Penny figured she should’ve told someone. Laying in the hospital bed, she realized all of this could’ve been easily avoided if she had told one of her guardians what the plan had been.
But that’s now. Let’s rewind to then, shall we?
Penny and Harry reclined on Penny’s couch, scrolling through their phones and half heartedly doing homework. It was nice. Sounds of distant traffic could be heard outside the apartment. The smell of fall leaves occasionally drifted in from the cracked open window. Harry’s curls tickled Penny’s cheek as he shook his head to keep himself awake.
“When’s your aunt coming home?” Harry asked, breaking the silence.
Penny sighed as she glanced at the clock. “Not for another few hours.”
May was working a double at the hospital, Ned and MJ had family things all day, so Penny was virtually alone in terms of friends. She knew Mr. Stark would’ve been more than happy to have her over for the day, but she didn’t want to impose or invite herself over.
Harry’s name had come to her mind out of nowhere. They’d had a couple more non-dates since the afternoon at Delmar’s. It was nice. She enjoyed spending time with him and he seemed to enjoy spending time with her. But there was just one problem.
None of the adults in Penny’s life knew of her secret not-boyfriend.
It wasn’t that she was trying to keep it a secret…
Ok, she was. It wasn’t a total secret though. May knew she had reconnected with an old friend that she’d been hanging out with. She didn’t know Harry opened doors for her, insisted on paying for her lunch and challenged her to Battleship tournaments whenever she argued with him on it. She didn’t know about the butterflies that swarmed her stomach every time he smiled at her. And May had absolutely no idea about the short kiss they had shared last week.
And Mr. Stark? He couldn’t be more unaware of it as far as Penny knew. The tabloids hadn’t found out that Tony Stark’s intern had begun non-dating Norman Osborn’s son in the most Romeo and Juliet fashion so neither had Mr. Stark.
Penny felt slightly guilty keeping such a big secret from him. But then she thought of the teasing that might occur. Or what if he was mad? Norman was Mr. Stark’s biggest rival. There’s no way he’d be ok with this.
“Penny?”
Penny blinked and turned to see Harry smiling at her. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked if you wanted to go for a drive,” Harry said.
Penny glanced outside at the setting sun. “Maybe next time. It’s my night to make dinner and I don’t want May to come home and I’m not here. That happened once and it didn’t end well…” Penny thought back to before she had a curfew and May had come home to Penny’s empty room. It had ended in a grounding and long conversation.
“Ok, next time then. When should next time be, Parker?” Harry asked.
Penny pulled up her phone’s calendar. “Next Saturday?”
Harry pulled out his phone’s calendar as well. He groaned. “Can’t. Dad has a stupid event that I have to go to. What about the Friday before?”
“I have the internship on Fridays. Sunday?” Penny asked.
Harry quietly looked at Sunday, then said, “Ding ding ding! We have a winner. Sunday it is. Want to go for a drive? I’m dying to show you Ricky Montgomery’s new album.”
Penny smiled as she nodded. Over the course of the past few weeks, she’d quickly learned Harry was a huge music nerd which she found completely adorable.
“Sounds like a plan. I don’t have a car or license, so you’ll have to drive,” Penny said.
“Not a problem. Meet at the same spot?” Harry asked as they stood. Delmar’s had become their official meeting spot for their non-dates.
“Works for me if it works for you. Oh! Wait, before you leave,” Penny said, running off to her room. She pulled out the Polaroid that Mr. Stark had gifted her for her birthday last month and ran back to the living room.
“Let’s take a quick picture,” she said with a grin.
Penny held the camera in front of them and Harry wrapped an arm around Penny’s shoulders. Those cursed butterflies returned.
She snapped the picture. The camera printed out the picture and she waved it around to dry it.
“Can I take a picture of it?” Harry asked, pulling out his phone’s camera.
Penny held it out for him once the picture had appeared on the film.
“Perfect. See you on Sunday, Penny Parker,” Harry said. He hesitated before placing a quick kiss on her cheek. A blush filled her cheeks.
“See you on Sunday, Harry Osborn,” she said.
The topic never came up with May, so Penny saw no reason to tell her about it. Ned knew and so did MJ, but Mr. Stark stayed oblivious as far as she knew.
It’s a harmless little drive, why should anyone have to know?
That was Penny’s biggest mistake.
Sunday came in the blink of an eye. Penny wore a nice sweater in the chilly September weather, paired with boots and jeans. Harry dressed similarly, sans the boots.
Penny smiled as he strolled up to her. His grin widened. “You look beautiful, milady,” he said.
“You as well, good sir,” Penny answered.
Harry laughed and held out his arm. Penny linked her arm in his, dipping her head as her cheeks burned. Why did she blush so easily around him? She barely even noticed the butterflies this time.
“Sorry I had to park so far away, parking sucks,” Harry explained as they headed to his 2015 Bugatti Veyron.
“Not a problem. So, where are we off to today?” Penny asked.
Leaves fell softly around them, Harry’s cologne drifted through the air mixing with Penny’s soft perfume. Peace filled Penny. She felt safe with Harry, at ease almost, which was odd because she rarely let her guard down enough to feel at ease.
“I thought we could get out of the city for a little bit if that’s ok with you. I know some scenic routes we can take that are really pretty this time of year,” Harry said, opening Penny’s door for her.
She thanked him and said, “Sounds perfect to me,” before climbing into the passenger side of the car.
Harry waited until they left the city to start playing the music he’d been wanting to show Penny. He added little commentary notes here and there and Penny couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she watched his eyes dance with excitement. He took peeks at her every once and a while as he explained what made his favorite songs his favorites.
They drove leisurely through the backroads, watching the leaves fall and decorate the road. After the album finished, Harry handed Penny his phone.
“Your turn,” he said.
“For what?” she asked.
“To pick the music. We’re always listening to my music, I want to hear what you like this time,” Harry said, brushing his curls away from his face.
“Are you sure?” Penny asked, growing slightly self conscious. Harry was such a huge music nerd, what if he hated her music? Yeah, it was just music and it wasn’t a huge deal, but this was important to him. What if it made him not like her anymore? What if he dumped her or something?
“Of course I’m sure!” he said with a grin.
Hesitantly, Penny typed in one of her favorite artists. Penny didn’t listen to a lot of music with lyrics, it was mainly lo-fi type music which, after she started playing it, she realized it kind of fit the scene perfectly. Harry hesitated before sneaking his hand into Penny’s. Penny ducked her head to hide her blush.
A couple songs had run through by the time the hair on Penny’s neck stood. Chills ran down her spine, making her stiffen. What’s wrong? What’s going on to make her spider-sense go off? She looked around but didn’t see any danger.
“You ok?” Harry asked, frowning slightly.
“Yeah… just have a weird feeling,” Penny mumbled. She tightened her grip on Harry's hand, careful not to squeeze too tight.
“Are you ok? Do we need to turn back?” Harry asked.
Penny wanted to say no. She wanted to stay like this with him forever, no Spider-girl, no colleges, no overprotective aunts and mentors. But something was wrong, she could feel it.
“Yea- HARRY, LOOK OUT!”
The Green Goblin landed in front of them, sending chills down Penny’s spine. Harry swore and slammed on the breaks. Penny threw her arm in front of him to protect him from the steering wheel.
They had been going too fast to stop in time. The Green Goblin threw something. Penny screamed, knowing what was about to happen. Harry threw himself over her.
Her world went black.