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Peter had been hanging out by the laboratory’s bus stop with Gwen when he got the text. Even though he had lost his internship, he still liked to accompany his friend to her job. They had been talking about her current workload, which had changed quite a bit after Dr. Connors had (understandably) secluded himself, when the beeping tone sounded itself off. The Itsy Bitsy Spider, he thought it was pretty clever- at least, at the time.
“Oh, hold on. I just got a message.” He opened the text.
Gwen leaned against his shoulder, peeking at his phone’s screen. “Who is it?”
Harry Osborn, 3:42 PM
hey pete can you come over?
Peter blinked. “Harry, apparently.” He pocketed his phone.
Gwen backed up with a blush on her cheeks, realizing her uncharacteristically close proximity. “What’d he say- do you know how he’s doing? I haven’t heard from him since he’s been on leave.”
Peter shook his head. “He asked if I could come over. I hope he just wants to check in...”
Gwen nodded sympathetically, harboring equal concern for their friend’s state. “I hope so too.”
She checked her watch- it had turned to 3:45. “Oh, shoot, I need to get to the lab. Sorry, Pete. Let me know how it goes with Harry!”
She turned to run up the steps, stopping to wave goodbye to Peter. “And let him know I miss him, too!”
Peter smiled, waving back, his cheeks dusting with warmth. “Don’t worry, Gwen, I’ll let him know!”
Harry Osborn was usually the third to make their duo a trio. He was Peter’s best friend, even if they had been on… not-so-pleasant terms lately. But since the ‘Halloween incident,’ in a rare moment of seemingly decent Osborn parenting, the highschooler had taken a leave in order to get therapy and rehab for his addiction. His disappearance is what had ironically helped mend Gwen and Peter’s relationship, enough to talk on the bus together again. Peter- and Gwen, of course, and (probably) his popular clique buddies- missed him, but he knew that this was what was best for his friend. It had been a month since Peter last saw him, so he couldn’t shake the ‘worst case scenario’ thoughts crawling around his brain from the vague text, but he shook them away- he was just glad Harry wanted to talk to him.
When Peter took the elevator up to the Osborn penthouse, he was first greeted with the sight of Harry’s father, and… oh boy, there’s Harry, too, they’re arguing.
“I understand your need for continued therapy, but you’re going to have to go back to school soon, son.” Norman always seemed tall and imposing, but especially so when he was arguing. “If you had agreed to go abroad you could have studied on top of your health break…”
“But I didn’t want to go off to Europe, dad! I-”
“Of course you didn’t want it. But it was what would have been best-”
Peter stepped out of the elevator, whistling to draw attention to himself, hoping this would break up the argument. Harry arguing with his father after that volatility happened did not sound like a good situation. Luckily, it worked, and both gingers turned their attention to his arrival.
“Ah, hello, Peter.” Norman smiled and smoothly strode over to shake his hand, ignoring that the boy had walked in on the middle of an argument. “Glad to see you visiting us again.”
“Hey, Mr. O.” Peter took his hand, forcing a wide smile. He looked past the tall man’s shoulders to his friend. “…Hey, Harry.”
Harry sheepishly waved, and opened his mouth to respond, before being cut off by his father. “Although, soon I suppose you’ll be seeing Harry around at school again,” just as firmly as he shook the boy’s hand Norman shot a look back to his son.
“Dad!” Harry cried out, before reining himself back in. “…Not in front of Peter.”
Norman sighed, dropping Peter’s hand and pacing across the massive living room, in the direction of his office. “Very well. Have fun catching up, you two.”
The doors to the room slid shut, and Harry let out a frustrated sigh. He turned to face Peter, rubbing his neck. “Sorry about that. He’s… well, you know how he can be.“
Peter shook his head, flashing an awkward smile. “Don’t sweat it, Har.” He kicked his foot up, eyeing the ground. “So… uh… how have you been?” Since you, y’know, got addicted to drugs and turned into a homicidal maniac.
“I’ve been… good,” Harry returned the awkward smile. “How about we go to my room for some privacy?” He threw a look at the closed doors to his father’s office. “I don’t want us to be interrupted by that again.”
Peter nodded, following his friend down the hall. He wondered why Harry had invited him over to play awkward catch-up but not Gwen, or any of his other friends, for that matter. Guess he knew Gwen had work, and that the clique wasn’t that real.
Harry sat on his bed as Peter closed the door to his room. It had changed since he last saw it, becoming a lot more organized and gaining a few posters and action figurines. There wasn’t a stray shirt on the floor in sight anymore.
Peter took the desk chair, spinning to face Harry. The two stared at each other for a strained moment.
“So, uh, first off,” Harry broke the silence, giving a shaky smile, “I’m sorry for being a real jerk to you and Gwen lately. It wasn’t right for me to treat you both so poorly, even under the influence.”
Oh, that’s why he’s invited me over. “It’s good. I know that stuff was messing with your brain… and I haven’t been being the best friend to you either,” Peter admitted with a warmer smile. “I’m sorry I kept ditching you without any explanations.”
Harry shook his head. “It’s alright. I didn’t think about how much pressure you were under, like I was…” He shrugged. “My therapist told me that I should be more open with my friends. You and Gwen had just been trying to help, and I pushed you away… that’s why I called you over.” He held out his hand. “Friends again?”
Peter grinned, taking the boy’s hand. “Of course! Friends again.”
Harry laughed, hiding his smile behind a hand. “Alright, now that that’s out of the way…” His face fell into a more serious expression. “I uh, need to tell you something really important. Well, two things, actually.”
Peter nodded, frowning. “Alright. Hit me with it.”
“Um, well, there’s no easy way to say this, but…” Harry averted his eyes. “I kind of know you’re Spider-man.”
Peter blinked, his mouth falling open with no sound to accompany. How does he know?! He quickly shook his head with a laugh, “what’re you talking about, Harry? I’m not Spider-man, that’s ridiculous.”
“C’mon, Pete, I’ve already figured it out.” Harry gave the other boy a sheepish grin. “At first, it was just… some kind of familiarity when he- you- saved me on Halloween. But then I started to think about it, and, well, it just makes too much sense! You always excuse yourself just before he shows up, you take suspiciously good pictures, you were doing weirdly well at football, you sound the exact same…” he crossed his arms. “There’s no way you aren’t Spider-man.”
Peter’s eyes flitted around the room, away from contact with Harry’s own. Which is probably making me seem MORE suspicious, he cursed to himself. He looked over at Harry again, still with that solemn expression, and he knew that there wasn’t a way to wiggle out.
Sighing, he admitted defeat. “…Alright. You got me. But you can’t tell anyone, okay? Not even your father or Gwen, this is really important.”
Even one person knowing threatens to crack his identity fully, and even if he was lucky it was his best friend, he’d better hope that Harry didn’t relapse… or even worse, make himself a target.
Harry nodded, looking a little pleased that his deduction was right. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Ever. Your secret’s safe with me, Pete.”
Peter let out a slow breath he had been holding, running a hand through his hair. “Good. I’m sorry I never told you guys. It’s… not exactly something I want to advertise.”
Harry put a hand over his other, a more sympathetic look easing his face than any Peter had seen on him in weeks- no, probably months. “I get why you didn’t. If I had known when I was on the Green-” he shivered. “A-anyways, I, uh, also wanted to tell you a close secret of mine, to make us even.”
Peter shook his head, propping his elbow up on the armrest of the desk chair. “You don’t have to do that, Harry. You don’t owe me, you figured it out by yourself.”
“Thanks, Pete, but no, I want to tell you. I wanted to tell you even without the Spider-man stuff.” Harry rubbed his neck, leaning back on the bed. “You know, what my therapist said. Being more open… with my friends.”
“If you insist.” Peter shrugged. An innominate Osborn secret couldn’t be good, but this was his best friend, first and foremost.
“Well, you know how you saved me on Halloween?”
Peter nodded. He wasn’t sure if he’d consider it saving, but if that’s how Harry saw it, he would go with it.
“It’s what made me realize your identity, because I could just tell it was you holding me under that suit.” Harry continued, his eyes darting to the side. It looked like he was rubbing his neck too hard, because the skin was starting to turn red. “Just… the way you held me, y’know?”
Peter nodded again like he knew. He didn’t.
“It made me realize something. And, well, I’ve known for a really long time…” Harry cleared his throat, finally daring to look up at his friend again. “I’m gay, Peter. I always have been.”
….Okay. Not what I expected. Peter blinked, but he wasn’t imagining it, his best friend really did just come out to him. “Wow- I mean, I never would have guessed. That’s great, Harry! That you trust me enough to tell me, anyways.” I guess that DOES explain some things about the Goblin’s…. mannerisms. “But haven’t you been interested in girls before?”
“Not really. Not like you are,” Harry shrugged with an awkward smile. “I always just… pretended. Felt like I had to. My dad already hates me so I much, I couldn’t… couldn’t be less than normal. Less of the man he wants me to be than I already am.”
Peter hit him in the arm- lightly, he made sure- provoking an unsuspected squeak from the boy. “Don’t say that. I mean, the ‘normal’ stuff. I…” He grimaced, “…get the part with your dad. But… weren’t you and Rose a thing before Kong stepped back in?”
Harry batted him off, threatening a non stress-spurred smile. “Rose? We, well…” He trailed off, face falling from its brief reprieve from nerves. “For ages, I’ve wanted to be cool. Popular. Everything I’m not. That’s why I tried out for the football team in the first place. I don’t know how I did it at first, without the help of the Green, but when I got on the team I felt like that. Like I was better. And suddenly, I was in with the popular kids, and I was becoming that version of myself.” He shrugged, his eyes darting away again. “Rose… she showed interest in me. Y’know, I think that was a first. I was already getting so much better, that I thought… hey, this is it! I’ll finally be good at something cool, be popular, and have a girlfriend! And then, maybe my dad will finally…”
His words puttered off into cracking quiet, eyes glued to his lap.
Peter felt the lines of concern etch into his face again, and was about to offer a word of consolation when Harry picked up his sentence.
“…But I was never attracted to her. That’s why I never properly asked her out. She asked if I could go to the dance with her, and I agreed, because I assumed I could turn myself around there and then we could start dating. But then she was taken back by Kenny, and my safety net was gone. I- I got scared.” Harry was fidgeting with his thumbs now, intent on watching them. “That’s when I started taking the Green. I hoped it would bring everything back. And even if it didn’t give me another chance at a girlfriend, I was able to keep at the rest of it. I stayed popular, I stayed a football prodigy… and I pushed you away. It pushed you away for the sake of my perfect self.”
He looked up at Peter, helpless.
“It’s okay, Har. I’ve already forgiven you.” Peter flashed a smile and pushed away the small frown tugging at his lips. …He also pushed away Gwen. “I’m sure Gwen will understand too.”
Harry nodded, his expression crestfallen. “That’s the other thing, Peter. I-” He swallowed thickly, as if trying to dislodge whatever words were coming next. “Can you promise you won’t tell anyone what I’ve said? Same as about you and Spidey.”
Peter nodded. “Promise.” He wouldn’t betray his friend’s trust with such a secret.
Harry sucked in a breath, quickly nodding at the response. “Good. Um… The thing is… I’ve known that I’m gay for years. That wasn’t what I realized that night.”
“Okay..?” Peter relaxed his shoulders, leaning back in the chair. He had a crawling feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wanted to shove down.
“You saved me, Peter. I was hurting people, myself included, and you saved me,” Harry spoke, his voice quiet. “My head felt like it was swimming and it feels fuzzy when I try to remember, but… I remember you holding me in your arms, gently, and then it clicked.”
Peter leaned further into the chair, slowly realizing why Gwen wasn’t invited over.
“We’ve been best friends for years, but… Peter, I think-” Harry leaned forward and tore his gaze away from his thumbs, staring up at Peter with widened eyes. “I think I’m in love with you.”
They stared at each other for a split second of silent tension, Harry’s face only a few inches away and terrified.
Peter blinked. “Oh.”
Harry’s face was still carved with fear. “Oh?”
Peter drew in a deep breath, slouching down in the chair to the point he was hardly still in it. “Harry, I’m… flattered, but I don’t see you in that way.”
“Oh.”
Peter pulled his lips into a tight grimace. “Oh.”
Harry flitted his eyes to the side, reaching up to rub his reddened neck again. His face was tilted so it was partially obscured by shade. “I- Sorry, Peter. I didn’t mean to make things awkward.”
Peter pushed himself properly up into the chair, offering a flimsy smile like an olive branch. “No, it’s fine. I’m sorry that I don’t feel the same.” He faltered, eyebrows knitting. He thought about the way Harry acted around him in hindsight. He could pick out points where the boy would blush, or invite Peter over, or- okay, yeah, there were some signs. But between him and Gwen, there weren’t many distinctions in how they treated their friend. Hold on, does that mean-
Peter shook his head. He did not need to be thinking about his own love life right now. “…I just see you as a friend.”
Perhaps against the better interest, he reached out and squeezed Harry’s hand. He may not reciprocate the boy’s feelings, but he didn’t want to lose a friendship in the process.
Harry shook his head, sniffling. When he looked up again Peter could tell his red-rimmed eyes were glistening with tears- that must have been why he was hiding his face in shadow- but there was a shaky smile on his face. “It’s alright, Pete. You don’t need to apologize. It’s not like either of us can help it. Honestly, with how you look at a certain few girls, I couldn’t really expect you to feel the same.” He glanced away and wiped at his eyes, trying to avoid drawing attention to the tears he shed in the first place. “I hope I didn’t mess our friendship up, but…” He forced himself to look at Peter again. “…I understand if you don’t want to be around me anymore.”
“What? No way!” Peter saw Harry’s face splinter, and quickly remedied his wording. “I mean, no way I’d stop hanging out with you over this. If you were being a jerk on the football squad again? Yeah, maybe. But I’d be the jerk if I dropped you over this.” He offered out a hand. “So… friends again-again?”
Harry’s eyes lit up underneath the small glisten to their lower lids. He took it, smiling against his flushed cheeks from the tears and nerves, and whatever else must have come with them. “Yeah. Friends again-again.”
Peter grinned, taking the opportunity and yanking the boy forward with a yelp into a hug. There was a second where he seemed frozen, then gripped back, and Peter would have regretted initiating the hug from Harry’s fingers digging into his sides had it not flooded his body with instant relief. The tingling in his stomach washed away with it. Emotional spider-sense? Eh, it was probably just regular nerves.
Harry sat up, licking his chapped lips as Peter stood from the well-spun desk chair with a stretch. “I could still kiss you, if it’d make you feel better,” he offered. “Y’know, as a friend.”
This drew a laugh out of Harry’s course throat. “I’ll pass, Pete. I think I’ll save my first kiss for romance, but thanks for the offer.” He pushed himself off the bed, met with an arm around his shoulders.
“So, do you think you’ll tell Gwen? I promise I won’t say a word myself, just curious.” Peter slid his other hand into his pocket as the two left the bedroom.
“That I’m gay? Probably, if I find the right time. I wanted to tell you first, for, uhm, obvious reasons.” He shrugged. “That I’m in love with one of my best friends, and that it isn’t her? Not a chance.”
Peter laughed, Harry peeking around the hallway’s corner to make sure his father was still tucked away in his office. “Yeah, fair enough. Same deal here with the…” he lowered his voice, even though Norman’s office was situated all the way across the lavishly sized living room. He could never be too careful, and honestly Norman gave him the creeps. “…You-know-what. With all the weirdos running around the city, it’s dangerous to know.”
Harry nodded. “Secret identities, huh?” His eyes followed Peter’s, with a similar hushed tone.
“Guess we both have experience there.” Peter gave a small smile to himself, walking over to search in his backpack he had dropped off by the elevator. He pulled out his object of interest, slinging the bag over his shoulder. “Speaking of which,” he shook the retrieved camera with an exaggerated wink. “I probably have some photos to take for The Bugle.”
Harry giggled, covering his mouth with a small wave. “Have fun with that, Pete! I’ll see you around.”
Peter waved back, stepping into the elevator. The Spidey mask was already out of his pocket. As the doors slid shut, he watched as the boy in love with him returned his grin, and a small part of him hoped that Norman would send Harry back to school soon after all.