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It’s only been about twelve hours since Harry nearly made the biggest mistake of his life. I mean seriously, kissing Peter? What’s wrong with him? He must’ve scared him off cause he left in quite a hurry. Pete said they’d hang out today, but Harry hasn’t received a text. He wished he could say he was surprised, but Harry royally screwed up. They’d always been strangely affectionate with each other but maybe he took it too far. His mind was already a whirlwind and his father wasn’t helping.
“Harry, I just don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do with you. You’re an Osborn for goodness sake! I mean what the hell is going on with you?” Harry had just walked out into the front room and hadn’t even taken a breath yet, but that didn’t stop Norman.
“Your grades are slipping, I hear you’ve quit glee club, and you hardly talk to me anymore. I don’t know what’s going on with you son!“
“It’s nothing. I’ll deal with it.” Harry didn’t bother looking at him.
“Son, I’m trying to tell you, that you don’t have to do it alone. Whatever it is.” His father’s sincerity only made him angrier.
“No.” Harry scoffed. “No.” He glared up at Norman. “You don’t get to suddenly be a worried father. Not after you–no. You made our last months together hell. I didn’t need you when mom passed and I certainly don’t need you now. Thanks though.” Harry walked past his teary-eyed father and headed straight to the bathroom.
As soon as the door closed behind him he crumbled to the floor and wept quietly. The arguing is never the worst part. He hates that there’s some truth to his father’s words. Harry really has been such a mess. He can’t even close his eyes without picturing last night, how quickly Pete pulled away from him and left.
He needs to fix this somehow. The last thing he wants is to be alone with his thoughts or his father. He takes a deep breath and wipes his tears away. It’s nearly 3 pm, maybe he’ll just head to Pete’s. They already said they’d hang out, so it’s fine, right?
He got up off the floor and stared in the mirror. His puffy eyes only served to make him feel even more pathetic. Crying every single day cannot be good for you. He sighed and took a shower in an inept attempt to forget his problems.
—
Harry looks down at his phone as he’s walking towards Pete’s house. Still no text. He puts his phone back in his jeans pocket and sighs. Just breathe Harry, just breathe. Stop freaking out, he’s your best friend. He loves you.
Harry rounds the corner and stops in his tracks as he sees…oh it’s Pete and MJ. They’re hugging in front of May’s house. Hm, they’re still going. I Guess Pete has been busy. He thinks about just heading back home, but that’s somehow even worse. Harry walks towards them and thankfully they had just pulled away from each other. He waves as Peter spots him.
“Hey, Harry! What’re you doing here man?”
Of course, Peter completely forgot. Who wouldn’t with someone like her around? He puts up that mask and smiles warmly at them.
“Hey guys, I just uh got into it with my dad, so I came straight here, but I-I can leave if you’re busy.” Amazingly, his smile didn’t fade.
MJ shook her head and walked down the steps to embrace him.
“Don’t be dumb Harry. Trust me, I know a thing or two about shitty dads. You okay?” She held onto him tightly and he returned the gesture after a few moments.
“Y-yeah. I am now.” He sighed and had to choke back a sob. He was not gonna cry in front of them right now. Please keep it together Harry.
“So, what have you guys been up to?” He tried to deflect the conversation from himself.
“Oh, uh just hanging out, discussing the science project due next week!” Pete smiled.
He’s lying. Why in the world would Peter lie about…whatever. He decides it’s best to just not look into it right now. He lets go of MJ and sits down on one of the steps leading to May’s porch.
“Mm. Well, Gwen and I haven’t even decided what topic we’d be focusing on. We should probably get on that.” Harry chuckles, looking at the ground.
“I mean, I’m sure you two will manage. Gwen’s pretty talented huh?” Pete’s standing over Harry and nudges him with a leg.
“Yeah, man. She’s pretty cool.”
“Pshh pretty cool? You act like you haven’t been crushing on her since like 7th grade.”
“Shut up man, I have not.” He sounded more defensive than he would’ve liked.
MJ snickers. “I mean, the evidence is pretty damning Har. The way you look at her, don’t think I’ve seen you look at anyone that way.”
Of course, she’d say that. It’s only cause she’s never seen how he looks at Pete. She’s always too caught up in staring at him herself.
MJ moves to sit next to Harry on the steps.
This is exactly why he hates bringing up Gwen. Sure, Harry might stare at her sometimes, but it’s only cause he admires her, much like he admires MJ. They’re both so beautifully brilliant. Especially MJ. She deals with all that bullshit from her father, manages her role as editor for the school paper, and even works for the Bugle as an intern. Despite having all that on her plate, she still manages to steal Peter’s heart. A very small part of Harry wants to loathe her, but then he’d truly hate himself.
“Fine, fine. You caught me. Maybe a teeny tiny part of me is a little into Gwen.” He forced a quiet laugh.
“I knew it!” Peter ruffled Harry’s curly hair. “I told you MJ! I freakin called it!” Harry closed his eyes as Pete’s fingers ran across his scalp.
He sighed. He’s happy to see Pete so thrilled, but also somewhat saddened that this revelation didn’t seem to bother him at all.
“He did call it. We were actually talking about that earlier.” MJ smirked at Harry.
“Oh my god Harry. This is- you know I think in the 8 years I’ve known you, you’ve never had a crush on anyone. This is groundbreaking. I mean…you’ve gotta ask her to prom man.”
“Woah there Tiger. Maybe Harry should start with, I don’t know, actually asking her out first?”
Harry flushed from embarrassment. “How about we just stop talking about this entirely!!”
Pete laughs and sits on the other side of Harry. “Awe buddy, don’t be embarrassed.” He pinched Harry’s cheek. “I bet Gwen is super into you man. I mean, who wouldn’t be?”
Harry shooed his hand away. “Shut your stupid face, Parker.” He tried his best not to smile.
MJ shook her head. “Alright, I’ve got a deadline due tonight so I will see you two later.” She stood up and hugged Harry, before embracing Peter and giving him a small kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for earlier Pete.” She waved at them while walking off into the distance.
Harry looked over to see an incredibly flushed Peter. His stomach sank, so he quickly looked away.
Harry fidgeted with his jacket zipper as he and Peter sat in silence. He sighed and wondered what he interrupted when he arrived. Why would Pete lie about what MJ and he were discussing? Pete never lies. At least that used to be the case. Nowadays it feels like Harry gets some half-baked excuse every time they speak. He exhaled slowly and turned to Peter.
“I should probably go.”
Peter snapped his head towards Harry. “What? You just got here.”
“I know, I just…I don’t feel well right now.”
“Well, do you need something? We could go inside, I can make us something to eat.” Pete smiled at him.
“I just said I don’t feel good, now you want to give me food poisoning?”
It took Peter a second before he frowned and hit Harry in the arm playfully. “Jerk! My food is delicious.”
Harry chuckled quietly. “When you don’t nearly burn May’s house down, then sure.”
“That was one time! It took weeks of asking for May to let me use the stove again.” He laughed. “It wasn’t my best moment, but it won’t happen again, probably.”
“Don’t worry about it Pete, seriously I’m just gonna head home man.” He said dismissively.
“When has this ever worked?” Pete slung his arm around Harry and pulled him closer. “You can go once you’ve told me what’s bothering you.” His hand slinked up to run through Harry’s hair. “Did you take a shower? Your hair feels soft.”
Harry rolled his eyes as he felt his cheeks flush. Why is Peter so good at making him turn to mush?
“I did.” He closed his eyes once more to focus on Peter’s fingers along his scalp.
Pete smiled at Harry’s expression before leaning in closer. “Smells good too.”
Harry kept his eyes closed. He cannot look at Peter right now. Why the hell is Pete like this? So kind and so unwittingly cruel.
“You sniffing me weirdo?”
“Maybe a little.” He laughed and ruffled his hair once more before resting his hand back on Harry’s shoulder. “Now tell me what’s wrong.”
“It’s like I told MJ, I have the greatest father around. He decided to scream his head off the second I left my room today. That wasn’t fun.”
“Why was he so upset?”
“Stupid shit. I mean, it’s important but since when did he give a fuck about my education? I slip up a little and he has to get on my case about it.” Harry sighed. “I brought up Mom and he started crying. Then I went into the bathroom and cried. It was- quite the experience.” His soft chuckle was devoid of humor.
Peter looked at Harry’s tear-filled eyes. “You’re not going home today. When was the last time you slept over? It’s long overdue.” He scooted closer.
Harry’s resolve broke and he finally leaned into the embrace. “Please? I really don’t want to deal with my dad.”
“Dude.” He chuckled and the arm around Harry’s shoulders slinked down to his waist. “I already said yes.”
Harry let out a small laugh and rested his head against Pete’s shoulder. Hanging out with Pete would probably clear his mind, or at the very least, pry his thoughts from his father. He knows more issues may arise from this, but he’s too caught up in the moment to care.
“Wanna go inside?”
“Not yet.” He closed his eyes, relishing in the comfort of Peter.
He smiled, willing to oblige Harry until a particularly strong breeze made him shiver. “It’s getting cold Har, what if…” Peter held the last syllable for a few moments. “What if I say we can cuddle up in my room? Then would you wanna go inside?”
Harry’s treacherous heart just fluttered. “What makes you think I’d want that?”
“You can call it a hunch.”
“Well, it’s an incorrect one.”
“Mhm, sure it is.” Pete let go of Harry and stood up, offering his hand to him.
Harry took it without hesitation and they stepped into May’s house. They both quickly took off their shoes by the door and rushed upstairs. Harry’s heart was racing. Was Peter being serious or just messing with him? Either way, he’d never say no to an opportunity like this. I mean- it’s nothing serious. Friends do shit like this all the time, right? They’ve cuddled before, just never…horizontally. He gulped as they entered Peter’s room.
Pete closed the door behind them, slipping off his jacket, throwing it on a nearby dresser. Harry followed suit and stood still in Peter’s small room awkwardly. He desperately needed confirmation on what the hell was happening.
Harry was staring as Pete started unbuttoning his jeans. What the hell? Peter unzipped and stepped out of his jeans before looking through his drawer.
Oh, he’s getting something else to wear. Harry damn well nearly had a heart attack. His face is surely red as he finds himself unable to tear his eyes away from Peter’s lower half. He’d seen this sight so many times in the locker room, but this felt more intimate. Harry’s gonna be thinking about this moment for many, many nights to come.
Peter settled on some black basketball shorts and slipped them on. Although he’s still reeling, that makes Harry feel somewhat better.
“You wanna borrow some shorts or something?” He says so nonchalantly like he didn’t just make Harry nearly hyperventilate.
“Shorts is fine.” He manages to only stutter a few times.
“Here you go, buddy.” Peter offers some navy blue shorts.
Harry grabs them and decides it would be weirder to leave the room and change. He should show Peter that he’s also totally cool and comfortable doing this in front of him. Totally. Harry looks down and unfastens his own jeans, slipping them off gingerly.
“Dude, Spider-man boxers?” Pete says quietly.
Harry looked up to see a blushing Peter. Well, now he’s even more confused. Is Peter not as okay with this as he’s pretending to be?
“Listen, he’s awesome and you’ve got at least 3 posters of him in here, so shut up.” Harry can feel the heat continuing to spread across his face as Peter stares at his lower half.
He puts on the shorts hoping to steer the conversation away from his underwear…how did they get here?
Peter stretched out before lying down on his twin-sized bed. He scoots closer to the wall and pats the empty space next to him. Harry closes the space between them and lies down beside him on his back. Harry loved being in this room, lying on this bed, wearing these clothes, because they all smelled like Peter. It was so damn comforting. Harry would be content lying here forever.
Peter shifted on his side, now facing Harry. “You really like Spider-Man huh?”
Harry was startled by the sudden question but turned to face Peter. “I thought we were past thisss.” He groaned.
“I’m not making fun, I’m asking.”
“Well, yeah you know I do.”
“Why?”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “Uhm, he just seems like a genuinely good guy. Risks his life and manages to save people all while bullying his enemies. Plus he gives lug-heads like Jameson aneurysms.” Harry snorted. “What’s not to like?”
Pete smiled and put an arm around Harry’s waist, pulling him close. “Mmm, cuddle time.”
Harry allowed himself to be pulled, with such ease may he add. When the hell did Peter get so strong?
“Oh, you were being serious?” Harry smirked as Pete smiled sardonically.
“Shut it and hold me loser.” He squeezed Harry’s waist with the hand that lay there.
“Jeez fine fine.” He put an arm around Pete’s shoulder, his hand moving up to run through his hair. It was soft and slightly oily. He had always loved Peter’s hair. It was seriously the dorkiest haircut someone could have and it suited him so well. Harry idly played with his friend’s hair.
Peter closed his eyes and smiled.
He stared at Peter, drinking in all of his features. His lashes were long, his face almost too pale, his lips so thin, and yet, he was the most beautiful person Harry had ever seen. His hand drifted to Peter’s cheek, thumb caressing the soft skin there.
Peter chuckled quietly, opening his eyes to look at Harry. “Grab the blanket, Har.” He yawned.
He sat up to grab the blanket at their feet, pulling it over them and lying back down. His hand returned to Pete’s shoulders, but Pete grabbed his wrist to move Harry’s hand back on his cheek.
Harry flushed but obliged, thumb caressing Pete’s cheek affectionately.
“That feels really nice.” Harry couldn’t place Pete’s tone as he said this.
“I’m glad…You’re so damn pretty Peter.” Harry's eyes went a little wide as the words slipped out. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Peter tensed a little. “Thanks, you too?” He snickered, trying his best to ignore the alarm on Harry’s face. “Y’know if you were half that honest with Gwen, she might actually be into you.”
He feigned a laugh, pulling his arm away to rest at his side. “Yeah, probably.”
Peter’s noticed his discomfort. “Honestly, I’d say I’m more handsome than pretty.” He moved his hand up to Harry’s curly hair, running a hand through it. “You on the other hand…definitely pretty.” He smiled.
Harry had probably been red this entire time, but he could feel the heat now. “Shut up man.” He shook his head dismissively.
“Whatttt? Would you prefer beautiful? Gorgeous?” He ruffled Harry’s hair, making the other flush and laugh quietly. “There he is, my pretty boy.”
Harry kept his cool long enough to hide his face against Pete’s chest. The other boy yelped at the sudden movement but Harry did not care, he couldn’t let Pete see him. What the fuck Parker?! ‘My pretty boy’ is he insane? Harry’s gonna fucking lose it…hell he already has. Harry’s feeling way too many emotions all at once. Embarrassment, guilt, shame, lust, fuck this is bad. He puts an arm around Pete’s waist, anchoring himself to reality. Calm down Harry, it’s just some stupid words, they don’t mean anything.
Peter’s hand never left his hair. He can feel Pete’s slender digits moving across his scalp. The close proximity to Pete is unsurprisingly not helping him calm down. Their bodies are practically flush against each other and somehow during this mess, their legs got intertwined. Harry is- maybe they should never do this again.
“You okay down there buddy?”
“Just peachy.” Harry’s words were muffled by Pete’s dorky sweater vest.
“Mkayy.” If Pete was at all uncomfortable he didn’t show it. Instead, he held Harry closer, continuing to play with his hair as they both drifted off into sleep.
As he lay here in Peter’s arms, he dreamt of Peter’s thin lips meeting his in an awkward but incredible kiss.