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So, it’s been about two minutes and Harry already wants to hurl himself out of the car. Okay no, he’s being dramatic, but Norman is acting strange. Strange in the sense that again it’s been two minutes and he hasn’t heard a single comment about his antics over the past couple of days. He recalls a time he was sent to the principal's office after defending a much scrawnier Peter from Flash. That might’ve actually been the first time the two met. Anyway, while his mother had praised him for his bravery, Norman thought that the best time to lecture him on the importance of all his father does for New York. It almost seemed like he wanted Harry to apologize for dragging him out here and being a parent for once. Just one of many times his father had made him feel like a burden, like the job he’d much rather leave to Emily.
“Did you have a good time with Peter?” Norman asked, without his usual undertone of ‘Did you have a good time ignoring not only me but also your responsibilities blah blah blah.’ He’s honestly heard it all from Norman, nothing could surprise him.
“Yeah.” He thought for a moment. “He actually gave me this.” Harry grabbed the frame from his lap and turned it around to show his father.
“Well, that’s…just lovely. Your mother looks so happy there.” There was a small quiver in Norman’s voice.
Harry brought the frame back into his lap and stared down at it. “I thought the same thing when Pete gave it to me. That day was so much fun. She must’ve spent at least half of the total cost of the night buying the three of us fried food.” He laughed and then quickly felt the familiar sting of tears filling his eyes. “I miss her, dad.”
Well, there are a few ways to pierce the porcelain heart of a man like Norman. Seeing his son genuinely laugh for the first time in weeks before tearing up in front of him, that’s one of ‘em.
Norman put his tailored arm around Harry. “I miss her too son. I miss her too.”
Fuck. He did a pretty good job of not crying, too much, in front of Peter. This however was proving to be significantly harder. He cursed his own vulnerability as he sobbed quietly. The last thing he wanted was this. Another reason for Norman to think of him as weak or incapable. Obviously, Harry knows crying doesn’t equate to weakness…but growing up with someone telling you the opposite, it gets to you.
“Well, why don’t we tell her how much we miss her together?” As if on queue, the car suddenly came to a stop. Norman opened his door to step out and Harry did the same.
Trinity church. He came here daily for a few months when he was fifteen, now he’s managed to tone it down to once a week. If he knew they were coming he would’ve brought something. Seeing his mother’s grave not adorned with beautiful flowers makes him feel insurmountable amounts of guilt.
Harry walked closer, taking note of his father waving off their ride. Strange.
He knelt in front of his mother’s grave.
“Hi, mom. Sorry I missed last week, calculus was kicking my ass per usual. Uhm, oh right I’m seventeen today aghhhh, I know incredibly thrilling, you can just see the excitement radiating off of me.” He laughed at himself. “Dad’s here. Watching us, like a creep.”
Norman smiled and walked closer, putting a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Evening my love, I’m sorry I haven’t visited in so long. I don’t have an excuse, nothing that isn’t a selfish reason at least.”
Harry was unsure what to make of his father’s words.
“Tell her about your day Harry.”
With him right here? Okay Harry, let’s not say anything too embarrassing. “Well uh, Pete woke me up and May made us a delicious breakfast. Oh MJ was there too! She insisted we go out for manicures again. I remember I’d always ask you to take us and you’d do it happily.” He chuckled softly. “They subjected themselves to torture just to make me happy. Aka I made them watch a show they hate cause I love it. Heh, Peter gave me a wonderful present…that I left in the car.” He sighed heavily and Norman squeezed his shoulder.
“You know Francis is just going to put it up in the penthouse. It’s fine.” Norman’s right, but Harry still feels like an asshole.
“Yeah, yeah I know. Wanna tell her what you did today?”
“God no. She hated hearing me go on about meetings and work in general. Though I imagine that’s cause I complained the entire time.” Norman laughed. “She of course never told me to shut up, but the way her brows would furrow slowly…she was too kind for her own good. Certainly, a better woman than I ever deserved.”
“Yup.”
“You could at least pretend to disagree.”
“Sorry, my mom taught me better.” Harry giggled as he stood up.
“Okay, smartass.” Norman shook his head and placed his hand on Emily’s headstone. “Until next time my love. I promise I’ll keep Harry safe and…healthy. I will. No matter what.”
Harry stared at the display in slight confusion. His dad seemed genuinely worried or…he honestly couldn’t place it. To be fair, it’s been a while since he’s seen Norman anything other than angry or disappointed. So, who knows.
Norman slowly stood up and looked back towards the road. “Ah, it’s here. Say goodbye to your mother.”
Harry ran his hand along her headstone. There’s honestly so much he’d like to tell her. For instance, the fact that Peter has kissed his forehead not once but twice now! Also, they cuddled like in his bed together. Harry’s still having trouble believing that he slept in Peter’s arms. It honestly hasn’t all hit yet. Just how much has happened over the past few days. He sighed before smiling warmly. “I love you, mom. I’ll be here next week, promise.”
He turned back around and saw Norman standing next to an unfamiliar car. He made his way over.
“Uh, whatcha doin’ dad?”
“Just making sure Francis didn’t scuff your new car.”
A surprised huff escaped his lips. “What? Dad…how much was this thing-“
“Now, now before you ask a million questions. Just, go inside it.”
He’s gonna be so honest. First impressions: it looks expensive and douchey. Now, you’re not about to catch him complaining about getting a free car, but did it have to scream ‘I’m rich and entitled’ by just looking at it? Ugh. He hesitantly walked over to the driver seat and grabbed the handle- oh the door, it’s opening vertically. Oh, Jesus. He climbed in and Norman was already in the passenger seat.
“Happy birthday son. It’s incredible right?” Norman slid his hand across the dash as he grinned.
“It’s certainly something.” He let out a nervous laugh. “Dad, I appreciate this. I really do, but it just feels so not me.”
“I thought you might say that.” Norman pressed a button on the dash and suddenly it was a convertible. Oh dear god. “Better?”
“Mhm!” Harry nodded, desperately trying to hold in a laugh. Norman is trying so hard, but he really doesn’t know his son. Harry can almost feel bad for him. “Wait, where’s Francis?”
“Oh, he just took a taxi after dropping your car off.” Never mind the feeling bad for Norman bit.
Harry just nodded and grabbed the wheel for the first time. He must look like such an asshole.
“Well, drive us around.” Norman passed him the keys.
“Dad, I don’t have a license-“ Norman handed him a driver’s license. His driver’s license?
“How did you even? Dad?!” He sounded exasperated at this point.
“It’s fine. I know you know how to drive. Making you get your license would’ve ruined the surprise, so I handled it.”
He squinted. “Define, handled.”
“You’re holding the ‘handled’! Now hurry up and try out your new car.”
Harry sighed. Being around his father is truly a test of his patience. He turned the key and felt almost no rumble as the car started. “Okay.” He slowly drove out into the never-not-hectic traffic of New York.
He will admit, the car drove extremely well. The anxiety was getting to him at first, but Norman gave some instructions or even the occasional word of reassurance as he drove.
__
“She drives beautifully right?”
“It better, considering you dropped over a hundred grand on this fucking thing.” He didn’t mean to curse, but seriously that’s insane.
“I knew I shouldn’t have told you how much…” Norman exhaled slowly. “Look son, we both know I’m terrible at this. I just wanted to do something nice for you. Just give it a chance, yeah? If you decide you want something else we can do that, but only after tonight.”
“What’s happening tonight?”
“Let me see.” He checked his watch. “Alright, drop me off at the Oscorp research lab in Astoria.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve got work to do and you’ve got somewhere to be.”
He knew this joyride with his dad couldn’t last forever, but this was the longest they’d spoken in months. Granted, it was hours of them bickering about the political and economic state of the world, but it wasn’t that bad.
“Dad, what are you talking about?”
“Once you’ve dropped me off, Peter and Mary Jane will be waiting for you at Mays.” Norman said matter of factly.
“For what?!” He pulled up to his dad’s destination.
“You’ll see.” Norman leaned over to give Harry a quick hug. “Don’t crash the car, yeah?” He stepped out and waved Harry off.
“Head to Mays. Okay, sure.” His hands gripped the wheel tighter as his nerves made themselves known once more. Once stopped at a light he quickly looks at the dash in a feeble attempt to find the ‘give my car a roof again’ button. He groans as the light turns green. It’s no longer just his anxiety saying everyone is staring cause they literally are! This is fine. He looks at his hair in the mirror and oh, that could be why they’re staring. This is what he gets for letting his hair grow out a bit and this damn lack of a roof isn’t helping. He’s definitely shaving the sides down as soon as he can cause the fluffiness is cute until it’s unruly.
Harry decides to make a quick pit stop at their favorite smoothie place. As he walks in he makes eye contact with an employee he hadn’t seen before. The blonde stranger smiles at him as Harry walks over.
“What can I get for you today?” Harry noticed that his voice was rather deep.
He found himself unable to look away from his deep blue eyes. “Uh, can-“ Harry laughed before continuing. “Just three smoothies, please. Uhm, strawberry, mango, and peach. Please.”
“Right away, sir.” He flashed that toothy grin that made Harry’s face flush an embarrassing shade of red. Also, being called sir…Harry never thought he’d like that until this very moment. The way the man held onto the word for an extra second, it made Harry's knees weak. He watched as the man made his order and occasionally looked back at him, that smile unwavering. Once he finished, he put them in a tray and placed it in front of Harry. Harry noticed the man staring at his hair and felt the need to explain himself.
“Oh uhm, yeah I know. Turns out the top down doesn’t really work out with curly hair.”
He smiles before looking outside. “That yours?” He nods towards Harry’s car.
“Yeah. Unfortunately.” Harry chuckles while handing him his card.
He grabs the card, looking at it for a second. Harry notices the prominent veins along his hands and the way they run up his arm…stop it, Harry! “Well, Harry, I think the windswept hairs a good look for you.” He swipes before giving the card back.
He flushed a deeper shade of red. “Think so?” Harry’s adorable smile couldn’t seem to fade.
“For sure, man.” He handed him his tray of drinks and wrote something on the receipt before handing it to Harry. “I’m Eddie by the way.”
Eddie, that’s a nice name. Harry thinks it fits quite well. “Nice to meet you, Eddie. Appreciate the compliment and y’know the smoothies.”
“Well, come by next time you want either.” Eddie winked at him and Harry’s grip on the tray nearly failed. Eddie chuckled at him and Harry quickly got out of there before he could embarrass himself further.
Aghhh! That was so close to being a good interaction with another human. A hot human. A hot male human. Harry is not used to being hit on by guys. That was- that was a lot. He quickly got in his car and set the tray in the passenger seat. “God that was embarrassing.” He whispered to himself as he drove off.
——
He feels nothing but relief as he finally reaches May's house. He quickly turns his roofless car off and steps out, walking up the steps to Mays home, smoothies in hand. He figured he’d just walk in cause he knew May wasn’t home yet and he’d done it many times before.
He should’ve knocked.
He opened the door to see Pete and MJ sitting on the couch. That however wasn’t the part that made him want to be suddenly swallowed by the earth. They look like they’re about to kiss? That’s…yup that’s what that is. Peter was holding onto her cheek while they- nope nope nope. Turns out they were pretty occupied so he was able to silently close the door.
Harry suddenly felt extremely nauseous. He held onto the railing for support and nearly dropped their drinks. Happy birthday to him right? “Okay, okay.” He quietly tried to calm himself down, knuckles going white as he gripped the railing. “No, shit. Of course. You knew this Harry. Don’t act stupid.” He exhaled sharply before laughing at himself. “This is so, so dumb.” He kept quietly laughing. Even as tears streamed down his face, he continued laughing. “Wonder how long they’ve been…” The more he thought about it, the quicker his laughs turned into violent sobs. He quickly pivoted, planning on heading back to his car, but his foot got caught on Mays welcome mat causing one of the smoothies to spill all over his jacket.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” He ‘accidentally’ let out a frustrated cry and heard footsteps coming towards the door. Oh, that’s just perfect.
MJ opened the door and her face immediately fell. “Harry? What’s wrong, what happened?”
“I tripped.” He laughed, tears still streaming down his face. He looked like an absolute mess.
She stepped forward and took the tray from him. “Well, hurry in and get cleaned up dummy.” She stepped out of the doorway so he could quickly slip inside.
“Woah, what happened to you, man?” Peter sat on the couch, giggling as he saw Harry’s ruined jacket.
Harry turned to him as his vision blurred with more tears. “I tripped.” He repeated.
Peter’s face immediately turned to one of distress and he nearly fell as he ran over to Harry. “Buddy, buddy. What’s wrong?” His hands moved to hold Harry instinctively until he remembered he was covered in whatever that was.
“I tripped.” He said again.
“Let’s get this off you, Har.” MJ came in from behind Harry and slipped off his jacket, careful not to spill any more of the liquid on him. She then walked over to the bathroom to try and save his jacket.
Peter immediately pulled him into a hug, knowing damn well he isn’t this upset over just spilling something on himself. He pulled away for a second to wipe Harry’s tears. “We’re alone bud. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Peter is such an asshole. Not actually, but god he’s the worst. Harry doesn’t want to be anywhere near him right now, but there’s no one he’d rather have looking at him with such worry in their eyes. He felt Peter hug him again, his hand moving to the back of Harry’s head, and running through his hair soothingly. The gesture only made him sob harder, definitely staining the sweater vest beneath him.
“It’s alright. You’re okay buddy.” His voice was so soothing…Peter had one arm around Harry’s waist while the other continued to stroke his hair.
Harry slowly melted into the embrace, wrapping both arms around Peter’s abdomen. God, he wants to be mad at himself for giving in so easily but how can he feel anything other than joy when enveloped entirely by Peter. He’s like his fucking kryptonite or someshit.
MJ walked back in and mouthed ‘Is he okay?’. Pete shook his head slowly and continued putting all his effort into soothing Harry. The last time he’d seen Harry anywhere near this upset…it had to have been when Emily passed. Harry cried through many a sweater vests during that time, but Pete didn’t mind. He’d never mind comforting his best friend. “Wanna go sit on the couch?” He suggested carefully.
“Dunno…might trip.”
Pete feigned a gasp of disbelief. “Was that a joke?” He smiled and ruffled Harry’s hair, causing the latter to smile right back. “There he is.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay stop fucking up hair even more.” He swatted the slender hands away and groaned as he felt another pair attacking his hair from behind. “Mary. Jane. Watson.”
“Damn, the whole government name? I’d be careful MJ.” Pete watched as Harry turned around to face her.
“Careful of what? The guy who cried when he stepped on a ladybug freshman year?”
“Fuck off.” He hid a smirk and walked past her to sit on the stairs. “He was innocent and I murdered him. He probably had a wife and children. He was probably like 2 months from finally paying off his mortgage and I just killed him in cold blood.”
Pete and MJ couldn’t help but laugh at their adorable idiot.
The idiot in question smiled at them for a moment before looking down at his feet blankly. Why couldn’t they just be complete assholes? If they were pieces of shit, Harry wouldn’t feel so bad about hating them. Sigh. He doesn’t hate them. He could never hate them, but he wished the situation was more clear-cut. I mean, clearly they’ve been together for months and he was too stubborn to accept that. Why else would they be lying to him constantly? Maybe he should set boundaries with Peter…maybe he should stop bottling everything up…maybe…
Pete put an arm on Harry’s shoulder and looked down at him. “Whatcha thinking ‘bout?”
He looked up and…yeah. Peter Benjamin Parker. The unwittingly devious maestro to Harry’s orchestra of melancholic suffering. Huh, he should write that down. “Stupid shit.” He replied idly.
“That’s my favorite kind of shit man.” Pete nudged his shoulder. “Care to elaborate?”
He’d really rather not so…changing the object it is. “Uhm, I have a car now.”
“What?” MJ chimed in.
“The douchey one outside. It’s mine.” He gestured towards the window and watched the two peer out at it. It was dark but the street lamps gave off more than enough light.
“Woah. It looks…”
“Expensive? Ugly? Like something my dad would drive?”
“I was gonna say badass, Har.” She turned to him. “But uh, I see why you don’t like it.”
“I don’t!” Pete wasn’t a car guy by any means, but he won’t lie, it’s a pretty car. “Ohhh, so that’s what Norman meant.” He and MJ exchanged a look.
“What did my dad tell you guys?”
“That you’d take us, but of course, he hung up before saying you have a car now, so we were a little confused.” Pete looked back at him with that smile that kept Harry awake at night.
Focus dude, focus. “Taking you guys? Where?”
“Oh uh, that’s the next part of the surprise I guess.” She nudged Peter. “Go get him a hoodie or something, it’s cold.”
“Right!” He moved quickly and ruffled Harry’s hair again while making his way up the stairs.
“You’re the worst!” Harry yelled up at him and only heard an adorably annoying gremlin laugh in response. Stupid Peter. He’s pulled out of his own thoughts as he notices MJ staring at him.
“Yes?”
“Are you gonna tell us why you were crying?”
“MJ it’s no-“
“-Is it cause of Pete?”
His heart is suddenly in his throat. You really thought you were doing a good job of hiding it, Harry? You can’t hide anything from MJ.
“I’m- I’m not sure what you mean.” Her piercing gaze made a poker face nearly impossible to accomplish.
“I know he’s been acting…different, maybe even distant lately, but it has nothing to do with you, Har. He’s been going through a lot lately. I know he’s too stubborn to admit that, especially to you.”
“Especially to me?”
“You know Pete. He cares and protects us like…it’s his job or something.” She smiles to herself. “So imagine that but like tenfold 'cause it’s you, his best friend.” She stopped for a moment and Harry agonized over those words. ‘Cause it’s you’ Is he really that special to Pete? MJ continued, “I’m just saying, if he’s been acting weird it has nothing to do with you don’t worry.” She gives him her patented MJ smirk as Pete makes his way back down.
“Here you go, man.” He throws the hoodie on his head.
“‘Preciate it.” His voice was muffled by the fabric and he could hear Pete laughing at him as he put the hoodie on properly. Oh god damnit. Of course, it smells like him. He’s gonna take this hoodie off as soon as he can. No, he won’t.
Harry stood up and looked at the tray. Hah, funny. His cup is outside on the floor while theirs are right next to each other. “Oh yeah, I bought you guys smoothies. Thankfully the one that spilled was mine soooo enjoy!”
He watched as they grabbed their respective drinks, accidentally brushing their hands together and laughing. They’re cute. He genuinely believes that, so why does the sight make him want to lie outside…on the floor.