Nothing In My Way
It took Harley what felt like forever to finally round up all the kids. “Alright y'all, the cafeteria is up on the 50th floor so we need to get to movin’.” Finally, everyone was in the elevator. It was a surprisingly chill ride, there was a slight buzzing in the air and Peter couldn't quite tell if it was his spider-senses or if the class was excited for lunch. He decided to ignore it, he needed food before he gave anything too much thought.
More gasps and oohs and ahs were heard as the kids filed out of the elevator. “Okay so there are tons of stalls all around the room as you can see, y'all are obviously welcome to any of them! Tony put money on everyone's badges, so you guys pretty much have free reign for the next hour, meet by the elevators again at 12:35” and with that they set off.
Mj and Ned went to get sushi, ordering a little more than they needed for peter. Harley walked over to a Thai restaurant getting two orders of pad thai, one for him and again one for peter. Peter however went to get a sandwich, cheese and turkey just hit the spot sometimes. By the time he was back to the table he was met with a wide array of foods and smiled at all his friends. Sure, this was a small gesture that they did every day but knowing that they thought about him was something he would never get tired of. He sat down next to Harley, with his head on the taller boy's shoulder munching away, before the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
Shuri. oh god, please not right now, it had been so calm. The cafeteria door burst open and in came Shuri, no one had seemed to notice her yet and the closer to the table she got the less mad Peter could be. He hadn’t seen Shuri in months and in his opinion that had been way, way, too long.
“How's my favorite white boy doing’?” Shuri had a grin on her face that told Peter she was planning something, but he didn’t care. He was up out of his seat in no time pulling her into a bone crushing hug, ignoring the pain that shot through his chest from his binder. He heard people whispering, “who’s that?” and “how does she know peter?” but he just brushed them off. if they got a good look at her they would for sure know and he didn't need that right now. That's why he pulled her to the table to sit next to him as quickly as possible! Once they were seated Mj was next to her immediately, Peter wasn't the only one who wanted to see Shuri.
“Hey baby, I missed you so much” Shuri wrapped her arm around Mj’s waist, pulling her as close to her as possible, without pulling her out of her seat. “I missed you too, how's T'challa?” Mj was smiling as she rested her head on Shuri's shoulder. The two continued their conversation while Peter stared slightly baffled. He's known Mj a while now, but he doesn't think he'll ever get over seeing her be openly affectionate. He was glad she was happy though and comfortable enough around them to be that way.
They continued their lunch, catching up, laughing, maybe even a little picking on each other, and Peter was just about to say that lunch had been oddly calm. They only had about 10 minutes left, and nothing had happened, the boy was shocked, that was until flash made his way over to the table. He sat down at the front of the table facing Peter and Shuri, like he had sat there a million times.
“Hi, your majesty" he half assed bowed and Shuri did everything she could to stop herself from gagging. “What are you doing over here with these losers? you could come sit at my table” he winked, and she actually snorted.
“Why the hell would i go sit with you? I don't even know who you are." She felt Mj tense beside her and looked over to the girl. There was a strained expression on her face, as she slightly shook her head. Now Mj wasn't one to be subtle, but Peter had tried so hard to keep things under wraps today that she didn't know how he would react right now.
Harley moved ever so slightly, shielding Peter as if he was bracing for impact. “I'm flash.” he had a wide toothy grin on his face, and it was almost easy to forget who he was. “I'm a friend of Penny's.” He said it so matter of factly, no one at the table would have given it a second thought if they hadn't known peter.
Peter went rigid, God, he knew flash was stupid, but this stupid. Actually, had to be some kind of record or something. Everyone at the table looked like they were ready to beat the fuck outta flash at a moment's notice and peter didn't know how he was going to stop them.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Peter looked up at Harley so fast he could have given himself whiplash. Harley had, had more than enough of flash's’ shit. He was so beyond it; he didn't think anyone would be able to talk him out of doing something he personally didn't think he would ever regret.
Flash looked sheepish and cocky at the same time, like he had been caught but he was going to continue to dig himself deeper into whatever this is. “I said I'm a friend of Penny's, aren't i parker?” He was looking at Peter in a way that actually scared him and that wasn't an easy thing to do. He didn't know how he was supposed to respond, he felt compelled to nod as if it were true but everyone at the table knew who flash was. His thoughts were racing a million miles an hour, his binder was suddenly too tight against his skin, and he was violently aware of every girlish feature he had. He had to get out of there, and he needed to get out of there fast. Before anyone, including himself, had the chance to respond to flash, he was gone. Peter did not entirely know where he was going to go; he just knew it couldn't be there.
Next thing he knew he was against the wall, with his knees against his chest in a bathroom. He couldn't breathe, but there was no way in hell he was taking that binder off. Staring at a spot on the floor as he tried to get his breathing under control, he heard the door slowly push open. Soon Harley was there, sitting in front of Peter asking if he could touch him. Well, this felt way too familiar.
The moment Harley pulled Peter into a hug, he broke down, sobbing hysterically. “I j-just... Why is it so hard for... people to see me as a boy... I just want to be a boy, Harley... Why is that so hard? Why did I have to be born like this? what's wrong with me? "Harley didn't know what to do, his heart ached. He knew Peter needed him, and he would rather die than leave his side right now but every part of him screamed at him to go rip flash a new one. The older boy sighed, rubbing small circles on Peter's back as he pulled the boy so close to him you could mistake the two for one. “Absolutely nothing is wrong with you Peter Parker, you are the most amazing person I've ever met." Anyone who doesn't see you as a boy has their head up their ass baby. You are a boy. Always will be, always have been. Flash just wants any way possible to get under your skin. I know this is going to be repetitive and I know you are going to hate me for it, but you have to let someone help you deal with this. You have to tell Tony, or anyone really. Or if you want, I can throw him out right now. You have to see what he's doing to you darlin’ n not to make this about me but it's killing me to see you like this." Peter sniffled and pulled away enough to look at Harley's face, he had tears in his eyes and looked just about as wrecked as Peter did. For a second Harley braced himself, he wasn't sure if Peter was going to take that well or not, but all the younger boy did was nod.
“We can tell dad after the trip, but not kicking him out this is still a really good opportunity for him. The two carried on halfway bargaining with each other while Harley tried to make him feel better the best he could.
Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Shuri, Ned and Mj were tearing flash apart. Without Peter there no one was going to stop them, and Harrington had conveniently left the room. “Who the actual fuck do you think you are? No one and I mean absolutely fucking no one gets to talk to peter like that. You have some nerve talking about him like that, you really do. Tony is going to have a field day ripping you apart, get away from our fucking table” Shuri was seething, and everyone could tell. Flash didn't even say anything, he just left and went back to his table of goonies. Everyone was seated again, and the room was sickeningly quiet except for the small sounds of Ned and Mj trying to calm Shuri down. Harrington had come back inside, seemingly confused by how quiet it was but ultimately decided to ignore it and made his way to a table in the back corner of the room.
By the time that fiasco was done Peter and Harley made their way back to the cafeteria. “Okay folks, time to move on! We're going to labs so if everyone could please make their way to the elevator that would be great!” Harley's accent was thick again and Peter thought it was the most comforting thing in the whole world. “We're going up to the 75th floor to see dr. banner and his lab first.” gasps broke out as they made their way into the elevator, hopefully, just by a sheer sliver of luck, Peter thought, this might go okay.