XVII
Harry and I stood in the elevator silently. He had called his assistant before signalling me that we were good to leave. Harry sniffled a few times as wiped away his tears, waiting for us to finally be able to get off. But then we stopped on the 63rd floor and a familiar face came in quickly.
“Hey, Gwen,” I greeted, causing her to yelp as she turned to face us. I let out a concerned laugh. Harry snickered next to me as well. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No, It’s okay,” She said with a nervous smile as she tried to catch her breath. She looked at Harry with a strangely.
“Oh, this is Harry,” I introduced as he waved half-heartedly. She nodded, motioning with her cup as she panted.
“I’m an old friend of Peter and AJ,” He said.
“Yeah, I know who you are. Sorry,” Gwen said as she turned back to face the elevator doors. “I was kinda rushing.”
“No, I’m sorry Peter never introduced us,” Harry said, “I thought you two had broken up.”
Gwen’s smile dropped slightly as she looked at me. I looked away, pursing my lips awkwardly. “Yeah… Yes, he had. It’s…”
“It’s complicated,” Harry said, in understanding, his voice casual.
Gwen nodded, “It’s complicated, yeah.”
“I mean, it’s Peter,” Harry laughed, nudging me. “Everythings always complicated with Peter.” Nodded with a smile, agreeing completely with that statement. Gwen laughed as well.
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right,” Her smile fell as she thought about it.
“But that’s why he needs you. Right?” Harry asked, his smile dropping. “To help him make his choices clear.”
Gwen stared at him blankly before she looked at me. I looked at Harry knowingly, trying to scold him with my eyes. Then the elevator dinged.
“Nice to meet you, Harry.” Gwen said, her voice timid. “I’ll see you later, AJ…”
“Yeah, it’s such a pleasure… Gwen,” Harry said as she walked out of the elevator and didn’t turn around to say anything else to us. I waited until Gwen was out of earshot before slapping Harry’s arm.
“Ow!” He said annoyed, walking out of the elevator as he glared at me. “What was that for?!”
“Thank you,” Harry said, catching me a bit off guard. “For this.”
I shrugged as I spooned a bit of ice cream into my mouth, “It’s really the least I could do. You needed some company.”
Harry nodded and looked up at all of the tall buildings in the distance. We had made it to Central Park after getting some ice cream. The redness of Harry’s eyes had gone down significantly and so far, there have been no tears. Although, we also hadn’t said anything since we left Oscorp.
“Do you think Peter is actually gonna get Spider-Man to help me out?” Harry asked out of the blue, his jaw was clenched.
I nodded, “He’s gonna have to find him first, but yeah. He cares about you a lot.” I told him.
“He seemed like he wanted to help Spider-Man more than me.”
“What?” I looked at him like he was crazy.
“He seems like he would rather keep that guys identity a secret rather than save my life,” He said, roughly scooping put ice cream into his mouth.
“Peter doesn’t know who Spider-Man is,” I said. He gave me an unconvinced glance. “He doesn’t. I promise.”
“How would you know?”
“Do you really think Peter is that good at keeping secrets?” I asked, adding a scoff to my words.
“He can when he wants to,” Harry said, causing me to swallow nervously.
I shook my head, “Regardless, Spider-Man is a hard guy to find. He’s probably always busy, ya know, saving the city and all that.”
He nodded. “I’m feeling a drink. Want one?”
“No?” I denied, looking at him strange. “I’m not even 19 yet. And you’re definitely not 20, where are you planning on getting a drink?”
“I have some whiskey back at my apartment.”
“Osborn, what the fuck,” I exclaimed when he opened the front door to his apartment. I thought the outside of the building and the simplistic decorations in the lobby and elevator were impressive. But his actual apartment was a lot nicer with high ceilings and large windows.
Harry laughed, putting his keys back into his pocket. “What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me,” I said, admiring the less modern interior. It was dark and rustic and it fit Harry. “You saw my shitty apartment and you expect me to not act like this? You have an apartment and your stupid mansion.”
“Your apartment is nice,” He said, a smug smile on his face. I glared at him and rolled my eyes before I ran over to the couch and plopped down onto it. And just as I had assumed, it was soft and squishy. “Want your whiskey with ice?”
I turned around and saw him pouring the dark brown liquid into a glass. “I’m not drinking.”
He gave me a look, “Wine, then?”
“Sure, but I’m not drinking it.”
I giggled loudly, my face feeling warm with the effort it took for my body to calm down. And from my third glass of wine. Harry had long since forgotten his jacket and was in a think dark grey shirt. It looked almost out of place against his pale skin, but it was nice on him. We had also moved from his living room to the couch in his room.
“You and Peter never even thought about it?” He asked me, a disbelieving smile on his face. I shook my head. “God, I thought you two would have at least… I dunno, kissed by now!”
I scrunched my shoulders up with a shrug. “No, not really. He was always so obsessed with Gwen that it wasn’t even a question.”
“That’s so strange,” Harry said, leaning back against the arm rest of the couch. He looked up at the ceiling pensively.
“Is it?” I asked, sipping more of the sweet alcohol. “I don’t think I’m even Peter’s type. Sometimes I don’t think I’m anyone's type, really.”
“How could you think that?” He asked, sitting back up and reaching for my forearms. I giggled at his sudden movements. “You’re amazing, AJ.”
I snorted, “Okay, whatever you say.”
“No, I mean that,” He said, his eyes softening. The last bit of giggles bubbled up from my chest before the mood changed completely. “You took time today to babysit me.”
“We’ve been catching up,” I disagreed, smiling. “It’s fun.”
Harry sighed, resting his head on the cushion of the couch as he continued to look into my eyes. “It’s felt like everyone’s been baby sitting me my whole life. Except when I’ve been with you… or Peter.”
I matched his position, resting my head on the cushion to get closer. The cloth felt nice and cold against my face. “I’m sorry you felt that way. I can’t imagine what that was like.”
“I think people have had it worse,” Harry deflected. I pouted at his words. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when your mom…”
“That definitely wasn’t your fault,” I defended. He shook his head, beginning to speak. “No, your dad shipped you off to wherever the fuck. I didn’t expect you to know. I didn’t even really know.”
Harry looked at me softly and I felt my heart race. It felt like his eyes were seeing into my mind, my thoughts. Then he shifted, opening his arms and pulling me to lay on his chest. I sucked in a breath, my face heating up from more than just the alcohol. It was comforting being in his arms. But I could hear his heartbeat out of rhythm with my own.