Surprise

The still air in the room started to stir around 3 am, causing me to wake up. Harry's alarm clock bathed us in a red hue. The room was warm, yet I still felt a deep chill within my body. Harry was resting his head on my chest, taking long, quiet breaths. It's too early to be awake. We haven't even been asleep for that long. I stretch my arms up, and rub my eyes in an attempt to trick my eyelids into feeling heavy. I then pull the blankets up and snuggle into them. 

Though my excessive movement causes Harry to stir, he slides his head off my chest, flips over, and rolls himself into a ball. He goes back to sleeping deeply, his chest moving lightly up and down. I turn myself over, almost as to spoon him and run my hands through his hair. It's so soft and smells so good. Yesterday must have been a lot for him. I wish I had gone to the arcade with him or the movies instead of making him go home. Why didn't I see him suffering? Life isn't handing him fair cards.  

Suddenly a chill runs down my spine, making my ears buzz slightly. I instantly jump out of the bed, Landing softly on my feet. Why am I feeling my spider-sense? Is someone trying to break into their house? I quickly tiptoe to my backpack, and connect my web shooters, along with pulling my mask over my face. I quietly bring myself to the door and put my ear up to it, hoping to hear any clues. I close my eyes, hoping to heighten my hearing. After a moment of concentrating I hear someone shuffling around the living room which is only a few feet away from the room. 

 When you enter the Osborns penthouse, you get spit into their foyer which has a set of stairs to the second floor, and an archway to the left. If you choose to disregard the staircase, then it leads to the living room and kitchen area. Just past the kitchen is Harry's room, which luckily is awkwardly tucked away from the rest of the apartment. His door isn't as grand looking as the rest of the house, which almost makes it look like it's the pantry for the kitchen. Hopefully, this will deter anyone from coming and searching in here. After a few moments the shuffling outside grows quieter, and then I hear the sound of the stairs, which leads to Norman's room and office.  

I quietly open the door, trying to keep my erratic breathing down. Once the door was opened enough for me to slip out, I just jump up and grab onto the ceiling. I quietly crawl across the room until I make my way to the stairs. The person was pacing around the room. Are they trying to steal files? They must have known Norman is out of town. I silently crawl over the stairs, and jump down onto them, making sure my webs ensure a quiet descent. I wait till the footsteps walk into one of the rooms, then I jump into a shadow. 

I've only been upstairs a few times, Norman was never friendly enough for me to feel comfortable to venture up here. There were two rooms on opposite sides of the area, with large arches in them, keeping the floor plan open. In between his bedroom and office was a small living area, with a beautiful bookshelf full of vintage and collectible items. Norman was more of a geek than he would like to admit. Why is he so mean to Harry about his hobbies, when there are large-scale Star Wars action figures on the shelves? I almost chuckled thinking of his hypocrisy. 

 The figure emerged from the office and sat on the leather couch. Luckily for me, it was faced away, so there was no way they could see me hiding. Though the darkness filling the room made it hard to see, my eyes have finally adjusted enough for me to make out the small movement the man made by pulling his phone out. The brightness of the screen illuminated the room, making me wince. He pulled up the phone and made a call. Finally! I'll get some answers. After a small number of rings, I could hear another man pick up, though I couldn't make out any of the words. 

“Where the hell have you been?" the intruder finally said, his voice seething with anger. “Are you planning on staying in the shadows forever? Do you not remember the fucking plan? I'm already pissed that you let him go, and now you've been in hiding for two days,” his voice grew quiet and I could hear the man on the other line arguing back. 

 My stomach dropped. I'm not an idiot. I know Norman's voice. I haven't heard him sound so angry before, but it's clearly him. He has a deep voice, with a subtle  New Yorker accent mixed in. What is he talking about? Is it crazy to think it's about me? 

“Alright, alright I understand,” he sighed loudly. “My equipment will be ready within the next two days. And if you don't hold up your end of the agreement and bring me that spider's head on a fucking stick, then I swear to God I'll kill you. What? Of course, I'm a man of my word. The second you deliver my package, I'll drop off any supplies you desire. Hell, I'll even throw in the spider when I'm done using him,” a wicked-sounding laugh filled the upstairs, leaving a sick feeling of dread on my tongue. Norman ends the call and laughs to himself for a moment more.  

He picks himself off the couch and walks back into the office. I use this opportunity to throw myself down the stairs, and web over to Harry's room. I open the door quietly and slide in. My heart is pounding, and my vision is going blurry. FUCK fuck. They've got to be talking about me. What the fuck. 

He had to be talking to Doctor Octavious. It all aligns up too well, and apparently, I've got two days to prepare for whatever the fuck they are planning. I slide myself against the door and fall to the ground. I plunge my head between my knees and begin to hyperventilate. I rock myself slightly and cover my ears with my arms. My fingers find their way to my hair, griping on tightly. I try and focus on the pain of my hair, rather than nausea that's slowly creeping up. I stay on the ground till the sun starts to rise. Harry's room stays dark, besides the small amount of sun that creeps under his blankets. Harry can't stay here. I can't leave him here with his dad. We have to go. We can't be here. 

 Panic settles in my body, and I jump up and anxiously make a bag of Harry's belongings. I haphazardly shove enough clothes in for two weeks, and fumble to zip the bag up. I start to feel tears well up in my eyes, and my throat begins to ache. God not now, please. Please. My praying doesn't work, and tears begin to stream out of my face. I clutch onto the bag and bury my face into it, letting my tears flow. 

Why is this happening? How could Norman do this? Does he know I'm Spider-Man? Does he realize how much danger he's put his son in? How could he do this to Harry? How could he do this to him? My tears slowly begin to dry, though I keep my face buried in the bag. I sniffle, the scent of Harry calming me down. After a few minutes of me repeating a large breath through my nose and out my mouth, I calmed myself down as much as possible. I can't act hysterical. 

 I have to protect Harry. I've got enough information to keep him safe. I'll make sure to keep him in my sight, and then in two days, I'll send him off somewhere to keep him away from anything that could hurt him. I won't let anything happen to him. I'll let spidey have a break for the next few days to build up my strength and let my sore muscles heal. This plan will work. 

Everything will be okay.

Everything will be okay.

Everything will be okay. 

I feel tears swell in my eyes once more, but I roughly swipe them away from my eyes and instead crawl back into bed with Harry. He somehow is still sleeping peacefully. I sigh and cuddle up next to him, pulling him into my arms. His sleeping self understands what's going on, and he turns himself completely towards me, and cuddles up against me, wrapping his legs around mine. He tucks his head in the crook of my neck, breathing softly on my collarbones. 

 I feel so much better. I was starting to spiral. I'm so happy he's okay. I'll make sure he doesn't get hurt. I'll make sure his father can never hurt him again. I'll make sure I never hurt him again. I pull him as close to me as possible. He's so warm. Everywhere he's touching me feels so hot. My stomach swirls, as I run my hands through his hair. The anxiety in my chest won't let me fall back asleep, but it's dormant enough for me to enjoy this moment fully. We lay there for a long time. I'll let him sleep until the alarm clock shines 6:30 on its screen. I'll let him nap at my house. I want to leave this house as soon as possible. I remove my hands from his hard and place them on his shoulders, attempting to shake him awake.  

After some shaking, he finally starts to move. He pushes his knee between my legs and wraps his arms tightly against me, laying almost completely on top of me. He lays his head on my shoulder, allowing me to see his face clearly. I didn't think he'd snuggle in more. I truly thought that would wake him up, I did shake him pretty viciously. His deep breaths began once more. I felt a tinge of guilt for trying to wake him up when he seemed too peaceful. I glanced at the clock, seeing that it was already 6:45. I'll let him sleep till 7, but then I'm forcing him to wake up. I open my legs a bit more, and bring my knees up, so Harry could get more comfortable. 

I spend the next few minutes admiring his face. He's so pretty. Freckles dance on his rosy cheeks, and his eyelashes are long, and full. His hair is so soft and bouncy, letting perfect curls fall above his eyes. I brush the hair out of his face, and plant a small kiss on his forehead, which surprised me. I moved without thinking. 

 The kiss made Harry stir, his eyes began to flutter, but never truly opened. He quickly pushed himself up, and sank his teeth into my neck, giving me a sloppy kiss. He extended his arms up, slipping one of his hands through my hair, giving it a gentle tug, while the other hand slid behind my back and grabbed onto my shoulder. He gently tugged my head to the side and pulled my shoulder back which extended my neck, allowing him to bury his face in. I felt as though he was a vampire searching for the best place to bite. He gave me small kisses up my neck until he made it to my ears. His hot breath made me squirm while underneath him. Chills went down my spine as he swirled his tongue on my ear, before sucking my earlobe into his mouth. His breaths were fast, and he occasionally let out a moan. My whole body feels hot. What is he doing? Why do I like it so much? I really like this. Wait, why am I not stopping this?  

“Harry,” I murmured. “What are you doing?"  

Harry quickly snaps himself up, leaving a heavy breath between us.  “I didn't “ he began, panic seeping between his words. “I didn't mean to! I thought I was dreaming. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."  Tears welled up in his eyes, and he slowly backed up, till he smacked his back against the wall. 

“It's okay,” I shout, sitting up from the embarrassing position I was left in. “You were in the REM part of sleep. It's like you were sleepwalking."  He turned away and wiped his tears quickly. 

“I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me.”  

“I could never hate you,” I assured. My neck and ear still tingled, begging for more. “I didn't hate it.”  

“Really?" he lets out a relieved sigh and looks back up at me. Both of our faces were bright red. I suddenly felt vulnerable. 

What do I mean I didn't hate it? Well, I mean, I wasn't lying. I actually really liked it. More than I thought I would. I've always found girls attractive, so I thought I'd never have to worry about my sexuality, but every time I look at Harry my stomach explodes with butterflies. We were bullied heavily in middle school because everyone believed we were gay. They said it like it was a bad word. Like it was the most disgusting thing we could be. We both denounced the accusations, explaining we only liked girls. I thought I liked girls. I thought he liked girls too. 

Does he?? Does he like me? Is he grossed out by this? The anxiety of death turned to the anxiety of a crush. Is this a crush? Would I want to date Harry? He is handsome and funny. He's sweet and kind, and we have the same hobbies.  

Wow. 

I do have a crush on him. I thought people were supposed to know their sexuality early, and spend time in the closet, how could I just now figure this out. I don’t even know if Harry likes guys. He’s never dated anyone, or shown much interest in anyone. He said he had a small crush on Gwen when we first met, but he didn’t act like it.  

“Uh, thanks for coming,” he interrupted. “Want me to walk you to the station?"  

“Yeah sure,” I smiled. I jumped up and grabbed mine and his bag, then turned on his lamp, both of us wincing while adjusting to the light.  

“Are you stealing my things,” he laughed. 

“No, I packed you a bag.” 

“What? When?”  

“I woke up like an hour ago, and packed it, then waited for you to wake up,” I lied. I mean it was a partial truth.  

“Oh, okay,” he looked down in an attempt to hide his red cheeks.  

“Let’s go,” I said. 

“Okay, let me brush my teeth first,” he said. I’m so glad he’s rich and has a bathroom in his room, I don’t want him anywhere his dad could potentially see him. After a few minutes of waiting, Harry emerges, and heads to his door. 

“Let’s leave out of the fire escape.” 

“What? Why?” He gave me a funny look. I know Norman has a security camera at the front door. I don’t want him to have any idea of what Harry is doing. 

“I snuck in yesterday. It would be weird if your dad saw me leaving on the camera. You can just sneak back in through your window before he’s back from the business trip. He’ll assume you never left.” 

He sat on the thought for a moment, tapping his hand nervously against his side. “He won’t care if I sleep over at your place. You go through the window. I’ll leave through the door.” 

“I think it will be better to go with my plan. Give him no reasons to explode. I’ll make sure you get back here before he gets home. Just trust me,” I smile. 

“Okay,” I could tell he was nervous, but he still chose to follow me. 

We open the window and effectively down onto the street. We didn’t bother changing out of our pajamas, but Harry forced me to throw my hoodie on before we left. We begin our walk to the subway, which would only take 10 minutes. The quicker we can get to my house, the better.  

“Can we get something to eat,” he moaned. 

“Let’s wait till we get to Queens,” I said, keeping our walking pace quick. 

“Why are you moving so fast,” he whined, slowly down. “I’m still tired."  

I grab his hand, and lock my fingers between his, to keep his pace up with mine. We finally got to the subway, and stumbled through the process till we were finally seated. I was so nervous Norman or Doc Ock would be watching us, I rushed through the process. I don’t think they know my identity, but I have to be careful. Thank god Harry isn’t going to question me. He’s very obedient. 

“Why did we wake up so early,” he asked me between a yawn. “I’m so tired."  

I look at him, and smile. His yawn is cute. I grab the side of his head and place it gingerly onto my shoulder.  “You can take a nap,” I coo. 

He falls asleep quickly, letting out a small snore with his exhale, and stays passed out for the hour-long trip we have in front of us.