Surprise

After a while of hanging out with Aunt May, Harry and I made our way back to the bedroom. Once the door was shut behind us, Harry turned around to me and we began softly kissing, our lips melting into each other.

He pulls away, leaving me wanting more. My stomach flips, and I can't help but smile. I feel my cheeks burning red, but when I open my eyes, I see Harry's face is flushed too.

“You're really cute,” I smile at him. He rolled his eyes, which looked hilarious when accompanied by his goofy smile. He reached over and kissed me lightly on my cheek, before whispering, “You too,” in my ear, which send chills down my spine.

“I'm tired,” he yawned, making his way to the bed.

“How,” I scoffed. “You napped.”

“So,” he wasn't facing me, but I swear I could see him rolling his eyes “I'm still tired. Let's go to sleep.” I decided not to argue, and instead turned the light off and obediently followed him into the covers. I rest my head on his chest and wrap my arms tightly around his waist. He holds me close with one hand, while the other plays with my messy hair. We cuddle without talking, enjoying the moment. I take deep breaths of his cologne, which begins to lull me to sleep. I feel his hand fall from my head, and I drift asleep with him. 

🕸

I open my groggy eyes after what feels like an eternity of sleeping. My room is still dark, only a red hue washing softly over us from the alarm clock. I focus my eyes to see that it's 5:14. Why did I wake up so early? I reach my hand over trying to feel for Harry, but instead feel the empty spot on the bed, that's still somewhat warm. Where did he go?

 I sit myself up, and rub my eyes harshly. Panic begins to settle, and I frantically jump up from the bed. It still smells like his cologne, so he can't be far. Right? I swing my door open, and most of my anxiety washes away as I see the bathroom light on. I sigh loudly, letting some relief wash over me, though I still have a deep sense of dread about my impending doom, leaving a sick feeling in my stomach. I sigh and make my way back to the bed, waiting for Harry to return. 

The room has begun to lighten, even though the sun has not broken through the horizon. I glance at the clock once more, which glows a bright 5:37. What's taking him so long? He is in there, right? I jump off the bed once again and make my way to the bathroom. I tiptoe and place my ear on the door, holding my breath to hear clearly. If anyone saw me right now they would think I'm a possessive boyfriend. I guess they wouldn't be wrong. 

I hear the sink dripping, and Harry's talking in a hushed voice. What is he saying?? Gah, I can't make out any of the words. Is he okay? Who's he talking to? 

I shake my clammy hands in the air and begin to pace around my room. I want to listen against the door, but I can't imagine how awkward it would be if he thought I was spying on him. He would probably realize I'm worried. I don't want him to know what's going on with his dad. I'll think about telling him once I have more answers. 

Why is he taking so long? My eyes drift over to the clock for the 20th time, 5:45 stars back at me. It seems like time is moving painfully slowly. Ok, I need to calm down. Take deep breaths. It's gonna be okay. 

The bathroom door creaked open, and light flooded the dim hallway. Harry emerged quietly, making eye contact with me immediately. His eyes are puffy, and his nose is red. His hair was wild, and puffy from sleep. His bedhead is really cute. 

Ok maybe it's not the time to think about that. Harry looks down, and quietly makes the way into the room. 

“What happened?,” I calmly said, sitting down onto the bed, expecting him to join me.

“I'm fine,” he says while sniffling. He bends over and starts throwing his bag together frantically. “My dad figured out I snuck out and he was pissed,”

“Wait,” I say, a little too loud. “You can't leave.”

“I don't really have a choice,” he says defeatedly.

I jump off the bed and crouch beside him. I place my hands gently on his, stopping him from zipping the bag up. 

“No, stay here. It's not safe for you to leave,” I pleaded, desperation oozing out of me.

“I'm sorry, but no,” he gently pushed my hand away and zipped his bag up completely. 

He used his sleeve to wipe his misty eyes, stood up, and began walking to the door. I quickly grab his hand, locking my fingers between his tightly, keeping him from leaving.

“Harry please trust me, don't go,” I almost yell, but I remind myself of the time and lower my volume. “It's not safe.”

“No offense, but I trusted you about sneaking out of the fire escape, and that didn't turn out well.” He forced out a small chuckle. “I know you're worried because my dads been acting weird, but I promise I'll be okay.” He reached over to me and planted a delicate kiss on my lips, softly brushed my hair out of my face, then unclasped our hands. He nervously began messing with the strings of his backpack. I know he's anxious, he's just acting like he's fine.

“My dads going to be here any minute. I'll text you once I get home.”

I can't let him go. What if Norman has some sick plan up his sleeve where he decides to use his son? He isn't stable. I can't allow Harry to be placed in danger like that. I rack my brain for ideas, but I keep drawing blanks.

“I know this sounds crazy, but I wouldn't lie about this,” I frantically began. “I have reasons to believe your dad is working with some shady people. For your safety, you need to stay here.” 

His face dropped.  “What do you mean?” he said, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Shady people?” he questioned after a moment. 

“I don't know all the details, but he seems to be doing a business transaction with someone you don't want to mess with,” I said. Is he mad? Or confused? I can't read him, and it's really stressing me out. 

“Who is it?” he questioned, his annoyance becoming clear. 

“I'm not sure,” I spat out. I mean I really don't have definitive proof yet, so it's not a lie.

“I'm not going to get involved with his business deals, so don't worry,” he said sharply before turning towards the door. 

“Wait Harry, please trust me,” I follow closely behind him while he makes his way to the stairs. “It's not safe for you to be around him right now.”

“Peter, I'm already scared to see him, and you're making it worse. I can't stay, it would tip him over the edge,” he sighed. “I know that I'll be ok, he’ll probably just yell at me for being a disappointment in the car.”

“He's been talking to Doctor Octopus. It's not safe for you to go with him,” I desperately said to him. 

He stops in the middle of the stairs and turns his head to look at me.“What?” he said, almost angry.

“I overheard him talking on the phone when I slept over,” I confess.

“Why didn't you tell me?” he asked.

“I didn't want to falsely incriminate him, I wanted to get more facts,” I meekly said, avoiding his burning eye contact.

“Why would he talk to Doctor Octopus?” his voice is growing fainter with every word.

“I'm not sure, it seemed like they had a trade going on,” I say quietly.

“What am I supposed to do?” he asked with a hopeless voice.

“Don't worry. Just text him that you'll be staying here, and I'll make sure he leaves.”

I know it’s a stupid plan, I can't do anything involving Spidey around Norman, and I don't think I'll be able to get him to leave as Peter. I'll figure it out as I go along. Maybe I can sneak Harry out of the back door before he gets here.

The sound of Harry’s ringtone blasts through the quiet house, causing us both to jump. He desperately digs in his pocket, and quickly turns off his ringer. He looks up with a pale face, still frozen in the middle of the steps.

“I don’t know what to do,” he whispers, his voice barely audible.

“Let's go out the backdoor, and then we will figure something out,” I whisper to him. He nods and begins to quietly walk down the remainder of the steps. Before he could make it to the bottom, a loud pounding starts to emanate from the front door. We both freeze, subconsciously holding our breaths. Fuck. There is no way this won't wake up May. What should I do?  God, I can't make up a plan. 

Norman bangs louder with each passing second, which causes Aunt May to frantically run out of her bedroom.

“Stop,” I whisper as loud as I can. May stops and turns to us, frowning once she catches my eyes. ‘Please,’ I mouth out to her, and motion for her to come closer.

“I think it's in Harry's best interest to stay with us for now,” I say into her ear.

“Why is his father so mad,” she says, her voice louder than I would have liked.

“I’ll explain later,” I reassured.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it,” she says, and begins walking to the front door with her fuzzy robe and slippers, eventually moving out of our view. We stay frozen on stairs, holding our breaths, not daring to make any sound.

The loud creaking of our door halts the banging.

“Oh hi Norman, sorry I couldn’t hear you knocking! My ears are getting old,” she laughed.'' What are you doing here?”

“Tell Harry to come here now,” he demanded, his voice deep and cold.

“I think there was some miscommunication,” she sighed. “Harry left a while ago, saying he was going to take the subway home.”

A loud crash echoed across the house, followed by loud stomping. Norman emerged from the corner, rage coloring his face. 

“Let's go,” he demanded.

“No,” Harry whimpered, backing up into me. His father gave no answer, and instead reached over the staircase and gripped tightly onto his curly hair. He pulled hard, causing Harry to tumble down the last few steps. I reached out and grabbed Harry, trying to smash his fathers hands off of him, but his grip won't loosen. Why is he so strong?? I'm strong. Why can I get him off? 

Norman pushed my face back with his large hand, causing me to lose my balance and fall against the floor. He began to march to the front door dragging Harry behind him. He couldn't keep the pace of his father, and kept slipping back down, which was only met with a harsh yank of his hair, forcing him back up. I jumped up and rushed to Norman.

“Please stop,” I yelled. “Don't do this!” He glared down at me, his eyes filled with wrath. Norman ignored all my advances and started to stomp out of the front door. The sun had finally risen, a beautiful sunrise scattering the sky. Norman began down our pathway. Aunt May rushed out of the house, gripping a baseball bat.

“Norman, what the hell is wrong with you,” she angrily screamed. Norman glanced back at her, keeping his grip on his son's scalp and laughed.

“I've already called the cops,” she yelled, inching towards him. I waved my hands at her, trying to mouth ‘throw me the bat.’ Right as Norman made his way to his car, she understood and flung the bat across the yard. I caught it and immediately slammed it into Norman's face, using almost my full strength, causing him to fall back. 

I pictured Norman falling over, and releasing Harry, allowing us to run to safety. But instead, Norman easily regained his balance, never letting go of his son. He grabbed the barrel of the baseball bat, snatched it away from my grip, and smashed the knob into my face. I fell back hard onto the sidewalk, blood immediately rushing out of my nose. I popped back up swiftly, but he had already shoved Harry into the back of the car roughly. I tried ripping the door open, but it wouldn't budge. 

I banged my hands against the window, hoping Harry would unlock it, but he kept his head down, frozen in the horror of what just happened. Norman made his way to the driver's seat and chuckled at my aunt and my defeated faces before speeding down the street.

“Peter,” May screamed as she ran over, grabbing my eyelids to make sure I wasn't concussed. I allow her to evaluate my wounds, before pushing her off softly.

“I'm sorry May, I've gotta go. I have to make sure he's okay,” I say quietly, wiping the blood from my face into my sleeve.

“It's too dangerous. I can't believe he hit you,” she scolded, grabbing my hand, and leading me inside the house. “The police will be here soon, we will tell them all about it.”

We made it back into our house, which has a sickening aura after what took place. We both stood in the doorway, feeling the same nausea.

“I'm sorry,” I say. “I'm going. You can't stop me.” 

“Peter,” she begged, worry pouring out of her voice. “No.”

“By the time I get there, the cops will have beaten me there. They'll probably have taken care of the situation. I'm just hoping I'll be able to check in on Harry,” I firmly say.

“Norman seems unstable. I can't let you go. I'm sorry. I can't let you get hurt,” she says.

“I can't leave Harry alone.” I ignore her worried glance, and run up the stairs, leaving her in the doorway. I grab my backpack holding my suit, and run back down the stairs and pull my Aunt into a hug. 

“I'll be safe. I love you,” I say before pulling away. She smiles softly, and pats my shoulder.

“You’re a good friend.” As her smile fades, worry settles on her face. “I wish I could force you to stay.”

“I'm sorry May,” I plead, before running out of the door. 

I sprint quickly to the nearest alley and throw my suit on, haphazardly abandoning my clothes. I climb up the back of the building, and fling myself off the roof, throwing a web to the traffic light, hurdling myself down the road as quickly as possible. I keep my eyes peeled for their Rolls Royce in the traffic, but I can't spot them. Where is he taking him? Why did he want him? 

I use the opportunity of being masked to let out a frustrated scream, that luckily blended into the sounds of the city. Fuck. FUCK. I had one more day. I was going to swing Harry out to Philadelphia, to make sure he was far away from the fighting. I mapped it all out in my head. It was going to work. 

Why the fuck did Norman do that. Fuck. What is he going to do to Harry? If he’s comfortable enough dragging him by  the hair in front of other people, what is he comfortable doing behind closed doors ? Fuck. My heartbeat is pounding out of my chest, making it hard to hear. I wish I could take this stupid fucking mask off, because I can’t breath. 

I make it to an intersection, throwing my webs like my life depends on it. Before I make it across the road, I feel a tingle run down my back. I thwip my head around rapidly, trying to find the culprit. 

I throw my head to the right, which collides directly into a cold metal arm. My nose begins bleeding again, and nasty crunching sound accompanies it. The metal clutches onto my head and chucks me down into the road, hard. I crumble into the pavement, my breath flying out of me. I hear cars honking and swerving, while I struggle to gasp for air. I flail around, trying to get the metal to unlatch from my face. 

The arm lifts me into the air amid my struggle, which works out in my favor, allowing me to grip the arm and pry it off of my face. I fall towards the road once again, but I managed to gracefully land. With a knot of fear in my stomach, I glance up and connect my eyes with Doctor Octopus.