Peter knew he shouldn’t be making such a big deal about it. It wasn’t the first time he’d gone a week without texting.
This time, though, for some reason, it just felt so final.
Not to mention that the last time he texted, it was to tell Peter he couldn’t make it to their weekly over-the-phone movie night. The one where they’d stay up all night laughing and talking and not really paying attention to whatever movie they’d decided to press play on at the same time. The one where May would come home from her night shift at 2 AM and poke her head into Peter’s room to say “Hey, Harley! You boys get to bed sometime in the next twenty-four hours.” Peter would laugh, usually be the one to fall asleep first anyways.
Harley never missed that.
Ever since he came for the Stark internship and stayed for what would go down in history as the most fun summer Peter had ever had in his entire life (even beating out the one where he went to Germany with Mr. Stark), he and Harley had been as close as two friends could possibly get. Sure, Harley had moved back to Tennessee and was surrounded by a large array of high school friends, and Peter was staying busy just trying to get through everything he had to do, both before graduation and before figuring out what the hell he was going to do about college, but that didn’t stop them from visiting each other at least six times each year, calling as often as possible, and sharing pretty much every detail of each other’s lives.
This year was just starting to feel… different.
Peter woke up the morning after it had been a week and checked his phone anxiously, almost as if he was expecting to see three missed calls and a few “hey, I’m still here” texts from his best friend. What he got was an empty screen and another reminder that Tennessee and New York were farther away from each other than he'd like them to be.
Oh, yeah, and then there was the boy.
Harley posted pictures with him. He talked about him when they called each other. He seemed happy about him, like, all the time. And Peter didn’t know what to do because not only was Harley being drawn away from him, but to make it even worse, he was being drawn towards this guy who was much more handsome, much more confident, and much better than dorky old Peter Parker.
They’d never talked about it, and they’d never been more than just friends, but seeing Harley having fun with that boy was a constant reminder to Peter that he wanted Harley to be more than his friend so, so badly. He’d just never… said anything about it.
He’d thought about telling him something. More often than he’d admit actually. He’d thought about saying it before Harley went back to Tennessee. He’d thought about saying it on every late night phone call, even in a text at one point that he’d almost clicked send on.
I’m in love with you, Harley. I’ve loved you since that summer when we first met, even though we weren’t together for that long. I… I just feel so strongly about you in a way that I’ve never felt for anyone else. You make me so happy, and I don’t want to be friends with you. I want to be more.
But he was Peter Parker, and one thing that Peter Parker was not good at (out of many) was sharing his feelings.
So he sat on his bed, phone in his hands, and waited.
For what, he didn’t know. A sign? A text? An indication that Harley still cared about him?
Whatever it was, it didn’t come that day.
***
“Okay, kid, listen. I may not be that great as a responsible parent, but I know enough about kids to know when something’s up with them. And something’s definitely up with you.”
Peter spun around in his rotating chair, sighing and waving his screwdriver in the air.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Stark. I’m cool.”
Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“Oh, please. That’s the second time you’ve tried to screw in that bolt, and you haven’t even realized you’re using the wrong-shaped screwdriver head yet.”
Peter looked at his tool and bit his lip, placing it down on the table when he realized.
“Oops.”
Tony leaned against a messy table, folding his arms across his chest.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on, or is this one of those things I probably don’t want to hear about?”
“I’ve just been… busy lately.”
“With what? College?” Tony waved his hand dismissively. “You know, I’m not saying it’s not important, because it is, but it’s also not something you should let take over your whole life. Keep living a little.”
“I live… a little.”
Tony raised his eyebrows.
“If you call going from classes, to the library, to here, to your dorm room to study and watch movies until three in the morning ‘living a little’, then you and I have wildly different interpretations of the expression.”
“Well, sorry I’m not as… ostentatious as you were in college.”
Tony raised his eyebrows, faking shock.
“Don’t speak about my college self that way, Parker. I’ll have you know that I did many great things while I was there. And- you’ll never believe this- not all of them had to do with my extremely good ability to talk to girls.”
“You did more than just talking,” Peter retorted, and Tony gasped, placing a hand over his heart.
“You know about that kind of stuff? Lordy, what are they feeding children these days?”
“I’m nineteen. At some point, you're gonna have to stop calling me a child.” Peter groaned, turning back around.
“Over my dead body,” Tony said back. “In all seriousness, though, is it really just college? Because I’ve seen you stressed about school before, and this isn’t really it.”
Peter picked up the tool again, rotating it between his fingers and staring down at it like it could suddenly give him the answer to all his problems.
“I… I guess not. I’m just… I don’t know. People are complicated. And I’m not very good at talking to them, you know?”
“Oh, I know.”
Peter heard Tony shift, his footsteps drawing closer until he was standing beside him, pulling up another chair and sitting down in it.
“If you’re having people problems, I’d suggest approaching it the way you would with your best friends. You know, Nick, and-”
“Ned, Mr. Stark.”
“-Harley, and MJ. You know. You’re comfortable talking to them about anything, right?”
“Yeah…”
At least some part of that was true. Which meant Peter wasn’t entirely lying to Tony.
“Then just pretend you’re talking to one of them when you’re with other people. Except, well, a bit differently, I guess, if you don’t know them as well.” Tony shook his head. “What I’m trying to say is, pretend you’re already comfortable around them, enough to say what you need to say to them. Then, at some point, you're not pretending anymore. You just… become comfortable. Without even realizing it.”
“But… but what if it’s someone I do know well? And I’m just… afraid that I don’t know them as well as I used to. And that they’re finding better people than me to be comfortable with. And that if I tell them what I want to tell them, they won’t want to be friends with me anymore.”
Tony frowned.
“That’s… oddly specific, but I guess I shouldn’t question it.” He placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “All I’m gonna tell you is that communication is important. If you’re afraid of something and you don’t tell them, how are they supposed to know and help you out? I know words can be hard- especially for you- but they also tend to help out a lot in relationships.”
Peter groaned, looking up.
“I just wish… I don’t know. Sometimes I wish there was a way for us to know what the other was thinking without having to say it.”
Tony smiled.
“That would be nice and easy. Unfortunately, life doesn’t like to give us nice and easy.”
"Mr. Stark, since when did you get so insightful?"
Tony grinned.
"Oh, I don't know. Since I grew old and wise and had to start managing a little terror in the form of a kid. A.K.A, you."
Peter shoved him, but he felt better than he had ten minutes ago.
That was just the thing about Tony.
***
"Hey."
"Hey! Sorry I didn't call back earlier. I was with Gavin, and I lost track of time."
Peter leaned back against his bed frame, closing his eyes. The phone was pressed against his ear, Harley's voice suddenly much less comforting than usual.
"Oh. It's… it's okay."
Sure, he was going to do what Tony had told him. Talk to him. Tell him everything. But… something about hearing the other boy's name turned him off from the idea.
How could he force Harley to hear his feelings, when he seemed so happy with someone else?
"So, what have you been up to?"
"Um… just a lot of school stuff. And I did some work with Mr. Stark today."
"It's funny you still call him that," Harley chuckled.
"Oh, because you're suddenly so much more mature than me? Just because you're older doesn't mean-"
"Hey, Pete. I was kidding. I'm- I'm sorry." Harley's lighthearted tone became instantly more serious when he heard the sharpness in Peter's tone.
"Sorry. I'm just a bit tired."
"We don't have to talk right now, if… if you don't want to."
"I mean, I- I like talking to you."
There was muffled talking on the other end of the phone, then he heard Harley's voice clearly.
"Sorry. Gavin was just asking me something."
"He's still there?"
"Yeah, we were just hanging out, then I thought I should call you back, you know?"
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Okay."
Suddenly, Peter decided he didn't want to talk anymore.
"I… I have to go. May is asking me for something. Have fun with Gavin," he said quickly, more bitterness in his tone than he'd wanted. Harley didn't seem to notice it, though.
"Okay. Miss you, Peter."
"Miss you, too."
"I'll text you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay. Bye."
Peter hung up the phone and closed his eyes, bringing his blanket up to his face and wiping newly formed tears with it.
***
“So that didn’t go exactly as planned.”
Ned poked his fork into his mashed potatoes, frowning over at Peter.
“I mean, can’t you just ask him if he still wants to be friends with you, even? Be direct.”
“No, Ned! I can’t just- I mean, I’m not gonna- and it’s not that simple.”
“Why not?” Ned asked the question, then smiled as he realized. “Oh. Right.”
Peter blushed, looking down at his plate of spaghetti.
“Yeah. Right.”
They finished their food and picked up the bags, walking out of the dining hall and into the cool air. Fresh snow had fallen the night before, the trees occasionally dripping cold water onto them as they went. There were people out on the green, building snowmen and enjoying what would probably be the last remnants of the New York winter.
“How’d you do it, Ned?”
“Do what?” His friend replied, glancing over at him.
“Work things out with Betty.”
“Oh. Well, you know I had a crush on her all through high school, and eventually I just… I don’t know. Stopped waiting around, I guess.”
“So you just told her how you felt? What if… Well, do you ever feel nervous? Like that she might find someone else?”
Ned shrugged.
“I mean, I guess sometimes. But it’s not usually a thing that’s on my mind because we’re always with each other.” He sighed. “But it’s different for you, huh?”
Peter looked down, watching his feet move one after the other down the sidewalk.
“Unfortunately.”
“Hey, man, don’t worry about it. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”
“Yeah, and if it’s not, it’s gonna suck.” Peter threw his hand up momentarily, shaking his head in frustration. “Not that there's a way it could be. I mean, it’s me. And Harley’s… Harley. And that other guy… he’s so much cooler than me. In, like, every way possible.”
“Oh, come on, Peter! You need to give yourself more credit.” Ned laughed, shoving Peter’s shoulder lightly. “You’re funny, and really nice. And I can’t say I know anyone besides you that knows every line to ‘The Empire Strikes Back’.”
“But Gavin is… Gavin is there. With him. And I’m here. And what if he’s just forgetting about me? What if he forgets about me completely? What if he comes back one day to visit Mr. Stark, and I try to talk to him, and he asks me who I am because of how much he’s forgotten about me? What if-”
“Peter. Breathe.”
“I’m breathing, Ned!”
“No, you’re not.” Ned dragged him over to a park bench. “Sit down.”
Peter complied, dropping his backpack and flopping down onto the bench, putting his head in hands. Ned sat down beside him, placing a hand on his friend’s back. Peter hadn't even realized that his breathing had become shallower, his lungs struggling to inflate completely.
“In and out.”
Peter’s wheezes turned into choked sobs. He didn’t care that there were people around, who are probably having a good day and didn’t need to witness some random kid having an anxiety attack. He couldn’t control himself, so the rest of the world wasn’t even there. There was just him, Ned, and the cold, wet metal of the bench that was seeping into his body.
Ned didn’t let his hand leave Peter’s body.
“I- I’m sorry, I- just- shit, I don’t know what to say to him! And he doesn’t- there’s no way he could ever-”
“He could ever what? Love a guy like you? Oh, please.” Ned’s voice was firm. “Peter, you are the most solid and loving friend I’ve ever had.”
“I’m one of the only friends you’ve ever had,” Peter pointed out.
“That part doesn’t matter, because I’m sure no one else would be as good as you. And my point here is, you’re always so good to other people that you forget to, like, you know… be good to yourself.”
Peter sniffled, wiping his runny nose on his sleeve. The light breeze sweeping across the green wasn’t making it any better.
“Ned, I’m just so afraid. We don’t talk as much and I- I know it’s so stupid to think that just because you don’t talk to someone for a while it means they don’t like you, but… but I just feel like when we do talk, he doesn’t want to hear from me.”
“I think sometimes distance can make things more complicated. It’s harder to stay in touch with someone when you don’t see them as often. But you don’t see your aunt every day. Do you think she loves you less than she used to?”
“Well, no…”
“Exactly.”
Peter stared out at the green. The world was beginning to come back to him.
***
Well, at least, that’s what he thought. Until the whole… fiasco happened.
Granted, Peter was caught off guard. He was caught off guard and he was nervous and a nervous boy with anxiety and a tendency to react defensively in an unexpected situation doesn’t do well when facing relationship conflicts and an infuriatingly good-looking boy trying to steal the person he’d been in love with for years.
Okay, maybe he wasn’t trying to steal him. There wasn’t exactly anything to take, anyways. It’s not like Peter ever told Harley his true feelings.
Peter had called him. Nothing too crazy, just a call to ask him what was up. And if he could tell him something very important.
“Harley?”
“Hey, Peter.”
“Hey…”
There was a moment of silence. Then:
“What’s up?”
“Um, are you… are you busy?”
“Not at this moment, no.”
Peter tapped his phone, inviting Harley to a Facetime call. His face popped up on the screen. He was sitting at his desk, his bookshelf behind him with all of the pictures, books, trophies, and little trinkets Peter had sent him over their time apart placed on it.
“Um… what have you been up to?”
“Nothing much. Just hanging out. Saw some friends earlier.” Harley shrugged, running a finger through his messy, yet still somehow so flawless-looking, brown locks.
“I wanted to tell you-”
Peter’s timid voice was cut off by the sound of a doorbell on Harley’s end.
“Sorry, Pete. Just give me one second. I have to see who that is.”
“O- okay.”
There were a few minutes where Peter just stared into the screen, listening to the muffled voices on the other side.
“-get comfortable, I’ll be back down there in a bit.”
A door shut, then Harley’s face reappeared. He had the remnants of a smile on his face.
“Who- um- anyone special?”
“Yeah, just Gavin. He came over a little early. I just told him I had to finish talking to you.”
Peter bit down his lower lip, his eyebrows creasing. He was definitely about to say something stupid.
“What, have to, like I’m just an obligation to you?”
“What? No, that’s not what I meant-”
“I get it now,” Peter continued, leaning back in his chair. He was about to start crying again, but he wasn’t going to let Harley know it. “I have been, ever since you met me. Mr. Stark wanted you to be friends with me. He wanted you to put on a show and make me think I had someone who was like me and you took it far. You got in over your head, and before you knew it, I was attached. You didn’t think this would happen, did you? You didn’t think you would be back home, trying to live your own nice little life and get laid by the most attractive country boys you could find out there and still be getting nagged by this dumb fucking kid who can’t see past his own nose and realize you don’t want him anymore!”
Harley shook his head, his eyes widening.
“Peter! Excuse me for having other friends in my own goddamn hometown! Jesus christ. You are so fucking selfish, aren’t you? You think that you can just go around making stupid assumptions me? Why? Why, Peter? Is it because you suck at talking to people? Is it because you’re so insecure you need someone to be giving you attention all the time in order to feel validated?” Harley inhaled, closing his eyes. “For the record, I wasn’t just hanging out with you because Tony told me to. And I’m not trying to get laid by Gavin.”
Peter was breathing heavily, biting down even harder on his lip. He didn’t know why he was still going, really, but now that it was coming out he supposed he just couldn’t stop.
“Yeah, well, for the record, Harley, at least I try to put effort into talking to you.”
Harley looked up, closing his eyes and taking a deep, angry breath.
“Don’t go around acting like you’re so much better at this than I am. Like just because you text me more it means you care about me more. That’s not how this shit works.”
“At this point, I think it is. I think it’d be nice to hear from you every once in a while, you know? To at least know that you still even remember me, or- or- or even want to stay friends with me.”
“Well, I’m sorry that I’m busy, and I can’t be on my phone twenty-four hours a day!”
Peter laughed, suddenly, raising his hand up in the air and dropping it down so it banged against his desk, louder than he’d expected.
“That doesn’t matter! All I ever wanted was to at least know that you were still there! Maybe if I knew you cared I wouldn’t have to be scared to tell you that I was fucking in love with you!”
Silence. Peter covered his mouth with his hands, the realization of what had just been said and the sheer terror that it couldn’t be taken back hitting him like a truck in the span of a second. His stomach dropped into his legs. Harley’s face went frozen.
Peter recovered long enough to hang up the phone.
***
“You. Told. Him. What?!”
“I know, I know, God, I’m so stupid. I’m so stupid, Ned! I’m the worst person on the face of the planet. I literally fucked everything up so bad. I- I just lost it for one second, Ned, one second, and then I started talking and I wasn’t stopping and I didn’t mean any of it, I swear and I wish I never told him any of that and- and- and I just want to go back and fix it-”
The boy’s words became inaudible through his choking breaths. There were dried tear tracks on his face from where he’d been bawling just an hour earlier, that he hadn’t bothered to wipe off because they just kept getting remade each time he thought he’d regained control of his emotions.
“Breathe. We’re breathing.”
Peter breathed. Well, tried to, anyway.
“I just can’t believe I said those horrible things to him,” he whispered after a while. He was sitting in Ned’s bed, his friend in a chair in front of him, his arms crossed.
“Yeah. That was… I mean… Yeah, I can’t lie to you. That was pretty bad.”
“I ruined it. Any chance I might’ve had, I ruined it. He’s never gonna talk to me again. And it’s my fault, I mean, I deserve it, after saying those things.”
“Peter… It is bad right now. I’ll give you that. But… you’ve always had a good relationship with him. I think he can at least understand that this isn’t a usual thing from you. Something must have been wrong for you to say that. And he knows that.”
“No,” Peter answered. “I screwed it all up.”
Ned leaned back in his chair, shaking his head.
“You know, I had a big fight with Betty once. It was over something really stupid, uh… well, I don’t really even remember what started it. We didn’t talk for three days, though. Just… complete silence. It was terrible, especially because I knew I was the one who made the mistake. I started yelling at her.”
“But… you guys made up.”
Ned nodded.
“Yeah. After we talked it out, like, actually sat down and talked about the shit we were dealing with and why we were both so stressed out, it helped a lot. Just because you fight with someone doesn’t mean you lost them forever. It’s a process.”
Peter looked up, wiping his nose.
“When did you get so wise?”
Ned shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, shooting Peter a smile.
“I don’t know. I think I’ve been listening to my psychology professor too much.”
That got a small smile out of Peter. Ned became serious again, pressing his lips together and leaning forward.
“You’ll figure it out. You always do. Besides, you’re a great person. If he really wants to fix things with you, it’s because he can see that.”
“I… I hope you’re right.”
Ned chuckled.
“Please. Like I’m ever wrong.”
***
Two weeks went by with nothing. Peter didn’t call Harley, Harley didn’t call Peter. Peter didn’t text, and Harley didn’t either. It was radio silence and it was the worst feeling in the world.
He spent most of his time trying to stay distracted and far, far away from his phone. When he wasn’t at school, he was at Stark Industries.
“Woah! Easy there.”
“I- oh. I’m sorry.”
He hadn’t realized he was holding his mug of coffee at too far an angle, and it was spilling onto his workstation. Tony shook his head, tossing him a towel.
“Someone’s off in another universe today.”
“I’m. I’m here. I’m grounded. Promise.” Peter made a motion with his hands from his head to the table, indicating he was definitely not distracted. Tony smirked.
“You really expect me to believe that?”
“Remember how you told me I should just communicate my feelings?” He said suddenly. Tony frowned, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.
“I can recall that, yes.”
Peter exhaled, shaking his head.
“Yeah, well, I tried that. And, well… I didn’t do it right.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I did it very, extremely wrong, actually,” Peter said matter-of-factly, tilting his head to the side. “So wrong, in fact, that I think I ruined my chances of ever coming back from it.”
Tony whistled.
“Yikes.”
“Yeah. Yikes. My fault. My mistake, I absolutely suck at human interaction. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut for the rest of my life.”
“Kid, I don’t think I could ever, and I mean ever, see you doing that.”
“I wish I hadn’t-”
A beeping on Tony’s forced Peter to cut himself off yet again. The older man looked down, blowing out a deep breath as he looked at the small screen on his wrist.
“Wow. You know, I am so sorry I can’t stay and listen to your obviously very deep and terrible crisis right now,” He said, smiling softly. “But I have to go somewhere. Really quickly.Just gotta go let someone in. I’ll be right back.”
“Mr. Stark- great.” Peter groaned as Tony hurried out of the lab. He looked around the empty room, then placed his head down on the table. “That’s just great.”
He stayed like that for a while, breathing in and out, wondering if he should cry, feel betrayed by Tony, or just stay confused. Because even though Tony was scatterbrained and did have many priorities, he usually listened to Peter.
Maybe it was just a sign.
“Peter?”
No way.
“Peter, I know you’re awake.”
Peter shut his eyes as he heard the shoes tapping across the floor towards him.
“Peter,” the voice said again, a slight hint of a laugh in it. “Are you really gonna mess with me like that?”
Peter sighed. There was no getting out of this one.
“Hi, Harley,” he mumbled, opening his eyes but keeping his head down on the table.
The other boy’s face was staring at him, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. Peter hadn’t seen those blue eyes in months, and he almost wished he could close his eyes and pretend that it was a dream rather than wake up and have to stare into them right now. He looked tired, but still as good as ever. Peter didn’t think he could ever look bad.
“Having a nap, or just being stubborn?” Harley asked, raising an eyebrow. Peter lifted his head.
“Why are you here?” He asked him, his tone carefully guarded even though his heart was screaming at him to hug Harley, to manically apologize, to beg for his forgiveness and tell him he never meant any of it.
Harley looked down.
“Thought I’d come by and… I don’t know. Talk to you in person. The phone thing was getting old.”
Peter stayed quiet, eyeing Harley’s face.
“And… I know I’ve been distant lately-”
“No.” Peter interrupted him. “No, it was my fault. Everything I said- my fault. And it’s not your problem, you know? You shouldn’t have to deal with that. With me being so selfish. And- and not thinking about you. That’s my issue.”
Harley gave him a small smile, tilting his head back.
“Peter?”
“Y-yeah?”
“Can I just… talk for a moment.”
Peter blushed, gripping his coffee mug between his fingers.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“I’ve been distant lately, which is definitely my fault and not yours. I’m not great at keeping up with long-distance communication after a while, and I’m sorry about that. But… I just want you to know that it is something I will work on, now that I… now that I’m more aware that you… that you like staying connected over the phone. And… I also need you to know that ever since I met you, I’ve loved hanging out with you, talking to you, hell, even just doing nothing to you. It was never a stunt, or me just feeling bad for you. I genuinely love the person that you are, Peter Parker. And I am honestly sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn’t care about you. I do. I always have, and no amount of distance between us is ever gonna change that.”
Peter was dumbfounded for a moment. Harley nodded, looking into his eyes.
“So, uh… yeah. There’s that.”
“I- can- can I talk now?” Peter asked, and, when Harley nodded, he took a deep breath. “I need to apologize for totally exploding on you. I was keeping so much inside because I’m just so shitty at sharing my feelings, and they ended up coming out in the completely wrong way. That one was on me because I never wanted to make you feel guilty. I just get really… anxious and, well… and yeah, I’m insecure. I get scared that when people don’t talk to me, it’s because they don’t want to talk to me, and I come up with every possible excuse to believe this. But I never meant to say those things to you. I don’t mean them.”
Harley squinted at Peter and, to his surprise, he gave him a small laugh.
“Not the part where you said you were in love with me, though, I hope.”
“Well, that-s- that was- I, uh-”
Harley shook his head, laughing more now. Peter put his hand on his forehead, looking at the ground to hide the red in his cheeks.
“I forgive you, Parker. I know you didn’t mean that. Yeah, I was pissed about it for a bit but,when I really thought about what you said, I realized I probably should have given more thought to your feelings and the anxiety I know you feel. I think that communication skills are something that we can both work on. Together.”
“You- you really don’t hate me now?”
Harley rolled his eyes, scoffing.
“Oh, please. How could I hate you? You are literally the nicest and cutest and funniest person I have ever met. And you’re a total dork, but I would literally give up everything to just sit on the couch and watch Star Wars with you and listen to you tell me every single unnecessary movie about the details that I don’t even know how you have brain space for.”
“I- I don’t know what to say, Harley.” Peter couldn’t resist the absolutely, idiotically giddy smile forming on his face. “I just never expected you’d feel the same way.”
“Oh, please. Don’t act so humble.” Harley leaned forward. “But I am glad we finally got that out of the way. It’s been sitting inside me for, like, ever. At some point I was gonna crack, too.”
Peter looked at him for a moment, studying his face.
Then, he leaned forward and kissed him.
Harley pulled back after a second, surprised.
“Woah. That was… direct.”
“Shit. I’m sorry. Too much?” Peter pulled back, suddenly nervous. Harley placed a hand on the other boy’s cheek, drawing him back again.
“I didn’t say that,” he retorted, grinning. He placed his lips on Peter’s, kissing him softly, fully, carefully, like he was almost worried the other boy would be the one to get overwhelmed. There was a hesitance between both of them, but Peter leaned into it, breaking whatever tension was left between them and wrapping an arm around Harley’s waist
He didn’t know he could feel this happy.