Safe Haven

It wasn’t unusual for Peter and Harley to come home and Tony’s car being missing from the driveway.
However, it was unusual for the house to be so empty. It felt so fucking empty.
Harley came home from work early, excited to maybe surprise both of them with dinner; he knew Peter liked his mom’s macaroni and cheese recipe. But when he walked into the house it felt empty; his and Peter’s things were still there, though. He was confused until he realized that the only things that were missing were Tony’s. A sinking feeling echoed in his chest as he decided to look around. He checked the bathroom and his heart began to race when he saw that there was only empty space where Tony’s things were. The linen closet was devoid of all of Tony’s towels and backup toiletries. This made him rush back down the hall to where Tony’s room was, and his eyes widened when he opened the door to see that it looked exactly like it did before Tony took solace in their home.
His nicknacks were no longer on the bookshelves, the closet was completely empty, and the bed was perfectly made with the sheets they had bought for the room a year ago. The only proof that Tony was ever here was the lingering scent of his cologne, which Harley joked at him for using because of the absurd price for such a small bottle.
He ran back into the living room, not sure what to do. Why was he freaking out? There’s no reason to freak out, right? He had pulled his phone out of his back pocket, about to call him, or Peter, or someone, when he looked at the kitchen table to see a folded piece of paper sitting just slightly off center, near where Tony’s chair was. He felt nervous but picked it up anyways.
His eyes skimmed the letters written in Tony’s messy handwriting. “Shit!” Harley took his keys back off of the hook near the door, ran out the door, and called Peter.
—
“Hey-” “Tony left.” Peter stopped in his tracks, he was walking to his next class. “To the tower?” He asked, but he had a feeling that Harley’s words meant more than Tony just going to the tower for a meeting. “He’s either at an airport or on the way to one. I’ll be at the north entrance in a minute.” Harley explained quickly before hanging up. Peter didn’t care how ridiculous he’d look running across campus.
He just ran.
He acknowledged to himself and Harley that he had begun to fall in love, maybe already was in love, with Tony. There was nothing missing in Peter and Harley’s relationship, they were happy and satisfied in their relationship before Tony had moved in.
But Tony being there just felt right.
He was still lost in those thoughts when he saw Harley’s truck pull up to the entrance (When did Peter get there?) and he jumped into the passenger seat. He barely had time to buckle his seatbelt when Harley was pulling back into the main road. “What happened?” Peter asked, worried and confused. Harley handed him a folded piece of paper. “All of his stuff is gone and this was on the table.” He was still looking at the road.
Peter quickly opened the note, wanting to read it as quickly as possible.

‘Peter and Harley:
It’s time that I move out.
I know you guys never said it out loud, but I know you guys were waiting for it. I don’t want to, I’ll explain why, but it’s best for all of us. You guys need your space back, and I don’t want to impede on that, but I appreciate you keeping me around.
The truth is, I fell in love with you. Both of you.
I wish I didn’t, but I couldn’t help myself. I thought maybe it was because I was used to being in a relationship, but I realized I’ve never felt this sense of being complete in any relationship before, even with Pepper.
However, living with the two of you made me feel complete. I think that’s why I fell in love.
I don’t want to get in between you. Your relationship is so perfect. I don’t want to ruin that.
Me leaving is good for all of us. I’ll get my head back on straight and you will have your space back. I’m getting on a plane, not 100% sure where I’ll be going yet, either Malibu or Italy, that’s a decision for the car ride to the airport.
Thank you, boys,
Tony’
—
“Shit.” Peter said, pulling his phone out as Harley kept driving. He called Tony’s phone and got sent straight to voicemail.
Time to bring out the big guns.
Well, not really. Pepper is the big guns, but Happy would probably be able to help in this situation.
“Where’s Tony?” Peter asked as soon as Happy answered, not giving the man time to speak first. “You don’t know?” Happy asked, clearly already annoyed. “No, he told us he was going to the airport but didn’t say where and we need to talk to him before he leaves.” Peter rushed out. Happy sighed. “He’s on his way to the compound, he’s taking a private plane. He hasn’t said where he’s going yet.” Happy’s voice got serious, understanding suddenly that there was something happening that he didn’t know the gravity of.
“We’re on the way to the compound, then, if he gets there before we do, can you please just, like, keep him there? Don’t let him leave until we get there.” Peter looked at Harley, who nodded in understanding and went onto the road in the direction of the compound. Happy sighed over the phone again. “Please, Happy, it’s really important!” Peter pleaded.
There was a moment of silence again. “Okay, okay yeah I’ll distract him, but no promises.” Peter let out a big breath. “Thank you, thank you so much.” Peter was on the verge of tears but relieved that Happy would be helping them, even if he had no idea what was happening. “Keep me updated on where you are.” Happy hung up. Peter looked at Harley again.
“We gotta get to the compound.”
—
Tony didn’t play any music throughout the drive. There was too much noise already clouding his mind.
He had a lot of emotions flowing through him; anxiety, sadness, regret, hesitance. There was nothing positive going on in his mind. He felt dark, he felt heavy.
‘Leave them before they leave you’ he told himself over and over again. It felt wrong. Something in his gut was telling him that he was making the wrong decision, but he ignored it; his mind was telling him it was time to leave.
He still hadn’t decided where he’s going. One option was definitely more dramatic than the other; it was Malibu vs Italy. Both were far away from his boys (they’re not YOUR boys, Tony) but one of them wasn’t even in the same continent.
Oh well, he could go wherever he wanted.
(He wanted to go home.)
—
“Should I prepare a speech? I think I should prepare a speech.” Peter rambled nervously, squeezing Harley’s hand as he drove. Harley knew Peter just wanted to help, it made him feel better to plan the whole thing out. Harley tried to joke back in response.
“What do you think the speech should be?” Harley asked, soft smile on his face as he looked away from the road for half a second to glance at his boyfriend. He felt Peter shrug. “I don’t know. Something about our undying love for him? He’s more than just a roommate? He’s the third wheel on our tricycle?” Halrey let out a full laugh at the last question. He felt Peter relax slightly in response.
“I don’t think we need a full speech planned, babe. I think we know exactly how he feels.” Harley replied, running his thumb over the top of Peter’s hand. Peter let out a big breath. “We still gotta convince him to stay.” They both got silent before Peter’s phone pinged.
A text from Happy.
—
As Tony exited his car when he reached the tarmac at the compound, the sound of chirping birds and wind whistling through the trees didn’t soothe him the same way they usually did. It was almost too loud, even though the noises around him were softened by the distance between the tarmac and the nearby wooded areas. He wasn’t surprised to see Happy waiting there for him, he was Tony’s right-hand man.
However, it was obvious that Happy was stressed; more than usual. He was anxiously typing away at his phone, seemingly in a rush. When he was only feet away from the man, Tony spoke up. “Can you help me with my bags, Hap?” He asked, curious about the other man’s behavior but unsure if it was something he should ask about. Happy’s head shot up to look at him. “Yes, of course,” he slipped his phone into his pocket “but there are some things upstairs that need to be signed before you leave.”
(Happy was proud of himself for being able to make that excuse up on the spot and not stutter through the whole thing.)
Tony’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. He didn’t remember needing to sign anything, or do any SI business before leaving. He told Pepper he was going on “vacation” and she never mentioned anything urgent. Maybe it was something with the Avengers?
“Okay.” Was all Tony said, allowing Happy to lead the way.
—
“He’s there! How much longer?” Peter exclaimed, frantically looking at the phone in Harley’s lap, GPS app on the screen. Harley took a quick glance down at the screen. “Like 20 minutes, 30 tops.” ‘Happy can only distract him for so long’ they both thought but didn’t say out loud.
“What if we don’t get there in time?” Peter whispered. Harley continued to look at the road, but he could tell by Peter’s voice that he was on the verge of tears. Harley gave Peter’s hand a small squeeze.
“He’ll come back, eventually. If he’s gone by the time we can get there, you have more time to prepare your little speech.” Harley joked to try to ease Peter’s mind. It worked a little bit, he heard Peter let out a small chuckle. “Yeah I guess, but I need you to drive faster or else you’re sleeping on the couch for a month.”
—
Tony couldn’t help but notice how much Happy was fidgeting the entire elevator ride up to whatever floor they needed to go to.
In fact, Happy was fidgeting so bad that he pressed the button for the wrong floor.
(Allegedly).
When the doors opened, they were on the floor of the “living room” of the compound. He was about to press the button that made the elevator doors close when Natasha, who was sitting at the breakfast bar, turned around to see them. “What are you doing here, Tony?” She asked with a small smile. Upon hearing that, Wanda walked into the room. Her eyes widened. “Oh! Come in! I just made lunch, something my mother taught me when I was young, you need to try it!” Tony gave a polite wave. “No thank you, I’m only here to catch a plane.”
Both Wanda and Natasha glanced at Happy, sensing something was up. “It’s your jet, right? You’re not on a time crunch, come eat.” Natasha said, not leaving room for Tony to argue. It was not fun to argue with Natasha Romanoff. As Tony walked into the kitchen area, Wanda and Natasha made eye contact, Natasha making a texting motion with her thumbs while mouthing “Peter”. Wanda nodded subtly, quickly pulling out her phone but doing so in a way that came off casually.
Natasha taught her well.
—
“Wanda said he’s in the living room.” Immediately after Peter said that to Harley, another text message came in, this time from Natasha. “And apparently they’re force feeding him. They’re buying us time.” He continued. Since when could Wanda read minds from a distance?
“Tell her we got like 10 minutes.” Harley said, not taking his eyes off the road. If he did, he wouldn’t have anything to focus on, and he really needed something to focus on. He doesn’t know when he fell so hard for Tony that the idea of him leaving, possibly out of the country, just to stay away from them to avoid being a burden scared the absolute shit out of him. But it did. And while Peter didn’t say it, he knew Peter felt the same way.
Peter probably fell for him sooner, and Harley wasn’t mad about that. For a long time, Harley had only seen Tony once every couple years, while Peter had been able to see him a couple times a week.
(Don’t forget about how Tony had saved Peter’s life the summer before he turned 9.)
So when Harley stayed at the tower for the summer before senior year of high school, it took some getting used to, how Tony was at home. The late nights in the lab, the way Tony would attempt to cook and massively fail, and the way Tony just cared for him.
Then he met Peter.
Harley believes Tony was kind before he met Peter, it’s just that Peter brought it all out of him, on full display. Tony had softened since he met Harley all those years ago. He also got close to Peter. He was intimidated at first, someone his age was able to keep up with Tony, seemed to be so well acquainted with his home and had inside jokes with Tony. He had even hinted at knowing the Avengers.
(To be fair, he couldn’t meet them yet because they were either on missions or had things to do at the compound. Part of him was grateful for that, he would’ve lost his mind if he just walked into the kitchen one morning to see a literal god at the table eating scrambled eggs.)
But getting close to Peter was easy for him, Peter made Harley feel comfortable, made his own inside jokes with him, even. Then one night, during one of their many nights of staying in Harley’s room to have deep talks before bed, they talked about their childhoods. How Harley’s dad left, leaving his mom to get multiple jobs to take care of him and his sister. How he was bullied at his school back home for being gay, how he tried to join the football team but got turned down for his sexuality.
Peter told him about how he didn’t remember his parents very much, he grew up seeing Ben and May as his parents instead, loathing himself later in life because he felt like that meant he didn’t love his real parents. How he watched Ben die, watched him die in his arms and how he blamed himself for it. Then he told Harley who he was, that he was Spider-Man, and he had his powers when Ben died but he couldn’t prevent his death.
By the end of it, they were crying in each other’s arms. Harley would’ve normally been afraid of being this vulnerable to someone, but he knew Peter, he trusted Peter, and Peter trusted him too.
(He also couldn’t stop thinking about how he was holding THE Spider-Man!)
They kept in touch after Harley went back to Tennessee for the school year, Harley teasing Peter when he saw news about Peter’s alter ego doing goofy things on patrol. It was so, so easy for him to fall in love with Peter.
Shortly after graduation, Harley finally bit the bullet and asked Peter out when he was back in New York. He would never forget the look on Peter’s face when he asked to be his boyfriend. He could only describe it as pure joy, and he was so relieved. Tony was as elated as they were at the news, threw a little party for them, himself, and Pepper. He’d never felt so supported.
Moving to New York was a big step, especially moving into a new house with Peter (he still couldn’t believe Tony bought them a whole fucking house). They still went to the tower often, as often as they could as college students, but they still talked to Tony all the time.
Harley probably started really falling for Tony when he started living with them. Tony was a clearly attractive man, everyone knew that, and he had already lived with him a few years before, but this time felt different.
Having Tony in their home, helping to make dinner and sitting down just to watch TV with them, it felt more intimate. Peter admitting to his feelings for both him and Tony probably escalated any underlying feelings for him. Sometimes you don’t realize your own feelings until you say them out loud to someone you love. He was in love with Tony and Peter.
And now Tony is almost gone.