jealousy
it all started when people started to realise that peter's stark internship wasn't fake. boys and girls alike had suddenly 'liked peter for years, just never built up the courage to ask'. granted, harley hadn't had a crush on peter for years either, but at least he didn't like peter just because he knew tony stark. that would be a pointless reason to like peter - harley knew tony just as well. but, you see, the amount of people who would either ask peter out or just flirt with him everyday would increase as each day passed. and harley would be lying if he didn't say it had started to bother him.
ever since harley met peter, he'd known that he had feelings for the boy. at first, it was because peter was beautiful. then, as harley got to know him, he realised that peter's personality was just as amazing. and harley couldn't help but to fall deeper and deeper for the boy. but suddenly, all of these people were asking peter out, and although peter had rejected every single one of them, and had voiced to harley that he wouldn't be saying yes to any of them, harley was still jealous of these people. imagine having enough courage to ask peter parker out. harley had to hand it to them.
now, harley would always flirt with peter. just lowkey. nicknames and complimenting his appearance. things like that. they always made peter blush. but these people were saying almost the same things to peter now, and the only reaction they were getting out of peter was a slight eye roll and a 'no, sorry, i don't like you in that way'. it sounded like a childish way to respond, but they wouldn't go away unless peter told them outright. none of these people could take a hint. harley just thought he was more confident because he wasn't alone at school. maybe peter only blushed because he was uncomfortable when harley flirted with him, and couldn't be confident because they were alone.
of course it wasn't that. but harley couldn't see that peter reacted differently to harley because he actually had feelings for harley. because harley didn't like peter just because he knew tony stark. harley was smart, but he could be a dumbass sometimes. and peter wished he wouldn't be. harley was definitely the more confident of the two, and peter was terrible at making the first move on anyone he liked. everyone at the tower knew that peter liked harley, and harley liked peter, except for harley.
you see, peter wasn't as oblivious as everyone made him out to be. of course, it took tony to lay it all out for peter in order for peter to see that harley liked him, but at least he accepted it. harley just saw it as peter being polite and going along with harley's lowkey flirting because he didn't want to be rude. so why did peter turn down everyone at school as soon as he flirted with them, but wouldn't tell harley to stop? as stated previously, harley could be a bit of a dumbass sometimes.
harley had accepted that he was jealous, even though peter hadn't actually accepted anyone yet. the thing is, peter had also realised that harley was jealous (of course, it was after mj brought it to his attention), and he was stuck on whether to carry on rejecting people and leave harley to work it out himself, or to flirt back with someone (just to see harley get worked up), or to just straight-up ask harley out. everyone knew that the last option wasn't happening. and peter was too polite to lead people on by flirting back. so carrying on as he currently was seemed to be his only option.
but peter was tired of the flirting from people who wanted to use him. they really thought that he wouldn't see through their act. so, peter decided to complain about it to harley so much that the latter decided to ask questions. and then peter could try and hint at the fact he was only going to reject everyone except harley. that harley was the only person he liked, and the only person he would date. god, if even tony had noticed, harley had to be so goddamn oblivious. to be honest, peter wasn't completely surprised. but peter thought it was extraordinary just how oblivious harley apparently was.
"i'm so god damn tired of all these people. when will they stop?" peter complained, while him and harley were sitting in their joint lab, upgrading peter's web-shooters.
"when you accept someone." harley pretty much deadpanned the conversation.
"but i don't want to accept any of them, harls."
"why not?" harley put his tools down on the desk a tad bit harder than he'd planned to, making peter jump. "you want the whole ordeal to be over, but you don't accept anyone. if you accepted someone, people would probably stop flirting as much as they are."
"yes, you're right." peter started, placing his tools on the desk too - just lighter than harley had. "but the person i want to ask me just hasn't asked yet. i'm not going to accept someone that will use me, or someone that i don't like in return - not that the people asking me out actually like me. they just like tony."
"how can they not have? literally everyone has asked you out. whoever the hell you like must have done."
"but he hasn't."
"so it's a he?"
"that's what i just said, didn't i?"
"yes." harley picked his tools back up, and started to work on the web-shooters aggressively. peter grabbed his hands.
"stop. you'll hurt yourself or you'll break the web-shooters. and then you'll feel guilty. why are you so angry?" peter asked, a concerned expression plastered all over his face.
"doesn't matter." harley snapped. harley saw a slightly pained look flash over peter's face. "sorry, darlin'. didn't mean to snap. just... things on my mind." harley put his tools down again and sat down, and put his head in his hands. "god. i've worked myself up, haven't i?"
"yeah. you have. wanna talk about it?" peter sat down opposite harley, and brought his chair closer, so that his knees were touching harley's.
"not really. but i guess you're gonna make me?"
"i'm not gonna make you say anything, but i am gonna make you get all of your emotions out. say what you want to say."
"fuck it." harley whispered, before removing his hands from his face. peter saw the tears welling up in harley's eyes, and automatically wiped away one that had fallen down his cheek. "peter- i- i just can't deal with this anymore. you're asked out every single fucking day and i have to stand there and watch. i have to stand there and watch the person i want to hold and kiss and love be asked out by people who just want to use him. i don't want you to be used, sweetheart. no matter who you date. even if i can't have you, i want you to be treated right. and one day, i think you're gonna say yes because you genuinely like someone, and they won't care about you, and you'll grow to love them, and they'll just break you. and i don't wanna watch that happen. darlin', i can't watch that happen."
by this point, harley had a couple of tears falling down his face. he couldn't help it. he hated that he couldn't stop them. it was built up anger and sadness and now it was all coming out.
"harls, when i said that the person i wanted to ask me out hadn't yet, i was talking about you. because i want to hold you and kiss you and love you too. and i know you wouldn't use me, because you're one of the sweetest people i've had the opportunity of knowing."
"why didn't you tell me?" harley sounded broken, his voice was cracking every few words, and it took all of peter's will to not pick him up, lift him to the sofa, and cuddle him until he stopped. but he knew that harley needed to talk about these things - even if he didn't want to. harley wasn't good with emotions. tony had told peter that before he'd introduced both boys to each other.
"because even though i knew how you felt, i couldn't bring myself to make the first move. i'm sorry, harls. i didn't really realise how you felt about these people until a couple of days ago. and even then, i didn't think you were taking it as personal as you are. i thought you knew that i liked you. i thought tony had told you."
"he did. i didn't believe him."
"how? it was obvious."
"not to me."
"harley, every single compliment you give me makes me go all warm inside. and i know that shows on my face."
"to be honest, i thought it was because you struggled to reject me when you weren't in a public atmosphere."
"well, now you know that i would never reject you if you flirted with me. or asked me out, for that matter."
"what are you suggesting, parker?" ah, there was the sarcastic harley that peter knew. peter grinned.
"that you should totally ask me out."
"well then, i'll do just that. tomorrow. in school. right in front of everyone else. and then i'm gonna kiss you. that sound good?"
"i- i have to wait that long?" peter was blushing again, his confident act dropping a little.
"mhm. i've gotta do the dramatic gestures, and all that, darlin'"
"i guess you do."
~~~~~
and that's exactly what harley did. the first person to flirt with peter was flash. which was new. most of the people who would flirt with peter would do it time and time again, hoping that he would say yes if they kept going at it. however, flash had never even glanced at peter. harley almost laughed at peter's expression when flash came up to peter that morning.
"hey, parker. looking good." flash gave peter a once-over, as if he was checking peter out. peter looked surprised at first, and then almost disgusted - but peter managed to cover that up as soon as flash looked back up at his face.
"yeah, he is, isn't he?" harley spoke up before peter had the chance to respond. by now, the small group of three had attracted the attention of all the other students in the hallway. harley could see mj and ned out of the corner of his eye, and he was pretty sure that mj was recording the whole ordeal, but he couldn't be sure. a few students had also got their phones out, but they were texting.
of course, nearly everyone had tried to date peter, but never flash. yesterday, flash had still been insulting peter at almost every opportunity he had. but today, he was flirting with peter. and instead of standing on the sidelines like he usually did, harley was joining in. you see, everyone had realised that harley had feelings for peter, but they were too determined to get to peter that they hadn't realised that peter reciprocated those feelings. however, no one ever saw harley as a threat, because they knew that he wouldn't tell peter. but, as it turns out, they were wrong.
"can't you see that peter and i are having a conversation, which doesn't involve you?" flash retorted. harley just laughed. "aren't we?" flash turned to peter.
"i mean, i technically didn't respond, so it wasn't really a conversation..." peter trailed off as he saw flash's expression turn angry. and then he continued, a small burst of confidence coming through. "and, uh, harley and i were having a conversation before you got here, so you interrupted our conversation."
"but i'm clearly the more interesting person here, so you should go out with me." flash retorted.
"hold up, no one said anything about peter going out with anyone." mj had come over now, her phone still recording, but placed in a pocket on her t-shirt.
"and no one said anything about you interrupting this." flash shot back.
"eh, that was a good one. but i think you'll find that peter is definitely not interested in you." mj shrugged and walked back to where she originally was.
"was she right, parker?"
"i- yes. she was. when is she not?" peter replied, smiling. thank god for mj.
"well, if you're not interested in me, who the hell would you be interested in?"
"someone who isn't just in it for benefits from tony stark." peter deadpanned.
"who would even look at you if you didn't know him? you're not really anything to look at."
"first of all, me. i would look at peter all day. second of all, that's not what you were saying two minutes ago." harley butted in before peter could reply. flash just huffed, and walked over to his group of friends. harley watched him leave before turning towards peter. "so, darlin', wanna be my boyfriend?"
"definitely." peter grinned, and harley gave him one in return before holding peter's chin, and kissing him. it was only a second or two long, considering that people were still filming, and neither harley or peter enjoyed the attention too much.
~~~~~
it was lunch time before harley, peter, mj, ned, and betty had managed to get time to themselves. and of course, they wanted to talk about the events that happened that morning.
"so, kenner. finally get your head out of your ass?" mj smirked, speaking up first.
"well, yeah. i had a bit of a breakdown last night, and peter managed to get me to see the obvious." harley smiled, glancing over to peter.
"good. now we don't have to witness the constant pining between the two of you." mj smiled at the two boys as they both blushed slightly.
and mj could tell that they were perfect for each other.