sometimes the best place to realise things is in the middle of a crowded high school corridor
Harley, Ned and MJ turned the corner of lockers to get to their next class, trekking through the corridor of teenagers to reach the science lab at the end of it when Harley heard a familiar, angelic noise coming from ahead of him, and it instantly soothed him, like waves of calm and content and the feeling of being home washing over him when he was in Peter’s presence. But then he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what had made Peter laugh; a pretty girl with long, silky flowing hair giggling and making heart eyes at Peter was clearly desperate for his attention, and it made Harley’s blood. Boil. Oh hell no. His face became steely, his eyes hardened, and he entirely missed the knowing look that Ned and MJ shared (again) as he thought that this was wrong. Only Harley was allowed to make his Petey laugh like that. And that hair flip was disgusting.
Peter nodded excitedly, laughing loudly while he responded to the girl, “Yes, oh my god, that’s exactly what he sounds like,” to which she giggled back at him. She opened her mouth to say something else, but it snapped shut when her gaze trailed down to find an arm that was wrapping itself around Peter’s waist, claiming him as its own. Peter barely suppressed a jump at the touch (thanks, you useless spidey sense, not working around- oh.) She eyed the motion slowly, looking up at Harley who stared her down challengingly, and the look that had been in her eyes died, her face fell as a new realisation dawned on her. Harley pulled Peter’s torso even closer towards his own, and the girl took a small step back as if she was embarrassed, the boy was already taken for god’s sake, and she muttered a friendly but rushed “See ya,” before scuttling away.
Peter stood there, bemused. He swivelled in Harley’s grip so that he was facing the other boy- who had pulled them so close that this action meant their chests were practically touching and Harley’s arm still hung on Peter’s waist.
“And what,” Peter began, “was that?”
Harley looked down at him. “She was flirting with you,” he said, and his hand squeezed Peter’s side possessively as if he was offended by the mere memory of it, making Peter’s eyes widen slightly at how protective he was being. Good job he didn’t bruise too easily, because damn.
“...Are you jealous?” Peter blinked at him, looking up into his deep blue eyes to search for Harley’s meaning, to search for honesty, and his breath caught in his throat at the intense look he found directed at him.
“I don’t like it when other people steal my job, darlin,” Harley drawled lowly, and oh my god this was real. This was really real, the most real conversation they had ever had and Peter’s honey eyes couldn’t look away from Harley’s face even if he wanted to. What was he supposed to say to that? He was pretty sure that Harley could see that he wanted to devour him but it’s not like he could mask it now; Harley was too close, he was all of his senses, he was one with Harley.
That look could only mean one thing and he couldn’t even deny it now, not when he was staring at him unwaveringly. Peter knew that that look was in his eyes too. He couldn’t hear anything from around them, their fellow students had become blurred background noise as he focused on the one in front of him. And, well, he had always been strangely tuned in to Harley- subconsciously at least. Peter always noticed when he started fidgeting restlessly, when his blonde curls flopped out of place, when he got that gleam in his ocean orbs that only meant trouble (for the avengers, mostly).
Somehow that moment of silence communicated more about their feelings between them than they could ever say out loud. They weren’t inches away from each other, sharing the same air when-
RING!
And the moment was ruined. At the sound of the bell they jerked back to reality, scurrying off to the laboratory for class but not forgetting. Which wasn’t very good for one’s concentration in the middle of biology, when all they could think about was how much they loved their best friend.