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Prepared. A word that people say perfectly describes Peter. For the most part, they’re right. He always had copies of his homework and bandaids with disinfectant on hand. Another word that people use to describe is quick-witted. Always ready to snap back with a better joke or insult. Now combined those and what comes out is a power that is seen as inhuman.
“Fucking fag.” One of the boys, Carlton, who’d been bullying him growled.
He and two other boys had Peter cornered to a locker, and a good number of students were standing by, watching uncomfortably. Peter simply grinned and shuffled around in his back pocket for a moment, before pulling out a self-painted rainbow reverse card. “No u,” Peter replied simply, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Carlton, along with his goons, turned a light red as the crowd around them let out snickers or full-on laughs. This was obviously not their plan at all. Carlton shot an angry look at Peter, who smiled in return. They both knew that physically fighting during school was prohibited, so Carlton backed off with his friends following.
Peter didn’t think that he had done anything too noteworthy, but that was because he’s never heard anything Carlton had done to people who stood up to him. That’s because no one spoke about what he had done to them out of fear. Carlton had little morals, so he wouldn’t steal anything from them, but he would make them feel as embarrassed as him or as hurt as him.
As Peter stepped out of his last class, an extra bounce to his step from passing a test, he happily strutted down the hallway, prepared to drop off his things then do a patrol. He stopped at his locker and shoved his schoolbag into his locker. He had lost so many backpacks that he just set aside one for school and left everything in there. He grabbed his backpack that held his suit, extra clothes, and snacks, and happily began walking to the exit.
He said his goodbyes to Gwen and Anya who both had extra work that they were doing in their labs. Not that they were failing or anything, they just had a personal project together. Miles wasn’t there because he was meeting him on patrol.
“Someone’s really chipper,” Anya commented as she noticed Peter’s slight bounce.
Peter smiled. “I passed that surprise English test.”
“The one about the book no one read?” Gwen asked. It was true, no one read the book because it didn’t have substance. Usually, the books assigned were really great, but this one just was all over the place.
“Yup! Hey, I gotta go meet up with Harry so can we talk about this later?” Peter asked. The two girls shared a smile at each other then looked back at Peter.
“You two going to hold hands?” Gwen asked, her voice mocking a small child. Peter and Anya laughed.
“I’m going to be late if I don’t go now,” Peter said smiling.
“Alright, see ya around!” Gwen called as he walked away.
Peter laughed to himself and walked towards the exit. He checked his phone, seeing that Harry had texted him. As he exited the building, he felt his spidey sense suddenly scream. He looked up, seeing no immediate danger when he felt someone grab his collar and drag him to the side before being thrown down onto the pavement with a surprising amount of force. He looked up in alarm, to see Carlton standing over him with a malicious look in his eye. "Hey Parker, wanna chat?"
“By the looks of it, you don’t want to do much chatting.” Peter got to his feet to run. He could easily take Carlton, but that would most definitely reveal his identity as Spider-Man or at the very least raise suspicions.
Before Peter could get away, Carlton grabbed a fist full of Peter’s hair and pulled. It felt like he was trying to scalp him. “Leaving so soon? Come on, my friends would like to chat with you too, fag.” Carlton growled.
Peter followed him, assuming that if he didn’t then he’d be dragged by the hair and it was already painful enough. “You know this counts as a hate crime,” Peter muttered.
Carlton simply scowled before throwing him onto the ground and kicking him in the stomach. "Shut the fuck up." He snarled, as his friends approached.
Before Peter could stand up to defend himself, he felt someone kick him in the back. As more people began to kick him, he curled into a ball, squeezing his eyes shut. After a moment, he felt someone grab a fistful of his hair again and practically drag him to his feet. He let out a cry of pain before someone grabbed his arms and pinned them behind his back. Carlton was glaring daggers at him. He rolled up his sleeves before punching him hard in the face. Peter felt blood wash down his face from his nose as he staggered backward. He was pushed forward by the boy who had grabbed his arms. He clenched his fist as his face was met with concrete. He coughed and was pulled to his feet once more. Peter growled as he was thrown against the wall, and one of Carlton's friends punched him in the gut. Peter coughed as he slumped backward.
Peter’s phone had fallen out and Carlton had picked it up, seeing all the messages from Harry. The heart right next to his name didn’t go unnoticed. “Hold him against the wall,” Carlton ordered and his friends did so. Peter was still slumped over and catching his breath when they did so.
“So you are someone’s fuck toy Parker?” Carlton smirked, holding the phone up to Peter’s face. Peter looked up barely. He saw Harry’s name and swore to himself.
“That’s my best friend.” Peter partially lied.
Carlton laughed. “Best friend.” He mocked. “That’s bullshit.”
Peter held his tongue, despite wanting to launch at Carlton, who was laughing. “Makes sense, someone like you being a goddamn cockwarmer.” He sneered.
Peter felt his face flush with embarrassment. “It’s not like that!” He snapped, struggling lightly to push one of the other boys off.
Carlton laughed once again before throwing Peter’s phone on the ground, shattering it. The battery fell out, shutting his phone off. Peter flinched as Carlton stomped on it, an amused look on his face. He punched him one more time before spitting on his face. “Come on guys, let's take out the trash.” He sneered.
Peter let out a cry of alarm as the other two boys picked him up. “God he's so light!” One of them shouted, seeming alarmed.
Peter kicked frantically as Carlton opened the dumpster. He felt himself fall for a second, then he landed on a trash bag. He yelped in pain as scrap metal dug into his back. What was he expecting, it was a school that centers on building robots for god's sake!
“How’s it feel to be home?” One of them laughed.
“This might seem surprising, but this isn’t my first time in a dumpster.” Peter groaned. He didn’t sit up or adjust himself. Passed off what he’s experienced with Carlton, if he did, he'd get knocked out or worse. How did he even get into Horizon?
“Well, this will the longest time.” Carlton was about to close the lid but one of his friends grabbed his wrist. “What? Are you pussying out?”
“No, just wait a sec.” He said and then there were footsteps and some rustling. He came back and handed Carlton something. From where Peter was lying he could see a smirk on his face.
“This is why you’re my friend, Jim. You always think of something to make these things better.” A trash bag landed on Peter’s gut, knocking the wind out of him.
“Come on guys, I think we’re finished here,” Carlton called. He looked down at Peter one last time with a smile and then slammed the lid shut. He could hear his friends laughing as they walked off. Peter waited a few more minutes before trying to open the lid.
“Shit,” Peter mumbled to himself, realizing as the lid only jiggled that Carlton must have locked the lid before leaving. His anxiety began to rise as he realized how stuck he actually was. Breaking through the dumpster itself was a no go, he’d get more injured and is someone was walking by then he could be discovered as Spider-Man. If someone was walking by… Peter began banging on the side of the dumpster and calling for help.
After a few minutes, he had begun to run out of breath. He gave up for a while but never stopped tapping the side with his knuckles. After what must've been an hour or two, he heard a clicking. He looked up and was startled as streams of light poured into the dumpster. He covered his eyes with his hands, before grinning. "Nice weather we're having, am I right?"
The lid dropped and he heard a shriek. After a second, the lid opened again. "Holy fuck- are you okay?"
Peter realized he must look like shit. Black eyes, bloody nose, cuts, and scrapes. He shrugged. "Eh, could be worse."
The man reached in and helped Peter out of the dumpster. "God kid, go tell Modell what happened to you. That's a nasty prank to pull."
“Yeah. Um, could you help me to the schoolyard?” Peter asked. He knew he heard Carlton and his friends walk down the opposite direction of the school, but he also wasn’t sure if they decided to circle around in that time.
“I’ll walk you right to the door. You look like you’re about to pass out.” The man offered. Peter nodded, he often looked worse than he actually was.
Peter stopped. "W-wait." He stumbled to the scraps of his phone. It was definitely beyond repair.
He searched through the busted metal before letting out a relieved sigh. The SD card remained undamaged. He carefully put the card in his pocket and returned to the mans' side.
The walk there was fast, the trash guy really worried about Peter. He got to the doors and hesitated. “Do you have a card or something?” He asked Peter.
“Yeah, in my bag- shit.” Peter didn’t have his bag on him. Which held his Spider-Man suit. Did Carlton take it? Did he already know? What if he-
“I have it right here. I saw it next to the dumpster and grabbed it when we started walking.” He handed over the bag. “I thought you might have some important things in there. I gotta go, my job can’t be put on hold for too long.”
Peter nodded, “Check the trash.” Peter joked, getting a chuckle from the man as he walked away.
Peter sighed and debated on telling Max. He was a busy man, and he didn't really want anyone else on campus to see him as beat to hell as he was. He sighed, before deciding to take a shower in one of the shower rooms. The school decided to install them after several kids had buckets upon buckets of paint fall on them. Not to mention any other lab accident that may happen. Peter stepped into one of the showers and washed the blood and dirt off of him. He sighed as he pulled on his shirt and jeans. They didn't smell too foul and Peter sprayed a bit of school-provided Febreze onto him. He quickly decided he would change outfits and tell Max what happened the next day. Even if his wounds healed, the trash man and cameras would be able to defend his point.
Peter looked in a mirror and saw the scraps on his face along with the black eye. He grabbed his bag quickly, thinking he had makeup in there. Even with his super-fast healing, he found that bruise still took longer to heal. Maybe his body saw the cuts as more important and went for them first? He didn’t know.
He started digging through the bag and realized that he didn’t have enough makeup to cover the whole bruise. That was going to cause trouble. Letting out a sigh, Peter had no choice but to make the walk to the subway sporting a bruise. He reached for his phone only to remember that Carlton completely destroyed it. Now he couldn’t tell Harry he wasn’t going to show or Miles that he couldn’t go on patrol until later. He let out a heavy sigh, trusting that they'd understand until he could pay for a replacement, as he began down the hallway.
He got to the train station with nothing more than a few weird looks. He sat down and began fidgeting uncomfortably. After a few painfully long minutes, he got to his stop and jogged the rest of the way. When he arrived home, he walked into the kitchen. There was a note on the table. 'Long shift at work today, won't be home until 10:30, dinner is leftovers. -Love, May.' He smiled softly and made a sandwich, before taking it upstairs to his room to do his homework.
After about an hour and a half, he heard the doorbell ring. Peter hurried down the stairs, knowing it wasn’t May but still wondering who it was. He got to the door and the person knocked.
“Peter?” Harry’s voice rang from behind the door. He sounded slightly peeved. Peter opened the door and Harry let out a relieved sigh.
“I’ve texted you 50 times, no answer. I’ve called you 15 times, no answer. Can I please have an e-” Harry stopped and took in Peter. He had his hand cupped over his eye like was blocking something from him. “Why are you doing that?”
“Doing what?” Peter asked, acting like nothing was up but failing horribly.
“You know what I mean.” Harry took a step in and shut the door behind him. “Why are you hiding your eye from me?”
“No reason.” Peter squeaked, he cursed himself for doing so.
His boyfriend grew suspicious of him. Harry began walking towards Peter while Peter backed away. Soon Peter’s back hit the wall which caused him to gasp because of the cut on his back. Before he could slide away, Harry placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder and moved his hand so it was on top of Peter’s. He grabbed Peter’s hand lightly pulled it away, seeing Peter’s black eye and scratch. His other hand immediately cupped his face. "Peter, what happened?!"
"Har, I'm okay. I just- rough patrol?" His voice came out more as a question than a reply.
"Miles called me and said you never showed up for patrol," Harry said, "and these injuries would've been well over healed by now if they were from last night or even this morning."
Peter let out a resigned sigh. "I got beat up…" he mumbled.
Harry let out a sigh, before leading him to the couch. "Come on, tell me what happened." He murmured.
Peter immediately laid onto Harry's lap, his head using Harry's legs as a pillow, as he'd done so many times before. Harry instinctively began running his fingers through Peter's uncombed hair. Peter hummed softly. "They called me a fag and I pulled out a reverse card," Peter admitted casually.
Harry stuttered. "You're kidding. You've gotta be kidding- Peter!"
He sat up. "It was funny though! They were blushing and everything, you should've seen it."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "Then what?"
"Then they beat me up and locked me in a dumpster."
Harry looked down at him as he laid down on his lap again. "Like, locked you locked you, or you just stayed in there?"
"Like locked me locked me."
He let out a deep sigh. "What're their names, I'll take care of them."
Peter glared at him. "Well, there's no way that's happening."
"Peter, they beat you up and left you bleeding in a dumpster."
“You’d kill them!” Peter sat up to look him in the eyes.
“Peter! They treated you like trash! They literally threw you in the trash!” Harry’s eyes widened as he realized what Peter was doing. “You’re protecting them! Why are you doing that? They don’t deserve to be justified by you!”
“No!” Peter stood up. “I’m telling Max tomorrow. Don’t yell at me for protecting them, they don’t need to be protected. You, on the other hand, are being overprotective right now.”
Harry took a deep breath. “How am I supposed to believe you when in the past that is exactly what you’ve done?”
“Name a time that I’ve done that.” Peter was getting slightly defensive.
“Flash, Alex Simpson, Ricky Fresno, James-” Harry stopped when Peter sat back next to him.
“That was a rhetorical question,” Peter muttered.
Harry sighed. "Pete, you can't stop putting off your own health. Come on, let's get you bandaged up."
Peter made a face. "Harry, I have speed healing."
"That doesn't mean you should leave these wounds open. They could get infected."
Peter shuddered at the idea. He once had a cut on his arm infected. It wasn't something he wanted to deal with ever again to say the very least… He let out an irritated sigh, before nodding. "Alright fine."
Harry pulled him to the bathroom, where Peter removed his shirt and sat down on the toilet. Harry sighed sadly when he saw the dark bruises on Peter's chest and back. He grabbed disinfectant and began to clean Peter's wounds, feeling his heartbreak every time the brunet flinched under his touch. There was a large gash in Peter's back. Harry could only imagine what kind of scrap metal had been large enough to make an injury as large as that one. Luckily none of them were still bleeding.
Harry placed a hand on Peter’s back to get him to stop squirming. He didn’t realize that he had placed it on his bruise until he noticed that Peter was holding his breath. He pulled his hand back only to have Peter lean back on it.
“Your hands are cold.” Peter’s voice was slightly lighter than usual at the beginning of the sentence and slowly came back down to normal.
Harry sighed softly and held his hand there as he gently cleaned out the cut on his back. After a minute or two, he finished cleaning it out. He grabbed the bandages and began wrapping his wounds carefully. “Is that too tight?” He asked.
Peter shook his head. “No,”
Harry nodded. “Okay, wait here.”
He left the room and searched Peter’s closet carefully, before picking out a large, fluffy hoodie, and a pair of sweatpants. He returned to the bathroom to see Peter picking lightly at the bandages. “Here.” He said, handing him the clothes.
Peter thanked him, pulling the clothes on, as Harry left to search the freezer for an ice pack. Harry came back to find Peter standing.
“Peter, you should be sitting.” Harry tried getting him to sit on the sink but Peter kept standing.
“I’m just a little bruised and cut up. Nothing broken.” Peter saw Harry’s worry and smiled reassuringly. “I’m fine, you know that I’ve been through way worse. I’ll be fine by morning.”
Harry made a face. "Come on let's cuddle." He decided for him.
Peter immediately perked up and happily followed Harry to his room. Peter dug his laptop out of his backpack as Harry sat down on his bed, making room for Peter. After a minute or two of searching for his charger and plugging the laptop in, Peter nestled into Harry's side. He put the ice pack carefully onto Peter's back as the laptop loaded up. "So why didn't you reply to my texts?" Harry asked, pulling a blanket over the two of them.
Peter made a sour face. "Carlton broke my phone. I tried to get the scraps but they were too busted up. I got the SD card though and the rest of my stuff is stored on the cloud so I don't think I lost anything."
“Carlton?” Harry sat up slightly to look at Peter. Peter groaned as he realized the name slip. “You mean Carlton Wagner? He did this to you?”
“Yeah, I guess. With some of his friends.” Peter sighed.
“Of course it was.” Harry groaned. “That kid has serious anger issues.”
Peter could practically see the cogs turning in Harry's brain. "Stop that."
Harry looked down. "What?"
"You're plotting something, stop it. I already told you, I'm going to tell Max tomorrow. Let it go for now." Peter argued softly.
Harry sighed and pulled Peter closer. "Alright alright. I'll stop."
Peter made a relaxed noise as Harry began running his fingers through his hair. He logged into his computer and brought up Netflix. "What do you wanna watch?" He hummed, feeling relaxed.
Harry shrugged. "Whatever looks good."
Peter looked up and started staring at Harry. "What are you looking at?" He asked jokingly.
"You said we should watch what looks good. I am." Peter replied playfully.
“Oh my god, you are that cheesy.” Harry groaned but slowly began to laugh.
“I’m just stating facts here, Mister looks good in every picture.” Peter smiled as he clicked on Criminal Minds.
“I do not,” Harry stated. When he said that, Peter immediately made a face. He reached into Harry's pocket, pulled out his phone, and went to his pictures.
“Yes, you do.” Peter stopped scrolling and faced the phone to Harry. “See?”
The picture showed Gwen holding Peter’s phone. Harry remembered that picture being taken because Peter’s chair gave out right then. Peter was super blurry, but his slight panicked face was still able to be seen. Miles and Anya were blurry, having dived to catch Peter. Harry had also dived for Peter, but he wasn’t blurry. He looked straight out of a magazine. Harry rolled his eyes. "You photoshopped that before you sent it to me." He defended. "I know you have the skills."
Peter grinned, snuggling closer to Harry. "It totally wasn't." He denied, shoving Harry's phone back in his pocket.
The ice pack cooled his back as he leaned into Harry, feeling the weight of sleep quickly begin to press down on him. "Are you allowed to stay the night?" He asked through a yawn.
Harry hummed. "Yeah probably, why?"
Peter shifted as close as he could as the episode began playing. "I don't wanna move anymore."
Harry let out a content sigh as he watched along with Peter. Not just because he was hanging out with his boyfriend but also because he had just come up with the perfect plan for revenge.
~~~
“You know that you don’t have to walk me to school.” Peter stepped out of the subway with Harry in tow.
“Oh, but I want to.” Harry smiled with faux innocence. Peter gave Harry a look as they got out of the crowd.
“What are you planning Harry?” Peter sighed, knowing that it was going to be something against Carlton.
“You’ll see, bug, you’ll see.” Harry hummed.
Peter gave him a skeptical look, before leaning into Harry. After 10 minutes, the train stopped. Peter led Harry to Horizon, stepping into the bright sun. Peter began walking to Max's office. Harry waited outside as Peter knocked. After a moment, the heard, "Come in," and Peter entered Max's office.
He looked around, waiting to see if Carlton would walk past. He remembered Carlton from the short time he was at Horizon. No one knew how he got into Horizon with his temper of personality. He was smart and all, but an all-around dick. Maybe he was able to trick Max into thinking that he was a good guy or that he could change.
The only reason he’s been able to stay in was that people were too scared to actually tell on him. That’s how terrible this kids' beat ups were. He let out a sigh, knowing Peter must've been in pain from this kid. Every second he thought about it made him angrier and angrier. Harry watched silently, before hearing a familiar sneering laugh. He looked up and watched Carlton and a few other boys pass. He looked to the door Peter had disappeared behind, and then to Carlton, who was turning a corner. He made up his mind and followed Carlton.
“He wasn’t reported missing.” One of the guys said.
“Then he either got out or we did his family a favor.” Carlton laughed and the others did as well.
“What about his lover? Do you think that he’s looking for him?” Another asked.
“Harry is probably not even his boyfriend. He probably just fucked him once out of need or to make that whore less bitchy.” Carlton answered. “Parker is just his late-night booty call. But could you imagine? Harry Osborn loving a fag like him?”
Harry, upon hearing that, felt furious. He rushed up to them, grabbed Carlton, spinning him around, and decked him in the face. Carlton stumbled back, letting out a cry of alarm, before falling on his ass and covering his bloody nose. "Fuck!" He screamed.
"Excuse me, I thought I heard you talking shit about my boyfriend, could you repeat that?" He snarled, an angry look on his face.
A few people stopped to stare. One boy immediately made a face, before standing up and covering the camera. A few people began moving around, blocking cameras and deactivating security bots. Harry grinned. He knew that Carlton had made enemies, but he didn't think he'd made enemies of the entire school.
Carlton recomposed himself and scowled. “Well if it isn’t the rich kid that got kicked out of Horizon. What are you even doing here?” Carlton sneered and he raised his fists.
“I’m here on Peter’s behalf, and you’re right. I don’t go here so I can’t be kicked out. You, on the other hand, can be kicked out.” Harry couldn’t help but let his smug expression shine through. Next thing he knew, Carlton was swinging. He got Harry in the gut, which caused Harry to stumble.
“Kick his ass, Harry!” A short girl with black fading into purple yelled. Her voice only broke through the crowd’s cheers for a second. Harry threw another punch at Carlton and it was a pretty good hit, but Carlton had good hits as well.
~~~
“Thank you for telling me this Peter,” Max said standing. “Carlton was a part of a raffle to get into Horizon. Some of the teachers along with me thought it would be a good way to give more people a chance to learn.”
“Really? No background checks or anything?” Peter questioned.
“There was on all of the raffle winners. Carlton’s record was clean, now I think it’s because he used scare tactics on his victims. He had the grades.” Max sighed. “I promise that he’s going to be kicked out and everyone will be questioned about him.”
“Thanks, Max. I really appreciate-“ Peter trailed off as he picked up on cheering. Max wouldn’t have been able to hear it, but Peter could and he knew what was going on. “Max, I think something stupid is going on.”
“What?” Max asked as Peter stood up and walked to the door.
“Come with me, please? And also am I allowed to stop Harry from being an idiot?” Peter asked as he opened the door. Max nodded and followed Peter.
They both reached the crowd and some students turn to face Max. They seemed to be ready to create a wall between the fight and Max.
“Is Harry fighting Carlton?” Peter asked, displaying his worried side rather than his annoyed. He knew Harry would get into a fight with Carlton, but he thought he’d at least be there to stop it.
The kids guarding looked at each other then back to Peter. “Please let me through, I gotta stop him from murdering him,” Peter begged. They looked at each other again then moved to let Peter through.
Peter nodded to not only them but to Max as well. After passing them, Peter let his worried facade melt away. To say that he was pissed was an understatement. He understood that Harry was protective over him, but he didn’t understand that he couldn’t just go and start a fight.
The people around him seemed to feel his anger as he passed because they made way and quiet down. It was probably the look on his face that was so full of poison that it could kill a raddled Hulk with a glance. Peter neared the center and saw Harry and Carlton fighting like animals. He let out a disappointed noise and walked towards them. They didn’t notice him until Peter grabbed them both by the hair and banged their heads together.
“Idiotas! Tanto de usted! Conmigo! Ahora mismo!” Peter yelled. The hallways went silent with his yell. Sure, they knew Peter could get angry and spoke Spanish, but never had they seen him hurt someone out of anger. He almost reminded them of Anya when she got angry.
Harry was about to say something when Peter tightened his grip on his hair. “No hay excusas! No puedo dejarte solo por diez minutos sin maldito vas feral!” Peter hissed as he dragged both of them by the hair to Max. Carlton tried to escape from Peter’s grasp only to receive a sharp tug.
“No me prueba Carlton. Ya estoy harto con toda tu mierda, es toda esta escuela.” Peter hissed as the got right in front of Max.
He dropped both of them and got a good look at them. Harry's nose was bleeding and he had a busted lip. It looked like Carlton had gotten him on the ground and stepped on his face or something. His hair was disheveled and he had a dark splotch under his eye. His neck was bright red like Carlton had attempted to choke him out. Carlton's ear was ripped from Harry presumably pulling his piercing out during the fight. He was holding his arm which had scrapes on it, somewhat like rugburn, and he had a large gash on his forehead that was bleeding, running down his face. Peter scowled, another rush of anger flaring from his gut, as he knocked their heads together once again. "If you try to beat each other up again I'm beating you both up." He snapped.
He took a step back, so Max could look at the two. He glanced at Peter once and saw that he was still pissed. “You two need to go to the infirmary. Carlton, I’ll speak to you after your patch up. Come with me.” Max ordered. “All of you, off to class.”
The rest of the students nodded and went off. It was a good thirty seconds before the grip on both Harry’s and Carlton’s heads disappeared and the found of footsteps echoed down the halls.
“Why am I the only one getting a talking to?” Carlton barked at Max.
“You have explaining to do to your parents why you’re being expelled. You’re lucky Peter won’t press charges unless you were to corner him again or anyone else. Especially because he has the evidence that would get you jail time for sure.” Max warned.
“I didn’t do nothing!” Carlton yelled.
“There’s no point in lying. There were cameras and Mr. Flemmings, the trash man, will testify to finding Peter in that dumpster.” Max glared.
“That’s still doesn’t explain why he doesn’t get a talking to! He started this fight!” Carlton snarled.
“Because nothing that I can say will beat what Peter will say to him.” Max gave Harry a glance. Harry knew he was in for it when Peter knocked his head against Carlton.
“How could you tell?” Carlton question dully.
“He swore in Spanish,” Harry responded.
~~~
Max had Harry stay the whole school day in the infirmary. He got to hear the screaming match between Carlton and his parents. The way they fought was nothing like how he would fight with his father. Carlton was the aggressor while his parents only show disappointment in his actions. Not like his father’s because they actually had a reason to be disappointed.
There was a knock on the door and Max entered. “Carlton’s parents don’t want to press charges, luckily for you. They didn’t want to convince Peter to press charges against them.” He began. “Anyway, sorry for holding you here all day. I knew that Peter wanted to talk to you so I thought it would’ve safer to do it here.” Max joked. “But unfortunately for you, Peter wants you to meet him at his house.”
Harry’s face immediately fell. “This will be the end of me, Max.”
Max chuckled. “Oh relax, he won’t kill you.”
Harry gave him a hard glare. “Yes, he will, Modell.”
Max raised his hands in surrender. “If you need a hospital, call me.”
Harry sighed. “I’ll keep that in mind. Here’s my will: everything goes to Peter even if he’s the one who kills me.”
Max laughed. “Noted. Go, don’t keep him waiting.”
Harry nodded and raced towards the exit. As he reached the entrance, he saw Peter leaning against the door, looking more than a little pissed. “H-Heeeyyyyy Pete…”
Peter looked up and Harry felt his blood run cold. He was definitely pissed. Peter looked away from Harry and began walking, not saying a single word. The whole way back to Peter’s place was like that. Harry tried to start up a conversation but only received glares.
Once getting to Peter’s house, Harry mentally prepared himself for the lecture he was about to get. He stepped in after Peter and shut the door behind him.
“What part of I’ll handle it don’t you get?” Peter said through his teeth.
“Peter, he was-”
“Harry, stop.”
Harry flinched. He knew Peter was mad at him but… he was really mad. “Harry, I promised you I’d take care of it. You watched me walk into Max’s office. I told you to wait outside. It was the one thing I asked of you! But no! You had to go off and literally start a fistfight! I asked ONE THING OF YOU HARRY!” His voice was progressively getting louder, and Harry knew he had crossed a boundary.
“I-I’m sorry, he was saying things and-” Harry began.
“Harry, I don’t care that he was saying things! He always says things! People always will say things! That is not probable cause to run off and start a fucking fight, Harry!”
“I just couldn’t let him say-“
“Oh for fuck sakes, Harold! I’m not a kid anymore! I don’t need you to stand up for me every single time something happens!” Peter yelled. “Even when I don’t do something I’m doing something! I’m holding myself back! I could have easily put Carlton and his friends in that trash can but I didn’t! I was being the bigger man! Me not fighting back doesn’t mean I need to be saved! Why can’t you see that?!”
Harry stared at the floor, feeling a rush of guilt. He knew Peter had his reasons for not fighting back, but Harry had his for fighting. He looked down. “I’m sorry Peter. He was saying bad things about you and I couldn’t just stand by and listen to that.”
Peter sighed. “I know Harry, I get you wanna protect me but you have to stop. There are times when it’s okay and times where it’s not. And that was not okay, Harry.” Peter wasn’t yelling anymore, but his voice still had a layer of warning to it that was almost worse.
Harry looked up at Peter. He was standing across from him, his arms crossed, but he wasn’t looking at him. Finally, after a moment, Peter sighed loudly. “Come on, let's change your bandages.”
Peter led Harry to the bathroom and began digging through the cabinets while Harry sat down on the counter. He pulled out the bandages and a cloth. Peter ran the cloth under water and left it to sit so he could remove Harry’s old bandages.
A scab had formed on Harry’s lip and the bruises had darkened slightly around his neck. Peter frowned as he pulled the rag out of warm water. He moved to Harry and kept his gaze on him as he wiped his mouth clean if the semi-crusted blood. Despite how vicious the fight had been, Harry didn't have many bleeding wounds. Just his lip and a large cut on his cheek. Peter wiped his cheek and frowned when he saw Harry's guilty look. He didn't try to comfort him since what he did wasn't okay, but it still hurt seeing Harry so upset. He swallowed thickly before applying Neosporin and replacing the bandages, before dropping the rag in the sink. "Come on." He muttered, leaving the bathroom.
Harry watched for a moment, before pushing himself off the counter and following Peter into the living room. He was digging through the freezer before pulling out a small gel ice pack and a large bean ice pack. Peter walked over to Harry and put the big ice pack on Harry’s neck and pressed the other to his cheek.
It was silent. A bad silence. The atmosphere matched when Peter got into an argument with Norman. Granted Peter didn’t start it, but he did say a few choice words to Norman that got Harry upset. It was uncomfortable as Peter led him to the couch and sat him down. He visibly flinched as Peter stared at him for a moment before saying, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He began walking down the hall when he stopped. “And stay there this time.” He ordered.
He watched after Peter, feeling a rush of guilt and frustration. He hadn’t wanted to upset Peter, but he was really mad. He stared at the ground for a moment. He hadn’t noticed Peter walkout until a large blanket was draped over his shoulders. He looked up to see Peter avoiding his gaze. He sat down on the other side of the couch and reached into a plastic bag he had brought out. Harry watched curiously until Peter threw a Snickers bar at him, hitting him square in the face.
Peter sat on the other side of the couch and turned on the TV. After flipping through channels he stopped on the ID channel. He leaned himself into the armrest and watched. Peter didn’t feel like talking to Harry at the moment, but he also didn’t want him to leave. He just needed to calm down a little more so that he didn’t yell at Harry again. Luckily Harry knew Peter long enough to know that that was what his body language was saying.
Halfway through the first episode, Harry had spread the blanket over to Peter. If he had done that earlier Peter would have pushed it off. Peter cast a glance over to Harry, who was watching the TV but still looked downcast. He sighed. He was still upset, definitely, but that was still his boyfriend who was still in pain. He scooted over to Harry and shuffled under his arm, leaning into him. Harry looked surprised and began smiling and leaned down to kiss him. Peter hissed dangerously. “Don’t push your luck, Osborn.” He warned.
Harry immediately stopped and pulled away. He glanced down at Peter. He definitely still looked upset. His eyes were narrowed and he was tense against Harry, but Harry could feel him beginning to ease down. He closed his eyes and sighed softly and leaned back.
When the episode ended and the other began, Peter leaned more into Harry. “You scared me,” Peter mumbled, “I just came out and heard the cheering and then you were acting like an animal.”
“I’m sorry,” Harry said.
Peter shook his head. “It isn’t okay, Harry. Never do anything like that again, please. I couldn’t recognize you for a second there.”
Harry stiffened and nodded. “I won’t…” He mumbled.
Peter leaned the rest of his weight into Harry. “Not ever again.”
“I promise, I won’t lose it again,” Harry promised, leaning in and kissing the top of Peter’s head. Peter let out a relieved sigh as he closed his eyes.