The first time Peter had been absent from their date and Spider-man had saved a family from a burning building Harry had put it down to coincidence. The second time when Harry was stood up at the beach and Spider-man stopped Dr Octopus from destroying Grand Central Station Harry just thought it was chance. The third time, when Peter had told Harry he had a meeting to go to and he came home with multiple bruises just after Harry had watched Spider-man save civilians from a robbery attempt, Harry couldn't ignore the fact any longer. Peter Parker, Harry's boyfriend, was Spider-man and said boyfriend obviously had no inclination to tell him any time soon if his ridiculous excuses were any indication.

Peter obviously thought he was being incredibly clever keeping his secret and Harry was slightly offended that he really thought Harry would continue to fall for his pitiful justifications. Harry had been ready to confront Peter with the fact he knew the fourth time he had been stood up until he thought about the fun he could have with the knowledge.

They had scheduled to have dinner at Harry's to celebrate his companies latest success when Harry noticed Peter was ten minutes late. Being late wasn't unusual for Peter however Harry had noted the only times Peter wouldn't immediately text him if he was going to be late was if there was a Spider-man related emergency. True to suspicion, Harry checked the news on his phone and saw that some villain, 'Mysterio', was terrorising visitors of the Statue of Liberty. Settling in for a long wait, Harry found the live footage of the fight on his phone and waited for it to end, thinking about what he would say when Peter turned up. At least, he tried to. Armed with the knowledge that it was his boyfriend being thrown around and not some random do-gooder; watching Spider-man fight suddenly made Harry feel a lot less grateful and a lot more concerned. Soon the concern turned into anger as Harry couldn't believe that Peter wasn't telling him about Spider-man. What if Peter died? Harry wouldn't know the real reason for it and honestly, the way he fought was as if he didn't have a care in the world. As if he didn't have a boyfriend who did really prefer him to be alive and unharmed.

Eventually, the fight ended. Mysterio disappeared and Peter looked relatively uninjured but Harry knew Peter would probably just try to fake his health until he got somewhere alone. For some reason, Peter, even as a child, had never wanted people to know when he was sick or injured. They would only find out when his body became too worn out and he collapsed, worrying everyone. Harry hoped that this once Peter wasn't faking it as he did not want to lose his resolve when talking to Peter when he got back.

Twenty minutes after Harry had seen the end of the fight there was a call from his butler telling him Peter was coming up. Harry made sure he had the news report turned off and similar to the other times Peter had arrived late the secret hero bustled through the door with an extremely apologetic look on his face.

"I am so sorry Harry, I got kept late at work and I forgot to charge my phone. I am really, really sorry," Peter grovelled as he simultaneously tried to take his shoes and backpack off.

"It's fine," Harry said calmly, more coolly than he normally would but before Peter could comment on it Harry narrowed his eyes on Peter's lips.

"Is that a split lip?" He asked and Harry could see the momentary panic in Peter's eyes before he quickly masked it.

"Oh uh, I may have tripped. You know, skateboarding and stuff."

Now this was where Harry could have a bit of fun picking apart Peter's lies.

"That cut looks fairly recent, in fact, it still seems to be bleeding," Harry stood up and stalked over to Peter, grabbing his face gently to inspect his lip. Peter, not liking the attention, attempted to shuffle back but Harry kept his grip tight. "Unless you have suddenly started skateboarding to work I think you're lying. Please tell me you didn't get into a fight?"

"Fight? Me? Of course not!" Harry had to wonder how he didn't guess from the first time Peter had stood him up as Peter was an atrocious liar.

"Then what did happen?" Harry pressed and he could see the alarm in Peter's eyes.

"Look, it's nothing Harry, really. Can we please just have dinner, we have to celebrate after all," Peter wheedled. It was a nice aversion attempt, Harry conceded, it was just a shame he wasn't going to fall for it.

"That is true," Harry mulled and Peter slumped in relief. "But we can do that later, once you stop lying to me."

"Can't you just trust me on this?" Peter demanded, his body becoming tense once more and Harry's good humour started to disappear.

"No actually, I can't, not when it is my boyfriend who is being beat up!"

"I just want you to be safe!" Peter yelled, giving up on trying to come up with viable excuses.

"How do I know what I need to be protected from if you won't tell me anything?" Harry argued, voice also raised.

"Because you don't need to know!"

"I think I need to know when my boyfriend's Spider-man!"

Oops. He hadn't actually meant to say that out loud. Peter looked at him with stunned eyes and Harry held his chin high. Well, he'd said it now, there was no going back. In fact, he was glad. Now hopefully there would be no secrets.

"You know!" Peter's tone was far too accusing for someone who had been lying to their boyfriend.

"I do and I would have appreciated it if you would have told me."

"I couldn't risk you getting hurt!" Harry was sure Peter's arguments made sense in his head but to him they held absolutely no logic whatsoever.

"How would the knowledge hurt me? I'm in danger every day just because of my name Peter, I doubt knowing you were Spider-man would change much in that respect."

"But it might! Captain Stacey died because of me; I won't let it happen to you too. I need to go." Peter ran a hand through his hair, clearly flustered. He started to grab his bags but Harry wasn't having it.

"Oh no you don't. I'm not letting you leave." Harry had heard about the events in the previous year regarding the giant lizard monster terrorising New York. He had also met Gwen Stacey enough to know that her father had most likely made the choice to follow Peter and it wasn't his fault. That, however, was a conversation for another time.

"You don't understand," Peter said pitifully. "I have to."

"You utter idiot," Harry exclaimed. "I will keep you locked up here if I have to in order to get it through your thick skull that you are not getting rid of me that easily." How did Harry get such a martyr as a boyfriend?

"Please Harry-" Peter started but Harry cut him off.

"No Peter. I am an adult correct?" Peter nodded.

"And that means I am old enough to make my own decisions, correct?" Another reluctant nod.

"Then allow me to decide that I want to keep on dating you because I love you, you stubborn idiot!"

…It only just occurred to Harry that he hadn't actually said that to Peter before. The protest that had begun to form on Peter's lips had died at that declaration and Harry wasn't surprised.

"You what?"

Well, he'd said it now and it was true. Perhaps it would manage to get the point through Peter's thick skull.

"I love you and I am not going to leave you, or let you leave me, just because you think I'm going to be in danger. You're in danger every day being Spider-man, no I'm not going to demand you stop, you just need someone to watch out for you. Think of the help Oscorp could be to you."

Peter's face fully expressed the conflict within him. Harry honestly wasn't sure what he was going to say. The love declaration could either help or cause Peter to panic more. He waited with baited breath.

"…Ok."

"Ok?" Harry asked.

Peter let out a long breath. "I love you too Harry." He gave a bashful smile. "And ok, I won't leave you."

"Good," Harry nodded, more than a little surprised at the sudden acceptance. "That's good."

"But I mean it, if you get hurt because of me being Spider-man-"

"I will have to convince you that it wasn't your fault, we will have another conversation like this and hopefully we'll have some fantastic make-up sex."

Peter's blushing face was adorable and with a devilish grin, Harry pulled Peter towards him for a kiss. It took Peter a few seconds to melt into it but he eventually smiled before playfully pushing Harry away.

"So, dinner?"

"Sounds good. And during it you can explain to me why you thought I would never suspect because you Peter, are an awful liar. You can then also explain to me why you thought it was safe to jump off a thirty story building with only your flimsy spandex suit for protection."

Peter grimaced. "You're not going to let this go for a while, are you?"

Harry smirked. "Of course not, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't exploit this to its fullest."

"A nice one," Peter grouched.

"Oh what was that? You neglected to tell me you're Spider-man for two months? What kind of loving, honest boyfriend would-"

"Shut up Harry."