"How do you convince someone you aren't cheating on them with a superhero?" Peter asked, strolling into Harry's room like it was his own, and flopping down on Harry's bed.
"Elaborate on that question." Harry replied, turning his desk chair away from his computer to look at Peter with raised eyebrows.
"Gwen dumped me. She thinks I'm cheating on her with Spiderman."
And while it may have been an awful thing to do, Harry found himself laughing at that.
Peter threw a pillow at him for laughing.
"Sorry, sorry." Peter didn't believe Harry was even a little sorry if the laughs still coming from him were anything to go by. "So, how did she come to this conclusion?"
"I'm out late whenever he shows up on the news, and I get better pictures of him than anyone who doesn't know him should be able too, and I make jokes about how hot he is that I guess she didn't take as jokes. But I think the thing that made her sure was that I couldn't just promise to be with her at least one time that Spiderman was out."
"Can't you just say 'Gwen, baby, he's a dude. That's not my thing.'?" Harry asked with his best impersonation of Peter's voice.
"Nope. I told her a while ago I'm into both."
"Alright, well, have you considered just telling her that you're Spiderman?"
It had only taken about a week of Peter being Spiderman for his best friend to approach him and ask just how long Peter was planning on waiting to tell Harry that Peter was a biologist's wet dream. When Peter had looked kind of confused and concerned by the phrasing Harry had rolled his eyes and informed him that he knew Peter was Spiderman. And how dare Peter try to keep that a secret from him? Peter had received an entire lecture on that actually.
It was nice to have someone who knew, sure, but it also made Peter worry. Harry was in enough danger just because of his last name. Plenty of people would love to kill him since he was the heir to Oscorp, adding knowing Spiderman –a guy who had a lot of enemies- wasn't good. Although Harry insisted that as long as no one knew that he knew it wouldn't matter. The fact that he tried to help Peter with dangerous jobs proved that wrong, because Peter at least had superpowers to protect himself in those situations. Harry did not. Although, the fact that he had some of the best technology on Earth that he could use for protection made Peter feel a bit better.
"You know I can't. Maybe it's for the best anyway. I mean, her dad is just waiting for a chance to arrest Spiderman for . . . I don't even know. Unlawful swinging?"
Harry laughed again. "Oh, I hope unlawful swinging is a thing." He told Peter.
"Either way, maybe it'd be better if I was just friends with her. Less risk, and less chance of getting myself arrested."
"So, you're not going to try to win her back?" Harry asked with a tilt of his head.
"No." Peter decided, shaking his head. "No, I don't think so. It's pretty hard to date someone when you're keeping such a big secret from them. And not really fair to them. Really, right now the only person I think I have any right to try dating is you because you know what's going on."
"Okay." Harry said simply with a shrug.
"What?" Peter's eyes snapped up to look at Harry.
"You said the only person you can date is me. Okay. I'll pick you up later tonight."
"Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack."
Peter just stared at Harry for a moment, and Harry stared back blankly, giving Peter time to process the turn of events.
"Do you actually want to or are you just saying that because you feel bad for me?" Peter asked.
"I don't do pity dates, Pete. So, as long as you aren't agreeing just because you don't think you have a right to anyone else and I'm the only option, I'll pick you up tonight at eight."
Peter thought about that for another few seconds before giving a dazzlingly bright smile and nodding. "Sounds good. I'll see you then." He said, hopping up from the bed and waving. It was rather close to eight and if he was going on a date he needed to shower and change into something a bit better than a pair of jeans and a hoodie over his Spiderman suit.