(A/N: I do not own Spiderman. That right belongs to Sony

I found a bit of spare time in my classwork but it's STILL going on so please don't expect a new chapter right away. To give an example as to how much it is, I have 5 assignments due next week alone along with a project report and presentation to prepare

Also, please do not leave a review or message me simply to beg me to update the story. I don't like being pressured and quite frankly, I don't like to be told what to do in regards to my story. I appreciate the enthusiasm but this is MY STORY and with respect, I'll do it and work on it at my convenience. Apologies if I sound irritated but really at a certain point, it gets to be a bit much and I've been getting it from quite a few people. I do this because I like doing it. Having people constantly ask for me updates takes the fun out of the whole thing. In fact, in the future, now that I've got this out in the open, it'll make me more likely not want to write than the other way around if you catch my meaning

Also, finally, ENOUGH with smut requests. I do not take requests nor do I take them in the form of 'suggestions'. I am not writing a porn story, soft or hardcore and I'm not writing anyone else's story. I'm writing MINE. This story is supposed to be about teenaged drama and it is not going to be getting into areas like that.

Anyway, I'm done with my ramblings and apologies for the irritation. I just needed to get that out there as apparently, me taking a break for schoolwork was a bigger deal than I had originally thought. Enjoy the chapter).

Gwen was back at school the following Monday with a small smile on her face as she walked in with Peter, Liz and Mary Jane. It seems they were a bit of a school clique now as they seemed to hang out with each other more and more as time went on.

Peter had told Liz and Felicia that Gwen had found out about his secret. They didn't really know how to react. At first they were a bit suspicious but Peter explained how it was really Eddie that spilled the beans to her and that he wasn't really comfortable with lying to his best friend just like that. After that, they seemed to generally accept it and moved on. They supposed if she was going to continue to be a big part of Peter's life, she might as well know anyway.

Honestly, it was good that Gwen knew, Peter thought. He honestly couldn't count all the times he had let her down because of Spiderman going out to save the world for the umpteenth time. At least now, she could truly understand why he was turning into this guy that disappeared every other hour or so.

Other good news in Peter's life was that he had attended his last AA meeting and therapy session that weekend. At that point in time, Peter was alcohol free and was finally cured of his depression. He had 2 great girlfriends, good friends, a loving aunt, 2 wonderful bosses (Jameson was...ok), good co-workers and just an overall bright future ahead of him. Of course, Tombstone being on the loose still dampened his spirits at the moment but it was still at the back of his mind right now. His day would come sooner or later.

As the 4 of them continued walking down the hall, Liz as always still had her arm wrapped around Peter's. They passed Felicia subtly walking down the hall and giving a sultry wink in the brunette boy's direction which caused him to blush and Liz to roll her eyes. They continued walking down the hall until something rather peculiar caught their eye.

Harry Osborn was seen at his locker putting books in his bookbag and slinging it over his shoulder. Of course, this wouldn't really be a particular sight to behold usually but considering he hadn't been at school for weeks now, it was pretty safe to say that this was pretty unusual. They just stared while Peter and Gwen traded concerned glances at each other.

The former heir to Oscorp continued to prepare for the first few periods until he had gathered the last of his books and turned to see the group of them. At first, he gave a slight hint of a glare but shortly after, his tone softened and he let out something Peter had not seen for weeks from Harry: A smile.

Harry then walked towards them. For a split second, Peter was getting a bit worried, slightly scared that more fireworks from his former best friend was coming. However, as he got closer, he simply put out his hand towards Peter, gesturing for a handshake.

"Hey, Peter. Good to see you" Harry said with a slightly apologetic smile.

Peter was stunned. He didn't know what to say to this. Harry…was being friendly to him? Even after everything they had gone through these past few weeks. The boy almost had to pinch himself to make sure this was reality (Although hanging out with 3 beautiful girls when almost every girl in his sophomore mentally and sometimes physically vomited at the thought of near proximity to him made him wonder that as well).

"Uh…hey, Harry. Good to see you too" Peter said, lightly shaking his arm away from Liz's and shaking Harry's hand.

"Thanks. Hey, I just wanted to let you know, dude, that I'm over what happened with you, me and Gwen along with the whole Oscorp business. I guess I realized that I shouldn't let that come between me and my friends. If you would like to, I would like to start hanging out again…if that's ok with you" Harry asked, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

Well…this day knew how to go from zero to sixty in a second, didn't it? After calling him a drunk, admitted to them that he manipulated Gwen into staying with him and basically telling him that they weren't friends anymore, here he was telling him he wanted to be friends again. If there was anything Harry wasn't, it seemed, it was predictable.

"Uh…oh…y…yeah…yeah, Harry. I'd…I'd like to…but what exactly changed your-" Peter tried to ask before Harry interrupted.

"Well you know…I had this funny feeling that everything in time would work out for the better for me. I have my whole life ahead of me and there's no point in me pushing away my friends so…here I am" Harry said with a smile.

"That's great, Harry. I'm glad you're better" Gwen said, giving Harry a big (but friendly) hug which he returned.

"Thanks, Gwen" Harry said, continuing to smile as he patted her back.

While It seemed both Peter and Gwen were happy about this, Liz and Mary Jane were…skeptical to say the least. Neither of them were huge fans of the rich boy right now, what with him manipulating Gwen and being extremely rude to Peter this last few weeks. However, they seemed that it was best not to interfere in the little 'reunion' that was taking place right now.

"Great. Maybe we can catch up at the Silver Spoon later after school today?" Harry asked the both of them.

"Uh…yeah, that sounds good to me" Peter said with a light smile.

"Yeah, that sounds great" Gwen said with a big smile in comparison to Peter's. It seemed for the first time in a while, things were slowly going back to normal (And she thought this now fully aware of the fact that Peter was apparently a superhero).

"Ok, cool. So I'll see you guys in class. Later…it was good to see you again too, MJ. You too, Liz" Harry said as he turned and began walking towards Biology class.

Once the Osborn a good distance away, Mary Jane finally felt the need to speak up.

"Uh…Tiger, Gwen…while I know you guys want to believe Harry's changed for the better, I have…reservations about this"' Mary Jane said in the softest terms she thought possible. She didn't want to come outright saying she thought Harry was an asshole and didn't deserve another chance.

"Same. He called you a drunk, Peter and ignored you for weeks!" Liz said, getting an angry expression on her face. It seemed she wasn't as reserved as MJ was on this issue.

"Well he did just apologize just now" Peter said, sheepishly.

"I didn't hear any apology" Liz said, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't hear one either" Mary Jane said as well. Peter just rubbed the back of his head in response. He guessed Harry was starting to take his dad's 'No apology' policy more seriously these days.

"Well, guys, he's just been lonely these past few weeks and…he just felt betrayed by me and Peter…for good reason" Gwen said, guiltily rubbing her forearm.

"Well I'm not putting it past him to think he's up to something" Mary Jane said, glaring at the sight of the boy walking away from them.

As odd as it was, Liz agreed with MJ here. However, she didn't want to get in the way of Peter's happiness. "Look, Petey, I'm not going to stop you from attempting to make up with him. All I'm asking you is to be careful here"

"Agreed" said a voice behind them.

They all turned to see Felicia standing behind them, really putting the stern teacher look to good use. Gwen and MJ were stunned at the fact that she was listening in for god knows how long, but for Peter and Liz, this was standard Felicia Hardy behavior.

"You been stalking me again, Cat?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not stalking if you're in love. It's…keeping an eye out" Felicia said with a hint of a smirk.

"I'm sure" Peter said, rolling his eyes but smiling nonetheless.

"Listen. Like Liz here, I'm not going to force you to keep away from Osborn but…just take whatever he says with a grain of salt. I've come across lots of guys like him in my life and he just gives all signs of a big faker. I'm not putting it past him that he has something up his sleeve and it's likely nothing good for any of us….so….just keep that in mind" Felicia simply said.

Peter just nodded in response. "Yeah…I got it…I won't let my guard down…but seriously though, this is Harry Osborn here. Even if there's a chance he's back on the green, he isn't his dad. He's…he's y'know…Harry. What exactly can he do?"

Even as Peter said these words, he wasn't really sure how much he believed them himself.

Afterwards, the group decided to just leave this as it was for now and focus on getting through the day. There was no point in constantly worrying about someone as harmless as Harry. Felicia and the group went their separate ways as the 4 students went towards Biology class and Felicia went towards her History class, ready to start another riveting day at Midtown High.

*Later that Night*

"What do you mean we can't make any more villains?!" Harry practically yelled over the encrypted phone line to Donald Menken. Thank god his mom was asleep and he was in his room. If it weren't for the thick walls, she would've heard her son raving like a lunatic.

"Mr. Osborn, Doctor Octavius is in Ravencroft and doesn't work for Oscorp anymore nor will anymore and Dr. Miles Warren is in prison and it would be a bad image for Oscorp if I were to assist in bailing him out as the acting CEO. Plus, even if one of them were to be available to us, the government is keeping close eyes on our operations after it was revealed of Oscorp's role in experimenting on Mark Allan. You've already taken a big risk in going to Lincoln for help on this and quite frankly, it's too big a risk for me to continue assisting you on this" Menken explained to Harry.

"Wh…What? What are you saying?" Harry asked.

The red haired boy heard an audible sigh over the phone. "Harry…I'm out. I can't help you on this anymore. I'm sorry things haven't gone the way you would've liked them to go but I need to focus on rebuilding Oscorp's reputation, practically from the ground up"

"B…but…you can't! I…I need you. I can't do this without your help" Harry said, practically begging.

"...I'm sorry, Harry. There's just nothing more I can do for you" Menken said and then he hung up the phone without so much as saying goodbye.

"God damn it!" He said, throwing his phone to the ground. Great. Just great. Now here he was, without anyone who could help him get what he needed.

It seemed Peter was just destined to be better in every aspect imaginable. He was going to die alone while working in some office building when he should be CEO of his dad's corporation like he always should have been and was going to be surrounded by beautiful women all his life when he didn't even have Gwen anymore, who wasn't even with Peter right now from what he knew!

Maybe…maybe he should just give up, Harry thought. There was no need to continue going on like this, cause himself more stress like this. Maybe he just wasn't destined to run Oscorp. Maybe Peter was more qualified than he was and maybe Gwen and him never were to be. He honestly didn't really expect it to go as far as marriage anyway. Pity dating only goes so far…

The redhead boy just got into his pajamas and tucked himself into his bed. Probably best just to beg Peter for an executive job when they graduated from college. It was probably the only way he could have a future in his dad's company anyway so…why not?

Slowly, Harry's eyes closed and he began to drift off to sleep as reality had previously crashed down upon him and everyone knew how cruel it could be, especially to him nowadays. After about a half hour of tossing and turning, he finally went to sleep.

*2 hours later*

Harry was woken up by a noise he heard outside. Of course, living in New York City, the occasional loud street yell or traffic noises aren't too out of character, even when living in a penthouse that was practically in the clouds, this was different. He almost heard something….tapping at his window. Of course, though….that couldn't happen, could it? It was probably just a bird or something that flew too close to the building. Yeah. Yeah, that was probably it.

The redhead boy attempted to just ignore it and attempted to go back to sleep which was not an easy feat to accomplish for him when waking back up in the middle of the night. However, as time went on, he heard the tapping again. Harry's head shot up. He was starting to get really nervous now. He slowly leaned over his bed and reached under for something until he got what he needed: A pumpkin bomb from his dad's storage.

Harry then proceeded to get up and slowly move towards the window. It was pitch dark in his room but the lights outside would allow him to just barely make out what could be out there. He opened the blinds to see…absolutely nothing. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he could confirm. Yep. Still nothing.

There was very little Harry could do except raise his eyebrows and just wonder what the hell was going on. This was something he rarely did but he then proceeded to open the window. He opened it until it was all the way open and stuck his head outside. He tried his hardest to find just what the source could be in this instance but it looked as it appeared to be: Absolutely nothing.

After a few moments, Harry just gave up. The green was probably playing tricks with his mind. He really needed to get off the stuff. It had done him no good but it was just so hard and the rich boy did not want to go back to rehab. Harry just crawled back into bed and just closed his eyes again. By tomorrow morning, everything would finally be back to kind of normal. He and Peter would be friends again as would he and Gwen and maybe he could find another girlfriend around school. Gwen couldn't be the only girl even somewhat interested in dating him (even though she wasn't really interested in dating him to begin with), right?...Right.

As he almost fell back asleep, a deep and mangled voice spoke from above him.

"Now, now, little Ozzy, let's not go back to sleep just yet. We have some business to do first" The voice said.

There was little else Harry could do but shoot his eyes open. He could hardly move. He couldn't even scream. All he could do was slowly turn his head ever so slowly until he could see a black creature sticking to the roof of his ceiling. This creature was a bigger and black version of Spider-Man with a long tongue.

Well…Harry could guess he could scratch things going back to normal for a while.