So there's this one phone conversation between Peter and MJ that I particularly loved and it was about the time Peter, Harry, and Mary Jane went on a "ten hour odyssey for the best pizza in the city."
Summary: Harry Osborn invites Peter and MJ to find the "tastiest" pizza in NYC. Harry/Peter/MJ friendship fic (pre-canon)
Peter was eating his lunch in the ESU cafeteria when Harry suddenly plops down across him with a big smile on his face.
"So what do you say you, me, and MJ all go somewhere tomorrow?" He says.
Moving his eyes away from the bowl mac & cheese, Peter looks at his best friend skeptically. He crossed his arms over his chest. "And what exactly do you have in mind?"
"That we go out and eat the best pizza in the city." Harry grins. "Guess what? The wait is over my friend."
"Mmmhmm," Peter mumbles, still uninterested with the idea. "So what are you thinking? We head downtown, hit up Domino's, or that place, what was the name... the one Spider-Man swung through chasing the Shocker last year?"
Technically, Peter was banned from that place, but that was only in the mask and what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
"No, no, no!" Harry said, shaking his head dramatically. "You're thinking too small, Pete! I'm talking about the best pizza in all of New York – something different, something new! I read about this place online –"
"I'm going to stop you right there..." Peter said, leaning forward, "...because if you think for one second you're going to get me to eat pizzas with weird combinations of topping then you might as well—"
"Oh don't be such a baby, Pete." Harry teases. "You know you like being adventurous every once in a while."
"Alright," Peter indulges him. "I'll bite. Where is this mythical pizza place?"
"Staten Island," Harry said after a pause for dramatic effect.
Peter's brows furrowed. "But I thought your chauffeur was on vacation."
Harry's smile widens further. He looked pleased with himself and Peter dropped his fork in realization
"Oh, hell no." He grumbles. "There is no way you are making me take the ferry."
The next day...
"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this," Peter said, standing in the terminal with his hands shoved inside the pockets of his jacket. He had bad memories about the Staten Island Ferry. Let's just say it was not one of his proudest moments, he recalls the memory of him fighting the vulture and getting scolded by Tony Stark for being reckless and endangering the lives of civilians. After that experience, he tried to avoid travelling by water as much as possible.
"Hey! You lost that coin toss fair and square." Harry slaps his back. He was pink-cheeked and grinning, looking like an excited puppy. "You should own up to it. Oh, look, there's MJ!"
Peter turned in the direction Harry was pointing and felt himself start to smile. Mary Jane's hair was windswept, hanging loosely around her shoulders, and her eyes sparkled in the afternoon light. She was wearing the pale pink leather jacket Harry had gotten her for Christmas and the necklace Peter had gotten her for her birthday.
"Hey, guys," she said, first leaning up on her toes to smack a kiss to Harry's cheek and then turning towards Peter to do the same. Heat rose to Peter's cheeks after her lips touched his cheek.
"H-hi, MJ." Peter stutters, and MJ giggles at his blushing face.
"Okay, people!" Harry claps his hands. "We're on a mission here! So let's steer ourselves from any distractions." He says emphasizing with a knowing look directed at Peter.
Peter swallows nervously and tries not to look at the red-headed girl.
The boat got delayed so the trio had to wait a bit longer for it to arrive, but Peter was already growing impatient. "Can't we just eat at a different pizza place." He complains.
Harry ruffles his hair. "Come on, Pete. Where's your New Yorker spirit?"
Peter mutters something under his breath.
"Don't mind him, Harry," Mary Jane said, slipping her arm into his. "I, for one, am ready to stuff my face with New York's best pizza."
"See?" Harry said. "MJ believes in our mission."
"Who said I didn't believe?" Peter said. "Just because it's on Staten Island, that doesn't mean I don't believe."
Harry and MJ exchanged glances then laughed.
After two hours of waiting...
Harry practically threw his hands in the air like a child when the ferry came to view, and Peter had to admit, he was glad to see how happy he was. Lately, he's been— Peter wasn't sure. Distant? He says that he's too busy or hung over from partying so it's surprising that actually found the time to hang out with him and MJ again. "Just like old times,'' Peter smiled at the thought as he watched his best friend.
Today, the old Harry, the one who'd loved to come over so he could watch cartoons on the crappy old television in Aunt May's kitchen, was back with the force of a hurricane. It was ridiculously hilarious watching him as he bounced on his heels that Peter want to laugh aloud.
Someone suddenly tugged at his jacket sleeve. He turns beside him to see Mary Jane. "Are you gonna behave?" She whispered as they boarded the ferry, Harry bounding ahead of them like they were headed for the promised land.
"Am I going to—?" he repeated, looking at her incredulously. "What?"
"You know," MJ said. She poked him in the chest, right over where the spider would be if he was wearing his suit under his clothes. Which he was. "No Spider-Manning. This is Harry's day."
"He's dragging me to Staten Island, MJ," Peter said. Mary Jane frowned at him so he held up his hands and said, "Alright, alright, no masked crusading for Peter Parker. I'll be good."
"Guys, come look at this view! Isn't this amazing?" Harry exclaims as he observes the glittering waters of the New York Harbor.
"Yeah, it sure does." Peter said, ambling over to him.
"It's nice that one of us can still find pleasure in the small things." Harry closes his eyes and feels the breeze brush against his cheeks. He didn't bother try to hide the smile on his face as he gazed at the receding buildings, the sunlight glinting off his expensive sunglasses. Peter leaned on the railings beside him.
"Well, from here you can't see the rats," Peter jokes, nudging Harry's shoulder in a playful manner. It was nice, though, the kind of crisp winter day where everything felt bright and clean, the sun shining down strong enough to chase the chill away. The light glinted off the tall buildings of Peter's city, the one he knew better than anyone else, and he was standing with two of his favorite people in the world. He really couldn't complain.
He couldn't, but he was still going to.
He opened his mouth to get in a good crack about the big apple when he looked down and saw that Harry was trembling.
"You're cold," Peter remarks. He unwound the scarf from around his neck. "Here."
"Thanks," Harry said, chuckling as Peter adjusted it for him, making sure it was high up enough on Harry's neck. He was paler than usual, and Peter thought maybe it was a good idea that they were going on this adventure after all, if it would get Harry some sun. Too much time in the library, he thought, hitting the law books.
"You good?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, swell." Harry said. He raised a hand to touch the scarf. "Did May knit this?"
"How could you tell?" Peter asked. "Is it the itchy fabric or the horrible color combination?"
"I like it," Harry said, laughing. "It smells like – I don't know. It smells like a home."
"That bad, huh?" Peter said. "Well, I've never washed it, so."
"Jerk," Harry said, giving his friend a light jab on the shoulder. "I'm really glad we're doing this. Feels like forever since we've had a day just for the three musketeers."
"Yeah, I guess I've been pretty busy trying to graduate," Peter said. "Not that you would know anything about that, Mr. Pre-Law."
Harry's smile fell for a second, and when it came back it had that distinctly pasted on look, like the one he wore in the portrait of him and his father that hung in their penthouse. Peter instantly regretted saying that.
"Listen, Pete, I know I haven't been around a lot lately," Harry said. "But I promise you, it has nothing to do with us. I want to be around." He broke off, laughing, as he looked away. "Believe me, you have no idea how much I want to be around."
"Hey," Peter said, touching his arm. "It's okay, Har. How many times have I skipped out on you? As far as I'm concerned, the debt is far from paid. And like I said, we're all busy. It's just part of growing up, right? But we'll get through this. MJ and I know you love us."
"We love who?" Mary Jane comes back, throwing an arm around each of her friend's shoulder and slipping in between them.
"You know, Harry Osborn." Peter says. "Remember? We went to Midtown High with him? Arrives at school in a limousine, driven by his very own butler."
"My dad didn't want me taking the school bus." Harry pouts.
"Oh, that Harry," MJ smiles teasingly, putting more of her weight onto Harry and pinching his cheek, knocking his sunglasses askew. "We do miss that Harry!"
"Ugghh, get off," Harry said, lightly pushing her away. But he laughed along with the banter, his cheeks finally gaining some color, and the fake smile Peter had seen his father bring out of his a hundred times before was nowhere to be seen, so Peter considered their job done. "If you guys keep this up, I'm not paying for the pizza anymore."
An hour later...
"Maybe that rat over there can tell us the right place," Mary Jane gestures to the dead rodent on the corner.
"I don't understand," Harry said, frowning down at his phone. Then looking up at the building infront of them. "It says here we're on the right place."
The trio stood across a building of what's supposed to be the place for Harry's greatest pizza of all time. But instead they found a closed run down building with mice all over the place.
Peter rubs his head and sighs. "Okay, Harry, the place clearly isn't here – what do you say we hop back on the ferry and get some actual Manhattan pizza?"
"Aha," Harry said, still scrolling through his phone. "I found it! They moved locations. The new place is…" He looked up, guilt clear as day on his face. "Uhh…"
"Harry, I swear to God," Peter groans. "If you tell me we're going to New Jersey—"
"It's just on the other side of the island!" Harry said. "It'll take us another two hours though, if we take a bus but—" He squinted down at the screen.
"Okay, that's it," Peter grabs Harry's shoulder. "Let's just go, Harry. This is a waste of time. I've got a chemistry paper I really need to finish. Not to mention I still have my thesis on neurotechnology to work on."
"Oh, come on! How many more days are we going to have like this?" Harry said. "Where we can just take off, searching for pizza? Just the three of us, together?"
"But we're graduating in a few months," Peter argued, feeling his shoulders start to slump. Forget the pizza adventures, he had no idea how he was going to balance Spider-Man with the rest of his life going forward, once he left ESU's halls for good. It had taken him so long to hit a rhythm – school, Spider-Man, friends, family, - and now he was about to hit the reset button on that precarious spider's web all over again.
"Exactly, Pete." Harry persisted. "Because we're going to be graduating. When the adult life hits us, there might not be a next adventure for the three of us."
Peter tilted his head back, staring up at the sky as he sighed. "I don't know…"
Mary Jane slips her hand to his and pleads. "Harry's right, Peter. I mean, we have come all this way. What's the harm in going a little further?"
"I hate it when you make sense," Peter forced a smile. "Okay, lead on, Harry, but I'm warning you, this better be the worth the trouble."
"This is, without a doubt, and I want you to know that I have never meant anything more in my life..." Peter says, looking Harry dead in the eye, "...the worst pizza I have ever put in my mouth."
When the food arrived arrive at the table, it made the three of them jump back. The cheese smelled really bad, the sauce looked like it was made a month ago, and the meat on the pizza didn't look like any regular meat they have seen before. Peter and MJ exchanged nervous glances but Harry dove right in like it was nothing. Peter decides to give it a try, following the 'don't-judge-a-book-by-it's-cover-rule, but ended up regretting it after taking a bite.
"It can't be that bad," Mary Jane cringes as he warily pokes at the slice on her plate like it might come alive at any second.
"Take another bite and say that to my face," Peter challenged her as he tries to swallow his first bite. Mary Jane hesitated mid-poke when she saw Peter face turn greenish.
"On second thought," she pushes her plate away. "I'm not really that hungry."
"It's not that bad," Harry bravely says, clearly trying to scrape the cheese that was both gummy and cold off the roof of his mouth with his tongue while he talked. "Do you remember those little oven pizzas Pete's uncle Ben used to make for us when we were in middle school?"
"Oh, no, you do not get to make me eat the worst pizza in the world and then bring my uncle's good name into this," Peter declares, then he felt his stomach churn from the bad food, making him double over. MJ rubs Peter's back in support.
"Yeah, Harry, I have to side with Pete on this one," She said, leaning into Peter. She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, squeezing. "Those were bad, but atleast they were edible. This however..." She gives another glance at the pizza on her plate and shudders.
"Maybe this is the reason why they moved." Peter said. He felt queasy and he wanted to hurl. "Actually, scratch that. This place should be shut down."
The burly man behind the counter glared at him, but only because he knew it was the truth.
"Say it, Harry," Peter said. "I want you to say it. Say this is the worst thing you've ever put in your mouth."
"MJ dared me to eat a mealworm during that one time in summer camp," Harry protested. "This is better than that!"
Peter glares at him.
"A little better than that," Harry admitted.
"Just admit it, Har." Peter pushes him, "The taste of defeat is better than that."
Harry finally drops his fork, and grins at his two best friends. "You know you guys, when you look back on this moment, years from now, that's how I want you to remember me: not as Harry Osborn, handsome devil and your best friend, but as the guy you ate the worst pizza in New York with."
"Oh, please," Peter rolls his eyes. "Knowing you. You'll probably drag us on another pointless trip to find the best burgers or something."
"That'd be nice," Harry said, smile softening as he looked at him. "I'd like that."
"Alright," Peter said, slowly getting up from the table while clutching his stomach. "Let's go home. I'm pretty sure we've already reached the quota of having bad lucks for the day."
Another hour later...
"I mean," Harry laughs sheepishly, "What were the odds that the second bus would break down too?"
"Don't even talk about it," Peter said, pillowing his cheek on Mary Jane's hair as she slept on his shoulder. "Please zip your lips and enjoy the ride."
They were on the last ferry back to Manhattan, and the clock says it was already past ten. With Peter's luck, the way their night was going, the ferry would probably run into a stray iceberg. It was a miracle they'd even made the ferry after the two broken down busses, the one local that had gotten stuck in traffic, and the cab driver who'd shown up had a pet pig on the front seat, saying he just needed to make a quick stop at the vet's.
"Web-swinging," Peter thought. Probably should've used that instead.
"It's sad that we ended on a sour note." Peter comments. "I can't believe we went on a ten hour odyssey just for burnt toast and cold American cheese."
"Atleast we got to hang out, again." Harry looked at the bright side. "And we had fun, anyway. Isn't that what May used to tell us? No matter how terrible the journey is, as long as you're with your loved ones, it's still worth it."
Peter ponders for a bit then exhales deeply. "I suppose."
For a long moment, everything was quiet— there was just the noise of some other passenger behind them talking on his cellphone, the sound of the water, Mary Jane's soft snores and Harry's breathing. Peter could let himself be lulled into a false sense of security this way, staring out as Manhattan's skyscrapers got closer and closer. From all the way out here it looked like a storybook city, something out of a movie, where there were never any crime bosses or supervillains, and maybe no Spider-Man either, and nothing ever went wrong.
It was a nice thought, for as long as it ever lasted.
"Look at all the lights," Harry said drowsily, burying his head further in the backrest. He kept his gaze on the harbor outside his window. "Isn't it beautiful, Pete?"
Usually, when Peter looked at Manhattan's skyline as a from the normal perspective of a civilian. All he could think about was that people had no idea what they were missing.
He'd had every view of it a person could ever hope for— up, down, and sideways, bird's eye and even subway rat's. Not to mention that there was nothing like the thrill of zipping between buildings at night, the lights of Times Square whirling by and giving way to grand architecture. The full body experience of throwing himself off the Empire State Building with the wind whipping by, a wild ride that came to an abrupt stop with a flick of his wrist. A dance between him and the city.
But right now, with Harry beside him and MJ pressed up against his side, his hand caught up in both of hers, Peter thought this was the best view of the city he's had in a while.
"You know what," he said when Harry finally fell asleep. "It was pretty good pizza, Harry."
Author's Note: I wish we would see more of Harry in the sequel. I'm excited to see what he'll be doing.
(Not been proofread)
Thanks for reading!