A/N: Hey have you guys seen the new Spider-Man cartoon? The animation is pretty awful – as in eyes floating across faces and shit – but the central focus is apparently on Harry + Peter's friendship (so… PARKSBORN CITY EYYYYY). AND NORMAN IS AWFUL (sort of?). I like the art style – it kind of reminds me of Voltron? Only much less polished, I guess. Still, 3 eps in and I'm loving the Parksborn.

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Chapter 4

Harry doesn't want to admit it, but he's starting to think that M.J.'s obsessive Spider-Man blogging is understandable. He certainly hadn't wanted to become one of those people, but after a week of whimsical nights spent out on the balcony in the hopes that he'd spot the wall-crawler, he's starting to realise that he may, in fact, have a problem.

Not to mention that the dingy little bobblehead that Spider-Man gave him is currently sitting pretty on Harry's bedside table, and he can't bring himself to move it or throw it away.

Oh no.

Oh, god no.

He's a Spider-Man fan.

Harry is glad that the university library is open all hours. Sometimes Norman was just too unbearable… of course, sneaking out had been no mean feat. Gosh, Harry wasn't sure why his father was being so goddamned militant lately. Why should he start caring now about where Harry went? It was just plain weird.

And this way, he could do some work and even start mapping out potential 'Spider-Man Hot-Spot' locations. M.J. had kindly provided him with many hot-spots of Spider-Man activity, some of them she had discovered herself, and some from the Spider-Man fan community online. In just Queens alone, there were hundreds and hundreds of Spider-Man fans, all colluding and throwing out theories and telling stories of their own Spider-Man experiences.

It was sort of cool, Harry couldn't deny that. However, why were these people so obsessed with Spider-Man when superior heroes like Captain America and Iron-Man were flying about? Now they were superheroes.

…sure, Spider-Man was okay, friendly, maybe even nice-

Goddamnit. He was doing it again.

Being a Spider-Man fan- ahhh… follower? Wait, that still sounded creepy… ughh.

He probably shouldn't have sounded so eager when he'd gone and asked M.J. if she needed any more help on her blog. Then he wouldn't be in this mess…

"Little late to be out, isn't it?"

Still fighting off sleep, Harry jumps violently at the sound of the voice, spilling his coffee over himself. Thankfully, it is only warm. He lets out a mournful cry nonetheless. Coffee was not cheap. Even for an Osborn.

"Fuck!"

"Oh, shit. Sorry."

It's Spider-Man. Again.

Harry blinked, fighting the urge to pinch himself. What on earth was Spider-Man doing in the university library at this godforsaken hour? It made no sense! Maybe he was studying too… but in his superhero costume? Yikes. What was going on?

"Spider-Man? What the hell? Are you stalking me now?"

Spider-Man somehow looks affronted, "No! I also happen to enjoy perusing the library at god-awful hours of the morning, if you must know!"

"You owe me a new coffee-"

"That's fair,"

"-and after that you leave me alone." Harry finished, pulling off his ruined jumper. He could easily afford a new one, but it was the principle of it all. Having coffee thrown all over you was not pleasant.

"Aw, c'mon! I consider us friends! Can't I see my friend?"

"You don't even know me!" Harry said incredulously, "And don't say you've read about me in the magazines! I've heard that bullshit before, believe it or not!"

Spider-Man laughed, "I'm sure you have! Was it one of those Spanish models?"

"Leave Enrique out of – wait, have you been keeping track of me?"

"Enrique doesn't deserve your attention." Spider-Man said loudly, hand placed over his heart dramatically; "José was just so much better, yanno?"

Harry's face turned red. What the hell? Why did Spider-Man know about all that?

"Forget it. I haven't talked to either of them in ages."

Suddenly, Spider-Man sat up straighter in his seat. Harry couldn't decipher his expressions with the mask on, so could only interpret such a reaction as alarm.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, suddenly nervous. He'd read about Spider-Man's 'spider-sense' in M.J.'s forums, a sort of sixth-sense that went off when danger was nearby. Had Spider-Man sensed something…?

"Oh, nothing." Spider-Man said, voice sounding more cheerful than usual. If that was even possible. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Trying to get some work done, and maybe help M.J. with her Spidey-tracking." Harry explained, pulling out the hot-spot map, "You know, there's an entire online community of people who love to take pictures of you and just report about your activities? Anyway, M.J. wants me to take pictures at some of these locations."

Spider-Man stared at the map, seemingly thoughtful.

It must have been strange, Harry thought, to have all your movements so heavily monitored and reported about. Sort of like Harry's own experience with the paparazzi. But then again, Spider-Man seemed the type to be very invested in keeping his identity a secret, so this sort of monitoring might seem more an annoyance than anything.

Harry couldn't really blame the man.

"…wow, this is really…"

"Extensive?" Harry laughed, "You should see the actual forums. This is just the 'tip of the iceberg', as it were."

Spider-Man hung his head in his hands, "Yikes, I think I need to be more careful…"

"…bit impossible in New York. Wherever you go, there's going to be bystanders, or someone in the way. I'm just surprised collateral-damage has been so low for you. Not like those big-shot heroes like Cap. Collateral damage seems to dog his footsteps wherever he goes. I mean, you saw Sokovia, right? And D.C.?"

It was true. Harry had seen the statistics on the forums. Somehow, Spider-Man seemed extra careful. Of course, Spider-Man didn't have the reach that Captain America or Iron-Man did, so he saw much less battle. Which made much more sense.

"Oh," Spider-Man seemed surprised; "I thought it would be worse than that… well, I'm glad. Thank you for sharing that with me."

Harry smiled, "No problem."

It's nearly 1AM when Harry finally decides to head home. Surprisingly, Spider-Man had stuck around to help him find books for his essays, and use the web-search for online sources. Harry's heart fluttered in his chest just thinking about it. He knew he was being silly but it had been so long since anyone other than M.J. had payed such close attention to him. It was honestly flattering, and coming from Spider-Man, totally surreal.

Of course, just when Harry was going to pluck up the courage to invite Spider-Man to the twenty-four/seven pancake house just a block away, Norman had to go and ruin it all.

"Harry, I demand you tell me where you are, right now!"

Wincing, Harry pulled the phone away from his ear. He hadn't heard Norman yell before, at least not in the guise of protectiveness, or whatever the hell this was. Possessiveness, maybe? Or worry about whether Harry was shaming the Osborn name, yet again?

"I'm at uni, Dad! What's wrong?"

"Come home this instance! I won't have you wandering about - not at this time of night! It's not safe."

"What?"

Normally, Harry would just obey, but this was just so abnormal, that he couldn't quite believe it. Since when did Norman start caring where he went at night? Hell, Harry had been sneaking out since age ten, and Norman had barely raised an eyebrow. So why on earth would he start caring now, when Harry was on the cusp of adulthood and nearly ready to move out? He wouldn't.

So, this was just straight up crazy. It was as if his father had been replaced by some doppelganger who hadn't quite nailed the 'emotionally distant father' part of Norman's stellar personality. That made more sense than if Norman had just suddenly decided to start caring. Sudden moral realisations just weren't something that happened to Norman.

"You heard me. Now."

"Uhh, okay. Sure. On my way." Harry said, before hanging up the phone. Weird.

"Is everything okay?"

Spider-Man sounds genuinely concerned for him. It's just enough to leave Harry feeling breathless. Why was he being so silly ughh! Gosh, he needed to get out more…

"Uhh, yeah, everything's fine. My dad just wants me home, that's all."

"Did you need a lift?"

"No, thank you. I'll be fine." Harry said, waving him off. Going home with Spider-Man in tow was not a good idea. Norman might never let him leave the house again.

"I insist. Plus, it'll be much quicker than walking."

Harry blinked, suddenly curious, "Oh? What do you mean?"

As it turned out, 'much quicker' meant swinging precariously from tall buildings and praying that you didn't hit anything. Of course, Harry probably should have keyed on when Spider-Man took him to the roof of the university building. Unfortunately, Harry only really got the memo when Spider-Man took him in his arms and launched off the building.

As the wind whistled past him, Harry screamed to high heaven.

Immediately, he clung to the masked hero like a nail to a wall, wrapping his arms around the hero's neck, and his legs around his waist. His voice seemed to run hoarse after the first minute, so he settled for biting the inside of his cheek and refusing to open to his eyes.

No way. No way. He wouldn't look. This had been a terrible, no good, very-bad idea. The absolute worst.

Fuck Spider-Man.

Distantly, he realised that Spider-Man was laughing. At him.

Yeah, fuck Spider-Man.

"I'm going to kill you!" Harry yelled, words all but lost to the wind.

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