"You feel good about this exam?"
"Very good," Gwen replied, putting away her books as well. "Oh, if you have a minute, I'd like to show you some stuff and get your input on something for the wedding?"
"Of course," Peter assured her. Gwen then eagerly took out her binder she'd been carrying everywhere since the day they got engaged; if any ideas came to mind or she simply got the chance to plan anything, she'd always had it on her person to jot something down. Peter had to admire her ability to keep things neat and organized, since he was about the farthest thing from the term.
"Okay," Gwen said, flipping instantly to the right page due to the category markers on each section. "I've been looking at some different flower ideas for decorating the arch that we'll be getting some of our pictures at afterwards, and I was wondering which you liked better for decorating it with: lilies, roses, or peonies?"
"Do you have a preference?" Peter asked. Gwen's face seemed to fall a little, which didn't go unnoticed by him.
"I mean, I did like the lilies personally, but I wanted to see if you had a thought," she explained.
"Well, if you like lilies, then I think that's what we should use," Peter reasoned. Gwen glanced away, nodding.
"Alright," she said, her tone almost somber.
"Hey, is something wrong?" Peter questioned.
Gwen let out a sigh before looking him in the eye once more.
"It's just that, well, everything I seem to ask you about in regard to the wedding, you just defer to me," she explained.
"I mean, I thought you would appreciate that," Peter reasoned, admittedly a little confused by her complaint.
"It's just... it makes me feel like you don't really care, or you're not as invested as I am," Gwen confessed. "I know, it's a ridiculous thing to think, and I know that you love me and that you'll do your part in terms of helping set up when the time comes, but... I don't know, I guess I just don't understand why you're not as invested in this stage of things as I am?"
Peter sighed, taking his fiancé's hand in his own.
"Gwen, I love you," he said, "and I want this day to be perfect for you. I know you've had a lot of things in mind and wanted them to be a certain way on our big day, and honestly, I don't mind that. I'm happy to defer to your preferences, because I know those things will make you even happier on that day. All I need is to meet you at the altar, look at you in your beautiful dress, and say the all-important words that will unite us as husband and wife. So, I guess in that sense, you're right: I don't really care too much about what decorations we use or what color certain things are; the only thing that matters at all to me about our wedding day will be that I'm marrying the woman who's better than anything I ever dreamed of. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad or gave the wrong impression; I just want you to be able to choose the things that are important to you."
Gwen smiled before rising slightly, leaning across the table and planting a kiss on his lips.
"The most important thing to me by far is that I'm marrying the man of my dreams," she said, "and I'm sorry if any part of this made you feel otherwise. I guess I just need to understand that we're approaching this a little differently."
"And if you want me to be more involved, I'm more than happy to do so," Peter said. "It is a lot to plan."
"Well, how about we just take it step by step, and go from there?" Gwen suggested.
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Peter concurred. His attention was then drawn away from her as he observed Harry walking past them without so much as saying a word, heading for the exit.
"I'm going to try and catch up to him really quick," Peter said, already getting up. "See you later?"
"Yeah," Gwen nodded, concern for their friend evident on her face as well. Throwing his backpack over his shoulder, he hurried to meet his friend, who had just made his way outside.
"Hey Harry, wait up!"
His friend didn't even glance back at him even as Peter caught up to him, coming alongside him.
"Hey man, you doing alright?" he asked. "You walked past Gwen and I a second ago without saying a word."
"Oh, sorry man," Harry said. "I guess... I guess I just have something on my mind."
"Well, you know I'm here for you," Peter suggested, "if you ever want to talk?"
"Thanks, Pete, but I'm good," Harry said. "I'll catch you later."
From there, Harry then broke into a run, which surprised Peter greatly, as the younger Osborn tended not to move that fast for almost any reason as long as he'd known him. Frankly, Peter's friend had been seeming off the whole few weeks that they'd been back since the semester started, and he was starting to get concerned.
Opting to try and shake it off for now, Peter thought that maybe a good evening swing through the city would do him some good.
Unfortunately, no level of adrenaline from flying through the concrete jungle of Manhattan could shake Peter's concerns for Harry. It didn't help either that the city was quiet, so quiet even that he told Ben not to bother with joining him on patrol tonight unless he just really wanted the exercise. Normally, Peter would be happy about such an evening, albeit leery regarding something particularly explosive happening in the near future to make up the difference. Tonight, though, all this served to do was to keep his mind trained on what he was trying to get off.
Landing on a ledge, Peter then spotted what looked like a wonderful spot and began forming a good-sized web hammock, eventually letting himself fall and plop right onto it. If adrenaline-inducing thrills weren't going to do the trick, maybe a little relaxing would, so Peter tucked his arms behind his head, crossing his right leg over his left as he tried to make himself comfortable. Soon, he was feeling good and, under normal circumstances, might even end up dozing off. Tonight, however, it just ended up being more of the same: he was still worried about Harry, but he was just more physically comfortable while doing so.
Pulling out his phone, he dialed Gwen, who answered after about a ring and a half.
"Hey," she greeted. "What's up?"
"Oh, not much," he said. "The city's quiet tonight, almost too much so."
"Let me guess, you're still thinking about Harry?" she questioned.
"Yeah," Peter conceded. "I just wish I knew what was going on with him; I offered to talk if he wanted to, but he just hurried off."
"I actually ran into Flash after you left, and he's concerned about Harry too," Gwen reported. "He's even worried that he might be on drugs or something."
"Harry Osborn on drugs?" Peter questioned. "Sounds a bit out there; for coming from a family that could probably get them pretty easily, he's always seemed to stay away from stuff like that from what I could tell."
"I mean, you're secretly a superhero who goes and fights crime," Gwen said. "Some people are just good at keeping secrets."
"Touche," Peter conceded. "It's just... I don't know, maybe. I just really need to be paying attention more."
"I know what you mean," his fiancé concurred. "Between getting stuff ready for the wedding, figuring out the next stage of my education as well as what the whole getting a job thing is going to look like for both of us after graduation, I feel like I've hardly been paying anybody else any mind. We really need to do a better job of being aware of what's going on around us."
"You know, what you said just gave me a thought," Peter replied. "You and I know or at least have a good sense of what we want to do in life, even Flash has his mind set on a career, but at least from what I can remember, Harry still doesn't talk much about his future plans."
"You're right," Gwen said, seemingly realizing the same thing. "We are in the back half of our senior year too, so that's only going to be elevating his stress through the roof!"
"I know," Peter said. "You know, I think I'll call him, see if he wants to hang out after class or something. Even if he doesn't feel like talking still, hopefully it'll at least help him get his mind off whatever it is that's bothering him."
"That's a great idea!" Gwen said.
"Thanks, I do have them on occasion, I guess," Peter replied teasingly. "Love you."
"Love you too, and don't discredit yourself like that," Gwen replied.
Hanging up, Peter then found Harry's contact, dialing the number. It rang and rang, eventually going to voicemail.
"Hey man," Peter began, "I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out tomorrow after class? We could see a movie, grab something to eat, whatever you want I guess; I didn't have anything in mind. Just text me if you come up with any real ideas. Alright man, later."
"You never heard from him?" Gwen questioned.
"Yeah," Peter confirmed. "I didn't see him in class either, which isn't the most unlike him, I guess, but it's still adding up too much to feel like a coincidence."
"Maybe we should get Flash and try and see if we can visit him at the mansion?" Gwen suggested.
"Sounds like as good a plan as any," Peter said. "If nothing else, maybe this will give us some peace of mind."
They then went and found Flash on the west side of campus, and as Peter had expected, their friend was more than willing to tag along. They rode the bus all the way out to the far end of the city, where the Osborn estate seemed to hide from the rest of the world. They all made the long walk through the path in the yard all the way up to the front door, where Peter gave multiple knocks. Eventually, one of the hired hands opened the door, the one Peter recognized as Bernard.
"Oh, hello there," the man said. "If you're here to see Master Harry, I'm afraid that he's not feeling too well today."
"Oh, okay," Peter said. "Can you at least tell us what's wrong? We've just been concerned about him lately and were hoping to check in and make sure he's okay."
"All I can tell you is that Master Harry is unwell," he said. "I'm truly sorry, but..."
The older man then glanced back before leaning out the door a little more, his tone lower and quieter as he spoke up again:
"But I'm afraid Master Osborn is refusing any visitors right now."
Suddenly, Flash then busted through the other door.
"Flash!" Peter exclaimed in a hushed tone. "What are you doing?"
"That man has never had Harry's been interest at heart!" Flash asserted. "I'm going to check on Harry myself!"
Despite the attempts of Bernard to stop him and Peter and Gwen's attempts to talk him out of it, Flash was persistent, and eventually, they all noticed a nurse walk into a room, causing them to stop. This time, all three of the students ran towards the room, turning the corner and discovering Harry lying on a hospital bed within the room, his body hooked up to a heart monitor and seemingly countless other machines.
"What... what happened?" Peter muttered.
"BERNARD!" came a loud voice. Peter and others came back out into the hallway just as Norman Osborn began chewing out the older man for letting them in.
"What happened to Harry?" Flash questioned, getting right up in Norman's face. "Tell us!" Norman shoved him away, calling for security over a radio he had. Flash tried to get back up and confront him again, but this time Peter pulled him away, trying a different approach.
"Mr. Osborn, we're so sorry for barging in like this. We've simply been worried about Harry for a while now, and we were hoping to check in and see if he's okay. Please, we're his friends; we just want to know what happ..."
"His friends?" Norman questioned. "Ha, some friends you are! You all probably just stood idly by while my son got hooked on drugs; better yet, I'll bet you're the reason he's on them in the first place!"
Flash threatened to get violent again, but Peter once more held him back, hoping that he wasn't giving himself away too much by using more strength than he was used to showing right now.
"We didn't know that Harry was using anything," Peter asserted. "All we want is to help in any way we can."
"You all can help by getting out of my home and letting the doctors do their job," Norman growled angrily, "and if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I'll make sure each and every one of you suffer for it!"
Security then arrived, with the three promptly getting escorted out.
"Man, can you believe that blowhard!?" Flash questioned. "I can't believe Harry's put up with having that guy for a father all these years!"
"He's probably just concerned for Harry, Flash," Gwen suggested. "He's just showing it in a really rough way. Let's just try and cut him some slack, alright?"
The three then left the estate, riding the bus together. They didn't speak much more about the matter along the way, doing their best to honor Norman's wishes. It was likely mostly to maintain what good PR he had, but still, if it kept Harry from receiving too much undo attention and aided in his recovery from what they were all guessing was an overdose, then they were all for it.
However, that wasn't the only concern brewing in Peter's mind, and once Flash left them, Gwen asked him about it.
"It's Norman," he said. "It all seemed to work out for the best when that shock seemed to make him forget his green and purple alter ego, but..."
"You think that the stress of what's going on with Harry might lead to another psychotic break for him?" Gwen questioned.
"Maybe," Peter said. "I don't know; I hope not, but let's just say that I intend to keep an eye on more than one Osborn for a while."
Chapters coming every day until the end! I think we will wrap up on 28 if I've labeled them correctly. Thank you all for the support, and I hope you're enjoying it still!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." Acts 20:24