Chapter Text
The nightmares subsided.
After coming out to the entire team and being greeted with nothing but joy and acceptance, there was no way for Harley’s mind to twist it around any longer. He would no longer see images of pain and suffering for loving whom he chooses.
He had Peter in his corner every second of every day. And he knew that, God forbid anything happen, the Avengers would be there to back him up.
Harley and Peter were as strong as ever. Their unbreakable bond had only strengthened since they came out. Harley had been the one to say it out loud, but in a way it had been Peter’s coming out, too. Only Wanda had known, so Peter had expected her to be supportive of Harley as well, but the rest of the team was a little more stressful. It couldn’t have gone more beautifully, though. It was a great memory that he would treasure. The day he and his boyfriend came out of the closet, into the warmth, care, and joy that the Avengers had to give.
When they went back to school the following week, they were greeted by their friends.
Ned caught sight of them walking towards Peter’s locker and he immediately shouted. “Hey! MJ, look, they’re back!”
The boy practically sprinted across the hallway to meet his best friend. He crashed into Peter, having misjudged the distance that separated them. A cascade of laughter erupted from Harley, seeing his boyfriend get tackled to the floor by his friend. MJ chuckled lightly from where Ned had come from, having walked at a more leisurely pace than the other teen.
She smiled kindly at Harley. “Hey, new kid. How’s it going?”
“It’s going. How ‘bout y’all?” Harley responded, a smile tugging at his lips at Peter and Ned trying to untangle themselves.
“As you can see, I’ve had to deal with a lot while you were gone,” MJ quipped, signalling towards Ned, who had just gotten up and was wiping the grime of the floor off his pants and shirt.
“Hey, I’ve been fine!” Ned insisted. “I’ve just been a little worried.”
“Just a little?” Peter asked, still recovering from his impromptu trip to the floor.
“You guys disappeared out of nowhere for, like, a week!” Ned exclaimed. “I had a right to be worried.”
Peter put his things into his locker, grabbing the few textbooks he’d need for their calculus class. They moved towards Harley’s locker, Peter and the teen intertwining their fingers on the way, earning a few hushed comments from Ned and MJ to the other.
As they stopped at Harley’s locker to do the same as Peter had, MJ took the opportunity to poke the bear.
“When did that happen?” she asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.
“When did what happen?” Peter retorted, genuinely confused.
MJ shared a look with Ned, who was beaming over-excitedly. “Since when are you two together?”
There was no hiding Peter’s blushing cheeks, so he did his best to stare at the floor. Harley merely smiled into his locker, already being hidden by the small metal door. He figured he had already come out to a dozen people and they had all been supportive. These weren’t just your everyday people, either, they were superheroes. Harley could be fully out and he’d have support 24/7 from the Avengers. He had no reason to hide it anymore. He had no fear.
“Last Sunday,” Harley answered, closing his locker. “We’ve been together since the 22nd.”
Peter looked up from the floor at his boyfriend. That was the first time he’d openly admitted it. He hadn’t so much as hesitated. He had just said, out loud, to two people at once, without needing any coaxing whatsoever, that they were in a relationship.
His heart felt light, his smile was genuine, and Peter could’ve sworn he’d never been so happy in his entire life. Tony Stark being in his living room? Yeah, that’s cool. But he had Harley Keener calling him his boyfriend without a single trace of anything but love and contentment.
Their smiles and joy didn’t last forever.
“What’s up, dickwad?” Flash called across the hallway. “You got yourself a boyfriend, now?” he said, taunting them.
Peter merely looked towards Harley, giving him a questioning look. The other boy smirked back, a response to the mental conversation they were having through gazes and eyebrow quirks. He turned back to his bully, grinning far wider than he should’ve been.
“Yeah, he is,” Peter admitted, grabbing Harley’s hand. “Where’s yours?”
Flash didn’t have a retort to that. He could only mutter and sputter, unable to say anything but stare at the teenagers who wouldn’t let go of each other’s hand, and who were so comfortable now, when they certainly hadn’t been just a few days ago.
The boys now had their own lab.
Tony had ultimately gotten tired (oh so tired) of seeing them be cute-sy and teenager-y all the time. They spent most of their time just flirting, and it was far too annoying for him to handle.
A couple hours of them going back and forth saying “No, you close the schematics!” was sickening for every party involved. After hour 2 even FRIDAY stopped recording. Despite it being against Tony’s rules to stop the security footage, no one would ever need to sit through that horror for longer than 120 minutes.
Their new, private lab was way better than Tony’s one. It was new, so fresh furniture, fresh gadgets, more tech and their personalized design. There was 3 minifridges scattered across their lab at a semi-regular interval, allowing them to have access to RedBull and Monster at the location most convenient to pull all-nighters. Also, it wasn’t like every other run-of-the-mill lab in the Tower. Seeing as Peter had designed it, alongside his boyfriend, they had picked colors other than Black, Cool Grey and White. Their walls had splashes of red, here and there, a tribute to their mentor and his signature color. The ceiling was a royal blue, pairing well with the red of the walls to represent Spider-Man, and also being chosen for the ceiling, seeing as that’s where he always hung out. Their lab was also the first to only have one digital worktable inside. They knew that having multiple would just be expensive and useless, so they opted for a single worktable, but a couple dozen smart screens littering the walls to allow them both a view of everything they’d want.
Happy, on the other hand, was more ambivalent. He was so grateful that they finally shut up on their rides to and from school. Peter had always been so incredibly chatty. Even on a Monday morning, when everyone feels like they’re dying and just want to sleep, Peter is up and at ‘em, ready to start his day and talk your ear off until it physically falls! However, the first time the car had been entirely quiet on their ride back from Midtown, he was not prepared for what he saw in the rearview mirror.
Happy was supportive of them, right? He totally thought they deserved all their rights, and just as much happiness as the next person. That did not mean that he wanted to see them sucking face in the back of his car. And it wasn’t just a peck, it was a full-blown make out session that he really would’ve rather not witness.
“We are so late.”
“We’re just fashionably late, hun, don’t worry about it.”
“Natasha is terrifying. I always worry about being late.”
“Come on, Harls, it’s not the first time we’ve done this.”
Peter finished doing his hair, combing it to be just right. The prince charming look he’d achieved was Harley’s favorite, and he was most definitely going to keep it until prom.
“Darlin’, as much as I love you, if we don’t get going right now, Maria is going to track you down and have FRIDAY revoke your elevator privileges,” Harley threatened, desperate to make it on time.
“Okay, okay,” Peter said, holding his hands up in a placating manner. “I’m done, we’re going.”
They grabbed their coats and left the Tower, headed across the street to the little cafe they went to bi-monthly. The other 4 people in their group were already seated at their usual table, so they had no trouble finding where they were already meant to be.
“Sorry we’re late, he had to fix his hair,” Harley announced, pulling Peter’s chair for him to sit.
“Yeah, I did ,” Peter mocked, confirming what his partner was saying, but teasing him simultaneously.
Maria only chuckled, remembering what it was like to date when she was as young as the boys were. Nat felt light, happy that their little family had reunions like this where they could all just be together and be free. Sam and Bucky shared glances and a grin, knowing they were more of the teasing and mocking type than the pull-out-your-partner’s-chair-and-kiss-them-on-the-hand type.
“Well, let’s get this show on the road!” Sam proclaimed, waving down a waitress to come take their danish and coffee orders.
It was the same as usual; every other week the 6 of them, Maria, Natasha, Sam, Bucky, Harley and Peter, would have a triple-date at the cafe in front of the Tower. Not only did it give them a chance to gossip about the other members of the Team, and the staff at the Tower, but it also gave them a perfect excuse to eat tons and tons of pastries.
None of the other Avengers knew, officially. There was no telling what they had deduced, but no one had been told about their get-togethers. It was their tradition, and it didn’t need to be advertised to be special. It was important to them, and no matter how late Peter made them arrive, it would always be a lovely part of their lives.
They got back from their triple-date and stopped by their lab on the way to the penthouse.
Peter longed to stay at the Tower more often, so he had agreed with May to stay over every other week. It was sad whenever he wasn’t with Harley, but he saw the boy at school, so he was never truly away from him. He cherished his moments with May, making them that much more special.
Peter waited by the elevator while Harley wandered around, looking for an assignment he’d misplaced.
“Which one is it you’re looking for?” Peter asked, pushing himself off the wall.
“Math homework,” Harley answered distractedly, searching high and low on the myriad of tables, counters and cupboards.
“I know that, love, I meant which specific assignment,” Peter chuckled.
“Oh, just, uh- The one about, y’know geometry?” Harley rambled, not knowing what he was saying himself.
“Geometry?” Peter echoed standing near his boyfriend, pulling the latter’s attention towards him.
“Yeah,” Harley confirmed.
“When’s the last time you saw it?” Peter asked, thinking about retracing their steps since then to find the missing assignment.
“Last night, hun. We were doing our homework and then Tony came in so we stopped, and all.”
“Right,” Peter agreed, a small smile already forming on his lips. “Then, let’s sit down and pretend to do homework.”
Peter did so, choosing the spot he had picked the previous night and pretending to write in mid-air. Harley imitated his partner, sitting down nearby, where he had before.
“Okay, and then Tony came in, talked to us, and when he left we started playing music,” Peter explained, his smile growing. “Fri, cue the music.”
She started up the playlist that had been playing almost 24 hours before exactly, already catching on to what the boys were doing.
Peter slowly got up and grabbed his boyfriend’s hand. He pulled Harley to his feet, stringing him along to the middle of the room.
“May I have this dance?” he asked, bowing slightly.
“Always, my dear,” Harley responded, pulling Peter into a tighter embrace.
They danced to the music, swaying side to side and twirling the other around every now and again. They didn’t have a single worry, aside from keeping the other from spinning out of control, or falling asleep on their shoulder. They had love in their hearts, enough to go around the world twice and still keep going.
They spun around the room a few dozen times, spending almost an hour just taking in their love for one another. Peter finally had to admit something on their 20-something loop.
“I know where your assignment is,” he whispered.
“Hmm?”
“I took it to correct my answers,” Peter continued. “It’s in my room.”
“That’s nice,” Harley responded, not interested in the slightest about what had gotten them here in the first place.
They were just wrapped in each other’s arms, holding on tightly to one another, sharing their love openly, freely.
Harley looked down into the brown eyes he called his,
and he knew he was following his path.