𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐓, p. parker

xv. it's you

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғɪғᴛᴇᴇɴ ── ɪᴛ's ʏᴏᴜ

HARRY OSBORNE AND Peter Parker are strange friends, having known each other for most of their lives as they spent their childhood running around multi million laboratories with their parents that somehow lasted through the years.

When Peter's parents died, it seems as though it was only Harry who understood him and his grief, having lost his own mother. The two of them found a safe space in each other, providing solace without asking for anything in return. Friendship forged through hardships and grief. Two lost children who felt as though they were drowning but found comfort in the fact that they're drowning together.

Even as years pass and Harry moves away, their bond remains the same. Harry would do anything for Peter, the brother he never had, a semblance of family he missed in his childhood.

And of course, he's heard of Francesca Strange. Years and years of pining over the phone to the point that it feels as though his ears are about to bleed out, it's impossible to not know Frankie.

"Come on, man," he groaned, what seems to be the entirety of Peter's weight on him as he dragged the boy from the elevator and through the hallway. "Do you want to get her back or not?"

Peter looks like a child as he pouts, face red and unable to form complete sentences. Peter Parker, seemingly, has a big stamina for drinking – a surprise to Harry as he never thought his nerdy best friend would be such a pro drinker enough to develop a stamina for it – but he'd practically drank the entire entire bar down to the point that Harry had to drag him away.

As the drinks kept coming and Peter kept becoming drunker and drunker, his lips became looser, telling Harry all about Frankie and staying the night in her room all the way to kissing her during prom and her brother's death right after. He ranted about how much he missed her. Harry doesn't know why Peter needs to stay away "for her safety" or why Frankie's brother made him promise to but he does know that as Peter's best friend, it's his job to push him to fix things and not throw away what they had.

And maybe he isn't the best person Peter should be taking advice right now as he, too, is completely drunk out of his mind which was probably why he decided that Peter needs to get Frankie back right now. It may be five in the morning, the sun just about to set but Peter's need to be reunited with the love of his life is priority.

Harry reached forward to ring her doorbell, Peter's head on his shoulder. When no response came, Peter ringed it again and Bella's barking can be heard from inside the apartment. The two of them shared innocent, bewildered looks as they heard movement – feet padding against hardwood floor before the door swung open revealing Frankie Strange, hair a mess, eyes puffy from sleep and wearing a much too big Columbia University sweatshirt.

Frankie eyed them between heavy lidded eyes, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion at the sight of them. "W–what?"

"Frankie," Peter said, voice slurring together as he moved away from Harry, throwing himself on the floor till he's kneeling before her. "I'm so sorry."

Frankie, still confused and brain working much slower than usual after her sleep was interrupted, watched as tears began falling from Peter's eyes, taking note of his red face and messy hair. She turned to Harry, who looks a little more sober than Peter does. "What's going on? Are you both drunk?"

Harry grinned childishly. He may be a little bit more sober than Peter but he's still pretty effing drunk. He looks like he's just cured cancer. "He's here to beg for your forgiveness."