Hunted [1]

~ Fourteen ~

Immediately after Ned had said that, Peter had questioned him, attacking him with words.

He needed to know when Harry was coming - why he was coming. He needed to know how on earth Ned knew. He needed to know what to do, where Harry was going to be.

He needed to know everything.

After Ned had been fully grilled -

"Pete, all that I know is that people at school have been saying he's going to come back. Someone eavesdropped on Norman Osborn and found out that Harry's coming back. I don't remember much more than that."

- and Peter had found out all the information he could -

"I think he's coming back to the school the day after he gets back, we should be able to see him there. And Pete? Just wear your normal clothes. He's not going to expect you to be in some fancy getup for him, is he?"

- he spent some more time with Ned at his house, talking about LEGOs, Star Wars, and other things.

But his mind kept drifting back to Harry.

How could Norman have called him back? He could have sworn he had put him in a high security prison a while ago because of the Green Goblin... situation.

In fact, he specifically remembered telling the police to not let him out until he was back to his usual self and stable again.

Because, in all honesty, Peter knew that when Norman became the Green Goblin, he didn't change. He was always like that, he just didn't show it in public.

Harry has told him how it went. He'd go home, if Peter was with him he'd get a hug and a small kiss on the top of his head.

If Peter wasn't with him, however... It was worse.

Harry got home, ignored by his father. He'd sit down for dinner, and Norman wouldn't show up. When Harry asked him questions, he'd reply with, "Not now, son, I'm busy."

Two-faced, Harry had called him.

Quite literally now, Peter supposed.

He wondered... Did Harry know about his father turning into the Green Goblin? Had he kept up with the New York news? The Daily Bugle wasn't really reliable (Peter just didn't like the hate against his alter ego), but surely he would've known what was going on.

Right?

Maybe he didn't keep in touch with the entire city.

After all, Harry had promised to keep in touch with him and Ned, and since he or Ned didn't own a phone (Peter was too poor and Ned's mother claimed that he was too young), he said he'd write them letters.

He wrote two. For them each.

Then one day, after two weeks (one letter a week) he'd stopped replying.

Peter and Ned has started getting worried. Their words were even more scrambled than usual, and they felt that maybe Harry didn't write because they could hardly understand them.

In the end, they settled with short letters, as they figured that maybe Harry hadn't been able to read the past ones and that's why he couldn't answer them.

Dear Harry,

How are you? Please answer. We haven't spoken to you forever. You promised to stay in contact!

Hopefully you'll answer soon.

Bye! Peter.

P. S. This is Ned. Peter didn't tell me he was writing (that was also really short, which is bad for you, but eh, as long as you answer this time). See you soon, maybe! Ned.