If I Could Say I Love You

Second Chapter

When Harley woke up the very next day, he couldn't help but feel nervous and excited. Harley had a plan to ask Peter if he wanted to hang out, and Harley was curious to see what his answer would be. Peter seemed like he didn't know Harley, so maybe Harley could make a friend, or a boyfriend, out of the Stark Industries intern.

Harley walked down the hallway, heading to the busy kitchen. The Avengers were bouncing around getting the food they wanted for breakfast, having conversations with someone across the room. Harley laughed as he jumped into the chaos, darting around to get himself some food.

"Why are you in a good mood?" Sam Wilson, the Falcon, asked Harley eating his waffle. Sam raised an eyebrow as Harley sat down with his own pancakes.

"I just had a good dream," Harley said with a smile. Harley actually didn't remember his dream, but that didn't mean Harley didn't have a good dream. Though the real reason Harley was happy was because he was hoping that he would be making a new friend later that day.

"I don't believe you but I'm sure Natasha will figure it out," Sam said with a shrug, not caring anymore about what was happening to his nephew. Harley just quietly laughed before finishing his pancakes, and bounding down the hall.

***

Peter stuck his tongue out in concentration as he fiddled with the wires in the black framing of a spider. Peter was done with his intern work so he was doing his own personal project in the corner of the room.

Peter was working on a new suit for himself, using the scraps from the other projects he was told to do. Peter was making this suit red and black instead of red and blue, his normal colors. Peter didn't know why he was changing the colors, but it felt right so he wouldn't argue with it. 

Peter looked up to see someone walking towards him, that boy from the other day. Peter slid the project into his backpack, pretending to do homework instead. Peter remembered that his name was Harley.

"Oh, hey, Harley. What are you doing here?" Peter asked with a smile. Peter didn't think he'd see Harley so soon, and how Harley seemed to be seeking him out.

"Hey, Peter, I was wondering if you wanted to work on a project with me. I saw you writing those equations yesterday, and I thought I could get some help from a smart person like you," Harley smiled back, his cheeks going pink.

"What's the project?" Peter asked, curious what the project was and why Harley wanted him to help with it. Peter rarely got asked for his help, most people assuming he wasn't smart enough to help or that he wasn't old enough to help.

"I wanted to build an AI like FRIDAY and JARVIS. Would you be interested in helping?" Harley asked that smile still plastered on his face, his cheeks still in that soft pink color.

"Why not? But I get to name it," Peter said, not knowing how to say no to the hopeful face of Harley. Plus, Peter wanted to make an AI anyways. "Where do you want to work on it? When do you want to?"

"I actually didn't think I'd get this far," Harley said making him and Peter laugh. "But there's a coffee shop across the street from here, we can meet up there after your internship if you don't have anything other engagements at that time." 

"I'll be there," Peter said with a smile, looking down to get back to his homework that he brought to do that day. Harley nodded, waving as he turned away to leave before anyone recognized him.

Harley was smiling ear to ear as he walked back up to the Avengers floor. Harley was glad that the first step of his plan worked, but now it was on to the harder phases. Harley had to figure out a way not to act terribly awkward around Peter. And Harley couldn't let Peter find out about his last name and connections to the Avengers.

And Harley had to make sure that the Avengers and his parents didn't find out about Peter or they would chase Peter away before they could finish their first coffee. And Harley did not want that to happen.

Harley knew that he would have to sneak out to get to the coffee shop, which would be harder than Harley would think. He had to find a way to outsmart FRIDAY, and then avoid all the people that walked around the tower. Harley would go splat on the ground of he tried the window, so that wouldn't work. But maybe Harley could try the vents. Harley grabbed a backpack before he looked around for the vent.

Harley found the vent in his room, prying it open. Harley pulled himself into the vent, ignoring FRIDAY telling him that wasn't safe. Harley looked around, finding the vent pretty roomy and spacious. If Harley could find a way to the elevator, or maybe the bottom floor, this all could actually work.

Harley wandered around, surprised on how large the vents actually were. But Harley accidentally slips, and fall down a shoot that led who knows where. Harley held in his scream as he went down the slide, popping out at the very end like he was just poop.

"What the heck?" Harley said, looking around his surroundings. He was in a dumpster filled with cloths, outside the tower in an alleyway. The sights, sounds, and smells of New York hit Harley dead on, making him gag as he climbed out of the clothing filled dumpster. 

Harley wiped off his clothes, walking into the mass of people heading in every direction and then some. Harley fought through the crowd, walking down the street before turning to cross the street with everyone else. Harley was slightly behind them all, but not enough for the sign to change to wait.

"Hey! Watch out!" Someone screamed pointing towards a car that was out of control. The driver of the car jumped out, rolling onto the sidewalk. The car kept going coming straight for Harley. The boy was frozen, staring at the headlights like he was a deer.