If I Could Say I Love You

Twenty Second Chapter

"Eat up, Harley," Steve prompted the teenager with a kind smile. The young teenager was barely eating since Peter broke up with him, and was just crying or working in his lab. It wasn't healthy, and it was like what Tony used to do except without the alcohol.

Speaking of Tony, Steve realized that he and Natasha had been the lab for almost two days without coming outside. That couldn't have been healthy for either of them despite both of their bodies coming accustomed to it. Steve made a mental note to bring up some food and water once he got Harley to eat something.

Harley looked at the sandwich in front of him with a feeling of disdain. He didn't want to eat, and didn't quite understand why Steve was pressuring him to eat. But Harley knew that he had to eat to survive, and right now, all Harley could do was just survive.

Harley took small bites of the sandwich, listening to Steve laugh in victory. Harley would have laughed with Steve, but he didn't feel like doing that.

Harley sighed again as he realized how much Peter had affected him. The world was dull, and empty without him. To Harley, it was almost like Peter had died, because he didn't think he would ever see him again, and Harley absolutely hated feeling that way. Because even if they were apart, even if Peter didn't want to see Harley again, Harley still wanted to see him. Because even if Peter hated him, Harley still loved Peter.

Harley didn't know he started crying until Steve was hugging him tightly, whispering about how it would all be okay. But Steve wondered if he was lying, and that nothing would be okay again.

"But won't be. Because he's gone, and I still miss him. He left me broken hearted, and he still has my heart. He probably hates me, and I still love him," Harley said, pushing Steve away so they were staring eye to eye, were Steve was able to see the pain in Harley's eyes.

"Hey, look, I know how you feel. I still love Peggy-"

"No, that's different. Peggy died, but Peter left me. Peggy didn't choose what happened to her, but Peter chose what happened to me," Harley said, shaking his head to dismiss Steve's notion. "There's a big difference between the pain of someone leaving you because of something, and someone leaving you for no reason."

"What if he had a reason, Harley? What if Peter still loves you but he can't, so he decided to let you go?" Steve said calmly, seeing Harley's point. "We spent a week with Peter before he left to the orphanage. We all got to know him, and saw just who he was. But we also saw how much he interacted with you, and that is nothing short of true love."

"But why would he leave? What could be so important or bad that could drive apart true love, like you said?" Harley said, all the fairytales his mom used to tell him before bed. True love always won, but this wasn't a fairytale, and even if it was, it was turning out differently than any tale he heard before.

"I don't know, Harley, but even the princesses had to wait a little while for their princes. But I am completely positive that someone, whether it's Peter or someone else, will kiss and wake you up from your slumber," Steve said with a smile, patting Harley's head before walking away.

Harley sat back, eating a little bit of his sandwich again, while thinking about what Steve said. Does Peter still love him? If he did, where was he now? What was he doing? What was the reason Peter had to break up with him for?

What Harley didn't know, is that twisting down the streets to a certain house, where Peter was trying to remember that love he had for Harley while going through the trails of Hell the people around him insisted he do.